The Xuanwumen change was the biggest event in the royal family in the early years of the Tang Dynasty, which directly changed the political landscape of the Tang Dynasty. Without this coup, Crown Prince Li Jiancheng would serve as the next Emperor of the Tang Dynasty, and Li Shimin’s record in history would only be a military king.
But drastic changes happened, so that the new Tang Empire made a big turn here and embarked on another road.
Some friends may want to ask, during the Xuanwu Gate, why did you only see the three brothers fighting in their nests, but there was no army rescued by the king of the field? Could it be that the entire army of the Tang Dynasty was controlled by Li Shimin? it's not true.
Although the Tang Dynasty historical materials have repeatedly downplayed Li Jiancheng’s sense of existence, he is actually the rightful prince of the country. There are far more supporters of him than Li Shimin, who is in the army. There are many supporters, and there are also many who can support Li Jiancheng.
If the military has been controlled by Li Shimin, what else would Li Jiancheng use to fight him? Early Ma Liu gave up the position of prince. It is precisely because of the bargaining chips in his hand that Li Jiancheng is not afraid of Li Shimin and has the upper hand in the fight.
Li Shimin will initiate the change of the Xuanwu Gate, the main reason is that he can't win Li Jiancheng through normal means, so he will lead the 800 soldiers to risk. Killing brothers and brothers is not a good reputation. If Li Shimin had nothing to do, he would never do it, lest he be stigmatized.
That is to say, if the foreign army learns that Li Shimin will kill the prince at Xuanwumen, they will definitely go to the King Qin to rescue him and earn a great contribution to protect the sky. How do you say that sentence? An announcement is better than a rescue.
But the problem is that no one knows! Not to mention the foreign troops, together with Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji in Beijing, and even Li Yuan's imperial guards, there was no sign of unrest in advance. This is a well-planned "beheading operation", which is hidden and quick.
On the first day of June in the ninth year of Tang Gaozu Wude, the vision of "Taibai Jingtian" appeared in the sky of Chang'an. According to the ancients' perception, this represents the imminent event that will affect imperial power. .
At this time the Turkic offenders, Li Jiancheng recommended Li Yuanji's army and horses to fight, Li Yuan agreed. Li Shimin used to deal with this sort of thing. This time it was replaced by Li Yuanji, which means that Li Jiancheng wants to weaken Li Shimin's military power.
Li Yuanji also asked Li Yuan to dispatch Li Shimin's Yu Chigong, Cheng Yaojin, Duan Zhixuan, and Qin Qiong to go with him. Anyone with a discerning eye can see that this is Li Jiancheng who has made it clear that Li Shimin's forces, especially the military power, will be divided and disintegrated, so that he can no longer fight for the crown prince.
What attitude does Li Yuan have? It should be agreed. At this time, he also saw that Li Shimin was really going to compete with Li Jiancheng, and he could no longer pretend that he could not hear and was invisible.
Will Li Shimin accept his fate? Obviously not.
His countermeasures were extraordinary. He told the generals in the mansion that when Li Yuanji went on the expedition, Li Jiancheng planned to travel for him in Kunming Pool and arranged for an assassin to assassinate himself, and then he would kill Yu Chigong and other generals. As long as you have a good relationship with yourself, you will not let it go.
The generals immediately became angry when they heard it. This is no way to survive! If you haven't said anything, you must fight with them to the end. After some conspiracy, it was decided to act first.
Here is something to say, Li Shimin's remarks are very suspicious, and the truthfulness is not high. Why? Because this was what he had buried in the East Palace, Wang Ye ran to tell him. But Wang Ye is just a small official in charge of timekeeping. He is insignificant, and he can't reach Li Jiancheng at all. How could Li Jiancheng give him a chance to detect such a major event as the killing of King Qin?
Therefore, this is probably a play written and directed by Li Shimin, in order to anger the generals and help him launch a coup. Has his goal been achieved? Reached. The generals in the Fuzhong have regarded Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji as dead enemies, and they must be eliminated and soon afterwards.
On the third day of June, Taibai Jingtian appeared again.
According to the "Zi Zhi Tong Jian", astronomer Fu Yi reported to Li Yuan that Venus appeared on the dividing field of Qin.King Qin should have the world. Li Yuan summoned Li Shimin into the palace and showed Fu Yi's secret melodies to Li Shimin, intending to test. Li Shimin took the opportunity to sue Li Jiancheng, Li Yuanji and the concubine of the harem for fornication, and wanted to harm himself.
Seeing this, do you think it violates peace? It seems that Li Shimin and Li Yuan are not on the same channel at all. Li Yuan tempted Li Shimin, but Li Shimin not only explained it with no trepidation, but complained to the brothers, not at all like a prince suspected by the emperor.
This may be because Li Shimin has made up his mind to seize power by force. He doesn't care what Li Yuan means at all. He only talks about Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji’s crimes and his own grievances. The purpose is to stir the water first and act for his own mutiny. To gain time.
After listening to his words, Li Yuan was very surprised. He didn't follow his thoughts. He froze for a long time before explaining that the matter would be heard, and asked him to come early.
The next day, that is, the fourth day of June, the Xuanwu Gate change took place.
Let’s take a look at the timeline, the first day of June has a preliminary idea, and it will be implemented on the fourth day of June. Only three days have passed in between. The short planned time reduces the possibility of leaks. This is not a long-planned one, but a desperate one at a disadvantage, playing the word "surprise".
Since Li Jiancheng didn't know that Li Shimin was going to kill himself under Xuanwumen, he would not be prepared, let alone transfer his troops to King Qinqin. When Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji were imprisoned in the Xuanwu Gate, the Prince's Commander Xue Wanche led a large group of troops around the city wall to attack. Because of the rush and lack of siege equipment, he could only do it in a hurry.
Li Yuan is the same. He doesn't know anything before he gets caught off guard, but where is the guard next to him? In recent years, historians have inferred that the Xuanwu Gate change was a two-front battle, which means that Li Shimin also controlled Li Yuan!
"Zi Zhi Tong Jian" said that Li Yuan was visiting the lake with his trusted minister on that day. How can this be to visit the lake! It was clear that the emperor and the core ministers were brought to the forefront, and they were all placed under house arrest in a cruise ship on the lake. In this way, the Janissaries were also stabilized.
To say that Xue Wanche, the hero of the East Palace, is also a man of courage and strategy. Seeing that the Xuanwu Gate can't enter, he simply came to rescue Zhao from Wei and rushed to the weak defense of Li Shimin’s home to kill the King of Qin. go with.
It's a pity that it was too late. It didn't take long for Yuchi Jingde on the Xuanwu Gate tower to sacrifice the two heads of Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji. When the dust settled, everything was too late, so it wasn't that there was no army coming to Beijing to rescue the driver, but that the incident happened so suddenly that it was too late to react. But in this case, Li Shimin was also a narrow win, not a steady win.
