At the end of the Sui Dynasty, Li Yuan, the Duke of Tang, raised an army in Jinyang in 617, and the following year he was proclaimed emperor to establish the Tang Dynasty, with Chang'an as the capital division. In 658, the eastern capital Luoyang was set up, and then the northern capital Taiyuan was successively added, and the capitals of Nanjing, Chengdu, Fengxiang and other capitals were successively added... It can be said that in the two hundred and ninety years of the Tang Dynasty, during this period, there were many bloody coups.
Among them, the most famous coup sites are undoubtedly Xuanwumen and Ma Songyi. What is intriguing is that Xuanwumen actually underwent four coups d'état in the ninety-three years since the founding of the Tang Dynasty.
The first time was in the ninth year of Wude (626 AD). At that time, Emperor Taizong's situation was very bad. He made great contributions to Datang, but pushed himself into a very awkward position. Because, his merits directly threatened the crown prince Li Jiancheng. In order to consolidate his position as crown prince, Li Jiancheng decided to get rid of his third brother Li Shimin.
He knew that his power was weak, so he took the initiative to join forces with his fourth brother Li Yuanji. They first constantly stirred up dissension in front of their father Li Yuan, and used Li Shimin's ambitions to arouse the vigilance of their father. Then, they colluded with the concubines in their father's harem, so that they kept saying bad things about Li Shimin in front of their father.
Li Yuan believed that the fourth son had followed him in the conquest for many years and would never have a different heart. However, with the continuous words of the pillow man and the prince, he gradually began to be suspicious of the ghost. Li Shimin's mind was clear, and he was already aware of the mind of the eldest brother. However, he always believed in his father, so he remained silent.
When he found out that his father had begun to suspect him, he couldn't help but fall into a dilemma. Li Shimin has always acted on the basis of loyalty and righteousness, and the tragedy of fratricide is something he does not want to see. However, the brother's steps are pressing, and if he does not do anything, he can only sit still. It can be said that at this time, Li Shimin's situation is all in the eyes of his subordinates.
These fierce generals followed him for many years, and they have always been quite critical of the treatment of the lord today. At this time, seeing the dangers, he tried his best to persuade the lord to preemptively attack. After much deliberation, Li Shimin also decided to strike decisively. On June 4 of the first year of Wu De's reign, Li Shimin led His grandson Wuji, Wei Chigong and other generals to ambush near Xuanwu Gate.
When Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji entered the palace from Xuanwu Gate, the soldiers suddenly shot and killed the two princes. Simply, Li Shimin did not stop at nothing, immediately announced the rebellion of the two men, and successfully put down the rebellion himself. Immediately afterward, he sent a letter to his father, forcing him to pass the throne to him. Li Yuan had no choice but to issue an edict to pass the throne.
The first Xuanwumen coup d'état, ostensibly Li Yuan's father and son were all involved. However, the trigger was the struggle for the throne between Li Shimin and Li Jiancheng. After Li Jiancheng was killed, the survivors could only surrender to Li Shimin. Otherwise, they would be enemies of the entire Tang Dynasty. After Li Jiancheng was killed, Li Shimin was already the heart of the people.
According to records, before Li Jiancheng's body was cold, many of his men rushed to Li Shimin. And Li Shimin, in an attitude of thirst for talents, not only did not blame Feng Li and Xie Shufang, who had wanted to kill him, but also relieved them to hold important positions. With his prestige and mind, Li Shimin quickly stabilized the situation after the coup.
The second time was in the first year of the Shenlong Era (705). At that time, a generation of empresses Wu Zetian had been emperors for fourteen years, and it was close to the time when the oil ran out. The chancellor Zhang Kamzhi and the courtier Cui Xuanwei, who had always been firm supporters of the Li clan, saw the opportunity and decisively led an army to occupy XuanwuMen, and then forced Wu Zetian to the palace.
Wu Zetian had no choice but to agree to let the crown prince Li Xian re-ascend to the throne and restore the name of the country to Tang.
The third time was in the first year of Jinglong (707). Although Emperor Zhongzong Li Xian ascended to the throne with the support of his courtiers, he had long been suppressed by Wu Zetian and had long since lost the courage to rule the world. Under the fall of imperial power, Empress Webster had the idea of monopolizing power. She secretly colluded with the powerful minister Wu Sansi to depose the crown prince Li Chongjun and establish herself as the imperial consort in a vain attempt to follow Wu Zetian's old path.
Li Chongjun saw Empress Wei's ambitions, so he preemptively killed Wu Sansi. Then, without stopping, he immediately led his troops to surround the palace and asked Emperor Zhongzong for Empress Wei. Empress Wei had already seen the bloody storm in the palace, and at the critical moment, she calmly climbed the gate tower of the Xuanwu Gate with Emperor Zhongzong, and then, waiting and seeing the changes.
Emperor Zhongzong saw that his situation was extremely dangerous, so he had to choose to side with Empress Wei. Using his status as emperor, Dayi awe-inspiringly announced that Li Chongjun was plotting rebellion, and then called on the soldiers to kill Li Chongjun. The soldiers were afraid of the emperor's majesty, so they turned against each other and turned back to kill Li Chongjun. Li Chongjun saw that the general situation had gone, so he had to flee in a hurry, and in the end, he was killed by the pursuing soldiers.
The fourth controversy took place in the fourth year of Jinglong (710). In June of that year, Empress Wei and Princess Anle poisoned Emperor Zhongzong and made Li Chongmao the Prince of Wen emperor. After years of planning, Empress Wei thought she already had the ability to be a female emperor. In order to wait for a better time, Li Chongmao was only a stopgap measure, and her next step was to eliminate Li Dan, the King of Xiang, and then ascend the throne as emperor.
Li Dan's son Li Longji sensed Empress Wei's chances of death, so he joined forces with Princess Taiping to launch a coup d'état. They quickly occupied Xuanwu Gate, and then, driving straight into the palace, decisively beheaded Empress Wei and Princess Anle.
All four coups had one thing in common, that is, xuanwumen as the key point of action. In all four coups, it was the occupying side that won the victory.
So why is the role of this place so important? This has to start from the arrangement of the Tang Dynasty Imperial Palace.
The imperial palace in the capital was not only the hub of the regime, but also an important place for the life of the emperor. In the Tang Dynasty, the imperial palace was divided into two parts: the outer court and the inner court. The emperor went up to the court, handled state affairs, and lived and played in the inner court. The outer court is located on the south side of the palace, and the inner court is located on the north side. Therefore, if the northern gate is lost, the emperor's life will be in danger. The Xuanwu Gate is precisely the main gate on the north side of the palace.
It can be said that mastering the Xuanwu Gate will choke the throat of the inner court, and the emperor can also be toyed with in the palm of his hand. At that time, he Zeng, the keeper of Xuanwu Gate, was originally Li Jiancheng's man. When planning the coup d'état, Li Shimin firmly grasped this point and bribed He Zeng with heavy money, which made him a great victory.
On the other hand, Li Jiancheng, who sits on the position of prince and holds the key point of Xuanwu Gate, can be described as a safe victory. However, he only knows how to play small tricks and play his own good hands. The next three coups were also the victors who controlled Xuanwumen in time, which could firmly grasp the direction of the coup.
These four were coups d'état that occurred in the heyday of the Tang Dynasty and had a very negative impact on the Tang Dynasty. Whoever the winner is, the idea has been preached to both the government and the public that the position of prince can be obtained through battle and is not set in stone. Therefore, later coups were staged continuously, and the Tang Dynasty, which was rich and strong, was also seriously injured in this coup d'état, and eventually, it went into weakness.
Resources:
【New Book of Tang", "Old Book of Tang", "Zizhi Tongjian"】