Liu Hongji was a general at the founding of the Tang. Chapter 90 of the New Book of Tang begins that Liu Hongji was a man of Chiyang in Yongzhou. Wikidata's Chinese label is also Liu Hongji, and its English label is Liu Hongji, so the title stays the personal name. This entry records his life as 582 to 650.[1][3]
Troubles at the end of the Sui
The New Book of Tang says that as a young man he was appointed a right guard of the Sui through his family's standing. At the end of the Daye era he joined the campaign against Liaodong, but he was short of money. By the time he reached Fenyin he judged he would be late and be executed, so he and his companions slaughtered an ox against the law and hinted to officials to arrest them. After a year or so he was sentenced to redeem the offence, then fled and lived by stealing horses. At Taiyuan he secretly attached himself to Emperor Gaozu, and, seeing that Taizong had an unusual bearing, he trusted himself to him all the more. He was treated with warmth and honor, came and went with mounted attendants, and sometimes entered the private chamber. The Chinese Wikipedia article adds that his father Liu Sheng was governor of Hezhou under the Sui, and that he killed the ox in order to avoid following Emperor Yang to Goguryeo.[3][2]
The uprising and the founding
When the army was about to rise, Liu Hongji recruited two thousand soldiers. Wang Wei and others obstructed the great undertaking, and Liu Hongji and Zhangsun Shunde waited behind the hall and signaled their men to seize them. He took part in the capture of Xihe. Song Laosheng was defeated and threw himself from his horse into a ditch, and Liu Hongji cut off his head and was made right grand master of splendid happiness. When the army reached Pu, he led troops across the Yellow River first and took Fengyi. As commissioner of the Weibei circuit, with Yin Kaishan as his deputy, he went west against Fufeng and gathered sixty thousand men. He then crossed the Wei to the south, camped at the old city of Chang'an and drew up at the Jinguang gate. The Sui general Wei Wensheng came to resist, and Liu Hongji counterattacked and took over a thousand armored men and several hundred horses. Other armies had not yet arrived, and he was the first to win. After the capital was taken his merit was ranked first and he was made grand general of the right valiant guard.[3]
Campaigns
He fought Xue Ju at Qianshuiyuan. The armies of eight commanders were wiped out, and only his force fought hard until its arrows ran out and he was taken. The emperor honored him for not yielding in danger and treated his family well. He returned after Xue Rengao was defeated and kept his office as before. When Liu Wuzhou attacked Taiyuan he held Pingyang and was again taken, but soon escaped and was made commander of the left first corps. He stayed with the Prince of Qin at Baibi and took two thousand picked troops from Xizhou to Xihe to cut off the enemy's retreat. When Song Jingang fled, he chased him to Jiexiu with cavalry and, with the prince, crushed him, and was repeatedly ennobled, becoming Duke of Ren. He also took part in the campaign against Liu Heita. When the Turks pressed the border, he commanded ten thousand foot and horse, and built barriers from Bin northward to the Ziwu range in the east and west as far as Linjing.[3]
The Zhenguan years and death
The New Book says that in the early Zhenguan years, Li Xiaochang and others plotted rebellion, and Liu Hongji was struck from the rolls and made a commoner for associating with them. After a year or so he was recalled as governor of Yizhou and his titles were restored, then summoned as minister of the guards and re-enfeoffed as Duke of Kui. Because of age he asked to retire, became a grand general who assists the state, attended court on the first and fifteenth day of the month, and kept the salary of an active official. When Taizong campaigned against Liaodong, he called Liu Hongji as grand commander of the front army, and he distinguished himself at Zhubi Mountain, with his households raised to eleven hundred. After his death he was given the rank of unequalled honor and the governorship of Bingzhou, was buried beside the Zhao Mausoleum, and received the name Xiang. The Chinese Wikipedia article says he died in the first year of Yonghui under Emperor Gaozong (650) at the age of sixty-nine. It also says that he was impeached several times in the Zhenguan years for corruption and demoted, which differs from the New Book's account.[3][2]
His last distribution
When he fell ill he gave each of his sons fifteen servants and five qing of fields. He told those close to him that if the sons were worthy they would not need much wealth, and that if they were not, these would at least keep them from hunger and cold. The rest he distributed to relatives and friends. His son Liu Renshi inherited the title.[3]