At the beginning of the Tang Dynasty, three people were hacked very badly, they were Zhang Shigui, Li Daozong and Su Dingfang, and among the three, Su Dingfang was the most miserable, and in the novels, interpretations and film and television dramas of the Sui and Tang Dynasties such as "Speaking of Tang", Su Dingfang was the culprit who killed Luo Cheng. The 23-year-old Luo Cheng was pierced through the heart by a million arrows, which caused people too strong a shock, and as a result, Su Dingfang became a big villain.
In fact, Su Dingfang was a famous general in the early Tang Dynasty, and the feats he established in his life were definitely among the top few famous generals in the early Tang Dynasty. He went on a crusade to the west, "destroying the Three Kingdoms before and after, and capturing their masters." "The territory of the Tang Dynasty expanded to the west and east on a large scale, and became a rare warrior during the tang gaozong period."
However, these feats established by Su Dingfang were all established during the reign of Emperor Gaozong of Tang and Li Zhi, and they were only established after he was more than sixty years old, so some people may ask why such a great general only made achievements in his later years. No, he emerged at the age of 15 and followed his father, who naturally became the commander-in-chief after his death.
In the melee at the end of the Sui Dynasty, Su Dingfang followed Dou Jiande and became the adopted son of Gao Xian, a subordinate of Dou Jiande, who was very desperate on the battlefield and made many military achievements, and later Dou Jiande was executed by Li Yuan, and Liu Hei was pushed to the position of leader by Dou Jiande's old department, and then rebelled against the Tang Dynasty, Su Dingfang was also among them, and made a lot of military achievements, and after Liu Heimin's rebellion was put down, Su Dingfang returned home and lived in seclusion for a few years in his hometown.
In the early years of Zhenguan, li Shimin had just ascended the throne, and began to select talents on a large scale, and Su Dingfang was also used by the imperial court, becoming the Kuang Daofu, according to Su Dingfang's historical performance on the battlefield, becoming a famous general in the Zhenguan period was just around the corner.
But the real situation is that he was not valued at all during the Zhenguan years, as if he was hidden by the snow and disappeared, until after Li Zhi ascended the throne, Su Dingfang really exerted his ambitions. So, what exactly happened to him during the Zhenguan years that caused such a situation?
This brings us to the Tang War against the Eastern Turks that began in 629. The war between the Tang and the Eastern Turks has never stopped, most of the time the Eastern Turks invaded the border after a period of time, so that the Tang was overwhelmed, and the year of Li Shimin's ascension to the throne was even more fierce, Jieli Khan led 200,000 soldiers to Chang'an and arrived near Weishui.
At that time, the garrison of Chang'an was not much, and it was impossible to confront the Turks, so Li Shimin had to sign a covenant with Jieli Khan at Weishui Benqiao, and sent a lot of things to send away this plague god, which has always been a shame for Li Shimin, and he has also been accumulating strength, hoping that one day he can destroy the Eastern Turks in one fell swoop.
In the winter of 629, this opportunity came, and Li Shimin did not hesitate to send a six-way army, led by the famous Tang general Li Jingjiedu, to carry out the task of destroying the Eastern Turks.
This time, Li Shimin was imperative, and looking at the generals he sent, he knew that in addition to Li Jing, there were Zhang Gongjin, Chai Shao, Li Daozong, Xue Wanche, Wei Xiaojie, etc., of course, Su Dingfang, who had not yet established an inch of merit for the Tang Dynasty, also participated in this battle, and the Old Book of Tang records:
"Jing made Dingfang lead two hundred horsemen as forwards, rode on the fog, went to the thief for a mile, and suddenly the fog stopped, saw his tooth tent, and rushed to cover up and kill dozens of hundreds of people. Jie Li and the Sui Princess scattered, and the rest of the people fell to their knees, and the Jing army arrived, so they surrendered. Jun also awarded the title of General of the Left Wu Hou Zhonglang. ”
This is almost all of Su Dingfang's performance during the Zhenguan years, and it is also a performance worthy of affirmation. The entire war against the Eastern Turks was also a complete victory, the Eastern Turks were destroyed, Jieli Khan was sent to Chang'an, and Empress Xiao and her grandson Yang Zhengdao also returned to Chang'an. After the army returned to Beijing, Li Shimin held a grand banquet for them, and even The Emperor Li Yuan attended this banquet.
However, after the revelry, what awaited Li Jing was Li Shimin's severe rebuke, because "Wen Yanbo, the imperial master, harmed his merits, and the Jing army had no discipline, causing the Qibao to be captured and scattered in the hands of the rebels." ”
This matter can be big or small, or not, all depending on the mouths of the civilian officials. Of course, this does not mean that Li Jing is completely innocent, in fact, it is not unusual to defeat the other side on the battlefield and plunder the other side's property, on the contrary, it is still a matter that everyone acquiesces to, and no one will pursue such a thing in normal times.
Moreover, like Li Jing who has made such a great achievement, such a thing is not to say that there is no such thing, even if there is, it is impossible to be poked out, but someone has stood up and impeached Li Jing. This actually has a lot to do with the environment at that time, and the living environment of the martial generals during the Zhenguan period is far less than that in the Wude years.
This is not to say that Li Shimin is a problem, but because the main task of the Wude years is to pacify the world, it is precisely when the military generals are needed, and the civilian ministers will most likely suppress even if they have other thoughts, while the Zhenguan years are different, the world has been unified, it is the time when Yan Wu is repairing the text, the status of the military generals is gradually reduced, the contradiction between the civilian and the military generals is gradually increasing, and many military generals are excluded.
Li Jing, who was in the position of Shangshu of the Military Department, was naturally no exception, and he had made great contributions, and the civil servants naturally did not like it and came out to do something. Moreover, there was also an episode on the battlefield this time, in which Jieli Khan had expressed to Li Shimin that he would submit to the Tang Dynasty in order to gain respite, and Li Shimin also sent Tang Jian as an emissary to convey his own edicts, hoping to lower the defenses of Jieli Khan.
This was the best time for Li Jing to attack, and when his deputy Zhang Gongjin proposed that Tang Jian and the others were still at Jieli Khan's place, Li Jing said:
"This military machine also, the time must not be lost, Han Xin so broke Qi also." Such as Tang Jian and other generations, he is a pity. ”
Whether this incident made the civil servants more jealous, we do not know, but after the war, Li Jing was targeted by civilian officials, which is why there was impeachment. Li Shimin was furious, but he only verbally rebuked Li Jing and did not punish him, and Li Jing's not being punished did not mean that his subordinates were not punished, such as Su Dingfang, who had newly made military achievements.
Whether Su Dingfang connived at the plundering of property by his men on the battlefield, we do not know, but as a subordinate of Li Jing, after Li Jing was impeached, he could not be unharmed, but would be targeted, which is also because of Su Dingfang's identity.
Su Dingfang was not the person who threw himself into the Tang Dynasty in the early days, on the contrary, he was only enabled in the early days of Zhenguan, and he did not make any achievements, it can be said that he was weak in strength, and he made a splash in the battle, which was very eye-catching, and naturally it was easy to become the target of attack, so Su Dingfang must have been punished, and even directly hung up by Li Shimin, in today's words, it is snow hidden.
This kind of snow hiding may be unintentional, Li Shimin hung him in order to block the mouths of civilian officials, so that they no longer have to accuse Li Jing, in fact, Li Shimin knew very well that Li Jing was not wrong, he once said to Li Jing: "Someone slandered the gong before, and now that he has realized it, the public should not think of it." However, this matter could not but give a little explanation to the civilian officials, and Su Dingfang and others became Li Shimin's account.
Su Dingfang was dried for more than twenty years, until Li Shimin died, and did not use Su Dingfang, fortunately, gold will shine wherever it is, after Li Zhi ascended the throne, he used Su Dingfang, and only then did he have the famous general Su Dingfang.