After the Tang Long Rebellion, Prince Li Dan ascended to the throne of God. Li Zhongfu, the King of Qiao who was far away in Junzhou, was dissatisfied. Zhang Lingjun, a native of Luoyang, took the opportunity to persuade him, “Your Majesty is the eldest son of Emperor Zhongzong and should be the emperor. If you infiltrate Luoyang, send troops to both sides, attack and kill the garrison, and occupy the eastern capital, then the command of the world can be determined
Who is Li Zhongfu? Why did he launch a rebellion? Interested readers and history encyclopedia editors, let’s take a look together!
Li Zhongfu was the illegitimate eldest son of Emperor Zhongzong of Tang, Li Xian. The identity of his mother is unknown in historical records. During the reign of Emperor Gaozong of Tang, Li Chongfu, who was only three years old, was appointed as the Prince of Changjun. It can be said that he grew up with a golden key.
After Wu Zetian declared herself emperor, she renamed Li Chongfu as the Prince of Ping’en County, and soon after, she was further conferred the title of Prince Qiao. After the Shenlong Incident, Li Xian was enthroned as emperor by his ministers. As the son of the emperor, Li Zhongfu’s spring seemed to be coming, but the opposite was true.
As Li Zhongfu was not born to Empress Wei, Empress Wei was very disgusted with him and falsely accused him in front of Li Xian, saying that he had colluded with Zhang Yizhi and other anti party members to plot rebellion.
Emperor Tang Zhongzong did not execute Li Zhongfu, but demoted him to the position of Governor of Puzhou and later appointed him as Governor of Junzhou. Although Li Zhongfu holds the important position of governor, he has no real power. The court is still worried and sends people to monitor his every move.
In 709 AD, Emperor Zhongzong of Tang granted amnesty to the whole country, and all exiled people were allowed to return to their hometowns, except for Li Zhongfu who was not included in the amnesty and was not allowed to rebel against the capital. Li Zhongfu was very worried and reported his feelings to his father, the emperor. But the report sank into the sea.
Emperor Zhongzong of Tang, Li Xian, died of a sudden illness. Empress Wei came to power and sent General Zhao Cheng’en with five hundred people to Junzhou to closely monitor Li Zhongfu.
Li Zhongfu hated Empress Wei to the bone and planned to rebel. Coincidentally, Zheng Shan, the attendant of the Ministry of Personnel, arrived in Junzhou. He saw that Li Zhongfu was in a difficult situation and encouraged him to rise up and attack the Wei family, in order to regain the throne.
With the support of Zheng Shan and others, Li Zhongfu’s confidence immediately increased, and he began to recruit troops and conspire to rebel. Unexpectedly, the team had not yet assembled when news came from the capital that Empress Wei, Princess Anle, and others had been killed, and Prime Minister Li Dan had been enthroned as the new emperor by his ministers.
At this critical moment, the new court issued a transfer order appointing Li Zhongfu as the governor of Jizhou. Li Zhongfu began to be in a dilemma. The emperor’s dream that had just been ignited was about to be shattered soon?
Zhang Lingjun, a native of Luoyang, saw Li Zhongfu’s thoughts and persuaded him to take the opportunity to rise up, which led to the scene at the beginning of the previous text.
Li Zhongfu’s dream of becoming an emperor has once again been ignited. Yes, I am the eldest son of Emperor Zhongzong. According to the rules of all dynasties, after the emperor’s death, the eldest son should ascend to the throne. I have never heard of it being passed down to my uncle.
So, Li Zhongfu conspired with Zhang Lingjun, Zheng Shan, and others, gathering dozens of people to officially establish a small court in Junzhou. Li Zhongfu declared himself emperor, changed the reign to Zhongyuan Kefu, honored Li Dan as Emperor Ji Shu, and Prince Wen as Emperor Tai.
Zheng Shan and others each received rewards. Zheng Shan was appointed as the Left Prime Minister, Zhang Lingjun as the Right Prime Minister, and the others were appointed as high-ranking officials.
All preparations were stopped, and Li Zhongfu, Zheng Shan, and others falsely claimed to be heading towards Luoyang by post. They had not yet arrived in Luoyang when the conspiracy was exposed. Upon hearing this news, officials of all sizes in the Eastern Capital were so frightened that they fled or hid. Only the governor of Luoyang, Shi Cuirizhi, led his troops to intercept them.
Li Yong, the imperial censor, quickly rode his horse and arrived at the left and right camps, saying to the officers and soldiers, “King Qiao was a guilty minister during the reign of the former emperor. Now that he has entered the Eastern Capital without reason, he will surely rebel. Now, it is time for you to make achievements
When Li Zhongfu’s team arrived at Tianjin Bridge, there were already hundreds of people following him. He rushed to the left and right camps first, but the soldiers guarding the camp shot arrows at him, and the arrows rained down like rain.
As a last resort, Li Zhongfu rushed to Zuoye Gate again, hoping to call on the soldiers who stayed behind. However, the gate was tightly closed. Li Zhongfu was furious and ordered the burning of the city gate. The fire hadn’t started yet, and the soldiers from Zuotun Camp rushed out and approached him.
Li Zhongfu knew that the situation was hopeless, so he had to ride his horse and escape from the Upper East Gate, hiding in the valley.
The next day, the soldiers began to climb the mountain, claiming to capture Li Zhongfu. Li Zhongfu had no other choice but to commit suicide by jumping into the river.
Li Zhongfu died with some backbone, at least daring to take his own life. And his subordinate Zheng Shan died relatively cowardly. Zheng Shan is a person who is afraid of death. After the defeat, he disguised himself as a woman and hid in a car, but he was still recognized and arrested for execution.
When Zheng Shan was beheaded, his legs trembled with fear and he could hardly speak. His companion Zhang Lingjun, however, remained calm and disdainful as he said to Zheng Shan, “How could I cause trouble with someone as timid as you? It seems that I will definitely fail
For this rebellion farce led by Li Zhongfu, with Zheng Shan and Zhang Lingjun as henchmen, the editor believes that it will undoubtedly fail. Why do you say this? I think there are two reasons:
1. People’s hearts are not attached. Although Li Zhongfu was born into the royal family, he had poor conduct and lacked the support of powerful ministers in the court, with no political foundation. Tang Ruizong Li Dan’s evaluation of him was very fair: “He was fierce and stubborn when he was young, but dangerous when he grew up.” How can such a person achieve great things?
2. The entrusted person is not human. The talent that Li Zhongfu relied on was Zheng Shan. What kind of person was Zheng Shan? According to historical records, he first attached himself to the wise minister; After Lai Junchen was killed, he became dependent on Zhang Yizhi; After Zhang Yizhi was killed, he became dependent on Wei Hou; After Wei Hou was killed, he became dependent on Prince Qiao Li Zhongfu. However, Li Zhongfu was also defeated and killed.
From this perspective, Zheng Shan is a unlucky person who will perish with whoever he joins. From Zheng Shan’s experience of constantly changing masters, it can be seen that he is just a petty person who follows the wind. With his assistance, how could Li Zhongfu remain unbeaten?
The tragedy of Li Zhongfu lies in his lack of self-awareness, low character and ability, but great ambition. Under the temptation of cunning and deceitful people, he became hot headed and actually wanted to become an emperor! His behavior with his friends is very childish and funny, and failure is inevitable.
