Chapter 36 Holding the Sky with One Arm: The Legend of Liu Rengui (Part 1)

Liu Rengui was originally in charge of the imperial court, because he participated in the trial of Dali Prime Minister Bi Zhengyi's suicide case, he enforced the law impartially during the trial, and almost dug out Li Yifu, the mastermind behind the scenes, and offended Li Yifu. He was retaliated immediately and was demoted to Qingzhou (now Qingzhou City, Shandong Province) governor.A few years later, Emperor Gaozong issued an edict to conquer Baekje, and Liu Rengui undertook the logistics support of the Eastern Expeditionary Army, responsible for the transportation of grain by sea.Just when Liu Rengui was about to supervise the ship to go to sea, he suddenly encountered the change of sea climate, so he postponed the date of going to sea.

However, after learning about the situation, Li Yifu, who had always wanted to put Liu Rengui to death, strictly ordered Liu Rengui to travel on time without delay.Liu Rengui had no choice but to bite the bullet and go to sea, but encountered a storm, the ship sank, and most of the sailors died on the seabed. Li Yifu immediately seized the clue and ordered Yuan Yizhi, the supervisory censor, to investigate the case of Liu Rengui's dereliction of duty. Li Yifu's intention was obvious, that he wanted Yuan Yizhi to use this case to kill Liu Rengui.After Yuan Yishi arrived in Qingzhou, he said to Liu Rengui: "You should be very clear about who you offended in the court. In my opinion, you'd better make a plan early."

Yuan Yishi was actually implying Liu Rengui - since you have committed the crime in the hands of Li Yifu, you will be dead sooner or later; A whole body, keep the family safe. But Yuan Yishi's "advice" was flatly rejected by Liu Rengui.He said: "I am an official for dereliction of duty, and I should accept the sanctions of the national law. If you execute me according to the law, I will never escape. However, if you want me to commit suicide to satisfy the enemy, I will never be reconciled!" Yuan Yishi couldn't do anything about Liu Rengui, so he had to tie him up and take him back to the capital to return to his command.After the case was reported to the imperial court, Li Yifu immediately said to Emperor Gaozong: "If you don't kill Liu Rengui, you can't thank the people." Yuan Yuan, a courtier next to him, listened straightforwardly, and immediately defended Liu Rengui, saying: "A storm on the sea is beyond human power." Liu Rengui's dereliction of duty is justifiable, and he deserves death for his crime.

Gaozong then made a ruling that Liu Rengui was dismissed from office and asked him to join the army as a commoner in the Eastern Expedition. In this way, Liu Rengui came to the war-torn Baekje.But he has no official or job, and he is not even an ordinary soldier, at best he is a cook who pushes a cart. After spending most of his life in the officialdom, he ended up in such a situation. One can imagine the pain and loss in Liu Rengui's heart.But he wasn't depressed. Even if he was just a cook who went out with the army, Liu Rengui's enthusiasm for serving the country has not diminished in the slightest.

Of course, if it wasn't for the sudden change in the situation in Baekje, Liu Rengui would never have had the chance to succeed in his life. When Emperor Gaozong Li Zhi appointed Liu Rengui as the inspector (agent) to lead the governor of Fangzhou, Liu Rengui laughed and said: "Heaven will be rich and honored!" His optimism and self-confidence are beyond words. The mission Gaozong assigned to Liu Rengui was: together with the Silla army, the fire department rushed to the rescue of Xiongjin. Before setting off, Liu Rengui deliberately asked the state secretary for the "Tang Calendar" and the list of temple taboos of the emperors of the Tang Dynasty.Then, the old man with gray temples said with pride:

"I want to wipe out Dongyi and award Tang Zhengshuo to Haibiao!" (Volume 201) In Chinese history, one of the distinctive features that distinguishes the Tang Dynasty from other dynasties is that it produced a large number of talents, and the most eye-catching and most worthy of praise from future generations is that most of them are both civil and military. Composite talents.Especially in the early Tang Dynasty, a large number of such people were active in the political arena of the empire.They can kill thieves when they get on their horses, and govern the country when they get off their horses. They maneuver between the court and the battlefield with ease, showing a high degree of political wisdom and outstanding military talent.

And Liu Rengui is one of them. Although he is an out-and-out civil servant, he is a good hand at leading the army.It is said in history that he has "strict and well-organized imperial army" and good command, which greatly improved the combat effectiveness of the troops.In March of the first year of Longshuo (AD 661), Liu Renguo led his troops to assist Xiongjin, and he was invincible along the way.The Baekje Restoration Army built a solid line of defense at the mouth of the Woongjin River, and deployed heavy troops to defend it in an attempt to stop his offensive. As a result, they were defeated in the first battle, and more than 10,000 people were killed or drowned.Dao Chen, who was besieging Xiongjin City, heard the news of the disastrous defeat ahead, and dared not confront Liu Rengui, so he hurriedly broke through the siege and retreated to Ren Cuncheng.

As soon as Liu Rengui made a move, he broke the siege of Xiongjin, which immediately boosted the morale of the Tang army who stayed behind in Baekje.Liu Rengui immediately joined forces with Liu Renyuan to defend Xiongjin City. Later, there was internal strife among the top military officials in Baekje.Fuxin assassinated Daochen, annexed his troops, and seized the supreme command of the Baekje Restoration Army.Then he vigorously recruited exiled tribes from all over the country, and his power suddenly became stronger. While Erliu was struggling to survive the crisis in Baekje, Gaozong planned a brand new military operation.

That was the long-cherished wish buried in his heart for many years - to conquer Korea. Why did Gaozong rush to send troops to Goryeo at this time? The primary reason, of course, is that he has been waiting for too long, so he is impatient.This is actually not difficult to see, because when he announced the conquest of Goryeo, he unexpectedly expressed that he wanted to conquer Goryeo in person, which shocked Empress Wu and the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty.This move fully shows that Gaozong's desire to conquer Goryeo has indeed been suppressed for too long, so he was eager to think about it but his long-cherished wish.

Another reason is probably to deter Baekje by using troops against Korea.Because Goryeo has always been the strong backing of Baekje, if Goryeo can be eliminated in one fell swoop, the fighting spirit of the Baekje Restoration Army will be severely hit, and it may even collapse.In this way, the danger of Woongjin can be relieved, Baekje can also go down without a fight, and the use of troops in Goryeo will kill two birds with one stone. Perhaps it was precisely because of this strategic assumption that in April of the first year of Longshuo, Emperor Gaozong formally issued an edict, ordering Qibi Heli, the general of Zuo Xiaowei, to be the general manager of the Liaodong Road, and Su Dingfang to be the general manager of the Pyongyang Road. A total of thirty-five armies and all Hu troops were divided into sea and land to attack Goryeo.

In July of this year, Su Dingfang led the navy to head straight for the Weijiang River, where he defeated the Koryo defenders. After repeated battles, he quickly entered the siege of Pyongyang.At the same time, the army also quickly crossed Liaodong, and the front of the soldiers pointed directly at the Yalu River.Yuan Gai Suwen, a power minister in Korea, sent his eldest son Yuan Boyan to lead tens of thousands of elite soldiers to guard the Tang army's forwards, who were prevented from crossing the river. In September, Qibi Heli led the main force to the Yalu River.At that time, the river was freezing, Qibi Heli immediately ordered the whole army to charge on the ice.The Koryo defenders were originally at a disadvantage in terms of strength, but now that they lost their natural barriers, they lost all fighting spirit and their defense line collapsed instantly.Tang Jun pursued for dozens of miles, beheaded more than 30,000 people, and all the rest surrendered, only Yuan boys escaped. In this expedition, both the land and sea armies of the Tang Empire won a complete victory, and Su Dingfang's department had already begun to besiege Pyongyang. If Qibi Heli could take advantage of the victory and join forces with Su Dingfang, it is entirely possible to conquer Pyongyang in one fell swoop and then pacify Goryeo. However, at this critical moment, Emperor Gaozong Li Zhi suddenly issued an edict ordering Qibi Heli to return home. The reasons for Gaozong's sudden withdrawal of troops are not recorded in history books, but from the failed lessons of the Sui and Tang dynasties' repeated expeditions to Koryo, it is not difficult to find that the reason for each forced withdrawal of troops was due to major problems in land transportation.This time, Qibi Heli's land expeditionary force directly bypassed many fortified cities in Liaodong, and drove straight into the territory of Koryo. Its long transportation supply line may be cut off by the Koryo army in Liaodong at any time.Moreover, when Qibi Heli attacked the Yalu River, the season had already entered winter, and the Tang army needed a lot of winter clothes and food, but the logistics supplies could not be guaranteed. Under this situation, Gaozong could only ask Qibi Heli to withdraw his troops. In order to avoid unnecessary casualties and losses. After the Qibi Heli Department retreated, the Su Dingfang Department still stormed Pyongyang.There is no problem with his logistics, because he leads the navy, and the sea transportation will not be blocked by the Korean army. Therefore, from July of this year to February of the following year (AD 662), Su Dingfang besieged Pyongyang for eight months, but the fortified city was still impregnable. In order to capture Pyongyang as soon as possible, Emperor Gaozong once again sent a navy, led by General Pang Xiaotai of Zuo Xiaowei, to enter Sheshui (now Hejing River, North Korea) by sea to reinforce Su Dingfang. However, Pang Xiaotai was stubbornly blocked by the Goryeo army here.Pang Xiaotai led his troops to fight desperately, and finally lost the battle. Pang Xiaotai himself, together with his thirteen sons who followed him to the expedition, all died heroically. The defeat of Sheshui was the heaviest defeat suffered by the Tang army since the Eastern Expedition. When the Su Dingfang Department under the city of Pyongyang heard the news that the reinforcements had been annihilated, their morale fell sharply.Although it had already entered spring at this time, heavy snow suddenly fell over Pyongyang City, and the combat effectiveness of the soldiers of the Tang Army was greatly weakened.Gaozong's court saw that the hope of conquering Pyongyang was becoming increasingly slim, so it had to order Su Dingfang to withdraw his troops and return home. On the long journey to crusade against Goryeo, the Tang Empire suffered another serious setback. The Baekje War almost came to naught, and the Koryo War returned without success again. The gradually deteriorating situation on the Korean Peninsula immediately made Gaozong Lizhi feel a strong worry. Do you want to give up this Eastern Expedition? Li Zhi faced an unprecedented difficult choice.