Sky Curtain: The Overlord Charges into Battle, Shocking Emperors of All Dynasties

[In the end, Li Shimin passed the throne to Li Zhi because he valued this son's benevolence and filial piety. If he had chosen Li Tai, both Li Chengqian and Li Zhi would have died, but if he had chosen Li Zhi, both Li Chengqian and Li Tai would have survived.]

Follow-up comment: In the final moments, Li Shimin still wanted to spare his child's life.

Follow-up comment: Unfortunately, in the end, Li Shimin also misjudged Li Zhi. This child was innocent on the outside but cunning on the inside, extremely scheming.

Follow-up comment: In the nineteenth year of the Zhenguan era, Li Chengan died of illness; in the third year of the Yonghui era, Li Tai died. Who was responsible? I certainly don't know.

Follow-up comment: Li Zhi wasn't stupid. Do you think everyone is like Li Tai, a fool who would say something like killing one's son to pass on the throne to one's brother?

Follow-up comment: Some brothers, this is a warning: three kids killed in one day!!

Oh my God!

There are still experts!!

Five large, bright characters were displayed on the sky.

"Killed three sons in one day"

Even more glaring and chilling than Li Tai's killing of his son to pass the mantle to his brother.

"Who on earth is this ruthless person? To actually harm their own sons, three of them at that!"

"This is unprecedented, unlike anything seen before!"

Throughout history, there have been numerous power struggles between emperors and their crown princes, or even between emperors and their own sons.

Such incidents have been common since the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods.

But to kill three sons in one day is truly horrifying.

"To kill three sons in one day, either this emperor is extremely cruel and ruthless, no less than Qin Er Shi, or these three sons are plotting a rebellion together."

"But what kind of father would have three sons plotting to rebel against their own father?!"

"It's a pity the display didn't specify which dynasty's emperor it was, given his ruthless methods!"

In the eighth year of the Kaiyuan era of the Tang Dynasty,

At this time, Li Longji was full of ambition and vowed to restore the Tang Dynasty, which had been ravaged by war and was in decline, to the prosperous era of Emperor Taizong.

"Emperor Taizong was right to establish Emperor Gaozong as emperor, but it's a pity that Emperor Gaozong died too young, which led to chaos!"

"Aside from some missteps in His Majesty's handling of the succession issue, he was practically perfect!"

Li Longji felt quite regretful, seemingly lamenting that this stain on Taizong's life had been tarnished!

But if Emperor Taizong hadn't changed the crown prince, his lineage wouldn't have had a chance to become emperor.

At this point, he looked at Li Ying, the crown prince born to his most beloved woman, Consort Zhao.

Li Ying was his second son. His eldest son, Li Cong, had suffered facial injuries while hunting, which Emperor Xuanzong considered a loss of dignity and thus excluded him from the line of succession.

Therefore, Li Longji understood Li Shimin very well.

After Li Ying was made crown prince in the fourth year of the Kaiyuan era, Li Longji attached great importance to his education, sending renowned teachers to instruct him meticulously.

Li Ying lived up to expectations, studying diligently and acting with extreme caution. As a result, Li Longji became increasingly satisfied with this crown prince.

"Ha, three sons killed in one day."

Li Longji scoffed, utterly despising such behavior.

"I really don't know what kind of ruthless emperor could do such a thing. Does he even deserve to be a father?"

Li Longji guessed that it must have been something that happened during the Qing Dynasty as mentioned in later generations, or perhaps during the Yuan Dynasty.

Such a human tragedy could only have occurred in these two non-Han dynasties.

Hongwu,

"Li Zhi was a wise ruler in his early years, but unfortunately, he became extremely incompetent in his later years, and a woman actually usurped the throne!"

"A hen crowing at dawn signifies usurpation of the throne."

Zhu Yuanzhang cursed a few times, clearly disapproving of Li Zhi's actions in the later years of his life.

In his view, Wu Zetian's misrule was nothing short of "a complete disruption of the established order and a woman usurping the husband's power!"

How could future generations not be wary of the empress's interference in politics if things were done this way?

That's why Zhu Yuanzhang established the ancestral precepts.

"All women who serve as empresses, consorts, or palace ladies for the emperor and princes shall be carefully selected from respectable families; those who are not accepted shall not be accepted!"

The goal is to fundamentally prevent interference in politics by the emperor's relatives and the chaos in the harem.

Women from humble families don't have much ambition, nor do they have much influence from their maternal relatives.

Naturally, this would make it easier to control and ensure the Zhu family's imperial power.

Various historical examples served as warnings to Zhu Yuanzhang.

He used various means, including ancestral precepts, to prevent interference in politics by relatives of the empress and concubines, and the monopolization of power by eunuchs. He even used the Hu Weiyong case to remove the prime minister.

Zhu Yuanzhang secretly felt smug:

He refused to believe that even if he had blocked all the avenues, the Ming Dynasty could still have empresses interfering in politics, eunuchs wielding power, or powerful ministers seizing control.

If he could get another one, he would eat the jade ruyi he was using to tickle himself right then and there!

Ever since Li Shimin's Xuanwu Gate Incident, the Tang Dynasty seems to have been poisoned: Want to be emperor? Come and fight at Xuanwu Gate!

Follow-up comment: Is the Xuanwu Gate succession system a joke to you?

Follow-up comment: As I told you, everyone in later generations took Emperor Taizong as their role model.

Let's count how many people have followed in Li Shimin's footsteps and arrived at Xuanwu Gate since then.

Princess Gaoyang, Li Xian, Princess Anle, Empress Wei, Li Chongjun, Li Longji, Li Ying, Li Heng, Li Lin, Li Xi, Li Shi, Li Ye, Li Yu...

Follow-up comment: Xuanwu Gate: I'll still be with your Li family in my next life.

Follow-up comment: Xuanwu Gate: So many people!

[You want to prove you're the most suitable successor to the Tang Dynasty? Fine, prove it to me. Don't believe me? Let's meet at Xuanwu Gate!!]

Follow-up comment: If Emperor Taizong could go, so can I!

I'm dizzy.

There are so many people I simply can't remember.

Is this some kind of tour group? There are so many people signing in!

So this is how the Xuanwu Gate inheritance method, as later generations have described it, originated.

Was the succession to the throne in the Tang Dynasty really that chaotic? How could it have lasted for nearly three hundred years and become the longest-lived feudal dynasty?!

How come such a chaotic succession to the throne didn't cause widespread chaos?

"I don't understand!!!"

Ying Zheng cursed loudly.

"I don't understand!!!"

"How could the Tang Dynasty, with such chaos, have lasted for nearly three hundred years?!"

"That bastard Hu Hai actually caused the Qin Dynasty to perish after only two generations!!"

Ying Zheng regretted it. He regretted killing Hu Hai too early. He should have kept him alive to torment him.

Just punishing Zhao Gao now isn't enough to vent my anger!!

...

"Wait a minute, something's not right!"

Liu Che discovered a blind spot; had something amiss infiltrated the system?

It's one thing for a prince surnamed Li to come to Xuanwu Gate, but why are there also an empress and a princess?

What are they here for?

Could it be that he's here to become emperor?

Liu Che had only heard of the Crown Prince, the Imperial Brother, and the Imperial Grandson. Could there be an Imperial Daughter?

Stop joking.

Liu Che shook this absurd idea out of his mind.

Even a powerful woman like Empress Lü only dared to rule from behind the throne and exercise imperial power on behalf of the emperor.

Do you think Empress Lü would dare to declare herself empress?

If she dared to declare herself empress, the local kings of the Liu family would have already rebelled.

Liu Che truly did not believe that, given the Li family's display of courage and ruthlessness on the heavenly screen, they could simply stand by and watch a woman usurp their throne.

Unless the entire Li family is dead!

In dynasties after the Tang Dynasty,

It would have been better if they hadn't mentioned it on the sky, but now that it's been brought up, they're starting to realize what's going on.

It seems the name Xuanwu Gate is indeed not very auspicious.

Xuanwu Gate was a commonly used name for the north gate of palaces throughout history; many dynasties had a gate called Xuanwu Gate in their palaces.

"Quickly!! Change the name!!"

"Stop calling it Xuanwu Gate!!"

"Let's change the name! Let's change it to Anjimon!!"

As the emperor issued his orders, the name Xuanwu Gate was quickly replaced by various other names.

What are "Andingmen", "Anjimen", "Zhaoningmen", and "Xuanhemen"?

Almost all of them are names that signify stability and peace.

There was nothing they could do; they were scared too.

If one's own dynasty also produced someone who shouted, "If Emperor Taizong could go, so can I," and headed straight for Xuanwu Gate,

How can we live like that?!