Li Shimin was seriously ill in bed, and he saw that time was running out. Li Zhi knelt in front of the bed, tears pouring down: "Father Emperor, what should I do when you are gone?" Li Shimin coughed and stepped back: "There is no scruples, Sui Liang is there, you don't have to worry about state affairs." The only thing I'm afraid you won't be able to handle. "
What did Li Shimin say? At that time, although the former chancellor Sun Wuji was extremely powerful, he had no intention of usurping the throne, and even vaguely expressed his willingness to support Li Zhi's ascension to the throne many times, and the Changsun clan was not only not an obstacle, but also could form an alliance to develop assistants. Li Shimin told Li Zhi, "Li Ji has more than enough wisdom, but Ru is not gracious with him, and I am afraid that he will not be able to bear it." ”
Li Ji's talent in military use can be called the highest in the whole country, and no one can beat him. He spent his life on horseback and was both wise and courageous, and in his early years he followed Li Mi to make great military achievements, and married the famous generals Qin Shubao, Cheng Yaojin and others as brothers with different surnames. After his surrender, he was reused by Li Yuan, defeating Wang Shichong, Dou Jiande, and Liu Heimin in succession.
Li Ji was even more capable of defending against foreign enemies, and he led his troops to quell the rebellion in Goryeo, using troops like gods and winning more with less, and the soldiers he brought out were loyal and loyal, and he was the leader of Li Ji's horse.
Li Shimin's road to the throne was not smooth, Li Ji had won face for him many times when he was serving under Li Shimin, and Li Shimin's attitude towards him could be described as both love and hate.
When Li Shimin first ascended the throne, the Turks rebelled, and the leader Jieli Khan led a large army to drive straight in, and finally the army was stationed north of the Weishui Bridge, which was only 40 miles away from Chang'an City, and finally Li Shimin sent ministers to negotiate peace, reaching the Weishui Alliance known to later generations.
This time of embarrassment, Li Shimin was ashamed of his life. After accumulating the national treasury and raising soldiers to hoard grain, Li Shimin ordered Li Ji as the commander and took more than 50,000 Turks with 3,000 elite soldiers on horseback, which opened up the prestige of the Tang Dynasty and recovered the prestige that was lost that year.
When Li Yuan was still alive, Li Shimin could not pay attention to it, and the light of the eldest brother Li Jiancheng always covered his head, and if Li Shimin did nothing, this prince would never fall on his head.
Li Shimin plotted for many years and was ready to attack, and in 622 AD launched the famous Xuanwumen Rebellion, shooting the crown prince Li Jiancheng, wearing armor until the sword of the main hall pointed at Li Yuan, so that Li Yuan was made crown prince.
When Li Shimin mutilated his siblings and ascended to the throne admired by thousands of people, he would not have imagined that the descendants of zhenguanzhi that he had started were all ambitious and fierce people who killed their fathers and brothers.
If it were not for the assassination of the fourth brother by crown prince Li Chengqian, and the final plan was revealed, Li Shimin would have been furious and deposed him as a shuren; if there had not been a premature death of the second prince when he was young, the third prince Li Ke would have been falsely killed by adulterers, and the fourth prince Li Taiguan would have committed suicide in confinement. How could Li Zhi, who was cowardly by nature, have a chance to ascend to the throne.
Knowing his son Mo Ruo's father, Li Shimin knew that Li Zhi did not have the ability to govern the country and the world, he was cowardly, and he had no imperial atmosphere, but he had no choice but to have only one son li zhi to entrust, and the eldest grandson Wu Ji hoped to control political affairs through Li Zhi and vigorously recommended Li Zhi as the crown prince.
In order to protect Li Tang's world, Li Shimin's instructions to Li Zhi were to be careful of Li Ji and try his best to win over. We know that there were many civilian and military generals in the Tang Dynasty, and it was not a problem to guard the prosperous Rivers and Mountains of the Tang Dynasty, but whether this Country and Mountains would change hands depended entirely on the wrist of the emperor of the Dynasty.
Li Shimin believed that only if Li Ji could compete with the eldest grandson Wujie, and under the confrontation between the two sides, Li Zhi could sit firmly on this hard-won throne.
Li Shimin's father and son decided to test Li Ji several times, to explore his loyalty to Li Shimin, and to explore whether he was willing to do things for Li Zhi. Li Shimin made two exceptions to give Li Ji the title of official, and Li Ji sat on the honorary seat of the British Duke.
When Li Ji was ill, he ordered his subordinate Tai Doctor Hu Yu to say that Li Ji's illness needed a very precious medicinal introduction, which was the beard of the present saint, burned to ashes and then put into medicine.
In ancient times, the body was subject to the parents, and the emperor's beard was like the beard of a tiger, which could not be touched, how could it be used as a medicinal guide. Li Ji was very troubled, but after Li Shimin heard the report of the Tai Doctor, he immediately sent someone to send his beard, and Li Ji was very touched and wrote a letter expressing his gratitude to the emperor for his grace.
After gaining Li Ji's trust, Li Shimin entered the capricious cycle of "slapping a date". First, he punished Li Ji on the grounds that Li Ji first entered the main hall with his left foot when he ascended the dynasty, which meant disrespecting the emperor; then he wrote a letter to appease him, expressing his appreciation for Li Ji's old time of following and fighting on the battlefield of bloody battles.
As clever as Li Ji immediately woke up at this time, this was a warning that Li Shimin had set for himself in order to entrust the country to Li Zhi. He accepted the transfer of the prefect of Diezhou and quickly went to Diezhou, indicating that he obeyed the Li family.
Sure enough, Li Ji's conjecture was completely correct. After the news of Li Shimin's death came, he received a secret letter from Li Shimin's secret guard, which read: "I ask the group of ministers to entrust the young orphans, and there is no way to exceed the public, and the public will not fail Li Mi. ”
Li Ji did not live up to Li Shimin's trust, and after Li Zhi ascended the throne, he recalled Li Ji, and the eldest grandson was not afraid of the lord inside, Li Ji was outside the lord, and the two were balanced.
But Li Zhi's fainting eventually led to Li Ji's tragedy. Despite the opposition of Manchu Wenwu, Li Zhi resolutely established Wu Zetian as empress. After Li Zhi's death, Wu Zetian took control of the regime, and Li Ji's grandson Li Jingye was a loyal and enthusiastic soldier who rebelled in Yangzhou, which was described by the famous poet Luo Binwang in "Seeking Wu Shuo for Li Jingye".
Li Jingye won the hearts and minds of the people who supported Li Tang's hegemony, but he could not defeat Wu Zetian's clever means and the 300,000 troops in her hands. In the end, Li Jingye was defeated, the era of Empress Wu Zetian began, and Li Ji's bones were dug out of the underground coffin and humiliated together.
Li Ji's glorious life, and finally because of the glory of his life, because of the loyalty of his grandchildren, he was still humiliated after death, I don't know what feelings Li Ji felt under the Nine Springs?
