The legendary life of Tang Xuanzong and Chen Li from fool to monarch

Chen Li, Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, was withdrawn and dull since she was a child. She was always laughed at by people in the palace as a fool. Thirty-six years since he was born, he has hardly enjoyed the treatment of a real prince, but no one would have imagined that. After ascending the throne at the age of thirty-six, Tang Xuanzong suddenly burst out with unprecedented wisdom and courage. In just one year, the Niu-Li party strife that had plagued the Tang Empire for half a century was eliminated, the always domineering buffer forces and eunuch forces were greatly curbed, and the nearly century-old territory that had been in the hands of Tubo was recovered.

In the fifth year of the Yuan Dynasty, Chen Li, the thirteenth son of Tang Xianzong, was born in Daming Palace. According to the order of succession, Chen Li will never have the chance to become emperor. In addition, his mother Shi Cheng was from a humble background and was just an unknown palace maid, so although Chen Li was a prince, he could not enjoy the same treatment as other princes. Because of his identity, he was always laughed at and teased by other princes. In order to hide his inner cowardice, he closed himself off. Faced with other people's cynicism, he could only respond with silence. Therefore, even his father felt that his son might have some dementia.

When she grew up, Chen Li was labeled as "mentally retarded" and became the target of bullying. For example, one day, Li Ang and Tang Wenzong hosted a banquet in the Sixteenth Palace to entertain everyone. At the banquet, everyone was talking and laughing, but Chen Li said nothing and sat alone in the corner in a daze. When Li Ang saw it, he pointed at him and said, "I will reward whoever can make Chen Li speak." Li Ang was originally Chen Li's nephew, but in his eyes, Chen Li was obviously just a clown for people's entertainment. Facing the swarming kings, Chen Li remained silent. No matter how much they teased him, he never changed his face and always looked resigned. This made everyone very proud, but it made Prince Li Yan in the seat suspicious. Li Yan was the younger brother of Li Ang, who later became Emperor Wuzong of Tang Dynasty. Facing Chen Li, who was never sad or happy, he began to doubt whether this person was really insane, so in the days that followed, he seized every opportunity to test Chen Li.

After Wu Yan ascended the throne, on a snowy afternoon, she and the other kings took the emperor out for a walk in the snow. When everyone was happy, it was already sunset, and no one noticed that the silly Chen Li fell off the horse and fell into the ice and snow. Although historical data said it was an accident, Chen Li experienced too many accidents during Li Yan's reign. Incredibly, he fell off his horse at regular intervals and broke his feet while walking on the ground. This time he was left in the ice and snow, and Li Yan was sure he would not come back. Unexpectedly, the next morning, the guard reported that Chen Li appeared in the 16th house again.

In this way, Li Yan decided that there was something wrong with Chen Li, so he decided to kill him directly to avoid future troubles. A few days later, poor Chen Li was caught by a eunuch who suddenly broke in in Yongxiang. Since the Han Dynasty, Yongxiang has been a place where palace maids and concubines were imprisoned, similar to a prison, and most of the prisoners were victims of political struggles. After being detained, Chen Li was tied into a ball of flesh and thrown into the toilet. At that time, there was an eunuch named Qiu beside Li Yan. He told Li Yan that it was useless to keep such a fool around, so he might as well kill him. Li Yan agreed. However, the eunuch did not actually kill Chen Li, but secretly transported him out of the palace and hid him for later use.

From then on, the fool who had been teased disappeared from the court. According to records, he fled to Zhejiang and became a monk. Others say that he was placed under house arrest by a eunuch named Qiu. In short, he stayed away from the complex palace for the time being.

It will last six years in the spring. Li Yan was critically ill, his sons were young, and he did not have a prince yet. So people in both the government and the public are floating around. Eunuchs were very powerful at that time. After Wu Zong's death, the eunuchs surnamed Qiu jointly took out their secret weapon: Chen Li. Although Chen Li has always been considered mentally retarded by everyone, he is the uncle of Tang Jingzong, Tang Wenzong and Tang Wuzong. In terms of seniority, he is definitely old enough, and he has the support of eunuchs, so the courtiers dare not object. So, the forgotten Chen Li came back and became the emperor.

In the sixth year of Huichang, Chen Li ascended the throne and took up preaching as a career. When the eunuchs who established this foolish emperor thought they could control the world by manipulating Chen Li, they were caught off guard by Chen Li's series of big moves.

He was not at a loss as everyone imagined, but like a well-honed prince, he was very familiar with government affairs. It was like waking up from a dream, everything before was just an act. The emperor, who had been patient for 36 years, finally waited for this day. He couldn't wait for drastic reforms. On the second day of taking office, the dispute between Niu Li and the Communist Party that had lasted for more than 40 years was resolved, and the central government was further consolidated. Then they took advantage of the civil strife in Tubo to recover Tubo, and the territory of the Tang Dynasty was divided and unified.

During his reign, Chen Li was very diligent and he was a capable person. He ordered people to write Zhenguan dignitaries on the screen in the room so that they could spur themselves at any time. He also asked the University Hanlin to read the Golden Mirror written by Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty to him every day. In order to familiarize herself with the names and ranks of officials, Chen Li also specially compiled a list of officials and put it on her desk for reading at any time. Because Chen Li once lived among the people, he knew the sufferings of the people and sympathized with them. Under his rule, the Tang Dynasty had its last time to govern the world, known as "Xiao Zhenguan" in history. Unfortunately, he eventually died from taking the elixir.