Emperor Yizong of Tang, Li Yizong, reigned for 14 years, was lascivious and extravagant, did not think of making progress, frequently changed appearances, greeted the bones of the Buddha, and faced internal and external troubles without knowing the danger, so that Tang Xuanzong's glimmer of hope of making great efforts to revitalize Li Tang's rivers and mountains during his reign was completely destroyed. Li Yi did not have a correct understanding of the difficulties of the country and the family, only cared about personal pleasures, did not know the responsibility of the Son of Heaven, and was despised by the Li family and the people of the world.
Lee's Ancestral Hall
In the late Tang Dynasty, eunuchs had exclusive power, and who became emperor was decided by the eunuchs. The emperor gradually became the eunuch's puppet, became the eunuch's slave, and the eunuch gradually became the emperor's master.
Emperor Yizong of Tang was the eldest son of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, but when he was crown prince, Emperor Xuanzong of Tang was not optimistic about this eldest son, so much so that the eldest son actually lived in the "Sixteen Houses" where the kings of the clan lived together, rather than in the Eastern Palace. At the time of the succession, Tang Xuanzong had planned to pass the throne to his fourth son Li Zi, but when he passed on the holy will, something happened, and the eunuch Wang Zongshi falsely passed on the holy will to welcome Li Yi into the palace and became the crown prince. The sudden change confused the hundred officials of the imperial court, almost no one had heard that there was such a prince in the Sixteen Houses, and the new emperor suddenly fell from the sky, making people overwhelmed. Obviously, Tang Yizong's ascension to the throne was once again an imperial succession held by eunuchs.
After Tang Yizong ascended the throne, he did not take the severe social situation to heart, when the national strength declined, and it was said that "the state is broken nine times, and the people have eight sufferings." Land annexation also intensified, many people lost their arable land, oppressed peasants continued to revolt, and Waiyi Nanzhao sent troops to invade the border. After Tang Yizong initially calmed down the internal strife and external troubles, he thought that the world was at peace and could not see the patience of the people. The attraction of state affairs to him was far less attractive than that of banquets, songs, dances, and plays, and he devoted all his attention to eating, drinking, and having fun, and his enthusiasm for the upper court was obviously not as good as drinking and having fun.
Tang Yizong's profligacy, extravagance and corruption are staggering. On weekdays, he feasted and drank in the palace every day, and every month he had to feast on a big feast. He loved music, and there was once a musician who was good at composing new songs, so Tang Yizong loved him so much that he named him a general of Zuo Weiwei, which shows how faint he is. Under the leadership of such a dimwitted monarch, the entire imperial court and officialdom were filled with an atmosphere of poverty and extravagance, drunkenness and death. Bureaucrats are racing to follow suit. Life was extravagant, power-seeking bribery, and corruption became a common practice, and the imperial court was in a miasma of black smoke.
Perhaps Tang Yizong did not realize that it was he who accelerated the decline of the Li family in order to satisfy his selfish desires.
Tang Yizong's attitude toward the relatives of the clan was obviously different from the situation in which Tang Xuanzong strictly demanded the clan. He doted on Princess Tongchang more than his ancestors. Princess Tongchang's mother was Guo Shufei, and when Tang Yizong was the King of Yun, he was very fond of Guo Shufei, who was known as the first beauty of Chang'an. Princess Tongchang was born beautiful, bright-eyed, exquisite and lovely, and had a meek and understanding personality, and was regarded as a pearl in the palm of her hand by Tang Yizong from an early age.
In the ninth year of Xiantong (868), Princess Tongchang married Wei Baoheng, a new scholar. On the day the princess was married, Tang Yizong poured out the treasures in the palace as a dowry. Unlike other princesses, Princess Tongchang is not as ruthless and willful as the average royal princess, she has a gentle temperament, well-behaved and pleasant, and the Wei family naturally does not dare to treat the princess badly, and arranges extreme luxury in life. Unfortunately, in the third year of her new marriage, Princess Tongchang fell ill and became emaciated. The famous imperial doctor in the palace kept shuttling in front of the princess's bed, however, her illness never improved, and finally xiang yu died, and the Wei family, in order to get rid of their responsibilities, came to the palace to report to Tang Yizong, saying that the princess's heir was due to the improper diagnosis of quacks. When tang Yizong heard this, he did not distinguish between true and false, and ordered that all twenty or so medical officers be beheaded, and more than three hundred of their relatives were also thrown into prison.
Princess Tongchang
Tang Yizong's unkind behavior caused a lot of discussion inside and outside the imperial court. Liu Zhan, a zhongshu attendant, believed that this move would definitely bring disaster to the imperial court. Since more than two dozen imperial doctors have died and cannot be revived, if the relatives of more than three hundred imperial doctors in custody are released, it may be possible to appease the people's hearts. Therefore, in the face of Liu Zhan's words, Tang Yizong did not think so, he believed that the imperial doctor had harmed his beloved daughter, and he was absolutely unwilling to forgive their people, and ignored Liu Zhan's play. Later, because Liu Zhan was once again outspoken and advised, he was demoted and exiled.
Only because of life and death, a young and beautiful Princess Tongchang left the world prematurely. As a father and a king of a generation, Tang Yizong disregarded the state's etiquette for princesses, as well as the state's situation of not talking about life and worrying about internal and external troubles, he did whatever he wanted, and he did as he pleased, mourning his beloved daughter by killing more than twenty imperial doctors and imprisoning more than three hundred relatives, and exiled dozens of loyal subjects to exile, stirring up the inside and outside of the imperial court and causing complaints.
Since Tang Yizong ascended the throne, a peasant uprising led by Qiu Fu broke out in eastern Zhejiang. Because eastern Zhejiang was the main location for the Tang Dynasty to plunder wealth, the persecution and oppression of the people was extremely serious. Therefore, Qiu Fu led the people to revolt and conquered Mount Tai. The suppression of the uprising by the officials and troops was gradually defeated, and as a result, it caused great panic in the Li Tang Dynasty. Tang Yizong hurriedly sent Wang Shi to lead tens of thousands of elite troops to encircle and suppress, at this time due to changes within the rebel army and the measures of warplanes, so the uprising was well suppressed, and the leader of the rebel army was captured and beheaded. Although Qiu Fu's rebellion against Tang failed, the uprising he led was the prelude to the Great Peasant Uprising of the Tang Dynasty, and Tang Yizong was unaware of the twists and turns in the future of the Li family.
Qiu Fu revolted
Wave after wave of unevenness arose again, and the QiuFu uprising had just been quelled, and the war in the border nanzhao had started again. In order to defend the border, it was originally stipulated that soldiers could return to their hometowns in three years, but they could not be honored. There was no hope of returning after six years, and under the leadership of Pang Xun, he killed himself. The imperial court considered the move to be a rebellion, and Pang Xun was banned on his return journey. Pang Xun's army defeated the Tang army and captured the capital LiangCheng. Unfortunately, this uprising was still a failure due to contradictions within the rebel army. This uprising lasted for one year and two months, and the scale of this uprising was even larger than the previous Qiu Fu uprising, and it was also another heavy blow to the rule of the Li Tang Dynasty.
Emperor Yizong of Tang adopted the policy of suppressing and using all forms of resistance. Annihilation is the end, and consolation is only an auxiliary means to suppress the rebels, so as to win time for suppression and ensure that the rule of his family will be maintained for a long time. However, there has never been any attempt to alleviate social contradictions and eliminate maladministration by "soothing". Through a bloody high-pressure policy, the Li family spent more than a dozen spring and autumn seasons on thin ice. However, social contradictions intensify, and the results of high pressure will only provoke a larger revolt, and the apparent calm will breed a deeper crisis. The Li-Tang Dynasty during the reign of Emperor Yizong of Tang was already in turmoil.
Buddha
In the fourteenth year of Xiantong (873), Tang Yizong was ill for a long time and felt that time was short, so he prepared to entrust his own future and his own destiny to the Buddha, preparing to welcome the Relics of the Buddha's bones. As soon as Tang Yizong's edict was issued, he was immediately advised by his courtiers, which cost the people money, and Tang Xianzong died violently after welcoming the immortal bones, which shows that this move is unknown. But at this time, Tang Yizong couldn't listen to these words at all.
It was a huge, offering-rich, and costly reception. This greeting is even worse than during the Tang Xianzong period. Its spectacular scene far exceeded the emperor's grand ceremony of worship. Unfortunately, the relics of the Buddha's bones did not bring blessings to this rebellious emperor. In the autumn of that year, the 40-year-old Tang Yizong ended his life of extravagance and lasciviousness. Grand ceremonies, devout Buddhist activities, and lavish scenes, such as a flash in the pan, failed to save The life of Tang Yizong, nor could they save the fate of the Li Tang Dynasty, which had entered the middle of winter.
Tang Yizong
Rather than entrusting his own future and fate to the Buddha, the emperor entrusted his own future and destiny to the people. Only by being sincere to the people and doing things for the people can the future of one's own family be bright and one's own destiny be mastered.
Since then, the rule of the Li family has almost ceased in name only, peasant uprisings have arisen one after another in various places, the division of the feudal towns has become more and more intense, the imperial court no longer has the financial resources to hold a huge expenditure to welcome the bones of the Buddha, and the tianzi of the Li family no longer have this kind of mind. Therefore, Tang Yizong's welcoming Buddha bones became the last brilliant performance of the Li royal family's religious activities. Along with it, an elegy of the end of the Li Tang Dynasty was sung. It's a shame!
(Full text 2700 words)
bibliography:
Zizhi Tongjian
New Book of Tang, etc.