Chapter 4 The Escape of Three Generations: Tubo Invasion

Xuanzong was the first emperor in the history of the Tang Dynasty to escape from Chang'an.After that, Daizong (the grandson of Xuanzong) and Dezong (the son of Daizong) fled from Chang'an, the capital.The escape of these two emperors is directly related to the Anshi Rebellion, and the root cause of the Anshi Rebellion is directly related to the military system of the Tang Dynasty. Since the founding of the Tang Dynasty, the border garrisons have been strengthened to guard against the Turks and the later rise of Tubo.Especially after Xuanzong came to the throne, he was very happy and eager to expand abroad, that is to say in the history books, "the opening of the frontier is not enough, and the elite soldiers are all stationed in the north, making the world more powerful."

In the later period of Xuanzong, the Fubing system was destroyed.Mansion soldiers prepare their own armor, clothing and food, which becomes a heavy burden for soldiers.The government soldiers were originally rotated for three years, but due to frequent border wars, the garrison period was extended.The border generals not only embezzled the soldiers' property, but also forced the soldiers to serve hard labor.In this way, no one wants to be a soldier in the government.Under such circumstances, the Tang court had no choice but to stop enlisting government soldiers and implement a recruitment system.The recruited soldiers were provided with weapons, clothing and food by the government, and they served in the military for a long time, which greatly increased the country's military expenditure.

When the Fubing system was implemented, the local forces were scattered, and the central government held heavy troops.Under the recruitment system, most of the recruits recruited by the central government are street rogues, vulnerable to a single blow.The local regiments were poorly equipped, small in number, and weak.Only the military strength of the border towns is strong, so that "the strong generals and elite soldiers all gather in the west and north, and China has no weapons."The number of garrisons on the frontier is increasing day by day, forming a situation where the outside is more important than the inside.The Jiedushi system was formed under such circumstances.Xuanzong successively set up Anxi, Beiting, Hedong, Hexi, Shuofang, Fanyang, Pinglu, Longyou, Jiannan Jiedu envoys and Lingnan Wufu Jinglue envoys, establishing a complete defense system.

The defense system set up by Xuanzong is relatively strict in terms of external defense. They can cooperate with each other and serve as horns for each other.But the system is one thing, and its implementation is another.The biggest problem is that the general has been in office for a long time and does not change defenses on time.Due to the abolition of the Fubing system and the implementation of the recruitment system, being a soldier has become a profession at that time (similar to today's mercenaries).However, the frontier soldiers stationed in one place for a long time and did not change for a long time, they gradually became the private forces of the local Jiedushi.Soldiers only know generals, but not emperors.This undoubtedly increased the possibility of frontier generals supporting themselves and provided the necessary conditions for them to cause chaos.Later, it became a situation where one person served as several provincial envoys, and the crisis became even more serious.

The power of the Jiedushi is also growing. They not only command the troops, but also gradually master the local civil affairs, wealth, and criminal law powers. This is undoubtedly the most suitable soil and breeding ground for the emergence of local separatist forces.On the surface, these Jiedu envoys obeyed the orders of the imperial court, but in fact they obeyed and disobeyed.In order to win over his subordinates, he often asked the court to award a large number of titles to his subordinates.With more officials and more salaries, the military expenditure of the imperial court greatly increased.

During the Tianbao period, the crisis of Datang no longer came from the threat of external enemies, but from the forces of its own defense.In the first year of Tianbao, 490,000 of the 570,000 troops in the country were stationed in border towns, and the troops stationed inside and outside the capital were only one-sixth of the frontier troops.At this time, the distribution of troops is more important than the outside, and the elite troops will be concentrated on the northern border, which will inevitably lead to troubles and endless troubles.Among the many border towns and generals, Anlu Mountain was the most domineering, serving as three Jiedu envoys, and did not move for more than ten years, which eventually led to the Anshi Rebellion.

Since the founding of the Tang Dynasty, the Anshi Rebellion is undoubtedly the most important event in the history of the Tang Dynasty. Insecure and divided country.Even the Anshi Rebellion is considered a major turning point in the entire history of China. It not only caused huge damage to society and economy, but also acted as a strong catalyst, producing serious and far-reaching consequences. Before the Anshi Rebellion, Xuanzong only set up Jiedushi on the margins, and everything was for the needs of border defense.During the Anshi Rebellion, in order to counter the rebellion, the Tang court began to set up Jiedu envoys (mostly the governors in charge of soldiers) in the interior, and set up Jiedu envoys or observation envoys wherever the rebels had to go south.As a result, Jiedu envoys and even observation envoys with slightly lower positions took the opportunity to expand their influence, and gradually formed a situation where there were many vassal towns (also known as square towns).After the Anshi Rebellion, the crisis in the Fanzhen not only did not improve at all, but became more and more serious.

At the beginning of Daizong's accession to the throne, it was the last critical moment for the Tang court to quell the Anshi Rebellion.In order to quell the rebellion as soon as possible and end the turbulent situation, Daizong had to implement a policy of appeasement and appeasement to the generals who surrendered on the Anshi side, resulting in the formation of a separatist regime in Hebei.However, the Anshi Rebellion was finally put down during Daizong's time, which is what Daizong is most proud of. After the rebellion was quelled, the Tang court was exhausted, and Tubo, which had repeatedly invaded, had become a huge threat on the border. Therefore, after Shi Chaoyi committed suicide, the Tang court did not pursue other Anshi old ministries, but appointed them as Jiedu envoys on the spot.These former rebel generals and the Jiedu envoys appointed by the Tang court in the process of countering the rebellion ruled the territories, the so-called "fan towns". There are more than ten states in the big ones, and three or four states in the small ones.The Jiedu envoys forced all the able-bodied men in their jurisdiction to join the army, leaving only the old and the weak to farm. Therefore, they usually had tens of thousands of soldiers, appointed civilians and generals by themselves, and did not pay tribute, just like an independent kingdom.Marriage was also concluded, and they were each other's exterior and interior.Some powerful vassals, such as the Jiedushi in Hebei and Shandong, supported their soldiers and became arrogant, and their fathers died and their sons attacked, and they evolved into separatist forces.The Jiedushi in the interior also maintained a state of separation from the imperial court to varying degrees.So far, the vassals and towns dominated one side, and the situation of separatism gradually formed, and the centralization of the imperial court was greatly weakened.It is said in history that "Hebei Fanzhen has been arrogant and uncontrollable since then".

After eight years of turmoil, the Great Tang Empire was severely damaged, and could no longer achieve the peaceful rule of the Kaiyuan Tianbao period.During the years when the Anshi Rebellion was quelled, most of the elite frontier soldiers were conscripted into the camp, which was called "the battalion".Tubo took the opportunity to go deep step by step, occupying the land of Hexi and Longyou.In September of the first year of Emperor Daizong Guangde (763), not long after the Anshi Rebellion was put down, Pugu Huai'en, the deputy marshal of Tang Hebei, rebelled against Tang and led the Tubo army to advance eastward.

The frontier defense of the Tang Dynasty was empty and the military strength was insufficient, so they repeatedly asked the court for emergency.Cheng Yuanzhen, the general of the hussars and the marshal of the marching army, did not hear the report.In October, Tubo and Dangxiang had entered the front line of Binzhou and Fengxiang, and Chang'an was in a hurry.Daizong hurriedly asked veteran Guo Ziyi to be the deputy marshal. Guo Ziyi was suspected by the emperor earlier, and his military power was lifted. Because he had not led troops for a long time, his subordinates had already dispersed, and he only took more than 20 cavalry around him to Xianyang to defend against the enemy.After arriving in Xianyang, Guo Ziyi sent people to the imperial court to send troops for reinforcements, but Cheng Yuanzhen refused to summon him.Tubo led more than 200,000 generals from Tuyuhun, Dangxiang, Di, and Qiang. The troops marched for dozens of miles.But after all, they were outnumbered, and finally all the soldiers were captured.

Seeing that the Tubo army was getting closer and closer, Daizong had nothing to do, so he fled the capital hastily. All civil and military officials scattered like birds and beasts, the six armies scattered, and Chang'an City was in chaos. The Tubo army marched into Chang'an, supported the nephew of Princess Jincheng, King Li Chenghong of Guangwu, as emperor, changed the yuan amnesty, set up hundreds of officials, and appointed Yu Kefeng, a former Hanlin scholar, as prime ministers to take charge of the government.Immediately, they began to plunder in Chang'an, ransacking the treasury and the property of the citizens, and burning down the houses.The scholars and civilians fled into the valley one after another to avoid the chaos, and Chang'an almost became an empty city, "empty and empty". Fortunately, Guo Ziyi collected 4,000 troops from Shangzhou to Wuguan, and sent Zuo Yulin General Sun Quanxu to lead the troops. During the day, they beat gongs, drums, waved flags and shouted, and at night they lit many fires, making a grand appearance along the way. This made Tubo suspicious, wondering how many people Guo Ziyi had brought.The local people also bluffed, shouting: "Guo Linggong has mobilized an army from Shangzhou to attack Chang'an." Changsun Quanxu sent people to sneak into Chang'an, secretly summoned hundreds of Chang'an youths, and shouted loudly on Zhuque Street in the middle of the night. .The Tubo army didn't know the details, and thought that Guo Ziyi's army had already entered the city, so they left without a fight, and withdrew from Chang'an overnight and fled westward.Chang'an, which fell for fifteen days, was recovered by the Tang army. After Daizong heard the news, he ordered Guo Ziyi to stay behind in Xijing.When Guo Ziyi entered Beijing, he sent generals to divide Tunji County, and asked Daizong to return to the court.Guo Ziyi pleaded guilty, Daizong comforted Guo Ziyi and said: "I didn't use you early, that's why I got to this point." He was given an iron coupon (equivalent to a death card) and painted a portrait of him in Lingyan Pavilion in recognition of his meritorious deeds. Prosperity of the Tang Dynasty.The eldest grandson Quanxu and others were also promoted to rank. Daizong was able to return to the capital in a very short period of time, which was entirely due to Guo Ziyi's credit.Afterwards, the Tang general Pugu Huai'en rebelled against the Tang Dynasty, attracting Huihe, Tubo, Dangxiang and other ethnic groups to threaten Guanzhong year after year, and the capital Chang'an repeatedly imposed martial law.Daizong did not forget the shame of being forced to flee Chang'an, and once wanted to conquer himself. At that time, Guo Ziyi was defending Jingyang with only 10,000 troops.Huihe and Tubo were so numerous that they surrounded Jingyang.Guo Ziyi ordered the soldiers to strengthen their defenses and not to fight.At this time, Pugu Huai'en died of illness, and both Tubo and Huihe were vying to be the commander-in-chief, and they couldn't resolve the dispute, so they stationed in separate camps. After Guo Ziyi knew about it, he immediately sent someone to meet the leaders of Huihe, saying that he would join forces with them to attack Tubo.Huihe people have always respected Guo Ziyi very much, but because they had heard Pugu Huaien's lies beforehand, they didn't believe that Guo Ziyi was still alive, so they had to see it with their own eyes to believe it.So, Guo Ziyi took a few entourages and prepared to go back to the military camp.Guo Xi, the son of Guo Ziyi, was worried about his father's safety, so he pulled his father's horse and refused to let him go.Guo Ziyi was furious and whipped him with a horsewhip.Guo Xi withdrew his hand, Guo Ziyi had already picked up his horse and rushed out.Guo Ziyi went to Huihe camp, took off his armor and entered the camp.The Huihe leaders recognized the old general and got off their horses one after another to pay homage.Guo Ziyi explained the situation to Yao Geluo, the commander of Huihe, and understood the righteousness.Yao Geluo originally thought that both Guo Ziyi and Daizong were dead, but now that Guo Ziyi was still alive, he realized that he had been fooled by Pugu Huai'en, so he swore a blood alliance with Guo Ziyi on the spot.After hearing the news, Tubo retreated overnight for fear of being jointly attacked by the Tang Dynasty and Huihe.Guo Ziyi sent fine cavalry to pursue to Lingtai (now Lingtai County, Gansu Province) Xiyuan, defeated Tubo, and the western border was temporarily stabilized. During the Daizong period, Chengde, Weibo and Lulong were the most powerful and most troubled towns, which were called "Heshuo three towns" at that time.Chengde Town (governing Hengzhou, Zhengding, Hebei) was separated from Li Baochen in 762; Weibo (governing Weizhou, Hebei Damingdong) was separated from Tian Chengsi in 763; Lulong Town (governing Youzhou) was separated from In 763, Li Huaixian began to separate the regime.They supported their own soldiers and respected the imperial court on the surface, but the laws, officials and nobles all had their own set, and the taxation did not go to the central government.Even the position of Jiedushi is often succeeded by the father, or is supported by his subordinates. The Tang Central Committee can only recognize it and cannot change it.In addition to the three towns of Heshuo, Xue Song (the grandson of Xue Rengui, a famous general of Tang Gaozong Dynasty) is also powerful. In order to maintain the rule, the feudal towns, in addition to desperately expanding the army, also selected elites and braves to form trusted "tooth soldiers".Most of the tooth soldiers are "father and son attack each other, and the party is glued to each other", and they have common and consistent interests.The Jiedushi provided generous supplies to the Yabing soldiers, and they were often able to win their desperate efforts, but this also made the Yabing soldiers very arrogant. As long as the Jiedushi treated them slightly unsatisfactory, they would either kill or drive them away, and set up a new master, thus forming the " Changing coaches is like child's play".Among all the vassal towns, Tian Chengsi is the most domineering and difficult to control. Tian Chengsi, a native of Lulong, Pingzhou, was a man of Lulong's army, famous for his heroism.At the end of the Kaiyuan period, Tian Chengsi served as the vanguard of the Lulong Army in Anlu Mountain. He repeatedly made military exploits in the battles with the Xi and Khitan people, and was promoted to General Wuwei.Tian Chengsi was good at running the army. When he was serving as a soldier and horse envoy, An Lushan once inspected the barracks in a heavy snow day. When he first entered Tian Chengsi's barracks, the barracks were silent, as if there was no one there. Citizenship, and no one is not in the camp.An Lushan was greatly amazed, and from then on he began to value Tian Chengsi. Tian Chengsi has always been An Lushan's confidant, and even though he surrendered to the Tang Dynasty, he openly built an ancestral hall for An Lushan, Shi Siming and his son, calling it the "Four Sacred Halls".The Tang court had nothing to do with it.Daizong also married his daughter, Princess Yongle, to Tian Hua, Tian Chengsi's son, intending to win over and "intend to consolidate his heart".But Tian Chengsi's nature is fierce and capricious, the emperor's favor can only backfire, making him arrogant and arrogant, and even more reckless. However, although Tian Chengsi is domineering, he respects the veteran Guo Ziyi very much.Guo Ziyi once sent his own generals to Weibo.Tian Chengsi was very polite to the visitors, and looked at Guo Ziyi's direction and kowtowed. He pointed to his knees and said to the messenger: "I have not knelt down to others for many years on my knees. Now I want to kneel for Guo Gong." .” Tian Chengsi has been eyeing the territory of Xue Song, another Jiedu envoy, and intends to fight for it.Xue Song was by no means a good generation, he was very vigilant towards Tian Chengsi, and secretly took precautions. It is recorded in some legendary novels that Xue Song has a maid red line, "good at playing Ruan Xian, and also familiar with classics and history".Ruan Xian is the pipa.Xue Song loved her very much and asked her to manage various documents, which was called "internal record room".Not only that, Hong Xian also possessed special skills. After she heard that Tian Chengsi was going to attack Xue Song, she used light kung fu to rush to Weicheng where Tian Chengsi was located in the middle of the night, and sneaked into the heavily guarded Tian Mansion, from Tian Chengsi's pillow. Bian stole the gold box containing the official seal without alarming anyone.Afterwards, Xue Song sent someone to return the gold box to Tian Chengsi intact.A letter was also attached, which said: "Last night someone came from Weicheng and took a gold box from your bedside. I dare not keep it. The special envoy returned it overnight." At this time, Tian Cheng Si Zheng sent people to search for the whereabouts of the gold box. After receiving Xue Song's letter, he was shocked. Knowing that there are capable people around him, he dared not underestimate Xue Song.But the red line that eliminated a military disaster retreated and bid farewell to Xue Song.Xue Song couldn't keep him, so he held a banquet as a farewell party for the red thread.At that time, a scholar named Leng Chaoyang was also at the banquet, and wrote a lyrics on the spot: "Cailing song complains about the Mulan boat, and sees the guests away from the hundred-foot building. It's like Luo Fei riding the fog, and the blue sky is boundless and the water flows in the air. After singing the song, Xue Song was overwhelmed with grief, and the red thread also burst into tears, and then left the banquet on the pretext of being drunk.Since then, this legendary woman has disappeared.See "Taiping Guangji Volume 195 Heroes Three" for details.By the way, "Tai Ping Guang Ji" uses a lot of space to describe the ability of red lines. It is said that this is the earliest text in Chinese books that formally describes light work. Daizong saw that Tian Chengsi was afraid of Xue Song, so he simply used Xue Song to check and balance Tian Chengsi.Xue Song still has the legacy of a famous general. After being entrusted with an important task, he "served his duty with gratitude".But as soon as Xue Song died, Tian Chengsi immediately launched a rebellion, instigating Zhaoyi army's envoy Pei Zhiqing to make a rebellion, and drove away Xue Song's younger brother Xue Wei, and all Xue's tribe belonged to Tian Chengsi.Xue Ling had nowhere to go, so he fled to Chang'an, the capital, and "served at the Yintai Gate to treat his crimes" ("Old Tang Book Volume 124 Biography of Xue Song").The Tang court has always had nothing to do with Tian Chengsi, and naturally it is not easy to blame Xue Wei, so it can only "excuse him". At this time, when Li Baozheng, Li Baochen's younger brother (son-in-law of Tian Chengsi), was playing polo in Weizhou, Chengde Jiedu envoy Li Baozheng (Tian Chengsi's son-in-law), the horse was suddenly frightened and accidentally hit and killed Tian Chengsi's son Tian Wei.Tian Chengsi was angry and killed Li Baozheng with a stick, which made Li Baochen furious, and the relationship between the two towns immediately deteriorated.Li Baochen also contacted Li Zhengji, the envoy of Ziqing Jiedu who had always been at odds with Tian Chengsi, and the two made a statement to the court together, stating Tian Chengsi's numerous crimes and requesting a crusade.It just happened that Daizong also wanted to take advantage of the contradictions between the various envoys to weaken the strength of the feudal towns, so he ordered Hedong, Chengde, Youzhou, Ziqing, Huaixi, Yongping, Biansong, Heyang, and Zelu to send troops. Fight against Tian Chengsi together. At that time, all the Taoists wanted to weaken Tian Chengsi's strength and carve up the territory, but at the beginning they were able to work together as one, and the forces were quite powerful.Some followers of Tian Chengsi's subordinates were afraid and secretly wanted to surrender.Tian Chengsi was afraid that he would end up betraying his relatives, so he sent an envoy to the court, saying that he would "return to the court with his body bound", meaning that he planned to hand over his military power and go to Chang'an to plead guilty to the court in person.The Tang court actually believed Tian Chengsi's words and ordered all Taoists to stop attacking temporarily.Tian Chengsi easily won precious time with a clumsy tactic of delaying the attack.Afterwards, Tian Chengsi took various methods such as provoking, dividing, and wooing, and made full use of the contradictions among the various ways and their respective interests, and successfully disintegrated the alliance of all ways. Just at this time, the empress of Bian Song Dynasty died of illness. Li Lingyao, the Marquis of Duyu, secretly married Tian Chengsi, and relied on Tian Chengsi's power to appoint himself as the empress of Bian Song.The Tang court was furious after learning about it, and ordered a crusade against Li Lingyao.Li Lingyao was single and lonely, so Tian Chengsi hurriedly sent his nephew Tian Yue to rescue him, but he was defeated.Li Lingyao was captured and escorted to the capital to be beheaded.Afterwards, Emperor Daizong ordered Tian Chengsi to be crusaded again, but all Taoists waited and watched each other, and no one was willing to take the initiative to attack.The Tang court had no choice but to go down the donkey and ordered Tian Chengsi to restore his official title without entering the court.At this time, Tian Chengsi had already occupied the seven prefectures of Wei, Bo, Xiang, Wei, Ming, Bei, and Chan, and had an army of more than 100,000, becoming the strongest in the feudal town. At this time, the feudal towns "although they are famous in China, they are like barbarians in foreign lands." Dedicated. Be lenient and benevolent, and listen to what he does."It is a fact that Emperor Daizong "listened to what he (the feudal town) does", but it was not because of benevolence, but because he had no choice but to let him go.