Chapter 2 Chapter 1 The Son of Heaven with Oil on His Feet

In 880 A.D., on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month in the first year of Emperor Xizong of Tang Dynasty, the entire city of Chang'an was shrouded in a bitter north wind.It was a festive season, and Chang'an was the most stalwart city in the world at that time, but it did not have the slightest festive atmosphere, but instead showed a desolate and desolate style.Obviously, this is quite an anomaly. The fifteenth day of the first lunar month is the ancient Shangyuan Festival, also known as the Lantern Festival.Since the founding of the Tang Dynasty, Chang'an, the capital, has always had a custom: on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, three nights before and after, the ban on walking at night is lifted, and the streets and alleys of Chang'an are lit up like daylight.The people all travel at night, and the roads are blocked by cars and horses.Later, the Tang court also joined the ranks of viewing lanterns, and the Shangyuan lanterns led by the officials were extremely prosperous.In the second year after Emperor Xuanzong Li Longji ascended the throne, on the 15th, 16th, and 17th day of the first lunar month, a 20-foot-high lamp wheel was set up outside the Anfu Gate in the capital. The lamp wheel was covered with brocade and decorated with gold and silver. There are 50,000 lights mixed together, and the light wheel is like a giant tree with thousands of flowers blooming.Thousands of court ladies dressed in silk, dressed in brocade, shining pearls and emeralds, and distributed incense powder. They also selected more than a thousand girls and young women from Chang'an and Wannian counties, and sang songs under the lantern wheel for three nights of rejoicing.This is a very rare carnival scene in ancient times.In order to decorate the grand scene of the capital, the Tang court even spent huge sums of money.One corolla, one middle pendant, worth tens of thousands of dollars, and the clothing and jewelry expenses of each female artist in the venue amounted to three hundred guan.The clothes, hairpins, and charms of folk girls and women are also paid by the court.

Obviously, there are good reasons for Tang Xuanzong's Kaiyuan prosperity to be remembered as the most glorious period of the Tang Dynasty.However, after only one hundred and sixty years, the atmosphere of the prosperous Tang Dynasty has disappeared, and even the lanterns of Shangyuan in the capital have become old relics. Just fourteen days ago, on the first day of the first lunar month, Emperor Xizong of the Tang Dynasty Li Xuan (sound xuan, same noise. The emperor of the Tang Dynasty liked to change his name, Li Xuan's original name was Li Yan) issued a book, changing the seven years of Qianfu to Guangming In the first year, the book said: "Since ancient times, the lord of successors and guardians of the text, the lord of the emperor who holds the map and the universe, must issue orders from the auspicious day of the first month. Therefore, we must follow the example of the millennium and the Hongji of the generations." ("Old Book of Tang Volume Nineteen Chapters of Xi Zong Benji") In fact, this is just a high-sounding statement by the Tang court.Emperor Xizong chose to change the year name when he was facing internal and external troubles (the year name originated from Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty and later became the symbol of the emperor's reign), nothing more than hoping to end the previous unlucky years and have a new start from the beginning.

At this time, the world is indeed very uneven.The civil upheavals in Kanto (referring to the east of Tongguan) have sprung up, and Huangchao is the most powerful and powerful.There is a folk song that "the golden toad fights for the eyes, but the world in Caozhou rebels" is widely circulated, and people's hearts are floating in the ruling and opposition parties.It is precisely because it is an eventful autumn that Chang'an has a bleak atmosphere, and there is not much festive atmosphere for the New Year.The vast majority of people cautiously stay in their homes, surrounded by the fire, a little timid, a little frightened, just looking forward to getting through this really unsettled winter earlier.

Almost all Chang'an people are worried about the future, and those who have the ability and connections secretly start to find a way out for themselves.But today's son Xi Zong was an exception, he woke up early in the morning with high spirits, braved the severe cold and left Daming Palace to rush to his brothers' palace.However, the 19-year-old Xi Zong rushed to the palace not for any important military affairs, but to play cuju, play polo, cockfight, and gamble with the kings. There is a good story about "Luoyang Zhigui" in history. It is said that Zuo Si wrote "Sandu Fu" during the Taikang period of the Western Jin Dynasty. It is widely circulated in Luoyang.People praised it and passed it on and copied it, which suddenly made Luoyang's paper several times more expensive. The paper that used to cost a thousand Wen suddenly rose to two thousand or three thousand Wen.Even so, Luoyang paper was sold out, and many people had to go to other places to buy paper to copy this famous Fu.And on Emperor Xizong, the joke of "Chang'an goose is expensive" actually happened.Because the emperor of the Tang Dynasty likes to bet on geese, the price of geese in Chang'an has also risen accordingly, and even sells for fifty cents a head.A string is an ancient unit of currency, a string of copper coins, a string of one thousand Wen.The price of this goose has far exceeded the most expensive Luoyang paper.

Throughout Chinese history, it is not uncommon for emperors to abandon government affairs and only care about pleasure. Otherwise, there would not be so many rise and fall of dynasties, and there would be no thick twenty-four histories.The so-called twenty-four histories are actually the ruling history of the twenty-four surname families.It's just that Xi Zong's playfulness is far more than that of abnormal people, and he has even reached the point of being tireless and forgetting to eat and sleep. Xizong Li Xuan was the fifth son of Yizong Li Xuan, who was originally named King of Jin.Among Yizong's eight sons, Li Xuan has nothing outstanding: he is neither the eldest son nor the eldest son (Yizong has been in power for ten years, but has no heir, and he only favors the concubine Guo and Princess Tongchang, the daughter of Concubine Shu. The death of Princess Tongchang also caused a great injustice in the Tang Dynasty, which will be mentioned later); she is neither handsome nor outstanding in talent.Logically speaking, the throne would never fall to such a person anyway, but the history books record that when Yizong was critically ill, he issued an edict to make Li Xuan the crown prince.The book specially emphasizes that Li Xuan is "filial, gentle and respectful, magnanimous and generous, daily new and virtuous, natural and heroic, all words are in line with rules, and actions must be done according to etiquette" ("Old Tang Book Volume Nineteen Chapters Xi Zong Ji Ji") ).On the surface, it seems that Li Xuan was able to inherit the throne because of his outstanding talents and his father Huang Yizong's appreciation.In fact, he was established by the eunuch Shence Army Left Army Lieutenant Liu Xingshen and Right Army Lieutenant Han Wenyue after Yizong died of illness.The Shence Army is an imperial imperial army founded in the Tianbao period.

The primary reason why Liu Xingshen and others wanted to establish Li Xuan as emperor was that he was young and playful, which was easy for eunuchs to control; Has passed away.In this way, even if Li Xuan grows up, he will not be successful, and the government is still under the control of the eunuchs. There were two major chronic diseases that led to the demise of the Tang Dynasty, one was the eunuchs, and the other was the vassals.The Tang Dynasty once had the heyday of military affairs and opened borders endlessly, so the disease of the feudal towns had a certain historical background, and the eunuch's dictatorship was another big tumor that grew up in the cracks between the centralization of power by the imperial court and the struggle between the feudal towns.Since the beginning of the Tang Dynasty, Xuanzong Li Longji, the status and official rank of eunuchs have been greatly improved.After the Anshi Rebellion, starting from Suzong Li Heng, eunuchs began to officially enter the political stage of the Tang Dynasty.After that, like the vassals, eunuchs became a big force that could not be lost, not only influencing the government, but even manipulating the emperor to abolish and establish major events.Xizong Li Xuan was not the first Tang emperor to be established by eunuchs, nor would he be the last.Regarding eunuchs and feudal towns, there will be a special chapter later.

On the day of Li Xuan's ascension to the throne, Liu Xingshen and Han Wenyue, the meritorious officials of Dingding Dingding, were named Dukes of the state, and they performed government affairs in the palace.At that time, Emperor Xizong was only twelve years old, too young to be in power, and all government affairs of the court were in the hands of eunuchs. The great eunuch Qiu Shiliang once instructed his disciples: "The emperor can't let him be idle, he must often anesthetize him with beautiful singing and dancing and rich food, and he must change his tricks every day, so that he has no time to think about other things. Do things with confidence and boldness. At the same time, try not to let him study, let alone give him the opportunity to get close to scholars, otherwise he will see the demise of the previous dynasty, and if he worries about the future of the country in his heart, we will be alienated and reprimanded. "Xi Zong, who succeeded to the throne as a young man, grew up in such an environment of "changing tricks every day".The eunuch closest to Emperor Xizong was Tian Lingzi.When Xizong was still the king of Jin, Tian Lingzi was the eunuch of Xiaomafang, the mansion of the Jin Dynasty. The two had a close relationship and had already started to sit and sleep together.After Emperor Xizong ascended the throne, he promoted Tian Lingzi to the rank of Lieutenant of the Shence Army, entrusted him with all political affairs, and affectionately called him "Father".

For an eunuch who suddenly possessed great power, power can only arouse his greater desire.Tian Lingzi is proud of his favor, and in order to completely control the power of the government, he tried his best to encourage Emperor Xizong to have fun.For example, Emperor Xizong's rewards were endless, and he gave musicians and tricksters money at every turn, and the amount was huge, tens of thousands, which led to a lack of national use.The treasury ran out of money, and Tian Lingzi persuaded Emperor Xizong to take the method of confiscating the property of rich merchants (including foreign and domestic merchants) in Chang'an, and those merchants who resisted were immediately sent to Jingzhao Mansion to be killed.At this time, the emperor was even more powerful than bandits and robbers. Not only did he rob openly, but the robbed person would even die if he was a little unwilling.The whole Chang'an was in chaos, and everyone was in danger.However, "below the prime minister, no one dares to speak."In this way, Tian Lingzi got a lot of money by relying on Tian Lingzi's bad idea, so as to fool Xi Zong to continue playing.

The rich merchants in the capital were raided, and Tian Lingzi wanted to seize the goods of rich households and Hu merchants outside Beijing.At this time, Gao Pian, a salt and iron transfer envoy who had a good personal relationship with Tian Lingzi, hurriedly wrote to stop him, saying: "The world's 'thieves' (referring to Huang Chao and other rebels) swarmed up, all because of hunger and cold, and the wealthy Hu merchants were not heard." Tian Lingzi felt reasonable after hearing this, so he stopped the act of plundering. Since the time of Yizong, the politics of the Tang court has begun to rot.In June of the tenth year of Emperor Yizong's Xiantong (869), there was a severe drought in Shanzhou (Governing Shanxian County, now Shanxian County, Henan Province), and the people could not live. The elected representatives sent to the imperial court made Cui Luo "complain about the drought" and asked for a reduction in the drought. tax.Cui Luo is a man who "respects himself with the charm of instruments and is not close to political affairs." He pointed to the big tree in the yard nonchalantly and said, "There are still leaves here, so why is there drought?" ("Zizhi Tongjian Volume 255") 11) and ordered to punish the representatives of the people who came to "complain about the drought".The people in Shanzhou were furious when they heard the news, and mobbed and besieged the Yamen.The people's sentiments were raging, and Cui Luo was forced to flee. Because of thirst, he went to the people's house to ask for water on the way.When the master heard that he was Cui Xiao, he immediately brought him a ladle of urine to drink.The tension between the government and the people can be seen from this.And that's just the tip of the iceberg.Liu Yunzhang, who served as a Hanlin scholar during Yizong's period, described the urgent situation at that time in the "Book of Direct Remonstrance" with "Nine Destructions of State-owned Assets": "Aggregate troops all the year round, once they are destroyed. Barbarians are flourishing, and second times are broken. If the general does not go to court, it will be broken four times. If Buddhist temples are widely built, it will be broken five times. If bribery is done by public officials, it will be broken six times. The senior officials will be cruel, and it will be broken seven times. If tax and service are not equal, it will be broken eight times. There are few taxpayers, and there are nine failures." It can be seen that the situation of the Tang Empire is already in jeopardy.

Xizong's accession to the throne not only did not change the slightest, but made the political situation even more chaotic.In July of the second year of Emperor Xizong's Qianfu (875), migratory locusts passed from east to west, eating all the grass, trees, leaves and grains.However, Jingzhaoyin Yang Zhizhi lied to the emperor in front of the palace and said: "The locusts entered the capital and did not eat the crops. They all hugged the thorns and died." ("Zi Zhi Tong Jian Volume 252") Xi Zong actually believed the big lie, so the whole court congratulated the prime minister.

But the actual situation in the world at this time is, "The extravagance is increasing, the military is constantly being used, and the collection of taxes is becoming more urgent. The Kanto has been flooded and droughted for years, and the prefectures and counties have not heard the truth. Gathering together becomes a bandit, and places swarm up."The so-called "gathering together as robbers, where there are swarms" refers to peasant uprisings one after another throughout the country. Although the scale is not large, it is already undercurrent. Obviously, the situation was very critical, but Tian Lingzi and the court officials kept it from Xi Zong, so that the emperor could have fun.It is said in history that Tian Lingzi has the power to return to heaven, and Chinese and foreign countries look at him sideways.At that time, Prime Minister Lu Xie was attached to Tian Lingzi and obeyed Tian Lingzi in everything, and the government was in chaos.Under such conditions, the volcano finally erupted. Soon after Emperor Xizong came to the throne, a large-scale peasant uprising led by Wang Xianzhi of Puzhou broke out.Huang Chao, a native of Caozhou, also responded positively, joined Wang Xianzhi's team, and gradually rose to become the leader of the peasant uprising army, even surpassing Wang Xianzhi in prestige.When the world was in chaos, there were rumors of wars all over the country, and most of the generals in the imperial court supported their own self-respect, and there were constant conflicts with the central government. However, Emperor Xizong didn't care about it, he just immersed himself in various games and sports.He is good at riding and archery, swordsmanship, arithmetic, rhythm, and is proficient in gambling. He likes Cuju, cockfighting, and goose betting. He has many hobbies and never gets tired of it. The eunuchs and maids around were so anxious that they turned around. While the emperor was having fun, the building of the empire was tilted and crumbling.In autumn and July of the first year of Guangming (880), Huang Chao led an army of 150,000 peasants across the Yangtze River from Caishi (east of today's Ma'anshan City, Anhui Province). He (now Hexian, Anhui) and Chu (now Chuxian, Anhui) two prefectures, thus encircling Tianchang (now Tianchang, Anhui) and Liuhe (now Liuhe, Jiangsu), and the troops were extremely powerful.At that time, the Tang court was in charge of commanding all kinds of soldiers and horses to jointly attack the Huangchao army.Huainan general Bi Shiduo (formerly a general under Huang Chao's command, who later surrendered to Gao Pian) persuaded Gao Pian to take the initiative to fight.Gao Pian was still hesitating. Lu Yongzhi, a sorcerer beside him, was afraid that Bi Shiduo would be favored for his meritorious deeds, so he urged Gao Pian to avoid Huang Chao's soldiers and stand firm without fighting.Gao Pian was good at the art of immortals, and he trusted the sorcerer Lu Yongzhi very much, so he refused to fight against Huang Chao, but sent someone to express his emergency to the court, saying that Huang Chao's army was 600,000, less than 50 miles away from Yangzhou. When Gao Pian's upper form was sent to Chang'an, the Tang court was horrified.Xi Zong, who was always playful, was also furious, and issued an imperial edict to condemn Gao Pian, saying that he dismissed all the Taoist soldiers, leaving the Tang army unprepared, and Huang Chao took the opportunity to cross the river.The original intention of Xizong's severe reprimand was to urge Gao Pian to send troops as soon as possible.Gao Pian simply claimed that he was not sick, and waited and watched.The central imperial power has been in decline for a long time, and there are many people like Gao Pian, and the imperial court has nothing to do about it. At this time, the eunuch Tian Lingzi realized that the situation was not good, so he made a small plan to put oil on his feet.He first recommended to Xizong his younger brother Chen Jingxuan (Tian Lingzi's original surname was Chen, and later worshiped the eunuch surnamed Tian as his adoptive father, and pretended to be surnamed Tian) and his private party Yang Shili, Niu Xu, and Luo Yuangao to go out of the town of Shuzhong (Sichuan), wanting to learn from Xuanzong back then , if there is any trouble, the emperor can be held hostage and fled to Shu for refuge.Xi Zong agreed. It is very ridiculous that Emperor Xizong asked these four people to play polo to decide the outcome, take Sanchuan as a bet, and use winning or losing to determine the official title conferred.Chen Jingxuan and other four people galloped and rushed on the field, competing with each other on horseback.As a result, Chen Jingxuan won the first place, and because Xichuan was the richest, he was immediately appointed as the envoy of Xichuan.Yang Shili is next, as Dongchuan Jiedu envoy; Niu Xu is third, Shannan Xidao Jiedu envoy; and Luo Yuangao is the last, so he cannot be promoted.This is the "Betting on Three Rivers by Hitting the Ball" created by Xi Zong, an ancient anecdote.Gao Pian, the governor of the camps of various ways, and Zhou Bao, the governor of Zhenhai, both served in the Youshence Army before they made their fortunes. Each person became a prominent frontier official for a while. Before the peasant army crossed the Huaihe River in the north, Tang Prime Minister Dou Luzhen once thought of a way to delay the army, advocating that Huang Chao be named Tianping (now Dongping North, Shandong) Jiedushi (Huang Chao had repeatedly asked the Tang court for compromise, and wanted to be Tianping Jiedushi Or Guangzhou Jiedushi), when Huang Chao arrived in Tianping, the imperial court sent troops to get rid of him.The other prime minister, Lu Xie, was a main fighter, and he firmly disagreed. He believed that as long as troops were sent to defend Sizhou, the peasant army would be blocked from entering Tongguan and would not be able to do anything.Xi Zong was in a panic and adopted Lu Xie's suggestion.However, soon after, the peasant army went north, and Huaibei was in a hurry.Lu Xie was afraid that the emperor would punish him, so he was panicked, so he simply hid at home and said that he would not be sick.As reports of the defeat of the Tang army on the frontline continued to come, the capital also began to panic. Chang'an was full of terror, and there was a tendency of "the mountain rain is about to come and the wind is full of the building". In November of the first year of Guangming (880), Huang Chao led the peasant army to conquer Ruzhou (now Linru, Henan).Huang Chao claimed to be "the general of Tianping average" (Huang Chao has always wanted to make peace with the Tang court several times on the condition of Tianping Jiedu envoy), and before he could suspend his division for rectification, he sent his troops to the north without stopping, and spread a message to Tang officials and troops saying: "Everyone should keep their forts, and don't attack my front! I will enter the eastern capital, that is, to the capital, and I will punish myself without warning the people." ("Zi Zhi Tong Jian Volume 254") Frightened by the peasant army With such a strong momentum, some Tang local officials and troops really only put on a wait-and-see attitude, and did not dare to provoke Huang Chao's soldiers easily. After the Tang court heard the news of Huang Chao's entry into the army, he hurriedly dispatched troops from the feudal towns of Hedong (in Taiyuan Prefecture) and Tianping to suppress them.However, the Peasant Army was as powerful as a broken bamboo, like a wind and a cloud, and conquered Luoyang, the eastern capital.Tang Dongdu stayed behind Liu Yunzhang and led a hundred officials to welcome the surrender, and the city was Yanran.At that time, the Peasant Army was known as 600,000, and its power was extremely strong, and it had the intention of taking the world into the pocket of the Tang Dynasty. When the Tang court heard that Luoyang, the eastern capital, had fallen, and that the peasant army was about to march westward into the pass, the monarchs and ministers were helpless, so they could only cry at each other. On November 12, Emperor Xizong urgently summoned his ministers to play a duet in Yanying Hall.Tian Lingzi threw out a long-planned plan and suggested that Emperor Xizong go to Xishu for refuge.This is a blatant proposal to escape. Although Xi Zong is young and playful, he still knows that this is a shameful thing. Not only has he lost face, but also the face of his ancestors, so he is quite displeased, but it is not good to directly oppose "Father ".Just at this time, the envoy sent by Tongguan guard Qi Kerang to ask for help arrived, and Emperor Xizong asked Tian Lingzi to send troops to defend Tongguan. On the same day, Xi Zong came to the Left and Right Shence Army. This was the first time in his life that he inspected the soldiers in person.Tian Lingzi was appointed as the recruitment envoy of the eight towns inside and outside the left and right Shence Army and the command system of various military and horse capitals, Yang Fugong was the deputy envoy, and Zhang Chengfan was the envoy of the vanguard of soldiers and horses and the envoy of the Jietongguan system.Afterwards, Tian Lingzi rushed to Tongguan to defend Tongguan with 2,800 crossbowmen led by Zhang Chengfan.Although Tian Lingzi is nominally the envoy of the command system of various soldiers and horses, and is responsible for leading 100,000 troops from Shence, Boye and others to guard Tongguan, he is only a remote leader. Most of the Shence sergeants were the children of rich families in Chang'an. These people didn't really want to be soldiers at the beginning, but they used to bribe eunuchs to get their military registrations, so as to get generous rewards.Usually, these Shence sergeants from rich families are usually dressed in colorful clothes and angry horses. They are at ease and rarely practice, let alone experience in battle.When they heard about the expedition, the father and son were so frightened that they hugged each other and cried.Many Shence soldiers secretly used money and silk to hire traders and poor people in Chang'an to go out on their behalf.Such an army naturally has no combat effectiveness. Before the army left, Xi Zong personally went to Zhang Xinmen to see him off.Zhang Chengfan had already predicted that this trip would be bad, so he reminded Xi Zong: "I heard that there are hundreds of thousands of bandit soldiers in Huangchao, and outside Tongguan, only Qi Ke keeps tens of thousands of hungry soldiers guarding it. Grain and grass support. To repel the thieves with this is really chilling! May Your Majesty urge all the best soldiers to come to reinforce early." The central meaning is two major things, one is to transport food and grass quickly, and the other is to move rescue soldiers quickly.Regarding this, Emperor Xizong vaguely agreed: "Aiqing will go first, and reinforcements will arrive soon." Facts have proved that Tongguan quickly fell because of the lack of food and grass inside and no reinforcements outside. Zhang Chengfan led his army through Huazhou (now Huaxian County, Shaanxi).At the same time that Pei Qianyu, the governor of Huazhou, moved to serve as the observer of Xuanshe, there was no owner in the city, and all the soldiers and civilians of Huazhou fled to Huashan.Fortunately, although all the people in Huazhou ran away, there were still more than a thousand dendrobium rice in the granary, so Zhang Chengfan asked the soldiers to bring three days' worth of grain before leaving.After arriving at Tongguan, Tang Jun found a hundred or so hidden villagers in dense grass.Zhang Chengfan asked these villagers to carry stones to fetch water and prepare to defend the city. Tongguan got its name from the water.According to the "Shui Jing Zhu" records: "The river flows south in the pass to the Tongjiguan Mountain, because it is called Tongguan." Tonglang is raging, so it is named Tongguan Pass, also known as Chongguan.There are Qinling barriers in the south, the Yellow River moat in the north, Niantouyuan in the east, and the forbidden pit, Yuanwanggou, Manluochuan and other natural defense lines in the middle.Since the Eastern Han Dynasty, Tongguan has been a fortress that is easy to defend and difficult to attack. Zhang Yanghao, a native of the Yuan Dynasty, wrote about the precipitous terrain of Tongguan: "The mountains and rivers are like gathering, the waves are like anger, and the mountains and rivers are inside and outside the Tongguan Road." There is also an allusion about the mountains and rivers. "Zuo Zhuan" in the twenty-eighth year of Duke Xi, before the battle between Jin and Chu, Zifa persuaded Duke Wen of Jin to make a decisive battle, saying that even if he lost the battle, the state of Jin "will be harmless inside and outside the mountains and rivers."This idiom is used here, which means that the situation in Tongguan is extremely dangerous. On the first day of December, the vanguard of Huang Chao's army pointed directly at Tongguan from Luoyang via Shan (now Shan County, Henan) and Guo (now Lingbao, Henan).The Peasant Army was so powerful that "the white flag was all over the field, and it was invisible."The guards of Tangtong Pass, Qi Kerang and Zhang Chengfan, not only have few soldiers, but also have been out of food for several days.The generals and soldiers of the Tang army couldn't even eat enough to eat, so they couldn't even talk about defending their homes and the country, so their morale was extremely low.In order to boost morale, Qi Kerang took the lead in the battle, and Huang Chao's army was defeated slightly.But soon after, Huang Chao's army arrived, and the peasant army shouted and cheered loudly. The sound shook Huashan and the Yellow River, shaking the earth and shaking the mountains, which made Tang Jun terrified.Ze Kerang desperately supervised the army to fight to the death, and the Tang army was finally not defeated.From noon to You, the two sides fought for a long time. Seeing that the sky was getting dark, they ceased fighting and retreated to their camps. Just as Qi Kerang breathed a sigh of relief, the soldiers of the Tang army suddenly became confused.The soldiers of the Tang Dynasty were already extremely hungry because they had not eaten for many days, and they began to shout and make noise in rage.Out of control, the soldiers set fire to the camp, broke up by themselves, and went to make a living separately.As the coach of the Tang Army, Qi Kerang could only watch helplessly, unable to stop him. At that time, there was a valley on the left side of Tongguan, and people were forbidden to come and go in order to collect business taxes, so people called it "forbidden pit".When the peasant soldiers were about to pass through the pass, the guard at Tangtong Pass hastily did not send troops to defend the forbidden pit.Zeke let his subordinates break into the forbidden pit in a panic. The valley of the forbidden pit was covered with thorns, shrubs and long vines, which were densely intertwined, like spider webs, making it difficult for pedestrians to pass through.However, Tang Kuijun rushed forward, and overnight, a flat road was formed. Zhang Chengfan saw that the enemy was approaching and the situation was critical, so he sent someone to the Tang court for emergency: "The minister left the capital for six days, and there was not one more soldier in the army, and the payment was not affected. On the day he arrived at the pass, the giant bandits had arrived, with more than 2,000 people Rejecting 600,000 people, the foreign army was starved and collapsed, and opened the forbidden pit. If the minister loses his defense, he will be willing to do so. The imperial court counselor, how ashamed to send it! Or hear that His Majesty has discussed the west tour, and if Gou Luanyu moves, the whole land will collapse. Dare the minister With the words of risking death with a still alive body, I am willing to discuss with my close friends and ministers, and I will not move lightly. I will urgently recruit troops to save the pass and defense. Death, the death of my minister Shengge Shuhan!" ("Zizhi Tongjian Volume 254") The words are quite imposing.Regarding Anlushan and Geshuhan, we will discuss it in detail later when we mention the Anshi Rebellion. Zhang Chengfan was afraid that there would be another mutiny in the Tang army, so he took out his luggage and his own personal pockets, and distributed them all to the soldiers. "Five Lowers · Rebellious Ministers") The soldiers were very moved and decided to resist the war with all their strength. At this time, the Tang court already knew that some Tang soldiers in Tongguan had collapsed due to lack of food.Emperor Xizong hastily appointed former Jingzhao Yin Xiaolin as the envoy to transfer grain to the host.Xiao Lin was afraid of death and was unwilling to accept orders in the face of danger, so she even wrote a letter claiming to be ill and asking for retirement, which angered Xi Zong and was immediately demoted to Hezhou Sihu. In the early morning of the second day of December, Huang Chao's army began to storm Tongguan, and Zhang Chengfan tried his best to lead his army to resist.The battle was fierce and lasted from Yinshi to Shenshi.The Tang army on Tongguan ran out of bows and arrows and had no arrows to shoot, so they had to throw stones at Huang Chao's army. Seeing that the Tang army had no more arrows to shoot, Huang Chao sent people to arrest more than a thousand civilians and asked them to dig and fill the trenches outside Tongguan.Soon, the trench was filled, and Huang Chao's army passed through the trench smoothly, and set fire to it that night, completely burning down the Tang Army's Guanlou.While preparing for a frontal attack, Huang Chao also sent his subordinate Shang Rang to make a detour from the valley path in the forbidden pit to the pass, and prepare for a front and rear attack. After Zhang Chengfan's defense trench before the pass was filled by Huang Chao's army, he remembered to send his general Wang Shihui to lead 800 soldiers to guard the forbidden pit, but it was still a step too late.When Wang Shihui led his army to the forbidden pit, Huang Chao's army had already passed. In the early morning of the third day of December, Huang Chao and Shang Rang began to attack Tongguan back and forth. After closing the pass, the Tang army was starving.Seeing that the situation was over, Zhang Chengfan changed into plain clothes and led the remaining soldiers to flee in a hurry. When Zhang Chengfan and his party retreated to Yehuquan, they encountered 2,000 Fengtian reinforcements who came to Tongguan for reinforcements.Zhang Chengfan sighed and said, "You are late!" After Huang Chao conquered Tongguan, he left Cheng Linghuan to defend and continue eastward.Tongguan is the gateway to Chang'an, the capital of the capital. Once Xiongguan's natural barriers are opened, Chang'an will have no danger to defend, and it will be a matter of time before it falls. On the third day of the twelfth lunar month, Huang Chao was trapped in Huazhou, and Qiao Qian, the general of the Ministry, was guarded. He personally led the army and pointed directly at Chang'an. Reinforcement Tang Jun from Boye and Fengxiang retreated to the Weiqiao area after hearing the news that Tongguan had fallen.The new army recruited by Tian Lingzi was also stationed at Weiqiao.The Boye army came from afar, and all of them were travel-worn. Seeing that the new army was wearing new clothes and furs, which were extremely gorgeous, they were naturally very angry, and said: "What credit do these guys have for being able to wear such good clothes? We are desperate Instead, they suffered from cold and starvation!" So they plundered the new army's clothes wantonly, and as a result, they mutinied, turned against each other, and acted as a guide for Huang Chao's army, and marched to Chang'an. Tian Lingzi heard that Huang Chao had led an army into Guanzhong. He was afraid that the world would hold him accountable, so he blamed Prime Minister Lu Xie.Emperor Xizong was so stupid that he couldn't help but demote Lu Xie as a guest of the crown prince, who was divided into the Eastern Capital.Lu Xie had no choice but to commit suicide by drinking poison. On the fourth day of December, the Tang court issued an imperial edict, appointing Huang Chao as the envoy of Tianping Jiedu, ordering him to come to town immediately.This is actually the tactic that Prime Minister Dou Luzhen once proposed to delay the attack.However, times have changed, and this trick is just wishful thinking of the Tang court.Huang Chao is no longer what it used to be, Chang'an is right in front of him, he already has the chance to win, and he will never retreat just because of a small title of Jiedushi. In the early morning of the fifth day of December, all civil and military officials withdrew from the court, and when they heard the news that the Boye army was approaching Chang'an in rebellion, they immediately separated and hid.When Tian Lingzi heard that the rebels had entered the city of Chang'an, he panicked, and immediately led five hundred soldiers from Shence to flee with Emperor Xizong.Things happened in a hurry, Xizong only brought three concubines with him and the four kings Fu, Mu, Ze, and Shou, and Shou Wang was later Zhaozong.Neither the prime minister nor the civil and military officials knew about Xizong's westward journey, so naturally they did not follow him.There were no good generals and loyal ministers around him, which became one of the reasons why Xizong was completely controlled by Tian Lingzi later. At that time, there were more than a dozen soldiers in the Shence Army, unwilling to leave Chang'an in such embarrassment, they naively stopped Xizong, saying that Huang Chao was here to help the emperor eliminate Tian Lingzi and other treacherous officials.Tian Lingzi was furious, and immediately killed the soldiers, and fled to Sichuan with Emperor Xizong.During the Anshi Rebellion, Xuanzong also took refuge in Shu.Tian Lingzi followed in his footsteps, in addition to Sichuan's geographical factors, but also because Tian Lingzi's younger brother Chen Jingxuan was serving as the Xichuan Jiedushi at this time (that is, the one who won the Jiedushi position by hitting the first ball).In this way, once Emperor Xizong entered Sichuan, he was still under Tian Lingzi's control. Emperor Xizong and his party left Chang'an hastily through Jinguangmen, reenacting the scene of Xuanzong fleeing westward to Shu in order to avoid the Anshi Rebellion 124 years ago (756).The news of the disappearance of the emperor of the Tang Dynasty quickly spread, and the city of Chang'an was in chaos. Soldiers and civilians rushed into the royal treasury to steal gold and silk. On the fifth day of December, the day Xizong fled, Chai Cunbing, the forward of Huang Chao's army, entered Chang'an without bloodshed.General Zhang Zhifang of Tang Jinwu led dozens of civil and military ministers to greet him in Bashang, expressing his intention to submit to Huang Chao.Soon, Huang Chao entered Chang'an in a golden suit, thus realizing his grand ambition in his youth: "The fragrance of the sky penetrates Chang'an, and the whole city is full of golden armor." However, this golden armor did not bring hope to the people of Chang'an. , but a huge disaster.In fact, since Emperor Xuanzong of Tang fled the capital hastily to avoid the Anshi Rebellion 125 years ago, Chang'an began its troubled history.It was from that time that Datang turned from prosperity to decline. After Xi Zong fled to Shu from the west, the governors from all over the country did not think about making progress. They either watched the fire from the other side or took advantage of it to loot. The whole Central Plains fell into huge chaos and disaster.Du Xunhe, a poet who claimed to be "the poorest man in the world" at that time, wrote a poem "Show Comrade in the Rebellion in Lubo County", which recorded the suffering of the people at that time: