Li Yuan established the Tang Dynasty, which once had unlimited scenery and could be described as "dominant". But in his later years, a bizarre decision made his eldest son Li Shimin extremely annoyed. The 52-year-old Li Yuan actually gave birth to 30 more children, which is simply a provocation to Li Shimin's authority! How did Li Shimin deal with this tricky family infighting? Will he kill these newborn siblings, or will he find another way to eliminate the hidden dangers? Will there be another clan coup? Where will this power struggle between father and son go in the end?
Uncover the secret of Li Yuan's rebirth of children
At the beginning of the founding of the Tang Dynasty, Li Yuan was busy taking care of state affairs and did not have many children. Until the ninth year of Wude (626), Li Yuan was over half a hundred years old. This year, Li Shimin experienced the thrilling "Xuanwumen Change", and was finally appointed as the crown prince by Li Yuan and controlled the power of the court. In this year, Li Yuan, who was fifty-two years old, became pregnant, and in the following years, she gave birth to more than 30 children in a row.
Why did Li Yuan pass the age of ear shun, but still opened the door to life and gave birth to more than 30 sons in one go? The reason may be related to what happened to Li Yuan back then. According to historical records, Li Yuan was taken captive by the Turks on the way to flee and was once subjected to inhuman treatment. At that time, Li Yuan vowed to avenge the Turks' blood revenge. After pacifying the world and establishing the Tang Dynasty, in order to take revenge on the Turks, Li Yuan always wanted to have more sons and expand the strength of the family, in order to compete with the Turks in the future.
However, this decision has put a lot of pressure on Li Shimin. As the crown prince, Li Shimin has been preparing for the succession of the unification. And Li Yuan gave birth to more than 30 sons, which undoubtedly increased the uncertainty of the crown prince's position. These newborn brothers may pose a threat to Li Shimin's power in the future, or even seize the throne. Therefore, Li Shimin was deeply dissatisfied with Li Yuan's childbirth in his later years, believing that this was a provocation and sabotage of his authority.
Faced with the new variables of the power struggle between father and son, Li Shimin looked solemn at the beginning and did not show any emotion. But everyone around him can see that Li Shimin is deeply annoyed by this matter. Some rumors soon spread in the palace, and the palace people whispered in private, speculating whether Li Shimin would kill his newborn brother to prevent trouble.
Family infighting caused by power struggles
As Li Yuan's new children grew, the struggle for power escalated within the royal family. As a father, Li Yuan naturally hopes that his newborn children can get a piece of the pie and get the power they deserve. However, Li Shimin, as the designated crown prince, naturally hopes to firmly control the power in his own hands and avoid his newborn brother from interfering sideways.
For this reason, Li Yuan began to secretly plan the status of the heir for his newborn children. Among them, the most valued is Li Yuan's newborn son Li Zhi in the third year of Zhenguan (629). Li Zhi has shown extraordinary wisdom since he was a child, and he is deeply appreciated by Li Yuan. In order to clear the way for Li Zhi to succeed to the throne, Li Yuan did not hesitate to take back the position of Li Zhiyun, the king of Chu, who was personally crowned by Li Shimin, and changed the title to Li Zhi.
In the face of his father's fraudulent behavior, although Li Shimin was furious, he could only swallow his anger because of the courtesy. However, in order to prevent this from happening, Li Shimin is also secretly arranged, trying to isolate and weaken the power of Li Zhi and other newborn brothers.
One of the important means is to reward important ministers and win over the government and the opposition. In the early years of Zhenguan, Li Shimin frequently promoted important ministers, such as Xue Wanche, Wei Zheng, Fang Xuanling and others, and made them his own descendants, thus establishing his prestige and authority in the court.
At the same time, Li Shimin was also secretly alienating and isolating Li Yuan. He no longer visited Li Yuan as often as before, and ignored Li Yuan's political affairs. This kind of cold and violent approach made Li Yuan gradually lose his right to speak and speak in the palace.
Li Shimin's series of behaviors have exacerbated the contradictions and discord within the royal family. As the newborn brothers grew older, the royal infighting became more and more intense. According to historical records, one year on Chinese New Year's Eve, Li Zhi and Li Shimin's son and crown prince Li Jiancheng were drinking in the palace when they actually fought and almost caused a catastrophe. After Li Yuan learned of this incident, although he scolded the two of them, he could not cure the root cause of the royal infighting.
Li Shimin's conspiracy and disposal methods
In the face of Li Yuan's various actions to seek power for his newborn children, Li Shimin naturally will not sit idly by. As the crown prince, he should take strong action to ensure that the throne is his own and not threatened and shaken by other members of the clan.
Li Shimin's first step was to weaken the power of his newborn brother. He not only took back Li Zhi's title, but also secretly instigated his cronies to attack other newborn brothers, causing them to suffer a lot of damage. For example, Li Shimin's confidant Fang Xuanling, once secretly swept away the heirs of the clan entrusted by Li Yuan in Youzhou Military Town, and suppressed their power to the point of homelessness.
At the same time, Li Shimin was also actively isolating and hollowing out Li Yuan's position in the government. He no longer reported government affairs to Li Yuan as before, but directly took the lead and gave orders. Even sometimes Li Yuan's edicts, Li Shimin deliberately ignored them and made opposing moves. For a while, the government and the opposition no longer regarded Li Yuan as the emperor.
While weakening the power of Li Yuan and his newborn brother, Li Shimin is also actively consolidating his authoritative position in the government and the opposition. He constantly co-opted meritorious ministers and entrusted them with important tasks, making them his descendants. At the same time, Li Shimin was also good at using the means of party strife to sow discord between the kings of the clan and the ministers of the court, so that they could not stop fighting among themselves, so that they had no time to deal with themselves.
In the fourth year of Zhenguan (630), Li Shimin's series of actions finally paid off. In this year, Li Yuan officially passed the crown prince to Li Shimin and personally crowned him. Since then, Li Shimin has gained the rightful status of the crown prince, and no one in the government and the opposition dares to challenge his authority anymore.
The consequences of the intensification of clan conflicts
The power struggle between Li Shimin, Li Yuan, and his new brother did not stop there. On the contrary, it was only the beginning of a much larger sectarian strife. As the contradictions continued to escalate, the entire Tang Empire suffered heavy trauma.
First of all, the ministers of the DPRK and China were completely divided into two factions. One faction followed Li Shimin, insisting that the crown prince should control everything; The other faction remained loyal to Li Yuan and hoped to maintain the authority of the Emperor. Due to differences in interests and propositions, the two sides often engaged in verbal battles and-for-tat confrontations in the court.
On one occasion, Li Yuan's confidant Fang Zhen publicly questioned whether Li Shimin's actions were reasonable and legal. This outspokenness angered Li Shimin, who immediately dismissed Fang Zhen from his post and exiled him, uprooted his henchmen, and filled the frontier. Since then, the ruling and opposition fronts have become more intense.
The clan contradictions also spread to the people, triggering a vigorous class struggle. At that time, there was a group of so-called "henchmen" who were Li Yuan's supporters. They secretly spread rumors among the people, slandered Li Shimin as a "rebel", and damaged the reputation of the royal family. In order to suppress this unresting force, Li Shimin had to severely punish him, ordering the arrest and execution of a large number of civilians suspected of being "party henchmen."
What's more serious is that the internal strife in the clan directly shook the foundation of the Tang Dynasty's rule. At that time, the contradictions between the government and the opposition intensified and reached the point where they could not be separated. The power vacuum and the stagnation of the government caused many feudal kings to waver, and the idea of centrifugal detachment arose.
According to historical records, some vassal kings personally went to Chang'an to meet Li Yuan, hoping that he could regain control of the power and unify the dynasty. However, Li Yuan rejected them on the grounds that "I am old and can only listen to the prince's arrangement", and the clan conflict further worsened.
This power struggle lasted for several years, until the fifth year of Zhenguan (631), when Li Shimin finally completely defeated all his clan opponents and unified the dynasty. But in the process, the Tang Dynasty also paid a heavy price, the government stagnated for several years, the people were struggling to make a living, and the confrontation between the upper and lower classes intensified. This undoubtedly laid the foundation for the future of the Tang Dynasty.
Summary and reflection
The power struggle between Li Shimin and Li Yuan brought deep trauma to the entire Tang Dynasty. This not only led to the stagnation of the government and the people's misery, but also exposed the various shortcomings of the power struggle within the dynasty.
Looking back on the whole process of this power struggle, it is not difficult for us to find that Li Yuan and Li Shimin's practices are commendable. As the founding emperor, Li Yuan gave birth to many children, on the one hand, out of selfishness, hoping that the heirs could enrich the power of the imperial family; On the other hand, it was also out of the need for revenge and the expansion of the dynasty. From this point of view, Li Yuan's approach is understandable.
But from another point of view, Li Yuan inadvertently created the fuse of the royal fight. After he personally gave the crown prince to Li Shimin, he sought the status of crown prince for other heirs several times, which will undoubtedly trigger power struggles and aggravate contradictions and antagonisms.
In contrast, Li Shimin's approach is more rational. As the crown prince, he naturally has the right to defend his power and consolidate his dominance. However, he also used many methods in the process, such as co-opting henchmen, isolating dissidents, and attacking his newborn brother, which also caused a lot of controversy and backlash at the time.
This power struggle between father and son and within the clan reflects the various contradictions and problems during the period of dynastic change. On the one hand, dynastic succession often requires brutal and ruthless clan struggles, and there will inevitably be contradictions and antagonisms between the new dynasty and the old dynasty. On the other hand, the power struggle within the imperial family often affects the entire government and the people's mind, resulting in class antagonism and the dissolution of the government.
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All this undoubtedly laid the foundation for the rule of the Tang Dynasty. Although Li Shimin eventually unified the dynasty, the dynasty also paid a heavy price in this protracted clan strife. It was not until the Sui and Tang dynasties that the continued existence of class contradictions between the government and the opposition finally triggered the Anshi Rebellion and became the fuse for the decline and fall of the Tang Dynasty.