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Chapter 301: Horses on the Two Banks of the Yellow River

Looking back on Tian Chengsi's life, he can be called a legendary figure. Who would have thought that the An-Shi Rebellion would lead to Tian Chengsi's rise? As the ultimate winner of this turmoil, he deserved the title.

As the historian Bai Shouyi commented, he was a capable general in the Anshi Rebellion, brave and skilled in warfare, but also cunning and capricious. After surrendering, he was still unruly and brazenly robbed other states and counties and confronted the imperial court.

He was the first to set a precedent for the three towns in Hebei to establish their own territories, which led to the three towns in Hebei not being the royal territory for more than a hundred years during the Tang Dynasty. Tian Chengsi was undoubtedly the culprit.

[Read all the historical knowledge about the door gods in real history, Qin Shubao]

He is the best hero of Shandong in the Romance of Sui and Tang Dynasties, who "rode his horse across the Yellow River and beat three states and six prefectures with his mace". He is not only loyal and righteous, and is as famous as Guan Yu, but also brave and good at fighting. He is revered by the people as a martial god who drives away evil spirits and avoids ghosts.

However, many people now think that he is overrated and not worthy of his reputation. So, what kind of person is he? In this video, let's talk about Qin Qiong, the door god in official history.

In the novel "The Romance of Sui and Tang Dynasties", Qin Qiong is a well-known figure, especially his super long nickname, which has a total of 28 characters: "Riding on both sides of the Yellow River, attacking three states and six prefectures, half the sky, blocking the river, Zhu Zi, Meng Chang, Divine Fist, Taibao, and General with Two Maces".

This nickname is unprecedented and can be said to have killed many heroes in the Sui and Tang dynasties. The book says that Qin Qiong's grandfather was Qin Xu and his father was Qin Yi. Both were generals of the Northern Qi Dynasty. Later, they died on the battlefield for their loyalty to the country. Qin Qiong lost his father when he was young and was raised by his mother.

However, according to official historical records, Qin Qiong was from Licheng, Qizhou. There are not many records about his life experience and ancestors, which gives novelists room for wild imagination.

According to the Licheng County Annals, Qin Qiong's family used to be ironworkers and were born in poverty. In 1995, a tombstone was unearthed in Jinan, and the owner of the tomb was Qin Qiong's father. The tombstone records that his father was named Qin Ai and his grandfather was named Qin Fangtai, both of whom were civil servants in the Northern Qi Dynasty.

When the Northern Zhou Dynasty destroyed the Northern Qi Dynasty, Qin Qiong's father returned to his hometown to farm and work as an ironworker. So, although Qin Qiong's ancestors and father had served as officials, he himself was not considered a second-generation official, because after the fall of the Northern Qi Dynasty, their family also fell into decline, and they did not have the chance to enjoy the good life.

First, let's talk about the weapon in Qin Qiong's hand, which is the representative weapon he used in the novel. When Qin Qiong is mentioned, the image of a fierce general holding two maces immediately emerges in everyone's mind.

However, this is actually a plot in drama, just like the historical Guan Yu was a master of spear, but was said to be a hero of the Green Dragon Crescent Blade. Folk tales always like to give heroes some iconic weapons to make them stand out.

It is hard to say when the spear appeared, but at least it is certain that the iron mace was not a standard weapon in the army during the Tang Dynasty. So, what weapon did Qin Qiong use?

According to the "Old Book of Tang: Biography of Qin Qiong", once Emperor Taizong of Tang went to conquer the enemy army, and a brave and skilled general in the enemy army showed off his troops and horses, coming and going like flying. Emperor Taizong was furious and ordered Qin Qiong to fight.

Qin Qiong rode his horse and charged into the army, taking the head of the enemy general cleanly and neatly. This shows that Qin Qiong's true love was actually the long spear, which was also the standard equipment of the cavalry during the Sui and Tang dynasties. In the "Six Codes of the Tang Dynasty", there are even four types of standard long spears.

Speaking of the story of the hardcore warrior Qin Qiong, it is like a passionate and exciting article, divided into five exciting chapters.

Chapter 1: The Counterattack of a Small Army Member

At the end of the Sui Dynasty, the country was in chaos and the Sui Dynasty was on the verge of collapse, but Qin Qiong was a staunch supporter of the Sui army. At that time, he followed Zhang Xutuo, a general of the Sui army known as "the first fierce general at the end of the Sui Dynasty", to fight monsters and level up everywhere, and suppress the peasant army.

Once, Zhang Xutuo led more than 1 troops to fight against the 10-strong army of Lu Mingyue, the leader of the peasant uprising army at the end of the Sui Dynasty.

Zhang Xutuo saw that a head-on confrontation would not work, and he had to use some tactics. So he said to his men: "Let's pretend that we can't win and retreat. The enemy will definitely catch up, and then we will send 1000 warriors to raid their hometown.

This mission is exciting and dangerous, who wants to go? "As a result, all the younger brothers were scared and no one said anything. At this time, Luo Shixin, the prototype of Luo Cheng in "The Romance of Sui and Tang Dynasties", stood up and said, "I'll go!"

Qin Qiong then jumped out and shouted, "Count me in!" Zhang Xutuo gave them a thumbs up when he saw that these two guys were brave.

So they pretended that they were short of food and grass and withdrew their troops. Lu Mingyue was fooled and chased after them with his army. Luo Shixin and Qin Qiong hid in the reeds with 1000 warriors, and when Lu Mingyue's army passed by, they immediately rushed to the enemy camp and set fire everywhere.

Lu Mingyue wanted to go back to put out the fire, but Zhang Xutuo chased after him. In the end, Lu Mingyue could only flee with a few hundred people. The Sui army won a great victory, and Qin Qiong became famous in one battle and became a new internet celebrity in the Sui army.

Chapter 2: The Shining New Star of the Wagang Army

Anyone who has read "The Romance of Sui and Tang Dynasties" knows that the Wagang Army was full of hidden talents, and many later Tang heroes came from the Wagang Army. At that time, the founder of the Wagang Army was named Zhai Rang, who took advantage of the chaos in the world to establish the Wagang Village.

Later, the super boss Li Mi joined and directly turned this township-like Wagang Village into a Fortune 500 enterprise at the end of the Sui Dynasty. The gradual growth of Wagang also made the Sui Dynasty feel dangerous.

Qin Qiong then followed Zhang Xutuo to fight against the Wagang Army, but was defeated by Li Mi, and Zhang Xutuo was killed. Qin Qiong then followed his adoptive father Pei Renji to guard Hulao Pass, but Pei Renji did not hold out for long before surrendering to Li Mi. This time Qin Qiong officially joined the Wagang Camp and became Li Mi's man.

The Old Book of Tang, Biography of Qin Qiong, says that Li Mi was very happy when he got Qin Qiong, and gave him a lot of honor by giving him official titles and rewards. At that time, he had four cavalry generals under him, and Qin Qiong was one of them.

Li Mi also selected 8000 elite soldiers from the army and assigned them to these four cavalrymen, calling them the "inner army." He often said that these 8000 people could stop a million-strong army.

For a general like Qin Qiong, the idea was simple: if you treat me well, I will treat you well. If Li Mi treated him well, he would repay Li Mi wholeheartedly.

At that time, Li Mi secured his position through a battle with Zhang Xutuo. After Zhai Rang abdicated, Li Mi became the new leader of Wagangzhai, known as Duke of Wei.

However, as the contradiction between the old and new forces in Wagangzhai deepened, Li Mi killed Zhai Rang at a banquet and took over the power of Wagang Army. At that time, Li Mi was very proud, but his good luck did not last long. He soon ran into a tough nut - Yang Tong of Luoyang, the eastern capital.

Yang Tong was the grandson of Emperor Yang of Sui. As soon as Emperor Yang of Sui died, he was pushed onto the throne. Let's call him "the young crown prince". This "young crown prince" and his think tank planned to use the Wagang Army to get rid of Yu Wenzhi.

Who was Yu Wenzhi? He was the head of the personal bodyguards of Emperor Yang of Sui and the commander of the 10-man brave army. Emperor Yang of Sui was killed by him in Jiangdu, and Yu Wenzhi was leading these 10 elite troops to the Central Plains.

Facing the goodwill of the "Crown Prince", Li Mi also had his own plans in mind, thinking of taking the opportunity to sneak into Luoyang City and use it to command the world. So Li Mi and the "Crown Prince" hit it off and decided to join forces to deal with Yu Wenzhi.

However, the battle was a horrible one. As the elite troops of the Sui Dynasty, the combat effectiveness of Yu Wenzhi's 10 soldiers should not be underestimated.

The battlefield was filled with swords and sabers, and the Wagang Army was once overwhelmed, and even Li Mi almost died under the sword. The "Book of Tang" records that Li Mi was shot by an arrow in the chaos and fell off his horse.

When the personal soldiers saw their leader fall, they ran away. At this critical moment, Qin Qiong appeared and snatched Li Mi back from the hands of death.

After saving the eldest brother, Qin Qiong did not forget to reorganize the army and horses, and took the remaining brothers to fight another battle with Yu Wenzhi, and finally drove the enemy away. Although the Wagang Army won in the end, it also killed 1,000 enemies and lost 800 of its own.

Chapter 3: Wang Shichong's helpless choice

The Wagang Army was badly hurt after the battle with Yu Wenhuaji, but Li Mi did not learn from the lesson and became complacent. At this time, something went wrong in Luoyang City.

Wang Shichong, an ambitious man, launched a coup, sidelined the "young prince" and made himself the boss. The first thing Wang Shichong did when he took office was to attack Li Mi.

However, the Wagang Army was internally divided due to the death of Zhai Rang, and suffered heavy losses in the bloody battle with Yu Wenzhi. Facing Wang Shichong, the Wagang Army was ultimately defeated.

When Li Mi saw that the situation was hopeless, he simply threw himself into the arms of Li Yuan. Qin Qiong, Cheng Yaojin and other heroes were captured and surrendered to Wang Shichong.

Wang Shichong knew Qin Qiong's reputation, so he tried every means to win him over and directly appointed him as the General Longxiang. But Wang Shichong was ambitious, not very virtuous, and loved to nag.

In addition, he only had a small piece of territory, surrounded by powerful enemies who were eyeing him covetously. Qin Qiong and his men knew clearly that this guy would not be able to achieve anything great.

So, they began to think about how to leave. Later, when Wang Shichong was fighting against the Tang army, Qin Qiong saw that the opportunity was ripe, suddenly slapped his horse and galloped away, rushing out in a flash.

Cheng Yaojin and dozens of other people also ran a few hundred steps. Then, Qin Qiong and his men got off their horses, bowed respectfully to Wang Shichong, and said, "Although you have been good to us, we really can't stay with you anymore, so let's say goodbye."

When Wang Shichong saw this situation, he knew in his heart that Qin Qiong and Cheng Yaojin were not pushovers, so he could only watch them leave.

Chapter 4: The Sword-bearing Guards of the Tang Dynasty

Next, Qin Qiong and his companions came to the territory of the Tang Dynasty. Emperor Gaozu of Tang, Li Yuan, welcomed them with open arms and directly assigned them to the subordinates of Li Shimin, the Prince of Qin.

When Li Shimin heard that Qin Qiong was coming, he was so happy. He had heard of Qin Qiong's great name a long time ago, so he quickly treated Qin Qiong with good wine and meat, and appointed him as the chief of the cavalry, letting him lead the cavalry to charge into battle. This was obviously because he was impressed by Qin Qiong's outstanding martial arts.

Soon, Qin Qiong had the opportunity to repay Li Shimin. Yuchi Jingde, who was still serving under Song Jingang at the time, caused a lot of trouble for Li Tang. Facing Yuchi Jingde, the Tang army was invincible and captured several Tang generals in a row.

Yuchi Jingde led his troops to retreat slowly. Qin Qiong thought, isn't this a good opportunity to challenge myself? The stronger the enemy, the more I will fight! So Qin Qiong led the cavalry troops to the battlefield.

This was a duel between heroes. According to the "Book of Tang", Qin Qiong defeated Yuchi Jingde in this battle and made great contributions, which is known in history as the "Battle of Meiliangchuan".

This battle also boosted the morale of the Tang army, and they all said: "We are not afraid of Yuchi Jingde, because we have Qin Qiong!"

When Emperor Gaozu of Tang, Li Yuan, heard the news of victory, he was as happy as a child. He quickly sent someone to give Qin Qiong a golden bottle and said, "You left your wife and children behind and came from afar to join me. Now you have made such a great contribution. If you think my flesh is useful, I will give it to you without hesitation."

Not to mention the gold, silver, treasures, beauties and mansions. Since Qin Qiong came, Li Tang's army was unstoppable and defeated Song Jingang. In the end, even Yuchi Jingde surrendered.

Li Shimin was now even more powerful, with Qin Shubao on his left and Yuchi Jingde on his right.

Later, during the Tang Dynasty's unification cause, Qin Qiong, as Li Shimin's sword-bearing bodyguard, stepped forward many times at critical moments, especially in the Battle of Wulao Pass that determined the direction of the world situation.

It was because Qin Qiong, Cheng Yaojin and other brothers fought desperately, attacked from behind, and finally captured Dou Jiande alive, and the Tang Dynasty also took the opportunity to unify the north.

Chapter 5: The Battle at Xuanwu Gate

Let's talk about the thrilling Xuanwu Gate Incident. In the ancient books of the Tang Dynasty, a lot of people jumped out and said that they were participants in this incident, and the number of people was almost hundreds.

Could it be that Li Shimin rushed into Xuanwu Gate with a reinforced company? Obviously not possible. The Biography of Zhangsun Wuji, the Biography of Zhang Gongjin, and the Biography of Prince Jiancheng in the Nine Tang Books clearly state that there were only 9 people.

After a thorough investigation, scholars finally came to the conclusion that the nine big men, Yuchi Jingde, Hou Junji, Zhang Gongjin, Liu Shilong, Gongsun Wuda, Dugu Yanyun, Du Ruhui, Zheng Rentai, and Li Mengchang, were the real protagonists. So why is Qin Qiong, the tough guy, not on the list?

Don't worry, the "Old Book of Tang: Biography of Qin Shubao" says that Qin Qiong couldn't be absent from such an important matter as Zhu Jiancheng's origin. But he might not be one of the nine people who rushed into the door at first.

The history books do not detail his exact position during the incident. However, according to historical data, Qin Qiong was probably lying in ambush outside Xuanwu Gate. This is not to say that it is unimportant, but rather that his position is too critical.

Because the Crown Prince and the King of Qi have the support of the Yulin Army, their men are strong enough, and the area outside the gate is of utmost importance, so a tough guy must be guarding it.

Sure enough, as soon as the crown prince and the king of Qi fell, their troops rushed over in a mighty force, and it was said that there were as many as 2000 of them. At that time, the battle was extremely fierce, and the Qin king's party had few people, and gradually they could not hold on.

At the critical moment, Yuchi Jingde threw the prince's head there, and the other party immediately became cowardly and fled in all directions.