Compared with the ordinary people during the Wude years, Li Shimin's natural power was amazing, and on military merit, Li Shimin dominated the lead, but on the eve of the change of Xuanwumen, the strength of the Qin Wang clique was far inferior to that of the prince clique.
Historical records record that "more than 2,000 people from Chang'an and Sifang Xiaoyong were recruited as guards of the Eastern Palace, and they were divided into left and left changlin, and the number of changlin soldiers." He also secretly ordered The Right Yu Hou to reach The Zhi Commandery of Li Yifa, the King of Yan, and set up the Eastern Palace Zhufang in order to supplement the Eastern Palace Chief. ”
On Li Jiancheng's side, there were two thousand elite soldiers, plus three hundred cavalry from Youzhou, and the strength of the troops was 2,300, while the number of Li Yuanji's private army was unknown, probably there should be hundreds, and the total strength of the prince group was about 3,000 people.
Li Shimin's side is quite a bit worse, roughly only eight hundred private troops, and the prince group has been trying to weaken Li Shimin's strength, such as drawing and framing his advisers and generals, such as Wei Chi Jingde, Cheng Zhijie, and so on.
In other words, to a certain extent, Li Shimin was also forced to start an incident, and if he did not preemptively attack, the Xuanwumen change would be replaced by the Kunmingchi Incident. So in the case of inferiority, how did Li Shimin turn defeat into victory?
First, the hands and eyes are in the sky, and the intelligence ability is strong
Coups and large-scale military operations are very different, especially within the imperial city, although Li Shimin and Li Jiancheng were once the commanders of the Ten Thousand Armies, but their power in Chang'an City was very limited.
Li Yuan held the core power, and Li Jiancheng and Li Shimin could not transfer troops into the city, on the one hand, it was not wartime, they had no reason to transfer troops, on the other hand, the transfer of troops was quickly discovered by the enemy, not only did it have no effect, but it would hit the grass and snakes and become the handle of the other side.
To a large extent, the competition between the Prince Group and the Qin Wang Group is intelligence capability. Li Jiancheng's purpose was to kill Li Shimin himself, and vice versa, the two sides came and went, open guns and dark arrows, and the most important thing was who got the preemptive intelligence first.
On the eve of the coup, Li Jiancheng invited Li Shimin to drink, and after drinking, Li Shimin suddenly had heart pain and vomited a lot of blood. This plot is somewhat avoidant of the heavy and light, and may be tampered with by Li Shimin, but we can see one point from it, that is, Li Shimin dared to go to Li Jiancheng's mansion to drink.
With the cup throwing as the number, arrange hundreds of knife and axe hands around, when the time comes, the dead will come out, if the number of enemies is small, it is most likely to die, this kind of bridge section is very common. Li Shimin went to drink, himself took a great risk, and at that time Li Jiancheng had already moved his killing heart, Li Shimin was meticulous, if there was no certain certainty, he would certainly not easily go to the banquet.
That is to say, Li Shimin should have already figured out the situation of the banquet before he dared to go to the banquet. In addition, before Li Shimin launched the coup, Li Jiancheng was ready to kill Li Shimin in Kunming Pond, but Li Shimin learned the information in advance.
According to historical records, "The King of Qi, the King of Qi, secretly informed the people of the world: "Prince Yu Qi: Now the King of Qin, Xiao, has tens of thousands of soldiers, and I and the King of Qin rao ru in Kunming Pond, so that the strong men will be killed under the curtain, and the lord should not believe it." ”
What Li Jiancheng said to Li Yuanji was actually heard and reported to Li Shimin, which shows how strong Li Shimin's intelligence ability is. When we look at the princely clique, when Li Shimin launched the coup, there was no warning or any intelligence, and this is the gap between them.
2. The samurai and courtiers swear allegiance to the death
Although the strength of the troops is small, it is not necessarily possible to lose the battle, and in Li Shimin's military career, he often wins more with less, or even challenges the enemy with only a few horses to lure the enemy deeper.
The art of war has a saying that "attacking them is not prepared, and it is unexpected." The victory of this soldier cannot be passed on first. ”
Even if the enemy is strong, has many troops, and has many strategists, Li Shimin's side also has a great advantage, that is, his men are united in their will and work together, and they are willing to swear allegiance to the death for the ambitions of the King of Qin.
After Li Shimin confirmed the intelligence of the princely clique, he first found the eldest son Wuji, Wei Chi Jingde, Cheng Yaojin, Zhang Gongjin and others for consultation. Just as the so-called human heart is separated from the belly, doing things without knowing, in ancient times or modern times, there are two things that cannot be looked at directly, one is the sun, and the other is the human heart.
Usually it's okay, the wine table calls brothers and brothers, saying two ribs with knives, but when it is really difficult, only a few people send charcoal in the snow. Li Shimin knew this in his heart, and the eldest son Wuji, Wei Chi Jingde, Cheng Yaojin, Zhang Gongjin and others were all subordinates who were born and died with him, but at the critical moment, would they betray themselves?
Li Shimin knew it in his heart, but he also needed to strengthen the determination of a subordinate, so Li Shimin was ambiguous and hesitant on purpose, saying that brothers were not good and contrary to the common ethics of the program, and then saying something to consider the long term, which made Wei Chi Jingde and all the people eagerly pat the table and stare.
Wei Chi Jingde was a big old man, and he said to Li Shimin, if the king does not take action, I am ready to run, I cannot give it to people to slaughter, and now the eight hundred warriors are ready to go, just waiting for the king's order.
After half a day of persuasion, Li Shimin wanted to use the turtle shell for divination, and Zhang Gongjin came back from outside the door, directly put the turtle shell on the ground, and shouted: "Bu Yi is in doubt; there is no doubt about this matter, shang He Buhu!" Bu but not auspicious, mediocre! ”
At the urging of everyone, Li Shimin began to make plans and strictly implement them. There were few people on Li Shimin's side, but they were strong in ability and loyalty, and a single Wei Chi Jingde was rarely matched in his degree of bravery and martial arts, followed by Cheng Yaojin, Zhang Gongjin, Qin Qiong, and so on, in addition to Fang Xuanling, Du Ruyi, and other top strategists who advised him, and the odds of winning were absolutely there.
Third, Li Shimin himself was wise and decisive, and his judgment was accurate
There are thousands of families in the family, one person in charge, on the comprehensive strength, military strength, the prince group is much stronger than the King of Qin, but in terms of personal quality, Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji are really not Li Shimin's opponents.
Li Shimin has courage and strategy, never dragging mud and water, Li Yuanji has repeatedly persuaded Li Jiancheng to get rid of Li Shimin, but Li Jiancheng is indecisive and always unable to make up his mind, and in Li Shimin's case, it only took a short time to decide on a coup.
Historical records record that "in the beginning, King Yuanji of Qi persuaded the crown prince to build a new era of The King of Qin, saying: "Be a brother with a blade!" "Shimin from Shangxing Yuanjidi, Yuanji Fu protector Yuwen Bao in his bedchamber, wanted to stab Shimin; the construction was quite benevolent, and it was stopped."
The plan for the change of Xuanwu Gate was not complicated, but it must have been very meticulous, and the palace must have arranged forces to prevent problems between the forbidden army and Li Yuan, and outside the palace, it ensured that Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji were defenseless and did their best in a battle.
From beginning to end, Li Shimin's performance is remarkable, and the prince group is not satisfactory, perhaps Li Shimin also has a lot of luck components, but fortunately fate chose Li Shimin, otherwise the Tang Dynasty would have lost the most colorful stroke.
Reference: Zizhi Tongjian, Vol. 190
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