In the seventeenth year of Zhenguan, Li Shimin, Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, ordered to paint portraits of twenty-four Tang heroes on the Lingyan Pavilion to commemorate their achievements. However, Li Shimin's henchmen love generalsThe famous Qin Qiong and Qin Shubao were only ranked last among the twenty-four heroes of Lingyan PavilionIt was a big surprise. WhileWei Chi Jingde, who is as famous as Qin Qiong, ranks seventh. What's going on?
In this regard, some people explained, back thenWhen Li Shimin launched the "Xuanwumen Change", Wei Chi Jingde's performance was extremely eye-catching, and he could be called "the best in the audience"., the credit is enormous. And in contrast,Qin Qiong almost "found no such person" in this coupI don't know what I'm doing. Even many people claimed that Qin Qiong had not participated in the Xuanwu Gate at all according to the ranking of this Lingyan Pavilion.
So,What is the truth of the matter? Did Qin Qiong participate in the Xuanwumen Change, and what was he doing in this coup?
Regarding the list of participants in the Xuanwumen Change, this is actually a rather confusing thing. In simple terms,There are two versions of this list, one is recorded in the "Old Tang Book: Taizong Benji", and the other is recorded in the "Old Tang Book: The Biography of the Eldest Sun Wuji".
In these two lists, except for the heir Li Shimin and the eldest grandson Wuji, only Wei Chi Jingde and Hou Junji have the same nameEverything else is different.
In view of the fact that the "Old Tang Book" was written in the chaotic Five Dynasties, all kinds of materials have basically not been properly sorted out and examined, soThe words of a biography alone are not enough to be accepted, and it still needs to be cross-certified by various biographies in order to be considered a pass.
So,Qin Qiong passed the assessment in this "certification"?
Answer:Passed。In the "Old Tang Book", there is not only "Taizong Benji", but also in "The Biography of Qin Qiong" and "The Biography of the Eldest Sun Shunde".All of them record the historical facts of Qin Qiong's participation in the Xuanwumen Change.
However, Qin Qiong did not follow Li Shimin in the Xuanwumen ChangeRather, it plays a crucial role in another line of defense that is often overlooked, but extremely important.
Probably many people will think,The so-called Xuanwumen Incident was already over when Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji's heads landed, the next is the abdication of Tang Gaozu, Li Shimin's accession to the throne, and the creation of Zhenguan's rule of Yunyun.
But in fact,After the deaths of Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji, Li Shimin's mood was not very happy。Because he knew very well that his brother was not as mediocre as he later slandered. Li Jiancheng has the military exploits of pacifying Hebei and Shandong, and there are many capable ministers and fierce generals under him. What he is about to face now will be the most ferocious revenge of the prince's old department.
When the news of Li Jiancheng's death reached the Prince's Mansion,Instead of panicking and scattering, Li Jiancheng's aides were filled with grief and indignation, and they were furious and completed the mobilization very quickly。They vigorously attacked the Xuanwu Gatevowed to enter the palace gate, kill Li Shimin, and lose everyone together, no one wanted to have the last laugh.
Facing the fierce Prince's Mansion Army, which was ready to avenge Li Jiancheng, Li Shimin of course could not command on the spot, because he now needed to enter the palace quickly, meet his father, and cook raw rice into mature rice. But if the Prince's Mansion army breaks through the palace gate, it will be doomed. Therefore,The task of blocking the Prince's Mansion Army fell on Qin Qiong's shoulders.
Looking at Li Shimin's solemn and trusting eyes, Qin Qiong solemnly made an oath:The people are at the gates.
Qin Qiong is very "lucky".The opponent he is about to face is none other than Xue Wanche, the first fierce general under Li Jiancheng.
Xue Wanche and his younger brother Xue Wanjun were both famous generals under Luo Yi, the Taishou of Youzhou, and later surrendered to the Tang Dynasty with Luo Yi. After Dou Jiande's forces in Hebei and Shandong were extinguished by the Tang Dynasty, his general Liu Heimin raised troops against the Tang DynastyLi Jiancheng went to Hebei to quell the rebellion, and naturally formed a deep friendship with Luo Yi and Xue Wanche brothers.
Xue Wanche's martial arts are extremely strong, and he often takes the lead, and his way of fighting can also be called "a master of art and boldness". In that year, Dou Jiande led an army of 200,000 to attack Youzhou, and the siege soldiers had already climbed the city wall. Seeing that Youzhou was about to be lost, Xue Wanche suddenly led his troops out of the tunnel dug in advance, cutting off the back road of the Dou army. The Dou army was caught off guard and fled one after another, and Youzhou turned from danger to safety.
Li Jiancheng's prestige in the Hebei region is extremely high, Xue Wanche naturally admired him very much. And Li Jiancheng also loved this fierce general very much, and raised him in the mansion as a cronie. After the news of Li Jiancheng's death came, Xue Wanche immediately united with Feng Li and others, gathered 2,000 elite soldiers, and attacked Xuanwu Gate.
Xue Wanche's ability is indeed strong, and after a fierce attack, Li Shimin's troops defending the city will suffer extremely heavy lossesThe two high-ranking generals of the Xuanwumen garrison camp, Jing Junhong and Lu Shiheng, even died at their hands.
But Qin Qiong is worthy of being a famous general who followed Li Shimin to fight the world, although the Xuanwu Gate at this time has been stormy, butHe still held the gates firmly in his hands.
StillAfter all, the defenders of Xuanwu Gate were still less than the Prince's Army, not to mention that this is still oneWith anger, kill the red-eyed elite soldiers。Even if the defender is in an advantageous position, butIf the time drags on for a long time, the loss of the Xuanwu Gate is definitely only a matter of time.
But what Qin Qiong did was enough. He insisted on the support of his old partner Wei Chi Jingde.
After Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji were killed, exactlyWearing blood armor and holding a spear, Wei Chi Jingde broke into the palace with murderous vigour, tell Tang Gaozu Li Yuan that the crown prince and the king of Qi are gone, and now you have no choice. Later,Li Shimin, accompanied by Cheng Zhijie, entered the palace and completed the procedure of posthumously recognizing the prince, and the major event was decided.
And now, Wei Chi Jingde rushed to Xuanwu GateHe threw the heads of Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji down to intimidate the prince's soldiers.
When the soldiers of the prince's mansion saw the heads of these two people, they saw the headsMorale was immediately disrupted。As soon as Xue Wanche saw that the army's heart was shaken, he realized that the Xuanwu Gate could not be defeated. ButXue Wanche is worthy of a generation of generals, and he immediately set a new goal for the generals of the Prince's Mansion: the Qin Palace.
After allWei Chi Jingde threw down Li Jiancheng's head, this operation is extremely insulting. WhileThe Qin Palace, which is Li Shimin's base camp, is basically targeting Li Shimin himself.
I have to say that this hand is really clever.
Under Xue Wanche's assembly, the position of the prince's soldiers immediately stabilized a lot. They slaughtered towards the Qin Palace. The soldiers of the Qin Palace's Mansion had heard the news of the successful coup d'état and were "celebrating", but when they heard that the soldiers of the Prince's Mansion had come to take revenge, they were so frightened that they were scattered. However, at this moment, Qin Qiong, who was pressed and beaten by Xue Wanche in the Xuanwu Gate, finally found an opportunity to attack.
He personally led hundreds of cavalry to fight out from the Xuanwu Gate and pursued Xue Wanche's army. After receiving Qin Qiong's support guarantee, the Qin Wangfu also held its ground.
Although Xue Wanche brought more than 2,000 soldiers from the Prince's Mansion, after the fierce battle just now, a lot of losses have been lost. And Qin Qiong brought hundreds of people to pursue, which was enough. Besides,Qin Qiong brought cavalry. The cavalry knew everything about the crushing power of the infantry.
This back and forth,Xue Wanche's army suffered two successive attacks and suffered a setback, and its morale finally collapsed。Xue Wanche broke out of the encirclement and hid in Zhongnan Mountain. And Li Shimin thanked Xue Wanche for his loyalty, personally pardoned Xue Wanche's sins, and after repeated persuasion, Xue Wanche finally surrendered.
After that, Li Shimin was not guilty of Xue Wanche's past, and Xue Wanche repaid Li Shimin's grace of not killing, and also made many military exploits in the later battles between the Tang Dynasty and the Turks.
Many people may have questionsSince Qin Qiong has made such a great contribution, why is there such a huge gap in treatment between him and his old partner Wei Chi Jingde when he is rewarded?
The reason is very simple, it's not that Qin Qiong doesn't work hard, it's trueWei Chi Jingde's credit is too great。You must know that at the time of the Xuanwumen Change, Li Shimin fell into the hands of Li Yuanji, if it wasn't for Wei Chi Jingde who arrived in time to support, Li Shimin would have been strangled to death by Li Yuanji. Later, Wei Chi Jingde even shot Li Yuanji with his own hands, soWei Chi Jingde really has a life-saving grace for Li Shimin.
Moreover, the first person to break into the palace and tell Li Yuan the result of the coup d'état was also Wei Chi Jingde. Coupled with the scene of Wei Chi Jingde supporting Xuanwumen, it can be said thatWei Chi Jingde was out of the limelight in the Xuanwumen Change.
Therefore, after Tang Taizong ascended the throne, he was rewardedWei Chi Jingde was given 1,300 households, Later, among the twenty-four heroes of Lingyan Pavilion, it is really understandable that he was ranked seventh.
WhileQin Qiong received 700 households, at first glance it doesn't seem very good, but considering that,Cheng Zhijie, who accompanied Li Shimin throughout the coup d'état, was also rewarded with 700 households in the end, the comparison between the two compartments, it cannot be said that Tang Taizong is eccentric.
What's more, after Li Shimin became the emperor, he often had nightmares, and was restless day and night by the "ghosts" of Li Jiancheng and Li YuanjiIt can be seen that Li Shimin really didn't treat Qin Qiong as an outsider.
And the reason why Qin Qiong ranked so low among the twenty-four heroes of Lingyan Pavilion was mainly becauseHe was not in good health himself, and he basically did not make achievements during the Zhenguan period.
Qin Qiong's body collapsed after the founding of the Tang DynastyAccording to historical records, Qin Qiong once admitted that this was caused by his charging into battle when he was young and being injured too much. Compared with other comrades-in-arms' vigorous southern and northern wars, crusades against the Turks, and repeated military exploits, Qin Qiong was sick in bed all the year round, and died in the thirteenth year of ZhenguanI didn't live to see my portrait with my own eyes, the day it was painted in Lingyan Pavilion.
Therefore, Qin Qiong's ranking problem can be understood. But we always believeWhen Li Shimin would rather let Qin Qiong be at the end, and also list him among the twenty-four heroes of Lingyan Pavilion, what he thought in his heart must be the heroic posture when Qin Qiong was one to ten, and he resisted Xue Wanche's onslaught.