In June of the ninth year of Tang Gaozu Wude, a coup d'état occurred near the Xuanwu Gate of chang'an, the capital of the Tang Dynasty, where Li Shimin, the King of Qin, killed his brother Li Jiancheng, the crown prince, and his younger brother Li Yuanji, the Prince of Qi, and sent the murderous Wei Chigong into the palace, named as an escort, to force the palace tang Gaozu Li Yuan, and Li Yuan, judging the situation, did not punish Li Shimin, but agreed to Wei Chigong's request, ordering the soldiers and horses of the Southern and North Gates who confronted the soldiers and horses of the Qin Palace to obey Li Shimin, and the soldiers and horses of the immortal Eastern Palace and the Qi Palace also collapsed, and then established Li Shimin as the crown prince. Soon after, Zen was located in Li Shimin, and he abdicated as Emperor Taishang.
In the change of Xuanwu Gate, why did Tang Gaozu Li Yuan not punish Li Shimin, but obediently handed over the power?
Many people think that the biggest reason is that Tang Gaozu Li Yuan left Li Shimin with a concubine, and if he did not pass on to him, there would be no successor, so he could only compromise and give him the power. So is this reason the main reason, is it really so simple, today Song Anzhi came to talk about it specifically.
First, the most ruthless imperial family, before the Xuanwumen Revolution, Li Shimin was actually equivalent to being sentenced to death by Li Yuan
The reason why the Xuanwumen Revolution broke out was actually that Li Yuan, the emperor of Tang Gaozu, wanted to suppress Li Shimin, the first founding hero of the country, with the crown prince Li Jiancheng and the Qi king Li Yuanji, in order to ensure that the imperial power was not threatened.
To put it bluntly, behind this conquest of the concubine, is the game between the founding emperor and the founding hero, but Li Yuan did not personally shoot, but through the crown prince Li Jiancheng and the Qi king Li Yuanji to take a shot at Li Shimin, Li Shimin is naturally invincible, and the suppressed almost becomes a fish on the board, so he desperately launched the xuanwumen change and achieved a counterattack.
How tragic was Li Shimin's suppression before the Xuanwumen Revolution?
The first was an important military operation in the late Wude period, Li Shimin was already on the sidelines, and the commander was either the crown prince Li Jiancheng or the Qi king Li Yuanji, which made Li Shimin's control over the army weaker.
At the same time, the crown prince Li Jiancheng and the Qi king Li Yuanji did not just expand their own private forces to oppose Li Shimin's Qin palace. It also suppressed and divided Li Shimin's Qin palace. Like tricking Lieutenant Chi Gong unsuccessfully, he framed him and sent him to prison, and also sent Cheng Yaojin to the local government to serve as the assassin of Kangzhou.
Even Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhan, the two great strategists, were expelled from the Qin palace, so that on the eve of the Xuanwumen coup, Li Shimin secretly summoned them back to the palace for consultation, but they all refused, and Li Shimin was furious and asked Wei Chigong to summon again, and if he did not come back, he would be killed, which summoned him back.
On the eve of the Xuanwumen Rebellion, Li Yuanji, the King of Qi, took the opportunity to lead his army to resist the Turks in the east, and asked Wei Chigong, Qin Shubao, Duan Zhixuan, and other generals to accompany him, and also let the private armor of the Qin Dynasty go out with the army, so that Li Shimin's completely empty army and no one had no power, and he would become a fish on the board.
If Li Shimin did not resist and did not launch the Xuanwumen Revolution, everyone thought about what would happen?
I am afraid that the fate of The Crown Prince Li Jiancheng and the Qi King Li Yuanji is even worse, because these two people have been planning to get rid of Li Shimin for a long time, and they are bound to get rid of him quickly. After the change of Xuanwu Gate, although Li Shimin cut the grass and removed the roots, the good villains still left their wives and daughters, and if they became the winning party, it is estimated that even Li Shimin's wives and daughters would not stay, but would not stay.
As for Tang Gaozu Li Yuan, don't think about it, if he didn't support it, even if the crown prince Li Jiancheng and the Qi king Li Yuanji were added up, how could they be Li Shimin's opponents?
It was he who silently supported behind his back, and the crown prince Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji, the King of Qi, were forced into such a desperate situation by Li Shimin, so Li Yuan had actually abandoned his son Li Shimin and sentenced him to death. If Li Shimin did not desperately launch a rebellion against the Xuanwumen Rebellion, even if Li Yuan saved Li Shimin's life, it would not last long, and when the crown prince Li Jiancheng succeeded to the throne, Li Shimin would still be a dead word.
Therefore, before the change of Xuanwumen, in fact, Li Shimin had already been sentenced to death by Li Yuan, the emperor of Tang Gaozu, and had already been abandoned.
Second, although there is only one concubine left for Li Shimin, Li Yuan, the emperor of Tang Gaozu, still has a concubine, and he can still regenerate
Why did Tang Gaozu Li Yuan treat Li Shimin so harshly?
Because in addition to his son's identity, Li Shimin is also the first hero of the founding of the country, and he is also a disobedient hero. The conflict between father and son broke out during Li Shimin's administration of Shandong. In order to develop his own power, Li Shimin opposed Li Yuan's orders with the privilege of "exclusive punishment within the jurisdiction", and Li Yuan was furious and said: "This child has been a soldier for a long time, is despotic outside, and has been taught by the reading Han, not my former son."
It can be said that in the face of imperial power, Tang Gaozu Li Yuan and Li Shimin no longer have father-son feelings, and Li Shimin, the first hero who threatened his own founding, Li Yuan was already moved to kill, so he had to use the crown prince Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji, the king of Qi, to deal with it, and even get rid of Li Shimin.
In the past dynasties, for the sake of supreme power, the affection of the imperial family is really not valuable, and it is not uncommon for fathers and sons to kill each other.
It was not uncommon for fathers to kill their sons, such as Emperor Jing of Han forcing his son Liu Rong to die; Emperor Wu of Han listened to the villains in his later years and forced him to rebel against the crown prince Liu Zhao, who was forced to commit suicide after that; and Emperor Xuanzong of Tang killed three sons in one day. There were also sons and fathers, such as King Wuling of Zhao who was starved to death, that is, his son King Huiwen of Zhao acquiesced; and Emperor Wen of Song, who created the "Rule of Yuan Jia", was killed by the crown prince Liu Shao.
There is a saying that it is not to think too evil of human nature, but that you have not experienced the taste of power, so you do not know how infinitely the evil of human nature will be magnified in ancient times when facing the highest power.
Looking at the change of Xuanwu Gate, although Li Shimin killed the crown prince Li Jiancheng and the Qi king Li Yuanji, Tang Gaozu Li Yuan left him with a concubine, but Li Yuan still had a concubine, not without choice, and he could also establish an empress and turn shuzi into a concubine, not to mention that no son could still be born.
Some people think that it is impossible for Shuzi to inherit the throne, so Li Yuan can only keep Li Shimin, in fact, this view is not absolute, in ancient times, concubines did have the absolute priority of inheriting family property, but what about the case of no concubines?
In the absence of a concubine, it is certainly to choose a concubine to succeed to the throne, and it is impossible to choose someone else to inherit the throne.
What's more, there are no absolutes, and some concubines still inherit the throne when they have concubines, such as Tang Xuanzong Li Longji.
If you think that Tang Gaozu Li Yuan, for the sake of supreme power, had previously forced Li Shimin to die through the crown prince Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji, the Prince of Qi, how could he have thought that Li Shimin was the second son of a concubine and a great hero?
Now that there is only one concubine left, and if this concubine kills his eldest son and third son, will he give up his supreme power and abdicate early? Is this possible?
If Li Yuan had a choice, he would definitely execute Li Shimin, re-cultivate a concubine himself, and even help him become a concubine, so how could he not inherit the throne?
There are also people who think that only Li Shimin is left as a concubine, the eldest of the other sons is only a few years old, Li Yuan is already 61 years old, there are no years to live, even if you cultivate the sons, the sons have no time to grow, can not withstand the toss, what can be done without compromise?
There is some truth to this view, but there are two points to note here.
One is that although among the founding emperors, Tang Gaozu Li Yuan was not the lord of great talent and great strategy, he was by no means the lord of fainting, and he did not end up capsizing in the gutter in the change of Xuanwu Gate, which greatly reduced his image.
There are also merits such as the Taiyuan Uprising in the Zhenguan Dynasty's "Records of the Emperor Gaozu", which is said to be the credit of Li Shimin, and Li Yuan is like sitting on his own success. In fact, with reference to historical materials such as "Notes on the Entrepreneurship of the Tang Dynasty", Li Yuan is not sitting on his success, not the lord of fainting, or quite accomplished and capable.
Such an emperor, for the sake of supreme power, gave up his second son Li Shimin and actually sentenced him to death. How can it be possible to willingly hand over the power in his hands when there is only one concubine left?
The second is that from the perspective of the world in the future, Li Yuan only lived for 9 years after the change of Xuanwu Gate, and did not have enough time to cultivate Shuzi.
But on the other hand, Li Yuan became the powerless Emperor Taishang and lived depressed for 9 years, what if he continued to hold the power? That's certainly not just 9 years of life.
What's more, 9 years is enough time for Li Yuan to pave the way for Shuzi, because his ability is absolutely underestimated, paving the way for his young son, this ability is still there.
To put it bluntly, without helplessness, who is willing to give up the highest power? Even when considering the next generation of heirs, it is better to consider one's own supreme power, after all, power is a thing that is difficult to quit once it is tasted.
Therefore, the most fundamental reason is that the murderous Wei Chigong forced the palace, after all, it was the son who sent people to persecute his father's bad behavior, the history books also took the Spring and Autumn pen method, it seems to be a few strokes, but in fact, there are too many information contained and omitted, Wei Chigong since he dared to force the palace, he must have controlled the place where Li Yuan was located, even if there was a forbidden army confrontation outside the Xuanwu Gate, but the distant water could not save the near fire, Li Yuan if he did not cooperate, there must be a preparatory plan, that is, to kill him, maybe at that time Wei Chigong was a knife on Li Yuan's neck.
Although the highest power is very fragrant, but life is more important, so Li Yuan obediently has to hand over power, which is the most important reason why Li Yuan handed over power.
Otherwise, Li Shimin would have committed such a crime, killed the prince and the king of Qi, and forced the emperor of the palace, Li Yuan could still smile and forgive him, and spread the word to him, that would be a really strange thing.
Of course, Li Yuan only had One concubine left, Li Shimin, which was also a factor in his relinquishment. Mainly because the situation in the early Tang Dynasty was unstable, and the ones who could suppress the heroes were Li Shimin, the King of Qin, and Li Jiancheng, the crown prince, and Li Yuanji, the king of Qi, who was barely counted as one, and the other sons were only a few years old, too young, and when they grew up, the time was too long.
Li Yuan's biggest problem at that time was not to kill Li Shimin and cultivate Shuzi, but if he died to the end, he would definitely be a death. And after his death, the forces loyal to themselves will definitely fight back, ambitious people will also take the opportunity to come out to make trouble, even if Li Shimin can solve it, it will also make the emerging Tang Dynasty yuan qi seriously injured, and he still can't fall into a good reputation, now the knife is on the neck, if you don't cooperate, you will die, after thinking about it, there is only one concubine left, you can only hand over the power in exchange for a way to live.
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