What kind of person was Lun Qinling, who suppressed the Tang Dynasty militarily for thirty years? Interested readers and history encyclopedia editors, let’s take a look together!
As we all know, the military strength of the Tang Dynasty was very strong, and many famous generals emerged. In foreign wars, they achieved many brilliant results. However, there was also a period in the history of the Tang Dynasty that was difficult to look back on, and it was during the prosperous Tang Dynasty. At that time, a minority general suppressed the Tang Dynasty militarily for thirty years and defeated the Tang army several times, including the famous generals Xue Rengui and Wang Xiaojie, who were his defeated soldiers.
This person is the famous politician and military strategist Lun Qinling in the history of Tubo.
The original name of Lun Qinling is Gar Qinling Zanzhuo, and “Lun” is the official title of Tubo, equivalent to prime minister. Qinling was born into a noble family in Tubo, and his father was Ludongzan. He once served as an envoy for Songtsen Gampo to request marriage from Emperor Taizong of Tang, which facilitated Princess Wencheng’s marriage to Tubo. After the death of Songtsen Gampo, Mangsong Mangzan succeeded to the throne. Due to Mangsong Mangzan’s young age, Lu Dongzan was responsible for managing the affairs of Tubo. In 667, Lu Dongzan passed away, and Lun Qinling inherited his father’s official position and power, continuing to control the political affairs of Tubo.
After Qin Ling came to power, he actively expanded abroad and invaded the Western Regions in 670, occupying the four towns of Anxi in the Tang Dynasty and cutting off the transportation from the Tang Dynasty to Central Asia, posing a great threat to the Tang Dynasty. Tang Gaozong felt deeply uneasy, so he sent General Xue Rengui as the commander-in-chief of the Luosa Road Expeditionary Army, commanding a 100000 strong army to suppress Tubo (there are also records of 50000).
The Tubo side was already prepared, and Lun Qinling immediately led 400000 troops to confront (some people believe there were not so many), and the two sides erupted in the “Battle of Dafeichuan”. Due to the huge disparity in numbers, coupled with the Tang army’s long-distance expedition and poor supply, especially the discord among the generals, Vice General Guo Daifeng disobeyed the command and disobeyed military orders. In the end, the Tang army suffered a major defeat, with only a few casualties, and almost the entire army was wiped out. Rengui, Daifeng, and Ashina Dao really escaped and made peace with Qinling, but returned, “Xue Rengui was forced to negotiate with Lunqinling. This was the biggest failure in foreign warfare since the founding of the Tang Dynasty, and also the biggest failure encountered by the famous general Xue Rengui in his life, causing the Tang Dynasty to lose a large area of land.
Tang Gaozong was unwilling to accept failure. After several years of preparation, he sent Li Jingxuan as the Grand Commander of the Tao River in 678, leading an army of 180000 to conquer Tubo. Upon hearing the news, Lun Qinling immediately led his troops to confront the enemy. However, the Tang army was defeated in one battle, and the famous generals Wang Xiaojie and Liu Shenli were captured. The commander-in-chief Li Jingxuan fled in embarrassment. As Qinling approached step by step, the Tang Dynasty had no choice but to send the censor Lou Deyi as an envoy to Tibet to negotiate peace.
Afterwards, the Tang Dynasty engaged in multiple battles with Tubo, with the Tang army suffering many defeats and few victories, resulting in significant losses.
In 689 AD, Empress Wu Zetian wanted to completely conquer Tubo and appointed Wei Daijia, the Right Minister of Wenchang, as the Grand Commander of the Anxi Road Army, commanding the thirty-six generals. With great momentum, she engaged in a decisive battle with Lun Qinling by the Yin Shi Jia River. As a result, the Tang army suffered a major defeat with heavy casualties, and Wei Daijia had to lead his army back.
In 695 AD, Wu Zetian sent the famous general Wang Xiaojie as the commander-in-chief of the Shuofang Road march, leading troops to suppress Tubo, but was once again defeated by Lun Qinling.
After the Battle of Dafeichuan in 670 AD, over a period of more than 20 years, Lun Qinling successively defeated famous generals such as Xue Rengui and Wang Xiaojie of the Tang Dynasty, which made the Tang Dynasty in its heyday have to fear and Wu Zetian also felt a headache.
Later, the famous general Guo Yuanzhen suggested to Wu Zetian that Qin Ling had been in power for a long time, had been using military force and frequently engaged in foreign wars, which had already caused widespread complaints in Tubo. War will only consolidate the power of Lun Qinling. As long as we can take the initiative to show goodwill and let the Tibetan people know that we are willing for peace, and Qin Ling is determined to provoke war for his own power, the Tibetan people will resent Lun Qinling and compete for power and profit internally. After a period of time, Tubo will inevitably experience internal turmoil.
Wu Zetian gladly accepted Guo Yuanzhen’s suggestion and sent envoys to negotiate peace with Tubo. The relationship between the two sides tended towards peace, and Qin Ling gradually declined.
As the Tubo Zan Pu Chi Du Song Zan grew up, he became very dissatisfied with the monopoly of power over the Lunqin Mausoleum and intended to regain the power of state affairs from the surrounding areas. Some nobles were also very wary of Lunqin Mausoleum, and more and more people resented it. So in 699, Chidu Songzan decided to attack Lunqin Mausoleum, taking advantage of the opportunity of Lunqin Mausoleum being outside, killing more than two thousand of his supporters, and summoning Lunqin Mausoleum to court. Qin Ling knew that he would die if he went here, so he raised an army to resist the order. Chidu Songzan sent troops to suppress the rebellion, and Lun Qinling committed suicide after being defeated.
After the death of Lun Qinling, his younger brother and son surrendered to the Tang Dynasty and became Tang generals, making many military achievements for the Tang Dynasty. His descendants took “Lun” as their surname.
