Chapter 44 Put down the Turkic rebellion

In history, the Eastern Turks have always been the strongest opponent of the Central Plains Dynasty.Before Li Jing pacified the Eastern Turks in the fourth year of Zhenguan (630 A.D.), it was also the biggest confidant of the Tang Empire.Since its fall, the northern border of the Tang Empire has basically been peaceful. Except for a small rebellion by Chebi Khan, the remaining Turkic tribe, in the last years of Zhenguan, the descendants of the Eastern Turks were mostly honest.But over the years, seeing the Tang Empire suffered a series of disastrous defeats under the blows of Tubo, and the national power was not as good as before, the Turkic people, who had been silent for nearly half a century, finally couldn't sit still.

In October of the first year of Tiaolu, the Ashid family under the jurisdiction of Shanyu Dadu Protectorate took the lead in raising the banner of rebellion. The Ashid family is divided into two parts: one is led by Ashdwin Fu, and the other is led by Ashdak.The two ministries rose up at the same time, supporting Ashina as Khan.Subsequently, the chiefs of the twenty-four states in the former East Turkic territory also raised their troops to respond. For a while, there were hundreds of thousands of rebels. When the news came, the imperial court was greatly shocked, and Emperor Gaozong urgently ordered Shi Xiao Siye, the governor of Shanyu Dadu, to lead his troops to put down the rebellion.At the beginning, the anti-insurgency campaign went smoothly, so Xiao Siye began to underestimate the enemy.At that time, it was snowing heavily, and the Tang army was unprepared, so the Turkic rebels launched a night attack on the Tang army.Xiao Siye was caught off guard, and left the camp in embarrassment. The Tang army was defeated, and countless people were captured and killed.Subsequently, Xiao Siye was exiled to Guizhou for the crime of defeat, and the two deputy commanders were also dismissed.

Gaozong was shocked and angry by this fiasco.He realized that if he did not choose a truly capable commander carefully, he would not be able to extinguish the Eastern Turkic rebellion. In November, Gaozong finally locked in the most suitable candidate after careful consideration. He is Pei Xingjian, one of the most outstanding military strategists and statesmen in the history of the early Tang Dynasty. Pei Xingjian was from Wenxi County, Jiangzhou. His father, Pei Renji, was a general of the Sui Dynasty. Governor of Yuanzhou.When he was young, Pei Xingjian entered the Hongwen Academy under the shadow of his father. He took the imperial examination in the middle of Zhenguan, passed the Ming Jingke, and began to enter the official career.At that time, his immediate superior happened to be Su Dingfang, a general of Zuotun Wei Zhonglang.Su Dingfang had a good impression of him, so he "taught frugality with military thaumaturgy" ("Old Tang Book Biography of Pei Xingjian").

During the Yonghui period, Pei Xingjian became the post of Chang'an Ling after six promotions, but then he encountered the biggest setback in his official career.In the sixth year of Yonghui (AD 655), Pei Xingjian was expelled from Chang'an because he opposed Gaozong's establishment of Wu Zhaoyi as queen, and was demoted to the Western Regions, where he served as the governor of the Xizhou Governor's Office.However, the setbacks in his official career did not wear away Pei Xingjian's spirit, but tempered his will and inspired his ambition to make contributions.In the following ten years, Pei Xingjian made many achievements in the frontiers of the Western Regions, and he was promoted to the post of Governor of Anxi in the second year of Linde (AD 665).

A few years later, Pei Xingjian, who had outstanding political achievements, was transferred back to the court to serve as the minister of the Ministry of officials.In this position, Pei Xingjian once again demonstrated his extraordinary political talent and created the famous annotation method as the standard for the selection and promotion of officials.The so-called interpretation and annotation method is to examine four aspects when selecting officials: body, speech, calligraphy, and judgment: the body requires a magnificent appearance; Excellent in arts and sciences.Observe his writings and sentences first, then observe his body and words, and finally indicate his specialties, and appoint officials based on this standard.

Because this law has a certain degree of objectivity and quantification, it was considered a relatively advanced system at that time, so once it was promulgated, it became a custom in the Tang Dynasty. In addition to his outstanding military and political talents, Pei Xingjian was also a famous calligrapher in the history of the early Tang Dynasty.Pei Xingjian once said proudly to others: "When Chu Suiliang writes, he must use good brush and ink; Yu Shinan and I are probably the only ones who can write good calligraphy regardless of brush and ink." In May of the first year of Diaolu, that is, half a year before the East Turkic Ashid family launched a rebellion, the Western Turkic aristocrat Ashina Duzhi had secretly united with Tubo, invaded Anxi, and plotted to rebuild West Turkic.After the information was transmitted back to Chang'an, the courtiers suggested sending troops to crusade.Since Li Jingxuan and Liu Shenli had just been defeated by Tubo at that time, and the vitality of the empire had not recovered, it was not appropriate to send out a large army to go west. Therefore, Pei Xingjian tried his best to overcome all opinions and proposed to Gaozong a strategy to outwit the Western Turks.

After obtaining Emperor Gaozong's consent, Pei Xingjian led his lieutenant general Wang Fangyi, under the pretext of escorting the Persian prince Ni Nirvana back to the country, to march towards the West Turks. The Western Turkic rebellion was put down without bloodshed. Pei Xingjian's wisdom and courage immediately won praise from the government and the opposition, and at the same time, Gao Zong was greatly impressed. It is precisely because Pei Xingjian's political, military and other aspects are quite outstanding, and he has extremely rich experience, so Gaozong personally named him this time and made him the commander-in-chief of the Northern Expedition Army.

This year, Pei Xingjian was over sixty years old. Before the expedition, Emperor Gaozong hosted a special farewell banquet for Pei Xingjian, and said to him: "Qing has both civil and military resources, and now I give you two posts." (Vol.Since the general of the left guard at that time was named by the British king Li Zhe, Pei Xingjian actually became the supreme military commander of the capital's Suwei troops and field troops.This shows Gaozong's reliance and trust in him, and it is also enough to show that Pei Xingjian has become one of the best generals in the Tang Empire at this time.

At the end of the first year of Tiaolu, the Northern Expeditionary Army of the Empire was assembled. The commander-in-chief Pei Xingjian personally led the main force of 180,000 troops. In addition, Cheng Wuting, the governor of Fengzhou, was the west army, and the governor of Youzhou, Li Wenyu, was the east army. For restraint, the troops were divided into three groups to take the East Turks directly. In order to quell the Eastern Turkic rebellion in one fell swoop, the Tang Empire dispatched a total of more than 300,000 troops this time. The mobilization of troops was so large that it had never been seen since Gaozong ascended the throne.

In the spring of the first year of Yonglong (AD 680), the Northern Expeditionary Army arrived at Shuochuan (now in Shuozhou City, Shanxi Province), and was within easy reach of the Eastern Turkic forward troops.Before the Northern Expedition, the Eastern Turkic rebels had successfully attacked Xiao Siye's grain transport team, so Pei Xingjian predicted that the Turkic people would repeat the same trick this time.So he used his tricks and selected some old and weak soldiers to pretend to be food transport troops to escort 300 grain vehicles. At the same time, he hid five warriors in each vehicle, all equipped with strong bows and long-handled swords, waiting for the Turks to take the bait.

Sure enough, shortly after the Tang Army's "grain transport team" set off, the East Turkic surprise attack troops roared in.According to the original plan, the old, weak and remnant soldiers escorting food and grass immediately dispersed.After the Turkic people robbed the grain truck, they got off their horses and drank water without any warning.At this moment, the warriors of the Tang army who were ambushing in the grain and fodder cart suddenly charged out. The East Turkic army was caught off guard, and they all became the ghosts of the Tang army in an instant. After the victory in the first battle, the main force of the Tang army quickly went north and arrived in Heishan (north of Baotou City, Inner Mongolia) in March, where they fought a decisive battle with the main force of the Eastern Turkic rebels. To serve. After this battle, the East Turkic rebels were severely injured, and their morale began to shake. The twenty-four tribes that participated in the rebellion at the beginning all had ulterior motives and wanted to protect themselves.Several tribal chiefs under the Khan's command went through secret business, and finally simply assassinated the new Khan Ashina, cut off his head and surrendered to the Tang army. The rest of the troops did not dare to confront the Tang army again, and then hurriedly retreated to Langshan (Yinshan) under the leadership of Ashdwin Fu. Before the east and west routes of the Northern Expeditionary Army attacked, Pei Xingjian's main force in the middle route had basically quelled the rebellion.When the news of success spread to Chang'an, Emperor Gaozong was overjoyed and ordered Cui Zhiti, Minister of the Household Department, to go to the front line to comfort the officers and soldiers and deal with the aftermath. At the same time, he ordered Pei Xingjian to return to the court. The reason why Emperor Gaozong was in a hurry to transfer the army back was to deal with the increasingly tense Tubo war. In this year, Tubo captured Anrong City (now west of Lixian County, Sichuan Province), an important military town in the southwest of the Tang Dynasty, causing all the Hus in Xi'er (now around Erhai Lake in Yunnan Province) to surrender to Tubo.Later, Tubo completely occupied the territory of Yangtong (now northwestern Tibet), Dangxiang (now northwestern Sichuan) and Zhuqiang, and threatened Liangzhou (now Wuwei City, Gansu) and Songzhou (now Songpan, Sichuan) in the west of Datang to the east. County), Maozhou (now Mao County, Sichuan), and Juanzhou (now Xichang City, Sichuan), the southern border borders Tianzhu, the four towns of Anxi in the west, and the East Turks in the north. When Pei Xingjian was in class, both Gaozong himself and the ministers in the court almost all believed that the East Turkic rebellion had subsided. However, they never expected that the remnants of the Eastern Turks did not give up the idea of ​​restoring the country. Soon, they will make a comeback. The result of cutting the grass but not the root is to give the opponent a chance to breathe and make the opponent stronger than before! In the first month of the second year of Yonglong (AD 681), Ashina Funian, a chieftain of the Eastern Turks, proclaimed himself a khan with the support of his followers, and then joined hands with the leader of the rebellion, Ashdwin Fu, to regroup the rebel tribes. Momentum revived. Pei Xingjian was once again ordered in the face of danger, and led the right military guard general Cao Huaishun and the governor of Youzhou Li Wenyu to embark on the road of the Northern Expedition for the second time. In March, Cao Huaishun, the forward of the Tang Army, had just crossed the border when he received information from an unknown source that Ashina Funian and Ashdwin Fu were patrolling Heisha in the north of Yinshan Mountain, with less than 20 cavalry accompanying them.Cao Huaishun immediately led an elite cavalry straight to Heisha in order to grab a head start.But after arriving at the destination, not to mention the Turkic Khan, he didn't even see a ghost.Cao Huaishun was so frustrated that he had to retreat. When Cao Huaishun's men and horses were exhausted and retreated to the north of the Great Wall, they suddenly met Ash Dewen Fu.The two sides had a small-scale encounter, and then each led their troops away.At this time, the second echelon of the Tang Army, Li Wenjun, and his deputy Liu Jingtong had also led their troops across the Great Wall and joined forces with Cao Huaishun at Hengshui.At this moment, the main force of Ashina Funian suddenly appeared, and Ashina Fu Nian also quickly turned back, joined forces with Ashina Funian, and surrounded the Tang army. Due to Cao Huaishun's mistaken belief in false information before, the troops ran long distances and consumed a lot of physical strength. Now they are rushing to fight again, and their combat effectiveness is obviously inferior to that of the Turks.Therefore, Cao Huaishun did not dare to love to fight, so he had to form a square formation with Li Wenjun's troops, and retreat while fighting. The Turks clung to Tang Jun and chased them all day and night.The next day, taking advantage of a favorable wind, Ashina Funian ordered the troops to launch a general offensive.The Tang army's phalanx was disrupted, Cao Huaishun and others saw that something was wrong, they quickly dropped the troops, flattered their horses and fled.As soon as the commander ran away, the soldiers rushed to flee, the army collapsed immediately, and countless people were killed. Later, Cao Huaishun was worried that he would not be able to escape the encirclement of the Turks. In order to save his life, he had to pack up the gold and silk and go to bribe Ashina Funian to ask for peace.Ashina Funian is also a master who has an eye for money. Seeing that there are a lot of gold and silk, he happily negotiates peace with Cao Huaishun, kills the cow and makes an oath, and then leads his troops back to the north. Although Cao Huaishun saved his life, he was punished with dismissal and exile after returning home. The failure of the Battle of Hengshui was obviously because the Tang army fell into the trap of the Turks. First of all, the purpose of the Turkic people throwing out false information was to lure Cao Huaishun to attack long distances and consume physical strength; secondly, Ash Dewen Fu and Cao Huaishun voluntarily withdrew from the battlefield after a slight fight, obviously to test the combat effectiveness of the Tang army; After joining forces, the main force of the Turks suddenly appeared, which further showed that Ashina Funian had actually been staring at Cao Huaishun. The reason why he stood still was that he wanted to wait for Li Wenzhen to come over, and then eat the two troops together. In short, the Turks had planned everything in advance, and then led Tang Jun astray step by step. What's worse is that Cao Huaishun, the forward commander of the Tang army, is an idiot who is both greedy for merit and afraid of death, so he was led by the nose from beginning to end, and finally let the Turkic conspiracy succeed. So, when the forward of the Northern Expedition Army was manipulated by the Turks and surrounded and wiped out in Hengshui, what was the coach Pei Xingjian doing? Fortunately, Pei Xingjian is not someone to wait for.He did not bet all the victory on the forwards Cao Huaishun and Li Wenzhen, but secretly played a wonderful card: just when the second forward set off, Pei Xingjian sent the assistant general He Jiami and the right leader Zhonglang General Cheng Wuting led an elite cavalry to attack separately, aiming at Ashina Funian's lair - Jinya Mountain. Since Ashina Funian had already pulled out all the main force in order to eat the Tang Army's second striker in one fell swoop, the troops staying at Jinya Mountain were very weak, and they were not the opponents of the Tang Army at all, and they were quickly defeated.Ashina Funian's wife and children were all captured by the Tang army, and all the food and grass fell into the hands of the Tang army. Ashina Funian never expected - at the same time that he thought he had a plan to cut off Tang Jun's arm, Pei Xingjian had already taken away his lair without anyone noticing. After coming and going, Ashina Fu Nian is obviously at a loss! The lair was ransacked, and logistical supplies encountered serious difficulties, so Ashina Funian had to lead his troops to retreat into the depths of the desert. Although the surprise attack planned by Pei Xingjian was a complete victory, the defeat in Hengshui also caused heavy damage to the Tang army, so Pei Xingjian had to temporarily pull the army back to Daizhou (now Dai County, Shanxi) to rest. However, during the rest period, Pei Xingjian is not doing nothing, but is brewing a new and bigger plan. His goal is - to subdue the enemy without fighting. In the days that followed, Pei Xingjian frequently sent spies to carry out a series of countermeasures against the Turks.Gradually, Ashina Funian and Ashdwin Fu began to suspect each other.Because Ashina Vonian had released Cao Huaishun and others because he was greedy for money and silk to negotiate peace with the Tang army, Ashina Fu was already very dissatisfied with him and scolded him behind his back, "you can't conspire with me". Worried that Ashdwin Fu would play tricks on him.In addition, his wife and children are now in the hands of Tang Jun, so Ashina Vonian naturally has to consider their safety. Under the torment of many kinds of anxiety, Ashina Funian finally moved the idea of ​​surrendering to Tang, so he sent a secret envoy to see Pei Xingjian, saying that he could arrest Ashdwin Fu, and then surrender to the Tang army.The only condition is - the safety of his life and that of his wife and children must be guaranteed. This condition is not too much, Pei Xingjian immediately agreed. Although an agreement was secretly reached with Pei Xingjian, Ashina Funian was still a little hesitant.After all, Pei Xingjian's Tang army's main force is now thousands of miles away from him, and it is impossible to fight in a short time.So Ashina Funian still had a little luck in his heart, and didn't want to give up Khan's seat easily. Pei Xingjian is well aware of Ashina Funian's flamboyance. He knew that Ashina Vonian would never give in easily without resorting to his trump card. But how to use the trump card?Hasn't Ashina Funian retreated to the depths of the desert?At this moment, Pei Xingjian's main force is stationed in Daizhou again, and the two sides are separated by thousands of miles of desert, isn't it beyond reach? In fact, this problem does not exist at all. Because, as early as when Ashina Funian led his troops to withdraw to the north, Pei Xingjian had dispatched Cheng Wuting and Zhang Qianxuan to mobilize the soldiers from the Shanyu Duhu Mansion nearby, and followed him quietly from behind.Therefore, Tang Jun is not thousands of miles away from Ashina Funian at this moment, but is hiding near his camp, waiting for Pei Xingjian's next order at any time. Of course Ashina Funian would never have thought of this move even if he was killed. The reason why Pei Xingjian didn't order this pursuer to launch an attack was that he wanted to force Ashina Funian to surrender through the implementation of countermeasures and the hostage chips in his hand, so as to achieve the goal of defeating others without fighting. Afterwards, Liu Jingtong and Cheng Wuting received Pei Xingjian's order, and immediately approached Ashina Funian's tooth tent.Ashina Funian always thought that Tang Jun would not cross the desert so quickly, so he was not on guard at all.It wasn't until Tang Jun suddenly appeared that Ashina Funian woke up like a dream.In desperation, he had no choice but to design and arrest Ashdwin Fu, and then took the chiefs and their followers to Pei Xingjian's camp to surrender. At this point, the second rebellion in Eastern Turks was declared to be put down. In this world, there are often famous generals who win with bravery and force, but not often there are famous generals who are good at defeating the enemy with wisdom and strategy. Pei Xingjian obviously belongs to the latter. Through this anti-insurgency war, Pei Xingjian once again demonstrated to the world his outstanding military talent in strategizing and winning thousands of miles. A soldier who subjugates others is a good man!" At the end of September in the second year of Yonglong, Pei Xingjian returned triumphantly and presented prisoners to the imperial court.Three days later, to celebrate this great victory, the imperial court changed the Yuan Dynasty to Kaiyao. However, on the second day after the Yuan change, an unexpected thing happened—— Emperor Gaozong suddenly ordered that all fifty-four Eastern Turkic prisoners of war, including Ashina Funian and Ashdewen Fu, be taken to the downtown area of ​​Chang'an and beheaded. Pei Xingjian was dumbfounded when he heard the news. Pei Xingjian had previously promised Ashina Funian that he would save his life once he surrendered.Now the imperial court has betrayed its promise and openly killed and surrendered. Isn't this chilling the hearts of the people in the world? What's more, since the early years of Zhenguan, the Tang army brought back a large number of high-level prisoners of war almost every time they went out, and these people were basically pardoned by the court and awarded official titles.The most typical example is when the Eastern Turks were pacified in the fourth year of Zhenguan. From Jieli Khan down, all the prisoners of war and surrendered generals of the Eastern Turks received preferential treatment from the Tang Dynasty. People accounted for half of the high-ranking officials of the imperial court. During the Zhenguan era, the reason why the Tang Empire was invincible and victorious in foreign wars, and won the respect and support of the surrounding barbarians was mainly due to the gentle policy formulated by Tang Taizong Li Shimin.In the early days of Gaozong's administration, the imperial court had been pursuing this kind of popular leniency policy, so it was able to maintain the empire's strong position in diplomacy and military affairs.But why this time, Gaozong would be uncharacteristically and start killing? Pei Xingjian was really puzzled. Later he learned that the reason why Gaozong was uncharacteristically was because Prime Minister Pei Yan had slandered him. Pei Yan said this to Emperor Gaozong: "This great victory is not due to Pei Xingjian, but the deputy generals Cheng Wuting and Zhang Qianxu who went north to force Ashina Funian, and the Uighurs in Mobei oppressed south. Fu Nian surrendered because he had nowhere to go, not because Pei Xingjian really had any great abilities." In these few words of Pei Yan, Pei Xingjian's credit for pacifying the Eastern Turks was written off. Then, why did Pei Yan have to get along with Pei Xingjian? The reason is simple - at this time, Pei Yan does not represent himself, but represents another person. who? Empress Wu. As we all know, since the reign of Xianheng, Empress Wu has been trying to share power with the prime minister, and deliberately infiltrated her power into the prime minister's team. People like Pei Yan and Xue Yuanchao were single-handedly promoted by her.But in these years, Pei Xingjian, the old political enemy of Empress Wu, has become the most powerful person in the civil and military affairs of the Manchu Dynasty. They are all remarkable, in terms of their qualifications, merits and prestige, they are already fully qualified to worship the prime minister, and they may become prime ministers at any time. Of course, Empress Wu could not remain indifferent to this.Once Pei Xingjian pays homage to the Prime Minister, it will definitely become the biggest obstacle on her way to power.So she must plan ahead and do everything possible to suppress him! It was under such circumstances that Pei Yan came forward.However, without investigation, Emperor Gaozong believed Pei Yan's one-sided statement, thinking that Ashina Funian did not really surrender, so he resolutely issued an order to kill and surrender.Poor Ashina Funian and these fifty people have become victims of the power struggle of the Tang Dynasty by accident. On the day they were beheaded, Pei Xingjian looked up to the sky and sighed: "Hun and Jun compete for merit (Wang Hun, a general of the Western Jin Dynasty, because he was won the first merit by his subordinate Wang Jun in the Pingwu War, he angrily competed with him, so he is very popular in later generations. sarcasm), shame in ancient and modern times. But fear of killing and surrendering, there will be no return." (Volume 202) What Pei Xingjian meant was: he would not compete with his subordinates for credit like Wang Hun with a small stomach, so no matter who deserved the credit for this great victory, he would not care.The only thing he was worried about was that if Datang set a precedent of killing and surrendering, no one would dare to surrender in the future. After this incident, Pei Xingjian was quite disheartened, and since then he claimed that he could not get sick, and took the initiative to fade out of the political arena. Just like what Pei Xingjian was worried about, killing and surrendering would inevitably lead to serious consequences.In the spring of the second year, that is, the first year of Yongchun (AD 682), this evil result was initially manifested-a chief of the Western Turks, Ashina Chebo, led a tribe with ten surnames to launch a rebellion. At the critical moment, Gaozong thought of Pei Xingjian again, and hurriedly appointed him as the commander-in-chief of the Western Expeditionary Army, preparing to let him lead the Right Jinwu General Yan Huaidan and others to divide troops to conquer the Western Turks. However, on the eve of the army's upcoming expedition, a generation of famous general Pei Xingjian died of illness at the age of sixty-four. The death of Pei Xingjian is undoubtedly a great loss to the Tang Empire, which was in war and suffered frequent foreign aggression.The important task of pacifying the Western Turks fell to Wang Fangyi, an important general trained by Pei Xingjian, who was then the governor of Anxi. After Ashina Chebo raised his troops, he first attacked Gongyue City (now Huocheng County, Xinjiang). Wang Fangyi immediately led his troops to help, defeated the Western Turkic rebels in Yili River (Ili River), and beheaded more than a thousand ranks.Later, the Yanmian Tribe of Sanxing in Western Turkic (located in the east of Lake Balkhash, Kazakhstan today) joined forces with Ashina Chebo, and the rebel forces suddenly became stronger. Soon, Wang Fangyi led his troops to launch a large-scale battle with the Western Turkic Allied Forces in Rehai (now Lake Issyk-Kul, Kyrgyzstan).During the fierce battle, a stray arrow shot through Wang Fangyi's arm. Wang Fangyi cut off the shaft of the arrow with his saber and continued to fight fiercely with the enemy. Even the left and right soldiers didn't know that he was injured. After the Battle of Rehai, Ashina Chebo fully experienced Wang Fangyi's strength, and knew that he was far from his opponent, so he came up with a plan.Since there were some foreign soldiers under Wang Fangyi's command at that time, Ashina Chebo secretly sent people to contact them, instigated them to launch a mutiny, and captured Wang Fangyi alive. However, Ashina's petty tricks did not hide from Wang Fangyi's eyes.He then used the name of holding a military meeting to gather all the leaders who attempted to launch a mutiny, and then lied that he would reward property and let those who read their names go outside the tent to receive the reward.These people didn't realize that there was a fraud at all, and immediately lined up happily to receive the reward.And Wang Fangyi had already ordered his swordsmen to stay outside the tent, and he would kill every one who came out, killing more than 70 people in total.During the operation, Wang Fangyi also ordered people to beat gongs and drums to prevent the soldiers involved in the rebellion from hearing the movement.Therefore, until all the leaders were sent to the gate of hell, these soldiers were still unaware.When they finally understood, they had all become captives. After clearing out the internal enemies, Wang Fangyi immediately divided his troops and launched a general attack on Ashina Chebo and Yanmian tribes.At this time, Ashina Chebo was confidently waiting for the news of Wang Fangyi's capture, so he completely relaxed his vigilance, and was caught off guard by the Tang army, and the army quickly collapsed.In this last battle, the Tang army basically wiped out all the Western Turkic coalition forces, and only as many as 300 rebel chiefs were captured alive. This raging rebellion was put down by Wang Fangyi just like that. At that time, because Pei Xingjian died of illness, the imperial court re-appointed Yan Huaidan as the commander-in-chief, preparing to let him lead the Western Expeditionary Army to quell the rebellion.But before Yan Huaidan set off, the news of Wang Fangyi's victory had already been sent back to Chang'an. Gaozong was overjoyed, and immediately recruited Wang Fangyi into the court.Many people believed that Wang Fangyi's entry into the dynasty must be to accept awards and awards. Regrettably, this is not the case. When meeting Wang Fangyi, Emperor Gaozong found that blood was oozing from his clothes, and asked him why.Wang Fangyi unbuttoned his clothes, revealing the arrow wound on his arm, and told the truth about Athai's bitter battle. Gaozong looked at the bleeding wound and couldn't help sighing. However, Gaozong could only sigh. Because Wang Fangyi is the brother of the deposed Queen Wang, he has always been hated by Empress Wu.Because of this relationship, Emperor Gaozong of course did not dare to reward Wang Fangyi for his meritorious service, let alone reuse it. In this way, Wang Fangyi, who had made illustrious military exploits for the empire, returned to Chang'an all the way, and got nothing except hearing a few sighs from the emperor. The story of Wang Fangyi tells us that in the Chinese society where nepotism is the most important, the most important factor in determining whether a person can make a fortune is often his social relationship and family background, followed by ability and performance.In other words, the talent evaluation standard of "both popular and expert" is not just a product of the ultra-left era in the 20th century, but something that has existed in Chinese society for thousands of years. Of course, the specific content of "red" varies with time. In ancient times, it depends on your family background. In the revolutionary era, it depends on your revolutionary qualifications. Today, it depends on whether you have someone above you.But no matter how the specific content of "red" evolves, one thing remains the same, that is - there is always something that makes you feel helpless and powerless, and will always override your "professional ability" ! In April of the first year of Yongchun, the second rebellion of the Western Turks had just subsided; in October, the third rebellion of the Eastern Turks broke out immediately. This is called one after another, one after another, this is called pressing the gourd and raising the ladle again. This rebellion was launched by Ashina Gudulu and Ashde Yuanzhen, chiefs of the remnants of the Eastern Turks. They gathered the remnants and occupied Heisha City (at the northern foot of Yinshan Mountain); With a large number of cattle and sheep, he invaded Bingzhou, Lanzhou and other places southward, and killed Wang Demao, the governor of Lanzhou (now Lanxian County, Shanxi).As the rebel forces gradually became stronger, various tribes joined in, and Ashina Gudulu established himself as Khan. Faced with waves of more ferocious rebellions, Tang Gaozong would definitely think about such a question-why do Turkic people have such a soft spot for rebellion? In terms of subjective reasons, this is certainly due to their belief in restoring the country and the power ambitions of those rebel leaders, but in terms of objective reasons, it is obviously closely related to Gaozong's last surrender. I don't know if Gaozong would regret his hasty and wrong behavior at such a moment? But it's useless even if you regret it, because everything has become a fact.The most urgent task right now is to quickly find a qualified general to go north to defend against the Eastern Turks. However, Pei Xingjian, the nemesis of the Turks (the first rebellion of the Western Turks and the first two rebellions of the Eastern Turks, were both suppressed by Pei Xingjian) is gone. Who should be sent now to suppress the vicious Turks? After thinking about it, Gao Zong finally decided to use a veteran. Xue Rengui. Since the fiasco of Dafeichuan, the famous general Xue Rengui has fallen into the trough of his life.Although he was briefly used once to conquer the Goryeo rebellion, he was dismissed from office again and exiled to Xiangzhou for unknown reasons after returning to the court.A few years later, he was pardoned and returned to Beijing, but he was already a commoner without official or job. Now Xue Rengui finally came back for the second time, and was appointed by Gaozong as the right leader of the guard and the inspector and acting governor of the state. However, Xue Rengui was already seventy years old this year. The young and strong faction who were heroic and bravely crowned the three armies in those days is now a veritable old general with gray temples.Can Xue Rengui in his seventies still take on the important task of defending the frontiers of the empire?Can it still create a brilliant performance like "Three Arrows Set Tianshan Mountain"? After Xue Rengui took office as the governor of Daizhou (now Daixian County, Shanxi), he soon received a battle report saying that the number two figure of the rebel army, Ashde Yuanzhen, was haunting Yunzhou (now Datong City, Shanxi).Xue Rengui led his troops to set off immediately, and soon encountered the East Turkic army near Yunzhou. Hearing that Xue Rengui, a famous general of the Tang Dynasty, was coming, Ash De Yuanzhen couldn't help being skeptical.In order to find out the truth, he personally ran to the front of the formation and shouted to Tang Jun, asking who the other general was.Xue Rengui reported his name.Ash De Yuanzhen still didn't believe it, and said loudly: "I heard that Xue Rengui was exiled to Xiangzhou and has been dead for a long time. Don't use his name to bluff people!" Xue Rengui laughed loudly, and immediately took off his helmet to let the other party see clearly.Ash De Yuanzhen took a closer look, and his face suddenly turned pale. That's right, the old general with white beard and hair but still majestic in front of him is none other than Xue Rengui, a famous legendary hero in the world! Ash De Yuanzhen didn't have time to think, and hurriedly dismounted with his entourage, and saluted Xue Rengui respectfully.Then, perhaps out of awe in his heart, Ashi De Yuanzhen led his troops to retreat a little distance. Before the two sides started fighting, the Turks had already lost in terms of momentum. Xue Rengui seized the opportunity and decisively ordered the army to attack.The Turkic people had no intention of fighting, and immediately scattered and fled.In this way, the Tang army defeated the Eastern Turkic army, beheaded more than 10,000 people, captured more than 20,000 people, and more than 30,000 camels, horses, cattle and sheep. After this battle, the reputation of the veteran Xue Rengui once again spread far and wide in the northern part of the Great Wall, making the Turkic people frightened.It is said in history that the Turkic people "heard that Rengui was reborn as a general, and they were afraid of his name, so they all ran away and did not dare to be him" ("Old Tang Book·Biography of Xue Rengui"). Ashina Gudulu, who had just established himself as a khan, groaned secretly—with this God of War figure guarding the northern gate of the Tang Empire, could he still make any money? However, people are not as good as heaven.Not long after the Battle of Yunzhou ended, Xue Rengui fell ill. The great victory in Yunzhou thus became the last glory of Xue Rengui's life. At the end of this year, Xue Rengui, following Pei Xingjian, died suddenly at the age of seventy when he was serving as the governor of Daizhou. The successive fall of two generals was not only a major blow to the Tang Empire in crisis, but also heralded the end of a glorious era.Since then, the Tang Empire bid farewell to the pinnacle of the Tian Khan era in military affairs, and began to enter a long period of decline.It was not until the Tang Xuanzong era more than half a century later that the empire regained its former glory. When the news of Xue Rengui's death spread outside the Great Wall, the Turkic people were suddenly ecstatic. Without Xue Rengui, the northern frontier defense of the Tang Empire would be useless in the eyes of the Turks. In the second year of Yongchun (683 A.D.), the East Turkic army began to launch wave after wave of fierce attacks on the Tang Empire from all directions. In February, the Turkic army attacked Dingzhou (now Dingzhou City, Hebei Province) and Guizhou (now Huailai County, Hebei Province). In March, Khan Gudulu and Ashide Yuanzhen besieged Shanyu Duhu Mansion located in Yunzhong (now Helinger County, Inner Mongolia). In May, Gudulu Khan attacked Yuzhou (now Lingqiu County, Shanxi), and Li Sijian, the governor of Weizhou, was defeated and killed; Cui Zhibian, governor of Fengzhou (now Wuyuan County, Inner Mongolia), led his army in Chaona Mountain (now Inner Mongolia) East of Guyang County) intercepted the Turkic army, suffered a disastrous defeat, and Cui Zhibian was captured. In June, the East Turkic army attacked and plundered Lanzhou (now Lan County, Shanxi Province)... As if overnight, the Turks returned to their heyday—the era of Shibi Khan. On the vast and long northern border of the Tang Empire, their cavalry galloped and roared back and forth, creating more and more violent war whirlwinds. The speed and ferocity of the rise of the Eastern Turks shocked the monarchs and ministers of the Tang Dynasty as well as the ruling and opposition parties. Although Gu Duolu's sphere of influence had not yet expanded to the entire Turkic territory at this time, from the day he established himself as Khan, a new era of Eastern Turkic has come unstoppably! This re-emerging new Turkic state was historically known as the Second Turkic Khanate, or the post-Turkic state.For more than half a century, this post-Turk will once again become the strongest opponent of the Tang Empire.