Before his death, Tang Xuanzong originally planned to let his third son ascend the throne, why did the eldest son become the emperor in the end?
The emperor died, the court was in turmoil, and who could say that the feudal court was not exciting?
In 846, Tang Taizong Li Chen ascended the throne and began a glorious and difficult 13-year reign. In 859, the wise monarch was bedridden by the elixir of life, triggering a sudden change of dynasty. Xuanzong's only wish was to pass on the throne to his beloved son Li Zi. However, this wish did not come true, and the throne eventually passed to his eldest son, Li Wen. The reason for this is that Tang Xuanzong made a mistake in appointing the heir, and the eunuchs in the palace were too close. This is the story of how the emperor's wishes fell through power and calculation.
Those who are good at fighting must first govern well.
In 846, Tang Xuanzong ascended the throne in dramatic fashion. His elder brother Tang Wuzong died unexpectedly, probably poisoned by the eunuch Ma Yuanzhen. Seeing that Tang Wuzong had no children, Ma Yuanzhen came up with a cunning plan to rebel against Tang Wuzong's uncle Li Chen and force Tang Xuanzong Li Shimin, who was only nine years old, to ascend the throne. But Ma Chao underestimated the nine-year-old. After Li Chen ascended the throne, Ma Yuanzhen quickly deprived him of his phase, killed him and his henchmen, and began to monopolize power.
Li Chen's move was undoubtedly to consolidate his newly acquired imperial power. He believes that the reason why Wuzong failed and became a puppet was because he could not effectively control the eunuchs in the palace, so the eunuchs finally controlled and ** him. Therefore, Li Chen decided that if he wanted to deal well with the people of the world, he must first manage the palace and control the eunuchs in power. Therefore, during Li Chen's reign, he carefully cultivated cronies and eunuchs, and established a group of eunuchs to contain and restrain each other.
Li Chen was born in a family of eunuchs, and he knew that eunuchs were insidious and unpredictable, so he had to guard against them. Therefore, he preferred to disperse the power of the eunuchs rather than let the power of a certain group be too dispersed. Li Chen's meticulous organization allowed him to effectively control the eunuchs' power and ensure that they did not threaten the imperial power. This laid the foundation for Li Chen's reign in Dazhong.
Li Chen reigned for 13 years and governed the country well, as history says"The rule of the great medium"。However, he made a fatal mistake in the internal affairs of the imperial court, which laid a hidden danger for the later Zen position. Because he did not explicitly designate the crown prince, the question of the heir to the throne was left unresolved. This is undoubtedly mainly because Li Chen does not have a favorite heir to the throne. However, in the feudal dynasty, if the heir to the throne is not clear, it is inevitable that there will be disputes and hidden dangers within the court. This hidden danger finally broke out in the last year of Li Chen's life.
A storm is coming. King Ninga is taking care of his youngest brother.
In 859, Tang Xuanzong, who had reigned for 13 years, suddenly fell ill with a strange disease similar to paralysis and was unable to move. Doctors concluded that this was due to long-term use of elixirs. Li Chen gave birth to 12 sons when he was 50 years old, but none of them were born to his favorite concubines. In fact, Li Yu, who had the opportunity to become the crown prince, died a few years ago. Now, Xuanzong has only one candidate in mind: his favorite fourth son, Kui Wang Li Zi, character Xiu.
Li Zi's mother was unknown, beautiful, intelligent, and educated, and Xuanzong liked her very much. Since she was a child, she has lived next to Xuanzong in the inner courtyard of Daming Palace, and occasionally served Xuanzong. Xuanzong personally asked the minister to teach him how to govern the country. Xuanzong saw that Li Zi inherited Li Zicheng's wisdom and had the potential to be an emperor, so he regarded Li Zi as a pearl in his palm. Li Zi also respects Xuanzong very much and is willing to serve him forever. Father is kind and filial piety, and the two are like father and son.
At this time, Tang Xuanzong only had a few days to live. He lay on the dragon bed, and his heart was full of devotion to Li Zi. Tang Xuanzong knew that once Li Wen ascended the throne, he would inevitably eradicate dissidents and kill Li Zi. For the sake of his son's fame and fortune, and in order to continue his long-term peace and stability, Tang Xuanzong decided to pass the throne to Li Zi before his death. To a certain extent, this decision reflects Tang Xuanzong's somewhat biased paternal love, but it also foreshadows the coming palace storm.
Three eunuchs in bed.
In order to fulfill this wish, Xuanzong turned to the power of eunuchs. At that time, the power of the forbidden army was in the hands of three eunuchs: all three were eunuchs, but each of them had their own accounts.
Wang Zongshi controlled the forbidden army for a long time, and monopolized power in the imperial court. Wang Guichang and Wang Jufang are Xuanzong's henchmen, but the two don't trust each other. Although Xuanzong wanted to rely on them to support Li Zi's ascension to the throne, all three had their own interests. This leads them to quarrel when it comes to fulfilling their desires.
Before Xuanzong died, he first summoned Wang Guichang and Wang Jufang into the palace, passed the throne to Li Zi, and asked them to carry out this plan. After receiving the order, Wang Guichang and Wang Jufang decided to strike first and drive Wang Zongxi, who had collected troops, out of the palace. They knew that Wang Zongxi was ambitious and would definitely obstruct Xuanzong's death. In order to fulfill the emperor's last wish, they joined forces to prepare a coup d'état.
However, before he could implement the plan, Wang Zongshi discovered the situation and led the Shence army into the palace, closed the palace gate, and took control of the situation. As a result, the plan of Wang Guichang and others failed, and Wang Zongshi was punished for the crimes of treason and incitement. Wang Zongshi's move is undoubtedly to support his optimistic heir. However, due to feudal law, he could only appoint his eldest son, Li Wen, as emperor. Therefore, Tang Xuanzong failed to achieve his wish at the last moment of his life, and his heroic life came to an end.
In the thirteenth year of Dazhong, it was the time when Tang Xuanzong's wish came true. He only hopes that his years of hard work can continue. But the feudal court was unpredictable. Tang Xuanzong's misjudgment of the ** person, the hidden dangers in the palace, and the struggle for power and profit of his henchmen and eunuchs will all make his wish come to naught.
When Tang Xuanzong took his last breath on the hospital bed, his heart was full of regret and remorse. He reluctantly turned his eyes and looked at Li Zi, who was standing silently in the ward. Xuanzong thought to himself, after all, I hurt him. But regret to regret, Xuanzong felt that his vision was blurred, and his thoughts began to drift back to the past...
Even if Tang Xuanzong passed the throne to Li Zi as he wished, there were indications that Li Zi would be controlled by the eunuchs in the palace. After all, Li Zi is still very young and does not fully possess the power and ability to rule. Xuanzong wants to pass the throne to his son, maybe the heavens are warning him - you will hurt him after all.