Beijing is the core of a country and a symbol of prosperity and stability. Therefore, most of the time, the emperor will stay in the capital, although the world is chaotic, the people will not panic when they see that the emperor is still there and the capital is still there. However, once the capital fell, the common people would fall into a slump in will, such as a poem by Du Fu that reads:
"The country is broken by mountains and rivers, and the city is deep in spring grass and trees.
When I feel the flowers splash tears, I hate the birds and be frightened.
The flames lasted for three months, and the family letter arrived at ten thousand gold.
The white head scratches are shorter and more overwhelming. ”
Why did Du Fu write such a sad poem? In fact, it is related to the emperor's escape from the capital. The emperor at that time could not control the situation and was about to leave the capital. The ministers advised him to burn down all the granaries, but the emperor stopped him: "Never burn, leave it all to the enemy!" "Is this emperor having a bad brain, or is he having some other plan?" This brings us to a long-lost story in history— the Anshi Rebellion.
Although the Tang Dynasty was a great dynasty, it had been a complex internal struggle since its founding in 618 AD. First, Li Shimin launched the Xuanwumen Rebellion in 627 and took the Jiangshan of his father and brother; then in 690, Wu Zetian became emperor and took the Jiangshan of her husband and son; later, although in 705, although the Li family and ministers united to abolish Wu Zetian's throne, they inherited the "tracheitis" problem of Li Zhi of Tang Gaozong.
Crown Prince Li Xian inherited the throne, but the power was controlled by Empress Wei, Shangguan Wan'er, Princess Taiping, and others, and was eventually poisoned unknowingly. Although Li Chongmao was later appointed as Emperor Shao of Tang, the power was basically held by Empress Wei, Shangguan Wan'er, and Princess Taiping. Later, Li Longji joined forces with Princess Taiping in 710 to launch a coup d'état and installed his father Li Dan as emperor— but princess Taiping, the minister of the Dragon, was still interfering in state affairs.
It was not until 713, when Li Longji killed Princess Taiping, that the great court brawl that began during the Wu Zetian period ended at the hands of Li Longji of Tang Xuanzong. Li Longji, who had experienced these ups and downs, especially understood that the peace in the world was not easy to come by, and he also knew that it was not easy for the common people to live a stable life, so he began to exert himself to govern it. He selected Yao Chong, Song Jing, Zhang Shu, Zhang Jiuling and other capable people to help govern the country.
At the same time, he also learned from Tang Taizong's virtue of being diligent and consultative, and carried out reforms in all aspects of the country' problems. Tang Xuanzong first strengthened the rule of law and severely cracked down on those who bent the law for personal gain, even the famous minister Yao Chong, who was deposed for forming a party for personal gain, and appointed Song Jing, who was just and upright, as the new prime minister. Later, he heeded Zhang Shuo's suggestion and implemented the principle of crack troops, reduced military expenditure, and increased the combat effectiveness of the army.
Due to a series of reform measures by Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, the economic and comprehensive strength of the Tang Dynasty rose rapidly. The verses in Du Fu's "Two Poems of Remembrance of the Past" can be seen in the grand situation of the Tang Dynasty at that time:
"Remembering the past emperors patrolling ShuoFang, thousands of horses rode into Xianyang. The proud son of the Yin Mountains sweated and blooded horses, and drove Dong Hu hu to Tibet for a long time. ”
"Recalling the heyday of the kaiyuan in the past, Xiaoyi still hid thousands of families. Rice is white, and public and private warehouses are abundant. There are no jackals on the roads of Kyushu, and there is no sunrise in Laoji. Qi Lu Lu car shift, male cultivator female Sang do not lose. ”
At that time, Tang Xuanzong pushed the territory of the Tang dynasty eastward to the area of today's Jilin, west to the area of present-day Uzbekistan, north to the vicinity of the Angara River in today's Russia, and to the south to rule part of Vietnam. At that time, the land area of the Tang Dynasty reached 10.76 million square kilometers, and the population reached more than 80 million, which can be said to be an extremely rare grand situation in China's feudal society.
However, after the world was well governed, Tang Xuanzong began to "float". First of all, like his ancestors, he brought in a large number of foreign troops to restrain the family clans at that time: An Lushan and Shi Siming were followed by him; at the same time, like his ancestors, he began to fall in the gentle countryside of beautiful women - and Yang Yuhuan loved very much. In fact, at this time, Tang Xuanzong still had some self-control, and he drove Yang Yuhuan out of the palace many times. Because he found Yang Yuhuan around, he could not resist the temptation and abandoned the state government, and at the same time, Yang Yuhuan's family often embezzled money and perverted the law.
But in the end, Tang Xuanzong was completely destroyed--every time he drove Yang Yuhuan out, he couldn't eat or sleep well, and he had to invite her back to hug and cry. After repeated ideological struggles, Tang Xuanzong finally "figured it out": After a lifetime of hard work, can't he still enjoy it? No matter how chaotic the world is, it will not collapse completely because I am too entangled with my wife, right? The country and the mountains also want, and the beauties must also want!
Of course, the result of the latter is that the Tang Dynasty really collapsed because they were too affectionate. In 755, the AnShi Rebellion broke out, and at this time, Tang Xuanzong, who had already been confused by Yang Yuhuan and a group of his favorite courtiers, began to panic. Because the Tang Dynasty attached great importance to military merit, most of the troops were expanding their territory on the frontier, and now An Lushan and others provoked the rebellion of the nomadic peoples who had already been annexed in the territory, and Tang Xuanzong actually had no troops to resist.
It was difficult to send several veteran generals Feng Changqing, Gao Xianzhi, and Ge Shuhan to resist, but because Tang Xuanzong and his courtiers blindly commanded the entire army to be destroyed behind their backs. In a fit of rage, Tang Xuanzong cut off the Great Wall and killed the only few generals, and the capital was directly exposed to the enemy army. Amid the bloody smell wafting in the wind, Tang Xuanzong finally woke up a little—but it was too late by this time. So he ordered the withdrawal from the capital, the so-called Tianzi "hunting".
However, before leaving the capital, the chancellor advised Li Longji to burn down the grain stored in the palace, but was stopped by Tang Xuanzong Li Longji. He said bitterly and sadly: "If the thieves do not get the treasure, they will certainly indulge the army to rob the people, and then the people will suffer." Or leave the grain and treasures to them, and leave a way for the people to live! This is also the last thing that I, the emperor of the abandoned government, can do for the common people! ”
Although Tang Xuanzong was extravagant and wasteful in the later period, he indulged in female sex, but when he said these words, we seemed to see that once heroic and extraordinary Ming Jun, taking the interests of the common people as the highest interest, this is the real courage of the son of heaven!