In the twenty-second year of zhenguan in the Tang Dynasty, although Tang Taizong Li Shimin was only 51 years old, he had been ill for a long time. In this year, Fang Xuanling, Xiao Yu and other important courtiers passed away one after another, which was a great blow to Li Shimin. On May 26 of the following year (zhenguan 23rd year), Li Shimin died at the Hanfeng Temple, and the greatest emperor of the Tang Dynasty completed his 23-year imperial career.
Before Li Shimin died, he once said to the crown prince Li Zhi from his hospital bed:
"No scruples, Sui Liang is here, don't worry about the world!"
This was to entrust the orphan, and Li Shimin entrusted the crown prince Li Zhi to the eldest grandson Wuji and Chu Suiliang. This arrangement is strange, because there is a very important figure who does not appear on Li Shimin's list of orphans, and this person is Li Ji.
It should be known that in the sixteenth year of Zhenguan, after Experiencing the "Li Chengqian Conspiracy Rebellion Case", Li Shimin made his third son Li Zhi the crown prince, and sent fang Xuanling, eldest son Wuji, Xiao Yu, and Li Ji to the Eastern Palace on a part-time basis, serving as prince taishi, prince taifu, prince taibao, and prince Zhan Shi respectively. This practice is ostensibly to allow the confidant ministers to assist the prince, but in fact to let the prince be kind to the confidants, and once the prince ascends the throne, these "old ministers of the Eastern Palace" will inevitably be crowned by the new emperor, thus becoming more loyal to the new emperor. Therefore, Li Ji also held the position of "Prince Mansion Zhan Shi", which although inconspicuous, was of great significance.
According to Li Shimin's original layout, if he died, Fang Xuanling (Wen Chen), Changsun Wuji (a foreign relative), Xiao Yu (nobleman), and Li Ji (military) would definitely be the best combination to assist the crown prince Li Zhi. Unfortunately, in the Zhenguan Twenty-Two Reverse Case, Fang Xuanling and Xiao Yu successively, and when Li Shimin died, only the eldest son Wuji and Li Ji were left. But in the end, Li Shimin only selected the eldest grandson Wujie, plus another Chu Suiliang, but excluded Li Ji, what is the reason for this?
Readers who are familiar with the history of Tang Dynasty should be no stranger to Li Ji, Li Ji, formerly known as Xu Shixun, the character Mao Gong, posterity also called "Xu Maogong". In the last year of the Sui Dynasty, Xu Shixun defected from the Wagang Army to the Tang Army, and was given the surname Li by Li Yuan for his meritorious service, and changed his name to Li Shixun. After Li Shimin ascended the throne, in order to avoid the word "shi", he changed his name to Li Ji. In the early years of the Tang Dynasty, Li Ji accompanied Li Shimin to open up remote areas, defeated Xue Yantuo twice, broke the Eastern Turks, and attacked Goguryeo, he was wise and courageous, and was a rare military expert of the Tang Dynasty, and Li Jing was called "Er Li".
Li Ji was an all-rounder of literature and martial arts, who made an unworldly contribution to the Tang Dynasty, and throughout Li Ji's life, he hardly had any stains during his lifetime (during the Wu Zetian period, Li Ji's grandson Li Jingye rebelled, which is a later story). Therefore, Li Shimin excluded Li Ji from the list of orphans, and there are three places that do not make sense:
First, Li Ji was one of the first four assistants that Li Shimin had chosen for the crown prince, and he did not make any major mistakes.
Second, Li Ji was the only military general among the four auxiliary ministers, and when the old and new forces were transferred, Li Shimin and Li Zhi needed a strong military talent to control the situation.
Third, on the first day after Emperor Gaozong of Tang ascended the throne, many of the former ministers of the Crown Prince's Mansion were promoted at the first time, for example, the former crown prince Zuo Shuzi Yu Zhining was promoted to Shizhong (侍中), the former Crown Prince's right son Gao Jifu (高季助) was promoted to Zhongshu Ling (中書令), and Zhang Xingcheng (張行成), the former crown prince's son, was promoted to Zhongshu Ling (中書令), and Zhang Xingcheng (張行成), the former crown prince's son, was also promoted to shizhong (侍中). And Li Ji was originally the crown prince Zhan Shi, and his position was higher than that of these three, but he did not get a reward at the first time.
In fact, Li Ji did not participate in the "orphanage", not because he was not good enough, but because he was too good. The Zizhi Tongjian records:
The crown prince said: "Li Shixun has more than enough wisdom, but Ru ru has no grace with him, and I am afraid that he will not be able to bear it." If I am deposed now, if I am ready to do so, if I die, I will be used as a servant and let it be done, and if I wander and look, I shall be the ear of the killer. ”
This sentence is what Li Shimin said to the crown prince Li Zhi when he was seriously ill, which means that Li Ji is a person with top ability and wisdom, but you (Li Zhi) have no kindness to him, I am afraid that you cannot control him. Li Shimin (Li Shimin) now demoted him to the post of governor of Diezhou. If he is ordered to go to office as soon as he is ordered, it means that he is loyal. When you ascend the throne, a letter of edict summons him to Chang'an for reuse, and he will be loyal to you. If he hesitates to leave the capital after receiving the order, you kill him immediately.
Therefore, it was in this context that Li Ji was "partnered" by Li Shimin's father and son to be demoted to Diezhou, and when Emperor Gaozong of Tang ascended the throne, Li Zhi was not in the capital at all. In other words, the reason why Li Ji did not participate in the orphan is not because he is not good enough, but because he is very capable, and Li Shimin is jealous of him.
For Li Shimin's thoughts, Li Ji is actually very clear. The Zizhi Tongjian records:
In May, at noon, Li Shixun (李世勣), the governor of Diezhou (Diezhou), was made the governor of Diezhou (Diezhou), and Shi ji was ordered not to go home.
That is to say, in May of the twenty-third year of Zhenguan, when Li Ji learned that he had been demoted to Diezhou by Li Shimin, he gladly agreed, did not even return home, and immediately went to Diezhou to take up his post.
Li Ji's performance reassured Li Shimin and Li Zhi very much, so on the fourth day after Emperor Gaozong of Tang ascended the throne, Li Ji was transferred back to the capital by an edict and appointed as a special jin (chaopin official). In the face of Li Shimin's final temptation, Li Ji did not leave any flaws, and from then on became Tang Gaozong's humerus.
Although Li Shimin was a ming emperor for thousands of years, his temptation to Li Ji before his death could also be described as clever. But from Li Ji's point of view, this kind of temptation is actually very unfair. If Li Ji hesitated slightly when he received Li Jing's order, Li Shimin's butcher knife would certainly not be weak, and at that time, the Tang Dynasty would lose a famous general for thousands of years.
Fortunately, Li Ji did not hesitate when he left Beijing, and he was even more glad that Li Ji understood Li Shimin's intentions.