Li Shimin
For a long time, people often have the impression that in the last years of the Sui Dynasty, the jinyang uprising of the Tang Dynasty was dominated by Li Shimin and his aide Liu Wenjing. It is even said that Li Yuan, who remained behind in Sui Taiyuan, was once unwilling to participate in the uprising because of fear, and Li Shimin and other designs let Li Yuan sleep with Yang Guang's concubine, which forced Li Yuan to agree to the army.
The New Book of Tang, the Old Book of Tang, and the Zizhi Tongjian all take this conceptual view, and Li Shimin, who is brilliant and strategic, is the mastermind of the Jinyang uprising. However, the author does not dare to agree with this view.
Will this kind of major military event, the change of chance in the sky, be such a simple child's play? Gambling like throwing dice?
According to Wen Daya's "Notes on the Entrepreneurship and Living of the Tang Dynasty", after Li Yuan was appointed as the retainer of Taiyuan and had to command the army of one side, he once said to his second son Li Shimin, "Tang Gu is my country, and Taiyuan is its land." Now I have come to Si for the sake of heaven and without taking, and for the sake of misfortune will be met. However, the Alexandria cannot be broken, the Turks are not harmonious, and there is no way to pass through the state. (Notes on Datang Entrepreneurship)
Li Yuan
To raise an army, do you have to have a moral banner, otherwise, who will follow you? As a senior member of the Sui Dynasty system, and Li Yuan was still Yang Guang's cousin, what banner did he play? Emperor Zhao is absurd and has no way, I have come to kill my relatives in righteousness, to establish a heart for heaven and earth, and to kill the daoless emperor? Dou Jiande, Li Mi and other peasant rebels used this reason to be OK, and if Li Yuan's father and son pulled the banner like this, it was estimated that they would have to flash their waists. At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, except for the Yellow Turban Zhangjiao brothers, which one dared to play the banner of anti-Han? You are a heavy vassal of Li Yuanguo, tired of the favor of the country, shouldering the heavy responsibility of defending the country against the Turks, and Emperor Jue did not have anything to be sorry for you, but you raised troops to throw dirty water, and you were able to command everyone and gain momentum?
Later, we saw that Li Yuan was marching to the army, and unlike Li Mi's "The Pearls and Bamboo of the Southern Mountains, the Endless Sins of the Book, the Waves of the East China Sea, and the Endless Evil", Li Yuan's proclamation was "Xingjia Jinyang, Feng zun Dai Di, Sweeping Xianluo, Jining Yu County" The banner of "protecting me in the Great Sui Jiangshan" is in line with his market positioning, see, I have done my best for the Great Sui, if the Sui Dynasty has really exhausted its qi, then who is the last qualified? Jinyang raised an army in the first year of Yining (617), Li Shimin was born in 599 AD, which is by no means what Li Shimin, who has only reached the age of 18 and has not yet experienced the experience of blood and fire, can imagine.
The soldiers and horses are undecided, and the grain and grass are first. Do you still have to have generals, soldiers, food, and your own team? Before you openly raise the banner, you must do this work, but you must not leave a trace, it is best that you have a perfect reason to cover up. Since the founding of the People's Republic of China, Sui has always attached great importance to the reserves of military supplies in Jinyang City, and after years of savings, the city has been "a surplus of government treasury" and "Taiyuan grain can be supported for ten years." Such a heavy land, was the Sui Emperor fully handed over to his cousin Li Yuan?
Can Li Yuan recruit troops at will? Is Taiyuan City li yuan alone? No! The Sui Emperor and others could not be so stupid, And Wang Wei and Gao Junya, the deputy retainers of Taiyuan, were the eyes and ears installed by the Sui Emperor, and the way of power decentralization, Yang Guang still understood it slightly. What to do with the Turks in the rear? Be a national sinner?
If you really start an army like this, and openly tear your face with Wang Wei and Gao Junya, in Taiyuan City, who wins and who loses is really not certain!
Private recruitment, is this a big fight? Besides, where does grain and grass come from? Yang Guang gave Li Yuan the task of defending against the Turks, but unfortunately, in February 617 (the thirteenth year of Daye), Liu Wuzhou, a lieutenant of Yingyang Province under Li Yuan's command at Mayi (present-day Shuozhou, Shanxi), launched a mutiny, killing Ma Yi Taishou Wang Rengong, who claimed to be the Son of Heaven according to Mayi and set the state name Yang. In March, Liu Wuzhou attacked Loufu County, entered fenyang palace, and colluded with the Turks to try to go south to compete for the world.
This is Li Yuan's major dereliction of duty, and if he wants to impeach, this pressure of public opinion, Li Yuan may not be able to bear it. However, some people are good at finding a turnaround in the crisis, and he has not moved, and as a result, Wang Wei and Gao Junya took the initiative to find Li Yuan and talk about the situation in time, the Turks came to attack, the country suffered difficulties, and Let Li Yuan recruit troops, and he waited for this sentence.
Talented generals, Li Yuan, they have long been friends with all parties Haojie, ah, immediately, let these people lead, Li Yuan's strength has greatly increased. Not afraid of these two guys, these two people are not fools, and they sensed that something was wrong. The new recruits, the two gave the initiative to promote and gave the legitimacy endorsement, as a result, the recruitment, it seems to be controlled by Li Yuan, some strange.
What to do? They decided to kill Li Yuan and used the opportunity to lure Li Yuan's father and son to the JinCi Temple to pray for rain. Unexpectedly, this conspiracy was detected by Li Yuan's secret agents they installed, and Sun Tzu's Art of War said that he knew himself and knew the other, and won every battle, and it seemed that Li Yuan had worked these two people. As a result, Li Yuan's father and son preemptively attacked and instructed Sima Liu Zhenghui of Kaiyang Province to accuse Wang Wei and Gao Junya of secretly colluding with the Turks and luring the Turks into the Kou Central Plains, thereby imprisoning them.
Why not kill it immediately? Although they plotted to kill you, this matter is a real hammer, it is estimated that they can still go to the Sui Emperor to ask for credit, seize the position of Taiyuan left behind, and raise an army to become the overlord himself. But aren't you also plotting to kill them and raise your own army? Everyone is half a pound, and no one is a good person. It is estimated that it is not good to kill people and start soldiers in this way, is it detrimental to moral reputation?
Sui Dynasty Emperor's lower Jiangnan murals
Only the two were imprisoned, but unfortunately, soon after, tens of thousands of Turkic troops attacked Jinyang City, this is not a real thing, some people are acting as "leading the way party", not to mention the people in Jinyang City, personally felt that the Turkic attack, it seems that because there are internal responses in Shencheng City, but at this time, Li Yuan's father and son were attracting newly recruited troops, struggling to resist the Turks, and the battle was very heroic.
Who is loyal and who is adulterous? Seeing is believing, the eyes of the people are shining, so in repelling the Attack of the Turks, the city reflects and summarizes, and the angry "people" strongly demand that Wang Wei and Gao Junya, two people who eat inside and outside, be beheaded and paraded to the public, and sacrifice the flag for victory, and the Turkic chaotic party faction in the city, with the support of public opinion, was tragically purged. There are certainly many Turkic traitors and traitors, but there are certainly some who are not, but they "must be" and "must die."
Why is it said that Li Yuan's rise to the army is more long-term and profound than those who have planned for a long time?
Li Yuan thought about it perfectly and meticulously, reorganized the troops, raised troops in a systematic and organized manner, looked at and built the General's Palace, issued various military orders and control letters, restored important tasks, cronies, and sealed officials, and cooperated with the measures of morality and righteousness, ordered the opening of warehouses and grain releases, and carried out in an orderly manner, embodying a very high political strategy.
In the choice of the path of the troops, and the possible confrontation of other anti-kings and separatist forces, it is also quite wise
The fourth son, Li Yuanji, was the general of Zhenbei and the sheriff of Taiyuan County, and asked him to stay in Jinyang, guard the base camp, and guard against and tie up the Turks. While
The Strength of the Sui Army in Guannei was weak; the Central Plains Wagang Army and Wang Shichong fought fiercely, and they had no time to look west. He quickly marched to occupy Chang'an, took possession of Yang You, the acting king, and blackmailed Tianzi to order the princes, while at the same time deliberately paralyzing Li Mi of Wagang, so that Li Mi did not regard himself as his main opponent.