Follow the History Encyclopedia editor to explore the real Li Longji in history.
In 757 AD, Li Longji returned to the Chang’an Palace and passed away five years later, at the age of 78. Compared to the countless innocent soldiers and civilians who died tragically in the An Lushan Rebellion, how can we say that these conditions are “tragic”?
During his five years as Emperor Taishang, Li Longji’s survival status can be divided into two stages: in the first three years, he sang and danced with birds and swallows, and enjoyed a carefree lifestyle; In the following two years, he passed away with despair and melancholy. There is only one reason: power.
In fact, at the moment of the Ma Weiyi Mutiny, it was difficult for Li Longji to have a good life.
The relationship between a feudal emperor and his favored subjects is not simply hierarchical, with the former granting power to the latter and the latter acting as the former’s agent. Many of the chaos caused by seemingly “treacherous ministers taking power” is essentially a manifestation of the will of the emperor: what soil grows what fruit, you think treacherous ministers are bad people, but in fact, it is the emperor who is really bad.
However, the clever emperor’s greatest skill is to lay waste and kill donkeys, and find people to blame. Once they detect the boiling of public grievances and complaints, they can decisively take down their former favorite minister “to thank the world” and successfully transfer hatred, after all, ordinary people dare not openly resist imperial power. This move may not be authentic, but it is very practical.
But Li Longji clearly committed a crime. Everyone knows that the An Lushan Rebellion was self cultivated by him; If feudal emperors reigned for more than 30 years, they would basically become incompetent rulers. However, Li Longji, who had been in power for over 40 years at that time, changed his previous wise and martial arts and appointed sycophants within the court and highly valued foreign generals outside the court, hoping to use this so-called balance to consolidate his power. Even if countless people made direct accusations, it would be useless.
But things didn’t go as planned. One of his favorite courtiers, An Lushan, rebelled in the name of eliminating another favorite courtier, Yang Guozhong. At this time, Li Longji had already lost face;
But even then, he still didn’t want to repent. Not only did he not have the “wit” to protect the commander, but he also defended his favored ministers while destroying good generals
——Believing in eunuchs, killing Gao Xianzhi and Feng Changqing who sacrificed their lives to resist the enemy; Wearing the same pants as Yang Guozhong, forcing Ge Shuhan’s troops to leave Tongguan; After being tricked by himself, the main army immediately fled to the Shu region led by Yang Guozhong with his confidants and harem …..
The Ma Weiyi Mutiny was actually aimed at Li Longji, after all, beating dogs to see their masters, and the Forbidden Army killing Yang Guozhong was actually to defeat Li Longji’s army; Fortunately, Chen Xuanli had been in charge of the army for a long time and directed the trouble towards Yang Guifei, finding the scapegoat for the emperor and successfully limiting the development of the situation. Even his own woman couldn’t be protected, and although Li Longji lost face, he managed to save his life at least.
Subsequently, most of the military and civilians followed Crown Prince Li Heng northward to Shuofang, fully demonstrating their support and support. Not long after, Li Longji learned that his son had proclaimed himself emperor in Lingwu (i.e. Emperor Suzong of Tang) and honored himself as the Supreme Emperor. Although he felt disappointed, he had no other choice: someone had to clean up the mess, and he had no heart or power. If his son was willing to take the lead, it would be better than if the country fell into the hands of An Lushan.
In the following year or so, Emperor Li Longji took refuge in the bustling Shu region, while Emperor Li Heng was dispatched to suppress the rebellion in Shuofang, and both sides lived peacefully.
In 757 AD, the Tang army achieved a complete victory at Xiangji Temple, beheading 60000 rebels and reclaiming Chang’an in one fell swoop. Whether out of filial piety or showing off his achievements, Tang Suzong Li Heng had to bring his father back. He did indeed do so in the first place, but his words were quite hypocritical, roughly meaning: ‘Please return to the east, I will retreat to the east palace and become a crown prince with peace of mind.’.
There’s nothing we can do, although the throne is indeed fragrant and we are entitled to it ourselves, but we must pay attention to packaging our appearance properly; Moreover, everyone understands that today is different from the past, and even if Li Longji is greedy for power, he will feel embarrassed (afraid) to take on the challenge.
As for the task of conveying the truth, it is left to the ministers. Li Bi, the “Zhuge” of Li Heng, quickly wrote a congratulatory letter in the name of his courtiers, which roughly read: “Your Majesty always misses the Emperor. Now that the capital has been liberated, please return to the capital so that Your Majesty can fulfill his filial piety.
Two memorial letters were sent to Shu, one in front and one behind, together expressing the idea that the emperor was willing to abdicate, but the ministers did not agree. This double reed has given both Li Longji and his son a way out, embodying the essence of political intrigue.
Sure enough, when Li Longji received his first letter, he was “lost and unable to eat, unable to return”; After the second letter arrived, the big stone in his heart finally fell to the ground. He happily ordered people to prepare the costumes, food, and entertainment programs for the journey, and set the departure date.
The process of the father son meeting afterwards was quite profound:
Li Longji arrived in Fengxiang and immediately handed over the 600 armored soldiers escorting him to the county where he was located, stating that he would not interfere with any military power; Upon learning of this, Li Heng dispatched 3000 elite soldiers to greet them;
After Li Longji arrived in Xianyang, Li Heng took off his yellow robe and came to greet him wearing a purple robe. He knelt down in front of his father and asked him to use his imperial carriage;
Li Longji was naturally pleased with this attitude, and of course, he would reciprocate. He came to the Yellow Robe and personally put it on for his son. Afterwards, he declared, “Heaven’s mandate and people’s hearts have already belonged to you. If you can let me spend my old age peacefully, it is your loyalty and filial piety
Perhaps this is truly the truth. After a polite gesture, the father and son set off back to the palace. Li Heng personally led the horse for his father, and Li Longji happily said, “I have been the emperor for nearly 50 years, but I do not consider myself noble. Now that I am the father of the emperor, I realize that my nobility is beyond measure!” After returning to the palace, he officially handed over the imperial seal to his son.
The above scene is actually quite funny: the father and son both know how powerful imperial power is, but Li Heng is concerned about filial piety and has to repeatedly feign concessions; Li Longji dared not or could not accept it, so he had to express his willingness to settle for the status quo five times and three times, and his tricks became deeper and deeper.
But it’s easy to say let go, but it’s another matter when faced with blatant temptations of power.
Li Longji returned to Chang’an and still resided in the Xingqing Palace, where he had served as emperor. At first, Li Heng treated his father with great respect and often sought advice on political matters. If Li Longji really gave up his power, he should have been like Li Yuan when he “ignored everything outside the window”, but he really couldn’t control himself …..
Here is an example:
Li Heng was prepared to forgive the brothers Zhang Jun and Zhang Yong when dealing with the ministers who had surrendered to the rebels. After drafting the imperial edict, he took it to seek the opinion of the Supreme Emperor.
In the face of this situation, Li Longji should not interfere. When he still couldn’t give up his desire for the power of life and death, he refused this proposition; After Li Heng kowtowed and requested, he reluctantly only spared Zhang Yong’s life.
What’s even more deadly is that Li Heng wanted to pardon Zhang Jun and Zhang Yong because their father Zhang said he had saved his life: when Li Heng was still in his mother’s womb, Li Longji was just a feudal lord, and he was worried about the persecution of Princess Taiping, so he planned to use abortion pills to abort the child; But Zhang said that he couldn’t bear to secretly replace it with prenatal medication, which saved Li Heng’s life.
It is not difficult to guess Li Heng’s true feelings, as the saying goes, ‘There are no two masters in a country, and even as an emperor, he cannot protect his benefactor.’. In addition, he once wanted to dig up the body of Li Linfu, who brought disaster to the country and the people, and scatter his bones and ashes, but he ultimately gave up the idea of considering Li Longji. One word to describe the state of Tang Suzong Li Heng: awkward.
Li Longji lives in Xingqing Palace, which is adjacent to a street market and offers a panoramic view of the prosperity of Chang’an; He was served by Chen Xuanli and Gao Lishi, and often indulged in drinking, entertainment, and singing and dancing with a group of princesses and old officials on a daily basis. His son Tang Suzong also often came to visit him, and his life was a nourishing one;
But this still couldn’t satisfy him. As someone who loved to show off, he often climbed up to Changqing Tower, and the people passing by bowed down and shouted ‘Long live the mountain!’ Li Longji was overjoyed and ordered a banquet to be held downstairs to entertain everyone;
Not to mention, he even frequently had close contact with some military leaders who came to the capital. General Guo Ying and envoys from Jiannan Province had deliberately come to pay their respects and enjoyed the warm hospitality of Li Longji.
This is a bit of crossing the line. Li Heng is not prone to outbursts due to his father son relationship, but his confidants cannot tolerate the saying ‘one emperor, one courtier’.
After the An Lushan Rebellion, Li Heng was extremely wary of his generals, and eunuchs such as Li Fuguo, Yu Chao’en, and Cheng Yuanzhen were highly valued; These people colluded with Empress Zhang to manipulate power and control the government.
Among them, Li Fuguo came from a poor and humble background. Although his power was at its peak, he was always looked down upon by those around Li Longji. In order to share the burden of the emperor and further enhance his own status, he persuaded Emperor Suzong of Tang to relocate Li Longji to the heavily guarded inner palace, citing that “the emperor colluded with outsiders, Chen Xuanli and Gao Lishi plotted against evil, and the imperial guards were all involved in the Mawei Post Incident and were uneasy”, in order to avoid any chaos.
On the surface, Tang Suzong did not agree, but Li Fuguo was so shrewd. He first cut the number of horses in Xingqing Palace without authorization, reducing it from 300 to 10; Li Longji felt uneasy, but he was helpless.
Not long after, Li Fuguo gathered the Forbidden Army and begged for Li Longji to be moved to Taiji Palace, but Tang Suzong’s attitude was “not to cry”, only to cry but not to make a statement.
A few months later, taking advantage of Tang Suzong’s illness, Li Fuguo falsely issued an imperial edict, claiming that the emperor invited the Grand Emperor to visit the Taiji Palace; Li Longji led his confidants halfway and was blocked by Li Fuguo and the 500 armed Forbidden Army, who expressed their “welcome” to the more “spacious” Taiji Palace where the Grand Emperor had moved.
In this way, Li Longji was almost kidnapped to the dilapidated Ganlu Hall of the Taiji Palace, with only a few dozen elderly, weak, sick, and disabled servants around him. Old subordinates such as Chen Xuanli and Gao Lishi, as well as former palace maids, were all stripped away.
Afterwards, Li Fuguo led the imperial guards to apologize to Tang Suzong. Of course, not only were they not punished, but they also received verbal praise.
Li Longji, who was almost imprisoned, continued to eat almost exclusively vegetarian and even practiced the art of fasting; Perhaps because of missing Yang Guifei, or perhaps because of the sadness of his own bleak situation, he was withered, his heart was as lifeless as ashes, and he passed away two years later.
Upon hearing this news, Tang Suzong Li Heng, who was bedridden and had not visited his father for several months, was filled with sorrow and regret. His condition worsened and he soon passed away, leaving people deeply saddened.
There is nothing in the world, mediocre people disturb themselves. “Li Longji, who returned to the capital, was already old and had lost all his prestige in the court and public. It was unlikely that he would cause any trouble, but as the emperor who had been there for decades, he suddenly let go of his dignity and enjoyed a low-key life, which was indeed difficult for others; And Tang Suzong Li Heng was not the kind of person who would resort to extreme means for the sake of power. Although he brought inconvenience to the influence of the Supreme Emperor, it was within a tolerable range, and the father and son could have lived peacefully together.
On the one hand, Li Longji failed to completely let go of his sense of power; On the other hand, the confidants of Emperor Suzong of Tang would not tolerate any constraining forces from above. They took advantage of Emperor Suzong’s hesitation and indecisiveness to overstep their bounds and settle the matter with the Supreme Emperor, resulting in established facts.
In the face of power, the power of family affection is too weak, which is why in the feudal era of more than 2000 years, the coexistence of the Supreme Emperor and the Emperor was extremely rare.
