The Tang Dynasty was one of the most powerful dynasties in Chinese history. The bustle and prosperity of that era was like a song with ups and downs, and looking at the cultural relics or poems it left behind, it was exquisite and made people look up.
Even so, the iron law of history still did not bypass the Tang Dynasty. Its decay is still lamentable.
As the last emperor of the Tang Dynasty, Emperor Ai of Tang also had a very bleak life, and it is not an exaggeration to say that it is a tragedy, but what is even more helpless is that this kind of tragedy has long been doomed, and he alone cannot change it.
Li Zhao, whose original name was Li Zuo,was born on September 3, 892, the ninth son of Emperor Zhaozong of Tang, Li Ye in the fourth year of Qianning (897), and at the age of five he was crowned The Prince of Hui. In fact, in his capacity, the succession to the throne could not be turned on his head, and he did not have outstanding talents to successfully seize the throne, but he was not outstanding, he was favored by Zhu Wen, helped to the throne as a puppet, and became the most honorable in the world, but the life was not good. The beginning and end of this matter must start from Li Ye's father, Li Ye.
During the reign of Emperor Zhaozong of Tang, Li Ye made some achievements and successfully suppressed a number of emissaries, but he missed Zhu Wen.
Zhu Wen, a traitor and thief, was so powerful that the emperor finally couldn't help him. At this time, Zhu Wen's ambitions were increasing day by day. Finally, in the first year of Tianyou (904), Zhu Wen could no longer hold back, afraid that other knots would make him and the emperor twist into a rope to deal with himself, and prepare to kill the emperor. In August, Emperor Zhaozong was resting in the palace, and Jiang Xuanhui and Shi Tai, under Zhu Wen, forced the palace with more than a hundred people. Inside the hall, Emperor Zhaozong got up. Although his Zhaoyi Li Wanrong stopped him, to no avail, Zhaozong and Li Wanrong were ordered to return to the Western Heavens.
On the second day, Jiang Xuanhui falsely transmitted the holy will according to Zhu Wen's wishes, and Li Hui, that is, Li Tao, was made crown prince. Li Tao, the crown prince, was a prince for a morning, and at noon there was another change. The chancellor Liu Xuan (柳璨) and DuGu (獨宿) corrected the edict in the name of empress dowager, and Ordered Li Tao to ascend the throne directly in front of Emperor Zhaozong's coffin. In this way, the thirteen-year-old Li Yu was forcibly promoted to the throne without knowing anything, and in the face of Zhu Wen, he did not have any confidence, and continued to follow the era name of his father Emperor Zhaozong, Tianyou, and became a puppet.
After Li Tao ascended the throne, according to Zhu Wen's wishes, he gave Zhu Wen a series of seals. Zhu Wen's treatment turned out to be "entering the dynasty without tendency, the sword is on the temple, the praise is not named, and the life of the nine tins is also more than that of Xiao He, the founding hero of the Han Dynasty, and Cao Cao, the powerful minister at the end of the Han Dynasty.
Li Tao had no real power and was willing to act as a puppet, and everything was handled by Zhu Wen. The history books record that "when the government was a thief, the emperor could not control it." He only wanted to do two things in his life, but even these two small things could not be done.
The first incident occurred in September of the second year of Tianyou (905), when he wanted to crown his nursing mothers Yang and Wang, respectively, as Zhaoyi and Lady Jun. In fact, the Wang clan had already been given the title of Lady of the County during the time of Emperor Zhaozong, and Li Yu planned to imitate the Yang clan and change her to Zhaoyi. This is not a big deal, but even if he knows it, he was refuted by the prime minister, saying: "The example of the nursing mother Gu Wufeng's giving of internal office, the modern follow-up, the special allusion ... Now the country is in the ascendant, and it is advisable to seek the old. After consultation, the Yang clan hoped to give the title of An Shengjun, and the Wang clan blessed the Shengjun..."
Li Yu had no ability to resist at all, only to pretend to be dumb.
Another incident occurred in November of the same year. According to the regulations, Li Tao was to kiss the circular hill (that is, sacrifice to the heavens) on the nineteenth day. The relevant matters have long been arranged by various departments, and they are waiting for the sacrifice to begin. Who knew that Zhu Wen was suddenly unhappy, thinking that this sacrifice was praying for the tang dynasty to be long. He was unhappy and blatantly intervened. Everyone knew that no one dared to openly oppose it, so they had to find an excuse to change the date. There is no extension on the matter. Li Li didn't even dare to let go of a fart.
In June of the second year of Tianyou (905), Zhu Wen listened to the words of his cronies and gathered more than thirty people of the imperial court to kill all the white horses along the Yellow River and throw their corpses into the river. History called the brutal massacre the "White Horse Revolution." Six months later, Zhu Wen not only swung the butcher's knife at his subordinates, but also sent someone to kill Empress He in the deep palace. Li Yu was forced to issue an edict, saying that Empress He had committed suicide to apologize for the chaos of the palace, and was later deposed as a shuren. After the empress dowager's death, Zhu Wen even forced Li Tou to abolish the Tradition of New Year's Sacrifices.
Her birth mother, Empress He, was humiliated, and Li Li did not dare or resist in any way, and could only watch as her mother was killed and spilled with sewage.
In March of the fourth year of Tianyou (907), Zhu Wen at this time was extremely powerful, and it was not a problem for him to take the throne, and no one dared to have any opinions, so he forced Li Tao to "zen throne" and became emperor himself, and the Tang Dynasty was destroyed. Li Tao, as the king of the subjugated country, had all kinds of grief in his heart, but he could not do anything under the control of others, if he could spend the rest of his life safely without the throne, but fate did not spare his men at all.
After the "Zen throne", Li Yu was first demoted to the title of King of Jiyin, not to mention a king, but in fact he was placed in the homestead of Zhu Wen's cronies. Although Zhu Wen had taken the throne, there were many people in the world who were looking at the tiger and thought that if someone raised an army in the name of Li Tang, he made a decision, and Li Tao, the king of the subjugated country, could not stay. So on February 21 of the second year of Later Liang Kaiping (908), he sent someone to kill Li Yu, ending his sad life.
Li Tangjiangshan existed in name only in the hands of Li Tao, and he did not have any capital to resist, and even self-preservation was a luxury. Poor and lamentable, his parents were killed and he was powerless, and he was subject to people everywhere and could not escape the disaster in the end, I don't know how other Tang Dynasty emperors looked at the spirit of heaven, how did they feel?