How did Li Shimin achieve the transition from the Xuanwu Gate coup to ascending to the throne in two months? Readers who are unsure can read on with the History Encyclopedia editor.
The Xuanwu Gate Incident occurred on June 4th, 626 AD in the ninth year of the Tang Dynasty’s Wude reign. The entire incident lasted for a day and ultimately ended with Li Shimin’s complete victory. As failures, Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji died on the spot. A few days later, Li Yuan issued an edict appointing Li Shimin as the Crown Prince. Two months later in August, Li Yuan announced his abdication and Li Shimin inherited the throne, ascending to the coveted throne. This year, he was only 29 years old and not yet in his thirties. So young, it’s touching.
From the Xuanwu Gate Incident to his coronation, Li Shimin only took two short months. Why was he able to do so quickly? You should know that Li Yuan was in good health and had a lot of energy at that time. Li Shimin’s rush to ascend to the throne will give people the excuse of ‘not receiving the throne properly’. This is very unfavorable for him.
After the Xuanwu Gate Incident, only Li Shimin remained among the four sons of Dou Huangsheng. No one can compete with him for a position. He could have been the Crown Prince for a period of time and then naturally inherited the throne, why be so impatient?
The reason why Li Shimin was able to complete the handover of power in such a short period of time is mainly the result of the combined effect of two factors.
The first is external factors, such as Turkic invasion. For the Tang Dynasty, in June of the ninth year of Wude, in addition to the Xuanwu Gate Incident, a major event also occurred, which was the invasion of the Turks. The invasion of the Turks this time was led by Khan Jieli himself, and the momentum was fierce. Before Li Shimin took action, Li Jiancheng planned to kill him at the banquet where the army was attacking the Turks. Unfortunately, he “died” before the army could set out. The Turkic army invaded the Tang Dynasty from the northwest and was unstoppable, approaching Chang’an. At this critical moment of life and death, Li Yuan and Li Shimin cannot afford to hesitate. Li Shimin has just resolved his two brothers, and now he has the responsibility and obligation to stand at the forefront to solve this crisis.
On August 8th, the ninth year of the Wude reign, Li Shimin officially ascended to the throne. Twenty days later, the Turkic army attacked the temporary bridge of the Wei River. After ascending to the throne, Li Shimin immediately mobilized troops and rushed to the front line himself, condemning Jieli Khan for betraying his word on the makeshift bridge.
Jieli Khan saw that Li Shimin and the Tang army behind him, whose morale was high, did not look like they had experienced political turmoil. At this moment, the Khan Jieli calculated that he could not take advantage of the attack and had already obtained almost what he needed to grab. Therefore, he shook hands with Li Shimin and made peace, leading his army to retreat.
The second factor is internal, Li Yuan himself is unwilling to be a puppet. On the day of the Xuanwu Gate Incident, Li Shimin’s military general, Weichi Jingde, brought weapons to Li Yuan’s mansion under the guise of protection, but in reality, he was under house arrest. After the Xuanwu Gate Incident, Li Shimin was appointed as the crown prince and rewarded the meritorious officials greatly, completely disregarding Li Yuan. It can be seen that Li Yuan has been sidelined at this point, and Li Shimin has already gained real power. Although Li Yuan can continue to be emperor, Li Shimin will not be too hasty. But what’s the point of being a puppet in the face of national crisis (Turkic invasion)? One day he will abdicate, what does it matter if he is one day earlier or one day later? It’s better to become the Emperor himself and let Li Shimin solve those difficult things on his own.
Under the interaction of the above two factors, after the Xuanwu Gate Incident, Li Shimin was able to quickly ascend to the throne, stabilize the political situation of the court, smoothly achieve power transition, and decisively solve the Turkic invasion, thus opening up a new situation for the Tang Dynasty: the Zhenguan Changge.
