During the Zhenguan period of the Tang Dynasty, Emperor Taizong Li Shimin received a batch of fierce horses from foreign tribes, named Lion Skull. This horse has a shiny coat, a tall body, and a very stubborn personality, and many professional horse trainers have been thrown off their horses.
Although Emperor Taizong was extremely fond of this horse, he was deeply helpless because he could not tame it.
Emperor Taizong decreed that no matter the palace maids, eunuchs, guards or generals, as long as they can tame the lion, they can be rewarded with a thousand gold. According to common sense, such a rich reward must stimulate people's enthusiasm.
As a result, a group of court guards with strong martial arts went to challenge, but they failed to control the lion skull, and were thrown off by the horse. At this time, a talented young woman named Wu Meiniang stepped forward and said confidently, "I can tame this fiery horse." ”
Emperor Taizong looked at the petite and beautiful martial artist in front of him, and couldn't help but smile: "Hey, those sturdy guards and horse trainers who are proficient in equestrian skills can't tame the lion skull, how can you be a little woman?" ”
Wu Meiniang smiled slightly and replied, "As long as Your Majesty rewards me with three things, that is, an iron whip, an iron hammer and a dagger." Emperor Taizong asked curiously, "Then how are you going to use them?" ”
I saw Wu Meiniang smile slightly, and said softly: "I will whip its horse with an iron whip first, and if it is still untamed, then I will hit its horse head with an iron hammer."
If, in the end, it is still stubborn, then I will cut its throat with a dagger. When Emperor Taizong heard this, he couldn't help but be amazed by her wisdom and courage.
Eventually, under the deterrence of Wu Meiniang's iron whip, hammer and dagger, the lion skull was quickly tamed.
From the story of Wu Zetian's horse taming, we can see her extraordinary determination. Sure enough, the later Wu Meiniang successfully ascended the throne and became Wu Zetian.
During her reign, she also used an "iron fist" policy, warning disobedient courtiers with small punishments and major warnings, and if they did not repent, let them be taught a lesson.
If the courtiers still refuse to obey, then these people are no longer usable talents for Wu Zetian, and he can only try to eradicate them.
The eldest grandson Wuji was the maternal uncle of Emperor Gaozong Li Zhi, and had repeatedly opposed Li Zhi's establishment of Wu Zetian as empress. Wu Zetian personally came to the door to request, but he also politely declined. Soon after, Wu Zetian framed his eldest grandson Wuji on charges of treason, causing him to commit suicide in his penal colony of Qianzhou.
In addition, Wu Zetian also ruthlessly attacked the descendants of the Li family, not only cleaning up those children and nephews who did not support her, but even the descendants of Gaozu Li Yuan were not spared. Li Yuan was born in a noble family, his mother was the sister of Dugu Jialuo, the empress of Emperor Wen of Sui, and Yang Guang was actually his cousin.
Li Yuan, born in the nobility of the Sui Dynasty, was deeply loved by Emperor Wen of Sui and his empress Dugu Jialuo, and when he reached the time of Emperor Yang of Sui, he gained great trust. When Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty went on an expedition to Goguryi, he was assigned to escort grain and grass, which was very important in the army, and could even be said to be the lifeline of the army and the key to victory.
This is enough to see Emperor Yang of Sui's trust and reliance on Li Yuan. However, as Li Yuan's power gradually expanded, coupled with the peasant uprising in the last years of the Sui Dynasty, Emperor Yang of Sui began to be jealous of him, and even suspected that he would rebel.
In order to dispel Emperor Yang of Sui's doubts, Li Yuan adopted the method of self-destruction of his reputation, drinking and having fun at home every day, and accepting bribes, so that Emperor Yang of Sui thought that he had no intention of rebelling.
Under the protection of military exploits, Li Yuan was appointed by Emperor Yang of Sui to stay in Taiyuan, mastered the military and political power of Taiyuan, and gradually broke away from the jurisdiction of Emperor Yang of Sui. During this period, Li Yuan decisively dealt with Zhen Zhai'er's department, which constantly intruded on the livelihood of the people in Taiyuan, and stabilized the local situation.
However, when the Turks attacked, Li Yuan's dispatch failed, and Emperor Yang of Sui ordered his arrest upon hearing the news. Although Li Yuan was later released, the incident strengthened his determination to overthrow the Sui dynasty and establish his own regime in order to get out of the crisis that he might face at any time.
So, Li Yuan sent his eldest son Li Jiancheng to secretly contact Haojie, and asked his second son Li Shimin to recruit talents, especially the defeated soldiers, all of whom were included in his command. Soon, Li Yuan had a powerful army.
With his outstanding ability to command the army, Li Shimin turned the army originally from all directions into an elite division with strong combat effectiveness and strict discipline. With the death of Emperor Yang Guang of the Sui Dynasty, Li Yuan lost any power that could contain him, and then forced Yang Guang's grandson Yang Yu to abdicate and ascend the throne as emperor himself, establishing the Tang Dynasty.
Since then, the Tang Dynasty has begun its glorious historical chapter. Family inheritance may be fate, or it may also be a family tradition, since Li Yuan overthrew his cousin's rule and established the Tang Dynasty, the Li Tang Dynasty seems to have been unable to get rid of the doom of fratricide.
At the beginning of Li Yuan's army, Li Yuan had already foreseen the challenges ahead, so he arranged for Li Jiancheng and Li Shimin to secretly recruit soldiers and horses to deal with any possible changes.
Although there is not much recorded about Li Jiancheng's exploits in the New and Old Tang Dynasty books, we cannot ignore the important contributions of his advisors Wei Zheng and Wang Qi in the rule of Zhenguan.
This shows that Li Jiancheng has the ability to discern people. Next, we can speculate that when Li Jiancheng was made the crown prince, Wei Zheng believed that Li Jiancheng's military merits and military prestige could not be compared with Li Shimin, so he suggested that he take the initiative to ask for war in order to establish his military merits.
Wei Zheng's suggestion, Li Jiancheng's initiative to ask for the battle and won a complete victory, not only showed his wisdom in knowing people, but also proved his ability to see himself clearly and listen to the opinions of his subordinates, which undoubtedly showed his management skills.
As Li Yuan's eldest son, Li Jiancheng has high hopes, and Li Yuan's evaluation of him also confirms his excellence. Li Yuansu has a strategy to help the world and has the heart of the world, so if he thinks that Li Jiancheng is useless, he will never make him the prince.
Therefore, Li Jiancheng, as the heir, is undoubtedly a very good candidate. However, because Li Shimin's military exploits were better than Li Jiancheng's, after Li Jiancheng was made the crown prince, Li Shimin was dissatisfied.
Li Yuan listened to the accusations of Li Jiancheng's rebellion at the court, but anyone with a discerning eye knew that Li Jiancheng's succession to the throne was a natural thing, and these accusations were groundless.
Although Li Yuan had doubts in his heart, these words finally reached Li Jiancheng's ears. Although Li Jiancheng knew his innocence, he was inevitably a little worried when he heard that someone was spreading rumors and slander in front of the emperor, and hoped to find an opportunity to explain it to his father.
Li Shimin's shrewdness lies in the fact that he has mastered the hearts of the people. He knew that Li Jiancheng had no intention of rebelling, but he reported to him in the name of Li Yuan that Li Jiancheng was about to force the palace.
He carefully arranged the Xuanwu Gate to ambush the soldiers and horses, preparing to eliminate the trouble in his heart. Li Jiancheng, who was eager to defend himself, galloped into the palace, but unexpectedly found himself surrounded by strange soldiers.
Their eyes were hostile, as if they had been reversed. Li Jiancheng immediately issued a warning to Li Yuanji: "Escape!" The two of them jumped into the East Palace, but it was too late to escape.
Li Shimin saw Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji trying to escape, and immediately drew his bow and shot an arrow, killing Li Jiancheng with one arrow. Then, Wei Chigong came and shot Li Yuanji. At this point, the Xuanwumen Revolution ended with Li Shimin's victory, and Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji were unfortunately killed.
After the Xuanwumen Incident, Li Yuan was grief-stricken, but it was obvious that he could no longer cultivate a new heir. In addition, Li Shimin is ruthless, if he makes other sons the crown prince, can the second son bear it?
Therefore, under the persecution of Li Shimin, Li Yuan abdicated, and Li Shimin ascended the throne, becoming the second emperor of the Li Tang Dynasty, that is, the famous Tang Taizong.
Emperor Taizong insisted on establishing a virtuous person rather than establishing a chief as the emperor of the Tang Dynasty, a tradition that left hidden dangers for the transfer of power to the royal family. He was worried about his poor evaluation of history and was eager to know how his words and deeds were recorded in the history books.
He repeatedly asked the historian to let him read the "Notes on Living", which recorded his words and deeds, but was initially refused. At Fang Xuanling's suggestion, the historian deleted and revised the "Living Note" and compiled it into "Gaozu Shilu" and "Jinshang Shilu" for him to read.
However, due to Li Shimin's intervention in the compilation of the history books, there are few records of Li Jiancheng's exploits in the history books, which has brought great trouble to later generations in researching the events at that time.
After Li Yuan abdicated, he had a negative attitude and lost interest in politics. And Li Shimin, with his outstanding governing ability, made it impossible for Li Yuan to intervene in the government. Li Yuan spent most of his time in the harem and made great contributions to the reproduction of the descendants of the Li Tang royal family, thus increasing the number of Li Shimin's younger siblings.
After Li Shimin's change in Xuanwumen, he had a bad reputation for a while. But after ascending the throne, he handled his relationship with his younger siblings very carefully.
Although Li Yuan's sons had problems, Li Shimin chose to ignore them out of concern, and if this practice continued, it could cause the children of the royal family to sit back and enjoy the fruits and consume a lot of treasury property.
Although Li Shimin knew about the problem, he could not do anything about it.
During the Wu Zetian period, for Li Yuanjia, the son of Li Yuanjia who opposed her domineering autocracy, she used thunderous means to frame him for rebellion and execute him, even to his family.
Wu Zetian also used methods such as slander and rebellion, framing charges and assassination, and almost exterminated Li Yuan's descendants. Although Wu Zetian returned power to the Li family, the Li family's bloodline had been seriously damaged.
However, this move led to an unprecedented concentration of imperial power in the Tang Dynasty and laid the foundation for the stability of imperial power in later generations. Wu Zetian's ability to solve these problems of Li Yuan's legacy so neatly has a lot to do with her management methods for talents.
When Wu Zetian first entered the palace, he was just a small talent.
The rumors aroused Taizong's suspicions, and Wu Meiniang was forced to become a personal maid, during which she became acquainted with the later Emperor Gaozong Li Zhi. Li Shimin knew the fierce competition between his eldest son Li Chengqian and his second son Li Tai, and decisively cut off the idea of the two princes.
When the position of the crown prince was undecided, Li Zhi, who had a cowardly personality, attracted the attention of Li Shimin. Li Shimin thought that Li Zhi had a weak personality and would not repeat the mistakes of the Xuanwumen Change, so he made him the crown prince.
However, at this time, Wu Meiniang had secretly dated Li Zhi. After Li Shimin's death, Wu Meiniang cut her hair and became a nun, and Li Zhi ascended the throne as Emperor Gaozong.
After careful planning, Wu Meiniang regained her freedom from Ganye Temple, returned to the palace, and gave birth to several children for Li Zhi. However, it is regrettable that many of Wu Zetian's children have fallen victim to political struggles.
Among them, Li Xian's "Melon Picking Song": "Under the stage of planting melon yellow, the melon ripe seeds are separated." One pick makes the melon good, and then the melon is thin, and the three picks are still free, and the pick is not to hug the vine. ”
To describe Wu Zetian's ruthlessness to his children, it is heartbreaking. In the fierce struggle, Wu Zetian and Li Zhi's most anticipated eldest son Li Hong unfortunately passed away.
After Li Hong's death, Li Zhi was extremely sad and posthumously named him the "filial piety" emperor.
Li Zhi's love for Li Hong is extraordinary, and there is even a precedent in history for a father to posthumously crown his son as the emperor, which shows his deep affection. However, after Li Hong's death, Li Xian was made the crown prince, but Wu Zetian's desire to monopolize power made him want to get rid of Li Xian.
In desperation, Li Xian wrote "Song of Picking Melons", but he still could not be spared. After Li Xian, the throne changed hands several times and finally fell into the hands of Wu Zetian. During Wu Zetian's reign, he showed no mercy to the members of the Tang royal family who rebelled against him, and almost cut down the descendants of the Li family of the imperial family to consolidate his rule.
However, as Wu Zetian grew older, her reign also faced the dilemma of no one to take over.
Li Yuan raised troops in Taiyuan and established the Li Tang Dynasty after many battles, however, after only three generations, the dynasty changed hands. This seems to have been the arrangement of fate, and although the dynasty later returned to the hands of the Li family, the losses of the Li descendants in the process were immeasurable. February** Dynamic Incentive Program