The best idlers of the Tang Dynasty

History is often written by the winners, and the losers naturally have no right to appeal, just like Li Chengqian in front of him. According to the records in the history books, Li Chengqian is undoubtedly unbearable. Before meeting Li Chengqian, Du Rui also believed that it was The truth, but after meeting Li Chengqian and having a preliminary conversation with him, Du Rui found out that he really can't believe everything!

Although Li Chengqian was not as graceful, wise and courageous as Emperor Taizong, but he was born in the royal family and received an elite education, and what he showed in front of Du Rui was quite a gentleman.

Regarding Li Chengqian's crazy actions in the future, Du Rui thought about it and could understand it.Li Chengqian was born in a thriving, prosperous country at the beginning of the Tang Dynasty. His father was an upright and strong Mingjun, and his mother was a sensible and gentle empress. The relationship between his parents was firm and stable from beginning to end. He himself was the undisputed "eldest son" ", has been cultivated from an early age.

At that time, there were absolutely righteous ministers in power in the court, and no minister came out to oppose him.The courtiers his parents sent to him were also upright and honest, and they were brave enough to speak out.Of course there are submissive villains among his close attendants, but he has not seen anyone who "teach him how to be bad", at most they just follow the crowd and let it go, most of them are Yuwen scholars and the like, and Zhao Gao's The level is not far off.

As for Li Chengqian's political talent, even the snobbish historians have to admit that "judgment of common affairs is general." After Li Yuan's death, Li Shimin kept his father's filial piety. Li Chengqian's performance during this period also won unanimous praise from the court, both in front of him and behind him. He was only 16 years old that year.

In the last chastity watch, there was only one Li Tai who took the initiative to compete with him, and Li Tai, if you say that he is "strong", it is really flattering him.This little fat man is quite good at writing and writing, but he is completely failed in politics, and he doesn't even understand the basics of the world.He only looks at things on the surface, imitating his father to open a literary museum, recruiting talented people, and buying people's hearts, but besides recruiting some poor scholars who wield pens, what else is there?Even if you get a few thugs with good martial arts, killing brothers and fathers when the dog jumps over the wall in a hurry, it's not a waste of effort!

When it comes to "buying people's hearts", one can see how Li Tai's people's hearts are being bought by watching the people in the court swarming up and aggressively accusing Xiao Li of favoring Li Tai.Although he brought people like Liu Ji to stand by him, but for the most influential uncle, the most trusted uncle of Emperor Taizong, Sun Wuji, he couldn't tell that there was any relationship between the nephew and uncle. What did he do to make Wuji fall headlong on Li Zhi in the end without regret.

Changsun Wuji doesn't like Li Ke, that's because there is no blood relationship between the two of them, it is God's will and manpower that cannot be redeemed, but the blood composition of the eldest grandson's family in Li Tai is exactly the same as that of Li Zhi, half a drop is not less, of course, Changsun Wuji Later, he wholeheartedly supported Li Zhi, and there was also the factor that he hoped to control this weak boy and control the government in the future, but considering his behavior habits of following the leadership closely and obeying the holy will, if he didn't really dislike Li Tai, Then, after Emperor Taizong abolished Li Chengqian, when he very clearly proposed to establish Li Tai, it was hard to imagine that he had the courage to fight face to face.

But the biggest stupid thing Li Tai did was to lie to his father face to face, claiming that he wanted to kill his son and pass on his son, even if you don't think about it, who are you planning to deceive?He himself came to power by killing his brother, and he is very clear about the nature of these so-called "filial piety". Even if he was emotional for a while, and was blinded to believe this substandard lie, after the minister woke up, he would soon think more and more wrong. , Since then, I have thoroughly recognized the true face of this little liar.The effect of this lie is much better than the enemy presenting the facts to his father and reasoning for a long time.

Therefore, Li Chengqian's failure was simply a slap in the face to those feudal ethicists who adhered to the theory of "the father dies and the son succeeds, and the son grows up" because he had all the qualities to be an excellent prince and a successful king. Conditions, but it just didn't turn out to be what people expected.

At that time, when later generations commented on this period of history, they could only vaguely say "brothers are foolish and brothers are mediocre" and "rebel against Qian", replacing the cause with the result. There is no way to explain why this person became like this. Everything can only be attributed to nature. ,God willing.

If psychoanalysis, personality formation laws and other methods are used to track the boy's growth process, it may be able to explain something.

Li Chengqian was born in the second year of Wude. On the first month of this year, his grandfather Li Yuan ordered his father Li Shimin to go out of Changchun. Should not be around.According to historical records, Emperor Taizong stayed in Changchun Palace until October, and then set off from Changchun Palace to lead troops to fight against Liu Wuzhou. He fought until the end of May of the following year before returning to the court with a big victory. He rested in Chang'an for only One month, at the beginning of July, he was ordered by his father to set off to beat Wang Shichong again.When Li Chengqian's biological father reappeared in Chang'an, it was already July of the fourth year of Wude. At this time, Xiao Chengqian should be about two years old, and it was the age when he gradually deepened his understanding and relationship with his father, but Du Rui estimated that when When the two-year-old boy was carried out of the Chengqian Palace, he certainly didn't know who the uncle with the shiny golden shell was all over his body.

In the next few years, his father either went out to fight, or stayed in Chang'an to fight for power with his brothers. Anyway, his life was not peaceful.The father and son naturally spend more time together than before, and Li Chengqian should have finally gotten to know his own father, but considering the situation at that time, I am afraid that Emperor Taizong really didn't have much thought and energy to enjoy the fun of being a father.

In Du Rui's previous life, some psychologists had done research, children, especially boys, the relationship with their father is very important in childhood, because it is for him to gain a sense of security, recognize his gender characteristics, and initially When building a psychological balance, and this kind of cognition and relationship can only be obtained through intuitive feelings.That is to say, no matter how many times his mother, nanny, or maid have said to him, "Your father is a great hero, a real man, a pillar of the country, and respected by all", it is far inferior to his father's open arms. Giving him a simple hug does the trick.

If it is in the families of ordinary subjects, this lack of paternal love may still be compensated. After all, in history, fathers died early, but sons were raised by single mothers, and there are still many examples.Here we should consider the problem of "single mother", that is, the personality difference of the gentle and docile eldest grandson empress who is "strict in nature". Undoubtedly, the former's personality can better fill the vacancy of "strict father".Or, a close elder man in the family, a friend of the father, or even a respected teacher, as long as they participate in the child's growth and show paternal tendencies, they can play a more or less important role. child effect.

But Li Chengqian was very unfortunate. When his father was absent, no man had the ability, or the courage, to treat the prince of Qin in a paternal way.In fact, this task should be undertaken by his grandfather Li Yuan as a matter of course. After all, it was you who kicked his own father out of the house for you to work.

But when you think about the [-] or [-] sons and daughters that Li Yuan gave birth to during the Wude period, you know what the main way this old man "immerses himself in family relationships and enjoys life", and then Li Chengqian's uncle and fourth uncle are of that virtue, How can they be expected to show love and care for their little nephew?

Li Chengqian grew up to be eight years old, and the Xuanwumen incident happened. His mother was taken to Xuanwumen to seek refuge by his father and husband. What about him?There is no record in the history books that the eight-year-old Prince Qin went to work in the army with his mother.In fact, according to the concept of the ancients, sons are much more important than wives. Do you still remember that Zhao Yun and Zhang Fei both saved Mrs. A Douqi?Moreover, Li Chengqian was still the eldest son with such an unusual name. To some extent, it could even be said far-fetchedly that this little boy was a living witness of Li Yuan's plan to pass the throne to his second son.

According to historical records, the eight-year-old Li Chengqian was already "sensitized and sensitive". At the age of 11, Ashinasheer built his own teeth and opened the account. The eight-year-old Li Chengqian went with his mother to condolences to the soldiers who would be his subordinates in the future. , what can't be justified?

Combining these historical materials, Du Rui thought about it, and felt very sad for the little boy who was abandoned by his parents in the high wall of the palace that morning, listening helplessly to the sound of fighting outside.

Of course, for Li Chengqian himself, he may not understand so many causes and consequences, and he may not necessarily feel that "parents don't love me" because of this, but Du Rui thought, there is one thing he should know, those who are similar to him The cousins ​​who played together in the palace disappeared overnight, and the people around him didn't even allow him to mention those names again.

Everyone should be very clear about Li Yuan's love and preferential treatment for his three eldest sons. From this inference, he should not be bad for his own grandchildren, and it is very likely that he would often call them down to his knees to "play with grandchildren". Imagine fifteen grandchildren plus sixteen or seventeen little princes bouncing around and making noise in one place.

If it is said that there are "limited submissions" for fear of too many people, then, as the eldest son of Li Chengqian, he must be indispensable every time. There are many more of them.Li Shimin killed ten nephews at a time, his other sons may not have any feelings about it, Li Chengqian is hard to say, smart children are often sensitive.

In any case, according to historical records, when Emperor Taizong first came to the throne, he still loved the eldest son very much, and made him the crown prince without any objection.Another fact that should be noted is that during the first three years of Li Shimin's reign as emperor, his family lived in the East Palace, not the Taiji Palace, the emperor's main palace. At this time, Li Chengqian should still be able to see his parents often. The mood is still good, and he should be much kinder to the children than in those years when he was suppressed. Perhaps in Li Chengqian's life, these three years were the time when he enjoyed the strongest family affection.

In the third year of Zhenguan, Li Yuan moved to Da'an Palace and gave up the house to his son.The parents left, and those underage younger brothers and younger sisters also left. The 11-year-old Li Chengqian stayed in the East Palace with a lot of servants and officials.From then on, if he wanted to see his parents, he had to make an appointment in advance, and if he wanted to see his brothers and sisters, he had to wait until the banquet was held, or he had to send someone to "pass" them in at the risk of being accused of "associating with the kings" .Of course he has no friends, his world is simple and clear, his grandfather, father and mother are his "lords" and are the objects he wants to kowtow to, while other people are his "ministers" who want to kowtow to him.The officials and masters of the East Palace are all upright elders carefully selected by his parents for him, and they are full of benevolence and morality every day. In contrast, those eunuchs who serve and people like Li Yuanchang are much more interesting and fun. Can you blame him for being playful and active?What's more, he still has his father's genes in him.

Changes cannot be accomplished overnight. In the early days of Zhenguan, Li Chengqian and Du Rui saw his name in the history books as follows:

In July of the fourth year of Zhenguan, Li Chengqian was 11 years old. Before this year, Prince Shaobao Li Gang was promoted to Prince Shaoshi. Then he mentioned that Li Shimin and his son respect Li Gang so much. When he was promoted to handle affairs, Li Shimin ordered Fang Xuanling and Li Gang to sit with him.

(Interlude: Li Gang is definitely a "Prince Nemesis". He is obviously a loyal minister who is known to everyone in the court and the public. Therefore, he has been trusted by three generations of emperors. He has assisted the princes of two dynasties and three generations. With one exception, all were abolished and killed. If he was still alive in Gaozong Dynasty, if the author was Li Zhi, he would not dare to let him educate the prince anymore, sometimes fate is really unacceptable)

In the fifth year of Zhenguan, when Li Chengqian was 12 years old, officials from the Ministry of Rites wrote a letter, arguing that the crown prince should be crowned in February.Because February is the busy season for farming, Emperor Li Shimin ordered to change it to October for fear of disturbing the farming season.

In the sixth year of Zhenguan, Li Chengqian was 13 years old. After Li Shimin went out to inspect and returned to Beijing in October, he went to Da'an Palace as a dutiful son, served the emperor for a day, and finally had to help his father personally. Li Yuan refused and ordered his grandson Chengqian to replace him.

Literally speaking, Li Chengqian should still be a smart and obedient young man at this time.However, in the seventh year of Zhenguan, it was reported that Li Shimin heard that Chengqian was "fun and not polite", so he rewarded Yu Zhining and Kong Yingda, officials of the East Palace, and asked them to strengthen planning and advice to the crown prince, and said "I am still among the people, and I know the sufferings of the people. I have made mistakes since I came to the throne. The crown prince was born in a deep palace without knowing the world. It is strange if he does not make mistakes." " is much more clever!

Playing is playing, and when Li Yuan died in the ninth year of Zhenguan, Li Shimin, who was in mourning, still trusted the 16-year-old Chengqian to handle government affairs on his behalf.After discovering that the boy had done a good job, he was made to supervise the country many times in the future.Guess, this period of time is what the history books say, "long, sensual, and slow-moving, but afraid of Taizong knowing it, and dare not see its traces. Every time you look at the affairs of the court, you must speak the way of loyalty and filial piety. Flirting with the group of small profanities. Palace officials or those who want to make admonitions must first guess their feelings when accepting money, and then sit in danger and restrain themselves, blaming themselves. Everyone thinks it is clear, but they can't observe it." At that time?But if he really relied on this little cleverness and tricks, it would not be difficult to deceive the emperor and ministers to make a good impression. If he wanted to use this to handle difficult government affairs, and handle them quite well, it seemed impossible.

In fact, Du Rui almost laughed out loud when he saw those words in the history books. He couldn't help but sigh, Li Chengqian is really not ordinary smart!Think about those white-bearded old men trying their best to speak out, but as soon as they met each other, Li Chengqian blamed himself with heartache, citing scriptures and sayings, like the water of the Yangtze River, and the flood of the Yellow River, which is out of control , Hearing those old men in the end couldn't say a word they had thought up, they could only bow their heads and say goodbye, and even advised His Royal Highness to open up, let the past be the past, don't carry too heavy psychological burden, really As expected of the son of Emperor Taizong and Empress Changsun!

Li Chengqian's deeds in his life, his "excessive evil" are mostly just personal moral problems, especially in the early stage, such as extravagance, playfulness, homosexuality, etc., are actually not serious problems that cannot be cured.

It is said that one of the reasons why children deliberately make trouble is that they hope to attract more attention and love from their parents. However, Li Shimin's way of dealing with these shortcomings in his son seems to be a bit too oblique.Of course he reprimanded his son for these things face to face, but his main method was to reward the officials who persuaded the prince, hoping to use "outsiders" to correct his son's behavior, and even hoped that those people would report to him.Li Chengqian's reaction after hearing this kind of incident was very violent. The New Tang Book said, "The palace ministers such as Kong Yingda, Linghu Defen, Yu Zhining, Zhang Xuansu, Zhao Hongzhi, Wang Renbiao, Cui Zhiji, etc. are all selected by the world. In the competition to inherit Qian, the emperor will bestow gold and silk generously, and want to strengthen his heart. If he does not want to inherit Qian, he will often send people to try to harm him."

This is a very, very typical expression of "I'm going to fight against my father". At that time, Li Chengqian was already ten years old, and it seemed that it was not good to just use the reason of "youth rebellious period" to explain this behavior. If you want Du Rui to look at it, It's more like venting the disappointment that subconsciously failed to achieve the goal.

Everyone has experienced this kind of antagonism with their parents in their teenage years, but most of them can get through it without any problems, because ordinary people have limited abilities and many constraints, even if they have any radical ideas, they are unable to realize them.But thanks to the blood-supremacy blood system, such monsters as "Prince" or "Children of Nobles" can grasp a lot of power for nothing in their impulsive youth, that is, the ability to hurt others, so we must stop it. It is much more difficult for them to do stupid things than ordinary people to educate their children.In particular, if the only person in the world who can really restrain the power in their hands, their father, does not come forward in person and use his authority to suppress their impulses, but instead hopes to use others with low status, then in the eyes of the second generation ancestors Therefore, using the power in your hands to attack these "others" who directly persecute you is a good deal with low risk, easy way, not serious consequences, and a way to vent your anger.

So Taizong father and son saw each other in the back and forth, the smell of gunpowder between the two sides gradually became stronger, and Li Tai, who had a keen sense of smell, came up in time to make up for Emperor Taizong's disappointment with the eldest son. It all boils down to: Anyway, I have many sons, you Chengqian is not obedient, and I have other sons, so why don't you try to find another father to show me?

According to historical records, the most direct cause of Chengqian's fall from favor was that his foot was disabled, and it seemed that it was a disability that would last a lifetime.Du Rui remembered a book saying that his foot was broken when he fell off a horse while stealing beef and cooking, but Du Rui couldn't remember whether it was historical data or a novelist's words.

Li Shimin's tendency to pursue perfection is obvious. He doesn't want his heir to be a disabled person. This idea is also understandable. Coupled with Li Chengqian's personal moral problems that he learned before, the idea of ​​changing the prince has sprouted.

Emperor Taizong himself did not come to power as the eldest son, but ascended to the throne step by step by virtue of his talent and ability. It is hard to say how convinced he is of the dogma of "establishing a descendant to grow up".Looking at how he treats his children, he also likes the talented and outgoing ones the most, followed by morality and etiquette.In contrast, Empress Changsun was much more disciplined than him. Even if she was disappointed with her eldest son, she would never easily think of changing the crown prince. Even if Du Rui thought about it, Empress Changsun would probably try to persuade her husband.

Therefore, before and after the death of Empress Eldest Sun in the tenth year of Zhenguan, it was difficult to say how much of Li Chengqian's insistence on asking his father to pardon the world was his affection for his mother, and how much of it was his hope that his mother would continue to protect him after he recovered?

As for the relationship between Li Chengqian and his mother, the records in the history books are too brief. Once, the prince's wet nurse asked for utensils and was rejected by stern words. In the history books, Empress Changsun basically appears as a political figure. Of course, her actions must meet the standards of a politician, not a mother. Otherwise, the historian will probably think that "this incident is not recorded. Value" and skip it.

If there is no other reason, according to common sense, it can be inferred that for such a son who has consolidated his status as the first wife after birth, has been bestowed by the emperor with a good name, and is still very smart and capable when he grows up, it is impossible for the eldest grandson to not love him. of.However, this kind of love has always been constrained by the system, and the focus of her life is not her son but her husband. What she can give her son is probably very limited.Nevertheless, during her lifetime, the family still maintained a superficial harmony and order.If Emperor Taizong is the pillar of the family, then the eldest grandson is undoubtedly Dinghaizhen.

The Dinghai needle collapsed, Li Chengqian's most powerful protector disappeared, and the relationship with his father never improved.Seeking intimacy is an instinctive social and psychological need of human beings, and the huge emotional void needs to be filled, so the beautiful boy appeared on the stage with satisfaction.

For such a perverted mentality of child molestation, Du Rui disagrees very much, because most of those people, in fact, playing child molestation is just like playing with concubines, it's just animal behavior.However, Li Chengqian seemed to have something special this time. After his father killed Xinxin angrily, he "mourned Xinxin endlessly. He built a room in the palace, erected his image, lined up puppets, chariots and horses in front, and made the palace people pay homage to him day and night. Chengqian came to the place several times, wandering around and shedding tears. He still raised a tomb in the palace and buried it, and presented the stele of the official tree as a condolence. Since then, Chengqian has been ill and has not attended the court for more than several months." Especially at the end In a word, refusing to see his father for several months, how terrible this is, how terrible, think about how much medicine Li Tai will put in his father's ears during these few months.

If Li Chengqian is a true homosexual, and there is only sex without emotion when he is with Xinxin, then after the child molester dies, he can find a few more beautiful little boys to listen to the newcomers laughing in their ears and ignore the old ones crying under the grave .But he didn't, he chose a more evil way of venting, stealing folk cattle and sheep for cooking, imitating the Turkic custom of feigning death and mourning, letting his subordinates practice fighting to injure them, and threatened to kill all those who complained.Looking at these behaviors, how obvious is the desire expressed here. He longs for freedom, longs to get out of the suffocating environment around him, wants to ride horses and whips like nomads in the grasslands, and wants to rely on his true self. Ability to make contributions.

This emotion has developed to the extreme, and he can only embark on the last road of no return: rebellion.

Failure is also inevitable, he does not have the capital of his father back then, and his father's control over the court is much stronger than his grandfather.

When Du Rui was reading this historical record, what he paid attention to was Li Chengqian's performance when he questioned his father after he failed and was arrested:

"I will call Chengqian to punish Le, and Chengqian said: "The minister is the prince, what more do you want? But it is for Tai's plan, and the courtiers are seeking peace. People who have no shape, then teach the ministers to be misbehaving. If Tai is the prince , so that it can be counted. The emperor said: "Yes, it is like Li Tai, and the vice-lord can get it by swindling. If Tai is also established, he will inherit Qian and rule and both will die; if rule is also established, Tai and Cheng Qian will be able to obtain it." Without it.’ That is, General Youtai will serve as a prisoner, and he will release Yongzhou Mu, Xiangzhou Governor, Zuowuhou General, and Wang Donglai.”

Cleverness, eloquence, desire for power, decision-making ability, playful and mischievous, emotional dependence, self-willed extreme, ambitious, and will not let others die, Du Rui thought, and couldn't help but smile bitterly and said that Li Chengqian's personalities can all be reflected in his great life. Finding corresponding points in his father one by one is enough to prove that Li Chengqian is not only the biological son of Emperor Taizong, but may actually be the son who most resembles him, more similar than Li Ke, who is "heroically like himself". These personalities are almost all displayed through the methods of being upright and upright, benefiting the country and the people, but Li Chengqian's starting point is exactly the same as that of his father, but the direction is completely different. He hardly does one thing right, which is not easy. !

The main reason is that the external environment is too different.Emperor Taizong was a lucky man. He was always loved by his parents when he was a child, and he married a wife and grandson who was super smart and virtuous.

And what about Li Chengqian?His parents have too many things to attend to, and his wife didn't even leave a scratch in the history books. You can see mediocrity, but he actually worked hard to seize his opportunities. It's not easy to supervise the country well and win praise from all over the world. !But apparently sitting and approving memorials couldn't use up his excess energy, so he had to find other outlets to vent.

The two sharp swords are cramped together, without the gentle, maternal, and tolerant buffer zone in the middle, they can only clang and collide until the weaker one shatters.

Du Rui recalled the records of Li Chengqian in history, and then looked at the young man in front of him who was eager to get his advice. Du Rui couldn't help feeling a pity in his heart, and couldn't help thinking that maybe he could change the situation that should have been Taizong. The fate of the emperor's qualified successor.