Li Shimin originally had no possibility of becoming crown prince, but he relied on the coup d'état to successfully kill his brother and brother, and also forced his father Li Yuan to abdicate the throne, which made him emperor smoothly. This matter was not too glorious, within a day, the whole family of Jianyuan Ji was killed, Li Yuan lost a lot of relatives, he was also very sad in his heart, and he also lost the position of emperor.
He was hit very hard, and he also hated Li Shimin very much in his heart, so after Li Shimin forced the palace, Li Yuan was still alive, he just gave way and became the Emperor Taishang, but he would no longer take over the power, and he was equivalent to retirement.
Li Yuan died in the ninth year of Zhenguan, he lived a very long time, although the relationship with Li Shimin was not good, but after all, his status was noble, Li Shimin himself was weak-hearted, and he felt sorry for his father. Before his father was still very good to him, in terms of living treatment, Li Yuan still enjoyed the treatment of the emperor, but he was indeed very distressed, he almost never left the Taiji Palace, and he was paralyzed by alcohol. It seems that Li Yuan is very discouraged, after all, his two sons died like this, the historical record of his life in his later years is not very detailed, and Li Shimin has also intervened in the revision of history books, this part of him should be able to move some hands and feet.
In people's impressions, Li Yuan is completely having fun and having children, and nothing else matters, so is this really the case?
I think it is not entirely so, first of all, after the change of XuanwuMen, Li Yuan and Li Shimin, the father and son, the relationship between the two of them has been broken, there is no way to recover, after Li Yuan died, Li Shimin himself did not feel too sad, and after the death of Empress Eldest Sun, he was sad, this point like Wei Zheng These people have also complained, thinking that Emperor Taizong is also not appropriate.
At first, the mutiny was successful, Li Shimin was strictly controlled by Li Yuan, the place where he lived was closely monitored, and his contact with the outside world was basically interrupted, after all, Li Yuan had power and prestige in the DPRK, if he did not monitor, in case Li Yuan used his own power to counterattack, then Li Shimin would have no way to deal with it. With the stabilization of Li Shimin's throne, his control over Li Yuan became more and more loose, allowing Li Yuan to move out of the palace, Li Yuan was also free, and some of his young children could also enter the palace to accompany him, And Li Yuan had a good life during this time, but he liked hunting before, and these hobbies gradually disappeared.
Li Yuan can only rely on such a life to pass the rest of the time, he has no way, Li Shimin controls him very tightly, if he wants to do something, he will be strictly monitored, basically he is eating and drinking. The difference is that Li Yuan can also attend some daily activities. Li Tang some foreign wars victories, Li Yuan can also participate in these banquets, he himself also held some banquets, on the surface, he and Li Shimin and his wife still get along very well, as for what the two people think in their hearts, it is not very clear, their later relationship is more like colleagues, not like father and son.
Li Shimin's prestige in the court was getting higher and higher, he didn't need to continue to strictly control his father, and Li Yuan was already so old, even if he didn't care, he wouldn't live long. Li Shimin has governed the country very well, and Li Yuan will not be too dissatisfied; anyway, the Li Tang regime is developing in a good direction, and Li Yuan is also relatively happy when talking about this matter. But in general, Li Yuan's life is a tragedy, as the founding emperor, he actually did not have much comfortable life, his life was sandwiched in the family tragedy, he lost his father in his early years, and his middle-aged wife left him early.
In his later years, Li Yuan tried to ease the relationship between the children, but the reality was very cruel, the change of XuanwuMen broke all his illusions, so that he had to accept this cruel fact, the sons killed each other, he also felt the indifference of the imperial family, so I think that after Li Yuan experienced this blow, his heart was not very enthusiastic about power, power brought him only endless grief, and he still longed for family affection in his heart.
References to the Old Book of Tang