Both Wei Chigong and Cheng Ji became the master's gunmen, and both committed the crime of killing the master's enemy. However, the results of the two men were diametrically opposed. Wei Chigong entered the Ling Yan Pavilion and became a founding hero. Chengji was wiped out by the three tribes. So why are the results of the two so different?
(Portrait of Wei Chigong)
For the explanation of this problem, we can look at it from four aspects.
1. Legitimate defense and improper defense.
Wei Chigong killed Li Yuanji at that time as a legitimate defense. Because at the time of the Coup d'état at Xuanwumen, first of all, Li Yuanji shot three arrows at Li Shimin. Li Shimin had no choice but to shoot back an arrow, but unexpectedly, this arrow "accidentally" hit Li Jiancheng and killed Li Jiancheng. Then Li Shimin's war horse was frightened, Li Shimin fell off his horse, and Li Yuanji rushed over and strangled Li Shimin with a bowstring, trying to strangle Li Shimin to death. In this case, Wei Chigong shot Li Yuanji to death. It can be said that although Wei Chigong is a criminal of the following, he is completely legitimate defense.
The situation in Chengji is different. Although Cao Xian did lead a group of soldiers to Sima Zhao's mansion, he had already rushed to Sima Zhao's gate. However, Cao Xian did not pose a direct threat to Sima Zhao, at least not directly to Sima Zhao's life. That is to say, although Cheng Ji also killed Cao Xian out of defense. But he was clearly defenseless.
Legitimate defense and improper defense are not a simple question here, but a question of how the master can explain to the people of the world and how to exonerate the gunman. Li Shimin was very good at excusing Wei Chigong. After all, if Wei Chigong did not intervene at that time, Li Yuanji would probably kill Li Shimin. But Sima Zhao was not good at excusing Cheng Ji. Because Cao Xian did not pose an absolute threat to Sima Zhao. In the absence of it, just do it, how to explain it to the people of the world?
Therefore, Sima Zhao had to kill Cheng Ji, and Li Shimin could completely make Wei Chigong a hero.
(Li Shimin)
2. Killing kings and thieves.
Cao Xi was the emperor. In ancient times, kings had absolute authority. Even if the king is cruel and unkind, if there is any major transgression, he cannot be killed. If you kill a king, you are called a king. Throughout antiquity, this has been formed into a public opinion. And this is also the value basis of the entire ancient imperial society. With this value base, the entire imperial society can remain stable. Without this value base, imperial society would have problems. Therefore, when Cheng Ji killed the emperor, he could not be spared casually no matter what.
Wei Chigong's killing of Li Yuanji was different. Li Yuanji was not an emperor, he was also an ordinary prince. Moreover, because Li Yuanji repeatedly "framed and murdered" Li Shimin, he even shot arrows directly at Li Shimin. In this way, Li Yuanji is not a prince, but a complete "thief". Li Shimin made this point very clear when he later "revised" the history books. Therefore, if Wei Chigong kills Li Yuanji, it is called killing thieves. Since it is a thief, it is of course a hero.
Third, responsibility and blame.
After the two things happen, the two masters use different ways.
Li Shimin took the initiative to take responsibility. He did not say that Wei Chigong had killed him wrongly, but that Wei Chigong had taken actions to protect himself from being harmed by the "thief". In short, although Li Shimin did not say that this matter was done by himself at the behest of Wei Chigong (he could not say so, after all, Li Yuanji was his brother), but in that way, he was equivalent to taking the responsibility on his own head and helping Wei Chigong carry it.
Sima Zhao, on the other hand, tried his best to shirk it, saying that he was unaware of the matter. At that time, he was at home, and he didn't know what was happening, it was all chengji's own doing. In fact, this matter was instigated by Jia Chong to Cheng Ji, but Jia Chong did not admit the account, and Sima Zhao did not pursue it, and both of them insisted that Cheng Ji had made up his own mind, so they pushed the responsibility on Cheng Ji's head and took Cheng Ji as a cushion. In short, since Chengji did it on his own initiative and had nothing to do with himself, he should be dealt with seriously.
(Sima Zhao)
Fourth, success and failure.
This is actually the crux of the matter.
Li Shimin launched the Xuanwumen coup d'état and was ultimately successful. Since he succeeded and Li Shimin became emperor, basically he did not have to consider the issue of public opinion, and no one dared to say anything more. Because whoever dares to say anything more will lose his head.
For Li Shimin, the issues that need to be concerned are only the questions of what future generations will say. Therefore, you only need to revise the history books. Even if Li Shimin also cares what people say at the moment, he doesn't have to worry about it and deal with it slowly. After passing the "rule of chastity," it should be said that the public opinion in the world has been beneficial to Li Shimin.
Cao Xian's attack on Sima Zhao was something that Sima Zhao did not expect, because it was not a coup d'état initiated by him. For him, at that time, the time was not ripe to usurp Cao Wei's world. Therefore, killing Cao Xian at this time will lead to great disaster. Since we have run into a catastrophe, we must consider the factor of public opinion. Therefore, Sima Zhao had to find someone to pad his back to block Yoyo's mouth. Cheng Ji became a person with a cushion.
(References: Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Wei Luo, etc.)