During the Xuanwumen Rebellion, Li Shimin successfully eliminated Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji, and later forced Li Yuan to step down, and then ascended the throne as emperor. Becoming emperor Li Shimin naturally did not forget to discuss the merits and rewards, among them, Qin Qiong was named the Grand General of Zuo Wuwei of Zhengsanpin, and 700 households were sealed, considering that he had a Duke of Yiguo from Yipin before, plus Qin Qiong ranked last among the twenty-four meritorious servants of Lingyange, many people believed that Qin Qiong was treated poorly by Li Shimin, and this kind of thin treatment was because Qin Qiong did not participate in the change of XuanwuMen.
Let's not say where this conclusion came from, at least in the two Tang Dynasties there are clear records of Qin Qiong's participation in the Xuanwumen Revolution, as a member of the Qin Royal Palace, as a capable general around Li Shimin, it is obviously impossible to say that he did not support Li Shimin and was loyal to the Tang, although Qin Qiong was loyal to the Tang, but in the matter of taking the wife, he could not stay out of the matter and refuse to participate.
If Qin Qiong really had a different heart for Li Shimin, it would have been impossible for him to follow Li Shimin's side to make meritorious achievements, and during the Zhenguan years, he would not have been able to become the great general of Zuo Wuwei of Zheng Sanpin, and it would have been impossible to obtain the "Special Order of Emperor Taizong to establish a stone man and horse within his body, with the merits of the battle front." The honor of ", it is even more unlikely to be included in the Twenty-Four Meritorious Heroes of Ling Yan Pavilion." All this shows that Li Shimin attaches great importance to Qin Qiong.
The reason why Qin Qiong ranked last among the twenty-four heroes of Lingyange was for a reason, first of all, the so-called ranking of Lingyange heroes was actually more based on the size of the official position, and the list of heroes took into account three aspects of achievements: the pacification of the world, the change of Xuanwumen and the governance of the world. Twenty-four individuals were selected and then ranked according to their official positions at the time (those who had died were considered posthumously).
As a result, Qin Qiong ranked last because his official position was the last in the list of heroes, and we all know that after Li Shimin ascended the throne, Although Qin Qiong served as a general of zuo wuwei, he was basically in a semi-retired state and spent most of his time recuperating at home.
Regardless of whether this illness was true or not, he hardly did anything during the Zhenguan years, and his natural official position had hardly changed, and zheng Sanpin's zuo wuwei general was his limit, until his death in 638 and he was posthumously awarded the title of governor of Xuzhou, and five years later he could be included in the list of LingYange heroes by Li Shimin, which in itself can show li Shimin's importance to Qin Qiong.
Since this is the case, let's go back and look back at why after Li Shimin ascended the throne, Qin Qiong was given the title of Grand General of Zuo Wuwei of Zhengsanpin, and he originally had the title of Duke of Yiguo from Yipin during the Wude years. In fact, this was not the case, Qin Qiong had always shown an upward trend during the Wude years, after all, the battle achievements were there, no one could erase them, and the title and the official position themselves were not the same thing.
The official ranks of the Tang Dynasty were actually nine grades and thirty grades, and they included several grades: official, civil and military official, knighthood, and honor. Among them, the official is the real position, while the rest is basically an honorary position without specific work, and the honor of the representative looks like a high position actually has no real power. For example, Qin Qiong had both a knighthood and a knighthood during the Wude years, and Luo Shixin and Cheng Zhijie in the same period did not have such honors, not to mention Wei Chi Jingde, who was relatively late in the Tang Dynasty.
Qin Qiong's fighting strength on the battlefield was obvious to all, including his devotion in the Sui Future Guardian Army and later in the Wagang Army, not to mention his performance after surrendering to the Tang Dynasty.
Qin Qiong's first position after surrendering to Tang was the commander of the Ma Army, and in the same year after he surrendered to Tang, he followed Li Shimin in attacking Song Jingang, among which in the Battle of Meiliangchuan, Qin Qiong and Yin Kaishan successfully defeated Wei Chi Jingde's army, in this battle, Qin Qiong made the most contributions, so Li Yuan gave Qin Qiong a golden bottle, and personally expressed his trust in Qin Qiong with words, Li Yuan said:
"Ignoring his wife, Qing came to vote for me from afar, and he set up an effect." The flesh can be used by the Qing, and when it is cut to give the Qing, the children are jade? The secretary should be encouraged. ”
Qin Qiong was then appointed as the Right Third Commander of the Qin Dynasty on the ZhengsiPin, and after defeating Song Jingang, Li Yuan rewarded Qin Qiong again, this time with a hundred jin of gold and six thousand pieces of miscellaneous color, and then for his merits, qin Qiong was crowned as the Shangzhu State, which was the only one among the fierce generals at that time. It can be seen from this that Qin Qiong has made such a battle achievement in this battle.
It was also in this battle that Wei Chi Jingde eventually surrendered to Tang and became a fierce general around Li Shimin, and participated in the battle of Pingding Wang Shichong and Dou Jiande with Qin Qiong, Cheng Zhijie, Luo Shixin, etc. Qin Qiong, Cheng Zhijie, Wei Chi Jingde, and Zhai Changsun respectively commanded Li Shimin's Xuanjia army, and made outstanding military achievements in the Battle of Tiger Prison Pass, and after the two major forces of Wang Shichong and Dou Jiande were pacified, the imperial court once again discussed and rewarded merits.
Li Shimin became a famous General of Heavenly Strategy, while Qin Qiong, Cheng Zhijie, Luo Shixin and other fierce generals were awarded the title of Duke of Guo after the war. Qin Qiong was made the Duke of Yiguo, Cheng Zhijie was made the Duke of Suguo, and luo Shixin was made the Duke of Guo. And Li Yuan's reward to Li Shimin was also added with material rewards, that is, gold hundred pounds and seven thousand pieces, which was incomparable to other fierce generals.
Therefore, we see that during the Wude period, in addition to qin qiong's official position in the right third army of the Qin dynasty on the Zhengsipin, there were also the titles of duke of the Yiguo state from Yipin and the title of Shangzhu Guoxun of Zhengerpin. This was the most powerful among the fierce generals of the same period, and Wei Chi Jingde was relatively of the lowest rank, which had a lot to do with Wei Chi Jingde's surrender to Tang Dynasty, and although he was very favored by Li Shimin, he was regarded as a personal bodyguard by Li Shimin in the Battle of Luoyang.
However, because this was his first great war after he surrendered to Tang, no matter how he said that his battle achievements could not be compared with other fierce generals. Therefore, before the change of Xuanwumen, Wei Chi Jingde had the lowest position, and even was ostracized, tied up by Qu Tutong and others, if it were not for Li Shimin Kuanren, it is difficult to say whether Wei Chi Jingde would have lived to the change of Xuanwu Gate.
On the eve of the xuanwumen change, Wei Chi Jingde seized the opportunity to make meritorious contributions, not only persuading Li Shimin to start an incident, but also resisting Li Jiancheng's threats and inducements and even assassinations, and also performing prominently in the Xuanwumen rebellion, not only helping Li Shimin get rid of Er Li, but also going to Li Yuan to "protect" Li Yuan by the way, which can be said to be the greatest meritorious service, and therefore, Wei Chi Jingde's battle exploits went straight after Qin Qiong and Cheng Yaojin.
After Li Shimin ascended the throne, Qin Qiong, Cheng Zhijie, and Wei Chi Jingde all held the official position of Zheng Sanpin, and Wei Chi Jingde also had the title of Duke of Wu from Yipin. In terms of food and sealing, Wei Chi Jingde far exceeded Qin Qiong and Wei Chi Jingde, and even more had "Qi Wangfu's treasury utensils, sealed his entire residence, and gave Jingde as much as possible." "And ten thousand silks." This is considered to be a latecomer.
But in general, Qin Qiong was promoted from the official position of Zhengsipin in the Wude period to the official position of Zhengsanpin in the Zhenguan period, which was definitely a promotion, and according to the tang Dynasty's official settings, the first and second products were basically fictitious, either posthumously sealed or vacant, very few people could get the official positions of the first and second products before they died, in the Zhenguan period, only the eldest son Wuji and Fang Xuanling and others had the official position of the first product, and then from the Shangshu of the second product.
Most of the time, the official position of Zheng Sanpin was the ceiling for the promotion of officials, and Qin Qiong's official position of Zheng Sanpin was the highest official position of a military attaché like him.