In the long river of history, many of those famous generals could not escape the fate of rabbits and dogs. Often, when the country is settled, that is, the day they die. This was the case in the era of Liu Bang, the ancestor of the Han Dynasty, and the era of Zhu Yuanzhang, the Taizu of the Ming Dynasty. Of course, there are also models who have been praised by later generations, such as Liu Xiu, Emperor Guangwu of the Han Dynasty, and Li Shimin, Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, who all get along well with the heroes.
However, there are no absolutes in everything, even if he is as wise as Tang Taizong, he has also dealt a heavy hand to some heroes. It's just that most of these heroes have their own problems, so although they were eliminated, neither the people nor the historians looked down on Tang Taizong because of this. For example, this is the case with the four we are going to talk about below:
The first hero to lose his head was Luo Yi.
Luo Yi is in **, he is Luo Cheng's father and a great hero of the Tang Dynasty. But in history, he was an independent figure, once a great general in the last years of the Sui Dynasty. He was brave and brave, and in the face of the surging peasant uprising, he ruled the two states of Youyou and Ying, and formed a faction of his own. After the establishment of the Tang Dynasty, after some comparison, he decided to descend to the Tang Dynasty to preserve his wealth.
After the Tang Dynasty, Luo Yi was ordered to guard Jingzhou and defend against the Turks in the north. He not only did his duty at the border pass, but also assisted the crown prince Li Jiancheng to quell Liu Heimin's rebellion. Compared with other legendary generals, his fame is not great, but his merits and abilities are not bad at all. It's just that Luo Yi is domineering, short-tempered, and often beats and scolds his subordinates. And this also laid the groundwork for his later tragedy.
In the early years of the Tang Dynasty, the crown prince Li Jiancheng and the king of Qin, Li Shimin, poured into each other for the storage position. The shrewd Luo Yi chose to serve Li Jiancheng's subordinates. At that time, this was the choice of most people, after all, Li Jiancheng was a righteous prince, and his ability and strength were outstanding, so it was the safest to choose him. But who knows, Li Shimin launched the Xuanwumen Rebellion, killed Li Jiancheng in one fell swoop, and grabbed the throne. This time, it was Li Jiancheng's turn to be embarrassed.
Li Shimin was very tolerant of Li Jiancheng's subordinates, such as Wei Zheng and Xue Wanche, who were all reused. Li Shimin is also good to Luo Yi, worshipping him as the opening ceremony and the three divisions, and there are many rewards. However, Luo Yi's heart was very frightened, for fear that this was Li Shimin's intention to settle accounts after the autumn. So, in the first month of the first year of Zhenguan, he pretended to be Fengmi and rebelled.
Tang Taizong had a lot of things to do at this time, so he didn't greet Luo Yi in person, but sent Changsun Wuji and Wei Chi Jingde to meet the battle. However, the official army has not yet arrived, and Luo Yi's own army is in chaos first. After the conspiracy to kill Luo Yi failed, Yang Qi, the commander of the army, simply led people to attack Luo Yi. The unprepared Luo Yi was defeated and lost, abandoned his wife and children and defected to the Turks. But as soon as he arrived at the border, his subordinates raised their swords and fell, and Luo Yi was killed. After that, Luo Yi's head was sent to Jingshi and became a notice board for Tang Taizong to warn others.
Luo Yi's death can be said to be all his own reasons. He is short-tempered, does not know how to be flexible, and always thinks about the bad when things come, which causes him to become panicked immediately after losing his backer. In fact, as long as he is willing to wait a little longer and look at Tang Taizong's attitude towards other Li Jiancheng's henchmen, he can find that his future is not bleak. This overly strong sense of crisis eventually destroyed himself.
The second hero who was killed was Hou Junji
Hou Junji was a former general of the Qin Palace, and after the Tang army had just conquered Chang'an, he began to follow Li Shimin. In the Xuanwumen Change, Hou Junji was also one of the core figures. He is not only the mastermind behind the scenes, but also the executor of the scene, and has made great contributions to Li Shimin. After Li Shimin's victory, Hou Junji was the general of the Left Guard, the Duke of Luguo, and he was prominent for a while.
Li Shimin often reused Hou Junji, and when he was conquering Tuyuhun, Hou Junji offered advice to the main general Li Jing, so that he could take advantage of the enemy's unpreparedness and quickly enter the enemy's hinterland. Li Jing adopted his advice, marched 2,000 miles, and successfully defeated Tuyuhun, bringing peace to the Tang Dynasty's frontier for many yearsThere is also the Tubo that poses the greatest threat to the Tang Dynasty, and its leader Songtsen Gampo once threatened that if the Tang Dynasty did not give him a princess, he would send troops to attack the Tang Dynasty. In the twelfth year of Zhenguan (638 AD), Hou Jun gathered a great defeat of the Tibetan army in Songzhou. The Tibetans immediately withdrew their troops and pleaded guilty to the Tang DynastyGaochang in the Western Regions, its king Ju Wentai was the brother-in-law of Master Xuanzang, but he did something to block the trade route. In the thirteenth year of Zhenguan (640 AD), Hou Junji attacked Gaochang, scared Ju Wentai to death, and included Gaochang in the territory of the Tang Dynasty. He also brought back the wine brewing method and the ** of the Western Regions, which enriched the life of the Tang Dynasty people.
For Hou Junji, who has made such a great contribution, Tang Taizong also did not hesitate to reward him. However, Tang Taizong's appreciation was taken for granted by Hou Junji. As the credit grew, so did his appetite, and he lost his simple gratitude. At this time, Hou Junji's attack on Gaochang was found out about the plundering of troops and the collection of rare treasures without permission. Tang Taizong was furious and imprisoned, but released him soon after.
This encounter filled Hou Junji's heart with resentment. Once, when he was drinking with another hero, Zhang Liang, he said that he was so suppressed that he couldn't live, so he simply reversed!Zhang Liang was very frightened and reported this to Tang Taizong. Tang Taizong did not have the crime of curing Hou Junji, but he was afraid that he would not be defenseless in his heart.
In the seventeenth year of Zhenguan, the crown prince Li Chengqian was suppressed by Li Tai, the king of Wei, because of the limelight, and he was unwilling and ready to do something. He asked Hou Junji to be connected to the East Palace and asked him for advice. Hou Junji, who had long been resentful, directly persuaded Li Chengqian to rebel and kill Li Tai, the king of Wei. As a result, before their plan officially began, they were noticed by Tang Taizong. As a result, Li Chengqian was deposed, and Hou Junji could only end up being killed.
A big reason for Hou Junji's tragedy is that he himself is not in the right position. He felt that he had a great credit, so he got carried away and took all the things he had gained as his due, so he did a lot of wrong things. In the end, when he developed to the extent of instigating the prince to rebel, he was actually doomed to no good end. If he could be a low-key person and be grateful to himself, he would never have come to this point.
The third hero to be killed was Zhang Liang.
Zhang Liang was originally a peasant in the Xingyang area, and defected to the Wagang Army in the last years of the Sui Dynasty. Later, he showed his ability and was gradually transferred to Xu Shiji's account as a hussar general. In 619 AD, Li Shimin subdued Xu Shiji, and Zhang Liang became a member of the Qin Palace.
At that time, the competition between Li Shimin, the king of Qin, and Li Jiancheng, the crown prince, had entered a white heat, and Li Shimin was planning a coup d'état while making other preparations. He knew that this battle was very dangerous, and once he lost, he was afraid that it would be difficult to end. In order to leave a chess move for himself, he is ready to run the eastern capital Luoyang. So, he ordered Zhang Liang to carry gold, silver and jewelry, and buy Shandong Haojie in Luoyang. Later, Li Yuanji noticed what Li Shimin had done, so he ordered Zhang Liang to be arrested. However, this prison disaster has become Zhang Liang's biography. After the Xuanwumen Change, Li Shimin won a complete victory, so he began to reuse Zhang Liang. However, after Zhang Liang told Tang Taizong about Hou Junji, he officially entered the fast lane of his career.
However, after Zhang Liang made his fortune, he began to do some things out of tune. By his side, he was often followed by two Taoist priests, and when he had nothing to do, he discussed the topic of dragon veins and dragon qi together. And these things are precisely the taboo of ancient emperors. At that time, any minister who went to look for dragon or royal qi without permission would be seen as a sign of rebellion. Zhang Liang does this every day, and it is easy to bring disaster to himself.
Moreover, Zhang Liang also has a very special Xi, that is, to collect Yizi. It is recorded that he had as many as five hundred godsons. These godsons were originally the capital of his promotion, but who knew that in the end they became his life-threatening talismans. Soon, a person named Chang Dexuan came to Li Shimin to denounce Zhang Liang, saying that he had bad intentions. Tang Taizong, who has always been generous, beheaded Zhang Liang without saying anything, although many ministers pleaded for Zhang Liang before, but Li Shimin did not listen to anyone's words.
killed the minister because of a rumor, which seems to be inconsistent with Li Shimin's usual style. But in fact, he did so with a deep meaning. Although he made Li Chengqian the crown prince, he gave more love to Li Tai, the king of Wei, which caused a sibling dispute and indirectly led to Li Chengqian's attempted rebellion. After that, in order to prevent the matter of seizing the prince from happening, Li Shimin decided not to make Li Tai the crown prince, but to appoint the benevolent and weak young son Li Zhi. In order to ensure that his youngest son can sit in the world smoothly, he must cut off the wings of Li Tai, the king of Wei. And Zhang Liang, who usually has a close relationship with Li Tai, can be regarded as one of Li Tai's most powerful "wings". So in order for the Tang Dynasty to be stable, Zhang Liang also had to die.
Zhang Liang's tragedy is because there is a problem with "standing in line". In the imperial era, the emperor had a high sensitivity to power. Especially an extremely capable emperor like Tang Taizong can often see what is going on in the years or even decades behind him. Zhang Liang made a rash choice when the old emperor's mind was undecided and the position of the prince was undecided, so he had to pay the price for his choice. "Standing in line" is like gambling, winning and soaring, losing and ruining. Since Zhang Liang is in a hurry to participate in this gambling game, it is natural to pay the price for betting mistakes.
The fourth hero to be killed was Li Junxian.
Li Junxian was also a member of the Wagang Army, and he surrendered to Wang Shichong after Li Mi's defeat. However, Wang Shizhong was unbearable, and Li Junxian didn't want to waste time on him, so in the collective Tang Dynasty action led by Qin Qiong, he also defected to Li Shimin. After that, he followed the lord to break the Song King Kong, defeated Wang Shichong, and broke the Turks and Tuyuhun. Li Shimin once praised him and said: "Jun Xian is so brave, why worry about the strong." After that, Li Junxian became the general of Zuo Wuwei, in charge of the guard work of the Xuanwu Gate, and was often rewarded.
However, just when Li Junxian was going well, a rumor suddenly circulated in the capital. The rumor said: "Three generations after the Tang Dynasty, the heroine King Wu replaced the Li family and owned the world." Li Shimin was very worried about this, so he began to look for this "heroine martial king".
Once, Li Shimin was drinking with his ministers, and suddenly became interested and asked what everyone's nickname was. As a result, Li Junxian suddenly said that his nickname was "Five Niangzi".
Folks give children nicknames, and there is a saying that the cheaper the name, the better the child to feed. Li Junxian, the nickname of the "Five Ladies and Daughters", may also respond to this Xi. However, Li Shimin suddenly became more distracted. He thought that Li Junxian was a native of "Wu'an County", a "General Wuwei" in the court, and a knight of "Duke Wulian County", so many "Wu" characters, and his nickname was "Niangzi", so was he the one who fulfilled the "heroine Wuwang"?For the sake of insurance, Li Shimin transferred Li Junxian to Huazhou Assassin Shi as the Assassin History.
Li Junxian, who came to the place, behaved very inappropriately. He got to know a man named Yuan Daoxin, who claimed to be able to live without eating, and who was also well-versed in Buddhism. Li Junxian felt that this was a god, so he befriended him, and the two often discussed problems together. As a result, not long after, there was a royal history ** Li Junxian "befriended demons and plotted against them". Tang Taizong, who wanted to clean him up, immediately seized this plan, made the case bigger, and finally killed Li Junxian.
Li Junxian's death is undoubtedly unjust. The coincidence formed by the multiple "martial" characters on his body happened to overlap with the rumors, and finally became his life-threatening talisman. Li Shimin's killing of the minister because of his superstition was indeed not the work of a Ming monarch. But we must also see that this incident happened in Li Shimin's later years. At this time, Tang Taizong was already like two people when he was young. For example, when he was young, Li Shimin once said that it was nonsense to ask for immortals, but in his later years, he ate the elixir again. Perhaps, if this rumor had appeared ten years earlier, Li Junxian's ending might have been different.