Text/Fu Huaxuan
He Ruobi ,compound surname He Ruo, character Fubo, Henan Luoyang, Xianbei ethnic group. A famous general with great military achievements during the Northern Zhou and Sui Dynasties. He was born as a shogun, had few ambitions, was good at riding and shooting, was knowledgeable and knowledgeable, and was a young man with a good reputation. He began to serve as an official during the Northern Zhou Dynasty, and he followed Yuwen Xian, the King of Qi of Northern Zhou, and was given the title of Duke of Dangting County. Later, he accompanied Wei Xiaokuan in pacifying the Huainan region, made military achievements, and was given the title of Duke of Xiangyi County. After the establishment of the Sui Dynasty, the official Bai Wu Prefecture was the governor, and because of his meritorious participation in the Sui War against Chen, he was made a great general of the Right Wu Hou, sealed the pillar state, and entered the Duke of Song, which can be described as a meritorious achievement. However, because of his self-esteem and high merit, he was resentful and slowly alienated by Emperor Wen of Sui.
In the third year of Daye (607), he was killed by the Sui Emperor for the crime of slandering the government.
This is He Ruobi's simple experience.
In fact, his father, He Ruodun, already knew his son's weakness, as the saying goes, "Zhizi Moruo's father", and has always been worried about his son's fate.
He Ruobi's father, He Ruodun, was known for his martial arts and loyalty, and served as the governor of Jinzhou in Northern Zhou, but was later killed by Yuwen Hu. When his father was about to be executed, he said to He Ruobi: "Son, my death, I know very well in my own heart, all because of the misfortune from the mouth!" I died because I said too many things I shouldn't have said and couldn't control my mouth, you must take it as a warning. After saying this, he stabbed He Ruobi's tongue with an awl and told him to speak cautiously. He Ruobi immediately swore to his father that he would be cautious in his words and deeds in the future, and treat others with humility.
He Ruobi remembered his father's last words, studied martial arts assiduously, and was able to write articles and read a lot of books, and soon became famous. Yuwen Xian, the king of Northern Zhou Qi, respected him and led him to be his own secretary (presumably the secretary).
When Emperor Wu of Zhou was in power, The Shangzhu Kingdom Karasuma said to the emperor: "The crown prince does not have the talent to be an emperor, he should choose someone else, this is related to jiangshan sheji, this matter I and He Ruobi also talked about." So the emperor called He Ruobi to inquire, and He Ruobi knew that the position of the prince could not be shaken, and he was afraid that the disaster would fall on his head, and remembered his father's last words, so he said to the emperor: "The prince's learning has improved every day, and I think it is very good that he has not seen any shortcomings." The emperor was silent after hearing this. After He Ruobi withdrew, Karasuma knew what he had said to the emperor and severely rebuked him for betraying himself, He Ruobi explained: "If the king's mouth is not tight, he will lose his faith, and the minister's mouth is not tight, and even his life cannot be saved, so I dare not speak casually." ”
Sure enough, when the crown prince ascended the throne, Karasuma was killed, and He Ruobi was spared the scourge of killing. He secretly congratulated himself in his heart, and secretly admired his father.
In 581 (the first year of the Sui Kai Emperor), Yang Jian ascended the throne by Zen and changed his name to Sui as Emperor Wen of Sui. Yang insisted that the empress dowager had the ambition to annex Jiangnan and unify China. I want to find someone who can help him achieve great things. Gao Hao said, "Among the ministers in the imperial court, judging from their literary and martial talents, none of them can compare with He Ruobi. Emperor Wen of Sui felt the same way, so he appointed He Ruobi as the governor of Wu Prefecture and made him prepare to pacify the Chen Dynasty. He Ruobi happily accepted this task and offered 10 strategies to destroy the Chen Dynasty, and Emperor Wen of Sui was very happy to see it and gave him a sword.
In October 588 (the eighth year of the reign of Emperor Kai of Sui), Yang Jian established Huainan Xingtai Province in Shouchun (present-day Shou County, Anhui), with Yang Guang, the King of Jin, as the Commander of The Shang Shu Ling of Xingtai, in charge of the destruction of Chen. He also ordered Yang Guang, Yang Jun, and Yang Su the King of Qin to be marshals of the march, Gao Ji to be the marshal of the Jin Dynasty, and Wang Shao to be sima the right servant, and to concentrate 518,000 troops on the water and land, from yang Guangjie, the king of jin, to the sea in the east, to Ba and Shu in the west, and to the banner boats, with a huge momentum. The Sui army attacked Chen in eight routes from the upper reaches of the Yangtze River to the lower reaches, with He Ruobi as the commander of the march, leading the army out of Guangling (Yangzhou) and concentrating on the north bank of the Yangtze River.
At the beginning, the soldiers he Ruobi wanted to defend along the river must concentrate on Liyang when they were handed over, and each time they set up many banners in Liyang, and the mountains were full of military tents, and the momentum was huge. The People of the Chen Dynasty thought that the Sui army was going to attack on a large scale, so they recruited most of the country's army to defend. Later, it was learned that the sui dynasty soldiers were exchanging garrisons, so many of the soldiers who were recruited withdrew. In the future, every time the defense was changed, the Chen Dynasty people thought that this was a very common thing, and they no longer mobilized a large number of people to defend. He Ruobi thus paralyzed the Chen Dynasty, and when he led a large army across the river, the Chen Dynasty people did not notice anything at all. He Ruobi quickly crossed the Yangtze River and captured Southern Xuzhou (Zhenjiang), the Sui army discipline was strict, Qiu did not commit any crimes, some soldiers bought alcohol and drank in the civilian population, and after He Ruobi knew about it, he immediately arrested and beheaded the soldiers who violated the "prohibition order". When the army reached Jiang Shan (Purple Mountain in the northeast of Nanjing), it was close to the capital Jiankang (Nanjing), and the Chen Dynasty generals Lu Guangda, Zhou Zhi'an, Ren Mannu, Tian Rui, Fan Yi and others led elite soldiers to resist. Tian Rui led an army to attack He Ruobi, but was defeated by He Ruobi and fled.
Lu Guangda and others led the troops to charge one after another, the momentum was very brave, and He Ruobi's troops seemed to be gradually unable to resist and began to "defeat and retreat." He Ruobi estimated that the enemy soldiers had become proud, lost their guard, and were also in a state of fatigue, so he ordered the soldiers to fight back in a big way and kill the Chen army to a great defeat. The Chen Dynasty general Xiao Maha was captured, and He Ruobi ordered him to be dragged out and beheaded. Xiao Maha looked at ease and was not afraid of death at all, so He Ruobi let him go and treated him with courtesy. Later, when he entered the Chen Dynasty Palace, chen shubao had already been captured by Han Huhu, and after He Ruobi came, he asked someone to bring Chen Shubao to him to see. When Chen Shubao heard that he wanted to see He Ruobi, he was scared to death, and his clothes were soaked with cold sweat, and after seeing He Ruobi, his body trembled and he kept kowtowing to him. He Ruobi said to him: "The monarch of a small country should bow down in the face of the emissaries of a large country, this is a courtesy, you don't have to be afraid, you can still be a returner after you enter my court, so there is no need to worry about anything else." ”
After returning to the dynasty, He Ruobi, because he resented that he had not caught Chen Shubao, let Han Huhu grab the first merit, and the credit was also ranked behind Han Huhu, so he quarreled with Han Huhu, and the more fierce the quarrel, the more fierce the two pulled out their swords, and the people around them were helpless, and finally they gave up after the mediation of Emperor Wen of Sui. Emperor Wen of Sui issued an edict praising He Ruobi. However, Yang Guang, the commander-in-chief of the war, violated the military order because He Ruobi had fought a decisive battle with the enemy before the predetermined attack time, and handed He Ruobi over to the relevant officials for disposal. Emperor Wen of Sui sent people to chase him back, and instead of pursuing him, he treated him kindly, worshiped him as a great general of the Right Wu Hou, sealed the pillar state, entered the Duke of Song, and rewarded him with a lot of property.
He Ruobi made great contributions, his status and reputation were very high, and his brothers were all made county dukes because of him, and served as officials such as assassins and generals. There were countless treasures in He Ruobi's family, and there were hundreds of maids wearing silk silk, and everyone at that time thought that it was already very glorious. He Ruobi believed that his merits and reputation had surpassed those of other ministers, and felt that he should be able to become prime minister. Later, Yang Su served as the right servant, and he was still a general, and his heart was very uneven, he forgot his father's last words, showed this unfairness in his words, and complained everywhere, it was really "the mountain can be moved, the sex is difficult to change", and later he was indeed convicted of words and dismissed from office, and He Ruobi resented even more.
After a few years, because he continued to complain and went to prison, the emperor said to him: "I appointed Gao Ji and Yang Su as prime ministers, but you often talked about it, saying that these two people would only eat, what does this mean?" He Ruobi still said proudly: "Although Gao Hao is my old friend and Yang Su is my cousin, I know them twice, and I know who they are, so I say so." The ministers therefore wrote to the court one after another, saying that He Ruobi was dissatisfied with the imperial court and should be executed. Emperor Wen of Sui felt that he had done a great job and only deposed him as a commoner. After more than a year, he regained his title and never reused him again, but was still very kind to him every time he was rewarded at a banquet.
Once, when the Turks entered the dynasty to pay tribute, Emperor Wen of Sui asked the Turks to shoot arrows, and the Turks hit the bullseye with one arrow, and they looked up at their faces and were full of pride. The Emperor sighed, "No one but He Ruobi can compare with them." So he was ordered to shoot arrows, and He Ruobi, who was snubbed, was flattered, knelt down and prayed, saying: If I am purely hearted for the country, I should hit with an arrow." If you're not like that, you can't shoot. "The result was really an arrow hitting the bullseye, Emperor Wen of Sui.
When the Sui Emperor was crown prince, he once asked He Ruobi: "Yang Su, Han Baohu, and Shi Wanzai can all be called good generals, but what are the advantages and disadvantages between them?" He Ruobi said: "Yang Su is a fierce general, but he has no strategy; Han Baohu is a general who is good at fighting, not good at leadership; Shi Wanzai is a general who is good at riding horses, not a general." The prince asked, "Then who is the real good general?" He Ruobi bowed down and said, "This is up to Your Highness to choose." His implication was that he could be a general, much better than them. As a result, after the Sui Emperor ascended the throne, He Ruobi was even more alienated. In the end, He Ruobi did not abide by the last instructions that his father had asked him to speak carefully, and was killed because he was talking about the gains and losses of the imperial court without any cover, and died at the age of 64.
He Ruobi never understood the official essence of his father's admonition to "be careful in words and deeds." His experience told future generations that officials should keep their mouths shut and be careful in their words and deeds is the first magic weapon for standing in the official field.