The Xuanwumen Incident will always be a time-honored topic among history buffs. Beginning on the fourth day of June in the ninth year of Takeori, Li Shimin, one of the strongest strongmen in the history of our country, officially opened his way to the highest power, and started his 130-year history of the prosperous Tang Dynasty, which was glorious in ancient and modern times.

Some people have been demonstrating how powerful Li Jiancheng was, saying that Li Jiancheng had every advantage before the incident. In the Xuanwumen incident, Li Shimin was just a successful gambler. It is true that as the prince, Li Jiancheng has managed the imperial capital Chang'an and Guanzhong for many years. He also has supporters in the army such as Luo Yi and the Xue brothers, as well as the support of the old emperor Li Yuan and his important ministers (since he is established as the prince, he must support it) ), but in fact Li Jiancheng's power is really weak compared to Li Shimin. Otherwise, why would he join forces with Li Yuanji and others?

How powerful was Li Shimin before the Xuanwu Gate Incident? From the perspective of the world situation in the early Tang Dynasty, there were probably three major power groups in the world of China in the early Tang Dynasty: Guanlong Xungui, Guandong heroes, and Jiangnan nobles. Guanlong Xungui is a military aristocratic group formed since the Northern Wei and Western Wei Dynasties. This group is very powerful. It successively founded the Western Wei, Northern Zhou, Sui and Tang dynasties. It can be said to be one of the most powerful groups in the history of our country. At that time, Yang Guang abolished the family military system, built the eastern capital of Luoyang, and opened schools to recruit scholars, which harmed the vested interests of the Guanlong Group, so he became an independent man abandoned by the world. Yang Guang's cousin Li Yuan entered Guanzhong to establish the Tang Dynasty, also relying on the support of the Guanlong Group. The heroes of Guandong, this group is very complex and has great energy. Since the Western Jin Dynasty, the people of Guandong have moved southward. After experiencing several Han-Hu-Han hybridizations, Guandong has almost become the most prosperous place in our country at that time. The most prosperous Northern Qi was in Guandong and Hebei. This group was not easy to mess with. They took the lead in revolt and overthrew the Sui Empire. The Jiangnan gentry, a powerful group that gradually formed after the Eastern Han Dynasty, followed the Sima family to the south in the late Western Jin Dynasty. They still regard themselves as the most high-end, most orthodox, and most educated group. The Jin King Yang Guang was able to become the prince and even ascend the throne because of his many years of service. At the end of the Sui Dynasty, the world was in turmoil due to the management of Jiangnan. The Jiangnan nobles promoted Xiao Mian of the Lanling Xiao family as their leader, restored the Liang Dynasty, and separatized Jiangnan.

Here, we have to mention Li Yuan. He may have felt that no one could be trusted except his own son, so after making Li Jiancheng the crown prince, whenever the Tang army went on an expedition, Li Shimin was in command. This move also It pushed Li Shimin onto a road of no return. First, in the battle to pacify Longxi and regain Hedong, Li Shimin showed strong military capabilities. From then on, only Li Shimin took the lead in the Guanlong Military Group of the Tang Dynasty (this also benefited from Li Yuanji's failure in Hedong); then Luoyang, Hu In the Battle of the Prison, Li Shimin defeated the two great heroes Wang Shichong and Dou Jiande in one fell swoop. From then on, the Tang Dynasty had no rivals in Jiangbei. Then Li Shimin built a mansion in Luoyang. Naturally, Shandong heroes worshiped Li Shimin, the god of war. (No way, it's so powerful.) ).

Then there is Jiangnan, which is a bit special, because Jiangnan was settled by Li Xiaogong and Li Jing. We don’t know whether Li Xiaogong and Li Jing before Xuanwu Gate were Li Shimin’s people, but they were definitely not Li Jiancheng’s people. Li Jiancheng obviously made a mistake again when it came to dealing with the powerless Jiangnan gentry. The dignified Prince's Mansion was not as attractive as Li Shimin's Literature Museum. It seemed that the Jiangnan gentry were really discerning in choosing their masters. In this way, Li Shimin became the leading brother of the three forces of Guanlong nobles, Shandong heroes, and Jiangnan gentry. The trend was established. Not only Li Jiancheng, but also Li Yuan would probably be afraid of them.

Just as Li Chengqian said decades later after the failed rebellion, why did he rebel as a prince? The rebellion was just to protect himself. Therefore, under this situation, Li Jiancheng got rid of Li Shimin. Not surprising. But in history, when Li Shimin reached the position before Xuanwumen, there was no one who could not compete for the throne, such as Yang Guang, the king of Jin in the Sui Dynasty, Zhao Kuangyin, the commander-in-chief of the Later Zhou Dynasty, Zhao Guangyi, the king of Jin in the Song Dynasty, Kublai Khan, the fourth prince of the Yuan Dynasty, and Zhu Di, the king of Yan in the Ming Dynasty. wait. Because if they don't seize supreme power, their people won't agree.

It is worth lamenting that although desire is powerful, it is small. Just like the "life" in "The Great Virtue of Heaven and Earth is Life", in terms of one's own body, it must eventually end, and in terms of race, it is difficult to find a guarantee. In short, if you seek complete satisfaction and ultimate meaning, you will be disappointed. It is no wonder that among the various phenomena in life, there is a category of suicide; it has even been elevated to a theory, the so-called pessimism, of which Schopenhauer is a prominent representative. Fortunately or unfortunately, the vast majority of people belong to the "Lu Spring and Autumn" school, which emphasizes "valuing life", at least in reality. But if you want to live, you have to encounter various problems related to life, which are the so-called life problems.