What is history: it is the echo of the past to the future, the reflection of the future on the past. - Hugo
On the third day of the first month of June in the ninth year of Wu De (626 AD), Taibai Venus appeared directly south of the sky, and the chancellor Fu Yi played Li Yuan. The celestial signs show that Li Shimin, the King of Qin, may want to own the world, which is actually a sign that there will be a coup d'état. Despite repeated celestial warnings, Li Yuan still wanted to solve his sons' problems peacefully, after all, the palms of his hands and the backs of his hands were all meat.
Prior to this, Li Shimin had secretly played the song, saying that Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji had committed adultery with the harem concubines, and told Li Yuan that Li Jiancheng was now going to kill him. Li Yuan knew very well that the contradiction between the King of Qin and the Crown Prince was already like water and fire, and if it was not resolved, there would be great chaos. So he told Li Shimin that tomorrow he would go to the court and discuss the matter together.
Li Yuan had a lot of people around the prince, and Zhang Jieyu learned about the situation and immediately informed the prince Li Jiancheng. And the fourth day of the first month of June is the day when Li Shimin started, since Li Jiancheng got the wind, why did he not pay attention to it, so he fell into The trap of Li Shimin?
First, Li Jiancheng has an indecisive personality and some rat traps
A long time ago, the King of Qin and the Crown Prince had already had a contradiction that could not be healed, and Li Jiancheng, as the eldest son of a concubine, according to the rules, the next emperor should be him. However, Li Shimin's merits were too high, most of the territory in the early Tang Dynasty was laid down by Li Shimin, for the sake of national security, Li Shimin can be said to have been born into death, and his prestige in the army has long surpassed that of the prince.
Therefore, Li Jiancheng regarded the King of Qin as his greatest threat, and the most straightforward way to solve this competitor was assassination. As long as Li Shimin died, then the successor of the empire would be none other than him, and Li Yuanji, the king of Qi, a political opportunist, also sided with Li Jiancheng and opposed Li Shimin.
Historical records:
"In the beginning, King Yuanji of Qi persuaded the crown prince to build up the Qin King Shimin, saying: 'Be a brother with a blade!' Shimin from Shangxing Yuanjidi, Yuanji Fu protector Yuwen Bao in the bed, want to stab Shimin; the construction is quite benevolent, and it is stopped. ”
Compared with Li Jiancheng, Li Yuanji was more ruthless and unscrupulous, and he repeatedly persuaded Li Jiancheng to kill Li Shimin. Once, Li Shimin and Li Yuan went to the Qi king's mansion together. Li Yuanji had already arranged for the killer in the bedroom, as long as he gave an order, Li Shimin might land the head on the ground, but this was stopped by the benevolent Li Jiancheng.
This kind of thing happened more than once, basically Li Jiancheng stopped his brother's behavior. Although Li Jiancheng intended to kill Li Shimin, he had many concerns, he was already the crown prince, and he also assassinated his brother, if this matter was spread, it might shake the position of the prince. And if Li Yuan knew that Li Shimin was killed by him, would Li Yuan punish him as a prince? Will he simply depose the prince?
If the assassination of Li Shimin is not successful, what should be done if Li Shimin runs away? Li Jiancheng always thinks too much, and it is right to think twice before acting, but if you think too much, then this matter has no possibility of success. It was in a series of hesitations that Li Jiancheng wasted valuable opportunities, but finally let Li Shimin seize the opportunity.
Second, the Kunming Pool Plan has been known to Li Shimin
Why Li Shimin was anxious to launch a coup d'état, it was because Li Shimin inquired and learned that the princely clique had made a plan to put him to death.
"Prince Yu Qi: 'Now that the king of Qin, Rude, has a fine army and tens of thousands of people, and I and the king of Qin will be in Kunming Pond, so that the strong men will be slaughtered under the curtain, and the clouds will be violent, and the Lord should not believe it.'" ”
At that time, just when the Turks invaded the Tang Dynasty border, Li Jiancheng recommended Li Yuanji as the commander to replace Li Shimin, and Li Yuan agreed considering that Li Shimin's merit was too great. Li Jiancheng took this opportunity to formulate a plan to assassinate Li Shimin, and he and Li Shimin practiced for Li Yuanji in Kunming Pond, hiding swords and axes in the big tent. As soon as Li Shimin arrived, he immediately ordered him to be killed, and if all went well, he said to the outside world that Li Shimin had suddenly died violently.
King Qin's eyeliner heard the news and immediately told Li Shimin. This assassination plan was basically flawless, but it was intercepted by Li Shimin, who may not have known the news, and he thought that Li Shimin was still in the dark.
Li Shimin knew that someone wanted to kill him, of course, he had to prepare countermeasures, and the best way was to kill Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji. If Li Jiancheng had learned that the news had leaked out, and there were all indications that Li Shimin had already taken action, then Li Jiancheng would certainly not have been killed so easily.
It can be seen that Li Jiancheng's intelligence work is still not done very thoroughly, and intelligence is the key to determining life and death, and if there is the slightest omission in this, the consequences are unimaginable.
Third, Li Shimin's trap, Li Jiancheng did not see through
Li Shimin played the song and said that Li Jiancheng, Li Yuanji, and the harem concubines were committing adultery, which Li Yuan did not necessarily believe, which was obviously a smoke bomb created by Li Shimin, and the purpose was to confuse the public opinion of the prince group. And take this opportunity to lead Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji into the ambush circle.
In many battles, Li Shimin often used this trick of wanting to capture and indulge, and it was tried and tested. Li Jiancheng's intelligence system told him that Li Shimin had said bad things about his brothers in front of the emperor today, and that was all, and this incident did not indicate that Li Shimin was ready to kill them.
Li Yuanji is more alert than Li Jiancheng, in other words, Li Yuanji is more politically sensitive, and he expects things to change, so he says to Li Jiancheng:
"The soldiers of the Yile Palace, who are not in charge of the situation, are not in a hurry to see the situation."
If Li Jiancheng listened to his brother's words and did not go to the dynasty, then there would be no so-called change in Xuanwumen, but Li Jiancheng was too confident and still went straight to the end of his life - Xuanwumen.
Li Shimin's level of city government and power plots is obviously higher than that of the prince group, and in the complicated situation of the clouds, Li Shimin can clearly distinguish and quickly make countermeasures. Although Li Shimin still has to face many risks and uncertainties, he finally won the final victory with his own wisdom.
Fourth, Li Jiancheng firmly believed that Li Shimin could not kill him
Although Li Shimin had been commanding troops for many years, he did not have military power at that time, he was only the King of Qin, and Li Shimin could only mobilize eight hundred soldiers at that time. The Prince Group had more than two thousand bodyguards, and Li Shimin was obviously at a disadvantage in terms of strength.
Moreover, Li Yuan still firmly held the imperial power, and if Li Yuan mobilized the forbidden army in the capital in time, then this coup could not succeed. Li Shimin's cleverness lies in the trap he set, Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji did not have many people around them, so Li Shimin could succeed.
In fact, at this time, Li Yuan was also unable to protect himself, and it is reasonable to say that he summoned Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji into the palace, and should have been waiting in the palace for questioning, but at this time he appeared on the boat:
"Above the boating pool, Shimin envoy Chi Jingde entered the guard, and Jingde held a spear until he reached the upper house."
And what is more crucial is that there are no guards around Li Yuan, or Li Shimin sent Wei Chi Jingde to guard them, so it can be seen that the guards around Li Yuan have been eliminated.
No matter how confused Li Jiancheng was, he would not have expected that Li Shimin would actually control his father, which also led to the fact that when the Xuanwumen Incident occurred, Li Yuan not only did not send troops to stop it, but also forced himself to a small boat to save his life.
After all, the coup d'état is not a real war, and it is the mystery that the unexpected attack is not prepared. Emotionally and in strength, Li Jiancheng did not believe that Li Shimin dared to kill him and could kill him, so he neglected his defenses, and when everything happened, he could not regret it.
Also regrettable is Probably Li Yuan, who has also become one of the few emperors in history who abdicated to his son before he died.