So, why do many people subconsciously think that the founding emperor of the Tang Dynasty is Li Shimin? This is mainly because the existence of Li Yuan, the real founding emperor of the Tang Dynasty, is too low.
As we all know, which of the founding emperors of the previous dynasties is not a martial artist? Even Liu Bang and Zhu Yuanzhang, who beat down the rivers and mountains step by step from the bottom, although they suffered the loss of not studying when they were children, they all became a generation of emperors with remarkable cultural and martial arts skills in the future.
As the founding emperor of the Tang Dynasty, historians have mixed evaluations of Li Yuan. Although a small number of scholars believe that Li Yuan is far-sighted and far-sighted, the vast majority of scholars believe that Li Yuan is a confused bastard, especially his indecisive and unclear reward and punishment methods, which laid the foundation for the future changes in Xuanwumen.
Li Yuan was born into an aristocratic family in Guanlong and received a good aristocratic education since childhood, and in this regard, neither Liu Bang nor Zhu Yuanzhang could compare with him. However, in the process of establishing the Tang Dynasty, Li Yuan did not play much role, and the establishment of the Tang Dynasty relied on the help of the eldest son Li Jiancheng and the second son Li Shimin.
In fact, according to the records in the history books, Li Yuan still has some skills, especially the ability to forget is even more amazing. An ordinary person, as long as Li Yuan has seen it, he can remember it for decades without forgetting, and the mountains and rivers in the world can be remembered by just one glance at him.
However, in the process of establishing the Tang Dynasty, Li Yuan's specialty did not play much role, but fainted in dealing with the contradictions between the two sons.
At first, when Li Shimin decided to persuade Li Yuan to start the army, he was afraid that his father would not agree, and he specially asked Pei Yu to help, and the two found several beautiful palace women from Jinyang Palace to accompany Li Yuan to drink. It was not until Li Yuan was drunk that Pei Yu took the opportunity to say the suggestion of raising troops against Sui.
On the road of rising up against Sui, Li Yuan mainly relied on his second son Li Shimin, and Li Shimin was undoubtedly the greatest in terms of merit. However, Li Shimin is only the second son, and according to the provisions of the primogeniture system, Li Shimin is not the preferred heir.
In ancient dynasties, if the problem of succession is not handled well, it will be a great disaster for both the dynasty itself and the royal family.
After the establishment of the Tang Dynasty, Li Jiancheng was canonized as a prince, but most of the world of the Tang Dynasty was fought down by Li Shimin, so there was an irreconcilable contradiction between Li Jiancheng and Li Shimin.
According to the modern point of view, the imperial throne must be occupied by the virtuous, and if the talent is not enough, sitting on the throne is also self-defeating. But the ancients did not think so, Li Jiancheng, as the eldest son of the emperor, must inherit the rivers and mountains of his father Li Yuan, and the rivers and mountains that Li Shimin worked hard to fight down were equivalent to making wedding clothes for others.
Maybe Li Shimin himself can endure it, but the fierce generals who are charging under him can't bear it, they all want to be the ministers of the dragon, how can they sit and watch Li Jiancheng become the emperor? Therefore, the battle between the Qin prince's mansion and the prince's mansion was also inextricably linked to Li Shimin's generals.
In dealing with the contradictions between the two sons, Li Yuan did not have any good methods. At first, in order to motivate Li Shimin to fight Jiangshan, he painted a big pie for Li Shimin, and even hinted that the throne would definitely pass to him in the future.
When Li Jiancheng was canonized as empress dowager, Li Yuan knew that painting a big cake could not deceive Li Shimin, and began to help Li Jiancheng suppress Li Shimin. Under Li Yuan's favoritism, Li Jiancheng's forces developed rapidly, and the generals of the Qin royal palace were equivalent to being put on fire, and the conflict between the two sides was on the verge of breaking out.
In fact, Li Yuan did not want to see his two sons fighting, but he was mediocre and lacked tough skills, and he really had no good means to solve this matter. Later, in order to calm the dispute between the crown prince and the King of Qin, he even proposed to seal Li Shimin to Luoyang, put the vast area east of Shaanzhou under Li Shimin's jurisdiction, and also let Li Shimin build a palace in Luoyang and set up the Tianzi Jing Banner.
But this matter was sabotaged by Li Jiancheng, and in the end it was not actually achieved. Otherwise, I am afraid that after Li Yuan's death, the two brothers will have to fight each other.
Because Li Yuan was always wavering, the contradiction between the Qin King Mansion and the Prince's Mansion became increasingly fierce, and finally caused the tragedy of the change of Xuanwu Gate. Within a day, the eldest son Li Jiancheng and the fourth son Li Yuanji were both killed by the second son Li Shimin, and even he himself was placed under house arrest by Wei Chigong.
After Li Yuan was placed under house arrest, Li Shimin came to see him, and at this point, Li Yuan could only elect Li Shimin as the heir to the throne, and begged Li Shimin not to kill Li Jiancheng's five sons.
In fact, at this time, if Li Yuan can be resolute and take the preservation of his grandson's life as a condition for peacefully relinquishing the throne, he may be able to save the lives of several grandchildren.
Although Li Shimin killed two brothers, after all, this was for the purpose of self-preservation, since the threat has been cleared, he should not do the stupid thing of killing his father again, otherwise his generals may look down on him.
It was good that Li Yuan did not open his mouth to beg for mercy, and when he opened his mouth, he not only did not save Li Jiancheng's 5 children, but even affected Li Yuanji's 5 children. Li Shimin was afraid that cutting the grass would not remove the roots and the spring breeze would blow and grow, so he simply did not do one thing or another, so he let people kill all 10 nephews.
Looking back at the history of the Tang Dynasty, you will find that the struggle for imperial power in the Tang Dynasty was very cruel, from Li Zhi to Wu Zetian to Li Longji, one more vicious than the other, and even Wu Zetian did not let go of his own son in order to ascend the throne. The reason for this is probably all influenced by Li Shimin.