Many people are not familiar with Li Longji and Princess Taiping. Let’s follow the history encyclopedia editor to appreciate them together.
The Tang Dynasty has always been known as a prosperous and flourishing era, but there were constant internal disputes within its court. Since Emperor Taizong Li Shimin launched the “Xuanwu Gate Incident” and “Killing Brothers and Imprinting Fathers”, the Tang Dynasty has been in chaos. Later, Wu Zetian divided Li Tang’s territory into two parts, and there were court turmoil such as the “Shenlong Coup” and the “Tanglong Coup”. In addition, the eight year “An Lushan Rebellion” completely shattered the prosperity of the Tang Dynasty, and the once dreamlike prosperity no longer existed.
How many people have been caught up in the disputes of the imperial family, and how many are unable to extricate themselves and take their fate into their own hands. Even if Li Longji succeeded in ascending to the throne as emperor, he could not help but gradually indulge in extravagance and forget the heavy responsibility of governing the country. In the end, he could only flee and die in sorrow and regret.
However, Li Longji was also a diligent and wise emperor in his youth. He founded the most prosperous period of the Tang Dynasty, the Kaiyuan era. Pushing back time, he was still an emperor who survived the intense political struggles within the royal family and achieved a complete victory.
And Li Longji will use swift and decisive means to execute his aunt, Princess Taiping, probably because he inherited the bloodline of “six relatives not recognized” from the Li Tang royal family. Princess Taiping was also a person with considerable political means, and her background was quite prominent. Her father Li Zhi, mother Wu Zetian, brothers Li Xian and Li Dan were all former emperors. In addition, she was loved from birth. In the Tang Dynasty, when women’s status was rising steadily, it seemed not too difficult for her to rule the world.
Unfortunately, Princess Taiping did not receive her mother’s script. Although she was well loved and married her beloved husband Xue Shao, she could not prevent her mother from executing her husband Xue Shao. Although Wu Zetian had already given her corresponding compensation, she still stepped onto the political stage.
Princess Taiping was dominant, and after her second marriage, she only regarded her husband Wu Youji as a useful tool and had an affair with courtiers. Of course, women in the harem who have any contact with ministers are referred to as having an affair in historical records, so this is nothing. But Wu Zetian not only did not stop her, but also allowed her daughter to exercise herself in the deceitful court.
In this way, Princess Taiping’s ambition became increasingly strong, and she also wanted to become the ruler of the world like her mother. Due to the relationship between political interests and emotions, Princess Taiping gradually became estranged from Wu Zetian and participated in the “Divine Dragon Revolution” in 705 AD, truly stepping onto the stage.
Although Princess Taiping is known for her resourcefulness and eloquence, she has forgotten that her high achievements are due to the protection of Empress Wu Zetian. Once she abandons her protective umbrella and steps onto the stage, the pressure she faces suddenly increases in a hundred years. In 705 AD, after Crown Prince Li Xian ascended to the throne, Empress Dowager Wei and Princess Anle became her biggest obstacles to winning the throne.
At the same time, Li Longji, who was weak in power and only the King of Linzi, also joined forces with Princess Taiping. In 710 AD, the two of them united and killed all the followers of Empress Wei and her faction. But once the common enemy died, the two began to fight fiercely. However, Princess Taiping’s political consciousness was clearly not as high as that of Li Longji. Li Longji had already exposed his fangs to her during the coup, but Princess Taiping still believed that Li Longji was not yet mature and not to be feared.
When the Tang Long Coup occurred in 710 AD, Princess Taiping’s friend Shangguan Wan’er had already surrendered to the Taiping Princess faction. Moreover, the epitaph of Shangguan Wan’er directly points out that Shangguan Wan’er was not from the line of Empress Dowager Wei. She even protested by resigning from office and taking poison to obstruct Empress Dowager Wei and Princess Anle.
The epitaph of Shangguan Wan’er differs from the official historical records, but she was indeed a friend of Princess Taiping. However, Li Longji did not listen to Guan Wan’er’s defense, nor did he wait for Princess Taiping to come and save her, so he directly beheaded her. This made Princess Taiping hold a deep grudge against Li Longji, but she did not realize it. Li Longji was afraid of the power of Shangguan Wan’er and pretended to cut off Princess Taiping’s “arm” without knowing it.
Princess Taiping was belated, but it was too late to overthrow Crown Prince Li Longji whom she had personally supported. Wrong step by step, wrong step by step. Princess Taiping was too anxious to reveal her intention to replace the Crown Prince, which alerted Li Longji. Li Longji, on the other hand, tried to perform even better, causing the courtiers to gradually defect to him.
In 712 AD, Princess Taiping exerted pressure on Emperor Ruizong of Tang, Li Dan. As a result, Li Dan was forced to abdicate the throne directly to Li Longji. Nevertheless, Princess Taiping still had the power to fight, so she had no intention of giving up. However, she chose the most foolish and dangerous way – rebellion.
Of course, Princess Taiping not only failed to rebel, but was also preemptively attacked by Li Longji. In 713 AD, Li Longji refused to listen to the dissuasion of Emperor Taiping, Prime Minister Li Dan, and others, and insisted on the death of Princess Taiping. All of his followers were killed, and all of her children were not spared.
But only Xue Chongjian, the second son of Princess Taiping, escaped unscathed and was given the surname Li by Li Longji to avoid disaster. Because Xue Chongjian was the only child of Princess Taiping who opposed her mother and supported Li Longji, and often suffered severe beatings from Princess Taiping as a result.
Li Longji and Xue Chongjian have had a very good relationship since childhood, and some people say that the two have a “habit of cutting off sleeves”. Moreover, the official history does not specify where Xue Chongjian went after he was pardoned, so there have been speculations that Xue Chongjian was raised by Li Longji. However, the revelation of his epitaph after it was unearthed was quite bitter.
After Xue Chongjian became Li Chongjian, he was immediately sent out of Chang’an and demoted to Hunan. Due to the exhaustion of transportation and the fact that the south was still a wilderness at that time, his wife passed away shortly thereafter. Xue Chongjian was depressed, and soon died of illness. He was finally buried in Mount Huangshan. This is the cruelty of the imperial family, there is no such thing as sentimentality or favor.
