Li Yuan has 22 sons, in the impression of many people, always think that Li Yuan has three sons of Li Jiancheng, Li Shimin and Li Yuanji, but in fact, this is not the case, Li Yuan rebelled in 617, when he was already 51 years old, this age is not small in history.
When the Tang Dynasty was founded in 618, Li Yuan actually only had 5 sons, but the third oldest Li Xuanba and the fifth oldEst Li Zhiyun had already passed away.
After that, Li Yuan continued to have dozens of sons, and even if he later became the Emperor Taishang, he did not delay.
So Li Yuan has 22 children, why is only Li Jiancheng and Li Shimin fighting the most?
When Jinyang started the army, Li Jiancheng was almost 30 years old. In the process of raising the army, the three brothers of Li Jiancheng made great contributions, and it can be said that Li Yuan was able to become the founding emperor of the Tang Dynasty, and these three brothers, especially Li Shimin, were indispensable.
The mother of Li Jiancheng's three brothers was Empress Taimu, the granddaughter of Emperor Wen of Northern Zhou, who later married Li Yuan, the Duke of Tang. These three were concubines, and their status was still different from that of other sons.
In ancient times, concubines had a huge advantage, and it can be said that other sons lost from birth. This is also one of the reasons why, after the change of Xuanwumen, Li Yuan could not consider other sons at all.
As for many of Li Yuan's sons, they had not yet been born at this time.
After Li Yuan ascended the throne, he treated the crown prince Li Jiancheng and Li Shimin with great trust. In his concept, Li Jiancheng helped himself manage the government, while Li Shimin expanded his territory outside.
But after all, there is only one throne, over time, the contradiction between the brothers appeared, the reason for the contradiction between the brothers, there are many reasons, but it is also very simple, in Li Shimin's view, he was the King of Qin, the power at that time was very powerful, especially in the army, many founding heroes sided with him.
Then Li Shimin must be able to go one step closer, and although the prince can naturally take over, but Li Yuan is still there after all, and Li Yuan wants to maintain fairness among his sons, which is also a huge mistake he made, which caused Li Jiancheng to be full of hostility to Li Shimin, after all, there is only one prince, since it has been selected, then there is no need to pay attention to other sons, but Li Yuan is not like this, which makes the prince Li Jiancheng very jealous, thinking that if one day he abolishes himself and establishes Li Shimin, he can do it.
The two brothers began to fight openly and secretly until the Xuanwumen Rebellion broke out.
Such a fight was unlikely among Li Yuan's other sons.
First, these sons are not very old, most of them are still minors, and it is obviously impossible to fight with Li Shimin and the prince.
Second, they have not made any achievements, even if they have the heart, they are powerless, and there are no civilian and military generals around them who support them, even if they launch a coup d'état, they will not succeed.
Besides, for the struggle for the throne, not all sons must participate, just like the nine sons of the Later Qing Dynasty, not only are there so many, it can be said that some people are still self-aware.