Game of Thrones has been the case since ancient times, and the contradictions between the emperor and the crown prince are often turbulent. Tang Gaozu Li Yuan became Li Shimin's most trusted auxiliary minister Liu Wenjing, although it was only a trivial matter, but it buried the root cause of the Xuanwumen tragedy seven years later. The break between the two heroic fathers and sons is doomed to an irretrievable abyss, and everything will go down the drain ... What kind of disputes and contradictions make father and son turn against each other? And what is the reason why this turbulent situation cannot be reversed?
First, the struggle for family power, cracks are emerging
Tian Khan Li Yuan unified China and created the foundation of the Tang Dynasty, which can be said to be indispensable. At the beginning of the founding of the People's Republic of China, there were many heroes who could help the abuse. Among them, Liu Wenjing can be said to be one of the most trusted and reused advisers of the most heavenly Khan Li Yuan. At first, Liu Wenjing was just a small county magistrate, but because of his chivalrous behavior, he was appreciated by Li Yuan and was recruited into the court as an official. Since then, Liu Wenjing's career has been like a thunderbolt and changing with each passing day. In the blink of an eye, he jumped from an obscure official to the commander-in-chief of the prince's armed forces and the chief minister of the court.
However, the rise of power and status is often accompanied by jealousy and suspicion. Pei Lian, another founding father under Li Yuan, was on a par with Liu Wenjing in strength, and the two soon formed a relationship. Above the court, Pei Lin openly went to court with Liu Wenjing and sang against each other. Once, Liu Wenjing was unreasonable in arguing with Pei Lin in the court, and he didn't choose what to say, scolding Pei Lin as a "hypocrite". Afterwards, he shouted at the people around him, saying that one day he would cut off Pei Lian's head with his own hands.
This kind of variety naturally aroused the dissatisfaction of Li Yuan, the Heavenly Khan. After all, the two of them are just generals who beat gongs and drums by themselves, how can they be so arrogant and treat the court as if they were nothing? In order to prevent trouble, Li Yuan decided to strike preemptively and clear the two ill-intentioned chess pieces around him.
Soon, Pei Lin spread rumors in the DPRK and framed Liu Wenjing for rebellion. It is said that Liu Wenjing set up an altar at home, intending to instigate the masses to overthrow the dynasty. In times of war, such rumors could have made rulers fearful. Sure enough, Li Yuan was immediately moved by Pei Lian's words and ordered someone to arrest Liu Wenjing.
It is worth mentioning that Liu Wenjing made many meritorious contributions to the prince under the command of Li Shimin in his early years, and the two were also teachers and friends, sharing weal and woe. Now that Liu Wenjing has suffered this catastrophe, Li Shimin feels deeply unjust and tries his best to speak for him. It's a pity that Li Yuan was already wary of Liu Wenjing, and was bewitched by Pei Lian, so he ignored his son's words and pleading. In the end, Liu Wenjing was severely tortured in prison, but she still did not confess and surrendered to the law.
Liu Wenjing's death undoubtedly made Li Shimin have great resentment and dissatisfaction with his father Li Yuan. After all, Li Yuan killed not only an important minister, but also his son Li Shimin's most trusted assistant and close friend. This is undoubtedly a heavy blow to the crown prince who is about to inherit the throne. Since then, it is not difficult to see that Li Shimin has been suspected of being secretive and stumbling in his work in the DPRK and China. At the same time, Li Yuan also trusted his eldest son Li Jiancheng even more, and the government and the opposition Qingliu even put the power in the hands of the crown prince Li Jiancheng. In this way, the contradictions and estrangements between father and son, like an invisible bane, are secretly sprouting and taking root.
Second, the terrible price of power
Liu Wenjing's death is undoubtedly a heavy blow to Li Shimin. However, what is even more disturbing is that this turmoil did not subside, but became the fuse of the contradiction between Li Yuan and Li Shimin's father and son.
Once Game of Thrones starts playing, there's no end to it. Liu Wenjing's experience made Li Shimin see clearly his father Li Yuan's obsession with power and suspicion of himself. In Li Shimin's eyes, his father just took advantage of his friendship with Liu Wenjing and took the opportunity to get rid of this potential threat. And the reason why Liu Wenjing suffered such an injustice was completely the conspiracy of Pei Lian, an old treacherous and cunning man.
In this regard, Li Shimin secretly regretted that he had never thought of seizing power with his father. However, what his father did made him have to be careful and began to start a new business in the court. Li Shimin began to look for new cronies among the emperor's relatives and tried to re-establish himself in the court. At the same time, he also secretly co-opted many civil and military ministers and eunuchs to prevent trouble.
It is conceivable that Li Shimin's behavior soon angered his father Li Yuan. In Li Yuan's view, his son was already suspected of coveting his authority. So, Li Yuan decided to personally intervene in the government and politics, shut down his ears, and completely controlled the power in his own hands. He did not hesitate to remove his most trusted eldest son, Li Jiancheng, from the core decision-making group. At the same time, Li Yuan began to build a literary prison in the court, and carried out a severe purge of the imperial family and civil and military officials.
For a time, there were rumors in the government and the opposition, and rumors were flying all over the sky. Some said that Li Shimin wanted to rebel, and some said that Li Yuan wanted to depose the crown prince Li Jiancheng. In any case, the Tang Dynasty has disappeared and is divided into two camps, Li Yuan and Li Shimin. This situation has undoubtedly exacerbated the suspicion and vigilance of both sides.
Li Shimin was deeply helpless about what his father had done. He understood that his father had to do this out of order to preserve the unity of the dynasty. However, Li Yuan's behavior also made him see the terrible price of power: in order to maintain the rule of the dynasty, he must not hesitate to alienate his relatives and abandon each other, and kill each other. Such a price is really heavy and cruel for a founding hero.
From this point of view, Li Yuan's killing of Liu Wenjing is tantamount to teaching his son a lesson. Li Yuan used Liu Wenjing's death to warn Li Shimin that he must not start a new stove in his dynasty, otherwise the end would be as miserable as Liu Wenjing. It can be said that Li Yuan's actions made Li Shimin see clearly the price of inheriting the dynasty: either blindly obey his father and give up himself; Either break with your father and seize the dynasty in blood. This is undoubtedly a dilemma.
3. The fuse of parent-child breakup
Liu Wenjing's death was undoubtedly the fuse for Li Yuan's break with Li Shimin's father and son. Shortly thereafter, more contradictions and conflicts began to intensify between the two.
First of all, Pei Lin spared no effort to instigate Li Yuan in the court and be wary of Li Shimin's ambitions. Pei said that Li Shimin formed a faction in the DPRK and China, secretly cultivated cronies, and had bad intentions. In order to maintain the unity of the dynasty, Li Yuan had to take strict precautions and verification. Soon, he found out that Li Shimin had indeed done something unusual.
For example, Li Shimin frequently met with some heretics and eccentrics, and attached great importance to the remarks of these strange people; Another example is that Li Shimin is particularly close to some ministers of the DPRK and China, and often secretly meets with them in private, and so on. These actions undoubtedly aggravated Li Yuan's suspicions. Finally one day, Li Yuan summoned his son in the imperial study and asked Li Shimin in person whether he wanted to rebel.
As a generation of famous generals, Li Shimin saw that the reason was unclear, so he immediately spoke out bluntly and bitterly expressed his grievances. He said that he had absolutely no intention of rebelling, but was only fully prepared for the succession of the great unification in the future. It's a pity that Li Yuan overturned a boatload of people with a rod and didn't listen to Li Shimin's explanation at all. The two had a big quarrel over this, and they were even more incompatible with each other.
The contradictions between the two sides have intensified, and all kinds of speculations and rumors have inevitably arisen in the government and the opposition. Some people say that Li Yuan wants a son of the court staff, and some people say that Li Shimin wants to launch a mutiny. In the end, these rumors were heard by Li Yuan, which made his vigilance against his son reach its peak. In a fit of rage, Li Yuan decided to preemptively depose the crown prince Li Jiancheng and pass it directly to Li Shimin.
As soon as this move came out, it immediately caused an uproar in the government and the opposition. Li Yuan's cronies and relatives naturally strongly opposed it, believing that the crown prince Li Jiancheng was the eldest son and should inherit the throne. At the same time, Li Shimin's henchmen enthusiastically supported Li Shimin's succession. In this way, the court was divided into two major factions for a while, and the contradictions between the two sides were already incompatible.
In the end, under the persuasion of the courtiers, Li Yuan finally made the decision to abolish the crown prince. However, this turmoil did not subside, but further intensified the conflict between father and son. Li Shimin saw his father's suspicion and felt deeply aggrieved and helpless. And Li Yuan was full of wariness of his son, for fear that Li Shimin would one day be ambitious and rebel and seize power.
Since then, the relationship between the two has taken a sharp turn for the worse, and they have almost become incompatible enemies. Each of them began to win over their cronies in the DPRK and China, and secretly accumulated strength. The struggle for power is about to break out, and the Xuanwumen changes are brewing in this atmosphere.
Fourth, the outbreak of the Xuanwumen tragedy
When the contradictions between Li Shimin and Li Yuan were incomparable, a tragedy that shocked the whole dynasty finally broke out in front of the Xuanwu Gate.
It was late one night in 618, and Li Shimin heard that his father Li Yuan was planning to execute him, so he decided to take a gamble and get rid of his father first. He quietly gathered his cronies and subordinates and raised his troops to the palace. At this time, the struggle for power was already on the verge and had to be launched.
Li Yuan received the alarm and ordered the forbidden army to guard the Xuanwu Gate. However, Li Shimin's army has always been brave and good at fighting, and the forbidden army is not an opponent at all. Soon, the Xuanwu Gate was breached, and the two sides started a fierce battle in front of the gate. Li Shimin's ironclad army was like a rainbow in morale, and it was like a bamboo. And Li Yuan's cronies also fought bravely to kill the enemy, and the two armies fought in the palace city, and the smoke of gunpowder was everywhere.
Finally, Li Shimin's army invaded the palace. Although Li Yuan has fled without a trace, the palace has long been in chaos. Li Shimin was furious at this time, and decided to kill Li Yuan's cronies and henchmen first. The executioners quickly wiped out Li Yuan's henchmen and Yi clan, and the corpses were scattered all over the field.
The palace was filled with shouts and screams, and even innocent women and children could not escape the killing. Blood flowed and it was miserable. All this is to completely cut off Li Yuan's power and leave him helpless.
In the midst of this atrocity, there was one more heinous thing that happened. Li Shimin's executioner actually imprisoned Li Yuan's harem concubines, forcibly insulted them, and killed them one by one. The innocent palace maids were subjected to such humiliation and killing, and the scene was shocking.
This tragedy is destined to become a crime of consensus between the government and the opposition. Even in those turbulent times, such animalistic behavior was rare. However, Li Shimin turned a blind eye and even thought that this was a reasonable means, and the purpose was to completely seize power.
The horrific slaughter continued for several days, and it was not until the people in the palace who were powerless to resist that the killing came to an end. Li Yuan had no trace at this time, and even the emperor's uncle and aunt had not intervened, which showed that he was already scolded by thousands of people and had no place to be trusted. And Li Shimin left behind all the past brotherhood and brotherhood, just to seize power. In order to achieve his goal, he did not hesitate to use such a vicious hand, which can be described as unscrupulous.
In this way, Li Shimin took the throne bloodily under the iron hoof, and a nightmarish tragedy kicked off. Since then, the Xuanwu Gate has been regarded by the world as a synonym for tyranny and unreasonableness, and has become a bad portrayal of the power struggle.
5. Difficult governance after the bloody usurpation
After the Xuanwumen tragedy, although Li Shimin finally seized the imperial power, the predicament he faced was far from over. Instead, a series of new problems arose and he had to navigate the odds.
The first is the question of the legitimacy of imperial power. Although Li Shimin ascended the throne and became emperor by force, he rose to the throne by rebellion and killing his father to seize power. This has naturally aroused a lot of criticism and doubts from both the government and the opposition. Some people think that Li Shimin is a rebel who usurps the throne, and some people bluntly say that he does not have the qualifications to be a king.
In order to consolidate the imperial power and maintain the imperial program, Li Shimin had to eradicate dissidents and severely purge those officials who questioned and threatened him. Among them was the execution of the ministers who had advocated that the crown prince Li Jiancheng should not be deposed. At the same time, he also had to kill his father Li Yuan's henchmen to avoid the legacy.
This series of purge actions undoubtedly put Li Shimin in the predicament of passive defense, and he had to continue to purge internally to prevent dissidents from causing chaos. Even some of the cronies in the imperial family who showed the slightest signs of dissatisfaction could not escape their fate, and Li Shimin sometimes had to severely punish his family members and cronies in order to maintain his authority. In this way, for a while, the government and the opposition were gloomy, and Li Shimin was like a prisoner, and the day was precarious.
What made Li Shimin even more troublesome was the question of how to repair the dynasty and rebuild the authority of the dynasty. The Xuanwumen tragedy undoubtedly brought deep trauma and negative impressions to the dynasty. Relatives and clans are fighting internally, and in-laws are turning against each other, and such bad news is naturally widely spread among the people, and the people are uneasy.
In order to save his reputation, Li Shimin had to invest a lot of money to establish his orthodox status as a benevolent monarch. He spared no effort to restore the capital and show the atmosphere of the royal family; He recruited people on a large scale, thus winning the support of the scholars; He pursued a series of pro-people policies to win the hearts and minds of the people. Especially among the people, he carried out large-scale alms and relief for the poor, trying to win the hearts of the people while establishing the image of an orthodox king.
In this process, Li Shimin even overrode the public opinion, deposed the crown prince Li Jiancheng, and succeeded his youngest son Li Zhi as the prince. This undoubtedly once again aroused the shock and criticism of the government and the opposition, and even made some ministers of civil and military affairs feel uneasy. However, Li Shimin believes that only in this way can the threat to the dynasty be fundamentally eliminated by the eldest son Li Jiancheng and ensure the continuation of the dynasty.
This series of measures finally stabilized Li Shimin's reign. But at the cost of becoming a totalitarian tyrant, he was even regarded by many as a "rebel usurper". In order to maintain this dynasty that came to the altar because of blood, he had to repeatedly purge dissidents and suppress discontent through repressive rule.
In this way, Li Shimin exchanged blood and killing for imperial power, but fell into a vicious circle of having to suppress dissent again and again. And in order to sweep away the opposition and win the hearts of the people, he had to spend a lot of effort to establish his orthodox image. As everyone knows, what really brings prestige to the dynasty should be open-mindedness, wisdom and pragmatic deeds, rather than vanity and exaggeration.