Pei Qiantong, from Hedong, was initially entrusted by Emperor Yang of Sui when he was still the Prince of Jin, appointing him to various positions until he became the Chief Gatekeeper. After Emperor Yang ascended to the throne, he promoted his former followers, including Pei Qiantong, appointing him as the Minister of Benevolence, and later promoted him to Chief Gatekeeper. Pei Qiantong accompanied Emperor Yang on multiple military campaigns, eventually reaching the rank of Grand Councilor. Later, he colluded with Sima Dekan in a rebellion, opening the palace gates, riding to the Hall of Accomplished Virtue, killing General Dugu Sheng, and seizing the Emperor in the West Pavilion. Yuwen Huaji therefore appointed Pei Qiantong as the Grand Minister of Splendor and Duke of Juguo. When Yuwen Huaji marched north with his troops, he left Pei Qiantong in command of Xuzhou. After Yuwen Huaji's failure, Pei Qiantong surrendered to the Tang Dynasty, being appointed as the Governor of Xuzhou, later promoted to Governor of Chenzhou and granted the title of Lord of Chángshén. Shortly after, he was dismissed and exiled to Lingnan due to his involvement in the rebellion against the Sui Dynasty, where he ultimately met his end.
Wang Chong, courtesy name Xingman, was originally from the Western Territories. His grandfather, Zhi Tui (original text retained here), moved to Xinfeng to live. After Zhi Tui's death, his young widow had an affair with Yi Tong Wang Can, who fathered Wang Chong. Wang Can later took Wang Chong's mother as a concubine. After Wang Chong's father died, he and his mother married Wang Can. Wang Can cared for him deeply and allowed him to adopt the Wang surname, rising to the position of Chief Historian in Huai and Bian prefectures. Wang Chong had a fierce appearance and a ruthless, cunning nature, though he had read some books and had a particular fondness for military strategy. He also dabbled in divination and fortune-telling but kept it to himself. During the reign of Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty, he was appointed as the Left Guard and was later promoted to Yi Tong for his military achievements, serving as an Assistant Minister of War. He excelled at writing memorials and was well-versed in the law, but he also enjoyed playing with words, scheming in various ways. When challenged, he could eloquently defend himself; everyone knew he was in the wrong, yet no one could counter him. They all said he was eloquent and had strong debating skills. During the reign of Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty, he was promoted to the magistrate of Jiangdu County. During this time, Emperor Yang frequently visited Jiangdu, and Wang Chong was skilled at reading the emperor's moods and flattering him. Each time he reported to the emperor, he left him very satisfied. He also served as the supervisor of Jiangdu Palace, in charge of constructing palaces and ponds, secretly presenting unusual treasures to curry favor with the emperor, thereby earning even more of the emperor's favor. In the eighth year of Daye of Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty, things began to unravel. Yang Xuangan secretly courted capable individuals, flattering and bribing them to win their loyalty. The people of the Jianghuai region were already known for their fierceness, and with the rampant bandits at that time, many people turned to crime and ended up arrested and imprisoned. Yang Xuangan released those imprisoned through dubious means to build personal connections.
Subsequently, Yang Xuangan rebelled, and Zhu Xie and Guan Chong in Jiangnan also rose up in response, declaring themselves generals and commanding over 100,000 men. The emperor sent Tu Wanxu and Yu Juro to suppress them, but they failed to achieve victory. Yang Xuangan recruited over 10,000 men from Jiangdu and defeated the rebels several times. After each victory, he credited his subordinates with the success, giving all the captured spoils to the soldiers and taking nothing for himself. As a result, everyone was willing to fight for him, and he earned significant accolades.
During the tenth year of the Daye era, the bandit leader Meng Rang from Qijun led over 100,000 troops, burning, pillaging, and slaughtering their way from Changbai Mountain to Xuyi. Yang Xuangan used his troops to resist, intentionally pretending to have a weak army, setting up five camps at Duliangshan, and facing off against Meng Rang without attacking. When Meng Rang relaxed his guard, Yang Xuangan suddenly launched a fierce attack, achieving a resounding victory and annihilating Meng Rang's army. Meng Rang escaped with only a few dozen cavalrymen, while Yang Xuangan executed 10,000 men and captured a large number of livestock and military resources. The emperor recognized Yang Xuangan's military talent and began assigning him to quell smaller bands of bandits, where he always emerged victorious. However, he was hypocritical, pretending to be a good person but actually adept at pretending to suffer to cultivate a favorable reputation.
In the eleventh year of Daye, the Turks surrounded the emperor at Yanmen, and Yang Xuangan mobilized all the people of Jiangdu to mount a rescue. When he arrived at the military camp, he intentionally turned it into a filthy and foul-smelling place, cried incessantly, never took off his armor, and slept on the ground. Upon hearing this, the emperor became convinced of his loyalty and placed even greater trust in him.
Twelve years later, he was promoted to governor of Jiangdu. At that time, there was a man named Yanci who seemed very humble, but in reality had secretly been a bandit leader for several years, with over a hundred thousand soldiers under his command, hiding in the area of Douzi. He led troops to attack and killed Yanci, which scared the other bandits into submission. Later, he went to attack Lu Mingyue, defeated him in Nanyang, beheading tens of thousands and capturing countless prisoners. When he returned to Jiangdu, the emperor was extremely pleased and personally served him a cup of wine as a reward.
At this time, he knew that the emperor liked beautiful women, so he mentioned that there were many beautiful girls in the Jianghuai area, and even offered to help the emperor enrich the harem, but these girls had no opportunity to enter the palace. The emperor was even more delighted upon hearing this and secretly sent people to select those who were beautiful and met the criteria, then used money from the national treasury and goods originally meant to go to the capital as dowry to marry them into the palace. The amount of money spent was staggering, recorded in the accounts as specially approved by the emperor, with the exact amount left vague. If the emperor took a liking to them, he would reward them handsomely; even if the emperor did not favor them, he would still give them some rewards. Later, he sent ships to send these women to the capital, but bandits attacked along the way, and the messengers were exhausted and faced hardships, with over a dozen people perishing in the Huai and Si Rivers. Some people brought this to light, but he covered it up for them and quickly found more women to send to the palace. From then on, his relationship with the emperor grew even closer.
Li Mi captured Xingluo Granary and approached the Eastern Capital. The court's army failed in several battles; even the Grand Minister of Rites, Pei Renji, surrendered to Li Mi in Wulao. The Emperor was furious and issued an edict to appoint him as a general to confront Li Mi at Luokou. After fighting hundreds of battles, both sides had victories and losses. Later, he led his troops across the Luo River, approaching Xingluo Granary. After a battle with Li Mi, he was defeated, resulting in tens of thousands of soldiers drowning in the river. At that time, it was freezing cold, and heavy snow was falling. The soldiers' clothes were soaked after crossing the river, and tens of thousands died from freezing on the way by the time they reached Heyang, leaving only a few thousand remaining. He locked himself in prison to seek forgiveness, and Prince Yang Dong sent someone to pardon him and summoned him back to the imperial capital. He gathered the scattered soldiers, regrouped more than ten thousand soldiers, stationed in Hanjia City, and did not dare to venture out again.
Yuwen Huaji assassinated the Emperor in Jiangdu. Dou Jiande, along with Minister of Works Yuan Wendu, General Huangfu Wuyi, and Right Commandant Lu Chu, supported Yang Dong as Emperor. Yang Dong appointed Dou Jiande as Minister of Personnel and granted him the title of Duke of Zhengguo. Later, Yang Dong heeded the advice of Yuan Wendu and Lu Chu, appointing Li Mi as Grand Commandant and Minister of Works. Li Mi then swore loyalty to Yang Dong, led troops to resist Yuwen Huaji in Liyang, and sent messengers to announce their victories. Everyone was overjoyed, except Dou Jiande, who remarked to his subordinates, "Yuan Wendu and his ilk are merely bookish bureaucrats. In this situation, they will definitely be captured by Li Mi. Moreover, our army has killed many of his relatives in previous battles; if we are ever defeated, we will all pay the price!" He intended to provoke his subordinates with these words.
Yuan Wendu learned about the situation and was very frightened. He discussed with Lu Chu and others their plan to ambush Du Jiande's soldiers when he entered the palace. They had already agreed on a date. However, that same night, General Duan Da informed Du Jiande of the plan, saying that his son-in-law Zhang Zhi had told him. That night, Du Jiande surrounded the palace with his troops. General Fei Yao and Tian Shidu fought against Du Jiande's army outside the East Sun Gate. Fei Yao's forces were quickly defeated, and Du Jiande broke through the city gate and entered. Huang Fu Wuyi managed to escape on horseback alone. Du Jiande captured Lu Chu and killed him. The palace gate was still closed at that time. Du Jiande sent someone to knock on the door and inform Yang Tong, "Yuan Wendu and others want to capture the emperor and surrender to Li Mi. Duan Da informed me about this. I am not rebelling; I am only targeting those who are rebelling!"
Upon hearing about the incident, Yuan Wendu rushed into the palace. He took Yang Tong to Qianyang Hall and assigned soldiers to protect Yang Tong. He ordered the generals to go up the city wall to resist, but his forces were quickly defeated. Yuan Wendu was captured and killed. Yang Tong then ordered the gates to be opened for Du Jiande. Du Jiande sent someone to replace the original guards before entering to meet Yang Tong. He fell to his knees in tears, saying, "Yuan Wendu and others are too unreasonable, plotting to turn against one another. The situation was dire, so I had no choice. I dare not betray the country." Yang Tong swore an oath to him. Du Jiande soon sent Wei Jie to persuade Yang Tong to become the Minister of Internal and External Military Affairs. He also appointed his brother Du Yun as Minister of the Interior and had him move into the palace.
Not long after, Li Mi defeated Wang Shichong's army and returned victorious. However, his elite soldiers and warhorses took heavy losses, and the soldiers were exhausted. Wang Shichong wanted to attack Li Mi while he was weak, but he was worried that his soldiers would not obey orders. So, he pretended to have a divine dream, claiming that he had dreamt of Zhou Gong. He then built a temple to Zhou Gong by the Luo River and sent sorcerers to spread the word that Zhou Gong had appeared, instructing Wang Shichong to quickly defeat Li Mi in order to gain great merit, or else the army would die of plague. Many soldiers in Wang Shichong's army were superstitious, so he used this method to deceive them. When the soldiers heard this, they all requested to go to battle.
Wang Shichong selected elite soldiers, totaling over 20,000 men and over 1,000 warhorses, and moved the camp to the south of the Luo River. Li Mi's army was stationed on the mountains north of Yanshi. At that time, Li Mi had just won the Battle of Huaji and was somewhat complacent and hadn't set up defenses. Wang Shichong seized the cover of night to send over 200 cavalrymen to sneak into the northern mountains, set up an ambush in the valley, and ordered the soldiers to feed the warhorses and themselves. Just before dawn, they reached the vicinity of Li Mi's camp. Li Mi sent troops to fight, but before they could form a proper formation, the two sides clashed. Wang Shichong's ambush troops charged down from the mountain, quietly moved onto the northern plain, and attacked Li Mi's camp from a high vantage point. Li Mi's camp was thrown into chaos, with no one able to resist, and Wang Shichong's army stormed into the camp and set it ablaze. Li Mi's army was thrown into panic and disarray, and Generals Zhang Tong'er and Chen Zhilue surrendered. Wang Shichong took Yanshi.
At first, Wang Shichong's brother Wang Wei and son Wang Xuan followed Wang Shichong to Dongjun, but were later captured by Li Mi and imprisoned in the city. Now, Wang Shichong rescued them all. He also captured Li Mi's Chief Historian Bing Yuanzhen, his wife, the mother of Sima Zhengqianxiang, and the sons of other generals. Wang Shichong treated them all well and secretly let them call their fathers or brothers to surrender. Wang Shichong's army arrived at Luokou, and Bing Yuanzhen, Zheng Qianxiang, and others opened the city gates and surrendered. Li Mi fled with only a few dozen cavalry, and Wang Shichong incorporated all of his troops. From the East Sea to the south of the Yangtze River, many came to pledge their allegiance to him. Wang Shichong also sent Wei Jie to persuade Dong (referring to Sui Emperor Yang Tong) to appoint him as Grand Commandant, set up officials for him, and use the Ministry of Personnel Affairs as his mansion. Soon, Wang Shichong declared himself King of Zheng. He sent General Gao Lue to attack Shou'an, but failed and withdrew. He then led his troops to besiege Guzhou, but retreated three days later. The following year, he declared himself Prime Minister, accepted the Nine Gifts, and no longer paid homage to Yang Tong.
There was a Taoist priest named Huan Fasi who claimed to be able to interpret prophecies and symbols, so he became close with Wang Shichong. Fasi produced a book called "Confucius' Closed Room Record" and pointed to a picture of a man herding sheep with a stick, saying, "'Yang' is the surname of the Sui Dynasty, 'Gan' sounds like 'Yi', 'Yi' is part of the character 'Wang'. The man is herding sheep behind the sheep, indicating that the Prime Minister is destined to replace the Sui Dynasty as emperor!" He then brought out two articles from "Zhuangzi" called "Human World" and "Dechong Fu", explaining, "The first article mentions 'Shi', the second mentions 'Chong', this is your name as Prime Minister! This means you will gain the people's support and fulfill the heavenly mandate to become emperor!" Wang Shichong was delighted and said, "This is the heavenly mandate!" He repeatedly thanked Fasi and promptly appointed him as Grand Councillor.
Wang Shichong also captured all kinds of birds, wrote inscriptions on silk, and tied them around the birds' necks, claiming it fulfilled divine will, and then released them. Some people shot these birds and presented them to him, and he bestowed titles upon them. Later, Wang Shichong placed Emperor Yang Tong of Sui under house arrest in a side palace, seized the throne, renamed the era "Kaiming," and changed the country's name to Zheng. The Tang Dynasty sent Prince Qin Li Shimin to besiege him, and Wang Shichong launched several military campaigns to resist, but was defeated each time, with many cities outside the city surrendering.
Wang Shichong was cornered, so he sent a messenger to seek help from Dou Jiande. Dou Jiande brought his elite troops to his aid, but they were defeated by Prince Qin at Wulao, and Dou Jiande was captured and brought to Wang Shichong's city. Wang Shichong wanted to break out and escape in the chaos, but none of his subordinates responded. Realizing he had nowhere to hide, he surrendered. When he arrived in Chang'an, he was killed by his enemy, Dugu Xiude.
Duan Da was from Wuwei Guzang. His father, Duan Yan, had served as the Governor of Shuozhou in Northern Zhou. Duan Da was only three years old when he was in Northern Zhou, but he inherited the title of County Duke of Xiangyuan. When he grew up, he was eight feet tall, had a handsome beard, and was skilled in horseback riding and archery. When Emperor Wen of Sui was the Prime Minister, he appointed Duan Da as the Grand Commander, leading the army he trusted, often keeping him close. After Emperor Wen became the emperor, Duan Da was appointed as the Left Commandant, and later he gradually rose in ranks, becoming the General of Chariots and Cavalry, and also served as an advisor to Prince Jin.
When Gao Zhihui, Li Ji, and others rebelled, Duan Da led 10,000 soldiers to pacify Dingfang and Chuzhou. The emperor rewarded him with 1,000 pieces of silk and promoted his official position to Assistant Minister of Rites. He also defeated Wang Wenjin and others in Xuanzhou and was appointed as Governor, receiving fifty slaves and 4,000 pieces of silk. During the Ren Shou period, he served as the deputy commander of the Prince's Left Guard. During the Daye period, due to his good relationship with the emperor, he was appointed as General of the Left Imperial Guard. When Emperor Yang of Sui campaigned against the Tuyuhun, Duan Da was promoted to Jinziguanglu Dafu.
Later, when Emperor Yang of Sui campaigned against Liaodong, the people were heavily burdened by taxes and suffered greatly. Qi Xiaode from Pingyuan and Zhang Jincheng from Qinghe gathered a group of bandits, broke through many cities, and the local officials were unable to fend them off. The emperor sent Duan Da to fight against them, but he was defeated by Zhang Jincheng several times, sustaining significant losses. The bandits looked down on him and called him "Old Duan." Later, Duan Da implemented the strategy devised by Yang Shanhui, the magistrate of Shu County, to fight against the bandits again, and finally achieved victory. After returning to the capital, he was dismissed due to his military failures.
The following year, Emperor Yang of Sui went to campaign against Liaodong again, leaving Duan Da to guard Zhuojun. Not long after, he was appointed as General of the Left Imperial Guard. At that time, Wei Dao'er from Gaoyang gathered over 100,000 troops, proclaiming himself as "Lishan Fei," and looted everywhere in the Yan and Zhao regions. Duan Da, along with Guo Xuan, led the garrison of Zhuojun to defeat them. At that time, the number of bandits was significant, and the clashes between the officials and soldiers were intense. Duan Da opted for cautious defense, stationed troops to transport supplies, and rarely secured any military victories. At that time, everyone said he was timid and afraid of trouble.
In the twelfth year of the Daye era, Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty departed from the Jiangdu Palace, ordering Duan Da and Yuan Wendu, the Minister of Works, to stay in the Eastern Capital. Li Mi occupied Luokou and sent troops to attack Luoyang City. Duan Da, along with Gatekeeper Pang Yu and Military Officer Huo Ju, led the Imperial Army out of the city to resist, achieving several military accomplishments and being promoted to General of the Left Valiant Guard. After Wang Chong was defeated by Li Mi, Li Mi occupied Beimang and reached Shangchun Gate, while Duan Da, the Judge of the Left Cheng Guo Wenyi, and Minister Wei Jin led troops to resist. Duan Da, seeing the enemy soldiers, fled, and Li Mi took advantage of the situation to pursue, resulting in a significant defeat, during which Wei Jin was killed in action. From then on, Li Mi's power became increasingly strong.
When Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty died in Jiangdu, Duan Da, Yuan Wendu, and others proclaimed Prince Yue Yang Dong as emperor. Duan Da was appointed Grand Marshal of the Palace, concurrently serving as an Imperial Counselor, and was granted the title of Duke of Chen Guo. Yuan Wendu and others wanted to kill Wang Shichong, but Duan Da secretly informed Wang Shichong and assisted him. When the conspiracy was uncovered, Prince Yue Yang Dong handed Yuan Wendu over to Wang Shichong, who was extremely grateful to Duan Da and valued him highly. After defeating Li Mi, Duan Da and others persuaded Prince Yue Yang Dong to bestow the Nine Honors on Wang Shichong, implying a plot to usurp the throne. After Wang Shichong claimed the throne, he appointed Duan Da as Minister of Works. After the Eastern Capital was pacified, Duan Da was executed due to his involvement in Wang Shichong's rebellion, and his assets were seized.
The historian said: Those who were originally of mediocre talent, but received imperial favor, benefited for generations; while short-sighted individuals like Wang Chong, because they happened to be in a favorable situation, were also promoted and received better treatment than the veteran officials. When the country declined, they failed to dedicate themselves to the service of the country, but instead exploited the situation for personal gain, leading rebellions against the laws. Some of them personally led troops in rebellion, while others secretly poisoned people, committing heinous crimes that defy description, drawing the ire of both heaven and earth, as well as mankind. Therefore, those ruthless and savage bandits were executed one after another, and those utterly wicked individuals were likewise put to death, ultimately easing the grievances of the loyal and providing a profound lesson for posterity. Alas, shouldn't those who serve the state heed this as a warning?
