Chapter 6 Prince Li Jiancheng "rebellion"

Many years later, when the gray-haired Tang Gaozu Li Yuan was abandoned in the unrepaired and neglected Da'an Palace on the west side of the palace city, chewing the last loneliness, loss and sadness in his life alone, he will be more than once I vividly recalled the scorching hot summer in the seventh year of Takede. In the lonely years of old and sick, although the unbearable vicissitudes of the past have already gnawed the old man's life memory beyond recognition, mottled and fragmented, but what happened that summer is still very clearly imprinted in his heart.For this former emperor who suddenly fell from the peak of power and lost everything, no one seems to have more reason to believe than him that the summer of the seventh year of Wude was the beginning of all tragedies.It was from this moment that a web of disaster woven together by desire, conspiracy and killing involuntarily covered the heads of Li Tang's royal family, and finally led to the bloodbath at the forbidden gate in the ninth year of Wude... , The tragedy of fratricide.

In fact, Li Yuan has been working hard to avoid the tragedy. Faced with all the facts of Jian Jiancheng, Yuanji and Shimin's open and secret struggles, Li Yuan didn't do nothing and let things go, but he always tried his best to bridge the gap between them, painstakingly maintaining a certain balance of interests, and trying to achieve a bowl of water.However, as people often say: efforts must have results, but not necessarily good results.Li Yuan's efforts borne unbelievable evil results in the summer of the seventh year of Wude - Governor Yang Wengan of Qingzhou brazenly raised troops, and the prince was suspected of treason!

Many years later, Li Yuan still clearly remembers his anger, shock and astonishment when he heard the news. Prince treason? is it possible?Is the prince really the mastermind behind Yang Wengan's mutiny? Since Liu Heita was pacified in the first month of the sixth year of Wude (AD 623), Prince Li Jiancheng felt a sense of elation. He found that he had finally regained his long-lost self-esteem and self-confidence in front of Li Shimin, and was increasingly shaken. The status of the crown prince has thus been consolidated.In addition, this Eastern Expedition also allowed him to get two additional gains: one is to form a political alliance with his fourth brother Li Yuanji, and together point the finger at Li Shimin; the other is to have a deep friendship with Yan Wang Li Yi (Luo Yi), He was recommended to serve as General Zuo Yiwei, and he was included in his own camp.

After returning triumphantly, Li Jiancheng began to spare no effort to expand his armed forces.He privately recruited more than 2,000 brave men from Chang'an and the Quartet to guard the left and right Changlin gates of the East Palace respectively, under the title of Changlin Bing; Three hundred experienced assault cavalry were secretly stationed in various workshops near the Eastern Palace, preparing to further enrich the Eastern Palace guards. The reason why Li Jiancheng made so many small tricks was to deal with Li Shimin. Because he knew that sooner or later he would meet Li Shimin swordsman.

However, not long after the 300 Youzhou cavalry entered Chang'an, the incident was reported.As soon as someone sued the emperor, Li Yuan immediately felt that the situation was serious.It is absolutely intolerable for a crown prince to transfer a local army to the capital all the way behind the court's back.Li Yuan immediately summoned Li Jiancheng to reprimand him, and then exiled Dazhi, the general of the East Palace, to Xunzhou (now Xichang City, Sichuan Province) as a punishment. Li Jiancheng was very upset.He knew better than anyone else that the informer must be someone from King Qin.But since he was caught by someone for violating the rules, he had nothing to say, so he could only endure it.

But there is one person who doesn't want to be patient. He is Qi Wang Li Yuanji. The fourth child, who has always been violent and domineering, no longer wants to play secret wrestling games with Li Shimin. He repeatedly encourages the prince to strike first and kill Li Shimin.He gritted his teeth and said to Li Jiancheng: "You should kill him for your brother!" Li Jiancheng felt that the time was not yet ripe, so he did not agree.Li Yuanji thought the boss was indecisive, so he decided to find a chance to do it himself. The opportunity came quickly. Once Li Shimin accompanied Li Yuan to the Qi Palace, Li Yuanji ordered his bodyguard Yu Wenbao to ambush in the inner room, preparing to assassinate Li Shimin.After Li Jiancheng noticed it, he stopped him in time.In his opinion, what the fourth child did was simply playing with fire and setting himself on fire—in your own mansion, under the eyes of the emperor, committing murder, not to mention the chances of success, even if you succeeded, your assassin Yuwen Baoneng Can you escape?If he confesses, even if you, Li Yuanji, have ten heads, it is not enough to chop off; even if he does not confess, you, King Qi, as his master, shouldn't you take the main responsibility?Now everyone knows that you and I are in the same boat. When the time comes, not only will you be ruined and your life will be ruined, but even I, Li Jiancheng, may be involved!

Li Yuanji's assassination plan was forced to be canceled under Li Jiancheng's strong obstruction.He said indignantly to Li Jiancheng: "What do I do for my brother?" (Volume 191) In the summer of the seventh year of Wude (AD 624), the scorching sun scorched the imperial capital Chang'an. Li Yuan found that the whole palace was shining with white light that made him dizzy, and the scorching heat wave surrounded him, making him weak and breathing heavily.In addition, the conflict between the Prince and the King of Qin seemed to be intensified at this time, and there were even signs of armed confrontation... All this made Li Yuan feel upset.

In mid-May, Renzhi Palace, a mountain palace located in Yijun County north of Chang'an, was completed. Li Yuan immediately decided to go to Renzhi Palace to escape the summer heat and relieve his depression and irritability for several days.For this reason, he specially named his two sons: Qin Wang Li Shimin and Qi Wang Li Yuanji, and asked them to accompany him. At the same time, he ordered Prince Li Jiancheng to stay in Chang'an and take charge of daily government affairs. No matter what you say, you can't let the three brothers stay together, otherwise they will definitely make trouble.

Li Yuan felt that his arrangement was very reasonable.By separating these boys, I might be able to spend a peaceful and cool summer in this deep forest and pleasant scenery of Renzhi Palace. But Li Yuan didn't know that as soon as his Luanjia left Chang'an, two officers from the Eastern Palace quietly left the capital with several carts of supplies, and hurried all the way northwest. They are Lang Jianger Zhu Huan and Xiaowei Qiao Gongshan under the prince's command. They are equipped with a large number of brand new armors. The two were ordered by the prince to transport the armor to Qingzhou (now Qingyang County, Gansu Province) and hand it over to the governor Yang Wenqian.

Obviously, this is another illegal operation.Just like the previous few times, Li Jiancheng thought that the smuggling of weapons this time was also done without anyone noticing.But he never expected that his every move would not escape King Qin's eyes.He would never have thought that King Qin would seize this opportunity to punish him to death this time. At the beginning of June, at the same time as Li Yuan came to Inji Palace, Er Zhuhuan and his party also went to Binzhou on the way from Chang'an to Gyeongju. And the "Prince Rebellion" incident that shocked the government and the public in the seventh year of Wude happened at this moment.

For unknown reasons, Er Zhuhuan and Qiao Gongshan did not go any further after arriving in Binzhou, and suddenly reported to the local official of Binzhou, claiming that there was a serious case to be filed.The local officials of Binzhou did not dare to neglect, and immediately sent them to the Palace of Renzhi where the emperor was.Er Zhuhuan and Qiao Gongshan immediately confronted Li Yuan, accusing Prince Li Jiancheng of preparing to cooperate with Yang Wengan, the governor of Gyeongju, to launch a mutiny while the emperor was not in the capital. At that moment Li Yuan could hardly believe his ears.Just when he was extremely shocked and full of suspicion, another man named Du Fengju also rushed from Ningzhou (now Ningxian County, Gansu Province) to Renzhi Palace to report the prince. His allegations are exactly the same as those of Er Zhuhuan and Qiao Gongshan. What kind of role is this Du Fengju? There is no record in the history books, but we can be sure that there must be the same force behind him, Er Zhuhuan, and Qiao Gongshan. Otherwise, they are unlikely to issue an attack on the prince at the same time Li Jiancheng also made unfavorable charges. Facing the successive accusations, Li Yuan couldn't sit still any longer, he immediately found a reason to send the prince to the Renzhi Palace to face the saint.No matter whether the prince's rebellion is true or not, Li Yuan must control him immediately. After receiving the edict from the emperor, Li Jiancheng was stunned. What happened?Why did the Son of Heaven call himself up the mountain for no reason? At this time, Li Jiancheng didn't know that Er Zhuhuan and others had not only sold him, but also charged him with treason and treason.Therefore, his first reaction could only be that the smuggling of armor was reported by King Qin's people again. Although smuggling armor is not a capital crime, this time it is different.Because the destination of the delivery was Gyeongju, and it is well known that Yang Wengan, the governor of Gyeongju, is the former department of the East Palace and the direct line of the prince. Li Jiancheng secretly recruited a group of soldiers from Gyeongju when he formed the guards.The combination of these factors can easily lead to rich associations.What's more, what happened to Dazhi before was already a severe lesson, and this time he committed a crime knowingly, the emperor must be furious, otherwise he would not be so eager to call him to the palace.You must know that as the crown prince, he secretly made friends with the local generals, and frequently recruited troops and smuggled military supplies. These things can easily be charged with a terrible crime, that is-colluding with the local generals and conspiracy to rebel. When thinking of this, Li Jiancheng couldn't help breaking out in a cold sweat. He didn't know whether the emperor at this moment had such suspicions, but he knew that the possibility was definitely not small. what to do? The aides began to offer advice in a hurry.Xu Shimo, a member of the prince's family, suggested that he simply raise an army and occupy the capital while the emperor is away. This was obviously a bad idea, no different from digging a hole to bury himself, so Li Jiancheng didn't adopt it. Zhao Hongzhi, the director of Zhan's affairs, put forward a more rational suggestion. He believed that the prince should disparage his car clothes, abandon his entourage, and go up the mountain alone to plead guilty to the emperor.Li Jiancheng felt that this was the end of the matter, and he had no choice but to go to the Renzhi Palace with the officials of the East Palace. He ordered his followers to stay at Mao Hongbinbao, sixty miles away from the palace, and then went up the mountain with more than ten guards. As soon as he saw Li Yuan, the prince immediately put on a heartbroken look, tried his best to prove his innocence, and "kowtowed his head to apologize, and threw himself, almost to death" (Volume 191).But Li Yuan looked angry and remained unmoved. He didn't order the prince to be put under house arrest until the prince's performance was over. He was only given a bowl of wheat and rice to satisfy his hunger that night, and ordered Chen Fu, the supervisor in the palace, to guard him strictly. After taking control of the prince, Li Yuan immediately ordered Sinon Qing Yu Wenying to go to Gyeongju, summoned Yang Wenqian to face the saint, and decided to investigate the case to the bottom. But to everyone's surprise, Yu Wenying's trip not only failed to summon Yang Wengan, but instead aroused his mutiny. The history books do not record what Yu Wenying said to Yang Wengan, only this sentence: "Ying came to Qingzhou and told her with love, and Wen Gan rebelled." Although we have no way of knowing that Yu Wenying "tells with love" Is the "feeling" of Yang Wenqian the truth or a lie, but it is advisable to make an inference, that is to say-under what circumstances, Yang Wengan would recklessly raise his troops? If Yu Wenying told Yang Wengan the truth, that is, the emperor only had doubts about the rebellion but did not confirm it, then it is unlikely that Yang Wengan would rebel.Because doing so can only objectively prove Li Jiancheng's crime of treason, and even if the prince jumped into the Yellow River, he can't clear it up.And Yang Wenqian is the best friend of the prince, and their relationship is one of prosperity and the other of loss, so before the emperor has not figured out the truth of the prince's rebellion, Yang Wengan has no reason to push himself and the prince into the pit of fire. It can be seen that the possibility of Yu Wenying telling the truth is very small.That being the case, there is only one reason that prompted Yang Wenqian to put all his eggs in one basket, and that is—Yu Wenying fabricated certain facts. That is to say, Yu Wenying might tell Yang Wenqian that the crown prince has been arrested by the emperor and may be deposed at any time, and the plot of rebellion has been completely exposed, which makes Yang Wenqian feel desperate, and finally has to take risks and raise troops brazenly. If our inference is true, then the next question is: Why did Yu Wenying lie? Just as the motive of Er Zhuhuan and others to accuse the prince is a cloud of fog in the history books, Yu Wenying's motive of inducing Yang Wengan to raise troops is also hidden in the backlight of history.However, as long as we ask questions in a different way, the truth about the prince's rebellion and Yang Wengan's mutiny will likely surface. The principle of forensic science tells us that after a case occurs, one of the most basic and simplest methods to locate a criminal suspect is to see who will gain benefits or eliminate risks because of someone's murder, then the murderer has the most Probably among these people. So, our question is - in the case that the prince is suspected of rebellion, who is most beneficial to Yang Wengan's mutiny? Furthermore, is there an invisible hand controlling everything behind Er Zhuhuan, Qiao Gongshan, Du Fengju, and Yu Wenying, who seem to have nothing to do with each other?