History live broadcast: the beginning is Qin Shihuang's live broadcast of the subjugation of th

"Li Shimin's way of getting along with the heroes is very simple. He treats them as brothers and has no airs at all. Even after he became the emperor, there was no tragedy of massacre of the heroes. Moreover, he was very kind to the heroes, and his relationship with the heroes was very good. We are also honest and tolerant when dealing with each other.”

"Look at Wei Zheng and Cheng Yaojin. They are living examples. But in his later years, the emperor and his ministers were still separated."

"The turning point of the matter occurred in the seventeenth year of Zhenguan. In this year, Hou Junpai was killed by him for assisting Prince Li Chengqian in his conspiracy. This made him realize that treating heroes favorably did not necessarily lead to good results, so he began to be suspicious of heroes. They no longer treat each other with sincerity, but adopt imperial techniques to check and balance, of which Yuchi Gong and Li Ji are the most representative."

"Let's talk about Yuchi Gong first. He is loyal to Li Shimin. He is not only a hero, but also Li Shimin's savior. The relationship between the two is quite good."

"However, after the rebellion of Li Chengqian and Hou Junji broke out, as Li Shimin's attitude towards the heroes changed, Yuchi Gong also felt deeply in danger, so he wrote a letter requesting to go home for retirement. Li Shimin had long been worried that he had rebelled, so he did not retain him. "

"Later, Li Shimin personally conquered Goguryeo for the first time. Yuchi Gong felt that the emperor had gone to fight in person, and he had to show his loyalty, so he requested to go out. Li Shimin appointed him as the commander-in-chief of the Zuoyima Army. However, after Banshi returned to the court, Li Shimin still made him He goes home to retire.”

"In the following years, Yu Chigong stayed at home, only eating, drinking and having fun at home, indulging in wine and sex. He also believed in the words of the sorcerer and developed elixirs at home for self-administration."

["In the last years of Jingde's life, he believed deeply in immortal prescriptions, made alchemy stones, took mica powder, built pools and terraces, worshiped Luoqi, played Qing Shang music to support himself, and did not communicate with outsiders for sixteen years."]
  "In other words, in order to dispel Li Shimin's suspicion, Yu Chigong chose to retreat bravely and used self-destruction to protect himself."

"There is also Li Ji, who was also a figure who made great military exploits for the Tang Dynasty and was loyal. However, Li Shimin was not too confident about him in his later years and wanted to leave him to his son Li Zhi to continue using him, so he used some tactics."

"In the [-]rd year of Zhenguan, Li Shimin called Li Zhi when he was seriously ill. He said that Li Ji was a good person, but he was worried that Li Ji would not be loyal to Li Zhi, so he planned to demote him to another place and wait for Li Zhi to succeed to the throne. Recall him to the capital and appoint him as Minister Zuopushe, so that Li Ji will swear allegiance to Li Zhi to the death."

"If this matter had been left in the past, Li Shimin would definitely have called Li Ji, talked to him straightforwardly, and tried to influence him with sincerity, so that he would be loyal to Li Zhi. However, he was uneasy about Li Ji because of his suspicion, so He used an emperor's technique to win over Li Ji by suppressing first and then promoting."

"If there is no friendship between the monarch and his ministers, and only Machiavellian tactics are left, then separation between the monarch and his ministers is bound to happen."

"And this is indeed the case. There were not many people that Li Shimin could trust and rely on in his later years, especially military generals. Most of them were more or less jealous of Li Shimin, and some were even killed by him. "

"For example, Zhang Liang, a general who was once favored by Li Shimin, was framed for treason by someone with ulterior motives because he secretly supported more than [-] people. Li Shimin felt very nervous and beheaded him without detailed investigation. And confiscated all his property."

"In fact, someone did persuade Zhang Liang to rebel, and Zhang Liang was almost moved because he was jealous of Li Shimin and was squeezed out of the capital. However, he did not take action in the end, and the matter of raising his adopted son was nothing more than It’s just speculation, and it must be true.”

Yang Guang: Yo! Isn’t this the one who takes me as a warning? How can we learn from others?
  Yang Yong: Haha! Exactly the same!
  "The last problem is superstition."         "In his later years, Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, like some emperors, wanted to live forever, and he was also superstitious, especially about the empress."

"Having talked about so many emperors, it can be seen that there are many people in history who took elixirs to pursue immortality, such as Qin Shihuang."

"When Li Shimin came to the throne, he was extremely mocking about taking pills. He said that he was indifferent to life and death, which cannot be changed by human power."

"According to historical records, Li Shimin in his early years was very disdainful of the nonsense of immortality. For this reason, he also laughed at Qin Shihuang and Emperor Wu of Han, saying that their quest for immortality was just a waste of money and people. "The gods are only in vain. Don't bother asking for its name. ""

"However, as Li Shimin's health gradually deteriorated, after he returned from his second expedition to Goguryeo, he contracted wind disease again, and his health became even worse. At this time, he began to fear death."

Faced with the fading life and the temptation of immortality, Li Shimin also began to become superstitious about various alchemy techniques that he had previously scorned, especially the technique of immortality. "

"For this reason, he specially summoned a large number of Taoist priests to refine elixirs in the palace, which was even worse than that of Qin Shihuang and Han Wu Emperor."

"But it is a pity that the elixirs refined by these domestic alchemists were not effective. Li Shimin thought that the abilities of the domestic alchemists were not good enough, so he sent people around to visit foreign experts."

"In the same year, after Wang Xuance defeated Tianzhu, he brought back a Naluo Po Po Mei warlock. This man claimed to be more than [-] years old and knew the art of immortality. Li Shimin was inspired by him and immediately ordered him to make elixirs."

"After this Indian monk heard about Li Shimin's behavior of praying for immortality, he boasted that he specialized in the art of immortality and vowed that as long as he took the elixir he refined, he would be able to live forever."

"Li Shimin was moved by the Indian monk's words, so he asked him to refine the elixir for himself in the palace."

"Before, Li Shimin was cautious about elixirs, but when he was facing death, he didn't care so much. He ignored the advice of his ministers and took the elixirs made by Zhu warlocks that day. As a result, he died within a few days. He is only fifty-one years old." (Is he fifty-one years old? Or fifty-two years old?)

"It is now impossible to know whether Li Shimin died due to illness or because he took pills, but the fact that he took pills revealed a message, that is, his life style has indeed undergone earth-shaking changes. Things he once disliked he still did in his later years."

"There is a saying that "the benevolent see benevolence, the wise see wisdom." Many people in my generation do not believe this prophecy, but there are indeed records of "female warriors" in "Zi Zhi Tong Jian" and "New and Old Tang Books" The content is somewhat similar to the earlier issue I talked about about Emperor Guangwu." (End of this chapter)