Gao Kaidao Gao Kaidao ( 高開道 ) ( died 624 ) , at one point known as Li Kaidao ( 李開道 ) , was an agrarian rebel leader who rose against Sui Dynasty rule at the end of Emperor Yang ' s reign . He occupied the region centering Huairong ( 懷戎 , in modern Zhangjiakou , Hebei ) and claimed the title of Prince of Yan , in alliance with Eastern Tujue . In 620 , he briefly submitted to Emperor Gaozu of Tang and was bestowed the imperial surname of Li , but in 621 he rebelled against Tang and reasserted independence . In 624 , his general Zhang Jinshu ( 張金樹 ) started a coup and he , realizing that the coup was about to succeed , committed suicide . Initial uprising . Little is known about Gao Kaidao ' s background , and his birth year is not known . He was from Cang Province ( 滄州 , roughly modern Cangzhou , Hebei ) . In his youth , he supported himself by boiling sea water to yield salt . He was said to be strong and fast on his horse . In or before 616 , Gao joined the rebel leader Ge Qian ( 格謙 ) . Ge was killed by the Sui general Yang Yichen in 616 , and Gao gathered the remainder of Ge ' s troops . He led them in pillaging the modern northern Hebei . In 617 , Gao put Beiping ( 北平 , in modern Qinhuangdao , Hebei ) under siege — a siege that lasted for more than a year . Around the new year 619 , the Sui general Li Jing ( 李景 ) , who defended the city , could not defend the city any more , and abandoned it when another Sui general , Deng Gao ( 鄧暠 ) , came to his aid . Gao Kaidao was then able to capture Beiping , and he then also captured Yuyang ( 漁陽 , in modern Tianjin ) . He declared himself the Prince of Yan and changed the era name to show independence from Sui . He set his capital at Yuyang . Meanwhile , there was another major rebel leader nearby — Gao Tansheng ( 高曇晟 ) , a Buddhist monk who had seized Huairong and claimed the title of Dacheng Emperor ( i . e . , Emperor of Mahayana ) . Gao Tansheng sent messengers to persuade Gao Kaidao to submit to him , and Gao Kaidao agreed . Gao Tansheng created him the Prince of Qi , but several months later , Gao Kaidao assassinated Gao Tansheng , taking over Gao Tansheng ' s troops and making Huairong his capital . Both he and another rebel leader , Dou Jiande , tried to get Luo Yi , who then occupied You Prefecture ( 幽州 , roughly modern Beijing ) , to submit , but Luo refused , submitting instead to Tang Dynasty . Brief submission to Tang and subsequent rebellion against Tang . In summer 620 , Dou put Luo , who had by now been bestowed the Tang imperial surname Li and was known as Li Yi , under siege . Li Yi sought aid from Gao , who personally led two thousand cavalry soldiers to aid Li Yi , causing Dou to withdraw . Gao thereafter sought to submit to Tang , through Li Yi . In winter 620 , Emperor Gaozu of Tang commissioned Gao as the commandant at Wei Prefecture ( 蔚州 , roughly modern Zhangjiakou ) and bestowed the imperial surname of Li on him as well , creating him the Prince of Beiping . It was around this time that an incident that showed both Gao ' s fortitude and cruelty was recorded , as an arrowhead was stuck in Gao ' s face . When he asked a surgeon to remove it , the surgeon replied , " The arrowhead was in too deep . I cannot remove it . " Gao , in anger , executed the surgeon . He then asked another surgeon , who responded , " I can remove it , but it will be very painful . " Gao again , in anger , executed to the surgeon . He then asked a third surgeon , who responded , " No problem . " The surgeon thereafter operated on him , drilling into his bone and cracking it open , to remove the arrowhead . It was said that during the operation , Gao continued feasting and had singing and dancing girls entertain him . In winter 621 , Li Yi ' s You Prefecture was suffering from a famine . Gao agreed to supply You Prefecture with food , and when Li Yi sent the weaker of his men to Wei Province to save them from the famine , Gao treated them well . Li Yi was pleased , and he sent three thousand men with several hundred wagons and over 1 , 000 horses and donkeys to Wei Prefecture to transport food . Gao , however , turned against Li Yi and kept all of them , breaking off the relations with Li Yi and Tang Dynasty . He allied himself with Eastern Tujue to the north and Liu Heita to the south . He attacked Yi Prefecture ( 易州 , part of modern Baoding , Hebei ) but could not capture it . He , however , carried out pillaging raids against the prefectures under Li Yi ' s and other Tang generals ' controls . In spring 623 , he joined Eastern Tujue ' s Jiali Khan Ashina Duobi and Wan Junzhang ( 苑君璋 ) , a general formally under Liu Wuzhou the Dingyang Khan , in attacking the Tang fortress Yanmen ( 雁門 , in modern Xinzhou , Shanxi ) , but could not capture it . He continued to raid Tang prefectures for several years , often in conjunction with Tujue or Xi . In 623 , he assisted Ashina Duobi in sieging Mayi ( 馬邑 , in modern Shuozhou , Shanxi ) and capturing it , although Ashina Duobi soon returned Mayi to Tang . Death . By spring 624 , Tang had largely wiped out the competitors for rule of China . Gao , fearful that he would be targeted next , considered surrendering , but decided not to do so because he had turned against Tang previously and because Eastern Tujue supported him . His men , however , were largely from territory now ruled by Tang , and they missed their homeland . Gao , fearing that the men might turn against him , selected several hundred men and formally adopted them as sons , having them guard his mansion , putting his confidant Zhang Jinshu ( 張金樹 ) in charge of the guards . Meanwhile , Liu Heita had been defeated and killed by Tang in 623 , and his general Zhang Junli ( 張君立 ) fled to Gao . Zhang Junli and Zhang Jinshu subsequently plotted against Gao . One night , Zhang Jinshu had his coconspirators secretly cut the strings on the guards ' bows and hide their swords and spears . After people were asleep , Zhang Jinshu and his coconspirators attacked Gao ' s mansion . When the guards realized that their weapons were useless or missing , they surrendered . Gao , realizing that his situation was hopeless , nevertheless put on his armor and armed himself with weapons , sitting in his great hall . He held a feast with his princess wife and concubines and ordered the music be played . The conspirators , fearing his ferocity , did not dare to approach . When dawn came , Gao committed suicide by hanging , and his wife , concubines , and sons all committed suicide as well . Zhang Jinshu then massacred Gao ' s adopted sons and Zhang Junli , surrendering to Tang .