Li Yuan, Emperor Gaozu of Tang

Li Yuan, Founder of the Tang Dynasty: From the Start, a Powerful Minister; in the End, the Retired Emperor He is the most underestimated founding emperor in history! Other men risked their lives to win the empire, while Li Yuan supposedly won by doing nothing? Wrong! This book strips away historical prejudice and shows how a top aristocrat played the game in an age of chaos. His cousin was Emperor Yang of Sui, his aunt was Empress Dugu, and he started with a max-level account, only to incur the emperor's suspicion! See how he played the coward to protect himself while quietly building strength, then led a charge with ten cavalrymen at the age of fifty, shot seventy arrows through enemy ranks, and built a mound of enemy corpses to establish his authority! His sons were all monsters among men? The eldest, Jiancheng; the second, Shimin; the third, Xuanba; the fourth, Yuanji. You can tell from their names alone that Old Li's ambition was impossible to hide! But a family hand that strong can still go bust: the Xuanwu Gate Incident splattered blood across the palace walls, and two sons and ten grandsons died in a single day. The killer was none other than his own son, Li Shimin! When the old father was boating on Lake Haichi, a general threatened him with a spear and forced him to abdicate. He had no choice but to issue an edict recognizing the usurper as a hero, and from then on became a mere figurehead of a retired emperor. A late-life reversal of fate? No, a late-life baby boom! After his son sidelined him, he fathered thirty children in nine years, launching into “baby-making maniac” mode after the age of fifty-three! But the new emperor struck back with precision: he cut the number of palace maids and blamed it on “an accumulation of yin energy,” exiled his father's trusted aides as a warning to others, and even claimed the summer palace for himself! While enduring humiliation and clinging to life, Li Yuan feverishly expanded his family empire. This battle between father and son is more thrilling than any open clash of blades! This book delivers one thrilling highlight after another: - Political intrigue: win over the Turks, scheme against his cousin, and secretly plot a rebellion. The details of an old aristocrat's revolt are rich and compelling! - Combat: an elderly commander whose arrows never miss, mowing down foes on the battlefield like a god of war!