Daming Palace Harem Zhang Baotong 2017.11.30

On the morning of the fourth day of June (July 2) in the ninth year of Wude, Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji rode out of the East Palace together, and drove west to the door of the Xuanwu Gate, so the two decided to enter the Inner Palace first to force Gaozu to express his position. Unexpectedly, Chang He, the chief of the executive guard at the Xuanwu Gate at the north gate of the palace, was originally a confidant of the prince, but was rebelled by Li Shimin, so the palace guards had fallen to the king of Qin, but Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji didn't know, and thought that the palace was still their own people, so they walked towards the door with confidence.

At this time, Li Shimin led the eldest grandson Wuji, Wei Chi Jingde, Fang Xuanling, Du Ruhui, Yu Wenshiji, Gao Shilian, Hou Junji, Cheng Zhijie, Qin Qiong, Duan Zhixuan, Qu Tutong, Zhang Shigui and others into the court, and laid an ambush at Xuanwu Gate. Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji didn't know the details, so they also entered the court together and rode to the Xuanwu Gate. Gaozu has also summoned Pei Lian, Xiao Yu, Chen Shuda, Feng Deyi, Pei Ju and others to prepare to inspect the harem of the prince and the king of Qi.

On this day, the weather was sunny and the wind was beautiful, and Gao Zu was rowing in the sea pool with his favorite concubine and close ministers while waiting for the arrival of the three princes. It didn't take long for Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji to ride to the Linhu Palace, and saw that the guards in the palace were Wei Chi Jingde and the people and horses in the palace of King Qin, and most of the people who came to the Linhu Hall were people from the palace of King Qin, so they immediately felt that the situation was not right, so they immediately turned their horses around and prepared to return to the East Palace and the palace of King Qi to the east.

Li Shimin immediately shouted for them to stop. When Li Yuanji saw Li Shimin chasing after them, he panicked, so he opened his bow and shot at Li Shimin, but because of a moment of panic, he didn't pull the bow full two or three times in a row, and the arrow didn't hit. Li Jiancheng rode a horse to escape, but Li Shimin shouted at him from behind him, "Where are you going?" At the moment when Li Jiancheng turned around, a sharp arrow pierced his throat. He fell in response.

Wei Chi Jingde led more than 70 cavalry to follow, and one of the soldiers shot Li Yuanji with an arrow. Li Yuanji fell from his horse. But at this time, Li Shimin's mount was frightened and led Li Shimin straight into the woods next to the Xuanwu Gate. Li Shimin was caught by a tree branch, fell heavily to the ground, and couldn't get up for a while. Li Yuanji quickly arrived, grabbed the bow, and prepared to strangle Li Shimin. However, Wei Chi Jingde jumped on his horse and shouted, "Stop!" Li Yuanji hurriedly let go of Li Shimin and wanted to run into the Wude Hall to seek protection from his father, but Yu Chi Gong quickly caught up with him and shot him to death with an arrow.

Li Jiancheng's subordinate, Feng Li, the general of the Yiwei chariot cavalry, learned that Jiancheng was dead, so he and the deputy guard Xue Wanche and the left chariot of Qu Zhifu Xie Shufang led 2,000 elite soldiers and horses from the East Palace and the Qi Palace, and galloped to Xuanwu Gate, preparing to avenge the crown prince and the king of Qi. If these 2,000 soldiers and horses entered the palace and fought with Li Shimin's men and horses, Li Shimin's 800 warriors would naturally be unable to resist. However, Zhang Gong, who guarded the city gate, was so strong that he closed the gate alone, blocking Feng Li and the others, so that Feng Li and the others could not enter.

Jing Junhong, the general of Yunlu stationed at Xuanwu Gate, was in charge of the Su Guards. He stood up and prepared to fight. Someone wanted to dissuade him, but he didn't listen, and he and Zhonglang General Lu Shiheng shouted loudly and rushed towards the enemy formation, and all of them were killed. The soldiers guarding the Xuanwu Gate fought hard with Xue Wanche and others, which lasted for a long time, Xue Wanche beat drums and shouted, preparing to attack the Qin Palace, and the soldiers were greatly frightened. At this time, Yu Chi Jingde came over with the heads of Jiancheng and Yuanji, let Xue Wanche and the others see them, and said, "The heads of the crown prince and the king of Qi are here, they have been beheaded, you don't surrender quickly." When the people from the East Palace and the Qi Palace's Mansion saw the two heads, they immediately became disheartened and quickly dispersed, while Xue Wanche and dozens of cavalry fled into Zhongnan Mountain. After Feng Li killed Jing Junhong, he also threw away his weapon and fled.

At that time, Gaozu was rowing in the sea pool in the palace and did not know about the mutiny. Li Shimin asked Wei Chi Jingde to enter the palace as a guard. Yu Chi Jingde was wearing armor and holding Changyu in his hand, and went straight to the ship where Gao Zu was. Gao Zu was very surprised and asked, "What is Aiqing doing here?" Wei Chi Jingde replied: "The crown prince and the king of Qi are in rebellion, and the king of Qin has already killed them when he raised an army. His Royal Highness the King of Qin was worried about alarming His Majesty, so he sent his ministers to serve as guards. Gaozu was shocked and said to Pei Lin and the others, "What can I do?" Pei Lin and the others are all supporters of the crown prince, and when this kind of thing happens, naturally there is nothing to say. Xiao Yu and Chen Shuda said, "King Qin's achievements cover the universe, and the world returns to the heart, if Your Majesty can decide to make him the crown prince and entrust him with national affairs, there will be no more incidents." Although Li Shimin did not directly force the palace, the situation has been determined, and his life will be in danger if he does not give way. Gao Zu had no choice but to agree.

Because the Su Guards and the soldiers and horses of the Qin Palace's palace were still at war with the cronies of the East Palace and the Qi Palace, Wei Chi Jingde asked Gaozu to issue a handwritten edict ordering all armies to accept the disposal of the Qin king, and Gaozu followed his advice. Sima Yu, a scribe from Tiance Mansion, went up to the pavilion gate to announce the edict, and the officers and soldiers on both sides stopped fighting. Gaozu also asked Pei Lian, the squire of the Yellow Gate, to go to the East Palace to enlighten the soldiers under the command of Li Jiancheng, and the soldiers all abandoned their posts and dispersed. Gaozu summoned the people of the world to comfort him and said, "Recently, I have been almost always confused by rumors. When Li Shimin heard this, he knelt down, prostrated himself on Gao Zu's chest, and cried for a long time.

Li Jiancheng's five sons and Li Yuanji's five sons were all killed, some of them very young, and their names were removed from the clan register. It is said that Li Shimin was afraid that the ghosts of the two brothers would come to ask for their lives, so he sent Wei Chi Jingde and Qin Qiong to serve as guards in front of the door, until they were too old to continue to serve, so he hung the portraits of the two of them at the door. Later generations regarded the two of them as door gods.

The ladies of the original East Palace and the Qi Palace's palace were all filled into Li Shimin's harem, among which the more famous is the original Li Yuanji's wife Yang, who was accepted as a concubine by Li Shimin after Li Yuanji's death, but there was no official title, and the palace called "Princess Chaora", the only concubine who gave birth to a child after the death of Empress Changsun. The generals of the Qin Wangfu wanted to kill all the more than 100 cronies of Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji, and confiscate their family property from the government. So the generals stopped the pursuit.

On the same day, Gaozu issued an edict to pardon the world, and the charge of rebellion was only imposed on Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji, and the rest of the henchmen were not investigated. All the affairs of the state were left to the disposal of the King of Qin. On July 5, Gaozu appointed Li Shimin, the king of Qin, as the crown prince, and issued an edict: "From this day on, all the affairs of the army and the state, no matter how big or small, will be entrusted to the crown prince to handle and decide, and then report to me." ”

On September 3 of that year, Gaozu promulgated a document to pass the emperor's throne to the crown prince Li Shimin, who was the emperor and still lived in the Taiji Hall in the main hall of the Inner Palace. Li Shimin resolutely refused, but Gaozu did not allow it. On September 4, the crown prince Li Shimin was the emperor in the Xiande Hall of the East Palace, which was for Tang Taizong, and granted amnesty to the world, and began his glorious imperial career, and changed the Yuan Zhenguan on the first day of the first month of the second year of the throne (January 23, 627). During the reign of Taizong, the rule of culture was clear, and the martial arts were great, and the history was called "the rule of Zhenguan".