Chapter 65 156 An Lushan Rebellion

During the reign of Tang Xuanzong, in order to strengthen the defense of the border, ten military towns (also called Fanzhen) were set up in important border areas, and the chiefs of the military towns were called Jiedushi.Jiedushi led the army and also took charge of administration and finance. He had great power and important status.According to the practice at the time, Jiedushi may be transferred to the imperial court as prime minister if he has made meritorious service. After Li Linfu took power, he not only excluded the civil servants of the imperial court, but also suspected the Jiedu envoys on the border.Wang Zhongsi, who served as the governor of Shuofang and other four towns, made many military exploits.His generals, Ge Shuhan and Li Guangbi, are all famous generals who are brave and good at fighting. Li Linfu saw Wang Zhongsi's great achievements and high prestige, and feared that he would be transferred back to the capital as prime minister by Tang Xuanzong, so he sent someone to Tang Xuanzong to falsely accuse Wang Zhongsi of wanting to support the crown prince. The rebellion caused Wang Zhongsi to almost lose his life.Later, it was Ge Shuhan who worked hard to avenge Wang Zhongsi in front of Tang Xuanzong, and Xuanzong spared Wang Zhongsi's death penalty and changed his punishment to demotion.Wang Zhongsi couldn't bear this wrong, and died of illness in a fit of anger.

At that time, there were some Hu people among the border generals.Li Linfu believed that the Hu people were low-educated and would not be transferred to the court as prime minister, so he tried his best to advocate the reuse of Hu people in front of Tang Xuanzong, on the grounds that Hu people were good at fighting and had no contact with court officials, so they were reliable.Tang Xuanzong was most afraid of the rebellion of the generals on the frontier, so he listened to Li Linfu's words and promoted some Hu people as Jiedu envoys. Among these Jiedu envoys of the Hu nationality, Tang Xuanzong and Li Linfu especially took a fancy to An Lushan, the Jiedu envoy of Pinglu (where the government is located in Chaoyang, Liaoning today).

An Lushan was a general in the Pinglu Army when he was young, but he was defeated because he did not obey military orders.The border guard sent him to Chang'an, and asked the court to punish him.The prime minister at that time, Zhang Jiuling, sentenced An Lushan to death in order to enforce military discipline.Tang Xuanzong heard that An Lushan was quite capable, so he ordered An Lushan to be released. Zhang Jiuling told Tang Xuanzong: "An Lushan violated the military order and lost troops and generals. According to the military law, he must be killed; and according to my observation, An Lushan is not a kind person. If he doesn't kill him, he may have endless troubles."

Tang Xuanzong did not listen to Zhang Jiuling's advice, but pardoned An Lushan.Later, Zhang Jiuling was dismissed.However, An Lushan relied on his flattery methods to advance step by step and became the envoy of Pinglu.Within three years, he also served as Jiedushi of Fan Yang (where the government is located in today's Beijing). After An Lushan became a Jiedu envoy, he tried his best to collect exotic animals and pearls, and often sent them to the court to curry favor with Tang Xuanzong.Knowing that Tang Xuanzong liked to report military exploits by frontier generals, he resorted to conspiracy to lure the leaders and soldiers of ethnic minorities near Pinglu to attend the banquet.At the banquet, they were drunk with medicine and wine, the soldiers were killed, and their leaders were beheaded, and dedicated to the court for their meritorious service.

Tang Xuanzong often summoned An Lushan to Chang'an to meet him.An Lushan seized this opportunity and used his cunning methods to please Tang Xuanzong as much as possible.An Lushan is very fat, with a protruding belly, short, and pretends to be stupid.Tang Xuanzong was happy when he saw him. Once, Tang Xuanzong pointed at his belly and joked, "What's in such a big belly?" An Lushan replied without hesitation: "There is nothing but a sincere heart." Tang Xuanzong felt that An Lushan was really loyal to him, and he was even happier.Later, An Lushan was made the king of the county, and he built a mansion in Chang'an that was as gorgeous as the residence of the princes and nobles.After An Lushan moved into the palace, Tang Xuanzong sent people to drink and have fun with him every day; he also asked Concubine Yang to adopt An Lushan as a godson, and let An Lushan come in and out of the inner palace at will, making him as affectionate as a family.

An Lushan cheated Tang Xuanzong and Li Linfu's trust. In addition to the two towns of Fanyang and Pinglu, he also served as the Jiedushi of Hedong (where the government is located in today's Taiyuan, Shanxi), and controlled most of the northern border.He secretly expanded his troops, promoted Shi Siming, Cai Xide and other strong generals, and appointed Han scholars Gao Shang and Yan Zhuang to help him make suggestions; he also selected 8,000 strong men from the surrendered troops of various ethnic groups on the border to form an elite army and hoard food and grass. , sharpen weapons.As soon as Tang Xuanzong died, he was ready to rebel.

Not long after, Li Linfu died of illness, and Concubine Yang's elder brother Yang Guozhong took over as prime minister by virtue of his status as a foreign relative.Yang Guozhong was originally a hooligan, An Lushan looked down on him, and he couldn't understand An Lushan, so the two had a conflict.Yang Guozhong repeatedly said in front of Tang Xuanzong that An Lushan must rebel.But Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty was favoring Anlu Mountain, so he would not believe it. As the days went by, signs of An Lushan's rebellion gradually emerged.He asked the imperial court to replace all the thirty-two Han generals in Fan Yang, and he himself appointed others; Tang Xuanzong personally wrote an edict asking An Lushan to go to Chang'an, but he also refused to go because of illness.Tang Xuanzong began to doubt An Lushan.But neither Tang Xuanzong nor Yang Guozhong thought of how to guard against the An Lushan rebellion.

In October 755 AD, after careful preparations, An Lushan decided to launch a rebellion.At this time, an official came to Fan Yang from Chang'an.An Lushan forged an imperial edict sent by Tang Xuanzong from Chang'an, summoned the soldiers and announced: "I received the emperor's secret order, asking me to immediately lead troops into Beijing to attack Yang Guozhong." The soldiers all felt it was sudden and looked at each other in blank dismay, but who dared to doubt the imperial edict. Early the next morning, An Lushan led the rebels southward.150,000 infantry and cavalry marched on the Hebei Plain, with smoke and dust billowing along the way, and the sound of drums shaking the ground.There has been no war in the Central Plains for about a hundred years, and the common people have not seen a war for several generations.The officials along the road fled and fled, surrendered and surrendered.The An Lushan rebels continued to attack southward with little resistance.

When the news of Fan Yang's rebellion spread to Chang'an, Tang Xuanzong thought it was a man-made rumor, but he still didn't believe it. Later, when the alarms came one by one, he also panicked and immediately called the ministers to discuss.The officials of the Manchu Dynasty had not experienced such a big disturbance, and they were all stunned. Only Yang Guozhong said triumphantly: "I said that An Lushan would be rebelled, so I was right. But don't worry, Your Majesty. He The soldiers will not rebel with him. Within ten days, someone must send An Lushan's head."

Tang Xuanzong felt a little relieved after hearing these words.However, who knows, not long after, the rebels drove straight in, crossed the Yellow River, and occupied Luoyang.