In ancient history, the end of the Sui Dynasty and the beginning of the Tang Dynasty were also relatively famous troubled times. In this historical stage, there were many princes who divided one side. With the spread of literary works such as "Romance of the Sui and Tang Dynasties", these heroes became well-known historical figures. Among them, Xue Ju, who I want to talk about today, not only ascended the throne and became the emperor, but also launched a fierce contest with Li Shimin.
One
Specifically, Xue Ju (?) -618), the name Shaoxuan, ancestral home of Fenyin, Hedong (now Wanrong, Shanxi), the son of Xue Wang, the captain of Jincheng. Xue Ju is bold by nature, proficient in martial arts, especially good at riding and archery, likes to make friends, and can fight righteousness and squander wealth. In this regard, in the author's opinion, it is precisely because of the friendship with many heroes that a good foundation has been laid for Xue Ju's secession.
In the last years of the Great Cause of the Sui Dynasty (605-618), Xue Ju served as the captain of Jincheng Prefecture. In April of the thirteenth year of the Great Cause (617), the thieves in Longxi swarmed, and Jincheng County ordered Hao Ying to recruit thousands of soldiers for the crusade against the thieves and appointed Xue Ju as a general. In this regard, Xue Ju pretended to arrest the rebels, and immediately raised troops, imprisoned county officials, and opened warehouses to distribute grain to help the poor.
After officially raising troops to rebel against the Sui Dynasty, Xue Ju proclaimed himself the overlord of Western Qin, with the founding name of Qin Xing, and named Xue Rengao as the Duke of Qi, and his youngest son Xue Renyue as the Duke of Jin. Because Xue Ju had already been famous before, the thief Kou Zong Luo Hu led his people to join him. Immediately afterwards, Xue Ju recruited a group of thieves and robbed officials. At that time, Xue raised his troops very sharply, and the cities were captured everywhere he went.
In this regard, in the author's opinion, because of the continuous uprisings in various parts of the Sui Dynasty, this led to the fact that the imperial court could not concentrate on dealing with Xue Ju. For example, the Sui Dynasty general Huangfu Ju only led 10,000 troops to garrison Caohan, which obviously could not annihilate Xue Ju in one fell swoop. When fighting with Huangfu Juan, Xue Ju rode a horse to take the lead and defeated the Sui Dynasty army, so Xue Ju took advantage of the situation to capture Caohan.
Two
After successive victories, Minshan Qiang Zhong Lishu led 20,000 people to surrender, and Xue Ju's troops were greatly boosted. Xue Rengao was named the king of Qi, and he was appointed as the marshal of the march of the eastern road, and Zong Luohu was the king of Yixing to assist Xue Rengao; Xue Renyue was the king of Jin and led the history of Hezhou. However, in ten days, Xue Ju took all the land of Longxi and had 130,000 troops. At the time, it was clearly a force to be reckoned with.
In July of the thirteenth year of the Great Cause (617), seeing that the Sui Dynasty was already dying, Xue Ju proclaimed himself emperor in Lanzhou, named his wife Ju as the queen, his son Xue Rengao as the crown prince, and respected his mother as the queen mother. In this regard, in the author's opinion, among the princes in the last years of the Sui Dynasty, Xue Ju was also unwilling to just divide one side. After ascending the throne and becoming emperor, Xue Ju sent Xue Rengao to besiege Qinzhou, and Xue Renyue went to Jiankou to attack Hechi County. However, when Li Liang, the prince, was fighting, the army sent by Xue Ju was heavily damaged.
In December of the thirteenth year of the Great Cause (617), Xue Ju sent Xue Rengao to invade Fufeng County, and the Huangyuan thief Kou Tangbi resisted, which caused the army sent by Xue Ju to not advance. Of course, Xue Rengao later took advantage of Tang Bi's unpreparedness to attack his army and collect all his people. After this battle, Xue Ju's army was prosperous, numbering 200,000 people, planning to capture Chang'an.
Correspondingly, Li Yuan supported Yang Yu, the king of the Sui Dynasty, as the Sui Emperor and entered Chang'an. Therefore, it is very obvious that the direction of Xue Ju's expansion happened to conflict with Li Yuan's father and son. So, Li Yuan sent his second son Li Shimin to lead the army to attack Xue Ju's eldest son Xue Rengao, the two sides fought, Xue Rengao was naturally not Li Shimin's opponent, and soon suffered a defeat, the Tang army beheaded Xue Rengao's army thousands of heads, Xue Rengao withdrew to Longyou, and the Tang army pursued to Longdi and returned.
Three
Xue Ju was afraid of Li Shimin, so he fled beyond Long, but under the persuasion of his subordinates, Xue Ju planned to join forces with Liang Shidu, send generous gifts to the Turks, and join forces to compete with the Tang Dynasty. However, it happened that Yuwen Xin, the water supervisor, sent an envoy to the Turks to persuade Mo Hedu to stop sending troops, so Xue Ju's plan was unsuccessful.
In June of the first year of Tang Gaozu Wude (618), Zhang Changxun, the governor of Tang Fengzhou, attacked Zong Luohu, and Xue Ju's whole division rescued him and stationed in Zheqi City. In order to completely solve the threat in the rear, Li Yuan appointed Li Shimin as the marshal, led the troops to resist, and stationed in Gaojaw City. In view of the shortage of food for Xue Ju's army and the intention of a quick war, Li Shimin decided to drag him down with a long-term plan, so he chose to stick to it at first.
It is worth noting that because Li Shimin happened to be bedridden, the generals Liu Wenjing and Yin Kaishan were in battle to light the enemy, resulting in the defeat of the Tang army in the early battle, five or six out of ten soldiers died, and the generals Murong Luohu, Li Anyuan, Liu Hongji and others were captured. In this regard, in the author's opinion, this shows that Xue Ju's strength is still relatively good.
In August of the same year, Xue Ju was ready to take advantage of the situation to pursue, so he ordered Xue Rengao to enter the siege of Ningzhou and prepare to attack Chang'an. However, it is a pity that Xue Ju suddenly fell ill and died. After Xue Ju died of illness, his son Xue Rengao was harsh and cruel and unpopular. In the first year of Wude (618), Xue Rengao led his troops to participate in the Battle of Qianshuiyuan, but as a result, Li Shimin, the king of Qin, was defeated and sent to Chang'an to be beheaded, and the Western Qin established by Xue Ju also perished.