The change of Xuanwumen was a famous coup in history. Through this coup, Li Shimin eliminated his political enemies Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji the Prince of Qi, forced Li Yuan to abdicate, and ascended the throne himself as Emperor Taizong of Tang, creating the rule of Zhenguan that illuminated the thousands of autumns.
The change of Xuanwumen that we often see from film and television dramas is basically that the crown prince Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji, the king of Qi, have no merit, and they are also involved with Li Yuan's concubine. Later, when Li Shimin became more and more powerful and posed a serious threat to the crown prince Li Jiancheng, Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji joined forces to repeatedly persecute Li Shimin. However, Li Shimin eventually launched the Xuanwumen Revolution and reversed the situation in one fell swoop.
In fact, Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji want to get rid of Li Shimin, there is no doubt. But Li Shimin is definitely not so innocent! The whole process of struggle is actually the process of their conspiracy with each other.
When the contradiction between Li Jiancheng and Li Shimin began, there is no way to verify.
But judging from some of the things that happened before the Xuanwumen Revolution, they really began to tit-for-tat, probably after the Battle of Tiger Prison Pass.
In the Battle of Tiger Prison Pass, Li Shimin destroyed the two major forces of Dou Jiande and Wang Shichong in one battle, and the merits were so great that he did not know how to reward them. Therefore, Li Yuan made Li Shimin a general of Tiance, and he could recruit officials into Tiance Mansion himself, which was equivalent to a small imperial court.
At this time, Li Shimin had a total of official positions and titles: King of Qin, General tiance, Situ, Shangshuling, Zhongshuling, Shangshuling of Daxingtai in Shaanxi Province, and 30,000 households!
Shangshu Ling was the governor of Shangshu Province, Zhongshu Ling was the governor of Zhongshu Province, and Situ was in charge of national finance and taxation.
The Daxingtai Shangshuling of Eastern Shaanxi Province is almost the entire area east of the Kunshan Mountains, including Henan, Hebei and Shandong.
In the imperial court, Li Shimin was a vassal, but his official position and power far exceeded that of ordinary princes and ministers, and he had a group of confidants who could fight good battles.
Yes, being able to fight a good battle and cover the world with merit is Li Shimin's advantage.
The disadvantage of Li Shimin is precisely that Li Shimin has been fighting outside for many years, and his foundation in Chang'an is unstable. At the same time, Li Shimin often paid more attention to the military general group and ignored some forces in the harem.
The unstable foundation in Chang'an caused Li Shimin to have only 800 soldiers at the time of the Xuanwumen Revolution. The Eastern Palace and the Qi Palace combined had thousands of people. This is a big disadvantage of Li Shimin!
Li Shimin ignored the power of the harem and did not have much contact with the people of the harem. Even, at the end of the Battle of Tiger Prison Pass, Li Yuan sent his concubines to Luoyang to select treasures, but Li Shimin did not give them!
Does the noble concubine hate Li Shimin? hate! But we are your stepmother, don't you talk about etiquette?
These noble concubines were sent by Li Yuan, and Li Shimin did not give them! In Li Yuan's view, Li Shimin was somewhat proud of his achievements!
But Li Shimin did not give to the noble concubine, for his own reasons. Because these are the ones that their own subordinates will desperately fight down, their own people have not yet been divided, and the hearts of the people have not yet been bought. It is possible that there are some things that Li Shimin has promised to give to a certain general, and he cannot let the noble concubines pick them at will. Therefore, Li Shimin did not give the treasure to the noble concubine.
In fact, such a situation is clearly recorded in the history books. Li Shimin issued his own order, approving dozens of hectares of land to Li Shentong, the king of Huai'an. However, Li Yuan's concubine Zhang Jieyu's father, who saw this piece of land, asked Zhang Jieyu to ask Li Yuan for it. Li Yuan also approved!
But Li Shentong was tough and said that it was given by Li Shimin, the King of Qin, so he was unwilling to give it up.
Li Shentong's courage is big enough, Li Yuan's holy will he dare not listen! Why? Because he knew that Li Shimin would help him stand up!
At this point, Li Yuan was not happy in his heart: you bought people's hearts everywhere, and with great merit, you gave away all the treasure and land. Not even my holy will is as good as your decree!
But after all, it is a son, what can I do? Hold back!
Although he held back, Li Shimin's favorability in Li Yuan's heart fell down like a waterfall. Coupled with the addition of oil and vinegar to the concubines in normal times, Li Yuan usually hears bad words about Li Shimin, and his natural impression is even worse.
If it is said that before Li Jiancheng was made crown prince, it was because of the primogeniture system, then Li Yuan was still more inclined to stand on Li Jiancheng's side, which really came from his heart. Because at this time, Li Yuan believed that Li Shimin did not know the general body and could not balance the relationship between many parties well.
From this point of view, Li Jiancheng has indeed done a better job than Li Shimin.
First of all, Li Jiancheng can attract Li Yuanji to his side. In fact, Li Yuanji is the third oldest, if he has any ambitions, he will sit on the mountain and watch the tiger fight! Because Li Shimin faced Li Jiancheng, it is actually difficult to say whether he will win or lose. Sitting on the mountain and watching the tiger fight, he is the wisest to sit on the profits of the fisherman. But he jumped out early on and firmly sided with Li Jiancheng, opposing Li Shimin. This shows that in the usual relationship, Li Jiancheng is better for him. In the future, after Li Yuan hangs up, he prefers to see Li Jiancheng ascend the throne.
Secondly, Li Jiancheng paid great attention to the relationship with the harem concubines. Modern people's eyes after tea and dinner feel that Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji befriended noble concubines, which is the beauty of coveting the queen concubines. This is pure nonsense! They are princes, what kind of women do not, why should they risk killing their heads to do such a thing? In fact, Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji befriended noble concubines in order to establish the image of benevolence and filial piety. Because, in terms of generations, the noble concubines are their stepmothers. At the same time, these people are Li Yuan's pillow people, who can usually say good things about themselves and can say bad things about Li Shimin. Therefore, making friends with concubines is a very important means of struggle.
On the other hand, Li Shimin, except for the military generals under his command and a few of his cronies, could hardly get along with anyone! His brothers didn't like him, his stepmother didn't like him, and he often made his father half dead.
Originally, between the two brothers, it was normal to tell each other about the black form. Nor did it reach the point of cannibalism.
However, they are princes! Their interests, not just their own interests, they also represent the groups behind them!
Li Jiancheng represented the interests of the Eastern Palace and those who turned to him.
Li Shimin represented the interests of the Tiance Mansion, the Qin Dynasty, and those who had defected to him.
At this time, the subordinate official of the Eastern Palace, the famous Wei Zheng, proposed that the merits of the King of Qin were too great, and the prince did not have the merits! Therefore, he suggested that the crown prince go to recruit Liu Heiwei.
Note that this Liu Black Valve was hit by Li Shimin, and as a result he made a comeback. And if Li Jiancheng can completely dry Liu Hei valve, it will prove that Li Jiancheng's talent in leading troops is not worse than Li Shimin. At the same time, it was also possible to take the opportunity to draw the elite generals of the Qin Dynasty palace to weaken Li Shimin's power.
At this time, Li Yuan should have wanted to attack Li Shimin very much, because he had allocated to Li Jiancheng, the marshal of the Daxingtai and Shandong provinces in Shaanxi Province, and the prefectures south and north of the Yellow River, and Li Jiancheng had the right to act randomly. And these territories, before, Li Shimin had the final say!
No way, who let Li Shimin just be the King of Qin.
At this time, Li Yuan and Li Jiancheng just wanted to knock Li Shimin. But Li Yuanji couldn't help it and wanted to kill Li Shimin. However, it was stopped by Li Jiancheng!
When things got here, they slowly began to smell bloody.
Even if Li Jiancheng did not want to kill Li Shimin, he had to protect himself. Even if Li Shimin didn't want to kill himself, li Yuanji, the fierce-hearted King of Qi, might have ambitions one day...
Therefore, Li Jiancheng privately recruited more than 2,000 soldiers, the town guarded the East Palace, known as the Changlin Soldiers! At the same time, he also recruited the cavalry of Luo Yi, the King of Yan, to his own Eastern Palace. Note that these are not allowed. Although Li Jiancheng was crown prince, he could not raise private soldiers in the capital. Moreover, it was carried out behind Li Yuan's back! At this point, it was Li Jiancheng's turn to annoy Li Yuan.
This matter was poked out. Li Yuan called Li Jiancheng and scolded a dog with a bloody head! Specifically, who has the courage to report the prince? Whose interests is it most in the interest to denounce the prince?
Some scholars believe that this is li shimin instructing others to do it! But the history books do not record it. Let's think that there were also sunrise masses in Chang'an at that time.
At this time, an extremely serious incident occurred, almost causing Li Jiancheng to fall into a situation of no return. This incident is the famous Yang Wengan incident.
Yang Wengan was a close associate of Li Jiancheng. Li Jiancheng often sent Yang Wengan armor to enrich the armed forces of his cronies. Similarly, the nature of the matter can be treated as a counter-argument. It is impossible for Li Jiancheng not to know the seriousness of this matter, so it is impossible for him not to pay attention to the confidentiality of the matter.
However, this matter was still stabbed to Li Yuan!
Li Yuan was furious and summoned Li Jiancheng for other reasons.
But Li Jiancheng still knew that Li Yuan's real purpose in summoning him was to ask about Yang Wengan.
Some people advised Li Jiancheng to directly rebel, and some people advised Li Jiancheng to directly confess his guilt. Li Jiancheng chose the latter!
Li Yuan questioned Li Jiancheng, very severely. In anger, he locked up Li Jiancheng and gave him only coarse grain! At the same time, Li Yuan sent Yuwen Ying to summon Yang Wengan back to the capital for questioning. Li Yuan is not an idiot, of course, he also asked Yu Wenying to recall Yang Wengan for other reasons.
What I didn't expect was that Yang Wengan directly rebelled! Why would Yang Wengan oppose it? It can only mean that he already knew that the matter was exposed, so he rebelled.
Yang Wengan's rebellion directly confirmed Li Jiancheng's accusation of rebellion.
At this time, Li Yuan planned to send Li Shimin to quell Yang Wengan's rebellion, and promised Li Shimin to put down the rebellion and make him crown prince.
Li Shimin came out of the horse, of course, the horse to the success. In fact, because Li Shimin's prestige was too great, Before Li Shimin's army arrived, Yang Wengan's army collapsed first. Yang Wengan himself was killed by his subordinates.
However, Li Shimin did not wait for his position as crown prince! Even Li Jiancheng did not get much disposal. The final disposition result was that Wang Jue and Wei Ting of the Crown Prince's Mansion and Du Yan of the Qin Dynasty were sentenced to exile. At the same time, he accused Li Jiancheng and Li Shimin of brotherly disharmony.
There wasn't much else to say, but too many signals were released.
First, why did Li Yuan send someone to the East Palace to summon Li Jiancheng, who knew in advance the reason for summoning him? It shows that Li Jiancheng installed cronies around Li Yuan.
Second, who has the ability to find out that someone in the Eastern Palace has privately sent armor to Yang Wengan, and has the courage to report the prince? Except for the instructions of the King of Qin, there could be no one else. Because the prince lay down, the biggest profiteer was Li Shimin, the King of Qin.
Third, Yu Wenying had gone to summon Yang Wengan, so why did he divulge such a major secret so that Yang Wengan's knowledge of the armor was exposed and he rebelled? What good did Yang Wengan's rebellion do to Yuwen Ying?
Fourth, Li Yuan knew that because Li Jiancheng had no need to rebel, he only needed to wait patiently for Li Yuan to burp.
Fifth, Li Jiancheng did have the act of privately sending armor, but he was fighting against the Qin Palace, not rebellion. This also shows that this series of things is caused by the discord between the two brothers.
In fact, it is not just disharmony! It's unbelievable! Because Li Jiancheng was charged with rebellion, whether he was dead or alive was only a matter of Li Yuan's words.
Li Yuan handled this matter quite cleverly, and the people in the Prince's Mansion and the Qin King's Mansion all disposed of it, and directly said that the two brothers were not compatible. Implication: Neither of you brothers is a good bird, and I've figured things out.
After this incident, the two brothers gradually became poor and intolerable, and tried to put each other to death.
After that, several things happened, such as:
Li Jiancheng suggested moving the capital to avoid the Turks, and Li Shimin said that he could deal with the Turks and did not need to move the capital. Li Jiancheng, on the other hand, joined forces with his concubines and rumored to Li Yuan that Li Shimin wanted to gain military power in the name of resisting the Turks;
Li Jiancheng gave his stubborn Hu horse to Li Shimin to ride, and wanted to throw Li Shimin to death;
Concubine Guijin rumored that Li Shimin claimed to be destined for heaven, and Li Shimin was summoned by Li Yuan to scold him;
Li Shimin drank Li Jiancheng's wine and vomited several liters of blood!
The above things are a bit strange. Because Li Shimin is the victim of the party, but in the end they are safe and sound! But he didn't fight back!
In fact, this is not in line with Li Shimin's style of doing things! Judging from the Yang Wengan incident, Li Shimin would also take the initiative to attack before, and his means were also very dark. He had no reason to wait for Li Jiancheng to do harm, and he was not moved.
Li Shimin did this for two purposes:
First, as a victim, get some compensation from Li Yuanna. This is not my blind guess, because Li Yuan really sympathizes with his Erlang, so he hopes that Li Shimin can go to the east of Shaanzhou, establish the Tianzi Banner, and divide the world equally with Li Jiancheng. It should be said that this is a bad idea. As soon as Li Yuan died, the two brothers would definitely fight a big fight, and when the time came, they would definitely be killed. Li Shimin is willing, Li Jiancheng is unwilling. (I can obviously ask for a whole Datang, why only give me half?) So, the matter was also shelved.
Second, in the future, when Li Shimin kills Li Jiancheng, he can act as a victim and say that he is out of self-preservation. Even if the defense is excessive, others can't say much more.
But by this time, the contradictions between the brothers had intensified to an irreconcilable degree. Li Shimin is not easy to kill, and Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji started from Li Shimin's subordinates.
First of all, Li Yuanji recruited Wei Chigong and Duan Zhixuan. After eating the closed door soup, he told Li Yuan that he would kill Wei Chigong. Li Yuan agreed! Li Shimin struggled to save Lieutenant Chi Gong.
Then, Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji rumored to Li Yuan, saying that Fang Xuanling and Du Ruyi were sneaking around in the Qin Palace and did not know what plane to build. Therefore, Li Yuan expelled Fang Xuanling and Du Ruyi from the Qin Palace and forbade them to associate with Li Shimin.
At this time, Li Yuan's attitude was obviously on the side of the prince. Therefore, things have dragged on to this extent, and he cannot let the two forces continue to have serious infighting in order to engage in any balance.
To choose one of the two, a choice must be made. Otherwise, Li Shimin always thinks he has a chance!
Li Yuan's attitude, Li Shimin naturally saw it, so after consulting with the counselors, he felt that he had to act.
The purpose of the action is not only to get rid of Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji, but also to control Li Yuan! Because he does not recognize Li Shimin now.
However, Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji were not idle. Using the Turkic invasion, they asked Li Yuanji to go on the expedition. At the same time, he asked to transfer Wei Chigong, Duan Zhixuan, and other fierce generals from the Qin Dynasty. This is to completely and thoroughly drain the Qin King's Palace.
Li Jiancheng also conspired with Li Yuanji to kill Li Shimin while practicing for Li Yuanji.
Like many previous persecutions, this time Li Jiancheng still did not succeed. Because, this top-secret information was sent out by Wang Hao, a subordinate official of the Eastern Palace, and Li Shimin knew about it.
Being able to participate in if confidential things shows that Wang Hao is definitely Li Jiancheng's confidant. But it was such an important confidant who was bribed by Li Shimin.
This also explains why Li Jiancheng has persecuted Li Shimin many times before, and Li Shimin has always been safe and sound.
If Li Jiancheng is better at engaging in relations than Li Shimin, then Li Shimin is more concerned with espionage work than Li Jiancheng.
The previous Yang Wengan incident, as well as this time Wang Hao's theft of intelligence, fully illustrate this point. And the real deadliest is another spy!
At this point, either you die or I live.
Therefore, Li Shimin is determined to start first! He ordered Fang Xuanling and Du Ruyi to return to the Qin palace to discuss the specific matters of the uprising.
Fang Xuanling and Du Ruyi refused, because Li Yuan had issued a decree not to allow Fang Xuanling and Du Ruyi to communicate with Li Shimin.
At this time, Li Shimin showed his fierce and courageous side.
Li Shimin asked Wei Chigong to take his sword to fang Xuanling and Du Ruyi, and if they were more absolute, they would directly kill them.
Fang Xuanling and Du Ruyi did not even have the opportunity to ask Li Yuan for help and inform, and obediently came to the Qin King's Mansion and were pulled onto the thief's boat.
To say that at this time, Wen Youfang Du and Wu Youwei Chi Gong, they also mastered the key figures---- Xuanwu Gate Guard Chang He! Therefore, the odds are still very large.
Interestingly, Li Jiancheng has always thought that Chang He is his own person. Therefore, Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji believed that Li Shimin did not dare to mess around.
Therefore, Li Jiancheng continued to resort to a method that had never worked: a complaint!
At this time, Fu Yi, who was in charge of the astronomical calendar, played a secret song to Li Yuan, saying that the celestial signs showed that the King of Qin should have the world!
Generally speaking, if Fu Yi believed in this kind of thing himself, he should go to Li Shimin and ask for the merits of the establishment. And he was looking for Li Yuan, explaining that this matter was unreliable, and only for the sake of filing a complaint.
He was an official in charge of the astronomical calendar, who was the emperor and took care of his affairs. If Li Yuan had not killed Li Shimin, then Li Shimin would definitely retaliate against Fu Yi. Why did Fu Yi ask for trouble?
The only explanation is that Fu Yi was bribed by Li Jiancheng.
Of course, because Li Yuan was more partial to Li Jiancheng's side at this time, he believed it or not, or called Li Shimin to question him.
Li Shimin was preparing for the mutiny, and at this time he was disturbed by this matter and was a little panicked.
Of course, Li Yuan would not kill Li Shimin, but he only needed to dispose of it casually, such as locking up for a few days. Then Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji pushed the waves again, and it is really difficult to say what Li Shimin will be accused of.
At the moment of crisis, Li Shimin had a clever move. I sue too!
Therefore, he denounced Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji and The Empress Dowager for having an affair!
Nest rough! What did you say?
Li Yuan was furious! The son said to his face that he was wearing a green hat, and who could stand it!
As a result, the crime of "the king of Qin should have the world" was temporarily forgotten, and Li Yuan ordered the three brothers to enter the palace the next morning to confront each other!
Li Shimin fought for the time of this night!
What happened next, everyone knows.
Under the arrangement of Chang He, the general of Xuanwu Gate, Li Shimin entered Xuanwu Gate in advance to ambush. When Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji appeared, the ambush troops came out and killed Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji.
After doing this, Wei Chi respectfully entered the palace wearing blood stains and weapons, and met Li Yuan in the name of protecting Li Yuan. He also reported that the prince and the king of Qi had plotted against each other and were killed by the king of Qin.
Things had reached this point, and they were no longer under Li Yuan's control. Xuanwu Gate was controlled by Li Shimin, and the entire imperial palace was decided by Li Shimin. Li Yuan's life was in Li Shimin's hands.
In the end, Li Yuan ordered the crown prince and the qi king's men to abandon resistance, and then handed over the forbidden army to Li Shimin's administration.
At this point, Li Shimin was in complete control of the situation.
Subsequently, Li Shimin did something that now seemed very cruel. He killed Li Jiancheng's five sons and Li Yuanji's five sons!
Of course, many people will say that Li Shimin is cruel. But we cannot define the good and evil of a politician in terms of the mindset of ordinary people.
Under such circumstances, if these people were not killed, those loyal to Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji would support their descendants to rebel and realize their political ambitions. By then, more people will die.
I have completely introduced the history of the Xuanwumen Incident, and you can see that Li Shimin, in addition to his great talent, also has a stoic and vicious side.