For readers who are unsure about who Li Yuanying is, they can read on with the History Encyclopedia editor.
In ancient times, when the competition for the throne was fierce, children born into imperial families were all beyond their control. It was impossible not to compete for that position, but there were also some princes who successfully escaped the competition for the throne. Prince Teng Li Yuanying was one of them, who lived his life safely and absurdly.
Li Yuanying is the youngest brother of Li Shimin, but he is nothing like Li Shimin. Li Yuanying is very absurd, and what he does makes people laugh and cry. For example, he often goes out to play on the streets and hits ordinary people with slingshots whenever he has nothing to do. Although the people who are beaten are also very angry, because Li Yuanying is a prince, they can only swallow their anger.
Li Yuanying saw that the people were beaten but did not respond, so he often played with them like this. Over time, when the people saw him coming, they all hid, but he was amused by the people’s reaction.
When Li Yuan was in power, he was very worried about this son, but Tiger Poison does not eat his son, and he will not do anything to Li Yuanying. Later, Li Shimin ascended to the throne, and out of brotherly affection, coupled with the fact that such a ridiculous prince posed no threat to his throne, he also turned a blind eye to Li Yuanying.
But after Li Shimin’s death, Li Yuanying did not have such good luck. Li Zhi couldn’t stand Li Yuanying doing whatever he wanted, so he demoted Li Yuanying from Shandong to Hongzhou, hoping that he would abide by his own rules from now on. But things didn’t go as planned. After arriving in Hongzhou, Li Yuanying became even more ruthless, from using slingshots to hit civilians to forcibly taking wives. However, the woman was not happy and even injured Li Yuanying’s face.
Li Zhi soon found out about this matter, and he demoted Li Yuanying from Hongzhou to Chuzhou, this time reducing his fiefdom and followers by half. Li Yuanying, who arrived in Chuzhou, still did not repent and did many absurd things, so he was demoted to Longzhou again.
Jiangshan is easy to change, but one’s nature is difficult to change. Even though he was repeatedly demoted, Li Yuanying still couldn’t change his absurd style of behavior. In Longzhou, he once again beat up his assistant official, who was Pei Yu. The thing is, when Pei Yu saw that Li Yuanying was not doing his job properly, he gave him some advice. Unexpectedly, after hearing this, Li Yuanying became angry and even beat Pei Yu up. Li Zhi was really helpless about this, so he turned a blind eye and stopped caring about him.
After Li Zhi’s death, Empress Wu launched a political campaign and became the empress. Many members of the Li family were implicated and died tragically, but this absurd prince Li Yuanying was spared from his harm. Because of his bad reputation and absurd behavior, Wu Zetian was too lazy to kill him.
However, is Li Yuanying really that absurd? The bad things he did were nothing more than using slingshots to hit the people, seeking beauty, and beating and scolding officials. Many nobles have done these things, why is Li Yuanying the only one who has been labeled as absurd and foolish? Perhaps this is precisely Li Yuanying’s cleverness, using these minor charges to ensure her lifelong safety.
