Chapter 2 Chapter 1 Tang Xuanzong who came on blood
In 755 A.D., in November of the fourteenth year of Tianbao, winter covered Chang'an, the capital of the Tang Empire. Amidst the falling leaves, the thick and heavy bells of Buddhist temples echoed in the capital.Emperor Xuanzong Li Longji, who lived in the deep palace all the year round, finally left the city.He took his concubine Yang Yuhuan, who could never leave him for a moment, and other Yangs related to Concubine Yang, and went to Huaqing Palace (Tianbao was called Hot Spring Palace six years ago, and its former site is on Nanli Mountain, Lintong County, Xi'an, Shaanxi Province) to escape the cold in accordance with royal practice. .
The team was full of fanfare and mighty, attracting the eyes of many Chang'an scholars and people, but these eyes no longer had the respect and admiration of the past, but more disgust and ridicule.At this time, Xuanzong was no longer the high-spirited and decisive Linzi king, nor the emperor who worked hard to create the "Kaiyuan Prosperous Age".The person is still the same person, but the time is like a song. In the process of black hair changing into gorgeous hair, "the virtue of the emperor disappears and the government changes easily", which leads to the prime minister's monopoly on power and mischief of the country, and the side will harbor evil intentions.For ordinary people in the Tang Empire, they had to silently bear the consequences of the misery brought about by the change of a wise king into a faint one.
The imperial concubine with peerless beauty is no longer just a peerless beauty in people's eyes, but also a troublesome beauty.Her uncles and brothers were all high-ranking officials because of her, and they were named Marquis and Marquis, and her distant cousin Yang Guozhong even became a prime minister, with power in the court; her sisters were all named "Mrs. Guo", Fubi Wanghou.The Yang family can enter and leave the forbidden courtyard of the imperial palace at will, no one dares to intervene, and the officials of the capital all look sideways.So at that time, there were songs all over the world that said: "Don't be sad when you have a daughter, and don't like it when you have a boy", "A man does not make a marquis' daughter a concubine, but a king sees a daughter as a lintel."People not only admire the prominent power of the Yang family, but also hate the disasters brought about by treacherous ministers playing with power.
Xuanzong didn't notice it at all.He was already a 70-year-old man at this time, but surrounded by flowers and beauties, he looked extraordinarily radiant, which made him look much younger.His eyes never left Yang Guifei beside him for a moment, how could he notice the deep meaning in the eyes of the common people!Xuanzong has forgotten that he once wrote the poem "Give the Inspectors of Zhuzhou a Right to Inscription" on the shore of Luoshui, in which there is a sentence "Treating the people as children, and loving others as wounds".Love the people like children?Maybe he loved his people before, but now, he only loves Concubine Yang and everything related to Concubine Yang.
Concubine Yang Gui's skin is as firm as fat, she is as beautiful as a heavenly man, and she is indescribably charming.At this moment, Xuanzong's heart seemed to have flown to the hot springs in Huaqing Palace, and he saw the scene of "slicking and washing the fat with hot spring water" in Huaqing Pool. Concubine Yang Guifei's snow-skinned and jade-like skin in the bath was like a lotus flower that came out of water.In Xuanzong's view, hot springs not only concealed the beauty of the body, but also symbolized the heat of love.
In addition to the hot springs that attracted Xuanzong, Lishan also has.Liyuan was originally a beautiful place in Chang'an, the capital city. Xuanzong liked music, singing and dancing, and specially built the first royal drama school in Chinese history in Liyuan.And 300 people were selected to study music in Liyuan, and these people were called "disciples of Liyuan".Later, there were hundreds of court ladies, all living in Yichun North Courtyard, who were also called Liyuan disciples, and a team of more than 30 musicians was specially arranged for them.Everyone uttered the silk and bamboo sounds together, and if there was a mistake, Xuanzong would be able to detect it and correct it, which is very similar to Zhou Yu's "the song is wrong, Zhou Langgu" in the Three Kingdoms period.Xuanzong successively built four major pear orchards.The Huaqing Palace Pear Garden under the Xiuling Ridge in Lishan Mountain is not the earliest, but it is the most prosperous. Only 300 disciples of "Zuobu Ji" were selected, which shows the large scale.
As a result, the Huaqing Pool, which was originally calm and calm, has more beautiful faces and two figures.Xuanzong and Concubine Yang accompanied each other day and night, enjoying music side by side, dancing and dancing in the Liyuan Jiaofang, having fun in the hibiscus tent, or drinking drunk under the Chenxiang Pavilion.All kinds of scenes are vividly described in Bai Juyi's novel: "The Li Palace enters the blue clouds from the heights, and the fairy music is heard everywhere. Songs and dances are slow, and the king can't see enough." Their love is like a dream and an illusion. .
The only regret is that there are no lychees in this season.Concubine Yang Guifei was born in Shu, and she loves to eat lychees, a specialty of Shu.Litchi is mostly produced in Bashu and Lingnan. The shell is like red silk, the membrane is like purple silk, the flesh is as white as ice and snow, and the syrup is as sweet as cheese. It tastes extremely delicious.However, after lychees are picked, it is very difficult to keep them fresh. The color will change in one day, the fragrance will change in two days, the taste will change in three days, and the color and taste will be lost in four or five days.In order to please Concubine Yang, Emperor Xuanzong specially sent people to Fuzhou, Sichuan every summer to transport lychees. Often, the lychees that were about to mature were shipped together with their roots. Dao Feima paid tribute to Chang'an.Such a huge expenditure of manpower, material and financial resources is a waste of money and people, just to transport the lychees fresh to Chang'an.Non-stop along the way, wading across mountains and rivers, trampling farmland along the way, damaging countless crops, and it is even more common for people to freeze and die.Once, when Emperor Xuanzong traveled to Xingli Mountain, it was Yang Guifei's birthday, so he ordered musicians to play music in the Hall of Eternal Life.At that time, because the new song was played, there was no name yet, and it happened that the south sent people to offer lychees, so the new song was named "Litchi Fragrance".Xuanzong ordered musician Huang Fanchuo to write the clapper score, and other musicians played music, which was very lively.It seems that it is not only "solo music", but also "group music".It's just that this group is limited to people around Xuanzong.
With Concubine Yang Gui, the "Flower of Interpretation", by his side, Xuanzong's life was as beautiful as poetry, and he really wished he could be younger.However, the earth-shattering news came at this time.
On the ninth day of November in the 14th year of Tianbao (755), An Lushan, the Jiedu envoy of Pinglu, Fan Yang, and Hedong, lied that he was "ordered to attack Yang Guozhong" and dispatched three town soldiers and Tongluo, Xi, Khitan, and Shiwei had a total of 150,000 soldiers, claiming to be 200,000. They started in Fanyang (southwest of Beijing today) with great fanfare, and went south to the two capitals (referring to Chang'an and Luoyang).On November 15th, six days after An Lushan rebelled against the Tang Dynasty, the news reached Huaqing Palace in Lishan.
At this time, when the plum blossoms in Huaqing Palace were in full bloom, Xuanzong and Concubine Yang were beating the jiegu to admire the plum blossoms together. Yang Guozhong rushed in and shouted: "Anlu Mountain is reversed!" He turned out to be excited.Xuanzong was not surprised, but it was not that he had expected An Lushan's rebellion, but he didn't believe it at all, and naively thought that "those who evil Lushan cheated it".Concubine Yang Gui also chimed in: "Your Majesty treats Lushan very kindly, almost like a father and son in the family. If he is arrogated by pampering, he will become arrogant, or it is unknown. As for rebellion, he may not dare to do so. His son Qingzong , Lord Shang stays in Beijing, if he rebels, won't he even care about his son?" The attitudes of the three people are different, and there are subtleties.
The next day, Taiyuan and Dongshoujiang City (now Tuoketuo, Inner Mongolia) flew reports, reporting in detail the process of Anlushan's rebellion.The cruel facts were mercilessly placed in front of the emperor of the Tang Dynasty, and Xuanzong felt as if he had just woken up from a dream, regretting his mistakes.This is what Bai Juyi said in his novel, "Yuyang cockroaches come to the ground, startling the neon clothes and feathers."
At that time, most of the elite soldiers of the Tang Empire were controlled by An Lushan. Thinking of the extremely serious and terrible consequences, Xuanzong couldn't help panicking, and hurriedly called Prime Minister Yang Guozhong and others to discuss countermeasures.Yang Guozhong was not worried at all, and he was "excited" for his "foresight", and said loudly: "An Lushan is the only one who wants to rebel now! The soldiers of the three armies and the people around him don't want to Those who rebel, within ten days, the soldiers of the three armies will definitely kill An Lushan and return to the court. If this is not the case, it will not be too late for His Majesty to send a large army to attack. Relying on righteousness and punishing rebels, they can be pacified without bloodshed Rebellion." The mediocre prime minister did not mention that An Lushan might not have rebelled if it hadn't been for his previous aggressiveness to put the other party to death.
The ministers of the imperial court knew Yang Guozhong and An Lushan's long-term infighting like a mirror. Now that the flames of war have been ignited, the prime minister is still saying such ignorant words.But Xuanzong hadn't fully awakened yet, and he believed Yang Guozhong's big words.
The emperor was indeed old. Not only was he aged under the erosion of the years, but he also became dizzy from being soaked in wine.Where did the emperor who was once imposing and courageous go?
Just one year ago (754), Gao Lishi, Xuanzong's most trusted eunuch, had solemnly reminded the emperor: "The frontier generals have soldiers, and disasters may be out of control." However, in this year, the household registration of the Tang Dynasty reached The highest number since the founding of the People's Republic of China: 8.91 million households and 52.91 million small populations.Since a considerable number of fleeing households are not registered, the number of registered households in government statistics is lower than the actual registered permanent residence.According to Du You's estimate, the actual number of households in the country during the Tianbao period was at least 13 million to 14 million. Based on a household with 5 members, the Tang Dynasty had a population of about 60 million to 70 million.Xuanzong was still intoxicated by the brilliant achievements of Kaiyuan's prosperous age, so he didn't pay attention to Gao Lishi's words at all.
Also just over a year ago, Prime Minister Yang Guozhong began to try his best to speak to Xuanzong, saying that An Lushan was about to rebel, but Yang Guozhong said this without any evidence and completely out of selfishness.The former Prime Minister Li Linfu was vicious and scheming. Whenever he met An Lushan, he would send someone to investigate An Lushan's reality and try to figure out An Lushan's intentions. Therefore, when An Lushan saw Li Linfu, he was in awe and admiration.However, Yang Guozhong had an impetuous temperament and mediocre talents. He was able to climb to the prime minister's position entirely by the nepotism of his cousin Yang Guifei. An Lushan looked down on him very much.Once when An Lushan entered the court, Yang Guozhong and Yang Guifei and his sisters went out to greet An Lushan as honored guests.At that time, Yang Guozhong was serving as Yushi Zhongcheng, and he was just beginning to use his favor, so he deliberately curry favor with An Lushan, hoping to become his powerful foreign aid.He saw that An Lushan's body was fat and he had difficulty moving, so he rushed to help him personally whenever he climbed up and down the steps of the palace.However, An Lushan's attitude towards the mediocre Prime Minister Yang Guozhong was "regarding him with contempt" ("Zizhi Tongjian Volume 216"), and he dismissed him at all, which made Yang Guozhong very embarrassed and publicly Unable to step down, "there is a gap".
Yang Guozhong was narrow-minded, so he naturally wanted to wait for an opportunity to retaliate. Therefore, he and An Lushan had been fighting each other for a long time, competing for favor in front of Xuanzong, and both wanted to overwhelm each other so as to elevate their own status.At that time, An Lushan was already serving as the Jiedu envoy of the three towns, holding a heavy army, and had been at the border for many years. He had a lot of power. There was really no better charge than "rebellion".Yang Guozhong also tried his best to ask Xuanzong to call An Lushan into the court, so that he could find an opportunity to put him to death.Before Prime Minister Yang Guozhong, Hexi Jiedu envoy Wang Zhongsi had written a letter to inform An Lushan of treason.Xuanzong didn't believe it, because he felt that he was very kind to An Lushan and loved him more than others, thinking that he would not betray him.At this time, Prince Li Heng, who had always been at odds with Yang Guozhong, seemed to have discovered An Lushan's disobedience, and said in a memorial that An Lushan wanted to rebel.Xuanzong still didn't believe it.However, all the mouths made money, and three people became tigers. Xuanzong began to feel less at ease: Anlu Mountain was, after all, the Jiedu envoy of the three towns, with 190,000 elite soldiers in his hand, accounting for nearly half of the frontier soldiers at that time, accounting for the total force of the Tang Dynasty One-third of them, even if there is a little accident, it will lead to a catastrophe.Therefore, this time Xuanzong finally listened to Yang Guozhong's suggestion and tried to call An Lushan into the court to observe the changes.
On the third day of the first lunar month in the thirteenth year of Tianbao (754), An Lushan entered the court and had an audience with Xuanzong, which was beyond everyone's expectations.Later generations believed that this was an extremely clever move by An Lushan. He believed that Xuanzong would not doubt him, so he was called to drive to see him. In this way, Xuanzong would believe in An Lushan's loyalty more and no longer believed in Yang Guozhong's words.
When An Lushan saw Xuanzong, he cried bitterly and said: "I am a barbarian and illiterate. Thanks to your majesty's unwavering love and trust, Yang Guozhong became jealous. Yang Guozhong hated me and decided to put me to death. Seeing this, Xuanzong was quite sympathetic, and immediately comforted him: "I will personally decide for you, so you don't have to worry." One of his sons was appointed as a third-rank official, the other as a fifth-rank official, ten slaves and maidservants, and one house for each. (See "The Deeds of Anlu Mountain")
An Lushan saw that Xuanzong's favor for him was still the same, so he took the opportunity to report that his subordinates had made great achievements in attacking Xi, Khitan, etc., and asked "not to stick to the usual rules, and to reward more than the capital".Xuanzong made a book: "Yes." As a result, more than 500 Anlushan generals were appointed as generals with excessive qualifications, and more than 3,000 generals were appointed as Zhonglang generals.The letters of appointment of these generals were all written and handed over to An Lushan, and An Lushan awarded them, which greatly won the hearts of the soldiers for him.
Xuanzong also planned to appoint a new official position for An Lushan. He originally wanted him to be a Tongping Zhangshi (prime minister), and ordered Taichangqing and Hanlin scholar Zhang Jie to draft a book.Yang Guozhong immediately remonstrated after hearing the news: "Although An Lushan has military merits, he is illiterate. How can he be a prime minister! The book is made as follows. I am afraid that the barbarians will have the heart to despise me and the Tang Dynasty." appointment.
An Lushan stayed in the capital for two months, Xuanzong was so gracious, Yang Guozhong still couldn't find a chance to make a move.When An Lushan was about to return to Fanyang, Xuanzong had a farewell party for him at the Wangchun Pavilion. He personally poured three glasses of wine and gave them to Anlushan.Every time An Lushan drank a cup, he would raise his cup and look around, and then drank heavily to show his honor and favor. After drinking three cups, he kowtowed to thank him.Xuanzong still had very high expectations for An Lushan at this time, saying: "The two captives in the northwest have been entrusted to you to control them! You, don't let me down!" An Lushan said proudly: "I am grateful to the emperor's kindness, How dare you be negligent! As long as I have Anlu Mountain, foreign enemies will never invade one step." Xuanzong was very happy when he heard that, so he took off his clothes and put them on Anlu Mountain himself. This is the supreme grace.Xuanzong also said to his ministers: "If all of you officials are loyal to me like An Lushan, I will be able to sit back and relax."
An Lushan was very vigilant in his heart, for fear that Yang Guozhong would ask Xuanzong to keep him in the capital, he quickly thanked him and bid farewell.As soon as he stepped down from Wangchun tower, he mounted his horse and galloped out of the pass.Xuanzong saw it from a distance, not only did not doubt it, but also thought that An Lushan was a simple and honest person, and he was surprised when he was favored.In order to appease the "sincere" Anlu Mountain, Xuanzong ordered Gao Lishi to rush to Changle Slope in the east of Chang'an City to bid farewell to Anlu Mountain again.What Xuanzong never imagined was that this was the last side of him and An Lushan in the world.Soon thereafter, they changed from tender and affectionate monarchs to life and death enemies.
After Gao Lishi saw him off, Xuanzong asked him specially: "Is An Lushan happy?" No outsiders knew at the time.Yang Guozhong said sinisterly at the side: "This must be the news leaked by Zhang Yi who was preparing to draft the book." ) Sima, Zhang Yu's younger brother gave Zhang Chu the Sima of Yichun (now Yichun, Jiangxi).
Zhang Jie married Xuanzong's daughter, Princess Ningqin, and was Xuanzong's son-in-law.Xuanzong was so unkind because of Yang Guozhong's provocative words, which shows his favor and trust in An Lushan.Zhang Jie held a grudge for this.He later surrendered to Anlu Mountain, which had a lot to do with Xuanzong's rash handling of the matter.
An Lushan actually took a big risk when he came to Beijing this time. If Yang Guozhong asked him to stay in the capital, he might be killed.Therefore, once he left Beijing, he hurried out of Tongguan on horseback like a fish slipping through the net.After leaving the customs, there were already confidantes to support them, and then went to Qimen to take a boat down the Yellow River.He also felt that the boat was too slow, so he ordered the boatman to stand on the shore with a rope board and pull the fiber, changing shifts every fifteen miles, "traveling day and night, hundreds of miles a day, crossing counties and counties without getting off the boat" ("Zizhi Tongjian Volume 200") Seventeen").This shows the fear deep in his heart.
After returning to Fanyang safely, An Lushan still had lingering fears and worries.Du You (grandfather of the famous poet Du Mu), the prime minister of Tang Dezong, pointed out in "Tong Dian Volume 148": "Lushan is called an internal insult by soldiers, but it does not necessarily have a murderous conspiracy. Then chaos arises, and things have to happen." This kind of argument is very reasonable.It was from this time that An Lushan began to make up his mind to rebel and attack the Tang Dynasty.To a large extent, he was actually forced to this step by Yang Guozhong.
But Xuanzong of Chang'an did not have the slightest doubt, because Concubine Yang liked this Hu'er of Anlu Mountain (An Lushan, who was many years old, called Concubine Yang Guifei her mother), and even when Yang Guozhong warned that "Anlushan wanted to rebel", Yang Guifei The imperial concubine also defended An Lushan.To be fair, Concubine Yang is not as politically ambitious as Wu Zetian and Princess Taiping before her, and she has never interfered in government affairs. However, Xuanzong's incomparable love for her undoubtedly greatly affected the political direction of the Tang Dynasty , so that she became another famous "beautiful beauty" in history.
In February of the 14th year of Tianbao (755), An Lushan suddenly sent his confidant deputy He Qiannian to Chang'an to play, demanding that 32 Tibetan generals replace Han generals.In fact, this is An Lushan's temptation, and he wants to take the opportunity to observe whether the Tang court still trusts him.Xuanzong did not have the slightest doubt, and he agreed, and ordered the letter to be handled according to An Lushan's request.Wei Jiansu, the Minister of the Ministry of Officials, became suspicious, but he was worried that Xuanzong would not listen to his advice, so he went to Yang Guozhong first and said: "Anlu Mountain has long had different ambitions, and now I invite Fan generals to replace Han generals. The objection is clear. Tomorrow, I will make admonitions. If Your Majesty does not listen, please continue to admonish." Yang Guozhong was determined to eradicate Anlu Mountain and then quickly, so he naturally agreed.
The next day, Yang Guozhong and Wei Jiansu went to see Xuanzong together. Before the two had spoken, Xuanzong already knew the purpose of coming, and asked first, "Do you suspect that An Lushan has rebellion?" It is clear that Lushan has turned his back on him, and he cannot be allowed to replace Han generals with Fan generals.Xuanzong turned black on the spot and was very unhappy.Seeing this situation, Yang Guozhong ignored Wei Jiansu's repeated hints and dared not speak again.As a result, An Lushan's request to replace Han generals with Fan generals was implemented.
After that, Yang Guozhong looked for opportunities from time to time to talk about An Lushan's intention to rebel.Hearing such words too much, Xuanzong also began to be half-believing, so he sent eunuch Fu Qiulin to Fanyang to observe the movement of Anlu Mountain under the pretext of sending mandarin oranges.An Lushan bribed Fu Qilin.After Fu Qilin returned to Beijing, she never had any second thoughts about how Xuanzong said that An Lushan was devoted to the country.So Xuanzong said to Yang Guozhong and others: "I will treat Anlu Mountain with all my heart, and he will have no different ambitions. Xi and Khitan in the northeast are powerful, and they must be restrained by Anlu Mountain. I will deal with it seriously. Don't worry."
In order to weaken Anlushan's military power, Yang Guozhong and Wei Jiansu suggested that the three townships who were concentrated on one person in Anlushan should be shared by three people, but Xuanzong did not adopt it.
When Yang Guozhong was trying to get rid of An Lushan, An Lushan was also tit for tat, dispatching troops and generals intensively, planning a rebellion.In order to collect charges against An Lushan, Yang Guozhong ordered Jingzhao Yin Li Xian (who was soon expelled from the court by Yang Guozhong) to surround An Lushan's residence in Beijing, search everywhere for criminal charges, and arrested An Lushan's retainer Li Chao. Send Yushitai to be hanged.At that time, Yang Guozhong had no real evidence to kill Li Chao. He just planned to use such an extreme method to anger An Lushan, hoping that the other party would rebel quickly, so as to show that he had the foresight to win the trust of Xuanzong.But Xuanzong didn't even know about it.
An Lushan's favorite eldest son, An Qingzong, was appointed a servant minister at that time, married the daughter of the clan's daughter Rongyang Princess, and lived in Chang'an, the capital.Xuanzong never believed that An Lushan was going to rebel, and An Qingzong's official position in the capital was also an important reason.Seeing Yang Guozhong's urging day and night, An Qingzong secretly sent people to report various situations in the capital to An Lushan.An Lushan was terrified when he heard about it. He always felt that Yang Guozhong would attack him soon, so he accelerated the pace of rebellion.
Because Yang Guozhong repeatedly created the public opinion that "Anlushan is about to rebel", Xuanzong ordered Anlushan to go to Beijing twice in June and July, but Anlushan was no longer fooled and ignored them.
In July, An Lushan suddenly presented 3,000 horses, with 2 grooms for each horse, 22 Yifan escorts, 300 carts, and 3 coachmen for each cart.Henan Yin Da Xixun (who later surrendered to Anlu Mountain) suspected that there must be a conspiracy, and immediately reminded Xuanzong by playing a memorial, suggesting that it would not be too late to postpone the horse sacrifice until winter, and that the government should ration the grooms uniformly, and the grooms from Anlu Mountain could not be used.After being reminded by Da Xixun, Xuanzong came to his senses a little bit, "beginning to doubt Lushan" ("Zizhi Tongjian Volume 217").At this time, it was revealed that Fu Jiaolin was bribed by An Lushan, and Xuanzong did not dare to publicize it, for fear of angering An Lushan, he just executed Fu Jiaolin by making other small mistakes, but he did not take any action against An Lushan. precautionary measures.
Even with the iron facts in front of his eyes, Xuanzong could hardly believe the fact that An Lushan rebelled.How much he trusted An Lushan!Many people have said that An Lushan is about to rebel, but how did Xuanzong do it?Anyone who said that Anlushan rebelled, Xuanzong ordered them to be sent to Anlushan to be dealt with. "Because everyone knows that he will rebel, no one dares to speak" ("Zi Zhi Tong Jian Volume 217").But now, the fact of blood is in front of him, An Lushan has really turned his back!
Yuyang is raging with flames, and even more smoke and dust will rise from the Jiuchong City.People in dire straits are looking forward to seeing Li Longji who killed Empress Wei and Princess Taiping in one fell swoop and stabilized the turbulent political situation in the Tang Dynasty.However, after nearly 50 years as the Taiping Emperor, Li Longji, who used to be majestic, is gone forever.
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