Luo Shixin was originally a young soldier under Zhang Xutuo, one of top generals of the Sui dynasty during Emperor Yang's reign.
[2] In 614, Luo Shixin and Qin Shubao played key roles in defeating the peasant army led by Lu Mingyue.
After some struggles and conflicts with Wang Shichong's nephew, Luo Shixin escaped from Luoyang and submitted to the emerging Tang dynasty instead.
At that time, another general of Tang named Wang Junkuo was guarding a small city by the Ming River (near today's Shahe).
Wang Junkuo was struggling under Liu Heita's attacks, and the reinforcement army led by Li Shimin failed to approach the city after three tries.
[8] Li Shimin was sad to hear about the death of Luo Shixin, bought his body back from Liu Heita and buried him ceremoniously [9] near the tomb of his former superior Pei Renji.