In the eleventh year of Zhenyuan, Si Tiantai, who was responsible for observing the sky at night, reported to Tang Dezong that "Ying deceived Taibai and offended General Taiwei", which foreshadowed that the country would lose its pillar of strength. Sure enough, within a month, M

Category：hotcomm

2025-10-26

In the eleventh year of Zhenyuan (795), Si Tiantai, who was responsible for observing the sky at night, reported to Tang Dezong that "Ying deceived Taibai and offended General Taiwei" , which foreshadowed that the country would lose its pillar of strength.

Sure enough, less than a month later, Ma Sui died of illness in a private residence in Chang'an at the age of 70. Dezong expressed his condolences for leaving the court for four days, and posthumously awarded him the title of Taiwei (the first Taifu), and gave him the posthumous title of "Zhuang Wu".

In fact, as early as eight years ago, Ma Sui was ruined due to a serious misjudgment and faded out of the Tang Dynasty's military group.

. Serious misjudgment in Pingliang Jiemeng.

Ma Sui, as one of the most capable generals in the Middle Tang Dynasty, had many military exploits. When he was the Prime Minister of Tubo , Shang Jiezan, he was quite afraid of his generals and said: "The good generals of the Tang Dynasty are just Li Sheng, Ma Sui, Hunxuan, and they should be eliminated with a plan."

In August of the second year of Zhenyuan (AD 786), Shang Jiezan led a large-scale attack on Jingchuan (now Jingchuan, Gansu), Longxian (now Longxian, Shaanxi), Xingxian (now Binxian, Shaanxi), Ningxian (now Ningxian, Gansu) and other states, "plundering people and livestock, harvesting crops, and causing chaos in the western border."

When the Tubo soldiers arrived at Fengxiang, they were ambushed by Li Sheng in Qianyang City (today's Longxian County, Shaanxi Province) and were defeated. Shang Jiezan only escaped with his life.

The locational relationship between Fengxiang, Qianyang City and Chang'an

After Li Sheng was defeated, Shang Jiezan temporarily gave up the idea of attacking Guanzhong and stationed troops in Yan (Dingbian, Shaanxi) and Xia (Jingbian, Shaanxi) states to wait for opportunities.

It can be said that Shang Jiezan was unlucky. That winter there was a severe cold in Gansu and Shaanxi. The dripping water turned into ice and the snow was as thick as feet. Many Tibetan soldiers died of cold diseases, and a large number of cattle and sheep that were a source of food also died.

Dezong Li Shi took the opportunity to Ma Sui as the envoys of Sui, Yin, Lin and Sheng, and led the Huazhou Jiedushi Luo Yuanguang , Xingning Jiedushi Han Yougui and Fengxiang Mansion armies from the towns to jointly attack.

Shang Jiezan, who was tortured to death by the cold climate, quickly sent envoys to sue for peace. He had long known through careful research that although Ma Sui was very good at fighting, he had a fatal weakness - his love for money.

Shang Jiezan ordered General Lun Cheer to come to see Ma Sui with heavy gifts and asked him to mediate the alliance between the two countries. In April of the following year, Ma Sui went to Chang'an with enthusiasm and tried his best to persuade Dezong to agree to the alliance and was willing to guarantee it with his life and property.

As a result, this alliance ended with Shang Jiezan robbing and killing the Tang Dynasty alliance envoy, which was known in history as "Pingliang Robbery Alliance" . (For details, see my work "The Deceit of the Empire - Cui Xiyi betrayed the alliance and attacked and killed, Shang Jie praised the Pingliang alliance and robbed the alliance")

After the Pingliang alliance was robbed, the relationship between Tang and Tibet fell to the bottom. Dezong began to implement the tough "Three Nos" policy against Tibet (no talks about alliance, no envoys from Tibet, and no letters of credence). For more than 30 years since then, the border generals of the two countries have shown their abilities and fought fiercely.

As the guarantor of the alliance, Ma Sui was stripped of his military power, made a slave and a servant, and lived in Chang'an to spend his old age.

Although the Pingliang Jie League’s misjudgment ruined Ma Sui’s reputation, his numerous military exploits should not be buried.

As a veteran who has been on the battlefield for more than 30 years, Ma Sui fought in at least three major battles that were extremely stunning and unforgettable.

This is the battle of defeating Bianzhou Jiedu Li Lingyao, the battle of defeating Wei Bo Jiedu Tian Yue, and the battle of pacifying Li Huaiguang.

. Put down the Bianzhou Rebellion

In the 10th year of Dali of Emperor Daizong of the Tang Dynasty (775), the three cities of Heyang (the old city is in the west of Mengzhou City, Henan) rebelled. The rebel army drove away Chang Xiuming, the governor of Heyang, and looted the surrounding towns.

The Tang court promoted Ma Sui, who was the governor of Shangzhou at that time, to the military governor of the three cities of Heyang, and ordered him to lead troops to quell the rebellion.

In May of the following year, general Li Lingyao of Bianzhou (Kaifeng, Henan) rebelled, occupied the state city, cut off water transportation, and sent a seal to Chang'an to request the title of Jiedushi.

Emperor Daizong of the Tang Dynasty had no choice but to confer Li Lingyao as the queen of eight states including Bianzhou and Songzhou ( Suiyang in Henan).But Li Lingyao was not satisfied, refused to accept the order, and began to secretly collude with Wei Bo Jiedushi Tian Chengsi.

Tian Chengsi sent his nephew Tian Yue to lead his army to support Li Lingyao, and defeated Tang general Liu Qia.

Henan Hebei The two vassal towns spoke in unison, making Tang Ting very nervous. Daizong ordered Ma Sui and Huaixi Jiedushi Li Zhongchen to jointly attack Li Lingyao.

But Huaixi Jiedushi Li Zhongchen was afraid of the Hebei vassal army, so he refused to patrol and did not say anything. He also claimed that he had been attacked, burned his camp and fled westward.

Ma Sui went to see Li Zhongchen in person and asked to be the vanguard and lead his army to Bianzhou.

Seeing that Ma Sui was making good progress, Li Zhongchen wanted to pick up the fruits of victory, so he led his troops to march along the south bank of the Bian River, echoing Ma Sui's movement along the north bank.

Following this, Ma Sui severely defeated Li Lingyao's general Zhang Qing in Xilianggu. Feeling that the situation was not good, Li Lingyao took out his trump card-the "Hungry Food Army" of 8,000 people.

Unfortunately, this so-called ace force is still no match for Ma Sui.

Near Junyi City, the Heyang Army led by Ma Sui defeated the "Food Hungry Army" in the plain area. Face to face with gongs and drums, Li Lingyao was taught a solid lesson, which made him run away with his head in his arms. The Heyang Army became famous in one battle.

Wei Bo Jiedu envoy Tian Chengsi saw that Ma Sui had hammered Li Lingyao, and he quickly ordered Tian Yue to lead 20,000 elite troops to help.

It should be said that the combat effectiveness of the Hebei feudal army is indeed very strong. Tian Yue sent his troops southward and defeated Du Rujiang, Li Zhengji, Liu Qia, Changsun Quanxu and others in a row. Taking advantage of the victory, he forced them to camp thirty miles away from Bianzhou.

Li Zhongchen was also unlucky. He was planning to pick a peach, but Tian Yue hit him at the door. Li Zhongchen had no choice but to integrate the Tang troops in Songzhou, Huainan , and western Zhejiang to fight against Tian Yue. However, under the impact of Hebei cavalry, the Tang army collapsed again.

In desperation, Li Zhongchen could only seek help from Ma Sui, a junior in his eyes.

Ma Sui came with four thousand soldiers at night and attacked Tian Yue's camp. Tian Yue fled on horseback in the darkness. When Li Lingyao heard that Tian Yue had escaped, he also fled with more than a hundred guards overnight.

After recapturing Bianzhou, Ma Sui ceded his military exploits to Li Zhongchen and led his troops to camp outside the city.

As expected by Ma Sui, the irascible Li Zhongchen not only took the battle glory, but also found an excuse to kill the Songzhou governor Li Senghui who was competing with him for the credit.

Ma Sui saw that Li Zhongchen was not worthy of his company, so he led his army back to the three cities of Heyang.

. Defeating Wei Bo Jiedu Tian Yue

In the fourteenth year of the Dali calendar (779), Wei Bo Jiedu envoy Tian Chengsi passed away. Before his death, he felt that his son was weak, so he appointed his nephew Tian Yue as the military governor.

This incident was the first of its kind in the Tang Dynasty for the descendants of the Jiedushi envoys of vassal towns to be hereditary.

At the beginning of Tian Yue's hereditary Wei Bo Jiedu envoy, in order to stabilize people's hearts, he behaved very submissively. But Ma Sui has long seen through his true nature, and the above table claims that he will rebel sooner or later.

As the Hedong Jiedu envoy directly facing the Hebei feudal town, Ma Sui began to train elite troops in Taiyuan to prepare for emergencies.

htmlIn 0781 (Tang Dezong, the second year of Jianzhong), Tian Yue indeed rebelled with Ziqing Jiedushi Li Zhengji and Chengde Jiedushi Li Weiyue .

Dezong ordered Ma Sui to lead 20,000 infantrymen and cavalry, together with Zhaoyi Army's Jiedushi Li Baozhen and Shence Army's Camping Soldiers and Horses Li Sheng to quell the rebellion.

In November, Ma Sui led his army to Handan. Tian Yue sent general Yang Chaoguang to lead 10,000 troops and built two camps parallel to the east and west in Shuanggang to resist.

Ma Sui led Li Baozhen and Li Sheng to attack Yang Chaoguang's camp. Tian Yue said to his subordinates: "Yang Chaoguang's camp has ten thousand soldiers. Even if Ma Sui uses all his elite troops to attack, it will be impossible to capture it within a few days. When I capture Linming and return to attack from a flank, the Tang army will be defeated."

Tian Yue's prediction was not wrong. The Tang army failed to succeed outside Yang Chaoguang's camp for several days. Tian Yue learned that the Tang army had been frustrated and personally led more than 10,000 people to come for reinforcements.

Ma Sui ordered generals Li Ziliang and Li Fengguo to lead the cavalry and the Shence Army to block the attack outside Shuanggang. He ordered: "Let Tian Yue come over and kill you immediately!"

At the same time, Ma Sui ordered his men to roll out the newly built fuel train and took advantage of the wind to burn Yang Chaoguang's camp. The Tang army took the opportunity to attack and killed Yang Chaoguang and general Lu Zichang, beheading more than 5,000 people.

When Tian Yue saw the fire in Yang Chaoguang's camp, he knew something was wrong and quickly withdrew to Linming to reorganize the entire army and prepare for the decisive battle.

Ma Sui rushed to Linming City and fought with the Hebei rebels more than a hundred times. Tian Yue's army was defeated, more than 10,000 people were beheaded, and 300,000 hu of grain were seized.

In the first month of the third year of Jianzhong (782), Tian Yue faced pressure from the Tang army and asked for help from Ziqing Jiedushi Li Na and Chengde Jiedushi Li Weiyue .

Li Na sent General Wei Jun with 10,000 troops to come to the rescue, and Li Weiyue also sent 3,000 troops. Tian Yue gathered more than 20,000 scattered soldiers and built a fortress on the Huan River. The Ziqing army was stationed to the east of him, and the Chengde army was stationed to the west of him, echoing each other.

Ma Sui led the Tang army to camp on the bank of the Zhang River. Tian Yue sent general Wang Guang into in advance to build a city near the bridge of the Zhang River and block the way for the Tang army to cross the river.

The Tang army failed to cross the Zhang River several times and suffered heavy losses.

To this end, Ma Sui sent people to the upper reaches of the river to connect hundreds of military vehicles with iron locks. The vehicles were filled with earth and rocks, and successfully cut off the fast-flowing Zhang River.

After the Tang army forcibly crossed the Zhang River, there was little food in the camp. The generals suggested that Ma Sui stick to the Zhang River and wait for supplies.

But Ma Sui ordered each army to bring only ten days of rations and continued to advance to confront Tian Yue across the Huan River.

Li Baozhen and Li Peng both rushed to ask, "Why do you have so little food but go deep into enemy territory?"

Ma Sui replied: "With so little food, you can only fight quickly. The Art of War says that you can mobilize the enemy, but not be manipulated by the enemy. Now Tian Yue and the three armies of Ziqing and Hengzhou are echoing each other, with the intention of holding on. Go out and wait for our army to run out of food. If we attack the enemy where we must save it, Tian Yue will definitely fight. "

The location of Huanshui and Linming and Weizhou

After the Tang army crossed Huanshui, Tian Yue could not hold on.

Ma Sui ordered all the troops to have dinner at midnight, and before the rooster crows, they beat drums and blow trumpets and go straight to Weizhou. But at the same time, Ma Sui also issued an order: "When all the armies heard that the enemy was pursuing them, they immediately turned around and lined up to fight the rebels in the field."

Then, he arranged for a hundred cavalry to prepare firewood and ambush in the dense forest beside the river. If Tian Yuejun is seen crossing the river to pursue him, he will set fire to the bridge.

The Tang army had only gone a dozen miles, but Tian Yue brought more than 40,000 Ziqing and Hengzhou infantry and cavalry people across the bridge to pursue them.

Ma Sui walked to the front of the formation and recruited five thousand dead soldiers to line up on the left and right, waiting for Tian Yue to arrive in a hurry. Without saying a word, Ma Sui personally led the dead soldiers to launch a surprise attack. Tian Yue was caught off guard and was thrown into chaos.

After the victory of the Hedong Army, the Shence, Zhaoyi, and Heyang armies turned around and attacked together, and Tian Yue's army was defeated. By the time the rebels fled to the Huan River, the pontoon bridge had already been burned.

The rebels trampled on each other and drowned countless people. The Tang army killed generals Sun Jinqing and An Mochu , beheaded more than 20,000 people, and captured more than 3,000 people. All the Ziqing soldiers died, and their bodies were stacked more than 30 miles apart.

Tian Yue fled to Weizhou with more than a thousand defeated soldiers.

Tian Yue fled to Weizhou and stayed behind closed doors. Zhu Tao (YouzhouLulong Army Jiedushi) and Wang Wujun (Hengjidu regiment training and observation envoy) allied with 50,000 troops to rescue him.

Tang Dezong sent Shuofang Jiedushi Li Huaiguang , and led Shuofang army 15,000 infantry and cavalry to reinforce Ma Sui. At that time, Ma Sui had been promoted to Tong Zhongshu's subordinate Ping Zhangshi and was ranked as Prime Minister.

According to common sense, Shuofang Jiedushi Li Huaiguang should be controlled by Ma Sui, but Li Huaiguang relied on the strong fighting power of Shuofang army and did not take Ma Sui's coalition forces seriously at all.

He disobeyed Ma Sui's general orders and went out to fight Zhu Tao's Youzhou soldiers without permission, resulting in a major defeat.

At this time, Ma Sui's army had exhausted its reserves of food and had to retreat to Wei County. The effort to level the Hebei feudal town failed again.

Hezhong Prefecture Map

, January and Ping Li Huaiguang

In the first year of Xingyuan (784), Li Huaiguang, the governor of Shuofang, rebelled. After plundering Jingyang, Sanyuan, Fuping and other places, he settled in Hezhong (Yuncheng area of Shanxi Province).

The Shuofang Army under Li Huaiguang was originally Guo Ziyi's old unit. It had been fighting Tubo in the west for many years and was the most effective force in the hands of the Tang Dynasty.

Therefore, Li Huaiguang's rebellion was more dangerous than any Jiedushi rebellion.

In the crisis, Ma Sui took the initiative to ask Tang Dezong for a tassel, and made a bold statement: "Give me a month of food and grass, and I will fight for the peace of the river for your majesty!"

Dezong was furious after hearing this. Xi, ordered the ministers Hun Yao , Zhen Guojun Jiedushi Luo Yuanguang , Xing Ning Jiedu Han Yougui , and Yifang Jiedu Tang courtiers to cooperate with Ma Sui to attack Li Huaiguang.

When Ma Suibing arrived at Tongzhou Changchun Palace ( Chaoyi Town, Dali County, Shaanxi Province), Luo Yuanguang and Hun Yao had been defeated repeatedly by Li Huaiguang's general Xu Tingguang.

The location relationship between Chang'an, Changchun Palace, and Hezhong Prefecture

Ma Sui took into account the dangerous terrain of the cliffs on three sides of Changchun Palace and the fine traditions of Shuofang's army, so he decided to use a gentle strategy to recruit Xu Tingguang.

He rode alone to the city. Xu Tingguang had already heard of Ma Sui's reputation, and he bowed and saluted. Ma Sui shouted: "Shuofang's army, led by Taishi (Guo Ziyi), put down the Anshi Rebellion, regained the two capitals and returned them to the emperor, and everyone in the world admired them. How can I walk with the traitor and traitor today?" Together? If Taishi Quanxia knows it, he must be ashamed. How can you go to see Taishi!"

Shuofang's soldiers were unwilling to rebel. After hearing Ma Sui's words, they all cried bitterly.

At this time, Ma Sui made another amazing move.

He took a few steps forward, tore open his lapel to expose his chest, and shouted to the city: "It's not far from here. If you still don't believe me, shoot me to death with one arrow!" (Sui then said, "I'm not sincere. Now we're only a few steps away, so you should shoot me!" He opened his lapel to show it.)

Seeing Ma Sui's move, everyone in the city burst into tears.

Xu Tingguang ordered Kaicheng to surrender, and Shuofang's soldiers cheered with thunderous joy, shouting: "We are the people of the Tang Dynasty again!" (We are back as kings)

After that, inspired by Ma Sui, the rebels along the way surrendered one after another, and it took only twenty-seven days to reach the hinterland of the rebels.

Shuofang general Niu Mingjun cut off Li Huaiguang's head and surrendered. This rebellion that shocked the Tang Dynasty was put down by Ma Sui in less than a month.

Afterwards, the famous general Hun Yao said privately to his subordinates: "I used to think that Ma Sui's military skills were similar to mine, but I have always been surprised that he was able to defeat Tian Yue many times. Now I see that he uses troops to predict the enemy, and I am far worse than him!"

(Hun Yao served Sui, and privately addressed Shen Zuo: "I have tried to say that Magong used troops. It's not far from Yu, but the police and monsters defeated Tian Yue; now that I can see the enemy, I can't be far away!")

Picture of Li Bi coming out of the mountain

It was precisely because of Ma Sui's numerous military exploits that after the Pingliang robbery, Dezong recruited Li Bi to serve as the prime minister. The first thing Li Bi did after becoming prime minister was to protect the reputations of Li Sheng and Ma Sui.

He brought Li Sheng, Ma Sui, Liu Hun (all demoted for opposing the Pingliang League) to see Dezong, and said: "Li Sheng and Ma Sui have made great contributions to the country. I hope your Majesty will treat them calmly if they hear of slander." To protect himself, I hope your majesty will not be jealous of the two ministers because of their great achievements, and the two ministers will not doubt themselves because of their high position, and the world will be stable."

Dezong said: "What you said is a great plan for the country. I am a scribe, and the two ministers should also protect it." Li Sheng and Ma Sui both cried and thanked.

In September of the fifth year of Zhenyuan (789), portraits of Ma Sui and Li Sheng were painted on Lingyan Pavilion, listed after the founding fathers.

In October of the ninth year of Zhenyuan (793), Dezong summoned Ma Sui again. Because Ma Sui suffered from foot disease while fighting all year round, Dezong specifically agreed not to sit down.

Taiwei Li Sheng had just passed away at that time. Dezong choked with sobs and said to Ma Sui: "You and Li Sheng came together in the past, but now I only see you, and I can't help but feel sad.""

Ma Sui cried bitterly on the ground. When he exited, he fell to the ground due to the inconvenience of his legs and feet. Dezong personally helped him up and brought him to the steps.

Throughout his life, Ma Sui was extremely glorious and also extremely lonely. But his unparalleled contribution in putting down the rebellion in the feudal town should not be forgotten by us because of the misjudgment of the Pingliang Jiemeng.

But Li Lingyao was not satisfied, refused to accept the order, and began to secretly collude with Wei Bo Jiedushi Tian Chengsi.