First, Li Yuan, who is playing in a boat, has no choice but to be his father
The Xuanwumen Revolution was the most famous coup d'état of the Tang Dynasty and one of the most famous coups in Chinese history, which brought about a complete showdown between the two important political forces during the Wude period. What only made Li Yuan helpless was that these two forces were not the forces of courtiers, and if that were the case, no matter who won, it would have no impact on his own position.
But this coup d'état is a struggle between his two sons, and the focus of the battle is the throne under his own ass. Historical records record that at the time of the Coup d'état at Xuanwumen, Li Yuan actually swung a boat in the back garden, and the sky in front of him was dark, and Li Yuan, as the emperor, actually turned a deaf ear.
We do not deny that this is a historical fact, at that time, Li Yuan was indeed playing in a boat, until Wei Chigong took Li Yuanji's li jiancheng's head, and then, Li Shimin knelt on the ground and sucked Li Yuan's nipples to express the feelings of father and son, and Li Yuan, in shock and grief, ceded the throne to Li Shimin.
A large number of scholars have found some hidden reasons from these real events, and these implicit reasons boil down to the end, that is, Li Yuan had to play, in other words, Li Yuan must know what is going to happen, and then, there is no way to stop it.
In this coup, the greatest pressure should be Li Shimin, because this political adventure can only succeed, not fail. Li Shimin made preparations for a long time and accumulated quite a large number of capable people, and these people were extremely loyal. But the problem is that since it is a risk, the premise is that they have no certainty of victory, and there is even a high probability of failure.
Second, the strength of Li Jiancheng
Let's first look at Li Jiancheng's power, how big it really is, the number one person, Li Jiancheng, the second person, Li Yuanji, the subordinates of this group, there are also many people with superior ability, such as Wei Zheng and Wang Jue, these two people played an extremely important role in the later rule of Zhenguan.
For example, the military general Xue Wanche, although this person is not ranked in the Ling Yan Pavilion, he is a veritable handsome talent, and his status in the army is far higher than that of Wei Chigong.
Another example is Pei Zhi, this person has an extremely deep background, is a family family, from the beginning of Northern Qi, has held an important position.
What is even more amazing is that this man is a shrewd character who is best at diplomacy. Therefore, during the Sui Dynasty, he used diplomatic means to win over the Eastern Turks and weaken Tuguhun, and after the fall of the Sui Dynasty, he was under Dou Jiande, Yu Wenhua, and Li Jiancheng.
Such a character is an extremely powerful character.
The strength of the King of Qin, in fact, from the quality of the core members, is actually not bad, there are people like Changsun Wuji, Fang Xuanling, Du Ruyi, and there are also famous generals like Wei Chigong and Hou Junji, but his comprehensive strength and foundation in Chang'an City are far inferior to Li Jiancheng.
III. Discussion on the Values of Civilian And Military Generals
Such adventurous actions, although to a certain extent, were recognized and supported by people like Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhan, and the two of them were absolutely loyal.
But we must pay attention to one point, they are all scholars, they are all civilian ministers, and for these scholars, their coups d'état are derived from the pen and tongue, not from the sword and the soldier. The bloody and violent coup d'état did not actually conform to the values and aesthetics of these courtiers.
Such values and aesthetics are the fundamental difference between civilian subjects and military generals, and it can even be said that it is a gap that few people can cross, which can also explain why the literati and military generals have always not dealt with each other in successive dynasties, even if they do not have too much difference, but there are always many small contradictions, and the fundamental reason for these is the difference in values.
Such different values led to the civilian subjects being more conservative, while the military generals were more radical, and for such a Xuanwumen coup, especially involving bloody violence, which was more in line with the aesthetics of the military generals, the military generals would have a kind of excitement, and the desire for such a big event to appear, sometimes, this desire can exceed their desire for survival.
They can not care about life or death, just to do a big thing.
Li Shimin was a relatively special talent, and in history, it was relatively rare to be an all-rounder emperor of literature and martial arts. We all know that the rule of Zhenguan is quite powerful, and the martial arts are also quite powerful, and the source of this is that Emperor Li Shimin can fight wars and rule the country.
However, from the life of Li Shimin and the trajectory of his growth, Li Shimin has begun to lead troops to fight at the age of sixteen, and participated in the campaign to rescue the Sui Emperor at Yanmen Pass, and in the process of unifying the world in the Tang Dynasty, Li Shimin's military ability has been brought into full play, and he is like many brave and invincible generals, taking the lead in charging, and even daring to lead thousands of people to fight hundreds of thousands of people.
It can be seen that although Li Shimin is both literate and martial, he is still a military general in his bones.
Therefore, for Li Shimin, like many military generals, once a coup was decided, he was very eager to seize power through bloody and violent means, so after the Xuanwumen coup, he decisively and calmly shot Li Jiancheng.
Calm, composed, ruthless, these seemingly pejorative words are the highest praise for a military general, a soldier.
Such a martial general complex made Li Shimin have some strange feelings about wenchen such as Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhan, and Li Shimin never doubted their loyalty, but Li Shimin knew very well that the conservatism of the wenchen and the radicalism of the military generals were a contradiction that was difficult to reconcile. Li Shimin simply did not have time to discuss the feasibility and risks of this matter. I don't want to discuss it.
The solution to this contradiction is very simple, that is, with a sword, let the two people no longer think about those things that are not there, but like a warrior, adrenaline surge, hot heads, and then do an earth-shattering big thing.
And to make The Wenchen's blood boil in a short period of time, it can only be achieved by a military general who is not highly educated, loyal, irritable, and can work hard, and take some simple and rude methods, so Wei Chigong is the best candidate.
Later generations often had too many speculations about Wei Chigong taking his sword to invite Fang Xuanling and Du Ruyi to participate in the XuanwuMen Change, and even felt that Li Shimin did not trust these two people, or whether these two people had any other ideas. In fact, such speculation seems too cautious, and the fundamental reason for this matter is only the difference in aesthetics and values of civilian subjects and military generals. In order to make these conservative and moderate literati boil up in a short period of time, Li Shimin took a psychological war.