Although datang will be full of stars, the most brilliant one must be Sanyuan Li Jing.
The historical Li Jing (Chinese: 李靖; pinyin: Līng), a scholar of the yongzhou sanyuan (雍州三原) today, was an outstanding military figure and famous general of the Tang Dynasty, and the nephew of the Sui Dynasty Liangzhou Assassin Shi Han Huhu. He fought countless battles throughout his life, made great contributions to the establishment and development of the Tang Dynasty, and later became one of the twenty-four heroes of Lingyange appointed by Emperor Taizong.
Li Jing was not only able to fight in actual combat, but also compiled his combat experience in governing the army into a volume and wrote a military book, "The Mirror of Li Jing's Six Armies." Although it has been lost today, it was indeed a military work at that time, which enriched ancient military thinking and the theory of the art of war. Later generations compiled a book entitled "Tang Taizong Li Weigong Asked Questions" to record Li Jing's thoughts on the art of war, which was included in the Seven Books of the Martial Classics during the Northern Song Dynasty and became a representative work for ancient military science.
Li Jing was born extraordinary, grew up in a family of eunuchs, his uncle Han Huhu was a famous general of the Sui Dynasty, Li Jing was influenced by the atmosphere of martial arts from the family since childhood. Li Jing had an outstanding appearance, a great appearance, and a literary talent and martial strategy that was difficult for ordinary people to reach since he was a child, and he was also quite enterprising, and once said to his father very proudly: "If the eldest husband can meet the monarch of Shengming, he should make meritorious achievements and seek wealth, so why should he be a reader." Every time his uncle Han Baohu talked to him about the art of war, he clapped his hands and praised him, touched Li Jing and sighed, and said, "You can talk to Sun and Wu Zhishu, but only Si people." ”
When he first entered the government and the opposition, Li Jing's official position was very humble, but this did not affect the ability of his talents, and he was also famous for his outstanding ability in the Sui Dynasty imperial court, and Niu Hong, who was then the official Shangshu, praised him as "Wang Zuocaiye!" Yang Su also caressed the bed and said to him, "Qing Qing should sit here in the end!"
Li Jing's real brilliance was after he defected to the Tang army, and several of the wars that were crucial to the Tang Dynasty had Li Jing's shadow.
In July of the sixth year of Wu De (623), a conflict broke out between Du Fuwei and Fu Gongru, the generals of the peasant rebel army who had already surrendered to the Tang Dynasty, and Fu Gongrui took advantage of Du Fuwei's entry into the dynasty to steal Danyang and raise troops against Tang. Li Yuan immediately ordered Li Xiaogong to be the commander and Li Jing to be the deputy marshal, and led Li Ji and the other seven governors to the east to fight the rebels.
At that time, Fu Gongrui sent several generals to garrison near Danyang with men and horses, and Li Xiaogong did not have any good method for a while, so he wanted to seek the opinions of the generals. At this time, Li Jing very clearly analyzed the characteristics of several people and horses, and put forward a corresponding battle plan, which should be attacked and broken one by one. Li Xiaogong adopted his advice and marched all the way, and the enemy fled in the wind. Eventually, the rebellion was put down, and several rebel leaders, led by Fu Gongyi, were captured. Li Jing had still quelled Xiao Qian's rebellion since then, and this time it was another great achievement, and Li Yuan was very happy to be rewarded with a large number of rewards, giving thousands of pieces, a hundred slaves, and a hundred good horses. It also set up a southeastern road platform, and specially appointed Li Jing as the shangshu of the xingtai military department. After the reward, Li Yuan also did not hesitate to praise himself, "Li Jing is Xiao Milling, Fu Gong Ano anointing, the ancient famous generals Han, Bai, Wei, and Huo, how can they be?"
Civil unrest subsided, but the Turks who were entrenched in the north of the Tang Dynasty had always been a big problem and had the ambitions of wolves. In August of the ninth year of Wu De (626), Li Shimin had just ascended the throne, and Jieli Khan took advantage of the change of throne to take advantage of the change of throne, led more than 100,000 elite cavalry south, drove straight into Weishui, forced Emperor Taizong to personally go out on horseback, and formed an alliance with Weishui.
However, shortly thereafter, there was turmoil in the Eastern Turks, and many tribes defected one after another, just in time for a snowstorm, the death of sheep and horses in large numbers, and even caused famine, and the tribesmen fled in all directions. In August of the third year of Zhenguan (629), Li Shimin accepted Zhang Gongjin's advice and decided to attack the Eastern Turks, and ordered Li Jing to be the main general.
In the first month of the fourth year of Zhenguan (630), the wind was like a knife, and Li Jing, with three thousand elite cavalry, rushed all the way to the Turkic tooth tent in the face of bitter cold. Jieli Khan did not expect that the Tang army would suddenly attack, and the efficiency was so high, so he was shocked. They decided that if the Tang army had not had a large number of men and horses, Li Jing would never have gone deep alone, so they "counted the number of surprises in one day." When Li Jing discovered this news, he immediately sent spies to use divisive tactics, and sure enough, Jieli's close confidant Kang Sumi came to surrender.
When the information arrived, Li Jing quickly attacked Dingxiang, and under the cover of night, he attacked the city in one fell swoop, and Jieli fled in a hurry. It is also a great achievement, and it is needless to say that a reward is self-congratulatory, and more importantly, Li Shimin happily praised the minister: "Jing rode three thousand, bloody court, and then took Dingxiang, ancient generations, full bath Wu Wei water shame!"
Later, the Tang Dynasty's men and horses attacked the forces of Jieli Khan several times, forcing him to surrender. But this surrender was only a delaying tactic, and Jieli made up his mind to make a comeback. However, although he once again raised an army to rebel, the demise that should come still came, Li Jing led his men and horses all the way to the bamboo, once again forcing Jieli to a desperate situation, and finally this indispensable Turkic Khan was captured and sent to the Beijing Division, and the Eastern Turks were completely destroyed.
After the destruction of the Eastern Turks, Li Jing did not fall silent, and in October of the eighth year of Zhenguan (634), Li Jing, who had just been the ruler for four years, resigned with a foot disease, and he was sincere, and Emperor Taizong greatly appreciated it. However, the following year, in the ninth year of Zhenguan (635), Li Jing again crossed the ma ti gun to attack the provocative Tuguhun. In the end, a great victory was won, and Tuguhun was destroyed.
Li Jing was framed in the course of his conquest of Tuguhun, and although he eventually proved his innocence, he was well aware of the danger of the lord of high merit, so he "guarded the door and prevented guests, although relatives were not allowed to enter in vain." In the twenty-third year of Zhenguan (649), Li Jing died unexpectedly at the age of seventy-nine. Li Shimin gave him the courtesy name "Jingwu" and buried him in Zhaoling.
Li Jing fought all his life, made great achievements in battle, and was deeply favored by the emperor. When Li Shimin later evaluated the generals, he thought that they were inferior to Li Jing. The reason is very simple, the establishment of great achievements is very good, but to avoid the end of the bird's bow hiding, rabbit dead dog cooking, know the measure to understand the advance and retreat is the real powerful.