"Later Cheng Yaojin went to Wagang and voted for Li Mi. Together with Qin Qiong, Luo Shixin and others, he was in charge of Wagang's most elite 8,000 hussars."
"Cheng Yaojin fought bravely and fought with integrity. He was highly used both under Li Mi and later Wang Shichong."
"But Cheng Yaojin also knew that neither of these two people would achieve great things, so he led a group of subordinates to defect on the battlefield and surrendered to Li Yuan's Tang army."
"Li Yuan valued Cheng Yaojin very highly and placed him under the command of Qin King Li Shimin, making him serve as the third commander of the left army and in charge of thousands of Tang troops."
"Li Shimin also valued Cheng Yaojin because he had a brute force in fighting. He was a brave general like the famous Han Dynasty general Fan Kuai, and he often rushed to the front."
"Not long after, Cheng Yaojin was granted the title of Lord Su Guo and was given the title of First Grade Noble."
"In the seventh year of Wude, Prince Li Jiancheng secretly planned to fight against Qin King Li Shimin. The first step was to use some tricks to send Cheng Yaojin to Kangzhou to be the governor."
"Kangzhou was considered a place where the sky was high and the emperor was far away at that time. It was precisely because of this unsatisfactory official career that Cheng Yaojin hated Li Jiancheng."
"Two years later, during the Xuanwu Gate Incident, Cheng Yaojin returned the favor."
"Cheng Yaojin's 45 years in officialdom actually has a lot to do with his attitude towards life."
"Cheng Yaojin is a very loyal person. When Li Shimin decided to launch the Xuanwu Gate Revolution, Cheng Yaojin was the first to stand up and actively support Li Shimin."
"Cheng Yaojin's decision was very wise, and it also allowed Li Shimin to see Cheng Yaojin's determination, confidence and loyalty."
"From that time Li Shimin decided that he would never let Cheng Yaojin down in the future."
"After Li Shimin succeeded to the throne of the crown prince, Cheng Yaojin, who had played an important role in supporting the throne, was named the third-rank Youwuwei General and was in charge of the palace imperial army."
"After Li Shimin ascended the throne, Cheng Yaojin was appointed as the governor of Luzhou, entrusting Chijie to oversee the military affairs of Lu, Rong and Rong."
"At that time, Cheng Yaojin was equivalent to serving as an imperial envoy and also in charge of military power."
"Li Shimin successfully ascended to the throne of the Tang Dynasty. He was so kind to Cheng Yaojin that he even married his daughter to Cheng Yaojin's son, and the two families became in-laws."
"After that, Cheng Yaojin's career was even smoother. First, he was changed to the hereditary Duke of Lu, which was different from ordinary Dukes such as Qin Qiong."
"He was also granted the rank of second-grade general to suppress the army. At this time, Cheng Yaojin's main task is to stay in Chang'an and defend the capital. Although his official positions include a general on the left and a general on the right, most of them are honorary titles."
"Cheng Yaojin's status in the court has also been greatly improved."
"He is already the Duke of the country, and with his relationship with Li Shimin, he can be said to be a very popular minister."
"However, Cheng Yaojin had no desire for power. Although he had achieved a high status and identity at the time, he rarely participated in major political events in the DPRK."
"Until the first year of Xianqing reign of Emperor Gaozong of the Tang Dynasty, Cheng Yaojin was appointed as the "General Manager of the March on Congshan Road" to conquer the Turks in the west."
"This is the pinnacle of Cheng Yaojin's career and the pinnacle of the military generals of the Tang Dynasty. The chief military officer of the Marching Army was the highest official position of the Tang Dynasty's military generals with real power."
"And this time Cheng Yaojin also has many famous generals under his command. The most famous one is Su Dingfang, also known as Su Lie to most people."
"But this expedition also showed Cheng Yaojin's naive side. He is only suitable for charging into battle, not for commanding an army."
"Because his deputy general Wang Wendu was jealous of Su Dingfang, who had repeatedly made military exploits, he slandered him in front of Cheng Yaojin and said that he had the emperor's secret decree."
"The simple Cheng Yaojin did not make any judgments and followed Wang Wendu's advice. First, he made the Tang army march slowly in the severe winter wind, and then massacred the city after the victory."
"Of these two decisions, the former caused the Tang army to lose troops and generals in vain, and the latter made Cheng Yaojin infamous."
"After the army was reorganized, Wang Wendu was dismissed from his post because he falsely conveyed the imperial edict, and Cheng Yaojin was also implicated. He lost his position as chief marching general and was demoted to a commoner."
"But then Cheng Yaojin was appointed again, and he was able to serve as the governor safely, but he resigned not long after and went to Chang'an to live in his old age."
"In the second year of Linde, Cheng Yaojin passed away at the age of 77. He was a legend throughout his life. He was neither smart nor clever. His promotion relied on loyalty, brute force and luck."
"But this naive general, who didn't know much about the world, reached the pinnacle of military generals in the Tang Dynasty."
"You can say that he is naive, but he can understand the leader's face, and he is not greedy for power. A general does not value power and status. Isn't this what a leader wants? Even when Wu Zetian ascended the throne, Cheng Yaojin did not Nothing happened."
"The reason why Cheng Yaojin was able to dominate the officialdom for forty-five years, and even Wu Zetian did not dare to take action against him, was mainly because he knew how to get along with leaders."
"During Cheng Yaojin's promotion process, he was always able to capture the needs of leaders and constantly provided help and support to leaders."
"He knew that leadership needed obedient ministers rather than a general with outstanding military exploits, so he chose to keep a low profile after Wu Zetian ascended the throne to minimize his threat."
"This allowed Wu Zetian to eliminate her doubts about him and save her own life."
"In addition, Cheng Yaojin can accurately judge the leader's intentions and know when to take a step back."
"He knows very well that in officialdom, if one's reputation exceeds that of the Holy One, it will be a dead end."
"Therefore, during successive leadership changes, Cheng Yaojin always chose to stay behind and stay low-key, instead of competing for success and gain."
"This wisdom of knowing how to advance and retreat allowed him to avoid risks in political struggles and gain more opportunities for himself."
"During Li Zhi's reign, although Wu Zetian received Li Zhi's favor and support, the ministers were extremely dissatisfied."
"At this critical moment, Cheng Yaojin did not choose to take any side, but remained silent."
"He is able to give without asking for anything in return, hide his ambition deep in his heart, and not touch the emperor's evil scale."
"Cheng Yaojin was once named the prime minister of the auxiliary state, but he could also accept being demoted to the status of minor governor, and even voluntarily resigned from his official position. This attitude of not being greedy for power made it easier to win the trust of the leader and become the monarch's confidant. "
"Cheng Yaojin left an image of a "reckless man" and a "fool" in the officialdom. In fact, this was how he saved his life."
"He is well aware of the intrigues in the court, but he never comments too much on anything. Whether he is promoted or dismissed, he can always accept it calmly and has no need to defend himself."
"His attitude in court made people mistakenly think that he was stupid, so they did not want to get entangled with him. It was this kind of "great wisdom but foolishness" performance that allowed Cheng Yaojin to save his own life when others were dying. life."
