Tang Taizong Li Shimin was the greatest emperor in the history of the mainland, and it can even be said that there was no one; however, we cannot deny that Li Jiancheng was also a very outstanding elite, otherwise, we cannot explain why Li Shimin had no way to win by normal means, and could only win by using the extreme and bloody method of the Xuanwumen Change, or by sneak attack. Putting down an opponent doesn't make you great.
Next, let's compare Li Shimin's most military talent to see if Li Jiancheng is a noble child who eats and waits for death and is jealous of the virtuous and capable as some people say.
After Taiyuan raised troops, Li Yuan sent Li Jiancheng and Li Shimin to capture the land west of the river at the same time, and the two basically completed the task, and there was no difference.
After entering the customs, the Tang army took Li Jiancheng as the governor of the left leading army of Longxi Gong, the third army on the left, and Li Shimin as the governor of the right leading army of Dunhuang Gong, and the third army on the right.
After capturing Chang'an, Li Yuan sent Li Jiancheng and Li Shimin to the left and right marshals respectively to command the army.
It can be said that in the process of founding the country, Li Jiancheng and Li Shimin basically completed the tasks assigned by Li Yuan, and there was no obvious distinction between superior and inferior.
Among the dynasties in China, the Tang Dynasty was the most rapid in the founding of the country, with the army starting in 617 A.D. and the founding of the Tang Dynasty in 618 A.D., only one year.
However, precisely because of the rapid founding of the country, the separatist forces of all parties are still very strong, and the newly established Tang Dynasty is far from the superior kingdom of the Celestial Empire in later generations, and the rule of the Tang Dynasty is not stable, and it needs to face the challenge of strong enemies from all sides.
Schematic diagram of the end of the Sui Dynasty
At this time, there was a problem, according to the tradition of "the heir of the king, you can't be a handsome teacher", there was no prince to lead the army in all dynasties, and when it came to an extreme situation, even if the Son of Heaven personally conquered, he would not send the prince to fight. If you don't worry about the generals with foreign surnames to lead the army, they will generally send the prince to supervise the army, or be the nominal commander, such as Fusu and Meng Tian in the Qin Dynasty, Yang Guang and Yang Su in the Sui Dynasty, and Li Shi and Guo Ziyi in the Anshi Rebellion.
By the way, when Emperor Wen of Sui Yang Jian unified the Southern Dynasty, he sent his second son, Yang Guang, the king of Jin, to be the commander, and Yang Guang established a friendship with the military general group in this process, replacing the crown prince Yang Yong, and finally succeeded in seizing the throne and becoming Emperor Yang of Sui. Does the story of Li Shimin and Li Jiancheng look like a copy of this?
In 618 AD, the Tang Dynasty was founded, Li Yuan was officially proclaimed emperor, and Li Jiancheng was established as the crown prince.
It was from this time that the founding of the Tang Dynasty became the dividing line between Li Jiancheng and Li Shimin's military exploits.
Before attacking Chang'an, the two were neck and neck, and even if Li Shimin, the king of Qin, performed better, there was no obvious gap. But since Li Jiancheng served as the crown prince, there were few opportunities to lead the army to fight, and the division of labor at this time was Li Jiancheng in charge and Li Shimin Army. Li Shimin served as the main military commander of the Tang Army, and with the support of the thriving Tang Dynasty's national strength, Li Shimin's military exploits began to be prominent, but just kidding, half of Li Jiancheng's military merit medals were also included.
Because the strength of the heroes at the end of the Sui Dynasty was still there at this time, Li Shimin fought a lot of tough battles and vicious battles. In this process, Li Shimin established his own team, gathered a large number of civil and military generals, established a deep influence in the army and the DPRK, and objectively accumulated a talent base for the Xuanwumen Change.
Li Yuan also gradually realized the seriousness of this problem, and in many wars, Li Yuan deliberately shelved Li Shimin and often sent Li Jiancheng to accumulate military merits.
In the second year of Wude, Li Jiancheng sent troops to suppress the group of thieves Zhu Shanhai; in the fourth year of Wude, Li Jiancheng defeated the tribe of Liu Jiecheng, the chief of Jihu, which were two small wars, and Li Shimin's battle of Luoyang, the battle of Dou Jiande and Wang Shichong in World War I can not be compared.
However, in the fifth year of Wude, Li Jiancheng established a great military feat. After Li Shimin defeated Dou Jiande, he did not pacify Dou Jiande's remnants, but instead liquidated and forced Dou Jiande's subordinate Liu Heimin to rebel. Liu Heimin restored almost all the territory of the Dou Jiande period, and Li Shimin was repulsed. Li Yuan really had no choice but to send Li Jiancheng, Li Jiancheng used both to suppress and appease, and soon appeased many veterans who only wanted to live a peaceful life, and won a complete victory in Weizhou, captured Liu Heimin, and quickly pacified Shandong.
Liu Heimin stills
In the eighth year of Wude, the Turks invaded the border again, Li Yuan sent Li Jiancheng to garrison Youzhou, and Li Shimin garrisoned the annexed state; the Turks saw that the Tang Dynasty had already taken precautions, so they could only retreat. The two of them returned to the court.
Immediately after that, in the ninth year of Wude, the Xuanwumen Rebellion broke out. If there is no change in Xuanwumen, with Li Yuan's deliberate support, Li Jiancheng will definitely have more and more opportunities to command the army, and gradually reduce the gap with Li Shimin in military merits. However, history has no ifs, and the competition between the two came to an abrupt end that night.
In general, Li Jiancheng still has a lot of military exploits in the process of founding the Tang Dynasty, and his performance in limited opportunities is still remarkable. After the founding of the country, because of the identity of the crown prince, Li Jiancheng rarely commanded the army, and his focus turned to government affairs, so his military exploits were distanced by Li Shimin. However, Li Jiancheng is still a very accomplished heir, a qualified founding prince, not a mediocre son who sits back and enjoys his success.
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