In China's feudal imperial system, there were four types of people who would be posthumously crowned emperors after death. The first type is that they were not outstanding during their lifetimes, but their descendants have the ability to unify the world and build a country, so they are posthumously crowned emperors.
For example, Tang Gaozu Li Yuan posthumously conferred the titles of various emperors of his ancestors, such as Emperor Wen of Wei Cao Pi posthumously crowned his eunuch great-grandfather Cao Teng as emperor, Cao Teng was also the first eunuch emperor in history.
The second type is the crown prince before his death, but his life was short, and he was posthumously crowned emperor by his father or his successor before he could wait for his father's death. For example, Li Hong, the eldest son of Tang Gaozong Li Zhi and Wu Zetian, was posthumously named "Filial Piety to the Emperor" by his father because of his early death.
The third category is a special example that created a historical precedent, such as "Let the Emperor" Li Chengqi, who was once the crown prince, but took the initiative to abdicate to his younger brother Tang Xuanzong Li Longji, and was posthumously named "Emperor Jean" by Li Longji after his death.
The fourth category is also a special example of a historical precedent, who did not have the position of crown prince during his lifetime, but was posthumously crowned emperor for some special reason, such as Empress Dowager Wu, the grandmother of Emperor Cao Pi of Wei, who was honored as the empress dowager after Emperor Cao Pi of Wei ascended the throne, and was posthumously named "Empress Wuping" after her death.
This copy tells the story of Li Qi, the king of Jianning in the Tang Dynasty. Li Qi is the grandson of Tang Xuanzong, the third son of Tang Suzong Li Heng, and the half-brother of Tang Dynasty Emperor Li Yu. Although he has never been a prince, he is not loved by his father Li Heng, and even died before he was married, and he has no children and grandchildren.
However, after his death, he was posthumously named "Emperor Chengtian" by his elder brother Li Yu of the Tang Dynasty. So, why is that? Li Qi's glorious life starts from the Anshi Rebellion, grandfather Tang Xuanzong Li Longji avoided Bashu, and his father Li Heng ascended the throne in Lingwu.
After Tang Suzong Li Heng Lingwu ascended the throne, the Anshi Rebellion broke out, An Lushan rebels broke through Tongguan, and Tang Xuanzong Li Longji took Tang Suzong Li Heng and others to escape to Bashu Chengdu.
However, at the foot of Ma Weipo, the army mutinied, and the crown prince Li Heng and the commander of the forbidden army, Chen Xuanli, forced Tang Xuanzong to kill Yang Guifei and killed Yang Guifei's brother Yang Guozhong.
After Tang Xuanzong killed Yang Guifei's brothers and sisters, he was still in a hurry to run to Chengdu, but because the army was very dissatisfied with the emperor's cowardice in taking the lead in escaping, Tang Xuanzong asked the crown prince Li Heng to stay behind to defend against the rebels.
The crown prince Li Heng, who later became Tang Suzong, was also afraid, and he did not want to stay in the rear to defend against the rebels. However, the reason he gave was very high-sounding: "My dad ran alone in front, and as a filial son, I have to accompany my dad to honor him." ”
The Old Tang Dynasty Book contains: "The Supreme Broadcast, I can't bear to leave the left and right, and I will see the music." After saying this, Li Heng ignored the opposition of his subordinates, turned over and got on his horse to chase his father into Sichuan together.
Filial piety is an excellent reason to flee for your life, and it is also a very good shield to hide your cowardice and incompetence. However, no matter how good the reason given by Li Longji and his son Li Heng, it is difficult to hide a fact: their father and son are very afraid of An Lushan's rebels, and the emperor will break people's hearts when he runs, and the soldiers have no intention of fighting, and the Tang Dynasty may never have a chance to turn around.
However, Li Qi is different. He made great achievements in the Anshi Rebellion, and his bravery and wisdom enabled the Tang Dynasty to be preserved in the troubled times. Therefore, even after his death, Li Yu of the Tang Dynasty still posthumously named him the "Emperor of Chengtian" in recognition of his merits.
In the chaos of the Anshi Rebellion, Li Heng of Chang'an City was preparing to flee with his father. However, two people stood up to stop him, they were the traitorous eunuch Li Fuguo and his third son Li Qi.
Li Qi most resolutely persuaded his father to stay, saying: "The people of Chang'an are grateful for the kindness of the Tang Dynasty, and they hope to help our Li Tang royal family restore the Tang Dynasty." As the crown prince, if he also runs away with the emperor, then there will be no leader, and the world of the Tang Dynasty will be lost at that time.
Li Qi persuaded his father with tears in his eyes, and then he encouraged his father: "Although the An Lushan rebels are strong, we have 100,000 elite soldiers on the border of the tun, as well as Li Guangbi and Guo Ziyi guarding Heshuo, they are like two nails in the back of the rebels.
As long as you call, Guo Ziyi, Li Guangbi and other soldiers and horses of the Quartet Qin King will form an encirclement of An Lushan's rebels. The emperor is gone, as the crown prince, you are the backbone of the present, how can you take the lead in escaping at this critical moment? ”
Li Qi's words were also supported by Li Yu, the king of Guangping. "The Book of the Old Tang Dynasty: Emperor Chengtian" recorded: "Li Qi said to the prince in the palace: 'The rebels offended the emperor and the four seas fell apart, if we don't consider human feelings, how can we restore the Tang Dynasty?'"
As a person with a country, the greatest filial piety is to protect the country. If we go to Shu with the emperor, then the east of Sanguan will no longer be royal, how can we maintain the feelings of the people?
His Royal Highness should recruit heroes, go to Hexi temporarily, gather troops and horses, and gather border generals, with a total of no less than 100,000 people. Li Guangbi and Guo Ziyi gathered troops in Heshuo and worked hard for us to restore the Tang Dynasty, which was the best plan.
King Quang Binh also agreed to this plan. ”
Li Qi was brave and good at fighting to protect Li Heng from going north to Lingwu, and was a hero in the eyes of the soldiers. In the midst of hardships and hardships, he bravely led the army to charge into battle and kill the generals, and he must take the lead in every battle, but he never showed credit.
Li Heng deeply loved him, and the soldiers also respected him very much. After arriving in Lingwu, Li Qi, under the advice of the advisors Li Mi and Li Yu, supported Li Heng to ascend the throne as emperor in advance, and respected Li Longji as the emperor from afar.
After Tang Suzong ascended the throne, he originally planned to make Li Qi the generalissimo of the world's soldiers and horses, and take charge of the military power to recover Chang'an, but in the end he decided to hand over the military power to the crown prince Li Yu to avoid the recurrence of the tragedy of fratricide.
Although Li Qi failed to obtain military power, his courage and resourcefulness are still praised by the world.
Li Mi's thoughtfulness is to avoid the breakdown of the family caused by power, and he is well aware of the tragedy of history: Li Shimin killed his elder brother Li Jiancheng with his own hands for power.
Li Yu is also deeply worried, he has a deep relationship with Li Yu and knows the horror of power. He listened to Li Mi's advice, was deeply relieved, and thanked him for his wisdom. The brotherhood of Li Yu and Li Qi is deep enough to resolve all difficulties.
However, their harmony is ruined by a jealous person - Zhang Liangdi. She was favored for sharing hardships with Tang Suzong, but her power was so great that she even wanted to depose the crown prince Li Yu and replace her son as the crown prince.
Li Qi in the TV series "Glory of the Tang Dynasty", because Li Fuguo and Zhang Liangdi framed the crown prince Li Yu many times, was deeply dissatisfied with their behavior and decided to stand up for his brother Li Yu.
Although he is brave, he has a straightforward personality, and always reminds Tang Suzong directly of Zhang Liangdi's conspiracy and asks Tang Suzong to abolish her. However, Tang Suzong often reprimanded Li Qi for this incident, and Li Qi was very dissatisfied with this.
Li Qi's dissatisfaction with Zhang Liangdi and Li Fuguo became deeper and deeper, and even threatened to kill them with his own hands. This made Li Fuguo and Zhang Liangdi regard him as a thorn in the flesh, and they were worried that Li Yu's ability and courage would pose a threat to them, so they took advantage of the time when Li Yu and his adviser Li Mi led the army to recover Chang'an and Luoyang, and slandered Tang Suzong to provoke his relationship with Li Qi.
Zhang Liangdi even blew the pillow wind to Tang Suzong, saying that Li Qi resented the prince and planned to abolish the prince in the future and stand on his own. Tang Suzong was very sensitive to the issue of military power, and was very angry after hearing these words, coupled with the fact that Li Qi was indeed extraordinary and brave, Tang Suzong decided to send someone to kill Li Qi without any consultation for the future of the crown prince.
Li Qi's death, there is no record of his inner thoughts in the history books, but the author believes that he was very painful in his heart. He could not accept that his father, whom he respected most, should have listened to slander and gave death to his most capable and valiant son.
In the process of Li Yu's recovery of Liangjing, his most trusted and beloved brother Li Yu was framed to death, which can be said to be for Li Yu. However, after Li Yu learned the truth, he wept bitterly and almost fainted.
As a counselor, Li Mi explained to Tang Suzong the deep relationship between Li Yu and the Li Qi brothers, and at the same time reminded him not to be instigated and threaten the crown prince Li Yu. Through the story of Wu Zetian and his four sons, Li Mi warned Tang Suzong not to repeat the mistakes of the past and not to make mistakes again because he did not trust the crown prince.
Li Yu was the prime minister of the Zhongxing Tang Dynasty, and after his elder brother Li Yu ascended the throne, in order to learn the lessons of Li Yu, he no longer listened to slander and trusted the crown prince Li Yu more. After Li Yu succeeded to the throne, an incident occurred in the present world.
Zhang Liangdi wanted to take advantage of Li Heng's serious illness to plot to support Tang Suzong's second son, Yue Wang Li to succeed him. At this time, in order to invite merit from the crown prince, Li Fuguo preemptively launched a coup d'état to imprison Zhang Liangdi and kill the Li family, the king of Yue, and supported the crown prince Li Yu to succeed to the throne, that is, the emperor of the Tang Dynasty.
After Li Yu ascended the throne in the Tang Dynasty, he first forced Zhang Liangdi, who had been imprisoned, to death. He also hated Li Fuguo, the eunuch who participated in the murder of his younger brother Li Qi. However, Li Fuguo has the merit of supporting it, so Li Yu has always held back, respecting Li Fuguo everywhere on the surface, and putting Li Fuguo's power in the air.
Subsequently, Li Yu sent someone to assassinate Li Fuguo, and after Li Fuguo's death, he was given a very bad nickname, that is, ugly, which shows how much Li Yu hated Li Fuguo for killing his younger brother Li Qi by slandering and killing his younger brother Li Yu.
Li Yu's longing for his younger brother Li Qi deeply touched the ministers. Li Qi had outstanding talents, made great contributions to the great cause of Zhongxing, and even sacrificed himself for Li Yu's position as the crown prince, and died a very unjust death.
Therefore, after Li Yu ascended the throne, he posthumously crowned Li Qi as the king of Qi to show respect for his younger brother. However, this was not enough, and Li Yu decided to posthumously crown Li Qi as emperor, a decision that surprised the ministers.
They thought that Li Qi's identity was already the crown prince, and it was a bit too much to posthumously be crowned emperor. But Li Yu insisted on his point of view, and he affectionately said to the ministers that Xuanzong's posthumous three brothers as princes were out of family affection and friendship, but Li Qi not only contributed to the country, but also sacrificed his life for him, and these achievements were incomparable to Xuanzong's three brothers.
Therefore, Li Yu insisted on posthumously appointing Li Qi as emperor, and this decision was finally realized. Li Yu built a mausoleum for Li Yu, and married him to the fourteenth female cousin of Li Yu's aunt, Zhang.
After his death, Li Qi and the Zhang family became a ghost couple in Shunling. Li Yu's deep affection for his younger brother is moving.
The Book of the New Tang Dynasty records a mythical story about Li Qi. After Li Yu posthumously named Li Qi as the emperor, he decided to mourn him again. The hearse suddenly stopped at the city gate, and no one could pull it.
After Li Yu heard about it, he deeply felt that his younger brother might have unquenched resentment, so he invited Li Yu, the adviser of the year, to make a sacrificial speech for Li Yu to express his condolences. After Li Mi's sacrificial words were made, he personally went to push the hearse, and the hearse moved under Li Mi's affectionate recitation of the sacrificial words, and was successfully buried in Shunling.
This period of Tang Dynasty history is very interesting, from the murder of the brothers of the Xuanwumen coup d'état of Tang Taizong Li Shimin, to his grandson Tang Dynasty Emperor Li Yu's posthumous brother Li Qi as the "Chengtian Emperor", which is a model of brotherhood, friendship and family affection.
Li Longji made a model of gratitude and abdication, brotherhood and brotherhood, and his grandson Li Yu also followed his grandfather's example and made the decision to posthumously present his younger brother as the emperor's nickname. Li Longji's family knows how to be grateful, and it is a rare benevolent and righteous royal family in Chinese and foreign history.
Although Li Yu is not a Ming monarch, he is loyal and benevolent, and he can definitely be regarded as one of the emperors of all dynasties.