<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="1" > preface</h1>
In the early Tang Dynasty, there were Li Jing, the "god of war" of the Tang Dynasty, Li Daozong, Xue Wanche, and Li Ji, the "three generals of the Tang Dynasty" who were praised by Emperor Taizong of Tang and Li Shimin, and Su Dingfang, the "God of War" of the Tang Dynasty, who was hidden in the snow for 20 years and made the last splash.
These famous generals are good at winning more with less and achieving outstanding results, protecting the Rise of the Tang Dynasty from the end of the Sui Dynasty with hundreds of armed forces in a corner of the country, and fighting for the first territory in Chinese history of more than 10 million square kilometers!
However, few people know that in addition to the above-mentioned famous players, there is a character who is enough to compete with them!
He invaded Tubo and Beiping Turks in the west, guarding the frontier of the Western Regions of the Tang Dynasty for 26 years, but in his life he was depressed and unmotivated, and was suppressed by Wu Zetian for 26 years, and finally died of illness on the way out of the expedition.
This person was Su Dingfang's disciple, Pei Xingjian, a famous Tang dynasty general from the Pei clan in Hedong!
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="17" >01 The disciples of the family were relegated to the Western Regions</h1>
The Pei clan of Hedong was a high-gate lord in the Sui and Tang dynasties, Pei Xingjian was born in the Pei clan of Hedong, and his father was Pei Renji, a general of the Sui Dynasty.
In the year Pei Xingjian was born, his father had just died. Although the Pei family is the home of Zhong Mingding, Pei Xingjian's father is not a descendant of the concubine lineage, and there is still a big gap between his childhood life and the Pei family.
Tang Taizong Li Shimin deliberately balanced the strength of the high-gate valve, and set up the "Ming Jingke" to record some descendants from the side door, and Pei Xingjian came out on top in the examination and was deeply valued by Li Shimin.
In 640 AD, Su Dingfang, the God of War of the Tang Dynasty, who had been hidden by Li Shimin, took a fancy to Pei Xingjian's qualifications and said to him: "My strategy of using soldiers, there is no one in the world who can teach, now you are very suitable." ”
Pei Xingjian was overjoyed, and immediately visited the teacher, and Su Dingfang taught what he had learned in his life.
In 651, Pei Xingjian, who was already 32 years old, was selected as a key training object by the GuanLong Group. Changsun Wuji and Chu Suiliang promoted him, who was still serving in the army, to chang'an county, and the capital of the Tang Dynasty was Chang'an.
At this time, although Emperor Gaozong li zhi was in power, the power of the court was in the hands of the Guan Long clique.
Although Pei Xingjian was after the Pei family,but after all, he was born into a high-gate lord, and the sense of superiority, reunion power and power cohesion of the children of the family made him obsessed, and he closely followed the eldest grandson Wuji and Chu Suiliang.
As for Wu Meiniang, she was still her nun at the Ganye Temple at this time, and she was not willing to sell the bones of the green lantern scrolls.
In 655, Wu Meiniang completely defeated Concubine Xiao Shufei and Empress Wang, who competed with her in the harem, and Li Zhi, with the encouragement and encouragement of Wu Meiniang, strengthened her determination to completely overthrow the Guanlong clique.
At that time, the prime ministers Liu Yi and Chu Suiliang had been deposed because of the depose of Empress Wang, and the Guanlong clique, headed by Changsun Wuji, was left with only Pei Xingjian, Gao Fulfillment, Gao Zhenxing, and Yuan Gongyu, and their power was weakened.
Not long ago, Li Zhi and Wu Meiniang jointly visited Sun Wuji, hoping that he could support Wu Meiniang as empress.
Eldest Sun Wuji sneered at Wu Meiniang and pointed out the fact that she was a concubine of Emperor Li Shimin, which annoyed the two. Therefore, with the support of Xu Jingzong, Li Yifu, and Li Ji, Li Zhi decided to make Wu Zetian empress despite opposition.
Pei Xingjian was indignant and indignant, and slandered Wu Meiniang in the middle of the eldest grandson Wujie's mansion to seduce the emperor and fight for the eldest grandson Wujie.
Unexpectedly, the next day, Pei Xingjian's remarks were known to Wu Meiniang, and Li Zhi was deposed by Li Zhi.
Li Zhi actually had a good feeling for Pei Xingjian, because not long ago, his master Su Dingfang invaded Goguryeo and beat the goguryeo and Baekje alliance forces that bullied the Silla kingdom! If Pei Xingjian was deposed at this time, he was afraid that it would cause dissatisfaction from Su Dingfang, not to mention that Su Dingfang and Li Ji were military figures loyal to him.
Because of Li Zhi's hesitation, Pei Xingjian escaped this fate.
The following year, Wu Meiniang finally became empress as she wished, and the Guan Long clique collapsed due to Yuan Gongyu's betrayal. Gao Zhi was degraded, the son of the eldest son Wuji was degraded, and the eldest grandson Wuji himself no longer interfered in the major affairs of the DPRK and China, and the power should be taken over to Li Zhi.
However, Wu Meiniang, who must repay the favor, did not forget Pei Xingjian's humiliation of her behind her back, and once again made Li Zhi question Pei Xingjian.
Li Zhi was even more hesitant at this time, because Su Dingfang had just defeated Goguryeo and Baekje, and was sent to the north to resist the Turks, and his battle achievements were outstanding.
However, in the end, Li Zhi still chose to turn to Wu Meiniang, demoted Pei Xingjian to the Western Regions, and made a small long history.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="44" >02 Western Meritorious Service, "God of War" Master Shelter</h1>
In 656 AD, Pei Xingjian, who had just come to the Western Regions, was full of grief and injustice in his heart, and he borrowed wine every day to dispel his sorrows and decadence.
Unexpectedly, at this time, the Western Turks invaded the border, and Su Dingfang, the God of War of the Tang Dynasty, who had been hidden by Li Shimin for 20 years, was ordered to take command of the expedition.
When Su Dingfang heard that this most optimistic apprentice in the past had actually decadented to Si, he transferred him to the army and became a partial general.
Pei Xingjian, who had received help from his master, finally found the right stage for life and put to full play what he had learned in his life.
Every time he went out on a campaign, he would be a soldier and a prancing horse, and wherever the arrows were fired, the enemy would fall one after another; wherever the spear pointed, the enemy would be overwhelmed and defeated.
From 657 to 660 AD, Su Dingfang twice commanded the conquest of the Western Turks and Tubo, Pei Xingjian was the vanguard of the former army, trapped in the enemy position and invincible, and the enemy battalion was victorious in every battle. Therefore, Pei Xingjian also won the title of "Changsheng General"!
After the two major wars, Su Dingfang's title of "God of War of the Tang Dynasty" resounded throughout the Western Regions, and Pei Xingjian became famous because of this, and was called "Disciple of the God of War" by Su Dingfang!
In this way, Because of his repeated military achievements, Pei Xingjian was also promoted from a small partial general to a right tun wei general, and his official rank was from Sanpin.
It was also from then on that Li Zhi began to regard Pei Xingjian as the successor of Li Ji and Su Dingfang, and deliberately cultivated him.
Once, Pei Xingjian, who followed the high-gate valve, was dragged down by the identity of the family and has not been valued, and the promotion of the eldest grandson Wuji and others is also short-lived. However, he was very fortunate to have a good master and a good Bole, which made his thousand-mile horse shine with real brilliance!
It can be said that without the protection of Master Su Dingfang, Pei Xingjian would be like thousands of degraded disciples of the family, complaining about themselves in a remote territory of the Tang Dynasty and ruining his life.
In 665, Li Ji and Su Dingfang recommended Pei Xingjian to serve as the protector of Anxi Andi to guard the western regions of the Tang Dynasty.
Under Pei Xingjian's strategy of suppressing and using them, the tribes of the Western Regions came to vote one after another, while his master Su Dingfang moderated the armies of the Western Regions and concentrated on using troops against Tubo.
Tubo Grand Xianglu Dongzan was afraid and afraid of Su Dingfang, and sighed: "The Tang Dynasty has Su Lie for a day, and I dare not look east!" ”
In 667, Li Ji and Xue Rengui invaded Goguryeo and launched a war to destroy the country. Unfortunately, Su Dingfang, the god of war of the Tang Dynasty, died of illness in the Western Regions Army and failed to appear on the battlefield of Zhengdong.
At that time, after Lu Dongzan heard that Su Dingfang had died, he was overjoyed and said to his son Qinling: "My heart is comforted, once Su Lie dies, the Tang Dynasty only Pei Xingjian can be rivaled!" Not long after, Lu Dongzan, who had put his mind at ease, died, and his son Qin Ling began to actively prepare for war, planning to invade the Western Regions.
However, what Qin Ling did not expect was that Pei Xingjian's ability to march and deploy the army had been passed down by Su Dingfang's seven or eight true legends, and he was repeatedly frustrated.
Therefore, in many confrontations with Pei Xingjian, Tubo did not get any benefits, and each time he was beaten back to the plateau. As for Pei Xingjian, he has long been honed into a famous general of the Tang Dynasty in many years of conquest, and he cannot be taken lightly.
However, Pei Xingjian's outstanding military feats attracted the suspicion of Wu Zetian.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="66" >03 Reuse Xue Rengui, resulting in the defeat of Dafeichuan</h1>
In 668, Li Ji and Xue Rengui destroyed Goguryeo and returned in triumph.
At the same time, Pei Xingjian was also transferred back to Chang'an and served as an official attendant. Although the official Shilang was only from Sanpin, one level lower than the Zhengsanpin of Anxi Duhu, this was in the center of the court, and it was a civilian official sequence, which was much more expensive than the Zhengsanpin of the Martial General!
Logically, with Pei Xingjian's meritorious achievements, he could fully serve as a soldier Shangshu, but Wu Zetian always had a grudge against Pei Xingjian, and the lieutenant Li Ji did not want to meddle in the dispute between the empresses, so he could only let Pei Xingjian be wronged in the position of the official waiter.
In 669, without Pei Xingjian sitting in the Western Regions, tubo grand chancellor Qin Ling was unscrupulous and began to embezzle Tuguhun, a tribe that had returned to the Tang Dynasty for many years.
After consulting with Wu Zetian, Li Zhi decided to send Xue Rengui to tibet, and the deputy commander was Guo Beifeng, who was hand-picked up by Li Ji.
This is definitely an idea that can't be more faint!
Because, Xue Rengui is after the cold door, Guo Beifeng is after the general door, in the Tang Dynasty, which pays attention to his origin, it is difficult for Xue Rengui to use his identity to suppress Guo Waiting. Moreover, Guo Beifeng's father and Li Ji, Ashina Helu and other Tang military leaders were close friends, and in the Tang Dynasty, which emphasized personal relations, even if Guo Zhifeng did not take the initiative to cause trouble, Xue Rengui would find it difficult to mobilize him.
Moreover, All along, Xue Rengui had been fighting in the northeast of Datang, and had never been to the plateau area, and it was difficult for his headquarters soldiers and horses to quickly adapt to the plateau climate.
Therefore, the correct approach should be to let Pei Xingjian, who knows the Western Regions and Tubo well, take command!
Moreover, Pei Xingjian has three obvious advantages in being the coach:
First, Pei Xingjian was born in the Pei clan of Hedong, a high-gate valve, and although Guo Beifeng was after the gate, he was a new upstart after all. The new upstart faced the old aristocracy, and in that era of valuing heels, he had no capital to clamor at all.
Second, the former Tubo Grand Chancellor Lu Dongzan was a Tubo ruler, and he was like a god in the hearts of the Tubo people, but what he feared most was Su Dingfang, and Pei Xingjian was a descendant of Su Dingfang. Therefore, Lu Dongzan's son Qin Ling lost to Pei Xingjian psychologically, fearing failure.
Third, Pei Xingjian fought in the Western Regions all year round, and his troops and horses also came from the capitals of various prefectures in the Western Regions, and he also controlled the tribes in the Western Regions for a long time. In the event of a crisis, Pei Xingjian could calmly dispatch the soldiers and horses of each tribe for his own use, while Xue Rengui was a foreign monk and could not move any local tribe at all.
The so-called heaven, place, and people, Pei Xingjian occupied these three, but Xue Rengui did not occupy any.
However, Xue Rengui had a life-saving favor for Li Zhi and Wu Zetian, and in order to prevent Pei Xingjian's influence in the military from continuing to grow, Wu Zetian could only choose Xue Rengui! In particular, Li Zhi, who had decision-making power in major military affairs, had to obey Wu Zetian's ideas because of the wind and disease.
Therefore, from the very beginning, Xue Rengui's western conquest of Tubo was a game that was bound to be defeated!
In 670 AD, Xue Rengui led an army of 100,000 to fight with the Tubo Grand Chancellor Qinling at Dafeichuan, because Guo Waitingfeng disobeyed orders, attacked without authorization, coupled with altitude sickness, no assistance and many other factors... The 100,000 Tang Dynasty Tigers broke the Great Fei River, which was the first major defeat of the whole army since the founding of the Tang Dynasty!
Therefore, it can be said that the real initiators of the "defeat of Dafei Chuan" were Wu Zetian and Li Zhi, and how could such an imperial empress bring the Tang Dynasty to a more brilliant high position for private use, exclusion of dissidents, and emotional use?
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="94" >04 Pei Xingjian went to the Western Regions again</h1>
Xue Rengui's army defeated Dafei Chuan, and the Tubo Grand Chancellor Qin Ling accepted it when he saw it was good, and signed a peace agreement with the Tang Dynasty.
In the peace talks, the Tubo people, just like the Tang Dynasty Eastern Crusade and the emptiness of the west 4 years ago, proposed for the second time to marry the Princess of The Tang Dynasty for the Tubo King, and the name must be Princess Taiping!
Four years ago, when the Tang Dynasty invaded Goguryeo, Tubo made a similar demand.
At that time, Li Zhi asked Li Ji about his plans, and Li Ji thought that he could pretend to agree and put an out-of-the-air heart so that the Tang Dynasty could rest assured of the Eastern Crusade. Later, the Tang Dynasty destroyed Goguryeo and became famous, and Tubo did not dare to mention this matter again.
However, with the defeat of Xue Rengui's army, Tubo saw the weakness of the Tang Dynasty and once again proposed to take Princess Taiping to make peace, aggressively.
Wu Zetian loved this only daughter the most, who would agree?
In desperation, Wu Zetian, who was obedient to the government, had no choice but to agree to let Pei Xingjian return to the Western Regions and serve as the protector of the capital of Anxi, and to save the soldiers and horses of all the troops in the Western Regions, just like his master Su Dingfang at the beginning.
Pei Xingjian was ordered to return to the Western Regions and once again made the Tubo Grand Chancellor Qinling feel strong pressure, and did not dare to mention the matter of letting Princess Taiping come and kiss him.
In the autumn of 677, Goguryeo and Baekje, which had already been pacified, rebelled again, and it was Silla, the best vassal state of the Tang Dynasty, that provoked the war. Liu Renluo once again went on a crusade to the east, and Tubo Daxiang took the opportunity to go east to Sichuan and invade Songzhou, Yunzhou and other Tang capitals.
Li Zhi and Wu Zetian still did not let Pei Xingjian take command this time.
Therefore, at that time, Pei Xingjian was already the protector of the Capital of Anxi, Zheng Erpin. If he pacified Tubo again, he would have no title and could only enter the imperial court center of the Tang Dynasty, like Li Ji and Changsun Wuji, who held the position of Sikong or Taiwei and was the head of all the ministers.
For Wu Zetian, who controlled the government, she absolutely did not want to see Pei Xingjian in the dynasty.
The popularity of the people and the popularity of the woman also affected Li Zhi and the crown prince Li Xian, and even appointed Li Jingxuan, who could only talk on paper, as a marshal and marched west to Tubo.
It is conceivable that this time Datang was defeated again, and it lost another 100,000 elite soldiers.
In 678 AD, Datang's vitality was seriously damaged, and the surrounding subordinate departments rebelled one after another, making Datang tired of running for his life.
In particular, the Western Turks, who had been pacified for many years, at the instigation of the Tubo people, actually led a rebellion in the twenty-four states in the western region. The Western Turks were the territory of the Anxi Capital Protectorate, and most of the Capital Protector Pei Xingjian could automatically command the rebellion without asking the Tang Center.
In order to eliminate the threat of Tubo behind him, Pei Xingjian recruited 30,000 elite soldiers and 20,000 elite soldiers in his headquarters, taking advantage of Tubo's attack on Yanzhou, attacked in two ways, and recaptured the four towns of Anxi in just over 10 days.
In the summer of 679, Pei Xingjian's troops made a strange move, sneaking most of them to the vicinity of Qinghai Lake and pretending to attack the Tubo soldiers of Dafeichuan, while he himself led 10,000 Tang Tigers and detoured 500 Liqi to attack the enemy of Yanzhou.
The Tubo soldiers who were attacking Yanzhou expected Pei Xingjian's move of "attacking the west from the east" to lose more than 20,000 soldiers and horses, and they were defeated all the way to Dafeichuan to assemble, and under the threat of Pei Xingjian's army, they withdrew all the way from Dafeichuan. At this point, the tang and Tubo sides once again returned to the defensive line of ten years ago.
Moreover, the most important influences after Pei Xingjian defeated Tubo were two:
First, the Tubo king Mangsong Mangzan, who had wanted to marry Princess Taiping, died.
Second, Tubo was seriously injured by Pei Xingjian's beating, and he was unable to fight again in the short term, and he humbly asked for peace.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="127" >05 Wu Zetian won power, Pei Xingjian died in Chang'an</h1>
If only the above achievements, Pei Xingjian is not enough to keep pace with Li Ji, Su Dingfang and other famous Tang generals, and his real glory is to quell the rebellion of the Western Turks, and to open up territory and expand the territory for the Tang and build shanye city.
As we all know, Li Bai, the most famous poet of the Tang Dynasty, was born in Shanye City.
However, before Pei Xingjian's Northern Expedition, Broken Leaf City was still a barren land, and it had not yet been included in the territory of the Tang Dynasty!
At the end of 679 AD, Pei Xingjian, who had just beaten Tubo to seek peace, did not warm the seat, did not disarm his troops, and braved the wind and snow to penetrate deep into the northwestern states, like a divine soldier descending from heaven, appearing in front of the chiefs of the four towns of Guizi, Khotan, Shule, and Shanye who were plotting rebellion.
On the pretext of hunting, Pei Xingjian took the chiefs of various tribes and together they conquered the rebellious Ashinadu branch!
Xiao Siye, a veteran general who had participated in the Battle of Goguryeo in the Eastern Expedition, was still alive at this time, and Pei Xingjian gathered his troops and encircled the local indigenous chieftains, totaling 300,000 people, looking for the main force of the Western Turk rebels in the western region of the yellow sand.
Although the Tang army had 300,000 people, the western region at that time was both vast and desolate, and so many people sprinkled it into it, just like a river entering the sea, trickling down.
Therefore, Pei Xingjian used the method of dealing with Tubo, with Xiao Siye as the Chinese army, leading 300,000 troops to open a large net to force the rebels. He himself led 3,000 elite troops deep into the barren lands to attract the main force of the Turkic rebels.
In order to paralyze the Turkic rebels, Pei Xingjian also asked Emperor Gaozong of Tang to appoint him as a great food appeasement envoy, under the guise of escorting the Persian king Ni Neshi back to China.
Ashinaduzhi, the self-proclaimed Khan of the Western Turks, was indeed deceived, throwing his 100,000 troops into the battlefield and intercepting and killing Pei Xingjian.
In the battle, Pei Xingjian broke the Turkic 100,000 rebels with 3,000 elite troops, chiseled through the enemy position twice, brave and unstoppable, and reproduced the myth of the invincibility of the Tang Dynasty Tiger!
In 680, with the close cooperation of Xiao Siye, Pei Xingjian chased the Turkic rebels all the way to the Western Han Dynasty of Dawan, captured Ashinadu branch, and built the city of Shanye (present-day Tokmak, Kyrgyzstan) in Yanqi, declaring The Tang's control over the northern part of the Western Regions.
When Lubu, who had won a great victory in the Anxi army, reached Chang'an, Li Zhi was overjoyed, praised Pei Xingjian for his literary and martial prowess, and immediately ordered him to be promoted to the rank of Rebbe Shangshu and Inspector of The Right Guard General, holding two important positions.
It should be noted that at this time, the crown prince Li Xianyao led the inspection school left guard general, and Pei Xingjian served as the inspection school right guard general, indicating that he was already the first person in the Tang Dynasty army!
Wu Zetian was certainly unhappy, but there was nothing he could do, after all, the military had always been firmly in the hands of Li Zhi.
However, in order not to let Pei Xingjian enter the center of the Tang Dynasty, Wu Zetian still intervened.
Shortly after Princess Taiping and Xue Shao became married, after seeing the true face of Wu Zetian's eyes and retribution, Liu Renluo, the chancellor of the Tang Dynasty, took the initiative to retreat to the second line, Hao Chujun told the old man to return to his hometown, Xue Yuanchao entered the Eastern Palace to assist the crown prince to avoid disasters, and there were not many ministers loyal to Li Zhi in the court.
At that time, there were two powerful prime ministers in the dynasty, Cui Zhiwen and Pei Yan.
Cui Zhiwen is an old and good man who has survived the seniority and cannot be offended by anyone; Pei Yan is also from the Pei clan of Hedong, but he is a concubine. If Pei Xingjian returned to Chang'an, because of his merits, he would inevitably worship xiang and leap to the top of the crowd.
Wu Zetian took advantage of Pei Yan's and Pei Xingjian's concubine dispute to instigate Pei Yan to suppress Pei Xingjian.
Pei Xingjian, who thought that he could once again show his ambitions in the court, was disheartened when he saw that all the ministers standing in the court were the ministers who flattered the queen of heaven, Wu Zetian, and then saw that Pei Yan, the prime minister of the family, was doing everything to suppress him.
In 681, Pei Xingjian refused to be a puppet of Wu Zetian, resolutely resigned from the position of Rebbe Shangshu, and went home to recuperate.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="172" > postscript</h1>
Pei Xingjian was one of the very few famous generals in the early Tang Dynasty who were both literate and martial, and since the founding of the Tang Dynasty, there were only four people, Li Jing, Li Ji, Su Dingfang, and Liu Renluo, and Pei Xingjian was the fifth, but the combat strength value was above Liu Renluo.
Such a person, there are military generals who are not afraid of life and death, and there are civilian officials who are not afraid of the wind and bones of power, no matter what era, they will shine.
Unfortunately, he was not born into the Lord!
Although, by chance, he pacified the Western Turks, opened up territory for the Tang Dynasty, and laid the foundation for famous generals. Unfortunately, this should not be the end of his life, he could have taken Datang Tiger Ben to fight in all directions and bring Datang to a more brilliant peak!
Unfortunately, he met an empress Wu Zetian, who had a narrow temperament and a chicken Si Chen, and was suppressed for 26 years!
In 682 AD, without Pei Xingjian's deterrence, the land of the Ten Western Turks rebelled again. Pei Xingjian, who was bedridden, heard the news, begged for music on the table, and asked himself to be a marshal and then recruit Tubo.
Li Zhi, who was also ill, tearfully agreed and personally sent him his own golden armor.
Unfortunately, Pei Xingjian was really old, and he suffered successive political blows from Wu Zetian, and his health was getting worse and worse. On the way out, a generation of famous generals Pei Xingjian died of illness.
Even if there are soaring ambitions, there is still a place to use. I'd rather die on the battlefield than be a woman's puppet!
If a country lives and dies by profit, it is better to avoid it because of misfortune and happiness. #Historical Review #This is the true portrayal of Pei Xingjian, a famous general of the Tang Dynasty, and also the true portrayal of all the famous generals of the early Tang Dynasty!
Unfortunately, the master died before he could succeed, and with the death of a generation of famous generals Pei Xingjian, the first Tang Dynasty was prosperous and completely came to an end!
Serial [Emperor Wu Zetian] 34