Tang Gaozu Li Yuan had a total of 22 sons, of which there were only four concubines, namely the eldest Li Jiancheng, the second li Shimin, the third li Xuanba, and the fourth Li Yuanji, of which Li Xuanba was Li Yuanba in the yanyi, but he died at the age of 16, and there were no military achievements, and it is estimated that martial arts are also commonplace, not the first brave general of the Sui Dynasty described in the rendition.
In the folk interpretation, Li Jiancheng, Li Shimin, and Li Yuanji have the highest appearance rate, fighting for the throne, but these three people are indeed very capable, Li Shimin needless to say, Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji are not weak, especially Li Jiancheng also made great contributions with his father in the process of founding the Tang Dynasty, and was established as a prince early.
Li Shimin shot and killed Li Jiancheng
Thanks to the righteousness, Li Shimin's three brothers are too famous, and the world often ignores that one of Li Yuan's daughters is also a hero, whose military merit is no less than Li Yuanji, and he is also born to the same mother as Li Shimin's three brothers, and has his own nickname after death. Today's famous Shanxi NiangziGuan's name is because of her, she is the Princess of Pingyang. Let's take a look at how this female heroine left her own name in history.
A strong woman with a runaway husband
Princess Pingyang's husband was chai shao, a general of the Sui Dynasty, who later ranked among the twenty-four heroes of Lingyange. But at first, he was far from the heroism of his later generation. Li Yuan was in Taiyuan when he was preparing to rebel, while Chai Shao's family was in Chang'an, and when he received a letter from Lao Zhangren, the sui officials in Chang'an had already anticipated that Li Yuan would rebel, so they began to arrest Li Yuan's family.
Tang Gaozu Li Yuan
Chai Shao said to Princess Pingyang: "Your father is ready to rebel and wants me to go to Taiyuan to meet with you, but we will certainly not be able to run away together, leaving you and I am not at ease, what do you say to do?" Princess Pingyang said, "Lang Jun just needs to go quickly, I am a woman, easy to hide, will find their own way, you don't have to worry." So Chai Shao ran away alone with peace of mind.
Recruit troops and establish base areas
However, Princess Pingyang did not sit still, but instead did something that shocked even Li Yuan. She immediately returned to the Li family manor in Exian (present-day Hu county, Shaanxi), sold the manor property and began to recruit soldiers and horses, and establish her own armed forces.
At that time, the Sui Dynasty was already in chaos, and there were many rebel armies in various places, and in Shaanxi, Princess Pingyang extensively established a united front in the local area, united all the rebel leaders who could be united, and successively incorporated Li Shentong and He Panren, who were much stronger than her, and some small forces such as Li Zhongwen, Xiang Shanzhi, qiu Shili and other tribesmen. Later, all the rebels near Chang'an City surrendered to the Princess of Pingyang, and the Sui Dynasty sent troops to attack Exian County, which was defeated by her each time.
Moreover, Princess Pingyang ruled the army strictly and did not commit any crimes against the people, and by the time Li Yuan later entered Guanzhong, Princess Pingyang's men and horses had reached 70,000 people. I have to say that in the chaotic world at that time, it is estimated that Li Yuan himself never thought that his daughter had such a skill, and established a base area for himself in Guanzhong.
Leading alone, the origin of the "Girl Scout Army"
When Li Yuan crossed the Yellow River and advanced toward Guanzhong, he ordered Chai Shao to go to Qinling to meet the Princess of Pingyang, and at the same time ordered the two of them to lead an army north to besiege Chang'an City. However, I don't know how Chai Shaozuo felt at that time, whether his wife was so righteous and powerful, whether she would regret running away alone, perhaps it was princess Pingyang who made an example for Chai Shao, the so-called "shame and courage", and later achieved Chai Shao's first meritorious name.
Chai Shao stills
Before the Battle of Chang'an began, Li Yuan granted Princess Pingyang and Chai Shao the right to "set up their own shogunates", that is, they could command their own troops and have their own direct subordinate troops, and Princess Pingyang's troops were called "Niangzi Army". This was the first army of women in Chinese history to have a formal establishment and a number. But don't misunderstand, the Girl Scout Army is not all women in the army, in that era, women on the battlefield is after all a very small minority, and the Girl Scout Army is promoting the prestige of princess Pingyang.
Stationed in Niangziguan, the achievement of ancient great fame
After the Battle of Chang'an, there was no record of Princess Pingyang in the history books, until 6 years later, when there was a sudden record of her death. However, this is also very much in line with the characteristics of ancient Chinese history books, and the merits of women are generally ignored.
However, we can infer some deeds of Princess Pingyang from the situation of the Tang army's conquest in the past six years. Not long after the Battle of Chang'an, Li Yuan's fourth son, Li Yuanji, lost his old nest in Taiyuan, and it took Li Shimin two years to recover Taiyuan, and Chai Shao participated in many battles in the Tang Dynasty to pacify the princes. From this, we can infer that it is possible that Princess Pingyang later participated in the Tang Dynasty's war to pacify the world together with Chai Shao, and these feats were recorded on Chai Shao's head according to Chinese tradition.
Statue of Princess Binh Duong
Later, the Tang army defeated Liu Wuzhou and recaptured the Shanxi base camp, while the Princess of Pingyang was responsible for garrisoning Shanxi to guard against enemy attacks, and her garrison was Weizeguan, Yangquan, Shanxi. It can be seen that Li Yuan's trust in Princess Pingyang and her recognition of her talents, otherwise, the heavy responsibility of garrisoning the base camp would not have been entrusted to her.
The Princess of Pingyang built the city tower at the station, which was later known as the ninth pass of the Great Wall of Ten Thousand Miles, which was the gateway to Shanxi, and it was precisely because the Princess of Pingyang was stationed here that posterity called it "Niangzi Pass".
Later, after the death of Princess Pingyang, Li Yuan and Li Shimin were very sad and held a military funeral for her, which can be regarded as recognition of her military talent and identity.
Shanxi Niangziguan
Although Princess Pingyang did not leave a real name in history, she did have a special existence as a woman in ancient times, she was able to conquer the head of the people's army alone, establish a base area before her father entered guanzhong, and was also able to guard the border pass alone. And the Thousand Year NiangziGuan is the best memorial to the deeds of Princess Pingyang.