Xue Rengui

Xue Rengui (simplified Chinese: 薛仁贵; traditional Chinese: 薛仁貴; pinyin: Xuē Rénguì; Wade–Giles: Hsüeh¹ Jen²-kuei⁴; 614–683), formal name Xue Li (薛禮) but went by the courtesy name of Rengui, was one of the most famous Chinese generals during the early Tang Dynasty, due to references to him in popular literature. During his career, he participated in successful campaigns against remnants of Western Tujue and against Goguryeo, with only one major flaw on his record which was an unsuccessful campaign against Tufan in 670, where another general in his army refused to listen to Xue's advice and charged ahead and caused the majority of the army to be lost.

Xue Rengui was born in 614, during the reign of Emperor Yang of Sui, but his early activities were not recorded, other than that his wife had the surname Liu (柳). It was said that he was poor and was a farmer. Around the time that Tang Dynasty's second emperor Emperor Taizong was set to launch a major campaign against Goguryeo in 644, Xue was planning to rebury his ancestors, when Lady Liu told him:

You have abilities higher than most people, and you need to know when to use them. Now, the Son of Heaven is ready to attack Liaodong and he is seeking for fierce warriors. These times do not come often. Is it not the case that you want to have achievements to show yourself? Once you received great honors, it will not be too late to rebury your ancestors.

...
Wikipedia