北門禁軍與武德九年玄武門政變之關係考辨—— 以常何為中心的考察

A Study of the Relationship between the North Gate Guard and the Xuanwu Gate Coup of 626, with a Focus on the Role of Chang He

唐高祖武德九年六月四日，李世民實施了旨在奪取最高權力的玄武門政變。世民之所以能在太極宮內設伏，以及建成在接到宮內示警的情況下仍堅持入宮，恐均與此際在北門禁軍任職的常何無關。雖然世民在政變前曾通過常何收買禁軍中的豪傑之士，但我們並未發現常何及北門禁軍曾參與政變籌畫過程的直接證據。從玄武門政變的具體實施步驟看，北門禁軍也只是參與了其中的一個環節而已，並非決定事變走向的關鍵力量。如果將記載常何生平事蹟的碑文與高宗朝製作的玄武門政變功臣的石刻文獻進行對比，也可證明常何或與玄武門之變並沒有太大的關聯。

Li Shimin launched the Xuanwu Gate coup to seize the throne on the fourth day of the sixth month of 626. It does not seem that Chang He, who was then with the palace guard at the North Gate, had anything to do with Li Shimin’s setting an ambush in the Taiji Palace, or with the Crown Prince’s insisting on entering the palace even though he had received a warning. Although Li Shimin had once gone through Chang He to bribe warriors in the palace guard, we do not find direct evidence that the North Gate Guard participated in the coup planning process. The North Gate Guard was only involved in one part of the implementation of the coup, and it was not a determining force. If we compare the stele inscription recording the life story of Chang He with the inscriptions for the Xuanwu Gate coup heroes produced in the reign of Gaozong, we can show that Chang He had little to do with the Xuanwu Gate coup.