During Emperor Gaozongs reign

It is not known when Wang Xiaojie was born, but it is known that his family was from the vicinity of Tang Dynasty's capital Chang'an. He was said to have had a successful military career during the reign of Emperor Gaozong. In 678, he served under the general Liu Shenli, the assistant to the chancellor Li Jingxuan in a campaign against Tibet. Li's army suffered a great defeat at the hands of the Tibetan general Gar Trinring Tsendro ("Lun Qinling" (論欽陵) in Chinese), and both Liu and Wang were captured by Trinring. When Wang was presented to the Mangsong Mangtsen, the king of Tibet, Mangsong Mangtsen was surprised by Wang's appearance and stated, "Your appearance is like my father's," and began to weep. As a result, he spared Wang and treated him well, finally returning him to Tang. After returning to Tang, Wang continued to serve as a general.

During Wu Zetians reign

As of 692, Emperor Gaozong's wife Wu Zetian was reigning. At that time, the general Tang Xiujing, who was then the commandant at Xi Prefecture (西州, roughly modern Turfan Prefecture, Xinjiang), was requested that an army be launched to recover four garrisons that had fallen to Tibet in 670 -- Qiuzi, Yutian, Shule, and Suiye. Because Wang had lived in Tibet for some time, he was considered knowledgeable about Tibet, and Wu Zetian commissioned him to command the army against Tibet, assisted by the general Ashina Zhongjie (阿史那忠節). In winter 692, Wang defeated Tibetan forces and recaptured the four garrisons.

In 694, Wang again achieved victories near Qinghai Lake against Tibetan general Gar Tsenyen Gungton ("Bolun Zanren" (勃論贊刃) in Chinese) and Western Turks' Shixing Khan Ashina Tuizi (阿史那俀子). He was soon made the minister of defense (夏官尚書, Xiaguan Shangshu) and given the designation Tong Fengge Luantai Sanpin (同鳳閣鸞臺三品). While serving as chancellor, he was also then commissioned to command an army against Eastern Turks, formally under the command of Wu Zetian's lover Huaiyi, but did not appear to actually engage the Eastern Turks' forces. He was again commissioned to attack Eastern Turks' in 695, but when Tibet attacked later that year, he was commissioned to attack Tibet instead. In 696, when he and fellow chancellor Lou Shide engaged Tibetan forces, however, they were defeated by Gar Trinring Tsendro and Trinring's brother Gar Tsenba ("Lun Zanpo" (論贊婆) in Chinese). Lou was demoted, while Wang was reduced to commoner rank.

Later that year, however, there was a major Khitan rebellion under Li Jinzhong, who died later that year and was succeeded by his brother-in-law Sun Wanrong. In 697, with Khitan forces penetrating deep into Zhou territory, Wu Zetian commissioned Wang to be the acting commander of an army against Khitan, assisted by Su Honghui (蘇宏暉), commanding some 170,000 men. In spring 697, Wang engaged Sun at Dongxia Rocky Valley (東硤石谷, near modern Tangshan, Hebei). Wang himself commanded the forward troops and had initial successes, but as he fought near a cliff, Khitan forces counterattacked, and Su Honghui fled. Wang fell off the cliff and died, and the army suffered heavy losses. Wang's secretary Zhang Shuo reported back to Wu Zetian in Luoyang (now capital) and stated, "Wang Xiaojie was brave and willing to fight to the death. He faithfully served the empire, fought into enemy territory, and fought many with few. But he had no backup, and so he was defeated." Wu Zetian posthumously honored Wang as the minister of defense and created him the Duke of Geng. She also ordered that Su Honghui be put to death, although before her emissaries arrived, Su had won other battles, and was spared the death penalty. Wang's son Wang Wuze (王無擇) later served as a general during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong.

Notes and references

• Old Book of Tang, vol. 97.

• New Book of Tang, vol. 111.https://web.archive.org/web/20071011093344/http://ef.cdpa.nsysu.edu.tw/ccw/02/ntan15.htm

• Zizhi Tongjian, vols. 205, 206.

生平

王孝傑早年事跡不詳，家住京師長安附近（雍州，後來的京兆府）的新豐縣。年輕時以軍功晉級。唐高宗儀鳳二年（677年）他隨負責西征吐蕃的宰相李敬玄的副手工部尚書劉審禮在大非川被吐蕃大將論欽陵打敗，二人都做了俘虜，不久劉審禮傷重去世。吐蕃贊普赤都松贊看見王孝傑，說王孝傑長得像他死去的父親，於是痛哭，所以他把王孝傑放回了唐朝，為右鷹揚衛將軍。

長壽元年（692年），西州（今新疆吐魯番）都督唐休璟請求武周女皇武則天，收復自670年以後，兩次陷於吐蕃的安西四鎮龜茲、于闐、疏勒、碎葉。因為王孝傑曾經長期住在吐蕃，知道吐蕃的內情，于是武則天以王孝傑為武威道總管，與阿史那忠節征討吐蕃。當年冬天，王孝傑擊敗吐蕃，收複安西四鎮。

694年，王孝傑在青海湖附近，打敗吐蕃大將勃論贊刃和吐蕃擁立的西突厥十姓可汗阿史那俀子。因此王孝傑官拜夏官尚書、同鳳閣鸞臺三品，封清源縣男。之後他在武則天情夫薛懷義的率領下，為瀚海道行軍總管，攻打後突厥，但是未遇突厥軍，無功而返。695年，為朔方道行軍總管再擊突厥。次年，吐蕃入侵臨洮，他作為肅邊道行軍大總管，以婁師德為副手，出擊吐蕃，交戰于素羅汗山（今洮州附近），敗于論欽陵、論贊婆兄弟。婁師德貶為原州員外司馬，王孝傑免為庶人。

萬歲通天元年（696年）五月，契丹李盡忠反叛，李盡忠死後，他的妻兄孫萬榮繼續領導叛軍。697年，契丹軍隊深入河北，武則天以王孝傑以白衣（庶人身份）起複為清邊道行軍總管，蘇宏暉為副，率軍17萬討伐契丹。697年三月十二，王孝傑、蘇宏暉進入東硤石谷（今河北唐山附近）遭遇契丹軍。因為峽谷狹窄，王孝傑率領先鋒精兵與契丹力戰，追擊到懸崖邊。契丹大軍圍擊，率領後軍的蘇宏暉逃走。王孝傑以少敵多，全軍覆沒，王孝傑跳崖而死。王孝傑的管記張說逃回洛陽報告：「孝傑忠勇敢死，乃誠奉國，深入寇境，以少御眾，但為後援不至，所以致敗。孝傑乃心國家，敢深入，以少當眾，雖敗，功可錄也。」武則天遣使斬蘇宏暉以示懲處。使者未至幽州，蘇宏暉已經立功贖罪，最終免于誅殺。于是追贈王孝傑為夏官尚書，封耿國公。拜其子王無擇為朝散大夫，後來成為唐玄宗時期的左驍衛將軍，以恩例贈王孝傑特進。

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