Liu Heita - Defeat and Death

Defeat and Death

Meanwhile, though, Li Shimin arrived in the region, and both he and Li Yi recaptured some prefectures that Liu Heita had captured, although, in turn, Liu was able to capture the major Tang general Luo Shixin (羅士信) and kill him. Eventually, the Tang and Handong forces stalemated across the Ming River (洺水, flowing through Ming Prefecture) for more than 60 days. Both sides tried to attack each other, without success. Meanwhile, Li Shimin set up a dam upstream on the Ming River. When Liu attacked, Li Shimin had the dam destroyed, and much of the Handong army was drowned. Liu was able to flee with his general Wang Xiaohu (王小胡), but Handong defenses otherwise collapsed. Liu fled to Eastern Tujue, and Handong territory fell into Tang hands.

In summer 622, Liu, with Eastern Tujue reinforcements, tried to return to the region. Li Yi was unable to stop him. With Li Shimin having already returned to Chang'an at that point, Emperor Gaozu sent another son of a cousin, Li Daoxuan (李道玄) the Prince of Huaiyang, to attack Liu, along with Li Yuanji. However, Liu's army won battle after battle, and in winter 622, Liu engaged Li Daoxuan at Xiabo (下博, in modern Hengshui), defeating and killing Li Daoxuan. Within half a month, Liu again recovered all of former Xia territory. Li Yuanji feared his power and hesitated at engaging him.

Meanwhile, Emperor Gaozu's oldest son, Li Jiancheng the Crown Prince, was by now in an intense rivalry with Li Shimin, as he feared that Li Shimin had the intent to seize the throne for himself rather than yielding to Li Jiancheng as the older brother. When Emperor Gaozu considered sending Li Shimin again, Li Jiancheng, at the suggestion of his staff members Wang Gui and Wei Zheng, volunteered. Emperor Gaozu therefore sent him. Meanwhile, Liu's forces became bogged down while sieging Tang's Wei Prefecture (魏州, in modern Handan as well), and when Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji arrived, Liu's forces ran out of food supplies and collapsed. Liu was able to flee, but in spring 623, as his flight, with only about 100 guards, took him to Rao Prefecture (饒州, in modern Hengshui), his prefect of Rao Prefecture, Zhuge Dewei, welcomed him into the city and held a feast for him. In the middle of the feast, however, Zhuge ambushed him and his guards, capturing them and delivering them to Li Jiancheng. Li Jiancheng had Liu Heita and his brother Liu Shishan (劉十善) executed on the street of Ming Prefecture. Before his death, Liu Heita lamented:

I was tending my garden. It was those people led by Gao Yaxian who brought me to this point.