In the face of the surging tide of opposition within the empire, this once twenty-footed emperor, his willpower was so fragile, like an ostrich burying his head in the sand, ran to Yangzhou for refuge, and lived a life of sound dogs and horses, completely ignoring his generals and allowing them to fight each other for territory.
At this time, the young Li Shimin gradually emerged. He had a strong military backing in his territory in Shanxi, and through the friendly relations he made with several Turkic khans when he was stationing troops in Biansai, his power was further consolidated.
In addition, Li Shimin also actively established valuable contacts with officials in various places. The time was getting more and more ripe, and Li Shimin was becoming more and more impatient with his father Li Yuan's old-school idea of loyalty. In order to force his father to take action, Li Shimin used one of the tactics of the ancient Chinese book collection at that time.
He bought off a eunuch in the palace. At the instigation of Li Shimin, the eunuch offered a woman to Li Yuan for the harem. This young girl should be quite attractive, because the venerable Li Yuan did not consider the consequences of this action at all, and happily accepted this dangerous gift that Li Shimin had buried for his father behind his back.
Subsequently, Li Shimin pointed out to his father that they had become criminals by asking for trouble, that a woman in the palace had been abducted, and that someone had accused them of being the first offender. When Li Yuan heard this, he was shocked and couldn't help but panic, but what should he do now? At this moment, it was impossible to save this woman. Therefore, Li Yuan had no choice but to gather his followers to his residence in Taiyuan and gather a large army to obey his orders. At the same time, he took up arms only as a loyal vassal in order to free the emperor from the hands of other pretenders, thereby reducing the uneasiness of conscience.
At that moment, how did Li Yuan know? Everything is strictly in accordance with Li Shimin's plan. Just as Li Shimin gained the support of his officials through intrigue and intrigue, he also gained the sympathy and de facto support of the Turks by virtue of his military candor. These dangerous Turkic neighbors handed over 500 elite soldiers and 2,000 good horses to Li Shimin and let them drive.
At a critical moment, Li Shimin's sister Princess Pingyang sold her jewelry and used the money from the bottom of the box to recruit 10,000 horses and horses and give them to her brother. Li Shimin soon had 60,000 men under his command, and he shared the joys and sorrows with these people, inspiring them with his own example, and they were all willing to fight for him and die for him.
In the following four years (618-622), Li Shimin marched south to the north, encountered one large army after another, and restored the new order of the Chinese civilized empire from chaos.