Chapter 49 9. Sealing the Throat with a Sword: Blood Splattered at the Xuanwu Gate

After several years of fighting openly and secretly, Li Shimin began to actively plan a counterattack against the East Palace, vowing to break the alliance between Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji and not give them any chance.Li Shimin, who has been on the battlefield for a long time, deeply understands this truth: once he cannot control the enemy with one move, it will inevitably attract more fierce counterattacks.Therefore, he made up his mind to eliminate the Prince's party, and he began to transform from a dormant lion into a sharp arrow ready to go, and he demanded that he be sure to hit every shot.

After Fang Xuanling, Du Ruhui, Changsun Wuji and others quietly gathered in the prince's mansion, Li Shimin said: "I originally had a benevolent heart, and I didn't want my father to be sad when seeing brothers killing each other. But the prince and Qi Wang pressed on every step of the way, and didn't show any sympathy just because we were siblings from the same mother. Since this is the case, I can only fight vigorously." Fang Xuanling said: "East Palace and King Qin's Mansion are already at odds. If King Qin still has illusions, hoping that the prince will repent because of his brotherhood, it would be ridiculous. Now, we can only fight and find a way to let Only by punishing the prince for his crimes can the emperor seek peace for the country."

Everyone nodded in agreement, but Changsun Wuji said: "When Yang Wengan rebelled before, the prince was the mastermind, but was pardoned by the emperor. It can be seen that the emperor loves the prince far more than the king of Qin. If we want to use the emperor to punish the prince, It seems unlikely. Even if we can find evidence and sue the emperor for treason, it may not necessarily bring down the prince, so we must find other ways." In fact, Li Shimin had already given up on Li Yuan's expectations.He saw Li Jiancheng committing acts of treason, murdering his brother, etc., and Li Yuan still protected the prince after knowing the truth, so he was already disappointed in Li Yuan.He understands that in Li Yuan's balance, although Li Shimin has made countless military achievements and been bestowed with many honors, he is still not as important as the crown prince.And he who is familiar with the art of war also understands: the tricks used by the enemy cannot be used by himself.Li Jiancheng played a certain role in designing traps for him and slandering and slandering him in front of the emperor. If he followed suit, he might not only fail to achieve results, but also allow the prince to take the lead.So, what he wanted was something the crown prince never did.

Li Shimin said to everyone: "The prince has always been unable to tolerate me, and he is determined to kill me. This time, he planned to kill me in Kunming Lake. If this is the case, how can I sit and wait for death! I can only do it before he kills me, and I want to kill me." Defeat the enemy with one move. This is also for the sake of the country and the peace of the Tang Dynasty." Fang Xuanling said: "If we want to attack the prince, we must find a suitable place. Now the city of Chang'an is full of the prince's people, and even the palace is surrounded by the prince's defenses. Where is the most suitable place?"

Seeing the silence of the crowd, Li Shimin said: "Jing Junhong, the guard of the Xuanwu Gate, used to be my general. He followed me in the South and North Wars. He performed outstandingly in the battle to pacify Dou Jiande. He was recommended by me to be stationed at the Xuanwu Gate. He can be trusted. People. If you want to find a place in Chang'an City where you can attack without being disturbed, the only place may be the Xuanwu Gate." Fang Xuanling was overjoyed when he heard this, and said: "Xuanwu Gate is a place that must pass through when entering the palace, and the emperor now lives in the Linhu Palace near Xuanwu Gate. As long as we can lure the prince into the palace and let him worship the emperor, we must After passing through the Xuanwu Gate, you can find a chance to strike."

This was quickly agreed upon by all.Hou Junji, Yu Chigong and others said: "We can go to the Xuanwu Gate to lay an ambush first, and once the prince appears, we can kill him." But Changsun Wuji said: "Then how can we lead him to the Xuanwu Gate? Usually, we can't track the prince's whereabouts, and it's hard to find opportunities if there are many accompanying people." This question stumped everyone.Even if all the preparations were made, it would be useless if Li Jiancheng didn't show up.Everyone began to ponder, Li Shimin said: "If you want the prince to go to worship the emperor, it cannot be an overly violent reason. If it is the crime of treason, it is estimated that the prince would not dare to go to the palace to face the emperor, but ran away instead."

Changsun Wuji said: "If the reason is not enough, and the emperor thinks there is no need to summon the prince, then our hard work will be in vain." Everyone fell into silence again. After a while, Du Ruhui said: "The prince often enters the palace, but he doesn't actually visit the emperor. He often goes to the harem." Fang Xuanling said: "Concubine Yin De and Zhang Jieyu have a very good personal relationship with the crown prince, everyone knows that." Du Ruhui said: "Since this is the case, can we make some articles on this matter?" Fang Xuanling thought for a while, then clapped his hands and said: "Yes! We can tell the emperor that the crown prince is promiscuous in the harem. This crime can be big or small, and there are always rumors in the palace that the crown prince has had a relationship with Concubine Yin De and Zhang Jieyu. If there is any secret news, the emperor will definitely summon the prince. And if the prince feels that he has been wronged, he will definitely go to the palace to explain. At that time, we can wait for him to throw himself into the net at Xuanwu Gate."

Everyone agreed with this statement, and Li Shimin also agreed, so he wrote a memorial overnight, exposing the crown prince, Concubine Yin De, and Zhang Jieyu to mess up the court, which was detrimental to dignity.At the same time, he said that the prince and King Qi intended to murder him, so Li Yuan had to call Li Shimin into the palace for questioning. On the morning of June 4th in the ninth year of Wude, Li Yuan opened Li Shimin's memorial and was furious, so he ordered Prince Li Jiancheng and Qin Wang Li Shimin to enter the palace to face the saint in Linhu Hall. The East Palace here received news that the King of Qin had filed a complaint in front of the emperor, saying that the prince had committed adultery in the harem. The emperor was furious and ordered him to enter the palace to investigate.Li Yuanji said: "Our soldiers and horses are almost deployed now, and the king of Qin suddenly framed him at this time and ordered the prince to enter the palace. It will definitely not be a good thing. It is better for the prince to say that he is sick at home and not go to worship for a while, waiting for the development of the matter." In the current situation, we will make plans again. Once King Qin makes a move, we will raise troops to subdue him."

But Li Jiancheng shook his head and said: "I have been charged with such a crime for no reason. The emperor's trust in me must have decreased. Moreover, I am now strictly deployed, and my defenses are everywhere in Chang'an City. Xue Wanche, Xie Shufang, Feng Li and other capable troops The generals are also ready to fight at any time. You don't have to worry, as long as you go to the palace and explain this clearly to the emperor, King Qin's lies will be self-defeating, and then we can start." At Li Jiancheng's insistence, he took King Qi and some of his personal entourage into the palace to face the saint in Linhu Hall.When passing through the Xuanwu Gate, the prince suddenly realized that something was wrong.The Xuanwu Gate, which was originally heavily guarded, was not guarded by many people today, and all the guards on the gate looked tense.Li Jiancheng, who discovered the clues, quickly told Li Yuanji his doubts. The two reined in their horses and planned to retreat to the East Palace, but they saw Li Shimin, fully armed, coming towards him with a team of personal followers.

Li Shimin saw that the crown prince and King Qi wanted to escape, so he said loudly: "Prince, fourth brother, didn't you come to see the emperor? Why are you leaving before you see him?" Seeing this, Li Jiancheng hurriedly rode his horse and wanted to escape from the palace. Go, Li Shimin has already opened the bow and drew the arrow, and the arrow hit the back of the prince's heart. Li Yuanji was terrified when he saw the crown prince fell off his horse. He quickly turned his horse's head and wanted to go straight to Li Shimin, fighting to the death with him.Unexpectedly, Yu Chigong, the fierce general beside Li Shimin, had been waiting for a long time, and he shot an arrow between his eyebrows and shot him down.

The accident happened in an instant, everyone was shocked, and the prince's subordinates immediately dispersed.Li Shimin ordered people to gather them together, and detained them one by one, but some escaped from the palace and called for help from the prince's guards waiting outside the palace gate.After a while, Xue Wanche, Feng Li and other prince's subordinates rushed to Xuanwu Gate with their troops. On this side, Li Shimin led Yu Chigong, Hou Junji, Zhang Gongjin and others, together with Jing Junhong, the guard of the Xuanwu Gate, to guard the city gate.On the other side, Crown Prince Yiwei Xue Wanche and Chariot General Feng Li also led their troops to attack.Xue Wanche saw that the city gate was tightly guarded, so he said to Feng Li: "The king of Qin and his generals are fighting to the death here. The mansion of the king of Qin must be short of guards. You can attack the city here, and I will lead the army to attack the mansion of the king of Qin!" Li Shimin saw that Xue Wanche led the army to retreat and was going to attack the Qin Palace, he couldn't help but panic for a while. At this time, there were only old and young family members in the Qin Palace, and Xue Wanche would all be captured when he went.While in a hurry, Yuchi Gong jumped on his horse, cut off the heads of Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji, hung them on the city gate, and said to Feng Li and Xue Wanche: "Your master is dead, what else do you want to do!" Seeing that the crown prince and King Qi had been killed, everyone lost their fighting spirit and was soon defeated by King Qin's army.Xue Wanche and Feng Li also fled out of Chang'an in a hurry. The Xuanwumen Incident ended with Li Shimin's complete victory. Although Li Shimin was in danger many times during the incident, he decisively ordered the killing of Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji and won the final victory for himself. Historians have always had mixed opinions on this incident. Sima Guang once put forward a good imagination about it, thinking that if Li Yuan could choose a successor wisely like King Wen of Zhou, and if Li Jiancheng could be willing to let the virtuous and considerate as Wu Taibo, Power is handed over to someone who is more talented than himself. As for Li Shimin, if he can be like Zi Zang and not be greedy for power and throne, all these cruel and bloody conflicts will not happen.However, not everyone can resist the allure of the supreme imperial power. Li Yuan, Li Jiancheng and Li Shimin are not saints.They are just mortals with mortal desires, so they can only choose conspiracy and violence to achieve their goals.