"Saved, saved! "During the Lantern Festival in 683 AD, the lantern festival in Chang'an, the capital of the Tang Dynasty, was very lively, and a woman's cry for help suddenly came from the street.
Xue Dingshan's son Xue Gang heard the prestige, and saw several men doing something to a woman. According to the other party's attire, Xue Gang judged that it was a woman from a good family who was bullied.
Xue Dingshan was a general of the Tang Dynasty, not only brave and good at fighting, but also jealous and hateful, and his son was unambiguous under his words and deeds. Seeing this scene, Xue Gang was furious, rushed up with an arrow step, and punched and kicked several men who were violent.
One person in the opposing camp did not show weakness, raised the golden stick in his hand to fight back, and hit Xue Gang's head with a stick, and a big bag was swollen at the sight. Xue Gang didn't plan to move seriously, he just wanted to scare the other party, who knew that this kid would dare to fight back, and he also injured himself.
Xue Gang grew up, He had been angry with this, he was angry with his guts, and his anger rose from his heart, and he used all his strength to kick the opponent's crotch. Hearing only an "ah" sound, the other party fell to the ground and was killed instantly.
At this time, Xue Gang's entourage stepped forward and was dumbfounded, the person lying on the ground was actually wearing a yellow robe.
Since Tang Gaozu Li Yuan, yellow has become the special color of the royal family, and the people and ** are not allowed to wear yellow clothes, and those who violate it will be killed. This means that the person who lies on the ground is either the emperor's brother or son.
The entourage knelt in Xue Gang's ear and whispered: "Son, you are in trouble!" Xue Gang was so frightened when he heard this, he hurriedly fled with his entourage and disappeared into the vast sea of people.
The judgment of the entourage was good, and it was Li Qi, the second son of Tang Gaozong, the son of the emperor, who fell to the ground and died. Seeing that the prince was out of breath, the eunuch who followed hurriedly ran to report the news and reported the bad news to Li Zhi, Gaozong of Tang Dynasty, who was watching the scenery in the Zuichun Tower.
Tang Gaozong was already seriously ill, and when he heard that his son was kicked to death, it was like being hit on the head, and he was immediately emotional, his "blood pressure" increased, and he fainted to the ground. It was in this year that Gaozong died.
After Empress Wu Meiniang was in power, she soon ordered Xue Dingshan's family to be beheaded.
On the surface, Empress Wu hated the Xue family because of the death of the prince, because the emperor of any dynasty would not allow such a thing to happen. In fact, this matter is not an isolated matter, there are deep-seated reasons behind it, which are related to the grievances between Empress Wu and the Xue family.
During the period of Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, the national strength was strong, and Li Shimin's self-confidence was bursting, and he decided to teach the disobedient North Korea a lesson. In the twelfth year of Tang Zhenguan, Li Shimin drove the expedition in person and succeeded, and Goryeo became obedient and did not dare to act rashly.
General Xue Rengui went out with the army, showed great courage, conquered everything, and made the first contribution.
Li Shimin rewarded and punished clearly, and did not treat Xue Rengui badly, and named him the king of Pingliao.
The tiger father has no dogs, Xue Rengui's son Xue Dingshan has been familiar with military books since he was a child, and his martial arts are outstanding, as if he was born to be a general.
In the twentieth year of Zhenguan, Li Shimin once again drove his personal expedition, and the bloody Xue Dingshan had a place to use. In this year, Tang Taizong Li Shimin personally conquered Hami and Tibet, and Xue Rengui, as a capable general, went to war with the army.
Xue Rengui led 10,000 Tang troops, united tens of thousands of troops from the Western Regions, and embarked on the road of the westward expedition with great ambition.
But this time, Xue Rengui stumbled, suffered defeat, and suffered the Waterloo of his military career. This defeat was not due to Xue Rengui's command error, nor was his intelligence wrong, but because he was cheated by his own people.
Guo Beifeng is the son of Jiangmen Hu, and his father Guo Xiaoke is the head of the Western Regions Protectorate, and he is so red and purple in front of Li Shimin. Therefore, Guo Zhifeng is also very arrogant, thinking that his father is so bullish, but he is Xue Rengui's deputy and playing tricks, which is really overkill and extremely insulting.
After his jealousy exploded, he sincerely wanted to make Xue Rengui ugly. So Guo Zhifeng resisted Xue Rengui softly and hard, and when he implemented the battle plan, he was greatly discounted. What's more, he also caused problems and obstacles for the team transporting grain and grass.
After Guo Beifeng's operation, the combat effectiveness of the Tang army really dropped greatly, and it suffered defeat in the battle with Yang Fan, the general of the Western Fan Kingdom, in Suoyang City, and Tang Taizong, who was personally confronted, was also trapped in the city.
At this time, the Tang army had no food and grass inside, no rescuers outside, and the situation was extremely critical.
Yang Fan, the general of the Western Fan Kingdom, was overjoyed in his heart: The time has come to make meritorious contributions. He dispatched troops and generals, intending to strike a fatal blow to the Tang army, but he didn't expect to kill a trip halfway to bite the gold, and a Tang army came out.
The general headed by is none other than Xue Rengui's son Xue Dingshan. I saw Xue Dingshan with a team of Tang troops, murderous, coming to the front of the formation and challenging Yang Fan.
Yang Fan saw that Xue Dingshan's milk smell had not dried up, so he didn't pay attention to it at all, and rode his horse and spear to fight. Unexpectedly, Xue Dingshan's martial arts were strong and his moves were fatal, and Yang Fan did not dare to underestimate the enemy and parry with all his might.
This time, the two chess opponents, will meet good talents, and kill dozens of rounds without scoring up or down. Just when the battle was inextricable, another Tang army arrived. Xue Dingshan was overjoyed when he saw it, and it turned out that the leader was this Tang general, who turned out to be his fiancée Fan Lihua.
Fan Lihua and Xue Dingshan worked together to cut Yang Fan off his horse, and this time the Western army was leaderless, chaotic, and fled in all directions.
The besieged Tang army in Suoyang City also came out of the city and turned the tide of the battle in one fell swoop.
Li Shimin turned the crisis into safety, Xue Dingshan made great contributions, and Tang Taizong gave him a heavy reward and named him a general to protect the country. Since then, Xue Dingshan has also become a senior general in the Tang Dynasty army.
In 649 AD, Taizong of Tang died and was succeeded by the crown prince Li Zhi for Tang Gaozong. Once a son of heaven and a courtier, Xue Dingshan became the object of Tang Gaozong's dependence, and his status in the army was further improved, and he was named "King of Pingliao".
Don't underestimate this title, there is a deep meaning behind it. The young people of Liao are nomadic people, the cavalry has the strongest combat effectiveness, can defeat the generals of Liao, and the martial arts are definitely the first in the world.
Tang Gaozong's purpose is to tell everyone not to look down on Xue Dingshan because he is young, he is a trusted minister.
Tang Gaozong relied on Xue Dingshan, firstly, because of his strong martial arts; second, because he is young and easy to control; The third is because the generals under his father Xue Rengui, such as Liu Renliang, Wang Zhongsi, Su Dingfang, Xu Maogong and other veteran generals in the army, also obeyed Xue Dingshan's command. In today's terms, it's all a mountain, a gang, and a system.
Encircling Xue Dingshan is equivalent to mastering these unruly generals. Xue Dingshan saw that Tang Gaozong relied on him so much, he was flattered, and he could only go to the soup and go to the fire.
In the war to maintain border stability, Xue Dingshan did not live up to the emperor's expectations of him, and he turned the tide many times and played a mainstay role.
Xue Dingshan first joined hands with Su Dingfang to destroy Baekje, then joined forces with Ashina Sheer to pacify the troublesome Gaochang and Qiuzi, and also destroyed the Eastern Turks with Xu Maogong, and defeated Goguryeo with Liu Renliang.
Tang Gaozong praised Xue Dingshan again and again, "Aiqing is really my Qin Shubaoye." At this time, Xue Dingshan was red and purple in the Tang Dynasty, like the sun in the sky, and the power was for a while, and the civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty were all respectful to him. is a servant of his family, as long as General Xue's name is mentioned after going out, it will definitely be a green light all the way, which is impressive.
But as the saying goes: people are afraid of being famous, and pigs are afraid of being strong. Xue Dingshan was favored by the emperor and was jealous of many ministers, including Li Yifu, an important minister in the court.
Li Yifu was a civil official, good at sycophancy, and was reused by Tang Taizong to become the superintendent of the imperial history. Li Yifu was originally a villain who liked to engage in intrigue and trickery, but he was very good at disguising himself and was very good at having a good relationship with the minister, and his reputation was good, and everyone said that he had both ability and political integrity.
Tang Taizong promoted him and made him the "prince sheren", which is equivalent to the director of the palace staff, who is not only responsible for the emperor's security, but also responsible for keeping, sending and receiving documents.
More importantly, he also shoulders the mission of accompanying the prince, educating and influencing the prince. Therefore, Li Yifu established a good relationship with the crown prince Li Zhi very early and found a very powerful backer.
After Li Zhi ascended the throne, Li Yifu naturally rose to the top and ascended to the sky in one step.
However, when Li Yifu saw that the emperor valued Xue Dingshan so much, he couldn't help but feel jealous. In addition, Xue Dingshan is a military general, with an upright temperament, he will not slap Li Yifu's beard, and he is not even used to his style, which makes him very dissatisfied, and he always wants to find fault and repair this general.
So Li Yifu fanned the flames in front of Tang Gaozong: "Long live, this Xue Dingshan is Han Xin in the Western Han Dynasty and Wei Yan in the Three Kingdoms, you can't be unguarded." ”
The emperor is naturally suspicious and capricious, or how can he say that "a companion is like a tiger"? Hearing Li Yifu say this, Tang Gaozong was suspicious in his heart, and felt that Xue Dingshan had a heavy army in his hand and was indeed a threat, so he transferred him to the border of Youzhou to weaken his military power.
The border of Youzhou is garrisoned by Pei Gongjian, which is not the same mountain as Xue Ding Mountain, and the danger is greatly reduced after arriving there.
Xue Dingshan was also very obedient, and obediently reported to the border of Youzhou, except for the guards, he did not bring a single soldier, for fear of aggravating the emperor's suspicions.
Here, Xue Dingshan has no complaints, is loyal to his duties, and does his work well.
Life on the border was very hard, and Xue Dingshan's body was a little unbearable, and he was tortured so badly. Once Tang Gaozong went to the border to inspect and saw Xue Dingshan skinny and unrecognizable, he was so sad that he almost shed tears.
Later, on the way back, Tang Gaozong encountered the Turkic and Khitan forces and was in danger. At the critical moment, Xue Dingshan led his troops to the rescue and repelled the Turkic and Khitan cavalry. Tang Gaozong turned the corner, but Xue Dingshan was injured by the enemy's flying knives in the fierce battle, and his blood flowed.
This made Tang Gaozong feel guilty, and said to Xue Dingshan: "You are really a good general, I misunderstood you and made you wronged." ”
After that, Gaozong restored his trust in Xue Dingshan and immediately issued an order to recall him back to Chang'an.
This made Li Yifu, the crown prince, and Wang Dejian, the middle secretary, feel an unprecedented sense of crisis, and they felt that measures must be taken to weaken the power of the Xue family. However, Li Zhi and Xue Dingshan have become a community of interests, and it is more difficult to separate their relationship than ascending to the sky.
After thinking about it, Li Yifu and Wang Dejian decided to bet on Wu Meiniang. At that time, Wu Meiniang was only Zhaoyi, and she was already deeply favored by Gaozong, and wanted to make her queen and abolish the queen, but she was afraid that the prime minister would not agree.
Li Yifu wrote to Gaozong, requesting that Empress Wang be deposed and Wu Zhaoyi (i.e., Wu Zetian) should be replaced. Tang Gaozong was overjoyed and reused Li Yifu even more.
In October of the same year, Wu Meiniang was made the queen as she wished, she regarded Li Yifu as a benefactor, and asked Gaozong to promote Li Yifu and appoint him as a Zhongshu squire.
Since then, the villain of Li Yifu has won the will, and formed an alliance with Xu Jingzong, Wang Dejian, Cui Yixuan, Yuan Gongyu, Hou Shanye and other traitorous villains, united around Empress Wu, and began to frame Zhongliang, I don't know how many upright ministers were destroyed in their hands.
With their support, Empress Wu also gradually participated in the court politics, expanded her influence, attracted many ministers, and had the power to issue edicts with Gaozong, known as the "Two Sages in the Dynasty" in history.
But not all ministers were willing to follow Wu Zetian, such as the military generals led by Xue Dingshan.
On the contrary, they regarded Wu Zetian as Empress Lu, thinking that she wanted to seize the Li family, and they were very resistant to her, and they were vigilant in every way, and they didn't buy Wu Zetian's account at all.
Every time Empress Wu issued a holy edict, Xue Dingshan, Xue Wanjun, Cheng Mingzhen, Liang Jianfang and others always ignored it, resisted softly and resisted, and did not implement it.
Empress Wu hated and feared these military generals, but she was helpless, because these people held military power and had Gaozong as the backing, so she couldn't help them.
But Empress Wu is convinced that one day she will seize their handles, and when the time comes, the new and old accounts will be settled together. No, on the night of the Lantern Festival in 683 AD, the opportunity finally came.
Xue Dingshan's son Xue Gang kicked the prince to death and scared Tang Gaozong to death, which was intolerable in any dynasty.
Empress Wu is overjoyed, God really helps me, and I can fight back justifiably.
And before Tang Gaozong died of illness, he once made an edict: the crown prince Li Xian ascended the throne in front of the coffin, and if there is a major military affairs that cannot be decided, it will be decided by Empress Wu.
Four days later, Li Xian ascended the throne as Tang Zhongzong. Empress Wu was revered as the Empress Dowager and became the de facto emperor.
Empress Wu immediately issued an order to bury all 38 members of the Xue family alive and cut the grass and eradicate the roots.
After being buried alive, Empress Wu also poured a lot of mercury on it, and its cruelty was outrageous. However, there must be a mistake in the hundred secrets, but Xue Dingshan's wife Fan Lihua escaped from the clutches with Xue Gang and Xue Qiang.
Eradicated the opposition led by Xue Dingshan, and the Wu clan completely grasped the power of the empire and became a generation of empresses, that is, Wu Zetian.
In order to maintain his rule, Wu Zetian used Guo Yuanzhen, Yang Siqiao and other upstarts in the army.
However, these new generation of generals had little experience and limited military skills, and their performance in dealing with nomadic invasions was mediocre, and they only lost battles.
In order to resist the invasion of the nomads, Wu Zetian had no choice but to reactivate the military generals of the Tang Gaozong period, as well as the rising stars with real talents and learning.
Of course, Wu Zetian is very good at scheming, and he can control these ministers with ease, they will all be obedient, and no one dares to object.
However, after Wu Zetian turned 80, he lost control of the regime, and Prime Minister Zhang Khan Zhi launched the "Shenlong Revolution", they assisted Li Xian in launching a coup d'état, forcing Wu Zetian to abdicate, and Jiangshan reverted to his surname Li.
Xue Dingshan's sons Xue Gang and Xue Qiang were loyal to the Li family and played an important role in Li Xian's restoration, so they were pardoned for their crimes, reused, and finally died in Xue Wangfu.
In the Romance of the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the reason why Wu Zetian destroyed Xue Dingshan was ostensibly because he killed the prince by mistake and killed the emperor in anger, but the deep-seated reason was that Xue Dingshan was on the wrong team, which was just a game of power and conspiracy.
If he supports Wu Zetian, don't say that he killed a prince by mistake, and it won't be a big deal.