In the social unrest at the end of Sui Dynasty, various political forces competed with each other. Li Yuan, who stayed in Taiyuan in the Sui Dynasty, was brilliant and thoughtful. He set out at the right time, settled in Guanzhong, conquered the heroes, re-established a unified and innovative system, and laid the foundation for the rule of the Tang Dynasty. Although he retired to the second line in his later years because of the change of Xuanwu Gate, he kept pace with the times, was considerate and eventually ended well. He was a leader among the founding emperors.
Born in Guanlong Gaomen, Tang Gaozu Li Yuan was quite famous and accomplished in his early years. In the last few years in Yang Di, when he was left in Taiyuan, he rose in time to occupy Chang 'an. Once the time was ripe, he decisively "closed Zen" and established the Tang Dynasty.
Li Yuan's ancestral home was in Ji Cheng, Longxi (now Qin 'an, Gansu), and he claimed to be the seventh grandson of King Li Gui of Wu Liang during the Sixteen Kingdoms period. His grandfather, Li Hu, and his father, Fang Li, were both heroes in the Northern Zhou Dynasty. They conquered the Duke of Tang. So Li Yuan attacked the title of Tang Guogong at the age of seven. In his youth, Li Yuan was charming, open-minded, tolerant and was born in Guanlong Hall, so he was quite famous. His wife, Dou Shi, was the daughter of Duke Dou Yi of SHEN WOO, an aristocrat in the Sui Dynasty, and the Queen Dugu of Emperor Wendi of the Sui Dynasty was also the aunt of Tang gaozu. Therefore, during the reign of Emperor Wendi of Sui Dynasty, he served as secretariat of history in Bo County, Anhui Province, Longzhou County, Shaanxi Province, and qi zhou County, Shaanxi Province.
In the 13th year of Daye (6 17), Li Yuan was ordered to stay in Taiyuan. The chaos in the world was obvious at that time. Taiyuan was once the military center of the Sui Dynasty, with abundant troops and food. Li Yuan naturally very happy. During his stay in Taiyuan, he actively developed his influence in an attempt to make a big fight. Militarily, he led five or six thousand troops to defeat tens of thousands of peasant insurgents led by Zhen Zhaier, which fully demonstrated his military command ability and greatly enhanced his military strength. Politically, he actively wooed bureaucrats, landlords and businessmen in Jinyang area, such as Liu Wenjing, Li Yuan, Tang Jian, Hu Benjin, etc. His eldest son and his second son also made great achievements in Hedong and Jinyang respectively. In February of this year, Liu Wuzhou, a Mayi, rose up and killed Wang Rengong, the satrap, claiming to be the son of heaven. Tang Gaozu recruited soldiers in the name of crusade against Liu Wuzhou, and Li Shimin, Liu Wenjing and others also recruited talents everywhere under the command of Tang Gaozu.
Faced with the domestic turmoil and disintegration at that time, many people, including Li Shimin, advised Li Yuan to openly fight for the world. But Tang Gaozu was wily and refused to raise the flag easily. Shi Chuanceng said that in order to force Tang Gaozu to make up his mind, Taiyuan, under the command of Li Shimin, ordered Liu Wenjing and Jin Yanggong to supervise Peiji, so as to get Tang Gaozu drunk, and took the opportunity to let Yang Di's two favorite concubines sleep (the handover between ministers and emperors' favorite concubines is an unforgivable capital crime), which drove Tang Gaozu to "rebel". In fact, Tang Gaozu refused to go to war prematurely for a reason. Because it is easier to succeed by accumulating strength without attracting attention, sizing up the situation in chaos and taking decisive action after seizing the opportunity. When tang gaozu has a certain military and political power, and the domestic situation is also conducive to his arise. Of course he won't just keep it.
While Tang Gaozu was vigorously developing its own power, Wang Wei and Gao Junya, the deputy left-behind men in Taiyuan, had doubts about Tang Gaozu's recruitment in the name of attacking Liu Wuzhou. Yang Di was also very alert to the rumors that Li wanted to seize the country. Wang and Gao conspired to kill. After learning, Wang and Gao were quickly arrested in the name of collusion with the Turkish preparation coach. It happened that when the Turks invaded, they put Wang and Gao on board at once and immediately killed Wang Wei and Gao Junya. Later, he announced that he was close to the Turks and sent Liu Wenjing to the Turks. Turkic Khan sent thousands of good horses to Taiyuan to trade with Li Yuan, and promised to send troops to escort Li Yuan to Chang 'an in Xijing. After receiving the promise of the Turks, Li Yuan had no worries, and publicly sent a message, announcing the establishment of a "volunteer army" to protect the Sui Dynasty.
After Jinyang set out, Tang gaozu decided to March into Guanzhong and take Chang 'an, so as to rule the world and plot great things. At that time, Gao Deru, the magistrate of Xihe County, refused to listen, and sent Li and Li to capture Xihe and seize Gao Deru. After the success of Xihe, Li Yuan set up a general's office, pretending to be a general, with Li and Li as the commanders of the three armed forces, and appointed officials as Pei Ji, Liu Wenjing, Yin Kaishan and others. In July of the 13th year of Great Cause (6 17), Li Yuanji, the fourth son, was sent to stay in Taiyuan and personally led the troops to inspect the western part of Guanzhong. All the way to Huoyi, Linfen, Jiangjunfu (now Jiangxian County, Shanxi Province), to Fenyin, crossing the Yellow River, avoiding reality and pointing to Chang 'an. At this time, jinyang princess, the daughter of Tang Gaozu, recruited tens of thousands of troops to join the coalition. In the 13th year of Daye (6 17), in November, Li Yuan and his children led 200,000 troops to attack Chang 'an.
After entering Chang 'an, Li Yuan ordered the library to be sealed and collected, and looting was prohibited, which won the hearts of the people. In Sui Dynasty, Wang Yanggang was made emperor, which was called Gong Di in history. In Yuan Dynasty, it was changed to Ning, and Yang Di was regarded as the emperor's father at a distance to show that he could still abide by the way of being a minister. At the same time, he sealed himself as a fake Huang Zhen, made our time, served as commander-in-chief of internal and external military affairs, served as prime minister, and was promoted to Tang King. Take Wude Hall as the prime minister's office, set up officials to manage affairs and monopolize military power. The eldest son was named Prince, the second son was named King of Qin, and the fourth son, Li Yuanji, was named. At the same time, he made great contributions, won the hearts of the people and monopolized state affairs. In May of the 14th year of Great Cause (6 18), Emperor Yang Di was killed by Yu Wenhuaji in Jiangdu, and Yu Wenhuaji proclaimed himself emperor, but was captured and killed by Dou Jiande. At this time, Tang Gaozu felt that the time was ripe and there was no need to use the shield of Emperor Yangdi. So Emperor Gong of Sui was forced to give way, "meditate" in the Taiji Hall, with the title of Tang, and changed Wude and Chang 'an as the capital cities. From Jinyang to Chang 'an, a Li-Tang dynasty was established in just over a year. Obviously, this has much to do with Li Yuan's clever use of the gap between the peasant uprising at the end of Sui Dynasty and the rebellion within the ruling group to develop his own power, focusing on raising the banner of the orthodox status of the old dynasty first, using contradictions to narrow the opposition of the enemy, and making good use of people.
Facing the situation that peasant rebels, separatist forces within the former ruling group and ethnic minority forces spread all over the country. Li Yuan, a statesman and strategist, seized the opportunity and conquered them one by one, and finally established a unified empire on the ruins of the Sui Dynasty.
When Li Yuan proclaimed himself emperor in Chang 'an in the Tang Dynasty, the whole country was still divided. Li Yuan, who has political ambitions, is not satisfied with a corner of Guanzhong. He actively stored grain and accumulated millet, prepared the army and launched a war to unify the country.
The first target is Xue Ju and Xue, who pose a direct threat to Guanzhong. Xue Ju was originally a rich man in Jincheng County (now Lanzhou, Gansu Province) in Sui Dynasty. In the 13th year of the Great Cause (6 17), he saw the chaos in the world, expelled Sui officials, claimed to be the overlord of the Western Qin Dynasty, and soon proclaimed himself emperor, moved the capital to Tianshui, and made his son Xue the Duke of Qi Huan, occupying the whole territory of Longxi, with an army of130,000, eyeing Guanzhong. After Li Yuan captured Chang 'an, Xue Ju and his son advanced with 654.38+ 10,000 troops, posing a serious threat. Tang Gaozu sent Li Shimin to battle and defeated Xue Jun. In May of the first year of Wude (6 18), when Tang gaozu proclaimed himself emperor in Chang 'an, Xue Ju led cavalry to harass, plunder his army and defeat Tang Jun, intending to take Chang 'an directly. Unfortunately, Xue Ju died at this moment, and his son Xue ascended the throne. Tang Gaozu seized this opportunity, appointed Li Shimin, king of Qin, as marshal, and once again led an army to crusade against Xue Jun. Xue Gaoren lost to Li Shimin and surrendered to Tang Jun, and since then Longxi has been incorporated into the territory of the Tang Dynasty.
In the second year of Wude (6 19), the Gui Li regime was overthrown. Li Gui, a famous official in Liangzhou, was Sima Wuwei in Sui Dynasty. In the turmoil at the end of Sui Dynasty, Li Gui married a noble family and conquered the inner garden city, calling himself the cool king. During the war between Tang Jun and Xue Jun, Gui Li also claimed to be the son of heaven. It is said that there are five counties in Hexi, including Zhangye and Dunhuang. Tang gaozu to unify the whole country, naturally can't tolerate Gui Li said he was lonely. As a result, An Gui Xing, the younger brother of An Xiuren, the head of the Gui Li family, was secretly put in limbo, gained the trust of Gui Li, and was appointed as the left and right general. In the second year of Wude (6 19), the An brothers outwitted Gui Li and died of cold. Five counties in Hexi were merged into the Tang Dynasty.
In three years (620), Wude defeated Liu Wuzhou. Liu Wuzhou was a captain of Yang Yingfu, an ant in the Sui Dynasty (now Shuoxian County, Shanxi Province). In the 13th year of the Great Cause (6 17), Zhang Wansui and others killed the satrap Wang Rengong in the same county, assembled more than 10,000 troops, became the satrap on their own, and were occupied by Turks in Loufan (now Jingle County, Shanxi Province), Yanmen and Dingxiang (now Qinghe County, Inner Mongolia), and soon claimed to be emperors. In the second year of Wude (6 19), Liu Wuzhou colluded with Turks and invaded Bingzhou (now Jinyang) in the south. Li Yuanji, the general manager of Bingzhou in the Tang Dynasty, was defeated by him, and Taiyuan was in danger. Tang Gaozu sent his right servant to shoot Pei Ji's overseers, but they were also defeated. Liu Wuzhou advanced on Taiyuan, and Li Yuanji fled to Chang 'an. Liu Wuzhou's troops arrived in Xiaxian and Puban areas, which shocked Guanzhong area. Tang Gaozu ordered Li Shimin to lead an army to cross the river from Longmen (now Hancheng County, Shaanxi Province). Attack Liu Wuzhou. After Li Shimin crossed the river, he stopped fighting and prepared his horse, so he couldn't come out. The enemy refused to provide food and grass, so he rallied and defeated Liu Wuzhou. Liu Wuzhou led down archers to flee north to Turkey, where they were killed.
After the elimination of the three separatist forces in the northwest, the situation in Guanzhong tends to be stable. Li Yuan started a war for the Central Plains. At this time, Wang was the overlord of the Central Plains. Wang was the commander-in-chief of Jiangdu in Sui Dynasty. After Yang-ti was killed, Wang made Yang Dong emperor in Jiangdu, and defeated the Wagang Army, making many generals surrender. In the second year of Wude (6 19), Wang Shichong abandoned Yang Dong, established himself as emperor, occupied Luoyang, and became the largest separatist force in Henan. In the third year of Wude (620), Li Yuan sent an attack on Luoyang, and Wang counties in Henan successively fell to the Tang Dynasty. Seeing that the general trend was gone, Wang led more than 2,000 officials to the Tang Dynasty, and all counties in Hebei Province also descended to the Tang Dynasty one after another. The Tang Dynasty basically controlled the Yellow River basin.
While fighting for the Central Plains, Li Yuan sent Li Jing to Kuizhou (now fengjie county, Sichuan) to attack Xiaoxian County, which occupied the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River. Hyo-hyun was also an official of the Sui Dynasty. In the first year of Wude (6 18), he proclaimed himself emperor in Baling, and soon moved the capital to Jiangling, capturing Ba and Shu, with more than 400,000 troops. In the fourth year of Wude (62 1), Li Jing and Li besieged Jiangling, and Xiaoxian was defeated and surrendered to the Tang Dynasty. The middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River were also occupied by the Tang Dynasty.
After the above-mentioned separatist forces within the ruling clique of the Sui Dynasty were cut off one by one, Li Yuan pointed the finger at the remaining main force of the peasant uprising army.
The most difficult task is to conquer the wagang army. The leaders of the Wagang Army are Shi Biao and Dou Jiande. Shi Mi was a scholar in feudal society. After Dou Jiande led the Wagangjun Uprising, Shi Biao took refuge and became a leader. Shi Biao has contacts with Tang Gaozu and Li Shimin. When he entered Chang 'an, Shi Biao wrote a letter saying that he would use * * * to destroy Sui. Tang Gaozu embarks from the overall situation, humbly thanks, and for a pretence pushes Shi Biao to give priority to, so that Shi Biao's army can stop the Sui army from moving eastward into Luoyang and attack Chang 'an. Because of Shi Biao's restraint, Sui Jun had no time to visit Chang 'an, which made Tang Gaozu enter Chang 'an smoothly. After Wang defeated the Wagang Army, Shi Mi surrendered to the Tang Dynasty and became a martial artist for three years (620). When Wang Zhengduo was in the Central Plains, the Wagang Army led by Dou Jiande attacked at the request of the king. Dou Jiande was defeated by Li Shimin, brave and unyielding, and was killed by Tang Gaozu after being captured. After Dou Jiande's murder, his Ministry will push Liu Heita as the main force to fight the Tang Dynasty in Zhang Nan (now Dezhou, Shandong Province), and it will take less than half a year to completely restore Dou Jiande as the leader. In the fifth year of Wude (622), Liu Heita claimed to be the king in Mianzhou (now Yongnian, Hebei Province) and repeatedly defeated Tang Jun. Later, he sent the Crown Prince Li to personally expedition to Liu Heita. Li adopted the suggestion, implemented the appeasement policy, won the hearts of the people, and disintegrated Liu Heita's army. In the sixth year of Wude (623), Liu Heita was finally defeated, captured and killed. The Tang dynasty also controlled the land of Hebei and Shandong.
The peasant rebels led by Du occupied the Jianghuai area, which was also an obstacle of Tang Dynasty. In the 13th year of Daye (6 17), Du entered Liyang (now Hexian County, Anhui Province) and claimed to be the general manager. In the first year of Wude (6 18), he moved to Danyang, and then Dong Yang, the king of Sui and Yue, was appointed as the general manager of Annandao and the king of Chu. When Tang Jun besieged Luoyang, he surrendered to Du, made Du a prince, and appeased the envoys south of Ren and Huai. After Liu Heita was defeated and killed, Du made the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stay in Danyang and invited himself to the DPRK. Tang Gaozu took the opportunity to leave Du Fu Wei. In the autumn of the sixth year of Wude (623), Fu led an army against the Tang Dynasty in Danyang, calling himself Emperor Song, and the Tang Dynasty killed Du under an excuse. So he sent generals Li, Li Jing and Li Jing to attack Danyang. In the seventh year of Wude (624), Fu was beheaded by the landlord. At this point, Jiangnan and Huainan became the jurisdiction of the Tang Dynasty.
The last target of attack in the Tang Dynasty was Liang. Liang was also an official of the Sui Dynasty. In the 13th year of the Great Cause (6 17), he fought against the Sui Dynasty in Shuofang, captured Diao Yang, Honghua, Yan 'an and other counties, established Liang, claimed to be the emperor, attached to the Turks, and was named the "son of heaven". Emperor Taizong was destroyed by the Tang Dynasty in the second year of Zhenguan (628). At this point, Li Yuan and his son not only merged the feudal separatist forces, but also conquered the peasant uprising armed forces and reunified the country again.
After the establishment of the Tang Dynasty, Li Yuan paid attention to summing up the experience and lessons of the rise and fall of the Sui Dynasty and formulating various systems, which laid a certain foundation for the governance in the early Tang Dynasty.
The various systems formulated by the Sui Dynasty were mostly good in themselves. In the later implementation of the problem, there are many unsatisfactory places; Moreover, due to the changes in the actual situation, some systems themselves need some changes. At the beginning of the Tang Dynasty, Li Yuan was faced with the situation that everything in his internal affairs had to be done by himself. Therefore, we should give priority to and redefine many feudal systems while carrying out the unified war.
At the end of Sui Dynasty, the criminal law was abolished, and the rulers abused it at will, and the people were at a loss. After Li Yuan captured Chang 'an, he followed the example of Emperor Gaozu Liu Bang and concluded a 12 civil contract. After he proclaimed himself emperor in the Tang Dynasty, he announced the abolition of the Great Commercial Law of the period, and ordered Pei Ji, Liu Wenjing and others to amend the law according to the Emperor Kai Law of the Sui Wendi period. And stressed that "things should be simple and convenient." In the seventh year of Wude (624), a tree officially promulgated a new law, namely "Wude Law". The Martial Arts Law is roughly based on the Kai Huang Law, and the new law only includes 53 new cases, so the punishment is lighter than that of Sui Law, which aggravates the intention of maintaining centralized rule. Although it was not very complete, it was followed by officials and people, laying the foundation for the later law of chastity.
In the early Tang Dynasty, Li Yuan set up the capital and local schools, focusing on training and recruiting talents. In order to win over the gentry who still had some strength at that time, in the seventh year of Wude (624), the official of Zhongzheng who was abolished by the Sui Dynasty was restored. According to the system of the Northern Zhou Dynasty and the Northern Qi Dynasty, each state appointed a big official and appointed a state scholar as an official. But Dazhong is an honorary position to a great extent, and the application of human rights is mainly in the official department. The main way of employing officials is the imperial examination system established by Sui Dynasty. The imperial examination system in this period was similar to that in Sui Dynasty, but the imperial examination was more important. Usually, Yuan Wailang of the official department presides over the imperial examination.
The war at the end of Sui Dynasty led to a sharp drop in population. In the early years of Wude, there were only more than 2 million households in China, which was not as high as 1/4 when the Sui Dynasty flourished. In order to make the exiles return to the land as soon as possible, resume production quickly and increase the national tax revenue, Tang Gaozu adopted the land equalization system and tenancy adjustment system since the Northern Wei and Sui Dynasties, and gained some gains and losses according to the actual situation at that time. Judging from the land equalization order issued in the seventh year of Wude (624), the restrictions on land sales in Wude's land equalization system were relaxed compared with the previous generation, indicating that feudal countries had to give a "green light" in the face of the trend and reality of land merger: ordinary women and handmaiden no longer granted land and lifted women's slavery, indicating that the number of handmaiden was greatly reduced and they no longer occupied a dominant position in agricultural production; Businessmen and businessmen, monks, nuns, Taoist priests and female priests also granted land, which shows that the influence of businessmen, landlords and temples can not be ignored. As for the provisions of bureaucratic nobles in granting land privileges, they have been consistent throughout the ages, but the degree is slightly different. On the basis of the land equalization system, we continued to implement the system of renting agents, but compared with the Sui Dynasty, the conditions for replacing service with agents were relaxed. The Sui Dynasty stipulated that people over the age of 50 could serve instead of mediocrity, but in Wu Tong, the age limit was abolished and the longest service period was stipulated, which was obviously frivolous and generous.
At the end of Sui Dynasty, social war broke out and the unified system of officers and men was destroyed. Tang gaozu only had 30,000 soldiers when he started his army in Taiyuan, and by the time he arrived in Chang 'an, he had reached more than 200,000. In order to make this army return to the Tang Dynasty and solve the problem of military provisions, Li Yuan gradually incorporated this army into the organizational system of officers and men, taking shape. In the first year of Wude (6 18), Li Yuan immediately set up a military office, completely following the Sui Dynasty, and appointed the hero and retired the army as General Wei. But at that time, the generals of the Twelve Guards were generally trumpeters, and the real leaders were two generals, a title of generals in ancient times and a chariot knight, which obviously meant easy control. In the second year of Wude (6 19), the 12th Army was established, and the counties in Guanzhong were placed under the 12th Army. Guanzhong was divided into twelve roads, corresponding to the 12th Army, and each road was equipped with a title of generals in ancient times and a chariot riding mansion. The Twelfth Army was a relatively fixed basic guard force in Guanzhong area in the early Tang Dynasty. Each army has a general and a deputy to supervise the ploughing war. Soldiers usually give birth at home and receive military training in the off-season. The more regular task is to stay in Beijing by turns, which is called "fan Shang"; If there is a war, go to war. During the service period, government soldiers can be exempted from paying their own rent, but they must bring their own weapons, clothes and food when they go out. The fundamental reason for this is that the government military system is a military system based on the land equalization system, which includes soldiers in agriculture, that is, the capital (military capital) among soldiers.
As the founding emperor of the Tang Dynasty, Li Yuan's old age is beyond reproach. Although the occurrence of the "Xuanwumen Change" was related to him, this kind of event was common in feudal times. What is commendable is that Ethan can adapt to the present situation and live a quiet life. On the whole, he spent his old age in a happy life. This is also rare among the founding emperors.
Some historians in modern times, including some foreign experts who study the history of China, have raised the question that many of Li Yuan's achievements have been erased unintentionally or intentionally because of his short reign after the establishment of the Tang Dynasty and his successor is an outstanding figure with a high reputation. So that for a long time, people have always thought that Li Yuan is a mediocre and incompetent person. But as long as there is no subjective prejudice, even in carefully decorated historical materials, it can be seen that Li Yuan can be regarded as the founder of a generation of great men. This has been described above. In addition, it is worth mentioning that it is his late festival, which is understandable.
As a feudal emperor, Li Yuan certainly lived a feudal privileged court life. During his years of martial arts rule, there were also some bad behaviors: such as loving concubines and sometimes neglecting administration; Listen to Pei Ji's slanders, kill Liu Wenjing by mistake, and so on. The history books also say that during the Wude period, after Li Shimin pacified Luoyang, he asked the imperial concubine and others to go to Luoyang, read the imperial secretary of the Sui Dynasty, and collected treasures from the state treasury. The imperial concubine and others privately asked Li Shimin for valuables and officials as their relatives, but after they were dissatisfied, they refused Li Shimin. Later, because Li Shentong, the king of Huai 'an, made great contributions, Li Shimin divided abel tamata into dozens of hectares in the form of "teaching" (instructions from the king of Qin). Zhang Jieyu's father (one of Tang gaozu's concubines) also asked Tang gaozu for this field through Zhang Jieyu, and Tang gaozu gave it to him. Li Shentong didn't give it to Jieyu's father because Li Shimin had taught him before. Zhang Jieyu complained in front of Li Yuan: "The emperor gave my father a field, and the king of Qin (Li Shimin) took it away and gave it to the king of Huai 'an! Without asking why, Tang gaozu flew into a rage and accused Li Shimin: "Isn't my hand as useful as what you taught me? "
Of course, these behaviors are not good, and among feudal emperors, they are not particularly bad. On the contrary, there are many commendable places in Li Yuan. In particular, he is people-oriented and pays attention to being open-minded and teachable. For example, during the Wude period, Facao Sun of Wannian County, taking Sui's death as a mirror, bluntly accused Li Yuan of extravagance, and pointed out that more attention should be paid to the education of the crown prince and the king, and people around him should be carefully selected. Although the words are straightforward and there is nothing to hide, it is still quite embarrassing. However, Li Yuan looked at his watch, very happy, and felt very reasonable. He ordered awards, promoted his grandson to be a scholar, and gave 300 silks to encourage people to speak out. Later, Chabr, who was modest during the reign of Emperor Taizong Zhenguan, could not be said to have nothing to do with the influence of Li Yuan.
As a father, of course, Li Yuan should bear part of the responsibility for the "Xuanwumen Change" in the last years of Wude. But this kind of incident can be said to be common in feudal times. At first, Li Yuanli's eldest son, Li Jian, became a prince, which was in line with the basic principles of feudal society. Can't say anything wrong. As for the history books, he said that he had vowed to Li Shimin to build a prince. If he believes in it, he will have nothing; if he believes in it, he will have it. With Li Shimin's talent and achievements at that time, this is also an insight of his father. It is not credible to say that he listened to the slanderers of the concubines and drowned the Prince and Yuanji, endangering the safety of the people. Moreover, according to official records, it was also on the eve of Li Yuan's statement that he would call several sons to judge right and wrong the next day that the "Xuanwu Gate Change" took place. This only shows that Li Shimin moves so fast that even Neve didn't expect it. When Li Yuan heard Li Shimin's report about killing his brother, he was so angry that he couldn't say a word. After a long pause, he said angrily, "I didn't expect the rebels to kill their own brothers!" " At this time, the light rain nearby said, "Please calm down. Neither Prince Li nor King Qi (Li Yuanji) is as successful as King Qin (Li Shimin). If your majesty entrusts all state affairs to the king of Qin, everything will be solved. " Although Tang Gaozu was very angry, in the face of the fact that what is done is done, he took care of the overall situation and followed the general trend. At that time, he ordered all the troops to obey the command of the king of Qin to avoid bloodshed again. On June 7th of that year, he made a letter to Li Shimin as the Crown Prince. In August, he gave way to Li Shimin and retired as the "emperor's father".
After Li Yuan abdicated as the emperor's father, he moved to Tai 'an Palace and stopped interfering in state affairs. This is in exchange for Li Shimin's long-term courtesy and respect. In the winter of the seventh year of Zhenguan (633), Li Shimin held a grand banquet in Weiyang Palace and invited Tang Gaozu to the throne. Tang Gaozu is very respectful. When Tang Gaozu is happy, let the Turkic Li Jiehan dance here and let the Naaman chief sing. Li Shimin also personally held a glass and gave it to Tang Gaozu, saying that the current Yuehu family and the conquered four barbarians were all the results of your old man's teaching. Tang Gaozu had another emperor addiction, and he was very satisfied. Tang Gaozu knew that Li Shimin had taken control of the overall situation, and he was happy to ignore political affairs and live a leisurely life. This attitude and practice played a positive role in reducing the contradictions and struggles within the imperial court at that time, and also played a positive role in Li Shimin's talent and created a good environment. In May of the ninth year of Zhenguan (635), Li Yuan was seriously ill and died in Tai 'an Palace. 7 1 year-old, temple name Gaozu, buried in Xianling. As the founding emperor, Tang Gaozu Tang Gaozu died of natural causes.