Chapter 16 The End of Chang'an City

Li Yuan entered Guanzhong like a dragon swimming into the sea. The welcome and support he received was beyond his expectation, which can basically be described as "unprecedented".It is said in history that it "was housed in the Changchun Palace in Chaoyi. The children of the Sanqin scholars, the nobles of the prefectures and counties, the brothers, the old and the young, all come together like a market" ("Da Tang Entrepreneurship Daily Note"). After being a high-ranking official of the empire for so many years, it was not the first time that he was highly sought after and warmly welcomed by people, no matter how lively the scene was, he had seen it before.

But this time it was different. Apart from the excitement, Li Yuan found that people were looking up at him like he had never seen before. He vaguely remembered that in the past, people only cast this kind of attention on Yang Jian, and for a while they also cast it on Yang Guang. But now, hundreds of thousands of Guanzhong scholars who couldn't find their destiny in the troubled times, like a group of lost lambs, all cast their eyes on him, eager to be saved. To be honest, Li Yuan likes this look very much, it feels so good to be regarded as the savior. When Qu Tutong learned that Li Yuan had crossed the Yellow River and went straight to Chang'an, he immediately ordered Ying Yanglang to guard Yao Junsu on the east side of the river, and then personally led tens of thousands of elites to go south to Tongguan to help Chang'an via Lantian.

But Liu Wenjing had already blocked his only way according to Li Yuan's arrangement. When Qu Tutong arrived at Tongguan, the Sui general Liu Gang who was stationed here had already been beheaded by the rebels, and Tongguan had already fallen.Qu Tutong encountered Liu Wenjing's tenacious resistance here.The two sides held each other for more than a month, but Qu Tutong could not cross Tongguan even half a step.In the end, Qu Tu ordered his general Sang Xianhe to attack the rebel camp at night, and Liu Wenjing hurriedly responded.The two sides fought until the early morning of the next day, when the Sui army successively broke through two camps of the rebels, leaving only one camp of Liu Wenjing still standing.Sang Xianhe immediately led his troops to launch a more violent attack on Liu Wenjing's camp, and almost broke it several times.During the melee, Liu Wenjing was hit by a stray arrow, and the morale of the soldiers was immediately demoralized, and finally the fortress was also in jeopardy.

But at this moment of life and death, the Sui army's offensive stopped suddenly. Because Sang Xianhe found that the soldiers were exhausted after a whole night of fierce fighting, he ordered the troops to suspend the attack, eat breakfast first, and prepare to launch the final attack on Liu Wenjing after the soldiers regained their strength. Obviously, Sang Xianhe thought that he had already won the victory, and he was not short of this meal. But he was wrong. He underestimated the rebel army's ability to counterattack, and his judgment on the situation was too optimistic.While the Sui army was lighting a fire and cooking, the wounded Liu Wenjing had adjusted the deployment of troops, divided his troops and sneaked into the two camps that had been breached, killed the Sui army sentries, and regained the position.

Liu Wenjing wanted to defend against danger and try to delay as long as possible to wait for reinforcements. At this time, he absolutely did not dare to hope that he could turn defeat into victory. But what happened next was beyond his expectation. Before the Sui army had finished their meal, a rebel army unexpectedly appeared behind the Sui army's position.They are not reinforcements, but a patrolling ranger with only a few hundred people.But no one expected that they would "swim" behind Sang Xianhe at this critical moment, and launch a surprise attack on the unsuspecting Sui army.Faced with this enemy "reinforcement" that fell from the sky, the soldiers of the Sui Army suddenly panicked and fell into chaos.At the same time, Liu Wenjing seized the opportunity and ordered soldiers to attack from the three camps at the same time.The Sui army was defeated, either dead or surrendered. Basically, the entire army was wiped out. Sang Xianhe narrowly escaped and fled back to the army garrison alone.

Sang Xianhe was on the brink of failure and lost countless troops, which made Qu Tutong very frustrated.The way ahead was blocked, and the base area behind was besieged, Qu Tutong was completely caught in a dilemma. He realized that the fall of Chang'an was inevitable, and the days of the Sui Dynasty's downfall were numbered.But he can only watch all this helplessly, he can neither turn the tide from the collapse, nor help the building that is about to collapse.Qu Tutong felt desperate. In the days that followed, the rebel army continued to send envoys to persuade him to surrender.Qu Tutong looked up to the sky and wept bitterly, saying: "I am very kind to the Mongolian country. I have experienced two masters. I have received a lot of money, so I can escape safely? The only thing I have to do is die!" During that time, he often rubbed his neck and sighed deeply. : "You should receive a sword for the country!" ("Old Tang Book · Qu Tutong Biography") Li Yuan failed to recruit for many times, and finally found a family boy of Qu Tutong and ordered him to persuade him to surrender.As a result, the man not only failed to persuade Qu Tutong, but was chopped down by him.

When a huge empire is collapsing, any individual efforts to stop it are doomed to be weak, small, and even futile.However, when an old dynasty has been disintegrated and everyone seeks wealth and honor for fear of falling short, Qu Tutong's firmness and loyalty in desperate situations are undoubtedly commendable and admirable.In this sense, Qu Tutong deserves to be a loyal minister of the Sui Dynasty. However, as we will see later, even though he was such a loyal minister, even though he had been working hard and struggling, Qu Tutong had no choice but to surrender to Li Yuan after just three months.

Maybe this is called under the overturned nest, how can there be no eggs? Perhaps this is called the trend of the times and the direction of the people. On the historical stage at the end of the Sui Dynasty, among all the heroes competing for the "Sui deer", Li Yuan can definitely be called the proud son of heaven. Because he took advantage of the timing, location, and harmony of people. The so-called timing means that he grasped the timing of raising troops very well.If it is too early, he may become the first rafter to rot like Yang Xuangan; if it is too late, the big cake of the Sui Dynasty may be divided up by others.When Li Yuan raised his troops, the armies of all parties in the Sui Empire had already fallen into the predicament of fighting on their own in the wild fire uprising, and were no longer able to mobilize superior forces to encircle and suppress, so Li Yuan's army marched relatively smoothly.At the same time, Chang'an, the capital of Xijing, has not yet been occupied by any rebel army, and is still open to everyone (including Li Yuan, of course). The timing was just right.

The so-called favorable location means that Li Yuan got the treasure land of Taiyuan.This place is the "Old Country of Tao and Tang Dynasties", which matches Li Yuan's title of title, so it gave Li Yuan great encouragement and belief in victory spiritually. For a person who is ready to create an imperial career, such spiritual power is very important. indispensable.At the same time, Taiyuan is also an important military town, which can provide Li Yuan with the necessary material conditions and solid logistical support in terms of military sources, military supplies, and supplies.

The so-called harmony of people means that at the beginning of Li Yuan's army, there were a lot of talents under his command.He has counselors like Pei Ji and Liu Wenjing, generals like Changsun Shunde and Liu Hongji, and three young sons, Jian Jiancheng, Shimin, and Yuanji, who are brave and powerful, and can be independent.In addition, Li Yuan's daughter is particularly worth mentioning.This daughter, who was later named Princess Pingyang, not only inherited her father Li Yuan's shrewd and pragmatic political mind, but also inherited her mother Dou's courage and bloodiness of "women don't give up to men".In the chaos of the end of the Sui Dynasty and the beginning of the Tang Dynasty, where wars were rampant and victory was achieved by force, Princess Pingyang can definitely be regarded as a rare female hero and heroine.

Let's take a look at what this courageous, wise and courageous Princess Pingyang did near Chang'an while Li Yuan was heading south and west to Guanzhong. In May of the thirteenth year of Daye, that is, the eve of Li Yuan's army, Chai Shao, who was working in Chang'an, received a secret letter from Li Yuan's trustee, asking him to rush to Taiyuan.After receiving the news of the upcoming incident, Chai Shao felt excited and joyful, but also felt a strong anxiety.What he was worried about was not whether the uprising would succeed, but what would happen to his wife after he left? Chai Shao had no choice but to confide his uneasiness to Princess Pingyang: "Your Majesty raises troops, it is impossible for us to go together, and it is dangerous for you to stay here alone, what should we do?" "Lang Jun, just go fast," Princess Pingyang said without thinking, "I'm a woman, I can hide easily, I can figure out my own way, you don't have to worry." Just like that, Chai Shao left. However, Princess Pingyang did not flee far away, nor did she hide nearby. Instead, she did something that Chai Shao, Li Yuan and everyone else could not have imagined—raised troops. She rushed back to her manor in Hu (hu) County (now Hu County, Shaanxi Province) immediately, sold all her property, and then used the money to recruit soldiers and actively build her own armed force. On the one hand, she responded to Li Yuan's Jinyang uprising, At the same time, he also served as the internal response of Li Yuan's army in Guanzhong. At that time, there were already many mutated militias operating near Chang'an.Among them, there are two most powerful. One is headed by Li Yuan's cousin Li Shentong and Chang'an knight-errant Shi Wanbao, with more than 10,000 members; .In addition to this small group of militiamen also included Li Zhongwen (Li Mi's cousin), Xiang Shanzhi, Qiu Shili, etc.Faced with such a complicated situation, Princess Pingyang's judgment and actions are exactly the same as his father Li Yuan's, which is to establish a united front and unite all forces that can be united. Princess Pingyang's judgment on the situation is: Li Shentong is her own anyway, so there is no problem; Li Zhongwen and others are not powerful, so they can be put aside for now; Having made up her mind, she immediately sent her family boy Ma Sanbao to lobby He Panren and tell him his interests.After He Panren heard the news that Li Yuan was about to enter the pass, he realized that the only alliance with Princess Pingyang was his best choice at present, otherwise once Li Yuan entered the pass, there would be absolutely no place for him in the pass. After a short period of weighing, He Panren made a choice-belonging to Princess Pingyang. After He Panren returned, Princess Pingyang immediately ordered him to join forces with Li Shentong to attack Hu County, quickly conquered it, and established her own base.Later, Princess Pingyang ordered Ma Sanbao to persuade Li Zhongwen, Xiang Shanzhi, Qiu Shili and other ministries successively.So far, all the mutated militias near Chang'an have surrendered to Princess Pingyang.Li Yuan never expected that his daughter had already driven a nail into the heart of the Sui Dynasty before his troops entered the pass.Since then, Chang'an of the Sui Dynasty stayed behind and frequently sent troops to attack Hu County, but was repeatedly defeated by Ma Sanbao and He Panren. While Li Yuan's army was advancing towards Guanzhong, Princess Pingyang was also attacking the city outside Chang'an, successively conquering the lands of Yu, Wugong, and Shiping, and her reputation was greatly enhanced for a while.Princess Pingyang ruled the army strictly, and she did not offend the people wherever she went, so young and strong from far and near rushed to her flag of righteousness, and the number of her troops quickly increased to 70,000. Princess Pingyang then sent the news of her righteousness and victories in Guanzhong to Li Yuan's barracks, which made Li Yuan overjoyed.After Li Yuan crossed the river, he immediately ordered Chai Shao to go to Nanshan (Qinling) to meet Princess Pingyang.When Li Shimin marched into Weibei, Princess Pingyang and Chai Shao led more than 10,000 elite troops to the north to join him.Before the siege of Chang'an, Li Yuan granted Princess Pingyang and Chai Shao the power to "set up separate shogunates", that is to say, each of them had their own direct troops. The unit led by Princess Pingyang is called the "Women's Army". This is the first women's army with a formal organizational system and official number in Chinese history.Princess Pingyang has since become one of the most outstanding female military commanders in Chinese history. Today, on the west side of the Taihang Mountains at the junction of Shanxi and Hebei provinces, there is a world-famous pass, which is the Ninth Pass of the Great Wall - Niangziguan.The pass was originally named Weize Pass, but it was changed to its current name precisely because Princess Pingyang led the Detachment of Women to station here. In late autumn of the thirteenth year of Daye, dark clouds hung low over Chang'an.Endless fallen leaves danced in Chang'an Square, like paper money floating in the sky at a funeral.Minister of the Ministry of Punishments of the Sui Dynasty and Shi Wei Wensheng of Jingzhao Nei looked at the increasingly thick haze in the sky, and couldn't help letting out a long and mournful sigh. Dark clouds are pressing down on the city to destroy it. The end of Chang'an City is coming soon, can the end of the Sui Dynasty be far behind? Wei Wensheng finally fell ill in the midst of depression and grief that was difficult to dispel. Jingzhao Neishi is currently the chief executive of the capital Chang'an.Now that the old official with heavy responsibilities has fallen, the responsibility of guarding Chang'an falls on the shoulders of Zuo Yiwei General Yin Shishi and Jingzhao County Cheng Guyi.Of course, there is also the nominal left behind in Xijing——Yang You, the acting king who is only thirteen years old.