Today, the History Encyclopedia editor has prepared for you: Li Mao and Li Longji. Interested friends, come and take a look!
Li Mao’s name is actually missing one character in the middle, which is green. He was the 18th son of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, Li Longji. Li Longji truly had no shortage of sons, with a total of 37 sons. Seven of them died young, and he killed three of them himself.
So although Li Mao was crowned as the King of Longevity, he was always trembling and afraid. Maybe one day, if he made his father unhappy, he would be slaughtered. Especially after his mother Wu Huifei passed away, Li Mao lost his protective umbrella and became even more restless.
Sure enough, his beastly father finally took action against him. In the early years, under the personal arrangement of Li Longji and Wu Huifei, 17-year-old Yang Yuhuan married Li Mao as Princess Shou. But five years later, 22-year-old Yang Yuhuan was forcibly taken away by Li Longji. Li Mao dared not ask or speak, so he had to endure everything.
The father of beasts and the wicked mother created Li Mao’s tragic life.
Li Longji is a true beast, arguably the most beastly emperor in history, without a doubt. This guy led troops to launch the Tang Long Rebellion in his early years and helped his father Li Dan ascend to the throne.
During this period, Empress Wei and Princess Anle were all executed, and even Shangguan Wan’er was not spared. Not long after, he forced his father Li Dan to abdicate in favor of him and even slaughtered his aunt, Princess Taiping.
After ascending to the throne, he created the famous Kaiyuan prosperous era. Although his personal ethics were not good, his historical reputation was not bad, after all, he created the prosperous era. But the later operation was a bit disgusting.
Worried about their three sons plotting rebellion, they slaughtered them. I fell in love with my daughter-in-law Yang Yuhuan’s beauty, so I forcibly took her to the harem, which later became Yang Guifei. This kind of operation is really disgusting.
In fact, Li Mao’s mother, Empress Wu Huifei, was not a good bird either. She was the niece of Empress Wu Zetian and had a cousin relationship with Li Longji. She was raised in the palace by Empress Wu Zetian since childhood.
After marrying Li Longji, she gave birth to four sons and three daughters for him. The first two sons passed away early, so Empress Wu Huifei has always hoped to support her third son Li Mao as the crown prince.
Taking advantage of her favor, she began to find ways to frame the then Crown Prince Li Ying. So she devised a scheme to deceive Crown Prince Li Ying, Prince Li of Guang, and Prince Li Yao of E into leading troops into the palace to arrest the thieves.
Consort Hui sent someone to summon the Crown Prince and the Second Prince, saying, “There are thieves in the palace, please introduce them.” The Crown Prince complied. Empress Bai said, “The Crown Prince and the Two Princes are plotting rebellion, and Jia has come.” The imperial envoy looked at them and summoned Prime Minister Lin Fu for discussion. He replied, “Your Majesty’s family affairs are not suitable for me.” The emperor made a decision and issued an edict: “Crown Prince Ying, Prince of E Yao, and Prince of Guang Ju are all guilty of evil and have been deposed as commoners; Rust will be executed.” Ying, Yao, and Ju Xun were killed, and the world was wronged. They are known as the “Three Commoners”. —The New Book of Tang
After they entered the palace, Empress Wu Huifei immediately went to report to Emperor Xuanzong of Tang that these three princes were plotting rebellion. Under the investigation of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, these three people indeed led troops into the palace, so they were arrested indiscriminately. Not long after, they were all executed.
With such a cruel father and mother, what kind of education do you think Shouwang Li Mao can receive? So this is the beginning of the tragic life of Prince Shou Li Mao.
After the death of Empress Wu Hui, Yang Guifei entered the palace, and Li Mao completely bowed to the throne.
After killing three princes, Empress Wu Huifei’s health also deteriorated. It was truly a case of retribution for evil deeds, and not long after, she also passed away. Tang Xuanzong’s favorite at that time was Empress Wu Hui, so he was very melancholic.
After the death of Empress Wu Huifei, Li Mao’s path to becoming the crown prince was interrupted because no one had planned for him. Tang Xuanzong was saddened by the death of Empress Wu Huifei and spent his days without thinking about tea or food.
At this moment, an eunuch came to Tang Xuanzong and said that Yang, the consort of Prince Shou Li Mao, was a beautiful woman who was suitable for serving in the palace. Li Longji did not consider his son Li Mao’s feelings at all and decisively took Yang away.
Of course, in terms of form, he still had to go for a while. He first took Yang Yuhuan to the Taoist temple to become a Taoist, went to the temple to have a private meeting with her, and then took her to the palace to become a noble consort.
As for Li Mao losing his mother and daughter-in-law, he still needs to give him an explanation. So Tang Xuanzong forcibly married Wei Zhaoxun’s daughter Wei Shi to Li Mao as his wife.
After this incident, Li Mao completely bowed to the throne. Because his wife married Li Longji, Li Longji could no longer list him as the heir to the throne.
In the palace, he is often referred to as the Eighteen Langs. In March of the thirteenth year, he was conferred the title of Shouwang and began to enter the palace. In the fifteenth year, he was appointed as the Governor of Yizhou and the Ambassador of Jiannan Jiedu. In the 23rd year, he was appointed as the third official of Kaifu Yitong and renamed Mao. Twenty five years later, Empress Hui passed away and was buried with a ceremony. In the 29th year, when the emperor passed away, Mao requested to be subdued as a gesture of gratitude for his nurturing, and Emperor Xuanzong followed suit. Mao, among the heavenly treasures, there are two sons who have been granted the title of King: Huai is the Prince of Jiyang County, Shi is the Prince of Guangyang County, and Hong Luqing is a fellow official. —The Old Book of Tang
Why is that? Because he is worried about being retaliated against by his son. Now that you’re being so unreasonable, when Li Mao ascends the throne in the future, should we retaliate against you instead? So Li Mao can’t be an emperor anymore, and he’s also being ridiculed by various people.
One cannot be autonomous throughout their life, but their lifespan is not short.
It is difficult to find any political or military talents of Prince Shou Li Mao in historical materials. Perhaps Tang Xuanzong was unwilling to give Li Mao this opportunity, after all, he had too many sons.
After the outbreak of the An Lushan Rebellion, Emperor Xuanzong of Tang fled to Shu with his family, and during this period, Li Mao actually followed him all the way. This is something many people cannot understand, after all, Yang Guifei was a close relative of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, and Li Mao was following beside her. Isn’t it too awkward?
At that time, many sons of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang had already started to rise up against An Lushan. If Li Mao had some strength, he could have stood out and fought against An Lushan.
Unfortunately, Li Mao did not do so. He had never had the opportunity to gain experience in his life, so when faced with such a big situation, he still couldn’t control himself and could only follow his father.
So he deserves to wear this green hat. Tang Xuanzong probably saw that Li Mao was easy to bully, so he bullied him like this. Although it’s too much, there are reasons for it.
Li Mao can’t do anything, but he has a long lifespan. After Tang Suzong ascended to the throne, Li Mao remained mediocre, and even after Tang Suzong’s death, Li Mao’s character remained the same. It was not until 775 AD, during the reign of Emperor Tang, that Li Mao passed away.
Li Mao was estimated to have been born around 720 years ago and lived for 56 years, which does not seem to be a long life. But compared to his brothers, his lifespan is still commendable, after all, few sons of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang lived his life.
Summary: The title of Guitang is indeed well deserved.
From Li Mao, it can be seen that the title Turtle Tang is not at all false. After all, Li Mao was a well behaved prince, but he became a big turtle. Moreover, Green is his own father.
In fact, this kind of situation was not uncommon in the Tang Dynasty. For example, if Wu Zetian was with Li Zhi, wouldn’t it be like greening her ex husband Li Shimin? Later, he became friends with the brothers of Zhang Changzong and Zhang Yi, and turned Li Zhi green again. If Wei Hou and Wu Sansi are together, won’t they turn Tang Zhongzong Li Xian green?
The common phenomenon in the royal family shows how frequent this phenomenon is among courtiers and the general public. So this is the imprint of that era, it’s really helpless. Fortunately, King Shou Li Mao also had a good end, much better than Li Longji being imprisoned and killed by his own son.
Reference materials: “Old Book of Tang”, “New Book of Tang”
