Li Shimin: "What does it have to do with you if I fight Wang Shichong? Why do you want to cross the border and violate our military power?"
Dou Jiande: "If I don't come, you will lead troops to attack me someday."
In the fourth year of Wude (621 AD), at the Battle of Hulao Pass, Dou Jiande's army of 100,000 was directly defeated by the 23-year-old Li Shimin with 3,500 elite troops. He himself was also captured alive in the rebel army, and Wang Tu became the hegemon. Dreams turned into nothing overnight.
In the same year, Dou Jiande was beheaded by Li Yuan in Chang'an. A generation of heroes returned to dust.
He controls the elite of Hebei and wins the hearts of all people. How is Dou Jiande like him? How did you lose?
"Righteous One" Dou Jiande
A true man should put integrity first when he establishes himself in the world. Dou Jiande is a true man of faith.
Dou Jiande (573-621), courtesy name Jiande, was born in Zhangnan, Beizhou (now Gucheng County, Hebei Province). He has been working as a farmer for generations, and he has a real grassroots background. Because he was loved by his hometown, he also served as the head of the village for a period of time. (Because Li Shimin's mother's surname was Dou, in novels such as "The Romance of the Sui and Tang Dynasties", Dou Jiande is called Li Shimin's uncle, which is actually irrelevant.)
Comics about Dou Jiande's story
When Dou Jiande was young, he attached great importance to loyalty and was harmonious in his hometown. When he heard that a fellow villager was unable to bury his parents due to poverty, Dou Jiande immediately put down his farm work and helped with the funeral.
In the seventh year of Daye (AD 611), Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty, regardless of the suffering of the people, recruited troops from all over the country in order to conquer Goryeo. Sun Anzu, who lived in the same county as Dou Jiande, rebelled and killed the county magistrate because he refused to join the army. During his escape, Dou Jiande took him in.
In order to prevent the villagers from being captured and dying in a foreign land, Dou Jiande recruited hundreds of people and handed them over to Sun Anzu to lead them into the Gaojibo area to join Luo Cao as bandits to save their lives and make contributions in the turbulent situation. Dou Jiande was still serving as an errand in the county at this time, and was the leader of 200 people who were fed by the emperor.
At that time, many surrounding forces were doing business without capital, but they did not harass Dou Jiande's hometown because they respected Dou Jiande's character.
Because of this, the county concluded that Dou Jiande had colluded with the bandits and massacred Dou Jiande's entire family. Now that things have come to this, we have to do the opposite. Dou Jiande took two hundred people to defect to Gao Shida. Later, because Sun Anzu was killed by Zhang Jincheng, thousands of his people also defected to Dou Jiande.
Dou Jiande shared the joys and sorrows with his soldiers. In order to help others, he often left no money on his body. The soldiers were willing to sacrifice their lives for him. In addition, he performed extraordinary feats continuously, so his reputation grew. After Gao Shida was killed by Sui general Yang Yichen, Dou Jiande naturally became the leader of the rebel army.
"Benevolent Man" Dou Jiande
Establish the world with trustworthiness and treat others with benevolence. Among the many rebels in the late Sui Dynasty, Dou Jiande was worthy of the name of "the benevolent man".
At the beginning of the army, when the rebels from various places captured Sui Dynasty officials and local gentry, most of them would kill them with one knife, but Dou Jiande did not. Dou Jiande is kind to his enemies.
Song Zhengben was originally the Raoyang Order of the Sui Dynasty. He was erudite and talented. Dou Jiande treated him with courtesy and regarded him as a distinguished guest, and discussed with him the strategy of acquiring Hebei. Because of his benevolence, many Sui Dynasty officials in counties and counties turned their backs, and Dou Jiande's power developed rapidly, with more than 100,000 elite soldiers and generals.
Jiangdu mutiny, Yu Wenhuaji killed Emperor Yang of Sui Dynasty, Dou Jiande destroyed Yu Wenhuaji, and gained many palace maids, civil and military officials and elite soldiers. Dou Jiande released all the maids, and all the civil and military officials and many soldiers were allowed to go or stay. Those who stayed were given official positions, and those who left were given clothing and food and escorted out of the country.
Li Yuan's cousin Li Shentong, his sister and Princess An were all captured by Dou Jiande. Dou Jiande did not hesitate to treat such a "heavyweight" prisoner of war as a distinguished guest and returned him to Li Yuan.
Jiande released Li Shiji and asked him to lead troops to control Lizhou. In the first month of the third year, Shiji abandoned his father and fled back. The law enforcer asked him to be punished. Jiande said: "Ji Ben, a minister of the Tang Dynasty, was captured by me. He did not forget his master and escaped back to this court. This loyal minister is also his father." What a crime!" He was not punished. ——"Old Book of Tang"
Even Li Ji (Xu Maogong), a "God of War" figure who is as famous as Li Jing, his father and son were once captured by Dou Jiande. Dou Jiande reused Li Ji and ordered him to guard Liyang. Unexpectedly, Li Ji ran away again. Dou Jiande's men suggested that Li Ji's father be killed, but Dou Jiande also refused.
According to historical records, Dou Jiande lived a simple life. Even after he became king, he did not wear brocade clothes, was not a womanizer, ate a vegetarian diet of brown rice, was not in love with gold, silver and jewelry, and was extremely generous to his soldiers.
What Dou Jiande despises is people like Yu Wenhua and others who are related by marriage to Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty but kill the emperor in order to seek the throne. After the death of Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty, Dou Jiande gave the posthumous title "Min", which inevitably contained a trace of compassion. Dou Jiande was much kinder than other rebel leaders.
How could such a person lose?
One is the external reason, which can be said to be destiny and bad timing.
In Yunlei Fangtun, at the beginning of the Dragon War, there are destiny and heroes. He is not allowed to receive orders, but his orders belong to the saints. Thus the misfortune of Yuan and Huang was accomplished, and the cause of Tyranny was ruined. ——"Dou Jiande Monument"
No matter who you were, if you met Li Shimin in that era, you would probably have to walk around without food. With Li Shimin's military ability, perhaps only one person could match him at that time, and that person was Li Jing, the "Military God of the Tang Dynasty". As for the others, none of them were strong enough for Li Shimin to beat.
The second is his own shortcomings. Not a benevolent and righteous person can become a king.
As a leader, "benevolence and justice" are not the determining factor for success. A leader's responsibility lies in having excellent strategic vision and knowing people well.
Dou Jiande’s strategic planning mistakes
Dou Jiande is an outstanding leader of the rebel army, but he is not an excellent competitor. Mistakes occurred in the planning of strategic goals for development.
Looking at the situation, after Dou Jiande established the regime, there was Luo Yi in the north, Li Tang in the west, and Wang Shichong of Luoyang. These are tough nuts to crack.
Distribution map of main forces in the late Sui Dynasty
Luo Yi occupied Youzhou, which was already well-known during the Sui Dynasty, and was a veritable first-class army. Li Tang had just surrendered Li Mi and was at his peak. In Wang Shichong's Luoyang, the copper and iron walls are impenetrable.
Dou Jiande ignored Meng Jiigong and Xu Yuanlang in the south and rushed north to attack Luo Yi. After several defeats, he was disgraced. At this point in time, the situation in the west was no longer optimistic. Wang Shichong was besieged by Li Tang and was in danger. Dou Jiande had to be forced to move westward.
Perhaps it would be a wiser choice to focus on Jiyan and manage carefully, and then use Jingyang as the main strategy target.
Dou Jiande’s lack of political literacy
A leader's political quality can be seen from his political system and military construction.
First, Dou Jiande's political system is weak. This is understandable, because the team led by Dou Jiande lacks talents with administrative management experience. After the establishment of the political power, in order to maintain the normal operation of the political power, a group of officials demoted from the Sui Dynasty had to be reused.
Nayan Song Zheng originally liked to give direct advice, but Jiande listened to slander and killed him. Later generations took it as a warning and no longer spoke of it. As a result, politics and religion declined. ——"Old Book of Tang"
If the political system is imperfect, there will naturally be many villains, and if there are many villains, there will be more slander. Song Zhengben, whom Dou Jiande once invited as an honored guest, also died due to slander.
The lack of talent makes the system fragile. When Dou Jiande moved westward, the supply movement on his own territory could not keep up.
Furthermore, Dou Jiande's army construction could not keep up. Of course, this is actually a common problem among most peasant rebels. Half peasants and half soldiers, there are many troops on the mountain tops of the army, restraining each other and criticizing each other. As a result, there is no execution ability and no military discipline at all.
Does Dou Jiande lack famous generals? No. Su Dingfang, a famous general who served in the martial arts temple, and Liu Heitai, who avenged him, both served under him. Which one is not a good soldier? But the overall military construction cannot keep up, and if the generals were killed by mistake after listening to the slander, how can they remain undefeated?
His general, Wang Fubao, had many brave strategies and outstanding achievements, and the commanders were jealous of him. Or on the contrary, Jiande was about to kill him. Fu Bao said: "I am not guilty. Why did the king listen to the slander and cut off his left and right hands?" After killing him, it would be disadvantageous to use more troops later. ——"Old Book of Tang"
When the country is uncertain, believing slander and killing generals is the way to destroy it. Look at Zhu Yuanzhang in later generations. He was also a peasant rebel. After reunification, he wiped out Beiyuan several times before attacking famous generals. It can only be said that Dou Jiande does not have the pattern of Zhu Yuanzhang.
On the other hand, Li and Tang, at the beginning, only occupied Taiyuan with 30,000 weak troops, with Turks in the north and Xue Yantuo in the west. However, after the first battle in Guanzhong, they immediately changed from passive to active. In the three battles of Guanzhong, Luoyang and Hulao, although the territory did not expand much, it had already established its power to sweep the world.
The death of Dou Jiande is a pity, but it is not unfair either.
It is a pity that Dou Jiande, a hero of his generation, was an outstanding figure among the leaders of the rebels in the late Sui Dynasty. After his death, the elders of Hebei built the "Dou Wang Temple" and paid homage to him from time to time, which has lasted for a long time. For a leader, this is extremely rare.
What is not unfair is that he lost to Li Tang, who had more sophisticated strategic planning, and lost to Li Tang, who had more outstanding military capabilities and a broader political landscape. After all, in any era, Li Tang Group's capabilities are extremely powerful.
Perhaps Xiang Yu, the Jiande Fang, lived in his previous life, so I would say otherwise. He is violent and bloodthirsty, builds virtue and is tolerant to control the people, and wins their support, but his words are incomparable. The heroes are divided into heroes, and the hope is to show off. How many grandchildren are there in Changsha? Only heaven has something to do with it, don’t belong to it, only destiny has something to belong to. ——"Dou Jiande Monument"
In the third year of the Great Harmony of the Holy Tang Dynasty (AD 829), Yin Tong, the secretary of Weizhou in the Tang Dynasty, passed by the Douwang Temple and witnessed the grand sacrificial ceremony held by the local people for Dou Jiande. The villagers and elders repeatedly called "King Xia" as if he was still alive.
Yin Tong wrote "The Monument of Dou Jiande" and compared Dou Jiande with Xiang Yu. He believed that Xiang Yu was murderous and Dou Jiande was kind, so Xiang Yu could not be compared with Dou Jiande. It is also said that Dou Jiande's heroic talent is not inferior to that of Sun Jian of the Three Kingdoms. Losing is fate.
"The name cannot be destroyed, but the person who lives it will survive." Regardless of success or failure, just seeing that people are still worshiping Dou Jiande after hundreds of years has shown that he once lived a vigorous life and was a hero.