Why did Li Chengqi, the eldest son of Li Dan, give up the throne? The history encyclopedia editor brings relevant content to everyone. Interested friends, come and take a look.
In the first year of Tang Long, Prime Minister Li Dan received a stunned news. His third son, Li Longji, unexpectedly led a small number of soldiers to launch a palace coup. What’s even more amazing is that Li Longji, who is only 25 years old and has little experience, achieved great success in just one battle and handed over the throne to his father Li Dan.
Li Dan and his brother Li Xian were both sons of Empress Wu Zetian and had served as emperors before Wu Zetian declared himself emperor. During Wu Zetian’s serious illness in her later years, Prime Minister Zhang Jianzhi launched the Shenlong Coup, forcing Wu Zetian to hand over power to Li Xian, also known as Tang Zhongzong. Tang Zhongzong passed away within a few years, and the throne was inherited by his son Li Chongmao. However, Li Chongmao was just a puppet, and power still belonged to Empress Wei.
Empress Wei is clearly following the old path of Empress Wu Zetian. At this time, Li Longji conspired with his aunt Princess Taiping to launch the “Tang Long Coup” without informing her father, Prince Xiang Li Dan, beforehand. Not telling Li Dan, Li Longji’s apparent reason was that he was afraid of Li Dan’s worries, but in reality, everyone knew that he was afraid of his father’s indecisiveness and lack of ambition for power to intervene.
Li Dan was indeed indecisive, even after ascending to the throne, he faced a very difficult choice: who to crown?
The crown prince is the crown prince, the future emperor, and the foundation of the feudal state. In theory, Li Longji’s great achievements were almost a result of his own efforts to seize the throne, so of course he should be crowned as the crown prince. However, at that time, it was the system of eldest son succession, which means that if there was a eldest son, even if the illegitimate son was outstanding, he could not be appointed as a crown prince.
Does Li Dan have a legitimate eldest son? Yes, this person’s name is Li Chengqi. He should not only be the crown prince, but also had already been the crown prince when Li Dan first became emperor. Although young at the time, it was well deserved and indisputable. But now he still deserves it, but many people dare not speak up and support him.
Because this scene reminds people of a scene from nearly a hundred years ago. At the beginning of the establishment of the Tang Dynasty, the country was basically conquered by the wise and decisive Li Shimin. However, because Li Shimin was the legitimate second son, the position of heir could only be held by the eldest son Li Jiancheng. However, this arrangement made Li Shimin, who was highly respected and influential, quite dissatisfied until the most decisive way, the “Xuanwu Gate Incident,” was finally used to resolve the final contradiction.
In fact, although Li Longji made great contributions, his power, status, and prestige could not be compared to Li Shimin at that time. Li Shimin waged wars in the south and north, gathering the top talents in the world. His staff was no worse than the prime ministers in the court, and his generals were one of the most important military commanders of the Tang Dynasty.
What does Li Longji have? He only relies on the fame of the Prime Minister Li Dan, he is just an ordinary prince. He just carefully planned and won a beautiful battle. However, it was this battle that revealed his bloodthirsty genes and revealed the shadow of Li Shimin back then. So, Li Chengqi, who was most qualified to be the crown prince, expressed his withdrawal and wrote a letter saying:
If a country is safe, it will be legitimate first; if it is in danger, it will be meritorious first. I dare not rise above the throne when I die.
At this point, it’s easy to handle. Of course, Li Longji needs to show his stance and express that he is not willing to compete with his brother for power. But everyone knows that this is an old trick of playing hard and not taking it seriously. After three rounds of evasion, Li Longji performed the play well, and Tang Ruizong and Li Dan also watched it thoroughly. Li Dan also knew that if Li Longji was not granted the position of heir to the throne, the court would probably have to resort to internal strife. Fortunately, Li Chengqi was sensible and could be considered as avoiding a bloody conflict for the Tang Dynasty. So, Li Dan announced that Li Longji would be appointed as the crown prince.
It is said that Li Longji had a good relationship with Li Chengqi and other brothers afterwards. Of course, this can be understood. Back then, Empress Wu Zetian imprisoned Li Dan and her grandchildren, turning these nobles into gentle pets. Only Li Longji was a strange flower with such great courage in his actions. The other brothers, including Li Chengqi, have no ambition, and Li Longji will certainly not make things difficult for them.
Li Chengqi was not mistaken, Li Longji is indeed not a good person. Even after becoming emperor, due to the intensification of conflicts with his aunt, Princess Taiping, Li Longji launched another “congenital coup” and wiped out all of Princess Taiping’s followers. Even though his father Li Dan came forward to plead for Princess Taiping, Li Longji did not agree and still executed his aunt.
According to Li Longji’s character of blocking and killing Buddha, if Li Chengqi accepted the crown prince’s position, he would have a ghost if he didn’t cause a second “Xuanwu Gate Incident”. Li Chengqi was not wrong either. Li Longji did have strong political means and created the great situation of the prosperous Kaiyuan era in the early stage. As for the old age and confusion that led to the An Lushan Rebellion, we can only blame him for being too long-lived.
