Chapter 28 3. Guo Ziyi's achievements cover a generation
Guo Ziyi was born in Zhengxian County, Huazhou (now Huaxian County, Shaanxi Province).Guo Ziyi's father, Guo Jingzhi, successively served as governor of Suizhou, Weizhou, Guizhou, Shouzhou, and Sizhou.Under his father's education and influence, Guo Ziyi worked hard no matter whether he was studying or practicing martial arts.Guo Ziyi is tall, strong, and handsome.
It is said that when Guo Ziyi was 20 years old, he served as a soldier in Hedong, and was executed according to the law for violating military discipline.When he was tied up and taken to the execution ground, he was discovered by the famous poet Li Bai at that time.Li Bai didn't know Guo Ziyi, but saw that he was extraordinary in appearance and fearless before execution, and thought that this young man was extraordinary and should have a bright future, so he rescued Guo Ziyi with his official position as a guarantee.Later, Li Bai joined the Yongwang Li Lin shogunate and was implicated and imprisoned. Guo Ziyi wrote a letter requesting to use his official position to atone for Li Bai, in order to repay Li Bai's life-saving grace.
Afterwards, Guo Ziyi lived up to Li Bai's expectations. After joining, he was awarded the post of Zuowei Changshi (the chief of staff in the emperor's imperial shogunate) by a high-ranking official.Because of his repeated military exploits, he was promoted and promoted many times.In the eighth year of Tianbao (749), he served as an envoy of Ansai Army and worshiped General Zuowei.The year before the outbreak of the Anshi Rebellion, he served as the military envoy of Tiande, concurrently the prefect of Jiuyuan, and the envoy of Shuofang Jiedu's right soldiers and horses, and was under the control of An Sishun, the then Shuofang Jiedu envoy.
In the fourteenth year of Tianbao (755), An Lushan rebelled against the Tang Dynasty.The situation at that time was very critical. Seeing the Tang army's defeat after defeat, Xuanzong beheaded generals Feng Changqing and Gao Xianzhi in a rage.As Shuofang Jiedu envoy An Sishun and An Lushan were relatives, in order to prevent them from colluding with each other, Xuanzong summoned An Sishun to the capital as Minister of the Household Department, and appointed Guo Ziyi as Shuofang Jiedu envoy to fight against the rebels.It can be said that Guo Ziyi was ordered in a time of national crisis.
At that time, the rebels had already occupied most of Henan. Guo Ziyi first sent troops to Hebei to attack the back road of Anlu Mountain.Shuofang Army won the first battle in Youyu (now Youyu County, Shanxi), defeated the rebel Gao Xiuyan, wiped out more than 7,000 enemies, and recovered Yunzhong (now Datong City, Shanxi), Mayi (now east of Shuo County, Shanxi), and Dongxing Guan (in the east of Daixian County, Shanxi today) and other places.At that time, the Shuofang Army and the Taiyuan Army of the Tang Army were separated by the rebels, and each was isolated. The recovery of Mayi allowed Dongxing Pass to be reopened, and the Shuofang Army and the Taiyuan Army were reconnected.In this way, the military operations under Anlu Mountain in Taiyuan, entering Yongji, and then tackling the key points could not be realized quickly, and the Tang army thus won the strategic initiative.
After news of Shuofang's military victory reached Chang'an, the capital city, the people who had been in a state of anxiety were relieved a bit, and Guo Ziyi made a contribution to the doctor Yushi for his meritorious service.At this time, Hebei still needed a general, and Guo Ziyi recommended Li Guangbi as the governor of Hedong. After that, an interesting story happened.
Li Guangbi and Guo Ziyi were both generals in Shuofang Town, and they were both well-known generals at the time, but their personal relationship was not good, and they seemed to be dissatisfied with each other.After the outbreak of the Anshi Rebellion, Xuanzong immediately promoted Guo Ziyi to serve as Shuofang Jiedu envoy, ranking above Li Guangbi.Li Guangbi was afraid that Guo Ziyi would take the opportunity to make things difficult for him, so he always wanted to transfer to another town.At this time, the Tang court asked Guo Ziyi to choose a capable general to be responsible for the pacification of Hebei.Out of publicity, Guo Ziyi recommended Li Guangbi.However, Li Guangbi thought that Guo Ziyi was killing people with a knife, and wanted to send himself to die, but he could not disobey the court's order, so he said to Guo Ziyi before leaving: "I am willing to die, but I just ask you not to harm my wife and children again." Guo Ziyi After hearing this, he realized that the other party had misunderstood him, and said to Li Guangbi with tears: "Now that the country is in crisis, I value the general, so I strongly recommend you as a general. I am willing to go to the battlefield with you to fight against the traitors. How can I remember any personal grievances?" Li Guangbi was very moved when he heard this, and the two shook hands and knelt down to each other, letting go of their suspicions.
The Tang court wanted to use the Shuofang army as the main force of the counterattack, and ordered Guo Ziyi to return to Shuofang to replenish troops and attack the rebels from the frontal battlefield in an attempt to recover Luoyang.Guo Ziyi believes that it is necessary to seize the counties in Hebei, cut off the connection between Luoyang and Fanyang, the old nest of Anlu Mountain, and cut off the supply line in the rear, in order to effectively attack the vital forces of the rebel front.
After Shi Siming occupied Changshan, all the prefectures and counties recovered by Yan Gaoqing, the prefect of Changshan, fell into the hands of the rebels, and the rebels in Hebei regained their vitality.In order to dampen the arrogance of the rebels, Guo Ziyi sent Li Guangbi to quickly march towards Changshan, and at the same time personally led the army to attack the rebels from behind.
Li Guangbi came out of Jingxingkou from Taiyuan, recovered seven counties in Hebei, and conquered Changshan with lightning speed.Upon hearing the news, Shi Siming led an army of 50,000 to surround Li Guangbi in Changshan from the west.The two sides fought fiercely and faced off for more than 40 days.Li Guangbi's troops were exhausted and outnumbered, so they were forced to defend.After hearing the news, Guo Ziyi led more than 10,000 Qingqi people to come to the rescue in the starry night. After meeting with Li Guangbi, he defeated the rebel Shi Siming's department at Jiumen (northwest of Gaocheng County, Hebei).Tang Jun pursued to Hengyang (now Quyang, Hebei), and fought Shi Siming in Jiashan (in the east of Quyang County), wiped out more than 40,000 enemies, captured more than 1,000 people, and won 5,000 horses, winning the first big victory against the rebels .Many counties and counties in Hebei welcomed the Tang army one after another, and Guo Ziyi's reputation spread from this.
When An Lushan heard Shi Siming's defeat, he became furious. He selected 20,000 elite cavalry from Luoyang, led by Xie Xide, and marched northward to slow down.More than 10,000 elite soldiers from Fan Yang's lair, led by Niu Tingguo, went south to join Shi Siming.Three armies and one rebel army, ready to make a comeback.
Guo Ziyi was stationed in Hengyang (now Quyang, Hebei Province) at this time. Seeing that the rebels were numerous and powerful, he took advantage of the rebels' eagerness for a decisive battle, digging ditches and building fortifications, holding on to the danger, and actively preparing for the battle. On the one hand, he adopted the harassing tactics of "defend when the enemy comes, and pursue when the enemy goes; show off his troops during the day, and attack his camp at night" ("Zi Zhi Tong Jian Volume 218").The rebels were worried all day long, restless and unable to rest.When the rebels were exhausted, Guo Ziyi believed that the time had come to eliminate the rebels, so he divided his left and right wings and charged at the rebels.The morale of the rebels was low, the formation was chaotic, and they were about to collapse at the first touch, scattered and fled in all directions.Seeing that the defeat was decided, Shi Siming was so frightened that he didn't know where to go. He was shot by a flying arrow again and fell off his horse.The Tang army won a complete victory in this battle, killing 40,000 rebels, capturing 5,000 people alive, and capturing 5,000 horses.Guo Ziyi took advantage of the victory and advanced to encircle Boling, and the Tang army's prestige was greatly enhanced.
This battle had a great impact on the hearts of the army and the people in Hebei.More than 10 counties in Hebei organized armed forces spontaneously to support and respond to the Tang army.The rebels lost Hebei, and the rear line of communication was cut off.Those who lived in Fanyang, the generals and soldiers of the rebel army, were all in a state of panic, worrying that there was no way out.
Just when Guo Ziyi was planning to send troops north to Fanyang, the rebels broke through Tongguan, Xuanzong abandoned Beijing and fled to Shu, Guo Ziyi withdrew his troops and retreated to Taiyuan.Soon after, Prince Li Heng fled to Lingwu, where he was the emperor, and became Suzong.After Suzong came to the throne, he tried to recover the two capitals and ordered Guo Ziyi's class teacher.
The capital Chang'an was the political, economic and cultural center of the Tang Dynasty.Luoyang is the accompanying capital and is also very important politically and militarily.After the rebels occupied Chang'an and Luoyang, the whole situation took a turn for the worse, and the Tang Dynasty was on the verge of collapse.The people were ravaged and exploited, and their lives were extremely difficult. A tragedy of cannibalism occurred near Luoyang.Judging from the situation at that time, the recovery of the two capitals was of great political significance to save the crisis.
Guo Ziyi and Li Guangbi led 50,000 infantry and cavalry from Hebei to Lingwu.At this time, Suzong's new court had just been established, with few and weak soldiers.After the whole army of Guo Ziyi and Li Guangbi came to Lingwu, the voice of the army suddenly revived, and the momentum of revival took shape, and people all over the world felt that there was hope for the revival of the Tang Dynasty.Suzong immediately appointed Guo Ziyi as Minister of the Ministry of War, Tong Zhongshu Menxia Pingzhangshi, Chief History of Lingzhou Metropolitan Governor's Office, and Shuofang Army Jiedu Envoy.
In the first month of the second year of Zhide (757), just as Guo Ziyi, Li Guangbi and others were ordered to recover the eastern and western capitals, internal strife broke out among the rebels, and An Lushan was killed by his son An Qingxu.Yan Zhuang falsely claimed that An Lushan passed the throne to An Qingxu.As soon as An Lushan died, the Tang court wanted to take advantage of the internal strife among the rebels and attack on a large scale.
When Suzong went to Pengyuan County to inspect the Sixth Army, Prime Minister Fang Guan asked to lead 10,000 troops and take the post of commander-in-chief to recover Chang'an.Before Fang Guan went to battle, he boasted that he went to Haikou. As soon as his army arrived at Chen Tao, he was defeated by the rebel soldiers and the whole army was wiped out.
At this moment, Guo Ziyi's Shuofang Army has become the foundation of the country.Suzong was eager to win, and on the condition that "on the day of conquering the city, the land, scholars and common people will return to the Tang Dynasty, and the gold, silk, and women will all return to Huihe", he borrowed troops from Huihe, and appointed his son Li Chu, the king of Guangping (later renamed Li Yu ) is the Grand Marshal of the Army and Horses of the World, and Guo Ziyi is the Deputy Marshal, responsible for recovering the two capitals.
Guo Ziyi learned a lesson from Fangguan's failure, and believed that in order to regain the two capitals, he must first capture Hedong County (now Yongji, Shanxi), because Hedong County is located between Chang'an and Luoyang, and the rebels' key points can be regained only after getting Hedong. Beijing.Suzong agreed with this opinion and ordered the Tang army to follow Guo Ziyi's military deployment.At that time, the rebel general Cui Qianyou (the man who defeated Ge Shuhan in Lingbao) was guarding Puzhou in Hedong.Guo Ziyi led his troops to advance from Luojiao (now Fu County, Shaanxi) to Hedong, and then divided his troops to attack Feng Yi (now Dali, Shaanxi).
At this time, Tang officials Yonglewei Zhao Fu, Hedong Sihu Hanman, Situ Xu Jiong, and eldest son Li Zangfeng were all detained in Puzhou by the rebels. The four heard that the Tang army had started a counterattack and conspired as an internal response.When Guo Ziyi attacked Puzhou, Zhao Fu and others killed the rebels defending the city like a legend, opened the city gate, and welcomed Guo Ziyi into the city.The rebel general Cui Qianyou escaped by overcoming the city.
Cui Qianyou fled to Anyi (now northeast of Yuncheng, Shanxi). The people in Anyi pretended to surrender and let Cui Qianyou's army enter the city.When the army was almost halfway into the city, the hanging gate on the city suddenly fell, separating the rebels from inside and outside the city. All the rebels who entered the city were killed by the soldiers and people of Anyi.Cui Qianyou did not enter the city gate at this time, so he was able to escape from Jingling (northeast of today's Yuncheng).Guo Ziyi took the opportunity to recover Hedong.
At the end of August in the second year of Zhide (757), Emperor Suzong ordered Marshal Guangping Wang Li Chu to send troops to attack Chang'an, and Guo Ziyi led the Chinese army.Huihe Khan sent his son Ye Hu to lead the elite cavalry to help the Tang Dynasty hunt for thieves.Guo Ziyi and Prince Ye Hu got close to each other at the banquet and vowed to quell the national crisis.
On September 27, the Tang army arrived in the south of Chang'an City and north of Xiangji Temple east of Fenghe River.The rebel generals An Shouzhong and Li Guiren in Chang'an City, relying on their large number of soldiers, rushed out to confront the Tang army.The Tang army was not as powerful as it was, and was defeated in the first battle.Just as the rebels were about to take advantage of the victory to pursue, Tang General Li Siye galloped to the front of the battle.Li Siye is a well-known fierce general who is good at using Mo Dao.He swung his knife desperately to kill, invincible, the light of the knife passed by, and the rebels were killed or injured.Tang Jun's military spirit is just a little bit.Just at this time, Guo Ziyi led an army to arrive, and joined forces with Li Siye to attack the rebels.The two sides fought fiercely for half a day, and the rebels lost more than 60,000 people and returned in defeat.That night, the rebel general Zhang Tongru saw that the situation was over, so he voluntarily gave up Chang'an and fled.
On September 28, Marshal Guangping Wang Li Chu (son of Suzong Li Heng) and Guo Ziyi entered the city, and the capital was restored.Nearly a million people, men, women and children in the city cheered along the road, and said with tears, "I didn't expect to see the officers and soldiers again today." Suzong received a good news in Fengxiang, and the officials congratulated him.
After Guo Ziyi regained the capital Chang'an, he was ordered to lead his army to take advantage of the victory and advance eastward, pointing directly at the eastern capital Luoyang.When An Qingxu heard that the Tang army was coming, he sent generals Zhuang Yan and Zhang Tongru to lead an army of 150,000 to stop it.The Tang army was aided by Huihe iron cavalry and defeated the rebels. An Qingxu and others fled to Xiangzhou (now Anyang, Henan).Tang Jun regained Luoyang.
After Luoyang was recovered, Guo Ziyi returned to the court. Emperor Suzong was very happy. He went out to greet Guo Ziyi in person, took Guo Ziyi's hand and said: "The country is rebuilt, and the power of Qing is also!" ("New Tang Book Volume 137 Guo Ziyi Biography")
The successive recovery of Chang'an and Luoyang, and the pacification of most counties and counties in Hedong and Henan have brought about a fundamental change in the balance of power between the Tang court and the Anshi rebels, and the Tang court has gotten rid of the once precarious situation.
At this time, there were also many contradictions within the rebel army.An Qingxu worried that Shi Siming was getting stronger, so he ordered Ashina Chengqing and An Shouzhong to go to Fanyang to recruit soldiers, hoping to take the opportunity to get rid of Shi Siming.Shi Siming preemptively detained Ashina Chengqing and An Shouzhong, and surrendered to the Tang Dynasty.The Tang court appointed Shi Siming as Fan Yang's Jiedu envoy, and ordered him to lead the army to fight against An Qingxu.Hebei was again owned by the Tang court.In December of the second year of Zhide (757), Suzong welcomed Xuanzong back from Chengdu.
In the first year of Qianyuan (758), Li Guangbi, who guarded Taiyuan, believed that Shi Siming would eventually rebel, and persuaded Suzong to win over Wu Chengen, and appointed Wu Chengen as the deputy envoy of Fan Yang Jiedu, prompting him to deal with Ashina Chengqing together. Shi Siming.But this matter was later found out by Shi Siming, who killed Wu Chengen, and actively planned to wait for the opportunity to raise troops again.
In September of the same year, Tang Suzong ordered nine Jiedu envoys to send troops to besiege An Qingxu who was in Xiangzhou.This time there is no commander-in-chief, but the eunuch Yu Chao'en is the eunuch who observes the appearance of the army, announces his consolation, and monitors the generals of the army.The explanation in the history books is, "Ziyi and Guangbi are both great heroes, and it is difficult to be subordinate to each other, so there is no marshal, but the eunuch Kaifuyi and Sansi Yu Chaoen are the envoys to observe the appearance of the army" (Zi Zhi Tongjian Volume 220").
In fact, it is not as simple as Guo Ziyi, Li Guangbi and other heroes who are not good at commanding who, but because of the fact of the An Lushan rebellion, Suzong has lingering fears.He wanted to use Jiedu envoys to put down the rebellion, but he couldn't fully trust them, let alone hand over hundreds of thousands of Tang troops to a certain Jiedu envoy with strong prestige and strength.In this way, the result is that the military orders are different, and the various envoys do not seek each other, and there are many contradictions.What's more serious is that in the conflict between the imperial court and the Jiedushi, the power of the eunuchs took advantage of the opportunity to grow, which made the dictatorship of the eunuchs the most serious problem in the middle and late Tang Dynasty.
In October, Guo Ziyi led his troops to encircle Weizhou (now Jixian County, Henan Province) with other Eighth Route soldiers.Before the battle, Guo Ziyi arranged an ambush first, and then pretended to be invincible and retreated as soon as the battle was fought.When the rebels pursued, the 3000 Tang army crossbowmen who had been ambushing in advance suddenly shot arrows at the rebels.Arrows rained like rain, and the rebels were terrified.Guo Ziyi took the opportunity to cover up the killing with troops and regained Weizhou.
Afterwards, a total of 600,000 people from all walks of life in the Tang army surrounded Yecheng in Xiangzhou (now Anyang City, Henan).Guo Ziyi ordered the troops to divert water from the Zhanghe River (written as Zhanghe River in "Tongjian" and Anyang River in Tang Dynasty) to flood Yecheng, and the city ran out of food.An Qingxu, who was trapped in the city, had a hard time. The city of Ye began to lack food, and a bucket of grain cost 70,000 yuan, and the price of rice was only a few pennies when it was the cheapest.When the food was gone, even the rats in Yecheng were worth thousands of dollars.And there has also been a situation of "cannibalism".Some people in Yecheng wanted to surrender secretly, but because the city was flooded and the water was too deep, they couldn't get out easily.The situation at this time is extremely beneficial to Tang Jun, but Tang Jun has no coach, no unified command, restrains each other, and misses a good opportunity.An Qingxu sent someone to ask Shi Siming for help.Shi Siming sent 50,000 troops to the south and met the Tang army outside Yecheng.Li Guangbi, Wang Sili, Xu Shuji, and Lu Jiong took the lead in fighting fiercely with Shi Siming in the Tang army, and both sides suffered casualties.
Guo Ziyi led the army to arrive, ready to attack Shi Siming from behind, forming a front and back attack.However, the situation suddenly changed dramatically. Just as Guo Ziyi was about to set up the formation, a strong wind suddenly blew up, and the sky became dark for a moment, with flying sand and rocks flying, and no one was on the opposite side.It is recorded in the history books: "Blowing the sand and pulling the trees, the sky and the earth are dark, and the distance is indistinguishable." ("Zi Zhi Tong Jian Volume 221") In the flying dust, there are only figures, moving back and forth.Both sides of the war were shocked, thinking that the opponent was chasing them, they fled one after another, and the collapse was endless.Tang Jun fled south, while Shi Jun fled north.Both the enemy and us suffered heavy losses, and the first battle and the supply committee were abandoned on the road.Most of the Tang army's nine troops fled in a rout. Only the two troops of Li Guangbi and Wang Sili returned home.It can be seen that the bad weather at that time was really frightening, and its prestige was no less than today's sandstorm.
Guo Ziyi's first army retreated to Heyang (now Mengxian County, Henan Province), but that night, the soldiers in the barracks disturbed each other inexplicably, and then the whole army began to flee collectively, and retreated to Quemen, and the morale of the army stabilized.Guo Ziyi sent troops to guard Heyang again.
In this battle, the Tang army dispatched 600,000 horses, but suffered heavy losses. There were only 3,000 of the 10,000 horses left, and 100,000 swords and guns, almost all of which were thrown away.Anyone with a discerning eye can see at a glance that this is caused by disordered command and inconsistent general orders, and the actual coach Yu Chaoen bears inescapable responsibility for this.How to escape this difficulty?As the emperor's confidant eunuch, Yu Chaoen knew Suzong's thoughts very well: After learning the lesson of An Lushan's self-respect in supporting soldiers, Suzong was already wary of Guo Ziyi's "too much supporting soldiers".Yu Chaoensu was jealous of Guo Ziyi's high merit, and immediately put all the responsibility for Yecheng's defeat on Guo Ziyi alone. He probably added a lot of fuel and jealousy, and added words such as "great merit overshadows the master" that are most taboo by the emperor.Sure enough, Yu Chaoen made the right bet.Suzong immediately called Guo Ziyi back to the capital, lifted his military power, and ordered Li Guangbi to lead the Shuofang army.
After Guo Ziyi left, Li Guangbi came to Luoyang Shuofang Army to take office.He knew that Guo Ziyi was highly regarded in the Tang army, and he was afraid that the soldiers of Shuofang would oppose him, so he waited outside Luoyang city during the day and dared not enter until night.This shows Guo Ziyi's prestige in the army.Guo Ziyi's general Zhang Yongji stationed troops in Heyang, but he did not listen to Li Guangbi's command.He made it clear that he hoped that General Guo would come back again.Someone said to Zhang Yongji: "Aren't you doing this to give the court an excuse to persecute General Guo?" Zhang Yongji then bit the bullet to welcome Li Guangbi.
At the same time, Shi Siming killed An Qingxu in the name of "killing his father and seizing his throne", annexed his army, and called himself "Emperor Dayan" in Fanyang.In this civil strife, many of An Qingxu's confidants, including counselor Gao Shang, general Sun Xiaozhe, Cui Qianyou and others were all killed by Shi Siming, and the strength of the rebel army was greatly weakened.
Soon, Shi Siming heard the news that Guo Ziyi was abandoned by the Tang Dynasty. He felt that there was no opponent in the world, so he sent troops south in May of the second year of Qianyuan (759), defeated Li Guangbi first, and reoccupied Luoyang.At that time, the eunuch Yu Chaoen also led a team. Before seeing the shadow of the rebels, he was so frightened that he retreated to Shan County, not daring to fight.
The Tang court was very frightened, and someone suggested to the court: "Guo Ziyi has made great contributions to the Tang Dynasty and is good at using soldiers. Why let a good general not be used and let the rebels be fierce?" Suzong thought it was right, and decided to use Guo Ziyi as the military commander ( The officer guarding the capital), Yu Chaoen stopped him as soon as the edict was handed down.
Yu Chaoen is a very strange person, Guo Ziyi is cautious and has never had any grudges with him.But he has always regarded Guo Ziyi as a thorn in his side, and often wants to plot against her.Maybe he was born the kind of person who had a lot of fun fighting with others.Before Guo Ziyi was dismissed, he made a meritorious service and returned to the court. Yu Chaoen invited him to visit Zhangjing Temple.An insider told Guo Ziyi in advance: "Yu Chao's thoughts are harming you, so don't be fooled by him." Guo Ziyi refused to listen.The soldiers asked for personal guards, but Guo Ziyi refused, and said: "I am a minister of the country, and Yu Chaoen would not dare to kill me without the emperor's order." He only took a few family members to see Yu Chaoen.Yu Chaoen was taken aback when he saw it.Guo Ziyi told Yu Chaoen what others said.After hearing this, Yu Chaoen was ashamed. Not only did he not appreciate Guo Ziyi's generosity, but he even harbored more resentment.
Later, someone dug Guo Ziyi's father's grave.The whole city of Chang'an was full of uproar, and everyone knew that Yu Chaoen must have ordered someone to do it secretly.The ministers and ministers of the Manchu Dynasty were very worried about this matter, for fear that Guo Ziyi's anger would cause trouble.When Guo Ziyi entered the court, the emperor even took the initiative to ask about this matter. Guo Ziyi cried and said: "I have been in charge of military affairs for a long time, and I can't ban thieves. There are also things that soldiers destroy other people's tombs. This is my disloyalty and unfilial piety. The condemnation of the people is not caused by human troubles." The matter of the tomb robbery was settled, and the atmosphere of panic inside and outside the court was also eliminated.After people in the world knew about it, they all admired Guo Ziyi's magnanimity and generosity.Guo Ziyi never took credit for pride, never used power to overwhelm others, so he never caused disaster due to merit, and was able to remain invincible in the dangerous official career.
After Shi Siming led his troops to the south, he was repeatedly defeated by the Tang army, so they each took defensive positions and held each other for more than a year.Suzong ignored Shi Jun's sharpness and positive key, and ordered Li Guangbi to counterattack Luoyang. As a result, Li Guangbi was defeated by Shi Siming.Shi Siming immediately sent his son Shi Chaoyi to attack Tongguan. As a result, Shi Chaoyi was defeated by the Tang army in Shanjun.Shi Siming was furious and planned to use military law to deal with Shi Chaoyi and the generals who failed in the battle, but was killed by Shi Chaoyi instead.
After Guo Ziyi was deposed, he has been living in the capital.In the first month of the first year of Baoying (762), the sergeants of Shuofang town were resentful because of the long-term shortage of food and pay. Wang Yuanzhen, a sudden general, took the opportunity to make trouble, launched a mutiny, and killed Li Guozhen, the commander of all camps in Shuofang.The garrison in Hedong was in a commotion, and Deng Jingshan, the Jiedu envoy of Hedong, was also killed by his subordinates.After that, the Jiangzhou (now Xinjiang, Shanxi) armies also plundered endlessly.The Tang court was very worried about this, for fear that they would unite with the Luoyang rebels, because the generals of the younger generations were unable to suppress them, so they had to use Guo Ziyi as the king of Fenyang. , Lu Jiedu camp and Xingping, Dingguo and other army deputy marshals.
In March, Guo Ziyi will resign from court and go to town.At that time, Emperor Suzong was ill, and all the ministers were not allowed to see him.Guo Ziyi saw that the eunuch was in power in the court and felt the turbulent situation, so he asked: "The old minister is ordered, and he may die outside. If he does not see His Majesty, he will die with peace." Suzong was very moved when he heard this, so he ordered Guo Ziyi to be led into the bedroom. He said earnestly: "It's up to you to subdue the army chaos in Hedong." Guo Ziyi sobbed and shed tears.
After Guo Ziyi came to Jiangzhou, he captured dozens of people including Wang Yuanzhen, the sudden general who killed Li Guozhen, and executed them.After hearing that Guo Ziyi had killed Wang Yuanzhen, Xin Yunjing, the soldier and horse envoy of the capital of Hedong, would also kill the person who killed Deng Jingshan. Xin Yunjing was promoted to the Jiedu envoy of Hedong.The mutinies in Shuofang and Hedong were thus settled, and the soldiers in the towns of Hedong all obeyed the law.
In April of the first year of Baoying (762), Emperor Suzong died of illness, and Prince Li Yu came to the throne as Tang Daizong.The eunuch Cheng Yuanzhen was promoted to general and commanded the imperial army because of his meritorious support, and began to interfere in the government.In August, Guo Ziyi entered Beijing from Hedong.Cheng Yuanzhen slandered Daizong and framed Guo Ziyi.After the Anshi Rebellion, the central court of the Tang Dynasty was skeptical of the generals who commanded the army, so Cheng Yuanzhen's slander often succeeded.Guo Ziyi, who has been on the battlefield for a long time, can be calm and composed in any dangerous situation, but was made restless and frightened all day by a small eunuch Cheng Yuanzhen, so he took the initiative to ask Daizong to lift his military power.
The following year, the Tang Dynasty borrowed Huihe soldiers again, defeated the rebels in the northern suburbs of Luoyang, and recovered Luoyang.Shi Chaoyi was defeated and fled to Hebei, and Tang general Pu Guyang won again in Beizhou (now Qinghe County, Hebei).In the second year of Baoying (763), Shi Chaoyi was defeated and fled to Fan Yang, the rebel army was in civil strife, Shi Chaoyi committed suicide in poverty, and all his subordinates and generals surrendered.The "Anshi Rebellion" that lasted for eight years came to an end.At that time, Tang Shuofang, Shence and other armies and Uighurs all wantonly plundered the prefectures and counties they passed through, and the scholars and people after the disaster were forced to use paper as clothing.
After the war, the imperial power declined sharply, and the prosperity will never come again.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.The vassal towns expanded from Hebei and Shandong to Henan and Jianghuai, one after another, forming a situation of separatist regimes, with one side dominated, which directly led to the demise of the Tang Dynasty.
Just as the Tang Empire was immersed in the joy of calming down the chaos, the northwest frontier faced serious threats again.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 the first year of Guangde (763), Tubo attacked the Central Plains. In October, it reached Fengtian (now Qianxian County, Shaanxi Province) and Wugong area, and Chang'an was in a hurry.Daizong issued an edict to take Li Shi, king of Yong, as the marshal of the pass, and Guo Ziyi as the deputy marshal, to go out of the town of Fengxiang to resist.Guo Ziyi has not led troops for a long time, and his subordinates have already dispersed. He only took more than 20 cavalry around him and rushed to Xianyang Plain to defend against the enemy.And Tubo led more than 200,000 people from Tuyuhun, Dangxiang, Shi, and Qiang, covering tens of miles of mountains and plains.Due to the huge disparity in the number of troops, Guo Ziyi sent Wang Yanchang, a member of Zhongshushe, back to Chang'an to ask for help, but the eunuch Cheng Yuanzhen not only refused to summon them, but also stopped him in every possible way.As a result, Tubo came straight to Chang'an, and Lu Yuejiang, the military envoy of the Weibei camp, led two thousand elite soldiers to fight, and won a victory.But after all, they were outnumbered, and finally all the soldiers were captured.Seeing that the Tubo army was getting closer, Daizong had nothing to do, so he fled in a hurry, and all the civil and military officials scattered like birds and beasts.The Tubo army invaded Chang'an, plundered wantonly and burned houses. The soldiers and civilians fled into the valley one after another, and Chang'an almost became an empty city.
Fortunately, Guo Ziyi collected four thousand troops all the way from Shangzhou to Wuguan, and sent Zuo Yulin General Sun Quanxu to lead them. Suspicion arose, 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 withdrew from Chang'an overnight and fled westward.Daizong heard the news and 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.Daizong comforted Guo Ziyi and said: "It's not early to use Qing, so it's here."
After this incident, the ministers of the DPRK and China wrote a letter demanding that Cheng Yuanzhen be punished.Daizong also felt that Cheng Yuanzhen was too much, which caused the dignified emperor to flee, so he dismissed Cheng Yuanzhen as a citizen and released him to the fields.However, Cheng Yuanzhen was not reconciled to being depressed. He put on women's clothes, dressed up as an old woman, sneaked back to the capital from his hometown of Sanyuan, and lived in the house of his fellow secretary, Secretary of Agriculture Chen Jingquan, secretly plotting.This matter was reported by the imperial historian Wang Sheng.Daizong exiled Cheng Yuanzhen to Lengzhou for a long time.When he arrived in Jiangling, Cheng Yuanzhen was killed by a group of unknown people.Because he offended so many people, including many Jiedu envoys with heavy soldiers in their hands, the world couldn't guess whether it was the enemies who killed him, or the emperor sent someone to kill him.
Not long after, the rebellion of Shuofang town general Pugu Huai'en occurred.Pugu Huai'en, a member of the Tiele tribe.In 646 A.D., the nine chiefs with the surname of Tie Le led the people to the Tang Dynasty. The Tang court divided the nine capitals, including Hanhai, Yanran, Jinwei, and Youling, into the generals of Youwuwei and Jinwei. The governor, later rumored to be the Pugu family.Pugu Huai'en is his grandson, the hereditary governor of Jinwei, brave and good at fighting since childhood.When the Anshi Rebellion broke out, he served as Zuo Wufeng envoy of Shuofang, and followed the famous general Guo Ziyi to start his fighting career against the rebellion.Pu Gu Huai'en made great achievements in the battle to pacify the Anshi Rebellion, "Forty-six of the dead kings of one family, the women married Jueyu, told Huihe, took two more capitals, pacified Henan and North, and made incomparable contributions." ("Zizhi Tongjian Volume 223").Among them, the sentence "a girl marrying Jueyu" means that Pugu Huai'en, because of his contribution to the Tang Dynasty, Daizong adopted his youngest daughter as an adopted daughter and received him to be raised in the palace.After the girl grew up, she was named Princess Chonghui and married back to He Mouyu Khan.Pu Gu Huai'en has always been dissatisfied with the court's reward.In particular, Xin Yunjing, the envoy of Hedong Jiedu, had a gap with Pugu Huai'en, and often looked for opportunities to frame him.In a rage, Pu Gu Huai'en was in Xin Yunjing in Taiyuan during the siege. Xin Yunjing took the opportunity to report that Pu Gu Huai'en had rebelled, and Daizong hurriedly dispatched Guo Ziyi to Hedong Township to care for Pu Gu Huai'en.
It can be said that Pu Gu Huai'en's original intention was to settle personal grievances, but he was framed by Xin Yunjing, the envoy of Hedong Jiedu, as a rebel.Later, after the death of Pugu Huai'en, Daizong realized something, and even sighed "compassionately" that "Hui'en did not turn against him, and was misled by the left and right".
Most of the officers and men led by Pu Gu Huai'en were Guo Ziyi's former troops of Shuofang Army.Before Guo Ziyi arrived, Pugu Huai'en's subordinates immediately split up when they heard that Guo Ziyi was coming, and they attacked and killed each other.Pu Gu Huai'en had no choice but to lead three hundred soldiers to flee to Lingzhou.As soon as Guo Ziyi arrived in Fenzhou, Pugu Huai'en's subordinates surrendered one after another, and the situation in Hedong was decided without a fight.Daizong promoted Guo Ziyi to the rank of Taiwei and served as Shuofang Jiedu envoy, but Guo Ziyi insisted on not accepting the title of Taiwei.
Pugu Huaien collected the scattered soldiers in Shuofang, and incited Tubo and Huihe to send troops to commit internal crimes.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 Guo Ziyi to be the deputy marshal.
Guo Ziyi was suspected by the emperor earlier, and had already been relieved of his military power at that time. 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 in a hurry. All civil and military officials scattered like birds and beasts, the six armies scattered, and Chang'an City was in chaos.
After the Tubo army entered Chang'an, Li Chenghong, the nephew of Princess Jincheng (who was married to Zanpu Chide Zuzan of Tubo as the queen), was established as the emperor. Manage government affairs.Then he plundered wantonly in Chang'an, ransacked the treasury and the property of the citizens, and burned down the houses.The scholars and civilians fled into the valley 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, and Daizong was able to return to the capital in a very short period of time, which was entirely due to Guo Ziyi's credit, so he comforted Guo Ziyi and said: "I didn't use you early, so I came to this point." He was given an iron coupon ( It is equivalent to the death-free card), and a portrait of him was made in Lingyan Pavilion in recognition of his contribution to the prosperity of the Tang Dynasty.
In September of the first year of Yongtai (765), Pugu Huai'en lied that both Daizong and Guo Ziyi were dead, and contacted Huihe and Tubo with hundreds of thousands of troops to attack Chang'an until they reached Jingyang in the north of Chang'an, and Chang'an was shaken again.Daizong hurriedly ordered Guo Ziyi to station troops in Jingyang to defend.
After Guo Ziyi arrived in Jingyang, he had 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 the west of Lingtai (now Lingtai, Gansu Province), defeated Tubo, and temporarily stabilized the western border.
In the fourth year of Dali (768), Daizong listened to Yuanzai's suggestion and ordered Guo Ziyi to guard Binzhou.In the eighth year (773), there were 100,000 bandits in Tubo, who were repelled by Guo Ziyi and protected Guanzhong and the capital from being plundered by Tubo.In May of the fourteenth year (779), Daizong died of illness, and Guo Ziyi was ordered to act as the government official during the funeral.德宗即位，建中元年（780年），郭子仪为中书令，加封太尉，尊为“尚父”，罢所任各军职。从此，征战一生的郭子仪结束了戎马生涯，在朝为相。
郭子仪既富贵而且长寿，后代繁衍安泰。他有八子七婿，都是朝廷重要官员。孙子、外孙们有数十人之多，当小辈们前来问安，他都无法分辨谁是谁，只是点头而已。
有一出著名的戏《打金枝》，讲的就是郭子仪第六子郭暧的故事。郭暧被代宗招为驸马，娶代宗女升平公主为妻。升平公主为代宗与沈后所生。当年潼关失守，玄宗匆忙出逃，当时还是广平王的代宗李俶（后易名为李豫）未及带上沈氏。沈氏沦入叛军之手，被押送到洛阳。后来唐军收复洛阳，广平王李俶在东都掖廷中重遇沈氏，本打算迎归长安，却因广平王准备北上破贼事宜而依旧把沈氏留在洛阳。不久，史思明再度举兵叛乱，重陷东都洛阳，沈氏就此下落不明。代宗即位后，派人四处寻访沈氏，并立沈氏之子李适为太子。李适登基为德宗后，尊沈氏为皇太后，继续派人寻访母亲的下落。当时至少有四名女子自称沈氏，却为人识破属假冒之人。德宗虽多次受骗，却始终不愿放弃追查沈氏的下落。直至德宗之孙宪宗李纯在位之时，才彻底放弃希望，正式为沈氏举哀，以祎衣一副下葬。
代宗对沈氏如此念念不忘，对沈氏唯一的女儿升平公主自然是骄宠有加。升平公主也自恃金枝玉叶，不把丈夫放在眼里。郭家的规矩很多，升平公主偏偏不理郭家的那一套。郭暧虽心有不满，但也无可奈何。一天，郭子仪做寿，郭暧兄嫂因升平公主不来拜寿，嘲笑郭暧惧内。郭暧气愤之下，赶回家打了公主。还斥责道：“你不就是仗着你父亲是皇帝吗？我父亲还看不上皇帝的位子呢！”升平公主气得回宫去找代宗告状，代宗听了却说：“事情本来就是这样啊。如果郭子仪真的想要做皇帝，天下早就不是我家的了。”于是劝公主回去和郭暧好好过日子。一向小心谨慎的郭子仪知道儿子不但打了“金枝”，还说了那样大逆不道的话，大惊失色，立即绑了郭暧，去向代宗请罪。代宗反而对郭子仪说：“不痴不聋，不作家翁，怎么能把孩子们拌嘴的事情太当真呢？”郭子仪谢过皇恩，回家后把儿子痛打一顿。经历此事，郭暧和升平公主反而感情好了。
建中二年（781年），郭子仪病重去世，时年八十五岁。德宗皇帝为之废朝五日，文武百官前往吊唁。按律令规定一品官坟墓高一丈八尺，特下诏给他增高一丈，以示尊祟。安葬之日，德宗率朝臣到安福门送别。朝野上下为失去一位中兴名将而痛惜。
郭子仪少年从武，戎马一生，屡建奇功。他东征西战二十余年，雄才胆略名闻四方，“权倾天下而朝不忌，功盖一代而主不疑”，举国上下，享有崇高的威望和声誉。吐蕃、回纥称他为神人，皇帝都不直接呼他的名字，甚至有些安史叛将也很尊重他。安庆绪的骁将田承嗣占据魏州后，蛮横无理，飞扬跋扈。郭子仪派遣自己的部将去见他。田承嗣倒很规矩，还向郭子仪所在的方向遥望叩拜，指着自己的膝盖对使者说：“我这双膝盖，不向别人下跪已有多年了，现在要为郭公下跪。”李灵曜盘踞在汴州，对路过汴州的财物，不管公私，一律扣留，唯独对郭子仪名义下的粮饷、武器等，不但不予抢夺，还主动派人护送。郭子仪麾下的老将军数十人，都是王侯显贵，在郭子仪面前却像奴仆一样，甘受驱使。
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