Most friends may have known Wang Xiaojie through the TV series “Detective Dee Renjie”. The character Wang Xiaojie in the drama is loyal and brave, but has a hot temper and some arrogance. However, he is willing to take responsibility even if he does something wrong. Many netizens are curious about what kind of person Wang Xiaojie was in history, so this time we will talk about this famous Tang Dynasty general. Wang Xiaojie served as the General of the Right Eagle Guard during the reign of Empress Wu Zetian. During this period, he made numerous military achievements, not only greatly defeating Tubo, but also recapturing the four towns of Kucha, Yanqi, Yutian, and Shule. It can be said that Wang Xiaojie had outstanding military achievements and outstanding abilities throughout his life.
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Wang Xiaojie and Zhao Wenhui first planned to launch a pincer attack on the Khitan on both sides, but the plan was leaked and the army was defeated at Dongxia Shigu. After fleeing back with the remaining soldiers and defeated generals, he first killed the generals who refused to obey him, and then killed Li Yuanfang, a famous general of Di Renjie, in order to find a so-called Turkic spy.
Faced with Di Renjie, not only did he not hesitate to meet him, but he was also very arrogant.
At the instigation of his deputy general Su Honghui, he thought that Di Renjie would attack him and fled. However, he fell into the trap designed by his treacherous deputy Su Honghui in advance and was captured by Khitan soldiers posing as Turks, becoming a true traitor.
But our detective Di Renjie conducted an investigation and, after careful thinking and rigorous logical reasoning, deduced that Wang Xiaojie was not a collaborator with the enemy, but was framed and fell into the hands of the enemy.
At this moment, Li Yuanfang abandoned his previous grievances, broke through the enemy’s numerous battle posts, and rescued Wang Xiaojie from the Turkic camp.
From then on, Wang Xiaojie was extremely grateful to Di Renjie. After completely annihilating the Khitan, he beheaded the Khitan leader Li Jinzhong, returned to court to present his victory, and offered the wine gifted by Emperor Wu Zetian to Di Renjie. This shows Wang Xiaojie’s respect and love for Di Renjie at this time, as well as his deep gratitude from the bottom of his heart.
But is it really like this in real history?
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Speaking of the real Wang Xiaojie in history, he was both a very lucky person and an unlucky one.
He was lucky that in 678 AD, the Tang army fought against Tubo in Dafeichuan, Qinghai, and suffered a major defeat. Wang Xiaojie was captured. At that time, the Tibetan emperor Zanpu Chidu Songzan was still a child. Seeing that Wang Xiaojie looked very similar to his father, he called him ‘dad’, which made the Tibetan ministers treat him kindly, treating him as if he were a distinguished guest.
Wang Xiaojie is probably the most well treated prisoner in history. Later, the Tang Dynasty reconciled with the Tibetan people, and the Tibetan people sent him back to the Tang Dynasty like a VIP.
From this matter, Wang Xiaojie is a very lucky person. If it weren’t for this, it is estimated that there would have been one less famous Tang Dynasty general Wang Xiaojie in history.
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To say he was a unlucky person means that in real history, he was indeed defeated by the East Gorge Stone Valley and ultimately died from falling off a cliff, but he was a person who feared death because of his incompetence.
In 696 AD, the Khitan leader Li Jinzhong rebelled against the Tang Dynasty. After Li Jinzhong’s death, his wife and brother Sun Wanrong continued to lead the rebellion.
In 697 AD, the Khitans entered Hebei, and Wu Zetian appointed Wang Xiaojie as the commander-in-chief of the Qing Border Road march, with Su Honghui as the deputy general, leading an army of 180000 to attack the Khitans.
On March 12th, Su Honghui and Wang Xiaojie encountered Khitan Sun Wanrong in Dongxia Shigu. Due to the narrow canyon and the large number of Khitan troops outside the canyon, Wang Xiaojie personally led a small number of elite soldiers as the vanguard, fought and advanced bravely, rushed out of the valley, and formed a phalanx of soldiers to fight against the enemy.
But at this time, Su Honghui was afraid of too many enemies and fled. The main force of the Tang army in the rear did not follow up or come to support.
In fact, at that time, Su Honghui did not flee due to fear of battle, but was held back by someone who was Wu Youyi, the nephew of Wu Zetian.
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At that time, although Wu Zetian was the empress, she was always afraid of others creating her own rebellion and was not at ease with anyone, especially military power. She was even more worried about giving it to others. Therefore, after the Khitan rebelled against the Tang Dynasty, Wu Zetian pondered and gave military power to her own people.
Appointing his nephew Wu Youyi as the Grand General and General of the Right Guard to suppress the Khitans, he was a person who lacked both military strategic thinking and courage, and dared not engage in battle with the Khitans even with a 200000 strong army.
Wu Zetian had no choice but to appoint Wang Xiaojie as the commander-in-chief of the Qing Border Road march to suppress the Khitans.
Now Wu Youyi, this timid person, only leads 30000 people to guard Yuyang, and is even more scared, afraid that the Khitan will attack. I heard that Wang Xiaojie fought bravely in the front and was even more afraid of the enemy coming from the rear, so he refused to let Su Honghui lead his troops to battle.
As a result, Wang Xiaojie went deep alone, outnumbered, and fell off a cliff to die.
In this sense, Wang Xiaojie devoted himself wholeheartedly to the front line battle, but lost support and ultimately lost his life due to an incompetent martial arts clan.
So, in real history, Wang Xiaojie was a true hero, a hero who died in battle to defend his country.
