Li Yuan was the founding monarch of the Tang Dynasty and the emperor with the lowest sense of presence among the founding monarchs of all dynasties. Just because he has a talented son, in the process of establishing the Tang Dynasty, he fought in the north and south, and unified the country, this proud achievement overshadowed Li Yuan's brilliance and made people forget that he was actually the founding king of the Tang Dynasty. So what kind of person is Li Yuan in history?
In fact, Li Yuan is really a very good person, he is tolerant and generous, and his strategy and vision are in place. The only drawback is that he is not decisive, and he is a little indecisive, which led to the outbreak of the Xuanwumen Incident in the later period, but this must not deny Li Yuan's contribution as the founding monarch.
Li Yuan was born in a prominent family, and when his grandfather Li Hu was in the Western Wei Dynasty, he was one of the Eight Pillars of the Western Wei Dynasty, and he was a very large official position with the right to have soldiers. His father, Li Xun, was the general of the Zhu State of the Northern Zhou Dynasty and was named the Duke of Tang. Li Yuan's mother was the sister of Empress Dugu of Emperor Wen of Sui, which shows how good Li Yuan's family background is. When Li Yuan was seven years old, Li Yu died, and Li Yuan became the Duke of Tang Guo, because his parents died, so he grew up beside his aunt Queen Dugu, and was deeply loved and valued by Emperor Wen of Sui. When Emperor Wen of Sui was alive, he gave Li Yuan a lot of room for development, and in this way, the Li family has been really rich for three generations, and the manpower and material resources are sufficient. The Li family's profound background laid the foundation for the later struggle for the world.
When Emperor Yang of Sui succeeded to the throne, the situation changed, Li Yuan did not have a good relationship with Emperor Yang of Sui, and Emperor Yang of Sui looked down on him, and always felt that he had the intention of rebellion, so at this time Li Yuan sensed Emperor Yang of Sui's dissatisfaction with him. In order to protect himself, Li Yuan began to keep his eyes on himself, pretending to be fascinated by wine all day long, and accepting ** bribes from stigma, Emperor Yang of Sui looked at his performance, and really put his mind at ease and played his own game. Later, Li Yuan suppressed peasant uprisings several times, subdued tens of thousands of soldiers, and secretly transformed them into his own forces. When the Turks invaded, they defeated the Turks with a small number of soldiers and horses and pacified the border passes. At this time, there was nothing to do with Li Shimin, it all depended on Li Yuan's own strength, and the strategies and methods he showed were enough to be admired.
Later, Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty became more and more unpopular, and the number of uprisings in various places continued to increase, although Li Yuan did not immediately raise troops against the Sui, but he let his eldest son Jiancheng stay in Hedong, and the second son Shimin went to Taiyuan to secretly develop forces in the two places and recruit talents. When the time was ripe, Li Yuan raised troops in Taiyuan, and took Li Jiancheng and Li Shimin to attack Chang'an, and on the way to the march, there were several differences of opinion in the army, and it was Li Yuan who clearly analyzed the situation and made the right choice, so that the Tang army only took a year to lay Chang'an and establish the foundation of the Tang Empire.
After that, Li Shimin fought abroad, and Li Yuan restored the government inside, providing Li Shimin with a stable rear. Li Yuan ordered amnesty to the world many times, sparing the suffering of the people who had suffered from Emperor Yang of Sui, and making the hearts of the people in the world follow. rewarded the meritorious ministers, Li Yuan once said: "The monarch of the Sui Dynasty was reluctant to reward the best, so that he lost the support of the people." How can we imitate him? And isn't it better to use official positions to win the hearts of the people than to use soldiers? "He's a motivating and morale-boosting way in this way. Li Yuan's internal policy, coupled with Li Shimin's external victories, promoted the reunification of the whole country. It was also Li Yuan who established the system and political structure of the early Tang Dynasty, which laid an indispensable foundation for Li Shimin's later brilliant rule.
From this point of view, Li Yuan's contribution to the founding of the Tang Dynasty is no less than that of Li Shimin, and even without him leading the overall situation and laying the foundation, it would not have been possible to have the later rule of Zhenguan. We can't just see Li Shimin's domineering spirit and ignore Li Yuan's achievements, which is unfair to him.
However, after the Tang Dynasty completely unified the world and entered the right track, Li Yuan, who was over sixty years old, began to slack off, and he didn't care much about the government and politics, and he didn't pay attention to the open and secret battles between the two sons. Li Yuan's lack of decisiveness is evident in the establishment of the crown prince. Li Yuan said that the emperor set up his eldest son Li Jiancheng as the crown prince, but he gave more preferential treatment to Li Shimin, who had made great contributions, not only named him "Admiral Tiance", but also allowed Li Shimin to establish a literature museum and recruit talents. Li Yuan's connivance with Li Shimin made Li Jiancheng feel threatened, and Li Shimin was also very dissatisfied with Li Yuan's establishment of Li Jiancheng as the crown prince. Originally, there was already a constant conflict between the two sons, but Li Yuan did not take decisive measures, but allowed the situation to develop, and finally evolved into the Xuanwumen Incident, all because of Li Yuan's indecisive character.
After the Xuanwumen Incident, Li Yuan abdicated and became the emperor, and Li Shimin became the emperor and began his glorious reign. As a father, I think Li Yuan is both proud and depressed in his heart! has a son like Li Shimin to help him and create a dynasty, but this son is too good, so good that others can't see him, and such tangled emotions are full of Li Yuan's heart. However, history is history after all, and it is unknown what the predecessors thought, and as future generations, we should look at this history more objectively and fairly.
Taking people as a reference, you can know the gains and losses; Taking history as a mirror, we can know the rise and fall.