The eunuch helped the stupid emperor, and the first decree made the eunuch suffer
In ancient times, the throne was both a symbol of power and a danger to life. Even in the palace, be on the lookout for danger from all sides, whether it's Assassins from outside or intrigue from within.
Historically, many emperors have been well known, some of them scheming, some of them ruthless. For example, Li Shimin mutilated his compatriots and ascended the throne as emperor, while Kangxi hibernated his scheming and waited for the opportunity to eradicate dissidents.
However, in the heyday of the Tang Dynasty, there was one emperor who was different. He had no intention of competing for the throne and did not want to climb to the pinnacle of power. He always went about his own business in the palace, and the royals even took pleasure in making fun of him.
If he is not of royal blood, it is estimated that the eunuchs and palace maids will tease him openly and secretly. However, he was such a fool, but he became one of the emperors admired by later generations, and was called "Little Taizong", he was Tang Xuanzong Li Chen.
In the first year of the Tang Dynasty, that is, in July 810 AD, a prince named Li Chen was born in the imperial palace. However, he did not enjoy the esteem he deserved. Li Chen's mother was a palace maid who was favored by Tang Xianzong because of her outstanding appearance.
She hopes to use this to elevate her son's status so that he can step into the royal palace. However, her status is low, and her life has only improved slightly, essentially no different from ordinary people.
Moreover, Li Chen is still a concubine, ranking low, which dooms him to miss the throne.
Li Chen, a young man who is a prince, is deeply aware of the huge gap between himself and his brothers. He did not show any of the habits of a gentleman, and he did not give special treatment to ministers who were respectful to him.
However, this act caused rumors in the palace, calling him a "fool". Even the Imperial Physician concluded that he was born with an intellectual defect that was irreparable. However, Li Chen's seriousness and reticency left a deep impression in the "New Tang Dynasty Book".
Not only does he know his shortcomings, but he also strives to improve. He was a true prince, a true wise man.
Li Chen faces the world with a "lying flat" attitude, does not fight or grab, and is willing to endure the insults and ridicule of others. He knew that as long as he didn't perform too well, he would not attract the attention of the emperor, and his life would be more secure.
However, instead of receiving sympathy from others, the insults and scolding he endured intensified. At a party, the princes teased him, and the eunuchs tried their best to make him speak under the instructions of the prince, but Li Chen always responded with a smile and no intention of resisting.
This made the princes despise him even more, thinking that he was a fool. Li Chen understands that this is a way of self-preservation, but his silence and forbearance cannot change other people's opinions, only make him more isolated and helpless.
The skirmish in the court back then may have been just a children's fight. But as time passed, when the princes grew up and took the throne, their bullying of Li Chen escalated.
In 821 AD, in March of the first year of Tang Muzong's Changqing, Li Chen was named the "King of Light", but his status was actually lower than that of some nobles' captive servants. The eunuchs of the Tang Dynasty held great power, and their arrogant and rude nature made them look down on Li Chen and often instructed him to do things.
And Li Chen's "stupidity" has become increasingly prominent in his life, especially after an assassination, which reached its peak.
King Guang showed his stupidity in front of the Queen Mother as always, thinking that the Queen Mother just wanted him to pretend to be stupid, but who knew that he suddenly broke into an assassin. This sudden turn of events terrified the Light King, and although the Assassin was finally beheaded for public display, the incident caused great psychological trauma to the Light King.
Originally introverted, he kept silent in the palace from then on, as if he had become a mute. His speech is disorderly, and sometimes he doesn't even know what he's talking about. Therefore, the entire court considered him a complete fool, teased him in all kinds, and even treated him as a waste.
However, not everyone in the palace thought he was a fool, especially Tang Wuzong, who later ascended the throne, and he regarded King Guang as his opponent. Because Tang Taizong had previously killed his brother in order to ascend the throne, if this person known as the King of Light also hid his strength, it would pose a threat to his future ascension to the throne.
Emperor Wu of Tang knew that King Guang was stupid, so he chose not to use violent means, but to test him by setting up barricades and traps. Undeterred, the King of Light slammed into the barricade and laughed at the ridicule of the ministers and eunuchs.
On a snowy day, he accidentally stepped on the air and fell into a deep pit, which was a trap set by Emperor Wu of Tang to test him, but he still bravely rose to the challenge, because he knew that Emperor Wu of Tang was only to ensure that he was not a threat and would not endanger his life.
He was thrown into a dung pit, and the people around him seemed indifferent. But he did not choose to give up, but stubbornly climbed up from the pit. However, his move was not rescued by anyone, and Emperor Wu of Tang was even more convinced of his judgment that he was a fool.
What made him even more desperate was that when he tried to resist with words, the eunuchs did not hesitate to throw him into the dung pit. He could only jump obediently, and although he endured the stench, he kept flapping and even tried to eat a few mouthfuls of feces.
Finally, when he was fished up, he was disgusting and foul-smelling. The person who rescued him turned out to be a member of the eunuch group, named Qiu Gongwu. Qiu Gongwu is not a good person, because the emperors of the Tang Dynasty were all supported by eunuchs, and one more prince would give him more protection, even if he was a fool.
The desire to control power made Li Chen the heir to the throne Li Chen, who originally just wanted to live an ordinary life, was unexpectedly pushed to the position of emperor because of his stupidity.
In 846 AD, Tang Wuzong was about to die, and the choice of an heir to the throne became a top priority for the eunuchs. They need someone who can both control and be related to the royal family.
After careful consideration, they chose Li Chen, the king of light. After the death of Tang Wuzong, Qiu Guangwu and Ma Yuanzhen quickly supported Li Chen to the throne. Ma Yuanzhen, as the chief representative of the eunuch group at that time, the reason why he supported Li Chen to ascend to the throne was also very simple - easy to be controlled.
The power system during the Tang Dynasty was chaotic, and the negligence of Tang Wuzong led to the rise of eunuch power, and the prime minister Li Deyu even recruited a large number of eunuchs as a backing to seize the power for himself.
This was undoubtedly a big threat to the Tang Dynasty. However, Li Chen is not really stupid, but good at dealing with the outside world's deception. He usually pretended to be stupid, avoided getting into a power struggle, used his free time to delve into academics and the art of war, and knew the Four Books and the Five Classics and historical military affairs well.
He saw the ills within the dynasty very clearly, and knew that the emperor's power was almost hollowed out, and the eunuchs were in power. If there was no wise enough emperor to control the overall situation at this time, the Tang Dynasty would be in danger of falling.
And Tang Xuanzong Li Chen already had the idea of reform of the Tang Dynasty in his heart, and his ascension to the throne was an opportunity to realize his ambitions. This misunderstood "fool" emperor finally ushered in a chance to turn over.
After Li Chen ascended the throne, a bloody storm broke out in the palace, and a power change began.
Li Chen knew that the future of the country could not fall into the hands of eunuchs, and at this moment the power in the hands of eunuchs was beyond his imagination, so he decided to adopt a gradual strategy. But before that, the eunuchs must be given a warning that they should not behave as freely as before.
And when Li Chen was thinking about how to rectify the eunuchs, the eunuchs were still complacent about their resourcefulness, thinking that they had found an emperor who could be controlled. However, they soon discovered that the emperor, who had once been considered a "fool", was surprisingly skillful in handling affairs, unhurried, and elegant in conversation, so they decided to wait and see what the new emperor would do.
Li Chen issued the first decree to the eunuchs, deposing Li Deyu, the prime minister who was in power at the time. This is to end the status quo of eunuchs controlling the government, and Li Deyu is undoubtedly the key person who needs to be addressed.
The eunuchs were horrified when they saw this decree, because the removal of the prime minister was not just a matter of words, it would have an important impact on the fate of the country. In particular, Li Deyu is the most powerful minister, and once he is deposed, he will pose a threat to the DPRK.
However, the eunuchs could only sigh secretly in their hearts, and they did not dare to speak out. Li Chen gradually dismissed Prime Minister Li Deyu and promoted his henchmen to key positions. Then, he also forbade the eunuch Ma Yuanzhen to collude with other powerful ministers, and sent people to secretly follow him, and take immediate action if he found something wrong.
In the end, Li Chen issued a holy decree to take back the power of all eunuchs, causing the eunuch group led by Ma Yuanzhen to almost collapse. Tang Xuanzong's precise control caused many of Ma Yuanzhen's personal friends to be deposed, deposed, or even given to death.
Ma Yuanzhen has become the commander of the light pole, and the eunuch group has also been disintegrated. The foolish emperor who was at his disposal at the beginning is now decisive in his killing, not only daring to deal with Ma Yuanzhen, but also ruthlessly removing the eunuchs' greatest reliance on Li Deyu.
Dealing with Li Deyu can't be like dealing with Ma Yuanzhen, because he is an old minister and an important minister, and he holds great power in his hands. However, Tang Xuanzong understood that if Li Deyu was not moved, the eunuch group would likely resurrect.
So he made the decision to remove the prime minister. A year later, Li Chen basically purged Li Deyu's henchmen. In this way, the eunuch group was completely disintegrated. At the same time, Li Chen also ended the "Niu Li partisan dispute".
The eunuchs would never have thought that the puppet emperor, who was like a "fool" in their eyes, would hide so deeply. After dealing with the eunuchs, the rest will be easy to do.
Li Chen's pursuit of justice and the rule of law, rehabilitating the ministers who had died unjustly due to the negligence of Emperor Wu of the Tang Dynasty, this move immediately won the hearts of the people, and the ministers were also shocked by Li Chen's iron and blood, and did not dare to act rashly, waiting for his next instructions.
When Li Chen was rectifying the internal affairs of the palace, he had already set his sights on the people. He believes that the imperial examination system is the key to selecting talents, and it is also an important step for him to win the hearts and minds of the people.
At that time, the people everywhere were full of praise for Li Chen, at least he let the people eat enough and no longer be oppressed by the **. Some people even call Li Chenzun "Little Taizong", which shows his status in the hearts of the people.
In addition to people's livelihood, Li Chen has also made outstanding contributions to the military. In 847 A.D., he issued an edict in May of the first year of Dazhong, which laid a solid foundation for stabilizing the frontier.
In 851 AD, he stabilized the western region, pacified the party, and laid a solid foundation for the development of the south. Sun Zhihan spoke very highly of Li Chen, saying that he "reigned for thirteen years, Shang Jiande was compassionate to others, respectfully decreed to Su subordinates, favored the clan, honored the courtesy, and went to the micro line to observe the gains and losses of the scholars, burned incense to read the minister's chapter Shu, and was honest and virtuous."
However, I know the small section of the king, but I don't know the big section. Li Chen was undoubtedly a popular emperor among the people, and his political achievements were remarkable, especially in dealing with the people's livelihood and the military.
However, even such a good emperor is not exempt from vulgarity, and in the end it is inevitable from political strife and power struggle.
Emperor Li Chen's Dream of Immortality: Desire and the Legend of the Harem Emperor Li Chen, the throne was not easy to come by, and he was particularly persistent in his pursuit of immortality. He is not only lustful and does not set up a queen, but also is keen to select beautiful women from the people to serve in the palace.
According to historical records, he had twenty-three children, some of whom did not even know who his biological mother was. This is not only Li Chen's harem legend, but also a portrayal of his pursuit of immortality.
Li Chen, who had been humiliated, finally sat in the harem, and in order to enjoy the beauty of the harem, he did not hesitate to use drugs to nourish yin and yang, in order to live a happy life.
However, Li Chen is not completely addicted to beauty, he has made a choice between Jiangshan Sheji and beauty. Legend has it that he once fell into the gentle land of a beautiful woman, but after receiving the minister's direct advice, he thought deeply and decided to put this beautiful woman to death.
Li Chen was a sane emperor, and the Tang Dynasty under his rule had begun to regain its former prosperity. However, Li Chen faced a problem, he understood that life would come to an end, and when he was close to death, all the good things he had would disappear.
Therefore, he made the same decision as previous emperors to pursue immortality. Li Chen began his journey to find the elixir, he traveled to the famous mountains and rivers in various places, hoping to find a monk who had attained the Tao to guide him in the maze, and then sent envoys to the outer lands to find the elixir.
However, despite taking these pills, his physical condition deteriorated, which made him more and more anxious, and he began to rush to the doctor.
In that year, in order to win the favor and support of the emperor, some folk doctors began to offer various medicines to the emperor. However, most of these drugs were unknown herbs that they had collected, and their effects were not significant.
Due to the large amount of heavy metals contained in the pill, Li Chen's body gradually deteriorated and began to show the symptoms of **. And he was already indulging in the joy of the bed, and his physical condition was getting worse.
In 859 AD, that is, in May of the thirteenth year of Dazhong, Li Chen was poisoned because he ate the elixir offered by the imperial physician Li Yuanbo. According to historical records, his state at that time was close to "sick, thirsty and dry".
In the end, Li Chen died of illness in the Daming Palace in the same year at the age of fifty.
In the torrent of history, the emperor who had gone through vicissitudes of life finally disappeared. With the unfinished dream of immortality, he left this world, which also means the end of the prosperous era of the Tang Dynasty.
After Li Chen's death, it was difficult for Datang to find Mingjun, as if he had entered his twilight years, and his situation was getting worse. Years of war, three months of continuous fire, the sorrow of the people, the increase of taxes, the exploitation of the emperor and the emperor's immorality drew the final end to the most powerful dynasty in Chinese history.
1] Beijing Youth Daily: "Ancient Acting School: Tang Xuanzong From "Fool" to Counterattack, More than 20 Years of Interpretation of Life Reversal" [2] China News Network: "Seventy-seven Stone Carvings of Various Types Found in Tangling Tombs in Shaanxi, Revealing the Wisdom of Ancient Craftsmen" [3] China News Network: "Who Was the Most Lustful Emperor in Ancient China?"
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