Cen Shen (718~769), known as "Cen Jiazhou" in later generations, the Cen family had three prime ministers, but because of being involved in political disputes, his house was raided. Cen Shen was raised at the age of twenty-six, and at the age of thirty-one, he followed Gao Xianzhi to garrison the Western Regions, but returned in vain. After living in Chang'an for two years, he served as a judge of the festival, and went to the Western Regions with his friend Feng Changqing, and his poems often reflected the scenery and military life of the Western Regions. In his later years, due to the flood of rogues, he died in Chengdu.
Author: Guo Yan
Meet immediately without pen and paper,
Rely on the king's word to report peace.
By the time of Cen Shen's generation, the decline of the Tang Dynasty had appeared, Cen Shen had been stationed in the Western Regions twice as a secretary and judge, and wrote a lot of side poems, he was not only a brilliant writer of the Tang Dynasty, but also a witness to the decline of the Tang Dynasty.
Cen Shen is also a famous family, the family has produced three prime ministers, grandfather Cen Wenwen is the prime minister of Taizong, uncle Cen Changqian is the prime minister of Gaozong, uncle Cen Xi is the prime minister of Zhongzong and Ruizong, the family is very high, but because Cen Xi supported Princess Taiping, after Xuanzong seized power, he liquidated the Cen family, and the family has declined since then.
Cen Shen Although his family is in the middle of the road, he has not fallen behind in reading, he studied at the age of five, wrote essays at the age of nine, and went to Chang'an at the age of twenty to intervene in the powerful, but after he was a criminal minister, he was still the home of Xuanzong, and the people in the court did not dare to promote casually, so he naturally returned in vain. Since then, he has been traveling back and forth between Luoyang and Chang'an, preparing for the imperial examination, and finally at the age of twenty-six, he ascended to the Jinshi Rank with the second place. After three years of election, he was awarded the right inner to lead the government soldiers Cao to join the army, and he was on the ninth grade, managing military defense, post passing, honor guards, etc.
Figure: Portrait of Cen Shen|Image source network
In 749 AD, the thirty-one-year-old Cen Shen was appreciated by Gao Xianzhi, the envoy of Hexi Jiedu.
Gao Xianzhi went to Xuanzong and let Gao Shi serve as the secretary of the shogunate. Gao Xianzhi has been stationed in the Western Regions for a long time, is a Goguryeo, he conquered the small Bolu Kingdom in the first battle, this battle made the seventy-two small countries in the Western Regions belong to the Tang Dynasty again, and he has since become famous in Chang'an. Gao Xianzhi knew the terrain and climate of the Western Regions very well, was good at guerrilla warfare, and often led the cavalry deep into the enemy army to surprise the enemy.
After receiving the appointment, Cen Shen set off from Chang'an and went to the Western Regions to meet Gao Xianzhi. Along the way, Cen Shen's heart was mixed, the Western Regions were desolate, and it was a very bitter thing to go to garrison for three or four years, he was very reluctant to leave his family, and he also missed Chang'an, and he cried when he walked to the edge of Weishui.
Weishui flows eastward, when to Yongzhou.
With two lines of tears, send them to the old garden.
—— "Crossing Weizhou to the West, Seeing Weishui and Thinking of Qinchuan"
When he was halfway there, he met a messenger who rushed to Chang'an from the Western Regions, Cen Shen was very surprised, and hurriedly called out to him, saying: "Envoy, we will meet right away, there is no pen and paper, please help me report safety to my family." ”
The old garden looks at the east of the road is long, and the tears of the two-sleeved dragon bell are not dry.
Immediately meet without paper and pen, and report peace with the words of the king.
- "The Envoy to Beijing"
Figure: Cen Shenfeng's envoy to Beijing |
Cen Shen out of the plug is a last resort, the family elders are too high to be officials, and he is only a nine-rank official at the age of thirty, seeing that there is no future in Chang'an, so he decided to join the army, wanting to be promoted through military merit and revitalize the family.
When Cen was in the shogunate of Gao Xianzhi, Gao Xianzhi was at war with Arabia, and the two countries were fighting for Central Asia, and this war was known as the Battle of Talas in history.
Figure: Battle of Hengross|Image source network
Fame and fame are taken immediately,
What a heroic husband.
As the secretary, Cen Shen did not have to go to the battlefield, but stayed in the rear. The two sides were fighting, evenly matched, the battle was very fierce, the urgent report kept coming to the rear, Cen Shen had to send his colleagues to the front line every day, and also wrote a lot of farewell poems for them, among which "Sending Deputy Envoy Li to the West Officers and Army" was the most famous.
The volcano should be hotter in June, and the Equiting crossing is devoid of pedestrians.
Knowing that the monarch is accustomed to Qilian City, how can he be sad to see Luntaiyue.
Take off the saddle and temporarily enter the restaurant, and send Jun Wanli to the west to hit Hu.
Fame is taken immediately, and he is really a hero's husband.
——"Sending Deputy Envoy Li to the Western Officers and Army"
However, in this battle, Gao Xianzhi was defeated, and he had to return to the court and ask Xuanzong for his guilt. This defeat had a great impact on the Tang Dynasty, Xuanzong's westward expansion was forced to stop, and his influence in the Western Regions was also weakened, while Arabia began to rise, and the Western Regions gradually became Islamized.
In 752 AD, the disappointed Cen Shen followed Gao Xianzhi back to the dynasty, disheartened, and lived in Chang'an.
The mountain loop turns around and you can't see you,
Leave a place for horses in the snow.
Two years later, Feng Changqing invited Cen Shen into his shogunate and served as the judge of the Anbei court. Feng Changqing once served as a judge of the Gao Xianzhi shogunate, and the two often had work contacts, and Feng Changqing admired Cen Shen. Before Feng Changqing returned to Beijing this time, he made meritorious contributions to conquering Da Bolu and went to Chang'an to be rewarded, so he invited Cen to join the mansion.
Cen Shen gladly accepted Feng Changqing's invitation, this was Cen Shen's second time out of the fortress, and as a judge, his inner fighting spirit was rekindled, and he was determined to make meritorious contributions.
When Feng Changqing set out on the expedition, Cen Shen sent Feng Changqing to the front line in Luntai and wrote "Luntai Song Sends Doctor Feng to the West".
Luntai City blows the horn at night, and the north of Luntai City falls.
Yushu passed through Quli last night, and Shan Yu was already in Jinshanxi.
The general supported the west to march, and the Pingming flute marched.
The drums and snow surged on all sides, and the three armies shouted that the mountains were moving.
The captives are full of soldiers, and the battlefield is wrapped in white bones.
The sword river is windy and the snow is wide, and the sand mouth stone is frozen and the horse's hooves are off.
King Axiangqin worked hard and vowed to repay the lord to quiet the border.
Who has not seen the history of ancient times, and now sees the fame and fame of the ancients.
- "Luntai Song Sends Doctor Feng to the West"
His most famous "Bai Xue Ge Sends the Military Judge Back to Beijing" was also written at this time. Cen Shen likes to take the strange scenery of the Western Regions into his poems, and begins by writing about the magnificent scenery of Biansai and the harsh marching conditions. The whole poem reads very heroic, although it is written about parting, but the sadness is very subtle.
This is also related to Cen Shen's state of mind, this time as a judge, he placed a lot of expectations on him, wanting to become the next Feng Changqing.
The north wind swept the white grass and folded, and the snow flew in August.
Suddenly, like a night of spring breeze, thousands of trees and pear blossoms bloom.
Scattered into the bead curtain wet curtain, the fox fur is not warm and thin.
The general's horn bow is uncontrollable, and it is difficult to protect the iron clothes.
The sea is dry and icy, and the gloomy clouds are bleak and condensed.
The Chinese army returned with wine and drinks, Huqin pipa and Qiang flute.
The snow is falling in the twilight, and the wind and red flags are not overturned.
Luntai East Gate sent Jun to go, and when he went, the snow was full of Tianshan Road.
The mountain loop turns around, and the snow leaves a place for horses.
- "Bai Xue Ge Sends the Military Judge Back to Beijing"
However, Cen Shen's two expeditions did not catch up with the good times. Before he made military achievements, the Anshi Rebellion broke out, Feng Changqing was recalled to Chang'an by Xuanzong to discuss countermeasures to fight against An Lushan, Feng Changqing invited himself to rush to Luoyang, open the treasury, recruit soldiers, and take the head of An Lushan.
However, the enemy's offensive was too fierce, Luoyang was quickly lost, and Feng Changqing was directly forced to retreat to Tongguan. When Xuanzong heard that the army was defeated, he cut off Feng Changqing's official position and asked him to follow Gao Xianzhi to guard Tongguan as a civilian. However, because of the slander of the eunuch Bian Lingcheng and the suspicion of Xuanzong, these two generals guarding the pass did not die in the hands of the rebels, but were beheaded by Xuanzong.
And Cen Shen, who was stationed far away in the Western Regions, lost two Bole who once admired him. Later, Cen Shen heard that the crown prince Li Heng was enthroned in Lingwu, and immediately left the Western Regions, defected to Suzong, and under the recommendation of Du Fu and others, he made the right to fill the position of Que, from the seventh rank official, which is a counselor, and the palm is dedicated to the sarcasm.
Cen Shen's official luck is not good, he has been floating in the sea of eunuchs, and when he was in office, he was either demoted, or transferred from his post, and even dismissed in his later years. This is probably related to his style of acting, Cen Shen is friends with Du Fu, and his style is also very similar.
Cen Shen was basically in this state in the last ten years, and he was transferred to other positions after less than a year for each official position, and in his later years, he served as the assassin of Jiazhou, but he was dismissed the next year, and on the way back to Chengdu, he also met a rogue. In 769, Cen Shen was unwilling and died at the age of fifty-six in the pavilion in Chengdu.
After the Anshi Rebellion, the Tang Dynasty has been in a slump since then. A large number of troops originally stationed in the Western Regions were transferred to Guanzhong to fight, and the area around the Hexi Corridor was captured by Tubo. Decades after Cen Shen's death, the Anxi Protectorate, where he had been stationed, also fell, and the Tang Dynasty completely lost control of the Western Regions.
Within the Tang Dynasty, the division of feudal towns began to be staged, and the feudal towns fought and annexed each other. In the dark court, the eunuchs hid in the shadows to manipulate the puppet-like Son of Heaven, and the friends and parties poured and framed each other, and the disorderly Tang Dynasty was destroyed step by step.
The poets of Biansai, represented by Wang Zhilian, Wang Changling, Gao Shi and Cen Shen, left an immortal chapter for that era with their romantic brushstrokes, which have passed through thousands of years to today.
Turning over their poems, chanting carefully, the glorious years of the beacon fire, the majestic and desolate border customs, faintly displayed in front of our eyes.