When Tang gaozu was ready, he executed Wang Wei and Gao Junya on the pretext, which marked a complete break between Tang gaozu and Gao Junya. Before officially sending troops to Guanzhong, Li Yuan believed that the worries of Turks must be solved first. However, due to the disparity in strength between the two sides, Li Yuan took the initiative to write a letter to Shan Yu, asking Shan Yu to make peace with him and support him to stand in the Sui Dynasty and become the emperor himself. Due to the shortage of horses in the army, the Turks sent thousands of good horses to Taiyuan for trading, and promised to send troops to help Li Yuan attack Xiaguan. Considering the large number of Turks, Tang Gaozu only asked the Turks to send a small number of troops to enhance their prestige.
After everything was ready, Li Yuan opened an official warehouse in Taiyuan to help the poor and win the hearts of the people. As a result, more and more poor people came to apply, and tens of thousands of soldiers were recruited within 20 days. Then he sent his son Li to conquer Gao Deru of Xihe County who refused to obey orders. The Li brothers have strict military discipline, and the people can't afford to buy vegetables and fruits, so they can compete with the foot soldiers. Therefore, the morale of the army is very high. They quickly captured Xihe County and killed only one person. Besides, Qiu didn't commit a crime or kill anyone. It took only nine days from sending troops to returning to Taiyuan. Tang Gaozu was very satisfied with the war and thought that with such an army, he could gallop freely in the world.
After this war, Tang gaozu set up a general's office, and appointed Li Jian as the commander-in-chief of the left army, commanding the left army and sealing Longxi; Li Shimin was the right commander in chief, commanding the right armed forces and sealing Dunhuang Gong; Li Yuanji is the commander-in-chief of Taiyuan and stays in Taiyuan. Pei Ji, Liu Wenjing, samurai, Wen Daya, Tang Jian, etc. They are all generals, but, Shunde, Wang and so on. All officers at all levels.
At this point, the military and political institutions that Li Yuan used to compete for the world were basically formed, and the desire to change the dynasty began to be transformed into practical actions.
In July this year, Tang Gaozu led 30,000 troops from Taiyuan to Huoyi via Xihe River. Here, he defeated 20,000 elite troops of the Sui general Song Laosheng, killed Song Laosheng and captured Huo Yi. Then connect Linfen and the general to Longmen. Then the soldiers were divided into two roads, one crossing the river with the main force to capture Guanzhong, and the other sending troops to Hedong to deal with the Sui general Qu Tutong stationed there. He sent Wang, Wang and Wang to cross the river and soon occupied Hancheng. Then, he led his troops south and defeated Sui Jun, forcing Sui Jun, who was stationed in Hedong, to break the Pujin Bridge. Tang Gaozu personally led the main force straight down Hedong, and Sui Jun could not hold the city. Tang Gaozu took the opportunity to cross the Yellow River here. At this time, both Fengyi and Yongfengcang were occupied by Li Yuanjun, and officials of Jingzhao Wannian and Liquan also sent people to contact Li Yuanjun about their defection. Scholars in the Three Qin Dynasties, county officials, children of powerful people, and many people who helped the old and brought the young to vote.
Tang Gaozu saw the popular support and decided to attack Chang 'an directly. He ordered Li to lead tens of thousands of troops to stay in Yongfengcang and defend Tongguan, and ordered, Shunde and others to lead tens of thousands of troops to attack Chang 'an through Gaoling, Jingyang, Wugong and Hexian. Along the way, many people surrendered to the government and the people. When they arrived in Jingyang, the army had expanded to more than 90 thousand people. Later, they joined the army led by Li Shentong and Princess Pingyang, the daughter of Tang Gaozu, and the momentum became stronger and stronger.
Li Shentong is Tang Gaozu's cousin. He was in Chang 'an when Taiyuan started the war. In order to avoid the arrest of officials in the Sui Dynasty, he fled into the deep mountains of the county seat and joined hands with Shi and others to coordinate. Princess Pingyang and her husband Chai Shao were also in Chang 'an, and Li Yuan secretly called her to Taiyuan during the war in Taiyuan. Chai Shao thought that the husband and wife were exposed, so she went to Taiyuan alone, while Princess Pingyang sneaked back to her villa in the county, scattered her possessions, gathered her followers and set out to attack everywhere. Sui Jun, who defeated the invaders many times, successively captured Wudu and began to form an army of more than 70,000 people. Tang Gaozu was very excited when he heard the news. He sent Chai Shao and hundreds of cavalry to meet the princess from Huayin along Nanshan. Later, this army joined Li Shimin's army in Weibei, known as the female soldier, and participated in the siege of Chang 'an.
In October of this year, he also arrived outside Chang 'an, and Li's army was assembled outside Chang 'an, with a total strength of more than 200,000. During this period, Wei Xuan, Zuo Yiwei, Jing Zhaocheng and other ministers of Sui Dynasty assisted You Yang who stayed in Chang 'an. With a genial smile, Wei Xuan died at home. Only Yin Shishi and Gu Yidu took the city, but they did not surrender. In November, when Tang gaozu saw that the army was preparing to attack the city, he ordered the siege. The two armies marched forward bravely, broke the city in one fell swoop, captured Yin and Gu alive, and beheaded them.
Seeing that Chang 'an had been broken, Qu Tutong, the Sui general guarding Hedong, knew that the general situation in Guanzhong was gone, so he led his troops to Luoyang. Tang Gaozu sent cavalry after Liu Wenjing. Qu Tutong's men escaped and surrendered. Qu Tutong himself was captured. After seeing Chang 'an off, he was released by Li Yuan, and he was appointed Minister of War.
In December, people were sent to call the land of Bashu, so that the land of Bashu was returned to Li. Since then, Li Yuan has gradually stabilized Guanzhong based on Chang 'an and started the cause of unifying the whole country.
Li Yuan, the Zen position of Emperor Yangdi, captured Chang 'an from Taiyuan in only half a year, covering Shanxi, Guanzhong, Bashu and other vast areas, laying the foundation of imperial industry. However, he did not immediately ascend to the throne of the emperor. Instead, he made the king emperor and respected him as the emperor's father, and changed the thirteenth year of the great cause to the first year of Yining. This is because Li Yuan believes that there are still many counties in Guanzhong that have not completely surrendered and the people in Guanzhong have not completely settled down. In addition, there are many powerful separatist forces in China who have not put down the banner of respecting Sui, such as Shi Mi of Wagangjun, Dou Jiande of Hebei, and Wang of Luoyang. Some officials in various parts of the Sui Dynasty still had considerable strength. If they are eager to claim the title of emperor, they will inevitably attract hostility from many separatists and officials of the Sui Dynasty, leaving them in an isolated position. There is another reason why it is inconvenient for Tang gaozu to proclaim himself emperor immediately, that is, he entered Chang 'an under the banner of respecting Sui. At this point, the Yang Di emperor is not dead, immediately tore off the mask will inevitably expose his political hypocrisy. When the time is not ripe, Tang Gaozu can only regard You Yang as the emperor and treat him as a transitional puppet. Since Li Yuan respects Sui, why not? Because Yang Di, the revered emperor, could not achieve his goal of regime change, Yang Di made widespread indignation and discontent, and became the target of public criticism, which was not only opposed by the general public, but also not supported by local officials, with little appeal.
In order to create conditions for regime change, Li Yuan just entered Chang 'an and announced twelve covenants. Except for murder, robbery, desertion and rebellion, the cruel laws and tyranny of the Sui Dynasty were abolished. This move is undoubtedly the greatest good governance for the Guanzhong people who were oppressed by the tyranny of the Sui Dynasty, thus making the people more inclined to Li. While respecting You Yang as the emperor, he appointed himself as the great prime minister and the king of the Tang Dynasty, changed Wude Hall as the prime minister's office, and changed teaching into an order. Of course, all these must be promulgated in the name of You Yang. According to the system of the Sui Dynasty, the command of the vassal king can only be called teaching. At this time, Tang gaozu's order was renamed Ling, which was not much different from that of the emperor in form. At that time, it was also stipulated that the prime minister was in charge of military affairs, ritual and music conquest, military forces and grain wars, and civil and military officials. This is the authorization of Tang gaozu's own official seal. A few days later, together with Li Jian, he became the Prince of the Tang Dynasty, renamed the King of Qin, and Li Yuanji was renamed the King of Qi, and remained in Taiyuan.
In February of the second year of Yining, Li Yuan made Yang Gang, Emperor Yangdi, the prime minister, adding nine tin and giving him special gifts. The so-called "Nine Tin" is nine kinds of utensils given by ancient emperors for honoring princes. Since the Wei and Jin Dynasties, Zen scholars in all previous dynasties have given Nine Tin as a prelude to the throne. Although Tang Gaozu was eager to change the regime, he didn't want to be too obvious, so he refused to accept the Nine Seals and just changed the Prime Minister's Office to the Prime Minister's Office.
In March of the same year, Emperor Yang Di was killed by Yu Wenhuaji and others in Jiangdu, and Yang Hao, the king of Qin, was made emperor. Soon, Wang Shichong made Yang Dong, the king of Yue, emperor of Luoyang. In this way, several emperors appeared in the Sui Dynasty at the same time, and many separatist forces in various places called themselves emperors and kings. In this case, there is no obstacle to the change of the Tang and Yuan dynasties. So Tang Gaozu, while speeding up the preparations for the accession to the throne, hypocritically expressed his grief over Yang Di's death, and led the officials of civil and military affairs to the backyard of Daxing Temple to offer their condolences. Of course, all this is for the world to see, but it can't be true.
Originally proclaimed himself at this time is a matter of course, but Tang Gaozu still felt that the drama was not enough, and asked his subordinates to use their brains to make some operas. In April this year, You Yang sent a letter to Zen in Tang Gaozu, and Pei Ji and other officials led more than 2,000 people to write to persuade him to enter the customs. Tang Gaozu returned the letter and refused to accept Zen's position. Pei Ji and others persuaded me face to face that I was a general of the Tang Dynasty and your majesty was not an emperor of the Tang Dynasty, so I had to resign and go home. Please think deeply and give us room to continue to be an official. Li Yuan said: Why did Pei Gong push too hard? Let me think it over. He didn't say anything, and he didn't promise at once. I can see that Ethan still feels that the article has not been finished. So Pei Ji and others made up many ballads, pretending to be written by Huihuani of Taiyuan and Song Yuan of Shu Wei, saying that everyone in the world is singing, which shows the prophetic and ominous nature of ballads. The content of these rumors is nothing more than saying that Li is the emperor. For example, the ballad said: Eighteen sons in the East China Sea, eight wells called the three armies, holding double white finches and wearing Ziyun. Eighteen sons is a character of Li, and Bajing calls the three armies a word with profound meaning. Ziyun is scarlet, and white finches represent white. At that time, the flag of the king of Tang was a mixture of red and white. This set of things is not new. Since ancient times, every time the regime changes, someone will come out to do such a thing, indicating that the new obedience to destiny and the resignation to the people's hearts.
After repeated persuasion, Tang Gaozu finally wanted to star in Black Pink.
On May 20th this year, Emperor Yuan of Tang Dynasty was in the Tai Chi Hall of Chang 'an, with the title of Tang Dynasty. The Yuan Dynasty changed its name to Wude, made Chang 'an its capital, made Li Jian a prince, named Li Shimin the king of Qin and Li Yuanji the king of Qi. Tang Gaozu's later temple name was Gaozu, Tang Gaozu.
Secondly, the luxurious palace life of Gao-zu and his concubine Tang Gaozu, Li Yuan's personal life has always been indulgent. As early as in Taiyuan, he often drank and gambled with Pei Ji, and even Yang Di's concubine in Jinyang Palace dared to be with him. He also likes debauchery, even to a certain extent. When he became emperor, although his ministers repeatedly urged him not to covet ease and enjoyment, he verbally said that he would accept the image of Tang Gaozu, but in fact he did not completely stop this activity. In the first year of Wude, he ordered Taichang Temple to borrow 500 sets of women's clothes from the people as costumes for various opera performances, and prepared to perform outside Xuanwu Gate on May 5. At this time, the Tang regime had just been established and the state treasury was not sufficient, so I borrowed clothes from the people. Under the condition of luxury, he would rather borrow money from the people than pursue pleasure, which shows how urgent it is for Gaozu to pursue comfort and enjoyment. It is only during this period that the whole country has not been unified and the country's financial resources are limited, which makes him have to restrain his pursuit of this kind of life a little.
In the fourth year of Wude, the most powerful separatist groups in China were destroyed one after another, and the country was basically unified. Apart from the threat from the Turks, China's rule has been basically consolidated. In this case, Gaozu boldly pursued a luxurious life. According to Zi Jian (volume 190), there were many pets in his later years, including Xiao Wang and twenty people. There are as many as 17 young princes and their biological mothers who can know their names, who were born, Sun Jiansheng, Hanwang Yuanchang, Yin Defai, Yuanjia, Ling Kui, Cui Jiansheng, Wang Yuanyu, Emperor Wen of Sui Ginger, Wang Yuan Xiang and Xiao Yang. Most of these princes were born after Li Yuan proclaimed himself emperor. According to the records of the old Tang Dynasty, Gaozu had twenty-two sons, all of whom were born before he became emperor, except the seventeen above.