Tang Gaozu Li Yuan, the word Shude, the thirteenth year of Emperor Yang of Sui (617) stayed in Taiyuan. Soon in Taiyuan to raise troops, conquer Guanzhong, the first year of Wude (618) by the Sui Gong Emperor Chan let the emperor, the country name Tang, the capital of Chang'an, and finally dominate the world.
He created the foundation of the Tang Dynasty and should have been a virtuous monarch, but he was suspicious and suspicious, intolerant of people, and played with power, and was finally counterattacked.
So, what did he do?
Kill the king, regardless of merit or demerit
Throughout the late Sui Dynasty, all the anti-kings, whether they failed to fight with the Tang Dynasty and were captured, or took the initiative to surrender to the Tang Dynasty, Gaozu was all annihilated, and almost no one was spared. Take Li Mi, Dou Jiande, Xiao Mo and Du Fuwei as examples.
(a)
In the first year of Wude (618), Li Mi, the leader of the Wagang Army, was defeated by Wang Shichong of Luoyang, and the army was defeated and surrendered, which can be said to be the true surrender of the Tang Dynasty. When Li Mi entered the customs, he led 20,000 horses, "and he said: 'I have millions of people, and once I come here, I will die.'"
Returning to the country after defeat, fortunately, we should think of being loyal and serve our ears with deeds! And there are hundreds of cities in Shandong, knowing that I have come here, I will send an envoy to recruit him, and I should return to the country.
Compared with Dou Rong, Xun is not fine, don't you treat it with a master?' As for the Beijing Division, the number of courtesies is thin, and the ruler comes to ask for bribes, which is very unfair...... Gaozu made the secret soldiers to Liyang, recruited the soldiers of the old time, and passed through the world. Secretly traveled to the peach forest, Gaozu reconquered it, Mi was afraid, and plotted to rebel".
After Li Mi's defeat, he wanted to join the Tang Dynasty and display his talents and ambitions. I thought that I would lead the army to vote, and there were still a large number of cities and troops in Shandong, which had made great contributions to the Tang Dynasty, and should be rewarded with high positions and reused.
As a result, Gaozu nominally met Li Mi, but in fact he was treated lightly. Imagine if he was really favored and reused, how could a villain come to ask for a bribe? This made Li Mi feel unhappy.
Later, Gaozu sent Li Mi to Shandong to appease the old department, but he was recalled halfway through, which in itself was suspicious of Li Mi.
Since ancient times, the monarch suspected that the ministers would die, Li Mi was not reused in the Tang Dynasty, and was suspicious, knowing that he would definitely die if he went back, he did not listen to the edict and wanted to flee back to Shandong. So he led his troops to attack Taolin County (now southwest of Sanmenxia City, Henan), and entered the Bear's Ears Mountain to the south, intending to go to Xiangcheng (now Ruzhou, Henan) to defect to the old department.
However, the Tang army had already laid an ambush on the way, and Li Mi was finally beheaded by the Tang general Sheng Yanshi at Xinggongxian in the south of Luhun County. It can be seen that Gaozu did not trust Li Mi, and if he wanted to kill him, he needed to be justified, so he first forced Li Mi to resist the disrespect, and then took the opportunity to transfer troops to kill, staging a drama of wanting to capture and indulge.
(b)
Dou Jiande, the king of Xia, was born as a peasant, re-trusted and promised, diligent and loving the people, a corporal of courtesy and virtuous, and had a chivalrous style, which won the hearts of the military and the people of Hebei. said that Dou Jiande should not be killed, mainly because Jiande had three merits:
The first is to possess righteousness. At that time, Yu Wenhua and the emperor were called emperors, and they were national thieves in the world. In the second year of Wude (619), Jiande led troops to crusade against Hua and welcome Empress Xiao in Liaocheng. "Collect the conspirators of Emperor Yang Yuwen Zhihe, Yang Shilan, Yuan Wuda, Xu Hongren, and Meng Jing, and collect Sui civil and military officials to behead them, and they are outside the gate. and his two sons were carried together with the car, and they were cut off in mainland counties".
Li Yuan was a relative of Yang Sui, and was enthroned by Sui Chan, so he should nominally avenge the Sui family. And Jiande welcomes the phoenix and eliminates the national thief, which can be said to occupy the country's righteousness.
The second is to be kind to Tang Ting. In the second year of Wude (619), "Li Shiji, the general of Zuo Wuwei, the imperial sister and Princess Tong'an, and Shentong were captured...... Gaozu sent an envoy to join with him, and Jiande sent the princess to return with the envoy."
Dou Jiande had captured many Tang Dynasty officials, such as Zhang Ang, the assassin of Zhaozhou, Chen Junbin, the assassin of Xingzhou, etc., all of whom were released, and it can be said that he had a good relationship with the Tang court and did not have much grudges.
At that time, the Tang Dynasty was located in the Guannei, Zheng had Henan, and the summer was in Hebei, and the Central Plains was in full swing. As the saying goes, if the lips are dead, the teeth are cold, and if the household is broken, the hall is in danger, and Jiande Chi aided Wang Shichong in the eastern capital, in fact, it was also out of self-preservation.
The third is to dedicate the land and return to the country, and surrender with Lilly, so that the Tang court can calm Shandong without a fight. Such a great achievement is enough to atone for sin. Jiande was captured, "The rest of the party wants to establish Jiande as the main son, and the good deeds say: 'King Xia pacified Heshuo, Shima was strong, and once he was captured like this, wouldn't it be the destiny of heaven to return? ’
Then the treasury finances were divided, and the orders were dispersed. The good deeds are with Jiande's right servant Pei Ju, Xingtai Cao Dan and Jiande's wife to lead the puppet officials to the land of Shandong, and the eight seals of the country are descended."
Although Jiande was defeated, the remnants of the party still existed. Yan Zhao has been a lot of heroes since ancient times, if Jiande has raised his son to do good deeds and have ambitions, raise his arms and shout, live in the land of Hebei, have millions of people, and can completely compete with Tang Ting for the world.
Retreat can also connect the Turks in the north, stick to one side, and cut off the strong. But he relieved his armor and surrendered with courtesy, and Gaozu should be crowned the Duke of Jin to show his favor. However, to betray his righteousness according to his place, accept his surrender and kill his master, it is really the demeanor of a blind king!
Moreover, the impact of this move was so wide that all the generals in Shandong were in danger, and they rebelled, and chaos broke out repeatedly. "Will Gaozu Zhengjiande so Fan Yuan, Dong Kangmai, Cao Zhan, Gao Yaxian and others will go to Chang'an, willing to wait and conspire and say: 'Wang Shichong surrendered to Luoyang, and his subordinates Yang Gongqing and Shan Xiongxin were all wiped out, and if my generation went to Chang'an, there would be no reason to preserve.
And the king of Xia captured the king of Huai'an in the past, took all his life, and sent him back. The Tang family has the king of Xia today, that is, he will be killed, my generation will be killed, if he can't take revenge, he will be ashamed to see the world's figures. ’”
(c)
The generals elected Liu Heimin as the main and raised troops to rebel. Later, Liu Heimin and others colluded with the Turks and Gao Kaidao to attack Shandong, which was a great disaster for the Tang Dynasty, and it was not until the sixth year of Wude (623) that it was re-pacified.
Although Liang Lord Xiao Mo is ambitious and talented, he should not be punished with death. In the first year of Wude (618), Xiao Mian moved the capital to Jiangling. At that time, Liang Guo reached the Three Gorges in the east, Jiaozhi in the south, and Hanchuan in the north, with more than 400,000 troops, as if it was the strongest overlord in the south.
In the fourth year of Wude (621), Gaozu ordered Li Xiaogong, the king of Zhaojun, and Li Jing to lead troops to fight against Liang. Li Jing took advantage of the rising tide to rush down to force Jiangling. Xiao Mo felt that it might take a long time to wait for reinforcements to arrive, and if he held on, he was afraid that the Tang army would kill and plunder the people after breaking the city.
So he led the hundred officials of the Liang State to surrender without a fight, "He said: 'When the dead are only milled, and the people are not guilty, please do not kill and plunder.'" 'Filial piety is imprisoned and sent to the capital division. A few days after the milling, the Jiangnan rescue soldiers were more than 100,000 times as big as the time, knowing the milling and surrendering, they all sent money to Xiaogong.
Milling to, Gaozu counted his crimes, milled to say: 'Sui lost its deer, heroes competed, milling has no mandate of heaven, so that's it.'" It is also south of the field, not negative Han Dynasty. If you think it is a sin, you are willing to obey it. 'Cut down in the city'.
Although Xiao Mo has no courage, he is good at Confucianism and literary style, and it is also a benevolent and righteous act to ask for surrender for the people. If he sticks to the help, relying on the wealth of Jiangling, he can completely deal with the Tang army, and it will only take a few days for more than 100,000 troops to come to help, not that he can't defend and defend it, even if he is defeated, he can hide in the south.
But he hurried down and attached the whole country to the Tang Dynasty, which was undoubtedly a great achievement, but because he was honest when he saw Gaozu, he was killed, which is inevitably a little ridiculous.
(iv)
Wu Wang Du Fuwei was born in the end of the Wei Dynasty, and at the end of the Sui Dynasty, he had tens of thousands of soldiers, crisscrossing the Jianghuai River, and won the hearts of the people. If he really has different aspirations, he can completely divide the Jianghuai, respect the south, and follow the story of the six dynasties in the southeast.
But Fu Wei did not have the ambition of the Ninety-Five, the fourteenth year of the Great Cause (618 years), "still on the table in Yue Wang Dong, Dong worship Fu Wei as the host of the governor, the king of Chu." The siege of Taizong Wang Shichong sent an envoy to recruit him, and Fu Wei asked to surrender.
Gaozu sent envoys to worship the Shangshu Order of the Southeast Road, pacify the ambassador south of Jianghuai, Shangzhu State, and seal the King of Wu, and give the surname Li, Yuzong is a member.
At that time, the Tang court had not yet unified the Central Plains, and Tang did not have much advantage compared with Wu. And Fuwei descended to the Tang Dynasty in the north, and later entered the court in person to show his loyalty, "worship as the prince Taibao, and still carry out the Taishang order."
Stay in the capital division, the etiquette is very generous, and it is above the king of Qi Yuanji, in order to favor it". However, he was implicated in the rebellion of the Jianghuai Army.
Gaozu did not find out the truth and dismissed Fu Wei from office, and his family was lost, and the history said that "Fu Wei is a good immortal for many years, and the bait mica was poisoned, and in February of the seventh year of Wude, he died violently." is such a coincidence, there must be something greasy in it. Fu Wei's death was difficult for Tang Ting to get rid of.
In addition, Fu Wei had a righteous son named Kan Liang, who followed Fu Wei into the court, "worshiped the general of the left leading army, and moved to the governor of Yuezhou" ("Old Tang Book" volume 56 "Kan Liang Biography"), helping Li Xiaogong to break the auxiliary Gongyi, and made great contributions to the Tang Dynasty.
Because he had an argument with Li Xiaogong on the issue of disposing of Jianghuai Army officials and property after the war, he was executed on the spot for the crime of treason. Kan Liang was a general of Sanpin and the governor of Sanpin, and Li Xiaogong killed him without playing to the Tang court.
If there was no prior instruction from Gaozu, presumably Li Xiaogong would not have dared to kill the third-grade high-ranking officials of the imperial court without authorization. Its purpose should be to eliminate the backbone leaders of the Jianghuai army, so that the imperial court can control the Jianghuai.
Fu Wei's father and son were loyal to the Tang Dynasty, and after all, they ended up miserable, and they couldn't help but be too wronged. Therefore, at the beginning of Taizong's accession to the throne, he rehabilitated the two and comforted the hearts of the Jianghuai army and civilians to stabilize the southeast.
appoint treacherous and evil people, and be suspicious of the ministers
Gaozu's punishment was wrong, and he was particularly partial in employing people, and he was good at fishing. Feng Lun was attached to Yang Su at the time of the Sui Dynasty, and after entering the Tang Dynasty, he was also the first rat at both ends, torn between the prince and the king of Qin, and was a deceitful person.
Yu Shiji is not a righteous gentleman, but also an internal history order of the thief culture of the monarch and the country, and Gaozu actually shot Feng Lun as the left servant, and Yu Shiji was the middle book order, which shows that he is a treacherous villain.
Yu Wenshi and is the brother of Yu Wenhua, and his person is only a Chinese person, and he has no great merits, and he is also highly used and suddenly promoted to the top of the Guanzhong with Yu Shiji. It may be that Gaozu was deeply entrusted, and his sister was the harem Zhaoyi. It can be seen from this that Gaozu is easy to use the old, and the rewards and punishments are unknown.
(a)
When Gaozu did not raise troops, he stayed behind in Sui Taiyuan, Pei Lin privately served Gaozu with the concubines of Emperor Yang of Jinyang Palace, and Liu Wenjing coerced Pei Lin to persuade Gaozu to raise troops, "Silence is very afraid, but repeatedly urged Gaozu to raise troops."
Pei Lin was originally a flattering person, except for persuading Gaozu to raise troops, and there was a defeat in rejecting Song Jingang, but he was named the right servant to shoot, and he was in a high position.
And Liu Wenjing is the chief planner of righteousness, and he is also the minister of the dragon, the founding father, first set an extraordinary policy, and then has the great merit of connecting the Turks and breaking the Qu Tutong, "Wen Jing thinks that his talents are used in the right of Pei Lian, and he has many military exploits, and he is under it, which is very uneven."
So he had a dislike with Pei Lian. Later, because he and his brother Liu Wenqi were drunk at their own banquet and complained, Gaozu actually used this as an excuse to kill them and confiscate their families. The ancients said: "The birds are exhausted, the good bow is hidden, the cunning rabbit is dead, and the lackeys are cooked." That's true.
Liu Wenjing's death was actually because of Gaozu's suspicion. Wen Jing was extraordinarily talented and inclined to the King of Qin, and was the liaison officer between the Tang court and the Turks, and his credit was great. Perhaps because Gaozu was worried that his high achievements would be difficult to control in the future, and he would have the help of the Turks, he would suppress the power of the King of Qin by the way, so he killed him on the grounds of drunken words.
(b)
Gaozu doted on Concubine Yin De, and he also indulged his relatives in every way. "Yin Arat, the father of Concubine Yin, was arrogant, and Du Ruhan, a member of the Qin Palace, passed through his door, and several servants of the Arat's family led him like a horse and beat him, scolding the clouds: 'Who are you, dare to pass through my door and not get off the horse!' A Rat may be worried about it, but let Concubine De say: 'The king of Qin is fierce left and right, and Ling Yi is the concubine's father. ’
Gaozu angrily said to Taizong again: "You are not a concubine's house, as far as this is concerned, what about the mortal people?" ”
Concubine Yin De was close to the crown prince Li Jiancheng, and her father knew that Du Ruhui was an important minister of the Qin Palace, but he ordered the servants to beat him, and then the wicked person sued first, and let Concubine Yin De blow the pillow wind beside Gaozu. And Gaozu angrily scolded the king of Qin without finding out the truth, giving people the impression of being biased and biased, lustful and mediocre.
In fact, these are just appearances, with the wisdom of Gaozu's founding monarch, it is not difficult to know that Concubine Yin De is inclined to the prince, and Yin Arat's beating of the important ministers of the Qin Palace, which will inevitably involve the dispute between the prince and the king of Qin.
And Gaozu reprimanded the King of Qin without waiting to find out the truth, in fact, he was already dissatisfied with the King of Qin and was suspicious. Later, he transferred many civil ministers and military generals from the Qin Palace, trying to weaken the power of the Qin king.
History books often say that the Qin king's achievements are high and the crown prince is jealous, but in fact, what is really jealous of the crown prince? Throughout the hundreds of years of history of the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, there have been countless cases of civil servants usurping the throne, military generals seizing power, royal fathers and sons jealousy, and brothers killing each other. The king of Qin is powerful and has the heart of the army, the strategists are like clouds, and the generals are like rain, so he is naturally feared by the king.
The high merit of the courtiers is intolerable to the monarch. Even if he didn't think of rebelling, he had the ability to rebel, and this was the fault of his courtiers! Although the king of Qin did not rebel, how could he not have the ability to rebel?
It's just that the country was not very peaceful at that time, King Qin was a prince and talented, and Gaozu still needed to rely on it.
(c)
In June of the ninth year of Wude (626), Li Shimin, the king of Qin, killed the crown prince Li Jiancheng and the king of Qi Li Yuanji at Xuanwumen. Gaozu had no choice but to set up the king of Qin as the crown prince, which is known as the change of Xuanwumen. But the change of Xuanwu Gate, tracing back to the source, Gaozu is also to blame.
At the beginning of his ascension to the throne, he had already established his eldest son Li Jiancheng as the crown prince, and his name was established, but he favored the king of Qin to build immortal military achievements. And the rewards and punishments are unknown, which makes the brothers have a gap and cause trouble to the wall.
In June of the seventh year of Wude (624), Yang Wengan, the old department of the crown prince, raised troops in Ningzhou to rebel. Gaozu summoned the King of Qin and said: "The civil service company has been built, and there are many people who are afraid of it." Thou shalt be thyself, and thou shalt be the crown prince.
I can't follow the example of Emperor Wen of Sui to punish his son, and become the king of Shu as a feudal. The Shu soldiers are fragile, and he can do everything to you, and you should do everything; ”
The king of Qin then went to Ningzhou to quell the rebellion. Soon after the rebellion was put down, Gaozu changed his mind and said to the king of Qin: "Brother Guanru, there is discord. In the same Jingyi, there will be competition. You are still in Taiwan, living in Luoyang, east of Shaanxi, and it is suitable for the Lord. It still makes you build the banner of the Son of Heaven, such as the story of King Liang Xiao. ”
The king of Qin was about to go to Luoyang, but because he was blocked by Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji, Gaozu changed his mind again. At that time, the king of Qin was already highly accomplished, and after Gaozu promised the king of Qin to go to Ningzhou to quell the rebellion and returned, he was renamed the crown prince.
Later, he said that the story of King Qin as King Liang Xiaowang is likely to be a verbal reward, but not a verbal favor. If it is really like what Gao Zu said, it is actually for Tang Ting to set up an enemy for himself, and it is a long-term strategy.
King Qin's heroic appearance may not be comparable to that of the crown prince and the king of Qi. However, it is an indisputable fact that his military achievements are outstanding and he is overwhelmed by the crown prince, so that there is no reward and no seal.
When a more outstanding heir appears among the princes, the original status of the crown prince will be shaken, and Yang Yong, the abolished prince of the Sui Dynasty, is a lesson from the past. At that time, the king of Qin was powerful, which caused great pressure on the crown prince Li Jiancheng, and it was indeed persecution.
And the King of Qi and the crown prince conspired to deal with the King of Qin, which was also a helpless move, after all, there were only these three sons left among the sons of Gaozu, and the combination of the weak and the strong was also in line with the situation.
Therefore, the contradiction intensified, and the change in Xuanwumen occurred suddenly, although it was unexpected, but it was also reasonable. And the impact of this move is wide-ranging, and the harm is endless. The Xuanwu Gate Revolution set a precedent for the armed seizure of the heirs by the prince of Li Tang, and was eventually emulated by later generations, and coups occurred frequently.