Chapter 51 142 Li Yuan raised troops in Taiyuan

Li Yuan was originally an aristocrat in the Sui Dynasty. He became the Duke of Tang by inheriting the title of his ancestors.In 617 A.D., Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty sent him to stay in Taiyuan (official title) to suppress peasant uprisings. At the beginning, he also won several battles. Later, he also felt nervous when he saw that the rebel army was fighting more and more. Woke up. Li Yuan has four sons.The second son, Li Shimin, was just eighteen years old at that time. He was a very courageous young man, and usually liked to make friends with talented people.People also thought he was generous and hospitable, and enjoyed his company.He saw that the rule of the Sui Dynasty would not last long, and he had already made his own plans in his heart.

Liu Wenjing, magistrate of Jinyang (now Taiyuan, Shanxi), valued Li Shimin very much.Li Shimin also regards him as a bosom friend.Liu Wenjing is related to Li Mi.After Li Mi joined the uprising army, Emperor Sui Yang ordered the arrest of Li Mi's relatives and friends.Liu Wenjing was implicated, dismissed from her post, and locked in a prison in Jinyang. Li Shimin was very anxious when he heard that Liu Wenjing was in prison, and rushed to visit him in the prison. Li Shimin took Liu Wenjing's hand and said, "Brother Liu, I'm here to visit, not only to renew our friendship, but mainly to ask you to give me an idea."

Liu Wenjing already knew what Li Shimin was thinking.He said: "Now the emperor is far away in Jiangdu, Li Mi is approaching Dongdu, and people are rebelling everywhere. This is a good time to conquer the world. I can help you collect a hundred thousand horses, and your father has tens of thousands of people under his command. If you use this Raise an army, enter Chang'an, command the world, and within half a year, you can take the world." Li Shimin said happily: "You really spoke to my heart." Li Shimin returned home, thinking about Liu Wenjing's words, the more he thought about it, the more reasonable he felt.But it is difficult to convince his father.Just at this time, Turkic Khan (one of the ancient northern peoples in my country) in the north of Taiyuan attacked Mayi.Li Yuan sent troops to resist and was defeated one after another.Li Yuan was afraid that Emperor Sui Yang would find out about this matter and he would be held accountable, so he was so anxious that he didn't know what to do.

Li Shimin seized this opportunity and asked Li Yuan to persuade him to fight against the Sui Dynasty.When Li Yuan heard this, he was terrified and said, "How can you say such nonsense. If I report to the police, I will definitely arrest you." Li Shimin was not afraid, and said: "Father wants to sue, so go and sue, my son is not afraid of death." Of course Li Yuan would not really report, but just told him not to say such things in the future. The next day, Li Shimin came to Li Yuan again and said, "Father was appointed by the emperor to go here to fight against the rebels. But seeing that there are more and more rebels, can you do it? Besides, the emperor is very suspicious, even if you immediately If you succeed, your situation is even more dangerous. Only doing what I said yesterday is the only way out."

Li Yuan hesitated for a long time before he sighed and said, "Last night, I thought about what you said, and it made sense. I can't make up my mind either. From now on, it's up to you whether the family is ruined or the family can be turned into a country." !" Li Yuan released Liu Wenjing from the Jinyang prison.Liu Wenjing helped Li Shimin and recruited troops separately.Li Yuan sent someone to call back his other two sons, Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji, who were fighting in Hedong. The two deputy left behind in Taiyuan saw that Li Yuan and his son were behaving abnormally, and wanted to obstruct it.Li Yuan arrested them and killed them on the pretext of colluding with the Turks.

Li Yuan followed Liu Wenjing's strategy and sent someone to prepare a generous gift to negotiate peace with the Turkic Khan and invite him to fight against the Sui Dynasty together.Turkic Khan felt that doing so would benefit them, so he agreed to help Li Yuan. Li Yuan stabilized the Turkic side and formally raised troops against the Sui Dynasty.Li Yuan claimed to be a general, and appointed Li Jiancheng and Li Shimin as the left and right leaders respectively, and Liu Wenjing as Sima, and called the soldiers "righteous men".They led 30,000 horses to leave Jinyang and march towards Chang'an.Continue to recruit people along the way, and follow the practice of the peasant uprising army, open the official warehouse to distribute food to the poor.As a result, more and more people applied for the recruitment.

When the Tang army arrived in Huoyi (now Huo County, Shanxi), they were stopped by Song Laosheng, a general of the Sui Dynasty.The roads around Huoyi were narrow, and it was raining heavily for several days, so the transportation of the Tang army's rations was interrupted.There were also rumors among the soldiers that the Turkic soldiers were preparing to attack Jinyang.Li Yuan wavered and wanted to withdraw his troops back to Jinyang. Li Shimin said to Li Yuan: "Now is the autumn harvest season. There is plenty of food in the fields, even if there is a shortage of food! Song Laosheng is nothing to be afraid of. We call on the world in the name of righteous soldiers. If we retreat before fighting, we will be disappointed. .Back to Jinyang, there is absolutely no way out."

Li Jiancheng also supported his brother's claim.Only then did Li Yuan change his mind and cancel his plan to withdraw troops. One day in August, the long rain had just cleared up.Tang Jun marched quickly along the mountain path early in the morning to the edge of Huoyi City.Li Yuan first sent Jiancheng to lead dozens of cavalry to challenge under the city.Song Laosheng saw that there were few soldiers in Tang Dynasty, so he personally led 30,000 troops out of the city.Li Shimin led his troops condescendingly and rushed down from the hill in the south, smashing Song Laosheng's men and horses to pieces.Song Laosheng hurriedly turned his head and wanted to escape back to the city.Li Yuan's soldiers have occupied the city and closed the city gate tightly.Song Laosheng was desperate and was killed by Tang Jun.

After the Tang army captured Huoyi, they continued to march westward and crossed the Yellow River with the cooperation of the peasant army in Guanzhong.Li Yuan's daughter, who stayed in Chang'an, also recruited more than 10,000 horses, known as the "Women's Army", to respond to the Tang army's entry into the pass. Li Yuan gathered more than 200,000 troops to attack Chang'an.It is useless for the Sui army guarding Chang'an to resist.After Li Yuan captured Chang'an, in order to win the hearts and minds of the people, he announced twelve articles of agreement, abolished all the harsh laws and regulations of the Sui Dynasty, and temporarily made Yang You (sound you), the grandson of Emperor Sui Yang, the nominal emperor.

In the summer of the second year (AD 618), news came from Jiangdu that Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty had been killed. Li Yuan then deposed Yang You, ascended the throne and proclaimed himself emperor, and changed the name of the country to Tang.This is Tang Gaozu.