Chapter 14 Chapter Fourteen Reconstructing the Taoist Priests of the Tang Dynasty

Whenever the country is in turmoil, there will always be some characters who, with the courage to do what they know they can't do, throw their heads and blood, and finally put down the turmoil and make meritorious deeds.This kind of achievement is always called "rebuilding the country" by historians. There have been such heroes in all dynasties. During the Anshi Rebellion, those who can usually stand the evaluation of "rebuilding the country" are naturally the two great heroes who put down the Anshi Rebellion—— — Li Guangbi, Guo Ziyi, but there is another unknown hero who also deserves this honor — Li Bi.

In the eyes of modern people, Li Mi is a very unknown person, but in the Tang Dynasty, Li Mi was famous very early. When he was 6 years old, he was a child prodigy all over China. Li Mi, courtesy name Changyuan, was an official of the Northern Wei Dynasty and a native of Chang'an, Shaanxi Province. However, in Li Mi's generation, he has been far away from official career.Li Mi's father, Li Chengxiu, was a famous book collector in the Tang Dynasty. He grew up in a scholarly family. In addition, Li Mi was talented and intelligent. He was known as a child prodigy in Chang'an City when he was very young, and shocked Tang Dynasty who was in power at that time. Xuanzong Li Longji.In 728 A.D., when Li Mi was 6 years old, Emperor Xuanzong Li Longji invited Li Mi to attend a palace banquet. At this time, Li Longji was playing chess with Prime Minister Zhang Shuo, and ordered Li Mi to write a poem on the spot with the title "Movement and Stillness in the Square and Circle" , Xiao Li's mouth is full of words: Fang is like doing righteousness, round is like using wisdom, moving is like hiring talents, and being quiet is like complacency.As soon as the poem came out, all the court officials were shocked, even Zhang Jiuling, an important minister who always prided himself on his talent, was also very surprised. From then on, he and Li Mi became friends for many years, and throughout his life, he called Li Mi "little friend". ".

Although he became famous early, Li Mi is a very down-to-earth person. He did not feel complacent because of his early fame, but instead continued to study hard.Li Mi's father was also very knowledgeable about education methods, and instead of letting his son read dead books, he sponsored him to travel around and understand the people's sentiments.Zhang Jiuling, who later served as the prime minister, appreciated him very much. When he was reviewing the memorials, he often called Li Mi to discuss the content of the memorials with him. The banquet when he was 6 years old made Tang Xuanzong Li Longji remember Li Mi's name from then on, and because of this, he had a wish: let Li Mi assist his son and become an excellent successor in the prosperous Tang Dynasty.Therefore, for Li Mi, Li Longji once asserted: In the future, he will be a national weapon, not only praised but also carefully cultivated.Since then, important officials around Li Longji, such as He Zhizhang and Zhang Shuo, have invited Li Mi to their homes many times to teach him various talents.Later, Li Longji introduced Li Mi into the East Palace and ordered him to serve as the attendant of Prince Li Heng. From then on, he established a good personal relationship with Prince Li Heng, which lasted throughout his life.

In the eyes of everyone at that time, the talented and intelligent Li Mi was a very godly person, and many mythical records about him were left in the history books.For example, some said that he was able to float and walk on the screen when he was a child, that colorful clouds appeared on his 15th birthday, and even a Taoist priest asserted that he would go to heaven and become a fairy one day after he was 15 years old.As an adult, Li Mi was also a "god man". He didn't like the stereotyped official life. Although he made a lot of friends in the officialdom, he preferred to travel freely and he was especially interested in Taoism.During the Tianbao period, he traveled many times in deep mountains and Taoist temples. It is said that when he was in Hengshan, he even saw gods with his own eyes.Moreover, he also practiced a difficult kung fu—Bigu, that is, he did not eat or drink for a long time, but he still had the same demeanor.Even later when he was assisting Li Heng, he often made bigu.Whether this is Li Mi's immortal method cannot be verified today, but at least it shows that he is a very tolerant person.

Before the outbreak of the Anshi Rebellion, Li Mi was really tolerant. At that time, he had a good relationship with the prince, but after the "Wang Zhongsi case" in the Tianbao period, the status of the prince Li Heng was once in jeopardy, and Li Mi, who was Li Heng's confidant, also It has become a thorn in the eyes of many people, and when Li Mi was young, he was young and vigorous. He wrote a letter about current affairs during the Tianbao period. Li Longji, who was born in Beijing, followed suit and sent Li Mifa to Qizhou, Hubei.Frustrated, Li Mi was very sober. Not only was he not dissatisfied, but he retired immediately. From then on until the An Lushan rebellion, he never participated in current affairs, and even had no contact with Li Heng. He just devoted himself to studying Taoism.But he was "born" after all. After the Anshi Rebellion broke out, Chang'an City fell, and the Tang Dynasty was in jeopardy. Tang Xuanzong Li Longji fled to Sichuan in a hurry, and Prince Li Heng ascended the throne in Lingwu. This is Tang Suzong in history.Just a few days after Li Heng ascended the throne, Li Mi appeared by his side at the right time. Li Heng's arrival made Li Heng cry with joy, "stroking his hand, almost ecstatic".This is where his grand plans began.

If it is said that Li Mi's god before was the legend and behavior of the god about him, then the god after that lies in his ability to calm the world. Li Heng, who ascended the throne in Lingwu, Ningxia, was in only one word: Miserable!At that time, the Anlushan rebels had captured Chang'an, and the entire Central Plains was in their hands. Only Suiyang City in the south was struggling to resist, and half of the south of the Yangtze River was in danger. The small Lingwu had only a few thousand remnants.After the fall of Tongguan, the good situation has been ruined. Guo Ziyi's department in Hebei can only hold on to the existing territory to resist, and is unable to fight back.What's more terrible is that the Central Plains has been shattered by the rebels. Many troops in the Tang Dynasty have long lost contact with the central government, and they don't even know such a big thing as Li Heng's ascension to the throne.With few soldiers, few generals, low morale, and a bleak situation, it seems clear at a glance which is more important for such a Tang Dynasty and such a rebel army. Could it be that the Tang Dynasty is really exhausted this time?

At this time, Li Mi immediately made two judgments, which proved to be outrageous afterwards. First, the rebels will not get the support of the people of the Central Plains.The reason is simple. The rebels in Anlu Mountain are mostly composed of Turkic and Khitan people from border towns, and there are very few Han people. Such troops are only powerful in force, but it is difficult to gain the approval of the people of the Central Plains.The second point is that the rebels will not be able to last long, because they themselves do not have the confidence to rule the world. Just looking at one point, every time the rebels capture a city, they will transport the local property back to Fan Yang, their old nest. This is enough to show that the rebels He was not prepared to take over the world at all.

These two things were finally right by him. Not only did he make a judgment, Li Mi also formulated a complete counter-insurgency strategy, that is, he ordered two generals, Li Guangbi and Guo Ziyi, to go out of Jingxing Pass and Hedong, respectively, to suppress the rebels from behind.Li Mi concluded that it would be difficult for the cavalry of the rebel army to cross the natural danger of the Yangtze River. Therefore, attacking from the north and intimidating the rebel army's lair in Hebei can turn the 800-mile Qinchuan just captured by the rebel army into a deadly place to restrain them.Li Mi further concluded that counterinsurgency is a long-term war, and we must not think about a quick solution, we must be prepared for a protracted war.With the help of this counter-insurgency war, the rebel army should be wiped out completely, and the local forces should be brought back to the central government, so as to cut off the hidden danger of the separatism of the feudal towns.He said to Li Heng: "It is easy to go to the rebel army, but difficult to go to the feudal town." At the same time, he also saw that the rebel army's occupation of the Central Plains was just an opportunity to re-implement the military system. The long war created a lot of wasteland. After the victory, the country can just nationalize these lands, and then re-implement the military system. In this way, the long-term stability of the Tang Dynasty can be guaranteed.

Li Heng, who obeyed Li Miyan, carried out Li Mi's plan in the early stage.From the restoration of Li Heng, the Tang Dynasty ordered the two generals Guo Ziyi and Li Guangbi to march into Hebei with all their strength to cut off the return of the rebels, and at the same time asked the Uighurs to send troops to rescue.The elite Uighur cavalry became the main force of the Tang Dynasty, and the battle quickly developed in favor of the Tang Dynasty.Li Guangbi was like a broken bamboo in Hebei, and Guo Ziyi and the Uyghur allied forces continued to win victories in Guanzhong, but at this time, a historical accident happened again.In 757 A.D., Tang Suzong, who was eager to seize the capital, ignored Li Mi's dissuasion and decided to concentrate his forces to recover Chang'an and Luoyang. The price took back Chang'an and Luoyang, but did not wipe out the vital force of the rebels. Hundreds of thousands of rebels fled back to their hometown in Hebei safely, and they were still a huge threat to the Tang Dynasty.What's more terrible is that the Uighurs who helped the Tang Dynasty regain Chang'an took the opportunity to ask for a lot of money and looted the city of Chang'an wantonly. The so-called regaining Chang'an only got two scarred empty cities.

But even so, the recovery of Chang'an was an important turning point in the Anshi Rebellion. In the previous battle situation, the rebels had always been attacking and the Tang Dynasty was defending. What the army has to do is not to pacify the world, but how to hold the existing territory.The most difficult days of the Tang Dynasty have passed. During these most difficult days, Li Mi has always been Tang Suzong Li Heng's greatest spiritual support.He not only advised Li Heng, but also kept encouraging Li Heng when he was at his lowest point, and even once, when it came to excitement, Li Heng actually lay on Li Mi's shoulder and cried bitterly.Even so, Li Mi did not accept any official position from Li Heng. He always did all these things as a commoner friend, so that once when the two of them were out on a trip, the common people were pointing at the side: wear yellow clothes Those wearing ordinary clothes are the emperor's friends.Li Heng also wanted to give Li Mi an official position, but Li Mi did not wear the official uniform given to him, because Li Mi knew that at this time he was becoming another person's thorn in the side—the eunuch Li Fuguo.Li Fuguo is Li Heng's personal eunuch, and he has also known Li Mi for a long time.However, during the Anshi Rebellion, due to the lessons learned from the Anlushan Rebellion, the Tang Dynasty began to trust eunuchs, and even ordered eunuchs to supervise the army, and Li Fuguo's power grew in this way.Even in the later period of Tang Suzong, he mastered the country's domestic and foreign affairs, and even the emperor's abolition was controlled by him, and Li Mi was the stumbling block for him to seize power at this time.Li Mi, who was well aware of the dangers in the officialdom, accepted it once again. After the Tang Dynasty regained Chang'an, Li Mi asked Li Heng to resign. Of course Li Heng refused. You talk together, but if you don’t leave, my head may be taken away tomorrow.” In this way, Li Mi, who played the role of designer in the Anshi Rebellion, chose to retire again.At the end of 757 A.D., Li Mi retired to Yanxia Peak of Nanyue Mountain and spent 12 years building a house in the local area. This house is called "Duanju Room", which is not only used for reading, but also for collecting books and giving lectures. The earliest recorded academies.

Afterwards, Li Mi returned to the high-level central government of the Tang Dynasty three times, one time when Li Heng's son Tang Dynasty Zong Li Yu came to power.At that time, Li Yu had just killed the authoritarian eunuch Li Fuguo, but the country's situation was still in difficulty.The Anshi Rebellion has not yet been suppressed, but the eastern feudal towns are still lingering. Foreign enemies such as the Uighurs and Tubo in the northwest are demanding prices and even threatening with force. Under internal and external troubles, Li Yu thought of this person who helped his father when he was most in danger—— — Li Bi.He made Li Mi the servant of Hanlin, and forced him to eat meat, hoping that Li Mi would give up Taoist practice and concentrate on the country.Li Mi did not disgrace his mission. After returning to Chang'an, he put forward 15 requirements on the spot to strengthen the border defense. Unfortunately, the prime minister Yuan Zai at this time was jealous of Li Mi's talent. As a result, Yuan Zai, in the name of reusing talents, It is suggested that Li Mi be transferred as the governor, but Li Mi, who knew that he was squeezed out, once again chose to be patient.After Yuan Zai was imprisoned, Li Mi got another chance to return to Beijing, but he was still rejected by another prime minister, Chang Gun. Knowing that things could not be done, Li Mi felt at ease as the governor in Hangzhou, away from the right and wrong of the central government.But gold always shines. When Tang Dezong Li Shi was in power, the Jingyuan mutiny occurred in the Tang Dynasty. Dissatisfied with the meager rewards from the Tang Dynasty, the troops originally used by the Tang Dynasty to quell Li Xilie's rebellion launched a mutiny to occupy Chang'an. In Chang'an, Tang Dezong fled in a hurry. At the critical moment, Li Mi came. He recommended the famous general Li Sheng to Tang Dezong, and proposed the strategy of "first north and then south", that is, first destroy the old nest of the rebels, Jingyuan, and then regain Chang'an. Tang Dezong listened to him, and the rebellion was finally put down.In 787 A.D., Li Mi finally became the minister of Zhongshu Province, that is, the prime minister who held the power of the country. He died two years later and was granted the title of Marquis of Industry. He went out of the mountain 5 times, all at the most dangerous time in the Tang Dynasty, and he was able to retire every time. It is said that he was the hero of the Tang Dynasty in rebuilding the country. Besides Guo Ziyi and Li Guangbi, who else is Li Mi?