Background
Li Xiaogong was born in 591, during the reign of Emperor Wen of Sui. His grandfather Li Wei (李蔚) was a son of the Western Wei general Li Hu (李虎), the grandfather of the major Sui general Li Yuan, and was a regional commandant during Sui's predecessor dynasty Northern Zhou. Li Xiaogong's father Li An (李安) was a general during Sui.
Li Xiaogong was considered calm and knowledgeable in his youth. After Li Yuan rebelled against Emperor Wen's son Emperor Yang of Sui in 617 and captured the capital Chang'an, declaring Emperor Yang's grandson Yang You the Prince of Dai emperor (as Emperor Gong), Li Yuan made Li Xiaogong in charge of a campaign to persuade or capture the region south of the Qinling Mountains. Li Xiaogong was able to persuade some 30 commanderies to submit to Li Yuan, and he also defeated the rebel leader Zhu Can in battle, after which he, against the advice of his subordinates, refused to slaughter the captives, and it was said that because of this, more rebels were willing to surrender to him than before.
After Emperor Yang was killed in a coup at Jiangdu (江都, in modern Yangzhou, Jiangsu) in 618, Li Yuan had Emperor Gong yield the throne to him, establishing Tang Dynasty as its Emperor Gaozu. He made Li Xiaogong the commandant at Xin Prefecture (信州, later name changed to Kui Prefecture (夔州), modern eastern Chongqing). As Li Xiaogong's territory was contiguous with another rebel ruler, Xiao Xian the Emperor of Liang, he offered Emperor Gaozu suggestions on destroying Liang. Emperor Gaozu created him the Prince of Zhao Commandery and, in spring 621, made the general Li Jing his assistant and strategist, preparing a major assault on Liang. He commissioned the sons of many of the non-Han chieftains of the area as officers, both as a way to placate the chieftains and to hold them as collateral for their loyalty.
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