He was a famous general during the Tang Dynasty, one of the twenty-four heroes of Ling Yan Pavilion, and one of Li Shimin's most trusted generals. In the end, because of the rebellion, he was executed by Tang Taizong. Before the execution, he made a request to Tang Taizong. What is a request? Did Tang Taizong promise him?
Hou Junji, a native of present-day Xunyi County, Shaanxi, was born from the Hou clan of Gu. In his early years, he followed Li Shimin, the King of Qin, on his southern expedition to the north, and made many military achievements, and was given the title of General of the Qin Dynasty and Quanjiao County. During the "Xuanwumen Revolution", he actively participated in the planning of this matter and helped the King of Qin seize the throne. After Li Shimin was proclaimed emperor, Hou Junji was given the title of General of the Left Guard, and later moved to the General of the Right Guard.
In the fourth year of Zhenguan, Hou Junji was given the title of Bingbu Shangshu, participated in the government affairs, and studied the art of war with Li Jing, the Duke of Weiguo. Later, he led his troops to destroy the Eastern Turks, defeated Tuguhun, and achieved outstanding military achievements, and was given the title of Duke of Chen. In the twelfth year of Zhenguan, Emperor Taizong of Tang appointed him as the official Shangshu (尚書), responsible for selecting talents. Although Hou Junji was talented, he was arrogant and greedy, and did not put Fang Xuanling and others in his eyes. He was also often angry because his official position was below them, which led to his deteriorating relationship with his colleagues. Li Jing and others wrote to Li Shimin many times saying that Hou Junji wanted to rebel, but Tang Taizong was convinced that he would not rebel and did not listen to the ministers, but reality gave Tang Taizong a slap.
In the thirteenth year of Zhenguan, after Hou Junji led an army to destroy Gaochang, without asking the emperor, he arbitrarily sent some innocent people to the frontier and privately collected gaochangguo's treasures. When his soldiers learned of this, they followed suit. Hou Junji was afraid that this matter would become more and more noisy and eventually revealed, so he did not dare to cure the sins of the people below. But there was no impermeable wall in the world, and after Banshi returned to the dynasty, Hou Junji and others were arrested and imprisoned.
Zhongshu Lang Cen text thought that Hou Junji was a hero of the Tang Dynasty and could not be lightly humiliated, so the emperor petitioned to request Hou Junji's release. Unexpectedly, after Hou Junji was released from prison, he thought that he had made great achievements, but he was imprisoned for greed for money, and he was very dissatisfied with this, and gradually had different thoughts.
In the seventeenth year of Zhenguan, Hou Junji tried to woo Zhang Liang, the governor who had been sent to Luoyang, and said, "Can you rebel?" If I can, I'll be with you! Zhang Liang told Tang Taizong what Hou Junji had said, and the emperor said, "You and Hou Junji are both heroes, and he only said these words to you, and if he dies and does not admit it, there is nothing he can do with him." Therefore, Emperor Taizong of Tang put the matter on hold for the time being, and treated Hou Junji as before.
In the same year, the crown prince Li Chengqian, fearing that he would be deposed as crown prince, learned that Hou Junji already had the intention of plotting rebellion, and wanted to win him over. At that time, Hou Junji's son-in-law Helan Chushi happened to be serving in the Eastern Palace, so he was sent to lure Hou Junji into the Eastern Palace many times. Hou Junji believed that Li Chengqian was incompetent and would repeat Li Jiancheng's tragedy, so he repeatedly advised him to rebel. However, after the two planned well, Hou Junji often lost sleep because he was worried that the plan would be leaked. His wife said that he was a minister of the court, and if he did anything to apologize to the imperial court, he must go to the emperor as soon as possible to plead guilty, but Hou Junji did not listen to his wife's advice.
Soon, Li Chengqian's rebellion was exposed and deposed, and Helan Chushi informed Tang Taizong of Hou Junji and the crown prince's plan. Emperor Taizong of Tang believed that Hou Junji had worked hard and done a great job, so he did not want to punish him for capital crimes. However, the courtiers wrote one after another, saying that the crimes committed by Hou Junji were intolerable. Under pressure from his ministers, Emperor Taizong of Tang ordered Hou Junji to be executed.
Before Hou Junji died, Tang Taizong came to see him and asked him if he had any wishes. He said, "The sinner knows that he is sorry for you, but he hopes that you will look at the merits I have made before and spare my wife and son so that you can guard the funeral for me." "According to the law of the day, the wives of traitors were either to be taken together or to be reduced to slaves. Tang Taizong, seeing that Hou Junji had followed him for many years, only exiled his wife and son to Lingnan, and also gave his son two beauties to be his grandmother for life. With Tang Taizong's promise, Hou Junji was relieved to die.