Liu Bang, the ancestor of the Han Dynasty, killed the king with a different surname, Zhu Yuanzhang, the Taizu of the Ming Dynasty, slaughtered the Huaixi Xungui, but the Taizu of the Song Dynasty was able to release the military power with a glass of wine; Tang Taizong Li Shimin treated heroes well in the early days, but in his later years, he raised a butcher's knife to kill heroes, and these people's actions have one thing in common.
One
This common denominator is "the essence of the emperor's killing of heroes":
The emperor doesn't care what you want to do, but cares about "what you can do"!
The emperor will naturally not be afraid if he has ideas and no ability, because no matter how much this kind of person jumps, he can't escape the palm of the emperor's hand.
However, those heroes are different! Because the heroes have the ability to rebel, it is easy to break away from the emperor's control. This ability will not make the emperor feel at ease because of the loss of military power.
In March of the fifth year of Wude (622), Li Shimin led his army to destroy Liu Heimin, and returned to Chang'an. returned to Chang'an, Li Shimin was equivalent to losing his military power, and his strength in Chang'an was not as good as Li Yuanji, the king of Qi, not to mention the prince Li Jiancheng, who was completely the fish on the board of the prince and the king of Qi.
But in this way, Li Shimin was still jealous of the prince and others, and he couldn't wait to put him to death. Li Yuan also favored the prince everywhere to suppress Li Shimin because of Li Shimin's great contributions, which eventually led to the "Xuanwumen Change".
Li Shimin deeply understands the embarrassment of being a hero, and after becoming the emperor, he also trusts the hero as much as possible. Whether it is the former minister of the Qin Palace, or the former prince's party, he treats everyone equally. Compared with other emperors, Li Shimin is very good to meritorious heroes, and most meritorious heroes can get the glory and wealth they deserve.
However, no matter how enlightened Li Shimin is, he can't get rid of the "essence of the emperor killing heroes", and Li Shimin still killed heroes in his later years.
Two
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 deeply, and he doubted all people and things related to "Wu", especially those women surnamed Wu.
Don't wonder Li Shimin is so sensitive, I think that when his father took the Sui Dynasty, there was also a proverb that "peaches and plums win the world". No, his father really seized the Sui Dynasty.
At a banquet to reward meritorious heroes, Li Shimin inadvertently learned that Li Junxian's nickname was "Five Ladies", and then thought that Li Junxian was a native of Wu'an, Zhaozhou, and was given the title of Duke of Wulian County, and the official was General Zuo Wuwei, and his office was in Xuanwumen.
Good guy, a potential traitor who has been looking for feelings for so long is actually right in front of you. Li Shimin was suspicious, and Li Junxian was already labeled as a traitor.
In the twenty-second year of Zhenguan (648), Li Shimin sent Li Junxian to Huazhou as an assassin, and then beheaded him on the grounds of "bullying the king and oppressing the people".
Why did Li Shimin have to kill Li Junxian?
In line with the principle of preferring to kill by mistake rather than let go, Li Shimin planned to eliminate all those who might threaten the crown prince Li Zhi before he died.
Li Shimin was not afraid that Li Junxian had the heart to rebel, but was worried that after his death, someone would use this prophecy to support Li Junxian to rebel. In fact, judging from Li Junxian's resume, he doesn't have the ability to rebel, but he can't stand someone using his name to rebel.
Killing Li Junxian is both to quell the rumors and to warn those who create and spread them.
People who died like this from unfounded rumors, as well as Prime Minister Liu Xun.
Three
Liu Xun was the prime minister of the late Zhenguan period, and he clashed with Chu Suiliang over the establishment of the crown prince, and he was originally a supporter of Li Tai, the king of Wei, while Chu Suiliang supported Li Zhi, the king of Jin.
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 new prince Li Zhi together with Gao Shilian and Ma Zhou. It can also be seen from this incident that Li Shimin is indeed good at accepting advice, no matter who he supported before, as long as he has talent, he will still be reused.
In December of the 19th year of Zhenguan (645), Li Shimin fell ill on the way back to Goguryeo, and Liu Xun went to visit and saw that Li Shimin was suffering from carbuncles, and he was very worried. In that society where medicine was not yet developed, carbuncle would kill people, but fortunately Li Shimin survived, but since then, his body has been seriously damaged, and he has been sick often.
Speaking of Liu Xun, he didn't care about his own worries, and after he went back, he told Chu Suiliang his thoughts.
As the saying goes, the speaker has no intention and the listener has the intention!
After Li Shimin returned to Chang'an, Chu Suiliang went to sue Liu Xun, saying that Liu Xun planned to become a powerful minister like Yi Yin and Huo Guang. This hit Li Shimin's sensitive nerves.
The prince is the most likely to be overshadowed by the ministers, not to mention that Liu Xun originally did not support the establishment of the king of Jin as the crown prince. If you dare to say this before you die, your heart can be punished!
So, no matter how others persuaded him, Li Shimin finally 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.
Li Shimin is not the kind of monarch who is in a coma, and he did not listen to Chu Suiliang's words and killed Liu Xun, and sent Prime Minister Ma Zhou and others to investigate, and came to the conclusion that Liu Xun did not say anything like that.
When the facts were in front of him, Li Shimin finally let Liu Xun commit suicide, not because Li Shimin didn't believe that Liu Xun was innocent, but because Liu Xun had the ability to be a powerful minister, and he had already shown signs.
If Li Shimin really believed Chu Suiliang's words and believed that Liu Xun was plotting rebellion, then he would not have let Liu Xun commit suicide alone, but should have exterminated Liu Xun's entire clan.
Four
Liu Xun died very unjustly, and Zhang Liang died unjustly like him.
Although Zhang Liang did not directly participate in the "Xuanwumen Change", he was also a great contributor to the Zhenguan Dynasty.
During the Xuanwumen Incident, Li Shimin sent Zhang Liang to Luoyang in advance to arrange a back road for himself, so that he could retreat to Luoyang to defend when the incident failed. Being able to hand over his back road to Zhang Liang shows that Li Shimin trusts him very much.
is such a trustworthy hero, and 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 deliberately rebelling against 500 people who raised his own son, and now Li Shimin's sensitive nerves were hooked again.
At the beginning, Li Shimin relied on 800 private soldiers to launch the "Xuanwumen Change" and finally won the throne. Zhang Liang has nothing to do, why do you raise so many godsons? Isn't it just to learn from yourself to raise troops and seize power?
So, after going through the investigation procedure, Zhang Liang was taken to Chang'an West City to be beheaded, and all his property was confiscated.
Why did Li Shimin have to kill Zhang Liang?
From the first year of Zhenguan, Zhang Liang successively served as the general of the right guard, the governor of Huaizhou, the imperial historian, and the governor of the three prefectures of Fengxia, and later entered the court as the secretary of the Ministry of Industry, the prince Zhan Shi, and then served as the governor of Luozhou (now Luoyang, Henan).
It can be seen from Zhang Liang's resume that he is a figure in both military and political circles, and he also served as the governor of Luozhou, which is the second largest capital of the Tang Dynasty.
Such a character, whether he is a minister in power or a change of dynasty, has that ability and conditions. In addition, he also raised 500 godsons privately, Li Shimin doesn't care if you have an idea or not, except for the first time.
Zhang Liang was killed in this way, and Li Shimin regretted it afterwards, but people can't be resurrected after death, and it's useless to regret it.
If Zhang Liang can learn from Li Jing and Wei Chigong, maybe he will be able to have a good death.
Five
In the ninth year of Zhenguan (635), Li Jing, who was already 64 years old, went out to Tuyuhun against the wind and snow, but after returning from victory, he was accused of rebellion.
After some investigation, it was confirmed that it was a false accusation. Li Shimin severely punished those who were falsely accused and exiled them to the frontier. After this incident, Li Jing understood that his credit was too great, and if he didn't retire, he might not get a good death.
Since then, Li Jing "is to close the door and guard himself, to prevent guests, although relatives are not allowed to enter."
Why is Li Jing so cautious that he won't even let his relatives see him?
He understands "the essence of the emperor's killing of meritorious heroes", and meritorious heroes are born with the conditions for rebellion, that is, if he relieves all his military power and duties, the emperor will not rest assured.
If you want to reassure the emperor, then stay away from the court, stay away from outsiders, and don't even see your relatives, so naturally you can't get in touch with the outside world, how can you rebel!
This trick is really good, you see that Wei Chigong was obsessed with alchemy all day long, building courtyards, enjoying music, and closing doors to visitors, not contacting outsiders, this period lasted for 13 years.
Because of this, Li Jing and Wei Chigong were able to get a good death, and they were also highly praised by the emperor after their deaths.