According to traditional historians, it is undoubtedly the collective failure of Li Tang's imperial clan that Wu Zetian can become the Zhou Dynasty on behalf of the Tang Dynasty. Mitchell Yueli at the end of Biography of Twenty-three Sons of Taizong in Old Tang Book all mentioned that the imperial power was usurped by the marquis of Wu because these royal children lived up to expectations. Among them, the most stubborn people are Li Yuan, the 22nd son of Tang Gaozu, Li Shimin, the younger brother of Emperor Taizong, and Li Zhi's uncle and. This man is not only a wan ku Gao Liang who flies eagle and runs dogs all day long, but also a black sheep who oppresses officials and people and is insatiable.
Li Yuanying was born in an ominous year. Judging from the time when he ascended the throne, he was born several years later than his junior Tang Gaozong Li Zhi. Tang Gaozong Li Zhi was named King of Jin in the fifth year of Zhenguan, while Li Yuanying was the first king in the thirteenth year of Zhenguan. Although the age can't be judged by the time when he was crowned king, at least when Tang Gaozong Li Zhi was 2 1 year old in the 23rd year of Zhenguan, as the uncle of the emperor, the little prince Li Yuanying should still be a minor child. This is not difficult to be confirmed from details such as the admonition to Yu Shu written by Emperor Gaozong to this uncle Wang at the beginning of his reign, accusing him of shooting with a slingshot.
This prince, known as the Dragon Son, was born to be different from ordinary children. Li Yuanying was named King Teng in his early years, and enjoyed the support of 800 farmers in the fief (now Tengzhou, Shandong Province), and was named the secretariat of Jinzhou (now Ankang, Shaanxi Province). Regarding his performance in the process of growing up, the official book "Old Tang Book"? Gao Zongxun is described in detail in Biography of Wang Teng and Biography of Li Yuanying. In this book "The Commandment", it is mentioned that Li Yuanying studied poetry and etiquette and received a systematic and good Confucian classic education. Since Tang Gaozu, three emperors have expected him to read the books of sages tirelessly and gradually develop good moral quality. However, Li Yuanying repeatedly broke the rules, overstepped the law and discipline, joined forces with many officials in his own palace, shared acrobatics, ignored the city ban system, and often kept his house open at night. At that time, during the mourning period after the death of Emperor Taizong, Li Yuanying, King Teng, frequently enjoyed singing and dancing, which not only had a bad influence, but also seriously violated it.
As a monarch and a local governor, according to the fashion of being an official at that time, Li Yuanying should often visit the people in the province at the grass-roots level and observe the customs among the villagers, but he threw the so-called Tang gaozu's weight and the sufferings of the people out of the cloud, took everyone to the territory under his jurisdiction, borrowed hunting dogs and bird nets everywhere, and hunted cheerfully. Li Yuanying likes to play slingshots, too. During the busy farming season, when there were many people in the field, he rode a horse with bullets, practiced shooting at working farmers and watched them flee for their lives for fun. Li Yuanying played games with villains in the government all day, advocating superiority and inferiority, which made the government family feel very embarrassed. In the freezing season, they also like to play a prank called "burying people with snow", which is cruel to watch. In addition, Li Yuanying often instructed domestic servants to tease and insult officials who came to handle affairs.
In order to strengthen control, Emperor Gaozong gave his little uncle an evaluation result in the official examination that year, expecting him to be ashamed of it and make progress. Later, the older Li Yuanying was transferred to Suzhou Secretariat and then transferred to Hongzhou as the governor. When Tengwang Li Yuanying arrived in Hongzhou (now Nanchang, Jiangxi), he built Wangtengting Pavilion, which was nothing at that time, but it later became an important historical and cultural monument. According to the relevant research data of Tengwangge, when Li Yuanying was transferred to Hongzhou Secretariat, he brought a group of song and dance musicians from Suzhou, feasted and danced in the Secretariat all day, and then built this pavilion as a separate residence in Linjiang, which was actually a place for song and dance entertainment. Therefore, Li Yuanying's dissolute habit has not changed, but at this moment, the mountain is high and the emperor is far away, and no one cares about him. During his tenure as the secretariat of Hongzhou in Li Yuanying, he added a worse hobby, that is, deceiving men and dominating women.
There is a story in Zhang's book One in the Ruling and Opposition in the Tang Dynasty: Li Yuan and his son are the secretariat of Hongzhou (now Nanchang, Jiangxi). Wang Tengting, one of the three famous buildings in Jiangnan, was built by him at that time. However, this Wang Teng is a womanizer. Almost all the wives of his officials were raped by him as long as they were beautiful. He often calls the official's wife into the palace in the name of the princess. Once the official's wife enters the palace, she will be dragged to bed by him.
There was a clerk named Cui Jian who was in charge of paperwork. When his wife Zheng Chu came to Hongzhou, she sent someone to pick her up. Cui Jian is in a dilemma. If she doesn't go, she is afraid of offending Wang Teng. If I go, I'm afraid I'll be insulted by Wang Teng. Zheng said that it is a peaceful and prosperous time. Dare he run amok? So I went to the pavilion outside Teng Wang Fu. Wang Teng was already waiting there. As soon as he saw Zheng come in, he went to molest him. Zheng shouted. The attendants on the left and right said: He is King Teng. Zheng said: Why is it so dirty? Must be a domestic slave! As he spoke, he took off a shoe and bashed Wang Teng's head, smashing Wang Teng's head to pieces. It's not enough to hit with my shoes. I also scratched Wang Teng's face with my fingers. When the princess heard the news, Zheng was able to get away and go home.
Wang Teng didn't handle official business for more than ten days after being beaten. When he recovered and went to my office, Cui Jian confessed to him. Wang Teng felt very embarrassed and hurried back to the yard, only to show up a month later. After this incident, the wives of the officials summoned by King Teng felt ashamed.
The above-mentioned historical materials about Li Yuanying were also included in the New Tang Book by Ouyang Xiu and other historians? Biographies of Wang Teng and Li Yuanying. Biography also said that Li Yuanying was stripped of his title and relegated to Chuzhou because of his sitting style. This punishment should also be related to those immoral things he did. Li Yuanying was demoted to Chuzhou, then returned to Shu, and was appointed as the secretariat of Shouzhou. Later, he was moved from Shouzhou to Longzhou, where he refused to obey the law, insulted Yu Pei, a military official who tried to correct his mistakes and dared to criticize him, and was reported to Gao Zong again. According to Old Tang Book? According to the Biography of King Li Yuanxiang, his younger brother Li Yuanxiang was a burly man with ten belts. Eating and drinking is worth several strong men. He is also a greedy and insatiable corrupt official. At that time, people compared Li Yuanxiang's greed and violence with those of Feng, and the literati who served as officials in these four palaces complained more than the literati stationed in the wild land of Lingnan. People have also invented a formula: it is better to escape than to escape, not to escape, not to escape, not to escape, not to escape, not to escape, not to escape, not to escape. This can be seen.