Li Shimin's 14 sons, is their fate really so tragic? With his outstanding talent, Li Shimin laid the foundation of the Tang Dynasty, and with his wisdom, he created the rule of Zhenguan, and was an indisputable Ming monarch.
However, his sons do not seem to have enjoyed his glory, and with the exception of Li Zhi, who later succeeded to the throne, none of the other 13 sons escaped a tragic end, or were killed, or ended their lives in exile.
Faced with such a result, one can't help but wonder, is their fate really so bleak?
In 643 AD, Li Shimin's fifth son, Li You, the king of Qi, repeatedly violated the law and discipline in his fiefdom, and had a conflict with Changshi, and was instigated by his cronies to rebel. However, the rebellion was quickly put down, and Li You was escorted to Chang'an and executed for treason.
For Li Shimin, it is undoubtedly extremely painful to punish his son with his own hands. However, what made him even more distressed was that when investigating Li You's case, he found that his crown prince Li Chengqian was also plotting against him.
Li Chengqian is Li Shimin's eldest son who is most favored and has high hopes. He was smart and studious from an early age, and was made the crown prince at the age of eight. Li Shimin invited the best teachers for him and devoted himself to training him to become the future prince.
However, Li Chengqian's later behavior was like Li Shimin's youth, and he began to plot to kill his brother.
Li Shimin has recently doted on his second son Li Tai, which makes Li Chengqian feel deeply threatened. In order to secure the crown prince's position, he decided to take action and get rid of Li Tai first. However, before his plan could be implemented, it was revealed because of Li You's case**.
The brutality of this royal struggle made him deeply aware of the slap in the face. After careful consideration, he decided to depose Li Chengqian as a concubine and exile him to a remote area.
Although Li Tai had the opportunity to become the crown prince, because he was too active in currying favor with Li Shimin, Li Shimin felt that he might be as hurtful as Li Chengqian. As a result, Li Tai was also deposed.
In the end, Li Shimin chose the gentle son Li Zhi as the crown prince.
In 657, a rebellion against Fang Yiai occurred that shocked the government and the opposition, and the case spread widely, including many of Li Shimin's princes. Fang Yiai is the second son of Minister Fang Xuanling, and his wife is Princess Gaoyang, the daughter of Li Shimin.
Princess Gaoyang has always been arrogant and domineering, and often slandered other royal relatives in front of her husband, which eventually led to this big case. At the instigation of the princess, Fang Yiai's relationship with her father and brother broke down.
The eldest grandson Wuji was sent to interrogate the case, and Fang Yiai pointed the finger at Li Shimin's eldest son, Li Ke, accusing him of rebellion.
Li Ke's fortitude was deeply favored by Li Shimin, and he was a strong contender for the crown prince, but he was deeply troubled in the conspiracy of Fang Yiai. Under pressure from the courtiers, Li Zhi reluctantly approved Li Ke's death sentence.
Before his execution, Li Ke denounced the eldest grandson Wuji for framing Zhongliang, predicting that the Li Tang clan would be destroyed. The facts also confirmed his prediction, Wu Zetian almost wiped out the eldest grandson family.
In addition to Li Ke, Li Shimin's other sons were also implicated in the case of Fang bereavement, Li Ke's mother and brother were exiled to the border, and the horses of the two princesses were killed, which was undoubtedly a heavy blow to the Li Tang clan.
In the long history of the Tang Dynasty, there were two princes who were framed innocently and came to a tragic end. In 671, Li Shimin's seventh son, Li Yun, was entrusted with an important task, but was framed by his subordinate officials for rebellion three years later.
Although Li Yun was straightforward by nature and extravagant in personality, he knew the cruelty of the royal struggle, and as soon as he heard that someone accused him of rebellion, he was so afraid that he committed suicide. Until Li Zhi found out the truth and rehabilitated Zhaoxue for him, it was too late to undo the tragedy.
The same bad luck befell Li Zhi's crown prince, Li Xian. He was falsely accused of rebellion by his biological mother, Wu Zetian, in 680 and was soon forced to commit suicide under house arrest.
Wu Zetian, a vicious woman, did not hesitate to frame her own son for the sake of her own power. She forced Li Zhi to depose Li Xian, and three years later forced him to commit suicide. Li Ming and other princes were also implicated in death, and the Li Tang royal family was defeated and retreated under the dictatorship of Wu Zetian.
The fate of these two princes reveals the cruelty and ruthlessness of the struggle for the throne, and also makes us reflect on the use of power and the true meaning of family affection. The tragedy of history once again warns us that we should cherish life, respect humanity and the law, and jointly safeguard social justice and stability.
In 688, Li Shimin's eighth son, Li Zhen, and several uncles conspired to revive the Li and Tang dynasties, but they were thwarted by Wu Zetian as soon as the operation began. Li Zhen felt that the general trend was gone, and finally chose to commit suicide.
All the other royal families involved in the operation were executed, except for Li Shen, who temporarily escaped before the execution ground, but was soon exiled to the frontier and eventually died in the penal colony.
Of the 14 sons born to Yang Guifei, Li Fu became the only one who survived and was favored. He was crowned King of Zhao in 639 and died at the age of 38, without experiencing a brutal battle.
Although his ancestry did not last long, at least he himself did not suffer an unfortunate end, and he can be said to be the luckiest of all Li Shimin's sons.
This battle within the royal family makes us ponder: what is driving these princes to self-destruction? The ** of power seems to have transcended the bonds of affection.
Li Chengqian even did not hesitate to kill his half-brother for the sake of power, and the Li Zhen brothers also turned against each other. This battle could have been avoided if the human heart had been able to distinguish between right and wrong, and there would have been no more lack of trust and love.
The demonization of political struggles has put royalty members who could have coexisted peacefully into a life-and-death situation. Fang Yuai's unjust imprisonment is still painful, and Wu Zetian's viciousness has brought a profound disaster to the country.
At the root of all this evil is the human instinct that pushes politics to extremes.
How can people trust each other when basic humanitarian care is lost? If family and blood cannot establish basic trust, how can we live in harmony?
This is the root cause of the tragedy of Li Shimin's son, and it is also a lesson of the difficulty of governing the world for thousands of years -- politics should return to the original position of human nature, implement benevolent government and love the people, and avoid power becoming a tool for killing each other.
The warning of history is still there, but how should we make a wise choice?