Chapter 42 Chapter two

If it is said that since Li Yuan ascended the throne, Li Shimin began to deliberately fight for power and profit in a vain attempt to climb to the throne of the emperor, that would be a bit unfair to him.It was the ever-evolving situation, environment and reality that forced him to take risks and fight back, and directed the most dramatic "Xuanwu Gate Change" in the history of the Tang Dynasty. If Li Yuan hadn't proclaimed himself emperor in a hurry under the circumstances of separatist regimes, world disputes, and unclear situation, perhaps there would not have been the situation where Li Shimin "outshine others" in the unification war.Li Yuan ascended the throne as the emperor, and his eldest son Li Jiancheng became the prince. Their special identities made them involuntarily subject to some kind of restraint and restriction, and it was difficult for them to fully display their personal talents.Only then did Li Shimin's moving, courageous, invincible, and heroic figure appear on the land of China among the heroes of the war.During the seven-year unification war, he gained unparalleled military achievements and political prestige, possessed a powerful private armed force capable of conscripting wars and being loyal to individuals, and a well-tested "cadre team". The Qin Wangfu Group that competed with the Prince Donggong Group headed by Li Jian was established.

However, the prince Li Jiancheng is not an idle person, he is not "desolate, addicted to alcohol, hunting excessively" as recorded in some historical materials, but has excellent military and country management skills.When Taiyuan raised troops, although he was far away in Hedong and did not participate in the conspiratorial organization, he soon participated in the struggle to build the Tang Dynasty as the left-leading governor under Li Yuan's "secret call", and made his first contribution in the battle to encircle Chang'an.After being established as a prince, it was inconvenient to go out lightly, so he stayed away from the front line of the war and stayed in the East Palace, learning the various etiquettes necessary to be an emperor and the skills of governing the country.In terms of personal achievements, he is naturally inferior to Li Shimin; in terms of talent, it is difficult to distinguish between the two.

Perhaps, Li Shimin did not have the ambition to usurp the crown prince during the unification war, or the powerful enemy and the harsh reality made him have no time to take care of it, but his growing strength in the war and a series of actions he adopted actually violated the crown prince's position. The interests of Prince Li Jiancheng constituted a great potential threat to him.After Li Shimin defeated Wang Shichong and Dou Jiande, he was "admiral Tiance, Daxingtai of Shaanxi Province, and above the prince", and his status was second only to the prince; he set up a huge bureaucracy to recruit personal cronies; The Literary Museum” collects scholars in the name of literature, and recruits political talents... Even his father Li Yuan was quite dissatisfied with this and said: “This son has been in the army for a long time, and he is autocratic abroad. He was taught by scholars. .” It’s no wonder that the threatened Prince Li Jiancheng is on guard and ready to fight.In this struggle for power within the Tang Dynasty, the advantage is clearly in favor of Prince Li Jiancheng.

Tang Gaozu Li Yuan naturally loved Li Shimin's talents and achievements, but he was worried about his growing political power. Li Yuan didn't want to see his own sons fighting each other.Therefore, he was deeply wary of Li Shimin, and always sided with Prince Li Jiancheng on some important political issues.As for the younger brother Qi Wang Li Yuanji, he has no estrangement from Li Shimin, and his power is weak, so it is difficult to form a fourth political force independent of Li Yuan, Li Shimin, and Li Jiancheng.However, starting from his personal interests and future, Li Yuanji unswervingly stood on the side of the righteous prince Li Jiancheng with a "one-sided" attitude, showing an aggressive posture, clearly persuading Li Jiancheng to get rid of Li Shimin as soon as possible, and volunteered to say "the Brother Blade."

A struggle between brothers and sisters is imminent and inevitable. Although Li Shimin's strength is strong, he is unavoidably single and weak in the face of the multi-party alliance of his father, elder brother, and younger brother.Moreover, deep in his heart, he has always been caught in the troubles and conflicts of "monarch and minister, father and son".After Confucianism was exalted and monopolized by Dong Zhongshu, that set of scriptures and theories have long been accumulated in the genetic genes of the people, and Li Shimin is no exception.In the heart of those people whose desires are hard to fill, as long as they have the strength and the opportunity comes, who would not want to obtain the throne?However, it was difficult for Li Shimin to break free from the shackles of Confucian ethics.His father is the founding emperor of the country, and his elder brother is a legitimate prince. If Li Shimin, who has the status of son and younger brother, covets the throne, it would be a crime even if he thinks about it.At the beginning of the war, all I thought about was how to win the war and wipe out the heroes.He has unknowingly gained strength, prestige and capital in the continuous victories, "a big tree attracts the wind", and somehow he suddenly became the target of public criticism.He really doesn't want to endanger his father and brother to fight for power with them, but can he go back to the young and innocent Li Shimin before Taiyuan started the army?Even if he withdraws and retires, his subordinates - those with vested interests will not agree.

So, just keep it as it is!However, reality and development do not allow it. Once Prince Li Jiancheng and Qi Wang Li Yuanji regard him as the number one enemy, even if he does not take any action, it will be difficult to protect his life. Li Jiancheng repeatedly asked Li Yuan to kill Li Shimin on the grounds of "rebellion".Li Yuan didn't pay any attention to Qin Wang's merits in calming the world, but he couldn't let go of his father-son relationship; he failed to use his father, so Li Jiancheng used the name of a banquet to put medicine directly on the dishes. Perhaps Li Shimin was on guard and was poisoned. Not deep, not life-threatening; failed to strike many times, Li Jiancheng privately recruited 2,000 brave soldiers to guard the Changlin Gate on the left and right sides of the East Palace, and recruited 300 Turkic soldiers from Youzhou to hide in the East Palace at any time.Generally speaking, except for the emperor's Imperial Forest Army, no other military force is allowed in the capital.Although Li Yuan knew that the prince recruited his followers to deal with Li Shimin, his own throne was obviously threatened, so he had no choice but to scold Li Jiancheng.Seeing this, Li Jiancheng simply did not do anything, and simply attacked his father and seized power by force.As a result, when the matter was revealed, Li Jiancheng had to bear the burden of humiliation, and took more than ten followers to apologize to Li Yuan.Although Li Yuan detains Li Jiancheng under the curtain, it is difficult to change the feudal tradition of "establishing a family to grow up", so he has to make up his mind to mediate the conflict between Li Shimin and Li Jian brothers.

After some mediation, on the surface, the conflict between brothers seems to have eased, but there are more turbulent waves rushing inside.The inevitable result of the development of contradictions can only be completely resolved through a bloody coup. Although Li Shimin has a group of capable generals, he can directly mobilize and control far fewer troops in Chang'an than Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji; It is also an act of treason and injustice. Once the plan is leaked, everyone will be in a disadvantageous position.Therefore, Li Shimin can only achieve his goal if he plans carefully, takes the initiative to attack, and wins a battle; otherwise, he will kill himself.

Facing Prince Li Jiancheng's repeated murders and attacks, even though Li Shimin had no intention of usurping him, he was forced to the end of a dilemma-either stand up and wait for death, or rise up and fight to kill his opponent.In addition, he has no third way to go. The arrow is on the string and has to be fired.After a long period of hesitation and hesitation, Li Shimin finally made up his mind to eliminate Prince Li Jiancheng, and formed a coup d'état group headed by him. The important achievement Li Shimin achieved in the intensive preparation stage was to buy the capable generals around Li Jiancheng and the generals of the Forbidden Army who guarded the Xuanwu Gate.

If it is said that Li Shimin had been in a situation of "passive rectification" before, then after he made the determination to seize the heir, he always took the initiative in the incident.In the past, he was heroic and powerful on the battlefield; now, in complex court political struggles, he can also control the situation with ease.As long as Li Shimin abandons feudal ethics and moral restraints, and uses the courage and strategy that made powerful enemies fearful on the battlefield, Li Jiancheng is naturally no match for him. Therefore, he decisively chose the special place of Xuanwumen, the headquarters of the Forbidden Army, to ambush Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji.The generals of the Forbidden Army had already been bribed by him. Li Shimin personally led Yuchi Jingde, Changsun Wuji and more than 70 elite cavalry to ambush in the Xuanwu Gate in advance, waiting for Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji to "take the bait".

The process and results of the coup have already been known to readers, so there is no need for the author to babble here.Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji were killed, and their cronies scattered like birds and beasts. Li Shimin need not worry about this.However, how will he face his king's father and give him a satisfactory answer and explanation? "There is no turning back when the bow is opened." Once the coup breaks out, Li Shimin will not care about the relationship between father and son. Only by doing things to the end and seizing power from his father can it be possible to keep the "fruits of victory."Therefore, as soon as the battle to ambush Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji came to an end, Li Shimin lost no time in sending Yuchi Jingde to meet Tang Gaozu Li Yuan, named "Suwei", but actually forced the palace.Yuchi Jingde "holding the armor and holding the spear" asked Li Yuan to "please surrender and order the army to be punished by the King of Qin".Li Yuan had no choice but to write the "hand order" and hand over the military and political power of the Tang Dynasty.Soon, he officially announced his abdication.If Li Yuan hadn't thought of Li Shimin's achievements and family affection and always excused Li Jiancheng's framing and harming him, Li Shimin might have let his father suffer the same fate and ending as Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji.

Political struggle has never paid attention to family affection. It tore away all the hypocritical veil of tenderness. It is based only on strength, with interests as the yardstick, and at the price of blood. It is cruel and ruthless to an unimaginable degree. Therefore, Li Shimin completed these noble and complicated role transitions from the king of Qin to the prince, and from the prince to the emperor in just two months. Li Yuan retired as Empress Dowager, and lived for another nine years before dying in depression in the ninth year of Zhenguan (AD 635). Compared with Emperor Taizong Li Shimin of Tang Dynasty and Emperor Yang Guang of the Sui Dynasty who overthrew not long ago, the two feudal kings have striking similarities in some aspects: both belonged to the Guanlong ruling group, and both were the second sons to usurp power. The last time they sent troops to conquer Goryeo and failed, they had done behaviors that were contrary to traditional ethics (Emperor Sui Yang had his father and concubine, Tang Taizong had his sister-in-law)... However, the evaluation of the two of them by later generations was completely opposite. One is a rare tyrant who everyone scolds, and the other is regarded as a model emperor by the world's enlightened lord. Why is this? It is because Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty was the king of subjugation, but Emperor Taizong of Tang created the "Rule of Zhenguan" which is well-known in later generations, which laid a solid political, economic and cultural foundation for the greatness and magnificence of the Tang Dynasty.