Before ascending to the throne, Li Longji launched a coup, and after ascending to the throne, he launched another coup, with the former laying the foundation and the latter consolidating the throne. Four women were killed in two coups, including their aunt Empress Wei, cousin Princess Anle, and aunt Princess Taiping, as well as a well-known outsider named Lady Xiangshang Wan’er. Interested readers and history encyclopedia editors, let’s take a look together!
So, why did Li Longji resolutely kill these women? The reason is actually very simple, it’s to seize power. However, the story still needs to start with the end of Wu Zetian.
In the first year of the Shenlong reign of Empress Wu Zetian (705 AD), the 80 year old prime minister Zhang Jianzhi led the “Shenlong Coup”, and Empress Wu Zetian, the “Shenlong”, was removed from the throne. Afterwards, everyone welcomed Li Xian, who was once Emperor Zhongzong and later demoted to Prince Luling by Empress Wu Zetian, back to the throne. But Li Xian was an emperor who couldn’t stand up straight in front of women. The reason why the throne was deposed was because he was too eager to “benefit” Empress Wei’s family, which led his mother Wu Zetian to seize the opportunity and, in a fit of anger, make him roll up and go to Fangzhou (now Fangxian County, Hubei Province). Now that Li Xian has returned to the throne, he still lacks the courage he had in the past. Faced with the doubts of his ministers, he still had a heroic spirit of “giving up the country to his father-in-law without imitation”. Now, he has declined to the point where the power of the court has simply been handed over to Emperor Wei.
Li Xian did this for his own reasons, he believed that Wei Shi was his wife who “showed true feelings in times of hardship”. Because during his more than ten years of staying in Fangzhou, Webster has always been loyal to him. Due to the fear of being harmed by Empress Wu Zetian, Li Xian spent every day in constant fear and even attempted suicide. However, Weishi has always encouraged and cheered him on, which has helped him regain the courage to survive and ultimately usher in his day of success. Obviously, without Wei Shi’s encouragement from behind, Li Xian would not have been able to wait for the day when luck came. So, after resetting, Li Xiancai was obedient and obediently obedient to Wei Shi.
However, Wei Shi’s ambition was not inferior to that of Wu Zetian, who was the role model she admired, so her ultimate goal was also to become emperor with glory. In fact, for Wei Shi, the current situation is only one step away from the throne, because her followers are scattered all over the house, including Wu Sansi, the prime minister and lover, who seizes power for her, and her brother Wei Wen in charge of military power outside. In the middle, there is Shangguan Wan’er who provides advice and strategies for her, and there are still bustling supporters waving flags and cheering for her.
Since the conditions are so favorable, with favorable timing, location, and people, Empress Wei naturally needs to work hard to move forward. However, although Li Xian was made dizzy and numb by Wei Shi, Wei Shi’s clear ambition had already aroused the vigilance of Princess Taiping and a part of the Li Tang dynasty royal family led by Prince Li Longji of Linzi. Because no one wants to send away a ‘Emperor Wu’ and welcome another ‘Empress Wei’, the Li Tang dynasty will surely be doomed. So Li Longji must shoulder the responsibility of the survival of the dynasty, eliminate the followers of the Wei clan, and then plan his own opportunity to ascend to the throne.
If Wei Shi were to abide by his own rules, then Li Longji would naturally have no other options. Firstly, he would not be able to snatch it from his uncle’s hands, and secondly, Li Xian had already appointed Li Zhongjun as the crown prince. But Wei’s poop was the one who hit the “gun barrel”, but he was also pushed by Li Zhongjun behind him. Li Zhongjun is not the biological son of Empress Wei, so not only does she look unpleasant, but even Princess Anle often partners with her husband Wu Chongxun (son of Wu Sansi) to bully Li Zhongjun. Li Zhongjun could no longer bear it, so he led more than a hundred soldiers from the Yulin Army to launch a coup and execute “Wei Wu”. As a result, Wu Sansi’s family was executed, Empress Wei and her daughter escaped, and Li Chongjun was defeated and killed.
Obviously, Li Zhongjun ignited the powder keg of the Tang Dynasty palace coup, and not long after, Empress Wei and Princess Anle secretly poisoned Li Xian to death. Afterwards, Empress Wei took multiple measures and appointed Li Xian’s other son, Li Chongmao, as a puppet emperor to deceive others; On the other hand, he began to address the matter of proclaiming himself emperor; The remaining task is to plan and eliminate hostile forces such as Princess Taiping, Prince Li Dan, and Prince Li Longji of Linzi. It is obvious that if Empress Wei succeeds in usurping the throne, Li Longji’s party can only lead by the neck to be slaughtered. So, Princess Taiping indeed took action and ordered her son Xue Chongjian to assist Li Longji in launching a coup, successfully capturing Empress Wei, Princess Anle, Shangguan Wan’er, and their followers.
The next issue is the distribution of “benefits”, that is, who will be the emperor. There are three candidates, namely Princess Taiping, Li Dan, and Li Longji. Interestingly, both Princess Taiping and Li Longji coveted the throne, while only Li Dan remained indifferent. Obviously, Li Dan is the most qualified because he has experience as an emperor. Since Emperor Zhongzong Li Xian can be reinstated, it is not impossible to find himself. However, Li Dan, who had witnessed years of bloodshed, was tired of being sought after to seize the throne. However, Li Dan believed that the throne could no longer fall into the hands of a single woman, Princess Taiping. Although she was still his beloved sister, he could not immediately let his son Li Longji succeed to the throne because he could not temporarily submit to the crowd and needed a transitional period. So Li Dan must first sit on the throne, and then legitimately adopt his son. Therefore, there was a scene in history where Li Dan succeeded to the throne in 710 and gave way to Li Longji in 712.
Obviously, when Li Longji ascended to the throne, Princess Taiping’s wish came to nothing. So will she be willing? Of course not, because she has Wu Zetian’s blood flowing from her bones, and her heart is even more fanatical than Wei’s. Therefore, the power hungry Princess Taiping immediately cultivated her own strength and prepared to attack her nephew. Li Longji’s intelligence lies in seizing the initiative in everything and not being controlled by others. Therefore, before his aunt could take action, he had already inserted the knife into her heart. In the end, the followers of Princess Taiping were executed, and she was ordered to die by Li Longji. Her children were brutally implicated, but only one of their sons, Xue Chongjian, was spared.
Throughout Li Longji’s two coups, the women she resolutely killed were Empress Wei, Princess Anle, Shangguan Wan’er, and Princess Taiping. So, why is Li Longji so ruthless?
1、 I have obtained the true biography of my great grandfather Li Shimin. In 626 AD, Li Shimin launched the Xuanwu Gate Incident, and on that day, the heads of his elder brother Li Jiancheng and fourth brother Li Yuanji fell to the ground. The next day, Li Shimin executed 10 young nephews. This is called uprooting the grass and eliminating future troubles forever, because Li Shimin neither wants to be criticized by his nephews in the future, causing him great distress, nor does he want to survive under the shadow of their revenge. Therefore, since his great grandfather was so wise and decisive, Li Longji had reasons not to follow suit.
2、 The struggle for imperial power is a ruthless game. Because the coup itself is cruel, either you die or I die, and the family bonds between people have long disappeared. If there is mercy left for the opponent, then the place where one will die without a burial is oneself in the future. It is worth mentioning that many people believe that Wei Shi, Princess Anle, and others are self inflicted and their deaths are not to be regretted, except for Shangguan Wan’er who has been wrongly accused.
In fact, Shangguan Wan’er is not unjustified, because she is a woman who is good at speculation, and her existence is a threat to Li Longji. In Li Longji’s view, since Shangguan Wan’er could abandon her family feud and serve Empress Wu Zetian without regard, and also completely withdraw and rely on Empress Wei after Wu Zetian’s downfall, she would naturally become a follower of Princess Taiping. Therefore, Li Longji did not hesitate to execute Shangguan Wan’er.
