Chapter 20 10. The play of abdication: a win-win situation for fame and interests

Li Yuan entered Chang'an in November 617 AD. In order to stabilize the hearts of the people, he established strict disciplines to avoid the situation where rioters invaded the people.As a result, Li Yuan was praised in Chang'an City. Liu Wenjing, Pei Ji, Changsun Shunde and other advisers of Li Yuan came to Li Yuan's mansion one after another, and after reporting to him the stable situation in Chang'an City, Pei Ji said: "My lord, now we have controlled Chang'an. This world is no longer his, and we should have our own monarch." The eldest grandson Shunde laughed and said, "Now that we are in Chang'an and the world is at home, will there be someone else for our new monarch? Of course it is the lord!"

When all the ministers heard this, they knelt down to the ground and shouted "Long live".Seeing this, Li Yuan hurriedly helped everyone up, saying repeatedly: "Impossible, absolutely impossible!" Everyone asked suspiciously: "Why not? Who else in the world can compete with you, my lord?" Li Yuan pondered for a while and said: "Although we have advanced to Chang'an, everyone has seen that Wang Shichong and Li Mi are still fighting. Although Yang Guang is far away in Yangzhou, he still has an army in his hands. Except for a few of them , There are still several rebel armies, large and small, and although they are not strong, it does not mean that they will not develop further. If I become emperor in Chang'an now, I will definitely become a sinner in the world and the target of these people!"

After hearing his father's words, Li Shimin took it very seriously. He stood up and said to everyone: "Although we are fighting everywhere for this day, the situation is not stable now, so we shouldn't be in a hurry!" Li Yuan said: "Yes, rushing for a moment will only waste all our previous efforts. Even if I don't proclaim the emperor now, isn't the city of Chang'an still in my hands? Why do you put yourself on the target for a name? What about the center?" Pei Ji said: "The lord is thoughtful and has far-reaching plans, and the subordinates are deeply impressed. But now that there is no master in Chang'an, this will not work!"

Li Shimin said to Pei Ji: "Although Yang Guang is not in Chang'an now, Chang'an still has the Yang family. We can establish a Yang family as the emperor, so that we can control Chang'an without being criticized by the people of the world!" Li Yuan nodded and said, "You are right! I will leave this matter to you!" After Li Shimin took the order, he carefully selected among Yang Guang's clansmen, and finally chose the acting king Yang You.He was originally Yang Guang's nephew, and he was far away from the heir to the throne, but on the one hand, Yang You still has a certain prestige among the Yang family, and he has his own opinions among the younger generation of Yang's descendants, but the situation is gone. On the other hand, Yang Guang's own heirs were all taken to Yangzhou by him. In terms of blood relationship, Yang You is the closest to the emperor's blood among those left in Chang'an. .

After Li Shimin made his decision, he came to Daiwangfu to pay a personal visit.When Yang You saw him, he fell to his knees in fright. Speaking of which, Li Yuan and Yang Guang are cousins, so Li Shimin and Yang You should also be cousins.But the situation is changing, and at this moment, one of them is aloof, and the other is in the dust.Li Shimin sighed, walked over to help him up, and took his hand affectionately and said, "Daiwang, do you remember that we used to play together when we were young?" Hearing his question, Yang You didn't know how to answer, but just kept silent.

Seeing his appearance, Li Shimin knew that he was terrified, so he helped him to sit down and said, "I came here this time to bring good news!" Yang You lowered his eyes and said, "How can you be happy with a defeated general?" Li Shimin said: "You should be grateful to this 'defeated general', otherwise you would not be so happy! It is only because my father is grateful for the hard work of the people in the world that he raised his army to save the people from the fire and water. Now, since we have come When you arrive in Chang'an, how can there be no owner in the city? Therefore, the generals plan to support you as Sui Emperor!"

When Yang You heard this, he was taken aback, waved his hands repeatedly and said, "No! No! Now that the emperor is still in Yangzhou, how can I ascend the throne and become emperor! This is treason! Absolutely not!" Seeing that he was so nervous, Li Shimin smiled and said, "Don't worry. We came to Chang'an after a narrow escape in order to prevent the people from being subject to Yang Guang's tyrannical rule. Now if we still support him, how can we be called What about 'saving the people from fire and water'? So, I support you as emperor, I just hope that you can make the people of the world live a good life!"

Listening to Li Shimin's words, Yang You thought quickly.He didn't know whether it was a blessing or a curse that he was chosen to be the emperor.But he understands one thing very well: Li Shimin and the others don't really want to support themselves, they just need to play this role by themselves.Thinking of these, Yang You's heart was filled with fear again. Li Shimin saw that he didn't speak for a while, so he patted him on the shoulder and said, "Does the king still refuse?" Yang You raised his head and looked at Li Shimin timidly, just in time to meet his sharp eyes, shivered involuntarily, and hurriedly lowered his head.Knowing that he had no other choice, he could only bite the bullet and say, "But as ordered."

Li Shimin nodded in satisfaction, and said: "If you follow the old rules, you may not be able to sit on that dragon chair for the rest of your life, but now you can be the emperor. This is really a miracle of fate!" Yang You said: "Fatality tricks people." Li Shimin said with a smile: "Don't be so sad on behalf of the king, no matter what, it can be regarded as a fulfillment of the emperor's dream! Tomorrow, my father will issue an edict in the court, and all the officials will support you, please ascend the throne, but I But you have to work hard to do something."

Yang You asked, "What's the matter?" Li Shimin took out a piece of paper, put it on the table and said, "You will understand after reading it." Yang You opened it and saw that the paper listed the names and positions of the ministers he would entrust after he ascended the throne.The first thing is to make Li Yuan the great prime minister, to take charge of the military and political power in the name of the auxiliary country. In addition, Li Shimin should be named the king of Qin, Li Yuanji the Duke of Qi, Pei Ji the Duke of Wei, Liu Wenjing the Duke of Lu, and the rest of the generals. There are different positions and powers, covering all important positions in the military and government.Yang You knew that this was his true function.He looked at the thin piece of paper in his hand, and was in a daze for a long time, unable to recover.When he looked up again, Li Shimin didn't know when he left.

In the court hall the next day, after Li Yuan reprimanded Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty for his cruelty, he invited the acting king Yang You out, supported him as the new emperor of the Sui Dynasty, and took "Yining" as the reign name, hoping that the new emperor would It brought peace and tranquility to the people of the Sui Dynasty, and became two opposing regimes with Emperor Yang Guang of the Sui Dynasty who was far away in Yangzhou. This regime was established in November 617 AD, and Yang You was obediently controlled by the Li family and his son.In March of the following year, news suddenly came that Yang Guang had been killed by Yu Wenhuaji in Yangzhou. Li Shimin, Pei Ji, Liu Wenjing and others felt sensitively that this was a signal of the coming of a new era.They came to Li Yuan's mansion and implored Li Yuan to ascend the throne. Once again under Li Shimin's instruction, Yang You announced his abdication declaration in the court hall, praising Li Yuan's "merit and virtue are growing day by day, the heavenly calendar has a return, and he wants to practice the ceremony of abdication".All the ministers knelt down and begged Li Yuan to accept this position for the common people of the world.But Li Yuan said: "I am deeply favored by the emperor, how can I accept the throne!" He firmly refused. Yang You knew what he should do. After Li Yuan refused, he got down from the emperor's throne and knelt down in front of Li Yuan with a 'plop'. Everyone was shocked when they saw this scene.I only heard Yang You tearfully say: "On behalf of the common people in the world, I invite the Prime Minister to ascend the throne, and I ask the Prime Minister to think of the common people!" Li Yuan hurriedly knelt down on the ground and said eagerly: "Your Majesty has broken the old minister, get up quickly!" But Yang You said stubbornly: "I have issued an edict three times, if the Prime Minister is still unwilling to accept the abdication, I will have to abolish the throne myself, and the whole country will be left without a master!" Only then did Li Yuan reluctantly say: "Your Majesty, Rong Chen, go back and think about it carefully." He said and helped Yang You up.Li Shimin and others rushed over to send him back to the dragon chair, and were deeply satisfied with Yang You's performance. After repeated persuasion by Pei Ji and others, in May 618, Li Yuan finally took over the jade seal from Yang You, and proclaimed himself emperor in the Hall of Tai Chi.From this day on, Chinese history begins with the era of Wude, which marks the birth of a brand new dynasty, and this dynasty has written a magnificent stroke in Chinese history!