The times make heroes, and the heroes also create the times.
In the last years of the Sui Dynasty, tyranny raged, traitors ruled the way, and the people lived in deep water.
Xu Maogong is a hero who broke through the world in the chaotic world, from the Cottage Uprising to the establishment of the Tang Dynasty, from the no-name pawn to the military division in the tent, to the close subject of the Son of Heaven, full of glory.
However, when he was dying, he told his family, "If my descendants are superior, they must be killed, otherwise they will rebel." ”
Heroes of the chaotic world, loyalty and righteousness
Xu Maogong's real name was Xu Shi, and his family was well-off and well-known in the local area.
Dissatisfied with the tyranny of the Sui Dynasty for a long time, he joined the Sui Dynasty rebel army at the age of seventeen and persuaded zhai Rang, the leader of the rebel army, to rebel with him.
At that time, Zhai Rang wanted to make a living by robbing, and Xu Maogong immediately dissuaded him when he heard the news, "How much oil and water do the poor people have when they rob the poor?" The Sui Dynasty Emperor is now digging the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, and it is good to go to that place to rob it. ”
Zhai Rang followed Xu Maogong's advice and immediately led people to rob along the canal, and sure enough, as Xu Maogong thought, they made a lot of money without effort.
The problem of money was solved, and the next step was to expand the size of the rebel army.
After Zhai Rang established Wagang Village, Xu Maogong offered another plan to persuade him to recruit Li Mi.
Li Mi's ancestors turned out to be the General of the Shangzhu State of the Sui Dynasty, and he had great prestige among the people, and if he could persuade him to come to WagangZhai, the heroes and good men from all over the world would surely see Zhai Rang's sincerity, so that they could recruit talents as much as possible.
As the number of people in the village increased, Zhai Rang's disadvantage became apparent.
Zhai Rang himself has no ambitions, nor is he enthusiastic about the pursuit of power, but is just greedy for money.
Therefore, Xu Mao judged the situation and persuaded Zhai Rang to give up the position of the owner of the village to Li Mi, and the overlap of power of the village lord was very smooth, but Xu Mao did not expect Li Mi to be suspicious, even if Zhai Rang showed that he had no desire for power, Li Mi was still not at ease.
I'd rather bear the people of the world than the people of the world.
Li Mi sent people to feast on Zhai Rang and Xu Maogong, waiting for the opportunity to ambush the hands under the tent, only to throw the cup as a trumpet, and the wine glass was thrown to the ground.
Zhai Rang did not doubt that he had him, and when he reacted, he had already fallen into a pool of blood, and Xu Maogong immediately fled as soon as he saw that the situation was not good, but he could not defeat Li Mi's preparations, and he was slashed in the shoulder.
Under the persuasion of many strategists in the village, Li Mi borrowed the slope to get off the donkey and eased the matter of killing Xu Maogong again.
However, Xu Maogong learned that the old lord Zhai Rang was dead after recuperating from his injuries, and he was very sad, believing that it was his own decision-making mistake that caused Cui Rang to lose his life, so he politely refused the proposal to continue to stay by Li Mi's side and serve his life, and went to Liyang alone.
Soon after, Li Mi fought with Wang Shichong, but unfortunately lost the battle, and Wagangzhai was also lost.
Xu Maogong did not wait for Li Mi, who had become a dog who had lost his family, and Li Mi had no intention of recovering, so he turned his head and threw himself into the account of Li Yuan, who was still the Duke of Jin at that time.
Xu Maogong heard that the Wagang Village no longer existed, and it was not interesting to guard Li Yang alone, and Li Yuan and Li Shimin were both the lords of the world, and it was also common for people to submit to him.
So he escorted Liyang's soldiers, horses, money, and grain to Li Mi's house and said to him, "Originally I was your subordinate, we were kings and subjects between us, Shou Liyang was sent by you, I can vote for Li Tang, but I can't take your things with me, and I will now return these things to you." ”
Cutting off the past contact, Xu Maogong came to see Li Yuan cleanly and innocently.
Li Yuan was also very touched when he heard this, and bluntly said that Xu Maogong was a loyal subject.
He had feelings and righteousness for the old lord, and he would certainly live up to the trust of the new lord, so later Li Yuan gave him the surname "Li", so Xu Maogong was also called "Li Shi".
Li Yuan arranged for Li Mi to serve as Guanglu Qing, and the logistics procurement was fragrant in the eyes of others, but in the eyes of the arrogant Li Mi, he thought that his ancestors were similar to Li Yuan's ancestors, so why li Yuan is now the Duke of Jin, and he is just a small Guanglu Qing.
After suppressing this unfair idea for a long time, Li Mi couldn't help but re-embark on the road of rebellion.
But Li Yuan's army was sophisticated, where was Li Mi's rabble-rousers who could match it? Li Mi was soon defeated.
When Xu Maogong learned that the old lord Li Mi had also unfortunately died, he wept bitterly and was wearing filial piety, and even asked Li Yuan to bury him with the courtesy of a monarch.
Li Yuan was touched by his loyalty and promised him that he could give Li Mi a funeral.
Xu Maogong's quality of being loyal and righteous and not falling into the well also saved his father invisibly.
During Xu Mao's defense of the city, Dou Jiande led troops into Liyang and captured many prisoners of war, including his father.
The two armies were opposed to each other as their masters, and Xu Maogong's father was in the hands of the enemy, and if he killed him, it would greatly demoralize the other side.
Dou Jiande listened to the advice of his subordinates and shook his head repeatedly, Xu Maogong was loyal, and Dou Jiande did not want to lose his tongue on his father's matter, so he put Xu Maogong's father back.
The wise man is thousands of miles away
Cheng Yaojin quarreled with Wei Chigong at BaibiGuan, causing Li Shimin to be involved in danger.
Although in the end Li Shimin took all the responsibility on himself, Cheng Yaojin still felt guilty and uneasy, and he asked the military master Xu Maogong to fight and confess the crime, and Xu Maogong had a thought in his heart, so he confessed that Cheng Yaojin could win a great victory by plotting so much.
However, Wei Chigong, who failed to capture Li Shimin, was asked by Marshal Song Jingang to go to Jiexiu City to collect 10,000 stones of grain and grass.
When he got the grain and grass, he immediately had to hurry back, and he urged the soldiers to push the vehicle full of grain and grass and set off at once.
And Cheng Yaojin had been ambushing for a long time in Yanshang Dao, and when he saw that the prey had entered the encirclement, he immediately exchanged hands with Wei Chigong.
The two teams of soldiers and horses fought with each other, and Cheng Biting Jin's men touched the fish in muddy waters, taking advantage of the fact that Wei Chigong's people were not prepared, robbed all the grain and grass and turned left and right on the Yanshang Road and quickly disappeared.
Cheng bit Jin and saw that Xu Maogong's strategy had worked, and he did not love war, and immediately drove his horse back to the military camp.
Wei Chigong, who had not been able to guard the grain and grass, had no choice but to return to Jiexiu and ask for another 10,000 stones of grain and grass.
Xu Maogong in the military camp persuaded Cheng To bite Jin to ambush him again in the same place, and he would be able to rob another 10,000 grain and grass.
Cheng bit Jin and was suspicious of the letter, and the leader of the army went to meet Wei Chigong and his grain and grass in the old place.
The generals of the Tang Army still used the first method to rob all the grain and grass again, and the seven turns and eight turns quickly disappeared.
When Agent Xu Mao heard Wei Chigong's movements, he had another plan.
Wei Chigong must have been very attentive to the third delivery of grain and grass, and his ordinary plan was unbreakable.
He arranged for Qin Shubao to lead a thousand troops to the west side of Baibi Pass to ambush, and then let Cheng Yaojin still lead his troops to ambush in the old place, and Ma Sanbao and others quietly set off to disturb Wei Chigong's vision.
Sure enough, the enemy camp was caught off guard.
In accordance with Xu Maogong's orders, Qin Shubao immediately led his troops straight to Baibi Pass, captured the city pass, welcomed Li Shimin's Tang army inside, settled the soldiers and horses, and then killed him at the Biaotai Pass and the Yanmen Pass, unexpectedly attacking it and retaking three passes in a row.
However, Cheng Yaojin and Ma Sanbao confronted Captain Chigong, seeing that the grain and grass could not be taken away, the two of them combined, threw dry firewood on the vehicle, set fire to it, and Wei Chigong's three grains and grasses today were all lost.
The garrison city was occupied, and all the grain and grass were lost, so Wei Chigong had to return to Jiexiu County.
Li Shimin's army, as Xu Maogong had expected, won a complete victory.
The three dynasties officialdom tumbler
In the official arena, Xu Maogong always sought his own government in his position, and did not seek his own government if he was not in his position.
During Li Shimin's time, Li Shimin was troubled by the matter of the heir, who the prince should appoint, who should be passed on to Jiangshan, the competition between the princes was fierce, and the courtiers were also arguing endlessly.
Chu Suiliang, Changsun Wuji, Fang Xuanling, Du Ruyi, and all the emperors asked questions, all expressed their views, but when asked about Xu Maogong, he did not say a word.
He said bluntly, "I can't take care of Your Majesty's family affairs." ”
After Emperor Gaozong of Tang ascended the throne, he served as a sikong or a clever man and acted cautiously.
The problem of Establishing an heir by Emperor Taizong of Tang was repeated again by Emperor Gaozong, but this time the situation was very different.
Since Empress Wang had no sons, but Wu Zetian did, Li Zhi wanted to abolish Empress Wang and make Wu Zetian empress.
On the one hand, the original wife, on the other hand, the delicate new love, Li Zhi hesitated, so he asked the courtiers for advice.
Chu Suiliang even rejected Li Zhi's idea of changing Wu Zetian, "Empress Wang is the daughter of the family and was married by The Former Emperor for His Majesty. Moreover, Empress Wang had not made any mistakes so far, so how could she be easily abolished? If His Majesty must change the empress, he can also choose the noble family in the world, so why choose the Wu clan? ”
A large number of courtiers echoed it, believing that the Wu clan had once followed the emperor and now wanted to ascend to the throne.
However, the balance in Li Zhi's heart had already tilted toward Wu Zetian, and he asked Xu Maogong's opinion again.
Xu Maogong thought about it for a moment, thinking that once he had a biased object, it was very likely to invite the disaster of killing himself.
Whether it is maintained as it is or re-established, it is linked to life.
If you agree to abolish the queen, if you don't succeed in the end, you will offend the queen.
If His Majesty's final choice is Wu Zetian, he will take sides with Empress Wang, and he will throw himself into the net.
So Xu Maogong thought about it left and right, or decided to protect Mingzhe, and he made the exact same answer as Tang Taizong had asked him about Li Chu, "This is Your Majesty's family affair, what is the need to ask outsiders?" ”
Li Zhi made up his mind that after Wu Zetian ascended to the throne of empress, he connived at Xu Jingzong's exclusion of his courtiers who had opposed the establishment of the empress, or belittled or killed, while Xu Maogong escaped because of his vague remarks.
Half-immortal name
When his parents died, Xu Maogong was not yet an adult, living only on his two older brothers, and everything was controlled by his two brothers, and he only concentrated on studying.
After a long time, it caused the dissatisfaction of his brother and sister-in-law, and the two sisters-in-law proposed that Xu Maogong also participate in the affairs of the family, and they could not ignore the affairs outside the window, and everything was up to them.
The two brothers also agreed with this proposal very much, and when they came to Xu Maogong's room, they said bluntly, "Third brother, I am old, weak, and my energy is not good, and it is becoming more and more difficult to be a family, but your second brother is not willing to be, I see that you should not only care about studying, you should take care of a housekeeper and exercise." ”
Xu Maogong could not refuse, so he had to accept it, but he also demanded that he could only listen to him in everything.
At the beginning of the spring, Xu Maogong arranged for the family to cultivate the land first, and then hoe the wheat after the end of the ploughing.
When the valley rain passed, the short-term workers were still rake the land over and over again, hoeing the ground over and over again, seeing that the spring seedlings of other people's families were already chopsticks high, and the master's field was still a piece of loess, and the short-term workers could not help but complain about Xu Maogong, who was the master of the house.
The wheat was slightly yellow, and Xu Maogong asked the short-term workers to cut the wheat immediately.
The short-term workers were very distressed when they cut the immature wheat, and they couldn't feel what Xu Maogong was thinking in his heart, but they only felt that he didn't understand the seasons at all and missed the agricultural time.
The next day, the two brothers came to the wheat field and saw a stack of wheat bales with yellow shoots, and they were also dissatisfied with Xu Maogong's approach.
However, Xu Maogong had his own idea, and after making all the preparations, he asked the short-term workers to tie the tomas to the wheat stack and the house, and also tied it with grass rope.
Obviously it is a sunny day, but to do such a confusing thing, the short-term workers talk about it non-stop, and some people are worried about the wages, "The three treasurers are poor, I'm afraid our wages can't be saved." ”
But at this moment, bean-sized raindrops mixed with walnut-sized hailstones fell from the sky.
All of Xu Maogong's abnormal behavior has been reasonably explained.
People who live in grass houses have thick roofs and are not afraid of smashing, and the tile houses they live in are very easy to damage, and the paved tomass is excellent protection.
The wheat and spring seedlings in the fields of ordinary people are also difficult to escape, and Xu Mao's family is intact because of the early harvest.
The previous displeasure in Xu Maogong's brother-in-law's heart suddenly dissipated, and he gradually became convinced of Xu Maogong.
After that, it was time to go down again.
The short-term worker followed Xu Maogong's advice and planted more than 100 acres of land in his home into millet.
The elder brother heard that Xu Maogong was unreliable and planted all the millets, so when the harvest came, they could only rely on sticky rice to live every day.
But their hesitation did not make Xu Maogong change his mind.
In the autumn, Xu Maogong's millet is full of grains, and large and small grain hoards are hung with sharp tips.
The elder brother was still worried about how to deal with so many huangzi, and Xu Maogong saw where the opportunity was one step ahead of others.
The Sui Dynasty Emperor Yang Guang was extravagant, and in order to make the wooden sled slide on the ground, he thought of using a black to spread on the ground.
So he sent people around to search for and buy millet, and when the officials heard that Xu Mao's family had a bumper harvest, they immediately bought all the millet at a high price, and Xu Mao's family made a lot of money.
Ordinary people thought that he had some secret arts to know the ghosts and gods, and since then Xu Maogong has passed on the name of "half immortal".
The foreshadowing of death came true
Before Xu Maogong died, he called all the children and grandchildren of his family to his side, and told him in a serious and long voice, "If he has ambitions and is not in good spirits, he will kill those who are not of the same kind, and then he will be killed first, and then he will smell it."
In fact, it is to warn future generations that if there is a "high person", it must be killed, otherwise it will rebel and harm the family.
At that time, no one cared about his words, but long after, his grandson Xu Jingye enjoyed the high-ranking official Houlu and still embarked on the road of rebellion.
After Emperor Gaozong of Tang suffered from gout, he was dizzy for a long time, so the power of the government fell into the hands of Wu Zetian.
Wu Zetian tasted the taste of great power, and gradually became dissatisfied with the acting government, and she began to meddle in the matter of Li Chu.
Li Zhong, the eldest son born to Li Zhi and his daughter-in-law, was made crown prince, and later when Wu Zetian became empress, he made her son Li Hong crown prince, but Li Hong was very dissatisfied with his mother Empress Wu's overall power.
Soon after Li Hong's death, Wu Zetian made Li Xian crown prince.
However, Li Xian did not agree with many of Wu Zetian's views, so contradictions between mother and son arose, and finally Li Xian was exiled to death.
Her third son, Li Xian, was very different from the first two brothers, he was more mediocre and obedient to Empress Wu, so Empress Wu thought that she had found a "marionette" that could be controlled at will, and Li Xian was made crown prince.
However, after ascending to the emperor's throne, Li Xian tasted the beauty of power, and he was not willing to cooperate with Wu Zetian anymore, and he enlisted the camp behind Empress Wei to form his own forces against Wu Zetian, but these small actions could not be concealed from Empress Wu at all.
Li Xian was deposed, and Wu Zetian's fourth son, Li Dan, took the throne.
However, Wu Zetian's monopoly on power and the abolition of the establishment without authorization have long aroused local dissatisfaction.
So Xu Jingye joined forces with many degraded courtiers to send the text of the crusade against the Wu clan to the prefectures and counties, and found a person who resembled the late crown prince Li Xian, and lied to everyone, "Li Xian is not dead, he is living in this city, and he ordered us to raise an army."
In the name of Li Xian, he called on the people of the world to discuss the major issue of the army.
But Xu Jingye did not expect that their rebellion would soon be suppressed.
When Wu Zetian learned of this, he posthumously stripped Li Jingye's grandfather and father of the official titles, and dug up the tomb and cut the coffin, took back the surname "Li" and restored his original surname.
Xu Jingye's army and the imperial army fought, the soldiers were tired, the battle front was difficult to rectify, and they were unfortunately defeated in the confrontation with Li Xiaoyi.
He fled to Runzhou with his wife and children in light clothing, hoping to flee from the sea to Goryeo.
However, the rebellion was over, and Xu Jingye's general Wang Naxiang cut off his head one after another as a stepping stone to surrender to the officers and soldiers.
So the war subsided.
epilogue
The divine clever calculation bears the half-immortal false name, and The Mingzhe protects himself as a confused person, which is the true portrayal of Xu Maogong's life.
He held up the glory with great courage and faithfulness.
Before there were Lü Bu three changes of his master, but now Xu Maogong can still stabilize the king's heart through the transformation of the three dynasties, without suspicion, why not loyalty and righteousness playing a secret role?
Only because of loyalty can it be used, and because of righteousness, it is willing to use it.
Xu Maogong is a confused person and an understanding person.
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