Li You's Tang Dynasty

Chapter 725 The eldest grandson Wuji obsessed with power

Changsun Wuji made great contributions. In the 17th year of Zhenguan, Taizong Li Shimin ordered the painter Yan Liben to place their portraits on the upper floor of a building named Lingyan Pavilion in the palace in order to commend and commemorate the 24 brothers who were born and died for the establishment of the Tang Dynasty. , for the admiration of future generations, Changsun Wuji ranked first, which is a great honor for a courtier.

When Li Zhi became emperor, Changsun Wuji contributed the most, and he was the minister who was left behind by Li Shimin.These are enough to show the credit of Changsun Wuji.

However, in his later years, Changsun Wuji was too obsessed with the power in his hands, and Changsun Wuji's childhood was very unfortunate.

After the death of his father, the eldest Sun Sheng, the eldest Sun Wuji, his younger sister, and his mother, Gao Shi, were kicked out of the house by their half-brother Sun Anye, and they took refuge in their uncle Gao Shilian.

And Gao Shilian married the younger sister of Changsun Wuji to Li Shimin, and later became the Empress Changsun.Changsun Wuji also followed Li Shimin to fight in the north and south.When the eldest grandson Anye knew that his sister had become a queen, he probably felt remorseful.

However, Empress Changsun was broad-minded. Regardless of past suspicions, she promoted Changsun Anye, but made her elder brother Changsun Wuji resign from Shangshu Youpushe, whose ass was still hot.People only see the wisdom of Empress Changsun, but ignore the other side of the problem, Changsun Wuji's desire for power.

According to historical records, Changsun Wuji was accused of being "excessively favored by power" within less than half a year of serving as the right servant of Shangshu, which means that he relied on the emperor's favor and excessively seized power.After that, Empress Changsun came to Li Shimin's table and severely asked her brother to resign.

Moreover, the last words of Empress Changsun once again mentioned that the emperor should not promote the clan of the eldest grandson to prevent foreign relatives from monopolizing power.It seems that Empress Changsun has already discovered her elder brother's problem.In this way, Changsun Wuji was forced to live a leisurely life with high status and little power for 16 years in the golden years of his life.

Later, when Li Zhi came to power, Changsun Wuji really contributed a lot. In the 17th year of Zhenguan, Li Shimin was hesitant to establish a prince. Changsun Wuji stood up and firmly supported Li Zhi. The reason was that Li Zhi was benevolent and filial, and Li Shimin agreed. Later, Li Shimin thought that Li Zhi was too cowardly, and wanted to change Li Ke, who was a "heroic warrior like himself", but Changsun Wuji firmly disagreed. Li Shimin asked, "Is it because Li Ke is not your nephew?" Said: "The prince is benevolent, and he really keeps the good master."

As Changsun Wuji said, Renhou explained the real reason why he insisted on making Li Zhi the crown prince.In other words, benevolence and benevolence are weak and easy to control.After Li Zhi ascended the throne, Changsun Wuji's desire for power, which had been suppressed for a long time, broke out completely, and he really regarded him as a weak child.

At the beginning, Li Zhi showed the greatest kindness to Changsun Wuji. At the beginning of his ascension to the throne, Li Zhi showed a high degree of trust in Changsun Wuji, at least on the surface.

In the first year of Yonghui, Li Hongtai, a native of Luoyang, reported his grandson Wuji's treason. When Li Zhi heard about it, he didn't even investigate and ordered Li Hongtai to be beheaded. In ancient times, beheadings were usually carried out after autumn, and it was spring at this time. The recovery of all things is not suitable for executing sinners, but Li Zhi asked to do so. The purpose was to kill chickens for monkeys to show outsiders his absolute trust in his uncle.

Later, Yu Zhining persuaded him, thinking that it was impossible, and felt that it would be better to follow the system.Li Zhi saw that the effect of the propaganda had been achieved, and my uncle should know my feelings for him, so he did not insist on the execution time.

In order to continue to show kindness to the eldest grandson Wuji, the royal family of Li Tang married Princess Hengshan into the eldest grandson's family and made them more intimate.

Although these are all hints from Li You, but Li Zhi also did this in his own right. Li Zhi thought that his uncle would be moved if he did this. But the fact is not like this at all. Zhi Zhi respects himself, but he regards Li Zhi as a little kid, and he always manipulates Li Zhi, the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty.

According to historical records: "Wuji and Chu Suiliang assisted with one heart, and I also respected the two of them, and respected myself to listen to them." The two people were treated with extra courtesy, and their attitude was particularly low. "Wuji used Uncle Yuan to assist the government. Whatever he said, the superiors would accept it." No matter what his uncle said, Li Zhi would follow suit, which made outsiders wonder whether the emperor was an uncle or a nephew.

The eldest grandson Wuji is more than twice the age of Li Zhi. He is an old comrade and an old man. Young, without much credit, just like a little kid, he is not really recognized by him, let alone regarded as the supreme emperor.

So no matter how well Li Zhi did, these were useless. As time passed, his position became stable and his business became more proficient. Li Zhi couldn't help feeling that being an emperor was really boring.

At work, the Minister of Gu Ming relied on the old to sell the old, on the surface he was polite, and he wished that they would "leave the tea and cool down" as soon as possible; after get off work, he wanted to relax in the harem, but his queen kept a straight face every day, which was meaningless .

What made Li Zhi speechless was that these two groups actually got together.Under Wang Huang's uncle, Zhong Shuling Liu Shi's running activities, Chu Suiliang, Changsun Wuji and others asked Chen Wang Li Zhong to be the prince. Why Li Zhong?
Because Li Zhong was the eldest son of Li Zhi, his mother was a maid of honor, born lowly, and the queen was infertile. If the queen helped Li Zhong to be the crown prince, there would be supporters among the princes.

If Li Zhong inherits the throne in the future, he will definitely be grateful to the queen and have someone to rely on for the rest of his life.On the contrary, if Concubine Xiao Shu's son Li Sujie becomes the crown prince, the position of queen may not be guaranteed.

Liu Xun is so active because his official position is largely due to the empress. In the last year of Zhenguan, Wang became the crown princess, and Liu Xun was promoted to be the Minister of the Ministry of War; in the first year of Yonghui, Wang became the queen, and Liu Xun was promoted to Zhongshu Minister: His official career is almost in step with his niece's status. Since he is the queen's uncle, Li Zhi naturally regards him as his own, different from the faction of Minister Gu Ming.

In the first year of Yonghui, Chu Suiliang was demoted to the governor of Tongzhou due to some incidents. Li Zhi quickly appointed Liu Shi as Zhongshuling to succeed Chu Suiliang, hoping that he could play a role.But seeing that the queen's status is unstable, Liu Shi decisively hooked up with Changsun Wuji and others.

Li Zhi is really suffering in his heart. At this time, Li Zhi doesn't know how much he misses his fifth brother. If his fifth brother is by his side, then he will stand firmly by his side, but his Fifth Brother was driven away by Changsun Wuji.

The Gu Ming ministers insisted on making Li Zhong the crown prince, under pressure, Li Zhi had no choice but to nod, but he didn't agree in his heart.He was very dissatisfied with the queen, and now that Li Zhong was established as the prince, it will be more difficult to abolish the queen in the future.

The empress is changed, the son is more expensive than the mother, and the prince is bound to be changed together, shaking the foundation of the country.

It is the most basic power for an emperor to register a queen and a prince, but Li Zhi can't even do it, so one can imagine his mood.

At this time, Li Zhi's thoughts were all on Wu Zetian. Li Zhong, the king of Chen, was established as the prince in July of the third year of Yonghui. That is, in the same year, Wu Zetian and Li Hong, the eldest son of Emperor Gaozong of Tang Dynasty, were born in the palace. She is charismatic, has a personality that complements the emperor's, and what's more, she has high political wisdom, so she is very favored by Li Zhi. These are all advantages that replace the king and queen.

Perhaps, the breakthrough is here.Wu Zetian was ambitious and wanted to be in power very much. Seeing that the emperor had the intention of abolishing the empress, she did everything possible to offer advice and suggestions for the emperor.Including buying people around the queen, monitoring the queen's every move, trying every means to discredit the queen, and providing a factual basis for the abolition of the queen, otherwise the teacher will be unknown and will not be able to convince the public.In the process, he even strangled his own daughter to death.

But when the development of history reached here, it began to change, because the fourth year of Yonghui arrived, and a major event happened in the fourth year of Yonghui, which changed the entire history of the Tang Dynasty in this space.

(End of this chapter)