China's history is profound and long-lasting. We often say that it has been glorious for five thousand years. Of course, during these five thousand years, Chinese society has developed and evolved for a long time. It is precisely because of this that by understanding these five t

China has a profound and long-lasting history. We often say that it is glorious for five thousand years. Of course, during these five thousand years, Chinese society has developed and evolved for a long time. It is precisely because of this that by understanding this Five thousand years can also witness the tortuous development and continuous progress of the Chinese nation. Every change is our pride.

Throughout this period of history, the longest one is the feudal society that lasted for more than two thousand years. This is the new social stage we have entered after Qin Shihuang unified Liuhe. During this period, Although it has experienced many dynasty changes, it has always been able to maintain a relatively stable state throughout the dynasties.

The "emperor" was the most important role in feudal society. As the highest power controller of the country at that time, the emperor often had to coordinate all parties, manage world affairs, and deal with many problems. He not only led the world's troops, He also holds the power of life and death for everyone, so many people covet this position.

As an emperor, he naturally does not sit back and wait for death. In a society dominated by hereditary system, the emperor who is now firmly on the throne should always think about his descendants. After all, the new king ascends the throne when the power of the court is weakest, and it is most likely to happen. Many emperors would take a series of measures because they had learned from the events of the struggle for the throne.

For example, Song Taizu Zhao Kuangyin, because he himself reached the position of emperor after being imbued with a yellow robe by his subordinates, so after becoming the emperor, he was very worried that one day his descendants would lose the throne in the same way in the future, so he came to a cup of wine. Military power and take power into their own hands very well.

Regarding this situation, in fact, every emperor had his own opinion, so the handling methods were also different. Some even showed two extremes, such as Tang Taizong and Ming Taizu , Why Li Shimin was not as good as Zhu Yuanzhang killed the heroes like ? Because the heroes of Tang Dynasty cannot be killed.

The two people’s acquisition of the throne

The reason why there are so many gaps in the transfer of power and succession after the succession of the throne is closely related to the process of the two ascending to the throne, because in terms of the two people’s acquisition of the throne, There are essential differences. First of all, look at Zhu Yuanzhang. Unlike Li Shimin, Zhu Yuanzhang was the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty .

Zhu Yuanzhang suffered a lot in his early years. He was born in the late years of Yuan Dynasty . Due to the abnormal rule of the imperial court, the people were under great pressure. In addition, frequent and protracted natural disasters broke out at that time, resulting in the displacement of countless people. On the streets, Zhu Yuanzhang was one of them when he was a child.

In his early years, due to the early death of his parents and the poverty of his family, Zhu Yuanzhang soon became a beggar and shuttled among the waves of refugees, relying on begging for food to make a living. However, the good times did not last long. Soon, with the increase in the number of homeless people, Zhu Yuanzhang soon couldn't even afford food. In order to make a living, he went to the Shaolin Temple to become a monk for ten years.

Ten years later, the wandering refugees had turned into a massive uprising army. Zhu Yuanzhang joined it and quickly reached the position of leader. He then led the army to fight everywhere, finally overthrowing the rule of the Yuan Dynasty, and soon sat down. When he reached the position of emperor, this was Zhu Yuanzhang's experience.

Li Shimin was different. In his early years, Li Shimin followed and Li Yuan to conquer the world. He had already mastered many courts and armies, but there were problems with the succession of the throne, because according to the situation at the time, Li Yuan preferred . Li Jiancheng , and the earliest prince was Li Jiancheng, and Li Shimin, who had contributed to the peace of the world, had long wanted to seize this position.

It was just that in the early days, Li Shimin wanted to impress Li Yuan with his outstanding performance, but after Li Yuan wrote a bad check for him, he gave up this idea. Li Jiancheng, who was already the prince at the time, couldn't wait to become the emperor. Coupled with the confusion of his subordinates, he actually led troops to rebel. After Li Yuan found out, he sent Li Shimin to put down the rebellion.

and promised him that as long as this matter was completed, he would make him the prince. However, after the matter was over, Li Yuan regretted it. Not only did he not give up the position of prince to Li Shimin, he also attributed the prince's rebellion to family conflicts. , Li Shimin was so angry, so under the advice of his subordinates, he decided to take tough results.

Then, The Xuanwumen Incident broke out. Li Shimin led ten masters to ambush here and personally killed the contenders for his throne, Li Yuanji and Li Jiancheng. Li Yuan, who knew the truth at this time, had no choice but to He had no choice but to pass the position of prince to Li Shimin.

A month later, Li Yuan began to replace all the officials with major tasks in the court to Li Shimin's subordinates, as if it was a transfer of power. After this series of things was completed, Li Yuan announced that Li Shimin would succeed the throne, and Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty The road to becoming emperor began naturally.

's handling of ministers

Because the process of the two ascending to the throne is different, the methods they adopt to grasp and control power are also different. As the saying goes, 's great achievements shock the master, This is in every All dynasties must go through it, especially the founding ministers like Zhu Yuanzhang, who was the founding emperor and followed him throughout his military life. After he ascended the throne, he had a high position.

Under this situation, a potential threat has already been formed, not to yourself, but to your next successor to the throne, because these ministers may take orders from you, but what about your descendants? That is an unknown quantity, and if you are not careful, it will lead to the disaster of destroying the country, so Zhu Yuanzhang took many measures after that.

In fact, the purpose is to broaden the path for future successors. For example, the most typical one is " deposes the prime minister ". From the Qin Dynasty established the position of prime minister, he took charge of the administrative power of the country, although he helped the emperor share a lot of administrative power. There are few, but it is a great threat to the newly enthroned little emperor. There are many examples of the prime minister's autocratic power in history.

So Zhu Yuanzhang simply abolished the prime minister and divided the power into six ministries to restrict each other. However, Zhu Yuanzhang's approach was not only institutional. In order to allow Zhu Yunwen to succeed to the throne smoothly, he also adopted many means. In addition to issuing decrees in court, he also All the ministers in the DPRK and China who might threaten Zhu Yunwen were eliminated, but in contrast, Li Shimin did not do so. How did this contrast come about?

The reason

In fact, the first reason is that Zhu Yuanzhang had an accident here. You must know that Zhu Yuanzhang loved his eldest son Zhu Biao very much, because his mother Queen Ma was Zhu Yuanzhang's troubled wife and his wife throughout his life. Love, and Zhu Biao's performance was also very good, so he was deeply loved by Zhu Yuanzhang. Zhu Yuanzhang naturally made Zhu Biao the prince.

led him to establish prestige in the palace all day long, assisted in handling military and state affairs, and even tutored important state governance strategies alone, that is, running a small stove. After becoming the emperor, he basically devoted all his energy to Zhu Biao, but Soon misfortune befell these two men.

Zhu Yuanzhang's most beloved Queen Ma and his son Zhu Biao passed away one after another. This was a huge blow to Zhu Yuanzhang. Not only that, Zhu Biao's death also represented the death of the heir to the throne whom he devoted all his power to cultivate. This After more than ten years of hard work, it was all in vain, but the facts were before his eyes. Zhu Yuanzhang had no choice but to pass the position of prince to Zhu Yunwen.

Zhu Yunwen is not weaker than Zhu Biao. He belongs to the series of substitutes. At this time, Zhu Yuanzhang has been immersed in the grief of losing his wife and son for a long time. It is impossible for Zhu Yunwen to have so much time and energy to cultivate him. , but Zhu Yuanzhang knew that it would be difficult for Zhu Yunwen, who had little experience, to secure his position.

After all, Zhu Biao had already won the approval of many courtiers before. If he was suddenly replaced, it would easily cause trouble, which would be very detrimental to Zhu Yunwen's succession to the throne, so he simply acted cruelly and got rid of all the ministers who threatened him.

So overall, Zhu Yuanzhang's methods are much more ruthless than Li Shimin's, and there is no pressure on Li Shimin at all.

First of all, Li Shimin's later experiences were somewhat similar to Li Yuan's. Li Shimin directly made his eldest son Li Chengqian the crown prince in order to prevent his descendants from having any disputes over the succession to the throne, but in the end there was still a fight for the throne. After several twists and turns, Li Shimin finally passed the throne to Li Zhi.

And it is worth mentioning that, facing Li Zhi and Li Shimin who came on the bench, he did not massacre a group of ministers like Zhu Yuanzhang. The main reasons are the following two points. First, Li Shimin ascended the throne himself without being involved in the change of dynasty. After that, the power of the ministers was almost weakened. And when he first came to the throne, many measures had been taken.

For example, they did not kill all the subordinates of Li Yuanji and Li Jiancheng at that time. Instead, they took measures of forgiveness and recalled them to the court one by one for appointments and promotions. In this case, these people who had committed crimes and made meritorious services were all dead-set. , so at this time Li Shimin took the opportunity to suppress his power and power. In this case, there is no need to worry at all.

The second point is Li Shimin’s reign. For Li Shimin, his reign was very long. To put it bluntly, the older powerful officials or heroes were almost dead after such a long time. For these people, some Li Shimin took the opportunity to take back the power to himself.

Some hereditary positions are also inherited by descendants. As a newcomer, the emperor is naturally respectful and obedient, so it basically does not pose any threat. Therefore, judging from all aspects, the current situation is very harmful to Li Zhi's throne. The inheritance and development will not have much impact, so there is no need to take decisive measures.

summary

In short, is the most ruthless emperor . When it comes to the safe succession of the throne, it is basically the type that would rather kill the wrong person than let it go. Unless someone like Li Shimin is completely sure, he can only take a similar approach to Zhu Yuanzhang. Such a cruel way.