When it comes to ancient famous generals, Li Jing, a famous general in the early Tang Dynasty, is an unavoidable figure, whose military ability ranks in the forefront of the entire ancient history, and has not been defeated in the southern and northern wars for the Tang Dynasty, opening up territories and expanding territory, but it is such a generation of famous generals, and Li Yuan, the ancestor of the Tang Dynasty, wanted to execute Li Jing twice.
Li Jing was only five years younger than Li Yuan, both of whom were born in the Northern Zhou Dynasty and grew up in the Sui Dynasty. Li Jing also came from the family of the official eunuch, and since he was a child, he has been infected with literary and military talents, and has said to his family more than once: "If the eldest husband meets the lord at the right time, he must make meritorious deeds in order to gain wealth and wealth." ”
But it is obvious that during the Sui Dynasty, Li Jing did not meet the master at the right time, although Han Baohu, Niu Hong, Yang Su and other capable generals of the Sui Dynasty spoke highly of Li Jing, but Li Jing was not really reused, and he was only a small official during the great cause.
At the end of the great cause, Li Jing served as the commander of Mayi County, and the commander of Mayi County at that time was Wang Rengong, who coincided with the Turkic invasion of the border, and Li Yuan and Wang Rengong jointly attacked the Turks in the north, and it was also in this process that Li Jing, who was Wang Rengong's deputy, had close contact with Li Yuan.
This contact does not matter, Li Jing keenly noticed that Li Yuan was unusual, he saw that Li Yuan had the ambition of the Quartet and was a very ambitious person, and the general environment at that time happened to be Emperor Yang Guang of the Sui Dynasty and the turtle shrunk the Jiangdu, and the heroes from all over the country rose up together to compete in the Central Plains.
Although Li Yuan still showed allegiance to the Sui Dynasty, Li Jing did not think that Li Yuan, who was left behind in Taiyuan, would really be indifferent, and Li Yuan's ambition did not allow him to do so.
Moreover, Li Jing has found that Li Yuan has gathered a lot of heroes around him, which is a very bad signal in itself, Li Jing knows that Li Yuan's incident is just a matter of time.
So he made an astonishing move, that is, "self-locking and changing", that is, Li Jing himself put on shackles, disguised himself as a prisoner, and then prepared to go to Jiangdu to report Li Yuan's matter to Emperor Yang of Sui, but unfortunately, when Li Jing went to Chang'an, he was stranded in Chang'an because of the continuous blockage of roads caused by uprisings in various places.
In the turbulent era, a person's power is very small, Li Jing is talented, capable, and loyal, but he can't even go to Jiang, let alone stop Li Yuan's uprising.
Soon, Li Yuan raised troops in Jinyang, pointing at Chang'an, and in just four months, Li Yuan attacked Chang'an, taking everyone by surprise.
After Li Yuan entered Chang'an City, he remembered Li Jing's matter, he didn't even give Li Jing a chance to defend himself, and directly ordered Li Jing to be executed, Li Jing never thought that this would be the result.
Seeing that his head was about to fall to the ground, Li Jing knew that if he couldn't impress Li Yuan with a word, he would probably give his life like this, so he shouted:
"The public rebels are supposed to eliminate riots in the world, and they don't want to do big things, but kill strong men with personal grudges!"
Li Yuan's killing of Li Jing naturally can't be completely said to be a personal grudge, after all, if Li Jing really went to Jiangdu to see Yang Guang, then Yang Guang, who was already afraid of Li Yuan, would naturally not take this matter lightly, but if you really want to talk about it, Li Jing's move is also loyal to the Sui Dynasty, which is not wrong.
Moreover, the most important thing is that Li Jing is right, Li Yuan is the one who wants to do great things, he has already entered Chang'an, and the next thing is to calm the world and complete great things, there is no need to execute Li Jing who has not succeeded at this time.
Li Shimin also stood up and said good things for Li Jing, of course, Li Yuan also knew Li Jing's talent, and Li Jing had the intention of surrendering to the Tang Dynasty, so Li Yuan let Li Jing go.
Li Jing, who descended to the Tang Dynasty, was recruited into the shogunate by Li Shimin, and began to follow Li Shimin to fight in the south and the north, and made military exploits in the process of attacking Wang Shichong, and opened the palace with merit.
Soon after, Li Yuan transferred Li Jing south to pacify Xiao Miao, Li Jing received an order to speed his troops to take up his post, passing through Jinzhou, just met Deng Shiluo led tens of thousands of people to gather in the valley, and was ordered to crusade Lujiang King Li Ying did not go well, defeated one after another, was helpless When, Li Jing gave Li Ying advice to help Li Ying quickly defeat Deng Shiluo.
And Li Jing also successfully passed through Jinzhou and arrived in Xiazhou, but he met Xiao Mill, who controlled the dangerous place, and was unable to advance, Li Yuan knew that Li Jing was stranded and delayed the military plane, and directly secretly ordered Xiazhou to assassinate Shi Xu Shao to execute Li Jing.
Li Yuan is so intolerant of Li Jing, it is shocking, in fact, it can be seen from this incident that Li Yuan does not like Li Jing. At the beginning of the Tang Dynasty, when the world was undecided, in order to attract talents and gain support, Li Yuan did all kinds of amnesty, official vows, special rewards, etc., but in the treatment of Li Jing, Li Yuan seemed very intolerant.
This may be because Li Yuan still remembers Li Jing's "self-locking change", so that he ignores Li Jing's talent, even if he has let Li Jing go before, he still doesn't like Li Jing, so he doesn't trust Li Jing, and wants to kill Li Jing whenever there is a stir.
Fortunately, Xu Shao admired Li Jing very much and didn't want such a person to be killed, so he asked for Li Jing's life, and Li Yuan didn't insist on killing Li Jing.
Shortly thereafter, Kaizhou Ran Zhaoze rebelled against the Tang Dynasty and invaded Kuizhou, Li Xiaogong led the army to meet the defeat, Li Jing automatically asked for help, led 800 troops to attack Ran Zhaoze's camp, won a complete victory, and took the opportunity to set up an ambush in a dangerous place, killed Ran Zhaoze and captured more than 5,000 people.
When the good news reached Chang'an, Li Yuan happily said to his ministers: "I heard that it is better to use people with merit than to use people who are at fault, and Li Jing has indeed made great contributions." ”
He also specially issued a seal to Li Jing: "Qing does his best wholeheartedly, and the effect is extraordinary." Far-sighted and sincere, extremely rewarded, don't worry about wealth and wealth. ”
At this time, Li Yuan was really happy, he knew that Li Jing was capable, but he didn't expect to be so capable, and the discomfort caused by Li Jing's "self-locking change" finally dissipated.
So Li Yuan scolded Li Jing: "I am not to blame for the past, I have forgotten the old things for a long time." ”
What does that mean? I am not to blame for the past, and I have long forgotten the past. At this moment, Li Yuan really regarded Li Jing as a member of the Tang Dynasty, a military general he was ready to rely on, and he never had the intention of killing Li Jing again.
And Li Jing also used his ability and loyalty to give back to Li Yuan, in the process of pacifying the world made great achievements, after the world was established, and guarded the north to fight against the Turks, it can be said that where there is a battlefield, there is Li Jing's figure.
After Li Shimin ascended the throne, Li Jing became a general, participated in political affairs at home, fought in all directions, expanded his territory, and never failed in his life, becoming a generation of famous generals.
However, heroes always have twilight years, Li Jing is no exception, after the age of seventy, Li Jing's body will not work, later, Li Shimin is ready to conquer Goguryeo, and Li Jing is summoned to the cabinet to ask for suggestions, Li Jing said: "The ministers rely on the power of heaven, thin and small, and now the bones are rotten, only this trip." His Majesty will not give up, and the old minister will be sick and sick. ”
The old and sick Li Jing, who had not been on the battlefield for nearly ten years, was still willing to join the army in Goguryeo, but Li Shimin did not agree considering Li Jing's age and illness.
In May 649, the 79-year-old Li Jing died, and Li Shimin issued an edict: "Give Situ and the governor of the state, give Ban Jian, Yu Bao, and advocate, accompany the burial of Zhaoling, and call Jingwu." ”