Princess Pingyang's mother is the original match of Li Yuan, that is, the mother of Li, Li Yuanji. Princess Pingyang is proficient in martial arts and familiar with war. After marrying Chai Shao, she still kept a bow and arrow.
When Tang Gaozu sent troops to Taiyuan, all his family members were in Chang 'an except Li Shimin, but the temptation of the emperor's throne was too great, so he started his action at the instigation of Li Shimin. As all the family members of Li Yuan were detained in Chang 'an, he dared not publicly claim to be king or emperor. He announced that he had led his troops out of his defense to meet the need that Emperor Yang Di was trapped in Jiangdu. But his marching route is not Jiangdu in the southeast, but Chang 'an in the west. Even Tang gaozu himself said that it was "stealing the bell." Of course, it is even more difficult to deceive the officials of the Sui Dynasty who stayed in Chang 'an. Chang 'an immediately ordered the arrest of Li Yuan's family. The arrested list includes Li Yuan's third daughter Princess Pingyang and her husband Chai Shao.
Chai Shao ranked 14 among the twenty-four outstanding figures in Lingyange in Tang Dynasty, with outstanding strategy. He was good at defeating many with fewer, and wiped out Xue Ju, Liu Wuzhou, Wang and Dou Jiande. Destroy the last opponent of the Tang Dynasty, Liang, who is still the main commander in chief. Li Heyou said in a poem, "Why don't people take Wu Gou and take fifty states in Guanshan? If you are a scholar Wan Huhou, please go to Lingyange temporarily! ? "But at this time, Chai Shao did not have this kind of heroism in the poem. When he heard the order to arrest him, he ran away immediately. Before running, he said to his wife, "Your father has rebelled. I want to meet him. We can't escape together. If I leave you here, I'm afraid you will be in danger. What do you say? " What he means is that his wife belongs to the Li family, fearing that he is too ambitious and has a greater chance of running alone. How clever Princess Pingyang is, of course, she can see the subtext. However, her courage is much greater than her husband's, and she immediately said, "You can go alone, so I can hide. I have my own way." So Chai Shao fled alone with a clear conscience.
Princess Pingyang said that she is a woman, and it is easy for people to hide, but it is only to broaden the heart of firewood, but she does have her own plans. After Chai Shao left, Princess Pingyang immediately set off for Lee's manor in Lingxian County (now Huxian County, Shaanxi Province), disguised as a man, claiming to be Li Gongzi, selling jobs and recruiting soldiers, and openly confronting the imperial court. There was chaos in the world. Although Chang 'an was still in the hands of the Sui Dynasty, bandits were everywhere in the surrounding counties. Princess Pingyang, who dispatched troops, successively recruited bandits such as He Panren, Xiang and Qiu Shili, successively repelled the imperial court's attacks, took the opportunity to expand the results, and successively captured Shu County, Kung Fu County, Zhouzhi County and Shiping County. The team has also expanded to more than 70 thousand people. Princess Pingyang's men are all murderous robbers. Without some real skills, even men can't stop them. What's more, the source of troops comes from the original system that is not unified. Being able to turn the collected rabble into an invincible force in a short time and achieve such a great record, Princess Pingyang's organizational ability and command ability are really outstanding.
In September 6 17, Li Yuan crossed the Yellow River and entered the customs. Princess Pingyang chose more than 10,000 soldiers to join forces with Li Shimin on the north bank of the Weihe River to attack Chang 'an. 165438+1October 9, captured Chang 'an. Princess Pingyang's action in Guanzhong is of great significance to the establishment of the Li and Tang Dynasties. Tang Gaozu is a mediocre man. Although he is ambitious, he belongs to a ruthless and fearless man. I once encountered a little setback and wanted to retreat back to Taiyuan's old nest. Thanks to Li Shimin's persuasion, he was able to move forward. Before crossing the Yellow River, he had been fighting against Qu Tutong, the general of Sui Dynasty. Later, Li Shimin's plan was adopted to contain Qu Tutong with a small number of troops, and the main force directly tackled the problem. If there is no princess Pingyang to meet in Guanzhong, this move will be alone and the risk is great. If the attack on Chang 'an is unfavorable, the posterior route will be cut off by Qu Tutong, and it will really become a turtle in a jar.
After the Chang 'an War, Princess Pingyang's deeds can no longer be seen in the history books. It was not until the beginning of February in the sixth year of Wude (AD 623) six years later that her death was suddenly recorded in the history books. The reason why I remember this incident is mainly because her funeral was different, and she was buried with a military ceremony (before and after the feather biography, the raft was built, the class was forty, and the warrior was the pawn). Why, as analyzed before, China's historical records always look down on women, especially those who took troops out? Ancient books have been repeatedly deleted and revised. This is probably how Princess Pingyang's deeds were lost. However, according to the clues in various historical books, we can still outline the situation in these six years.
First of all, it is certain that Princess Pingyang continued to lead troops to fight for the Tang Dynasty after the capture of Chang 'an. Although Tang Gaozu conquered Chang 'an, he only roughly controlled half of Guanzhong. He was surrounded by the enemy. After conquering Chang 'an, Li Yuan immediately faced Xue Ju and Li Gui in Liangzhou (now Wuwei, Gansu), which owns the land of Longxi. From July of the first year of Tang Wude, Xue Ju sent troops to defeat Tang Jun in the shallow plain. By February, Li Gui was captured and occupied five counties in Hexi, and Li Yuan finally pacified Guanzhong and the west. Just relieved, Liu Wuzhou copied Tang Gaozu's back road and captured Tang Gaozu's lair in Shaanxi. Tang Gaozu ordered Li Shimin to conquer. It took Li Shimin nearly two years to defeat Liu Wuzhou and recapture Shaanxi. The battle to establish is the battle to destroy the king. In this battle, Tang Jun attacked Dayuan and killed Dou Jiande who came to save the king. Chai Shao took part in all these battles. It is not in line with her character to say that Princess Pingyang is living in peace in Chang 'an at this time. As an outstanding general, she will certainly take part in these decisive battles that determine the fate of Datang. After the fall of Dou Jiande, the rest pushed Liu Heita as the main force. In July of the fourth year of Wude (AD 62 1 year), Zhang Nan (now the old city of Hebei) rose up against the Tang Dynasty, and Xu Yuanlang and Gao Kaidao also rose up and responded. They joined the Turks in the north and returned to Dou Jiande in less than half a year. Princess Pingyang's main task at this time is to defend the Li family's stronghold in Shanxi. She is stationed in Niangziguan. Niangziguan is located at the west mouth of Jingxing Mountain on the west side of Taihang Mountain, on Mianshan Mountain in the northeast of Pingding County, Shanxi Province, bordering Hebei Province, and is the throat of Shanxi Province. Originally known as Weizeguan, it was renamed Niangziguan because Princess Pingyang led the troops stationed here and created Guancheng. Jingxing is the shortest route between Jinzhong and Jizhong, and it is the route taken by Han Xin to destroy Zhao at the end of Qin Dynasty. Shanxi is the barrier between the Central Plains and Guanzhong area. Without Shanxi, the Central Plains and Guanzhong area would be unstable. Princess Pingyang led troops to Niangziguan to prevent the enemy from entering Shanxi from Jingxing. Princess Pingyang could not have been stationed here before Liu Wuzhou was defeated and Shanxi was recovered, so Princess Pingyang first entered Niangziguan in the fourth year of Wude (AD 62 1). So what was she doing before? In the war, of course. Every day without fighting, how could Li Yuan let Princess Pingyang idle for more than three years and then suddenly start fighting?
The reason why Princess Pingyang finally died is not recorded in the history books. Although Princess Pingyang's age is unknown, because she is Li's half-sister, she should be only in her twenties at this time and died at this age. It is unlikely that a strong military commander will get sick. Considering that she was buried with a military salute when she died, it is bold to speculate that she should have died after returning to Chang 'an in death or serious injury. There are two possibilities for her to die in battle. One possibility is that he died fighting the Turks. At that time, there was civil strife in China, and Beiyang warlords, including Li Yuan, formed an alliance with the Turks. Use Turks to attack their enemies. Turks also don't take the alliance seriously and often invade. Shanxi is an area frequently invaded by Turks. Another possibility is that he was killed in the battle to destroy Liu Heita. In June 65438 +065438 +622 10, Li Yuan sent Li to crusade against Liu Heita, and the two sides began to draw a line. It was not until February 25th of 10 that it was completely defeated. Princess Pingyang's mother, who is stationed in the front line, will of course lead troops to war. So there is a great possibility of death in this battle. If he dies at this time, it will take almost half a month for his body to be transported back to Chang 'an. As a princess, it took almost half a month to prepare for the burial. Then the time is the same.