Li Yuan, Tang Gaozu, was the first hero to bear the brunt of the anti-Sui. After the Tang Dynasty had just established stability, he enjoyed the power to unify the country, leisurely sailing, singing songs, and enjoying the prosperity of the heyday. However, at this moment, his own son, Li Shimin, the king of Qin, came to present the heads of two of his brothers: the crown prince Li Jiancheng and the king of Qi, Li Yuanji. Li Shimin knelt on the ground and wept, saying that in order to protect his father, he had to carry out the order of killing his brother with his own hands. At the suggestion of his ministers, Li Yuan resolutely handed over the military power of the forbidden army and relinquished the ruling power of the Tang Dynasty. All this happened in the ninth year of Tang Gaozu Wude, that is, nine years after Li Yuan ascended the throne.
It is incomprehensible that he had only just enjoyed the fruits of his victory, having fought mainly on the battlefield before that, and yet had to pass the throne to his son. The various feelings of disobedience brought about by the change of Xuanwumen make people think deeply. Li Yuan passed the throne to Li Shimin when he was in the prime of life, which is really incredible. Some people speculate that this is Li Shimin's deliberate forced palace by killing his brother. Although the interpretation of the Xuanwumen Revolution in the official history is basically the same, this explanation does not completely dispel people's doubts, but instead raises more questions. What motive did Li Shimin have for forcing the palace? Power has always been the goal of human pursuit, and this is well known.
Many people deduce Li Shimin's motives based on this theory, believing that in order to reach the pinnacle of power, he would rather bear the charge of killing his brother and become the emperor of the Tang Dynasty. However, when compared with the changes of imperial power in other dynasties, the problems will be found. For example, the Qing Dynasty's Nine Sons Incident has no possibility of a similar change to the Xuanwumen. Emperor Kangxi sat on the throne and never had a situation of killing and forcing brothers to surrender power. On the one hand, the reason why Li Shimin was able to force the palace was because he held real power and had the support of many subordinates who were loyal to the King of Qin rather than Tang Gaozu. In the war against the Sui Dynasty, Li Shimin made great achievements and was deeply respected by the army and the people.
It is precisely because of Li Shimin's outstanding achievements that his official position soared all the way, and he was finally given an insurmountable status. Li Yuan even had to fabricate a title of "General of the Heavens" for him out of thin air, making him the highest position with real power. Li Yuan's operation and Li Shimin's rise In fact, just like Sun Wukong was given the title of "Monkey King", Li Yuan's pacification was mainly to appease Li Shimin. He would have inevitably tried to deal with Li Shimin's threat to imperial power, but it was his approach that forced Li Shimin to embark on the road of rebellion. Li Yuan, who originally wanted to watch from the sidelines, finally suffered a counterattack.
There is a method of corporate management that is widely circulated among experienced people in society - forming gangs and competing in teams. In the management of most companies, there will always be villains who lead but do nothing. They become celebrities by currying favor with their bosses, but in reality their performance is not satisfactory. And the opponents of these villains are often the indispensable core figures in the company. It's not that the boss doesn't understand the mediocrity of the villains, but deliberately uses them to suppress the strong in the company. Because people who are not suppressed are easy to be conceited, easy to leave the team and do their own thing. Li Yuan, as the boss of the Tang Dynasty, also adopted this method, specifically supporting Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji to fight against Li Shimin, who was a high-ranking master.
However, the dynasty is not a company, and Li Shimin is not a law-abiding citizen. Even if he is suppressed, Li Shimin does not need to leave the team, as long as he is determined, he can replace Li Yuan at any time. Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji are not completely villains who have achieved nothing, and in the anti-Sui war, they also showed a brave and good fighting side and achieved a lot of achievements. Although Li Shimin overshadowed the limelight, it was actually not bad. If it weren't for Li Yuan deliberately portraying them as Li Shimin's opponents, perhaps they wouldn't have coveted the throne, because Li Shimin's prestige was too high. However, under Li Yuan's planning, they developed ambitions that did not fit their own strength.
They tried to get rid of Li Shimin, a powerful enemy, and then logically inherit the throne, which was exactly what Li Yuan wanted. However, next, they even planned to kill their father directly and accelerate the process of ascending the throne, and they were not willing to wait for Li Yuan to gradually age. If they succeed, I am afraid that Li Yuan and Li Shimin, the two real founding heroes, will go to see King Yama in advance. At that time, the Xuanwumen Revolution was extremely unfavorable to Li Shimin. He only had 12 cronies around him, and the thousands of forbidden troops in the city were under the control of Li Yuan, who was extremely jealous. Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji attacked him with great vigour, intending to take his life on the charge of rebellion.
Li Yuan was enjoying the scenery on a boat when suddenly a man appeared and shot the crown prince Li Jiancheng with an arrow, and at the same time, his subordinate Wei Chi Gong also killed Li Yuanji. However, people don't know anything about why Li Yuan appeared at that moment, because the lake cut off all information**. After learning the results, he could only reluctantly accept the reality.