In many film and television dramas set in the Sui and Tang dynasties, Xu Maogong has been portrayed as a military master who is like a god. On the screen, he was wearing a Daoist robe, holding a dust in his hand, looking like a fairy wind Dao bone. Even if the enemy is present, he is not in a hurry, and three words and two sentences are a clever way to retreat from the enemy. But in fact, Xu Maogong is a fictional character, and his prototype is Li Ji, the founding father of the Tang Dynasty.
Li Ji was originally named Xu Shixun (徐世勣), the character Mao Gong (懋功). Because "Maogong" is homophonous with "Maogong", many novelists have written him as Xu Maogong. Unlike Xu Maogong, who was good at planning, Xu Shixun in history was a down-to-earth general. In recognition of Xu Shixun's military exploits, Li Yuan, the Emperor Gaozu of Tang, specially gave him the surname Li and called him Li Shixun. After Emperor Taizong Li Shimin ascended the throne, Li Shixun changed his name to Li Ji in order to avoid secrecy.
Xu Shijian had defected to Wagangzhai in his early years, and later, after Li Mi, the leader of Wagangzhai, surrendered to the Tang Dynasty, he followed. Later, when Li Mi defected and was killed, Li Yuan deliberately sent someone to send a message to Xu Shiji, wanting to see his attitude. Xu Shijian was originally Li Mi's confidant, and since he defected to the Tang Dynasty, he had been walking on thin ice and did not dare to act in the slightest arrogance.
However, when he heard the news of Li Mi's death, he immediately wrote to Li Yuan and asked for a generous burial of the old lord. Li Mi wanted to test whether Xu Shixun was loyal to data, but he did not expect him to be so upright. However, after careful consideration, Li Yuan still agreed to Xu Shixun's request. After all, Li Mi had been xu Shixun's lord, and it was normal for the two to have a little affection.
However, Xu Shixun's subsequent actions once again shocked Li Yuan. After Xu Shixun got permission, he immediately prepared a linen cloth suit and white aya, and personally sent a funeral for Li Mi. After burying Li Mi, he put on a linen and wore filial piety and stayed next to Li Mi's cemetery until after the mourning period was over. After this incident, Li Yuan completely trusted Xu Shixun. In Li Yuan's view, Xu Shixun was a very loyal person. How loyal he is to Li Mi now, how loyal he will be to Datang in the future.
After Li Yuan's death, Xu Shixun followed Emperor Taizong in his southern expedition to the north, first to pacify the south of the jiangsu and then break the Turks, and made great contributions to the Tang Dynasty. Once, Xu Shixun suddenly fell ill with a very strange disease. The doctor who came to the doctor said that in order to cure the disease, the medicine must have a beard burned to ashes. After Li Shimin learned about it, he did not hesitate to take a knife and cut off his beard to treat Xu Shixun's illness. After Xu Shixun heard about it, he prostrated to Li Shimin with tears, and his head was covered with blood.
When Li Shimin saw the situation, he only said lightly: "You don't have to do this, it is not only for you, but also for the sake of the Tang Dynasty." In the seventeenth year of Zhenguan (643), in order to honor those heroes who were born and died for the Tang Dynasty, Li Shimin specially ordered people to paint portraits of twenty-four heroes in Lingyange, including Xu Shixun. In his later years, Li Shimin still trusted Xu Shixun. At that time, the crown prince Li Zhi was young, and Li Shimin always wanted to find an old and important minister to assist the prince.
After thinking about it for a long time, Li Shimin still felt that Xu Shixun was the most suitable.
At a banquet, he sincerely said to Xu Shiji: "The prince is young, I am afraid that he will not be able to handle the government independently. I want to find someone to help him, but if you want to come and go, there is no one more suitable than you. You used to be loyal to Li Mi, and now you will certainly not betray You. Listening to the emperor's heartfelt words, Xu Shixun was sincerely afraid, hurriedly bit his fingertips, and made a vow that he would never fail. After a while, Li Shimin saw that Xu Shixun was a little drunk, and took off his clothes to cover him, lest he suffer from wind and cold.
The harmonious relationship between Li Shimin and Xu Shixun can be described as a good story for junchen. However, it is puzzling that in the twenty-third year of Zhenguan (649), Li Shimin, who was seriously ill, suddenly demoted Xu Shixun to Diezhou (diezhou, in present-day Diebu County, Gansu Province). Diezhou is located in the Great Northwest and is a very desolate place.
Then, as a founding general, Xu Shixun did not make any major mistakes, so why would Li Shimin demean him?
In fact, the reason why Li Shimin did this was because he valued Xu Shixun too much. According to the Old Book of Tang, before Li Shimin died, he once said to the crown prince Li Zhi: "Xu Shixun is the pillar of the Tang Dynasty, but unfortunately you have no kindness to him." After thinking about it, I decided to relegate him to a remote place first, and then transfer him back when you are in place. In this case, Xu Shixun will be very grateful to you. After Li Shimin's death, Li Zhi hurriedly ordered Xu Shixun to return to the capital and granted him the history of Luoyang Assassination. Not long after, Li Zhi promoted him to prime minister.
Seeing that the three emperors of Gaozu, Taizong, and Gaozong were all as kind to themselves, Xu Shixun was more loyal to the Tang Dynasty while being grateful. Soon after, he led an army to attack Goguryeo, and successively captured more than 170 cities for the Tang Dynasty, completely destroying Goguryeo. When Emperor Gaozong learned of this, he was overjoyed and felt that he had used the right person. In the second year of the general chapter (669), Xu Shixun died of illness at the age of seventy-six. When the news of Xu Shixun's death came, Emperor Gaozong Li Zhi wept bitterly and ordered him to quit the dynasty for seven days as a sign of mourning.
It can be said that in the eyes of Emperor Gaozong, Xu Shixun was the same character as Wei Qing and Huo Qi.
However, in the first year of the Guangzhai Dynasty (684), Xu Shixun's grandson Li Jingye raised an army against Wu Zetian, and Wu Zetian pursued Xu Shixun and other officials, dug up the tomb and cut the coffin, and restored his original surname Xu. It was not until the first year of Shenlong (705), when Emperor Zhongzong of Tang was restored to the throne, that he issued an edict to restore Xu Shixun's official title and rebury him.
Resources:
[Old Book of Tang, Vol. 67, Liechuan No. 17, New Book of Tang, Vol. 93, Liechuan No. 18]