[Li Tao was born in the last years of the Sui Dynasty, his family was wealthy, he and his father were both bold people, willing to give, and quite prestigious in the local area.

Seventeen-year-old Li Tao was full of ambition, he wanted to make a contribution, so he chose to join the Wagang Volunteer Army led by Zhai Rang. 】

[In Wagang, Li Tao became friends with Junyi Wang Bodang and other heroes, and often spared no effort to follow the reckless hero Zhai Rang, which won Zhai Rang's favor.

When Zhang Xutuo, a famous general of the Sui Dynasty, led his army to conquer Wagang, Li Tao, who was quite extraordinary in military talent, led the army to battle under the reuse of Zhai Rang.

Li Changcai adopted the tactics of luring the enemy deep and ambushing the attack, and annihilated the invading Sui army in one fell swoop, and Zhang Xutuo was also killed on the battlefield.

Li Tao became famous in the first battle and became the mainstay of the Wagang Righteous Army. 】

[Later, Li Mi, the prince of Pushan, who was a member of the Gaomen clan and both civil and military, defected to Wagang, and Li Tao saw that Li Mi was a hero in the world, so he and Wang Bodang and others persuaded Zhai Rang to serve Li Mi as the main and achieve the great cause of opposing Sui.

After several considerations, Zhai Rang finally gave way to Li Mi the following year, and Li Mi led the Wagang Righteous Army against the Sui, and chose to ascend the throne in Gongxian County, calling himself the Duke of Wei, and conferring the title of Situ on Zhai Rang.

At the same time, Li Tao was appointed as the general of the Right Wuhou and commanded the army to defeat Wang Shichong, the commander of Jiangdu.

In the thirteenth year of the Sui Dynasty (617 AD), Li Tao made a surprise plan to defeat Wang Shichong and attack Liyangcang.

In the first year of Wude, Li Tao defeated the rebel general Wang Deren and defeated Yu Wenhua.

In the southern and northern wars, Li Tao's fame also grew, and he himself was noticed by more princes. 】

[However, it is a pity that Wagang has an unstable foundation after all, and there is not enough internal unity.

Zhai Rang was short-sighted and instigated by his subordinates to regain the monarchy.

Li Mi, who was good at using stratagem, took the opportunity to kill Zhai Rang at the banquet, and sent his general Shan Xiongxin to pacify Zhai Rang's old subordinates, and quickly dealt with the crisis.

As a result, Li Tao, Shan Xiongxin, Wang Bodang and others were brought under Li Mi and became members of Li Mi's lineage.

However, the power of Wagang was split from within, and their overall strength began to weaken from prosperity, and the male lord Li Mi also showed his shortcomings in balancing the various factions. This made Li Mi worried, and even more doubtful about whether Li Mi could be up to the task. 】

[In March of the fourteenth year of the Great Cause of the Sui Dynasty (618 AD), Emperor Yang Guang of the Sui Dynasty was killed by the general Yu Wenhua of the Right Tun Guard, and Taifu Qing Yuan Wendu and others had to support the emperor Yang Tong in Luoyang.

In May of that year, Li Mi was defeated by Wang Shichong, and had to lead part of the Wagang army to submit to the Tang Dynasty that Li Yuan had just established.

In the second year of Li Tang Wude (619 AD), Li Tao, who was subordinate to Li Tang, still expressed the number of prefectures and counties to which Wagang belonged and the military and civilian situation of Li Mi.

This move impressed Tang King Li Yuan and greatly appreciated it: "Xu Shiyun is grateful for the kindness of his master, and he shirks the credit, and he is indeed a pure minister." ”

So he issued an edict to entitle Xu Shichang as the governor of Liyang, Shangzhu State, and Lai Guogong, and later awarded Xu Shichang as the general of the Right Wuhou, changed the title of Cao Guogong, gave 50 acres of land, the first place of the superior mansion, and gave the surname Li, and went out with Li Shimin, the king of Qin.

Xu Shiyun changed his name to Li Shiyun and became a strong general under Li Shimin who could fight well. 】

[Li Tao saw that Li Shimin's future would be limitless, so he tried his best to assist Li Shimin in order to achieve a great cause. 】

[Li Tao followed Li Shimin, the king of Qin, and successively fought against Song Jingang, Wang Shichong, Liu Heimin, Fu Gongqi and others or their generals to pacify a large number of anti-king gathering places.

Especially in the war with Wang Shichong and Dou Jiande, Li Tao made great achievements, Li Shimin was named a general, Li Tao was named a general, and was allowed to follow Li Shimin to Li Shimin's Taimiao.

In the fifth year of Wude, Xu Yuanlang rebelled in Yanzhou. Li Tao sent troops, Xu Yuanlang was killed, and Yanzhou was razed to the ground.

In the sixth and seventh years of Wude, Li Tao cooperated with Li Xiaogong, the king of the county, Li Jing, the ambassador of Lingnan Province, and Huang Junhan, the governor of Huaizhou, to crusade against Fu Gongyi, the leader of the Jianghuai Righteous Army, and pacified Jiangnan in one fell swoop, and won the famous Tang Dynasty to destroy Fu Gongyi.

In the eighth year of Wude, Li Tao served as the head of the marching army, and met the invading Eastern Turks in Taigu.

However, these battles or battles are just the beginning for the future Li Tao, and they are the whetstones in his growth process. 】

[In the ninth year of Wude (626 AD), the Xuanwumen Incident broke out, and Li Shimin ascended the throne as emperor.

After Li Shimin called Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, in order to avoid the emperor's ridicule, Li Shichang changed to "Li Tao", and was appointed as the governor of the prefecture, and 900 households were feuded.

As a result, Li Tao officially transferred to the Zhenguan Dynasty, opening a new chapter in the unified army campaign! 】

[Along the way, Li Tao's growth has not been smooth sailing.

Among the many generals in the early Tang Dynasty, Li Tao was the only commander who was recognized by later generations and could sit on an equal footing with the military god Li Jing.

However, he is such a powerful commander, but he is called a general who is often defeated by some good deeds. 】

"What??? Is Li Tao a often defeated general? You're kidding me! Tang Taizong Li Shimin was the first not to believe this.

And the second is Tang Gaozong Li Zhi, "Li Tao broke the Turks and Xue Yantuo, and personally destroyed Goguryeo, which was not destroyed by Emperor Yang of Sui and his father. Such a famous general through the ages, would anyone say that he is a often defeated general?? I want to slap him twice! ”

However, Li Tao himself did not take such an evaluation to heart, to be honest, in the countless battles he fought in his life, there were indeed defeats, but there were very few that could really be counted on his head.

[The Wagang army led by Li Mi always lost the battle, and later was beaten by Wang Shichong and had to surrender to Li Tang, if you want to insist that all of them are Li Tao's defeats, I'm afraid it's still a bit too far-fetched.

At that time, Li Tao was still very young, and his ability was far from the invincible commander who swept the world behind, and it was not a shame to lose to Wang Shichong and Dou Jiande.

These tribulations did not knock him down, but instead became the valuable experience points on the road of Li Tao's growth. 】

[In the third year of Zhenguan, Li Shimin was determined to attack the Eastern Turkic Jieli Khan.

Under the command of Li Jing, the secretary of the Ministry of War, Li Tao served as the general manager of the march of the Tongmo Road, and he went out of the clouds together.

Li Jing suddenly attacked Dingxiang and "scared away" Jieli Khan, and Jieli met Li Tao on the way to escape, and the two sides fought in Baidao!

Jieli was defeated, and the Turks fled in a hurry.

They then camped at the entrance to the desert, and Jieli sent messengers to ask for peace. 】

[The imperial court issued an edict and ordered Hongluqing Tang Jian to go and pardon the Turks.

At that time, Li Tao met with the army of Li Jing, the governor of Dingxiang Dao, and he consulted with Li Jing, saying: "Although Jieli was defeated in the battle, there are still many men and horses, if you walk through the desert and get the protection of the nine surnamed Tiele, the road is far away and dangerous, and it will be difficult to catch up with them." Now that the edict is sent to Tang Jian there, the Turks will definitely relax their vigilance, and we will attack later, so that we can pacify the thieves without a fight. ”

Li Jing knew that the hungry wolf of the Turks could not be let go easily, so he agreed to Li Tao's proposal. 】

[Li Jing led his troops to set off overnight, and Li Jing led his troops to follow up.

Li Jing's army reached the mouth of the moraine and successfully caught up with the Turkic army.

After a one-sided battle, the thieves scattered and fled, and Jieli and more than 10,000 people tried to escape the desert.

Li Tao had already stationed troops at the desert crossing, and Jieli saw that there was no hope of crossing the desert, so he had to lead his tribe to surrender to Li Tao.

In this battle, the two Li joined forces to destroy the powerful Eastern Turks in one fell swoop, capturing more than 50,000 people. returned the humiliation of Li Yuan's ministers, and the humiliation of Li Shimin in the Battle of Weishui!

While spreading the majesty of the Tang Dynasty throughout the grasslands and the Western Regions, it also attracted countless countries to come to the court, and unanimously elected Li Shimin as the "Heavenly Khan". 】

(End of chapter)