Emperor Wen Ren yi sowed the heavens, and the Li clan was unruly for three hundred years. - "Yong Shixia Tang Taizong"
Speaking of some prosperous dynasties in ancient times, it is indispensable to have the Tang Dynasty. The Tang Dynasty was a powerful country, but it was also open to the outside world, with many vassal states outside the country, and its culture was prosperous, which attracted many countries to study in Tang. There are some titles such as "The Rule of Zhenguan" and "Kaiyuan Shengshi".
But the ancient emperors were not good, they were at the top of society, they had power that ordinary people could not have, and naturally they would bear the pressure and risks that others could not bear. They decide the big and small things of the world, and they have the right to kill many people and ministers.
Often people become very ruthless once they reach this position, and the "most ruthless imperial family" says that once they are silent in such a power, they will ignore the joys and sorrows of others and will be unusually indifferent to people. There are many things that kill brothers and sisters of the same family, and some even kill parents for power.
Some emperors who became particularly cruel for their power were also very famous, such as Xiao Xuan of the Liang Dynasty and others. Speaking of the prosperous Tang Dynasty, it is inevitable to mention Li Shimin, who said that the biggest stain on his life was the change of Xuanwumen, and he eventually forced the emperor to step down. But what really happened in history? What kind of achievements he has, these can be deeply investigated.
The emperor's half-life achievement
Li Shimin's father was the famous Li Yuan, and his birth mother was also a nobleman of Northern Zhou, but he was not the eldest child, and he also had an older brother Li Jiancheng. He was born in an aristocratic family, naturally different from the common people, received a good education from an early age, and naturally saw too many power struggles from an early age.
When he was seventeen years old, he would already go to the battlefield with his father, and Li Yuan was still too defensive at that time, so he followed his father to fight against the Attack of the Turks. At that time, it was still the Sui Dynasty, and the Sui Emperor was no longer the Sui Emperor who had just taken office, and his treatment of the people was not as good as before. The construction of the Grand Canal has also cost a lot of money.
Coupled with his later indulgence in pleasure all day, the rule of the Sui Dynasty also reached a time of crisis. In the following year, someone in the imperial court said that there was a rebellion by the Li clan, so the Sui Emperor killed most of the Li clan above the court. Although Li Shimin was only nineteen years old at that time, he felt that he should no longer swallow his anger, so he encouraged his father to start an army.
Less than half a year later, Li Shimin led an army to attack Chang'an. It wasn't long before Li Yuan ascended the throne, and then Li Shimin was crowned King of Qin. After the establishment of the Tang Dynasty, Li Shimin still led troops to continue to fight back against the remnants, and the Tang Dynasty once again unified the world, and Li Shimin's personal combat effectiveness laid the foundation for him to later become emperor and won the trust of many people.
It began with Xuanwu's power struggle
Because Li Shimin was the second son, his brother Li Shimin was naturally crowned prince, but because Li Shimin was a very talented, powerful man with heavy troops, he was often calculated by the prince and another brother. Thus there was the later XuanwuMen change.
The Xuanwumen Rebellion was a coup d'état that took place by Li Shimin at Xuanwu Gate, the North Palace Gate of Chang'an City. The reason is that Li Jiancheng, as the crown prince, often handles government affairs, and Li Shimin mainly leads troops to fight, so the prince is a little jealous and often calculates Li Shimin behind his back. However, Li Shimin was not easy to provoke, and after all the intrigue, Li Shimin occupied a favorable position and eventually killed his brother at Xuanwu Gate.
The specific process was that in this place at Xuanwu Gate, Li Shimin brought Sun Wuji and others to come here to ambush, and Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji passed through here to go to the upper court, but they did not know that there was an ambush in this place. When they found that there was something different, Li Yuanji felt very scared, so he pulled the bow and fired three shots, but none of them hit.
At this time, Li Shimin sent an arrow to kill Li Jiancheng, at this time Wei Chigong and others also came to this place, and Li Yuanji had already been shot by Wei Chigong before he could move the rescue troops. Fierce fighting took place in this place, and it was not until Later that Wei Chigong took out Li Yuanji and Li Jiancheng's first rank, and the soldiers felt frightened and stopped resisting, and finally ended the coup with the victory of the King of Qin.
It is said that in fact, Li Jiancheng is not so accomplished, after all, he is also a son of the royal family, and he is in a weak position compared to Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji's military strength. It's just that they killed the rescuers before they reached it, and if it weren't for this, history might have been rewritten, and it would no longer be Li Shimin who would have ascended to the throne, and it would not have been Li Jiancheng who would have been killed.
Why kill ten nephews
Li Shimin's biggest mistake in his life may be in this family affection. After the end of the Xuanwumen Rebellion, Li Yuan abdicated, and Li Shimin naturally inherited the throne. Li Yuan then made a request to Li Shimin, asking Li Shimin to spare King Qi and his children.
At first, Li Shimin promised Li Yuan, but later some courtiers told him the story of Liu Bang, and he made up his mind to deal with it cleanly so as not to cause trouble. So under such circumstances, Li Jiancheng and more than ten sons of Li Yuanji were killed. But no matter how cruel he was to his nephews, he let go of his nieces.
Because he feels that a woman is like water, and marrying a girl is even more spilled with water, so he has no relationship with his mother's side, and it is even more unlikely to come to him for revenge. And they were raised and made county lords. Not only that, after they grew up, they also personally found relatives for them, all of whom were royal relatives and nobles, so that they have always lived a glorious and rich life.
In this matter, Li Shimin was forced to kill his nephew. Regarding the relationship between Li Shimin and Li Yuanji, Li Shimin took his concubine Concubine Yang after Li Yuanji's death, and Yang also gave birth to a son for him, but Li Shimin passed him on to Li Yuanji as an heir. After Princess Yang's death, she was even arranged to be buried with Li Yuanji. This is the real humiliation.
Why does Li Shimin have such a great hatred for Li Yuanji, but some guilt for Li Jiancheng? That's because if it weren't for Li Yuanji's provocation, the brothers wouldn't have become the end, and perhaps Li Shimin was also very eager for the brothers to live in peace.
epilogue:
Judging from this series of events, Li Shimin is actually not inhumane, he is also very smart, he is forced to be helpless for his nephew, and he is very caring for his niece. The people of the world will also have praise and criticism of this, from which we can see that he is a far-sighted and assertive monarch.
During his later reign, he also led the Tang Dynasty into the Taiping Dynasty, and was very enlightened in many ways. Many commendable stories have been left behind for the benefit of the people of the four directions. In these respects, it is still very commendable, after all, as an emperor, the most important thing is to be kind to his people.
References: "Yong Shixia Tang Taizong", "Tongjian Chronicle at the End of the Chronicle"