China knows everything for 5000 years

Chapter 38

Shi Siming's 5 rebels were unable to fight or retreat, which greatly dampened their spirits.In particular, Guo Ziyi's tactics of disturbing the enemy made the rebels worry all day long and had no peace.When the rebels were exhausted, Guo Ziyi said to Li Guangbi: "The enemy is exhausted, we can go to battle." So the two generals set up a battlefield in Jiashan (in today's Hebei).Guo Ziyi commanded calmly, attacked and defended properly, and all the officers and soldiers of the Tang army fought bravely to be the first, killing the rebels and fleeing in all directions.Seeing that the defeat had been decided, Shi Siming was so frightened that he didn't choose his way. He fell off his horse, lost his helmet, and even ran away with his boots. He fled back to Boling with bare feet and leaning on a broken gun.In the Battle of Jiashan, more than 4 rebels were beheaded, more than 5000 were captured alive, and more than 5000 horses were lost.The local soldiers and civilians in more than 10 counties in Hebei spontaneously assembled armed forces to support and respond to the official army. They killed the rebels and generals one after another, and returned to the Tang Dynasty.

If An Lushan lost Hebei, the rear traffic line would be cut off.The rebel officers and soldiers whose homes are in Fanyang are all in a panic, worrying about retreating and having nowhere to go.An Lushan couldn't control his panic, and scolded his military adviser Gao Shang and Yan Zhuang: "You call me against the Tang Dynasty, saying that I am safe. It has been a few months since the army started, and Guo Ziyi cut off the back road, leaving only Bian and Zhengzhou are in a dilemma, where is the safety?" In the end, he and his advisers had to consider a plan to abandon Luoyang and withdraw to Fanyang.

Guo Ziyi's brilliant record in Hebei reversed the passive situation of the Tang army rushing to the battle and changed the entire war situation.Guo Ziyi put forward the strategy of sticking to Yuguan, sending troops northward, and attacking Fan Yang directly.If the imperial court adopts it, it will not take a long time to put down the Anshi Rebellion.However, at this critical moment, Li Longji refused to listen to Guo Ziyi's correct opinions, but obeyed Yang Guozhong's blind instructions.As a result, Tongguan fell, Ge Shuhan was defeated and killed, the capital Chang'an fell, and the rebels were relieved from their predicament.

In 757 A.D., there was internal strife among the rebels, and An Lushan was killed by Li Zhuer, who was under his tent.At this time, the imperial court ordered Guo Ziyi to lead the army straight to the capital, and borrowed troops from Huihe cleverly, preparing to take this opportunity to attack the rebels.In September of that year, Li Yu, king of Guangping, led the Fan and Han armies to attack Chang'an.Guo Ziyi and the bandit generals An Shouzhong and Li Guiren launched a fierce battle north of the Xiangji Temple in the west of Beijing. From noon to You, they killed more than 6 rebels.The thief general Zhang Tongru gave up Chang'an and fled to Shan County.The next day, Li Yu, the king of Guangping, entered the capital. Millions of people, old and young, cheered along the road. They said with tears, "I didn't expect to see the officers and soldiers again today."

After Guo Ziyi regained the capital Chang'an, he was ordered to lead his army to take advantage of the victory and advance eastward to attack Luoyang.When An Qingxu heard that the Tang army was coming to attack the city, he hurriedly sent generals Yan Zhuang and Zhang Tongru to lead an army of 15 to fight.The rebels met the Tang army in Xindian (in present-day Henan), and a fierce battle ensued.Since the rebels camped on the mountain, condescending, the situation was very unfavorable to the mediocre army.Guo Ziyi took advantage of the rebel army's unstable foothold, and selected 2000 strong cavalry to charge towards the enemy camp, and sent another 1000 archers to ambush the mountain, and then ordered the Uighur army who assisted in the battle to climb the mountain and attack from behind. The main force fought the rebels head-on.After the battle started, Guo Ziyi pretended to be defeated.The rebels came out in full force and chased them down from the mountain.At this time, there was a sudden sound of killing like thunder, and the archers in ambush of the Tang army descended from the sky like magic soldiers, firing thousands of arrows, and countless arrow clusters shot at the rebels like raindrops.Guo Ziyi turned back to the horse's head, and led the army to kill the carbine again.At this time, a loud voice came from behind the rebels: "The Huihe soldiers are coming, surrender quickly!"Yan Zhuang fled back to Luoyang, and together with An Qingxu abandoned the city and went north, the government and army regained Luoyang in one fell swoop.

Chang'an and Luoyang were recovered one after another. Suzong Li Heng was overjoyed. He excitedly said to Guo Ziyi who attended the congratulations: "Although the world was handed down to me by my ancestors, it is just like the general rebuilt it!" Guo Ziyi replied humbly. Said: "I just fulfill my duty according to the order."

In 758 AD, Li Heng ordered Guo Ziyi and Jiu Jiedu envoys to attack An Qingxu who had fled to Xiangzhou.However, due to the fact that the envoys of the Nine Festivals did not belong to each other, all Tang armies from all walks of life were defeated by the rebels. The eunuch Yu Chaoen, who was in charge of supervising the army, shifted the responsibility to Guo Ziyi.During this period, because Shi Siming had rescued An Qingxu from the siege in Xiangzhou, he thought he had made a great contribution and wanted to share the military power with An Qingxu equally.An Qingxu refused to agree, so Shi Siming killed him and merged with his army. He returned to Fanyang and called himself Emperor Dayan.After Shi Siming heard that Guo Ziyi had been deprived of military power, he took Luoyang from Li Guangbi in 759 AD.But shortly after occupying Luoyang, Shi Siming was killed by his son Shi Chaoyi.

In 762 AD, Li Heng was frightened to death by Li Fuguo, and his son Li Yu came to the throne as Daizong.Li Yu, who was trapped in internal and external troubles, had to use Guo Ziyi in the face of peril. He appointed Yong Wang Li Shi (later Dezong) as the commander-in-chief, Guo Ziyi as the deputy marshal, and borrowed 10 troops from Huihe to attack Luoyang.Shi Chaoyi was defeated and fled to Mozhou (now Renqiubei, Hebei).Shi Chaoyi's subordinates Tian Chengsi and Li Huaixian saw that the situation was over, so they led their troops to surrender to the army.In 763 A.D., Shi Chaoyi hanged himself after seeing the betrayal of relatives and desperation.So far, the Anshi Rebellion, which lasted for 7 years and 3 months, was completely settled.

●Li Yanxue attacked Caizhou at night
After the Anshi Rebellion, the separatism of feudal towns was still a major disaster for the court.Although the conquests of Suzong, Daizong, and Dezong dynasties have not been truly eliminated, there are still some Jiedu envoys who separate themselves from one side and fight against the imperial court.

Since the period of Emperor Dezong, Wu Shaocheng, Wu Shaoyang, and Wu Yuanji, the governors of Huaixi, successively took Caizhou as their hometown and occupied the upper reaches of the Huaihe River for more than 30 years. The imperial court could not control it and became a country within a country.The imperial court sent troops to conquer many times, but due to the mediocre generals and the poor cooperation of various ministries, it did not achieve much effect, and the rebels were very rampant.Li Yan asked for instructions to lead the army to attack Wu Yuanji, the governor of Huaixi.Li Shu was the son of Li Sheng, a general of Emperor Dezong's time. He was originally a low-level official, but he was very resourceful and good at horseback riding and archery.Therefore, the imperial court appointed Li Min as the Jiedu envoy of Tang, Sui, and Deng states (in today's Henan and Hubei areas), and led the army to conquer Caizhou and Wu Yuanji.

Li Yan learned that due to successive years of wars with more defeats and fewer victories, the morale of the officers and soldiers was low and the morale of the army was weak.Therefore, when Tangzhou took office, he deliberately said to the officials who came out of the city to greet him: "The emperor knows that I am cowardly and fearful, and can endure humiliation, so? That's why he sent me to comfort you. As for the siege, it is not my responsibility." duty." The sergeants heard about it, and knowing that there was no war at present, their hearts settled down.This word reached Wu Yuanji's ears. He really thought that Li Yan was a timid person who would not dare to fight. In addition, Li Shu's official position was humble and his reputation was not big, so he didn't take Li Shu seriously.

After Li Yan arrived in Tangzhou, he ordered the theater troupe and music troupe set up by the officials to be disbanded, no banquets were held, and he and the soldiers shared the joys and sorrows.He often visited various barracks, and when he saw wounded and sick soldiers, he personally brought soup and medicine to express condolences.Seeing that the general cared about them so much, the sergeants expressed their willingness to fight for the court.Seeing that the morale of the army has been cheered up and the morale is getting higher and Caizhou is relatively empty, Li Yan secretly made up his mind to attack Caizhou.While expanding his army and rushing to manufacture weapons, he faced the enemy's division and disintegration, preferential treatment and reuse of prisoners.

Li Tan's generals captured the Huaixi brave general Ding Shiliang alive, but Li Tan not only did not kill him, but also called him a "capture general" to recruit other rebel generals.Hearing that Li Yan treated the captives so favorably, the people in Huaixi came to defect one after another, and the soldiers and generals in Huaixi also came to surrender one after another.Li Yan comforted them kindly and gave them proper arrangements in life.Li Yan personally talked to all the people who came from Huaixi. In this way, he had a clear understanding of all aspects of Huaixi and made full preparations for the attack on Caizhou.

At this time, Tang Xianzong appointed Prime Minister Pei Du, who firmly advocated the suppression of the rebellion, as the marshal of the army, stationed in Yancheng, and unified command of the military to suppress Huaixi.Li Yan saw that the conditions for attacking Caizhou were ripe, so he formulated a complete battle plan and sent people to Yancheng.Pei Du admired Li Min's military strategy very much, saying: "If you want to break Caizhou, you can't win without a trick." He immediately approved this plan.

On the morning of October 3000th, the north wind suddenly picked up, the sky was covered with thick clouds, and then heavy snow fell.Li Yan issued a general order: Li You led 3000 death squads as the vanguard, he himself led 3000 people as the central army, and Li Jincheng led [-] people as the rear guard, and immediately set off from Wenchengzha.When the generals asked where they were going, Li Yan simply said, "Go east!"

At dusk, the team marched to Zhangchai Village, 70 miles away from Caizhou City, and wiped out all the Huaixi troops guarding here.Li Yan ordered the troops to rest for a while, leaving 500 people to guard Zhangchai Village, and the large troops continued to advance eastward overnight.The generals asked where they were going.Only then did Li Yan say: "Go to Caizhou City and capture Wu Yuanji!" Everyone was shocked, but they didn't dare to disobey the military order, so they had to lead the team to march through the snow and arrived at Caizhou City in the middle of the night.

Because the official army has never been to Caizhou City for more than 30 years, the Huaixi Army was not prepared at all.Li Shu and other generals dug the ridge on the city wall and climbed up, and the strong soldiers also climbed up.They killed all the Huaixi Army defenders who were sleeping soundly, leaving only the watchman to continue to watch.Then the city gate was opened, and a large group of people rushed in.When the rooster crowed three times, Wu Yuanji knew that the Tang army had entered the city. He hurriedly led his own soldiers to the Yacheng in the inner city to resist.

Li Yan ordered his generals to attack Yacheng, destroyed the outer gate of Yacheng, and confiscated the armor and equipment inside.After dawn, the officers and soldiers set fire to the south gate of the inner city.The common people in the city usually hated Wu Yuanji to the core, but at this time they were all scrambling to carry firewood and grass to help the officers and soldiers burn the city gate.The city gate was burned down, and the officers and soldiers rushed into the inner city again.Seeing that the general situation was over, Wu Yuanji had to bow his head in the city to plead guilty.On the third day, Li Yan ordered Wu Yuanji to be loaded into a prison cart and escorted to the capital to report victory.

Li Yan used his troops with foresight and foresight, and he had a well-thought-out plan, which was admired by all his subordinates.

●Tang Yizong believed in Buddhism
In 873 A.D., Tang Yizong sent many officials to Famen Temple to welcome the Buddha bone.The officials in the imperial court tried their best to dissuade Yizong, using the reasons of laboring the people and wasting money and Xianzong's death because of welcoming the Buddha's bone, but Yizong did not listen.Yizong claimed that he could see the Buddha's bone die without regret, and ordered to build a large-scale pagoda, incense chariot, precious tent, flag flower, and canopy, and decorate it with gold, jade, brocade, and pearls and emeralds, which cost a lot of money.The ceremony of welcoming the bones of the Buddha was unprecedentedly grand. The 300-mile road from Famen Temple to the capital was full of people, horses and vehicles.On the eighth day of the fourth lunar month, the relics of the Buddha arrived in the capital, where they were greeted grandly. They were led by the Guards of the Forbidden Army and accompanied by official and folk music. Colored sheds lined the road for dozens of miles, and the sound of chanting Buddhist scriptures shook the world.At that time, the emperors offered sacrifices to the ancestors of heaven and earth could not compare with it.Yizong personally went to Anfumen to pay homage to the Buddha bone, and held a large and complicated sacrificial activity according to Buddhist rituals.Many people from various states and ethnic minority areas, as well as foreign envoys, came to participate.The monks in the capital were rewarded generously.After the ceremony, Yizong welcomed the Buddha bone into the palace, and moved the Buddha bone to Chonghua Temple in Anguo three days later.The Snake Emperor decreed to withdraw a large amount of gold and silk from the treasury to reward officials of all sizes, and pardoned a large number of prisoners.On the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, after a grand Buddhist ceremony was held, the Buddha bone was sent back to Famen Temple.

Tang Yizong believed in Buddhism. During his reign, temples were widely built and monks were enshrined, which promoted the prosperity of Buddhism in the late Tang Dynasty, but also increased the burden on the people, which led to the peasant uprising later.

●Golden Armor all over the city
In the last years of the Tang Dynasty, feudal vassals and towns were separated, eunuchs were in power, the court was party-fighting, and the emperor was fatuous.The aristocratic bureaucrats occupied a large amount of land, but the common people had no land to cultivate, so they had to go into exile.Famines occurred in some places, and farmers lived by eating grass roots and bark, but officials still pressed them to pay taxes.The peasants could no longer survive, so they could only rise up.

In 875 A.D., Wang Xianzhi, a native of Puzhou (now Juancheng, Shandong), led thousands of people to revolt in Changyuan (in today’s Henan Province). .Nearby farmers joined in one after another, and the uprising team suddenly grew to tens of thousands.

In Yuanju occupied by Wang Xianzhi's uprising army (in today's Shandong), there was a private salt dealer Huang Chao. When he was young, he went to Chang'an to take the imperial examination, but failed.Huang Chao saw the corruption of the imperial court in Chang'an, and wrote a "Chrysanthemum Poem" indignantly: When autumn comes and September [-]th, I will kill all the flowers after they bloom;Expressed his determination to overthrow the rule of the Tang Dynasty.At this time, Huang Chao saw Wang Xianzhi's uprising, and organized thousands of people to respond.

As the momentum of the rebel army grew stronger, the imperial court proposed to recruit Wang Xianzhi.Wang Xianzhi was about to accept the court's recruitment, Huang Chao was so angry that he led the team to fight.Wang Xianzhi's power was greatly weakened, and the court ignored him.Soon, Wang Xianzhi was defeated and killed, and the remaining soldiers defected to Huang Chao.Everyone elected Huang Chao as the king, known as the "General of the Chuangtian Taibao Junben".

Huang Chao led the rebel army across the Huai River and marched towards the south where the government and army were empty.They moved to most of China and fought all the way to Guangzhou.Then, the rebel army marched northward, and the whole way was like a broken bamboo, and soon reached Luoyang. Luoyang officials immediately opened the city and surrendered.Then, Huang Chao ordered to march to Chang'an, and took a small road to break through Yuguan.Protected by hundreds of soldiers, Tang Xizong fled to Chengdu in a panic.Huang Chao led the rebel army into Chang'an. The people happily welcomed the rebel army into the city, and the streets were full of welcoming crowds.

Huang Chao became emperor in Chang'an, and his country name was Daqi.A new regime was established, but with very little control.Huang Chao has been fighting on the move, and no troops have been sent to guard the places he captured. Once he left, these places were occupied by the government again.

After Tang Xizong fled to Chengdu, he gathered troops to surround Chang'an.Hundreds of thousands of rebels huddled together and ran out of food.Later, Huang Chao's general Zhu Wen surrendered to the Tang Dynasty, and Tang Xizong transferred the cavalry of the Shatuo chieftain Li Keyong to defeat the rebel army.Seeing that the situation was unfavorable, Huang Chao withdrew from Chang'an, and finally retreated to the Wolf and Tiger Valley of Mount Tai, where he was defeated and committed suicide.It is also said that Huang Chao became a monk as a monk.This uprising lasted for 10 years and fundamentally shook the decadent rule of the Tang Dynasty.It didn't take long for the Tang Dynasty to perish.

●Abaoji builds the Khitan Kingdom
In the upper reaches of the Liaohe River in northeast my country, there is a nomadic Khitan people.The Khitan tribe originated from the Rouran tribe of the Xianbei tribe, descendants of Donghu, and was a descendant of Emperor Yan.In their own national language, the word "Khitan" means "镔铁", which symbolizes the indomitable will and indestructible national spirit of the Khitan people.Just when Zhu Wen was celebrating the success of his plot to seize power in Bianjing, the leader of the Khitan, Yelu Abaoji, began to lead his people on the road to prosperity.At that time, A Baoji, who was less than 30 years old, passed the tribal election ceremony and became the new leader of Khitan.He appointed Han Yanhui and others to reform customs, make characters, and develop agriculture and commerce, and the power of Khitan became stronger and stronger.

After conquering some small and weak tribes around, A Baoji exchanged robes and war horses with Li Keyong, a general of the Tang Dynasty, and became brothers.In 916 AD, Abaoji proclaimed himself emperor.He abolished the old system of tribal alliances, established the Khitan State according to the political model of the Han people, and modeled on the dynasty system of the Han people, adopted the title of emperor, and called himself "Emperor of Heaven".

After the establishment of the regime, Abaoji personally conquered the Turkic, Tuhun, Dangxiang, Shatuo, Zub and other tribes, and conquered the Bohai Kingdom.A Baoji also made some achievements in cultural construction. He created the Khitan script, which took nearly 300 years before it was gradually abandoned.

Later, Abaoji died of illness in Fuyu Prefecture (in present-day Inner Mongolia), and his son Yelu Deguang succeeded him.Yelu Deguang wore Han clothes to accept the congratulations from the officials, and officially changed the name of Khitan to Liao and the year to Datong.

●Li Cunxu established the Later Tang Dynasty
Li Cunxu, nicknamed Yazi, was the eldest son of Li Keyong, the governor of Hedong at the end of the Tang Dynasty (he was crowned King of Jin by the Tang Dynasty). He liked horseback riding and archery since he was a child.Li Cunxu fought with his father when he was a teenager. When he was 11 years old, he went to Chang'an with his father to report meritorious service to the Tang court, and was rewarded and praised by Tang Zhaozong.In 908 AD, Li Keyong died of illness, and Li Cunxu took over the throne of Jin.When Li Keyong was dying, he asked Li Cunxu to complete three major tasks: one was to conquer Liu Shouguang, the king of Yan, and conquer Youzhou (now Beijing);

In 911 A.D., Liu Shouguang, the lord of the Later Yan Kingdom, attacked Rongcheng (north of Rongcheng, Hebei today), but was counterattacked by the Jin army to the city of Youzhou.Liu Shouguang had no choice but to ask Zhu Quanzhong for help.Upon hearing the news, Zhu Quanzhong immediately led hundreds of thousands of Liang troops northward to rescue Yan.The Liang army rushed forward in mighty form, while the Jin army in Zhaozhou had only a few troops.Li Cunxu knew that he was invincible and could only outsmart him.So he used clever tricks to make Zhu Quanzhong think that the Jin army had arrived, scaring away Zhu Quanzhong's tens of 10 horses.Then, he broke through Yandi and captured Liu Shouguang back to Taiyuan alive. Nine years later, Li Cunxu defeated the Khitan army and drove Yelu Abaoji back to the north.After more than ten years of conquest, Li Cunxu basically fulfilled his father's will.

In 923 A.D., Li Cunxu took advantage of the internal battle for the throne in the Houliang court, and proclaimed himself emperor in Weizhou (now Hebei Damingbei).Zhuang Zong originally wanted to attack Liang on a large scale and destroy it in one fell swoop, but he encountered stubborn resistance from Liang Jun.Then, Hou Liang ordered Duan Ning to be the summoner to the north, and sent out all the elite troops to attack Hou Tang.The situation is grim, but Zhuang Zong believes that Houliang has no soldiers, so sending troops to attack Houliang at this time has a better chance of winning.Before the expedition, Zhuang Zong said goodbye to his son: "Success or failure is a battle. If you fail, you can kill yourself in the palace."

Sure enough, there were only a few thousand forbidden soldiers in the capital of Houliang at that time.Zhuangzong took Bianliang directly in October of the lunar calendar in 923 AD. Knowing that the situation was over, Emperor Zhuang ordered his close ministers to kill him, and Hou Liang perished.

●Meng Zhixiang established Houshu
(End of this chapter)