The Xuanwumen Revolution was a far-reaching court event in the early Tang Dynasty, the crown prince Li Jiancheng and the king of Qi Li Yuanji were successively killed by Li Shimin, which allowed Li Shimin to successfully ascend the throne.
In the process of the Xuanwumen Change, there was a very special detail, that is, from beginning to end, no army came out to protect Li Jiancheng.
As long as there was an army at that time, Li Shimin would not have succeeded, and Li Jiancheng would not have let Li Shimin shoot him on the spot.
It's a pity that it wasn't at that time, and the main reason for this is that the army simply didn't have time to protect Li Jiancheng.
Before figuring out this question, we need to understand one thing, what is an army?
The so-called army, as the name suggests, is a military force composed of soldiers (as if it is nonsense), in other words, the military force that protects a country or regime.
Now that we know what an army is, let's take a look at where armies were generally stationed in ancient times.
Generally speaking, most of the large armies of ancient times were stationed on the border all year round, or some important military towns, and the reason why they were stationed here was to deter the enemy, but also to act more quickly.
So, as the imperial city where the emperor is located, is there an army stationed? The answer is yes, but this part of the army is generally stationed around the imperial city, not in the imperial city.
After all, no emperor wants to have a large military force around him, otherwise once he is used by someone with a heart, he can make the emperor change in minutes.
The same was true of the Tang Dynasty, after Li Yuan established the country, the person responsible for guarding the imperial city was the legendary Yuan Cong forbidden army, with about 30,000 people.
These more than 30,000 people, in addition to guarding the imperial city of Chang'an, also have an important purpose, that is, to guard against the Jieli Khan who is eyeing the Tang Dynasty.
Inside the Imperial City, those who are responsible for protecting the personal safety of the emperor and members of the imperial family are called guards, that is, guards.
During the Tang Dynasty, these guards had a unified name called "Sixteen Guards".
The reason why I want to say this is to make it clear that the army of the Tang Dynasty was separated from the guards, the forbidden army was the forbidden army, and the sixteen guards were the sixteen guards.
The forbidden army belongs to the national military force, and no one has the right to mobilize it except Li Yuan himself, including Li Jiancheng, Li Shimin, and Li Yuanji.
According to the laws of the Tang Dynasty, if the army is mobilized without authorization, more than 10 people and less than 90 people, "one year", for every 100 people, the crime will be increased by one degree, and if it is more than 700 people, it will be "3,000 miles".
Therefore, without a military order, it is impossible for the forbidden army to move, and even if there is a change in the palace, it still does not dare to move at will.
Moreover, the forbidden army was stationed outside Chang'an City, far away from Xuanwu Gate, even if they had the intention to protect Li Jiancheng, it was too late, if they arrived at the scene, Li Jiancheng would probably attract flies.
Counting on the forbidden army to save Li Jiancheng, it is better to pray that his horse will run faster so that he can avoid Li Shimin's bow and arrow.
Therefore, from the beginning to the end of the Xuanwu Gate Change, in addition to the protagonist and supporting roles, the remaining ones are the guards, that is, the sixteen guards mentioned above.
Of course, there were quite a few of these guards, roughly between 4,000 and 5,000 men, and they were divided into three different camps.
- The side with the largest number of people is the palace guards, who are responsible for protecting Li Yuan, with about 2,500 people;
- Slightly less, it was Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji's side, because Li Jiancheng was the crown prince, so the number of people he could mobilize was about 1,500 to 2,000;
- The smallest number was Li Shimin's side, according to historical records, Li Shimin brought a total of 800 troops when he launched the Xuanwumen Rebellion.
In terms of numbers, Li Shimin is the weakest, but it is with these 800 people that he won the final victory, so how did he do it?
Let's take a look at what happened before and after the Xuanwumen Change.
After the founding of the Tang Dynasty, Li Jiancheng, as the eldest son of the emperor, was named the crown prince, and Li Shimin, who had outstanding military achievements and laid down more than half of the rivers and mountains for the Tang Dynasty, was named the king of Qin.
However, the scene of "brothers, friends, brothers, brothers" that should have appeared did not appear in Li Jiancheng and Li Shimin, on the contrary, the two had irreconcilable contradictions.
In Li Jiancheng's view, he is the eldest son, and it is natural to be the prince.
But Li Shimin doesn't think so, in his opinion, his brother is only a few years older than himself, not as good as himself in terms of military achievements, and not as good as himself in terms of ability, why can he only be a courtier just because he is a few years younger than him?
Therefore, the fight between the two brothers has existed for a long time, and Li Yuan knows all this very well.
However, although he knew that there was a contradiction between Li Jiancheng and Li Shimin, Li Yuan was also helpless, and it was impossible for him to abolish Li Jiancheng, after all, he was the eldest son, and it was not morals to abolish him.
As for Li Shimin, the unstable situation in the Tang Dynasty at that time was inseparable from his southern expedition to the north.
Therefore, for the open and secret struggle between the two sons, Li Yuan's attitude is to try to level a bowl of water as much as possible, and in addition, it is to take one step at a time.
History always talks about Li Yuan, saying that he is incompetent and incompetent, allowing Li Shimin and Li Jiancheng to kill each other, in fact, putting aside his status as emperor, don't forget that he is still a loving father, although watching the two sons fight, Li Yuan can't make a decision to kill.
However, in this fragile balance he maintains, it is an indisputable fact that Li Jiancheng and Li Shimin's strength is getting bigger and bigger.
As of the Xuanwumen Incident, Li Jiancheng's camp had gathered many high-ranking and powerful people, including Li Yuanji, the king of Qi, Luo Yi, the king of Yan, Wei Zheng, the crown prince, and Xue Wanche, the protector.
On Li Shimin's side, the strength is even more terrifying, like the familiar eldest grandson Wuji, Wei Chi Jingde, Qin Shubao, Hou Junji, Zhang Liang, etc., all of whom are important members of the Qin Palace, in addition, including Yu Wenhua, who was the central servant at the time, and his younger brother Yu Wenshi, as well as Tang Jian, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, and Qu Tutong, the secretary of the Ministry of Industry, etc.
In addition to these followers on the surface, Li Shimin is one step higher than Li Jiancheng, because he buried countless hidden stakes beside Li Jiancheng and the palace guards a few years ago.
According to historical records, there are at least four of Li Shimin's hidden piles that can be traced, namely Zhonglang General Chang He, Zuotun Camp General Jing Junhong who was in charge of Xuanwu Gate, General Lu Shiheng and Prince (Li Jiancheng) led to Wang Hui.
As for other hidden piles that did not leave their names and surnames, I am afraid that there are more, and Li Shimin was able to succeed, and these hidden piles contributed a lot.
In short, under Li Yuan's "balancing technique", Li Jiancheng and Li Shimin's strength became bigger and bigger, and finally it was big enough to kill each other.
And what really prompted Li Shimin to make up his mind to launch the Xuanwumen Revolution was also a secret message transmitted back from a secret pile.
One day in the ninth year of Wude, Li Shimin received a secret report from the crown prince who led the prince to change the king, saying that due to the southward movement of the Turks, Emperor Li Yuan had arranged for Li Yuanji, the king of Qi, to meet him, and Li Yuanji had asked Li Yuan to bring Li Shimin's henchmen, including Wei Chi Jingde, Qin Shubao and other elites into his command, and set out with the army.
The most terrifying thing is that Wang Hui told Li Shimin that on the day the army set out, it was when Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji attacked Li Shimin.
Wang Hui's secret report made Li Shimin panic, he didn't expect to act so quickly, if it weren't for Wang Hui, I'm afraid Li Shimin wouldn't even know how he died.
In addition to the panic, Li Shimin called the eldest grandson Wuji, Wei Chi Jingde and others to discuss how to deal with it, and as a result, this group of people not only did not have a trace of panic, but revealed a burst of excitement from the inside out.
They unanimously told Li Shimin that now is the best time to "achieve great things".
Faced with the instigation of his henchmen, Li Shimin began to retreat, after all, killing his brother is easy to say, but it is really difficult to do, Li Shimin can't pass the psychological level no matter what.
At the critical moment, it was the eldest grandson Wuji who stood up, and he asked Li Shimin loudly, "Sage Shun, still know the principle of "the small cane receives, and the big cane goes", now the situation, can An sit still and wait to die?"
It was this sentence that prompted Li Shimin to make up his mind, and under some conspiracy, the Xuanwumen Revolution officially began.
Speaking of which, it is necessary to mention the two arrangements made by Li Shimin on the eve of the Xuanwumen Change, which laid the foundation for his success.
First, Li Shimin arranged for his wife's uncle Gao Shilian to go to Changchun Fang and Guangdefang to release the death row prisoners held there, and issued them weapons to rush to the Qin Palace, responsible for protecting the safety of the Qin Palace, preventing the old nest from being served by others.
The second item, which is also a crucial one, he ordered the hidden piles in the palace, including Chang He, Jing Junhong, Lu Shiheng and other guard generals, to take turns at the Xuanwu Gate to ensure that when Li Shimin entered the next day, they were guarding.
The reason why this point is important is because at that time, Li Shimin's men and horses that could be mobilized were only 800 dead soldiers, and the number of guards in the palace was around 2,000, and they couldn't fight hard at all.
Therefore, it can only be outwitted, and the way to outwit is to buy off the guards, let eight hundred dead soldiers enter the Xuanwu Gate, and ambush them in advance.
This is also one of the reasons why Li Jiancheng lost so quickly, he didn't know that the guards guarding the palace had already become Li Shimin's people.
After everything was ready, Li Shimin began to wait, waiting for dawn, waiting for an upcoming fierce battle.
In the early morning of June 4, 626 A.D., the sky was just bright, and the heavily armed Li Shimin, with his wife Changsun and his henchmen, swaggered through the Xuanwu Gate under the watchful eye of the guards of the Xuanwu Gate and entered the Taiji Palace.
Subsequently, the eldest grandson personally issued armor blades to the soldiers, and when they saw the princess coming at the risk of death, the soldiers were all demoralized, and they expressed their willingness to smear the liver and brain of King Qin.
Everything is ready to be built.
At that time, Li Jiancheng had a chance to escape, and Zhang Jieyu, who was close to him, hurriedly reported Li Jiancheng after learning the news of Li Shimin's denunciation of Li Jiancheng, and persuaded him not to enter the palace.
In addition, Li Yuanji, the king of Qi who had been on the battlefield for a long time, also thought that it was inappropriate to enter the palace at this time, and tried his best to persuade Li Jiancheng to stay ill.
But Li Jiancheng did not accept their suggestion in the end, and at the same time he said that at this time, the palace was full of his people, and there would be no surprises, so he should enter the palace to inquire about the news at this time.
But Li Jiancheng forgot that if the palace guards could be bought by him, they would naturally be bought by Li Shimin.
In this way, Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji only took a few entourage, rode horses and swaggered towards the palace, towards the Xuanwu Gate that they could never go back to.
However, after all, it is a person who has been on the battlefield, and the vigilance in his heart is still very high, when the two of them first arrived at the Linhu Palace, Li Jiancheng saw that something was wrong, and he found that the guards in the palace, when looking at him, did not have the fear of the past, but were full of murderous energy.
In an instant, Li Jiancheng made a correct judgment, turned the horse's head, and ran!
However, how could Li Shimin be "willing" to let his eldest brother run away like this? He urged the war horse and quickly chased after Li Jiancheng, during which Li Yuanji shot three arrows at Li Shimin, but I don't know whether it was because of nervousness or other reasons, he actually missed three times.
Capture the thief and capture the king first, Li Shimin couldn't take care of Li Yuanji, so he shot an arrow with a bow as soon as possible, and shot Li Jiancheng to death on the horse with one arrow.
At this time, Wei Chi Jingde arrived with dozens of cavalry and launched an attack on Li Yuanji, firing a volley, and Li Yuanji also fell off his horse in order to dodge.
Seeing Li Yuanji dismount, Li Shimin hurriedly pounced, but because the speed was too fast, one was careless, Li Shimin was tripped and fell to the ground with people and horses, and Li Shimin just fell not far from Li Yuanji.
The opportunity could not be missed, Li Yuanji saw that Li Shimin was in front of him, rushed over with an arrow step, snatched the longbow in Li Shimin's hand, and strangled Li Shimin's neck with the bowstring.
At the last moment, Wei Chi Jingde saw that his boss was in trouble, and he couldn't help roaring angrily, urging the horse to whip over.
If there was no roar from Wei Chi Jingde, I am afraid that the result of the Xuanwu Gate change would be rewritten, Li Yuanji saw Yu Chi Jingde rushing over, and immediately panicked, let go of Li Shimin and ran in the direction of the Wude Palace.
Father Li Yuan was there, as long as he ran to the Wude Palace, no one would kill him.
It's a pity, how could Wei Chi Jingde let Li Yuanji go to the Wude Palace? He was riding a horse and shooting arrows at the same time, and Li Yuanji was shot to death on the road before he was about to step on the steps of the Wude Palace.
This is a direct duel between Li Jiancheng and Li Shimin in the Xuanwumen Change, from what we have said above, we can see that Li Jiancheng did not have time to call the rescue force from beginning to end, in addition to Li Yuanji, there were only three or five guards around him, plus he was shot dead at the first time, so even if he wanted to save him and protect him, it was too late.
So, as the crown prince, what were the guards in Li Jiancheng's hands doing at that time? To be precise, they were on the road to "faithfully protect the Lord."
Just when Li Shimin launched an attack, someone had already told the news to the East Palace, which was not far from the Linhu Palace, and at that time, Li Jiancheng's subordinates, including Feng Li, the general of the Yiwei chariot cavalry, and Xue Wanche, the deputy protector, immediately ordered the men and horses, and rushed to the Linhu Palace, trying to protect Li Jiancheng.
According to records, the number of this part of the people at that time was about 2,000, including Li Jiancheng's people and some soldiers of Li Yuanji, the king of Qi.
Not long after they rushed out, the news of Li Jiancheng's death in battle came, but this did not stop Feng Li and the others, but continued to rush towards Xuanwu Gate, but their purpose had changed from rescue to revenge.
Guarding the Xuanwu Gate were Li Shimin's secret stakes Jing Junhong and Lu Shiheng, these two fierce generals, after seeing the overwhelming prince's troops rushing over, they were not afraid at all, and they were about to step forward to cut people when they picked up their knives.
At that time, there were a few "wall-riding factions" beside him, persuading them to wait and see what was happening, but the two did not listen at all, and rushed into the enemy formation with a loud roar.
But where are the two of them opponents of 2,000 people, and after a while, the two died in the hands of the prince's troops, and became the first generals to die on Li Shimin's side in the Xuanwumen Rebellion.
After Jing Junhong and Lu Shiheng were killed, the morale of the prince's troops was greatly boosted and they began to attack the Xuanwu Gate, as long as they attacked the Xuanwu Gate, then Li Shimin would be very dangerous.
At the critical moment, another fierce man came out, he was Li Shimin's adviser Zhang Gongjin, when he saw that the prince's troops were about to come to the Xuanwu Gate, Zhang Gongjin was like a god possessed, rolled up his sleeves, and closed the palace gate of the Xuanwu Gate with the strength of one person.
We have seen those city gates in film and television dramas or when visiting some ancient city towers, and the most significant feature is that the city gates are thick and heavy, and if you want to close this heavy gate, you have to have at least a few people.
But Zhang Gongjin did it alone, at this moment, he was Popeye and the Invincible Hulk.
As soon as the gate was closed, the men of the prince's army were dumbfounded, and they slashed with their knives for a while, and found a sad situation, the city gate was too thick, and it was impossible to expect to cut it successfully.
Just when they were helpless, Xue Wanche proposed that it would be better for us to attack the Qin Palace.
I have to say that Xue Wanche's proposal is a good move, the Qin Wangfu is Li Shimin's base, where there are not only Li Shimin's family members, but also many family members who participated in the Xuanwu Sect soldiers, once the Qin Wangfu is captured, these family members will all die, and this is equivalent to drawing wages from the bottom of the kettle.
However, Xue Wanche's plan was not implemented, because just as they turned their horses' heads and prepared to go to the Qin Palace, Wei Chi Jingde carried two bloody human heads and climbed to the highest point of the Xuanwu Gate.
These two heads, one is Li Jiancheng and the other is Li Yuanji.
Seeing that the boss had been beheaded, the more than 2,000 people from the prince's army under him were suddenly like deflated balls, scattering birds and beasts, and seeing that the general trend had gone, Xue Wanche had to take dozens of henchmen and fled all the way to the direction of Zhongnan Mountain.
By this time, the Xuanwumen Incident was nearing its end, Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji were beheaded, and the only military force that came to rescue Li Jiancheng also scattered and fled, and the overall situation was basically controlled by Li Shimin.
Therefore, it is not that no one came to rescue Li Jiancheng, but that they came too late and had lost the best opportunity to rescue Li Jiancheng, as for those forbidden troops outside the city, it is estimated that they do not know what is happening in the palace at this moment, so it is impossible to come to rescue Li Jiancheng.
Even if he knew, it would be useless, after all, Li Jiancheng was already in a different place.
After that, Wei Chi Jingde carried the head, covered in blood and broke into the West Sea behind the Wude Palace, and saw Li Yuan who was "playing drifting".
It should be noted that at that time, in the prince's east palace, there were still some soldiers who were desperately resisting, and Li Yuan also issued a personal edict for this reason, so that they laid down their weapons and accepted the supervision of Li Shimin's subordinates.
The person who conveyed this edict was Pei Ju, the waiter of the Yellow Gate, who took the edict to appease all the soldiers of the East Palace, who knew that as soon as he was pacified, the people of the Qin Wangfu were killed, and the five sons of Li Jiancheng and the five sons of Li Yuanji died under the knife of the people of the Qin Palace.
Originally, those Donggong soldiers who had laid down their arms would also be killed, but fortunately, Wei Chi Jingde stopped the killing.
"The culprit has been punished, why implicate others. "--- Lieutenant Chi Jingde
After everything was calm, Li Shimin finally came to Li Yuan, the father and son were relatively speechless, Li Shimin knelt on the ground and cried, Li Yuan sat there silent.
What else can be said, what else will be said, so be it.
On the fourth day of June in the ninth year of Wude, the Xuanwumen Rebellion ended with Li Shimin's complete victory, afterwards, Li Yuan canonized Li Shimin as the crown prince, on the ninth day of August of that year, Tang Gaozu Li Yuan abdicated, and the crown prince Li Shimin ascended the throne, which was for Tang Taizong.