In October of the fourth year of Tang Gaozu Wude (621 AD), after the Qin king Li Shimin led an army to return to the dynasty after the great victory of Dou Jiandebanshi at Huchengguan, he was given the title of Tiance General Situ Shaandong Dao Daxing Tai Shangshu Ling, ranking above the princes, making his political struggle with the crown prince Li Jiancheng and the Qi king Li Yuanji more intense.
When Li Jiancheng experienced a confusing experience
"Yang Wengan's Rebellion Incident"
Later, he realized that the second brother Li Shimin was determined to put himself to death, and the contradictions between the two of them began to become public.
Tang Gaozu Li Yuan also seems to have sensed Li Shimin's ambitions in the "Yang Wengan Rebellion Incident", but he did not want to see the brothers turn against each other, so on the one hand, he adjusted the contradictions between them, and on the other hand, curbed the power of Li Shimin's clique.
Tang Taizong Li Shimin
One day, Li Yuan summoned Li Shimin and said to him:
"The first great conspiracy and the flatness of the sea are all your credit, and moreover, the age of the construction is long, and he has been an heir for a long time, there is no major fault, I really can't bear to abandon him." According to my observation, it is difficult for your brothers to be compatible with each other, and if they are all bound to fight in the capital, it is better to let you out of the town of Luoyang. ”
In fact, Li Yuan's real purpose in summoning Li Shimin was to send him to Luoyang to preside over the affairs of the east, to separate the two brothers, and perhaps there would be no more contradictions, and to allow him to establish the Tianzi Banner, following the practice of King Xiao of Liang during the Han Dynasty.
Li Shimin knew in his heart that once he left Chang'an (present-day Xi'an), it would be difficult for him to seize the throne of the crown prince. So he said
"I don't want to leave my father, I want to do filial piety under my knees"
Excuse it.
However, Li Yuan still insisted that Li Shimin leave Chang'an and go to the eastern capital Luoyang to take charge, and Li Yuan said comfortingly:
"The world is a family, the east and the west are not far apart, when I miss you, I will go to Luoyang to visit you, you don't need to grieve for this."
Portrait of Li Yuan of Tang Gaozu
However, after Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji learned of this news, they believed:
If Li Shimin were allowed to own land and military resources in Luoyang, it would be a major disaster in the future.
On the eve of Li Shimin's imminent departure from Luoyang, Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji instigated his confidants in the imperial court to secretly write to Li Yuan, detailing Li Shimin's interests in leaving the town of Luoyang. In this case, Li Yuan did listen to the rumors of the villain, temporarily changed his mind, and decided not to let Li Shimin go to Luoyang again.
At the same time, in order to consolidate his position, the crown prince Li Jiancheng wantonly courted Li Yuan's harem concubines, letting them all know that they would be the future emperor of the Tang Dynasty, and asked them to spread some bad things about Li Shimin in front of Li Yuan.
Li Yuanji (left) and Li Jiancheng (right) in the film and television drama
However, Li Shimin was not a person who sat still, and he took advantage of the opportunity of his wife, the eldest grandson's sister Changsun Shi, to serve at Li Yuan's side, stepping up the bribery of the palace guards and making preparations for preemptive strikes in advance. In addition, Li Shimin also installed his own eyes and ears in the Eastern Palace and the Qi Palace of the Crown Prince Li Jiancheng, such as Li Yuanji's princess Yang Shi.
Due to the excessive power of the princely clique and the persuasion of the concubines who were bribed by the prince, Li Yuan once thought of deposing Li Shimin to ensure Li Jiancheng's status as crown prince.
Li Yuan's every move was of course also in Li Shimin's hands, and when he learned of the situation in the palace, he decided to kill his brother Li Jiancheng and his younger brother Li Yuanji first, and then force his father Li Yuan to abdicate.
There were many strategists and fierce generals in Li Shimin's Qin palace, and Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji tried to bribe Wei Chi Jingde, Duan Zhixuan, and others with heavy money in order to find an opportunity to assassinate Li Shimin, but they did not succeed.
Portrait of the eldest grandson
After the plan to kill Li Shimin failed, Li Jiancheng encouraged Li Yuan to expel Li Shimin's confidants Fang Xuanling and Du Ruyi from the Qin palace. At this time, Li Shimin knew very well that if he did not do it again, the Qin Palace would be hollowed out by the Prince Group.
In June 626, when an urgent report came from the Tang Border Pass, the Turks launched another attack, and Li Jiancheng recommended Li Yuanji to Li Yuan as the marshal of the unified army, after which Li Yuanji requested that the generals of the Qin palace, such as Chi Jingde, Cheng Yaojin, Duan Zhixuan, and Qin Shubao, be placed under his command, and the elite soldiers under Li Shimin were also transferred to his command, all of which were agreed by Li Yuan.
The reason why Li Yuan made such a decision was to change the political forces of both the prince and the king of Qin in order to consolidate Li Jiancheng's position as crown prince, but Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji wanted to take such an opportunity to take advantage of Li Shimin and then look for an opportunity to eliminate him.
Wei Chi Jingde in the film and television drama
At this most critical juncture, Li Shimin's undercover agents installed in the Eastern Palace urgently passed the news to the Qin King's Palace, and Li Shimin hurriedly summoned his confidants to consult.
Eldest Sun Wuji suggested that the first move be strong, and immediately send troops to raise trouble, and Li Shimin said with emotion:
"Although the king knows that evil is imminent, he still wants to wait for them to attack first, and then to seek revenge with the teacher of justice."
As soon as Wei Chi Jingde heard Li Shimin say such a thing, he shouted loudly:
"If the great king does not listen to me, I would rather die than sit still."
The king was hesitant and unwise; indecisive, not courageous; moreover, the eight hundred warriors whom the king usually raised were now in the palace to obey orders, and the arrows were on the strings and had to be sent. ”
At this time, the subordinates also made statements one after another, and the result of the discussion unanimously agreed to start an incident immediately. However, Li Shimin still pretended to be a diviner to test the auspiciousness, and Zhang Gongjin angrily stepped forward to grab the turtle shell used for divination, threw it on the ground, and angrily rebuked:
"Divination is for the purpose of doubt, and now things are clear and clear, no doubt, and divination is still used." Besides, the arrow has been wound, what should Bu Zhiji do, can he still stop here? ”
Portrait of Fang Xuanling
Seeing that the entire Qin Dynasty palace supported him from top to bottom, Li Shimin no longer hesitated, and resolutely ordered the eldest son Wuji to secretly recall Fang Xuanling and Du Ruqian, who had been demoted to other places before, and jointly discuss the deployment before launching the mutiny.
When eldest Sun Wuji was ordered by Li Shimin to find Fang Xuanling, he, who had great political experience, said to Eldest Sun Wuji in order to find out the truth:
"The emperor has already ordered me not to serve the King of Qin anymore, and if I enter the King of Qin privately, I will surely die because of this, so Xuan Ling does not dare to follow the call."
When Li Shimin learned of this news, he couldn't help but be furious, so he sent Wei Chi Jingde to go and said to him:
"Fang Xuanling and Du Ruyi are likely to betray me, and if they still have no intention of coming, they will come to see me with their heads."
Li Shimin in the film and television drama
When Fang Xuanling and Du Ruqian saw that Wei Chi Jingde had come to invite them, they were even more certain that Li Shimin's plan to raise an army had been decided, so they no longer hesitated and immediately set off to return to the Qin Palace.
In order to prevent the target from being exposed, Fang Xuanling and Du Ruyi disguised themselves as Taoist priests and entered the Qin Palace with the eldest grandson Wuji.
After some careful planning by the strategists and generals, Li Shimin's plan to "kill his brother and seize the throne" was finally agreed upon, so all the people and horses began to prepare for action separately.
In order to be able to smoothly lead Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji into the trap he had designed in advance, Li Shimin personally entered the palace to meet Li Yuan, and denounced Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji for committing adultery in the harem with a crime that was difficult to explain for a while, so as to intensify the contradiction between Li Yuan and the two princes.
However, Li Yuan was sure of the plan and exclaimed:
"There is such a thing."
Li Shimin went on to say:
"Erchen Yu brother has no loss, but since pacifying Wang Shichong and Dou Jiande, the prince has repeatedly harmed erchen, which is seen by the father and emperor, and erchen really does not understand why the prince has such a deep hatred for his sons.
Prince Qi, the Prince of Qi, harmed me everywhere, and if he wanted to avenge Wang Shichong and Dou Jiande's two thieves, if the two of them died and knew, they would certainly be happy underground. If the prince's plot succeeded, after the death of his son-in-law, he would really have no face to face Wang Dou's second thief.
After listening to Li Shimin's words, Li Yuan seemed to be stimulated by something, and after being silent for a while, he said softly:
"What you are doing is of great importance, and tomorrow you will be personally interrogated."
Li Shimin dispatched troops overnight and personally led his army to ambush near the Xuanwu Gate, the only way for Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji to enter the palace.
Portrait of Li Yuan's concubine Zhang Jieyu
After hearing of Li Shimin's conspiracy, Li Yuan's favorite concubine Zhang Jieyu sent someone to report the news to Li Jiancheng overnight, and Li Jiancheng urgently found Li Yuanji, the King of Qi, to discuss countermeasures, and Li Yuanji said:
"Today's events are not good, we should call the illness and not the situation, gather the soldiers of our two provinces together, and wait and see what happens."
Li Jiancheng replied:
"No, you and I will not go, the Father and Emperor must think that I am afraid of sin and avoid, but let the people of the world succeed, we must be by the Father's side, check the movements, and then act with the camera." Moreover, there are Zhang and Yin Erfei (Zhang Jieyu, Yin Defei) to take care of them, and there are their own armies guarding the Xuanwu Gate outside, and the King of Qin can do anything to us. ”
On July 2, 626, Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji rode fast horses through the Tongxun Gate and headed towards the Xuanwu Gate, and the xuanwu gate keeper Chang He had already been bribed by Li Shimin.
When Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji walked to the Linhu Hall in front of the Xuanwu Gate, suddenly there was a sound of horses' hooves from the nearby forest, and a group of figures were moving in the forest.
Xuanwumen Incident
Li Yuanji shouted:
"No, there are ambushes in the forest."
After saying this, he turned his horse and fled, and at this time, the forbidden door behind him had long been closed, and he immediately looked for other ways to escape.
At this time, Li Shimin was dressed in silver armor and rode a war horse from the forest, recalling the struggle for the throne in recent years, and the three brothers would decide the final victory and defeat on this day.
In a few moments, Li Shimin had already chased after Li Jiancheng, and the desire for power had already left the brothers behind, and with the shooting of a bow and arrow, Li Jiancheng fell from his horse and fell to the ground.
Although Li Jiancheng died, his frightening eyes did not close until death, and Li Jiancheng, who was blind, walked through his nearly 38 years of life with endless regrets.
Li Jiancheng in the film and television drama
Li Yuanji took advantage of the chaos to ride a horse and fled into the nearby forest, and Li Shimin was in a desperate pursuit behind him, when he was suddenly hung by a branch and fell heavily to the ground.
When Li Yuanji saw this, he immediately stepped forward and squeezed Li Shimin's throat tightly.
Just at the moment of this thousand gunshots, Wei Chi Jingde, who had always made Li Yuanji jealous, rushed over, and Li Yuanji was just about to get on his horse to escape, when Wei Chi Jing raised his bowstring, shot an arrow, and was killed by the arrow.
Suddenly, the generals Feng Yi and Feng Li of the Crown Prince's Eastern Palace, as well as the generals Xue Wanche and Xie Shufang of the Qi Palace, were leading 2,000 elite soldiers to attack Xuanwu Gate, and the Qin Generals Jing Junhong and Lü Shiheng who guarded xuanwu gate were killed in battle.
Zhang Gongjin knew that he was powerless to resist the rush of the Eastern Palace army, so he had to close the Xuanwu Gate, so that the enemy could not rush into the city for a while.
The change of Xuanwu Gate
Xue Wanche and the others saw that they could not enter the Xuanwu Gate for a while, so they ordered their subordinates to march towards the Qin Palace.
At the moment of extreme urgency, Wei Chi Jingde arrived with the heads of people carrying Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji, and shouted loudly:
"According to the emperor's holy will to fight against the two thieves, you see, this is their first rank, and for whom are you still fighting for?"
When the generals of the Eastern Palace and the Qi Palace saw that Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji were dead, they immediately scattered and had no intention of fighting again.
Although Li Shimin's clique had won a narrow victory in the Battle of Xuanwumen, they were still far from being able to control the entire situation in Chang'an, and the immediate priority was to control Li Yuan's palace, which was the key to the victory of the entire Xuanwumen coup.