When it comes to Li Yuanying, many people may not have a deep impression of him, but if we talk about Prince Teng, many people should understand. The Prince Teng referred to here is the one mentioned in the article “Preface to the Pavilion of Prince Teng” that was once learned in textbooks. Teng Wang Li Yuanying is the 22nd son of Li Yuan and the younger brother of Li Shimin. He is considered an elder of Li Zhi, although he is still one year younger than Li Zhi in age, his seniority is still in place. But we know that during the period when Wu Zetian participated in court politics, she had killed many descendants of the Li surname, and even Li Tangtianxia was about to change her surname to Wu. But why was Prince Teng Li Yuanying not killed?
1. Introduction to Tengwang Li Yuanying
Li Yuanying (629-684 AD) was the 22nd son of Emperor Gaozu of Tang, Li Yuan. He was born to Emperor Gaozu of Tang and Liu Baolin, and was the younger brother of Emperor Taizong of Tang, Li Shimin. Li Yuanying, the Prince of Teng, was successively stationed in Tengzhou (now Tengzhou, Shandong), Hongzhou (now Nanchang, Jiangxi), and Longzhou (now Langzhong, Sichuan).
There are three Tengwang Pavilions built in Tengzhou, Hongzhou, and Longzhou. During the Zhenguan period, Li Yuanying was initially enfeoffed as Tengwang in Tengzhou, Shandong, and built the Tengwang Pavilion in Teng County. Later, Tengwang Li Yuanying was transferred to Hongzhou in Jiangnan (now Nanchang, Jiangxi) and built the famous Tengwang Pavilion due to his longing for his hometown Tengzhou. This pavilion is well-known to later generations because of Wang Bo’s poem “Preface to Tengwang Pavilion”.
According to historical records, Li Yuanying was influenced by palace art from a young age and had certain accomplishments in music, dance, and painting. His artistic cultivation laid the foundation for the future construction of Tengwang Pavilion.
Li Yuanying, the building maniac, was the youngest son of Li Yuan and was initially enfeoffed in Tengzhou, Shandong, hence the name Tengwang. He immediately built a Tengwang Pavilion in Tengzhou, but later he was exiled to Nanchang, Jiangxi and went there to build another Tengwang Pavilion. So much so that when he was demoted to Langzhong, Sichuan, he once again ordered people to build the Tengwang Pavilion.
It seems that wherever Teng Wang has been, there must be a Teng Wang Pavilion to make him popular. As the youngest son of Li Yuan, Li Yuanying posed no threat to Li Shimin, after all, when Li Yuanying was born, Li Yuan was already a powerful emperor without real power.
2. Li Shimin treated Li Yuanying as his own son
Without a strong father, Li Yuanying can only rely on her own brother. This brother is several decades older than himself, so he can be considered an elder level figure.
It is said that Li Yuanying’s brain is not very good, not because he is two hundred and fifty, but because he likes to act recklessly. Although Li Shimin cruelly killed the male members of Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji’s family, he did not kill any other brothers.
Li Shimin himself is also aware of this. Killing two brothers and a group of nephews is already a heinous crime, and he must not attack the remaining brothers again. And these brothers pose no threat to Li Shimin either.
Li Yuanying is also one of these brothers, and the least threatening one. Li Yuanying is the youngest and has no followers at all. Li Yuanying’s brain is not good, so she would never think about a coup at all. Therefore, during the period of Li Shimin, Li Yuanying lived a relatively prosperous life.
There is an emperor brother who protects him, and he is also a prince in the court, and he is young and strong. If Li Yuanying doesn’t do anything bad like this, he’s really sorry for his reputation.
But there’s nothing we can do, who let him be the prince? The courtiers who were mocked were basically avoiding them and did not want to deal with Li Yuanying. He lived happily during the Zhenguan period, but one day his emperor brother died.
After Li Shimin’s death, Li Zhi came to power and exiled Li Yuanying in various ways
Li Shimin died too early, at the age of 52. After his death, Li Yuanying, who had lost his protective umbrella, truly became an abandoned baby and could no longer play carefree. Especially the newly appointed nephew of the emperor, Li Zhi, is someone whose eyes cannot hold a grain of sand. He was infuriated by Li Yuanying’s various evil deeds.
Whenever someone reports Li Yuanying, Li Zhi will exile Li Yuanying once. It is said that shortly after Li Zhi came to power, he sent Li Yuanying to Nanchang, Jiangxi. At that time, this place was relatively poor, so it was considered a form of exile.
Li Yuanying built the famous Tengwang Pavilion here, and Wang Bo also wrote the timeless masterpiece “Preface to Tengwang Pavilion” here. So we still have to thank Li Yuanying, this building maniac. If it weren’t for him, there wouldn’t be a Tengwang Pavilion preface.
Later, after Li Yuanying ran to Nanchang, he occupied his subordinate’s daughter-in-law, and her face was scratched by Li Yuanying. Li Zhi was really unhappy now, so he decided to exile Prince Teng Li Yuanying to Chuzhou again. After arriving in Chuzhou, Li Yuanying was still not a fuel-efficient person. He beat up the official who assisted him, Pei Yu, because he was advised to be more restrained.
Li Zhi could no longer bear it and banished Li Yuanying to Langzhong, Sichuan in one breath, asking him to reflect on himself in the mountains. He no longer wanted to take care of such an ignorant uncle. It is precisely because of this that Li Zhi did not kill Li Yuanying, after all, Li Zhi was benevolent and Li Yuanying was mentally disabled.
During the reign of Empress Wu Zetian, Li Yuanying was actually valued
After Wu Zetian came to power, she successively killed a large number of Li Shimin’s brothers. These people were all his uncles back then, and now they are her uncles. She didn’t expect Wu Zetian to be so cruel. Most of Li Yuan’s sons were slaughtered by Empress Wu Zetian, leaving only Li Yuanying alive and well. Li Yuanying was not killed by Wu Zetian, but instead received her attention.
He was brought back by Empress Wu Zetian and provided with delicious food and drink, often giving Li Yuanying large rewards. This made Li Yuanying extremely happy, after all, she was just eating and drinking for free, and was still highly valued by her former sister-in-law and current niece. Li Yuanying lived a drunken and dreamlike life during the reign of Empress Wu Zetian. It’s hard to imagine whether Li Yuanying had ever thought that Empress Wu Zetian was the enemy of their Li Tang dynasty.
Perhaps there has been one, but what can he change as a mentally ill prince? After Liu Shan was invited to Luoyang by Sima Zhao, what kind of huge waves could he create as a fallen phoenix? Li Yuanying’s later years were quite good. The reason why Wu Zetian did not kill him was to tell the world that the descendants of the Li Tang Dynasty were all such fools that they could never inherit the throne.
In addition, Li Yuanying posed no threat to Wu Zetian, which is also an important reason why Wu Zetian did not kill Li Yuanying. Perhaps when Li Shimin received Wu Zetian, Li Yuanying was not present, so this is also an important reason why Wu Zetian did not kill Li Yuanying.
