In the fourteenth year of Tianbao (755), in November Bingyin, Fan Yang Jiedu caused An Lushan to rebel. Fifteen years later (756), in June, the rebels entered Tongguan. Yi Wei, Emperor Xuanzong went out of the capital to seek lucky Shu. Bing Shen, Ci Ma Songyi, and Hu Cong's forbidden army rebelled, killing the prime minister Yang Guozhong, and Yang Guifei was also given death.
Later, the great literary scholar Bai Juyi also wrote a famous "Long Hate Song" based on the death of Yang Guifei, making the clutch sorrow and joy of Xuanzong and Yang Guifei a well-known story. I also learned about the death of Ma Songyi Yang Guifei from reading "Long Hate Song". I was a thirteen-year-old child at the time, reading the Song of Long Hate:
The Nine-Fold City is full of smoke and dust, and thousands of people ride southwest. Cuihua shook and stopped, and went west for more than a hundred miles out of the capital. The Sixth Army did not feel helpless, like a moth to die before the horse. The flowers were not collected, and the jade of the golden sparrow scratched its head. The king hid his face and could not save it, and looked back at the blood and tears and the flow.
It was vaguely felt that this was a spontaneous action of the forbidden army sergeant. Later, reading the end of the Tongjian Chronicle, I also checked the records of volume 2118 of the Tongjian, saying that "to Ma Songyi, the soldiers were hungry and tired, and they were all angry", and "the soldiers surrounded the station", and Xuanzong "ordered the troops to be closed, and the soldiers should not be" Cloudy, which further deepened the impression of the sergeant's spontaneous action. It was not until the early 1980s that he carefully read the Old Book of Tang and the General Commentary to explore the internal contradictions and struggles of the Li Tang ruling clique, and Fang felt that it was not a big mistake.
In the Old Book of Tang, there are several places where Ma Songyi mutinied, and volume 1006 "Biography of Yang Guozhong" and volume 1O 8 "Biography of Wei Jiansu" also describe the mutiny as spontaneous, believing that "soldiers are not allowed to eat" and "hunger and anger". Volume IX of the "Records of Xuanzong" also mentions that on the day of his departure from the capital to Wangxianyi in Xianyang, Xuanzong "did not eat at noon in the pavilion, and his father and elder offered rice (that is, dry food cooked and ground powder)", and the "Deeds of An Lushan" compiled by the Tang Dynasty Yao Runeng also has a similar statement, as if the soldiers were "hungry and angry" did have a thing.
However, Emperor Xuanzong had made some preparations before he withdrew from the capital Chang'an, and the Tongjian said that on the first day of June, "At the end of the night, chen Xuanli, the great general of the Dragon Martial Army, was given a generous gift of money, and chose more than nine hundred horses to spare the stables", and the next day, he did not leave at dawn, which cannot be said to be a panic to escape, so why did Qian Shu know that he wanted to give generous gifts to the forbidden army, but he did not prepare food for them? Moreover, Ma Songyi was only more than a hundred miles away from Chang'an City, and it was only a matter of a day's effort to arrive, and no matter how arrogant and weak the forbidden army was, it was impossible to cause hunger and fatigue to provoke a mutiny.
If such a mutiny was really provoked, the military's morale had long been scattered, and the military discipline had long since disappeared, and it was by no means necessary for them to kill Yang Guozhong and Yang Guifei to reorganize themselves. In fact, after killing Yang Guozhong, Guifei, and other Yang families, the forbidden army still escorted Xuanzong and his party safely to Chengdu, without much twists and turns. In the winter of the following year, after Chang'an and Luoyang were recaptured one after another, they were escorted back to Guanzhong by these forbidden troops. All this shows that the previous Ma Songyi incident was by no means a spontaneous mutiny by the non-commissioned officers of the Forbidden Army due to hunger and fatigue, but could only be a premeditated, planned, and commanded operation.
As for saying that Xuanzong "did not eat at noon, russia has fathers and elders to dream", it is nothing more than historians and scribes beautifying how Xuanzong won the hearts of the people and loved them for the people. In fact, the "Xuanzong Ji" and the "Deeds of An Lushan" have such words as "still eating and holding the imperial meal" in the following, so it can be seen that the meal has been prepared, so why rely on the people to come and offer it?
Since this operation was premeditated, planned and directed, who was directing it? It was Chen Xuanli, the supreme commander of the Forbidden Army. This is clearly written in the Old Book ▪ of Tang (The Chronicle of Emperor Xuanzong of the Old Book of Tang): Cima Songyi, the Zhuwei Dun army did not advance, and the Longwu general Chen Xuanli played the day: "Against Hu Zhi Que, in the name of Jie Guozhong, but the Chinese and foreign groups are all sympathetic." Now that the country is in difficulty and obstruction, and taking advantage of the turmoil of public opinion, His Majesty should be sympathetic to the masses, for the sake of the community's great plan, the loyal disciples of the country can be put to the law. ”.... poplar. open... The soldiers were still unsolved, and the words of Gao Lishi of the Shanghui echoed the day: "The generals have been loyal to the country, and the noble concubines are in the palace, and people are afraid." The Upper Order Force gave the noble concubine to commit suicide. Xuan Li and others saw the guilt and were ordered to be released.
The Deeds of An Lushan also says:
Chen Xuanli led more than thirty generals to the battle in Duyu: "The father and son of guozhong are cursed, and the taizhen (noble concubine) is not suitable for worship." The day before: "Dispose of it when it is gone." .... Goris is the first to see the truth, to describe the situation, the day of the truth: "Today's things, really willing, tolerate the Buddha." He hung himself in the Buddhist hall and placed it in the courtyard, so that Xuan Li and so on could look at it. Xuan Li and others are exempt from thanksgiving, and the soldiers are Yue.
The "Deeds of An Lushan" is a work of the so-called "Hebenzi Notes", which tells a very detailed account of the transformation of Ma Songyi, and when it is collected from the records of The people of the time to Xuanzong Xingshu, such as Wen She's "Tianbao Chaos Away from the West Xingzhi" and Song Ju's "Ming Emperor Xingshu Record" written in the Miscellaneous History Category of the New Book of Tang, Volume 58, "Yiwen Zhi", it can be said to be relatively primitive historical materials. The Benji of the Old Book of Tang was an excerpt from the Shilu before Emperor Xuanzong, and the Shilu was also more cautious in its writing, except for some places with hidden problems such as the relationship between Emperor Taizong of the early Tang Dynasty and Gaozu, Jiancheng, and Yuanji. Both of these accounts, as quoted above, only say that the incident was Chen Xuanli's appearance and did not say that it was due to the starvation of the soldiers.
Chen Xuanli himself is also transmitted in the Old Book of Tang, appended to volume 106 of the Biography of Wang Maozhong, which more clearly states:
And Lu Shan rebelled, Xuan Li wanted to curse Yang Guozhong in the city, but the matter was fruitless, and he even beheaded Ma Song.
This biography is very brief, unlike the biography of the general chancellor based on the family biography of xingzhi, but the writer of national history at that time, Liu Fang, based on his personal experience and life, and then used it in the Old Book of Tang, which should have a higher historical value. It can be seen that Chen Xuanli was about to attack Yang Guozhong in Chang'an City, but he did not find the opportunity, at this time, leaving Chang'an to Ma Song, there were no other forces to hinder him except the forbidden army under his command, so he purged the Yang family, including the noble concubines.
The "Biography of Chen Xuanli" says that he "self-examination with simplicity" is by no means a person who seeks power and is flying around. Moreover, he was only the commander of the Forbidden Army, and if he overthrew Yang Guozhong, it would not be his turn to replace him as the prime minister. And using the forbidden army to kill the prime minister, or even the emperor's favorite concubine, is a big risk, and without a strong backstage, he will never have the courage to take this risk.
(Tang Dynasty Forbidden Army in film and television dramas)
Who's behind the scenes? The Old Book of Tang, vol. 51, "Biography of Yang Guifei", says that "the forbidden army general Chen Xuanli secretly qi prince Xue Guozhong father and son", and the "Wei Jiansu biography" says that Chen Xuanli "conspired with the Feilong Ma family Li Huguo to ask the crown prince to ask For Guozhong", both of which believed that the backstage was the crown prince, that is, Suzong, and through the eunuch Li Huguo, who was around Suzong, that is, Li Fuguo. Lü Chengzhi's "History of the Five Dynasties of Sui and Tang Dynasties" also believes that this action was "conspired against Him" (Chapter 4, Verse 7).
If this is the case, Chen Xuanli, who holds the forbidden army, must follow Suzong north to Lingwu, and Suzong will continue to contribute to this new regime after Emperor Suzong established himself in Lingwu, becoming the first list of Suzong's conglong heroes. However, Chen Xuanli did not do this, did not follow Emperor Suzong and continued to follow Emperor Xuanzong, and together with the eunuch Gao Lishi protected Xuanzong to Chengdu. In October of the second year of the second year of Germany (752), he returned with Xuanzong, who had become emperor Taishang, and as stated in the "Records of Emperor Xuanzong", "In November, Emperor Suzong sent three thousand horses to meet the wind and defend", in fact, Xuanzong was transferred to Be guarded by Emperor Suzong's soldiers and horses, depriving Chen Xuanli of the right to command the armed forces.
In July of the first year of the first century (760), Ding Wei Xuanzong was forced to move from Nannei to Xi Nei, and Chen Xuanli also ordered Zhi Shi to be sent to Wuzhou. All this confirms that there is no special relationship between Chen Xuanli and Suzong, and that there is no one else behind the mutiny.
As for the "Biography of Guifei" and "Biography of Wei Jiansu", they were written in spite of the facts, and when they later believed that Yang Guozhong and Yang Guifei were righteous acts, such as Du Fu's "Northern Expedition", there is a saying that "Huan Huan Chen General, fighting and fighting loyally, Wei'er people are not good, and they are still alive in the present country", so some historians want to pay tribute to Emperor Suzong and bend the decoration. It is just that these words are not seen in volume 1 O's "Suzong Ji", which shows that the "Records of Reality" are still relatively serious and dare not say too much.
To this end, I wrote "The Truth About the Death of Concubine Yang of Ma Songyi" (five episodes of "Xuelin Manga", 1982 Zhonghua Bookstore Edition, later included in the humble "Tang Dynasty History Examination Interpretation", 1998 Taipei Lianjing Publishing Company Edition), after excluding the spontaneous action of the soldier and Suzong as the backstage, pointed out that the real background of the mutiny can only be the most favored eunuch Gao Lishi around Xuanzong.
This was because in the Xuanzong Dynasty eunuch Gao Lishi formed his political influence in the inner court, and the battle with the forbidden army represented by Wang Maozhong had been victorious in the nineteenth year of the new century, Wang Maozhong and the forbidden army general Ge Fushun were degraded, and another faction of forbidden generals led by Chen Xuanli followed Gao Lishi and still gained favor, and the forbidden army was also controlled and manipulated by Gao Lishi. This has been demonstrated in the previous chapter.
As mentioned in the previous chapter, when Gao Lishi and Xuanzong had attacked Yang Guozhong during the dialogue between Gao Lishi and Xuanzong in the thirteenth year of Tianbao (754), Emperor Xuanzong "did not answer for a long time", and after two years, he took advantage of the turmoil in Ma Songyi to instruct Chen Xuanli, who commanded the forbidden army, to cut Off Yang, which was the inevitable end of the development of the situation.
As for Yang Guifei, Colliers originally had no grudge against her. The Old Book ▪ of Tang's Biography of a Noble Concubine says that she had been sent out of the palace twice before, but was summoned back by Gao Litu, which was nothing more than the duty of a eunuch. At this time, it is necessary to cut off his brother Yang Guozhong, and under the concept of attaching importance to the family, the noble concubines will be spared. Therefore, after Chen Xuanli used the forbidden army to kill Yang Guozhong outside, Gao Litu forced Yang Guifei to hang him as a eunuch.
Colliers does not give a bad impression of this person. However, he made the eunuchs in the inner court form an important political force at the center, setting a precedent for later eunuchs to become "ministers of the interior". He controlled and manipulated the Forbidden Army, and was also the precursor of the later custom eunuch to serve as the commander of the Divine Strategy Army, although there was no official name in the Forbidden Army, but the former King Mao Zhongzhi as the head of the Forbidden Army did not have an official name. During the Middle and Tang Dynasties, the inner court and the outer dynasty fought, and the eunuchs often belittled and killed the prime minister, which was nothing more than inheriting the old tradition of Gao Lishi using the forbidden army to cut off the prime minister Yang Guozhong. However, Gao Lishi had not directly endangered the emperor himself, and he still did his duty of protection to Xuanzong.
But this is not all his foolishness, but because his power was established by Xuanzong, and if Xuanzong fell, he himself would lose everything.
Finally, analyze Xuanzong's attitude. Gao Lishi and Chen Xuanligu were his close associates, and Yang Guozhong was also his close confidant, so before the An Lushan rebellion, Xuanzong had to pay a balance between the eunuch Gao Lishi and the foreign chancellor Yang Guozhong, so when Tianbao Thirteen Years gaoLishi attacked Yang Guozhong, he would "not answer for a long time" and did not take sides. However, by this time the situation had changed, and the Chang'an regime had collapsed under the pressure of the Rebels at An Lushan, and Xuanzong had to consider his own safety first. The deep relationship between Gao Lishi, Chen Xuanli and himself, as mentioned in chapter 6 "Li Wu Regime", are all old partners who have conspired together to seize power as early as more than forty years of youth, and at this time, the old partners hold the forbidden army, bear the heavy responsibility of subordinates, and are the only guarantee for their own safety.
On the other hand, the relationship between the Yang family and him was shallow after all, yang Guozhongzhi was appointed as the prime minister in Tianbao eleven years in November, and by this time it was less than four years, and Yang Guifei entered the palace a little earlier, and in the last year of the new century, it was not twenty years at this time. Coupled with the fact that Emperor Xuanzong was seventy-two years old at this time, and Yang Guifei was thirty-eight, he was no longer an old age when young people knew how to indulge in the love between men and women, and the love of the bed was as important as his own safety. Yang Guozhong's title of prime minister played little role in the chaos of soldiers and horses.
Xuanzong, who had been playing with feudal politics for several hundred and a half centuries and was old in scheming, knew this very well. When this could not be done both ways, obeying Gao Lishi and Chen Xuanli and abandoning Yang Guozhong and Yang Guifei was exactly the choice that Xuanzong was bound to make. Therefore, Yang Guifei's death was actually agreed by Emperor Xuanzong, and the book in the Old Book ▪ of Tang(Sr. Xuanzong Ji) that "the upper order force gave the noble concubine to commit suicide" can be said to be the straight pen of the historian.
This analysis can also be confirmed by subsequent events. After the Ma Songyi Incident, Emperor Xuanzong arrived in Chengdu safely, lived in Chengdu for more than a year, and then returned to chang'an, where he remained dependent on Gao Litu and Chen Xuanli for his protection. Therefore, as stated in the Old Book of Tang Suzongji, the "Shu Commandery Yuancong Meritorious Servants" who ranked first in the December Great Reward of Zhide Erzai (757), except for Wei Jiansu, who was the former prime minister, The Crown Prince Taishi, was the first to be named, and the only two who were also sealed with three hundred households were Gao Lishi and Chen Xuanli. After Emperor Xuanzong lived in the Nannei Xingqing Palace in Chang'an, Gao Lishi and Chen Xuanli were still inseparable from him. When he moved to Sinai under the pressure of Emperor Suzong's eunuch Li Fuguo and completely lost his personal freedom, Gao Litu and Chen Xuanli were also degraded and demoted. These will be discussed later in Chapter XI. If Yang Guifei had not obtained Xuanzong's consent, as the Song of Long Hate says, "the king could not hide his face and save him", then there would have been absolutely no such harmonious phenomenon between Gao Lishi, Chen Xuanli and Xuanzong.
So what about "Long Hate Song"? We can't think that the author Bai Juyi is a Tang Dynasty person, and it must be right to talk about the Tang Dynasty, like Mr. Guo Moruo did in those days, seeing that the poem title of the Tang Dynasty Li Shangyin's "Lizhou Jiangtan Zuo" has a bet on the title of "Feeling Pregnant Golden Wheel", we believe that Tianwu hou was born in Lizhou, which is now Guangyuan, Sichuan. Because Li Shangyin's "Lizhou Jiangtan Zuo" or Bai Juyi's "Long Hate Song" are not writing history but poetry, and they are not writing so-called epic poems such as Du Fu's "Northern Expedition".
This article is an excerpt from Huang Yongnian's Political History of China in the Sixth to Ninth Centuries, Shanghai Bookstore Publishing House, July 2004