Chapter 5 It seems that the world is at peace

The sun and the moon fly arrows, and the universe turns around. In the third month of the lunar calendar in 624 A.D., spring is warm and flowers bloom, and everything grows.After experiencing a series of baptisms of blood and fire, the newly born Tang Empire finally presented a scene of peace and tranquility.Except for Liang Shidu who was still entrenched in Shuofang (now Hengshan County, Shaanxi Province), all the heroes in the Quartet were destroyed, and the world returned to unity.After seven years of bloody struggle and unremitting efforts, Li Yuan, father and son and their political and military groups finally re-created a huge empire and a powerful central government on this ancient land, restored the long-paralyzed social order, and rebuilt unified political authority.

Everything seems to be on track. However, when this new dynasty that emerged from the sky was showing itself to the world in a vigorous manner, a terrible political storm was already brewing at the peak of the empire's power. The storm arose out of a long-standing political game between two incompatible groups. Since the early years of Wude, around the supreme power of the empire, the prince group headed by Li Jian and the King Qin group headed by Li Shimin have been fighting secretly without giving an inch.Five years after Wude, when the world was generally peaceful, this kind of undercurrent political game gradually evolved into an open and fierce struggle.And Qi Wang Li Yuanji also made his own political decision at about this time, joining Li Jiancheng's camp and jointly dealing with Li Shimin.

The reason why Li Yuanji took refuge in Li Jiancheng at a critical moment was not because of his relationship with his elder brother, but because he also had personal political ambitions.Li Shimin tried to replace the crown prince, and Li Yuanji also coveted the imperial power.If Li Shimin, who supported the outstanding military exploits and outstanding prestige, seized the throne, then Li Yuanji would never have a chance to succeed; and if he joined hands with the East Palace to kill the King of Qin, and then get rid of the prince later, in Li Yuanji's view, it would be a waste of money. It's a piece of cake.To put it bluntly, Li Jiancheng was a springboard to the throne in Li Yuanji's mind, so he would seek refuge in the East Palace without hesitation.

Tang Gaozu Li Yuan's love life in his later years was rich and colorful. There were many concubines in the harem, singing and dancing all day long. Among them, Zhang Jieyu and Yin Defei were the most favored by Li Yuan.In order to let the concubine's pillow style influence the emperor's various decisions and increase their own game chips, the prince and the king of Qin unanimously extended the PK position from the outer court to the harem. For these young concubines, the emperor Li Yuan is old and may rule the sky at any time. Therefore, in order to consolidate their political status and maintain their wealth for a long time, they must stand up for themselves and the young concubines among the older princes. His son is looking for a future political backer, so he will certainly voluntarily join the political PK between the Prince and the King of Qin.It is said in history: "In his later years, there were many domestic favorites, and there were twenty young kings. His mother competed to make friends with the eldest sons to strengthen himself. Jiancheng and Yuanji Quyi worked with all the concubines, flattered and bribed the left, and did everything in order to flatter the superior." It is said that , the prince and the king of Qi even had court gossip with Zhang Jieyu and Yin Defei because of it: "It may be said that Zhang Jieyu and Yin Defei are rumored to be in the palace.

In terms of making friends with the harem and winning domestic aid, of course Li Shimin will not do nothing.But he was more cautious, and did not show up in person, but let his wife Changsun carry out activities in the harem. "At that time, Taizong's merits were high, and the hidden prince (Li Jiancheng) was very suspicious. Later (Changsun's family) served his ancestors filially, respected his concubines, and tried his best to bridge the gap so as to save internal help." It can be seen that the concubines in the harem at that time were also divided into two factions, those who were pro-prince and those who were pro-Qin.But the prince and King Qi finally gained the upper hand in this harem battle, because they have an extraordinary relationship with Concubine Zhang and Concubine Yin, and they happen to have the most influence on the emperor Li Yuan.So when Li Jiancheng became one with Concubine Zhang and Concubine Yin, they did not hesitate to attack Li Shimin.The method is to deliberately create troubles and cause conflicts, thereby alienating the father-son relationship between Li Yuan and Li Shimin.

The Prince Group's estrangement plan was very successful, as can be clearly seen from the following things.Once Du Ruhui rode by the gate of Yin Defei's father Yin Ashu's house on horseback. The servants of Yin's house suddenly rushed out, pulled Du Ruhui off his horse, beat him violently, and broke one of his fingers.Yin Ashu pointed at Du Ruhui's nose and growled: "What are you, dare to pass my house and not get off your horse!" Then Concubine Yin De complained to Li Yuan, "The king of Qin bullied my concubine's family from left to right." , Turning around, he reprimanded Li Shimin: "My concubine's family is bullied by people around you, let alone ordinary people?" Li Shimin tried to explain, but Li Yuan refused to believe it.

Another time, Li Shimin gave dozens of hectares of fertile land near Chang'an to Li Shentong, king of Huai'an, and the prince group immediately took action, and Zhang Jieyu went to plead with Li Yuan to ask for the land for his father.Li Yuan didn't know that the land had been given to Li Shentong first, so he issued an edict without saying a word, and gave the land to Zhang Jieyu's father.In the middle and late stages of Wude, the Prince's Order, Qin Wangjiao, and Qi Wangjiao could be paralleled with the Tianzi's edict, and had the same effect; Yousi was at a loss about what to do about it, and finally formed a convention, whichever was received first.That being the case, Li Shentong had an order from King Qin, so of course he refused to give up the land.Zhang Jieyu seized the opportunity and said to Li Yuan: "The land that the emperor gave to my concubine's family was taken away by the King of Qin, and it was given to Li Shentong." Li Yuan was furious, and immediately called Li Shimin to reprimand him, and finally said: "My warrant is not as good as yours, is it?"

Through these deliberately created frictions, the Prince Group achieved its goal.Li Yuan became more and more disappointed with Li Shimin. He once sighed to Pei Ji, the left servant: "This son has been a soldier for a long time, and he is a tyrant abroad. He was taught by scholars. He is not the same as I used to be!" Jiancheng Biography") Five years after Wude, with the gradual calm of the world, Li Yuan often held banquets in the palace.Every time at this moment, Li Shimin would miss his mother who died young, and lament that she could not see her father rule the world in person.When I think of this, I always feel dejected and weep alone.Li Yuan, who was in high spirits, often accidentally saw the gloomy face of King Qin, and his happy mood was always swept away.

King Qin's out-of-time empathy quickly became the target of the concubines with ulterior motives.After the banquet, the concubines lost no time in saying to the emperor: "Now that the world is at peace, your majesty is old, and the only way to keep healthy is to entertain. But the king of Qin is always crying and frustrated because he hates his concubines. Long live your majesty From now on, concubines, mothers and children will definitely not be tolerated by the King of Qin, and I am afraid there will not be any left!" Speaking of the sad part, these concubines burst into tears one by one.

In the end they said: "The Crown Prince is a benevolent and filial man. Your Majesty entrusts his concubine, mother and children to him in order to save his life." Li Yuan looked at the rainy faces of these beautiful concubines and listened to their sad sobs, he couldn't help feeling sad and sighed with them.He found helplessly that the rift between himself and his second son Li Shimin had now collapsed into a huge chasm! Faced with this kind of political hidden danger and family relationship crisis that seem to be inevitable in all dynasties, he has not been able to find a proper solution so far.In addition, the increasingly acute conflicts among Jian Jian, Yuan Ji and Shi Min also made him feel great anxiety and panic.

what to do? Do you want to watch the tragedy of father and son turning against each other and brothers killing each other in front of your eyes?