Xue Rengui was a famous general during the reign of Emperor Gaozong of Tang, who fought on the battlefield all his life and rarely lost. Just as the so-called generals were sent out, Xue Rengui's descendants also followed his path and became generals of the Tang Dynasty. However, this road was not easy to walk, Xue Rengui's son was actually killed by the other side when he went to war, and almost the entire army was destroyed, becoming the laughing stock of the enemy. So who is this son of Xue Rengui, and how did he fail miserably?
Influenced by the novel, people think that Xue Dingshan is Xue Rengui's son, in fact, there is no Xue Dingshan in history! The protagonist of this article is named Xue Ne , who is the eldest son of Xue Rengui. Xue Ne initially served as a civilian official and served as a county commander in Lantian. The local rich merchant had a debt lawsuit, and he bribed the cool official to come to Junchen and "cut out thousands of stones of righteous warehouse rice." Although Xue Ne's official position was humble, he was not afraid, "The righteous warehouse was prepared for floods and droughts, thinking that he would save, and he dared to give up the lives of the people, in order to fund the family's property?" ”
During the reign of Wu Zetian, the Turks in the north re-emerged and constantly invaded the Hebei region. Wu Zetian believed that Xue Ne was born as a general, so he changed it to a general, "making the general of The Left Wu Wei Wei and the Andong Province Jingluo". Because Xue Ne performed well and made many military achievements, he was soon promoted, "Bai You Prefecture Governor, and Andong Du Protector, transferred to the Governor of the Prefecture Governor Shi, and also inspected the Left Guard General".
After Tang Xuanzong ascended the throne, in Xinfeng, the troops of various departments were disorganized and chaotic, which caused Tang Xuanzong's anger, and some officials were even killed. Only Xue Ne and Xie Huan's troops remained unmoved, and even Tang Xuanzong's emissaries were turned away. After the lecture on martial arts, Tang Xuanzong was very happy and rewarded Xue Ne. At that time, the Khitan was rising in the north and constantly harassing the Tang Dynasty, so Xue Ne suggested a crusade against the Khitans.
Emperor Xuanzong of Tang agreed to Xue Ne's suggestion, and in the second year of the new century, he sent Xue Ne and the zuojian men general Du Guest and the Dingzhou assassin Cui Xuandao to lead 20,000 troops to "go out of Tanzhou Province to please the Khitan and so on." However, before sending out the troops, Du Guest put forward a different opinion, he believed that the weather was hot at that time, "the soil will be negative, the grain, and the deep into the Kou realm, I am afraid that it will be difficult to win." Du's suggestion was also supported by Prime Minister Yao Chong.
However, Xue Ne did not think so, and he tried to exclude the public opinion, "When the summer moon is lush and the lambs are alive, they can be gradual without spending grain reserves." In one fell swoop, the country will not be lost. At that time, Tang Xuanzong had just ascended the throne, and was trying to use soldiers to subdue Siyi, "Specially ordered Ne Tongzi huangmen Sanpin, the general soldiers to attack Xi and Khitan ", so that others did not dare to say anything more. However, it turned out that the truth this time was in the hands of the majority.
In June of that year, the Tang army braved the sweltering heat to reach the vicinity of the Luan River, and was attacked by the Khitan army, "the Khitan ambush covered its front and back, and attacked it from the mountain." As a result, the Tang army was defeated, almost the entire army was destroyed, and Xue Ne only led dozens of cavalry to break through. The Khitans also gave Xue Ne the nickname "Xue Po". After the defeat, Xue Ne was a little unauthentic, and he put all the responsibility for the defeat on the eight generals, resulting in the execution of these eight people.
Later, Emperor Xuanzong of Tang issued an edict and punished Xue Ne, "sparing him from death and stripping him of his official titles" and demoting him to a commoner. Only one person in this dispatch was not convicted, and he was du guest who opposed the dispatch of troops, "only pardoning the sins of du guests." Xue Ne was completely destroyed by the Khitans, did he have a chance to rise again, and could he prove himself again?
References: 1. Old Book of Tang; 2. Zizhi Tongjian