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Main article: Xuanwu Gate Incident By this point, Li Shimin and his older brother Li Jiancheng, who was created crown prince in 618, reportedly after Emperor Gaozu first offered the position to Li Shimin due to his contributions, were locked in an intense rivalry, as Li Shimin's accomplishments caused people to speculate that he would displace Li Jiancheng as crown prince, and Li Jiancheng, while an accomplished general himself, was overshadowed by his younger brother. The court became divided into a faction favoring the Crown Prince and a faction favoring the Prince of Qin. The rivalry was particularly causing problems within capital, as the commands of the Crown Prince, the Prince of Qin, and the Prince of Qi (i.e., Li Yuanji) were said to have the same force as the emperor's edicts, and the officials had to carry conflicting orders out by acting on the ones that arrived first. Li Shimin's staff was full of talented men, but Li Jiancheng was supported by Li Yuanji, as well as Emperor Gaozu's concubines, who had better relationships with Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji than they did with Li Shimin. Late in 622, when Liu Heita returned to former Xia domain after receiving aid from Eastern Tujue, defeating and killing Li Shimin's cousin Li Daoxuan (李道玄) the Prince of Huaiyang, he again regained most of former Xia territory. Li Jiancheng's staff members Wang Gui and Wei Zheng suggested that Li Jiancheng needed to enhance his own reputation in battle, and so Li Jiancheng volunteered for the mission. Emperor Gaozu thus sent Li Jiancheng, assisted by Li Yuanji, to attack Liu. Li Jiancheng defeated Liu around the new year 623, and Liu was subsequently betrayed by his own official Zhuge Dewei (諸葛德威) and delivered to Li Jiancheng. Li Jiancheng killed Liu and returned to Chang'an in triumph. China was, by this point, roughly united under Tang rule. For the next few years, the rivalry intensified, although during the meantime both Li Jiancheng and Li Shimin served as generals when Eastern Tujue made incursions. In 623, when the general Fu Gongshi rebelled at Danyang (丹楊, in modern Nanjing, Jiangsu), Emperor Gaozu briefly commissioned Li Shimin to attack Fu, but soon cancelled the order and sent Li Shimin's cousin Li Xiaogong the Prince of Zhao Commandery instead. In 624, when Li Jiancheng was found to have, against regulations, tried to add soldiers to his guard corps, Emperor Gaozu was so angry that he put Li Jiancheng under arrest. In fear, Li Jiancheng's guard commander Yang Wen'gan (楊文幹) rebelled. Emperor Gaozu sent Li Shimin against Yang, offering to make him crown prince after he returned. After Li Shimin left, however, Feng Deyi (now a chancellor), Li Yuanji, and the concubines all spoke on Li Jiancheng's behalf, and after Li Shimin returned, Emperor Gaozu did not depose Li Jiancheng, but instead blamed the discord between him and Li Shimin on Li Jiancheng's staff members Wang Gui and Wei Ting (韋挺) and Li Shimin's staff member Du Yan, exiling them to Xi Prefecture (巂州, roughly modern Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan). Later that year, Emperor Gaozu, troubled by repeated Eastern Tujue incursions, seriously considered burning Chang'an to the ground and moving the capital to Fancheng, a suggestion that Li Jiancheng, Li Yuanji, and Pei Ji agreed with. Li Shimin opposed, however, and the plan was not carried out. Meanwhile, Li Shimin himself was sending his confidants to Luoyang to build up personal control of the army there. After an incident in which Li Shimin suffered a severe case of food poisoning after feasting at Li Jiancheng's palace—an event that both Emperor Gaozu and Li Shimin apparently interpreted as an assassination attempt—Emperor Gaozu considered sending Li Shimin to guard Luoyang to prevent further conflict, but Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji, after consulting each other, believed that this would only give Li Shimin an opportunity to build up his personal power there, and therefore opposed it. Emperor Gaozu therefore did not carry out the plan. Meanwhile, the rivalry continued. Traditional historical accounts also indicated that at one point, when Li Shimin visited Li Yuanji's mansion, Li Yuanji wanted to assassinate Li Shimin, but Li Jiancheng, who could not resolve to kill a brother, stopped the plot. There was yet another incident in which Li Jiancheng, knowing that a horse threw its rider easily, had Li Shimin ride it, causing Li Shimin to fall off from it several times. By 626, Li Shimin was fearful that he would be killed by Li Jiancheng, and his staff members Fang Xuanling, Du Ruhui, and Zhangsun Wuji were repeatedly encouraging Li Shimin to attack Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji first—while Wei Zheng was encouraging Li Jiancheng to attack Li Shimin first. Li Jiancheng persuaded Emperor Gaozu to remove Fang and Du, as well as Li Shimin's trusted guard officers Yuchi Jingde and Cheng Zhijie, from Li Shimin's staff. Zhangsun, who remained on Li Shimin's staff, continued to try to persuade Li Shimin to attack first. In summer 626, Eastern Tujue was making another attack, and under Li Jiancheng's suggestion, Emperor Gaozu, instead of sending Li Shimin to resist Eastern Tujue as he first was inclined, decided to send Li Yuanji instead. Li Yuanji was given command of much of the army previously under Li Shimin's control, further troubling Li Shimin, who believed that with the army in Li Yuanji's hands, he would be unable to resist an attack. Li Shimin had Yuchi summon Fang and Du back to his mansion secretly, and then on one night submitted an accusation to Emperor Gaozu that Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji were committing adultery with Emperor Gaozu's concubines. Emperor Gaozu, in response, issued summonses to Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji for the next morning, convening the senior officials Pei Ji, Xiao Yu, and Chen Shuda to examine Li Shimin's accusations. As Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji approached the central gate leading to Emperor Gaozu's palace, Xuanwu Gate (玄武門), Li Shimin carried out the ambush he had set. He personally fired an arrow that killed Li Jiancheng. Subsequently, Yuchi killed Li Yuanji. Li Shimin's forces entered the palace and, under the intimidation of Li Shimin's forces, Emperor Gaozu agreed to create Li Shimin crown prince. Li Jiancheng's and Li Yuanji's sons were killed, and Li Shimin took Li Yuanji's wife Princess Yang as a concubine. Two months later, with Li Shimin firmly in control of power, Emperor Gaozu yielded the throne to him (as Emperor Taizong). As emperor Early reign (626–633) v t e Tang Taizong and Gaozong's campaigns Huoyi Hulao Xuanwu Gate Eastern Turks Tuyuhun Xiyu states Karakhoja Karasahr Kucha Western Turks Conquest Goguryeo Xueyantuo Tufan Baekje See also: Emperor Taizong's campaign against Eastern Tujue A mural painting of Emperor Taizong (located bottom, center) dated to 642 AD, located in Cave 220, Dunhuang, Gansu province. One of the first actions that Emperor Taizong carried out as emperor was releasing a number of ladies in waiting from the palace and returning them to their homes, so that they could be married. He made his wife Princess Zhangsun the empress, and their oldest son Li Chengqian the crown prince. Emperor Taizong also immediately faced a crisis, as Eastern Tujue's Jiali Khan Ashina Duobi, along with his nephew the subordinate Tuli Khan Ashina Shibobi (阿史那什鉢苾), launched a major incursion toward Chang'an, and just 19 days after Emperor Taizong took the throne, the two khans were just across the Wei River from Chang'an. Emperor Taizong, accompanied by Gao Shilian and Fang Xuanling, was forced to meet Ashina Duobi across the river and personally negotiate peace terms, including tributes to Eastern Tujue, before Ashina Duobi withdrew. Late in 626, Emperor Taizong ranked the contributors to Tang rule and granted them titles and fiefs, naming among the first rank of contributors Zhangsun Wuji, Fang, Du Ruhui, Yuchi Jingde, and Hou Junji. When Li Shentong, as his distant uncle, objected to being ranked under Fang and Du, Emperor Taizong personally explained how Fang and Du's strategies allowed him to be successful, and this managed to get the other objectors to quiet down, as Emperor Taizong was even willing to rank low such an honored individual as Li Shentong. Emperor Taizong also buried Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji with honors due imperial princes and had their staff members attend the funeral processions. Meanwhile, he appeared to began to reshuffle government further—which he had already begun after being created crown prince—by dismissing his father's trusted advisors Xiao Yu and Chen Shuda, making his own trusted advisors chancellors. (Xiao, however, was soon restored to being chancellor, although his career during Emperor Taizong's reign would see repeated dismissals and repeated restorations.) However, he also began to greatly pay attention to the officials' submissions and their criticism of imperial governance, making changes where he saw needed. He also particularly began to trust Wei Zheng, accepting much advice from Wei as far as his personal conduct was concerned. He was also willing to demote his own trusted advisors, as he demoted Gao after finding that Gao had held back submissions from his deputy Wang Gui. Viewing Sui's Emperor Yang as a negative example, he frequently solicited criticism, rewarding those officials willing to offer them, particularly Wei and Wang Gui. Also in 627, the general Li Yi the Prince of Yan—a late-Sui warlord who later submitted to Tang, who associated with Li Jiancheng—fearing that Emperor Taizong would eventually take action against him, rebelled at Bin Prefecture (豳州, in modern Xianyang), but was quickly crushed by the official Yang Ji (楊岌) and killed in flight. Later that year, when Emperor Gaozu's cousin Li Youliang (李幼良) the Prince of Changle, the commandant at Liang Prefecture (涼州, roughly modern Wuwei, Gansu), was accused of allowing his staff to oppress the people and to trade with Qiang and Xiongnu tribesmen, Emperor Taizong sent the chancellor Yuwen Shiji (Yuwen Huaji's brother) to investigate, and in fear, Li Youliang's staff members plotted to hold him hostage and rebel. When this was discovered, Emperor Taizong forced Li Youliang to commit suicide. Late in the year, Wang Junkuo (王君廓), the commandant at You Prefecture (幽州, roughly modern Beijing), also rebelled, but was defeated quickly and killed in flight. However, although there were also reports that Feng Ang (馮盎), a warlord in the modern Guangdong region, was rebelling, Emperor Taizong, at Wei's suggestion, sent messengers to comfort Feng, and Feng submitted. Also in 627, Emperor Taizong, seeing that there were too many prefectures and counties, consolidated and merged many of them, and further created another level of local political organization above prefectures—the circuit (道, dao) – dividing his state into 10 circuits. In 628, with Ashina Duobi and Ashina Shibobi having a fallout, Ashina Shibobi submitted to Emperor Taizong, as did the chieftains of Khitan tribes, who had previously submitted to Eastern Tujue. With Eastern Tujue in turmoil, Ashina Duobi was no longer able to protect the last late-Sui rebel ruler who alone remained standing against Tang pressure – Liang Shidu the Emperor of Liang, and in summer 628, with the Tang generals Chai Shao and Xue Wanjun (薛萬均) sieging the Liang capital Shuofang (朔方, in modern Yulin, Shaanxi), Liang Shidu's cousin Liang Luoren (梁洛仁) killed Liang Shidu and surrendered, finally uniting China. With Eastern Tujue weakened, Eastern Tujue's vassal Xueyantuo also broke away and formed its own khanate, and Emperor Taizong entered into an alliance with Xueyantuo's leader Yi'nan, creating Yi'nan the Zhenzhupiqie Khan (or Zhenzhu Khan in short). In late 629, believing the time ripe for a major attack on Eastern Tujue, Emperor Taizong commissioned the general Li Jing with overall command of a multi-pronged army, assisted by the generals Li Shiji, Chai, and Xue Wanche (薛萬徹, Xue Wanjun's brother), attacking Eastern Tujue at multiple points. The army was successful in its attacks, forcing Ashina Duobi to flee, and by late spring 630, Ashina Duobi had been captured, and Eastern Tujue chieftains all submitted to Tang. Emperor Taizong spared Ashina Duobi but detained him at Chang'an, and he considered what to do with the Eastern Tujue people. The main opposing views were from the chancellors Wen Yanbo (who advocated leaving the Eastern Tujue people within borders to serve as a defense perimeter) and Wei (who advocated leaving them outside the borders). Emperor Taizong accepted Wen's suggestion and established a number of prefectures to accommodate the Eastern Tujue people, still leaving them governed by their chieftains, without creating a new khan to govern them. In 631, Emperor Taizong established a feudal scheme, where the contributors to his reign were given, in addition to their current posts, additional posts as prefectural governors, to be passed on to their descendants. Soon, however, receiving much opposition to the plan, the strongest of which came from Zhangsun Wuji, Emperor Taizong cancelled the scheme. After the conquest of Eastern Tujue, Emperor Taizong's officials repeatedly requested that he carry out sacrifices to heaven and earth at Mount Tai, and Emperor Taizong, while at times tempted by the proposal, was repeatedly dissuaded from doing so by Wei, who pointed out the expenses and the labors that would be imposed on the people as a result, and also that this would open China's borders to attack. Middle reign (634–641) See also: Emperor Taizong's campaign against Tuyuhun, campaign against Tufan and campaign against Xiyu states A painting portraying Tang Taizong by painter Yan Liben (c. 600 – 673). In 634, Emperor Taizong sent 13 high level officials, including Li Jing and Xiao Yu, to examine the circuits to see whether the local officials were capable, to find out whether the people were suffering, to comfort the poor, and to select capable people to serve in civil service. (Li Jing initially recommended Wei, but Emperor Taizong declined sending Wei, stating that Wei needed to stay to point out his faults and that he could not afford to have Wei away even for a single day.)[citation needed] Around this time, Tang was having increasing conflicts with Tuyuhun, whose Busabo Khan Murong Fuyun, under instigation by his strategist the Prince of Tianzhu, had been repeatedly attacking Tang prefectures on the borders. At one point, Murong Fuyun sought to have a Tang princess marry his son the Prince of Zun, but the marriage negotiations broke down over Emperor Taizong's insistence that the Prince of Zun come to Chang'an for the wedding. In summer 634, Emperor Taizong had the generals Duan Zhixuan and Fan Xing (樊興) lead forces against Tuyuhun, but with Tuyuhun's forces highly mobile and avoiding direct confrontation, Duan, while not defeated, could not make major gains. Once Duan withdrew, Tuyuhun resumed hostilities. In winter 634, with the Tufan king Songtsän Gampo making overtures to marry a Tang princess as well, Emperor Taizong sent the emissary Feng Dexia (馮德遐) to Tufan with an eye toward an alliance against Tuyuhun. In winter 634, he commissioned Li Jing, assisted by the other generals Hou Junji, Li Daozong, Li Daliang (李大亮), Li Daoyan (李道彥), and Gao Zengsheng (高甑生), to attack Tuyuhun. In 635, Li Jing's forces crushed Tuyuhun forces. Murong Fuyun was killed by his own subordinates, and his son Murong Shun killed the Prince of Tianzhu and surrendered. Emperor Taizong created Murong Shun the new khan, although Murong Shun was soon assassinated. Emperor Taizong then created Murong Shun's son Murong Nuohebo as the new khan. Also in 635, Emperor Gaozu died, and Emperor Taizong, observing a mourning period, briefly had Li Chengqian serve as regent, and after he resumed his authorities less than two months later, he still authorized Li Chengqian to thereafter rule on minor matters. In spring 636, Emperor Taizong commissioned his brothers and sons as commandants and changed their titles in accordance with the commands that they received, sending them to their posts—with the exception of his son Li Tai the Prince of Wei, who by this point was beginning to be highly favored by him. He further allowed Li Tai to engage literary men to serve as his assistants, as Li Tai favored literature. From this point on, Li Tai would be so favored that there began to be talks that Emperor Taizong might let him displace Li Chengqian, whose favors began to wane. In fall 636, Empress Zhangsun died. Emperor Taizong mourned her bitterly and personally wrote the text of her monument. In summer 637, Emperor Taizong recreated the feudal scheme that he had considered and abandoned in 631, creating 35 hereditary prefect posts. (By 639, however, the system was again abandoned after much opposition.) Fountain Memory, calligraphy of Emperor Taizong on a Tang stele. Sometime before 638, Emperor Taizong, disgusted with the traditional noble clans of Cui, Lu, Li, and Zheng and believing that they were abusing their highly honored names, commissioned Gao Shilian, Wei Ting, Linghu Defen, and Cen Wenben to compile a work later to be known as the Records of Clans (氏族志), with the intent of dividing the clans into nine classes based on their past contributions, good deeds, and ill deeds. In an initial draft that Gao submitted, he nevertheless ranked the branch of the Cui clan that the official Cui Min'gan (崔民幹) belonged to as the highest, a decision that Emperor Taizong rebuked, as he pointed out that Gao was merely again looking at tradition and not the recent contributions. He therefore personally intervened in revising the work, reducing Cui's clan to the third class. In fall 638, Tufan's Songtsän Gampo, displeased that Emperor Taizong had declined to give him a Tang princess in marriage and believing that Murong Nuohebo had persuaded Emperor Taizong to decline the marriage proposal, launched a major attack with forces of 200,000 on Tuyuhun and then on several Tang prefectures, putting Song Prefecture (松州, roughly modern Ngawa Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan) under siege. Emperor Taizong commissioned Hou, assisted by Zhishi Sili (執失思力), Niu Jinda (牛進達), and Liu Jian (劉簡), of a total of force of 50,000 to counterattack, and Niu, who commanded the forward forces, defeated Tufan forces at Song Prefecture. Songsän Gampo withdrew and sued for peace, but still sought to marry a Tang princess. Emperor Taizong agreed this time. Also in 638, believing that Xueyantuo was growing increasingly strong and difficult to control, Emperor Taizong granted Yi'nan's sons Bazhuo and Jialibi (頡利苾) both lesser khan titles, to try to create dissensions between them. In summer 639, Ashina Jiesheshuai (阿史那結社率), the younger brother of Ashina Shibobi, whom Emperor Taizong did not favor and gave little recognition to, formed a conspiracy with Ashina Shibobi's son Ashina Hexiangu (阿史那賀暹鶻) to assassinate Emperor Taizong. They had planned to wait for Li Zhi the Prince of Jin to depart from the palace in the morning and use that opportunity to attack the palace. On the day they planned, however, Li Zhi did not leave the palace, and Ashina Jiesheshuai attacked anyway but was quickly defeated, captured, and executed. After this incident, however, the officials began advocating sending the Tujue people away from the heart of the state. In fall 639, Emperor Taizong created a Tujue prince who had served him faithfully, Li Simo (né Ashina Simo) as the khan of a newly recreated Eastern Tujue state (as Qilibi Khan), giving him all of the Tujue and Xiongnu who had surrendered as his subordinates, to be settled north of the Great Wall and the Yellow River. However, the Tujue people were fearful of Xueyantuo and initially refused to head to their new location. Emperor Taizong issued an edict to Yi'nan that he and Li Simo keep their peace and not attack each other, and after receiving from Yi'nan the assurance that he would not attack, the Tujue people advanced to the new location. Taizong began a series of campaigns against the Western Tujue and their allies, the oasis states of the Tarim Basin, around 640.[16] These hostilities between the Western Tujue and Tang would continue until the defeat and conquest of the Western Tujue in 657 under Taizong's successor, Gaozong.[17] The kingdoms of Kashgar and Khotan surrendered to the Chinese in 632, as did the kingdom of Yarkand in 635.[12] Qu Wentai (麴文泰), the king of Gaochang, who had previously been submissive to Tang, had become increasingly hostile to Tang, allying with the Western Tujue. In 640, Emperor Taizong commissioned Hou, assisted by Xue Wanjun, to launch a major attack on Gaochang. As they approached Gaochang, Qu Wentai died in fear and was succeeded by his son Qu Zhisheng (麴智盛). Qu Zhisheng offered to submit, but Hou demanded a surrender, which Qu Zhisheng refused. However, Hou put Gaochang under siege, and with aid from Western Tujue not arriving, Qu Zhisheng surrendered. Wei suggested that Emperor Taizong allow Qu Zhisheng to remain king, pointing out that the monetary and human costs would be high to keep a permanent garrison at Gaochang, but Emperor Taizong disagreed, and he converted Gaochang into two prefectures and annexed it into his state. In winter 640, Songsän Gampo sent his prime minister Ludongzan (祿東贊) as an emissary to Tang, offering tributes and again requesting marriage. Emperor Taizong created a daughter of a clansman as the Princess Wencheng, and in 641 sent Li Daozong to accompany Princess Wencheng to Tufan to preside over the wedding. In winter 641, believing that Emperor Taizong was about to carry out sacrifices to heaven and earth at Mount Tai and would be unable to aid Eastern Tujue, Yi'nan launched a major attack on Eastern Tujue, commanded by his son Dadu (大度). Li Simo was forced to retreat inside the Great Wall. Emperor Taizong commissioned Li Shiji, assisted by Zhang Jian (張儉), Li Daliang, Zhang Shigui (張士貴), and Li Xiyu (李襲譽), to attack Xueyantuo. Li Shiji soon defeated Dadu at Nuozhen River (諾真水, flowing through modern Baotou, Inner Mongolia), and Dadu fled. |
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