Emperor Taizong of Tang had a high presence in Chinese history, and even his influence far exceeded that of the founding emperor of the Tang Dynasty, his father, Li Yuan.
Speaking of Li Shimin, we have to mention the well-known "Xuanwumen Coup", because of this coup, Li Shimin successfully embarked on the road to the peak of power.
"On June 4, Changsun Wuji, Together with Wei Chi Jingde, Hou Junji, Zhang Gongjin, Liu Shili, Gongsun Wuda, Dugu Yanyun, Du Junqiu, Zheng Rentai, and Li Mengxian, ten others, entered Xuanwu Gate to attack Li Jiancheng, Li Yuanji, and Pingzhi." - Old Book of Tang
In June of the ninth year of Tang Gaozu Wude, Li Shimin led a group of his civilian generals, including Changsun Wuji, Wei Chi Jingde, Hou Junji, Zhang Gongjin, Liu Shili, Gongsun Wuda, Dugu Yanyun, Du Junqi, Zheng Rentai, and Li Mengxian, to attack Li Jiancheng's princelings at Xuanwu Gate.
In this coup d'état, the crown prince Li Jiancheng and the Qi king Li Yuanji were killed, and Li Shimin successfully captured the concubine.
1. The eldest grandson is unscrupulous: hanged himself and died
Changsun Wuji was the head of the "Twenty-Four Meritorious Heroes of Lingyange", and he was not only a friend of Li Shimin, but also the elder brother of Empress Changsun and the uncle of Li Zhi of Emperor Gaozong of Tang.
Changsun Wuji participated in the "Xuanwumen Coup", killing the crown prince Li Jiancheng and The Qi prince Li Yuanji, and soon after Li Shimin was made crown prince, and the eldest son Wuji became the crown prince Zuo Shuzi.
When Li Shimin ascended the throne and became emperor, he made Changsun an empress, and Changsun Wuji was promoted to the rank of Grand General of the Marquis of Zuowu.
In the first year of Emperor Taizong's Zhenguan, the eldest grandson Wuji was promoted to the post of official Shangshu, Li Shimin considered him to be the most meritorious, and Jin made him the Duke of Qi, and in the eleventh year of Zhenguan, Li Shimin's eldest grandson Wuji and various meritorious officials inherited the official position of assassin.
In the seventeenth year of Zhenguan, Li Shimin hung the portraits of twenty-four heroes into the Ling Yan Pavilion, and the eldest grandson Wuji ranked first.
The crown prince Li Chengqiang was deposed, and under the protection of the eldest grandson, Li Zhi was made crown prince.
Twenty-three years after Zhenguan, Li Shimin was critically ill, and invited the eldest grandson Wuji and Zhongshu to order Chu Suiliang to accept the will to assist the government.
When Li Shimin died and Li Zhi succeeded to the throne, Li Zhi favored Wu Zetian and wanted to make Wu Zetian empress, and the eldest son Wuji was hated by Wu Zetian for his opposition.
In the fourth year of Xianqing (659), Wu Zetian's group of Zhongshu ordered Xu Jingzong to send people to present a sealed seal to Emperor Gaozong, saying that Changsun Wujie had signs of rebellion, and changsun Wuji was framed and exiled to Qianzhou.
In the end, the eldest grandson was forced to hang himself.
2. Wei Chi Jingde: Good death
Wei Chi Jingde was originally Liu Wuzhou's partial general.
In the third year of Tang Gaozu Wude, When Li Shimin was fighting Against Liu Wuzhou, he was resisted by Wei Chi Jingde and Song Jingang, who was defeated and fled to the Turks, while Wei Chi Jingde was enlightened and finally surrendered to Tang.
Later, many of Liu Wuzhou's generals defected from the Tang army, and the Tang army thought that Wei Chi Jingde would also defect and asked to be killed, but Li Shimin let him return and reward him with gold and silver jewelry.
Li Shimin went hunting just in time to encounter tens of thousands of cavalry led by Wang Shichong, fortunately, Wei Chi Jingde protected Li Shimin from the siege, after which Wei Chi Jingde became Li Shimin's confidant.
Before the "Xuanwumen coup", the crown prince Li Jiancheng gave Wei Chi Jingde a cart of gold and silver to bribe him, hoping that he would defect, but Wei Chi Jingde decisively refused.
When the "Xuanwumen Coup" occurred, Li Yuanjila tried to shoot Li Shimin, but unfortunately he did not shoot, but Li Jiancheng was shot dead by Li Shimin. Wei Chi Jingde led seventy cavalry to arrive one after another, and the soldiers around him shot Li Yuanji off his horse, and later Li Yuanji was shot by Wei Chi Jingde.
When discussing the reward for meritorious deeds, Wei Chi Jingde and Changsun Wuji were considered to be of the first class, and the money and treasures of the Qi Palace, together with the entire palace, were rewarded to Wei Chi Jingde.
In the first year of Emperor Taizong's reign (627), he was conferred the title of Grand General of the Right Wu Marquis and given the title of Duke of Wu. Wei Chi Jingde is a typical warrior, with a very hot personality, and some pride, and likes to expose the shortcomings of others.
In his later years, Wei Chi Jingde was superstitious about the elixir, swallowed mica ore powder, and Xianqing died in three years at the age of seventy-four, which can be said to be a high lifespan.
3. Hou Junji: Plotting rebellion was beheaded
Hou Junji was a somewhat contrived and proud man, and when Li Shimin was still the King of Qin, he was summoned to the palace and followed Li Shimin on his expedition. The "Xuanwumen coup" Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji were killed, and Hou Junji planned a lot.
After Li Shimin ascended the throne, Hou Junji was appointed as a general of the Left Guard, and because of his meritorious service to the Duke of Lu, he soon worshiped the General of the Right Guard.
In the fourth year of Zhenguan, Hou Junji served as a soldier shangshu and participated in the affairs of the imperial court.
Hou Junji conquered Gaochang, did not report to the imperial court to distribute innocent people, but also privately collected treasures, the generals in the army had a model, and finally this matter was exposed, Hou Junji was imprisoned.
Hou Junji thought that he had made a contribution to pacifying the Western Regions, and although he was released, he was very depressed in his heart, and when Li Tai and Li Chengqian competed for the position of crown prince, Li Chengqian was afraid that the position of crown prince would not be secured, and Hou Junji plotted with Li Chengqian to commit misdeeds.
Later, when the matter was revealed, Li Shimin beheaded Hou Junji and confiscated his family property.
4. Zhang Gongjin: Died of illness
In his early years, Zhang Gongjin served as the governor of Xiahuan Prefecture under Wang Shichong, and later surrendered to Tang with The Assassin Shi Cuishu.
Later, under the recommendation of Xu Shiji and others, he entered the Qin Dynasty palace and became an aide, assisting Li Shimin in launching the "Xuanwumen Coup", serving as the acting governor of the prefecture and sealing the Duke of Yuan County.
In the third year of Zhenguan, Zhang Gongjin served as the deputy commander of the march, and together with Li Jing, he conquered the Eastern Turks, and the following year the Eastern Turks were pacified, and Zhang Gongjin was given the title of Duke of Zou.
Zhang Gongjin died of illness in the sixth year of Zhenguan (632) and was posthumously awarded the title of Grand General of Zuo Xiaowei and later changed his title to Duke of Tan.
5. Liu Shili: Good death
Liu Shili was originally Wang Shichong's man, and after Luoyang was pacified, Liu Shili was supposed to be killed, and Li Shimin admired his talent and pardoned him for his capital crimes, and also used him as a left guard.
Li Jiancheng and Li Shimin competed for the position of crown prince, Liu Shili participated in the conspiracy, and afterwards, together with Wei Chi Jingde and others, he was rewarded for his merits and promoted to the position of general of Zuo Xiaowei and the Duke of Xiangwu County.
Later, some people said that Liu Shili wanted to rebel, Li Shimin asked Liu Shili if there was such a thing, Liu Shili said something out of his heart, he said that his talent was inferior, and now that the general has reached the end, where dare to rebel.
Liu Shili can be said to be dead set on Li Shimin, and later his friend Luo Yi rebelled, the capital was shocked, Li Shimin asked Liu Shili to lead the army just in case, after Luo Yi was pacified, Liu Shili was impeached because he and Luo Yi had a good relationship.
Li Shimin remembered that he was an old minister of the Qin Dynasty and appointed him as the governor of Qi Prefecture.
Liu Shili requested to requisition Tuguhun, and before he could reply, he sent emissaries to persuade the tribes to surrender a lot. Another party chieftain Tuoba Chi resigned, and at first he was attached to Tuhun Valley, and Liu Shili sent someone to persuade him.
Liu Shili stepped down because of his mother's funeral, and Qi Ren asked him to stay, so he failed to return to the funeral.
There was also the Hexi Party Xiang who broke the ugly clan and often invaded the tang dynasty border, and Liu Shili attacked him and pursued him relentlessly.
Liu Shili was a rare talent, reused by Li Shimin, and his military merit was very high, but unfortunately Zhenguan died in fourteen years.
6. Gongsun Wuda: Good death
Gongsun Wuda was very proud and made XiaoGuo during the Sui Dynasty, which was also the Imperial Forest Army.
In the early years of WuDe, Gongsun Wuda followed Li Shimin in his campaign against Liu Wuzhou, and his merits were great, and after being promoted several times, he was promoted to the rank of Right Third Army of Qin Province, and was enfeoffed as the Duke of Qingshui County.
In the early years of Zhenguan, Gongsun Wuda served as the Assassin of Suzhou. Several thousand Turkic cavalry invaded and wanted to go straight to the Tuhun Valley, and Gongsun Wuda led two thousand cavalry to fight with it, almost all of them killing and drowning the enemy soldiers.
The Turks in Yanzhou rebelled, and Gongsun Wuda was ordered to go straight to Lingzhou, catch up with the thieves, and behead the enemy commander, after which Gongsun Wuda was made the Duke of Donglai County by Jin.
During the Yonghui period, Gongsun Wuda died in the post of General of the Right Wu Wei.
7. Lonely Yanyun: Killed in battle
After he participated in the "Xuanwumen Coup", he became the governor of Youzhou and the Duke of Liyang County.
There are few historical records of this person, he died in the attack on Eastern Turkistan, but he had a son named Dugu Mou, who married Li Shimin's daughter Princess Ankang.
8. Du Junqi: Good death
Compared with the eldest son Wujie, Wei Chi Jingde and others at the beginning, Du Junqi is only a small person, although he is one of the nine generals of XuanwuMen, but there are not many records about him in the historical records.
After the Xuanwumen coup, Du Junqiu was made the founding duke of Huaining County, with a thousand households.
His main subsequent exploits were to participate in the Conquest of Goguryeo and behead thirty thousand.
About his death, it is very dramatic, Long Shuo's second year, he died in the forbidden room while waiting for the upper court.
9. Zheng Rentai: Good death
Zheng Rentai was also an old man in the Qin Dynasty when Li Shimin was still the King of Qin, and he was one of the heroes in the Xuanwumen coup.
After the change of Xuanwumen, Zheng Rentai was awarded the title of guerrilla general and sealed 200 households.
Most of the high-ranking generals of the Tang Dynasty had the most famous battles of their lives, such as Li Jing's conquest of Tuguhun and Hou Junji's conquest of Gaochang, and for Zheng Rentai, that is, Ping Tiele, Zheng Rentai was the commander-in-chief of the Tiele Road March and was the commander-in-chief of this campaign.
However, Zheng Rentai suffered a defeat in the counter-rebellion Tiele, was demoted, and died shortly after the second counter-rebellion Tiele.
10, Li Mengxian: good death
Li Mengxian initially followed Wang Junkuo, and later surrendered to Tang, he followed Li Shimin to fight in the four directions, and by the time of the change of Xuanwumen, he was already an old man by Li Shimin's side.
After the change of XuanwuMen, Li Mengxian was made the founding duke of ShuiXian County.
During the Zhenguan period, Li Mengyu was credited with attacking the Eastern Turks and moved to the founding duke of Handong County.
Li Mengtian died in the first year of Qianfeng, at the age of 74.
The above is the end of the 10 heroes who followed Li Shimin to participate in the "Xuanwumen Revolution", and a very few of them were beheaded for personal rebellion, and basically got a good death.
It can be seen from this that Tang Taizong Li Shimin was still very kind to the heroes.