The change of Xuanwumen had a great impact on the historical process of the Tang Dynasty, and Li Shimin broke with his brother, he preemptively killed his brother, forced his father to abdicate, and successfully obtained Jiangshan. Such a relationship between the father and son of the Li family is relatively rare in history, and at first their brothers were quite united, but a major case during the Wude years declared the end of this relationship, and then Li Shimin began to resolve to seize Jiangshan by force. This is the Yang Wengan incident that occurred in the seventh year of Wude, and there are different theories about this incident in later generations, I think it is something that directly triggered the change of Xuanwumen, which had a great impact on the political situation of the Tang Dynasty.
The protagonist of this incident, Yang Wengan, was actually not an important role at that time, and the record of him in the history books was relatively brief. At the time of the founding of the Tang Dynasty, Yang Wengan had no role, but he was a member of the Eastern Palace, and from the beginning he was Li Jiancheng's palace guard, and if he could become a guard around this great leader, Yang Wengan must be a close confidant of Jiancheng. Then, relying on the relationship of the prince, he also made a mark in the court and became the governor of Gyeongju, but he did not expect that his own governor had not yet sat on the heat, and he was involved in the rebellion case, and a large number of people were involved, so what was the Yang Wengan incident?
In June of the seventh year of WuDe, Li Yuan, the emperor of Tang Gaozu at the time, chose to spend the summer outside the palace, and he asked Li Jiancheng to stay in the Capital Division for him, and took Li Shimin and Li Yuanji with him. This was originally a very ordinary summer escape, but suddenly Li Yuan got the news that Yang Wengan was transporting ordnance privately and planned to rebel, which Li Yuan could not ignore, he immediately dealt with this matter, Li Jiancheng and Yang Wengan were very close, and he became the focus of Li Yuan's suspicions. Li Jiancheng knew that this matter was also immediately panicked, he hurried over to ask for guilt, but who could have imagined that Yang Wengan really rebelled over there, and Li Jiancheng really jumped into the Yellow River and could not wash it away.
Yang Wengan did not have the support of his subordinates at all, he was completely hasty to raise troops, so Li Shimin's front foot had just set out on the battlefield, and he was immediately killed by his subordinates. But this result made Li Shimin very happy, because Li Jiancheng was involved in this matter, and Li Yuan also gave him the promise of the crown prince, and now he did not make much effort to easily quell the rebellion, then he could go back to being the prince, but who could have imagined that Li Yuan did not fulfill his promise and killed several people involved in the prince's mansion and the Qin king's mansion.
Why did Li Yuan do this? It seems that this matter Li Jiancheng must not be able to get rid of, in many dynasties, the prince is involved in the case of rebellion, most of them will be abolished, but Li Jiancheng seems to have no influence, but let Li Shimin Bai be happy, and finally he also saw the cruelty of reality, the peaceful way to make himself a prince, there is no hope, he chose to use force to seize power. After Li Shimin succeeded to the throne, he openly interfered in the history books of the Tang Dynasty, so many of the histories of the early Tang Dynasty are vaguely remembered, such as the Yang Wengan incident, which had such a great impact, but it was not recorded in too much detail in the history books.
First of all, many people think that this case is Li Jiancheng's self-directed and self-acting, and it seems that he is a victim, but in fact, it is to stimulate Li Shimin's ambitions and let the emperor see the truth, which can protect himself. If it is true, Li Jiancheng has also taken a dangerous step, but I think that this case is not li jiancheng's doing, he can use any method, that is, there is no need to pull himself to the case of rebellion, this kind of thing he really can't say clearly, not to mention that Yang Wengan is really the opposite, if it is not Li Yuan who wants to understand in time, then his position as prince will definitely not be saved, and his life will be lost.
Second, some people think that this is deliberately designed by Li Shimin, and indeed, this possibility is the greatest. Because of this case, the biggest beneficiary is Li Shimin, who is very close to the position of the prince, but who would have thought that Li Yuan would repent, which made him miss the position of prince. But if Li Shimin wants to make this case, he must get the support of Yang Wengan, because if he does not rebel, this is not a problem, he is just transporting ordnance privately, this situation is also very normal, the tang dynasty has just decided, all places need armed forces to ensure local security.
Li Jiancheng sent him some armor, and it cannot be said that the two of them planned to rebel, but later Yang Wengan really plotted rebellion, which made the nature change, Yang Wengan was not a person of the King of Qin, and he would not be stupid enough to exchange his life for Li Shimin's power. Why did Yang Wengan rebel? This is to say that Li Yuan sent him to ask him to come and interrogate him, this person has a great suspicion, he must have told Yang Wengan in advance, the emperor has been jealous of him, not to rebel is a death, so Yang Wengan is desperate to take risks, if Li Shimin can design such a play, he has no need to risk launching the Xuanwumen change, judging from Li Shimin's reaction in this incident, he is really not the mastermind of the plan.
Since there are few relevant historical materials, it is necessary to analyze this matter through some of the existing information. I think this is an accidental incident, Yang Wengan smuggled ordnance, which should be found in many generals, the difference is that he was denounced by his subordinates, which may be that these subordinates are somewhat dissatisfied with the treatment, or their subordinates are bribed and deliberately accuse him. But even if the two of them denounced Yang Wengan, this was not a big deal, but because of Yang Wengan's special relationship, some people took this matter to make a fuss.
At that time, Li Jiancheng had just received the news and rushed over, he was obviously very nervous, after all, the person who had the accident was his subordinate. But can Li Shimin prejudge this matter? He is also impossible, Li Shimin is not stupid, when the Yang Wengan incident broke out at the beginning, of course he could see that this case could not have any impact on Li Jiancheng, as long as Yang Wengan came over and said clearly, Li Yuan's character would not be severely punished.
But his men may not think so, Li Yuan sent people in the past, secretly support the King of Qin, so he may secretly do some tricks and tricks, to make this matter real, then the King of Qin can take advantage of the opportunity to profit, the facts have proved that this is a very smart looking person, but in fact very stupid, because Li Jiancheng is involved in rebellion, this kind of thing Li Yuan can understand if he thinks about it, Li Yuan does turn a corner very quickly, Li Jiancheng is already a prince, the position is still relatively stable, what is his plot to rebel? Coupled with the fact that Li Jiancheng came over as soon as the matter came out, he quickly confessed his mistake and did not do anything in the capital at the first time, which made it very clear that he really had nothing to do with this matter.
References to the Old Book of Tang