Hi, it’s time to meet everyone again. Today, the History Encyclopedia editor has brought an article about Li Shimin. I hope you like it.
Those who have studied history know that Li Shimin, as the most famous emperor of the Tang Dynasty, made significant contributions to the country during his reign. Whether it was internal political and economic development, or external wars and cultural exchanges, they were all orderly and prosperous under Li Shimin’s governance, and even had the saying “the rule of Zhenguan”. It can be seen that Li Shimin was indeed a diligent and caring emperor. But Li Shimin is not without a stain in history, mainly because he obtained the throne by killing his brother and forcing his father. Such a throne may be somewhat illegitimate and make people feel that Li Shimin will do anything for the throne.
Why didn’t Li Shimin wait until Li Yuan died to seize the throne? It’s not that I don’t want to, but I can’t
Many people are curious why Li Shimin insisted on initiating the Xuanwu Gate Incident? As the most proud and accomplished son of Li Yuan, wouldn’t it be good to inherit it legitimately after Li Yuan’s death? The answer to this question is provided in the Comprehensive Mirror for Aid in Government.
The analysis of this period of history in the “Zizhi Tongjian” is as follows. Firstly, it was because after the founding of the Tang Dynasty, Li Yuan dealt various blows to Li Shimin, who had made the greatest contributions to the country. As an emperor, he felt that his son had made some great achievements, so he raised his eldest son to balance Li Shimin, so that his throne could be more stable.
The second point is that Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji were somewhat complacent due to their father’s promotion, and naturally felt that they could become the crown prince, so they became even more reckless and very targeted towards Li Shimin, which made it difficult for Li Shimin to do so.
The third point is that Li Shimin’s power was already very great at this time, and he could completely avoid being controlled by Li Yuan. Moreover, he had many talented people and patriots under his command who provided him with advice and strategies during the war, which gave Li Shimin the strength to win the palace coup.
Based on these points, Li Shimin chose to launch a coup at Xuanwu Gate, killing his two brothers and seizing control of Li Yuan in the palace. Li Shimin’s victory made Li Yuan know that his situation was hopeless. And there is no one among my remaining sons who is more capable than Li Shimin and can balance Li Shimin, so I can only compromise in the end.
Not long after, Li Yuan appointed Li Shimin as the crown prince and issued a decree to allow the crown prince to handle various political affairs. Later, he abdicated directly and made Li Shimin the emperor.
In summary, at that time, Li Shimin was already fully capable of governing the country, and many ministers had already defected to Li Shimin. Therefore, there was no need for him to wait for Li Yuan’s death. This way, he could have seized power in his own hands earlier and done many things more conveniently. Moreover, from a historical perspective, Li Shimin was indeed a rare and excellent emperor, so this method was also the best choice at that time.
The Comprehensive Mirror to Aid in Government provides its own perspective on whether Li Shimin killed his brother and forced his father to seize the throne, but different books will have different records and interpretations.
In the “Zizhi Tongjian”, it is believed that Li Shimin was a rare and good emperor. Even with such a stain, his subsequent governance policies made this stain very small. Evaluating a person should not rely solely on one-sided things to determine what kind of person he is, but should be judged based on his life and the political environment at that time.
So no matter what, Li Shimin is at least a rare management talent in governing the country, which has made many talented and ambitious people willing to work for him, going to great lengths and dying.
