As the most famous military general in the late Sui and early Tang dynasties, the real Wei Chigong in history, his life experience is actually highly similar to that described in the yanyi novel. The only slight difference is that the real Wei Chigong, in addition to being able to fight, is also particularly shrewd as a person, and he is by no means a stupid big man who can only fight.
In 585, Wei Chigong was born in Shuozhou, Shanxi. At that time, the Sui Dynasty had already opened its country, but it had not yet unified the world. It was not until a few years later that the Sui Dynasty went south to destroy Chen. Moreover, Wei Chigong is not Han, he is a Xianbei.
As described in the novel, Wei Chigong was born at the bottom and made a living as a teenager by striking iron, so he practiced an amazing strength. Later, in the last years of the Sui Dynasty, around Wei Chigong's hometown, there were many bandits who rebelled, and the security became worse and worse. The social environment deteriorated, the blacksmith shop naturally had no business, and the young Wei Chigong had no income. It happened that the Sui Dynasty army was recruiting soldiers at that time, and forced to make a living, Wei Chigong changed from a blacksmith to a soldier.
After joining the army, relying on the strength of the iron training, Wei Chigong soon stood out in the army. In the battle to eliminate the bandits, he made great achievements many times, and soon became a famous combat hero in the army, and was gradually promoted to the rank of Asahi Doctor. This Chaoshan Dafu was a scattered official position created by the Sui Dynasty, probably to give Wei Chigong a relatively high-grade treatment and a position of qilu, but there was no corresponding real power.
In today's parlance, it is a salary increase but no promotion.
After two years in the military, Wei Chigong ushered in another turning point in his life. In the thirteenth year of Daye, with the complete collapse of the Sui Dynasty's rule in the north, the local powerful began to establish themselves as kings and divide one side. On Wei Chigong's hometown, there was a leader of the main regiment named Liu Wuzhou, who killed the local mayor and then commanded his men to occupy the northern part of Shanxi.
In this coup d'état, Wei Chigong did not choose to avenge the mayor or contact everyone to rebel against Liu Wuzhou. For Wei Chigong at that time, being a soldier was only a profession, and it was not necessary to be loyal to anyone. Regardless of whether Liu Wuzhou was a rebel or not, he just had to honestly listen to the orders of his superiors, and anyway, it was just for dinner.
However, after Liu Wuzhou took the throne, he was very interested in Wei Chigong, a combat hero. Liu Wuzhou had been the leader of the local main regiment before, and he had long heard of Wei Chigong's reputation. Therefore, after Liu Wuzhou took power, he used the high-ranking official Houlu to recruit Wei Chigong and recruit Wei Chigong under his command as a partial general. And Wei Chigong did not refuse Liu Wuzhou's solicitation, anyway, being a soldier is to promote officials and get rich, and whoever gives more benefits will listen to whom!
For more than a year, Liu Wuzhou secured his territory and controlled the entire northern part of Shanxi. In the more than a year, a lot has happened in other regions. For example, Li Yuan raised an army from Taiyuan and attacked Chang'an all the way; for example, when the Jiangdu coup broke out, Yang Guang was strangled to death by the forbidden army under his command; for example, the Wagang army was defeated by Wang Shichong, and Li Mi was killed after he surrendered to Tang, and so on... These famous events at the end of the Sui Dynasty basically happened in the past year or so.
On Liu Wuzhou's side, during this period, in addition to consolidating his control over the local area, Liu Wuzhou also recruited a peasant army leader named Song Jingang. This Song Jingang was more capable of fighting, and Liu Wuzhou favored him even more, seeing him as a handsome talent under his command. As for Wei Chigong, he was regarded by Liu Wuzhou as a general who charged into battle. After Song Jingang joined, Wei Chigong was sent to Song Jingang as a general.
More than a year later, as Liu Wuzhou completely controlled his territory, gained the support of the Turks, and obtained the so-called "handsome talents" such as Song Jingang, Liu Wuzhou began to want to expand outward. After careful study, Liu Wuzhou decided to take Song Jingang's advice and attack Taiyuan to the south, taking the south as the direction of his expansion. Taiyuan was originally Li Yuan's territory, but after Li Yuan entered guanzhong, he transferred most of the elite to Chang'an. At that time, the Taiyuan area was guarded by Li Yuan's third son Li Yuanji, which was very empty, and it was a good time to attack.
After formulating the battle plan, Liu Wuzhou took Song Jingang as his commander and led his troops directly to Taiyuan. On the Taiyuan side, Li Yuanji, who was guarding the city, was only sixteen years old at the time, and unlike his brother Li Shimin, who was born to fight. Therefore, after learning the news that Liu Wuzhou was going south, Li Yuanji simply fled out of Taiyuan directly overnight. At the same time, Li Yuan, who was far away in Chang'an, heard the news of Liu Wuzhou's attack and sent the chancellor Pei Huan to lead a large army to the rescue. As a result, this Pei Ning was not Song Jingang's opponent, and he was completely destroyed without even finishing a round.
In this way, Liu Wuzhou easily captured Taiyuan and controlled the vast area around Taiyuan. At that time, the Tang Dynasty's territory west of the Yellow River, except for a very small part, was almost all defeated by Liu Wuzhou. In this process, Wei Chigong has been charging forward, defeating many Tang troops as a pioneer and making great achievements many times.
However, after Liu Wuzhou gradually conquered the whole of Shanxi, the Li Tang regime began to have new trends. Li Yuan saw that no one else could beat Liu Wuzhou, so he could only send his second son Li Shimin to play. After Li Shimin arrived with his troops, he sent the general Qin Shubao as the vanguard to block Wei Chigong in the Miragawa area. In the end, the Tang army won a great victory, and Wei Chigong returned with a big defeat.
The Battle of Meiliangchuan was a battle in which the Tang Dynasty reversed defeat and was of great significance. In the novel, this battle is even more specially booked by the big book. The story of three whips for two hammers comes from this battle. The real battles in the history, although not as exaggerated as in the novels, are equally wonderful.
After this battle, although Wei Chigong suffered defeat, he was not overly punished by Liu Wuzhou. Moreover, after the Battle of Meiliangchuan, the Tang army began to press forward step by step, and Liu Wuzhou's army launched a confrontation on the Baibi front. After several months of confrontation, Liu Wuzhou took the lead in running out of grain and grass and was defeated by the Tang army. After that, Song Jingang and Liu Wuzhou fled to the Turks in an attempt to rely on the Turks to make a comeback, but were eventually killed by the Turks, and Wei Chigong led his army to be besieged in Jiexiu City.
After Wei Chigong was besieged, Li Shimin sent people into the city to persuade him to surrender, and Wei Chigong saw that victory was hopeless, so he did not resist anymore and directly surrendered to Li Shimin.
In this way, Wei Chigong finally joined the Li Tang camp.
Although he was a demoted general, after arriving at the Tang Dynasty, Wei Chigong did not suffer any discrimination, but was instead reused by Li Shimin. After Wei Chigong surrendered to Tang, many people also persuaded Li Shimin that Wei Chigong should be imprisoned, and some even said that Wei Chigong should be killed directly. However, Li Shimin resolutely rejected these proposals, and in the previous great war, Wei Chigong's bravery gave Li Shimin a deep impression, so Li Shimin could not bear to kill such a good talent. Next, Li Shimin gave Wei Chigong a lot of gold and silver treasures, and clearly told Wei Chigong that if he did not want to surrender, he could leave with the treasure at any time.
Li Shimin's generosity gave Wei Chigong a deep shock. Before, whether in the Sui Army or under Liu Wuzhou, Wei Chigong was a typical person who took money to do things, and could not talk about selling his life. But Li Shimin's sincerity conquered Wei Chigong. From then on, Wei Chigong sincerely submitted to Li Shimin, not only as a general of the Tang Dynasty, but also as a general of Li Shimin.
After Wei Chigong surrendered to Tang, Li Shimin still made him the vanguard of his own command, alongside Qin Qiong, Cheng Yaojin and others. In the next two years, Wei Chigong always followed Li Shimin and defeated strong enemies such as Wang Shichong, Dou Jiande, and Liu Heimin. Wei Chigong will be a pioneer in every battle, and use his life to protect Li Shimin and fight for Li Shimin. In the process, Wei Chigong also gradually became a confidant general under Li Shimin and a core member of the Qin King's Party.
Later, with the complete unification of the world by the Tang Dynasty, the contradictions between Li Shimin and Li Jiancheng began to gradually intensify. During this period, Li Jiancheng wanted to bribe Wei Chigong with a lot of money, but was severely refused by Wei Chigong. For Li Shimin, Wei Chigong was really sincere and loyal. In the ninth year of Wu De, when the contradiction between Li Shimin and Li Jiancheng had reached the point of not dying, Wei Chigong directly persuaded Li Shimin to take the initiative to take the initiative to take the initiative.
This is not the same as what is described in the novel. The real Wei Chigong in history was not only a participant in the Xuanwumen Incident, but also the main planner of the Xuanwumen Incident.
In the end, under the persuasion of Wei Chigong and several other henchmen, Li Shimin finally made up his mind and killed Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji at Xuanwu Gate. At the time of the Xuanwumen Incident, Wei Chigong not only personally participated in the coup, but also in the course of the battle, Li Shimin fell off his horse and was almost killed by Li Yuanji. It was Wei Chigong who arrived, saved Li Shimin, and then shot Li Yuanji. After the coup d'état, Wei Chigong brought troops into the palace, took control of the entire palace, and forced Li Yuan to bow to Li Shimin.
After the Xuanwumen Incident, Li Shimin successfully ascended the throne as emperor. However, at the same time that Li Shimin ascended the throne, the Northern Turks learned of the news of the civil unrest in Chang'an, and immediately the army went south, and the troops pointed directly at Chang'an. At that time, the defenders in Chang'an City were less than 20,000 people, but the Turks had nearly 200,000 people. In order to defend The City of Chang'an, Li Shimin sang an empty city plan to the Turks, first sending Wei Chi Gong to lead the elite to meet the Turkic vanguard, giving the Turks the illusion that Chang'an was not empty. Then he went out of the city alone, confronted the Turks with only six horses, and finally forced the Turks to retreat.
In this process, the battle between Wei Chigong and the Turkic vanguard was undoubtedly the most important. If Wei Chigong could not defeat the Turkic vanguard, it would be difficult for the Turks to misunderstand the situation of Chang'an's troops, and naturally there would be no six horsemen behind to retreat from the enemy. At this time, Wei Chigong was able to be entrusted with such a task by Li Shimin, and he was obviously already a confidant in his heart.
With Li Shimin sweeping away many strong enemies, initiating and participating in the Xuanwumen Incident, saving Li Shimin's life during the period, and then desperately fighting to save Chang'an, this way down, Wei Chigong's credit has almost overshadowed all the military generals. In this regard, Li Shimin did not treat Wei Chigong badly. After the Turks withdrew, Li Shimin was awarded the title of meritorious warrior, and Wei Chigong was the one with the highest reward among all the military generals. As for Qin Qiong, Cheng Yaojin, and others, they were far inferior to Wei Chigong.
Wei Chigong in the early years of Zhenguan was not only the most capable ceiling-level warrior within the Tang Army, but also the favorite of Li Shimin. However, after that, Wei Chigong was somewhat pampered and proud. Not only did he not give Fang Xuanling, Du Ruyi, and eldest son Wujie any face in the courtroom, but he also often boasted of his merits in private, believing that no one's merits were inferior to his own.
In addition, in the novel, the plot of 'punching the emperor's uncle Li Daozong' also really happened in history. This happened in the sixth year of Zhenguan, when Li Shimin once invited guests to dinner and invited the heroes to a banquet together. However, during the meal, Wei Chigong was furious because his seat was too low. Li Daozong, the patriarch sitting next to him, was kind enough to dissuade him from explaining, but he was almost blinded by Wei Chigong.
After this incident, Li Shimin was furious, and almost in the most severe tone, he gave Wei Chigong an ultimatum, and Wei Chigong was only slightly more honest, and after that, he was barely able to restrain his behavior and was no longer as reckless as before.
In the novels, these few things are often used as evidence of Wei Chigong's reckless impulses. But in fact, in the main history, if we relate to the background of the times at that time, it is not difficult for us to find that Wei Chigong did not do this, not only was he not reckless and not brainy, but he was a very wise choice.
Because among all the generals of the Tang Dynasty at that time, Wei Chigong's merits were almost the largest. Among all the Generals of the Tang Army, the only one who could make greater contributions than Wei Chigong was probably the more legendary God of War, Li Jing. The so-called meritorious lord, ordinary meritorious people, will be proud of their own merits. But if the credit is too great, I am afraid that I will have to worry about the suspicion of the emperor.
However, Wei Chigong's nonsense and entanglement completely dispelled Li Shimin's suspicion of him, and almost everyone felt that he was just a big boss who did not have a long brain. After that, Wei Chigong not only had freedom of movement, but Li Shimin would not suspect him. In contrast, Li Jing, who had greater merit, almost never left Chang'an City later, and even if he lived at home, his door had to be opened at all times to avoid Li Shimin's suspicions.
Compared with Li Jing, Wei Chigong's life was too comfortable. A person who can make everyone think that he does not have a long brain, but also can grasp the measure and not let Li Shimin be disgusted. Such a Wei Chi Gong, the wisdom is actually much higher than we think.
In the following ten years, Wei Chigong sometimes made a history of assassination, and sometimes served in the capital, and his life was very comfortable. In the seventeenth year of Zhenguan, when Li Shimin evaluated the list of LingYange meritorious men, Wei Chigong ranked seventh. Among all the fierce generals, Wei Chigong ranked highest. And Cheng Yaojin, who was similar to Wei Chigong's identity, could only rank nineteenth, and Qin Qiong was even more respectful of the last seat.
To be a general and to be a lieutenant chigong is really perfect.
In his later years, Wei Chigong, although he no longer paid attention to the politics of the dynasty, indulged in the cultivation of Dan Xiuxian. However, in the nineteenth year of Zhenguan, when Li Shimin was on an expedition to Goguryeo, Wei Chigong still followed Li Shimin to Liaodong. Although no merit has been made, there is still hard work. After returning from Liaodong, Wei Chigong almost completely gave up all his powers in the dynasty, and he stayed at home to practice Dan cultivation and did not associate with outsiders.
It was precisely because of his actions that Li Shimin did not suspect Wei Chigong until his death. When Li Shimin questioned Wei Chigong, Wei Chigong directly took off his clothes and showed Li Shimin his scars, causing Li Shimin to cry, not to mention holding him responsible. After Li Shimin's death, in the era of Li Zhi, as an old minister who had made great contributions to the previous dynasty, Wei Chigong still did not receive any suspicion, and his life was called a leisurely life.
A general who has a lot of merit, but can completely avoid the emperor's suspicion and rest assured that he will retire at home. Such a person, to say that he has no brains to act recklessly? Ghosts believe it!
In November 658, Wei Chi Jingde died at home at the age of seventy-four. After Wei Chigong's death, Li Zhi held a grand funeral for him, which can be described as extremely mournful. Moreover, after Wei Chigong's death, Wei Chi's family was also able to enjoy peace. Although the descendants never produced any major officials, the tang dynasty's several major court turmoils did not affect the Wei Chi family, which was quite a rare thing.
To be a general and to be a lieutenant chigong, I am afraid that there are only a few people who look at the entire history of China.
From Wei Chigong's story, it is not difficult for us to get some inspiration: if a person can make everyone think that you are a fool, it is not necessarily a bad thing. The generals of the Gulai Gong Gao Gai Lord have always been in the minority. But in the end, there are very few people who can live as comfortably as Wei Chigong.
When you are a person, when you should pretend to be stupid, don't hold it. Pretending to be stupid at the right time is actually a kind of great wisdom.