Hello, I am a scholar of Jiushui. I will appreciate history, understand thoughts and discern with you.
Yang Guang was extravagant and extremely eager. It was no longer a question of how much money he spent, but a question of how many people died.
Build the Eastern Capital, open the canal, visit the Jiangdu, patrol the Yanbei, and step on the Qilian Mountains are all major imperial projects with hundreds of thousands and millions of people.
Three battles against Goryeo and millions of people died, causing the newly unified Great Sui Dynasty to fall to the bottom of the division again.
The last straw that broke the camel's back was that he went to Jiangnan for the third time, and he left in Yangzhou without leaving.
Yang Guang is unwilling to step into the Guanzhong that holds his dream of unity. Therefore, it was not that the world gave up on the Great Sui Dynasty, but that the Great Sui Dynasty gave up on the world.
The rebel army was in full swing and the warlords took advantage of the situation to separatist. After the Sui Dynasty, another split and chaotic world was about to usher in. As for how long this chaotic world will last, we really can't guess.
However, in just eight years, a brand new empire was re-established, its name was Datang.
01. Luoyang: How many heroes are there?
When Yang Guang conquered Goryeo for the second time, Yang Xuangan, the Minister of Rites who was responsible for the transportation of grain and grass, rebelled in Liyang (now Junxian, Henan). Li Mi , a wealthy family from Guanlong , also rushed from Guanzhong to Yang Xuangan's place to rebel with him.
As for the reason for rebellion, it was because of Yang Guang's various tosses that made Guanlong Group completely lose confidence. This group of people just want to change the emperor. If you, Yang Guang, have a life of endless troubles, then you will be replaced.
Li Mi gave Yang Xuan three strategies:
The best strategy is to lead the army to face Yang Guang who was back to defend, and to defeat the emperor Yang Guang, and then he could take over the Sui Dynasty.
Zhongst is to occupy Guanzhong, take over the political center of the Great Sui Dynasty, and then use Guanzhong to consolidate the Central Plains and dominate the world.
The worst strategy is to occupy Luoyang, because Luoyang is closest to Liyang, and first divide a piece of land, and then observe the situation in the world before making plans.
The three strategies of upper, middle and lower are arranged from adventure to conservative, but Li Mi’s real intention is the best and middle strategies, because this is the strategy to win the world.
However, Yang Xuangan chose the worst strategy, which was to occupy Luoyang first. Yang Xuangan's uprising army stopped fighting under the Luoyang city. The uprising lasted for two months and was extinguished by Yang Guang.
The domestic contradictions have become so sharp, but Yang Guang is still obsessed with it and continues to launch the third conquest of Goryeo regardless of the consequences. The Sui Dynasty irreversibly moved towards division, and the whole world was either Chen Sheng and Wu Guang or Dong Zhuo and Cao Cao.
After Yang Xuangan's defeat, Li Mi ran to Wagang Village (now Hua County, Henan Province), obtained the support of the Wagang Uprising Army, and continued to rebel against the Sui Dynasty again.
Under the leadership of Li Mi, the Wagangzhai Uprising Army grew rapidly and became an increasingly large rebellious force in the chaotic times at the end of the Sui Dynasty. At this time, the three strategies in front of Li Mi were also placed, either facing Yang Guangda from Zhuojun , either separating Guanzhong or occupying Luoyang.
However, Li Mi still chose the worst strategy, which is to occupy Luoyang. He was more successful than Yang Xuangan and achieved separatism in Luoyang. However, he did not have the chance to win Guanzhong again, and if he could not win Guanzhong, he would not have the chance to unify the world.
Why do Li Mi and Yang Xuangan choose the worst?
The reason is that the rebel army is not a regular army. Although it has outstanding leaders, it does not have a strong leadership group. The eyes of this group of people are Luoyang, because this is his hometown, fighting in other places will not receive support from the army. Therefore, even if you have a strategy to plan for the world, you don’t have the power to execute the strategy.
02. Shanxi: The Tang Dynasty comes from Shanxi
The world is irreversible.
At this time, Shanxi, the Sui Dynasty, Li Yuan, finally couldn't hold back, and swore an oath to revolt in July 617 AD.
Shanxi is a highland. It swept Hebei eastward, power southward, and defeated Guanzhong westward. The strategy to win the world is to defeat Guanzhong.
Therefore, Li Yuan, who also came from the Guanlong family, went directly to Guanzhong without any hesitation.Li Yuan's army rushed to the Puban Ferry Crossing of the Yellow River along the valley bottom of the Fen River.
Li Yuan is also not easy to guide Guanzhong.
Northwest of Shanxi: Turkic Khan is eyeing her, Mayi Liu Wuzhou (has defected to the Turks) is eager to try.
Li Yuan’s strategy is to trade: he promised the Turks that only have the land of the Great Sui Dynasty and not the wealth of the Great Sui Dynasty, and all the wealth of the Great Sui Dynasty was given to the Turkic Khan.
Southwest Shanxi: Li Mi's Luoyang power and the Wagang Uprising Army have become a military existence that no one can ignore.
Li Yuan’s strategy is to respect Li Mi as the leader of the uprising, and the uprising in Shanxi was to respond to Li Mi’s great cause of rebellion.
The way to defend the pass: Huoyi (now , Huozhou , Shanxi) is guarded by Song Laosheng, and Hedong (now Yongji, Shanxi) is guarded by Qu Tutong, the Sui general.
External situation, Li Yuan can transform war contradictions into relationship strategies, but the way to get closer can only be irreconcilable war contradictions, so Li Yuan must adopt war means.
Sui general Song Laosheng did not stick to the danger but took the initiative to attack. He was defeated by the fierce Li Yuan army. The means of war were to fight a field battle.
Sui general Qu Tutong defended Hedong and refused to fight. Li Yuan could only choose to attack strongly, and the means of war were to attack the city.
Li Yuan's uprising army was not afraid of field wars, because uprising and rebellion were aimed at the theme of war. However, Li Yuan was worried about the city's tough battle because he needed time to get rid of Guanzhong before others could react.
So, Li Yuan once again changed the contradiction: the means of war have become geographical means: fight less and walk more to save time to the greatest extent.
The original plan was: after conquering Hedong, you would cross the river from Puban; the actual implementation was: to surround Hedong without fighting, and take a detour to Longmen to cross the river.
After Li Yuan's army crossed the Yellow River, it occupied the Yongfeng Warehouse of the Great Sui Dynasty. We opened warehouses and released grain here, so we also gained support. Then, continue to work hard, focus on Changan , and sweep Guanzhong.
03. Guanzhong: Li Yuan used Guanzhong strategy again.
Since the Zhou Dynasty, it has been "those who win Guanzhong will win the world".
Because Guanzhong is the most secure rear, there is both food and tangible beauty here.
However, there must be a prerequisite for Guanzhong to organize the Central Plains, that is, the Central Plains are limited to Henan.
However, when the Central Plains had expanded to Shanxi, Hebei, Shandong and the Jianghuai region, Guanzhong completely lost its advantage, and it had no strength to fight against the already expanded Central Plains.
Therefore, the model of Qin Warring States Period and The Han Emperor Gaozu is: to win Guanzhong with the wealth of Bashu, continue to romance Guanzhong, and continue to achieve the iron law of "those who win Guanzhong will win the world".
This is true for the Qin and Han dynasties, the Northern Zhou and the Great Sui dynasties, and even developed a model of Guanzhong's victory plus Sichuan wealth and Jingxiang wealth.
Therefore, the Tang Dynasty came from Shanxi, but it wanted to achieve glory in Guanzhong and implement Guanzhong strategy. After occupying Chang'an, Li Yuan faced oppression from two forces from Longxi and Hexi. Therefore, to implement Guanzhong strategy, you must solve the pressure behind Guanzhong.
Longyou Warlord Xueju , first came out Longshan (Liupanshan southern section), took Fufeng, and attacked Guanzhong. But Li Shimin retorted.
Then, Xue Ju went out of Liupanshan and attacked Jingzhou (now Shaanxi Jingchuan ), directly threatening Chang'an.
success can never reject luck.
Just as Xue Ju's army was approaching Chang'an, Xue Ju suddenly died. The old warlord Xue Ju died, and his son, the little warlord Xue Rengao, could not control his powerful soldiers and generals, so he could only surrender to Li Yuan.
As for Hexi, the Tang Dynasty sent only one Anxinggui to deal with Hexi warlords Li Gui . An Xinggui first pretended to surrender, then persuaded him to surrender to Tang, and then led the Hu army to coup. In May 619 AD, Li Gui was taken to Chang'an and beheaded, and Hexi was pacified.
While taking Guanzhong, Li Yuan appointed his nephew Li Xiaogong as the ambassador of Shannan Zhaowei, and his troops patrolled Bashu, and his thirty prefectures were connected to Bashu. He was also surrendered to the warlords.
In 619 AD, Li Yuan appointed Li Xiaogong as the general manager of Xinzhou, and operated the areas of Bashu, Chongqing and Jingxiang, and built warships here to prepare for war in the south.
By this time, Li Yuan had the capital to replicate the reunification of Qin Shihuang and Emperor Gaozu of Han, and carried Guanzhong to the victorious, Bashu and the rich, and also occupied Shanxi to victorious.
When Li Yuan guided Guanzhong, there was only a corner of the southwest left in Shanxi because Li Yuanji did not defend it. Later, Li Shimin defeated the troops of Song Jingang in the Battle of Baibi and drove the Mayi warlord Liu Wuzhou to the grassland, which was considered to have solved the Shanxi problem.
04. North: A five-five-opening battle
Central Plains have expanded, covering today's Henan, Hebei, Shandong and Jianghuai regions. Therefore, although the iron law of Guanzhong is still there, if the iron law continues to continue, it must be injected with human will factors.
At this time, Li Yuan's second son Li Shimin played an absolute role.
First of all, Li Shimin repeatedly insisted that the Tang Dynasty could not give up on the Shanxi Highlands, and achieved a reversal of the Shanxi battlefield in the Battle of Baibi, driving away Liu Wuzhou.
Second, in the 55th Central Plains War, Li Shimin served as the head coach of the battlefield in Luoyang. He beat the two warlords, Wang Shichong, and Dou Jiande, , with all his might.
In 620 AD, the Tang Dynasty finally started the war of unity. What they wanted was not the eastern capital Luoyang, but the entire Central Plains and the entire world.
The first opponent is Wang Shichong who destroyed Li Mi and took advantage of the situation to become bigger. Wang Shichong controlled a large area from Bianzhou in the east, to Wushan in the west, and to Xiangyang in the south.
Therefore, the Tang Empire had to resolve Wang Shichong by means of war. The battle in Luoyang is not only inevitable, but also a key decisive battle.
Li Shimin, who had left Tongguan, did not attack Luoyang in general because Luoyang was too difficult to fight, but adopted the tactic of isolating Luoyang: it was to siege Luoyang while pulling out the fortresses around Luoyang.
Yique (now Longmen south of Luoyang) to the south of Luoyang connects to the Jianghan Plain including Nanyang and Xiangyang, Li Shimin sent troops to remove it.
Huaizhou (now Henan Qinyang ) in the north of Luoyang, looking across the Yellow River from Luoyang. Li Shimin sent troops to pull them out, and at the same time crossed the river to occupy Huiluo Cang (the main granary of Luoyang) south of the Yellow River.
Luokoucang, east of Luoyang, is also an important base for Li Mi to guide Luoyang. Li Shimin also sent troops to remove him.
After this strategy, Li Shimin's main force of the Tang army formed a turtle in the jar against Wang Shichong.
However, Li Shimin is taking a risk because another great warlord Dou Jiande has separatisted Hebei and Shandong and is eyeing the battlefield of the Central Plains.
When the Tang Dynasty and Wang Shichong were evenly matched, Dou Jiande might wait and see; but when Wang Shichong was trapped in Luoyang, he could no longer wait and see.
Dou Jiande first persuaded both sides to cease their war, and then the army advanced westward. In March 621 AD, Dou Jiande's army occupied Xingyang and Yangdi (now Yuzhou, Henan).
There are only two ways in front of the Tang Dynasty. One is to retreat to Guanzhong, wait for the strength to grow, and then strive for the Central Plains; the other is to fight hard and tie Wang Shichong and Dou Jiande together.
The first road is very safe, but it loses all the results. At the same time, the weak Guanzhong took advantage of the melee of the Central Plains to become fierce again. If he retreats, he may not be able to regain the opportunity to control the world.
The second road is very risky, because there is Wang Shichong in Luoyang and Dou Jiande in Hebei. Li Shimin's main force in the Tang Dynasty will face the dilemma of being attacked from both sides.
A little bit of Guanzhong, the Tang Dynasty took advantage of the troubled times and relied on luck; in the Central Plains, the Tang Dynasty could only rely on the tenacity of the soldiers and the tenacious will of the soldiers.
Just like not being able to give up Shanxi, Li Shimin could not give up on the Central Plains. His choice was to start the battle with Dou Jiande at Hulao Pass.
Dou Jiande's army set up a formation and offered Li Shimin a decisive battle.
Li Shimin's army was late for the whole day, and it was not until noon on the day that the Tang army set up its formation.
It was in this half day that wiped out the morale of Dou Jiande's army. In the final battle of 55, Li Shimin gained a small advantage.
So, in the Battle of Hulao Pass, Li Shimin became the gods in a battle. He not only defeated Dou Jiande's army, but also captured the enemy Kuidou Jiande.
After the Battle of Hulao Pass, the war in the north was basically over, and the Tang Dynasty would unstoppably become a new unified empire.
05. Summary: The north is the foundation of unification, and the new empire was once again born in Guanzhong
. There are mainly three separatist forces in the south. One is the descendant of the Xiao family of the Southern Liang Dynasty, who took the opportunity to rise and seize the Jingzhou area; the other is the Jiangxi warlord Lin Shihong , who established his capital Yuzhang; the other is the general Fu Gongyu, the general of the Jianghuai warlord Du Fuwei, who seized most of the south.
However, the south cannot withstand the north, let alone a split south against a unified north. Therefore, in 624 AD, the Tang army once again achieved unification of the world after conquering Fu Gongyuan.
The unification of the Tang Dynasty once again made Guanzhong brilliant, but it may be the last time, because the Central Plains are infinitely expanding, the small Guanzhong can no longer control such a big world.
And Li Yuan and Datang can still achieve glory in Guanzhong at this time, or a counterattack in Guanzhong, there are several reasons that are essential:
First, the Tang Dynasty comes from Shanxi. Moreover, it never gave up on Shanxi. The Tang Dynasty, which has the Shanxi highlands, has all the advantages of conquering the world. He can always be invincible, just consider the speed and efficiency of progress.
Second, the world has been in chaos. Only when the Tang Dynasty could it be possible to create the Guanzhong Jiaba Shu model. Even when the troops were sent to Luoyang, Dou Jiande from Hebei was still forming an alliance with the Tang Dynasty.
Third, it is too easy to pacify Bashu. Li Xiaogong can be said to be the number one hero in the Tang Dynasty to pacify the south. He not only quickly captured Bashu for the Tang Dynasty, but also prepared to guide the South in advance.
Fourth, Datang has a mature leadership group. When Li Yuan raised his army, he was 52 years old, but he had the wisdom of decisiveness. Therefore, Li Yuan will never delay the implementation of the strategy of deciding Guanzhong, without the hesitation of Yang Xuangan and Li Mi. Young nephews such as Li Shimin and Li Xiaogong are elite groups formed on blood ties. They not only have outstanding abilities, but also have the loyalty of their blood relatives.
Emperor Yang Guang of Sui and Emperor Taizong of Tang Li Shimin are two historical figures with super high traffic. Therefore, Li Yuan, who was sandwiched between them, seemed very dim.
However, although Li Yuan could not be a good parent (when he was alive, his offspring would kill each other), he was definitely a master of talent.
He has the same talent and tricks as Liu Bang .
can transform war contradictions into relationship strategies, lure money into Turks and respect Li Mi, and then the Tang Dynasty can enter Guanzhong from Shanxi.
Only by fighting for hegemony in the Central Plains and stabilizing Dou Jiande can we gain time for Li Shimin to attack Wang Shichong and gain time. Moreover, Li Shimin was the only father who was in charge of the transportation of materials in Guanzhong when he was fighting on the front line.
, , , and , Luo Yi from Youzhou, and Du Fuwei from Jianghuai. These two forces have always been allies of the Tang Dynasty. They may not contribute much, but they do not cause trouble or strengthen their momentum, which is also an important capital for fighting for hegemony in troubled times.
So, this most efficient unified battlefield is the combination of the Guanzhong model and the elite group. Of course, the Tang Dynasty cannot refuse good luck. The opponent's response is too slow, which is the good luck of the Tang Dynasty. And the unified China cannot refuse such good luck. In just eight years, the Tang Empire was born and unified in chaos.
