The Story of Xuanwu Gate in wyndell dichinson, Li Shimin

The report of the Battle of Wucheng reached Chang 'an, which was originally unusual information, but caused an uproar that shocked the ruling and opposition parties. This time, the emperor accepted Li's suggestion and asked Li Yuanji to send reinforcements to Wu Cheng as the marshal's army. It is normal for Li Yuanji to reinforce Wu Cheng as a marshal. The key is the behind-the-scenes planning of Lee and Li Yuanji.

There are two main points in their plan: one is to use the opportunity of Li Yuanji's unified army to deploy Qin Gong's main fighters, including Wei Chijingde and Qin Baoshu. Li Yuanji will take the opportunity to send troops to fight and destroy these Qin Gong generals. In a state of war, a general marshal has the power of life and death over his subordinates. It was a piece of cake for Li Yuanji to realize this plan on the battlefield. Second, the court held a ceremony in Kunming Lake to see Yuanji off and bid farewell to the King of Qi. Prince Li attended on behalf of the emperor and took this opportunity to kill him.

For some time, the Li Shimin camp has been trying to deal with the provocation from the Prince camp, but the situation is not chaotic. Because the Li camp is strong, the camp can only play along. Now, with information, Li wants to use his military action in Wucheng to destroy himself.

Where did Li Shimin get the information? Who gave Li Shimin such important information?

History has recorded this. A man named Wang Qian came to report from the East Palace. The history books don't explain the man's motives. If we analyze it as a whole, we can probably draw the conclusion that the two camps are actually recruiting and fighting for each other's people. Li Shimin once said to Wei Chijingde, in fact, there is such a meaning, to enter the interior and master information. This Wang Wan, whose position is relatively honest in Dongdu, should be an official in Dongdu Army. I'm afraid he was bought by the Li Shimin camp. Obviously, the Li camp did not win the favor of the other side as successfully as the camp did.

This information is related to the fundamental problem of the Xuanwu gate incident. If this information is true, it proves that Li was the first camp to decide to use extreme measures. If this information is not true or half-true, for example, there is a plan to mobilize Qin Gong's military forces, but there is no plan to kill people, then the Li Shimin camp is the first party to use extreme measures. If you believe the truth of this information, you can think that the Xuanwu gate incident is an emergency measure; If you don't believe the truth of this information, you can think that it is a cover-up used by the Li Shimin camp for sophistry.

There are two situations that make people doubt the authenticity of this information. First of all, the Li camp is very wary of extreme measures. If Li uses or intends to use preemptive killing tactics, they should be very alert to this problem. However, in the later Xuanwu Gate incident, both the Prince and the King of Qi were very anxious and completely unprepared. Secondly, when Wei Zhi was later criticized by Li Shimin, he said that the prince had not adopted his plan, otherwise there would be no such fate. This proved that Wei Zheng had a plan to use extreme means, but it was not adopted by the prince. The author of zi tong zhi Jian can see more information about the Tang dynasty than we do today, but Sima guang is in his? Minister of Guangdong and Guangdong? I'm at: Emperor Taizong wanted to strike first, and then he should. In this case, it would be better if things didn't win. Then forced by the group, I went to wyndell dichinson to ban the door, pushing the blade with the same gas, which made me laugh for a long time. What a pity! ? Sima Guang seems to think that Li Shimin was persecuted by his subordinates, and instead of adopting the strategy of defensive counterattack, he took the initiative to attack, so he was criticized by later generations. Therefore, the core content of this information seems to be unreliable. This may be a way for Li Shimin to motivate his men. As for being forced at such a time, it is nothing more than to reduce Li Shimin's guilt.

How did the Li Shimin camp react to this news? Li Shimin first told the news to Sun Chang Wuji, and Sun Chang Wuji immediately got in touch with others. At present, officials in the palace of Qin all speak with one voice. Expressed in more elegant terms, it is to do the things of the Duke of Zhou and control the highest authority; Simply put, it is to take military means to seize the highest power through surprise attacks.

As far as we know, Fang and Wuji were the earliest advocates of military measures in Qin Gong. However, when did this statement begin? Existing data cannot prove it. The fact should be that within Qin Gong, the idea of taking extreme military means to seize the supreme power has long existed, but Li Shimin either made no clear statement or did not support it, so it could not be put into practice. The message from Wucheng is that Fang and Du Ruhui, the two main counselors, were court officials at that time and could not participate in the plot of Qin in time, so Wuji should be the core planner.

This is undoubtedly a great event. No matter how many people support it, Li Shimin will have to make the final decision for himself. In the palace of the Qin Dynasty, the final situation is that everyone persuaded Li Shimin, at least for now. Li Shimin in the face of this statement, can't have no scruples, he must think carefully, otherwise the outcome is well known. Li Shimin thinks:? The flesh and blood eat each other, the great evil of ancient and modern times. I sincerely know that disaster is imminent, I will let it happen, and then I will ask for it without hesitation. ? Li Shimin hopes to solve the conflict by attacking the enemy from the rear. From the perspective of self-defense, Li Shimin is not responsible for cannibalism. Obviously, Li Shimin is not considering victory or failure, but the consequences and long-term legitimacy after seizing power.

However, everyone is concerned about the danger of taking advantage of others, so no one agrees with Li Shimin. When his men persuaded Li Shimin, they tried to persuade him for several reasons.

First,? Your majesty's achievements cover the world and promise great things. ? This is from the perspective of making contributions. (party) according to

Second, in the face of radical policies, take a defensive stance: your majesty's wings are exhausted. How long can he last? (Cheng) According to

Third, Wei Chijingde? If the king doesn't obey Jingde, Jingde will flee to the grass, so he can't stay with the king, and he will be slaughtered in the battle! ? Sun Chang's infinite echo:? Mowgli will go with him, too. He can't be king any more. ? The two men threatened to leave the Qin palace.

Fourth, the 800 warriors who are usually raised have entered the palace and the action has begun. ? The situation is over and the king is safe! ? Wei Chijingde stressed that the soldiers have already started to act, and there is no room for maneuver.

With one voice, what's more, eight hundred warriors have entered the battle position, and the arrow has been bent. Even if Li Shimin disagrees, it is hard to stop. So, Li Shimin gave in and said, "Come and see if it's bad luck." . While divining, Zhang came in from the outside and said, there is no doubt about launching military action now. Divination is to understand doubt, and now there is no doubt, why do you need divination? Everyone agreed with one voice. So I didn't even do divination, and decided to launch a coup directly. There is a very important aspect in the written record of this process that no one mentioned. What is the most important factor of Li Shimin Group in the preparation of military coup, especially in the decision-making process? Is it really a story about the aftermath? What has been done has gained supreme power, and it is up to the winner to decide how to say it. How can you worry that there is no way to explain it? So are you worried about failure? Not exactly. Fighting is what Qin is best at. A surprise attack is to seize the enemy's head with local superior forces. Because the other party is not ready, the overall advantage cannot be exerted. By the time I reacted, the main battle was over. So, the chances are great, don't worry. So, what is Li Shimin worried about?

I think what Li Shimin is most worried about is internal loyalty. Such an action requires a high degree of internal unity, and any trouble will affect the overall situation. The people inside must go all out and unite as one. Li Shimin used his own hesitation to observe all people's attitudes and positions. Once the decision was made, we saw that Li Shimin immediately restored his heroism on the battlefield. How to prove it? Let's see how Li Shimin treats Fang and Du Ruhui outside Qin Gong.

Fang and Du Ruhui were not present when Qin Gong decided to stage a coup. Li Shimin asked Wei Chijingde to look for the two men, but they didn't come back immediately. They don't seem to know that Li Shimin has made up his mind. Maybe Wei Chijingde didn't make it clear. Li Shimin then took off his sword and handed it to Wei Chijingde, saying, If you go again, they will come if they want to, or they will cut off their heads with this knife if they don't want to. When they heard the news, they quickly put on military uniforms and sneaked into Qin Gong to participate in everyone's conspiracy.

What exactly is their plan? Because after the victory, they no longer revealed the plan at that time, which was aboveboard, so there was no record. Their success proves that their plan is very thorough. However, how did they implement the plan step by step? This is really an eternal mystery. We can only know the previous plan through the development of the event. Their plan has at least the following parts.

First, the Xuanwu Gate set an ambush to attack Li and Li Yuanji. Kill the main political competitors first. What is this? Catch the thief first and catch the king? Tactics.

Second, if the Xuanwu gate is unfavorable, stick to and control the emperor. It is the general law of coup to control the emperor in his own hands. To control the emperor, all orders can be issued in the name of the emperor.

Third, if it doesn't go well, Luoyang is the last resort. They secretly informed Luoyang that they were ready to meet, and if they could not control Chang 'an, they would withdraw to Luoyang.

There is a view that Li Shimin controlled Tang Gaozu before the Battle of Xuanwu Gate. I think this view is inaccurate. Although it is important to control the emperor, under the circumstances at that time, as long as the Xuanwu Gate was controlled, the court and the emperor were actually controlled. Whether or not to control the emperor's people is actually not important. The importance of Xuanwu Gate was clearly summarized by Mr. Chen Yinque many years ago.

How did Li Shimin carry out his plan? Is the implementation process smooth?

Li Shimin's plan was carried out at dawn on June 4th. The beginning of this plan should be the day before, June 3, Wude nine years. On June 3rd, a special astronomical phenomenon happened. Taibai Venus crossed the sky. Fu Yimi of Taishi Bureau played:? Too white to see Qin Fen, the king of Qin deserves the world. ? Emperor Tang Gaozu showed Li Shimin the secret report.

Many years later, when Li Shimin became emperor, he once said to Fu Yi: Your secret performance almost killed me. Therefore, Fu Yi's secret performance is not part of Li Shimin's conspiracy. Fu Yi is a famous anti-Buddhist. Not long ago, according to Fu Yi's suggestion, Li Yuan decided to eliminate monks and Taoists. It should be said that Tang Gaozu and Yi Fu have a good relationship. Because astronomical phenomena are one thing, and explanation is another. Yi Fu at this moment, why is there such a tip-off? Why did Tang Gaozu let Li Shimin know such a big secret?

Let's take a look at Li Shimin's reaction to this secret report. Maybe we can learn the secret. After seeing Fu Yi's tip-off, he immediately reported another important secret to Li and Li Yuanji's fornication harem. To put it bluntly, Li, Li Yuanji and the concubines in the harem all have proper relationships. Li Shimin read Fu Yi's secret report and found out what facts? He found out that the other party wanted to kill himself. Therefore, while reporting their fornication in the harem, he said bitterly: I don't owe my brother anything. Now I want to kill him, which seems to be revenge for Shi Chong and Jiande. I died in vain today. I never disobeyed my relatives. My soul went underground. It is a shame to see a thief. ? He said, I am going to die soon, but I really don't want to die like this. I am ashamed to meet people underground in Rainbow, Shi Chong and Dou Jiande. This is not logical at all, but it is not meaningless. Li Shimin still reminded the emperor at the critical moment: I have made great contributions to the country, and I should not be killed.

In this regard, Ethan's final decision is: investigate and confront tomorrow. In other words, everything will be known tomorrow.

This is a close contact of mahjong. The astronomical phenomenon is one of the reasons why the other side wants to frame Li Shimin. About Venus crosses the sky from the southeast and sets in the northwest, and vice versa. Anyway, it has something to do with the northwest. On the one hand, Venus means the main soldier, which indicates that there will be a military disaster, on the other hand, it also means the ownership of power. Qin Fen is in the northwest. So Fu Yi explained that the king of Qin wanted to have the world. There must have been a celestial phenomenon first, and then the Taishi Bureau was asked to explain it. Therefore, Fu Yi's explanation meets the needs of Li camp and can be used to rectify. However, Li Shimin used this information very skillfully, and took this opportunity to report the case of fornication in the harem. Why wit? Because the plan is beheading, and in the whole plan, Li and Li Yuanji must leave their palace, only in this way can they ambush and attack.

Think about it. How did Shimin mobilize Li and Li Yuanji? He can't do it alone. He must complete this transfer through the emperor. Why did Tang Gaozu listen to Li Shimin? Of course, Li Shimin must skillfully mobilize the emperor. How can we make the emperor submit? According to the emperor's mood at that time, set relevant traps.

What was Tang Gaozu's mood at that time? Li Shimin's ambition, Tang Gaozu has long been aware of, otherwise it will not always beat Li Shimin. Defeated, but it can't be simply considered to be taken in by Li. On the one hand, Li Shimin is indeed ambitious, on the other hand, Tang Gaozu is also aware of this. So, when? When did the king of Qin win the world? After this astronomical phenomenon was explained, Tang Gaozu seemed determined to disarm Li Shimin. Even if he didn't cancel his life, he was at least prepared to cancel Li Shimin's political life. So, when Tang Gaozu handed Fu Yi's secret report to Li Shimin, Li Shimin immediately felt a lot of pitfalls. Fortunately, Li Shimin is ready to sail, so he comes to play and reports urgently.

Is Li Shimin telling the truth? Of course not. First, because of the strict harem system, concubines' contact with the outside world is not only limited but also monitored a lot. Second, Sima Guang, who has always supported Li Shimin, also thinks that the secret of the harem is really hard to say. He actually disagrees with this statement. So, why did Li Shimin report it like this? He used his emotions to mobilize Li and Li Yuanji. Why use this reason? Because it was ridiculous and incredible, Tang Gaozu became angry from embarrassment, and Tang Gaozu immediately decided to investigate the next day. What's Tang Gaozu thinking? What he thinks is that this matter is easy to investigate, and when the parties confront each other, everything will be understood immediately. For example, if you want Li Shimin to provide evidence, Li Shimin will definitely not give it. Then Li Shimin was framed, not only framed, but also insulted the emperor, which is a typical disrespect. Confronted in court tomorrow, Li Shimin will die.

Of course, I didn't expect that it seemed to be a trap, but it was actually a diversion. The tigers he wanted to mobilize were Li Yuanji.

Li got a tip-off from the office and consulted with Li Yuanji overnight. Li Yuanji suggested: Assemble military forces, avoid diseases and advance, depending on the situation. It should be said that this suggestion is very important. If Li agrees, our plan will fail, not only to fail, but also to fail. Because when Lee consulted with Li Yuanji, the ambush under the command of Li Shimin was already in place. , Cheng, Tai, and other famous Tang Dynasty soldiers all entered the ambush position. This action cannot be undone. If Li and others don't leave the palace, they can't explain his military actions. However, Li is confident that Li Yuanji should not be so cautious. He said: We are well prepared. We should go to the palace to find out the situation ourselves.

The East Palace is close to Xuanwu Gate. Li Yuanji lives in Wude Hall, separated from the East Palace by a wall. Congdong Li Palace came out from the north gate, joined Li Yuanji, the king of Qi, and then arrived at the north gate of the palace, which is the Xuanwu Gate not far away. Of course, they didn't think that such a short distance was their death place.

On the morning of June 4th, everything looked as usual. After Li and Li Yuanji met, they approached Xuanwu Gate from the east. What makes Li feel more at ease is that the generals guarding the most important position of Xuanwu Gate are all our own. But he never dreamed that the generals stationed in Xuanwu Gate either took a wait-and-see attitude towards the battle that happened in front of them or followed Li Shimin, but no one was willing to work for the Prince. Among them, the long river that was on duty at Xuanwu Gate that day was the officer that Li Shimin won over from the Prince camp. On this day, he played a key role. According to historical records, when Li arrived at the temple by the lake, he found that the situation was different and immediately took the horse back, but it was too late. Appeared and stopped Li loudly. We don't know what Li Shimin said. When the war came, it was obvious that Li Shimin was much calmer. And Li and Li Yuanji found that things were not good at this time, and the ambush appeared. They are armed to the teeth and have high morale. Li Yuanji took off his bow and arrow first, but he was too nervous. Although the two brothers are in the same boat, it seems that they never expected such a scene. Therefore, Li Yuanji's bow and arrow failed again and again, but he couldn't pull the bow or catch the arrow. Still calm, an arrow shot out, the arrow went through Li's throat, and Li died on the spot. Li was caught off guard by this arrow. He stood there, only to hear a string ring, and then the arrow went through the air and came straight to himself with the wind. For an instant, I heard the sound of Li's throat breaking. His eyes should always be fixed on his second brother Li Shimin, his own brother and his own political opponent. At this moment, he drew a bow and shot an arrow, which was skillful, natural and unrestrained and relaxed. Before he died, Li wondered why his second brother was so good at archery. This is the first arrow of the Xuanwu Gate incident, which was personally issued by Li Shimin. This first arrow settled Gan Kun and solved his main opponent.

When Li Shimin's first arrow penetrated the dense air of Xuanwu Gate in the morning, Li Shimin's ambush was in full swing, and Li Yuanji was shot by an arrow. Lee and Li Yuanji don't have many followers, but they have a small team after all, and they should fight back. The scuffle between the two sides began, so the following shots appeared. Li Shimin's horse was frightened and ran into the jungle. It was hung on a tree. The horse was trapped and couldn't get up. This is not Li Shimin's proper behavior. When he shot the first arrow, he was stunned by it. Big brother's eyes, as if they had never blinked, kept looking at himself. He watched helplessly as the arrow shot by his eldest brother got stuck in his throat and fell off his horse silently, never moving again. He knew that his own brother had completely let go of his arrow. His heart is certainly not the taste, his heart is a mess, and he forgot to control the mount. When he finally woke up, the horse was entangled in the branches, and he was trapped and could not move. Unexpectedly, the place where he was trapped happened to be very close to Li Yuanji. When Li Yuanji saw this, he immediately started to run. He took Li Shimin's bow and arrow and prepared to strangle Li Shimin with a bowstring. The two armies were at war. At this critical moment, Wei Chijingde let out a cry and Pegasus arrived. Li Yuanji saw the disparity between the enemy and us, and turned and ran. He wants to run back to Wude Hall. Wei Chijingde won't let go, of course, and immediately drew an arrow from behind. This is the second arrow of the Xuanwu gate incident, and it is also a very important arrow. This arrow solved the second person in the camp, Li. Wei Chijingde and Li Yuanji are two people who are best at using spears in the world, but at the last decisive moment, there are no spears, only bows and arrows. At first, Li Yuanji vowed to kill Wei Chijingde himself. He probably never thought that there would be such a scene today. This is the last scene of Li Yuanji's life. With the wind, the long arrow deeply pierced Li Yuanji's body, and Li Yuanji fell to the ground.

Wei Chijingde is an old hand on the battlefield. After he shot Li Yuanji with an arrow, he knew how to take off Li Yuanji's head calmly. Of course, Li's head was also taken off. Li Shimin and his ambush quickly entered the Xuanwu Gate. Soon, the guards of the East Palace and Qi Wang Mi also arrived at Xuanwu Gate and began to attack Xuanwu Gate. At this time, Qin Gong in Li Shimin was unguarded, so when Xue Wanche in the East Palace shouted to attack Qin Gong, the soldiers guarding Xuanwu Gate were very nervous because it was too vulnerable to attack. At this time, it was just in time to hold Li and Li Yuanji's heads high and let their soldiers know that the leader was dead and it was meaningless to continue fighting. So the armies of Li and Yuanji who attacked Xuanwu Gate began to break up.

This is the thrilling scene of the change of Xuanwu Gate. However, so far, we haven't actually explained an important message about the changes of Xuanwu Gate: Where did all these activities take place? Sure, it's near Xuanwu Gate. But is it outside Xuanwu Gate or inside Xuanwu Gate? Many film and television works believe that the battle took place in Xuanwu Gate, where Li Shimin was ambushed. In my opinion, the battle took place outside Xuanwu Gate. First of all, Li and others didn't reach the ideal ambush site, so they sensed the problem and turned their horses around. At this time, he appeared and stopped Li loudly. If it is in Xuanwu Gate, Li knows that there is no turning back, because the door has been closed behind them. Secondly, Li Yuanji once wanted to run back to the Wu Temple, and combined with the Lama action just now, he should also be outside the Xuanwu Gate. Third, there must be someone from the East Palace and Qi running back, so the reinforcements from the East Palace and Qi will arrive soon. This is also circumstantial evidence of the incident outside Xuanwu Gate. Because the defenders of Xuanwu Gate are not on Li's side at this time, if this happened within Xuanwu Gate, of course they would not allow anyone to escape from the gate again.

After the Battle of Xuanwu Gate was basically over, Li Shimin asked Wei Chijingde to defend Emperor Tang Gaozu. This is an elegant statement, but its content is much richer. At this point, Tang Gaozu is rowing in the sea pool with the prime ministers, ready to interrogate the false accusation of the so-called fornication harem after the court. At this time, Tang Can high-impedance how can have such leisure? Tang Gaozu certainly needs to greet the prime ministers. This time, he can't be soft-hearted I don't know how Tang gaozu's work of unifying thoughts with the prime ministers is going, but now I suddenly see Wei Chijingde, who is armed to the teeth and covered in blood. Everyone knows that something terrible has happened. Pretending to be calm, Tang Gaozu asked, Who is in trouble today? Wei Chijingde said: The rebellion between the Prince and the King of Qi has been wiped out by the King of Qin, who was worried that the emperor would be frightened and sent officials to protect his majesty.

What else can Tang Gaozu do? He had to accept it painfully. Tang Gaozu's first order was to hand over the relieving, let Li Shimin command the military forces in the world, and at the same time ordered the East Palace guards to give up resistance. Now that the emperor has ordered the prince to die, who are these soldiers fighting for? They had to give up fighting. After occupying the East Palace and Qi Palace, Li Shimin killed all Li's sons and Li Yuanji. In this battle, of course, Wei Chijingde made the greatest contribution, so Li Shimin gave all the treasures of Qi Wang Mi to Wei Chijingde.

A few days later, Li Shimin became a prince. Two months later, Li Shimin became emperor. Qin Gong officials became important ministers of the new court. Tang Gaozu abdicated and became the emperor's father. After a period of bloody conflict, the Tang Dynasty completed the transfer of political power.

Without the change of Xuanwu Gate, there would be no chastity. This can be proved from two aspects. If Li Shimin hadn't launched the Xuanwu Gate incident, Li Shimin would certainly not have become the emperor. Whether Li Chengjian or Li Yuanji later became the emperor, it should be a different scene, and it can't be called the rule of chastity. The Xuanwu Gate incident is a historical tragedy, and Li Shimin knows it well. In order to reduce the impact of this incident on his reputation, Li Shimin must use brighter means to govern the world and prove himself positively with greater achievements. That is to say, for Li Shimin, the Xuanwu Gate incident has become an important internal motive force, prompting him to make greater efforts to self-control and treat the world well. There are many ministers who can help Li Shimin to govern the world, but in the imperial era, the most crucial figure is Emperor Taizong after all.

In ancient China, the event of seizing power by violence was unprecedented. The deep root of this problem lies in the imperial system itself. Under this system, this tragedy is inevitable. However, among those who seized power by violence, after all, few people can achieve such brilliant achievements as Li Shimin's Zhenguan rule. Therefore, on the whole, later generations fully affirmed Li Shimin. Later, Li Shimin used imperial power so diligently and sparingly, and made outstanding achievements in governing the country. Among the emperors in ancient China, Li Shimin showed the elegance and rationality of imperial power, and fully demonstrated the excellent aspects of China's classical political wisdom.

The change of Xuanwumen is like the cold night before warm spring and the darkness before dawn to the rule of Zhenguan.