Li Yuanjing, a minister of the Tang Dynasty royal family, was the sixth son of Tang Gaozu Li Yuan and the brother of Tang Taizong Li Shimin. Although he had no chance of ascending to the throne throughout his life, he was able to be a carefree prince. However, due to a dream, he ultimately embarked on the path of rebellion and buried himself. What was going on? Below, the history encyclopedia editor will bring you a detailed introduction. Let’s take a look together.
Li Yuanjing is the sixth son of Li Yuan. Many people have always believed that Li Yuan gave birth to brothers such as Li Jiancheng and Li Shimin, but in fact, this is not the case. Li Yuan already had five sons before the founding of the People’s Republic of China, and Li Yuanjing was born after Li Yuan’s founding. However, the fifth son, Li Zhiyun, died at the age of 14.
After the Xuanwu Gate Incident, Li Shimin ascended to the throne, while Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji were killed, so Li Yuanjing was already the eldest brother.
However, during the reign of Li Shimin, Li Yuanjing was very honest and did not dare to think about that tempting position. Of course, Li Shimin treated him well, not only appointing him as the King of Jing, but also making him the Governor of Jingzhou.
After Li Shimin’s death, Li Zhi ascended to the throne. Li Yuanjing suddenly became the oldest uncle of Li Zhi, so his seniority naturally increased.
Li Zhi also had great respect for this imperial uncle. The main reason why Li Zhi was able to become emperor was that he was not as ruthless as Li Shimin and received significant support. And he was also one of them. As soon as he ascended the throne, he conferred the title of Situ on Li Yuanjing and gave him 1500 households of fiefdoms. In theory, Li Zhi is so good to Uncle Liu, so Li Yuanjing should thank the Lord for his kindness.
But unexpectedly, Li Yuanjing began to be restless. Upon investigation, according to the “Zizhi Tongjian”, Li Yuanjing had a dream where he “held the sun and moon in his hands”.
But he had the idea, but it was still a long way from being realized. He also knew that his abilities and strength were limited, so he had to find an alliance.
Surprisingly, he did find a few helpers who were also dissatisfied with the court. These helpers are Fang Xuanling’s second son Fang Yiai, his wife Princess Gaoyang, Li Shimin’s brother-in-law Xue Wanche, and his son-in-law Chai Lingwu.
Fang Yiai’s younger brother Fang Yize married the daughter of Li Yuanjing, and they are also relatives. But despite having relatives with the court, these people are all dissatisfied with the emperor.
They saw that Tang Gaozong was relatively weak and attempted to depose him and enthrone Li Yuanjing as emperor.
However, objectively speaking, except for Xue Wanche who has some combat effectiveness, the others here are simply fooling around and not worth mentioning at all. After all, Li Shimin left too many resources for Emperor Gaozong of Tang, which could fully cope with them.
Just before the rebellion, the news of their conspiracy was leaked and learned by Changsun Wuji. Changsun Wuji was already a political enemy of Fang Xuanling, and now it was an opportunity to suppress them, while Li Yuanjing also ended up with a dismembered fate.
