Is “Li Mi sent Qin Qiong and Luo Shixin to lead troops to repel Xiao Xian” true?
According to the Old Book of Tang, Biography of Li Jing, Xiao Xian proclaimed himself emperor in Jiangling. In the fourth year of Wude, Emperor Gaozu of Tang ordered that "Li Jing further presented ten strategies to plan the conquest of Xiao Xian. Gaozu followed them, appointing Li Jing as the marching commander, concurrently serving as Li Xiaogong's chief military secretary." They advanced by both water and land, forced Xiao Xian to surrender, and executed him in Chang'an. Qin Qiong and Luo Shixin never campaigned against Xiao Xian. In Chapter 52 of Romance of the Sui and Tang Dynasties, it is fabricated that due to a grain shortage at Wagang, Li Mi "sent Brother Qin and Luo Shixin to lead troops to conquer Xiao Xian." Chapter 55 describes the two killing and repelling Xiao Xian and returning in triumph, which is an embellishment by the novel.
In the official history, after Xiao Xian established his separatist regime in Jiangling, he was destroyed by Li Xiaogong and Li Jing. The novel fabricates that Qin Qiong and Luo Shixin led troops to repel Xiao Xian.
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