When it comes to who is the greatest feudal emperor in China, Li Shimin is undoubtedly the one who can be elected.

But in fact, Li Shimin also had a lot of dark history, especially in his later years. In essence, he was no different from the later Tang Xuanzong, except that Li Shimin won the final victory in the struggle with his son. In addition, he died at the right time, so it was perfect to conclude his life. Otherwise, he may be another Li Longji.

Why do you say that? First of all, in his later years, Li Shimin, in order to prevent the crown prince from posing a threat to him, supported Wei King Li Tai and Prince Li Chengqian to compete, and created a situation where the East and West Palaces coexisted, which resulted in brothers fighting and father and son killing each other.

From Li Shimin's perspective, this was naturally not his fault, but his sons' unfilial piety, so he had no choice but to defend himself and had no choice but to kill Qi King Li You and depose Prince Li Chengqian and Wei King Li Tai.

But the problem is that if Li Shimin's son can win the final victory like Li Heng, the son of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, then from their point of view, it is obvious that Li Shimin is old and fatuous and favors treacherous ministers. His own son was mistrusted and attacked in various ways, causing anger and resentment, and the people were miserable. In the end, Li Shimin's son had no choice but to take office early in order to save the country of Tang Dynasty.

If this is the result, then when we look at Li Shimin now, what is the difference between him and Li Longji or even Li Yuan?

Secondly, Li Shimin also carried out a large-scale construction project in his later years. He once said a very classic saying of wisdom, which is: "People will be arrogant when they have nothing to do, and they will be easy to work when they have nothing to do."

It means that if the people do not work hard, they will be arrogant and extravagant, so they need to be constantly labored and kept working, so that the rule can be stable.

Under the guidance of this theory, Li Shimin began to build a large-scale construction project. In the 21st year of Zhenguan, he disliked the fact that the palace was too hot and unbearable, so he ordered the Cuiwei Palace to be built on the top of Lishan Mountain in Lintong. Unexpectedly, less than three months after its establishment, Li Shimin felt that the size of the palace was too small and insulted the dignity of the Tang Dynasty, so he ordered the Yuhua Palace to be rebuilt.

As a result, after the Yuhua Palace was completed, he felt that the Yuhua Palace was too gorgeous and extravagant, which really insulted his title of wise king, so he ordered it to be demolished.

Then, he ordered people to vigorously rebuild five palaces including Renshou Palace left by the Sui Dynasty. These palaces cost a lot of money and were not completed until the end of the year. However, when they were completed, he found that the palaces were not what he liked, so he ordered them to be razed to the ground.

Li Shimin often did similar things in his later years, which not only wasted huge manpower, material and financial resources, but also completely treated the common people as livestock or slaves, so that many common people had to commit suicide in order to escape the corvee. Siblings.

However, when Li Shimin heard the news, instead of reflecting on it, he scolded these people and even ordered them all to be executed. In the end, a massacre broke out in Jiannan Road (Sichuan-Guizhou area). A large-scale peasant uprising.

Thirdly, in his later years, Li Shimin became determined to have his own way and no longer listened to the opinions of others.

Recalling the time when Wei Zheng had just died, Li Shimin said with tears: "Using copper as a mirror, you can straighten your clothes; using history as a mirror, you can know the ups and downs; using people as a mirror, you can know gains and losses." If Wei Zheng is gone, I will be dead! ?

This scene is so touching. To paraphrase the words of the critic Li Longji in "The Twelve Hours of Chang'an": "The saint on the top of Mount Tai compares himself to Yao and Shun. We all think he looks like him." , He deserves it! ?Li Shimin at that time was also worthy of such an evaluation.

However, less than half a year after Wei Zheng’s death, because Hou Junji and Du Zhenglun recommended by Wei Zheng were both involved in the rebellion of Prince Li Chengqian, Li Shimin believed that Wei Zheng had colluded with Hou and Du to harm him; so He immediately turned against him and first ordered the marriage contract between the princess and Wei Zheng's son to be terminated, and then he tore down the tombstone he had personally written for Wei Zheng.

Not only that, in order to prevent the ministers from admonishing him, Li Shimin even publicly warned them: "If I don't do this, it will be inconvenient for me." In the 19th year of Zhenguan, the remonstrator Liu Jie said something from the bottom of his heart: "The disease is so serious that the Holy Lord should be worried." Li Shimin charged him with "plotting to control the court" and ordered him to commit suicide. Later, on his deathbed, Fang Xuanling said sadly that no one in the court dared to offend Yan Qiang and remonstrate.

Under this situation, Li Shimin still intensified his efforts. In his later years, he indulged in the land of beauties and tenderness, and searched for beauties to enrich his harem, which made the people miserable. Later, he usurped Wu Zetian from Li Tang's world. It was at this time that she was absorbed into the palace and became a "cairen". She was only fourteen years old at the time.

On the other hand, Li Shimin was very happy with his achievements. He refused the advice of Zhang Liang, Li Daliang and others, and issued three edicts to attack Goryeo. However, he encountered stubborn resistance from Goryeo. The Tang army lost troops and generals, and finally returned without success. .

At that time, Li Shimin's various actions had reached the point of widespread complaints, and even finally caused a mutiny among the Yulin army. The guards shot at the palace at night, targeting five people sleeping in the palace. ?

Later, in his later years, Li Shimin became greedy for life and afraid of death. He ordered domestic alchemists to refine the elixir of immortality for him. For this purpose, he even captured a monk from India and asked him to Together they refine medicinal pills.

A year later, the elixir was finally prepared, and Li Shimin swallowed it without hesitation. As a result, he died of poisoning at the age of only 52! As a result, Li Shimin became the first emperor to be poisoned by the elixir of life!