Today, the History Encyclopedia editor has prepared for you: Li Longji and Li Dan. Interested friends, come and take a look!
At the beginning of the founding of the Tang Dynasty, Li Shimin launched the Xuanwu Gate coup and seized the throne. While shooting two brothers, he also sent his trusted general Weichi Jingde to the Forbidden Palace to find Li Yuan and report to him first.
Compared to Li Shimin and Yuchi Jingde who resorted to any means necessary, Li Longji was much gentler. During the Xiantian coup, he eliminated Princess Taiping while sending the imperial guards to protect Li Dan. But is Li Longji really going to protect him? In fact, the key is something in Li Dan’s hand. Without it, he wouldn’t have died peacefully.
Everyone knows that since Li Longji became the crown prince, he has been at odds with Princess Taiping. The most violent incident was when Princess Taiping was expelled from Chang’an and publicly scolded Li Longji at the entrance of the Eastern Palace. However, within three months, Princess Taiping returned to Kyoto unscathed. At this moment, Li Dan made an astonishing decision – to abdicate the throne.
Li Dan became the Empress Dowager, and her son and sister seemed to have quieted down. They entered a relatively stable period of coexistence, with almost no major movements in the past two years. But Li Longji felt uneasy because he had no real power. If Princess Taiping wanted to kill him, it was as simple as stepping on an ant.
At this point, Li Longji’s followers repeatedly advised him to take action first, but he remained hesitant, just like Li Shimin who hesitated to kill Li Jiancheng back then.
Actually, it’s not that Li Longji cares about family ties, but rather worries about how Li Dan will feel if he uses force against Princess Taiping? Although Li Dan has abdicated, the military power is still in his hands. If he takes action to stop Li Longji, what should Li Longji do?
Therefore, the key to eliminating Princess Taiping is not Princess Taiping, but rather Li Dan. If Li Dan becomes an obstacle to Li Longji, Li Longji will inevitably take extraordinary measures against him. If we really come to this point, won’t father and son turn against each other, and Li Longji will still bear the stigma of regicide?
But soon, someone named Cui Dayi proposed a solution for Li Longji. He said:
First, establish the Northern Army, then suppress the rebellious party, and do not disturb the Supreme Emperor.
This sentence means to first take control of the Beiya Forbidden Army, also known as the Xuanwu Gate Forbidden Army, and then kill the Taiping faction, but do not disturb the Supreme Emperor. How not to disturb the Supreme Emperor?
In fact, the essence of this sentence is to say that as long as the Taiping faction is hunted down and controlled while dividing the army, there is nothing to worry about. Therefore, protecting Li Dan’s forbidden army was actually imprisoning him and preventing him from taking any actions that would hinder Li Longji.
On the day of the coup, Li Longji ordered the Prime Minister and Minister of War, Guo Yuanzhen, to lead another group of troops straight to the Palace of the Supreme Emperor. Li Dan thought that Guo Yuanzhen was here to protect the driver, but when Guo Yuanzhen rushed up to the city tower fully armed, he realized that it was not really the case. This was a blatant coup!
Li Longji imprisoned Li Dan not only to control the situation, but more importantly, for something in Li Dan’s hands, which was an imperial decree——
Guo Yuanzhen forced Li Dan to order the announcement of the Taiping Party’s conspiracy to cause chaos, which was extremely heinous and had been lawfully executed by the emperor; At the same time, a general amnesty was announced, and only pro party members who participated in the rebellion will not be pardoned.
With the imperial decree of Li Dan, Li Longji was able to legitimately eliminate the Taiping faction, both defeating the enemy and controlling Li Dan, which can be described as killing two birds with one stone.
From Weichi Jingde to Guo Yuanzhen, Li Longji’s path was no different from that of Li Shimin. People often say to learn from history, but history tends to repeat the same mistakes, which is truly touching.
