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In the first year of the Tang Dynasty (679), Pei Xingjian, the Tang Dynasty's great food appeasement envoy and official attendant, escorted the Persian king Ni Neshi back to China. On the way through the Western Regions, Pei Xingjian recruited 10,000 men and horses, launched a surprise attack, and pacified the Western Turks. Why didn't Pei Xingjian bring a single soldier from Chang'an, only recruited 10,000 people in the western region who had not fought, and then pacified the Western Turks without bloodshed?
First, from a famous family
Pei Xingjian
Pei Xingjian was born in the Pei clan of Hedong and was the son of Pei Renji, the Grand Master of Zuo Guanglu in the Sui Dynasty. In the second year of Wu De (619), Pei Rengen, dissatisfied with Wang Shichong's usurpation of the throne, wanted to restore Emperor Yang Tong, but was killed by Wang Shichong, so Pei Xingjian lost his father shortly after birth. Li Yuan, the emperor of Tang Gaozu, was grateful for Pei Renji's loyalty, so he posthumously made him the governor of the capital, and Pei Xingjian became a descendant of Zhonglie and was treated favorably by the Tang Dynasty.
Su Dingfang
When Pei Xingjian grew up, he participated in the imperial examination and was awarded the title of Zuotun Weicang Cao to join the army. The great general Su Dingfang thought that Pei Xingjian was very talented and would certainly be able to make meritorious achievements in the future, so he took him as an apprentice and taught him all the strategies for using soldiers. In the second year of Xianqing (657), Pei Xingjian was promoted to Chang'an Ling. At that time, Emperor Gaozong of Tang wanted to depose Empress Wang and establish Wu Zetian as empress. Pei Xingjian was worried about this, believing that Wu Zetian would cause trouble in the Tang Dynasty, so he discussed the matter with the eldest grandson Wujie and Chu Suiliang. As a result, Yuan Gongyu informed Wu Zetian's mother, Lady Rongguo, of this, resulting in Pei Xingjian being demoted to the post of Governor of Xizhou.
Second, serve Gaozong
Tang dynasty
In the second year of Lin De (665), Pei Xingjian was promoted to the post of protector of the capital of Anxi, and treated the countries of the Western Regions kindly, causing the countries of the Western Regions to submit to the Tang Dynasty. Subsequently, Pei Xingjian was recruited into the imperial court and served as Siwen Shaoqing, and because of his excellent political achievements, he was promoted to the post of official attendant. Pei Xingjian and Li Jingxuan worked together to improve the selection and appraisal system for officials and select many talents. Cheng Wuting, Zhang Qianxun, Cui Zhijie, Wang Fangyi, Dang Jinbi, Liu Jingtong, Guo Beifeng, Li Duozuo, Black Tooth Changzhi and others were all familiar with the military and very talented, so they were all valued by Pei Xingjian and promoted and reused.
King Luobin
Pei Xingjian is good at knowing people and can judge a person's future fate based on their character. Li Jingxuan praised Yang Jiong, Wang Bo, Lu Zhaolin, and Luo Binwang for their talents, so he introduced them to Pei Xingjian. Pei Xingjian looked at the four people and sighed, "The four people are talented, but they cannot be noble." Except for Yang Jiong, who was a little better, I was afraid that the other three people would not be able to die well. Pei Xingjian arranged for the personnel adjustment of the officials, and when he saw Su Wei and Wang Ju, he thought that the two must be officials and prime ministers. Later, the development of the four Yang Kings, Lu Luo, and su Wangs was as Pei Xingjian said.
Third, through the Western Regions
Li Zhi
In the third year of the Yuan Dynasty (676), Tubo invaded the Tang Dynasty. Li Zhi then made Pei Xingjian the commander-in-chief of the Second Left Army in Taozhou Province to defend against Tubo. In the fourth year of Yifeng (679), the Western Turk Ten-surnamed Khan Ashinadu branch and his subordinate Li Chazao rebelled against the Tang Dynasty and joined forces with Tubo to attack the Anxi Capital Protectorate. Many ministers thought that they should send troops to suppress the rebellion, but Pei Xingjian advised Emperor Gaozong of Tang: "Li Jingxuan's crusade against Tubo was a fiasco, and our army is in urgent need of recuperation. It just so happened that the Persian prince Belus died, and his son Ni Neshi was a hostage in Chang'an, and he could be crowned king of Persia as a pretext, sending him back to China, and on the way he must meet Tubo and Turks, and then the subjects will see the opportunity to act and quell the rebellion. ”
Emperor Gaozong of Tang accepted this, so he made Ni Neshi the king of Persia, and let Pei Xingjian serve as the great food appeaser to escort Ni Ne shi back to China. Pei Xingjian and his party arrived at Mohe Yan moraine and encountered strong winds that made it impossible for the guide to distinguish the path. Pei Xingjian was not in a hurry, comforting everyone, thinking that there must be a fertile place of water and grass nearby. Soon the wind stopped, and the crowd did find a water source nearby, so they admired Pei Xingjian and praised him as Li Guangli of the Han Dynasty.
Western Turkistan
Pei Xingjian and his party arrived in Xizhou, and the local officials went out of the city to greet them, and he took the opportunity to gather the children of the local rich families and follow him westward. In order to confuse the Western Turks, Pei Xingjian pretended to say to his subordinates: "The weather is hot and the road is difficult to navigate, and only when the autumn is cool can you continue to travel west." When Ashinadu learned of this, he thought that the Tang army would not come immediately, so he relaxed his guard. Pei Xingjian was overjoyed, so he summoned Haojie, the four towns of Anxi, and said that he would take them to make meritorious achievements. The sons of Haojie of the four towns then answered the call one after another and joined the Tang army.
Fourth, pacify the Western Turks
Ansidō Gofu
Pei Xingjian secretly trained soldiers in the name of hunting, and then marched rapidly to approach the Western Turks. Pei Xingjian led the Tang army to a place more than ten miles away from ashinadu's headquarters, and then sent someone to show kindness to ashinadu, saying that he had come to appease him, did not bring troops to come to the crusade, and ordered him to come to see him quickly. Ashinadu was not prepared, and fearing the strength of the Tang army, he had to go to the Tang camp. Pei Xingjian seized the opportunity to detain Ashinadu branch, frightening the leaders of the Western Turks to surrender to the Tang army. Pei Xingjian then took the leaders of the Western Turk tribes to Shanye City and imprisoned them.
Wu Zetian
Pei Xingjian selected elite cavalry and traveled day and night, preparing to capture Li Shaozao. On the way, the Tang army captured the emissaries of Ashinaduzhi and Li Shaozao, and Pei Xingjian released the emissaries and asked him to go back to persuade Li Shaozao to surrender. Seeing that the general trend was gone, Li Shao had to surrender to Pei Xingjian. The Tang army erected a monument to Ji Gong at Shanye City, and then took Ashinaduzhi, Li Shaozai, and others back to Chang'an. Emperor Gaozong of Tang was overjoyed, and praised Pei Xingjian for going deep into the tens of thousands of miles alone, and for the soldiers to quell the rebellion without bloodshed. Pei Xingjian was promoted to the post of Rebbe Shangshu (礼部尚書) and The Inspector of The Right Guard (右衛將軍) for his merits.
Fifth, pacify the Eastern Turks
Eastern Turkistan
In the first year of The Lu Dynasty (679), the Eastern Turk nobleman Ashdwin Fu rebelled against the Tang Dynasty and established Ashina as the Khan of the Eastern Turks. Shan Yu led an army to quell the rebellion by Xiao Siye, the capital of the capital, and was defeated by the Eastern Turks. Emperor Gaozong of Tang then made Pei Xingjian the commander-in-chief of the Dingxiang Road March, restrained the Western Army Cheng Wuting, the Eastern Army Li Wen kam and other troops, and sent more than 300,000 troops to fight the rebels. Pei Xingjian arrived in Shuozhou and learned that Xiao Siye had failed miserably because of the looting of military grain, so he ordered people to raise three hundred grain trucks, each car hiding five brave soldiers, and then sent old, weak and disabled soldiers to escort them, and also sent ambush soldiers to follow.
The Eastern Turks attacked the Tang army, and the old, weak and disabled Tang army fled without a fight, causing the rebels to seize three hundred grain trucks. The rebels escorted the grain truck forward, and when they were tired and resting on the road, the Tang army inside the grain truck and the ambush soldiers attacked inside and outside, defeating the rebels and frightening the Eastern Turks to dare no longer rob the Tang army of grain and grass. The Tang army and the Eastern Turks fought in Montenegro, and won many battles, which frightened Ashina's confidants, so he killed him and surrendered to the Tang army. Pei Xingjian also captured the Eastern Turk leader to serve, and then Banshi returned to the dynasty.
Pei Yan
Ashwin Fu fled to Wolf Mountain, and then installed Ashina Funian as the Khan of the Eastern Turks, continuing to fight against the Tang Dynasty. Pei Xingjian then led the Tang army to attack the Eastern Turks and garrisoned Dai Prefecture. Pei Xingjian used a counter-plot to make Ashwin Fu and Ashina Fu jealous of each other. Ashina Fu Nian expressed his submission to Pei Xingjian, hoping to spare his life and obtain consent. Therefore, Ashina Fu Nian captured Ashwin Fu and surrendered to the Tang army. The chancellor Pei Yan was jealous of Pei Xing's meritorious service, so he said that Ashina Fu Nian was not sincerely surrendering. Emperor Gaozong of Tang believed it to be true, so he executed Ashina Fu nian. Pei Xingjian felt guilty about this, so he said that he could not get sick and died soon after.
In general, Pei Xingjian was a famous general of the Tang Dynasty, and also a famous courtier who was good at calligraphy, good at recognizing people, and also good at leading troops to fight, and quelled the rebellion of the Western Turks and the Eastern Turks. In the battle to pacify the Western Turks, Pei Xingjian was brave and strategic, did not bring a single soldier, and successfully made the Western Turks abandon their vigilance. Pei Xingjian then immediately recruited soldiers, trained secretly, and unexpectedly launched a surprise attack to pacify the Western Turks without bloodshed.