Preface.
The Kaiyuan era can be said to be the last prosperous era of the Tang Dynasty. The arrival of this prosperous era is inseparable from Tang Xuanzong Li Longji. Li Longji is also a controversial figure in history. It can be said that Li Longji made an indelible contribution to the strength and prosperity of the Tang Dynasty.
But it has to be said that Li Longji, like most people in his position, also suffered from political corruption in his later years. The Anshi Rebellion was a turning point in Li Longji's life. It is unimaginable that Li Longji died of hunger strike in his later years. It's a shame and a shame.
1.The early years were ambitious.
It can be said that Li Longji's early experience was also very tragic. There has never been any family affection in the royal family, and power is the goal that everyone strives for. When Li Longji was born, his father Li Dan was still the emperor, but he was a very humble emperor. Being an emperor is nothing but an emperor without power.
Soon Li Dan was deposed. It can be said that when Wu Zetian was alive, the struggle for imperial power in the Tang Dynasty was also very fierce. Li Longji, who was born during this period, has never experienced the time in his parents' arms since he was a child, and he is still very scared every day. It can be said that after Li Dan was deposed, Li Longji's fear reached its peak.
The house was leaking and it was raining all night. Soon after, Li Longji's mother was killed after being framed for witchcraft. Li Longji, who lost his mother at a young age, had no time to grieve, because as the crown prince, he was also one of the people Wu Zetian was angry about.
But fortunately, Li Longji managed to escape and grew up under the care of his aunt. At this time, although Wu Zetian was already old, she never let go of her power. Soon after, a coup d'état broke out that shocked the entire Tang Dynasty. Wu Zetian was forced to leave the center of power and relinquished the throne to Li Xian.
It can be said that as an outsider, Li Longji witnessed the intensity of the power struggle in the royal family, which caused a huge psychological shock to him at a young age. Perhaps, this is also the reason why Li Longji obtained the throne through a coup d'état.
As we all know, after Li Longji became the crown prince, he did not fully control the power. The power can be said to be split in two with Princess Taiping. Even brothers struggle in the face of power, let alone the two of them.
Then the conflict between the two became more intense, and Li Longji also began to think about how to wrest power from Princess Taiping. After eliminating the remnants of Princess Taiping, Li Longji's throne was completely secured.
Perhaps it is precisely because of the hard-won imperial throne that after Li Longji officially took power, it can be said that he worked hard to bring the Tang Dynasty into another prosperous era. He changed the era name to "Kaiyuan" just to motivate himself.
In his early years, Li Longji selected and used talents. It can be said that the prime ministers he selected made great contributions to the later Kaiyuan era. Li Longji is still very discerning in selecting people. In order to get rid of Wu Zetian's strict rule as soon as possible, Li Longji has always advocated benevolent government. In order to prevent what he had imagined from happening, Li Longji used thunderous means in the management of his relatives and strictly forbade the eunuchs to participate. State Affairs.
It was under Li Longji's policies that the state of the Tang Dynasty began to gradually develop to its former prosperity. Li Longji has always been well aware of the corruption of the Tang Dynasty. After he succeeded to the throne, he began to prevent such things from happening at the source.
In order to ensure the quality of the best, Li Longji personally conducted the assessment, and it was precisely because of his behavior. The quality of the best places has been greatly improved.
It can be said that Li Longji in the early days did everything that a virtuous king should do. He thinks about the people and cuts taxes. This has brought the people one step closer to living and working in peace and contentment, and he has not fallen behind culturally.
At this time, the Tang Dynasty ushered in a prosperous scene. Perhaps it was because the country's development was gradually on the right track that Li Longji began to enjoy it.
2.Anshi Rebellion.
In the later period, Li Longji began to live a ** life. It can be said that the number of harem maids in the Tang Dynasty doubled. And he even risked the criticism of the world to take his son's wife as a concubine.
After Yang Guifei entered the harem, she was simply "colorless in the pink six palaces". Since then, she has given Yang Guifei the supreme favor of the Yang family. In life, Tang Xuanzong was completely different from the early thrift and became very extravagant.
What's even more worrying is that Tang Xuanzong in his later years was also obsessed with immortal arts, as he began to vigorously practice immortal arts in the palace. It's a waste of government affairs. As he grew older, Tang Xuanzong's ears became particularly soft and he liked to listen to his own words.
It gave birth to many sycophants and caused serious harm to the lives of the people of the Tang Dynasty. At the same time, a force is also on the move. An Lushan's sudden uprising was something Tang Xuanzong never expected. It can be said that the corrupt Tang Dynasty could not stop An Lushan's attack at all, and could only watch him conquer one city after another.
Yang Guifei was also forced to hang herself on the way, but everyone knows that this is not the main reason. Any trouble has to have a reason, right?
Fortunately, discord gradually broke out within An Lushan. The rebels began to kill each other, and the Tang army took advantage of the struggle between An Lushan and Shi Siming to completely defeat the rebels in one fell swoop.
It can be said that although the rebels at this time have been defeated, the foundation of the Tang Dynasty has also been seriously damaged by the mainland. First and foremost is the impact on economic development. * Centralization of power was taken under attack, paving the way for later eunuch rule.
It's a pity that Li Longji, who has experienced the Anshi Rebellion, is powerless to change the present. Of course, Li Longji bears most of the blame for this.
3.Tragic old age.
After settling down, Li Longji can finally return to Chang'an, but what has to be said here is that Li Longji, who has been in power for so long, does not know the attraction of power. Will Li Heng really welcome him back at this time?
However, after going through so many things, Li Longji no longer wants to think about political affairs. After returning to China, he became emperor with peace of mind.
After calming down, Li Longji inevitably thought of Yang Guifei, so he wanted to worship Yang Guifei, but this was stopped by the eunuch Li Fuguo.
The life of the Emperor Taishang was also very boring, Li Longji wanted to walk around, but what he didn't expect was that when he saw the people, the people would still kneel down and shout long live. When Li Fuguo learned of this, he realized that this was the best chance to bring down Li Longji.
It stands to reason that the hatred between the two people has not reached this level, but Li Fuguo is a narrow-minded villain. He has always hated the eunuchs around Li Longji who looked down on him. When Li Fuguo told Li Heng about this, Li Heng would inevitably be unhappy.
So he wanted to deprive Li Longji of the right to go out. Of course, this matter was handed over to Li Fuguo. How can Li Fuguo, who has an enmity with Li Longji, carry out the plan well? Not only did he disrespect Li Longji, but he also maliciously threatened Li Longji.
Later, under the operation of Li Fuguo, all the cronies around Li Longji were purged. At this time, Li Longji can be said to be really alone. With no one around to confide in, his will began to become decadent in his loneliness.
In the end, Li Longji died of hunger strike with hatred.
Conclusion. Although Li Longji in his later years was inseparable from the mediocrity shared by successive emperors, his contribution was unquestionable. He took Datang to another peak.
It's a pity that Li Longji ended up like this in his later years. Later generations have always talked about his merits and demerits. Today we should look at historical figures with a dialectical eye.