Many people were deceived by Ye Shi and novels, believing that Qin Shubao was the "confidant" of Tang Taizong Li Shimin, and even put him together with Wei Chi Jingde and became a door god. But in fact? Qin Shubao and Li Shimin were not as close as some people thought. In a sense, he can't even be regarded as Li Shimin's person!
Qin Shubao was originally a grassroots officer of the Sui Dynasty, and once served under sui future guards, Zhang Sutuo and others. During the chaotic period at the end of the Sui Dynasty, Qin Shubao defected to Li Mi, the leader of the Wagang Army. Later, the Wagang army was defeated, and Qin Shubao had no choice but to throw himself into Wang Shichong's account. However, Wang Shichong did not trust Qin Shubao and other gangs who had defected from the Wagang Army, and even used them as "cannon fodder". In the end, Qin Shubao, Cheng Zhijie and others defected on the battlefield and led their troops to defect to Li Yuan. Please note that Qin Shubao initially turned to Li Yuan, not Li Shimin! This also laid the groundwork for Qin Shubao's situation later.
After Qin Shubao defected to Li Yuan, he was arranged by Li Yuan to go to Li Shimin's tent and follow Li Shimin in battle. But Qin Shubao's relationship with Li Shimin was not so close, and the "boss" he identified in his heart was Li Yuan. The reason why I listened to Li Shimin's greeting so much was only because Li Shimin was the son of his "boss"! And Li Yuan has also been sparing no effort to cross Li Shimin and directly envelop Qin Shubao. According to Shi Zai, after Qin Shubao defeated Wei Chi Jingde, who had not yet surrendered to Tang at that time, Li Yuan directly crossed Over Li Shimin to give Qin Shubao a lot of things, and said to Qin Shubao quite "sensationally": "You came to me regardless of your wife and children, and now you have made such a great achievement, my flesh can be cut off for you to eat, let alone reward some servants and money." "My flesh can be cut down for you to eat", the boss said to this part, qin shubao can not give Li Yuan a life?
▲Portrait of Tang Gaozu Li Yuan
Soon after, Li Yuan appointed Qin Shubao as the Right Third Unifier of the Qin Dynasty. After destroying Song Jingang, Li Yuan once again discussed the reward for his merits, rewarded Qin Shubao with 100 jin of gold, 6,000 pieces of miscellaneous color, and crowned him as the Shangzhu Kingdom! After the great destruction of Dou Jiande, Li Yuan once again discussed the reward of merit and deeds, and crowned Qin Shubao as the Duke of Yiguo and rewarded him with 100 jin of gold and 7,000 duan. Please note that all this was ordered directly by Li Yuan to bypass Li Shimin. In other words, if you are Qin Shubao, are you willing to continue to work with the "boss" Li Yuan, or are you willing to abandon Li Yuan to follow Li Shimin, who has an uncertain future and is pressed by Li Jiancheng, the eldest brother of the eldest son? Go without saying......
▲Portrait of Tang Taizong Li Shimin
In other words, although Qin Shubao has been serving under Li Shimin, his "boss" is not Li Shimin, but Li Yuan! In a sense, we can even think that Qin Shubao was "mixed with sand" by Li Yuan under Li Shimin. To put it bluntly, it is actually to contain and monitor Li Shimin! To put it bluntly, although Li Yuan gave Li Shimin some military power, he was not so relieved about this ambitious son, like Li Xiaogong, Li Jing, and Qin Shubao, who did not have the same heart with Li Shimin, and between them and Li Shimin was more of a "cooperative" relationship, and Li Yuan was their real "boss". They assisted Li Shimin, the son of the "boss", at the direction of the "boss".
▲Qin Hou's image
The wheel of time entered the ninth year of Wude, and Li Shimin, who was then the King of Qin, decided to take a desperate risk to launch the "Xuanwumen Revolution". As a subordinate of Li Shimin, Qin Shubao should not be tolerated. However, Qin Shubao hesitated... As a subordinate of Li Shimin, he must obey Li Shimin's orders; but as Li Yuan's person, he is not willing to get involved in the fight between the sons of the "boss" and even threaten the "boss" itself! Although Li Shimin greeted Qin Shubao in advance, Qin Shubao finally chose to be "passive and sluggish", although he also participated in the "Xuanwumen Change", he did not work as hard as Wei Chi Jingde and others. And this also made Qin Shubao completely degenerate into a "third-rate figure" during the Zhenguan years.
After the "Change of Xuanwu Gate", Li Shimin was rewarded for his merits, and Qin Shubao was awarded the title of Grand General of Zuo Wuwei and 700 households. On the other hand, Wei Chi Jingde, Li Shimin gave him 1,300 households, which was nearly double that of Qin Shubao! With that, Li Shimin also rewarded Li Yuanji's Qi King's Mansion and all the belongings in the Qi King's Mansion to Wei Chi Jingde! This alone also shows Li Shimin's attitude toward Qin Shubao at that time, which was basically a symbolic reward and a formality, after all, Qin Shubao did "participate" in the "Xuanwumen Change", and Li Shimin's lack of a dime was ultimately a bit unreasonable.
▲ Portrait of Wei Chi Jingde
Later, in the seventeenth year of Zhenguan, Li Shimin created a "Lingyange Meritorious Hero" and enshrined the portraits of the founding heroes in the Lingyang Pavilion according to the size of the merits. And in this ranking of heroes, Qin Shubao, who had made outstanding achievements in battle, was ranked last! You know, at this time, Qin Shubao has been dead for five years. But until this time, Li Shimin still could not let go of Qin Shubao's ambiguity in the "Change of Xuanwu Gate"! This can also be seen from the title that Li Shimin changed to Qin Shubao, who had already been an ancient in the thirteenth year of Zhenguan, that the Duke of Yiguo was changed to the Duke of Hu, what did the word Hu mean during the Sui and Tang dynasties? Go without saying......
Although Qin Shubao is a warrior, he is not stupid: "Since the new boss is not waiting to see, I simply 'retire' myself!" Therefore, during the Zhenguan period, Qin Shubao used "recurrence of old injuries" as a reason to "recuperate" at home for a long time and has been in a "semi-retired" state. If there is any important political activity, come out and show your face, go home and hold the child when you have nothing to do... Try not to touch the mustard in Li Shimin's heart. It is precisely because of this insight that Qin Shubao finally achieved a good death and died with Zhenguan for twelve years. After his death, he was posthumously given to the governor of Xuzhou by Li Shimin and buried with Zhaoling, which can also be regarded as Li Shimin's "coffin conclusion" for Qin Shubao - "The credit you once made is recognized by my old Li, but your ambiguity during the 'change of Xuanwu Gate' has not been forgotten by my old Li!" ”
▲Tang Zhaoling (aerial photo)