In May of the twenty-third year of Zhenguan (649), Li Shimin, Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, died in the Hanfeng Hall of Cuiwei Palace in Chang'an at the age of 52.
Tang Taizong Li Shimin's life, with brilliance, legend is not enough to describe, Xuanwu Sect with strong means to ascend to the throne, with his own strength, after several years, will be fragmented China, reunited, and personally created an important position in the history of Zhenguan rule.
But in his later years, he was evaluated as too mediocre, with Zhenguan nineteen years as the boundary, and his subsequent governance was mostly criticized, especially the killing of a prime minister and two heroes, which made people hold on.
It must be known that whether an emperor is mediocre or not is to be viewed relatively, compared to Li Shimin's life's achievements, it is not possible to directly put the big hat of mediocrity on his head, not to mention, these three people were killed, it was Li Shimin's helplessness at that time, and it was also the last protection of his son by a father who was about to die.
Everything Tang Taizong Li Shimin did in his later years stemmed from his unease with his cowardly son Li Zhi.
The reason why Li Shimin finally chose Li Zhi as his heir was because the other two sons he originally liked were too capable.
Li Shimin's original wife, that is, the eldest grandson empress, gave birth to three sons for Li Shimin, the eldest son Li Chengqian, the second son Li Tai, and the third son Li Zhi.
In view of Li Shimin's feelings for the eldest grandson empress, Li Shimin set up his eldest son Li Chengqian as the crown prince early, and if nothing happened after that, Li Chengqian would inherit the Tang Empire.
However, Li Chengqian had a "leg disease", and it was not clear what the specific disease was, anyway, he had a leg problem, and the disease became more and more serious, so that later, walking became a problem.
Once a person is sick for a long time, his psychology will change, and the same is true for Li Chengqian, especially after seeing that Li Shimin loves his younger brother Li Tai very much.
Li Shimin once treated his second son very well for a period of time, to what extent? In Luoyang, he rewarded Li Tai with a large mansion, the area of which was equivalent to half of the Forbidden City, and later in Chang'an, he rewarded Li Tai with a hibiscus garden, which was about the size of three Forbidden Cities.
This kind of goodness is nothing in Li Shimin's opinion, they are all his sons, but in Li Chengqian's eyes, it has a different meaning.
I have a leg problem, and now my father is so close to my second brother, do you have any ideas?
Not to mention whether Li Shimin has an idea, this Li Tai has an idea in advance, seeing that his father is so good to him, and then seeing that his eldest brother is sick, after a long time, Li Tai has the idea of winning the heir.
However, without waiting for Li Tai to implement his idea, Li Chengqian couldn't sit still and began to plot a coup, but the result was that it was over before it started, and Li Shimin didn't talk nonsense to him, and directly imprisoned him.
After abolishing Li Chengqian, Li Shimin had the intention to make Li Tai the crown prince, but Li Tai didn't know if it was because of his brain cramps or other reasons, so he actually told Li Shimin that if he became the prince, he would kill his son in the future and pass on the throne to his younger brother Li Zhi.
This made Li Shimin very confused, and at the suggestion of Chu Suiliang, in order to prevent the Li family from happening again in the future, he finally made a decision to make the third son Li Zhi the crown prince.
In the seventeenth year of Zhenguan (643), Li Zhi became the crown prince under these circumstances, and frankly speaking, he was not a very satisfactory successor to Li Shimin, because Li Zhi was too cowardly in Li Shimin's eyes.
It is precisely because of Li Shimin's worries about Li Zhi, and in order to ensure the smooth succession of Li Zhi, that in his later years, he lit up the butcher's knife, rectified the old ministers, and slaughtered the heroes, even if he was infamous for a lifetime, he had to pave the way for his son's future.
Li Zhi is not an ordinary coward, he is quite cowardly, not only that, but his physical fitness is also poor, and he does not have the appearance of his father Li Shimin at all.
If it weren't for Li Zhi's mother being the eldest grandson empress and wanting to be the crown prince, it would be impossible.
It is precisely for this reason that after Li Shimin finally established Li Zhi as the crown prince, he gave almost all his love to Li Zhi, almost holding it in his mouth for fear of melting, holding it on his head for fear of flying, no matter where he is, as long as there is a place for Li Zhi, Li Shimin will show his father's love to the fullest
When Li Zhi eats, Li Shimin will tell him to know how to cherish the people's strength; when Li Zhi rides a horse, Li Shimin will tell him to combine work and rest; Li Zhi will take a boat, and Li Shimin will explain the truth that water can carry a boat and can also overturn a boat.
In short, no matter what Li Zhi is doing, Li Shimin will be like a middle-aged aunt, turning on the mode of broken thoughts.
If you are a other son, you may have been tired of it for a long time, but Li Zhi is just the opposite, he is a sensible and filial child, and he can be described as obedient to his father Li Shimin.
In the eighteenth year of Zhenguan, Li Shimin personally conquered Goguryeo, Li Zhi was reluctant to give up his father, and cried for a few days, which really moved Li Shimin, and after arriving in Liaodong, the number of letters between the two people was comparable to that of a couple in love.
Li Zhi's filial piety is not superficial, but really from the heart, on the way back from Liaodong Li Shimin, there was a big sore on his back, Li Zhi personally used his mouth to detoxify his father, to do this, it is really unique.
Filial piety, sensible, and obedient, such a son, everyone likes it, Li Shimin is also from the initial dissatisfaction, to gradually love very much, and then to the later spoiling very, his change in Li Zhi's mentality is also an old age emperor, the performance of trust.
As a result, the more and more favor made Li Shimin more and more uneasy about his son, because he knew that Li Zhi's cowardice could not control the ministers, and he was even more worried that after a hundred years, someone would take away the power of his son.
It's time to do some of the necessary actions, all for the sake of the son.
Li Shimin's policy of protecting Li Zhi can be roughly divided into promoting supporters, suppressing opponents, and killing threats.
Li Zhi's own uncle, that is, Li Shimin's eldest brother, the first meritorious grandson Wuji, is naturally the object of promotion, he is Li Zhi's biggest supporter, whether it is public or private, he has a reason to support, the prince and young master are properly decided, and at the same time, Li Shimin also crowned him as the third product under the same Zhongshu, and his status is equal to that of the prime minister.
And Chu Suiliang, who previously suggested Li Zhi, was also directly promoted from a counselor to the Huangmen squire, second only to the eldest grandson Wuji.
There were many promotions like this at that time, and Li Shimin's meaning was very obvious, he wanted to build a small team that was really his own person for his son, and only in this way could Li Shimin, who knew that his time was short, to go with confidence.
Once you've built a team to support Lee, the next step is to clear out potential threats.
Zhenguan 20 years, followed Li Shimin to conquer Goguryeo's Wei Chi Jingde, resigned and went into hiding, after that, his "obsession" with alchemy, every day intoxicated with alchemy entertainment, not asking about political affairs, not interacting with outsiders, as long as 16 years, and when he resigned, he had a long talk with Li Shimin for a long time.
In the twenty-second year of Zhenguan, Xue Wanche, who had always been dissatisfied with Li Zhi, was also dismissed from office by Li Shimin after the conquest of Goguryeo, exiled to Xiangzhou, and carried out the large-scale development of the western region.
In addition to the above two, almost all the civil and military generals who threatened Li Zhi, Li Shimin took them into account, either ascending and descending secretly, or simply sending them out of Beijing, in short, to eliminate these threats.
Among these threats, three people finally ushered in a dead end, and Li Shimin was also killed in desperation.
The first was Liu Xun, who was the prime minister at the time.
Liu Xun was originally a general, but after returning to Li Shimin, because he dared to speak out, he was deeply loved by Li Shimin, and it can be said that in addition to Wei Zheng, Liu Xun is the person who can raise the bar with Li Shimin the most.
But after Li Chengqian was deposed, Liu Xun stood on the wrong side and publicly expressed his support for Li Tai, and in the end, Li Zhi became the crown prince.
Even if there was a problem with standing in line, Li Shimin did not blame him, but let him become a member of Li Zhi's team, but after that, Liu Xun sent himself to a dead end because of two sentences.
The first sentence reads, "Your Majesty need not be anxious, for the minister is guilty, and I should punish him immediately." ！”
The background of saying this sentence is that Li Shimin wants to personally conquer Goguryeo, and before leaving, he asked the ministers who stayed behind to assist the prince in supervising the country.
After hearing this, Li Shimin said that he was very shocked, why? Punishing ministers is the power that only the emperor has, when will it be the turn of a minister to punish them? Not to mention that there is still a prince at home?
However, in view of the fact that the army was about to set off, this was not the time to pursue it, although Li Shimin was unhappy, he only warned him sideways, telling him not to talk nonsense in the future.
"If the king is not secret, he will lose his minister, and if he is not secret, he will lose his life. You are discouraged and upright, and you will be punished by it, so you should act with caution. ”
In the second sentence, the Eucharist suffers from carbuncles, which is frightening.
said this sentence after Li Shimin came back from Liaodong, because of a big sore on his back, so he was bedridden, Liu Xun and others went to visit, and after coming out, Liu Xun said this to other ministers.
In fact, there is nothing wrong with this sentence itself, but Liu Xun died because of these words, and there is a key person in it, even if Chu Suiliang.
After Chu Suiliang heard what Liu Xun said, he reported to Li Shimin, saying that Liu Xun had different intentions, compared himself to the sages Yi Yin, Huo Guang, etc., and was ready for the death of the old emperor.
As a result, Li Shimin directly killed Liu Xun.
The second to be killed was Zhang Liang, one of the heroes of Lingyan Pavilion
Zhang Liang's death is recorded in historical materials as an attempt to rebel, saying that Zhang Liang raised 500 righteous sons, and then listened to the words of others, saying that he was lying like a dragon and would be able to be noble. Therefore, I want to taste what it is like to be an emperor.
As a result, in 646 AD, he was denounced, and Li Shimin beheaded him in Chang'an West City, and confiscated all his family property.
When Zhang Liang was killed, Li Shimin was suffering from back sores, and there was no conclusion on whether Zhang Liang really had the intention of rebellion, but a year later, Li Shimin recovered, but he admitted in disguise that Zhang Liang's evidence of rebellion was insufficient.
Judging from the time when Zhang Liang was killed, he and Liu Xun were one after the other, and Li Shimin at that time was afraid that he would not be able to stand it and return to heaven, since he had already killed Liu Xun, it didn't hurt to kill one more.
What's more, Liu Xun was the prime minister at the time, Zhang Liang was in charge of the eastern capital Luoyang, and tens of thousands of troops were in his hands.
The second prince, Li Taike, was imprisoned in Luoyang.
The third person to be killed was Li Junxian
Li Junxian's death was really unjust, just because of a rumor, and he was directly clicked by Li Shimin.
Li Junxian's hometown is in Wu'an, Luoyang, he has a nickname, called Wu Niang, after following Li Shimin, he fought in the south and the north, and was named the Duke of Wulian County because of his outstanding military achievements.
Note that the most homophonic in this is the five (martial) characters, which is why Li Junxian was killed in the future.
About ten years after Li Shimin ascended the throne, a book called "Secret Notes" circulated on the market, and there was such a sentence in the book, called "After the third generation of the Tang Dynasty, there should be a female warrior king." ”
Li Shimin was convinced of this, especially in 648 AD, there was a vision of "Venus appearing in the day" over Chang'an City, and after divination, he obtained "Emperor Chuan III, Li Xing of the Wu Dynasty", which made Li Shimin even more worried.
It just so happened that in a later banquet between the monarchs and ministers, he needed to say his nickname because of the wine order, and when it was Li Junxian's turn, he was very embarrassed to say that he was called "Wu Niang".
Li Shimin was shocked when he heard this, Wu Niang, Wu'an people, and Wulian County Gong, this string together, shocked Li Shimin is cold sweat.
Isn't this the one who wants to "replace Li"?
In fact, we all know that this is not worthy of Li Junxian, but the later Wu Zetian, but Li Junxian caught up with all the good deaths, so Li Shimin found a crime without saying a word and put Li Junxian to death.
Including the death of Liu Xun, Zhang Liang and Li Junxian, in later generations, there are quite a few complaints about Li Shimin's approach, Liu Xun and Zhang Liang are completely Li Shimin's unease, and Li Junxian died of Li Shimin's confusion, the root of all this stems from Li Shimin's desire to eliminate all potential threats and pave the way for his son, even if he bears the infamy, he doesn't care.
After killing these three people, Li Shimin was also about to come to the end of his life, and the illness left by the perennial battle, as well as the big sores on his back, had exhausted the strength of this king who had galloped on the battlefield.
At the beginning of May 649, Li Shimin, who knew that he had run out of oil and dried up, called Li Zhi to his bed, made one last arrangement, demoted Li Ji from the capital, and told his son Li Zhi that if Li Ji could leave, he could be reused in the future, and if he hesitated, he would kill him directly.
After doing all this, Li Shimin finally felt at ease, everything that should be killed has been killed, and everything that should be killed has been destroyed, the frontier is stable, the courtiers are powerful, and the country can be handed over to his son with confidence.
On May 26, Li Shimin said his last words to Li Zhi and died.
"Mowgli, Suiliang, don't worry about the world!"