Dizong Li Yu The third treacherous minister who eliminated the three traitors was Prime Minister Yuanzai , which is also the powerful minister whom Li Yu has been supported by Li Yu since he ascended the throne. Yuan Zai was born in a poor family, and even his life experience was very vague in history books, but he sat on the high position of prime minister and became a powerful minister who covered the sky, which was closely related to Li Yu's support. Yuan Zai also made great contributions to Li Yu. When Li Yu removed the first two treacherous ministers, Li Fuguo and Yu Chaoen, they were all backbone forces actively participating in planning and execution. It is precisely because of this that Yuan Zai was valued by Li Yu and became the prime minister of the powerful ministers and the government. However, Yuan Zai did not die well, and was eventually executed by Li Yu, and his family was destroyed. The ending was tragic and miserable. There are detailed records of this history in historical books, and Yuan Zai is also called the representative of the powerful ministers of the Tang Dynasty in .
For Li Yu's crime of executing Yuan Zai, historical books generally believe that it is power-making and corruption. He said that he was using power because he was in power, changed the court system, and eventually formed a pattern of dominating the government. During his reign, all the edicts issued by the court had to be passed through him. Even if the court officials wrote a letter to Li Yu directly, they had to be passed through Yuanzai. The reason why Yuan Zai was corrupt was mainly because he used his power to accept bribes, and even the couple sold official positions and titles together. His followers were spread all over the court, controlling key positions in the court, and forming a trend of dominating the government. These crimes are death row in any dynasty, and it is not an exaggeration to be executed in the whole family. However, it seemed very out of place during the reign of Emperor Daizong of Tang Dynasty. The power and greed of
yuan were not a day or two, and it started after he attached himself to the eunuch leader Li Fuguo. Yuan Zai was born in a poor family and his biological father was unknown. He had no background in the court and could only gain power by relying on powerful ministers. During the reign of Emperor Suzong of Tang, Li Fuguo was in power in the court and the country, and Yuan Zai's wife was of the same clan as Li Fuguo, so he clinged to Li Fuguo's followers and became the Jingzhao Yin . It can be said that since that time, Yuan Zai has been engaging in power and corruption, which was well known to the court at that time. When Li Yu eradicated Li Fuguo, Yuan Zai and Cheng Yuanzhen turned against each other and became an important helper of Li Yu, thus winning Li Yu's trust and becoming one of the prime ministers of the court. Therefore, before appointing Yuan Zai, Li Yu was very clear about his power and corruption.
From the fall of Li Fuguo to the death of the whole family in the 12th year of Dali, Yuan Zai sat in the position of prime minister for fifteen years. In the past fifteen years, he dominated the government and was in power. He was a powerful minister in the court who made a decision. Although many people impeached Yuan Zai's corruption, power and persecuted ministers during this period, his position was still stable. Instead, the ministers who impeached him were demoted and dismissed, and even exiled and executed. During this period, Li Yu knew most of the things, and many of the deposition of impeachment officials were issued by Li Yu. Therefore, Li Yu could not have no idea about Yuan Zai's corruption and power, so that Yuan Zai could dominate the prime minister for fifteen years. Some people also believe that Yuan Zai and his followers had too much power, which made Li Yu dare not act rashly, which made him rampant for more than ten years. The statement
seems reasonable, but it is actually not valid. Yuanzai was supported by Li Yu. Whether it was dealing with Li Fuguo or eliminating Yu Chaoen, Li Yu gave Yuanzai great power. If Yuanzai is not trustworthy, will Li Yu let him participate in these things? Li Yu was not a confused emperor, and he was highly praised in history books. Some people even thought that he surpassed , Emperor Gaozong of Tang , Li Zhi. Li Yu's temple name is Daizong, but in fact he used the meaning of Shizong . It was just to avoid the name of Li Shimin , so he was called Emperor Daizong of Tang. From this perspective, at that time, the court of the Tang Dynasty believed that Li Yu could be compared with Li Shimin. Although this statement has the effect of boasting and politeness, it also shows that Li Yu is not a fool and cannot be fooled by Yuan Zai for more than ten years without knowing it.
From historical records, Li Yu reigned for 17 years, and fifteen of them were the prime minister of Yuan Zai. It can be said that Li Yu's historical achievements are inseparable from Yuan Zai.When Li Yugang ascended the throne, internal and external troubles were encountered. The Anshi Rebellion did not subside. The invasion of Tubo was imminent. The powerful ministers in the court controlled the government and the vassal states in various places held their own troops, which was a complete sign of a destruction of the country. In the late Li Yu period, the situation in the Tang Dynasty was greatly reversed. The Tang army not only quelled the Anshi Rebellion, but also defeated the Tubo invasion, but also continuously weakened the power of the vassal army, and the momentum of ZTE emerged. The powerful ministers within the court were eliminated one by one, the economic environment was greatly improved, the national situation became stable, and the imperial power was strengthened. From these perspectives, Yuan Zai made great contributions to Li Yu. For Li Yu, it was not only to eradicate the two powerful ministers Li Fuguo and Yu Chaoen, but also because under his governance, the Tang Dynasty showed momentum of revival and recovery. Although Yuan Zai dominated the government, excluded ministers, sold official positions and titles, and was greedy, under this circumstance, the situation in the Tang Dynasty could still improve, and his achievements in this area were admirable. The reason why Li Yu valued Yuan Zai was because Yuan Zai was able to grasp the situation of the court and reverse the decline in the Tang Dynasty's national strength in the chaotic times. During the Yuan Zai reign, Li Yu removed the military power of the vassal states and sent Guo Ziyi to fight against the Tubo army. These were all very dangerous. If the national strength cannot be supported, it will not only cause chaos, but also cause disasters of national destruction. But Yuanzai made these crises transition smoothly, which shows his outstanding ability.
From these perspectives, Yuan Zai has both great contributions and disasters to the Tang Dynasty. Li Yu appointed Yuan Zai as prime minister for fifteen years, not because he did not know that he was greedy for power and greed, but because he used his outstanding governing ability. Yuan Zai's power and greed were completely caused by Li Yu's tolerance and fostering traitors. It was not that he was deceived by Yuan Zai, nor that Yuan Zai's group was too strong and made him afraid of being too jealous of the mouse. Therefore, the historical books say that Yuan Zai was executed by Li Yu because of his power and greed. This statement is actually untrue, because it would not take fifteen years to execute him. In fact, during this period, Li Yu transferred ministers such as Li Qiyun, Zhang Yanshen and other html to the court to constrain Yuan Zai, which formed very effective restrictions on his power. But Li Yu never took it down, which shows that Li Yu did not care about Yuan Zai's corruption in power.
For Li Yu, Yuan Zai made more contributions than demerits, so Li Yu tolerated him and even tried to protect and shelter him from impeachment by many court officials. But in his later years, Li Yu changed his attitude of tolerance and protection and began to strengthen his power to restrict Yuanzai. This is not something that can be explained by simply taking power and corruption. So the question is, what happened, which made Li Yu change his original attitude and issue an edict to execute Yuan Zai's family?
Looking at the life of Yuanzai, you can find that there is an important node in it. Before this node, Yuan Zai was highly valued by Li Yuxin and monopolized the power. He also eliminated the two eunuchs, Li Fuguo and Yu Chaoen, and curbed the trend of eunuchs in the Tang Dynasty. After this node, Li Yu gradually began to suspicion of Yuan Zai. Although he did not weaken his power in the court, he began to arrange ministers to monitor and constrain Yuan Zai's group in the court.
This node was in the third year of Dali, and its main landmark event was that Yuan Zai proposed to Li Yu to move the capital to Hezhong. At that time, the war between the Tang Dynasty and Tubo was very fierce. Li Yu ordered Guo Ziyi, , Ma Lin, and other generals to lead troops to resist the invasion of Tubo. Yuan Zai proposed to establish Hezhong as Zhongdu on the grounds that Ma Lin resisted Tubo. He suggested establishing a 50,000 garrison garrison to defend Li Yu, and let Li Yu go to the river in late Qiu and avoid the harassment of Tubo, and return to Chang'an, the capital in the early spring. At the same time, Yuan Zai also suggested that Ma Lin be transferred to Jingyuan Jiedushi, and Guo Ziyi, who was stationed in Hezhong, would be transferred to , Binzhou , and would also serve as the ambassador of Shuofang Jiedushi, as the governor of Binningqing Jiedushi. This suggestion looks beautiful, which can not only strengthen the frontline's defense against the Tubo army, but also ensure Li Yu's safety.
yuan Zai also thought that this suggestion would be recognized by Li Yu, and even asked the deputy to go to the river in advance to plan the palace and build a private house. However, Li Yu was very angry when he received this suggestion and finally put aside the suggestion of moving the capital to Hezhong, but only sent Guo Ziyi to strengthen the front-line battle against Tubo.After that, Li Yu's trust in Yuan Zai was greatly reduced, and he even transferred many ministers to Beijing to constrain Yuan Zai and dismantled his party members and forces in the court. As a result, Li Yu had two contradictory attitudes towards Yuan Zai. He not only used Yuan Zai's ability to make efforts for the court, but also restricted his expansion of his power in the court. Especially after Yu Chaoen was killed, Li Yu gradually tightened Yuan Zai's power, and Yuan Zai's situation of covering the sky with one hand in the court gradually began to improve.
Why did Li Yu's attitude towards Yuanzai change? The secret was hidden in this capital migration river and the suggestions for adjusting the battle against Tubo. The battle against Tubo was the main war against foreign wars during the reign of Emperor Daizong of Tang Dynasty, and it lasted almost for more than ten years during the reign of Emperor Daizong of Tang Dynasty. The reason why Yuan Zai made such a suggestion was that Ma Lin was not effective in fighting against Tubo, and needed to increase the deployment of troops on the front line, and also needed to ensure the safety of the Tang Dynasty court. This seems legitimate, but it actually contains evil intentions. First of all, Yuan Zai said that Ma Lin was not effective in fighting against Tubo, which is not a fact in itself. In fact, Ma Lin was the general whose victory rate against Tubo was second only to Guo Ziyi. Before Guo Ziyi was transferred to Binzhou, Ma Lin was the main general of the Tang army to fight against Tubo, and he also repeatedly defeated the invading Tubo army.
Secondly, Guo Ziyi was originally stationed in the river. After that, he set out from the river. After the war, he returned to the river to garrison, taking into account the defense and border support of the Tang Dynasty. Yuan Zai transferred Guo Ziyi to Binzhou, northwest of Chang'an . This place is close to the front line, but far from the mainland. In this way, when the frontline war is in a tight position, Guo Ziyi has no time to take into account mainland affairs. The key is that Guo Ziyi can still check and balance the vassal states in Hezhong, but he does not have the ability to go to Binzhou. For Li Yu, if Guo Ziyi lacks guarding, his safety is not guaranteed. Although Yuan Zai proposed to build a new garrison force of 50,000, Li Yu knew that these new troops could not be compared with Guo Ziyi's army, let alone suppressing the vassal state army within. Although the court covered the sky with one hand, it never controlled the military power of the Shence Army of . He suddenly mentioned adding 50,000 new troops, which made Li Yu suspect that he had the idea of getting involved in military power. Especially among the Yuan Zai party members, there was Prime Minister Wang Jin , who was an important figure who directly participated in Li Yu's plan to reduce the vassals. Moreover, Yuan Zai had close contacts with Dong Xiu, the eunuch around Li Yu, and bribed Zhuo Yingqian, the chief clerk of the Secretariat, to find out the news in the palace, which would directly affect the ownership of the military power of the Central Imperial Army of the Tang Dynasty. As mentioned earlier, the reason why Li Yu executed Yu Chaoen was that he might have the military power of the imperial guards and the vassal state army at the same time, and Yuan Zai's arrangement gave him this opportunity. Such a situation is very taboo in any dynasty and is also the reason why the emperor must kill. It is precisely because of the above three reasons that Li Yu began to suspect Yuan Zai. If Li Yu really moved the capital to Hezhong according to Yuan Zai's arrangement, he would fall into the sphere of influence of Yuan Zai's party members. By then, there will be Yuan Zai people around, and Guo Ziyi is out of reach on the front line, so Li Yu will be very dangerous. For this reason, it will be a matter of time before Li Yu kills Yuan Zai. But the war with Tubo was not over yet, and the matter of weakening the vassal states was still advancing. The court still needed Yuan Zai to preside over the affairs of the rear, so Li Yu tolerated him. By the 12th year of Dali, the war against Tubo was basically over and the vassal states in all sides were basically stable, so Li Yu could naturally take action. It can be said that Yuan Zai's death was self-defeated, and it was also the result of Li Yu's suspicion. Taking power and greed were just one of the charges.
