On the fourth day of The ninth year of the reign of Wude of the Tang Dynasty (July 2, 626 AD), Li Shimin, the second son of Li Yuan, the Second Son of Tang Gaozu, launched a mutiny near the Beigong Gate (Xuanwu Gate) of the Chang'an Imperial Palace, killing Crown Prince Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji, the King of Qi, on the spot, which was the famous "XuanwuMen Change" in Chinese history.
Three days after the "Xuanwumen Rebellion", Li Yuan proclaimed Li Shimin crown prince and issued an edict stating: "From now on, the military state is in affairs, and the prince is executed without any size, and then he hears the music." Two months later, Li Yuan ceded the throne to Li Shimin, and he retired to the background as the emperor of the ether and lived a retirement life. So what about Life after Li Yuan's abdication? There are not many records of this emperor in the history books, but we can still infer whether Li Yuan's last nine years of life were good or not through some relevant information.
Li Yuan ceded the throne to Li Shimin shortly after the "Xuanwumen Revolution", but it is not difficult to imagine that Li Yuan's decision was not out of his own heart, but forced by the situation. Therefore, Li Yuan still showed some negative resistance after handing over the power, the most obvious of which was to insist on not moving.
The core of the Tang Dynasty Imperial Palace was the Taiji Palace, which was both the place where the emperor worked and where the emperor slept. It is reasonable to say that Li Yuan should move out of the Taiji Palace after abdicating, but this Emperor Taishang behaved quite stubbornly in this matter and insisted on not moving the nest. Therefore, although Li Shimin had become emperor, he could still only handle government affairs and living in the Eastern Palace.
Li Shimin obtained the throne by extraordinary means, so he desperately wanted his legitimacy not to be questioned. However, as an emperor, he could not govern the country in the Taiji Palace, which symbolized imperial power, which really made him feel very embarrassed.
Since the "change of Xuanwu Gate", Li Yuan and Li Shimin's father and son have become strangers. But even if Li Shimin didn't care about Li Yuan's feelings, he still had to worry about the world's leisurely mouth, so although he was very dissatisfied in his heart, he couldn't drag his father out of the Taiji Palace. In order to put pressure on Li Yuan, Li Shimin overthrew many policies promulgated during Li Yuan's reign from the beginning of his reign, which was equivalent to punching Li Yuan in the face.
In the blink of an eye, more than three years had passed, but in the face of Li Shimin's various explicit hints, Li Yuan turned a deaf ear and insisted on living in the Taiji Palace. Li Shimin felt that it was not right to go on like this, so he increased the intensity of the blow. In order to exert further pressure, Li Shimin began to attack Li Yuan's most trusted minister, Pei Huan.
Pei Ning was one of the most important founding heroes of the Tang Dynasty, and he and Li Yuan were both monarchs and close friends, and the relationship between the two was too good to say. Therefore, as long as Pei Huan is eliminated, it is equivalent to giving Li Yuan a serious warning, and the old man will humiliate himself if he is no longer interested.
However, Pei Huan was an important minister of the imperial court, an official to Sikong, and a very popular subject. To remove such a figure from power, it is reasonable to say that a sufficient amount of guilt must be fabricated. However, what people can't figure out is that the reason for Pei Ning's dismissal was that a monk named Faya had spoken a demon, and Pei Ning did not report to the emperor in time after hearing this. A courtier who was ranked in the third rank fell because of this trivial matter, and it was really a king who wanted to die, and the subject had to die.
Soon after Pei Ning was overthrown, Li Shimin announced with great fanfare that he was rehabilitated as Liu Wenjing (one of the most important founding heroes of the Tang Dynasty, and Wu De was falsely accused of conspiracy to commit treason in the second year). One praise and one depreciation is equivalent to punching Li Yuan's face back and forth. At this time, Li Yuan also had a number in his heart, and the only thing that awaited him was more drastic means. Therefore, in April of the third year of Zhenguan (629 AD), the Taishang Emperor Li Yuan "took the initiative" to propose to move from Taiji Palace to Hongyi Palace, on the grounds that "Gaozu thought that Hongyi Palace had beautiful scenery of mountains and forests. It was relocated and renamed Daan Temple. (Tang Huijiao, vol. 30)
Hongyi Palace is the original Palace of the Qin Dynasty, li Shimin changed its name to Hongyi Palace after he ascended the throne, and Li Yuan moved in and then changed it to Da'an Palace. In the tang dynasty official revision history books, Li Yuan's move to Da'an Palace is described as a convenient way to enjoy the scenery of mountains and forests and enjoy his old age in peace. But in fact, the location of Da'an Palace is remote and the regulations are relatively narrow, and Li Yuan, who spent the last six years of his life here, is more like a lonely old man abandoned by the whole world.
Li Yuan was playful and active, and even if the state affairs were busy during the Wude years, he would still run out to play in the name of patrolling and summer vacation. However, since becoming empress Taishang, his personal freedom has been invisibly restricted. Li Shimin went to Jiucheng Palace (九成宫, in present-day Xincheng District, Linyou County, Baoji City, Shaanxi Province) to spend the summer, and some courtiers suggested that he should take Emperor Taishang with him to fulfill his filial piety. Li Shimin laughed and said nothing, and went straight to the Jiucheng Palace. Similar things have happened many times, and Li Yuan has never had the opportunity to go along.
In July of the eighth year of Zhenguan (634), Li Shimin finally "repeatedly invited the emperor to escape the summer jiucheng palace", does this mean that Li Yuan, Li Shimin's father and son have been released from their former suspicions? No. Because the reason why Li Shimin proposed the invitation at this time was very simple: Li Yuan had suffered a stroke and could not walk. Therefore, he can take the opportunity to express filial piety. In October of the same year, Li Shimin also ordered the construction of the Daming Palace to be built on a large scale, "thinking that it was the place where the emperor cleared the summer". In the early years, when Li Yuan was still healthy, he didn't care, and now Li Yuan is almost dead but wants to build a luxurious palace, needless to say, everyone can understand who this palace is built for.
In May of the ninth year of Zhenguan (635), Emperor Taishang Li Yuan died in the Hanging Arch Hall of Da'an Palace at the age of seventy. The founding emperor of the Tang Empire suffered a great change in his life in his later years, and finally quietly passed away in the case of being gradually forgotten by people. Perhaps for Li Yuan, the spirited Tang Guogong, who was at the head of Jinyang City, was the look he most wanted to return to.
References: Old Book of Tang, New Book of Tang, Zizhi Tongjian, Tang Huijiao