Chapter 26 Chapter Seven Heroes in Troubled Times

In the mid-Kaiyuan period of the Tang Dynasty, Yan Gaoqing served as a household member of Cao Junjun in Fanyang (Beijing).Later, he served as a judge in Guantian.He is famous for his upright temperament, fear of power, fairness, and self-interest. He has won the praise of his colleagues, and the people of Fanyang praised him as a clean official.At that time, An Lushan served as Fan Yang Jiedu envoy, and seeing that Yan Gaoqing was popular among the people, he made an exception at the beginning of the 14th year of Tianbao (755) and appointed Yan Gaoqing as the prefect of Changshan County (now Zhengding, Hebei).For a time, it was spread in Fanyang City that An Lushan cherished talents and loved talents, and appointed people on their merits.At this time, it has been less than 10 months since An Lushan launched an army against the Tang Dynasty.

After An Lushan raised troops, the vanguard troops pointed directly at Gao (sound gao, the same) city.Yan Gaoqing, who served as the prefect of Changshan, saw that the rebels were coming ferociously, and was in a hurry to guard against them, so he had to feign surrender with Chang Shi Yuan Lufen.An Lushan thought that Yan Gaoqing had the kindness of knowing you, but he didn't suspect it. He presented Yan Gaoqing and Yuan Luqian each with a brocade robe in public, and ordered them to succeed in their original positions, collect more food and grass, and recruit soldiers for use.He also sent rebel generals Gao Miao and Li Qincou to lead 5,000 troops to garrison Jingxing Pass (now Jingxing, Hebei).Despite this, An Lushan was still a little worried, so he took Yan Gaoqing's son and nephew to his army as hostages.

On the surface, Yan Gaoqing accepted An Lushan's order, but in secret, he was fighting hard.There is also a little story here. Yan Gaoqing knew that he could not fight back against the rebels alone, so he invited the chief historian Yuan Luqian to dinner. During the dinner, he asked tentatively: "Why did An Lushan give you and me a robe?" Yuan Luqian replied: "To win You and I serve him." Yan Gaoqing further asked: "How should we treat him?" Yuan Luqian said confidently: "Put on his robe and walk our way." Yan Gaoqing said happily: "It's just right. I agree." So the two joined forces, built the city and dredged the canals, recruited strong men, built warehouses and granaries, and determined to hunt down thieves.Yan Gaoqing also sent someone to tell his cousin Yan Zhenqing, the prefect of Pingyuan (which governs the north of the present-day Shandong Plain), and agreed to join forces and respond to each other. Tongjian Volume 217").

The Pingyuan County under the jurisdiction of Yan Zhenqing is under the jurisdiction of Anlu Mountain, the Jiedu envoy of Fan Yang. Yan Zhenqing, like his cousin Yan Gaoqing, belongs to Anlu Mountain.An Lushan planned to rebel against the Tang Dynasty, recruiting soldiers and buying horses, accumulating grass and grain, and Yan Zhenqing had long been aware of this.In order to prevent changes, Yan Zhenqing took advantage of the heavy rain to build the city, dig trenches, reinforce the city, and secretly recruit young men to store grain.An Lushan once sent people to spy on the situation in Pingyuan County, and thought that Yan Zhenqing was a poor-faced scholar, and it was nothing to worry about, so he didn't take it to heart.After An Lushan raised troops, because Pingyuan County was not on the road for the rebels to go south, Yan Zhenqing was ordered to use Pingyuan and Boping (now Liaocheng, Shandong) to station 7,000 troops to defend Hejin.Yan Zhenqing resorted to tricks, recruiting soldiers under the pretext of carrying out An Lushan's order, but in fact he was preparing to fight back against the rebels, and "recruited more than 10,000 warriors within ten days."He wept and reported to these soldiers, telling the soldiers to stand up against the rebels.The people were moved and supported in unison.

Yan Zhenqing also secretly sent his confidant Pingyuan Sibing Li Ping to rush to Chang'an with the false message sent by An Lushan and report it to Xuanzong.Xuanzong was worried about the 24 counties and counties in Hebei being attached to Anlu Mountain, and he sighed: "Isn't there a righteous man in the 24 counties?" When Li Ping came to the court, he said very happily: "I have not yet I have seen what Yan Zhenqing looks like, but it is rare for him to be so loyal to the country!" So he rewarded Li Ping and asked him to report to Yan Zhenqing: "If you make a contribution to a thief, you will definitely be rewarded!"

After Anlushan crossed the Yellow River and captured Luoyang, Yan Zhenqing recruited warriors, and within a few days he recruited more than 10,000 horsemen, and publicly announced that he would attack Anlushan with his troops.at this time.It just so happened that Duan Ziguang, a general of the Anlu Mountain Department, was ordered to take the heads of Li Cheng, Lu Yi, and Jiang Qing, the loyal officials of the Tang Dynasty, to Hebei, ordering the counties to pay the grain money quickly.When it was reported to Pingyuan County, Yan Zhenqing ordered Duan Ziguang to be tied to the head of the city and beheaded for public display.Then the heads of Li Cheng, Lu Yi and Jiang Qing were buried in coffins.All the soldiers and civilians in the city cried and offered condolences, and passed on loyalty and righteousness to the neighbors.

Yan Zhenqing was the first person to openly resist the rebels in the Central Plains region, which has been reduced to the hands of the rebels. According to the current saying, he fired the first shot against the rebels.Afterwards, Lu Quancheng, the prefect of Raoyang (now Raoyang, Hebei Province), occupied the city to resist Anlu Mountain, Li Huan, the justice of Hejian (now Hejian, Hebei Province), killed Wang Huaizhong, the chief official appointed by Anlu Mountain, and Li Sui, the prefect of Jinan, sent his game general Zi Sixian Ma Ji, the prefect of Boping (now Liaocheng, Shandong) appointed by crossing the Yellow River to kill An Lushan, each with tens of thousands or thousands of troops, recommended Yan Zhenqing as the leader of the alliance, and his military command was unified to fight against the rebels.Yan Zhenqing immediately sent someone to contact Yan Gaoqing, asking his cousin to capture the fortress Jingxing Pass as soon as possible, so as to cut off the back road of Anlu Mountain.

At that time, Li Qincourt, the rebel general stationed at Jingxing Pass, was the godson of An Lushan. He was addicted to alcohol and was a well-known alcoholic.At this time, just as the New Year's Eve was approaching, Gao Miao, another rebel general at Jingxing Pass, went to Fanyang to see An Lushan to report on his duties.After Yan Gaoqing heard the news, she took the opportunity to write to Li Qincou, saying that she was sick and could not go to Jingxing Pass in person, and invited Li Qincou and Gao Miao to Changshan to discuss the matter of laboring at the Nianguan Pass.Li Qincouu had heard that Yan Gaoqing had been ill in bed and hadn't changed anything recently, so he took a few followers to Changshan with confidence.It was already night when Li Qincou came to Changshan, Yan Gaoqing falsely claimed that he would not open the city gate at night, and asked Li Qincou to stay overnight at Jiaotong post outside the city, and at the same time sent someone to receive him warmly.Not long after Li Qincoug took his seat, he got very drunk and was pushed out and beheaded in a dream in a drunken dream.Yan Gaoqing also sent someone to kill his deputy Pan Weishen, and threw his body into the Hutuo River. Then he mobilized troops overnight and surrounded Jingxing Pass.At dawn the next day, Yuan Lvqian took Li Qincouu's head to Jingxing Pass to surrender.Seeing that the main general was dead and Jingxingguan was surrounded by Tang troops, the rebels surrendered.Therefore, Yan Gaoqing regained Jingxing Pass without bloodshed.

As it happened, Cui Anshi, the county magistrate of Gaocheng the next day, sent someone to report that Gao Miao, the rebel general, had returned from Fanyang and would arrive in Gaocheng after dark.Yan Gaoqing acted decisively and set up an ambush in Gaocheng to capture Gao Miao.When it was dark, Gao Miao came to Gaocheng County Yamen with a group of followers, but was caught by ambushes.Gao Miao didn't understand why, so he shouted, "Why tie me up?" Cui Anshi sneered and asked him, "Why are you treason?" Then Gao Miao was speechless, and immediately got into a prison cart and took him to Changshan.

In a few days, He Qiannian, An Lushan's confidant, was ordered to inspect Zhaojun (now Zhaoxian, Hebei), but was caught by Yan Gaoqing again.At that time, Zhang Xiancheng, an upright general from Anlu Mountain, besieged Raoyang with more than 10,000 soldiers. Raoyang was in critical condition, and Yan Gaoqing was about to go to rescue him.In order to survive, He Qiannian advised Yan Gaoqing, "If you want to serve the Tang court now, you should be careful about the end as well as the beginning. The troops you recruit are all mobs, and it is difficult to resist the enemy. High base, wait for work with ease, don't compete with Zhang Xiancheng. Wait until the Shuofang army (named general Guo Ziyi's army, Guo Ziyi was the governor of Shuofang at the time) arrives, and then attack together, spreading the message to the Hebei counties and cutting off their backs. Now you should spread the word everywhere He said: Li Guangbi (who was under Guo Ziyi at the time and served as the envoy of the left soldier of the Shuofang Army) was leading 10,000 horsemen out of Jingxingkou. He also sent someone to tell Zhang Xiancheng, "Most of the troops you lead are regiment-trained soldiers, and there are no solid armored soldiers." It is difficult to resist Li Guangbi's Shanxi army. After Zhang Xiancheng heard this, he would break the siege of Raoyang and leave. The siege is thus resolved.

Immediately, Yan Gaoqing sent his eldest son Yan Quanming, Jia Shen, and Zhai Wande to escort He Qiannian and Gao Miao to Chang'an with the head of Li Qincou. One was to report the results of the battle to the court, and the other was to ask the court to send troops to suppress the rebellion as soon as possible.At this time, Zhang Tongyou, the county lieutenant of Neiqiu (now Neiqiu, Hebei Province), begged to go with him, crying and said: "My brother Tongru trapped the bandits and turned him into a rebel general. Please allow me to go to the court with Quanming to save the clan." Gao Qing was very sympathetic, so she agreed to Zhang Tongyou's request. In fact, it was because Zhang Tongyou was afraid that his elder brother Zhang Tongru would be consigned to the Anlu Mountain, which would harm his family, and he wanted to find an opportunity to save himself a way out.When a group of people passed through Taiyuan, Zhang Tong heard that the prefect Wang Chengye had a good relationship with the prime minister Yang Guozhong, and "wanted to use it as a help", so he urged Wang Chengye to keep Yan Quanming and let him escort the rebels on his behalf, stealing the credit for himself.Wang Chengye readily accepted the suggestion. Wang Chengye is also very naive, just imagine how such a thing can be easily taken credit for?But at that time the government was chaotic, Xuanzong was in a daze, and Wang Chengye was just trying to get lucky.It can also be seen from this that Xuanzong's image of the British Lord has long since disappeared in the hearts of his subjects.Later, the rebel generals He Qiannian and Gao Miao were beheaded in Chang'an.Xuanzong was very happy and named Wang Chengye the general of Yubayashi.Because Zhang Tongyou and Yang Guozhong played tricks in it, the truth of this matter was not revealed until two years later. Yan Gaoqing knew nothing about this.He sent Guo Zhongyong to lead a team of cavalry, with branches tied to their horses' tails, and they ran through the woods, causing the dust to fly, forming a force of thousands of horses.He also sent people to post announcements, saying that the imperial court had sent 300,000 troops to quell the rebellion and recovered Jingxing Pass.He also said that those who were coerced by An Lushan to rebel would be rewarded if they surrendered as soon as possible; if they resisted stubbornly, they would be more guilty.For a time, one spreads ten, ten spreads hundreds, and everyone knows it.This move greatly boosted the morale of the entire army and civilians in Hebei.In just a few days, 17 counties and counties, including Boling, Wen'an, Shanggu, and Le'an, heard the news and sent people to contact each other to express their acceptance of Yan Gaoqing's order.The two counties of Changshan and Yuanyuan became the center of Hebei's fight against the Anlushan rebellion.Only the six counties of Fanyang, Beiping, Miyun, Yuyang, Ji (now southern Henan), and Ye (now southern Henan) are still hesitating. Yan Gaoqing secretly sent people to Fanyang to recruit the rebel general Jia Xun.Jia Xun hesitated.The general Ma Sui secretly persuaded him: "Anlu Mountain is rebellious and unpopular. Although it occupies Luoyang, it will eventually perish. If the general can kill his rebels, return to the country with Fan Yang, and pour out his lair, he will become the world's leader. It’s your merit.” Although Jia Xun thought it was reasonable, he couldn’t make up his mind for a while, so he just said: “Let me think about it.” Unexpectedly, the matter was not confidential, and the secret plan of the two was heard by another general, Niu Runrong.Niu Runrong was An Lushan's confidant, so he immediately reported the situation to An Lushan. At this time, An Lushan established himself as the Emperor of Yan in Luoyang, and was about to lead his army to march towards Tongguan. Suddenly, he heard that Changshan Yan Gaoqing had killed Li Qincou and captured Gao Miao and He Qiannian alive. The rear was in turmoil Stable and shocked, he returned to Luoyang urgently to deal with it.On the one hand, An Lushan sent General Han Chaoyang to Fanyang to summon Jia Xun.After Han Chaoyang arrived in Fanyang, he lied that he had something urgent to tell Jia Xun, took advantage of Jia Xun's unpreparedness, and suddenly strangled Jia Xun. , The troops divided into two groups and raided Changshan. Yan Gaoqing predicted that An Lushan's army would arrive soon, so he asked his wife and son to escape from the city, but his wife insisted on defending the city with him and killing the enemy.Seeing that the prefect and his wife are dedicated to serving the country and the people, the people in the prefect's mansion all expressed their willingness to fight the rebellion with the prefect and live and die with Chang Shan.When the people in the city heard about it, they also demanded to defend the city.The enthusiasm of the people encouraged the fighting spirit of Yan Gaoqing and others, and strengthened their determination to fight the rebellion. The news of Jia Xun's death first spread to Changshan, Yan Gaoqing was shocked, and quickly ordered the army to step up the construction of the city and dig trenches to prepare for the battle, and immediately sent the eldest son Yan Quanming to Taiyuan to ask for reinforcements.Yuan Luqian said: "Why should the eunuch be nervous before the bandits arrive?" Yan Gaoqing said: "Jia Xun is a man with two heads, and we will be implicated." Governor Yan Zhenqing) ask for help?" Yan Gaoqing said: "Zhenqing is my brother from the same clan, don't thieves beware? If you ask Zhenqing for help, it will not only do no good, but will harm Zhenqing." At this time, Shi Siming led 10,000 troops, traveling day and night, and had arrived at the city of Changshan.Shi Siming was very resourceful, and he was a leader among the generals of the rebel army, and he was nicknamed "General Ever Victorious".He thought that as long as Yan Gaoqing surrendered, Hebei would stop resisting, so he sent someone to send a letter to invite him to talk in the city and persuade him to surrender.But Yan Gaoqing replied by counting the crimes of treason and chaos in Anlu Mountain and splitting the country.Seeing that there was no hope of persuading the surrender, Shi Siming ordered to attack the city.Unexpectedly, the city wall was strong and the defenders were brave, and they could not be attacked for a long time.Shi Siming sent people to Cai Xide to transfer troops. Yan Gaoqing had already sent his son Yan Quanming to ask for help from Wang Chengye in Taiyuan, and agreed to attack the rebels under Changshan City.Who knows that Wang Chengye, regardless of the country's safety, just wants to preserve his strength and refuses to send troops.Yan Gaoqing had no choice but to send his second son, Yan Jiming, to Pingyuan to ask for help, but because of the siege of the rebels, the rescue was delayed.Changshan became a helpless lonely city.After the rebel reinforcements arrived, they continued to attack the city day and night.Patriotic generals such as Yan Gaoqing and Yuan Luqian fought day and night with the soldiers and civilians defending the city, repelling several attacks by the rebels. Extremely tragic.On the ninth day of the first lunar month, Changshan City was destroyed without reinforcements outside.Yan Gaoqing, Yuan Luqian and others were captured.The rebels entered the city and slaughtered wantonly, with corpses strewn across the road and blood flowing all over the ground. In view of Yan Gaoqing's influence in Hebei, Shi Siming lured Yan Gaoqing to surrender with a high official and generous salary, but was sternly refused.Furious, Shi Siming put the knife on the neck of Yan Jiming, Yan Gaoqing's second son, and said, "If you surrender, I won't kill your son!" He wanted to coerce Yan Gaoqing to surrender.Yan Gaoqing said: "Death will not surrender the thief!" Shi Siming was furious, swung a knife to kill Yan Jiming, and escorted Yan Gaoqing and others to Luoyang. An Lushan ordered the soldiers to bring Yan Gaoqing in front of him, and asked Yan Gaoqing, "You were originally just a small official Cao from Fanyang family. I asked the court to appoint you as the judge of the camp and then as the prefect. Why do you have to bear the burden?" What about me instead?" Yan Gaoqing scolded angrily: "You were just a sheep herding boy in Yingzhou (now Chaoyang, Liaoning), and the country made you the governor of the three towns. Lost to you? And you rebelled against the imperial court. I was an official of the Tang Dynasty, and my salary was given by the imperial court. How can I rebel with you! I am begging for thieves for the country, and I wish I could kill you. How can I say it is rebellion?" An Lushan became furious and ordered Yan Gaoqing and Yuan Luqian to be dragged to the pillars of the Tianjin Bridge in Luoyang and tied up, and tortured them with cruel punishments.Yan Gaoqing looked stern, while enduring the torture, he still scolded An Lushan severely.The rebel soldiers cut off Yan Gaoqing's tongue with a knife.Yan Gaoqing's mouth was full of blood, and she even let out a vague curse.Seeing the cruel scene of Yan Gaoqing being tortured, Yuan Luqian was so angry that he bit his tongue and sprayed blood and tongue on the face of a traitor next to him.Yan Gaoqing and Yuan Luqian were killed by Ling Chi, but they kept cursing until they died.Yan's family had more than 30 dead righteous people at that time.The people in Luoyang were all weeping. After Yan Gaoqing was killed, rebel generals such as Shi Siming and Cai Xide successively captured the counties and counties that responded to Yan Gaoqing, and the situation in Hebei was once again facing a crisis.On the one hand, Xuanzong ordered Yan Zhenqing to lead his troops to stick to the plains, and on the other hand, he adjusted Shuofang Jiedu to make Guo Ziyi march towards Luoyang.Guo Ziyi captured Yunzhong and Mayi all the way, opened Jingxing Pass, and pointed his finger at Luoyang. One month after Yan Gaoqing was killed, Li Guangbi, the Jiedu envoy of Hedong, led more than 10,000 infantry cavalry and 3,000 Taiyuan archers to Jingxing Pass, repelled the rebels, and recovered Changshan. Mrs. Yan Gaoqing, who was imprisoned in Changshan, therefore be saved.Then, Guo Ziyi also led elite soldiers to join Li Guangbi in Changshan. Some people in Hebei suffered from the pain of being captured by the Anlushan rebels. When they heard that Guo Ziyi and Li Guangbi's army was coming, they spontaneously gathered and built camps to resist the rebels.As soon as Guo and Li Dajun arrived, they joined the army.The two armies of Guo and Li were strong and strong, and their morale was strong. They attacked the rebels in Anlu Mountain one after another, and more than a dozen counties in Hebei returned to the hands of the Tang army. In the second year of Zhide (757), Yan Zhenqing told his cousin Yan Gaoqing's deeds to Suzong Li Heng in tears, and forwarded it to the Supreme Emperor Xuanzong.But at this time, Wang Chengye had been convicted of other crimes and died, so Zhang Tongyou was killed with a stick.In order to commend Yan Gaoqing, Emperor Suzong posthumously granted Yan Gaoqing the crown prince and Taibao, and his wife was Mrs. Qinghe. Afterwards, Yan Zhenqing sent Yan Quanming to Hebei to search for the remains of Yan Gaoqing, his father and son, as well as the scattered family members, only to find Yan Jiming's skull and bring it back.Yan Zhenqing remembers his cousin's loyal family, "the father traps the son and dies, the nest is overturned", the national crisis and family hatred all come to my heart, and with the grief and indignation of "caressing and destroying the heart, mourning the heart", she writes with blood and tears. I wrote the sacrificial text of "Manuscript for the Nephew".This post is written with flying spirits, majestic brushstrokes, and natural postures. It is considered "a wonderful book in the world" and is now in the National Palace Museum, Taipei. Yan Gaoqing was 65 years old when he died.From the beginning of his army to his failure, although the time was very short, his resistance delayed the rebels' attack on Chang'an and bought time for the Tang Dynasty to dispatch troops.In particular, his spirit of resistance to the death inspired more people to fight against the rebels. Wen Tianxiang, a national hero of the Southern Song Dynasty, was captured by Yuan soldiers. When he was escorted to Dadu, he passed Zhending City by the Hutuo River.