"In the heyday of Kaiyuan in the past, there were still thousands of families in the small town. The rice was juicey and the corn was white, and both the public and private barns were abundant." This is the scene of the prosperous Kaiyuan era described by the Song Dynasty poet Du Fu.
The Tang Dynasty, as a relatively long-lasting and stable dynasty among the feudal dynasties in my country, is praised in history books for the rule of Zhenguan created by Li Shimin and the prosperous Kaiyuan era created by Wu Zetian.
Sandwiched between his father and his wife, Tang Gaozong Li Zhi seemed to have no glorious deeds that were praised, but in reality he was not as cowardly and incompetent as described in history books.
Three Sons Seize the Rightful Son
Tang Gaozong Li Zhi is the third emperor of the Tang Dynasty. His father is the famous Tang TaizongLi Shimin, and his wife is Wu Zetian, the only empress in the history of our country.
Sandwiched between these two dazzling lights, even though Li Zhigui is an emperor, he is not eye-catching enough.
Li Zhi's father, Li Shimin, had been involved in the army since he was a boy. He once led troops to conquer the city of Chang'an, pacified the separatist regimes, and launched the Xuanwumen Incident. seized the throne from his hands. Under his rule, Datang began to move towards its first prosperous age - the rule of Zhenguan .
It is rumored that because of Li Shimin's coup, every stone crevice on the road in front of Xuanwu Gate was soaked with human blood. From this description, it is enough to see how dangerous Li Shimin's road to the throne was.
Compared with Li Shimin, Li Zhi's road to the throne seems far less thrilling, but this is not the case.
Li Zhi is the ninth son of Li Shimin. He was not born to be a prince. The prince of the East Palace at that time was Li Chengqian.
The mothers of both Li Chengqian and Li Zhi were Empress Changsun, but Li Chengqian was the eldest son of Empress Changsun, so it was natural for him to become the crown prince.
Li Chengqian has a handsome appearance. He was smart and studious in his childhood, and has always been liked by Li Shimin. Li Shimin trained him as his future successor and asked the great scholars of the world to teach him how to govern the country.
Li Chengqian did not live up to Li Shimin's love. He was always diligent and diligent and was very popular among the courtiers.
In addition to Li Chengqian, Li Shimin's favorite son is King WeiLi Tai.
Compared with the kind of love that he has high hopes for Li Chengqian, Li Shimin's love for Li Tai is more like doting on his younger son. Because of Li Shimin's pampering, although Li Tai was very talented, he was very arrogant and had the ambition to seize the throne.
In the days when Li Chengqian and Li Tai were fighting, Li Zhi was an inconspicuous existence. He was neither the eldest son who was highly expected by his father, nor the second son who was unconditionally doted on. However, he was a blessing in disguise and became the center of the whirlpool. The farthest one.
Li Zhishu seems to have no ambition, so he can live in harmony with his brothers, treat courtiers with courtesy, and be respectful to his father on the throne.
In this way, compared to the unpredictable prince and the moody King of Wei, Li Zhi turned out to be the one with the best reputation.
The final winner rules the world
Although the prince Li Chengqian is perfect, he suffers from foot disease, just like a white jade with flaws. Foot disease has always been a lingering shadow in Li Chengqian's heart. In addition, Li Shimin loves Li Tai very much, and Li Chengqian is often afraid. Li Shimin refused to pass the throne to himself because he suffered from foot disease, and instead passed it to Li Tai.
At this time, King Li Tai of Wei was getting older. Because Li Shimin was very reluctant to let him go, he actually allowed him to stay in the palace without being granted a title.
Adult men other than the prince stayed in the capital and did not go to the fiefdom. This was a threat to the prince's position.
This made Li Chengqian even more frightened. He chose to assassinate Li Tai, but failed.
After the failed assassination of Li Tai, Li Chengqian was even more afraid that his father would destroy him because of his cruelty, so he simply did nothing and joined forces with others to plot to force him into the palace.
Li Chengqian's plan to force the palace was discovered early by Li Shimin. Li Shimin was very angry and ordered Li Chengqian to be demoted to a commoner and exiled thousands of miles away.
After Li Chengqian was demoted, Li Tai made no secret of his ambitions and was determined to win the position of prince.
Li Tai, who coveted the throne, made Li Shimin extremely sad. Although dramas often say that "there is no father and son in the heavenly family," Li Shimin, as a mortal man, also longed for filial piety from his children.
Li Shimin, who had just demoted Li Chengqian to a commoner, was fed up with Li Tai, who coveted his throne. decided to banish the son he once liked very much to a distant place to cut off his thoughts.
Li Chengqian and Li Tai both left the battlefield for the heir apparent. Li Shimin naturally noticed Li Zhi. He seemed kind and gentle, respectful and filial to him, so Li Shimin made him the prince.
With his father's expectations, the courtiers' support, and the fact that there were no rivals for the throne in the court, Li Zhi became the new prince and ascended the throne safely.
Li Chengqian has low self-esteem and is suspicious, while Li Tai is arrogant and arrogant. Compared with them, Li Zhi, who was originally in a weak position, has always been silent. Watching them fight with each other while sitting firmly on the Diaoyutai, he is truly sinister and scheming.
However, after becoming the emperor, it does not mean that everything will go smoothly from now on. Because when he was elected as the prince, Changsun Wuji and other court elders made a lot of contributions to him, so when he first came to the throne, these elders wanted to intervene in political affairs.
When Li Zhi wanted to make Wu Zetian his queen, almost all the elders in the court opposed it. However, Li Zhi was able to overcome all opinions, prevent his decision-making from being interfered by others, and take the decision-making power into his own hands.
In addition, Li Zhi also made great contributions to the expansion of Datang's territory.
Expanding the territory to promote my power
During the thirty-four years of Li Zhi's reign, the living standards of the people of the Tang Dynasty have been continuously and steadily improving, and the population has also grown significantly. But Li Zhi did not stick to the rules and only followed the principle of recuperation. On the contrary, Li Zhi was an outstanding military strategist.
During the more than thirty years that Li Zhi served as emperor, he not only put down the Turkic rebellion on the border, but also powerfully intimidated Tubo , so that the barbarian cavalry did not dare to step into the Central Plains.
Li Zhi not only repelled the Turks, but also drove them all the way to India. The territory of the Tang Dynasty was so brilliant that it even expanded the border to Europe.
It was at this time that foreigners in the Western Regions had the concept of " Tang Dynasty ".
Foreigners are extremely afraid of this invincible army. Even because of Li Zhi's achievements, the saying that "the yellow race wants to destroy the white race" began to spread.
Domestic history books commented that he was weak by nature and had mediocre talents, but foreigners of that era were extremely afraid of him and his Tang Dynasty.
During Li Zhi's reign, he once followed the example of Emperor Qin and Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty and went to Taishan to enshrine the Zen . That was a move that Li Shimin did not dare to propose.
In the second year of Linde , Li Zhi led the concubines of the Sixth Palace and hundreds of civil and military officials to Mount Tai in a mighty manner. The most surprising thing is that the accompanying people are also chiefs of Turkish, Persian, Tianzhu and other countries.
For a country's chiefs to attend Li Zhi's Taishan ceremony, this act itself means a kind of surrender. Judging from the number of participating chiefs, there are not a few countries that surrendered to Li Zhi and the Tang Dynasty.
Looking at it this way, Li Zhi is definitely not the mediocre emperor recorded in history books.
National power is at its peak, Haiyan River is clear, Ten thousand nations come to Korea, , how could Li Zhi, who was able to achieve all this, be the mediocre and cowardly person in the rumors, who was at the mercy of his wife and father? He is clearly a scheming and sinister emperor with astonishing plans. It must be his kind of person who pretends to be a pig and eats the tiger.
