Tang Taizong Li Shimin can be said to be a model emperor in history, politically recuperating, creating the "rule of zhenguan", always having the consciousness of "water can carry a boat and can overturn a boat", and being able to think of danger in times of peace.
Although very good, Li Shimin's throne did not come to glory enough, and the blood of his brothers was stepped on at his feet.
The reason why Li Shimin was able to succeed was due to a group of fierce generals behind him, of course, he was able to gather these generals around because of Li Shimin's benevolence and love, and he and these generals also established a deep brotherhood.
The origin of the door god
The TV series "The Legend of Sui and Tang Heroes" shows the audience the history of the Sui and Tang Dynasties, in which the fierce generals mainly include Qin Shubao, Wei Chigong, Luo Cheng, Cheng Yaojin and others, all of whom are good friends with Li Shimin. The young hero Luo Cheng, played by Nie Yuan, has won the love of many people, but Luo Cheng is a fictional character that does not exist in history.
The remaining three, Qin Shubao, Wei Chigong, and Cheng Yaojin, were all top generals at that time.
Qin Shubao and Cheng Yaojin had become friends before they defected to the Tang Dynasty, and the two had joined Wang Shichong together, although Wang Shichong treated them kindly, but the two believed that Wang Shichong was a treacherous person and not a good lord, so they switched to Li Yuan's command, and Li Yuan arranged them to Li Shimin.
Later, both of them followed the then King of Qin Li Shimin's many military achievements, became famous figures, and also won the trust of Li Shimin.
Speaking of Wei Chigong, he is also called Wei Chi Jingde. Wei Chigong was not originally in the same camp as Li Shimin, but in the camp of Liu Wuzhou, who was opposed to them, and only joined the Tang army after the defeat of the army, and they became comrades-in-arms with Qin Shubao.
We all know that future generations regard Qin Shubao and Wei Chigong as door gods, and will paste their portraits on the door. There are also some folk sayings about this.
One theory is that Li Shimin killed many people because of the "xuanwu gate change" and often had nightmares at night, so he invited Qin Shubao and Wei Chigong to guard the gate.
There is also a saying that is mythological. The Dragon King of Jinghe was sentenced to be beheaded for deducting rainfall points in a gambling game, and Wei Zheng was a magistrate. The Dragon King of Jinghe pleaded with Li Shimin, hoping that he could hold Wei Zheng back, and Li Shimin agreed.
Li Shimin dragged Wei Zheng to play chess with himself, and Wei Zheng took a nap in the middle, and came to a dream to kill the Dragon King of Jingjing River. After that, the ghost of the Dragon King of Jinghe came to harass Li Shimin night and night, and Li Shimin had to invite Qin Shubao and Wei Chigong to guard the gate, which was effective.
But no matter how strong the two were, they were only human beings, and they couldn't carry it every night without sleeping, so Li Shimin thought of a way to let the painter paint a portrait of the two and paste it on the door of the palace, and since then Li Shimin has slept peacefully. The god of the gate has also become a folk custom and has been passed down.
The use of Qin Shubao and Wei Chigong as door gods also shows that the two are the most powerful generals under Li Shimin, in contrast, who will be more powerful? As good brothers, they naturally could not compete fiercely under real knives and guns, but before Wei Chigong returned to obedience, the two had a confrontation.
Qin Shubao vs Wei Chigong
Earlier, Wei Chigong was appreciated by Liu Wuzhou and served him. In 619, Liu Wuzhou raised an army south, quickly occupied Taiyuan, and successively captured Jinzhou and Xunzhou. Lü Chongmao, a native of Xia County, who was not far from them, responded with the trend, but was attacked by the Tang army. You must know that Shanxi is Li Yuan's base area, and he initially raised troops from Taiyuan, and Liu Wuzhou will never allow it to spread wilderness in his territory.
Lü Chongmao, faced with the threat of the Tang army, quickly asked Liu Wuzhou for help, and Wei Chigong's superior Song Jingang sent him and XunXiang to support. They and Lü Chongmao came to an internal and external alliance, the Tang army was defeated, and several important people were captured, which can be described as heavy losses. Wei Chigong had such a record as soon as he made a shot, and naturally he was proud and returned with a full load.
However, Li Shimin was not willing to let them go easily, knowing that Wei Chigong's superior was Song Jingang, and Song Jingang was in Huanzhou, and Wei Chigong was definitely going to return to Huanzhou to resume his life, so Li Shimin sent Qin Shubao to intercept Wei Chigong on the way back to Huanzhou.
Two people, one with a double hammer and one with a single whip, are extremely brave figures, but because the Tang army is a surprise attack, hitting the other side by surprise, so in the end the Tang army won the victory, only Wei Chigong and Xiang Xiang escaped, and the other generals were captured.
Because he was overwhelmed and not cautious enough, the duck that Wei Was late to his mouth flew like this, and he also "stole the chicken and did not become a corrosive rice", which was also quite humiliating.
Judging from the results, this battle was qin shubao's victory, but this was a battle between the two armies, not their personal battle, Qin Shubao's victory depended largely on strategy, and Wei Chigong's ability to escape also showed that he was strong.
From this battle, it can also be seen that Qin Shubao and Wei Chigong are two completely different styles, Qin Shubao has rich combat experience, good use of strategy, Wei Chigong is brave and invincible, and has excellent personal combat ability.
The two also had a duel, which was a personal battle, but it was not a real fight, which was the famous story of "two hammers for three whips".
In the battle of Baibi Pass, Qin Shubao and Wei Chigong were inseparable from victory and defeat in three hundred rounds of the battle, and it was meaningless to fight any longer, and they would be annoyed if they were not tired. Wei Chigong really couldn't stand it, so he made a simple and rude suggestion: The two took turns to smash on each other, and whoever couldn't stand it first would lose.
This "childish" method is more in line with Wei Chigong's style, but Qin Shubao does not accompany him to fool around, on the one hand, it is too stupid to stand and let others smash, their weapons are so heavy, both of them have great strength, even if they win, they will have to pay a big price, on the other hand, Li Shimin loves talent and has always wanted to make Wei Chigong obedient, so he can't break people.
So Qin Shubao changed the rules slightly, he said: People are flesh and blood, weapons directly smashed on people are either dead or injured, it is better to test the opening of the stone, two people smashed on the stone, who uses the least number of times to smash the count who wins. Wei Chigong thought about it and agreed.
Qin Shubao first wielded two hammers, under the common power of the double hammer, the boulder opened in response, Wei Chigong was very stressed at this time, Qin Shubao was a double hammer, he was a single whip, obviously not dominant, if a whip succeeded, he won, two whips smashed the boulder Two people can fight a draw, three whips will be humiliated.
Wei Chigong waved a whip, did not open, and then waved another whip, or did not open, he was in a hurry, holding his breath and exerting all his strength to swing the third whip, and finally caused the boulder to split.
Qin Shubao not only did not laugh at him, but applauded him, saying that the two men exchanged two hammers for three whips, or played a draw. This made Wei Chigong feel a little ashamed, and he also felt Qin Shubao's benevolence. Although the two were in the opposite camp, they admired each other, which also laid the foundation for The future Wei Chigong to submit to Li Shimin.
Later, due to the defeat of Wei Chigong, Li Shimin sent people to persuade him to surrender, and Wei Chigong officially joined Li Shimin's command.
In the face of the coming and descending of this fierce general, Li Shimin was very happy, and it can be said that he got what he wanted. Looking at the heroes around Li Shimin, many did not follow him at the beginning, and even had enemies with him, but he could accept them without hesitation, no wonder Li Shimin could become a good emperor.
Comparison of Li Shimin's merits after ascending the throne
The positions of Qin Shubao and Wei Chigong are actually not exactly the same, Qin Shubao is loyal to the Tang Dynasty, Wei Chigong is loyal to Li Shimin, in terms of contribution to the Tang Dynasty, Qin Shubao is greater, and for Li Shimin's contribution, Wei Chigong is greater.
For example, in the well-known "Xuanwumen Change", whether Qin Shubao participated or not is still uncertain, and Wei Chigong is really the biggest hero, when Li Yuanji wanted to hurt Li Shimin, it was Wei Chigong who shot Li Yuanji with an arrow, protected Li Shimin, and even the xuanwumen change happened under his persuasion.
The stages at which Qin Shubao and Wei Chigong made their respective achievements were a little different. Qin Shubao's return was earlier, but Wei Chigong died in 658, Qin Shubao died in 638, and after Qin Shubao's death, Wei Chigong lived for 20 years, so he assisted Li Shimin for a longer time.
Because of the early years of the southern conquest and the northern war, there were many injuries, and Qin Shubao often fell ill after middle age, and went deep into simplicity, it can be said that after Li Shimin ascended the throne, Qin Shubao no longer had any merits.
Wei Chigong, on the other hand, was physically strong, and not long after Li Shimin took the throne, he faced pressure from the Turkic army, and Wei Chigong was ordered to break the Turks in danger, and during his retirement, he also went out with Li Shimin to attack Goguryeo.
However, Wei Chigong had a fatal weakness, that is, he was easy to be proud, and his defeat at the hands of Qin Shubao was related to this personality. After submitting to Li Shimin, he did not change until he was warned by Li Shimin at a banquet in the sixth year of Zhenguan.
At the banquet, because someone was seated in front of Wei Chigong, causing his dissatisfaction and angry accusations, Li Daozong, who was sitting below him, explained to him, and as a result, Wei Chigong hit Li Daozong in the eye in anger.
Tang Taizong, the owner of the banquet, was not happy in an instant, but instead of being angry, he stopped the banquet and then warned Liu Bang of Han Gaozu.
Later generations know that Liu Bang crossed the river and demolished the bridge, "cunning rabbits died, good dogs cooked", the founding heroes were not allowed to die well, and Tang Taizong was the emperor who treated the founding heroes the most properly, and thus left a reputation.
Tang Taizong said that he had read the Book of Han and found that most of the heroes had not been able to save themselves, so he blamed Liu Bang.
Therefore, after ascending the throne, he warned himself that he must not be like Liu Bang and must protect the heroes. However, Wei Chigong repeatedly committed crimes, and only then did he understand that in fact, Liu Bang could not be blamed, and that he should pay attention to the distinction between reward and punishment in dealing with meritorious heroes, and could not blindly tolerate them. Warned Lieutenant Chi Gong not to do anything that he regretted.
Since then, Wei Chigong has relented somewhat. This incident also reflected Tang Taizong's benevolence and broad-mindedness.
And Qin Shubao is different, he is a military general, but not a reckless man, he has the courage of a military general, but also a high character, wisdom and courage, heavy love and righteousness, for people to fight righteousness but not impulsive, "two ribs into the knife" is from Qin Shubao, he does not deliberately show his ability, but can not cover up his own light, became the most famous general in the early Tang Dynasty.
However, Qin Shubao had a brain on the battlefield, but he was a fresh hand in the court, too honest, and was ostracized by civilian officials. Maybe that's what makes him cute.
In short, Qin Shubao and Wei Chigong were both very powerful military generals in the early Tang Dynasty, and they made great contributions to the establishment of the Tang Dynasty, and from the perspective of the competition, Qin Shubao may be better, but it is still difficult to distinguish between victory and defeat.