In just half a year, Liu Heimin's rebel forces quickly swept through Hebei, occupying all the old borders of the Xia Kingdom of Dou Jiande, turning the Hebei region upside down. On the other hand, the Tang Dynasty continued to lose its troops and generals, lost its division and lost territory, and suffered the biggest military defeat since the founding of the People's Republic of China.

In the face of the worsening crisis in Hebei and the military rebellions one after another, in December of the fourth year of Wude (621), Tang Gaozu Li Yuan finally made up his mind to use the ace power of the Tang Dynasty to send Li Shimin, the king of Qin, and Li Yuanji, the king of Qi, to lead the army to attack Liu Heimin. In this way, Li Shimin once again went into battle, led the soldiers of the Tang Army, and embarked on the journey of quelling the rebellion in Hebei and crusading against Liu Heimin.

At this time, Li Shimin had just finished the Battle of Luoyang, and the squad returned to Chang'an, only resting for half a year. In this half a year, Li Shimin has reached the pinnacle of his life and career. In October of the fourth year of Wude (621), Li Shimin was given the title of "General Tiance", and became the veritable supreme military leader of the Tang Dynasty.

At the same time, Li Shimin also began to gradually shift the focus of his life from battlefield conquest to temple strategy. Within half a year, Li Shimin carefully established an important group of advisers, which is the famous "Eighteen Scholars of the Qin Mansion". It can be said that the "Eighteen Scholars of the Qin Mansion" is the main force for Li Shimin to fight with the crown prince Li Jiancheng in the future, and is the core force of the entire Qinwang Group.

Regarding the formation of the "Eighteen Scholars of the Qin Mansion", it originated from the fourth year of Wude (621), when Li Shimin returned from the Eastern Expedition. Li Shimin triumphed in the east, eliminated Wang Shichong and Dou Jiande, unified the Yellow River Valley, and entered the Central Plains. Tang Gaozu crowned Li Shimin as "General Tiance" and was on the throne of the prince. In addition, Li Yuan gave Li Shimin a privilege, allowing Tiance Mansion to set up its own government office and form its own sphere of influence.

At that time, the official office of Tiance Mansion had one Changshi and one Sima, two Zhonglang, two military counselors, four pawns, two main books, two records, two military officers, two Gong, Cang, Bing, Cai, Armor, and Shiliu Cao joined the army, and six people joined the army, and six people joined the military. It should be said that the Tiance Mansion has actually become a military adviser and decision-making organ dedicated to Li Shimin, and is only responsible to Li Shimin.

On this basis, Li Shimin seized this rare opportunity to open a "Literature Museum" to recruit talents from all over the world. In this way, the famous "Eighteen Bachelors of Qinfu" came into being. The Literature Museum is the predecessor of the eighteen bachelors of the Qin Mansion, and the eighteen bachelors of the Qin Mansion are Du Ruhui, Fang Xuanling, Yu Shinan, Chu Liang, Yao Silian, Li Xuandao, Cai Yungong, Xue Yuanjing, Yan Xiangshi, Su Miao, Yu Zhining, Su Shichang, Xue Shui, Li Shousu, Lu Deming, Kong Yingda, Gai Wenda, Xu Jingzong and other eighteen talents in the world:

At that time, the sea gradually calmed down, and Taizong was determined to read books and open a literature museum to wait for people from all over the world. Eight out of ten people such as Du Ruhui in the Xingtai Si Xunlang are bachelors, and each time they are more straight, they will lower their faces and discuss the scriptures with them, or they will stop at night. …… ("Old Tang Dynasty Book: Taizong Benji")

The Literature Museum was combined with the Qin Palace, forming a small government agency. Li Shimin used the power in his hands to open a literature museum and recruit talents, and the eighteen bachelors of the Qin Mansion naturally entered Li Shimin's field of vision. Moreover, the representation of these eighteen bachelors is very broad:

Confidants and advisers: such as Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui.

Confucian scholars: such as Lu Deming and Kong Yingda.

Those who can have an impact on Emperor Li Yuan: Su Shichang and Yan Xiangshi.

Representative of the local patriarchal forces: Li Shousu.

Most of these people are former Sui ministers, and some are Wang Shichong's old subordinates. In the words of our founding leader, "We are all from all over the world, and we have come together for a common revolutionary goal." Now, the Eighteen Bachelors are also for a common goal, and they are under the disciple of Li Shimin, the king of Qin.

Li Shimin is a person who is very good at betting and investing, and for the "Eighteen Bachelors of Qin Mansion", Li Shimin has invested a lot of money. In addition to eating fish, there are cars; In addition, the eighteen bachelors should all be entitled to five grades, which is not a high-salary pension, but a high-salary pension. At the same time, Li Shimin asked Yan Liben, a famous painter at that time, to paint a portrait of the eighteen scholars, "hidden in the Lingyan Pavilion for future generations to see".

The "Eighteen Scholars of the Qin Mansion" based on the Literature Museum, although they are nominally members of the Literature Museum, are actually a team of ministers carefully created by Li Shimin. This is an elite group of eighteen elites, who together form Li Shimin's think tank. The Eighteen Scholars of the Qin Mansion also became the main force of Li Shimin against the Prince Group, and an organization of advisors belonging to the Qin King Group was formally formed.

In half a year, Li Shimin was crowned "Admiral Tiance", opened a literature museum, recruited "Eighteen Bachelors of Qinfu", and spent a fairly peaceful time. However, after only enjoying a peaceful time for half a year, the Hebei rebellion broke out, and Li Shimin once again led his division on an expedition to the battlefield.

According to the record of "The Old Tang Book: The Biography of Liu Heimin", this time he took command to quell the rebellion in Hebei, but Li Shimin took the initiative to win it, "so Taizong asked himself to ask the army to ask for it." On December 15 of the fourth year of Wude (621), that is, the day after the fall of Zhaozhou, Li Shimin took the initiative to ask for Ying, and Mao recommended himself, requesting to lead the army to conquer Liu Heimin. It just so happened that at this time, Tang Gaozu also wanted Li Shimin to be in command, so he pushed the boat down the river and officially sent Li Shimin to lead the troops to the battle.

For Li Shimin, it has long been commonplace for him to fight in the south and north in recent years. Moreover, every time he went out, Li Shimin was able to achieve the final victory, carrying his outstanding military exploits and returning triumphantly. Therefore, Li Shimin believes that this trip to Hebei to quell the rebellion will definitely be as successful as in previous wars. However, Li Shimin thought things simple. This war that disrupted Hebei will leave a deep impression on Li Shimin's career as a horseman.

You must know that the biggest difference between this war and the past is that it is not an external conquest against a certain separatist force, but a counterinsurgency war to stabilize the internal situation. Counterinsurgency requires force, of course, but more importantly, it is important to win over people's hearts. In the process of quelling the rebellion in Hebei, Li Shimin only attached importance to military conquest, but ignored the importance of subduing the people's hearts, which caused the counterinsurgency to be full of twists and turns. Therefore, Li Shimin will learn a lot in this war.

So, as the god of war of the Tang Dynasty who swept thousands of armies and overcame obstacles all the way, what unexpected difficulties and obstacles did Li Shimin encounter in the process of leading the army to quell the rebellion in Hebei? In this war, what kind of lessons did Li Shimin learn, and what impact did he have on creating the "rule of Zhenguan" in the future?

Let's take a look at the developments first.

After the annihilation of Li Shixian's army and the crushing defeat, the Tang Dynasty's control of the situation in Hebei was completely out of control. Soon after the capture of Xiangzhou, Liu Heimin did not stop, and continued to send troops, successively capturing Xingzhou, Zhaozhou, Weizhou, Xinzhou and other places. In the second year, on the eighth day of the first month of the fifth year of Wude (622), the king of Dongyanzhou Zhizhong Caiyi killed the assassin Shi Tianhua and responded to Liu Heimin with the city.

Also in this year, in the first month of the fifth year of Wude (622), Liu Heimin soldiers went to Xiangzhou, proclaimed himself the king of Handong, built the Yuan Dynasty, set the capital in Zhaozhou, and established his own regime in Hebei. Liu Heimin's proclamation as king marked the official confrontation with the Li Tang Dynasty and the preparation for a long-term secession of Hebei.

At the same time, Liu Heimin sealed the civil and military affairs, with Fan Yuan as the left servant, Dong Kangmai as the secretary of the military department, and Gao Yaxian as the right leader; Wang Cong was recruited as the Zhongshu Ling, and Liu Bin was the Zhongshu Shilang. All the rules and regulations basically imitate the Dou Jiande period. Moreover, everyone unanimously agreed that when it comes to military command, Liu Heimin is slightly better than Dou Jiande:

Dou Jiande was in the same position. He tried to administer, learned to build morality, and fought bravely. (Information Governance Guide)

In the first month of the same year, Li Shimin led a large army into Hebei and faced Liu Heimin's rebels. So, in the face of the fall of Hebei and the Hebei rebels in full swing, what kind of tactics and tactics will Li Shimin, the king of Qin, who uses soldiers like a god, adopt to defeat the rebels and recover the lost territory?

At first, Li Shimin personally led the main force of the Tang Army, and when he just entered Hebei, the forward soldiers and horses were the first to arrive at Houjia. At this time, Liu Heimin and the main force of the rebels were stationed in Xiangzhou, and it had been less than a month since Xiangzhou was conquered. Therefore, Liu Heimin never expected that Li Shimin's speed would be so fast. What's more, Liu Heimin once worked under Dou Jiande, and he must have learned Li Shimin's power. When Li Shimin came to Hebei, I am afraid that this battle will not be easy to fight.

After careful consideration, Liu Heimin was ruthless, feeling that Li Shimin's march was fast, and Xiangzhou had just been captured, which was not conducive to long-term holding and resisting the Tang army; If you stick to Xiangzhou, you will inevitably be besieged by Li Shimin's heavy troops and it will be difficult to resist. As a result, Liu Heimin made a decision to abandon Xiangzhou and withdraw his troops to Baozhou.

Liu Heimin took the initiative to give up Xiangzhou, and Li Shimin believed that the opportunity was rare. On the 14th day of the first month of the fifth year of Wude (622), Li Shimin commanded the Tang army, recovered Xiangzhou in one fell swoop, and marched to Feixiang. Immediately afterwards, Li Shimin led the army to pursue all the way, and the troops came to Zhaozhou, and set up camp in Xushui County, forming a threatening trend against Zhaozhou.

At this time, in order to respond to Li Shimin's attack on the rebels, Luo Yi, the governor of Youzhou, led tens of thousands of soldiers and horses to the south to join forces with Li Shimin and jointly crusade against Liu Heimin. Previously, when the rebels attacked Hebei, Luo Yi was beaten by Liu Heimin and Gao Kaidao to lose his armor, and was played by these two traitors and suffered heavy losses. Therefore, Luo Yi has always been unwilling. This time, Li Shimin's army rebelled, and Luo Yi felt that the opportunity had come, so he took the initiative to send troops to cooperate, flanking Liu Heimin, and preparing to be ashamed.

Originally, dealing with a Li Shimin was enough for Liu Heimin to drink a pot; Now, there is another Luo Yi, which is a bit overwhelming. In order to avoid falling into the north-south attack of Li Shimin and Luo Yi, Liu Heimin decided to shrink the front, took the initiative to give up Xiangzhou, and retired to Zhaozhou.

At the same time, Liu Heimin left 10,000 troops and ordered the left servant to shoot Fan Yuan to guard the town, while he led the main force to secretly go north to intercept Luo Yi's department and prevent him from joining forces with Li Shimin. Regarding Liu Heimin's intentions, Tang Jun's intelligence was very well-informed, and his movements were clearly investigated, and Li Shimin certainly would not let Liu Heimin succeed. So, Li Shimin planned and gave Liu Heimin a "suspicious plan".

That night, the rebels camped in Shahe County. Li Shimin dispatched Yongning Ling Cheng Mingzhen, carrying sixty drums, to quietly sneak into a river embankment in the west of the city of Zhaozhou. Then, Cheng Mingzhen ordered the soldiers to slam the drum, and the sound shook like thunder, and even the ground in the city of Zhaozhou shook with it.

Hearing the sound of drums outside the city, Fan Yuan, who stayed in Zhaozhou, was greatly frightened, thinking that the Tang army had attacked Zhaozhou at night. In a panic, Fan Yuan immediately sent someone to tell Liu Heimin. Liu Heimin was worried that Zhaozhou would be lost, so he stopped going north, leaving 10,000 soldiers and horses, led by his younger brother Liu Shishan and Xingtai Zhang Junli, to attack Gucheng and intercept Luo Yi; Liu Heimin himself led his troops south and returned to Zhaozhou. In this way, Li Shimin used a little trick to force Liu Heimin to turn back halfway.

On January 30, Luo Yi, Liu Shishan, and Zhang Junli confronted each other in Xuhe, Yizhou, and the two sides started a big battle. Liu Shishan and Zhang Junli only have 10,000 soldiers and horses, while Luo Yi has tens of thousands of elite soldiers, where is Luo Yi's opponent! As expected, Liu Shishan and Zhang Junli were defeated, losing 8,000 soldiers:

At night, staying in the Shahe River, Cheng Ming vibrated with 60 drums, and struck it on the embankment in the west of the city, and the ground in the city shook. Fan Yuan was frightened and told the black; Hei Min returned and sent his brother Shishan and Xingtai Zhang Junli to fight 10,000 soldiers in Gucheng. Renzi, fought in the Xu River, the Ten Virtues and the Emperor were defeated, and 8,000 people were lost. (Information Governance Guide)

With the failure of Liu Heimin's division of troops to the north, the plan to intercept Luo Yi ended in nothing. At this time, there was also a split within the rebels. At the end of the first month of the fifth year of Wude (622), when Liu Heimin went north, his general Li Qufu and others took control of the county town of Lishui and surrendered to the Tang Dynasty according to the city.

The county is located in the rear of Liu Heimin, with Zhangshui in the east and Lishui in the west, closely adhering to several military strongholds in the rear of the rebels, and its strategic location is extremely important. The Tang army's occupation of Luoshui County was equivalent to directly cutting off Liu Heimin's rear grain route, which was conducive to outflanking the rebels from behind.

With years of experience in warfare, Li Shimin keenly captured that this was a fleeting fighter. It was imperative that the Tang army quickly seize Laoshui County, bypass Liu Heimin's main force, penetrate directly into the rear of the enemy's army, and cut it off. To this end, Li Shimin ordered his general Peng Guogong Wang Junkuo to lead 1,500 cavalry to quickly enter Lishui County and defend the city together with the general Li Quchao.

Hearing that the Tang Army had occupied Luoshui County, Liu Heimin was anxious. You must know that Luoshui County is particularly important to Liu Heimin, and the Tang Army's control of Luoshui County will completely cut off the rebels' back road. Therefore, in any case, Luoshui County must not fall into the hands of the Tang army, and must be recaptured.

In February of the fifth year of Wude (622), Liu Heimin led the main force of the rebel army to counterattack Laoshui County. After Li Shimin received the battle report, he immediately dispatched the general Qin Qiong, led 5,000 elite cavalry, and ambushed Liu Heimin's inevitable road in advance, ambushing the rebels halfway, preparing to defeat the rebels along the way.

On February 11, Liu Heimin's army marched to Lieren County and was ambushed by Qin Qiong's 5,000 elite cavalry. At first, because Qin Qiong's troops were too small, he couldn't stand the strength of the rebels, and he fell slightly behind. But soon, a Tang army ambushed and suddenly came from Zhangshui and attacked Liu Heimin's flank. Qin Qiong seized the opportunity and counterattacked. Under the hard assault of the two Tang armies, Liu Heimin was defeated. After the defeat, Liu Heimin rushed to Luoshui County overnight and encircled it.

Six days later, on February 17, the fifth year of Wude (622), Li Shimin led his army to recover Xingzhou. Two days later, Feng Borang, a native of Jingzhou, took the initiative to sacrifice the city and surrender to Li Tang. In the battlefield of the southern front, due to the correct command of Li Shimin, the Tang army achieved relatively good results, and even Kexiang, Xing, and Jing occupied Luoshui County, and ambushed Liu Heimin's main force, causing damage to his military strength, and giving him a blow since the start of the army.

Let's take a look at the situation on the battlefield on the Northern Front.

In the first battle of Xuhe, after Luo Yi defeated the 10,000 rebels of Liu Shishan and Zhang Junli, he quickly waved his troops south, and on February 24 of the fifth year of Wude (622), he successively recovered Ding, Luan, Lian, and Zhao four prefectures, and captured Liu Heimin's Shangshu Liu Xidao. Then, Luo Yi led his subordinates and successfully joined forces with Li Shimin in Yuzhou, and the two armies joined forces in one place, successfully realizing the north-south advance. At this time, Liu Heimin's northern defense was completely destroyed, and the southern front was in danger.

Since Li Shimin entered Hebei, he has conquered the city all the way, beheaded the generals and held the flag, and in just one month, he has defeated Liu Heimin and retreated, and the progress has been very smooth. If this situation continues, quelling the rebellion in Hebei should be easy, just like a matter of probing for something.

However, the war was far from going so smoothly. Next, Li Shimin encountered the most difficult battle since entering Hebei - the battle to defend the water. In this battle to defend the city, the soldiers of the Tang Army fought bloody battles and paid great sacrifices and costs. Not only that, in this fierce battle, a member of the Tang Army was brave and good at fighting, and he was the fierce general of the three armies, and he also sacrificed his life, he was the young brave general Luo Shixin.

So, what kind of battle was it that made the Tang army pay such a huge price and let the fierce general Luo Shixin die on the battlefield?

As mentioned above, when the county fell to the Tang Dynasty, Li Shimin seized the opportunity and sent the general Wang Junkuo, led 1,500 cavalry, to quickly enter the city and defend it together with the local defenders. Due to the prominent location of Luoshui County, Liu Heimin tried to recapture it, but was ambushed by the Tang general Qin Qiong halfway and suffered heavy casualties. After the defeat, Liu Heimin gathered the remnants of his troops, marched overnight, surrounded the county town of Luoshui, and prepared for a large-scale siege.

At this time, Liu Heimin's troops were seriously damaged, and his numbers did not have an advantage. Therefore, his idea was that he must capture Lishui County as soon as possible and achieve a quick victory. At this time, Li Shimin also saw Liu Heimin's impatient psychology, and planned to show his housekeeping skills: a plan to exhaust the enemy. Li Shimin was ready to take advantage of the terrain of Luoshui County to hold back Liu Heimin's main force, and gradually consume the living force of the rebels, so as to break it in one fell swoop.

It should be said that Li Shimin's idea is still good. As long as the Tang army can hold on to Luoshui County and withstand the offensive of the rebels, it can fundamentally turn the tide of the war and win the final victory. However, the actual situation of the campaign was very different from Li Shimin's military deployment.

What's going on? The problem lies in the topography of the county. In general, the terrain of Luoshui County is still very conducive to the Tang Army's defense. According to the historical records, the county is easy to defend and difficult to attack, the city is surrounded by water, the water width is more than 50 steps, the depth of the water is three or four feet, it is a natural military barrier. With such a terrain, it is still quite difficult for Liu Heimin to attack the city on a large scale, and it is difficult to break through for a while.

At that time, Liu Heimin's main force was stationed in the northeast of Luoshui County. In order to break through the water interception, Liu Heimin ordered people to build two Yongdao, trying to build Yongdao to the city of Lishui County to attack the city. At this time, Li Shimin arrived with the main force and sent troops to attack the rebels three times, intending to destroy Yongdao. Unfortunately, the Tang army attacked three times, but was repulsed by Liu Heimin three times, and failed to destroy the enemy's Yongdao:

Liu Heimin was very anxious to attack the water. There is water on all sides of the city, more than 50 steps wide, and the black man builds two Yong roads in the northeast of the city to attack it; The people of the world led troops to save him, but the black man refused and was not allowed to enter. (Information Governance Guide)

In this way, the Tang army could not break through from the periphery, and Li Shimin couldn't help but be a little worried, he was worried that Wang Junkuo in the city would not be able to hold on to Luoshui County and withstand Liu Heimin's attack. Faced with such a situation, Li Shimin hurriedly summoned the generals to discuss countermeasures. At the meeting, Li Shichang said: "If Yongdao reaches the city, the city will not be defended." Li Shichang analyzed that once the rebels' Yongdao was completed and went straight to the city, the county town of Zhushui would definitely not be able to resist Liu Heimin's attack.

At the critical moment, Luo Shixin, the head of the marching army and the Duke of Tan Yong, stepped forward and took the initiative to ask Li Shimin, the king of Qin, to take the place of Wang Junkuo and stick to Luoshui County. Luo Shixin is a fierce general, and Li Shimin believes that with Luo Shixin's bravery, it should not be a problem to defend Luoshui County.

So, Li Shimin climbed a high mound in the south of the city of Zhushui County, sent a signal with a command flag, and ordered Wang Junkuo to lead his troops to break through. After receiving the flag command, Wang Junkuo immediately led his troops to break through from the south gate. However, the rebels at the south gate were heavily blocked, and Wang Junkuo's first breakthrough ended in failure. After the failure of the breakthrough at the south gate, Wang Junkuo turned to fight desperately from the north gate, and finally broke out. Subsequently, Luo Shixin took the opportunity to lead two hundred elite soldiers into Luoshui County to replace Wang Junkuo.

In fact, Li Shimin replaced Wang Junkuo with Luo Shixin, the purpose was very clear, that is, to use Luoshui County as a bait to firmly absorb Liu Heimin's main force and gradually drag them down; Then, taking advantage of the lack of rebels, they launched a surprise attack and broke the enemy in one battle. In order to fight for the county seat of Laoshui, the two sides launched a fierce battle.

Seeing Li Shimin's army slowly approaching Lishui County, Liu Heimin was very anxious in his heart. If he can't take the county again, he will lose the entire war. At this time, Liu Heimin was completely red-eyed, and he wanted to capture Luoshui County at all costs. According to historical records, after Liu Heimin repaired the Yongdao, he attacked Lishui County day and night, and attacked for eight days and eight nights in a row, and went crazy to Lishui County.

In the face of Liu Heimin's crazy attack, Luo Shixin led two hundred elite soldiers under his command to resist desperately, hold the city, and repel the attacks of the rebels again and again. During this period, Li Shimin tried to send troops to rescue many times. However, God is not beautiful. At that time, it was snowing heavily, the earth was frozen, the roads were blocked, and the Tang army could not be reinforced in time, resulting in the rebel offensive becoming more and more fierce, and Luo Shixin could only fight alone.

Although Luo Shixin desperately defended the city, after all, the enemy was outnumbered, with only 200 armor soldiers in his hands, and in the face of a rebel army several times his size, there was no foreign aid; In the end, after Luo Shixin held on for eight days, he was outnumbered, and on February 25, the fifth year of Wude (622), the county town of Luoshui fell, and Luo Shixin was captured.

Luo Shixin is brave and good at fighting, strong in martial arts, and is a world-famous Wagang hero and a young brave general in the Tang Army. Therefore, Liu Heimin wanted to recruit Luo Shixin and let him use it for himself. Who knows, Luo Shixin was arrogant and swore not to surrender, but scolded Liu Heimin, and was finally killed by Liu Heimin at the age of 20. A generation of young warrior Luo Shixin sacrificed his young life for the unification of the Tang Dynasty.

In the turbulent times of the late Sui Dynasty and early Tang Dynasty, Luo Shixin was brave and brave, and once gathered with Qin Qiong, Cheng Yanjin, Li Shiyun and others to resist tyranny; also once charged into battle for the birth and death of the Tang Dynasty, and composed a magnificent heroic song. It's a pity that in the end, "the general died in a hundred battles, and the strong man returned in ten years". On the eve of victory, Luo Shixin died heroically, which is also his best life as a soldier.

Luo Shixin was killed, and Li Shimin lost his beloved general and was grief-stricken. Later, when the Tang army regained the county seat, Li Shimin sent someone to find Luo Shixin's body, fulfilled his wish before his death, and buried Luo Shixin and his old superior Pei Renji in Luoyang's Beibi Mountain, posthumously as "brave".

Before his death, Luo Shixin has always missed his old boss Pei Renji very much, and he is grateful for Pei Renji's kindness. However, Pei Renji was killed by Wang Shichong and his head was different. Later, the Tang army conquered Luoyang, and Luo Shixin's family wealth collected Pei Renji's bones and buried him in Beibi Mountain. Moreover, Luo Shixin kept saying to others, "When I die, I will also be buried here." Therefore, Li Shimin met the needs of Ai Jiang before his death and buried Luo Shixin next to Pei Renji's tomb:

Taizong was sad when he heard this, bought his corpse, buried it, and said that he was brave. Shixin was honored by Pei Renji at the beginning, tasted the grace of his confidant, and Dongduping, so he collected his family wealth and was buried in Beibei. Youyun: "After I die, I should be buried on the side of this tomb." "And the death, the fruit is on the left of the benevolence and the burial. (Old Tang Dynasty Book: The Biography of Luo Shixin)

In the final stage of the contest with Liu Heimin's rebels, the Tang army lost Luoshui County and sacrificed the fierce general Luo Shixin, which was a big blow to Li Shimin. At the same time, Li Shimin also discovered that Liu Heimin was already at the end of the crossbow. This time to capture Luoshui County, Liu Heimin also spent a lot of effort, even if he occupied Luoshui County, he may not be able to hold on for a long time. In view of this phenomenon, Li Shimin decided to counterattack Luoshui County.

Sure enough, four days after the loss of Zhuoshui County, on February 29, the fifth year of Wude (622), Li Shimin organized the Tang Army, attacked the rebels, and recaptured the county seat of Zhuoshui. In other words, Liu Heimin only occupied Lishui County for four days before he was taken back by the Tang army. This time, Liu Heimin was no longer able to fight back, so he had to withdraw from Luoshui County.

The Tang army's capture of Laoshui County was of great significance, as it was equivalent to inserting a sharp sword in the rear of Liu Heimin, cutting off the connection between Liu Heimin and other strongholds, and completely cutting off the back road of the rebels. At the same time, it also marked the final moment of the battle, and the decisive battle between the two sides was about to break out.

In March of the fifth year of Wude (622), Li Shimin and Luo Yi joined forces and stationed them in the south of the river, and at the same time divided their troops to the north bank of the river. At this time, Liu Heimin's main force was stationed north of the water, and the two armies faced each other across the water. Until this time, the initiative of the war returned to Li Shimin. Li Shimin once again resorted to a "strategy to exhaust the enemy" and planned to drag down the rebels. He once relied on this tactic to defeat several strong enemies such as Xue Rengao, Liu Wuzhou, Song Jingang, and Dou Jiande.

Li Shimin's principle was that no matter how Liu Heimin sent troops to challenge, the officers and men of the Tang Army would stick to the barracks and not fight. In addition, Li Shimin sent another surprise army to attack Liu Heimin's rear grain road. At that time, Liu Heimin's main grain and grass supplies were transported from the four prefectures of Hebei, Bei, Cang, and Ying. As a result, Tang general Cheng Mingzhen led more than 1,000 soldiers and horses, ambushed him halfway, sank his boat, burned his car, and successfully broke the rebels' rear supply line.

During the confrontation between the two armies, there were several military encounters. For example, on March 11 of the fifth year of Wude (622), Liu Heimin appointed the general Gao Yaxian as the left servant, and a feast was held in the army to celebrate. Taking advantage of the rebels' feast and lax vigilance, Li Shichang led his troops to approach the enemy camp and prepare to launch a surprise attack.

Seeing the Tang army attacking the camp, Gao Yaxian took advantage of the strength of the wine to get on the horse and ride alone to chase Li Shixian. Unexpectedly, halfway through, Li Shixian's subordinate Pan Mao suddenly came out of the oblique stab, stabbed Gao Yaxian under the horse with a lance, and Gao Yaxian was seriously injured. Seeing Gao Yaxian fall from his horse left and right, he hurriedly stepped forward and helped Gao Yaxian back to the camp. However, before arriving at the camp, Gao Yaxian died of serious injuries, and the rebels lost one of their generals:

Ren Chen, Hei Min shot with Gao Yaxian as his left servant, and he was a high meeting in the army. Li Shiyun led his troops to force his camp, Yaxian got drunk and rode alone, and the Shiyun Department fell from the horse of Pan Burr; Left and right, help to return, and die before the camp. (Information Governance Guide)

The two sides stopped and fought each other. In this way, Li Shimin and Liu Heimin held each other on both sides of the river for more than 60 days. Li Shimin is worthy of being an outstanding military strategist, and he is really calm. After more than 60 days of confrontation, no matter how Liu Heimin provoked, Li Shimin still did not move at all, and he was as steady as Mount Tai.

The problem is that Li Shimin can hold his breath, but Liu Heimin can't hold his breath, and if he continues to consume it like this, he will definitely lose. Liu Heimin then decided to take the initiative and pull back a game. At that time, Li Shiyun kept sneaking up on the rebel camp, and Liu Heimin was ready to take Li Shiyun under the knife.

One night, Liu Heimin gathered troops and horses, launched a large-scale night attack, and attacked Li Shixian's military camp. After Li Shimin got the report, he immediately led a light cavalry, covered the killing from behind, hit the rebels' flank, and rescued Li Shimin's troops. Although Li Shimin was taken by surprise and suddenly attacked behind the enemy's back. But after all, the Tang army had few soldiers and couldn't stand Liu Heimin's large number of people, and soon, Li Shimin fell into the siege of the rebels and was in danger.

The god of luck will always favor Li Shimin. At the critical moment, a member of the army broke through the encirclement and came to rescue Li Shimin, the king of Qin, who was it? Wei Chi Jingde.

I saw that Wei Chi Jingde led a team of sharp soldiers to enter the encirclement, arrived in time, penetrated the enemy's line in one fell swoop, and covered Li Shimin's breakthrough. Taking advantage of the gap in the enemy formation, Li Shimin and his cousin Li Daozong, the Duke of Luoyang, rushed out of the encirclement together. In this battle, Liu Heimin's night attack failed, and the losses were huge.

After this battle, Li Shimin clearly found that Liu Heimin was becoming more and more unable to hold back, and was eager to win quickly. In the blink of an eye, in late March of the fifth year of Wude (622), the Tang army cut off Liu Heimin's grain and grass supply line, and it had been a whole month. At this time, Liu Heimin's army was extremely short of food. Therefore, Li Shimin believes that Liu Heimin will definitely be restless due to the lack of food, and he will lead the army to a decisive battle, which is a good opportunity to encircle and annihilate the rebels.

At this time, Li Shimin plans to officially close the net. This time, Li Shimin developed a new tactic for the final decisive battle - water attack, imitating Guan Yu and Guan Yunchang's "flooded Seventh Army" and breaking Cao's army Yu Ban and Pang De. Hundreds of years later, Li Shimin staged a new "flooded Seventh Army" again.

How to flood the rebels? Li Shimin had a way, he ordered people to build a weir upstream of the river, block the upstream river, and lower the water level downstream, so that the rebels could enter the encirclement. Moreover, Li Shimin instructed the officials in charge of guarding the embankment: "When I fight with the thief, it will be decided." "Wait for my orders, as long as I engage the rebels head-on, you will immediately dig the dikes, open the floodgates, and flood the enemy army, and strive to win the battle.

As Li Shimin expected, on March 26, the fifth year of Wude (622), Liu Heimin made a desperate bet and led 20,000 foot cavalry to cross the river in the south, approaching the Tang army camp and taking the initiative to attack. In the face of Liu Heimin's active attack, Li Shimin first sent a Tang army light cavalry to meet the rebels.

Then, Li Shimin personally led a group of elite cavalry of the Xuanjia Army to attack Liu Heimin's cavalry troops. After a fierce battle, under the strong crushing of the Xuanjia army, the enemy cavalry was killed and crushed. With a fine cavalry, Li Shimin broke the main force of Liu Heimin's 10,000 cavalry and defeated the rebels.

After breaking the rebel cavalry, Li Shimin quickly turned his spearhead, concentrated the main force of the Tang cavalry, and stormed Liu Heimin's infantry. At this time, Liu Heimin's cavalry was basically completely damaged, while the Tang army attacked its infantry with cavalry, which was not a battle at all, but a complete strangulation.

Li Shimin commanded the cavalry and encircled and suppressed Liu Heimin's main infantry force. According to historical records, the cavalry of the Tang Army took advantage of the victory and trampled and ravaged the rebel infantry with war horses, and Liu Heimin led the crowd to resist desperately. At that time, the battle was extremely fierce, from noon to dusk, and fierce battles were fierce.

At the height of the battle, Li Shimin's horse "Curly Hair" was killed by an arrow in the battle. This "curly horse" is also one of the "Six Horses of Zhaoling" of Tang Taizong. According to Li Shimin's account, in the battle of the water, "Curly Mao" was hit by eight arrows in his body, six arrows in the front and two arrows in the back, and he was seriously wounded and died. Li Shimin's evaluation of this war horse is also quite high:

The moon spirit saddle bridle, the sky is rampant, the arc carries the halberd, and the atmosphere is clear. ("Six Horses Tuzan")

Finally, after a bloody battle, Liu Heimin gradually couldn't support it. At this time, Wang Xiaohu, the subordinate general under Liu Heimin, said to Liu Heimin: "If you have all your intelligence, you should die early." So, Liu Heimin and Wang Xiaohu left their subordinates behind without permission and fled away while the chaos was gone. Liu Heimin ran away, and more than 10,000 troops under him were still kept in the dark, not knowing that Liu Heimin had run away, he still continued to fight hard with the Tang army, and was willing to be cannon fodder on the battlefield.

At this time, Li Shimin felt that the time was almost up. Li Shimin then ordered the officials guarding the dam to dig up the embankment upstream of the dam. In an instant, the water poured thousands of miles into the enemy formation, and the water was more than a foot deep. Suddenly, tens of thousands of rebels were drowned in the turbulent waters, and the enemy camp became a Ze country. On the other hand, Li Shimin flooded the enemy camp, which also cut off the rebels' escape route to the north, leaving them in a desperate situation.

In this way, the rebels could not escape, and the whole line collapsed in an instant, and they were defeated and retreated to the shore of the water, and were wiped out by the Tang army. In this battle, the Tang army beheaded more than 10,000 people, and thousands of people drowned in the river. In the end, Li Shimin won the ultimate victory in the battle of the water:

Hei Min was embarrassed and anxious to fight, led 20,000 cavalry, crossed the water in the south, and pressed the official army in the morning. Taizong personally led the elite cavalry, attacked his horse army, broke it, took advantage of the victory to ravage his foot soldiers, the thieves were defeated, and more than 10,000 people were beheaded. First of all, Taizong sent the weir to make the water shallow, so that the black and black water could be crossed. and the battle, it is ordered to break the weir, the water is so big, the depth is more than enough, the thieves are defeated, and those who go to the water are drowned. Hei Min and more than 200 rode north to the Turks, captured all of them, and Hebei Ping. ("Old Tang Dynasty Book: Taizong Benji")

In the battle of the water, Liu Heimin's main force was completely lost and was defeated. Liu Heimin, who suffered defeat, had no choice but to lead two hundred cavalry with his subordinate general Fan Yuan and others to the north to the Turks. In this battle, Li Shimin skillfully used water attack, dug a dam to flood the rebels, and finally won the war. The Hebei rebellion was quelled.

Through the Battle of Lishui, Li Shimin led the Tang army to successfully defeat Liu Heimin's main force, defeated the largest rebel force in Hebei, and opened up a good situation for Li Tang to quell the rebellion in Hebei and Shandong. However, the war did not end. Although Liu Heimin was defeated, another rebel force still existed, and this was Xu Yuanlang, who occupied Xu and Yan Prefectures. Therefore, Li Shimin's next step is to eliminate Xu Yuanlang.

As mentioned above, Liu Heimin rebelled, and Xu Yuanlang jumped up and down, and was the first separatist force to respond to the rebellion. In the entire Hebei rebellion, Xu Yuanlang has always acted as Liu Heimin's right-hand man and number one accomplice. Before, Li Shimin's main energy was all on dealing with Liu Heimin, and he didn't have time to take care of Xu Yuanlang. Now, Liu Heimin has been defeated, Hebei has been initially pacified, and Li Shimin can free up his hands to clean up Xu Yuanlang.

Let's talk about Xu Yuanlang again.

At the beginning, Xu Yuanlang chose to form an alliance with Liu Heimin, the main reason was that he felt that Liu Heimin was a "potential stock" with investment prospects. However, Liu Heimin has failed now, and Xu Yuanlang doesn't want the bamboo basket to be empty, so he is ready to "stop the loss" in time. Therefore, Xu Yuanlang began to look for the next partner to work with. At this time, a Hejian man named Liu Fuli recommended a candidate to Xu Yuanlang,—— Liu Shiche:

There is Liu Shiche, whose talent is slightly unborn, the name is high Dongxia, and there is an extraordinary appearance, the instrument of the real emperor. If the general is self-reliant, he may not succeed in the end; If the world is thoroughly served, the command of the world can be determined. (Information Governance Guide)

After hearing this, Xu Yuanlang thought that Liu Fuli was quite reasonable, so he sent Liu Fuli to Junyi to greet Liu Shiche and want to support Liu Shiche as the new master. At this time, someone stood up to persuade Xu Yuanlang and support Liu Shiche, undoubtedly making wedding clothes for others, and cited the precedent of Li Mi and Zhai Rang to remind Xu Yuanlang; Instead of supporting Liu Shiche and thankless, it is better to take the opportunity to seize his military power, integrate his subordinates, and strengthen his own strength:

The general is confused, and wants to welcome Liu Shiche and serve him, if Shiche is ambitious, how can the general have the whole land! The servant didn't dare to go far from the past, and the general didn't see Zhai Rang to Li Mihu? (Information Governance Guide)

In this way, Xu Yuanlang immediately changed his mind and was ready to use Liu Shiche's influence to seize military power, incorporate the troops, and then unload the mill and kill the donkey to get rid of Liu Shiche. Soon, Liu Shiche came to meet Xu Yuanlang with thousands of troops. Unexpectedly, Xu Yuanlang didn't even show his face, but just asked people to summon him into the city. Liu Shiche felt that the situation was not good and wanted to escape. But after thinking about it, this is Xu Yuanlang's territory, and he will definitely not be able to escape, so he has to bite the bullet and enter the city to meet him.

As soon as Liu Shiche entered the city, he was immediately seized by Xu Yuanlang and appointed as Sima, sent envoys to the two states of Qian and Qi, and used his influence to recruit the two states. Sure enough, because Liu Shiche was very famous in the local area, the two states of Qian and Qi surrendered to Xu Yuanlang one after another. The military power and territory were all in Xu Yuanlang's pocket, and Liu Shiche had no use value. So, Xu Yuanlang crossed the river and demolished the bridge, and without hesitation, he killed Liu Shiche.

It can be seen that Xu Yuanlang is a typical speculator, turning his hands into clouds and covering his hands into rain. Such a person must be a stumbling block on the road to the Tang Dynasty's domination of the world, and must be removed. Therefore, after defeating Liu Heimin, the elimination of Xu Yuanlang's forces naturally has to be put on the agenda.

In April of the fifth year of Wude (622), the Battle of Lishui had just ended, and Li Shimin immediately reorganized his troops and prepared to send troops from Hebei to attack Xu Yuanlang. It happened that at this time, an edict came from Chang'an, and Tang Gaozu Li Yuan urgently summoned Li Shimin back to Beijing to listen to him report the battle situation in person. After receiving his father's summons, Li Shimin did not dare to delay, temporarily handed over the army to the command of Li Yuanji, the king of Qi, and hurried back to Chang'an.

After returning to Chang'an, Li Shimin reported the battle situation to Tang Gaozu in person and stated the specific battle plan for attacking Xu Yuanlang. After listening to Li Shimin's report, Tang Gaozu agreed to his military plan and decided to send Li Shimin to pacify Xu Yuanlang. After getting his father's permission, Li Shimin returned to the front line overnight, rushed to Liyang, gathered a large army, and advanced to Jiyin.

In July of the fifth year of Wude (622), Li Shimin personally led the main force of the Tang army to attack Xu Yuanlang on a large scale. Under the leadership of Li Shimin, the Tang army was like a bamboo, connecting more than ten cities, and the sound shook Huai and Si. The main cities under Xu Yuanlang's jurisdiction were all captured by the Tang army, and Xu Yuanlang was unable to support it alone:

When Xu Yuanlang blocked the troops Xu and Yan, Taizong returned to the division to seek peace, so the counties of He, Ji, Jiang and Huai were all peaceful. ("Old Tang Dynasty Book: Taizong Benji")

At this time, Li Shimin felt that Xu Yuanlang was already a grasshopper after the autumn, and he couldn't make any big waves, and the purpose of this expedition to Huai and Si could be regarded as achieved. It was only a matter of time before Xu Yuanlang's rebellion was quelled. Therefore, Li Shimin left Li Shentong, the king of Huai'an, Ren Gui, the head of the march, and the famous general Li Shixun and others, and continued to besiege Xu Yuanlang; On the sixth day of the seventh month of the fifth year of Wude (622), the class returned to Beijing and ended the campaign to quell the rebellion in Hebei.

It should be said that when the situation in Hebei was out of control, Li Shimin relied on his outstanding military command ability to turn the tide and reverse the decline of the Hebei battlefield in the Tang Dynasty. In the middle of December of the fourth year of Wude (621), Li Shimin led his division to Hebei, and in late March of the fifth year of Wude (622), he launched the "Battle of Lishui" and broke the main force of Liu Heimin. Immediately afterwards, Li Shimin took advantage of the victory to attack and hit Xu Yuanlang's department hard.

In other words, it only took Li Shimin three months to quickly suppress the rebel forces in Hebei and Shandong, and initially put down the rebellion in Hebei. Frankly speaking, without Li Shimin, without Li Shimin's unbridled military skills, the Tang Army would not have been able to defeat the rebels so quickly. For the Li Tang Dynasty's initial pacification of Hebei, Li Shimin's outstanding achievements are undeniable.

The key problem is that at this time, Li Shimin has already conquered the world, and he has reached the point where there is no reward and no seal. A year ago, because of the conquest of Luoyang and the elimination of the two major regimes of Wang Shichong and Dou Jiande, Li Shimin made immortal contributions to the Tang Dynasty and was crowned "General Tiance" and placed on the throne of the prince. In addition, Li Shimin was in charge of the two major platforms of Shaanxi East Road and Yizhou Road, held the national military power, and became a veritable military leader of the Tang Dynasty.

Originally, the conquest of Luoyang was already the pinnacle of Li Shimin's life career and military career. Unexpectedly, after the Battle of Luoyang, Li Shimin led the army to quell the rebellion in Hebei, and once again made great achievements, "The Battle of Lishui", which broke the main force of Liu Heimin's rebels and swept through Hebei and Shandong. Therefore, after defeating Liu Heimin and severely inflicting a blow on Xu Yuanlang, for Li Shimin, who is powerful and dominant, Tang Gaozu Li Yuan really doesn't know how to reward this Erlang.

However, merit is not rewarded, and it does not conform to the rules. In the end, after some weighing, Tang Gaozu decided to grant Li Shimin a title. In October of the fifth year of Wude (622), Tang Gaozu issued an edict, and Li Shimin, the king of Qin, led the title of general of the left and right twelve guards, which belonged to the king of Qin:

The royal insult is folded, the court is especially cut, Ren Wei Xunde, and he is really pro-virtuous. General Tiance led Situ Shangshu to order Shaanxi Dongdao Daxingtai Yizhou Daoxing Tai Shangshu to order Yongzhou Muliangzhou Governor left and right, Wuhou General Shangzhu State, Qin Wang Shimin. The universe is condensed, the ambition is clear, the beginning is established, and the merit is in the industry. Cleared Qin Long, Mao achievements to show, Zhou Han, Rong Wei Chang. The remnants of the river are taken as if they are left behind, and the Ji Dynasty is punished, and the same is rejuvenated. Xuanfeng is the capital, the comprehensive affairs are at the end, the politics are heard, and the outline is lifted. It is advisable to add a pet, style and regular rank, total camera, hope for the truth. You can lead the twelve generals on the left and right, and the rest are the same. ("The Whole Tang Dynasty Wen Qin Wang Led the Left and Right Twelve Guards General System")

The 12 Wei generals were founded in the third year of the great cause of Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty (607 years), with one member of each guard and three products. Its main responsibilities are to consul in general and to govern the affairs of the Eagles and Yang Mansion. After the establishment of the Tang Dynasty, its main responsibilities were to be in charge of the palace guards, patrol police, honor guards, and command the internal and external government soldiers, mostly clan members or military ministers. Li Shimin led the title of general of the left and right twelve guards, which was equivalent to mastering the power of the palace guard.

From July of the fourth year of Wude (621), Liu Heimin raised troops to rebel, and in March of the fifth year of Wude (622), the "Battle of the Water", Li Shimin dug the weir dam, flooded the enemy, and defeated Liu Heimin's main force. For more than nine months, Liu Heimin turned Hebei upside down. Finally, under the thunderous attack of Li Shimin, the army was defeated like a mountain and fled to the Turks. The Hebei region, which has been in turmoil for nine months, ushered in a brief initial calm.

So, in the Battle of Lishui, Li Shimin broke Liu Heimin's main force, does it mean that the Hebei rebellion has been quelled? Of course not. The Li Tang Dynasty put down the rebellion in Hebei, and there was still a long way to go. The victory in the Battle of the Rivers was only a short-lived victory for the Tang Dynasty.

Just before Li Shimin hit Xu Yuanlang's department hard and the class returned to Beijing, Hebei, which had just been pacified, had another turmoil. It turned out that since the fiasco of the Battle of Lishui, Liu Heimin fled to the Turks, and with the help of the Turks, he miraculously resurrected and rebelled again. In the face of the resurgence of Liu Heimin, how will Tang Gaozu Li Yuan respond?

In the second rebellion in Hebei, why did Li Yuan change generals in battle, instead of appointing Li Shimin, the king of Qin, who used soldiers like a god, to continue to lead the army, but ordered the prince Li Jiancheng, who had not led the army for a long time, to crusade against the rebels? So, how did the crown prince Li Jiancheng, who had not been in battle for a long time, deal with rebel forces such as Liu Heimin, Xu Yuanlang, and Gao Kaidao? What impact and significance did the pacification of the Hebei rebellion have on the great cause of the Li Tang Dynasty to unify the world?