Why did Li Yuan, who had done his duty, still fight against Sui?

Some people say that Li Yuan is a loyal and dutiful minister, and he finally embarked on the road of rebellion, which was the result of being forced to rebel under various coincidences. Is this statement correct?

Let's study this problem from several aspects.

First, is it a hint from a fortune teller or a statement? According to Old Tang Book, a fortune teller named Shi Shiliang once said to Li Yuan, "You should be the master of the public, love yourself, and don't forget to say contemptuous words." What is directly said here is the "human master", and the "human master" is the emperor. At that time, Tang Gaozu was just a secretariat, and the world was still very stable. Everyone knows that the biggest crime in ancient times was "rebellion", that is, attempting to rebel and seize power. It would make sense if the fortune teller said so when the world was in chaos. At least it means that fortune tellers want peace in the world. But the world was still very stable at that time, but the fortune teller said so. Did the fortune teller lose his head?

Therefore, I seriously doubt the authenticity of this record. If no so-called fortune teller really said this, it can only be said by Li Yuan himself. Why did Li Yuan make up such a story? This can only show that Tang Gaozu actually began to fight for the idea of the world very early. "Old Tang Book" then wrote: "Gaozu is quite conceited." In other words, when the fortune teller said that he wanted to be a "master", he did not hide this statement that would make him lose his head, but publicized it everywhere. Why does he want to advertise everywhere? He just wants to make friends with all the heroes in the world and let everyone come to him.

Second, is it generous personality or making friends with heroes? There is also an evaluation of Li Yuan in Old Tang Book: "(Li Yuan) is charming and open-minded, willful and honest, tolerant and patient, neither humble nor supercilious, and won his favor." According to the old Tang book, this is personality problem of Tang gaozu. In character, people are free to celebrate their birthdays and are generous and kind to others. However, if Tang Gaozu has long had the idea of competing for the world, it is not just Tang Gaozu's personality, but intentional. Whether it is his birthday or not, he is generous and kind, which makes it easy for him to make friends with heroes all over the world and makes more heroes follow him.

Tang gaozu made friends with heroes all over the world, which eventually made Yang Di very dissatisfied with him. When Yang Di was on patrol, he ordered Tang gaozu to see him. If Tang Gaozu has no ghosts in his heart, he can go to see Emperor Yang Di. But he has a ghost in his heart. At that time, he must have remembered the story of Liu Bang's reconnaissance and arrest of Han Xin, so he pretended to be ill and didn't go to see Yang Di. When he saw that Li Yuan didn't go to see him, he also said to Li Yuan's niece Wang, who was in the palace at that time, "Why are you late?" Then why didn't your uncle come? Wang said that Li Yuan was ill and said, "Can I die?" I am too ill to get out of bed.

Third, is it to protect the environment and people or to expand the team? Accused by Yang Di, on the one hand, Li Yuanxue Xiao He "polluted himself", drinking and taking bribes all day. At the same time, we actively helped court officials, constantly suppressed peasant rebels from all over the country, obeyed court orders, and protected the environment and people. In the 11th year of Daye (6 15), Li Yuan went to Longmen Town to suppress the peasant uprising.

Then, he went to attack Jiangzhou thief Chai Changbao. Then he went to attack the Turks. In doing so, Tang Gaozu is ostensibly protecting the environment and people, but in fact, he is constantly expanding his team. For example, beating his mother, he gained 10 thousand people. He harvested firewood for another 20,000 people. When he hit the Turks, he didn't hit the Turks head-on, but actually saved his strength.

Fourth, is it forced to resist or half-hearted? Tang gaozu finally rebelled, and Old Tang Shu wrote that he was forced. He wanted to be a loyal minister and didn't want to rebel, so Li Shimin arranged for Liu Wenjing and Pei Ji to find some ladies-in-waiting in Yang Di for Tang Gaozu. After Li Yuan was drunk and promiscuous, they told him the truth and made him "guilty", thus dragging him onto the road of rebellion. However, if Tang Gaozu doesn't want to resist, what is his "conceit" when the fortune teller says that he will become a "master of mankind" in the future? Therefore, this is obviously a half-hearted performance. In a word, Tang Gaozu is not a dutiful loyal minister, but he is just pretending.