Yesterday we talked about the death of Song Taizong, the crown prince Zhao Heng's ascension to the throne was blocked, and a group of people led by Empress Dowager Li wanted to launch a coup d'état, but they were easily disintegrated by Lu Duan, do you think it is strange?
Generally, the coup d'état launched by the imperial power is the winner of the king, and the defeat is the culprit, and this risk is huge, and once the idea of a coup d'état arises, it cannot be easily rebelled. Therefore, the reasons for the coup d'état are particularly important, most of them are to win supreme power and wealth.
Returning to the coup d'état launched by Empress Dowager Li, Empress Dowager Li only thought that Zhao Heng was young and his eldest brother Zhao Yuanzuo was more suitable to be the emperor. The Queen Mother wants to change the emperor, and she usually wants to change it to her own biological son, but Zhao Heng and Zhao Yuanzuo are not the biological sons of the Empress Dowager Li, and the difference between this change and not is not big.
Besides, Empress Dowager Li's brother Li Jilong, he was already the commander of the forbidden army at that time, and no matter who ascended the throne, as the Empress Dowager's brother, his future must be bright, and Zhao Yuanzuo is not his sister's bloodline, there is no need to take such a big risk.
Let's look at the eunuch Wang Jien, he has served Taizu and Taizong, and his status is already within reach, even if he adds the merits of the new emperor, he has no room for promotion.
Deputy Prime Minister Li Changling, he may be fighting for the position of prime minister, but Prime Minister Lu Duan was already in his 60s at the time, Li Changling waited, he could be promoted sooner or later, there is no need to risk raiding his family at this time.
On the whole, replacing the crown prince, who has been canonized for 2 years, is very risky and has little benefit.
Let's take a look at what Empress Dowager Li said, "The palace car has been driven, the heir is long, and Shun is also", what she means is that Taizong is gone, and the new emperor should choose an older one, which is more common. That's right, it's just commonplace.
And if you want the idea of the Empress Dowager Li of Mingtai, you can't just look at that time, you have to look forward, look at it before the early years of the Northern Song Dynasty, it was the turbulent five dynasties and ten kingdoms. Empress Dowager Li and the others are all people who have come from the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, and their thoughts and actions are deeply affected.
Later Liang, Later Tang, Later Jin, Later Han, and Later Zhou, the longest of these five dynasties is 16 years of Later Liang, and these people are still living under the influence of this era. They knew very well how their Taizu Zhao Kuangyin came to power, Chen Qiao's mutiny, and the yellow robe, they were worried about the safety of the entire Song Dynasty, and they were afraid of experiencing another change of dynasty.
Now we think that it is normal for the emperor to die and the crown prince ascend the throne, but at that time, the crown prince had not successfully ascended the throne for a hundred years. The lesson of that era is that if power is to be transferred to the elderly, it is better to have the experience of leading troops to fight.
The most typical is Zhu Wen, the Taizu of the Later Liang, after Zhu Wen became seriously ill, what he was most worried about was that if he died, his sons were too young and had no experience in marching and fighting, and they were definitely not opponents of the enemy army, so he came up with the idea of passing on the throne to his adopted son. It's just that his own son was unconvinced and killed his adopted son, but in the end, Houliang was indeed defeated by his son.
Understanding the political background of that era, we can understand very well why Empress Dowager Li wants to unite everyone to change the emperor, from his point of view, this may be for the good of the Northern Song Dynasty.