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A prince in the last years of the Sui Dynasty, who proclaimed himself emperor, was defeated by Li Shimin!

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, Liu Wuzhou, who I want to talk about today, once coerced Guanzhong and proclaimed himself emperor, but was finally defeated by Li Shimin.

A prince in the last years of the Sui Dynasty, who proclaimed himself emperor, was defeated by Li Shimin!

One

Specifically, according to the records of historical materials such as the Book of the Old Tang Dynasty, Liu Wuzhou was born in a wealthy family. When he was young, he was brave and good at shooting, and he married a hero. However, because he was scolded and humiliated by his brother, Liu Wuzhou left home and went to Luoyang to defect to Yang Yichen, a servant of the Sui Dynasty. During the Great Cause period (612~614), Emperor Yang Guang of the Sui Dynasty attacked Goryeo three times, and Liu Wuzhou was recruited to the East. Because of his military exploits, Liu Wuzhou was promoted to the captain of Jianjie. Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty returned to the east, and Liu Wuzhou returned to Mayi and served as the captain of Yingyang Mansion.

In 617 A.D. (the thirteenth year of the Great Cause), because Emperor Yang of Sui abused the people's power, it triggered a large-scale uprising. Taking advantage of the chaos in the world at the end of the Sui Dynasty, Liu Wuzhou killed Wang Rengong, the Taishou of Mayi, opened a warehouse to relieve the poor, galloped across the territory, and won more than 10,000 soldiers, claiming to be the Taishou. In order to gain a foothold in the last years of the Sui Dynasty, Liu Wuzhou sent envoys to attach himself to the Turks.

A prince in the last years of the Sui Dynasty, who proclaimed himself emperor, was defeated by Li Shimin!

In the face of Liu Wuzhou, who raised troops, Chen Xiaoyi and Hu Ben of Yanmen County of the Sui Dynasty joined forces with Wang Zhibi to recruit the former and besieged it in Sangqian Town. However, Liu Wuzhou invoked the Turkic cavalry to counterattack the Sui Dynasty army, which led to the defeat of Wang Zhiwen and his death, and Chen Xiaoyi ran back to Yanmen, where he was killed by his subordinates and sacrificed the city to Liu Wuzhou.

It is worth noting that in order to obtain further support from the Turks, Liu Wuzhou presented the captured palace maids of the Sui Fenyang Palace to the Turks, and the Turkic Shibi Khan presented him with a war horse. It was precisely because of the support of the Turks that Liu Wuzhou rose rapidly in the last years of the Sui Dynasty, thus capturing Dingxiang and returning to the army and Mayi.

Two

After having a foothold, Liu Wuzhou proclaimed himself emperor, changed the Yuan Tianxing, and then led troops to besiege Yanmen and besieged the city for more than 100 days. In this regard, in the author's opinion, the act of rushing to become emperor obviously exposes the problem of Liu Wuzhou's lack of strategic vision. In other words, without absolute strength, it is obvious that you can't be a bird.

In the face of Liu Wuzhou, who usurped the throne and stood on his own, Chen Xiaoyi, the commander of Yanmen County of the Sui Dynasty, refused to defend with all his might, and his subordinate Zhang Lun assassinated Chen Xiaoyi and surrendered to Liu Wuzhou. Soon after, Song Jingang, the leader of the Yizhou rebels, was defeated by Dou Jiande, so he led more than 4,000 people to defect to Liu Wuzhou, which further strengthened his momentum. Liu Wuzhou reused and trusted Song Jingang very much, named him the king of Song, and gave him half of the family property.

A prince in the last years of the Sui Dynasty, who proclaimed himself emperor, was defeated by Li Shimin!

In March of 619 A.D. (the second year of Tang Wude), Liu Wuzhou accepted the suggestion of Song Jingang to "enter Jinyang (now Taiyuan, Shanxi) and fight for the world in the south", and led 20,000 troops to invade the state in the south (Jinyang), and the soldiers were very prosperous. In this regard, in the author's opinion, Liu Wuzhou's movements naturally had a direct conflict with the Tang Dynasty. At that time, Li Yuanji, the governor of Bingzhou and the king of Qi, sent Zhang Da, a chariot general, to lead his infantry to resist, but was defeated by Liu Wuzhou.

In May 619, Liu Wuzhou captured Pingyao. In June, Jiezhou was occupied. In this regard, Tang Gaozu Li Yuan attached great importance to it and urgently dispatched troops to fight against Liu Wuzhou. However, in the contest with Song Jingang, the Tang army was defeated, and Pei Lin fled back to Jinzhou alone. Liu Wuzhou was like a bamboo, and he forced Jinyang; Li Yuanji and his wife and concubine abandoned the state overnight and returned to Chang'an.

In October 619, most of Shanxi was under the jurisdiction of Liu Wuzhou, and the Tang Dynasty was only left in the southwest corner of the Jin Dynasty on the east bank of the Yellow River, and Guanzhong was greatly shaken. And this can be said to be the pinnacle of Liu Wuzhou's group, that is, it made Tang Gaozu Li Yuan panic. So, Li Yuan could only come up with a killer weapon for himself.

Three

In November 619, Tang Gaozu ordered Li Shimin, the king of Qin, to lead an army to conquer Liu Wuzhou, and the two armies held each other for a long time. During this period, Li Shimin and Liu Wuzhou's general Chi Jingde fought at Miragawa and defeated him. Immediately afterwards, Li Shimin defeated Song Jingang in the Bird Mouse Valley, killed tens of thousands of prisoners, and obtained more than 1,000 baggage vehicles. has always forced Song Jingang to ride away. As for Wei Chi Jingde and others, they directly surrendered to Li Shimin.

A prince in the last years of the Sui Dynasty, who proclaimed himself emperor, was defeated by Li Shimin!

At this time, Liu Wuzhou Group can be said to have ushered in a catastrophe. As a result, Liu Wuzhou immediately led 500 horsemen to abandon the state and flee north, fleeing from the Dry Candle Valley to the Turks. In order to completely eliminate the other party in one go, Li Shimin marched into the state and collected all his hometown. After that, Song Jingang turned his back on the Turks and tried to flee back to Shanggu, but was captured by the pursuing cavalry and beheaded.

In 620 A.D. (the third year of Tang Wude), Liu Wuzhou wanted to escape back to Mayi, but the matter was leaked and he was killed by the Turks. In this regard, in the author's opinion, after this battle, Li Shimin recovered Hedong, and Li Tang Jiangshan was stabilized. As far as Liu Wuzhou is concerned, it has naturally become a stepping stone for Li Shimin to accumulate military exploits.

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