Wiping Out Various Separatist Regimes
2 min readJust one month after Li Yuan mounted the throne, Xue Ju and his son Xue Rengao who occupied Longxi(western Gansu) took the initiative in starting a rebellion. At the critical moment Li shimin was entrusted with the mission to resist the rebel army. In the eleventh lunar month of 618 he defeated and killed Xue Rengao in Qianshuiyuan (north of present Changwu County in Shaanxi Province), and took more than 10,000 prisoners.
The following year Liu Wuzhou who was granted the title of Dingyang Khan by the Turks commanded an army of 20,000 to march south, and occupied most of what’s now Shanxi. Bringing his wife and concubines along, Li Yuan’s fourth son Li Yuanji(Prince of Qi,603-626) who was in charge ofthe defense of Taiyuan fled to Chang’ an. The helpless Li Yuan once again asked Li shimin to save the dangerous situation.
Living up to his father’s expectations, Li Shimin routed the invading enemy after more than one year of fierce fighting. Seeing the game was as good as lost, the Turks eventually killed Liu Wuzhou.
After eliminating the threats from the west and the north, Li shimin immediately led the Tangarmy to attack Wang Shichong who established the State of Zheng in Luoyang. Not having enough strength and resources to defend himself, Wang Shichong had to request assistance from Dou Jiande (573-621), originally his rival who founded the State of Xia in what’s now Hebei.
Hearing the news, Li shimin planned to fight a battle of quick decision before Dou’s reinforcements arrived. However, although the city of Luoyang was so closely besieged that not a drop of water could trickle through, the Tang army’s attack hit a snag and made no headway as the defenders putup a desperate resistance. To make matters worse, Dou Jiande had led a massive force of 400,000 to bear down on the border.
Only 3,500Tang soldiers were garrisoned in the Wulao Pass(originally named Hulao Pass, in present Sishui Town of Xingyang City, Henan Province)–a location of strategic importance and easy defense–to prevent Dou from pushing further west. The two armies were locked in a face-off for several months; LiShimin then made a surprise attack, captured Dou alive, and thoroughly routed his troops.
Burial Figurinesof Musicians seated on a camel, Tang Tri-color Without any fear of attacks from behind, Li shimin went back to Luoyang to launch a more vigorous offensive. Wang Shichong who found himself in utter isolation finally laid down arms. In the sixth lunar month of 621, Li shimin and his troops returned to Chang’ an amidst songs oftriumph. Soon afterwards Dou Jiande was publicly executed, whilst Wang Shichong was banished to what’s now Sichuan but was assassinated en route.
