Li You's Tang Dynasty

Chapter 780 The Emperor Bestows Nine Tins

Li Hong is the eldest son of Li Zhi and Wu Zetian. This prince is actually very good. Li Hong is young as the heir, and he is deeply loved and valued by his father.Emperor Gaozong once praised the prince to his courtiers: "Very benevolent and filial, the reception of ministers is in line with etiquette, and he has never made any mistakes."

Li Hong studied "Chunqiu Zuoshi Zhuan" from Guo Yu in his early years. When he read the story of Chu Shizi Mi Shangchen killing the king, he couldn't help covering the book and sighing: "I can't bear to hear this kind of thing. The sage classics should be recorded and set an example." A good thing for future generations, why record this?"

Guo Yu replied: "Confucius wrote "Spring and Autumn", both good and evil things are recorded, in order to praise good deeds to persuade the public, and to condemn evil deeds to warn future generations. Writing Mi Shangchen's evil deeds is to make his crimes infamous for thousands of years. The prince said again: "This kind of thing is not only hard to say, but also hard to bear to hear. Please let me learn other books." Guo Yu praised the prince's benevolence, and then changed to "Book of Rites".

When Li Hong was the prince, he was famous for his benevolence.At that time, the imperial court recruited a large number of soldiers, and those soldiers who fled or failed to report within the time limit would be executed, and their family members would also serve as officials.Li Hong wrote a letter admonishing this: "I heard that the army conscripts, but the whole family of those who fail to report in time will be implicated, and some will be imprisoned without even being convicted. There are a large number of people.

However, some of them failed due to illness, or encountered bandits on the way, suffered disaster when crossing a river, were afraid of fleeing, were seriously injured, etc., but the military law had to include their relatives. (I think) military law should take into account the facts. If they are not killed in battle, they will be convicted or fled, and their families will be implicated. It is really worthy of sympathy.The minister hopes that the law can be amended, so that soldiers in the family who flee in the future will not have to suffer the crime of sitting together. " Gaozong approved the request.

He was a very benevolent and filial prince, but he died a bit miserably in the end, probably due to Wu Zetian's poisoning. "New Book of Tang" and "Tang Huiyao" recorded rumors that Li Hong might be poisoned by Wu Zetian.

Later generations held this view for the following reasons: First, Li Hong was deeply favored by his father, Emperor Gaozong, and he was benevolent, filial and modest after he was established as the prince, and he received scholars and bureaucrats with courtesy.In the later period, Gaozong considered the lack of health, so he intended to advance the Zen position to the prince.

But at that time, Wu Zetian was politically proud, so Li Hong became an obstacle to her power.

Second, there are conflicts between Li Hong and Wu Zetian, which are mainly reflected in two things: the first thing happened in the second year of Xianheng (671). His mother and elder sister, Princess Yiyang and Princess Xuancheng, were convicted because of their mother Concubine Xiao Shu, and they were too old to marry.

With compassion, Li Hong asked his father and emperor to allow them to marry, but he violated the will of Empress Wu, and thus lost love to his mother.The second thing is that the prince's choice of concubine failed.Wu Zetian's initial choice of princess was the daughter of Siwei Shaoqing Yang Sijian.

But after the wedding date was set, Yang was raped by Wu Zetian's nephew, He Lanmin, and the marriage was ruined.Objectively, it may cause old grievances and alienation between Li Hongtong's stepmother's family.

Li You is someone who has been there, so Li You knows Li Hong, and he is also optimistic about Li Hong. When Li Zhi proposed to make Li Hong the prince, Li You will agree. However, after Li You agreed, he also said that Li Hong Congying can Come to Dunhuafang to study, Li You will personally be Li Hong's teacher.

As soon as Li Zhi heard that his fifth brother was going to teach Li Hong himself, he was even more happy, and immediately decreed that Li You be the crown prince and grand master, and bestow Jiuxi!

With this imperial decree, the court also exploded.

As the name suggests, Prince Taishi is the prince's teacher. This is an honorary title. Basically, Prince Taishi is only awarded to prime ministers, prime ministers, and privy envoys.

On the other hand, Jiuxi at the back has a lot of background.

Many people will wonder what is the nine tins, "Nine tins" means "nine gifts", nine kinds of ritual vessels given by the emperor to his courtiers, and are the highest courtesy.According to the ancient book "Book of Rites", these nine things are: chariots and horses, clothes, 駬 chàng (jù chàng), Zhuhu, Nabi, bow and arrow, axe, huben, and Lexian. They each have different meanings.

1. Chariots and horses: Refers to the carriage that the emperor rides, drawn by six horses, luxurious and majestic.The Son of Heaven bestows chariots and horses to honor people with noble virtues.

2. Clothes: Refers to the clothes of the crown and the red boat (xì).Dagon crowns are the dresses and crowns worn by ancient emperors and ministers when they participated in major events, and Chixi are the shoes worn by the emperor and princes.The emperor bestows clothes to commend those who can stabilize the people.

3. 駬鬯: A kind of fragrant wine in ancient times, used for sacrifice and rewarding princes.The emperor bestows 秬鬯, in recognition of filial piety.

4. Zhuhu: Refers to the gate of red paint.Houses of wealth and honor in ancient times also usually had their gates painted red, but they were somewhat different from the vermilion households bestowed by the emperor.The emperor bestowed Zhuhu, and commended those who had the most people.

5. Nabi: special steps.There are two non-specific theories, one is the steps that can hide the body of the climber, and the other is the steps with gentle steps.The Son of Heaven bestows on His Majesty, in recognition of those who are good at speaking or talented.

6. Bows and arrows: Refers to special red and black special bows and arrows.The emperor gave bows and arrows to commend those who can conquer unrighteousness.

7. Axe.Two similar weapons in ancient times represent punishment and killing, and are symbols of military power and national domination.The Son of Heaven bestows ax and axe in recognition of those who can kill sinners.

8. Huben: In ancient times, the generals of the Royal Palace Guards were called Huben, and the warriors were also called Huben.The emperor bestowed the tiger ben, in recognition of those who can get rid of evil.

9. Lexian: Lexuan, refers to a tool for formulating and correcting temperament.The emperor gave Le County a commendation for those who make the people peaceful and happy.

The objects of Jiuxi have a symbolic meaning, and they are used by the emperor to commend ministers with noble morals, extraordinary abilities and outstanding contributions.And the minister who got the nine tins not only has equipment similar to that of the emperor, but also has power similar to that of the emperor, and his status is equivalent to "deputy emperor".

Wang Mang at the end of the Western Han Dynasty was the first person to accept Jiuxi, and Wang Mang eventually usurped the Han and proclaimed himself emperor.Wang Mang's Nine Tin Objects are slightly different from those recorded in the "Book of Rites", they are: chariots and horses, clothes, pots, Zhuhu, Nabi, bows, axes, axes, tigers, and chanterelles.The difference is that "Le County" has been replaced with "Gui-chan", which is an ancient wine vessel with a jade handle.

The nine tin objects that Cao Cao accepted are the same as those recorded in the "Book of Rites", but with the addition of Guizan, it is strictly counted as ten pieces. One piece, so it's still nine tins.Later generations added Jiuxi, also following Cao Cao's example.

There are precedents of Wang Mang and Cao Cao. When the imperial power declined, Jiuxi became a symbol of powerful officials wanting to usurp power.Power ministers are embarrassed to ask the emperor directly for Jiuxi. Usually, the subordinates who are in a position to figure out the master's mind, and then make a request to the emperor.At this time, although the emperor knew the consequences of giving Jiuxi, he dared not refuse to give it, otherwise the powerful officials might reward the emperor with a glass of poisoned wine.

The emperor bestows nine tins, and usually the powerful officials will finally accept it with a smile, but the appearance of eating should not be too good-looking, it is still necessary to save face, and everyone in the world will watch it!So the powerful ministers often pretended to be hypocritical and declined several times: "Hey, the old minister is ashamed, his virtue is shallow, and he can't bear this kind of treatment." Not enough, life is in danger.In the end, the powerful minister accepted Jiuxi.

Also because of this, many people said that most people who got the Nine Tins would usurp the throne and proclaim themselves emperor. Li Zhi, the emperor, actually took the initiative to add Nine Tins to Li You, and what made all the officials ridiculous was that Li You actually accepted it. For the brothers of Datang, they can be regarded as unprecedented.

(End of this chapter)