In February of the seventeenth year of Zhenguan (643), Wei Zheng, a minister of the ages, died, and Li Shimin, Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, was very sad and personally wrote an inscription for him, and compared it to a mirror of himself.
Not long after saying this, Li Shimin knocked down the newly erected tombstone of Wei Zheng.
It turned out that after Wei Zheng's death, the crown prince Li Chengqian rebelled, involving Hou Junji and Du Zhenglun. Wei Zheng recommended the two to be prime ministers before his death, so Li Shimin suspected that Wei Zheng had a private alliance with the two.
Years of trust between monarchs and ministers instantly vanished, replaced by constant suspicion.
One
In the second year after Wei Zheng's death, Li Shimin planned to conquer Goryeo in person, and before leaving, he wanted to visit those old heroes who were idle at home, and he first thought of Li Jing, the military god of the Tang Dynasty.
Since the tenth year of Zhenguan (636), Li Jing has "closed the door and guarded himself, put an end to guests, although relatives are not allowed to enter in vain", completely without quarrel with the world, the meaning of retreating to the mountains and forests.
At the beginning, Li Jing dragged his leg disease and took command at the age of 65 to go on an expedition to Tuyuhun. Stepping on ice and snow all the way, sleeping in the open, after two months of bloody fighting, Fu Yun Khan was finally cornered and killed by his subordinates.
Since then, Datang has controlled the entire territory of Tuyuhun, and the western territory has been stabilized.
Li Jing has made such a great contribution and deserves to be rewarded heavily, but who knew that after the class teacher returned to the court, he was accused of rebellion. Although after some investigation, he came to the conclusion of false accusations, and in the end, there was no danger, but it also made Li Jing understand that his credit was indeed too great, and it was time to retire. Since then, Li Jing has been idle at home, ignoring the government.
When Li Shimin and his entourage came to the Li Mansion, everyone in the Li Mansion had been waiting at the gate for a long time!
After a courtesy of the monarch and the minister, Li Shimin told Li Jing about the personal expedition and asked Li Jing if he intended to go with him. At this time, Li Jing was already 73 years old and seriously ill.
Li Jing knelt down and said: "In the past, I relied on the prestige of the Son of Heaven to make a small contribution, and now Your Majesty should follow it if you want to recruit in person, but I am afraid that this sick body will miss Your Majesty's plan." ”
Li Shimin touched his beard and said with a smile: "Sima Yi is old and sick and self-reliant, and he can also make great contributions to the Cao Wei regime, Aiqing should follow suit and make immortal contributions to the Tang Dynasty!"
After listening to Li Shimin's words, cold sweat broke out on Li Jing's forehead!
Sima Yi deceived everyone by pretending to be sick, unexpectedly launched the Gaopingling Incident, and finally seized the power of Cao Wei. Li Shimin's intention when he said this at this time was already obvious. If Li Jing still doesn't understand, it won't be far from extermination.
Obviously, Li Jing understood the meaning behind Li Shimin, and hurriedly said: "The old minister asked to accompany him with illness. ”
Li Shimin saw that Li Jing was so knowledgeable, and left satisfied!
Later, Li Jing accompanied him to Xiangzhou (present-day Linzhang County, Hebei), but he was too ill to travel anymore. Li Shimin saw that he was not pretending, so he asked him to recuperate in Xiangzhou while serving on military intelligence.
Two
After learning the news that the emperor was about to go on a personal expedition, Wei Chigong felt that it was undesirable, this was simply a stupid move.
Wei Chigong was the first contributor to the Xuanwumen Rebellion, not only shot Li Yuanji, the king of Qi, for Li Shimin, but also personally led his troops to the Forbidden Palace to meet Li Yuan. Li Shimin was able to seize the throne, and Wei Chigong contributed a lot, and his loyalty can be seen by the sun and the moon.
In February of the thirteenth year of Zhenguan (639), Wei Chigong was transferred to the governor of Yanzhou (now Fuxian, Shaanxi). Before leaving, Li Shimin told Wei Chigong that someone had accused him of rebellion.
After hearing this, Wei Chigong immediately lost his temper, and stripped off his shirt in front of the emperor, revealing his upper body full of knife wounds and arrow scars.
This is a wordless accusation, Li Shimin naturally understood what Wei Chigong meant, and didn't say anything. After some kind words of comfort, he let Wei Chigong take office.
This incident also made Wei Chigong understand that if he wants to enjoy his old age in peace, he can only retire in advance. So, in February of the seventeenth year of Zhenguan (643), he asked to go home for retirement.
Li Shimin agreed, and Wei Chigong lived a retired life. Like Li Jing, he almost never has contact with outsiders, listens to music every day, grows flowers, raises fish and so on, and lives a very leisurely life.
When he learned the news that the emperor was going to march in person, Wei Chigong didn't have to go to this troubled water, but out of loyalty to Li Shimin, he felt that it was still necessary to advise.
Wei Chigong wrote: "The emperor is personally recruiting abroad, leaving only the prince to supervise the country, Chang'an and Luoyang are weak, and I am afraid that there will be another 'Yang Xuangan rebellion'." Besides, if you want to conquer a small remote country, why bother the emperor to drive the expedition in person, and send excellent generals. ”
At this time, Li Shimin had long been unable to listen to the advice, so naturally he would not adopt Wei Chigong's suggestion. But he got a little reminder from this exhortation.
Wei Chigong can also be an unstable factor, he is a participant in the whole process of the Xuanwumen Change, and he has a high prestige in leading the army for a long time. If he wants to rebel, the prince really can't hold it back.
In that case, take it with you!
Therefore, Li Shimin asked Wei Chi Gong to say goodbye to retirement, and went out with the army to serve as the commander of the Ma Army according to his original position, and followed him to the garrison mountain (now the first mountain in the southwest of Liaoyang City, Liaoning), and there was no great record of merit along the way.
After the class teacher returned to the court, Wei Chigong immediately resigned and went home to continue to retire.
Since then, Wei Chigong has started a 13-year pension life, and all day long is "wearing and building ponds, worshipping Qiluo, often playing Qingshang music to support himself, and not communicating with outsiders".
He also used the method of "believing in the fairy formula, flying alchemy stones, and taking mica" to tell the world that he has long been obsessed with the world and is only obsessed with the elixir.
In his later years, Li Shimin's suspicion of meritorious heroes was even stronger, especially those who were overly famous. If these people know how to retire early, most of them can enjoy their old age in peace, Li Jing and Wei Chigong are such types.
And those heroes who neither retreat nor know how to converge will eventually lead to a tragic end because of Li Shimin's suspicion. Zhang Liang, one of the "Twenty-four Heroes of Lingyan Pavilion", is the most typical one.
Three
Although Zhang Liang did not participate in the "Xuanwumen Change", he was also a great hero of the Zhenguan Dynasty.
At the beginning, the contradiction between Li Shimin and the crown prince Li Jiancheng intensified, thinking that Luoyang was a good place that could be used as his own back road. So, he ordered Zhang Liang to lead more than 1,000 people to Luoyang secretly to make friends with Shandong Haojie in case the situation changed.
This matter was learned by the prince's party, and Zhang Liang was arrested halfway, and Zhang Liang just didn't open his mouth under torture, so he had no choice but to release him.
Soon, Li Shimin launched the Xuanwumen Rebellion, killed Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji, and ascended the throne. Zhang Liang was awarded the title of General of the Right Guard, Governor of Huaizhou, and Duke of Changping County for his merits.
Zhang Liang is a die-hard fan of Li Shimin, and once Hou Junji instigated him to rebel, and he turned around and informed Li Shimin of the matter, which shows his loyalty.
is such a loyal minister, but in the end, because of Li Shimin's suspicion, he ended up in a different place and his family was ruined.
In the twentieth year of Zhenguan (646), someone accused Zhang Liang of raising 500 righteous sons privately and deliberately rebelling.
Li Shimin was furious: "What can Zhang Liang do if he raises so many righteous sons? Isn't it just to rebel!" The hundred officials agreed, saying that Zhang Liang wanted to rebel and should be killed.
Only Li Daoyu said: "Zhang Liang has no fact of rebellion, and he deserves to die for his crime." ”
At this time, Li Shimin's suspicion had risen, and where could he still listen to the opposition, he sent Changsun Wuji and Fang Xuanling to the prison to say goodbye to Zhang Liangjue, and then escorted him to Chang'an West City to be beheaded, and confiscated all his property.
Afterwards, Li Shimin regretted not listening to Li Daoyu's words, but unfortunately people could not be resurrected after death.
Four
The hero who was also killed because of suspicion was Li Junxian. The reason why he was killed was just because of a rumor that "the heroine Wuwang has the world".
In the late Zhenguan period, there has been a proverb among the people: "After three generations of the Tang Dynasty, the heroine King Wu replaced the Li family and owned the world." Li Shimin hated this and doubted all people and things related to "martial arts."
Although Li Junxian is not surnamed Wu, there are too many places in his resume that are related to the word "Wu":
Nationality: Wu'an, Chaozhou;
Title: Duke of Wulian County;
Official position: General Zuo Wuwei;
Location: Xuanwu Gate.
What's worse is that Li Junxian's nickname is "Five Niangzi". I have to say that Li Junxian is indeed a complete unlucky guy, and he has taken all of them with such a difficult condition.
When he learned that Li Junxian's nickname was "Five Niangzi", Li Shimin's suspicion rose. No matter how you look at it, you feel that Li Junxian is the one who wants to take the world of the Li family.
Not long after, Li Shimin sent Li Junxian to Huazhou as a assassin, and then beheaded him on the grounds of "bullying the monarch and oppressing the people".
People who died like this from unfounded rumors, as well as Prime Minister Liu Xun.
Liu Xun was originally a supporter of Li Tai, the king of Wei, and after the crown prince Li Chengqian was deposed for rebellion, he strongly recommended Li Tai as the crown prince. This is a bond with Li Zhi's supporters, Changsun Wuji and Chu Suiliang.
Later, Li Tai was defeated and demoted, and Liu Xun was promoted to the governor of the province, and concurrently served as the prince's left concubine, and assisted the prince Li Zhi together with Gao Shilian and Ma Zhou.
Li Shimin fell ill on the way back to Goryeo, and Liu Xun went to visit, and said to Chu Suiliang afterwards: "The Holy Communion suffers from carbuncles, which is worrying. ”
There is nothing wrong with this statement itself.
Who knew that after the incident, Chu Suiliang said to Li Shimin: "Liu Xun wants to become a person like Yi Yin and Huo Guang." "Now, Li Shimin is not calm!
Who is Huo Guangna? The powerful minister of the Western Han Dynasty, the Liu family was almost about to fall into his hands. When you Liu Xun said such things, didn't you just show that the prince was cowardly and wanted to bully the king and usurp power!
Although Ma Zhou and others tried their best to prove that Liu Xun did not say such a thing at all, Li Shimin's suspicion was that he would rather kill by mistake than let go, and ordered Liu Xun to commit suicide.
The dignified prime minister of the Tang Dynasty was unjustly killed in this way, and it was not until the reign of Gaozong Li Zhi that he was rehabilitated.
Five
Fang Xuanling, the famous prime minister who created the "rule of Zhenguan" with Li Shimin, was also walking on thin ice in Li Shimin's suspicion in his later years.
Worried that he would be suspicious of Li Shimin, Fang Xuanling took the initiative to apply for dismissal many times. According to historical records, Fang Xuanling was at home at least three times during the Zhenguan period.
In the nineteenth year of Zhenguan (645), when Li Shimin personally conquered Goryeo, he ordered Fang Xuanling to stay in Chang'an to assist the prince in supervising the country, and entrusted him with all the power of the court, so that he could "engage in it cheaply and not repeat the invitation".
This is actually the identity and power given to Fang Xuanling as an agent of imperial power, which shows the emperor's trust in him.
One day, Fang Xuanling was staying at the yamen office, and someone suddenly broke in and kept saying that he wanted to tell the truth.
Fang Xuanling asked him who he was accusing?
The man said, "Tell you!"
Fang Xuanling didn't think about it, and immediately ordered someone to prepare a carriage and horse, and sent this informant directly to the emperor.
After Li Shimin saw the informant, he directly cut it in half, and wrote back to scold Fang Xuanling, since you have full authority, you must dare to use it, don't bother me with this kind of trivial matter in the future.
Why is Fang Xuanling so scared?
Because he knew very well that the emperor was no longer as obedient as he was when he was young, and his suspicion of ministers became more and more serious. Although he was given the right to arbitrarily deal with it directly, he would inevitably be suspicious of the emperor afterwards.
Therefore, Fang Xuanling would rather be scolded than hand over the matter to the emperor. In the final analysis, it was because Li Shimin was too suspicious in his later years.
There is also Li Tao who is as smart as Fang Xuanling.
Six
Li Tao was born in Wagangzhai, and after returning to the Tang Dynasty, he has been following Li Shimin to fight in the south and the north, and can be said to be Li Shimin's hardcore henchman.
Li Shimin's evaluation of Li Tao is: "If the public does not live up to Li Mi, it will not be a failure!" It can be seen that he trusts Li Tao.
But it is such a relationship of trust that Li Shimin in his later years also had murderous intentions towards Li Tao.
On May 15, the twenty-third year of Zhenguan (649), Li Shimin issued an edict to demote Li Tao as the governor of Diezhou.
Before this, Li Shimin said to the crown prince Li Zhi: "Li Tao is a great talent, but you are unkind to him, I am afraid that he will not obey you." I now belittle him, and if he sets out at once, you can trust and reuse him when he ascends the throne, and if he lingers, kill him. ”
Li Shimin was dying, worried that Li Tao would be proud of his achievements and disagree with the new monarch, so he demoted Li Tao from the capital, firstly, it was a test for him, and secondly, it could also be left for his son to be promoted by grace.
If you are not guilty and degraded, there will be something strange!
Li Tao immediately understood what Li Shimin meant, and he didn't return home, nor did he drink the parting wine, so he immediately set off for Diezhou to take up his post.
This kind of performance made Li Shimin and Li Zhi very satisfied!
In the month of Li Zhi's accession to the throne, he summoned Li Zhi to the history of the assassination of Luozhou. Then he added the seal of Kaifu Yi and the three divisions, and ordered Li Tao to serve as a subordinate of Tongzhongshu and participate in the management of confidential affairs.
In the same year, he worshiped the left servant of Shangshu and became a veritable prime minister.