The Incident at Xuanwu Gate
2 min readAfter the war of reunification was over, the scramble for the throne in the royal family was escalating. Crown Prince Li Jiancheng(589-626) plotted with Prince of QiLi Yuanji to undercut Li Shimin’s military power. However, Li Shimin struck the first blow. On the fourth day of the sixth lunar month of 626, he laid an ambush at the Xuanwu Gate –the northern entrance to the imperial city, and killed both Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji when they went to court.
Three days later, LiYuan who was still badly shaken designated Li shimin as his successor; and two months later he was at last forced to abdicate. Li Shimin thereupon began his sagacious rule of the country for more than two decades.
ALong sScrollof Local Government Document written in ouigour Language During the reign of Emperor Taizong, the ouigour tribes-the ancestor of the present uygur nationality–maintained close ties with the Tang Dynasty.
Zhenguan was the title of the reign of Li shimin.
During the reign of Yang Guang, he had exhausted the people and drained the treasury; as a result, his regime had lost all popular support and faced widespread indignation and discontent. Drawing lessons from the fall of the Sui Dynasty, Li shimin firstly streamlined the administrative structure of the central government and cut redundant personnel. In the early phase of his reign the total number of the empire’s civil and military officials was no more than 640.
“Emperor Taizong Receiving Tubo Envoys on a Sedan Chair”by Yan Liben Yan Liben(-673) was a renowned figure painter of the Tang Dynasty. This scroll of painting which is in the collection of the Palace Museum of Beijing portrays Li shimin receiving Tubo envoys sent by songtsam Gambo(c.617-650) to escort Princess wencheng(3-680) back to Lhasa for the wedding.
Meanwhile, court official Wei Zheng (580-643) had earnestly admonished the young monarch to pay special attention to popular feelings. Wei once said:”For if the emperor is a boat, then the people are the waters of the river. And whilst the waters can bear the boat, they can also sink it.”Taking this warning seriously, Li Shimin therefore reduced taxes and levies so that the people having suffered enough from the scourge of war could rest and recuperate. When Lifirst ascended the throne, the whole country was hit by a grain shortage. Just four years later, his rehabilitation policy brought about rapid economic recovery, and thus successfully resolved the grave crisis of mass impoverishment. As grain yield increased sharply, its prices had plummeted.
