Today, the History Encyclopedia editor has prepared for you: Li Shimin killed his nephew. Interested friends, come and take a look! After the Xuanwu Gate Incident, Li Yuan pleaded with Li Shimin not to kill 10 nephews. Why did Li Shimin still want to take action? What is Li Shimin thinking?
As the most representative monarch of the Tang Dynasty, Li Shimin was portrayed as charming, wise, and powerful in many TV dramas by our descendants. However, in reality, no one is perfect. What is hidden behind history, and what is the true situation of the Xuanwu Gate Incident?
1、 The Xuanwu Gate Incident
According to historical records, the two sons of the founding emperor of the Tang Dynasty, Li Yuan, Li Shimin and Li Jiancheng, were powerful figures who followed their father to conquer the world. After Li Yuan rose to power, he wanted Li Shimin to become the crown prince because Li Jiancheng was obsessed with women and did not understand political affairs. However, as the eldest son, Li Jiancheng was unwilling to do so. Therefore, Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji formed the Taizi Party to exclude Li Shimin.
However, Li Shimin was constantly on the battlefield and had a large number of troops under his command. Just as Li Shimin was gradually pushed to the edge, he fought hard and killed his brothers Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji under the Xuanwu goalkeeper. He also forced Li Yuan to change himself to the crown prince and inherit the throne.
2、 Eliminate grass and root
After killing his own brother, Li Shimin quickly took control of the entire capital with his own troops and captured the relatives of his deceased brother. At that time, his advisors told Li Shimin to eradicate the root of the problem, otherwise there would be chaos in the future. Father Li Yuan earnestly begged Li Shimin to leave his bloodline, but Li Shimin was a person who had come out of the bloody storm. Faced with this situation, he decisively killed these relatives, including 10 nephews.
After the murder, Li Yuan painfully told Li Shimin, ‘If you kill my descendants today, your descendants will do the same in the future.’. Li Yuan’s more than ten grandsons were all killed. As a grandfather, he certainly cannot accept this fact, but as an ambitious rebel army, Li Shimin must not have any mercy. For these remaining dangers, he must destroy them in infancy.
But the actual situation may not be like this. Sima Guang believes that this period of history may have been exaggerated and modified. Where can those who can attack the world together be powerless? The actual situation may be that Li Shimin, as a rebellious prince, felt that this was very disgraceful, which was the excuse he found.
But in fact, there have been many such situations in history, and every dynasty has its own reasons for existence. Although Li Shimin’s actions were not honorable, the subsequent Zhenguan governance helped him erase most of the stains. Therefore, the changes in the imperial dynasty have certain historical significance, which is also an inevitable development of history.
After successfully plotting to seize the throne, Li Shimin incorporated all his concubines into his harem, which was an indelible stain on his history. Li Shimin’s vigorous governance was also largely due to his desire to use his own success to prove that his plan to seize the throne was correct. The governance of Zhenguan brought great progress to the Tang Dynasty. We sigh that a monarch did something unjust, and we feel fortunate that the Tang Dynasty led by Li Shimin became a model in history.
