In fact, as far as the military is concerned, Li Shimin may not be as good as Li Jing. Because Li Shimin's main task is politics, not governing the country. How can you always direct the war! !
During Li Jing's military career, he commanded several major battles and won great victories, not only because he was brave and good at fighting, but also because he had excellent military thoughts and theories. Based on his life's practical experience, he has written excellent military works, which can only be found in the Records of the Old Tang Dynasty and the Records of the New Tang Dynasty. There are three volumes of Six Military Mirrors, Yin Fuji 1 Volume, Jade Account Classic 1 Volume, and the founder of 65438 volumes. Today's "Emperor Taizong asked Li" (or "Li asked you") was written by Song people, and the name of Li Jing was stolen, which is not sufficient. The original book "The Art of War" has been lost today, but we can still get a glimpse of it from Du You's "The General Compilation of the Art of War" and "The Taiping Palace and the Ministry of War", which contains records about Li Jing's army management, marching operations, camping scouts and so on. Li Jing is strict in running the army, with clear rewards and punishments, and does not shy away from relatives and friends, so as to punish evil and promote good and inspire soldiers. "The Art of War in Gong Wei" said: "Those who are loyal to the times and take care of their lives will be rewarded; People who are lazy in breaking the law and greedy for money will be punished; A straightforward person will give up, though heavy; A hypocritical person who talks eloquently will be punished even if he is light; Good is not praised, and evil is not degraded. Thinking is the key to inspiring people to persuade their merits. " He appreciated Zhuge Liang's strict military law of beheading Ma Su, and said that Cao Cao had his hair cut for violating military discipline. In order to strictly enforce military discipline and improve the combat quality of the army, Li Jing affirmed 24 decrees: beheading those who leaked military orders, beheading those who escaped from the army, or explaining to pray for ghosts and gods, predicting the fortunes of Yin and Yang, beheading those who spread rumors and moved people's hearts, beheading officials who talked back, beheading adulterers' wives and daughters, and killing officials indiscriminately. Only in this way can we create an army with strong combat effectiveness, strict military discipline and popular support. In the struggle against the enemy, Li Jing especially advocated being good at guiding the situation. Gong Wei's Art of War says: "Everything has the same shape and different potentials, and there are also people with the same potential and different shapes. If you let go, you will succeed in one fell swoop; If you can never do it, you will lose if you move temporarily. Therefore, Sun Bin said,' those who plan, because of their potential, benefit from it and guide it.' He said: "If our soldiers are all together, the orders have been carried out, the ingenious plan has been decided, the disposal has been decided, the people have taken an oath, the people have been angry, the weather is right, the geographical position has been established, the drums have been shaken, and the wind has been smooth, will the enemy accept me?" He also metaphorically said that you can't kill a tiger with claws and claws, and you know very well that you are unarmed and unprotected. He concluded: "A soldier has three potentials: one is momentum, the other is terrain, and the third is momentum." Dare to despise the enemy, and your foot soldiers will be willing to fight, and the people of the three armed forces will be "thunderous and thunderous." This so-called momentum is also "; The mountains are narrow and the hills are deep, and the roads are like "dragons and snakes are shaded, sheep and dogs are at the door, and there are only a thousand people. The so-called terrain is also". If the enemy is negligent in fatigue and thirst, "the storm will shake the sorrow, and the officials will be vertical and horizontal, and the former camp will not give up, and the latter camp will not help." This is also called the situation. " Being good at sizing up the situation is an important condition for defeating the enemy. In the era of infantry and cavalry fighting, Li Jing thinks it is very important to make good use of terrain and features. Gong Wei's The Art of War said: "Military records say,' The military is fickle, the three armies are defeated, and they are hungry for food, so their geographical position is precious." He pointed out that it is necessary to decide their own strategies and tactics in time according to the geographical conditions of both sides. For example, if the other side has favorable terrain, it is necessary to adopt the tactics of "letting it ambush and grab its attack"; If the terrain is unfavorable to the other side, take the tactics of "luring and pretending, waiting for it to come out and inviting it"; If you use cavalry to kill in a flat and open place, you must "ride with the array"; A place with dangerous terrain is suitable for infantry fighting. He also pointed out some taboos of commanders: in the dark swamp, "it is a curse for this car to live in a secluded place and ditch." "In the land where there is no exit", there are big mounds, deep valleys and mud cuts, and this ride is also defeated. "He is good at using ground features and can kill enemies with spears and collars in the land of' deep forests and sparse forests'; Wind and fire must be used in the land where reeds are deep in grass. He concluded: "The way to use troops should be based on the ground, supplemented by the actual situation, and change with the change, and we should not guard against risks for the resort. Still have to use the golden drum to save life, change it into a stopgap measure, wait for life, cover up illness, and fail if you don't know the location. "Li Jing believes that in order to defeat the enemy, it is a strategy to disintegrate the enemy and win the battle by using countermeasures to make the other side suspect each other and alienate Germany from each other." Gong Wei's Art of War said: "The victory of the husband's war depends not on heaven and earth, but on people. Look at the rooms used by the ancients. It's wonderful. In other words, there are gentlemen, relatives, saints, capable people, helpers, neighbors, and left and right ... "He further pointed out the methods of exercising countermeasures:" There are five methods: First, because of the person; There is a problem, so it is false, which makes the notice embarrassing; Some are forced to do things by the enemy and return; There is a method of judging and selecting talents, which should be discussed; There is a crime of delaying troops, slightly venting feelings and floating plans. "In order to make better use of double-faced spies and achieve the expected purpose," everything must be hidden, valuable and rewarding, and secret must be secret, which is practical. " Li Jing further pointed out that when we use double spies, we should be vigilant and guard against the enemy's double spies. He said: "even if the husband gives someone a room, everyone will give himself a room. People come in secret, so it is useless to have a meeting alone." "Only in this way can we be foolproof. If we only consider using double-faced spies, but we are not wary that the other party will also use double-faced spies to alienate us, there may be a danger that mantis comes first and yellowbird comes last. " Gong Wei's Art of War also lists ten failure factors that generals are not good at unified operations: "Those who are talented but can't use them in the army will be defeated; Don't date up and down, but talk about the failure of the elders; Soldiers who reward and punish improperly and complain too much are defeated; Those who know but dare not strike, those who do not know and strike, are defeated; Geographical location does not allow, and those who fight many battles are defeated; Regardless of work and rest, people who don't know how to take a bus lose; Waiting without trial, underestimating the enemy and slacking off, losing; Those who walk on dangerous roads and don't know the deep ditch are defeated; There is no choice ahead, and both the odd and the right are defeated. "The reason for the ten defeats is that the commander is not good at employing and comforting people. He does not understand the enemy or ourselves, geography or law. So he concluded: "These ten defeats are not natural disasters, so let them pass. "Li Jing also has a set of theories about Xia Ying 'an's residence and scouts." Gong Wei's Art of War says: There is no danger to camp on the vast plains, so we should camp in all directions, that is, we should divide the seven armies, China's army in the center and six armies in all directions, like six flowers. "In order to prevent the enemy sneak attack, it is necessary to keep watch and arrange scouts. The sentry must choose a brave man, a man with vision, to be a guide. He must dive over the mountains, keep his voice secret and learn from the details. " "Look at the water mark to measure the enemy's help in the morning and evening, and look at the tree to distinguish the enemy's drive. "
Historical evaluation
Li Jing's military achievements are outstanding. In the first year of Shangyuan (760), Tang Suzong listed Li Jing as one of the top ten famous soldiers in history and was rewarded in the (Jiang Taigong) Temple. He is both civil and military, and has made great contributions to the unification and consolidation of the Tang Dynasty. Emperor Taizong once spoke highly of it: "... Shangshu's servant shot for the peace of the country, with profound knowledge, graceful demeanor, early application, successful loyalty and righteousness, outstanding achievements, Jingyang in the south, sand plug in the north, imperial prestige and successful achievements." At the same time, he accumulated a set of successful experience in running the army and fighting, further enriching and developing China's military thoughts and theories. He wrote many military books, such as Mirror of the Sixth Army of Li Jing, most of which have been lost. Later generations edited The Question of Emperor Taizong and Li Zhi, which was included in The Five Classics and Seven Books in the Northern Song Dynasty. It is a masterpiece of ancient military science.