The brutal rule of the Sui Emperor caused uprisings to flourish everywhere. In 611, Wang Bo first revolted at Changbai Mountain in Shandong (at the junction of present-day Zhangli, Zouping, and Changshan counties), and was active in the area of Qi Commandery (present-day Jinan) and Jibei Commandery (present-day Chiping).
Then dozens of rebel teams appeared throughout the country, and finally the rebel armies from all over the country converged into three powerful teams: one was the Hebei rebel army led by Dou Jiande, one was the Wagang army led by Zhai Rang, and the other was the Jianghuai rebel army led by Du Fuwei, of which the Wagang army was the most powerful.
Zhai Rang, the leader of the Wagang Army, was a native of Weicheng (present-day Hua County, Henan), and was a minor official in charge of prisons at Yamen in Dong Commandery (present-day Puyang County, Henan). Later, because of a little negligence, he was put in prison and sentenced to death. The jailer Huang Junhan admired Zhai Rang very much on weekdays, and when he saw Zhai Rang's sudden disaster, he sympathized with him very much. One night, when it was dark and empty, Huang Junhan secretly said to Zhai Rang: "Now that the general situation in the world has been seen very clearly, are talents like you waiting for death in prison like this?" Zhai Rang said, "I am now like a pig in a pen, I can't help myself, whether I die or live depends on you!" Huang Junhan hurriedly opened the shackles on Zhai Rang's body and let him escape. Zhai Rang thanked him on the side. While crying, he said, "With your help, I was able to escape from death." But what do you do when I'm gone? Huang Junhan said angrily, "What are you talking about!" I see that you are an ambitious person, who will be able to do a cause to save the people in the future, and only then let you go regardless of your personal safety, how can you cry like a child? Just go do something big, don't worry about me. After saying that, the two people broke up.
Zhai Rang, leader of the peasant revolt (Wagang Army) at the end of the Sui Dynasty.
Zhai Rang escaped from Dong County and returned to weicheng's hometown. At this time, the peasants in his hometown were brewing an uprising, and he, together with his brother Zhai Hong, nephew Zhai Mohou, and the young warriors Xu Shixun (later renamed Li Xun) and Shan Xiongxin of the same county, went to Wagangzhai and raised the banner of the uprising. The rebel army was active in a vast area of more than two hundred miles between the north and south canals, killing the rich and helping the poor, and the ranks continued to grow.
One day, a ragged man suddenly came to the door of Wagang Village, wanting to see Zhai Rang, and the guards took him to Zhai Rang. It turned out that he was the famous Li Mi. Li Mi was born into an aristocratic family, and his father was a famous warrior of the Sui Dynasty, and he was given the title of Duke of Pushan. Li Miben was a general under Yang Su's son, Libu Shangshu Yang Xuangan. Yang Xuan rebelled against Sui and was defeated by the Sui Emperor, and Li Mi was also captured. On the way to the escort, Li Mi escaped. He wandered outside for two or three years, poor to the point of eating grass roots and nibbling on the bark. The Sui Dynasty government hunted him down everywhere, and finally he finally went to Wagang Village.
Li Mi (李密), courtesy name Xuanxuan, was one of the heroes of the late Sui and early Tang dynasties. Great-grandson of the famous Western Wei general Li Bi
Li Mi was a very talented man, who also served as an official of the Sui Dynasty, had rich experience in political struggle, and had a strong ability to command battles. He saw that the Wagang army was getting stronger and stronger, but it was only to attack the officers and soldiers, rob the ships carrying goods on the canal, and have no far-reaching political goals, so he analyzed the situation for the generals of the rebel army. He said to Zhai Rang: "Now Yang Guang is faint and cruel, and the common people are complaining, which is exactly the same as the situation when Liu Bang and Xiang Yu raised an army at the end of the Qin Dynasty. With your talents and elite soldiers and horses, you can completely sweep Luoyang and Chang'an and overthrow the Sui Dynasty! Li Mi's analysis opened the eyes of the leader of the peasant army and greatly admired and trusted Li Mi. Then, Li Mi went to persuade the small groups of peasant rebels around the Wagang army and the Wagang army to form a coalition army and fight together. In this way, the Wagang Army grew stronger and stronger, becoming a powerful anti-Sui force.
In 616, under the command of Zhai Rang and Li Mi, the Wagang army captured Jindi Pass (金堤關, in modern southern Hua County, Henan) and captured several counties near Xingyang, directly approaching Xingyang City.
Xingyang is a dangerous terrain, is the hub of the Tongluo Canal into the Yellow River, and has been a place where soldiers and families must fight since ancient times. The Wagang army besieged Xingyang, frightening Xingyang Taishou Yangqing, and he hurried to the Sui Emperor. The Sui Emperor appointed Zhang Sutuo as the deputy governor of Rongyang Tongshou (the deputy governor of the county, second to Taishou) and led 20,000 elite soldiers to rescue Yang Qing. Zhang Sutuo was a famous fierce general of the Sui Dynasty, and the peasant rebel army led by Wang Bo was suppressed by him. In the past, he had defeated Zhai Rang several times, so Zhai Rang was very nervous when he heard that Zhang Sutuo had brought troops to save Xingyang. Li Mi studied with him and decided to "outwit", zhai rang led part of the troops to meet Zhang Sutuo, Li Mi ambushed most of the troops in the woods north of the Xingyang Dahai Temple, Xu Shixun and Wang Bodang were ambushed on both sides of the Dahai Temple, forming a pocket-shaped position, waiting for Zhang Sutuo's arrival.
Zhang Sutuo (張蘇陀), courtesy name Guo, was a native of Hongnong Fuxiang (present-day Lingbao City, Henan), a major general during the Sui Dynasty who led an army to quell the peasant revolt, and Wei Zhendongxia, who was a pillar stone minister for the Sui Dynasty
Zhai Rang acted according to the plan, retreating while fighting, and led Zhang Sutuo into the ambush circle. Just listen to the three drums, Xu Shixun on the left, Wang Bodang on the right, and Li Mi in the back, all of them came out together and surrounded Zhang Sutuo.
Li Ji (李勣), formerly known as Xu Shixun (徐世勣), was a native of Caozhou (曹州離狐; present-day Dongming County, Heze, Shandong) who joined the Wagang Army in his early years and later surrendered to Tang with Li Mi
Zhang Sutuo hurriedly ordered a retreat, but the retreat had long been cut off. The Sui army was in disarray, and was killed by the Wagang army, and the army collapsed. Zhang Sutuo also died.
After this battle, Li Mi's prestige in the Wagang army increased. Li Mi not only gave strict orders, but also lived a simple life, and all the money and wealth captured from the enemy were distributed to the rebel soldiers. As the days passed, the soldiers gradually drew closer to each other. In the spring of the following year (617 CE), Li Mi persuaded Zhai Rang to attack Dongdu by taking advantage of the Sui Emperor's tour of Jiangdu and the emptiness of Dongdu. The Wagang army sent people to Dongdu to spy on military intelligence, which was discovered by Sui Dynasty officials and strengthened the defense of Dongdu. Li Mi changed his plans and proposed to first attack Xingluocang (興洛仓, in present-day Gong County, Henan).
Xingluocang, also known as Luokoucang, was the largest granary built by the Sui Dynasty. More than twenty miles around Cangcheng and three thousand large cellars were dug in the city, and each cellar stored eight thousand stones of grain. This was all looted by the Sui Dynasty from peasants everywhere for many years.
Zhai Rang and Li Mi led 7,000 elite soldiers to attack Xingluocang. These soldiers were originally displaced peasants, and when they heard about the attack on the granary of the government, they were all full of courage and courage. They launched an onslaught on Xingluocang. The Sui army stationed in Xingluocang still wanted to resist, but it could not resist the Wagang army like a fierce tiger. Xingluocang was breached.
After the Wagang army broke through the Xingluo warehouse, it immediately issued an order to open the warehouse and distribute the grain. The soldiers opened a grain cellar and let the people enjoy it. Hungry peasants flocked to the granaries from all directions, and old men with gray hair and women carrying children came to collect the grain one by one with tears of excitement in their eyes. Everyone's gratitude to the Wagang Army is even more self-evident.
Then, the Wagang army defeated the Sui army rescue troops sent by Dongdu. By this time, the command of the Wagang Army was gradually concentrated in Li Mi's hands. Zhai Rang felt that his talent was inferior to Li Mi, so he gave up his position as leader to Li Mi. Everyone promoted Li Mi to the Duke of Wei and concurrently served as a marshal of the march, changing his era name to Yongping. Li Seal Zhai rang as Situ (equivalent to Cheng Xiang). Luokoucang was expanded into Luokou City as the seat of government.
After the Wagang army established its own political power in Luokou, it took advantage of the victory to capture many counties, and sui officials and soldiers surrendered one after another. The rebel armies of the North and the South also responded one after another and came to the annexation. While continuing to besiege Dongdu, the Wagang army issued a letter against the Sui Emperor, denouncing the sins of the Sui Emperor and calling on the people to rise up and overthrow the rule of the Sui Dynasty. In this way, the whole Central Plains was sensational, and Li Mi became the leader of the Central Plains rebel army.
Just when the Wagang Army was in its heyday, there was a serious division within it. After Zhai Rang ceded the position of leader to Li Mi, some of Zhai Rang's generals were very unconvinced. Someone advised Zhai Rang to take back power, but Zhai Rang always smiled and did not take it seriously. But when these words reached Li Mi's ears, Li Mi was very unhappy. Li Mi's subordinates instigated him to get rid of Zhai Rang. In order to preserve his position, Li Mi actually had a bad heart.
One day, Li Mi invited Zhai Rang to drink, and at the banquet, Zhai Rang's soldiers all went down. Li Mi pretended to take out a good bow to Zhai Rang and asked him to test shoot. Zhai Rang turned around and just pulled open his bow. The knife and axe hand that Li Mi had arranged moved his hand and cut Zhai Rang down. This incident had a negative impact on the rebel army.
At that time, the Wagang army attacked the eastern capital Luoyang, and although Luoyang was as silky as a mountain, it was short of food, while the Wagang army was rich in food and insufficient clothing. The Luoyang general Wang Shichong requested that silk be exchanged for grain, and Li Mi's men, in order to benefit From Zhongmu (pronounced móu), instigated Li Mi to agree. Li Mi actually did not find out that there was deception in it, nor did he object. Luoyang received grain, and its combat effectiveness became stronger, which was very unfavorable to the Wagang army. While attacking Luoyang, the Wagang army clashed with Yuwen and his men and horses in the north, resulting in heavy losses. Wang Shichong did not allow Li Mi to rest and took the opportunity to sneak up on the Wagang army.
Wang Shichong, character full, originally surnamed Zhi, is a Hu person in the Western Regions. Living in Xinfeng (present-day northeast of Lintong, Shaanxi), he was one of the heroes of the sui dynasty
The Wagang army was defeated, many people surrendered to Wang Shichong, and the so-called million-dollar Wagang army quickly disintegrated. Li Mi had no choice but to lead more than 20,000 troops to surrender to Li Yuan. Li Yuan warmly welcomed him as a guest of honor, often calling Li Mi a brother and marrying his cousin to him. But later, Li Mi disliked the official Xiao and told Li Yuan that he wanted to return to Shandong to subdue his subordinates and help Li Yuan capture Luoyang. Li Yuan ostensibly agreed to his request, and later designed to get rid of him.
The vigorous uprising of the Wagang Army was thus overthrown.
The Wagang Army, founded by Zhai Rang, controlled the Central Plains for three years, annihilated and pinned down a large number of Sui Dynasty troops, severed the connection between Jiangdu and Luoyang, forced the Sui Emperor to fall into the isolated island of Jiangdu, unable to control the whole country, and played an important role in the struggle to overthrow the Sui Dynasty.