Although Emperor Taizong of Tang had 14 sons, Li Shimin really had a headache for a long time on the issue of the heir to the throne. After all, at the beginning, he would not have thought that Li Chengqian, the eldest son who had high hopes and was most likely to inherit the throne, would actually intend to rebel.
They all intended to rebel, and Li Chengqian was excluded from the question of the heir to the throne. It has to be said that Li Shimin is a very good emperor, but in terms of family education, especially as a father, he is not very qualified.
After Li Chengqian's position as crown prince was deposed, it was not long before Li Zhi was made crown prince. So what are the reasons that li shimin finally chose the ninth son Li Zhi?
First, let's take a look at the respective endings of Li Shimin's 14 sons.
The eldest son, Li Chengqian, was demoted to a commoner after the failure of the rebellion and exiled to Qianzhou, eventually dying of illness in 645.
The second son, Li Kuan, died prematurely not long after birth.
The third son, Li Ke, is very strong in terms of ability, strength, and charm. Li Shimin also loved him very much, so he appointed him as the governor of Yizhou. It should be known that at that time, Yizhou was a large population and economic wealth, which was directly related to the core interests of the Tang Dynasty, which was enough to see that Li Shimin attached great importance to Li Ke.
Li Shimin once commented on Li Ke like this: Wu Wang Ke Ying Guo is like me. This means that Li Ke is very much like Li Shimin. But like guixiang, Li Shimin finally chose Li Zhi. After Li Zhi ascended the throne, Li Ke was framed by the eldest son Wujie, implicated in the case of Fang's widow's rebellion, and was finally forced to die in 653.
The fourth son, Li Tai, whose literary attainment was very high, was a very famous calligrapher at that time, and the history books even recorded that Li Tai was Li Shimin's favorite son.
It is also true that according to the etiquette law, the prince should go to the fiefdom after he reaches adulthood and be sealed, and he cannot stay in Chang'an City. But Li Tai was an exception, and Li Shimin also issued a special edict allowing Li Tai to continue to stay in Chang'an after he became an adult.
Moreover, Li Tai's fiefdom was also the largest among the sons, reaching a staggering 22 states. Li Shimin even wanted to see Li Tai often in order to let Li Tai move to the Wude Hall.
It should be known that the word "Wude" was the era name of Li Yuan's reign at the beginning, and it was once the residence of Li Yuanji, the King of Qi. Li Shimin's love for Li Tai was so much that the historian could not help but sigh that his favor was so different.
After Li Zhi took the throne, he also took great care of his brother. By 652, Li Tai died of illness.
The fifth son, Li You, like Li Chengqian, also intended to rebel. But his position in Li Shimin's heart was completely incomparable with Li Chengqian's, and therefore after his rebellion failed in 643, he was given death by Li Shimin's holy will.
The sixth son, Li Yan, had a very tyrannical personality, and Li Shimin was fine when he was there, but after Li Shimin's death, he was implicated in the rebellion of Fang Yi'ai, which led to his exile in Bazhou and his demotion to a commoner until his death in 667.
The seventh son, Li Yun, was still quite good to him after Li Zhi ascended the throne, but what he did not expect was that someone would frame Li Yun for rebellion. Under these circumstances, Li Zhi sent someone to investigate, but he did not expect that after Li Yun learned of this incident, he was actually frightened and committed suicide.
The eighth son, Li Zhen, absolutely supported the Li Tang imperial family, otherwise he would not have raised the banner of "anti-wu" during the Wu Zetian period. But unfortunately, after all, he did not fight Wu Zetian, but instead ended up with a military defeat and suicide.
The ninth son, Li Zhi, was the later Emperor Gaozong of Tang.
The tenth son, Li Shen, was implicated in Li Zhen's rebellion against the military and eventually died on the way to exile.
The eleventh son, Li Hu, who had nothing to say, died in 632.
The twelfth son, Li Jian, also died prematurely in 631.
The thirteenth son, Li Fu, did not expect that he would be passed over by Li Shimin to Li Jiancheng.
In the Xuanwumen Incident, Li Shimin, who had a red eye, killed all five sons of the eldest brother Li Jiancheng, and directly cut off Li Jiancheng's rear. After Li Shimin sat on the throne, Li Shimin still felt some guilt in his heart, so he passed on Li Fu to Li Jiancheng, so that Li Jiancheng could also be regarded as a successor. By 670, Li Fu died of illness.
Fourteenth son, Li Ming, who was passed on to Li Yuanji. No way, who let the Xuanwumen Incident happen, Li Shimin killed all of Li Yuanji's sons.
After Li Zhi ascended the throne, Li Ming was also implicated because he had too close contact with Li Xian, the prince of Zhanghuai, and was later forced to commit suicide. When Li Zhi learned of this matter, he did not even pursue the responsibility of the relevant personnel, so that the matter could not be resolved.
It can be seen from this that Li Shimin's eldest son Li Chengqian, second son Li Kuan, fifth son Li You, eleventh son Li Huan, and twelfth son Li Jian all died before Li Shimin, and naturally it is impossible to inherit Li Shimin's throne.
And the thirteenth son Li Fu, because he passed on to Li Jiancheng, coupled with his young age, so he also had no connection with the throne. The same was true of the fourteenth son, Li Ming, who had been passed on to Li Yuanji after all.
Therefore, the only people Li Shimin could choose in the end were the third son Li Ke, the fourth son Li Tai, the sixth son Li Yan, the seventh son Li Yun, the eighth son Li Zhen, the ninth son Li Zhi, and the tenth son Li Shen, that is, to choose one of the seven.
Among these seven people, the third son Li Ke and the sixth son Li Yan took the lead in the game. The reason is also very simple, because their mothers are the daughters of the Sui Emperor, that is to say, they are the grandsons of the Sui Emperor, and it can even be said that they are the remnants of the former dynasty. In that era, when great importance was paid to feudal etiquette and bloodline inheritance, the origins of Li Ke and Li Yan doomed them both to become emperors.
As for the seventh son Li Yun, the eighth son Li Zhen, and the tenth son Li Shen, their birth mothers were all concubines, and Li Tai and Li Zhi's birth mothers were the eldest grandson empresses. That is to say, Li Tai and Li Zhi are concubines, while Li Yun, Li Zhen, and Li Shen are all concubines. Coupled with the ability of the three of them, it is indeed weaker than Li Tai and Li Zhi, and they are not much favored by Li Shimin, so in the end, only Li Tai and Li Zhi can compete for the heir to the throne.
Compared with Li Zhi, Li Tai did not hide his ambition to become emperor, and this was the most deadly.
In order to become crown prince, Li Tai once told Li Shimin that if he became emperor, he would pass the throne to his younger brother Li Zhi before he died. This made Li Shimin happy, but Li Shimin still asked, saying that Li Tai you also have a son, and then what if your son does not agree.
Li Tai went so far as to say that it didn't matter, that he would kill his son before he died, so that Li Zhi could ascend to the throne. This can make Li Shimin feel bad, and he praised Li Tai one after another, saying that he really did not expect that Li Tai would be so good that he would sacrifice his son for li zhi.
But thinking about it, if what Li Tai said is true, then is he too fierce and unscrupulous for the sake of the throne? If what Li Tai said was false, then wouldn't that be deceiving the Saints?
Anyway, no matter how you look at it, Li Tai has left a very bad impression on Li Shimin.
In comparison, Li Zhi is much more gentle and elegant, in Li Shimin's view, Li Zhi will not do anything to his brother, but Li Tai is not necessarily. Therefore, Li Shimin finally decided to make Li Zhi the crown prince and handed over the world of the Tang Dynasty to Li Zhi.