Speaking of Li Shimin, everyone must be able to think of a lot of knowledge points, such as "the rule of Zhenguan", "the change of Xuanwumen", "Princess Wencheng entering Tibet", etc., simply a man who "grew up on the examination center of the history examination".
It is not the history class that favors the emperor, but the emperor is worshipped by millions of people.
First of all, don't look at how great he is, even the little brothers under him are extraordinary.
For example, he had a famous sect under his command named Li Jing. Yes, it is the prototype of Nezha's father, Li Jing, the King of Tota. Then you must be wondering, Nezha his father is obviously a figure in the Shang Dynasty, and what is the relationship with Li Jing during the Tang Taizong period. In fact, the prototype of Li Jing, the King of Tota, is indeed li Jing, a famous general during the Taizong period.
This general fought with Emperor Taizong in the world, and in the "Zhenguan period" he defeated the most powerful enemy at that time, the Eastern Turks, and was the pillar of the Tang military. After his death, the people even built a temple for him. The common people rumored that he had appeared as a spirit, so he gradually deified the Tang Dynasty general, and finally combined with the Buddhist King Tota to become the image of the Chinese myth of Theota Li Tianwang.
Tang Taizong also had two generals under him, named Qin Qiong and Wei Chigong, who eventually became gods, the door gods posted at the door of our house. However, the experience of these two gods was not the same as that of Li Jing, but they were really pasted on the door to become gods.
What's going on here? This has to talk about the sequelae left behind after the change of Tang Taizong Xuanwumen.
In 626, after Li Shimin, the King of Qin, staged a coup d'état near Xuanwu Gate in the capital Chang'an City and killed his brothers and family members, he always had nightmares, fearing that ghosts would come to collect debts. Qin Qiong and Wei Chigong took the initiative to ask for help, and guarded the gate for Emperor Taizong at night. These two people, who had to work during the day and work overtime at night, finally couldn't stay up, and they were worried that the boss would be killed at night, so they thought of a way to let people draw themselves down and paste themselves on the door.
I didn't expect the effect to be very good, and Taizong didn't dream much. Later, this matter spread among the people, and Qin Qiong and Wei Chigong became the door gods, and they were pasted on the door to ward off evil spirits, and they have been used to this day.
There are so many gods and immortals under your hands, how powerful do you say this emperor himself should be?
It is said that when Emperor Taizong was born, two dragons frolicked in front of The Li Family's house and left for three days. When he was four years old, another mysterious master said to his father, Li Yuan, "Gong is a nobleman, and he has a noble son." After seeing Li Shimin, he exclaimed even more: "The posture of the dragon and phoenix, the watch of heaven and the sun, the year will be twenty, and it will surely be able to help the world and the people!" ”
Therefore, the name "Li Shimin" was taken, which means "Ji Shi An Min".
And Emperor Taizong did not live up to this name, and finally really created the prosperous era of the Tang Dynasty and the people of Ji Shi'an.
But Emperor Taizong's life was not smooth sailing. The first half of his life can be said to have been spent on the bloody battlefield.
At the age of 18, he was ordered to rescue Yang Guang, the Sui Emperor who was besieged by the Turks when he was patrolling the frontier. At the age of 20, Li Yuanjian Tang and Li Shimin single-handedly picked the beam and took command.
At that time, Li Mi's Wagang Army in Henan, Dou Jiande's peasant army in Hebei, and Wang Shichong's troops all claimed to be emperors, and their strength was similar.
It took Li Shimin 4 years and one month to defeat all these powerful enemies and lay the foundation for the territory of the Tang Dynasty. In the crucial Battle of Tiger Prison Pass, he and Wang Shichong fought a decisive battle on mt. Máng, and were also hit by an arrow, almost losing their lives. Dou Jiande, who assisted Wang Shichong, attacked with 10 times the strength of his troops. But in the end, he relied on his bravery and unparalleled wisdom to overcome the danger and successfully destroyed the enemy.
No one can deny that his prestige was actually shot by himself, saying that he was the founding hero of the Tang Dynasty.
But in his life, the most criticized thing, and the most difficult for him to let go, is the "change of Xuanwumen" that he has been saying. It was through this that he also obtained the position of prince.
If you only look at fame and military merit, in the Li family, Li Shimin's merits are the first. Li Shimin did have ambitions to become emperor. Moreover, Li Shimin is not a brave and resourceful person, on the contrary, he is proficient in all kinds of martial arts. Logically, even if he became emperor, it would be reasonable. However, Li Yuan still chose Li Jiancheng as the crown prince.
In the face of the prince's murderous intentions, Li Shimin preemptively took the initiative to launch the Xuanwumen Revolution and kill the prince, which seemed to be forgivable. But he was still criticized by posterity. This is not only because he killed his brother, but also for a very important reason. This involves an ancient Chinese system called the primogeniture system.
The eldest son is the first son born to a wife. The inheritance system of the eldest son is specifically, "the long is not the wise, and the son is expensive but not the long". In today's parlance, a child born to a wife, no matter how many births, is the most honorable in status, even if he is a fool, or an evil person who does nothing evil, then the inheritance is only qualified by him. Unless no child is born, or the child dies, then everyone else is eligible.
Let's not evaluate whether this system is reasonable or not, but this system that was recognized at that time and could not be violated. Therefore, no matter how great Li Shimin's merits are, only the eldest son, Li Jiancheng, is qualified for the position of prince. And Li Shimin killed the eldest son for the throne, whether he was to save his life or not, in short, his behavior seemed to be improper at the time.
What about the famous "Xuanwumen Change"?
All along, the crown prince Li Jiancheng knew that Li Shimin wanted to compete with him for the throne, and Li Shimin's prestige and merit were greater than his own, and the open and secret struggle between the two people could not be avoided. Originally, it was just a gang and faction, giving each other a little trip, but later, it was already a matter of life and death.
Crown Prince Li Jiancheng and his fourth brother, Li Yuanji the Prince of Qi, formed an alliance to further weaken Li Shimin's power.
Li Jiancheng bribed Wei Chigong and Qin Shubao, Li Shimin's right-hand men, but they were all rejected. If it didn't work, he assassinated him, but he didn't succeed. Later, he turned to some important strategists who falsely accused Li Shimin, such as Fang Xuanling and Du Ruyi, who were familiar in textbooks, and asked Tang Gaozu Li Yuan to drive them out of the Qin palace. Li Shimin's advisers were left with only one eldest grandson.
At this time, another fatal event occurred for Li Shimin: the Turks invaded.
This would have been a bad thing, but it gave the crown prince Li Jiancheng the opportunity to eliminate his fierce enemies. The crown prince persuaded Gaozu Li Yuan to send Li Yuanji, the King of Qi, to replace Li Shimin, and transferred All of Li Shimin's fierce generals, Wei Chigong, Cheng Yaojin, and Qin Shubao, to the King of Qi. Li Shimin almost became a light rod commander.
What was more serious was that Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji conspired to invite Li Shimin to Kunmingchi under the pretext of Li Yuanji's expedition, taking the opportunity to kill Li Shimin, after which Li Yuanji would kill all of Li Shimin's generals on the march.
It was supposed to be a top-secret plan, but the presence of one person changed all that.
This person was the eyeliner that Li Shimin had planted in the Prince's Mansion. Li Jiancheng's front foot and Li Yuanji just finalized the plan, and the rear foot eyeliner reported the plan to Li Shimin.
It seems that it has reached the critical point of the decisive battle of life and death, but at this time, Li Shimin, who has made great military achievements, has not a serious soldier under his hands. Because the Tang Dynasty followed the Sui Dynasty military system, the military system is the system of the integration of soldiers and farmers, when fighting a war, the peasants were conscripted to fight, and when there was no war, they were sent home to cultivate the land.
Therefore, Li Shimin only has a few cronies around him, and there is no strength to protect himself. Although he secretly raised hundreds of guards, compared with Li Jiancheng's thousands of guards, he could not win at all.
After li shimin and the eldest grandson Wuji discussed it, they decided that they could no longer sit still and wait for death, and that they must preemptively attack people to survive.
Just when Li Shimin was formulating the plan for the change of Xuanwu Gate, a very dramatic thing happened. Tai Shi Ling in the palace was horrified and reported to Li Yuan that taibai venus had appeared over Chang'an for several days in a row, and the King of Qin was going to get the world!
Li Yuan listened, and this paid off. Concubine Li Jiancheng is still alive, Li Shimin is going to reverse this?
Tang Gaozu immediately summoned Li Shimin into the palace for questioning, and as a result, Li Shimin told Li Jiancheng, Li Yuanji, and the harem concubine about the adultery.
How can an emperor be put up with a green hat by his own son? Li Yuanqi asked Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji to enter the palace immediately tomorrow.
Originally, Zhang Jieyu of the harem inquired about Li Shimin's secret performance, and 100,000 rushed to the East Palace in a hurry, and had already told Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji the bad news.
Li Yuanji advised the crown prince not to enter the palace because of illness, but Li Jiancheng was too confident and thought that his plan was seamless, and li Shimin now had fewer guards he could use, even if Li Shimin reported himself, there was no problem.
Yes, Li Shimin really didn't have anyone in his hands, but he could also buy the guards of xuanwu gate for his own use.
The next day, Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji rode into Xuanwu Gate, and when they realized that something was wrong, it was too late. Before the crown prince Li Jiancheng could run out of the Xuanwu Gate, he was pierced by Li Shimin's arrow and killed on the spot.
Eliminating the biggest enemy, Li Shimin is also facing a crisis. Li Yuanji shot back, Li Shimin fell off his horse, Li Yuanji took an arrow step, almost strangled Li Shimin who fell down with a bowstring, that is, at this moment, Wei Chigong roared in shock, frightened Li Yuanji, and saved Li Shimin. After that, Li Yuanji also died under Wei Chigong's arrow.
Li Shimin finally defeated death and killed the two greatest enemies.
When Wei Chigong stood in front of Li Yuan, dressed in armor and covered in blood, and told him that "the prince and the king of Qi have rebelled, and His Highness the King of Qin has killed the two people", a thrilling "change in Xuanwu Gate" finally ended with blood.
The prince no longer exists, the King of Qi is also dead, and the world can only be his Li Shimin's in the end!
He was the only heir, carrying the name of a brother killer, and finally got the position of prince.
In August 626, three months after the Xuanwumen Rebellion, the 28-year-old Li Shimin ascended the throne. Although he violated the etiquette law and got this throne, he did not live up to the name of Li Shimin, truly achieved Ji Shi'anmin, and created the most brilliant "rule of Zhenguan" in the Tang Dynasty.