In 645 AD, that is, the nineteenth year of Zhenguan of the Tang Dynasty, Li Shimin, Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, personally led a large army to Goguryeo and launched a heroic battle.
The Tang army advanced into Goguryeo territory and quickly defeated the main Goguryeo force. However, as the Tang army penetrated deep into the hinterland of Goguryeo, the advantages of Goguryeo's native warfare began to emerge.
Subsequently, the main force of the Tang army and the main force of Goguryeo launched a fierce battle in Anseongseong, which is the famous battle of Anseong in history. In this battle, a great hero of great valor appeared within the Don Army.
Dressed in a white robe, armed with a halberd and a gun, and carrying a bow and arrow at his waist, he took the lead in the melee, was brave and invincible, and was honored by the Tang Army as the "white-robed general". This general is the famous Tang Dynasty god of war in history - Xue Rengui.
Xue Rengui: The legendary hero of history and romance Xue Rengui, this name is deeply imprinted in people's hearts in Chinese history. He is one of the most legendary gods of war in Chinese history, and his stories are widely known, such as the Three Arrows Dingtian Mountain, the surrender of Goguryeo, etc., these are the stories in the Romance ** that we are familiar with.
However, what kind of person is the real Xue Rengui in history? What is the difference between his image and the characters in Romance**? Xue Rengui, whose name is Rengui, was born in Hejin City, Shanxi Province in 614 AD, during the reign of Emperor Yang of Sui.
However, this turmoil at the end of the Sui Dynasty did not affect Xue Rengui's growth. The ancestors of the Xue family have been officials for generations, and from the Northern Wei Dynasty to the Sui Dynasty, the family situation is not bad. However, in Xue Rengui's generation, because his father Xue Liang died early, he became an orphan at a very young age.
In addition, the change of dynasty also caused the Xue family to decline rapidly, from the aristocratic class to the low-level commoners. However, despite the difficult environment, Xue Rengui did not give up.
With his courage and wisdom, he has created one miracle after another. He defeated Goguryeo with three arrows, became a loyal courtier of the Tang Dynasty, and was known as the "God of Generals".
His story not only inspired people, but also became a part of Chinese culture, deeply influencing people for generations to come. The legend of history and romance, the story of Xue Rengui has been passed down for thousands of years, and his image is also deeply imprinted in people's hearts.
His tenacity and courage made people full of admiration for him. Although his image is different from the character in Romance, his spirit and courage will never change.
Although the Xue family has experienced the decline of the family and only has a little land left, Xue Rengui has successfully grown up and married a wife with his diligence and wisdom. Although in Romance**, when Xue Rengui's wife Liu Yinhuan married him, he was poor, but in the official history, his situation was not so miserable.
Because of his family's downfall, Xue Rengui could not become an official, so he lived a peasant life for a long time. However, in the eighteenth year of Zhenguan, Li Shimin personally led an army to conquer Goguryeo, and Xue Rengui's life ushered in a turnaround.
It is said that his wife Liu once persuaded him to join the army and gain fame, so Xue Rengui resolutely joined the army. This year, he is 31 years old, and although he has passed the age of establishment, his life is about to change dramatically.
The turning point in Xue Rengui's life was when he joined the Tang general Zhang Shigui after joining the army. is different from the description in Romance**, Zhang Shigui in the official history is a good person, and he has not suppressed Xue Rengui.
On the battlefield of Liaodong, Xue Rengui quickly became famous in the army with his outstanding martial arts and extraordinary courage. In one battle, he single-handedly rushed into the enemy line and killed one of Goguryeo's generals, thus helping the Tang army turn the tide of the battle.
In Romance**, the reason why Xue Rengui has such outstanding knowledge of martial arts and the art of war is because he once studied with the famous Tang Dynasty general Li Jing. Before joining the army, Li Jing taught him for a long time, making him both civil and military.
However, these two people did not intersect in the official history. However, the interesting thing is that although Xue Rengui was at the peak of his debut, he was able to show his talent for both civil and military purposes when he first went to the battlefield, and it was indeed a mystery to kill the enemy's main general in a melee.
In this battle, Xue Rengui successfully rescued Anshi City with the heroic performance of a white-robed general, and became a combat hero within the Tang Army and became famous. With the development of the war, the Tang army gradually advanced to the front line of Anshi City.
In order to rescue Anseongseong, Goguryeo sent an army of 250,000 to the rescue. The Tang army adopted the tactics of besieging the city and sending reinforcements, and Xue Rengui participated in the reinforcement battle, wearing a white robe, which made a name for himself as a fierce general in a white robe.
After the war, Li Shimin specially summoned Xue Rengui, rewarded him heavily and promoted him to a guerrilla general. At that time, the Tang Army urgently needed a combat hero as the banner of the whole army, and Xue Rengui happened to become this role, becoming a fierce general known to everyone in the entire Tang Army.
Although the Tang army won a complete victory in the first battle of Anshicheng, due to the cold weather and Li Shimin's strategic considerations, the Tang army could only retreat on its own, and Li Shimin also considered it his own shame.
But in any case, Xue Rengui stood out in this war and began his legendary career.
When the Tang army retreated, Xue Rengui was promoted to an official position again by Li Shimin because of his outstanding combat ability, and was named the general of the right leading army. Li Shimin was particularly fond of Xue Rengui, because as time went by, the founding heroes and generals of the Tang Dynasty were slowly getting old and were no longer suitable for leading troops to fight.
At this time, Li Shimin urgently needed to train second-generation military generals to prevent a talent gap in the army. Fortunately, Xue Rengui appeared in Li Shimin's field of vision at this critical moment, so he was focused on Li Shimin's training.
For the next few years, Xue Rengui served as the head of the garrison in Chang'an, responsible for guarding Li Shimin's palace. His position is enough to prove how much Li Shimin trusts and loves him.
According to the analysis of historians, Xue Rengui also came into contact with the art of war during this time and learned how to lead troops to fight. Judging from his background, he may have had the opportunity to learn martial arts in his early days, but it is unlikely that a famous master of the art of war would teach him.
At that time, it was not easy to learn the art of war, it was difficult to buy books on the art of war on the market, and the possibility of self-education was very small.
During this time, Li Shimin gave Xue Rengui special training, so that he had the opportunity to learn the art of war with veterans such as Li Jing and Li Ji, so as to become their students. However, this history is not recorded in the history books, so we can only guess about it.
In these changes, the founding heroes of the Tang Dynasty passed away one after another, and Li Shimin, Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, also died of illness, making the 23rd year of Zhenguan an important turning point in the Tang Dynasty.
In the end, the crown prince Li Zhi successfully ascended the throne, and the Tang Dynasty entered a new era.
In the new era, Xue Rengui still has the trust of Li Zhi and continues to guard Miyagi. Xue Rengui understood that he was the general left by Li Shimin to Li Zhi, so he always fulfilled his duties conscientiously and did not participate in any party struggle.
Over the next few years, the Tang Dynasty experienced many upheavals, but none of these had an impact on Xue Rengui. He always stayed true to his duty, concentrated on his work, and faithfully guarded Miyagi.
Finally, Li Zhi sat on the throne and grasped the imperial power, and the era of Xue Rengui came. In 658 AD, Li Zhi ordered the Tang army to launch another attack on Goguryeo, and Xue Rengui was appointed as the deputy general of the Tang army and began to be responsible for the command and dispatch of the Tang army.
This marked a new stage in Xue Rengui's military career.
During the Sui and Tang dynasties, Goguryeo was a powerful local government in the northeast. One of the reasons for the fall of the Sui Dynasty was that Yang Guang tried his best to attack Goguryeo, but failed to win.
The elite army of the Sui Dynasty was almost completely lost and could no longer suppress other places, leading to the collapse of the state. In the Tang Dynasty, although Goguryeo was ostensibly subservient to the Tang Dynasty, it still frequently harassed the Tang Dynasty's borders, posing a threat to the security of the Tang Dynasty's borders.
Therefore, in the eighteenth year of Zhenguan, Li Shimin personally went to Goguryeo. However, during the battle, Li Shimin discovered a problem: unlike the Turkic and Tuyuhun regimes that had been defeated by the Tang Dynasty before, Goguryeo was an agricultural civilization regime, and this characteristic made Goguryeo resilient, just like the Tang Dynasty.
Even if the main army of Goguryeo was defeated, it would be difficult to destroy Goguryeo directly.
After a fierce battle, the Tang Dynasty decided to change its strategy and adopt a dispersed attack, using guerrilla tactics to deplete Goguryeo's national strength. After Goguryeo's national strength was exhausted, the Tang Dynasty fought a decisive battle.
After this strategy was formulated, the Tang Dynasty continued to implement it for the next three years. However, with the death of Li Shimin, the Tang Dynasty was forced to temporarily stop foreign wars.
During this nearly decade, the Tang Dynasty did not launch a large-scale war against Goguryeo, and it was not until Li Zhi sat on the throne that the Tang Dynasty declared war on Goguryeo again. This time, after ten years of study and tempering, Xue Rengui is no longer a simple brave general, but an all-round military genius.
With the resumption of foreign wars, Xue Rengui, who has been guarding Miyagi for ten years, finally waited for the opportunity and ushered in his era. This year, Xue Rengui was 45 years old.
In 658 BC, Xue Rengui, as the deputy general of the Tang Army, led an army to raid Goguryeo for the first time. In the area of the Hunhe River in Liaoning, he succeeded in inflicting heavy losses on the main force of Goguryeo, killing 3,000 enemies.
Then, in 659 AD, he once again waved his army to the east, successfully defeated the main force of Goguryeo on the battlefield of Liaodong, and in the Montenegrin region, he defeated the Khitan vassal force of Goguryeo in one fell swoop, and captured the Khitan king alive.
In 661 AD, the nine Tiele tribes led by the Hui broke out again into war, and Xue Rengui immediately led his army westward to fight in the Tianshan region. During the battle, the Tiele tribe surnamed Jiu sent dozens of the most capable "warriors" to challenge the Tang army, but they were killed by Xue Rengui with three arrows, which made these dozens of warriors directly dismount and surrender, which is the story of the famous "Three Arrows to Tianshan" in history.
In the war to pacify the Nine Surnames Tiele and Goguryeo, Xue Rengui succeeded in dismantling these two powerful hostile forces with his outstanding military talent and perseverance.
He not only used the strategy of three arrows to skillfully defeat the Tiele tribe surnamed Jiu, but also carried out in-depth battles in the hinterland of the Tianshan region, and finally annihilated the main force, and killed the surrendered main force on the spot, causing it to completely decay.
After returning to the Western Front, he was sent to the Liaodong Battlefield to be responsible for the attack on Goguryeo, and achieved many military exploits. When Goguryeo fell into civil strife and the Tang Dynasty realized that the time for a decisive battle had come, Xue Rengui was appointed as one of the main generals of the Tang army, leading tens of thousands of Tang troops all the way from Fushun to Pyongyang, capturing all the big cities of Goguryeo and destroying all the Goguryeo troops.
His record was unmatched, and he finally joined forces with Yi Ji's army under the city of Pyongyang and succeeded in destroying Goguryeo.
After the fall of Goguryeo, the Tang Dynasty set up the Andong Protectorate to rule the region. Xue Rengui was appointed as the protector of Andong, and he used his wisdom and ability to bring order to the Goguryeo region, eventually successfully incorporating it into the Tang Dynasty.
However, just after the Goguryeo issue was completely resolved, the Tang Dynasty's northwestern frontier faced new challenges. After decades of development, Tibet has occupied almost the entire Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and began to threaten the border security of the Tang Dynasty.
In order to solve this problem, Xue Rengui once again led 50,000 troops and marched into the plateau to fight. In order to defeat the Tang army, Tubo gathered an army of 400,000 to confront Xue Rengui.
Although the strength of Tubo was several times that of Xue Rengui, Xue Rengui still achieved remarkable results. At this time, he even had a plan to directly march to Lhasa and solve the Tibetan problem in one fell swoop.
However, problems within the Don Army began to be exposed. Xue Rengui's deputy general Guo Zhifeng did not rush to the battlefield in time in order to compete for merit, resulting in the logistics supply of the Tang army being looted by Tubo.
Xue Rengui lost supplies in the war and was eventually forced to retreat to Dafeichuan and negotiate peace with Tibet. Although this was the only defeat in his life, he successfully protected the main force of the Tang army and showed his strength.
Because he was the chief general of the war, he was forced to take responsibility and was dismissed from office and served as a citizen. At this time, he was 57 years old and was the most senior and capable veteran in the Tang Army. His demotion was actually more like a holiday, because the army of the Tang Dynasty at that time really couldn't do without him.
Xue Rengui was reinstated again and ordered to suppress the Liaodong rebellion. However, just two years later, he was inexplicably exiled. There is no clear record of this in history, and the reasons for this are varied.
Some people think that he intervened in the party struggle in the court, which caused Li Zhi's jealousy, others think that he offended Wu Zetian, and there is also a theory that he lost to Silla. Whatever the truth, we only know that when Xue Rengui was 61 years old, he was exiled for some reason.
During his exile, he spent several years of his life. It was not until 681 A.D. that he was reinstated again and went to Yunzhou to guard the town. After Xue Rengui arrived in the north, he attacked the Turkic border, so frightened that the Turks did not even dare to resist and fled directly.
But Xue Rengui still chased after him, defeated the Turkic army, and captured tens of thousands of people.
Xue Rengui's life came to an end in the Battle of Yunzhou. This year, he died of illness in Yunzhou at the age of seventy. What is embarrassing is that only a year after Xue Rengui's death, Tang Gaozong Li Zhi also died of illness, opening a historical chapter in Wu Zetian's rule of the Tang Dynasty.
Looking back on Xue Rengui's life, he is indeed a fierce man with both civil and military skills, who can not only kill the enemy bravely, take the rank of general in the chaotic army, but also strategize and command the army in the rear.
Such a figure is rare in Chinese history. Therefore, in a sense, the depiction of Xue Rengui in Romance ** is not overexaggerated.
Xue Rengui's experience tells us that even high-profile heroes are not achieved overnight. He didn't come to prominence until he was in his thirties, and he didn't take charge until he was in his forties.
Here it is"Late bloomer"The truth. A real talent often needs to go through a long period of study and hard work, and accumulate rich experience before they can soar to the sky. Therefore, we should put more energy into self-improvement instead of expecting fame and career success early.
As long as we continue to improve ourselves, we will one day achieve our goals.