History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 83 Total Solar Eclipse

[A cornered dog will jump over the wall]

On June 6, the imperial guards general Yang Shouli (adopted son of Yang Fugong) and Li Changfu were fighting for the road. The two suffered from road rage and the entourage of both sides broke out into a fierce physical conflict and fought with weapons.

Central officials and local senior officials engaged in group fights and armed conflicts. The nature of the case was serious and the social impact was extremely bad.

This incident cannot be treated as a general public security case, and it is far beyond the scope of a criminal case. Group fights and armed conflicts are only superficial phenomena, and there are deeper political implications behind them.

At this time, the central government of Emperor Xizong was living under someone else's roof, and was actually detained by Li Changfu in Fengxiang. There was a subtle window paper between Fengxiang and the central government, and they knew each other tacitly.

Li Changfu currently does not have the courage or ability to use the emperor to control the princes; the central government is not confident enough to settle old accounts with him.

Therefore, the two sides maintained a tacit understanding that although Li Changfu detained Xizong, he would not interfere in state affairs or give orders to the central government; Xizong also did not regard this as "detention". Both sides waited silently, and when Li Changfu believed in the sincerity of the central government, he would send Xizong home respectfully, and everyone would be happy, and have a happy ending.

At this critical juncture, it was inappropriate for central officials, who were armed soldiers, to have a head-on conflict with Li Changfu. This greatly irritated Li Changfu's fragile and sensitive nerves.

"The Central Committee doesn't trust me and wants to use me as a target!" This was Li Changfu's inner monologue.

If Li Changfu took a risk and did something stupid, the consequences would be disastrous.

Xizong immediately sent eunuchs to mediate and clear up the misunderstanding.

That night, the Central Imperial Guards entered the highest level of combat readiness to prevent Li Changfu from taking desperate measures.

As expected, in the middle of the night of the same day, Li Changfu set fire to Xizong's palace and led his troops to attack Da'anmen.

Yang Shouli engaged in a street fight with Li Changfu and defeated Li Changfu.

When the news of the Fengxiang mutiny came, Prime Minister Du Rangneng rushed forward without hesitation, braved the hail of bullets, walked across the battlefield, and came alone to the emperor's palace to stand beside Emperor Xizong; another prime minister, Wei Zhaodu, sent his entire family to the barracks of the imperial guards as hostages to show his determination to resist, to boost the morale of the imperial guards and to strengthen the will of the soldiers.

The government officials at that time were all comrades who had gone through hardships and life and death tests, and they were all extremely loyal to Emperor Xizong. In the face of the mutiny, no one was a spineless coward, and everyone shared the same hatred and vowed to defend Emperor Xizong to the death.

Under the tenacious resistance of the imperial guards, Li Changfu's rebels were defeated one after another.

Emperor Xizong promoted Li Maozhen to be the governor of Fengxiang, gave him the title of prime minister, and made him the commander-in-chief of the bandit suppression campaign, helping him to suppress the rebel army led by Li Changfu.

Li Changfu retreated to Longzhou and closed the city to defend it.

Under Li Maozhen's powerful offensive, the rebels gradually lost their strength. After more than a month of stubborn resistance, the governor of Longzhou opened the city and surrendered. Li Changfu and his entire family were executed.

From then on, Li Maozhen became the Jiedushi of Fengxiang.

Total Solar Eclipse

In February of the following year, Emperor Xizong finally set out on his journey home and returned to Chang'an. In order to have a good start, on February 2, Emperor Xizong announced a change of era name and general amnesty, changing the fourth year of Guangqi to the first year of Wende (2).

The wandering emperor who had been in exile for many years returned to his homeland, changed the era name and issued a general amnesty. The country will usher in a new era.

A new atmosphere indeed followed: on March 3, there was a total solar eclipse.

The emperor was the reddest sun in the hearts of the people of the empire. In that feudal era when people believed in the connection between heaven and man, if the sun's brilliance was blocked, it was usually regarded as an ominous sign for the emperor. The emperor would reduce his meals, stop singing and dancing, avoid the main hall, and sincerely repent.

People spent the day in fear.

The next day, March 3, Emperor Xizong's old illness relapsed. On March 2, he became seriously ill.

He died on March 3.

The Tang Empire completely slid into an abyss of no return during the reign of Emperor Xizong, and even his successors, Emperor Taizong of Tang and Emperor Taizu of Song, were of no help.

However, historians do not have the heart to blame Emperor Xizong of Tang too much.

When Emperor Xizong of Tang ascended the throne, he was less than 12 years old. He was young and ignorant. Not to mention his intelligence was superior, to some extent, he was not even mediocre, and his intellectual development was slightly slow (Emperor Chongdai). He grew up in the inner court of the imperial palace, ignorant of worldly affairs, and indulged in fun under the malicious guidance of the powerful eunuch Tian Lingzi. It was precisely because of his mediocrity and suspected mental retardation that he was chosen by the eunuch group to be the emperor.

Since the day he ascended the throne, Emperor Xizong of Tang was a puppet emperor in name only.

When he came of age, he gradually understood the truth, and the Tian Yan faction had grown up. After awakening, Xizong was alone and powerless to fight against the Tian Yan. He could only feel sad and cry. He felt that he had let down his ancestors and the country, and could only cry to the little eunuchs around him.

Emperor Xizong struggled painfully under Tian Lingzi's clutches, dominated by fear and despair, anger, helplessness, loneliness, regret, self-blame... His spirit was tortured. The long-term displacement also dragged down his body.

Finally, when he was 27 years old, he died in the capital Chang'an due to illness and left us prematurely.

【The End of Tian Yan】

During the period when Emperor Xizong was seriously ill, the most promising heir was his younger brother, Prince Ji Li Bao, because he was the oldest, wise and studious, and completely different from the young and immature Emperor Xizong. All civil and military officials supported Prince Ji Li Bao, hoping that he could turn the tide and save the crumbling empire.

However, unexpectedly, the critically ill Emperor Xizong issued an edict to allow Prince Shou Li Jie to succeed to the throne.

Amid the shock and astonishment of the civil and military officials in the court, the great eunuch Yang Fugong had already sent his capable subordinate Liu Jishu to welcome Prince Shou Li Jie into the palace. Everyone suddenly realized what was going on, but it was too late.

Yang Fugong deposed the eldest son and enthroned the youngest, taking all the credit for supporting the throne. He wanted to follow in Tian Lingzi's footsteps, experience the feeling of having power over the government and become the person he once hated the most.

According to convention, Li Jie changed his name to Li Min, and later changed his name to Li Ye, who later became Emperor Zhaozong of Tang. He will be referred to as Zhaozong in the following text.

Emperor Zhaozong was 22 years old at the time. He was in good health, had a good appetite, was handsome, had a dignified bearing, and was studious and inquisitive. Although he was pushed onto the stage of history as a political pawn by the eunuch Yang Fugong, his ministers still placed high hopes on him to revive the glory of the empire.

Zhaozong was deeply distressed by the decline of the empire, and especially hated the eunuchs' interference in government affairs. Eunuchs were a cancer in the heart of the empire. If he wanted to restore the ancestral foundation, he had to strike ruthlessly at the eunuchs.

Zhaozong's deep hatred for eunuchs contained both national hatred and personal agenda.

As early as eight years ago (880), Huang Chao invaded Chang'an, and Emperor Xizong fled to Shu under the coercion of Tian Lingzi. At that time, the 14-year-old Zhaozong (Prince Shou Li Jie) was also in the escape team with the princes. Due to the haste of escaping, there were not enough horses to ride, and the young princes could only walk a marathon cross-country, which was a hardship that the pampered young princes could not bear.

Zhaozong was exhausted and could not walk any longer, so he lay down on a big rock by the road to rest. Tian Lingzi came from behind and urged him to get on with his journey.

Zhaozong looked at Tian Lingzi miserably and begged, "My back aches and my legs cramp. Please give me a horse..."

Before he finished speaking, Tian Lingzi shouted, "Where the hell can I find a horse for you?"

There were no horses in the mountains, only whips. Tian Lingzi scolded loudly and swung the whip in his hand, hitting Zhaozong hard.

"Come on!"

Zhaozong's tears welled up in his eyes. He didn't dare to say much, and silently buried the humiliation in his heart. At that time, Tian Lingzi was at the peak of his career. Not to mention the least valuable prince, even the life and death of Emperor Xizong himself was in the hands of Tian Lingzi.

This whip strengthened Zhaozong's determination to eradicate the eunuchs, and also planted the seeds for Tian Lingzi's tragic ending.

(End of this chapter)