The Tang Dynasty was one of the most powerful dynasties in Chinese history, and the turning point that led to the decline of this dynasty was the An Shi Rebellion initiated by An Lushan. Everyone who is familiar with the history of the Tang Dynasty knows the identity of An Lushan, who was once the most trusted minister of Tang Xuanzong, but he still chose to rebel in the end, and as for what the reason was, later scholars gave the answer.
An Lushan was a Hu man, and it was an extremely rare thing for him to become Tang Xuanzong's confidant, and the important reason for this was the crown prince Li Heng, although Li Heng was the son of Tang Xuanzong, but in the imperial family, in order to maintain the supremacy of imperial power, it was not impossible for father and son to oppose each other, and Tang Taizong Li Shimin and Gaozu Li Yuan were typical of them.
Tang Xuanzong's reign was no exception, the then crown prince Li Heng's power was very large, and he held a lot of military power in his hands, which was a big threat to Tang Xuanzong, in order to balance the prince, so Tang Xuanzong also reused some courtiers, the most important of which was An Lushan, An Lushan was in charge of military power, so that even if the crown prince Li Heng had a disobedient heart, Tang Xuanzong could also control the situation. In this case, An Lushan was treated favorably by Tang Xuanzong and was even made the king of the county.
But even so, An Lushan finally chose to rebel, in fact, his rebellion was not against Tang Xuanzong, but against the crown prince Li Heng, because at first in his opinion, Li Heng was likely to be deposed, so he always had no respect for this prince, resulting in a deep grudge between the two, but with the passage of time, Tang Xuanzong was old, but Li Heng was still not deposed, which made An Lushan begin to be unbearable, because once Li Heng inherited the throne, then he would be the first to be hit, so in this case, For the sake of their own future lives, if they are replaced by others, they may also choose to rebel.