In 566, Chen Xuan, the second emperor of the Chen Dynasty of the Southern and Northern Dynasties, died at the age of 44.
Back to Northern Zhou, this year is the Northern Zhou Tian and the first year, that is, this year, Li Yuan was born.
Li Yuan was a veritable "official of the Nth Dynasty", with Li Huan, the founding monarch of Western Liang, as his ancestor; his grandfather Li Hu was one of the Eight Pillar States of Western Wei and later posthumously honored as the Duke of Tang; and his father Li Xun was the Imperial Grand Master of the Northern Zhou Dynasty and a great general of the Pillar State.
Not only that, the Sui Wen Emperor Yang Jian was his uncle, and the Sui Emperor Yang Guang was his cousin, so Li Yuan had close ties with the Sui Dynasty.
In the last years of the Sui Dynasty, the masses rose together, and Li Yuan, as a heavy minister of the Sui Dynasty, also had his own plans, although the two were cousins, but the relationship between the two did not seem to be good.
As early as Yang Guang's expedition to Goguryeo, Yang Xuangan took the opportunity to rebel. The Sui Emperor sent Li Yuan to defend Honghua Commandery in Zhen, where Li Yuan made friends with haojie in the world, which aroused Yang Guang's suspicion, and Li Yuan escaped by drinking alcohol every day, so he was more cautious.
In the thirteenth year of Daye (617), Li Yuan became the retainer of Taiyuan.
At this time, the Sui Dynasty was already in ruins, and the Wagang Rebel Army, the Hebei Rebel Army, and the Rebel Army in the Jianghuai Region had already left the Sui Dynasty in a hurry, and At this time, Li Yuan was preparing, and he was waiting for an opportunity.
While guarding against the Turks, Li Yuan was receiving the displaced bandits, and he had a posture of not refusing to come.
Some people describe Li Yuan's rebellion as too Buddhist, believing that Li Yuan was forced to rebel by Li Shimin, which obviously underestimated Li Yuan. Li Yuan is a well-thought-out and calculating politician, and he needs to have a full grasp of rebellion, he needs a fatal blow and can get a rich "reward".
Li Yuan needs a pusher, a reason to "have to fight back".
At this time, it was necessary to mention Li Yuan's second son, and it was his strategy that made Li Yuan make up his mind.
Li Shimin, who is full of poetry and books, and has rich practical experience, is a rare handsome talent, but his goal is not satisfied with this. Because in his view, the demise of the Sui Dynasty is only a matter of time, if you do not start now, then the dividends of the demise of the Sui Dynasty have nothing to do with yourself.
But the rebellion was not something he could accomplish alone, he did not have his father's prestige, nor did he have his father's power, in other words, li Shimin now was nothing, he was just Li Yuan's son, or a second son.
So, for the past few days and nights, Li Shimin had been persuading his father, but got only one answer, refused.
Li Shimin and Pei Huan thought of a way to "tie" Li Yuan and himself tightly.
On this day, Pei Huan invited Li Yuan to drink. After three rounds of drinking, Li Yuan couldn't drink well, and Pei Huan called a few beautiful women to serve Li Yuan to rest. Li Yuan got up in the morning to see that he was lying on a large bed, and there were several beautiful women lying next to him, and he was suddenly half drunk.
Li Yuan looked confused, but he also knew that Pei Huan had given him a set, and then Pei Huan told him that these people were all women of the emperor, and if they passed out, they would kill their heads. Li Shimin also took the opportunity to tell Li Yuan about the rebellion, but now Li Yuan was still full of benevolence and morality, and shouted that he wanted to send Li Shimin to see the officials.
After a while, Li Yuan agreed to raise the army and said to Li Shimin, "I love you so much, how can I bear to report you!" ”
In July of the thirteenth year of Daye, Li Yuan, who had "no way to retreat", formally rebelled, took 30,000 armor, and set out from Jinyang, with the slogan "Aiming at Honoring Sui".
Li Yuan invaded Chang'an within a few months, but unfortunately, the Sui Emperor was not in Chang'an at this time.
Therefore, Li Yuan honored Yang Guang as Emperor Taishang, and supported Yang You, the acting king, as emperor, that is, Emperor Gong of Sui, and Li Yuan made tang king.
In March of the following year, the Sui Emperor died in the Jiangdu Rebellion, and Li Yuan also decided not to pretend, forcing The Sui Gong Emperor to give the throne to Li Yuan, who succeeded to the throne in Chang'an and established the state of "Tang". In order to further emphasize the legitimacy of the regime, Li Yuan gave preferential treatment to Emperor Gong of Sui and greatly sealed the descendants of Northern Zhou.
The emperor became emperor, but the rebellion was not successful, because the actual area of Tang rule was also in Guanzhong and Hedong, and there was still a long way to go before the national unification. In addition to the continuous rebellion and the challenge of foreign forces, Li Yuan was most worried about his sons.
Li Yuan had many sons, but what really caught Li Yuan's eye was li jiancheng the crown prince, Li Shimin the prince of Qin, and Li Yuanji, the king of Qi, and Li Yuan, who had been trying to balance the relationship between several people.
We know that from Li Yuan's rise of the army in Jinyang to the establishment of the Tang Dynasty to the unification of the whole country, Li Shimin contributed the most, in addition to his own desire to make meritorious achievements, but also because of a verbal promise by Li Yuan.
The shangzhi soldier Jinyang Ye is the conspiracy of the Qin king Shimin, and the shangzhi shimin knows: "If the matter is accomplished, then the whole world is caused by Ru, and Ru should be the prince."
This is a passage recorded in the Zizhi Tongjian, which clearly records that Li Yuan had promised to make Li Shimin the crown prince after the incident before the incident, but when the matter was completed, Li Jiancheng was still the crown prince, and Li Shimin was only the king of Qin.
Li Shimin's heart was bitter, and the Jiangshan he had worked so hard to fight seemed to be making a wedding dress for others.
In any case, Li Yuan's indecisiveness also caused the government decrees of the DPRK and China to conflict with each other, and accelerated the confrontation between the sons.
As crown prince, Li Jiancheng wooed Li Yuanji, the Prince of Qi, as a prince group, and Li Shimin was crowned as a general of Tiance in the fourth year of Wude, second only to Li Yuan and the crown prince Li Jiancheng, and could open a mansion in Luoyang.
Coupled with the fact that Li Shimin followed through the Southern Expedition and the Northern War, a large number of capable military generals followed, and Li Jiancheng decided to strike first.
For the open struggle between the two sons, Li Yuan, as the old father, is a very headache, on the one hand is the prince, on the other hand is Li Tangjiangshan's first meritorious minister, he can only be on both sides and thin mud.
In the seventh year of Wude, a horrific "Yang Wengan Incident" broke out, which pushed the contradiction between the brothers to a climax, and Li Yuan sent Li Shimin to quell the rebellion and promised Li Shimin the position of crown prince, but after the counter-rebellion, Li Yuan did not fulfill his promise, but used the excuse of brotherly discord to exile the prince and the qin king's staff, which made Li Shimin completely see the true face of Li Yuan.
After that, Li Jiancheng, through Li Yuan's "favor", began to dismantle Li Shimin's men, and Li Shimin finally broke out the Xuanwumen Rebellion when he could not bear it.
When Wei Chigong walked up to Li Yuan with a knife and told him that the crown prince and the King of Qi had been accused of plotting against him, Li Yuan suddenly realized that the "way of moderation" he was adhering to was wrong from the beginning.
He thought that Li Shimin was his own sharp blade, and this sharp blade could help him to wipe out all the traitors, and he was the one who held the sharp blade in his hand. Now he understood that when this sharp blade was swung at him, he seemed so vulnerable.
It's over, tired, tired.
Li Yuan knew that the era that belonged to him had come to an end.
The era that truly belonged to the Tang Dynasty has arrived.