An Lushan was active in the second half of Emperor Xuanzong's reign, when the entire Tang Dynasty was benefiting from the peaceful and prosperous era, the splendid cultural flowers and the Chinese land bloomed.
An Lushan rose at this time but was fleeting, but his appearance undoubtedly dealt a fatal blow to the Tang Dynasty, turning the originally glorious dynasty into a further decline.
The prosperity of the Tang Dynasty
At the end of the Sui Dynasty, the Sui Emperor was extremely extravagant, and recklessly marched to Liaozuo, and the people were miserable, and heroes from all over the world rose up one after another, among which Li Yuan of Taiyuan was the grandson of Li Hu, one of the Eight Pillars of Northern Zhou, and belonged to the Xianbei bloodline of the Mongolian ethnic group.
At that time, there were many rumors among the people that the son of Li Tianzi would change the dynasty, so Li Yuan was not used during the Sui Emperor, but was treated coldly everywhere, and because of this rumor, he also paid the price of his life several times, thanks to his wife Dou Shi and his second son Li Shimin were spared.
When Li Yuan became the defender of the northern defense fortress Taiyuan, it coincided with the rampant Eastern Turk forces, and Li Yuan's guards were unfavorable and fearful of punishment by the Sui Emperor, coupled with an affair with the palace maid of the Sui Emperor, he finally made up his mind to oppose Sui under the persuasion of his son Li Shimin and later the current chancellor Pei Ying.
Li Yuan then succeeded in capturing Chang'an as planned, proclaiming Emperor Sui's grandson Wang Yang You, and then accepting his abdication and naturally changing the name of the country to Tang, and the Tang Dynasty was established.
During the Li dynasty, the first half belonged to a period of prosperity and the second half belonged to a period of turmoil.
In the later period of Tang Gaozu, Li Shimin and Li Jiancheng brothers fought and washed the Xuanwu Gate in blood, and it has to be said that Li Shimin has been intelligent since childhood, not only made meritorious achievements when the Tang Dynasty was established, but also heroic and superb, but Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji were very disdainful of this.
The better Li Shimin was, the more jealous the two became, and eventually the two began to befriend Tang Gaozu's favorite concubine, and joined forces to frame Li Shimin, so that Tang Gaozu began to gradually distance himself from him, but rather than hating him, it was Li Shimin's excellence that made Li Yuan, as a father, also feel threatened.
After the change of Xuanwumen, Emperor Gaozu abdicated and Emperor Taizong ascended the throne, after which Emperor Taizong appointed Du Ruxi, Fang Xuanling and other famous sages to rectify internal affairs, gradually improve the bureaucratic system at all levels, making the Tang Dynasty the largest possessor of China's territory in history, and Tang Taizong himself was honored as the "Heavenly Khan" by the vassals who were subordinate to the Tang Dynasty.
After Emperor Taizong of Tang, Emperor Gaozong of Tang and Li Zhi ascended the throne, but to the world's dumbfoundedness, the third generation of the Li family had mediocre qualifications, and although Emperor Gaozong was also diligent and self-disciplined during the crown prince's period, he was more in line with the conditions of the royal heir, but in the years of his accession to the throne, another accident appeared.
At the age of fourteen, Wu was fortunate that Emperor Taizong of Tang was made a Zhengwupin talent, and soon after Emperor Taizong of Tang died, Wu Shi cut his hair according to the ancestral system and moved to Kanye Temple, while Emperor Gaozong was sullen because of his love for Wu.
But according to the practice at that time, it was absolutely impossible for Emperor Gaozong to marry his father's concubine as the king of a country, not to mention that at this time, the Wu clan had become a bhikshuni, and then the person who changed the fate of the two, the queen queen, appeared.
Empress Wang was favored by Xiao Shufei at that time because she could not give birth, and in order to make Xiao Shufei fall out of favor, Empress Wang confirmed the old saying that the so-called enemy of the enemy is a friend, and managed to make the Wu clan return to the vulgarity and enter the palace, just like that, the Wu clan became the third grade Zhaoyi.
After that, with his tough means, he successively eliminated Empress Wang and Xiao Shufei, compared to Empress Wang before she was demoted to a commoner, and the sword she raised at the beginning became a sharp blade to stab herself.
Although the foreign Qi of the Tang Dynasty was angry that Empress Wang had been wronged, but after all, it could not compare with the interests of the family, and the Wu clan successfully became the empress, and her son Li Hong became the crown prince, but the Wu clan was like sailing with the wind at this time, Emperor Gaozong was suffering from the wind, and all administrative affairs were in the hands of Empress Wu.
With his strong character and extraordinary courage, Wu gradually strengthened his determination to establish the Wuhou regime, and after sweeping away obstacles one after another, Wu Zetian ascended to the throne of the Tang Dynasty.
After Wu Zetian came to the throne, he actively rectified the rule of officials, vigorously developed the imperial examination system, and cultivated newly selected young officials as his confidants and used it as the foundation of his political power.
With the continuous growth of Wu Zetian's power, Emperor Wu's nephew Wu Chengji failed to seek the position of crown prince, the coup d'état launched by Emperor Zhongzong was victorious, and after Wu Zetian's death, many forces competed for the throne, and finally the forces led by Li Longji won the victory, his father ascended to the throne, and Li Longji was made crown prince.
After Tang Xuanzong came to the throne, he poured unparalleled enthusiasm into politics, Tang Xuanzong was diligent in government affairs day and night when he first ascended to the great treasure, and he also changed the normal state of arrogance and indulgence before the Tang Dynasty by example, under the leadership of this enterprising young son of heaven, the Tang Dynasty was strong, the sea was leveled, the centralization of power was strengthened, and the society and culture were more prosperous.
Emperor Xuanzong was politically enthusiastic and paid great attention to the selection and talents of local officials, and even many capable Beijing officials would become local officials after being appreciated, as if taking office to the local government was no longer a kind of exile but more like a kind of praise and recognition.
When Emperor Xuanzong came to the throne, not only was there no invasion of foreign forces, but even above the court, there were many talents, and a total of thirty-four prime ministers were appointed during the Kaiyuan and Tianbao years, and all of them were sages, especially Yao Chong, Song Jing, etc. comparable to the original Fang Xuanling and Du Ruxian virtuous ability.
Although Yao Chong was a loyal man, he seemed to be quite bad at educating his children, and Yao Chong's two sons, Yao Yi and Yao Yi, accepted bribes under their father's glory, and were very poorly praised at the time, and Yao Chong also resigned because of this, and recommended Song Jing, the governor of Guangzhou, before leaving.
Although Yao Chong is far away from the imperial court, but Song Jing, who was recommended by him, is also a virtuous talent, compared to Yao Chong's previous improvisation, Song Jing seems to be a kind of person who conforms to the rules, he is paranoid and polite, strictly abide by the etiquette system, is a rare upright person, and dares to state his opinions above the court, and there are many enemies for a while.
Emperor Xuanzong's life is free-spirited, and he has a graceful appearance, but he is slightly narrow in terms of temperament, and in the face of people who are unwilling to submit to him, his means are also quite ruthless, and he is very easy to be emotional.
However, the biggest weakness of the Son of Heaven is the advice of officials, and the verbal dispute between the ministers above the court is even more headache, among the ministers, Han Xiu is a very upright person, he often openly points out Tang Xuanzong's inappropriate behavior above the court, although Tang Xuanzong is embarrassed, but in the end he still listens to it.
Therefore, under Han Xiu's never-ending spur, Tang Xuanzong paid attention to his words and behavior, whether in the imperial court, in the court, or even in idleness or hunting, afraid that he would be consulted by Han Xiu if he was not careful.
The Origin and Disappearance of An Lushan
While the rule of the Tang Dynasty was gradually getting better, fate quietly sided with it, An Lushan was born in Turkic territory, ugly from birth, and was active in the frontier region until the age of thirty, mainly living by reselling goods.
In the twenty years of the first century, thanks to the Tang Dynasty's festival envoy system, Zhang Shoujue went to serve as the Youzhou festival envoy, and by chance met An Lushan, who was idle at that time, and saw that he was quite arrogant, so he included it under his banner, and then An Lushan's brave and warlike character was appreciated by Zhang Shoujue, and after successive promotions, he was awarded the important task of crusading against the Khitan.
However, it turned out that An Lushan was not a person who was good at scheming, and was sentenced to death after being in the arms of the enemy, Zhang Shoujue on the one hand could not bear to kill the talents who had been cultivated for many years, on the other hand, An Lushan did have unfair battle exploits, so he escorted him back to Beijing.
After Emperor Xuanzong saw An Lushan, he liked him very much, and Emperor Xuanzong only cut his official position, but Seweng lost his horse and knew that it was not a blessing, although Lushan's official position was cut, but Tang Xuanzong did not even listen to Zhang Jiuling's advice to favor himself, which is gratifying.
An Lushan, who was saved from death, served as the envoy of Pinglu in the 29th year of the first century, and during this period, An Lushan grew rapidly and became more sleek, and he was like a fish in water in the officialdom, leaving an excellent impression on Emperor Xuanzong of Tang.
During Zhang Shoujue's time, An Lushan naturally became an envoy of Jiedu, and in the following years, he continued to expand his power and completely rise to the top.
Yang Guifei was originally the wife of King Shou, the son of Emperor Xuanzong and Concubine Wuhui, and because of her stunning appearance, outstanding temperament and excellent musical rhythm, she was favored by Emperor Xuanzong of Tang and became a noble concubine.
Since then, the two have experienced a period of love and harmony, Qin Se and Ming, but as Tang Xuanzong's favor for Yang Guifei is increasing, rumors are spreading above the court, and Tang Xuanzong has gradually become a comatose monarch who is addicted to beautiful songs and dances all day, and it is difficult to distinguish the appearance of the young king who was full of spirits in the past,
And An Lushan was also very shrewd at this time to befriend Yang Guifei's family, and constantly assisted the Yang family to expand its power, until Yang Guozhong fought with Li Linfu for an official by virtue of nepotism, An Lushan escalated to another force above the court, threatening Yang Guozhong.
When Emperor Xuanzong of Tang intended to grant An Lushan the position of prime minister, Yang Guozhong ran out to strongly oppose it, and after An Lushan's dream of prime minister came to naught, he gradually had the intention of rebelling.
So he continued to consolidate his territory, while enveloping people's hearts, while coaxing Tang Xuanzong to trust him, and when the time was ripe, An Lushan rose up, and the famous Anshi Rebellion in history began.
Prior to this, An Lushan had been planning for a long time, spending months analyzing the armament configuration of the Tang Dynasty army, and carefully investigating the topography and topography of various places, calculating the distance and time.
And An Lushan was also very clever to make good use of his nemesis Yang Guozhong at the last moment, and he pointed his army at Yang Guozhong who was a disaster for the country and the people under the banner of "Qing Jun's side".
On the way to Luoyang, An Lushan received a very unfortunate news - the eldest son An Qingzong had been killed, and after this sudden incident, An Lushan cried out in grief and created momentum for the subsequent attack on Luoyang.
In fact, An Qingzong's death was already foreseeable as early as An Lushan's confrontation with the sword of the Tang Dynasty, and although An Qingzong was An Lushan's most valued and beloved son, he still watched him be killed, becoming the first victim of this rescue in name only.
After that, An Lushan's army became angry with the news of An Qingzong's death, and attacked the Tang Dynasty wave after wave, and finally swarmed into Luoyang City.
At this time, Tang Xuanzong, who was in Chang'an, was very impatient and anxious, and in the face of the continuous news of defeat, he could only sigh to Yang Guozhong sadly and indignantly, and expressed the intention of abdicating to make way for Xian, and how could Yang Guozhong stop here, so that his sister Yang Guifei repeatedly persuaded him, and finally dismissed the idea.
However, on the other side, An Shi's army, which had been advancing all the way, encountered Yan Zhenqing and the two brothers on the way to continue advancing, which made them in a dilemma for a while.
An Lushan quickly sent his subordinates to Fanyang to gather sergeants, but Gao Qiao was intercepted by the Yan brothers on the way back, on the other hand, An Lushan's extremely important general He Qianqian also defected after being arrested, interestingly, He Qianqian knew An Lushan's army very well, so He Qianqian's rebellion was a fatal blow for An Lushan.
Under He Qianqian's strategy, the weaknesses of An Lushan's army were all exposed, and after that, the seventeen counties of Hebei were successively subdued, and An Lushan's army was also blocked in Luoyang and isolated.
As far as the current situation was concerned, An Lushan was almost unable to move an inch, so he ascended the throne in the Luoyang Palace in the fourteenth year of Tianbao and declared himself emperor, with the national name of Yan.
On the other hand, An Lushan's ally Shi Siming immediately turned his force to the counties of the country after capturing Changshan, so with Shi Siming's efforts, Hebei returned to An Lushan's embrace again, and then Shi Siming continued to pursue with victory, and finally surrounded Raoyang.
However, An Siyi, the adopted son of An Lushan, was captured by Li Guangbi of the Tang Dynasty at a critical moment, so that Changshan lost again , which allowed Shi Siming's encirclement of Raoyang to be disintegrated, and Shi Siming immediately led the army back to Changshan, but this time was defeated by Li Guangbi's army.
On the other side, after An Lushan ascended the throne, not only did his eyesight begin to decline, but even furuncles began to attack, gradually becoming manic, coupled with the fact that at this time Guo Ziyi and Li Guangbi were planning to go north and enter Fanyang, thereby capturing An Lushan's army families, after successive defeats, An Lushan's army officers were already demoralized, and if the safety of the families was threatened again, then it would really be self-defeating.
However, this coup turned into a dramatic scene, there was internal strife within the Tang Dynasty, and in the face of the turmoil within the dynasty at this time, Tang Xuanzong and others finally decided to make a secret transfer, or fled.
The night before fleeing, Tang Xuanzong, Yang Guifei and others set up a parting banquet in the attic of Xingqing Palace, and a group of people sang and danced all night, sighing and drunk at the same time.
At dawn, everyone left other officials under house arrest in Chang'an City, and left without looking back, and when they heard the news of Tang Xuanzong's escape, people were even more panicked, and the city was in turmoil for a while, and the streets and alleys fell into a state of great chaos, many thugs took advantage of the fire and looted, and the entire city lost its former order.
Although Tang Xuanzong and his party fled the dangerous capital, it did not mean the end of suffering, along the way, many people who were homeless due to the war hated the Tang Dynasty rulers and An Lushan's words of deep hatred, deeply stung Tang Xuanzong, maybe at that time he would still remember the former self who worked hard to govern, but the reality was that everyone even had problems eating when they fled, and they could only barely feed themselves.
After experiencing the pain of Ma Songpo's loss of his wife, Tang Xuanzong, who was cowardly and sad at this time, officially gave way to the crown prince.
Ironically, when the Tang Dynasty was in danger, An Lushan suddenly died, it turned out that after the death of his eldest son An Qingzong, An Lushan intended to make An Qingxu crown prince, and as An Lushan's favor for Lady Duan deepened, An Qingen's existence made An Qingxu feel uneasy, and at the same time, An Qingxu obeyed the solemn words that were often punished by An Lushan because of his simple mind.
In addition, the eunuch Li Zhu'er, who was castrated by An Lushan, also had a grudge against him, so the three reached a conspiracy, hid in An Lushan's dormitory at night, and Li Zhu'er stabbed An Lushan to death at close range, and everyone conspired to bury his body, and then An Qingxu successfully ascended the throne, but the Luoyang regime gradually declined.
To this day, Ren has to sigh that An Lushan has the courage and resourcefulness to weigh about 330 pounds, which can be regarded as a figure who can mix well in both officialdom and battlefield, but he is very imprudent in enlisting the people around him, and it is really sad to put dangerous figures such as Li Zhu'er and Yan Zhuang by his side, and at the same time being stabbed in the back by his own son.
Bibliography:
"An Lushan" Shanghai http://find.nlc.cn/search/showDocDetails?docId=8036154175561689328&dataSource=ucs01&query=An Lushan
"The Background of the An Lushan Rebellion" Shanghai http://find.nlc.cn/search/showDocDetails?docId=3408874597654412&dataSource=ucs01&query = Background of An Lushan Rebellion