Today, the editor of the History Encyclopedia will share with you how tragic the fate of Li Fuguo was. Interested readers can follow the editor to take a look together.
In Chinese history, Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, Li Longji, was the most famous emperor. He defeated political enemies such as Empress Wei and Princess Taiping in his early years with extraordinary talent and political wisdom, and successfully inherited the throne. After ascending to the throne, Li Longji worked hard to promote the prosperity of the Tang Empire, known as the “Kaiyuan Tianbao Prosperous Age” in history. However, in his later years, Emperor Xuanzong of Tang was fond of fame and fortune, and was accompanied by beautiful women. He gradually neglected politics, eventually leading to the An Lushan Rebellion and being forced to abdicate and become the Grand Emperor. However, the Supreme Emperor was once humiliated by a eunuch named Li Fuguo.
Li Fuguo was castrated and sent to the imperial palace from a young age, and was assigned to the royal racecourse to feed the imperial horses. Although Li Fuguo has an ugly appearance, he possesses an extraordinary talent: computational ability. The number of flatterers in the racecourse and the daily expenses for feed, Li Fuguo’s ability to read and calculate verbally and mentally, earned the appreciation of his superiors, who recommended him to work in the Eastern Palace of Crown Prince Li Heng. Li Fuguo met the Crown Prince, who later became Emperor Suzong of Tang, Li Heng.
With the outbreak of the An Lushan Rebellion, Emperor Xuanzong of Tang fled hastily to Chengdu, while Crown Prince Li Heng, under the protection of Li Fuguo and others, broke away from Xuanzong’s army and came to Lingwu to ascend the throne, and honored Emperor Xuanzong of Tang from Shu as the Supreme Emperor. At this time, Emperor Xuanzong, who had lost all human hearts, reluctantly acknowledged the legitimate status of Emperor Suzong and entrusted the important task of restoring the Tang Dynasty to his own son. And with his support, Li Fuguo became a confidant of Emperor Suzong of Tang and gradually gained some power.
Li Fuguo is a highly respected eunuch in the city. He publicly declares that he is fasting and reciting Buddhism, showing a compassionate attitude, which makes everyone think he is a good person and will not be guarded. But secretly, he is skilled in calculation and very cautious. He took advantage of the An Lushan Rebellion that had not yet been quelled and knew that the new emperor was not firmly established. Therefore, he carefully searched for intelligence and gave it to Emperor Suzong of Tang, gaining his trust and continuously increasing his rank and title.
After Emperor Suzong met with Chang’an, Li Fuguo became the most powerful eunuch in the palace. Due to Emperor Suzong’s weakness and lack of progress, he simply delegated all political and military power to Li Fuguo. From then on, Li Fuguo began to attack the political enemies crazily, expel the dissidents, and infiltrate eyeliner in the court to consolidate his position. At the same time, in order to further please Emperor Suzong, Li Fuguo constantly attacked the already weakened Emperor Xuanzong of Tang and designed to transport him from the magnificent palace to the cold palace, and demoted his close eunuch Gao Lishi from the court. Emperor Xuanzong ultimately died in depression. But Tang Suzong was content and carefree.
Afterwards, in order to ensure his own status, Li Fuguo and Empress Zhang acted as allies, on the one hand holding Tang Suzong hostage, and on the other hand controlling the situation in the court. The two colluded and caused chaos in the entire court. However, as Emperor Suzong fell seriously ill, Empress Zhang’s ambition rapidly expanded, yearning for a dominant family. Since she had no son and the Crown Prince Li Yu was at odds with her, she secretly brought the King of Yue into the palace in an attempt to launch a coup and establish a new Crown Prince. Li Fuguo, who discovered this matter, took the initiative and led his army to rush into the palace to eliminate the Zhang Empress Group in one fell swoop. Tang Suzong, who was sick, was completely frightened by the sound of swords and knives, and died instantly. Li Fuguo immediately supported Li Yu to succeed to the throne, known as Emperor Tang.
After ascending to the throne, Emperor Tang was very disgusted with Li Fuguo’s continued control over the government, so he began planning to eliminate this great eunuch. Taking advantage of Li Fuguo’s negligence, Emperor Tang immediately revoked Li Fuguo’s military power and placed his confidants in important positions. When Li Fuguo realized it, it was already too late. Li Fuguo, who felt that something was amiss, voluntarily requested retirement in an attempt to save his life. Although Emperor Tang approved his request, he was still determined to eradicate future troubles to avoid any future changes. Considering that Li Fuguo had made significant contributions to his establishment, Tang Suzong could not publicly execute him. So Emperor Suzong issued an assassination order and dispatched assassins to pursue Li Fuguo.
Assassins have a deep understanding of the emperor’s thoughts. On a dark and windy night, Li Fuguo was killed under the cover of night, his head was chopped off and thrown into a cesspool, and his right arm was taken back to the palace for disposal by Emperor Tang. Emperor Tang ordered the blockade of news and hastily buried Li Fuguo. And his right arm was used to pay tribute to the Ming Emperor Tang Xuanzong, who was insulted by him.
