The famous Tang Dynasty general Xue Rengui's name can be described as well-known to women and children, and there are many folk stories about him, the most famous of which is that he had a son named Xue Dingshan, a daughter-in-law named Fan Lihua, and a grandson named Xue Gang. Of course, Xue Dingshan, Fan Lihua and Xue Gang are all characters portrayed in the novel, and there are no such people in real history.
And Xue Rengui, a famous General of the Tang Dynasty, is really down-to-earth. He was from the Xue clan in Hedong, and he was also a famous person, but when he was born, it was already the last year of the Sui Dynasty, and his father died relatively early, so Xue Rengui grew up to be a poor boy who cultivated the land, and he had endless strength and contributed to the crops.
However, at the end of the Zhenguan period, Xue Rengui, who was farming in the land, decided to change his lifestyle under the persuasion of his wife Liu Shigui, and he joined the army, joined the army of the famous general Zhang Shigui, and then participated in the expedition to Goguryeo that began in 644. In this battle, Xue Rengui was very brave and became famous in the first battle, especially when attacking Anshi Castle. History:
"There will be thunder and lightning, and Xue Rengui, a dragon gate man, will wear a strange costume and shout to trap Chen, and he will be invincible."
At that time, Li Shimin was also present, and naturally saw Xue Rengui who was charging into the battlefield, and because of this, Xue Rengui stood out from the soldiers and became a guerrilla general, and Li Shimin even said to Xue Rengui on the way back to the division:
"I don't like Liaodong, I like Qing."
However, Li Shimin did not promote Xue Rengui to a senior general, but made him the right leader Lang General, and then guarded the Xuanwu Gate. Participating in the first conquest of Goguryeo during Li Shimin's period was the only major battle in which Xue Rengui participated in the Zhenguan period. But his fate with Goguryeo did not end there.
However, Xue Rengui's second conquest of Goguryeo was in 658, more than a decade later, when it was already three years after Xianqing, and nearly ten years had passed since Li Zhi succeeded to the throne. Xue Rengui was almost buried, but a big flood in the fifth year of Yonghui, that is, in 654, made Li Zhi notice this brave general, so Xue Rengui was valued again.
In the conquest of Goguryeo in 658, Xue Rengui was outstanding as Cheng Mingzhen's deputy, and then attacked Goguryeo again the following year, followed by the Khitan and was awarded the title of Hedong County Man for his outstanding military achievements.
One of the characteristics of Xue Rengui's fighting is that he is a pioneer soldier, in the words of Emperor Gaozong of Tang, Li Zhi:
"The secretary of state is the first soldier, desperately fighting for his life, rushing left and right, and moving forward in no way."
And because of this, Xue Rengui was able to stand out during the Tang Zhongzong period and grow into a generation of famous generals, and his life experience was actually quite inspiring.
During the reign of Emperor Gaozong of Tang, Xue Rengui participated in all the wars against Goguryeo, and made great achievements in battle, and even after the attack on Goguryeo, he inspected Andong Duhu and led 20,000 people to garrison Pyongyang, and achieved remarkable achievements in internal administration and was recognized by the local people.
However, later Xue Rengui seemed to have begun to decline, and in the Battle of Dafeichuan in 670, the Tang army led by Xue Rengui was defeated by the Tubo army, was removed from the list, became a civilian, and although there was a recovery, it was soon exiled to Xiangzhou. Until he was nearly seventy years old, he was pulled out by Li Zhi to be the governor of Guazhou and participated in the Battle of Yunzhou.
The Battle of Yunzhou was Xue Rengui's last battle, and this victory drew a perfect end to his life. In 683, Xue Rengui died at the age of seventy.
Regarding Xue Rengui's family situation, there are not many records in the two Tang Dynasty books, but Xue Rengui's wife Liu Shi is Xue Rengui's xiannai assistant. When Li Shimin decided to personally conquer Goguryeo, he had ordered conscription, and when Liu Shi knew about it, he suggested that Xue Rengui seize the opportunity and said to Xue Rengui:
"Junlu Tugong's name is self-evident?"
Therefore, Xue Rengui only joined the army, and only then did he have the famous Tang general Xue Rengui. As for whether Xue Rengui had any other wives and concubines, we don't know. As for his children, some sources show that he had five sons: Xue Ne, Xue Shenqiu, Xue Chuqing, Xue Chuzhen, and Xue Chuyu. Among them, Xue Ne was the eldest son of Xue Rengui and was independently transmitted in the Two Tang Dynasties.
As Xue Rengui's son, Xue Ne is naturally a tiger father without a dog. During the Wu Zetian period, everyone avoided Lai Junchen, but Xue Ne was not afraid. When Xue Ne was doing the Lantian Order, Lai Junchen wanted to get tens of millions of stones of grain from Yicang for private use, but Xue Ne categorically refused. Of course, we all know that it is difficult for someone who is hated by Lai Junchen to have a good ending, but it is good luck for Xue Ne, and soon after Lai Junchen was executed by Wu Zetian, so Lai Junchen did not have time to do anything to Xue Ne.
Later, Wu Zetian worshiped Xue Ne as the governor of Youzhou and began to guard the border pass, until Tang Xuanzong succeeded to the throne, Xue Ne began to participate in the great war, but his first battle ended in a fiasco, in 714, in the case of public opposition, Xue Ne persuaded Tang Xuanzong to insist on attacking the Khitan and returned with a big defeat, Tang Xuanzong was very angry, ordered the execution of eight generals, and Xue Ne was also stripped of his official position and became a commoner.
However, within a few months, Tang Xuanzong resumed attacking Tubo with Xue Ne, and this time Xue Ne was triumphant. After that, he led the town of Shouliangzhou and died in 720. The most prominent of Xue Rengui's sons was this Xue Ne, while the younger son Xue Chuyu was an envoy to Fanyang Jiedushi, but was soon dismissed. Sporadic accounts of him in the annals are scattered in the biographies of his brother Xue Ne and son Xue Song.
Although Xue Chuyu performed mediocrely, his son Xue Song made a fortune in the Anshi Rebellion. The Xue family in Xue Song's youth had already declined, so their situation was actually very embarrassing, after being a famous general, but the glory was no longer there. Therefore, Xue Song did not have that feeling of swearing allegiance to the imperial court.
After the Anshi Rebellion, Xue Song defected to the army, and it was the Anshi rebels who stood against the Tang Dynasty. He performed prominently in the military, and was soon appointed to guard The Prefecture of Zhenshou, and in the later stages of the Anshi Rebellion, he led the military and civilians of the four states to submit to the imperial court.
After the end of the Anshi Rebellion, Xue Song still held his original position as an envoy of the Zhaoyi Army, but he had considerable political achievements in the administration. During this period, the Xue family even surpassed the prosperity of Xue Rengui's lifetime.