From July of the thirteenth year of the Great Cause (617), Liu Wuzhou basically developed in tandem with the Li Tang Dynasty. At that time, Li Yuan's father and son raised troops in Jinyang. Taking advantage of the opportunity of the Li family's father and son to march into Guanzhong and pass through Chang'an, Liu Wuzhou took the opportunity to grow stronger and became the biggest military hazard of the Li Tang Dynasty in Shanxi.

In March of the second year of Wude (619), the internal and external situation of the Tang Dynasty gradually stabilized. As a result, the Tang Dynasty began to target the attack on the increasingly powerful Liu Wuzhou regime. Tang Gaozu Li Yuan's idea was that in order to advance eastward into the Central Plains as soon as possible, the only way to do this was to quickly eliminate Liu Wuzhou and eliminate the elbow and armpit that was entrenched around Taiyuan.

However, Tang Gaozu did not expect that next, the development trend of things was far beyond his expectations. What the Tang Dynasty is about to face will be an extremely difficult battle. Moreover, Li Yuan obviously underestimated Liu Wuzhou's strength. Liu Wuzhou's opponent was the second strong opponent encountered in the Tang Dynasty after Xue Ju and Xue Rengao's father and son. The harm he caused to the Tang Dynasty was no less than that of the Xue family and his son.

What Li Yuan didn't expect was that before the Tang army took the initiative to attack, Liu Wuzhou came to invade the Tang Dynasty. In March of the second year of Wude (619), Liu Wuzhou personally led a large army and invaded Taiyuan. Not only that, but even more incredible things are yet to come. The impregnable city of Taiyuan was easily occupied by Liu Wuzhou. Taiyuan was lost, and the entire Hedong defense line of the Tang Dynasty was greatly impacted.

In fact, the loss of Taiyuan was, in some respects, a precursor. Military issues, on the one hand. As for the military mistakes, we will write about them later. In addition to military mistakes and the loss of Taiyuan, there are also two important internal and external factors. These two factors indirectly led to the loss of Taiyuan.

First, let's look at the external causes.

The external cause of the loss of Taiyuan was precisely the Turkic obstruction. It is known that behind Liu Wuzhou is the Turks. Liu Wuzhou has always been a separatist force fostered by the Turks. Therefore, in the war between Liu Wuzhou and the Tang Dynasty, the Turks were the real driving force behind the scenes.

From the beginning of the Northern Zhou Dynasty, the Turks were the biggest foreign enemy of the Central Plains Dynasty in the north. It can be said that the war between the Turks and the Central Plains Dynasty has never stopped. Later, the Sui Dynasty was established, and Emperor Wen of Sui defeated the Turks in one fell swoop through the means of war, causing the Turks to be divided into two parts: the east and the west. As a result, the Turks were forced to submit to the Sui Dynasty.

However, after all, the Turks were the former overlords of the steppe, and they were unwilling to submit to the Sui Dynasty forever and become the "horse boy" of the Sui Dynasty. Therefore, in the eleventh year of the Great Cause (615), Emperor Yang of Sui made his second northern tour and was besieged in Yanmen County by hundreds of thousands of Turkic cavalry of Shibi Khan. After the "Siege of Yanmen", the Turks officially broke with the Sui Dynasty. From then on, the Turks began to send troops south to harass the border towns of the Sui Dynasty, which created an opportunity for Liu Wuzhou to rise.

At the end of the Sui Dynasty, the world was in turmoil, and the Central Plains fell into a melee. When the Turks saw the chaos in the Central Plains, they wanted to take the opportunity to make a big profit and take advantage of the fire to rob. Even, later, the Turks wanted to manipulate the situation in the Central Plains and turn some separatist forces in the Central Plains into their vassals.

As mentioned above, when Li Yuan Jinyang raised his army, in order to stabilize the Turks, he did not want the Turks to take advantage of his march into Guanzhong and attack Taiyuan. Therefore, before the official start of the army, Li Yuan appointed Liu Wenjing as an envoy to the Turks, and he did not hesitate to use a humiliating posture in exchange for the neutrality of the Turkic side:

If you want to raise a large number of volunteers, welcome the Lord from afar, and return to peace with the Turks, such as when the emperor opened. If you can go south with me, I am willing not to invade the people; If you are friendly and receive treasures, you can only choose the Khan. (Information Governance Guide)

However, after Li Yuan became emperor, the relationship between the Tang Dynasty and the Turks underwent subtle changes. Tang Gaozu was not a fool, of course he understood that all the actions of the Turks were in the hope that the Tang Dynasty would become a puppet of the Turks. In order to prevent the Turkic conspiracy from succeeding, after the establishment of the Tang Dynasty, the process of unifying the world began. In the first two years of the founding of the People's Republic of China, the Li Tang Dynasty successively eliminated the two major separatist forces of the Xue clan in Longxi and Li Liang in Hexi, and realized the unification of the northwest region.

Li Tang's unification of the northwest undoubtedly gave the Turks a blow to the head and deeply touched the vested interests of the Turks. Because whether it is Xue Ju or Li Rail, the separatist forces in the northwest region are inextricably linked with the Turks. For example, Li Liang had a Western Turkic cavalry under his command.

The Tang Dynasty successively eliminated the two major regimes of the Xue clan in Longxi and Li Liang in Hexi, and included the northwest in one fell swoop, making it clear that it was arguing with the Turks and expelling the Turkic forces from the northwest region. In response to such a tough move by the Tang Dynasty, the Turks were not vegetarians, and they also had to take corresponding measures to curb the advance of the Tang Dynasty's unification war. How to curb it? The Turks came up with a solution, summed up in four words: Han to control Han.

The so-called "Han to control Han", simply put, means that the Turks supported a number of separatist forces in the surrounding areas of the Tang Dynasty, and with the help of these separatist forces, suppressed Li Tang. At that time, the Turks mainly supported two major separatist regimes, which were: Liu Wuzhou in Shanxi and Liang Shidu in Shuofang.

In February of the thirteenth year of the Great Cause (617), Shuofang Ying Yanglang of the Sui Dynasty launched a mutiny, killed Tang Shizong, occupied Shuofang County, proclaimed himself the prime minister, and formed a Turkic alliance in the north. Subsequently, the Liang division captured Diaoyin, Honghua, Yan'an and other counties, occupying part of today's Yan'an in northern Shaanxi.

After the Liang division occupied Yan'an, he established himself as the emperor, the country name Liang, and changed the yuan to "Yonglong". Soon, the Turkic Shibi Khan also recognized the legal status of Liang Shidu, gave him the banner of "Wolf Head", and canonized him as "Dadu Biga Khan", also known as "Son of Heaven". Since then, Liang Shidu has become a puppet regime supported by the Turks.

The Turks supported Liu Wuzhou in Shanxi and Liang Shidu in Shuofang, which was equivalent to laying two nails in the east and north directions of the Tang Dynasty. Liu Wuzhou and Liang Shidu were the two chess pieces of the Turks to contain the Tang Dynasty, and the Turks constantly instigated them to launch an attack on the Tang Dynasty.

For example, in February of the second year of Wude (619), Shibi Khan led the main Turkic force to cross the Yellow River and come to Xiazhou. Xiazhou is the old nest of Liang Shidu, from this place to the southeast, you can face Chang'an; At the same time, Xiang Dong can unite with Liu Wuzhou. Shibi Khan's garrison in Xiazhou was precisely to facilitate the contact between Liang Shidu and Liu Wuzhou, and to meet together to flank the Tang Dynasty and put pressure on it, forming a military threat.

Shibi Khan first went to Xiazhou and joined forces with Liang Shidu. At the same time, he allocated 500 cavalry to Liu Wuzhou, and urged Liu Wuzhou to send troops to invade Taiyuan and seize Li Tang's Longxing land in one fell swoop. In fact, for Taiyuan, Liu Wuzhou has always been salivating, plus there is Turkic support behind him. Liu Wuzhou began to become confident, sharpened his knives, and prepared to launch an attack on Taiyuan City.

Unexpectedly, at this moment, an accident happened, what happened? Something went wrong within the Turks, and Shibi Khan died suddenly. Before the death of Shibi Khan, due to the young age of his son Shibabi; Therefore, according to Turkic customs, the younger brother of Shibi Khan, Ji Lifushe, inherited the throne, which is the "Chuluo Khan" in Turkic history. Because the Turkic country changed hands, Liu Wuzhou's plan to invade Taiyuan could only be temporarily shelved.

Long before the death of Shibi Khan, Tang Gaozu Li Yuan already knew that the Turks colluded with Liang Shidu and Liu Wuzhou, and if it were not for the support of the Turks, Liu Wuzhou would not have been so rampant. However, Tang Gaozu did not want to openly tear his face with the Turks, and as far as the current situation is concerned, it is still mainly to encircle and appease. Therefore, Li Yuan appointed Gao Jing, the general of the Right Military Candidate, with rich property, to envoy to the Turks.

As a result, as soon as Gao Jing walked to Fengzhou, he learned the news of Shibi Khan's death. Therefore, Gao Jing stopped and handed over these belongings to the local government and sealed them in the government treasury. However, when the Turks learned about this, they were very unhappy and felt that the Tang Dynasty did not take the Turks seriously.

Therefore, the Turkic army was dispatched to prepare for an invasion of the Tang Dynasty. In order to avoid conflict with the Turks, in the end, Zhang Changxun, the governor of Fengzhou, sent Gao Jing to take out the property and give it to the Turks in the name of a gift. When the Turks got the money, their greedy nature was immediately exposed, and they immediately led their troops back.

The loss of Taiyuan and the Turkic turmoil in it were an important external factor. However, this is not the main reason. There is another internal factor that cannot be ignored in the loss of Taiyuan. That is, the commander of the Tang Dynasty guards stationed in Taiyuan was really incompetent. The Taiyuan guard general of the Tang Dynasty was none other than the fourth son of Tang Gaozu Li Yuan - Li Yuanji, King of Qi. For the loss of Taiyuan, Li Yuanji bears unshirkable responsibility.

So, what kind of person is Li Yuanji, the king of Qi? Why did he become the main person responsible for the loss of Taiyuan? To know all this, we must understand Li Yuanji's personality and what he did in Taiyuan. To describe Li Yuanji in four words, this is a typical gentleman.

Li Yuanji, the king of Qi, was the youngest son of Tang Gaozu Li Yuan and Empress Taimu Dou. Li Yuan and Empress Dou are husband and wife, and have a total of four sons and one daughter. The sons are Li Jiancheng, Li Shimin, Li Xuanba, and Li Yuanji, and the daughter is Princess Pingyang Zhao. Of Li Yuan's four sons, Li Xuanba died young. Therefore, the three brothers Li Jiancheng, Li Shimin, and Li Yuanji have become Li Yuan's three most important sons.

As we all know, Li Yuan's sons and daughters are all extraordinary, Li Jiancheng is calm and wise, Li Shimin is literary and martial, and Princess Pingyang does not let her eyebrows. Only this Li Yuanji is an alternative. Although Li Yuanji is also Li Yuan's son, he is the most unsuccessful of Li Yuan's three sons. tyranny, cruelty, arrogance, external strength and middle work, and fierce and inward-looking, are the most distinctive characteristics of Li Yuanji.

When Li Yuan Jinyang raised the army, because Li Yuanji was still young, he was only sixteen years old at that time. Therefore, Li Yuanji did not follow his father and brother to march into Guanzhong, but was named Guzang County Duke and Taiyuan Taishou, stayed in Taiyuan, responsible for guarding against the Turks and Liu Wuzhou, and attacked Taiyuan from behind; Later, Li Yuan occupied Chang'an, ascended to the throne of Tang Dynasty, Li Yuanji was promoted to the Duke of Qi, the military of the 15 counties, the general of Zhenbei, and the marshal of the Taiyuan Road march. After the establishment of the Tang Dynasty, Li Yuanji was named the king of Qi and the governor of the state, and continued to sit in Taiyuan, taking charge of the military and political affairs of the entire Shanxi region.

The problem is that Li Yuanji is a dou who can't be helped, and he is a complete "demon king of the mixed world". According to historical records, Li Yuanji was brave and good at fighting, good at using horse lance, and had infinite strength. However, although Li Yuanji is strong in martial arts, he is a complete loser. Compared with the eldest brother Li Jiancheng, who is both civil and military, and the second brother Li Shimin, who has outstanding military achievements and is invincible in a hundred battles, Li Yuanji and them are not of the same grade at all, they are simply one in the sky and one in the ground:

At the beginning, Yuan Jisheng, Queen Taimu hated her appearance, did not raise it, and the maid Chen was kind and private. and long, guess the owl is a good soldier, live on the side for a long time, and be arrogant. Hundreds of slaves and concubines were often killed and stabbed by each other, and many people were killed and wounded. After Yuan Ji Zhongchuang, goodwill stopped, Yuan Ji Xuan, ordered the strong man to die, and privately told Mrs. Cixun. ("New Tang Dynasty Book, Volume 79, Biography No. 4, Gaozu Sons")

Perhaps, it was the pampering from childhood to adulthood that developed Li Yuanji's brutal and willful temperament, coupled with the long-term sitting in Taiyuan, the sky is high and the emperor is far away, Li Yuanji has become more free. Therefore, during the period when Li Yuanji was guarding Taiyuan, he did a lot of outrageous things.

According to the above records, Li Yuanji was arrogant and domineering by nature, and lived a poor and luxurious life. For example, Li Yuanji once kept hundreds of slaves and concubines. In the face of so many beautiful women like flowers and jade, Li Yuanji did not pity the jade at all, and often asked them to wear armor and play war games with him, but the result was often countless deaths and injuries, and Li Yuanji always "hung colors". Seeing Li Yuanji messing around like this, his nurse couldn't stand it anymore and kindly persuaded him. Unexpectedly, Li Yuanji was so angry that he asked Hercules to beat the nurse to death.

Knowing his son Mo Ruo's father, Tang Gaozu Li Yuan certainly knew that his youngest son had a few catties and taels. Therefore, Li Yuan will not let Li Yuanji be alone and lawless in Taiyuan. Therefore, not long after appointing Li Yuanji as the governor of the state, Li Yuan sent two assistants to Li Yuanji: Dou Dan, the supervisor of the palace, and Yu Wenxin, the general of the right guard.

The reason why Tang Gaozu wanted to send two assistants to Li Yuanji was mainly due to two considerations. On the one hand, it is to let Dou Dan and Yu Wenxin control Li Yuanji; On the other hand, it is to let these two people help King Qi and guard Taiyuan to prevent Liu Wuzhou and Song Jingang from leading the army to attack. Moreover, Dou Dan, the supervisor in the palace, was still the concubine of Tang Gaozu Li Yuan, and married Tang Gaozu's daughter Princess Xiangyang, who was Li Yuanji's brother-in-law.

However, the country is easy to change, and the nature is difficult to change. Li Yuanji is a "bear child" who does not grow up, although he has become the vassal king in charge of Shanxi; However, Li Yuanji still did not change his stubborn habits, and continued to go his own way, intensifying his efforts, without the slightest restraint.

As mentioned above, Li Yuanji likes to hunt, and every time he goes out hunting, he loads the nets to catch prey, and there are more than 30 vehicles. How obsessed is Li Yuanji with the hobby of hunting? He once said, "I would rather go without food for three days than without hunting for a day." ”

Not only that, Li Yuanji's notoriety of ravaging the people and being rampant and domineering in Taiyuan is also known to everyone. Previously, Tang Gaozu specially assigned two assistants to Li Yuanji: Dou Dan and Yu Wenxin. Unexpectedly, one of them, Dou Dan, not only did not play a role in persuading King Qi, but followed Li Yuanji to mess around, causing a chicken and egg fight in Taiyuan City, and the people's resentment boiled.

Because Li Yuanji loves hunting, Dou Dan often accompanies Li Yuanji, goes out hunting, wantonly tramples on the crops of the common people, and indulges the eagle dogs around him, plundering the people's things at will. What's even more excessive is that Li Yuanji is openly on the street, shooting people indiscriminately with bows and arrows, and watching passers-by dodge arrows, he feels particularly fresh. At night, Li Yuanji was even more fearless, entering private houses and raping women from good families.

The king of Qi was overbearing in the local area, and his arrogant and lascivious behaviors aroused the dissatisfaction of the local people. For a time, Li Yuanji was in Taiyuan City and became infamous. Yu Wenxin, the general of the right guard, who was responsible for assisting Li Yuanji, saw Dou Dan and King Qi making such nonsense, and repeatedly admonished him, but Li Yuanji turned a deaf ear. In desperation, Yu Wenxin could only report the illegal behavior of King Qi to Tang Gaozu Li Yuan and impeach Li Yuanji and Dou Dan:

Wang Shu and Dou Dan hunted, ravaged the people's fields, grabbed left and right, and exhausted the livestock. Every time you shoot in the road, you can watch people avoid arrows and take pleasure. The people are bitter, and they are not to be with them. (New Tang Dynasty Book)

After receiving Yu Wenxin's impeachment, Tang Gaozu also felt that Li Yuanji had overdone it, and it was really not suitable to continue to sit in Taiyuan. In order to appease the anger of the public, Li Yuan ordered that Li Yuanji be dismissed from the post of governor of the prefecture and let him return to Beijing immediately. Li Yuanji was stunned for a moment, it seems that this time, his father is really angry. However, Li Yuanji didn't want to leave Taiyuan, and this kind of reckless life was much better than staying in Chang'an and being tied.

Li Yuanji is worthy of being a "wonderful", in order to continue to stay in Taiyuan, he actually wrote and directed himself and staged a farce. What's going on? It turned out that Li Yuanji found a group of "extras" and pretended to keep him. Then, on the grounds of "Father and Elder", Tang Gaozu was played. Li Yuan knew that this was a farce, but out of a heart of licking calves, his heart softened, so he agreed that Li Yuanji would continue to stay in Taiyuan.

It is no exaggeration to say that the military situation in Taiyuan at this time is already full of crises and undercurrents. Externally, Liu Wuzhou and the Turks were eyeing each other, pressing on Taiyuan step by step, and there was a tendency to attack on a large scale. Internally, Li Yuanji, the king of Qi stationed in Taiyuan, acted recklessly all day long, ravaging the people, causing the people's resentment to boil and the defense of Taiyuan empty. All kinds of signs seem to have laid hidden dangers for the loss of Taiyuan.

Finally, what is due to come will come. The haze of war, in the end, still hit Taiyuan. In April of the second year of Wude (619), between the Li Tang Dynasty and the Liu Wuzhou regime, a crucial battle for the offensive and defensive of Taiyuan officially kicked off; A tough battle has begun!

Previously, Song Jingang led 4,000 remnants of soldiers and defected to Liu Wuzhou. Since Song Jingang came to vote, Liu Wuzhou valued him very much, named him the king of Song, and granted him military power. At the same time, Song Jingang also became in-law with Liu Wuzhou, took the initiative to divorce his wife, and asked to marry Liu Wuzhou's sister.

Therefore, Song Jingang naturally spared no effort to give advice to Liu Wuzhou. So, Song Jingang contributed a strategy to Liu Wuzhou, he suggested that Song Jingang, "map Jinyang, fight for the world in the south", should take advantage of the situation to send troops, seize Taiyuan, take Taiyuan as a base, and chase the Central Plains in the south.

Liu Wuzhou himself, in fact, has long been eyeing the fat of Taiyuan. Moreover, Liu Wuzhou relied on the support of the Turks, and his troops were strong and strong. Therefore, under the constant instigation of the Turks and Song Jingang, Liu Wuzhou, who was already ready to move, made up his mind to attack Taiyuan.

In the summer and April of the second year of Wude (619), Liu Wuzhou united with the Turks, marched into Taiyuan, and the army was stationed in Huangsnake Ridge. At this moment, Liu Wuzhou's troops pressed the border, and the momentum was huge, approaching Yuci County. Don't look at Li Yuanji's life-threatening on weekdays, he is angry. However, in the face of such a severe enemy situation, Li Yuanji had no idea at all, and he did not have the military talent of his second brother Li Shimin. There was no way, Li Yuanji could only hold on temporarily.

There is no general in Shu, and Liao has become a pioneer. In Li Yuanji's hands, there are really no soldiers to adjust, and no generals are available. So, Li Yuanji had no choice but to send Zhang Da, a general of chariots and cavalry, to lead an infantry to meet the enemy. You must know that most of Liu Wuzhou's subordinates were cavalry armed by the Turks. Now, Li Yuanji allocated a small group of infantry to Zhang Da and asked him to block Liu Wuzhou's iron cavalry, making it clear that he was sent to death in vain.

Therefore, Zhang Da refused to fight on the grounds that there were too few troops. Who would have thought that Li Yuanji would ignore it and force Zhang Da to fight. Although Zhang Da was resentful in his heart, he could only fight hard. Sure enough, as soon as he arrived at the front line, Zhang Da led the troops, and before he had fought a few rounds with Liu Wuzhou, the Tang army was almost completely annihilated.

Zhang Da understood that Li Yuanji was deliberately using himself as "cannon fodder" and himself as a "shield" to resist Liu Wuzhou. The more Zhang Da thought about it, the more angry he became, and under the annoyance and anger, he actually surrendered to Liu Wuzhou. Soon, Liu Wuzhou, with Zhang Da as his guide, led a large army and captured Yuci County.

Liu Wuzhou's breakthrough of Yuci was equivalent to breaking through the first line of defense of Gongwei Taiyuan. Immediately afterwards, Liu Wuzhou then advanced rapidly towards Taiyuan and plundered the surrounding areas of Taiyuan. Liu Wuzhou's intention was obvious, hoping to form an encirclement of Taiyuan with encroachment tactics. At this moment, Li Yuanji was completely panicked, and hurriedly led his army to fight to block Liu Wuzhou. Under the fierce resistance of the Tang army, Liu Wuzhou was temporarily repulsed.

At the same time, Liu Wuzhou invaded Taiyuan, and the news reached Chang'an. Tang Gaozu Li Yuan also began to get nervous, he knew very well that Li Yuanji was not Li Shimin, and with his two strokes, he was not Liu Wuzhou's opponent at all. Therefore, Tang Gaozu urgently ordered Li Zhongwen, Taichangqing, to lead the army to aid Taiyuan.

The Tang Dynasty sent reinforcements from the direction of Chang'an, and Liu Wuzhou and Song Jingang were not idle. Although, the Tang army temporarily repelled Liu Wuzhou. But soon, Liu Wuzhou made a comeback again. In May of the second year of Wude (619), Liu Wuzhou led a large army to break through Pingyao and force Taiyuan again.

In this siege of Taiyuan, Liu Wu and Zhou's troops were divided into two routes, one was to lead the army to attack from the front. As for the other way, Liu Wuzhou appointed Song Jingang as the Daxingtai of the Southwest Road, led an army of 30,000, attacked Xihe County, and outflanked Taiyuan from the flank. The two roads marched hand in hand and took Taiyuan.

At the beginning, Li Yuan announced that Jinyang would raise troops and spread the word to all counties, but the defenders of Xihe County refused to obey the order. So, the brothers Li Jiancheng and Li Shimin, led the partial division, and with lightning speed, took Xihe County and captured Xihe County's Cheng Gao Deru. Therefore, the first battle of Jinyang's troops was not the "Battle of Huoyi" with Song Laosheng, but the "Battle of Xihe". Now, Song Jingang attacked Xihe County and approached Taiyuan, also in order to respond to Liu Wuzhou's main force and attack Taiyuan from the front.

Sure enough, the main force led by Liu Wuzhou did pose a great military threat to the Tang army on the frontal battlefield. On the tenth day of the first month of June, Liu Wuzhou conquered Jiezhou, and the Tang army was defeated. Knowing that Jiezhou had fallen, Li Yuan couldn't help but become worried. However, Tang Gaozu quickly reacted and made countermeasures. The unfavorable battle situation did not intimidate Li Yuan, and Tang Gaozu immediately dispatched Jiang Baoyi, the general of Zuo Wuwei, and Li Zhongwen, the head of the march, to lead the army to resist Liu Wuzhou.

Jiang Baoyi and Li Zhongwen led the Tang army, and not long after they started, they met Liu Wuzhou's troops on a narrow road. At that time, Liu Wuzhou's generals Huang Ziying and Chen Bing were in the Bird Mouse Valley. Soon, the Tang army also marched to the Valley of the Bird and Mouse and collided head-on with Huang Ziying's troops, and the two armies were bound to fight.

Huang Ziying took out the old trick of the Li family's father and son to deal with Song Laosheng: luring the enemy deeper. First of all, Huang Ziying sent a small force to challenge the Tang army. The Tang army launched a tentative attack on it, and Huang Ziying feigned defeat and fled. After doing this three times twice, Jiang Baoyi and Li Zhongwen mistakenly thought that the other party was invincible, so they commanded the troops and attacked with all their nests. As a result, the enemy ambushed in all directions, the Tang army was defeated, and Jiang and Li were captured.

Of course, later, Jiang Baoyi and Li Zhongwen escaped again when Liu Wuzhou's defense was negligent. After escaping back to the Tang Dynasty, Tang Gaozu did not settle accounts with these two people; Instead, they were allowed to make meritorious contributions and continue to lead troops to attack and block Liu Wuzhou's offensive.

The defeat of the Tang army in the Valley of the Bird and Mouse caused the Tang Dynasty to suffer a blow in terms of military morale and morale. Since Liu Wuzhou entered Kou Taiyuan, the development of the war situation was extremely unfavorable to the Tang Dynasty. The Tang army suffered repeated setbacks on the front line, and the counties around Taiyuan fell one after another. Therefore, the current situation in Taiyuan is not optimistic, and Tang Gaozu Li Yuan is worried about it. At this moment, someone took the initiative to ask Li Yuan for help, who was it? Shangshu's right servant shot Pei Lone.

Pei Lin was one of the main founding heroes of the Tang Dynasty, whether it was persuading Li Yuan to raise troops in Jinyang or prompting Li Yuan to become emperor, Pei Lin played an important role. Therefore, in May of the first year of Wude (618), Li Yuan proclaimed himself emperor in Chang'an, established the Tang Dynasty, worshiped Pei Lin as the right servant of Shangshu, and Liu Wenjing as the chief minister.

As an important hero of Taiyuan Yuanmou, after the founding of the Tang Dynasty, Pei Lian, together with Li Shimin and Liu Wenjing, the kings of Qin, obtained a privilege of "special forgiveness of two deaths". Above the Tang Dynasty, Pei Lian's political status can be said to be pivotal, comparable to the head of a hundred officials and the leaders of the ministers.

Moreover, in terms of personal emotion, Tang Gaozu also doted on Pei Lin very much, and his trust in Pei Lin was even to the point of intimacy. According to the record of "Old Tang Book: The Biography of Pei Lian":

Zhao Shang food is fed to the emperor, and the imperial meal is given every day. Gaozu looked at the court, and he would sit with him, and when he entered the cabinet, he would extend his bedroom, and he would obey everything, and he would be called Pei Jian without a name. When the noble relatives of the court, the relatives are not comparable.

Pei Lin was not only worshiped as the right servant of Shangshu because of his merits, but also Tang Gaozu trusted him and gave him imperial food every day. Not only that, every time Li Yuan came to the court, he had to invite Pei Lin to sit with him; After the dynasty was dispersed, he left him in the palace and obeyed him. What's more, when Li Yuan called Pei Lian, he never called him by his first name, but called him "Pei Jian". Because, Pei Lin once served as the palace supervisor of Jinyang. The treatment that Pei Lin enjoyed at that time was unmatched by the Chinese martial arts of the DPRK.

This time, Liu Wuzhou's invasion of Taiyuan was menacing, and the Tang army was defeated and retreated. This made Pei Lin see an opportunity, and he wanted to use his real military exploits to prove to his colleagues that he had military talent. So, Pei Lin took the initiative to ask Tang Gaozu to crusade against Liu Wuzhou.

Li Yuan was worried about the Taiyuan War, and he was naturally very relieved to see Pei Lian taking the initiative to share his worries. Therefore, Tang Gaozu appointed Pei Lin as the head of the march of Jinzhou Road, and led the troops with the title of prime minister, leading the main force of the Tang army to conquer Liu Wuzhou. At the same time, Li Yuan also allowed Pei Lin to make a decision on the spot and engage in it cheaply.

When Li Yuan appointed Pei Lin to lead an army to attack Liu Wuzhou, in July of the second year of Wude (619), Song Jingang led an army to attack Haozhou, and then retreated. Blessings are incomparable, and disasters are not singular. The armies of the Tang Dynasty and Liu Wuzhou were in full swing in the Taiyuan area. At this time, Liang Shidu, who was entrenched in Shuofang, took advantage of the fire to rob, and took advantage of the fierce battle between the Tang Dynasty and Liu Wuzhou, and also came to insert a lever from it.

In August of the second year of Wude (619), the Liang division united thousands of Turkic cavalry and invaded Yanzhou (now Yan'an, Shaanxi). At that time, the Tang Dynasty garrison stationed in Yanzhou was Duan Decao, the head of the march, who believed that he had too few troops to fight hard. Therefore, Duan Decao adopted the tactics of fortifying the wall and clearing the wilderness, and when the soldiers and horses of the Liang division were exhausted and their morale was low, he launched a surprise attack and defeated the Liang division in one fell swoop.

In September, Duan Decao found that Liang Shidu's army began to slacken. Immediately afterwards, Duan De's troops divided into two routes and launched a surprise attack on the headquarters of the Liang Division. After the first battle, the Liang Division's headquarters were heavily damaged and fled in defeat. Duan Decao led the Tang army, pursued the victory, chased the dead for more than 200 miles to the north, attacked Weizhou, captured more than 2,000 men and women, won a complete victory, and defeated the Liang division.

Whether it was Liu Wuzhou's capture of Pingyao and Jiezhou, or Song Jingang's attack on Haozhou and Liang's siege of Yanzhou, this series of military operations was all in preparation for the attack on Taiyuan. If Taiyuan is forcibly attacked, even if Taiyuan is finally captured, Liu Wuzhou will pay a huge price.

Therefore, Liu Wuzhou and Song Jingang aimed at attacking Taiyuan, and they attacked from all sides, encroaching step by step. The reason why Liu Wuzhou did not directly attack Taiyuan, but first attacked the surrounding counties of Taiyuan, the purpose was to form an encirclement posture against Taiyuan; After besieging Taiyuan, he was not in a hurry to attack the city, attracting Tang troops from all walks of life to come to the aid of Taiyuan. The purpose of this is nothing more than four words: besiege the city and send reinforcements. By eliminating the reinforcements of the Tang Dynasty from all walks of life, the fighting spirit of the Taiyuan defenders was completely disintegrated.

Finally, a decisive battle outside Taiyuan City finally arrived. The victory or defeat of this decisive battle directly led to the loss of Taiyuan, which happened outside Jiexiu City - "The Battle of Dusuoyuan". The "Battle of Dusuoyuan" this time is similar to the "Battle of Shallow Water Plain" a year ago, and the Tang army also paid heavy sacrifices.

As mentioned earlier, the battle in Taiyuan did not go well, and the Tang army suffered repeated defeats. In order to win military merits, Prime Minister Pei Lin took the initiative to ask Tang Gaozu Li Yuan for help. The battle situation on the front line fell into a stalemate, and Li Yuan was also sick and rushed to the hospital at this time, appointed Pei Lin as the head of the Jinzhou Provincial March, and ordered him to lead the army to fight against Liu Wuzhou and Song Jingang.

The problem is that Pei Lin is not a piece of material for leading troops to fight, this person lacks military strategy and does not know anything about military affairs at all. Sure enough, Pei Lin led his troops to the battle, which not only made him plant a big heel, but also caused the Tang Dynasty to suffer huge losses and suffer a big loss in the confrontation with Liu Wuzhou.

Pei Lin led the army, starting from Chang'an, all the way to Shanxi. Soon, Pei Lian's department marched to the Jiexiu area. Therefore, the decisive battle between the two armies began in Jiexiu. At that time, Song Jingang occupied the city of Jiexiu, relying on the advantage of city defense, blocking the Tang army under the fortified city. After Pei Lin arrived at Jiexiu, he found that Song Jingang had occupied Jiexiu. There was no way, Pei Lin had to move to Du Suoyuan and confront Song Jingang.

Garrisoning the army in Dusuoyuan is a fatal taboo, why? Because of the fact that Dusok was originally here, there was an extreme lack of water. The drinking water of the Tang soldiers was taken from the mountain stream near the camp. In case Song Jingang sent troops to cut off the water source, the Tang army was bound to fall into a desperate situation. Pei Lian, who doesn't understand military affairs, ignores this important point.

Afraid of something, Song Jingang discovered the shortcomings of the Tang Army's lack of water. So, Song Jingang secretly sent troops to cut off the water source of the Tang army. In war, there are times when water is more important than food. The water source was cut off, and the Tang army had no drinking water supply. Moreover, it was the height of summer, the weather was hot, and the water source was cut off at this time, which was undoubtedly a fatal blow to the Tang army.

Under such a predicament, Pei Lin made another faint move. In order to solve the problem of drinking water, Pei Lin actually ordered the whole army to pull out the camp and go to a place with sufficient water to station. However, tens of thousands of Tang troops will not retreat in an orderly manner if they are camped at the same time. If there is chaos in the ranks, Song Jingang takes advantage of his unpreparedness and launches a surprise attack, and the Tang army will definitely be defeated. However, Pei Lin was already anxious at this time, and he couldn't care about so much at all, so he ordered all the troops to pull out the camp and retreat.

Sure enough, seeing the Tang army retreating, Song Jingang felt that the time had come. Therefore, taking advantage of the Tang army's camp and the chaos of the army, Song Jingang personally led the main force to suddenly kill from behind the Tang army and launched a fierce attack. Due to the hasty retreat of the Tang army, it was defenseless for a while, so it suffered a major defeat and was almost completely annihilated. As for Pei Lian, in the face of the defeat of the army, the prime minister ran wildly all the way, and fled to Jinju in only one day and one night:

Pei Lin went to Jiexiu, and Song Jingang refused to take the city. The lonely army is in the Dusuo Plain, drinking water in the camp, King Kong is desperate, and the soldiers are thirsty. Lonely wanted to move the camp to the water, King Kong attacked it, the lonely army was defeated, lost a little, and galloped to Jinju in a day and a night. (Information Governance Guide)

In the Battle of Dusuowon, the Tang army suffered a major defeat, and Pei Lin was forced to flee to Jinju. Since the Tang army defeated Dusuowon, most of the towns north of Jinju have basically fallen into the hands of the enemy. At that time, there was only one place in Xihe County, which was still in the hands of Li Tang. Previously, Liu Wuzhou sent Song Jingang to attack Xihe County and approach Taiyuan. Thanks to Liu Gan, the assassin of Haozhou in the Tang Dynasty, he led his troops to defend here. Later, the Tang general Li Zhongwen also led troops into Xihe County and defended the city with Liu Gan, so that Liu Wuzhou did not break through Xihe County.

Pei Lin was unfavorable and lost his division, resulting in the defeat of the Tang army, and a large area of territory north of Jinju became an enemy-occupied area. For this situation, Pei Lin is to blame. Similarly, Pei Lin is also self-aware, and after his defeat, he took the initiative to petition for guilt. Unexpectedly, Tang Gaozu not only did not punish him severely, but comforted Pei Lin more, and continued to entrust him with important tasks, allowing him to pacify Hedong as the supreme military and political head of Hedong.

Although Pei Lin escaped, Taiyuan's current military situation is already precarious. The defeat of Dusuoyuan, the main force of the Tang Dynasty's reinforcements, was completely defeated. Soon, Liu Wuzhou gathered a large army and pointed his troops directly at Taiyuan. At this time, Taiyuan seemed to have become an isolated city.

Liu Wuzhou's troops pressed the border, and Li Yuanji, the king of Qi stationed in Taiyuan, immediately didn't know what to do. Don't look at this uncle, he shows off his power on weekdays, and he can't live forever; But in fact, Li Yuanji is a gentleman. Facing the menacing army of Liu Wuzhou, Li Yuanji's first reaction was not to desperately defend the city, but to run away. However, Li Yuanji himself can walk away, so what should the soldiers and civilians in Taiyuan City do? Li Yuanji doesn't care about the life or death of these people, in his opinion, it is important to save his life.

However, Li Yuanji also has concerns, after all, he is the king of Qi of the Tang Dynasty and the governor of Bingzhou. If the city is openly abandoned and fled, it will definitely cause riots. After thinking about it, Li Yuanji decided to stage a "golden cicada shell". He found Sima Liu Dewei and deliberately coaxed and deceived, saying: "Qing guards the city with the old and weak, and I will fight with strong soldiers." Unexpectedly, Liu Dewei believed that he really led a few old, weak, sick and disabled people to stay in Taiyuan.

On August 16 of the second year of Wude (619), in the middle of the night, Li Yuanji took the soldiers and horses and three wives and four concubines out of the city under the pretext of leading the troops out of the city and fighting a decisive battle with Liu Wuzhou, and went straight to Chang'an. Li Yuanji abandoned the city and fled, which was equivalent to completely abandoning Taiyuan City. Li Yuanji ran away, Taiyuan fell into a situation where the dragons were leaderless, and the defenders in the city basically lost their fighting spirit, and it really became an isolated city, and it was only a matter of time before it was lost.

Eventually, bad luck struck. As soon as Li Yuanji left on the front foot, Liu Wuzhou's army came on the back foot, reached the city of Taiyuan, and surrounded the Taiyuan regiment. When the battle reached this step of the field, the wind in Taiyuan City was loud and the people were panicked. Liu Wuzhou besieged the city with heavy troops, and everyone had no intention of resisting. At this time, Xue Shen, a local strong man in Taiyuan, took the initiative to cooperate with Liu Wuzhou, opened the city gate, and dedicated Taiyuan to Liu Wuzhou. At this point, Li Tang's land of Longxing, Taiyuan, was occupied by Liu Wuzhou.

After the fall of Taiyuan, the military situation of the Tang Dynasty in Hedong fell into an extremely passive unfavorable situation. And Liu Wuzhou was complacent after occupying Taiyuan. In his opinion, with the loss of Taiyuan, Li Tang's defense line in Shanxi collapsed. We should take advantage of such an excellent fighter plane to attack in a big way and sweep the entire Hedong and Shanxi. Perhaps, more brilliant results can be achieved, and perhaps Shanxi can be included in the bag.

Therefore, not long after the capture of Taiyuan, Liu Wuzhou sent Song Jingang to lead the army to attack Jinzhou. After six days and six nights of bloody battles, Jinzhou was lost, the Tang army was defeated again, and Liu Hongji, the general of the Tang Dynasty's right guard stationed in Jinzhou, was unfortunately captured. Following the fall of Taiyuan, Jinju was also breached.

This is the second time Liu Hongji has been captured on the battlefield, and the last time he was captured was the "Battle of Shallow Water Plain" a year ago, when he was captured by Xue Ju of Western Qin. However, Liu Hongji quickly found an opportunity to escape from the enemy camp. Later, Li Shimin led the army to pacify Liu Wuzhou and Song Jingang, and Liu Hongji also experienced it personally.

After that, Song Jingang waved his army into Jiangzhou and captured Longmen in one fell swoop. After occupying Taiyuan, Liu Wuzhou and Song Jingang successively captured Jinzhou and Longmen, and advanced the battle line to the area bordering Guanzhong. In other words, Liu Wuzhou almost hit the door of the Tang Dynasty, and formed a momentum of Mount Tai against Guanzhong.

When the news of the loss of Taiyuan reached Chang'an, Li Yuan was furious. You must know that the foundation of the Tang Dynasty all arose in Taiyuan. Now, Taiyuan is lost, and the Tang Dynasty has lost its foundation. Therefore, Tang Gaozu was very angry. Li Yuan, the Tang Gaozu who was furious, broke out into the wrath of the emperor. Therefore, Tang Gaozu wanted to severely punish the personnel who did not guard Taiyuan effectively, and only in this way could he make an example of him.

Since he wants to make an example of a hundred, the one who should be severely punished is none other than Li Yuanji, the king of Qi. First of all, during Li Yuanji's reign in Taiyuan, he was lawless and reckless, causing the people of Taiyuan to boil over resentment. What's more, when Liu Wuzhou's troops pressed the border, Li Yuanji, as the defender of Taiyuan, did not think about how to defend the city, but ignored the soldiers and civilians of the city, fled for his life alone, abandoned the city, and finally caused Taiyuan to fall.

All these things, even if Li Yuanji is killed, it is not an exaggeration. However, Li Yuan's disposal is incredible. Li Yuan felt that Li Yuanji was his son, and if he was disposed of, it would be tantamount to slapping himself in public. What's more, Li Yuan, out of a heart of love for his son, couldn't bear to deal with Li Yuanji. In order to protect Li Yuanji, Tang Gaozu plans to find a "scapegoat", who to find? Right Guard General Yu Wenxin.

At the beginning, Tang Gaozu appointed Dou Dan, the supervisor of the palace, and Yu Wenxin, the general of the right guard, to go to Taiyuan to assist Li Yuanji. As a result, Li Yuanji and Dou Dan acted mischief in Taiyuan, causing chickens and dogs to jump in Taiyuan City. Yu Wenxin's persuasion was ineffective many times, and he even went to Gaozu and impeached Li Yuanji and Dou Dan.

Tang Gaozu Li Yuan believed that the reason why Li Yuanji had all kinds of absurd behaviors and fled in the face of the enemy's abandonment of the city was because Yu Wenxin did not play a role in persuasion. Therefore, after the loss of Taiyuan, Li Yuan was furious and vented all his anger on Yu Wenxin, intending to severely punish Yu Wenxin. Once, in front of Li Gang, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, Tang Gaozu mercilessly counted Yu Wenxin and exonerated Li Yuanji:

Yuanji was young and weak, and he did not learn current affairs, so he sent Dou Dan and Yuwen Xin to assist him. Jinyang has tens of thousands of strong soldiers, and has been on the basis of the king for ten years, once it is abandoned. Wen Yuwen Xin drew this strategy for the first time, I should cut it! (Information Governance Guide)

As mentioned earlier, Li Gang is an upright old minister. Because Li Yuan was angry for a while, he was angry with Yu Wenxin, and even threatened to kill him. Of course, Li Gang can't sit idly by, and no matter what, he must stop the emperor's will. So, Li Gang risked his head in a different place, made a straightforward admonition, and defended Yu Wenxin. At the same time, Li Gang pointed the finger directly at Li Yuanji, the king of Qi, and Dou Dan:

The king was young and arrogant, Dou Dan had no rules, and covered it up, making the people resentful, today's defeat, and the sin of birth. Advise, the king is not afraid, and he hears all the music, but he is a loyal minister, how can he be killed! (Information Governance Guide)

After listening to Li Gang's advice, Tang Gaozu also relieved himself. The next day, Tang Gaozu Li Yuan summoned Li Gang alone, gave him a special throne, and said to him: "I have won justice, so there is no indiscriminate punishment." Yuanji is not good, and it is not forbidden by the two of them. After that, Li Yuan ordered that Dou Dan and Yu Wenxin be released and not investigated. It was precisely because of Li Gang's efforts to stop it that a killing was avoided and Li Yuan was not allowed to make an uncool move.

From April to August of the second year of Wude (619), Liu Wuzhou and Song Jingang launched a crazy war of aggression against the Taiyuan area. In Taiyuan, due to the poor defense of Li Yuanji, the king of Qi, he abandoned the city and fled, as well as various military mistakes of the Tang Dynasty. In the end, Taiyuan still fell into the hands of Liu Wuzhou.

Taiyuan was occupied by Liu Wuzhou, which was another big blow to the Tang Dynasty, which had just unified the northwest. Taiyuan is the land of Longxing of the Li Tang Dynasty and the place where the imperial industry rises. Taiyuan was lost, the foundation of the Tang Dynasty was greatly shaken, and the morale of the people was seriously damaged.

Not only that, after the loss of Taiyuan, Liu Wuzhou's troops went to Jinzhou and Longmen, and the war swept through most of Shanxi. Because of the vicious circle caused by the loss of Taiyuan, Hedong, the birthplace of the Li Tang Dynasty, is in danger of a complete fall. The Tang Dynasty's Hedong defense line was gradually on the verge of collapse and suffered a serious military crisis. The situation in Shanxi has become more and more unoptimistic and out of control.

Once Shanxi was occupied by Liu Wuzhou, it would not only be a military setback for the Tang Dynasty, but also a major political blow. The loss of Hedong means that the Tang Dynasty has lost its foundation and the hearts of the people. If the people's hearts and minds are lost, it will be more serious than the loss of cities and land.

Moreover, the loss of Taiyuan also brought another unexpected consequence. That was Li Tangdong's plan to enter the Central Plains, which was forced to be temporarily suspended. Originally, after unifying the northwest, suppressing Li Mi's rebellion, and appeasing the old Wagang in Shandong, the next military plan of the Li Tang Dynasty was to march into the Central Plains, launch the Eastern Expedition, eliminate the two major regimes of Wang Shichong in Henan and Dou Jiande in Hebei, and realize the great strategy of Dingding Central Plains.

The plan could not catch up with the changes, who would have thought that Liu Wuzhou swept through Shanxi and even captured Taiyuan, which once threatened the stability of the Tang Dynasty in Shanxi. Therefore, the Tang Dynasty had to temporarily stop the eastward expansion plan and shift its attention to the war in Hedong and to the operation to pacify Liu Wuzhou and Song Jingang. If Liu Wu does not get rid of it every day, Shanxi will be restless for a day, like a sword in the throat. Only by eliminating Liu Wuzhou and the Tang Dynasty's Eastern Crusade can there be no military hidden dangers at all.

Liu Wuzhou occupied Taiyuan and soon launched a new offensive with the intention of annexing all of Shanxi. So, in the next war, what twists and turns happened on the Hedong battlefield? Why did the development of the war once make Tang Gaozu Li Yuan have the idea of giving up Taiyuan?

Later, what factors made Tang Gaozu change his mind and strengthen his determination to fight Liu Wu to the end? In the face of the menacing Liu Wuzhou, who will Li Yuan appoint to be ordered to resist Liu Wuzhou's army, eliminate this separatist force, recover Taiyuan, and stabilize the military situation in Shanxi?