Chapter 18 Factional struggle, Li Yuan voluntarily abdicated

On June 7th of the ninth year of Wude, that is, three days after the coup, Li Shimin was registered as the crown prince by Li Yuan.Although Li Shimin has not ascended the throne yet, the government and the public are very clear that from this day on, Li Yuan has become an empty emperor in name only, and the new crown prince Li Shimin is the real helm of the Tang Empire. With Li Shimin's successful entry into the East Palace, a group of core members of the original Prince Qin's Mansion (Tiance Mansion) were also appointed as officials of the East Palace on June 12: Yuwen Shi and Prince Zhan Shi, eldest grandson Wuji, Du Ruhui He is the left concubine, Gao Shilian and Fang Xuanling are the right concubine, Yuchi Jingde is the left guard, Cheng Zhijie is the right guard, Yu Shinan is the Zhongsheren, Xi Liang is the prince's servant, Yao Silian is the prince's horse.On the same day, Li Shimin rewarded Yuchi Jingde with all the property of the Qi Palace.Overnight, Yuchi Jingde became one of the richest people in Chang'an City.

At the same time, Li Shimin continued to promote his lenient policy, and successfully recruited Xue Wanche, Feng Li, and Xie Shufang, the former generals of the East Palace and Qi Palace; He was the chief bookkeeper of Zhan Shi in the East Palace, and Wang Gui and Wei Ting were appointed as admonishing doctors. In the face of Li Shimin's deliberate gesture of magnanimity and political reconciliation, the original political opponents finally let go of their hearts. However, although the political situation in Chang'an was stable, factional struggles triggered by coups inevitably broke out in various places, among which the two murders in Yizhou and Youzhou were the most eye-catching.

At that time, Yizhou (now Chengdu, Sichuan) was still organized by Xingtai, Li Shimin was concurrently in charge of Shangshuling, and Zuo Pushe was Dou Gui.Dou Gui is the nephew of Li Yuanyuan's consort's wife, the Dou family. "The right to become the real leader in Yizhou.At that time Wei Yunqi, Minister of the Ministry of War of Xingtai in Yizhou, his younger brother Qingjian, cousin Qingsi, and the entire clan had a close personal relationship with the former prince Li Jiancheng, but Wei Yunqi had always been at odds with his immediate boss Dou Gui, so when When the news of the Xuanwumen Incident and Li Jiancheng's death reached Yizhou, Dou Gui became murderous.

Although the imperial court issued the "amnesty" edict, Dou Gui still ignored the imperial court's amnesty order and decided to take this opportunity to get rid of Wei Yunqi.He ambushed the guards in the mansion, and then summoned Wei Yunqi to the Pushe Mansion on the grounds that the imperial court issued an order to pursue Jiancheng's party feathers.As soon as Wei Yunqi arrived, he asked where the imperial edict was. Dou Gui hid the edict in his sleeve and said sharply, "Your Majesty, the party has been established. If you don't obey the edict today, it's clear that it's the same!" ("Old Tang Book Wei Wei") "Biography of Yun Qi") Before Wei Yunqi could open his mouth to defend, Dou Gui gave an order, and the left and right guards rushed out and chopped Wei Yunqi to death on the spot.Another Xingtai Shangshu Guo Xingfang, who also had a grudge against Dou Gui, heard the news, and fled to Chang'an with his head in his arms.Dou Gui sent troops to pursue him, but failed to catch up; Guo Xingfang finally escaped.

Immediately after the Wei Yunqi incident in Yizhou, another case of a more serious nature broke out in Youzhou. This is the rebellion case of Li Yuan, king of Lujiang. Li Yuan, king of Lujiang, was Li Yuan's nephew, and he was the governor of Youzhou at that time.Since Li Yuan was always worried about generals with foreign surnames, he only dared to hand over military power to the clan princes, so even though he knew that Li Yuan was cowardly and "not a frontier general", he still placed him in an important position in Youzhou. Of course, Li Yuan also equipped Li Yuan with a deputy.

He is the fierce general Wang Junkuo. Just like assigning the fierce Li Jing to Li Xiaogong, the King of Zhao County, and the veteran Shi Wanbao to Li Daoxuan, the King of Huaiyang, this is the usual move of Li Yuan's subordinates.However, this move is a double-edged sword.If used well, the prince and the lieutenant will win a win-win situation, such as Li Xiaogong and Li Jing who have achieved fame; if used poorly, the prince who does not understand military affairs will be played miserably by veterans in the battlefield, such as the young Huaiyang King Li Daoxuan, it can be said that He died indirectly at the hands of veteran Shi Wanbao.

And what about Li Yuan right now? His luck was even worse. Not only was he always played around by Wang Junkuo, and he was accused of treason and treason for no reason, but he also died under Wang Junkuo's knife in the end, staining the black gauze on the lieutenant's head with his royal blood. Li Yuan was unfortunate, but the reason why he came to this point was not only because of his lack of military talent, but also because he was in the wrong political ranks - he was the best friend of the former prince Li Jiancheng. During the period when Li Jiancheng and Li Shimin were fighting each other, Li Yuan had long been secretly used as foreign aid, just like Li Shimin used Wen Daya and Zhang Liang from Luoyang as foreign aid.

However, it doesn't matter if you are on the wrong team, as long as you move your butt to Li Shimin's side in time after Li Jiancheng's death, you will be fine.Because after the coup, Li Shimin did provide them with an opportunity to "abandon the dark and turn to the bright", as long as Xue Wanche and Wei Zheng "returned from the wrong way", Li Shimin would definitely let the past go.But the problem is that this Li Yuan doesn't even have the minimum political acumen. Just when Li Shimin sent Cui Dunli, a coordinator, to Youzhou to call him back to the imperial court, Li Yuan made a wrong judgment—he thought that Li Shimin was going to take him back for questioning, and immediately turned pale with fright, and was in constant panic all day long.

And all of this was seen by Wang Junkuo. A plan to climb up by stepping on Li Yuan quickly took shape in his mind. In fact, Li Yuan has always treated Wang Junkuo well. He knew that he lacked military talent, so he has always relied heavily on Wang Junkuo, regarded him as his confidant, and promised to marry him as his son and daughter. However, Li Yuan would never have dreamed that it was this confidant and prospective in-law who set him up at the most critical moment in a situation where he would be ruined and his family ruined if he fell into it once. Just when Li Yuan was at a loss in front of the court envoys, Wang Junkuo spoke to Li Yuan in a tone unique to his confidants.He said: "There are changes in the capital, and things are unknown. Once the king enters the court, there will be many disasters. Now that you have tens of thousands of troops, how can you be controlled by a mere envoy and willingly throw yourself into the trap?"

After Wang Junkuo finished speaking, two lines of excited tears burst out of his eyes immediately, with a tragic expression of a soldier dying for his confidant.Li Yuan was extremely moved, and wept as he faced Wang Junkuo.After a long time, Li Yuan raised his head and said decisively: "I entrust the public with my life, and the matter will be settled!" (Volume 191) This is how Li Yuan's tragedy came to be. There was a grim smile that no one noticed at the corner of Wang Junkuo's mouth. On the same day, Li Yuan sent troops to arrest the court envoy Cui Dunli and forced him to explain the situation of the capital, but Cui Dunli would rather die than surrender.Li Yuan had no choice but to imprison him, and then issued conscription orders and assembly orders to the states and counties under his jurisdiction, and at the same time ordered Yanzhou (now Huailai County, Hebei) governor Wang Shen to rush to Jicheng (the seat of Youzhou state capital, today's Beijing) ), to discuss plans to raise troops.Li Yuan's soldier Cao Shenjun Wang Lishe knew that Wang Junkuo was unreliable, so he urged Li Yuan, "Wang Junkuo is capricious, and he must not be used as an excuse. He should get rid of him as soon as possible and let Wang Shen take his place."

When Li Yuan heard this, he was suddenly full of suspicion, wondering whether he should entrust his wealth and life to Wang Junkuo. After Wang Shen arrived in Jicheng, Li Yuan was still hesitant.And Wang Junkuo had already placed an eyeliner around Li Yuan, so he soon learned the content of the conversation between Wang Lishe and Li Yuan.He immediately decided to take action and immediately went to visit Wang Shen.At this time, Wang Shen was taking a bath. When he heard that the second master was coming, he didn't even have time to wipe off the water on his body. He quickly put on his clothes and came out to meet him holding his wet hair.When Wang Junkuo saw Wang Shen coming out, before he could speak, he drew his knife out of its sheath and chopped off Wang Shen's head with one blow. Later, Wang Junkuo carried Wang Shen's head, entered the barracks and said to the soldiers: "Li Yuan and Wang Shen conspired together to rebel, imprisoned the imperial envoys, and recruited troops without authorization. Now Wang Shen has been killed by me, and there is only one left." Li Yuan, nothing can be accomplished. Would you rather follow him and be exterminated, or follow me to make contributions and make your own fortune?" There is no doubt that it is absolutely impossible for this group of soldiers who were originally one-hearted with Wang Junkuo to stand by Li Yuan's side.They shouted in unison: "I would like to seek the thief from the public!" Immediately, Wang Junkuo led more than a thousand soldiers under his command to rush out of the barracks, cross the west city, first rush into the prison and release the emissary Cui Dunli, and then attack the governor's mansion. When Li Yuan heard the news of the mutiny, it was already too late.In a panic, he came out with hundreds of his own soldiers in armor, and happened to meet Wang Junkuo's army at the gate of the mansion.Wang Junkuo shouted to Li Yuan's soldiers: "Li Yuan is plotting to rebel, why bother to follow him into the fire pit!" In an instant, there was only Li Yuan, the governor of Youzhou and the king of Lujiang, left in front of the huge governor's mansion.He was only accompanied by regret, anger and fear, as well as the thrown knives and spears. Li Yuan pointed at Wang Junkuo furiously and cursed: "You despicable villain betrayed me, and you will be punished soon!" Facing the glaring and distraught Wang Li Yuan of Lujiang, Wang Junkuo kept sneering without saying a word.But Li Yuan seems to have heard him say - not that I, Wang Junkuo, are too insidious and despicable, but that you, Lujiang Wang Li Yuan, are too incompetent and ignorant. On the day of the mutiny, Li Yuan was captured alive by Wang Junkuo, then hanged to death, and his head was quickly sent to Chang'an. On June 26, an edict from the imperial court flew to Youzhou: make Wang Junkuo the general of the left army and the governor of Youzhou, and reward Li Yuan's family members to Wang Junkuo as slaves and maidservants. Wang Junkuo smiled. Everything is as he wishes. However, Wang Junkuo at this time would never have expected that Li Yuan's words before his death would eventually become a prophecy. After more than a year, he suffered retribution, and his fate was almost the same as that of Li Yuan. After Wang Junkuo became the top leader in Youzhou, he thought that the mountains were high and the emperor was far away, so he was arrogant and arrogant, corrupted the law with corruption.The court soon heard about it, and immediately recruited him to return to the court.Wang Junkuo was panicked immediately, and the fear that Li Yuan once had had now come to him exactly, but he didn't dare to disobey the imperial order, so he had no choice but to bite the bullet and go on the road.Before leaving, his long history Li Xuandao (Fang Xuanling's nephew) asked him to deliver a letter to Fang Xuanling, and Wang Junkuo immediately became suspicious.When he traveled to Weinan (now Weinan City, Shaanxi), Wang Junkuo couldn't help but secretly disassembled it.Because he didn't know cursive script, he mistakenly thought that Li Xuandao had reported his crimes in the letter, so he killed the post station officials and fled northward, planning to join the East Turks, but he was killed by a tramp when he fled halfway.It was in September of the first year of Zhenguan, just one year and three months had passed since he framed Li Yuan. After the Xuanwumen Incident, people may not be able to know exactly how many plots and tragedies of public and private revenge that local officials at all levels in the Tang Dynasty took advantage of factional struggles to create, but only from the bloody incidents in Yizhou and Youzhou People can still strongly feel the shock wave caused by this coup, and at the same time, they should also be able to smell that after June 4, the ninth year of Wude, every corner of the Tang Empire seems to have a wave of fear that everyone is in danger. Horror.According to history: "Prince Jiancheng, Qi Wang Yuanji's party scattered among the people, even though the amnesty was issued, they are still uneasy, and the lucky ones strive to arrest them and invite rewards." (Volume 191) Although Li Shimin repeatedly issued amnesty orders, he still couldn't stop the surging momentum of people scrambling to inform for rewards.The admonishing doctor Wang Gui was very worried about this, and repeatedly asked Prince Li Shimin to try to stop it.On July 10, Li Shimin had to issue another stern order.This order reiterates: all those involved in the Xuanwumen incident and Li Yuan's rebellion case will be pardoned. Reporting others to participate in treason will be punished as treason. The day after the order was issued, Li Shimin immediately sent Wei Zheng to the Shandong (east of Xiaoshan) area to spread comfort, and entrusted him with the right to do it cheaply. , Stop informers and indiscriminate hunting and killing. When Wei Zheng arrived in Cizhou (now Cixian County, Hebei), the local prefecture and county government was escorting two people in a prison car, preparing to send them to the capital for questioning.They are Li Zhian, the former crown prince, and Li Sixing, the guard of the Qi Palace.Wei Zheng was about to stop the prison car and said to the local officials: "On the day I was ordered, all the left and right of the former East Palace and Prince Qi's Mansion have been pardoned. If they are arrested and sent to the capital, everyone will be suspicious. Even if you send envoys everywhere to announce Consolation, who is willing to believe it. I can’t ignore the country today in order to avoid suspicion, and since I have been treated as a "national scholar", how can I not repay the behavior of a "national scholar"." So Li Zhian and Li Sixing was released on the spot. After Li Shimin received the report in Chang'an, he was very pleased. He realized that Wei Zheng was definitely someone he could place his trust and high hopes on. In these days after June 4th, with the debut of the new prince Li Shimin, a person is quietly fading out of people's sight. This person used to be the supreme ruler of the empire, but now, all the subjects of the Tang Empire are forgetting him at the fastest speed, or even abandoning him. This person is Li Yuan. No one knew what he was doing these days or what his state of mind was.But one thing is certain - he is trying to accept his fate. We can even say that he is actively accepting the fate of being forgotten and abandoned by the world.No matter how unbearable this fate is, it is much wiser and more comfortable to accept it actively than to accept it passively. Therefore, long before Li Yuan's treason case, that is, on June 16th, Li Yuan had already given his confidant Pei Ji an edict, the content was: "I shall honor the title of Supreme Emperor." In this way, Li Yuan actively expressed his intention to abdicate to Prince Li Shimin. Of course, this meaning is what Li Shimin most hopes to see. On June 29th, the Li Tang court officially revoked Tiance Mansion.This is an important political signal, it means that Prince Li Shimin's enthronement ceremony has entered the countdown.