When it comes to the prosperous era of the Tang Dynasty, we can't fail to mention its second emperor, Tang Taizong Li Shimin. He made immeasurable contributions to the establishment and unification of the Tang Dynasty. The system of three provinces and six ministries he implemented and the rule of Zhenguan pioneered made the Tang Dynasty prosperous and the country stable.
Li Shimin is not only a wise and sage in the hearts of the people, but also deeply admired by them; In the eyes of the soldiers, he was a mighty general with both wisdom and bravery; In the eyes of the minister, he was a political genius par excellence.
A generation of heroes, capable of literature and martial arts, with the world in mind, is well versed in the way of "water can carry a boat and also capsize a boat". However, this seemingly logical position of the Son of Heaven has gone through countless bloody storms.
From ancient times to the present, every founding emperor has been a hero who has stood out through hardships. Although it is often said that the emperor is ruthless, the intrigue and bloody killing behind it are actually only the price of their ascension to the throne.
The Tang Dynasty is one such example, with countless moral judgments and power games for the high-ranking hidden.
In the last years of the Sui Dynasty, Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty made the people's lives miserable, uprisings broke out, and even the princes and nobles began to compete for the throne, trying to push themselves to the top of power.
Li Yuan, the cousin of Emperor Yang of Sui, knew the importance of gaining a firm foothold in troubled times, otherwise he would be taken by others like a drifter. This position of high power and the co-lord of the world who can easily set off an uproar has a great attraction to Li Yuan.
His son Li Shimin, who joined the army as a teenager, went through the battlefield training, subdued many strong soldiers and brave generals, and finally successfully overthrew Emperor Yang of Sui with his supporters, founded the Tang Empire, and realized the unification of the world.
After Li Yuan ascended the throne, Li Shimin always expected him to fulfill his promise and crown himself the crown prince. However, Li Yuan issued a decree to canonize Li Shimin as the "King of Qin", and his elder brother Li Jiancheng became the crown prince.
Although the inheritance of his son-in-law has always been a recognized tradition, Li Shimin is not an ordinary person, he is a hero of the Tang Dynasty, a fierce general who bravely killed the enemy on the battlefield and has countless military exploits.
Li Yuan's broken promise made him unbearable. The crown prince Li Jiancheng, by virtue of his status as his sister-in-law, enjoyed his success, and was also aware of Li Shimin's threat. However, Li Shimin has a heavy army and is both wise and brave, which makes him have to be on guard early.
He realized that he could not sit idly by and had to act. So, he began to woo Li Yuanji, promising to give him the crown prince in exchange, and the two formed a united front against Li Shimin.
This famous Xuanwumen Incident in history was the final flashpoint of their battle line. After Li Yuan became the emperor, every day he was most worried about his sons killing each other for the throne, and they were intriguing every day, and he saw it in his eyes.
However, his worries didn't stop things from happening. One day, he received a memo from his second son, accusing the crown prince Li Jiancheng and the brothers Li Yuanji, the king of Qi, of confusing the harem.
He stayed up all night for this recital, and the next day he planned to investigate it himself with a lot of concern. He vows to get to the bottom of the matter and find out the real culprit.
However, he waited left and right, and Li Shimin and others never appeared. In confusion and worry, Li Shimin's subordinate general, Wei Chi Gong, broke in violently. Looking at his posture, Li Yuan almost collapsed to the ground.
He understood that what he had been fearing had finally happened. Wei Chigong's voice was loud and serious, staring solemnly at Tang Gaozu, opening the prelude to a war without gunpowder.
Your Majesty, recently, the crown prince and the king of Qi plotted against each other and intended to rebel, and the king of Qin has led his troops to deal with the two in the Xuanwu Gate. Chente came to escort him before, hoping that His Majesty would feel at ease. "
Hearing this, Li Yuan's face changed greatly, the crown prince, as the heir to the throne, did not need to be like this. Wei Chigong's remarks were obviously instructed by Li Shimin. In fact, the real rebellious is Li Shimin, the king of Qin, who is Li Yuan's most outstanding son.
Li Shimin has set aside Tang Gaozu and controlled the overall situation. However, how to deal with Li Yuan and how to ascend to the throne logically is still an unsolved mystery.
In the last years of the Sui Dynasty, he deeply understood the importance of popular support for rule, and if he killed Li Yuan and became emperor, the people might praise him as a tyrant, and this image could easily lose popular support.
Coupled with the fact that he had killed his own brother with his own hands, he was no longer willing to do anything to their biological father. From Li Yuan's point of view, according to the law, it is reasonable for him to appoint his eldest son as the crown prince.
Li Yuan was under house arrest for many days, knowing full well that his promise had been broken by tradition and hurt people's hearts, and now that the situation could not be reversed, he officially canonized Li Shimin as the crown prince, and then abdicated to make way for Xian, and officially withdrew from the center of power.
After Li Shimin ascended the throne, the first thing he did was to ensure that his position was stable and carefree. In order to prevent a similar situation from happening again, he planned to completely eliminate the sons of Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji.
Originally, the battle for the throne would hurt how many innocent children, and ten ignorant and ignorant children were pushed to the battlefield of the throne by their own uncles and died tragically in the cruel struggle for imperial power.
Li Yuan, who lost his beloved son and grandson, burst into tears, and he cursed bitterly to Li Shimin, who ignored his own obstruction: "Now you have killed my grandson for the throne, then one day your son will also kill your grandson for the throne." ”
Li Yuan's words seemed to be a curse, but in fact they were a prophecy, and family affection in the royal family was just a mask used to decorate the surface of royal harmony. The prophecy came true, and Li Yuan's words were not wrong.
Sixteen years later, this prophecy finally came true. The sons of Li Shimin, Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, all died of illness, some committed suicide, and some even drowned in the dark tide of the struggle for the throne.
Tang Taizong's beloved son, Li Chengqian, was canonized as the crown prince and gradually showed strong leadership and talent under his father's careful training, and it seemed possible that he could become the second Li Shimin.
However, in order to compete for the throne, Li Tai, the second son of Tang Taizong, showed a strong sense of competition, and gradually emerged in the competition, and even had a momentum similar to that of his father.
However, Li Chengqian assassinated his biological brother Li Tai because of the cannibalism of his father's brothers, and finally ended the battle for the throne.
After Li Shimin learned of this, he was furious, he did not want the tragedy of history to repeat, however, he was Li Chengqian's father, and his love for him could never be separated. Despite this, Li Shimin did not choose to kill Li Chengqian, but demoted him to a commoner.
After he died of illness, Li Shimin held a grand funeral for him with the gift of a king. However, karma, Li Chengqian's tragedy is only the beginning. What followed was the death of Li Shimin's sons one after another, and these deaths made Li Shimin deeply realize that in this war of power, no one can win cleanly.