Is “Xue Rengui settled the Tianshan with three arrows” true?
The Old Book of Tang, Biography of Xue Rengui, records that Xue Rengui led troops to attack the nine surnames of Turks at Tianshan. The enemy sent dozens of men to challenge, and 'Rengui shot three arrows, killing three men, and the rest immediately dismounted and surrendered... The army sang: "The general settled the Tianshan with three arrows, and the soldiers sang long songs as they entered the Han pass."' In Chapter 071 of Romance of the Sui and Tang Dynasties, when Wu Zetian reads the memorial, she sees that 'Xue Rengui, in attacking the remnants of the Turks, settled the Tianshan with three arrows,' and sighs, 'How can tens of thousands of brave troops compare to Rengui's three arrows!' This military achievement is indeed historical fact.
In the official history, Xue Rengui's campaign against the Turks involved shooting three arrows to kill three men and subduing the rest, and the novel truthfully praises his military achievement.
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