Hello everyone, this is the editor of the History Encyclopedia. Today, we will tell you the story of Li Yifu. Welcome to follow us.
After Li Shimin’s death, Li Zhi was successfully supported as emperor by Changsun Wuji. However, Li Zhi’s weak personality led to Changsun Wuji acting recklessly, vigorously eliminating political enemies, and basically sidelining Li Zhi, becoming the uncrowned king of the Tang Dynasty. But Li Zhi is not foolish. How could he remain indifferent when he sees power slipping away? So they teamed up with Wu Mei to deal with Changsun Wuji and others!
Li Zhi still has self-awareness and knows that he cannot defeat Changsun Wuji and others head-on. So the couple secretly gathered “thugs”, among whom Li Yifu played the role of the vanguard in this battle, making great contributions to the couple’s downfall of Changsun Wuji. When the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty obeyed and obeyed him obediently, and Li Zhi himself felt that his authority as the emperor had been greatly restored, this Li Yifu became an exception!
During the battle, Li Yifu was a loyal fighter in the emperor’s camp. But after the battle ended, Li Zhi regretfully discovered that Li Yifu was not his confidant at all, but a confidant of Empress Wu. So he dared to act recklessly, even facing Li Zhi, because he knew that the emperor was also in the hands of the empress!
As the saying goes, to expect its demise, one must first make it insane. In the sixth year of Yonghui, Li Yifu hugged the big tree of Empress Wu and suddenly climbed to the center of power of the empire. However, shortly after feeling proud, he did something foolish. One autumn, a woman named Chunyu from Luozhou was imprisoned in Dali Temple Prison for committing a crime. Li Yifu saw that she was beautiful, so he used his power to make the Dali Temple magistrate Bi Zhengyi fabricate false evidence and release her. Then, I will marry her as a concubine myself.
Unexpectedly, Duan Baoxuan, the Minister of Dali Temple, discovered this matter and reported it to Li Zhi. And Li Yifu quickly forced Bi Zhengyi to commit suicide in prison to destroy his testimony. However, Li Zhi secretly investigated this matter, and it was Li Yifu who did it. But Li Zhi not only did not punish him for offending, but also protected him everywhere, demoted other officials, and even promoted him to the rank of prime minister! Because at that time, Changsun Wuji had not yet collapsed, and Li Zhi still needed Li Yifu to act as a “thug”.
Subsequently, Li Yifu became even more reckless, relying on the support of the emperor and empress to embezzle and accept bribes, sell official positions and titles, and do whatever it takes to make money. However, at this time, Changsun Wuji had already collapsed, and he had instead tarnished the reputation of the empire. So, after a quarrel with Du Zhenglun, the magistrate of the Imperial Secretariat, both of them were exiled! Obviously, this was intentionally done by Li Zhi, who had a quarrel and exiled the current prime minister, making it difficult for him to go, while Du Zhenglun appeared somewhat unlucky.
As mentioned earlier, although Li Yifu belonged to the emperor’s camp, he was loyal to Empress Wu. When Li Yifu was exiled, Empress Wu often sent people to comfort him, implying that he would soon return to the capital to regain power. It has been proven that Empress Wu’s power is still very strong. She not only recruited Li Yifu back, but also appointed him as the Minister of Personnel, the department in charge of personnel appointments! This hits the nail on the head of Li Yifu, because his favorite job is selling official positions and titles. From then on, Li Yifu swore to serve Empress Wu to the death, which can also be said to be a means for Empress Wu to win over people’s hearts!
Li Zhi knew all of this, but unfortunately, Li Yifu was a subordinate of the empress. In order to show face to the empress, he only criticized Li Yifu for a moment. But at this criticism meeting, Li Yifu behaved like a confident fool. Li Zhiping said lightly, ‘Your family has done many illegal things, but I haven’t pursued them. Please tell them not to do it again!’ This was already a great face for Li Yifu, but he didn’t appreciate it.
Li Yifu blushed and said with a thick neck, “Who told Your Majesty?” Upon hearing this, Li Zhi became angry. “Just tell me if it’s true, why bother with who told me?” Li Yifu’s face darkened and he remained silent. Finally, Li Yifu glanced at Li Zhi, a sneer swept across his lips, turned around suddenly, and left without saying a word!
At this point, the matter came to an end, and Li Yifu, relying on the support of the empress, despised the emperor. At the same time, Li Zhi’s self-esteem was severely damaged. If in the past, I could still spare him for the sake of the empress’s face, but after this incident, I wish I could shatter Li Yifu into pieces! Not long after, the opportunity came, and Li Yifu’s son unexpectedly sold his official position to Changsun Yan. It should be noted that Changsun Yan is Changsun Wuji’s grandson, and Changsun Wuji still wears the hat of rebellion. Selling an official to him is committing the crime of treason!
Li Zhi seized the opportunity and calculated the old and new accounts together, and exiled the entire Li Yifu family. And due to the rampant wrongdoing of Li Yifu, Empress Wu had to abandon him, which can be considered as cutting off one of Empress Wu’s limbs. Three years later, Li Zhi granted a Zen in Mount Taishan and issued an edict to pardon the world, but Li Yifu was not pardoned! After hearing this, Li Yifu became worried and angry, and died of illness. It can be said that the Li Yifu incident was a rare victory for Li Zhi. He defeated Changsun Wuji and Empress Wu, but still could not escape the fate of national demise!
