Font
Large
Medium
Small
Night
Prev Index    Favorite Next

Chapter 778 The Son of Heaven bestowed nine tins

Li Hong is the eldest son of Li Zhi and Wu Zetian. This prince is actually very good. Li Hongyou was the crown prince and was deeply favored and valued by his father. Emperor Gaozong once praised the prince to his servants: "It is very kind and filial, and he is in accordance with etiquette for the reception of ministers, and has never made any mistakes."

In his early years, Li Hong studied "The Legend of Zuo" from Guo Yu. When he read the story of the murder of the king of Chu, Mi Shangchen, the prince of Chu, he couldn't help but sigh: "This kind of thing is unbearable for the ministers to hear. The classics of sages should record good things that set an example for future generations. Why do we record this?"

Guo Yu replied: "When Confucius wrote the "Spring and Autumn Annals", both good and evil things were recorded in order to praise good deeds to persuade the public, and to criticize evil deeds to warn future generations. Writing Mi Shangchen's evil deeds was to make his sins detrimental for thousands of years." The prince also said: "This kind of thing is not only unspeakable, but also unbearable to hear it. Please let me learn other books." Guo Yu praised the prince's kindness and then gave it to the Book of Rites instead.

Li Hong was known for his kindness during his reign as the crown prince. At that time, the imperial court recruited a large number of soldiers, and soldiers who fled or did not report within the deadline would be executed, and their families would also be appointed as officials. Li Hong wrote a letter to advise him: "I heard that the army recruited soldiers, and all the whole family who did not report in time would be implicated, and some were imprisoned without being punished, with a large number of people.

However, there are many situations such as the postage due to illness, or encountering bandits on the way, suffering from crossing the river, fear of escaping, and serious injuries, but the military law has to hold their relatives. (I believe) the military law should take into account the facts. If you are not killed in battle, you will be convicted or fled, and implicated in your family, it is really worthy of sympathy. I hope that the law can be revised, and that if you have soldiers at home fleeing in the future, you will not have to be punished for being convicted." Emperor Gaozong approved the request.

He was a very kind and filial prince, but he died a little miserably in the end. It was probably Wu Zetian's poisoning... "New Book of Tang" and "Tang Huiyao" record the rumors that Li Hong might have been poisoned by Wu Zetian.

Later generations held this view as follows: First, Li Hong was deeply favored by his father, Emperor Gaozong, and was appointed as the crown prince, benevolent, filial and honest, and was courteous to the literati and officials, and was in the hearts of both China and foreign countries. Later, Emperor Gaozong was considering that his body was not supported, so he wanted to abdicate to the crown prince in advance.

But at that time, Wu Zetian was successful in politics, and Li Hong became an obstacle to his power.

2. The conflict between Li Hong and Wu Zetian is mainly reflected in two things: the first thing happened in the second year of Xianheng (671). Li Hong stayed in Chang'an and found that two half-sisters, Princess Yiyang and Princess Xuancheng, were imprisoned in the palace. The two were convicted of their mother Xiao Shufei, and they were still unable to get married when they were old.

With compassion, Li Hong asked his father to let them get married, but he violated the will of Empress Wu and lost his love for his mother. The second thing was that the prince failed to choose a concubine. The princess who Wu Zetian originally chose was the daughter of Yang Sijian, the daughter of the young master of Wei.

However, after the marriage date was set, Yang was raped by Wu Zetian's nephew Helan Min, and his marriage was destroyed. Objectively, it may have caused the grudges and alienation of Li Hong and his mother's stepmother's family.

Li You is a veteran, so Li You knows Li Hong, and he is optimistic about Li Hong. When Li Zhi proposed to let Li Hong be the crown prince, Li You agreed. However, after Li You agreed, he also said that Li Hong was concise and could come to Dunhuafang to study, and Li You would be Li Hong's teacher himself.

When Li Zhi heard that his fifth brother was about to teach Li Hong himself, he was even happier. He immediately issued an order to grant Li You the title of Prince's Grand Tutor and give him nine tins...!

This imperial edict broke out in the court.

As the name suggests, the Crown Prince's Grand Master is the Crown Prince's teacher. This is a title of honor. Basically, the Crown Prince's Grand Master only grants the Prime Minister and Privy Councilor who have not yet arrived at the Servant and retired. The Crown Prince's Grand Master's official title is still average.

However, Jiuxi behind it has a great background.

Many people will wonder what the nine tin is. "Nine tin" means "Nine Gifts", which are the nine ritual vessels given to the ministers by the emperor, and are the highest courtesy. According to the ancient book "Book of Rites", these nine things are: chariots, horses, clothes, turtles, turtles, urns, urns, urns, bows, arrows, axes, tigers, and Lexian. They each have different meanings.

1. Carriage and horse: refers to the carriage that the emperor rides, which is pulled by six horses, which is luxurious and majestic. The emperor gives carriage and horses to commend people with noble virtues.

2. Clothes: refers to the garment and red robe (xì). The garment and ritual crown worn by ancient emperors and ministers when participating in major events, and red robe is the shoes worn by the emperor and princes. The emperor gives clothes to commend those who can calm the people.

3. 花青: An ancient incense wine was used to sacrifice and reward princes. The emperor gave 花青 to commend people with filial piety.

4. Zhuhu: refers to the gate of red paint. In ancient times, wealthy families usually painted the gate red, but it was somewhat different from the Zhuhu rewarded by the emperor. The emperor gave the Zhuhu to commend people with many people.

5. Nabi: A special step. There are two unspecific statements: one is the step that can hide the body of a person, and the other is the level of a class. The emperor gave Nabi to commend people who can make good speeches or talents.

6. Bow arrows: refer to special red and black special bows and arrows. The emperor gives bow arrows to commend those who can conquer unjustly.

7. Axe. Two similar weapons in ancient times represent punishment and killing, which are symbols of military power and national dominance. The emperor gave axe to commend those who could kill those who were guilty.

8. Hu Ben: In ancient times, the generals of the Imperial Palace Guard were called Hu Ben, and the warriors were also called Hu Ben. The emperor gave Hu Ben to commend those who could eliminate evil and evil.

9. Le County: Le Xuan refers to a tool for formulating and correcting music. The emperor gave Le County to commend those who made the people peaceful and happy.

The items of Jiuxi are symbolic, and are used by the emperor to commend ministers with noble character, extraordinary ability and outstanding contributions. The ministers who obtained Jiuxi not only possess equipment similar to the emperor, but also have powers similar to those of the emperor, and their status is equivalent to "deputy emperor".

Wang Mang was the first to accept the nine tins in the late Western Han Dynasty, and Wang Mang eventually usurped the Han Dynasty and became emperor. Wang Mang's nine tins are slightly different from those recorded in the Book of Rites. They are: chariots and horses, clothes, turtles, urinals, urinals, bows and arrows, axes, tigers, and Guizan. The difference is that "Lexian" was replaced by "Guizan", which was an ancient jade-handled wine vessel.

The nine-tin items accepted by Cao Cao were the same as those recorded in the Book of Rites, but the addition of Guizan was strictly counted as ten pieces. However, the Guizan was counted as the secondary product of the sacred sac, which means that the wine glass and wine were counted as one piece, so it was still the nine-tin. Later generations added Jiuzan, which is also based on Cao Cao's example.

With the precedent of Wang Mang and Cao Cao, when the imperial power declined, the Jiuxie became a symbol of the powerful ministers' desire to usurp power. The powerful ministers were embarrassed to ask the emperor for Jiuxie directly. Usually, subordinates who were inclined to the flames and attached themselves to the power to figure out the master's thoughts and then asked the emperor. At this time, the emperor understood the consequences of giving Jiuxie, but he did not dare not give it to him. Otherwise, the powerful ministers might reward the emperor with a glass of poisoned wine.

The emperor gave Jiuxi, and the powerful ministers would usually accept it in the end, but they could not be too good at judging their appearance, but they still need to be faced. Everyone in the world watched it! So the powerful ministers often pretended to be hypocritical and refuted a few times: "Oh, the old minister is ashamed, has shallow virtue, and cannot bear this treatment." Although the emperor despised him in his heart: "It depends on how long you pretend", he still had to persuade the powerful ministers to accept it, otherwise his sincerity would not be enough and his life would be difficult to protect. In the end, the powerful ministers still accepted Jiuxi.

Because of this, many people say that most people who get Jiuxi will usurp the throne and become emperor... The emperor Li Zhi took the initiative to add Jiuxi to Li You, and what made all the ministers ridiculous was that Li You actually accepted it. This pair of brothers from the Tang Dynasty can be regarded as unprecedented and unparalleled.

....................................
Chapter completed!
Prev Index    Favorite Next