Do you really know the story of Li Mao? Today, the history encyclopedia editor brings you a brand new interpretation~
The love story between Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, Li Longji, and Yang Guifei is famous in history, and Bai Juyi’s “Song of Everlasting Regret” recorded their love story. The spring night is bitter and the day rises high, and from then on, the king does not court early. “This shows that Yang Guifei can be regarded as a favorite of the six palaces. But it was this favored concubine who was actually the daughter-in-law of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, Li Longji. It has to be said that the Tang Dynasty was indeed an open dynasty!
The Biography of Yang Guifei in the New Book of Tang states: “At the beginning, she was the consort of Shou. In the 24th year of the Kaiyuan reign, Empress Wu Hui passed away, and the imperial court had no intention of becoming emperor. It was said that the consort (referring to Yang Yuhuan) had a beautiful appearance and was suitable for serving in the imperial court. Therefore, she was summoned to the Inner Forbidden City to be different. She was appointed as a female official and given the title of Taizhen. She was also hired by the Shou King to train the daughter of Wei Zhaoxun, and Taizhen was fortunate
Let’s talk about Li Mao, the son of Emperor Xuanzong and the former husband of Yang Guifei. Li Mao was originally named Li Qing and was the 18th son of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang. His mother was Empress Wu Huifei, who was highly favored by Emperor Xuanzong at that time. But Li Mao did not grow up in the imperial palace since childhood, but in the family of his uncle, Prince Ning Li Xian, and was raised by his wife, Yuan Shi, who falsely referred to him as the son of Yuan Shi.
This is because Li Mao’s mother Wu Huifei had been pregnant three times, but the children were unable to support them. So after Li Mao was born, Emperor Xuanzong of Tang decided to entrust him to someone else to take care of in order to avoid any further mishaps.
It was not until the thirteenth year of Kaiyuan (725 AD), when Li Mao was already in his teens, that Emperor Xuanzong of Tang summoned him back to the palace and conferred him the title of Prince Shou. The reason why he was crowned as the King of Longevity was because Li Longji wanted Li Mao to live a long and healthy life. At this time, it can be seen that Emperor Xuanzong of Tang still loved Li Mao very much.
Later, when Li Mao reached the age of marriage, she married Yang Yuhuan as the queen under the control of her parents and lived a relatively comfortable life. Li Mao and Yang Yuhuan lived together for a total of five years.
During this period, Empress Wu Huifei wanted her son to become the crown prince, so she planned to falsely accuse Crown Prince Li Ying, Prince E Li Yao, and Prince Guang Li Ju of plotting rebellion. As expected, all three of them were executed, but soon Empress Wu Huifei was also frightened to death.
After experiencing the pain of losing his mother, Emperor Xuanzong appointed Li Heng as the crown prince, and from then on, Li Mao’s position as the crown prince also fell through.
After experiencing the previous events, Li Mao encountered something that no man wants to encounter again, which is being cuckolded by his own queen. It was none other than his father, Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, who allowed him to wear a green hat. Afterwards, Li Mao was also alienated and cold by Emperor Xuanzong of Tang. This made Li Mao feel very depressed and helpless, unable to express the pain in his heart.
Then Li Mao’s adoptive father, Prince Ning Li Xian, passed away, so Li Mao took this opportunity to invite himself to observe filial piety for his adoptive father for three years, hoping to temporarily avoid these controversies.
Afterwards, Emperor Xuanzong of Tang may have felt indebted to his son, so he presided over the re marriage of Li Mao to the third daughter of Wei Zhaoxun, the General of the Right Army of the Left Guard, and became Li Mao’s queen. From then on, Li Mao and Wei relied on each other for survival, and they had a total of five sons, three of whom were crowned kings.
Later, Li Mao passed away at twelve o’clock in the first lunar month of the tenth year of the Dali era (775 AD) and passed away peacefully.
From Li Mao’s experience, we can find that his life was very tragic. First, his mother passed away, then he had no hope of winning the throne, and later he was brought by his own father with a green hat, but he never achieved much success in his life. But at least he survived safely and healthily, and had five children.
In summary, the Tang Dynasty was indeed an open dynasty. At the beginning of the Tang Dynasty, Emperor Taizong Li Shimin killed his elder brother and younger brother, forcibly married his sister-in-law and brother’s wife. Later, Emperor Gaozong Li Zhi married his mother Wu Meiniang after his father’s death. Finally, Emperor Xuanzong married his daughter-in-law Yang Yuhuan, which is truly lamentable!
