Dynasties of ChinaTang dynastyTang dynasty lineage
Wude · Reign 618—626
With Sui Dynasty's relatives and Taiyuan left behind, he raised troops in Jinyang, took control of Chang'an and established Tang Dynasty, laying a foundation for nearly three hundred years.
Li Yuan, courtesy name Shude, was born into a noble family in Guanlong. His grandfather Li Hu was one of the Eight Pillar States of the Western Wei Dynasty and was granted the title of Duke of Tang. Li Yuan ascended the throne at the age of seven. His mother, Dugu, was the sister of Empress Dugu, Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty. Therefore, he was the aunt and cousin of the Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty. He served successively as governor and county guard. In 617, when he was left behind in Taiyuan, chaos broke out in the country at the end of the Sui Dynasty, so he conspired with his second son Li Shimin, the order of Jinyang Liu Wenjing, and the deputy eunuch of Jinyang Palace Pei Ji to start an army.
In July of the same year, Li Yuan led his army south and killed the Sui general Song Laosheng in Huoyi. In November, he captured Chang'an and made Emperor Yang's grandson Wang Yang You the emperor. He appointed himself the prime minister and the king of the Tang Dynasty. Emperor Yang was killed in Jiangdu in 618. In May, Li Yuan accession followed abdication and proclaimed himself emperor. The country was named Tang and Jianyuan Wude. In the following years, Li Shimin, Li Xiaogong, Li Jing, etc. successively pacified the separatist forces such as Xue Rengao, Liu Wuzhou, Wang Shichong, Dou Jiande, and Xiao Xian, and basically unified the country.
During his reign, Li Yuan followed the Sui system and made gains and losses, promulgated military ethics laws and regulations, promoted the land system and the renting method, minted Kaiyuan Tongbao, opened subjects to recruit scholars, and initially established the Tang dynasty system. However, the competition between Crown Prince Li Jiancheng and King of QinLi Shimin became increasingly fierce, and he was hesitant to deal with it. After the Xuanwu Gate Incident in 626, he was forced to establish Li Shimin as Crown Prince. He passed the throne two months later and retired to the Retired Emperor. He died of illness in 635 and was buried in the mausoleum.
Li Yuan is the actual founder of Tang dynasty. He decisively raised troops and made peace with the people after entering the customs. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, he quickly established laws, land systems, taxation and currency systems, laying the institutional foundation for the Reign of Zhenguan. Since the history of the country was compiled in the Taizong Dynasty, his achievements were once attributed to Li Shimin, and modern historians have made many corrections based on the "Datang Chuangju Daily Notes". In his later years, he failed to properly handle the rivalry among his disciples, which eventually led to the tragedy of the Xuanwu Sect brothers fighting each other.
PoliticsJinyang raises troops
In May, Wang Wei and Gao Junya, the deputies left behind, were killed in the name of secretly communicating with the Turks. In July, they swore to go south. In order to avoid future worries, Li Yuan sent Liu Wenjing as an envoy to the Eastern Turks, asking for reinforcements with humble words and courtesy. It was said that he had professed his vassalage to Shibi Khan.
MilitaryConquer Chang'an
On the way south, he defeated the Sui general Song Laosheng in Huoyi, crossed the Yellow River to the west and entered Guanzhong, and captured Chang'an in November. Li Yuan made the twelve articles of the agreement, abolished the tyrannical rule of Sui Dynasty, established King Yang You as emperor, respected Emperor Yang who was far away in Jiangdu as the Retired Emperor, and appointed himself the prime minister.
Politicsaccession following abdicationJian Tang
In March Emperor Yang was killed by Yuwen Huaji in Jiangdu. In May Yang Youabdication, Li Yuan became emperor in Taiji Hall in Chang'an. The country was named Tang and changed to Yuan Wude. In June, he made his eldest son Li Jiancheng the Crown Prince, Li Shimin the King of Qin, and Li Yuanji the King Qi.
Lasting legacyTang dynasty's reputation spread far and wide overseas. Since then, overseas Chinese often call themselves "Tang people", and Chinese inhabited areas are called "Chinatowns". This is where the terms "Tang suit" and other titles come from.
MilitaryBattle of Asamizuhara
Father and son Xue Ju and Xue Rengao, who were separatists in Longxi, moved eastward to threaten Chang'an. Li Shimin held the wall without fighting for more than sixty days. When his supplies were exhausted and his army was dispersed, he was defeated in Qianshuiyuan. Xue Rengao surrendered, and the west of Guanzhong was stable from then on.
PeopleLiu Wenjing was killed
Liu Wenjing, the founding hero of the People's Republic of China, was self-reliant on his great achievements and was at odds with his favorite minister Pei Ji. He complained after drinking and was accused of treason. Li Gang, Xiao Yu and Li Shimin all defended him, but Li Yuan still obeyed Pei Ji and executed him.
MilitaryRecover Bingzhou
In 619, Liu Wu and Zhou Dynasty general Song Jingang captured Taiyuan, and most of Hedong was lost. Li Shimin led his army across the river and stationed at Baibi. He held on without fighting. In the spring of the following year, when the enemy's supplies were exhausted, he pursued him and defeated Song Jingang in Jiexiu. Liu Wu fled to the north of the Turks and recovered Bingzhou.
MilitaryBattle of Hulao
Li Shimin besieged Wang Shichong in Luoyang, and Hebei Dou Jiande led an army of more than 100,000 to come to the rescue. Li Shimin divided his troops to guard Hulao Pass. In May, he defeated the Xia army and captured Dou Jiangde alive. Wang Shichong immediately surrendered. The battle between the Central Plains and Hebei was decided.
EconomyCast Kaiyuan Tongbao
The five-baht coin of the Sui Dynasty was abolished and Kaiyuan Tongbao was cast. Each coin weighed two baht and four coins, and ten coins weighed one tael. After that, coins were no longer named by their weight, but called "Tongbao" and "Yuanbao". This system was used for about 1,300 years.
Lasting legacyThe unit of weight "qian" is derived from the system of ten pieces of Kaiyuan Tongbao weighing one tael. The saying "one tael equals ten qian" is still used today.
MilitaryPingding Xiao Mian
Princes Li Xiaogong and Li Jing of Zhaojun led their warships eastward along the Yangtze River and surrounded Jiangling. Xiao Xian, who separatized Jianghan and claimed to be Emperor Liang, surrendered out of the city. The following year, Li Jing went south to pacify, and the states in Lingnan surrendered to Tang Dynasty one after another.
PoliticsOpening a subject to obtain a bachelor's degree
Following the Sui system, all states were required to send Mingjing, Jinshi and other academic talents to Beijing to take the examination every year. In 622, the first admission to the imperial examination was opened, which was the beginning of the imperial examination in the Tang Dynasty. Since then, the Jinshi Department has gradually become the most respected way for scholars to enter officialdom.
PeoplePing Yanggongzhu was buried
When Li Yuan's daughter Ping Yanggongzhu raised an army, she dispersed her family's wealth, recruited bandits, and gathered 70,000 people, nicknamed the "Women's Army." When he died in 623, Li Yuan made an exception and was buried with military honors because of his military merits.
Lasting legacyNiangzi Pass in Pingding County, Shanxi Province is said to be named after Ping Yanggongzhu once led the women's army to garrison it. It is now a famous pass on the Great Wall.
MilitaryDefeat Liu Heita
Dou Jiande's old general Liu Heitai raised troops twice to regain his old place in Hebei. Crown Prince Li Jiancheng adopted Wei Zheng's suggestion, released the prisoners, appeased the people, and captured him in early 623. Crown Prince also established military exploits.
EconomyEqualization of land and mediocrity of renting
A new law was promulgated and the juntian system was implemented. Ding Nan was granted one hectare of land, of which 80 acres were divided into public fields and 20 acres were permanent field fields. At the same time, the rent was fixed according to the Yongtiao method. Every ding was paid two stones of millet, two feet of silk, and three liang of cotton per year, and served for twenty days. Those who did not serve could pay silk for service.
MilitaryPingding Fu Gong'er
Fu Gonger of Jianghuai proclaimed himself emperor in Danyang and rebelled against the Tang Dynasty. Li Xiaogong and Li Jing led their troops to fight for peace. So far, there are no major separatist forces in the south, and Tang Dynasty has basically completed its unification.
MilitaryProposal to move the capital
The Eastern Turks invaded southward for many years. Some people suggested burning Chang'an and moving the capital to Fan and Deng to avoid their attack. Li Yuan once agreed. King of QinLi Shimin insisted that Jieli Khan would be captured within a few years, and the proposal to move the capital was stopped.
PoliticsXuanwu Gate Incident
On the fourth day of June, King of QinLi Shimin ambushed and shot Crown Prince Li Jiancheng at Xuanwu Gate, and Yuchi Jingde killed King QiLi Yuanji. Li Yuan was forced to issue an edict to establish Li Shimin as Crown Prince, entrusting him with military and state duties. He passed the throne in August and called himself the Retired Emperor.
PeopleDrinks at Lingyan Pavilion
After hearing that Jieli Khan of the Eastern Turks was captured, Emperor Li Yuan lamented that Gaozu of the Han Dynasty was trapped in Baideng and could not take revenge. Now that his son had destroyed the Turks, he summoned Taizong and his ministers to hold a banquet in Lingyan Pavilion, where he played the pipa and danced with Taizong.
PoliticsDied of illness and buried in mausoleum
He died of illness in Da'an Palace in Chang'an in May at the age of seventy and was buried in Xianling (now northeast of Sanyuan County, Shaanxi) in October.
Lasting legacyThe stone rhinoceros in front of the mausoleum is now in the Xi'an Forest of Steles Museum. It is a representative work of mausoleum stone carvings in the early Tang Dynasty.
The eldest son of Li Yuan, he and Li Shimin divided the left and right armies when they raised the army. They established themselves as Crown Prince and then took control of Chang'an. In 623, Liu Heita was put down. He failed to compete with the King of Qin for the throne and was shot dead by Li Shimin in the Xuanwu Gate Incident.
Li Yuan's fourth son, who once guarded Taiyuan, abandoned the city and fled in the face of Song Jingang's attack in 619. Later, he formed a party with Crown Prince Li Jiancheng and was killed by Yuchi Jingde in the Xuanwu Gate Incident.
The third daughter of Li Yuan, the wife of Chai Shao. When Li Yuan raised his army, she dispersed her family wealth in Guanzhong, recruited bandits to surrender, and gathered 70,000 people. She joined forces with Li Shimin in Weibei and jointly attacked Chang'an.
At the end of the Sui Dynasty, he was appointed the order of Jinyang, and joined forces with Li Shimin to urge the army to raise troops and sent envoys to the Turks to borrow troops. In the early Tang Dynasty, when he was an official in Nayan, he was falsely accused of treason and executed because of his disagreement with Pei Ji.
Li Yuantang's nephew, together with Li Jing, pacified Xiao Mian and Fu Gong'er, managed Jiangnan and Lingnan, and had the most outstanding military exploits among the clan kings, and was granted the title of Prince of Hejian County.
The leader of the Hebei uprising army at the end of the Sui Dynasty called himself the King of Xia. He was frugal and kind to scholars, and was very popular among the people in Hebei. In 621, while rescuing Wang Shichong, he was captured by Li Shimin in Hulao and taken to Chang'an to be executed.