In the fourth year of Tang Wude, in 621 AD, after ten months of bloody battles, Wang Shichong and Dou Jiande, two strong enemies in the Central Plains, were finally annihilated by Li Shimin's army in one fell swoop, and Luoyang was immediately conquered by the Tang army. At this point, the Tang Dynasty officially entered the Central Plains and won the key battle of the unification war in the early Tang Dynasty. For the Li Tang Dynasty, domination of the world seems to be just around the corner.

The victory in the Battle of Luoyang also made Tang Gaozu Li Yuan extremely excited. In Li Yuan's view, from now on, there is no force that can stop the pace of Datang's domination of the world. However, things did not go as Tang Gaozu wanted, and the accident finally happened, which caught the Li Tang Dynasty off guard.

Just when Wang Shichong and Dou Jiande were both defeated, a new rebel force was about to move and launched a challenge to the Tang Dynasty. Moreover, this rebel force, in just half a year, quickly swept through a large area of Hebei, setting off a large-scale armed rebellion.

I have to say that this rebellion made the Tang Dynasty pay a huge price, not only caused Hebei to be almost lost, but also, in the process of quelling the rebellion, many founding generals of the Tang Dynasty and Li clan relatives also sacrificed their lives for this. In the end, the Tang Dynasty went through two counterinsurgency wars, and the Qin king Li Shimin and the crown prince Li Jiancheng led their troops to the battle, and it took a lot of effort to quell the rebellion and regain the land of Hebei.

So, why did the calm Hebei region suddenly change and break out such a serious military rebellion? In the face of the sudden Hebei rebellion, how will the Li Tang Dynasty deploy to counter the rebellion? In the process of counterinsurgency of the Tang Army, what little-known difficulties and obstacles did it encounter?

Regarding the ins and outs of the Hebei rebellion and the direct cause of this armed rebellion, we must start with Tang Gaozu Li Yuan's handling of Wang Shichong and Dou Jiande.

On the ninth day of the seventh month of the fourth year of Wude (621), Li Shimin led the army, returned triumphantly, and returned to the court. When entering the city, Li Shimin held a formal dedication ceremony, and dedicated the captured Zheng Emperor Shichong and Xia King Dou Jiande to the Taimiao, waiting for his father Li Yuan's disposal.

Wang Shichong and Dou Jiande, these two people are extremely important. After all, Wang Shichong and Dou Jiande used to be the supreme heads of Zheng and Xia, and Li Shimin was not good at handling them privately, so he was escorted back to Chang'an and handed over to his father, the emperor. So, how will Tang Gaozu Li Yuan deal with these two former rivals of the Tang Dynasty?

In fact, after the Battle of Luoyang, especially after the triumph of Li Shimin's class, a very difficult problem was automatically placed in front of Li Yuan, that is, how to deal with Wang Shichong and Dou Jiande. The disposal of Wang and Dou is related to many complicated aftermath matters. Once this problem is not handled well, it will cause a big mess.

After some careful consideration, Tang Gaozu finally decided to behead Dou Jiande and exile Wang Shichong. They were also once a hero, and they were enemies of the Li Tang Dynasty, why did Tang Gaozu Li Yuan's disposition have such a big difference, one beheaded, one exiled?

Regarding the different dispositions of Wang Shichong and Dou Jiande, Li Yuan has different thoughts. First of all, let's see why Tang Gaozu killed Dou Jiande. The reason is very simple, Dou Jiande has deep roots in Hebei and is deeply respected by the people, which is a potential threat to the Tang Dynasty from beginning to end.

At first, when Dou Jiande was captured, he originally thought that with his prestige in Hebei, Li Tang would not dare to do anything to himself, so as to become a life talisman for himself. However, being smart was mistaken by being smart, and Dou Jiande miscalculated. It is precisely because of this that Tang Gaozu felt that Dou Jiande had to die. Because, Tang Gaozu always remembered the experience of Li Mi's rebellion against the Tang Dynasty, in order to maintain the rule of the Tang Dynasty, Li Yuan must not let Dou Jiande become the second Li Mi, only to completely eliminate him physically.

Compared with Dou Jiande's popular support, Wang Shichong's situation is very different. During Wang Shichong's reign, he acted perversely and killed dissidents, which caused complaints within his ruling group and fell apart, and finally reduced him to the point of being alone. Therefore, in Tang Gaozu's view, if a person like Wang Shichong lives, even if he resurrects in the future, the threat to the Tang Dynasty is not very great.

Moreover, when Wang Shichong was just escorted to Chang'an, Tang Gaozu reprimanded him for all kinds of crimes in person. At this moment, in order to save his life, Wang Shichong immediately relented and begged for mercy again and again. Wang Shichong said to Gaozu that Li Shimin, the king of Qin, had promised him that he would not die: "The crime of the minister should be punished, but the king of Qin promised that the minister would not die." Seeing that Wang Shichong took the initiative to succumb, Li Yuan simply pushed the boat down the river, anyway, he was defeated now, it was better to let him live for a long time.

Therefore, after making up his mind, on July 11, the fourth year of Wude (621), Tang Gaozu Li Yuan made a final ruling, issuing an edict to exempt Wang Shichong from the death penalty, demoting him to a concubine, and exiled him to Shu with his brothers and nephews, leaving them to fend for themselves. At the same time, Dou Jiande was beheaded in the downtown area. In this way, the two heroes of the troubled times who were once in the late Sui and early Tang dynasties came to an end one after another, one became a ghost under the knife, and the other was exiled to Shu.

Although, Tang Gaozu pardoned Wang Shichong's capital crime and only exiled him. However, in the end, Wang Shichong still did not escape the fate of being in a different place. As the saying goes, the reincarnation of heaven is unpleasant. Wang Shichong's heinous crimes in the past and the blood debts he owed will eventually make him pay the price, and it is the price of his life.

Tang Gaozu Li Yuan pardoned Wang Shichong's capital crime, sentenced him to exile, and did not let him leave immediately, but temporarily placed Wang Shichong and his brothers and nephews in the Yongzhou mansion, ready to be escorted to Shu. Just when Wang Shichong was glad that he had picked up a life, death quietly approached him.

One day, someone outside the door suddenly announced that the imperial court issued an edict ordering Wang Shichong to go out to receive the decree. Wang Shichong thought that Tang Gaozu had a new will, so he was not prepared at all, and went out with his brother Wang Shiyun to listen to the announcement. Unexpectedly, the person who came was not the envoy of the imperial court, but a few big men in the shape of a few big men, seeing Wang Shichong's brothers coming out, without saying a word, they showed their sharp blades in their arms, rushed up, and killed Wang Shichong and Wang Shiyun brothers on the spot.

The person who killed Wang Shichong was none other than Wang Shichong's enemy, the Dugu Xiude brother in Dingzhou, the son of Dugu Ji. As mentioned above, in the second year of Wude (619), Duguji and others planned to eradicate Wang Shichong, but unfortunately the news leaked, Wang Shichong preemptively struck first, and killed Duguji and others. Therefore, Dugu Xiude and Wang Shichong have an incomparable hatred for killing their father. Now, feng shui takes turns, Wang Shichong fell into Pingyang, Dugu Xiude avenged his father and slashed Wang Shichong with his own hands.

Wang Shi acted as a crowd and died, which happened to be a piece of Tang Gaozu's heart disease. In fact, Li Yuan didn't want Wang Shichong to live, but because of the situation, he retreated and sentenced him to exile. However, Tang Gaozu has always been stuck in his throat. Unexpectedly, Dugu Xiude avenged his father and killed Wang Shichong in public, which just helped Tang Gaozu solve this problem. Therefore, afterwards, Tang Gaozu did not pursue Dugu Xiude for killing people in public, but only punished him as an official.

There is no doubt that Wang Shichong's death is completely his own fault and he deserves it. This hero, who once looked at the Central Plains and dominated the world, finally ended his life of mixed reputation in this way. For Wang Shichong, the evaluation of him in the history books is generally not high, and it is even full of verbal criticism:

The world is full of traitors, and when they encounter the faint master, the upper is deceitful and vulgar to gain fame, and the lower is to strongly argue that it is not to control the group. Eventually usurped and rebelled, self-indulgent Lu Liang, forbearance and murder, hypocrisy to control the public, where appointed, most of them were rebels, surrendered to the king of Qin, and did not show slaughter, which was fortunate and many. (The Book of the Old Tang Dynasty: The Biography of Wang Shichong)

After Wang Shichong was killed, the rest of the brothers and nephews of the Wang family were executed by Tang Gaozu for treason on the way to exile in Shu. With the death of Wang Shichong and the Wang family, one of the great henchmen of the Li Tang Dynasty was eliminated invisibly, and the grass was finally eradicated.

Dou Jiande and Wang Shichong died in Huangquan one after another, but some remnants of Wang and Dou were still scattered all over the place. For these people, the secretary and servant Sun Fujia of the imperial history sparse the ancestors, hoping to be magnanimous and not continue to pursue them. In the end, Tang Gaozu adopted Sun Fujia's opinion:

Soldiers and food can go, but faith cannot go, Your Majesty has pardoned and returned, is it against his own heart, so that the subjects have nothing to rely on? And the world is still forgiving, and the situation is in the rest of the party, so it is advisable to indulge. (Information Governance Guide)

After disposing of Wang Shichong and Dou Jiande, Tang Gaozu will work hard to heal the wounds of the war and carry out post-war pacification work. Soon, the Tang army had just been classified, and Tang Gaozu issued an edict, announcing an amnesty for the world, and the people would be given a year later, that is, the people would be exempted from forced labor for one year.

In addition, the six prefectures of Shaanxi, Ding, Han, Yu, Yu, and Rui, because in the war, were responsible for transporting grain and grass materials for the army, and they made great contributions; And Youzhou, which is under the jurisdiction of Luo Yi, has been isolated for a long time, and it is also very difficult to resist Dou Jiande's attack. Therefore, Gaozu specially ordered that all these places should be exempted from taxes and forced labor for two years. In addition, after the war, the local legal order format continued to follow the code system during the opening period of the Sui Dynasty.

In addition to implementing a series of policies to benefit the people, in the economic field, the Li Tang Dynasty also carried out appropriate currency reforms. After the establishment of the Sui Dynasty, it has always used the five-baht coin of the Han Dynasty, and did not issue its own national currency, and always used the old coins of the previous generation.

Especially at the end of the Sui Dynasty, wars continued and wolves broke out, and the entire country's currency market was seriously affected. Rotten money and bad money are rampant in the market, and the texture is rough and inferior. Even, many people use leather and pasted paper to make coins, which leads to the daily life of the common people, which was once miserable.

In view of the chaotic state of the currency market, Tang Gaozu Li Yuan decided that it was necessary to make appropriate adjustments to change the current status quo. Therefore, in the fourth year of Wude (621), the Tang Dynasty issued a new set of currency - "Kaiyuan Tongbao", which was a new set of state-owned currency after the five baht coins of the Han Dynasty. The quality of this set of currency is very fine, and the four words "Kaiyuan Tongbao" were inscribed by Ouyang Xun, a famous calligrapher in the early Tang Dynasty:

At the end of the Sui Dynasty, the coins were indiscriminate, and the people were overwhelmed by the disadvantages of cutting skin and pasting paper. So far, the beginning of the Kaiyuan Tongbao money, the diameter of eight points, the weight of two baht and four ginseng, the accumulation of ten dollars weighs one tael, the most eclectic of light and small, far and near. Ordered Ouyang to write his article and book in the matter, and the loop can be read. (Information Governance Guide)

After the implementation of policies to benefit the people, such as appeasing the people and reforming the currency system, the people's livelihood after the war was initially stabilized. However, there is another very important matter, that is, how to manage the Central Plains region that has just been annexed to Li Tang, that is, the land of Henan and Hebei.

Such a large area must be guarded by someone. Therefore, after the battle of Luoyang, Tang Gaozu sent generals and clans to various places to guard Henan and Hebei. First of all, Gaozu appointed the veteran Qu Tutong as the right servant of the Daxingtai of Eastern Shaanxi Province to guard Luoyang, and Li Daoxuan, the king of Huaiyang, was the governor of Luozhou. The two were responsible for defending the Henan region and were unified under the leadership of Li Shimin, the king of Qin, under the leadership of the Shaanxi East Dao Xingtai.

Secondly, Hebei was peaceful, and Tang Gaozu took Chen Junbin as the assassin of Zhaozhou, and the general Qin Wutong led the army to guard Zhaozhou, and stationed in the eastern states respectively. At the same time, Tang Gaozu also appointed Zheng Shanguo as an ambassador to Hebei Prefectures to be responsible for selecting and replacing officials in Shandong Prefectures and Counties.

Outwardly, after the Battle of Luoyang, it seemed that everything was going in favor of the Tang Dynasty. If nothing else, after a period of rest, it is necessary to carry out the final step of unifying the whole world, pacify the south of the Yangtze River, realize the reunification of the north and the south, and complete the reunification of the whole country. However, the military plan to pacify Jiangnan must be based on the condition that no accidents occur. The so-called extraneous branches, accidents still happened.

The Li Tang Dynasty unified the Central Plains, less than a year ago, and an astonishing news came from Hebei, like five thunderbolts, disrupting all the deployments of the Tang Dynasty's original plan, what news? It turned out that many of Dou Jiande's old party departments actually raised troops in Hebei to rebel and raised the banner of anti-Tang Dynasty.

What Tang Gaozu didn't expect was that Dou Jiande's old troops rebelled, and in just half a year, the war burned all over Hebei, and the Li Tang Dynasty almost lost Hebei and almost buried the fruits of the victory of the Eastern Expedition. So, why did the Hebei prefectures, which had already taken the initiative to attach themselves to Li Tang, suddenly have a large-scale military rebellion?

In fact, the rebellion in Hebei, which was large in scale and wide in scope, was by no means accidental, but was caused by a cause, or the result of the outbreak of contradictions in many parties. First of all, the direct cause of the rebellion in Hebei was that the local officials of the Tang Dynasty implemented a series of high-pressure policies against the old department of Dou Jiande in Hebei.

As mentioned above, Dou Jiande enjoys great prestige in Hebei. Therefore, for Dou Jiande's defeat and capture, and his death in Chang'an, many of his old subordinates were filled with righteous indignation, and they always wanted to avenge Dou Jiande, the king of Xia. A conspiracy is brewing quietly.

In order to avenge Dou Jiande, the remnants of Dou Jiande's party and old ministry launched an action to retaliate against Li Tang. How to take revenge on the Tang Dynasty? Since Dou Jiande was defeated and killed, his old troops have gathered in Hebei, broken into pieces, scattered among the people, robbed and hid a lot of property, and wandered among the villages, rampant and domineering, harming one party. The various behaviors of Dou Jiande's old department have seriously affected the local social order in Hebei, causing panic and restlessness.

Faced with such a tricky situation, it really made the local officials of the Tang Dynasty in Hebei very troubled. Anyone with a discerning eye can see that these remnants of the Xia Kingdom are deliberately working against the Tang Dynasty. If this goes on for a long time and is allowed to develop, it will inevitably make the Xia Kingdom power revignant. Rather than regretting it at that time, it is better to deal with it in advance and prevent it from happening. Therefore, the local officials of the Tang Dynasty decided to adopt a tough and high-pressure policy to suppress the Dou Jiande remnants who were about to move and eliminate hidden dangers.

As a result, the local officials of the Tang Dynasty immediately pursued Dou Jiande and the rest of the party in Hebei, searched them strictly, and brought them to justice. Regarding how to deal with Dou Jiande and Wang Shichong's remaining party, Tang Gaozu had already instructed that he should try to pacify and tolerate the party, and not to cause a storm in the city.

However, the local officials of Li Tang who remained in Hebei apparently did not implement the emperor's instructions well, and not only failed to appease Huairou, but severely suppressed them. Even if Dou Jiande's old subordinates are evil and deliberately provoked, they must pay attention to appropriate strategies. In this way, it has precisely intensified the contradictions between the two sides. The large number of pursuits by the Tang court made many of Dou Jiande's remnants begin to panic and flee in all directions, and their hatred for Li Tang deepened in their hearts.

Due to the imminent movement of Dou Jiandeyu's party and the need to stabilize the situation in Hebei, the local Tang Dynasty officials implemented a simple and crude high-pressure policy, and searched and rounded up with great fanfare, which made many people in the old Xia State uneasy and angry. This kind of dissatisfaction, anger, and hatred will be released like a volcanic eruption once it has accumulated to a certain unbearable limit.

Finally, this powder keg was ignited. For a series of militarized management of the Tang Dynasty, many of Dou Jiande's old departments began to be agitated. They felt that Li Tang was too pressing, and he simply didn't give us a way to live, and it was better to do the opposite directly than to become a fish on the board. From this moment on, some people in Dou Jiande's old ministry began to secretly plot to start an incident, planning to re-establish the banner as soon as the time came, raise troops against the Tang Dynasty, and restore the rule of the Great Xia regime in Hebei.

Soon, two people jumped out first and offered to raise troops against Tang, who was it? Dou Jiande's two veteran generals: Gao Yaxian and Wang Xiaohu. The two of them originally lived in Zhaozhou, but they were rounded up by local Tang Dynasty officials. In order to avoid the arrest of the officials, Gao Yaxian and Wang Xiaohu had to leave their hometowns, leave their hometown of Zhaozhou, and flee to Beizhou. Gao and Wang came to Beizhou and opened the prelude to the Hebei rebellion.

Gao Yaxian and Wang Xiaohu had just come to Beizhou, and at this time, Tang Gaozu Li Yuan ordered to recruit Dou Jiande's generals Fan Yuan, Dong Kangmai, Cao Zhan and Gao Yaxian from Beizhou to go to Chang'an. The crowd gathered to discuss countermeasures. They unanimously agreed that Li Yuan did not have a good heart, and recruited the old generals of the Xia Kingdom into Beijing, but they were afraid that it was a plan to invite the king into the urn, and he wanted to wipe everyone out, and instead of waiting for death, it was better to fight:

Wang Shichong descended to the Tang Dynasty with Luoyang, and his ministers Duan Da and Shan Xiongxin were all wiped out; I belong to Chang'an, and it will be inevitable. Since the past ten years, I have experienced a hundred battles, and I should have died for a long time. And the king of Xia got the king of Huai'an, and when he met with a courtesy, the king of Tang and Xia killed him. My family is all favored by the King of Xia, and if I don't avenge it now, I will not be able to see the people of the world! (Information Governance Guide)

From the words of Dou Jiande's old general's conspiracy, two conclusions can be drawn. First of all, they took the fate of Wang Shichong as a lesson from the past. In the battle of Luoyang, Wang Shichong was defeated, surrendered to Li Shimin, and sacrificed Luoyang City. Subsequently, a large number of civil and military officials in Luoyang surrendered to Li Tang together with Wang Shichong. As a result, Wang Shichong's main generals Duan Da, Shan Xiongxin and others were executed one after another. Even Wang Shichong died in exile.

There is a lesson from the death of Wang Shichong's monarchs and ministers, and these old generals of the Xia Kingdom are full of distrust of the Li Tang Dynasty. In their eyes, Chang'an is the tiger's den in Longtan, and once they go, they become lambs to the slaughter. Therefore, from the perspective of its own safety, Chang'an must not go.

Secondly, the old general of the Xia Kingdom pointed out a very sharp question, Li Tang is ruthless and unrighteous, as the old department of Dou Jiande, the king of Xia, we must avenge the king of Xia. It is not difficult to see that Dou Jiande's killing had extremely serious side effects for the Tang Dynasty, forming a series of vicious circles.

It should be said that Tang Gaozu Li Yuan's insistence on executing Dou Jiande was undoubtedly a major political mistake. Dou Jiande's death aroused the public indignation of the old Hebei department. At the beginning, Dou Jiande attacked the area east of Tongguan in the Tang Dynasty and captured Li Shentong, the king of Huai'an, the cousin of Li Yuan, the ancestor of Tang Gaozu. However, Dou Jiande did not kill Li Shentong, the king of Huai'an, but treated him politely. Now, Dou Jiande was defeated and captured, but he was killed by the Tang Dynasty. Therefore, the old general of Xia Guo believes that Li Tang is a snake and scorpion, cruel and vicious, and has no humanitarianism at all.

Indeed, the execution of Dou Jiande was a mistake of the Li Tang Dynasty. As mentioned above, Dou Jiande is generous, sympathetic to the people, and is as kind as a stream, and is deeply loved and supported by the military and people of Hebei. In the Hebei region, Dou Jiande has supreme prestige. is completely different from Wang Shichong, and the evaluation of him in the history books is still quite good:

Jiande Yifu Township, stealing Heshuo, soothing soldiers, and recruiting virtuous people. In the peerless full, the final cut and, do not kill Xu Gai, survive the supernatural powers, sink the machine and make a decisive decision, and there is no beginning. and Song Zhengben and Wang Fubao were slandered and harmed, Ling Jing and Cao's Chen Mou couldn't do it, so they perished, and Xian Ke came to an end. However, the destiny of heaven is returned, and people can't find it. ("Old Tang Book: The Biography of Dou Jiande")

Because of this, when they heard the news of Dou Jiande's death, the people in Hebei still felt very sad, like mourning. Even in the middle and late Tang Dynasty (Tang Wenzong period), there were still folk customs to worship Dou Jiande in Hebei. Regarding this point, the "Dou Jiande Tablet" written by Yin Yu of the Tang Dynasty has an accurate account:

Only the Xia clan is the country, knowing righteousness and benevolence, noble and loyal and loving the virtuous, no tyranny and the people, no lewdness and murder to themselves, so the soldiers add and win, so that they are obedient. …… Since the death of Jiande, it has been a long time ago, and the people of Shandong and Hebei are still talking about it and worshipping it. He who knows that his name cannot be destroyed, and he who reaches people also exists. ("The Monument of Dou Jiande")

If Li Yuan had been able to keep people under the knife, save Dou Jiande's life, and use Dou Jiande's political influence to appease the Hebei ministries. Perhaps, the effect will be very different, and the situation in Hebei may not be what it is now. A large part of the reason why Tang Gaozu resolutely executed Dou Jiande was that he was influenced by Li Mi's rebellion against Tang before, once he was bitten by a snake, and he was afraid of the well rope for ten years, and he must not leave hidden dangers.

As a result, many of Dou Jiande's former former subordinates, through Dou Jiande's high prestige among the military and civilians in Hebei, as well as the mentality of avenging Dou Jiande, wantonly incited public opinion, jumped up and down, plotted rebellion, and only waited for everything to be ready, then they rose up and officially started a war with Li Tang.

Since it has been decided to raise an army to rebel, it is imperative to solve the problem of choosing the leader, and it is necessary to let a capable person stand up and take the lead. So, who is to come out and take the lead? After thinking about it, they intended to decide in one way: divination. After divination, a conclusion was reached that as long as a person surnamed Liu led the people, great things could be accomplished. Therefore, the first person they thought of was Dou Jiande's old general Liu Ya.

Subsequently, everyone found Liu Ya and told them the plan and plan of rebellion, hoping that Liu Ya could be the leader of the rebel army. Unexpectedly, Liu Ya categorically refused, this is a crime of rebellion against the family, he didn't want to lose his life for this, and said: "The world is stable, I will be old in cultivation, and I don't want to return to the army!" Seeing Liu Ya so uncooperative, everyone was furious, and they were worried that Liu Ya would tell Tang Ting, so they simply killed Liu Ya without doing anything.

After killing Liu Ya, soon, another person surnamed Liu appeared in everyone's minds, who is it? Handong Gong Liu Heimin. So, who is this Handong Gong Liu Heimin? Why did the crowd take a fancy to him? To be honest, among the generals of the Xia Kingdom, Liu Heimin is indeed very outstanding.

Liu Heimin, a native of Zhangnan County, Beizhou (now Gucheng County, Hebei Province), is a fellow villager with Dou Jiande. According to historical records, when Liu Heimin was young, he was cunning and arrogant, addicted to alcohol and gambling, and did not manage the industry. Therefore, Liu Heimin's family is poor and often has to rely on Dou Jiande's funding to survive.

Later, after the war at the end of the Sui Dynasty, Liu Heimin defected to Hao Xiaode, the leader of the peasant rebel army, and soon joined the Wagang Army and was appointed as a general by Li Mi. However, the good times did not last long, in the battle of Luoyang's Beibi Mountain, the Wagang army was defeated, and Liu Heimin was captured by Wang Shichong. Wang Shichong had always heard that Liu Heimin was brave and good at fighting, so he entrusted him with a heavy responsibility, worshiped him as a cavalry general, and led his troops to garrison Xinxiang.

Although, Wang Shichong gave Liu Heimin a high-ranking official. However, Liu Heimin has always looked down on Wang Shichong and is ashamed to serve under his command. Soon, taking advantage of Wang Shichong's unpreparedness, Liu Heimin openly led his troops and fled back to Hebei to join his fellow villager Dou Jiande, the king of Xia. Seeing that Liu Heimin led his troops to vote, Dou Jiande was overjoyed, appointed him as a general, named the prince of Handong County, and ordered Liu Heimin to lead the army and attack from east to west.

After Liu Heimin defected to Dou Jiande, he often led the army to charge. Moreover, Liu Heimin himself is also resourceful and knows the reality of the enemy army from all walks of life. For example, before each battle, Liu Heimin would send scouts to reconnoitre, and sometimes go deep behind enemy lines to conduct field investigations before launching surprise attacks. Therefore, Liu Heimin can always win a big victory in every battle, and people in the army call him extremely brave and abnormal, and he is the first general in the Xia army:

Black Min is all over the thieves, good at observing the changes of the times, brave and treacherous. Jiande has a strategy, will make the expert scout, often into the enemy to look at the virtual reality, or surprise, take the opportunity to fight, many captures, the army is brave. ("Old Tang Book: The Biography of Liu Heimin")

In May of the fourth year of Wude (621), in the battle of Tiger Pass, Dou Jiande was defeated and captured, and the Xia Kingdom perished. Liu Heimin was forced to return to the field, hiding in his hometown in Zhangnan, growing vegetables every day for a living, and not going out. In fact, Liu Heimin is also temporarily dormant, waiting for the opportunity.

Finally, someone found Liu Heimin. After the old general of Xia Guo killed Liu Ya, he naturally remembered Liu Heimin, who was living in seclusion at home. Because of Liu Heimin's previous experience, everyone agreed that he was the best choice for the anti-Tang leader. The first person to elect Liu Heimin as the main prince was Fan Yuan in Dou Jiande's old department, and he said to everyone:

Handong Gong Liu Heimin is bold and strange, lenient and tolerant, and encourages the soldiers, I have long heard that the Liu family should be the king, and now it is a big event, and I want to collect the people of the Xia King, but he can't do it. ("Old Tang Book: The Biography of Liu Heimin")

After listening to Fan Yuan's proposal, everyone agreed, if Liu must be the king, Liu Heimin deserves his name. After making up their minds, everyone went together to pay homage to Liu Heimin. At that time, Liu Heimin was planting vegetables in the field, and after everyone came, they told the truth and explained their intentions. As a result, Liu Heimin did not know how to lift like Liu Ya, but accepted it happily. Liu Heimin has been dormant for so long, just waiting for this moment.

Then, Liu Heimin slaughtered his own cattle and feasted the generals of the Xia Kingdom. At the banquet, Liu Heimin made a decision on the spot and made a plan to rebel against Li Tang. As for Liu Heimin, he naturally became the leader of the rebels. Soon, Liu Heimin gathered more than 100 people and prepared to attack.

On July 19, the fourth year of Wude (621), taking advantage of the unpreparedness of the Tang army, Liu Heimin led the rebels and quickly attacked and occupied the county seat of Zhangnan. At this point, the Hebei rebellion officially began. A military catastrophe that threatened Li Tang's position as the lord of the Central Plains swept like a raging storm!

After the founding of the Tang Dynasty, in order to deal with the sudden military crisis at any time, the Tang Dynasty implemented a military system, setting up Xingtai Shangshu Province in each province, and suspending it if there was nothing to do. The establishment of Xingtai Shangshu Province is only a temporary military institution to solve emergency military situations.

When they learned the news of Liu Heimin's rebellion, the Li Tang court immediately set up Shandong Daoxingtai in Zhaozhou, Wei, Hebei, Ding, and Cangzhou, and placed the governor's office, and Li Shentong, the king of Huai'an, served as the right servant of Shandong Daoxingtai, responsible for commanding all units of the Tang Army in Hebei to encircle and suppress Liu Heimin's rebels.

The occupation of the county seat of Zhangnan was only the beginning of the Hebei rebellion. It didn't take long for Liu Heimin to launch a new round of attacks across Hebei. On August 12, the fourth year of Wude (621), Liu Heimin led the rebels and captured Juan County. Moreover, after Liu Heimin's uprising, Dou Jiande's old department in Hebei responded to his rebellion. Therefore, Liu Heimin's rebel army is getting stronger and stronger day by day.

Soon, Liu Heimin's soldiers pointed directly at Weizhou and Beizhou, and Dai Yuanxiang, the authority of Weizhou Assassin History and Beizhou Assassin History in the Tang Dynasty, led the army to fight with them. However, the two assassins were defeated and killed one after another, and Weizhou and Beizhou fell immediately. After conquering the second city, Liu Heimin collected the remaining Tang army troops in the city, as well as the equipment to defend the city.

The capture of Weizhou and Beizhou made Liu Heimin's rebels as strong as cattle. Therefore, Liu Heimin decided to strike while the iron was hot and continue to use soldiers. On August 22, Liu Heimin waved his army to capture Liting and captured Wang Xingmin, a general of the Tang Dynasty's Tunwei. After the rebels captured Wang Xingmin, they escorted him to Liu Heimin and forced Wang Xingmin to bow down. Unexpectedly, Wang Xingmin was iron-clad, resolutely refusing to bend his knees to Liu Heimin, and swore not to surrender. In the end, Liu Heimin was annoyed and ashamed and killed Wang Xingmin.

Liu Heimin conquered several cities, and the Tang army suffered defeats one after another. At this time, the rebel forces gathered by Liu Heimin gradually became a climate in Hebei. Seeing that Liu Heimin's power is growing stronger day by day, some of Dou Jiande's remnants and old ministries are also slowly gathering towards Liu Heimin, and the number of subordinates has reached about 2,000 people.

The situation has developed to the present, Liu Heimin has accumulated a certain amount of capital and strength, and can officially compete with the Li Tang Dynasty. Before, when Liu Heimin raised his troops, he did not play a loud anti-Tang banner, and the division was nameless, and his name was not right. Until this moment, Liu Heimin intended to officially declare his opposition to the Tang Dynasty, and the slogan he put forward was to avenge the Xia king Dou Jiande and restore the rule of the Great Xia regime in Hebei.

Immediately afterwards, Liu Heimin set up an altar in Zhangnan County to pay tribute to Dou Jiande, the king of Xia. Then, Liu Heimin proclaimed himself a general, spread to all parts of Hebei, and called on the old Xia State to join the rebels and jointly resist the Tang Dynasty. Liu Heimin's move completely made the Hebei rebellion public.

It is clear that Liu Heimin's move is simply a public argument with the Tang Dynasty and a naked provocation. It seems that the Hebei rebellion is not a simple petty fight. In response to the rebellion of Liu Heimin in Hebei, the Tang Dynasty must take action to suppress this rebellion as soon as possible.

Therefore, Tang Gaozu Li Yuan began to mobilize troops and actively quell the rebellion. Gaozu issued an edict to dispatch the elite of 3,000 cavalry in the Guanzhong area, led by the general Qin Wutong and the governor of Dingzhou, Li Xuantong, to drive to Hebei and attack Liu Heimin's rebels. At the same time, Tang Gaozu ordered Luo Yi, the governor of Youzhou, to lead troops to attack, cooperate with the main force of the Tang army, and jointly attack the rebels. The Tang Dynasty's two-way army, with a two-pronged approach, pressed Liu Heimin.

However, the roof leak happened to rain overnight. Liu Heimin's rebellion has already made the Tang Dynasty feel a little anxious. At this time, another military force from Shandong was connected with Liu Heimin. Due to the joining of this military force, the military situation of the Tang Dynasty in Hebei was even worse. The military leader of this team that joined forces with Liu Heimin is named Xu Yuanlang.

Xu Yuanlang was also a member of a peasant rebel army in the late Sui and early Tang dynasties. In the thirteenth year of the Great Cause (617), Xu Yuanlang occupied his hometown Yanzhou, raised an army against the Sui, and once gathered more than 20,000 people, whose power had reached Dongping in the north and Langya in the west. Later, he was forced by the situation to attach himself to Li Mi's Wagang army, and after the defeat of the Wagang army, he surrendered to Wang Shichong, and after Wang Shichong failed, he surrendered to Tang again. After Xu Yuanlang surrendered to Li Tang, Tang Gaozu continued to entrust him with official positions, worshiped as the governor of Yanzhou, and sealed the prince of Lu County.

However, judging from Xu Yuanlang's past experience, this person is capricious, has changed his door several times, and is a typical opportunist, a "horizontal jumping expert". Although, regardless of the past suspicions, the Tang Dynasty continued to entrust Xu Yuanlang with important tasks, but Xu Yuanlang has always been dissatisfied with the Tang Dynasty and has hidden dissenting ambitions.

Finally, Liu Heimin rebelled, which made Xu Yuanlang's mind begin to live. So, Xu Yuanlang began to secretly communicate with Liu Heimin and plotted to raise troops. It just so happened that Xu Yuanlang waited for thousands of times, waiting for an opportunity to raise troops to respond to Liu Heimin and form an anti-Tang alliance.

At that time, Tang Gaozu appointed Ge Guogong Sheng Yan to envoy to Henan. Sheng Yanshi was the famous general of the Tang Army who set up an ambush in Bears Ears Mountain and killed Li Mi. This time, Sheng Yanshi was ordered by Tang Gaozu to go out of Henan, and as soon as he arrived in Rencheng, he was forcibly detained by Xu Yuanlang.

detained the Tang general Sheng Yanshi, Xu Yuanlang felt that the time was ripe. On August 26, the fourth year of Wude (621), Xu Yuanlang raised troops to rebel, proclaimed himself "King Lu", and responded to Liu Heimin. Soon, Liu Heimin took Xu Yuanlang as the marshal of Daxingtai. Subsequently, driven by Xu Yuanlang's troops, Yan, Yun, Chen, Qi, Yi, Luo, Cao, Dai and other eight states successively raised troops to respond to Liu Heimin.

Until this time, Liu Heimin and Xu Yuanlang colluded with each other, and most of Hebei and Shandong were connected together, forming a huge anti-Tang force. It can be seen that the current Hebei rebellion, the situation is gradually on the verge of getting out of control, if it is allowed to continue, the Tang Dynasty will completely lose Hebei and Shandong.

Let's take a look at the situation on Xu Yuanlang's side.

At the beginning, the Tang general Sheng Yanshi was ordered to leave the town of Henan and go to Rencheng, but was forcibly detained by Xu Yuanlang. After arresting Sheng Yanshi, Xu Yuanlang didn't want to kill him, he also knew that Sheng Yanshi was a famous general, and he wanted to persuade him to surrender. Therefore, Xu Yuanlang used both soft and hard in an attempt to lure Sheng Yanshi.

At the beginning, Xu Yuanlang's attitude towards Sheng Yanshi was still very polite and courteous. Then, Xu Yuanlang hoped that Sheng Yanshi would write a letter to his younger brother stationed in Yucheng and ask him to surrender the city. So, Sheng Yanshi picked up the pen and wrote on the spot, but unexpectedly, after seeing the content of the letter, Xu Yuanlang was almost so angry that he turned his back on it:

I have been captured by thieves, disloyal to my ministers, and sworn to death; Be kind to your mother, and don't think of me. (Information Governance Guide)

Xu Yuanlang, who was teased, jumped like thunder, and his murderous intent suddenly rose, wanting to kill Sheng Yanshi. However, Sheng Yanshi was not afraid, and stood proudly, looking indifferent. Seeing that Master Sheng Yan regarded death as home, Xu Yuanlang was also helpless, and said with a smile: "General Sheng has a strong temperament, and he can't be killed." Then, as before, he continued to detain Sheng Yanshi.

When Xu Yuanlang rebelled, the Tang Dynasty's Henan Province pacified the ambassador Ren Gui, and when he traveled to Songzhou, he happened to encounter Xu Yuanlang's rebellion. At that time, the situation was complicated, and the deputy envoy Liu Jun strongly persuaded Ren Gui to temporarily avoid the enemy and retire to Bianzhou. After hearing this, Ren Gui didn't care, but laughed and teased Liu Jun: "How cowardly is Liu! ”

Soon, Xu Yuanlang attacked the city all the way, occupied Chuqiu, and immediately led the army to besiege Yucheng. Yucheng was in an emergency, and at the critical moment, Ren Gui made a decisive decision and sent his subordinates Cui Shu and Zhang Gongjin to lead more than 100 powerful protons from Shandong and Hebei to set off from Yanling to guard Yucheng. Regarding Ren Gui's decision, Deputy Envoy Liu Jun believes that the risk is too great, Cui Shu and Zhang Gongjin are both old generals of Wang Shichong, and most of the protons in Shandong and Hebei are family members of the rebels, and they can willingly guard Yucheng:

The pivot and the public are both kings and generals, and the proton fathers and brothers in the states are all opposed, and I am afraid that it will change. (Information Governance Guide)

However, Ren Gui didn't listen, and still sent Cui Shu and Zhang Gongjin to go. After Cui Shu and others arrived in Yucheng, they mixed more than 100 protons with local soldiers and civilians to defend the city together. As a result, as soon as the rebels approached, protons defected in the ranks. Cui Shu didn't say a word, and gave an order to behead the commander of his team directly. Seeing this, the rest of the team commanders put themselves in danger and killed all the protons of their respective teams. In this regard, Cui Shu did not stop it, and also cut off the heads of all the protons who were killed, and showed them to the public to warn the three armies.

After that, Cui Shu reported the situation to his boss Ren Gui. Ren Gui received the report, pretending to be angry on the surface, and reprimanded Cui Shu for killing protons indiscriminately: "That's why I want to kill his father and brother because I want to attract the ears of his father and brother!" However, in private, Ren Gui quietly said to the deputy envoy Liu Jun:

I know that Cui Shu can do this. The people of the county have killed the proton and have a deep enmity with the thief, so why should I suffer! (Information Governance Guide)

As expected, the defenders of Yucheng saw that we had killed all the protons, which could be regarded as a blood feud with the rebels. Once the rebels break through the city, the soldiers and civilians of the city will die without a place to bury, and it is better to fight against the water. So, the defenders of Yucheng fought desperately and bloodily to resist the rebels, Xu Yuanlang could not attack for a long time, encountered obstacles and setbacks, and had no choice but to withdraw from Yucheng and give up the siege.

Although under the layout of Ren Gui, Cui Shu and others, Yucheng was temporarily retained and Xu Yuanlang's attack was repelled. However, the situation in Hebei still does not allow for optimism. Not long after, Cui Yuanxun, the old department of Dou Jiande in Shenzhou, set up an ambush and suddenly attacked, killing Shi Peixi, the assassin of Shenzhou, and raised troops to respond to Liu Heimin.

At this moment, the Li Tang Dynasty was facing military pressure on multiple fronts. In September of the fourth year of Wude (621), the Turks invaded Bingzhou and Yuanzhou, and generals such as Dou Cong and Wei Chi Jingde were ordered to go north to fight against the Turks; At the same time, Li Xiaogong, the king of Zhaojun, and Li Jing, the general, led their troops south to attack the Xiao Milling regime. The military rebellion in Hebei and Shandong was undoubtedly a heavy burden for the Tang Dynasty, which used troops in the south and north.

In response to the wars in Hebei and Shandong, Tang Gaozu Li Yuan decided to send Li Shentong, the king of Huai'an, to lead the troops to fight and quell the rebellion. This is because Li Shentong once fought against Dou Jiande in Hebei and has actual combat experience. Regarding Li Shentong, the king of Huai'an, as mentioned earlier, this person was a famous "often defeated general" in the Tang army, and Dou Jiande was captured by the Xia army when he captured Liyang. Tang Gaozu sent Li Shentong to Hebei to quell the rebellion, but he was also ill and rushed to the hospital.

After receiving the order, Li Shentong, the king of Huai'an, led 3,000 elite soldiers in Guanzhong, made a detour to Youzhou, marched to Jizhou, and joined Luo Yi's department. Subsequently, Li Shentong conscripted 50,000 troops in the six prefectures of Xing, Xu, Xiang, Wei, Heng, and Zhao in the Hebei region, and confronted Liu Heimin's rebels in the south of Raoyang City, and the two sides started a big battle.

Judging by the number of troops, the Tang army had the advantage, with a total of 50,000 people. Therefore, Li Shentong ordered that the army be deployed for more than ten miles. On Liu Heimin's side, the troops were thin, so they could only rely on a levee behind him to camp in formation. The two armies were tense, and the battlefield was filled with gunsmoke.

On the day of the decisive battle, it was a blizzard. At first, the wind was in favor of the Don Army. Therefore, Li Shentong commanded the Tang army and followed the wind to launch an attack on Liu Heimin's troops. In the beginning, it went pretty well. It's a pity that people are not as good as heaven. After a while, the wind direction suddenly changed, and it blew towards the side of the Tang army.

Suddenly, the officers and men of the Tang Army were caught off guard by the strong wind, and their formations were in chaos. Taking advantage of this opportunity, Liu Heimin counterattacked, Li Shentong was defeated, and the Tang army's soldiers and horses and military funds were reduced by two-thirds, and more than 10,000 people were almost killed or wounded.

Huai'an Wang Shentong sent the soldiers to Jizhou and joined Li Yibing. He also sent more than 50,000 soldiers from Xing, Wei, Heng, Zhao and other states to fight with Liu Heimin in the south of Raoyang City, and set up a formation of more than ten miles; There are few black people, and they are displayed according to the embankment. There will be wind and snow, and the supernatural power will attack it by the wind, and then the wind will return, the supernatural power will be defeated, and two-thirds of the military resources of the soldiers and horses will be lost. (Information Governance Guide)

When Li Shentong's army was defeated, Luo Yi's troops were located to the west of the formation, preparing to attack the rebels' flank Gao Yaxian's troops. However, when he heard the news of the defeat of the main force of the Tang Army, Luo Yi had no choice but to lead the army to withdraw from the battlefield and retire to Gaocheng. Here, Liu Heimin suddenly attacked, Luo Yi was defeated, and his generals Xue Wanjun and Xue Wanche were captured. In order to show humiliation, Liu Heimin ordered to cut off the hair of Xue Wanjun and Xue Wanche's brothers. Soon, the Xue brothers fled back, and Luo Yi was defeated and retreated to Youzhou.

In the Battle of Raoyang, Liu Heimin defeated the main force of the Tang Army led by Li Shentong and Luo Yi, and the strength of the troops was greatly boosted. Since then, the offensive and defensive situation between the Tang Dynasty and Liu Heimin has been reversed. Li Tang switched from active offensive to passive defense, while Liu Heimin launched an all-out attack on Hebei.

After the battle of Raoyang, Liu Heimin defeated the main force of the Tang Army in Hebei and was invincible. On the other hand, in the Tang Dynasty, the main force suffered heavy losses and demoralization. Therefore, Liu Heimin decided to take advantage of the new defeat of the Tang army and launch an offensive again. In the following months, Liu Heimin led the rebels, attacked the Hebei prefectures, and began a full-scale attack.

On the sixth day of October in the fourth year of Wude (621), Liu Heimin led his army to march north from Raoyang, captured Yingzhou, and killed Lu Shirui, the assassin of Yingzhou. Yingzhou was the most populous state in Hebei, and Liu Heimin occupied Yingzhou and further expanded his army. Later, in the process of fighting against Li Shimin, Yingzhou became an important rear of Liu Heimin. Soon, the people of Guanzhou arrested and stabbed Shi Lei Debei and surrendered to Liu Heimin, and Guanzhou surrendered without a fight.

The capture of Yingzhou and Guanzhou did not satisfy Liu Heimin's devouring. Soon, Liu Heimin's eyes were aimed at Dingzhou, an important town in Hebei. Dingzhou is an important military town in Hebei, at the beginning, Liu Heimin rebelled, Tang Gaozu Li Yuan in order to suppress the rebels, in Wei, Hebei, Ding, Cangzhou region, set up the governor's office. Tang general Li Xuantong served as the governor of Dingzhou, responsible for guarding Dingzhou and resisting the rebels.

On November 19, the fourth year of Wude (621), the city of Dingzhou was broken, and the defender Li Xuantong resisted to the death, and was finally defeated and captured. After Li Xuantong was captured, he resolutely refused to surrender. Liu Heimin loved Li Xuantong's talent very much, and wanted to worship him as a general and make him surrender to himself. However, Li Xuantong was unmoved.

Since the hard ones can't work, Liu Heimin plans to use "sugar-coated cannonballs". After Li Xuantong was captured, his former former officials, with wine and meat, came to visit him, Li Xuantong said: "The monarchs mourn my humiliation, fortunately with wine and meat to comfort each other, should be drunk for the monarchs." So, Li Xuantong drank with everyone.

When the wine was hot, Li Xuantong suddenly said to the guard, I want to dance the sword, can I borrow a saber? Seeing that he was in a good mood, the guard didn't think much of it and handed him the saber. Then, Li Xuantong used the knife as a sword and danced to the music. At the end of the song, Li Xuantong sighed and said sadly:

The eldest husband guards the country and is gracious, and in terms of pacification, he can't protect what he guards, and how can he look at the world! ("Information Governance Guide"

After speaking, Li Xuantong stabbed with a knife, killed himself by disembowelment, and died heroically. After Li Xuantong was captured, he would rather die than surrender, and the deeds of committing suicide reached Li Yuan's ears, and Tang Gaozu was greatly moved and shed tears for him in public. In order to commend Li Xuantong's feats, Tang Gaozu issued a decree to worship Li Xuantong's son Li Fuhu as a general.

Since the defeat of Raoyang, the Tang Dynasty lost Ying, Guan, and Ding, and the soldiers and horses were damaged, and the generals were killed. However, Liu Heimin's rebel army is growing stronger and stronger, and it has gradually become a prairie fire. What's even worse is that at this time, Liu Heimin has joined forces with another separatist force, and he is - Gao Kaidao.

Like Xu Yuanlang, Gao Kaidao was also one of the warlords of the late Sui Dynasty, who was insidious and cunning, and ruthless. With the support of the Turks, he constantly harassed Luo Yi's Youzhou garrison. Previously, Luo Yi defeated Rao Yang, and after returning to Youzhou, Gao Kaidao wanted to stab Luo Yi.

At this time, a severe famine broke out in Youzhou. Gao Kaidao thought that the opportunity had come, so he pretended to give the people of Youzhou a "green light", claiming that as long as Luo Yi sent someone to come, he would subsidize food for Youzhou. Luo Yi was overjoyed, believed it, and immediately sent 3,000 people, hundreds of cars, and more than 1,000 donkeys and horses to the boundary of Gaokaidao, ready to receive grain. As a result, Luo Yi was tricked, and Gao Kaidao seized Luo Yi's people, vehicles, and livestock.

Later, Gao Kaidao was renamed the King of Yan, connected with the Turks in the north, and formed an alliance with Liu Heimin in the south. Immediately afterwards, Gao Kaidao led the army to attack Yizhou, but he could not overcome it for a long time, burned and looted, and left. Unexpectedly, Gao Kaidao once again started Luo Yi's idea. He sent his subordinate general Xie Liang to surrender to Luo Yi and asked Luo Yi to send troops to respond. Luo Yizhen sent troops to Huairong, where they were ambushed by Xie Liang and suffered huge casualties.

After two heavy losses, Luo Yi's vitality was greatly damaged, and he was no longer able to send troops to assist the Tang army and resist Liu Heimin. In a sense, Gao Kaidao colluded with the Turks and attacked Youzhou, and to a certain extent, restrained Luo Yi and prevented him from sending troops south to help the Tang army, which was a great favor to Liu Heimin.

So far, the situation has become more and more unfavorable for the Tang Dynasty. At this time, Tang Gaozu Li Yuan sent the second main force of the Tang Army to Hebei. In December of the fourth year of Wude (621), Li Yuan appointed Li Shichang as the general of the march, and Zhang Shigui, the general of Wuwei, as his deputy general, led 20,000 troops and stationed in Zongcheng. This place in Zongcheng is close to Beizhou, Liu Heimin's base camp. When Liu Heimin heard about it, he immediately led his army from Dingzhou to the south to reinforce Beizhou.

On the third day of December in the fourth year of Wude (621), Liu Heimin captured Jizhou, and Jizhou assassin Shi Lu Liang was killed. At this time, Hebei fell into chaos. Since the Battle of Raoyang, after Liu Heimin broke Li Shentong's main force, he moved to Zhao and Wei, and the old departments of Dou Jiande in various places have killed Tang Dynasty officials in response to Liu Heimin.

After the loss of Jizhou, Tang Gaozu realized the seriousness of the situation, and with only the 20,000 Tang troops led by Li Shiyun, he would definitely not be able to contain Liu Heimin's rebels. In order to increase the chances of victory in counterinsurgency, the only way to do this is to continue to increase troops in Hebei. On the eighth day of December, Tang Gaozu sent Li Xiaochang, the king of Yi'an, who was then the general of the Right Tun Guard, to lead an army to attack Liu Heimin. However, before Li Xiaochang arrived at the front line, the news of Li Shichang's annihilation came.

What's going on? At the beginning, Li Yuan sent Li Shichang and Zhang Shigui to lead 20,000 Tang troops to garrison Zongcheng to resist the rebels. After arriving in Zongcheng, Li Shiyun set up the outer city, and Zhang Shigui stayed in the inner city. Out of foolproof considerations, Li Shichang immediately dispatched 500 cavalry to investigate the enemy's situation. As a result, Liu Heimin's tens of thousands of troops had actually arrived in Nangong County, approaching Zongcheng, and the situation was critical.

Seeing this situation, Li Shichang did not have time to inform the deputy general Zhang Shigui that he led the main force, abandoned Zongcheng, and retreated in the direction of Zhaozhou. Some people may wonder that Li Shiyun, a famous general of the generation, has experienced a hundred battles, and in the face of Liu Heimin's soldiers, he privately abandoned his deputy general Zhang Shigui and fled the city, which is not like his style. In this regard, Sima Guang, a famous politician, writer and historian of the Northern Song Dynasty, put forward his own views:

The world's famous generals will not be as recorded in the revolution ("Sui Ji Revolution"), but they cannot refuse to abandon the city.

According to Sima Guang's explanation, Li Shichang probably felt that the troops in his hands were too thin to stop Liu Heimin's attack, so he was forced to abandon the city and withdraw to Zhaozhou, intending to integrate his forces and resist the rebels. It can be seen from this that Li Shixian's retirement from Baozhou was by no means timid and timid, but to preserve his strength in an attempt to forge ahead.

As soon as Li Shiyun withdrew, relying on the troops in Zhang Shigui's hands alone, he would be Liu Heimin's opponent. There was no way, Zhang Shigui had to break through from Zongcheng and flee to Xiangzhou. After Zhang Shigui was defeated and retreated, Liu Heimin waved his troops and pursued Li Shiyun's troops all the way. Finally, on the twelfth day of December in the fourth year of Wude (621), Liu Heimin caught up with Li Shixian's subordinates. Because Li Shixun was unable to resist on the way to retreat, the Tang army was defeated and 5,000 foot soldiers were killed.

Two days later, on December 14, the main force of Liu Heimin's rebel army approached Zhaozhou. At that time, many local tyrants in the city of Zhaozhou came out of the wall one after another and joined Liu Heimin. Because of the internal response, Liu Heimin did not make much effort and easily occupied Zhaozhou.

It was the center of the Tang Dynasty ruling Hebei, and it was also the capital of the Xia Kingdom. At the beginning of Liu Heimin's rebellion, Tang Gaozu Li Yuan issued an edict to set up a Shandong Road platform in Zhaozhou. Before Liu Heimin invaded Zhaozhou, he built an altar in the southeast of Zhaozhou City to worship Dou Jiande, and then swaggered into Zhaozhou.

After taking Zhaozhou, Liu Heimin basically shook Li Tang's foundation in Hebei. Ten days later, Liu Heimin took advantage of the victory to attack, conquered Xiangzhou in one fell swoop, captured Xiangzhou assassin Shi Fang Huang, and Wuwei general Zhang Shigui broke the siege and left. Immediately afterwards, Liu Heimin once again used troops to the south to capture Li and Wei Prefectures. So far, in just half a year, Liu Heimin's rebel forces have swept through Hebei with iron hooves and occupied all the old borders of the Xia Kingdom of Dou Jiande.

Moreover, Liu Heimin swept Hebei, not only achieving an unprecedented military victory; At the same time, it has also opened up a new situation in diplomacy. During Liu Heimin's invasion of Hebei, he made contact with the Turks, gained the support of the Turks, and strengthened the military strength against the Tang Dynasty.

At the end of the Sui Dynasty and the beginning of the Tang Dynasty, the world was in turmoil, and the Turkic forces began to gradually infiltrate the Central Plains, supporting a number of separatist regimes to protect their interests in the interior of the Central Plains. In fact, many of the separatist heroes of the late Sui and early Tang dynasties, such as Li Liang, Xue and his sons, Liu Wuzhou, Song Jingang, Liang Shidu, Dou Jiande, etc., were inextricably linked with the Turks.

After occupying the old territory of the Xia Kingdom, Liu Heimin sent envoys to the Turks to conclude an alliance, hoping to get help from the Turks. Seeing the "hand of friendship" that Liu Heimin took the initiative to stretch out, Jieli Khan was overjoyed, and immediately sent the general Tong Jin Song Zhena to lead a Turkic Hu cavalry to join Liu Heimin and cooperate with the Hebei rebels.

Almost most of Hebei fell into the hands of Liu Heimin. Qin Wutong, the right military and political general of the Tang Dynasty, Chen Junbin, the assassin of Zhaozhou, and Cheng Mingzhen of Yongning, fled from Hebei to Chang'an one after another. The entire Hebei region fell into the abyss of war. Since the founding of the country, the Li Tang Dynasty suffered the greatest military setback in the War of Unification. The Hebei region, which was finally taken, is in danger of being completely lost.

Originally, after ten months of the Battle of Luoyang, the Tang Dynasty broke Zheng and destroyed Xia, conquered Luoyang, and finally leveled Wang Shichong's Zheng regime and Dou Jiande's Xia regime in one fell swoop, and realized the unification of the Central Plains. This was originally a happy thing, but unexpectedly, it happened to encounter Liu Heimin's rebellion.

Due to the Tang Dynasty's mishandling of Dou Jiande's old troops and the underestimation of the rebellion, the Tang army suffered repeated defeats on the Hebei battlefield, not only losing several states in a row, losing troops and generals, but also making Liu Heimin's rebel forces stronger and stronger. In the end, the resulting situation was that the whole territory of Hebei was opposed, and the situation became increasingly severe.

Regarding the worsening and out-of-control chaos in Hebei, Tang Gaozu Li Yuan was at a loss and didn't know where to start. As the emperor of the Tang Dynasty, Li Yuan knew that if the Hebei rebellion was not quelled, it would inevitably shake the Central Plains. Once the rebellion continued to expand, the Tang Dynasty lost not only Hebei, but also the entire Central Plains. In the end, the huge victory brought by Li Tang's capture of Luoyang will definitely be wasted.

At this time, in order to defend the fruits of victory in the unified Central Plains, Tang Gaozu decided to use one of the trump cards in his hand ,—— Li Shimin, the king of Qin. As we all know, Li Shimin, the king of Qin, is a powerful and invincible god of war. Half of the Tang Dynasty was all fought by Li Shimin.

Every important unification battle of the Tang Dynasty was personally commanded by Li Shimin, and he overcame a strong enemy and won the final victory. Xue Rengao, Liu Wuzhou, Song Jingang, Wang Shichong, and Dou Jiande, aren't they all defeated under Li Shimin? In the eyes of the heroes at the end of the Sui Dynasty, Li Shimin, the king of Qin, was a lingering nightmare.

At first, when the Hebei rebellion began, Tang Gaozu did not let Li Shimin lead an army to fight against Liu Heimin's rebels. That's because Li Yuan mistakenly believed that Hebei was just a rebellion, and it should be pacified soon, and there was no need for Li Shimin to step in. However, now it is different, the situation in Hebei is becoming more and more chaotic and out of control. At this critical moment, Li Shimin must personally lead the troops to turn the tide and quell the Hebei rebellion.

After thinking about it, on December 15, the fourth year of Wude (621), Tang Gaozu Li Yuan ordered Li Shimin, the king of Qin, and Li Yuanji, the king of Qi, to lead the Tang army and take command to attack Liu Heimin. Of course, Li Yuanji, the king of Qi, was just a name, and he was responsible for following his second brother Li Shimin on the expedition. Therefore, the real commander of the Tang Army is none other than Li Shimin, the king of Qin, who was the supreme military leader of the Tang Dynasty and was crowned "General of Tiance"!

Li Shimin won all battles and was invincible, and for him, quelling a rebellion of Liu Heimin was tantamount to a small trial, and it was not a problem at all. However, the Hebei battlefield that Li Shimin was about to face was a mess full of holes and smoke. Liu Heimin's army was strong, and the Tang army was defeated in successive battles, and its morale was low. So, in this case, can Li Shimin lead the soldiers of the Tang Army to overcome difficulties, defeat Liu Heimin's rebels, and reverse the defeat in Hebei?