Chapter 203 Chapter 202: Daizong Li Yu

Tang Daizong Li Yu, the eldest son of Tang Suzong, was born in the fourteenth year of Kaiyuan (AD 726), named Li Chu. At the age of 15, he was named King of Guangping.After the An Lushan rebellion, he followed Tang Suzong to recruit troops in Lingwu, and was appointed as the Marshal of the World's Soldiers and Horses, and all the generals belonged to the Marshal's Mansion.At that time, Tang Suzong had just succeeded to the throne, with weak soldiers and few generals. Li Chu bowed down as a corporal, recruited Huai Huai, and soon recruited tens of thousands of troops.At that time, An Lushan had captured Chang'an, and the momentum was so great that most Tang troops dared not fight the rebels.Li Chu organized warriors to stop the rebels, defeated the rebels many times, boosted their morale, and brought about a turning point in the war.Later, Prince Yehu of Huihe led his troops to aid the Tang army, and Li Chu sworn brothers with him and joined forces to attack the rebels. In 757, Li Chu and Guo Ziyi led troops from Shuofang and other places, as well as Huihe and Western Region soldiers, a total of 150,000 people, set out from Fengxiang to attack Chang'an.The rebels were defeated and escaped from Tongguan.Li Chu led the army to attack Chang'an, ordered to prohibit it, and Qiu did not commit any crimes, which won the hearts of the people.After the Tang army captured Chang'an, Li Chu led an army to attack Luoyang, and the leader of the rebel army, An Qingxu, abandoned the city and fled to Hebei.After Tang Suzong returned to the capital, he named Li Chu King of Chu.In March of the first year of Qianyuan (758 A.D.), Li Chu changed his title to King Cheng, and soon became Crown Prince and changed his name to Li Yu.

At the end of the Yuan Dynasty (762 A.D.), Tang Suzong fell ill, and Li Yu was very considerate in his visits to the sick.As Suzong's condition worsened day by day, Empress Zhang (i.e. Zhang Liangdi) was afraid that Li Yu's achievements would be difficult to control, so she secretly took Yue Wang Li Xi into the palace, plotting to abolish Li Yu.When everything was ready, Empress Zhang pretended to summon Li Yu in an attempt to frame him. After the eunuchs Li Fuguo and Cheng Yuanzhen knew about it, they followed Li Yu into the palace to prevent any changes.That night, Li Fuguo and others led the army to arrest Yue King Li Xi and imprisoned Queen Zhang.Tang Suzong died in fright when he knew about it. Li Fuguo, Cheng Yuanzhen and others took the opportunity to kill Empress Zhang, and supported Li Yu as the emperor as Daizong.

When Emperor Li Yu of the Tang Dynasty came to the throne, the rebel general Shi Siming had been killed by his son Shi Chaoyi, who occupied Luoyang.After Daizong came to the throne, he asked Huihe for help again, and appointed his eldest son Li Shi as the marshal of the world's soldiers and horses to attack Luoyang.Tang Jun and Shi Chaoyi fought in the northern suburbs of Luoyang. Shi Chaoyi was defeated and fled to Hebei, and most of the rebel troops descended to Tang.In the following year, Shi Chaoyi committed suicide, and the Anshi rebellion was completely subdued. After the Tang army regained Luoyang, the Huihe army entered the city to kill and loot.The following year, Dengli Khan led his army back home and encouraged his subordinates to rob along the way.However, in order to repay Huihe for his help in the war, Emperor Daizong of Tang Dynasty repeatedly accommodated, trying to exchange forbearance for a friendly relationship with Huihe.

After An Shi's rebellious general descended to Tang Dynasty, Emperor Daizong of Tang thought he had accomplished everything.In July 763 AD, the Yuan Dynasty was changed to Guangde, and the world was amnesty. The old generals and relatives of Anlushan and Shi Siming were not held accountable. You can be promoted in five years, and ordinary people can also reduce or exempt taxes accordingly.In this way, An Shijiu will become the Jiedu envoy of the Tang Dynasty and form a new feudal town.They expanded the army, appointed officials, and collected taxes in their respective jurisdictions, becoming local separatist forces.In particular, the three towns of Chengde, Weibo, and Youzhou were the largest separatist forces in the middle and late Tang Dynasty, known as the three towns of Heshuo.

Tang Daizong not only gave high treatment to the three towns of Heshuo, but also repeatedly tolerated other separatists, which made the local Jiedu envoys unscrupulous. Independence, in fact, is an independent feudal warlord kingdom.Their positions were attacked by father and son brothers, or they were pushed by their subordinates to call themselves "remaining queens", forcing the Tang Dynasty to recognize them.In the local area, they also appointed officials and fished the people.It poses a great threat to the Tang central government.Due to Tang Daizong's appeasement of the vassals and the corruption of the Tang central government, the power of the central government became smaller and smaller.

While Emperor Zong of the Tang Dynasty appeased the feudal towns, he also had unreasonable suspicion of some ministers who were loyal to him.Guo Ziyi was a famous general in the Tang Dynasty, who defeated Shi Siming in Hebei during the Anshi Rebellion.Suzong came to the throne, and Guo Ziyi served as the deputy marshal of Hedong in Guannei. He cooperated with Huihe soldiers to recover Chang'an and Luoyang, was promoted to Zhong Shuling, and became the king of Fenyang County.After Daizong came to the throne, because he had the highest prestige in the court, he was afraid that his achievements would shock the Lord, so he was suspicious of him in every possible way.Tang Daizong's rewards and punishments were unclear, and the heroes all had concerns about the court. Not only refused to hand over military power and defense areas, but they did everything possible to expand the territory and recruit troops to expand their own strength.As a result, more and more separatists rule the roost, and a situation of separatist regimes has been formed.

During the reign of Emperor Tang Dynasty, the separatist rule of feudal vassals and towns in the territory had been formed, and the Tubo in the west was constantly invading. Tang had to regularly deploy the main force to the west of Beijing to prevent Tubo from invading in autumn, which was called Jingxi Fangqiu. After the outbreak of the Anshi Rebellion, the Tang government mobilized troops from all over the country to carry out crusades, and the northwest frontier soldiers also participated in the war against the rebellion, leaving only a few weak soldiers and remnants in the border towns.The stronger Tubo took the opportunity to capture Shibao City in 756, and entered the two towns of Longyou and Hexi in Tang Dynasty.After Emperor Tang came to the throne, Tubo's competition for Tang continued to increase.In the first year of Guangde (763 A.D.), Tubo led more than 200,000 troops of Tuyuhun, Dangxiang, Shi, and Qiang into Dazhenguan (now Longxi County, Gansu Province), attacked Jingzhou, and pointed directly at Fengtian (now Qianxian County, Shaanxi Province). In other places, the Tang soldiers were defeated, and the capital was shocked.The Emperor of the Tang Dynasty appointed Li Shi as the Marshal of Guannei and Guo Ziyi as the Deputy Marshal to Xianyang to defend against Tubo.At this time, the Tubo army was approaching Chang'an, and Tang Daizong fled to Shanzhou in a hurry.On the third day, Tubo entered Chang'an City, plundered treasury money, burned houses, and the prosperous Chang'an City was devastated.Guo Ziyi used a small number of soldiers to intimidate Tubo with a bluff. The Tubo army occupied the city for 15 days and left the city in panic.In the same year, Tubo invaded Songzhou, Weizhou, Yunshan City, Cage City and other places in Jiannan Road, and the Tang government was seriously threatened by Tubo.

Afterwards, Tubo invaded successively and the wars were fierce. Tang set up Jiedu envoys in Fengxiang, Jingzhou, Binzhou, Weibei and other places, and stationed heavy troops to resist Tubo. In the second year of Guangde, Pugu Huaien rebelled against the Tang Dynasty and attracted hundreds of thousands of people from Tubo and Huihe to attack Chang'an.Pu Gu Huai'en, a member of the Tie Le tribe, fought from Guo Ziyi and Li Guangbi during the Anshi Rebellion.Relying on his high achievements, he was dissatisfied with the court's treatment of him. In addition, the court was suspicious of military officials and always wanted to take back the military power, which made him dissatisfied with the court.In the second year of Guangde, Emperor Zong of the Tang Dynasty ordered Guo Ziyi to be Shuofang Jiedu envoy to comfort Pu Gu Huai En.Most of Shuofang's soldiers were originally Guo Ziyi's old troops, and they suffered a lot under Pugu Huai'en. When they heard that Guo Ziyi was coming, they rejoiced and left Pugu Huai'en to welcome Guo Ziyi regardless of military discipline.Pugu Huai'en thought Tang Ting wanted to deal with him, so he hurriedly led 300 troops to flee to Lingwu, packed up the scattered soldiers, and attracted Tubo and Huihe to attack.Daizong ordered Guo Ziyi to lead the army to defend against the enemy. The vanguard troops broke through the Tubo barracks and captured more than a hundred people.Guo Ziyi stationed heavy troops in Jingyang, and the Tubo army challenged him, but Ziyi did not come out.At this time, Jiannan and Yanwu had already broken through the city of Yanchuan in Tubo.Pu Gu Huai'en and the Tubo army were afraid of losing their backup, so they retreated without a fight, and the siege of the capital was resolved.

In September of the first year of Yongtai (765 A.D.), Pugu Huai'en attracted hundreds of thousands of people from Huihe, Tubo, Tuyuhun, and Dangxiang to invade, and died of a sudden illness in Mingsha (now Zhongweidong, Ningxia). The Tubo army plundered a large number of men and women Thousands of people burned their homes and left.In October of the same year, the Tubo army went to Binzhou, met Huihe, and invaded together. The soldiers forced Fengtian, and Guo Ziyi persuaded Huihe.Make Uighur and Tang join forces to jointly control Tubo.Soon, Bai Yuanguang, Guo Ziyi's vanguard, and the Huihe army defeated Tubo in the west of Lingtai County, beheading more than 50,000 people.

The retreat of the Tubo army was the result of Guo Ziyi and others leading the army to fight, but the prime minister Yuan Zai said that it was not due to manpower, but because of the blessing of the Bodhisattva.The patriarch of the Tang Dynasty believed in Yuan Zai, so he believed it to be true, and ordered that Buddhist temples be built widely, hoping to get more blessings from Bodhisattvas.But this did not stop the invasion of Tubo and Huihe. Daizong ordered the monks to preach the "King Ren's Protection of the Country" and the enemy returned to the country after looting. Add rewards, but ignore Guo Ziyi and other brave generals who defend against the enemy, and ignore them.Tang Daizong's behavior of improper rewards and punishments chilled the hearts of all the people in the world.After that, Tubo invaded successively and wars continued. The Tang government had to spend huge financial resources to station heavy troops in Fengxiang, Jingzhou, Binzhou, Weibei, Xichuan and other places to prepare for Tubo.

In September of the second year of Dali (AD 767), Tubo invaded Lingzhou, and then forced Binzhou. Daizong ordered Guo Ziyi to lead an army of 30,000 to defend against the enemy. In October, he defeated Tubo in Lingzhou, and the capital was safe.In November of the following year, 100,000 troops from Tubo invaded Lingwu and Binzhou, and Binning Jiedu envoy Ma Wang led his army to defend against the enemy, defeating more than 20,000 Tubo troops.In September, Guo Ziyi moved the town of Fengtian from Hezhong, and Tubo invaded Lingzhou. Lingzhou guard Bai Yuanguang defeated Tubo's 20,000 troops in Lingwu, and soon defeated Tubo's 60,000 troops in Lingwu.The emperors and ministers of the Tang Dynasty were overjoyed when they heard the news, immersed in the momentary victory. In May of the fifth year of Dali (770 A.D.), people were resettled in Gansu to guard against Tubo's invasion.In September, Tubo invaded Yongshou.In August of the eighth year of the Dali calendar, Tubo invaded Lingwu and robbed him.Youzhou Jiedu envoy Zhu Tao led 5,000 horsemen to invite Hexi to prevent autumn, and Dai Zongling went to Jingzhou to camp.In October, Tubo invaded Jingzhou and Binzhou.The vanguard of Guo Ziyi's department fought Hunyu and Tubo in Yilu, and Tang Shi was at a disadvantage.Hun Yu joined forces with the Jingyuan army, and the Tubo army was defeated.Soon, Guo Ziyi led his army to defeat the 100,000 Tubo army, and the Tang army won a major victory. In April of the ninth year of Dali, Emperor Daizong ordered Guo Ziyi and other military reviewers to prepare for the military parade.Daizong also issued an edict to all regions to contribute funds to prepare borders for the purpose of preventing autumn. In the spring of the eleventh year of the Dali calendar, Cui Ning, the governor of Jiannan, defeated 200,000 people in Tubo.In April, Xichuan defeated Tubo in Wanghan City, and in December, Xichuan Cui Ning defeated Tubo again in Xishan.In April of the thirteenth year of Dali, Tubo invaded Lingzhou, and Chang Qianguang defeated Tubo after staying with Shuofang.In June, Tubo invaded Yanzhou and Qingzhou again.In the same year, Dengli Khan of Huihe also invaded Taiyuan in order to plunder property, killing more than 10,000 Tang soldiers and civilians, and plundering with troops.In the Tang Dynasty, Zhang Guangsheng, the governor of the state, defeated the Huihe soldiers, and Dengli Khan retreated.However, in order to concentrate on resisting Tubo, Tang Daizong took a tolerant attitude towards Huihe's impoliteness, and strived to maintain a good relationship. During Tang Daizong's reign, although some measures were taken to defend against Tubo's invasion, the central government's policies did not fundamentally solve the problem because the Jiedushi were independent and difficult to control.Looking at the entire Daizong Dynasty, the war between Tang and Tubo had victories and losses, and both sides consumed a lot.Since then, Tubo has declined, and the Tang Dynasty has also weakened day by day. Daizong was proclaimed emperor with the support of eunuchs Li Fuguo and Cheng Yuanzhen. After he ascended the throne, he favored and trusted eunuchs Li Fuguo and Cheng Yuanzhen.Li and Cheng, relying on their merits in making strategies, became more and more arbitrary, posing a threat to Daizong's rule. After Daizong came to the throne, Li Fuguo claimed to be a hero who made policy decisions, and he used his power exclusively. He didn't even pay attention to Daizong. .After Daizong heard this, he was very unhappy, but because Li Fuguo held military power, he had to treat him with courtesy on the surface, respecting him as his father, and soon he added Sikong and Zhongshu Ling.The eunuch Cheng Yuanzhen was also appointed as the general of the left prison gate guard.Li and Cheng used their own power in the court and rejected dissidents. Daizong was helpless and helpless. Li and Cheng were in the court together, so they couldn't help but intrigue.Cheng Yuanzhen secretly proposed to Daizong to punish Li Fuguo, and Daizong took it into his own hands, dismissed Fuguo from his post of marching commander, and moved to Waidi.Daizong discussed with Yuan Zhen again, and secretly sent Yamen General Du Ji to assassinate Fuguo. Li Fuguo was killed, and Cheng Yuanzhen became the general of the hussars, monopolizing the power and dictatorship.At that time, the Anshi Rebellion had subsided, and the emperor of the Tang Dynasty rewarded his ministers for meritorious deeds.However, Lai Zhen, the Jiedu envoy of Shannan Dongdao, not only did not receive the reward because of a gap with Cheng Yuanzhen, but was exiled to Bozhou and died soon after.The generals of his ministry were greatly aggrieved, and they promoted Liang Chongyi as the commander-in-chief. They demanded that Laizhen be sued for injustice. In the autumn of the first year of Guangde (763 A.D.), Tubo led troops into Dazhen Pass and took all the land in Longyou, Hexi.Local officials repeatedly wrote to express their urgency, but were all stopped by Cheng Yuanzhen.Daizong didn't realize it until Tubo captured Jingzhou, so he had to use Guo Ziyi to guard Xianyang.Ziyi sent envoys to play, asking for reinforcements.Because Yuanzhen was jealous of Ziyi and refused to let the envoys come to see him, the Tubo army went straight in and attacked the capital.Tang Daizong had to go to Shanzhou. Emperor Tang Daizong went to Shanzhou and issued edicts many times to conscript soldiers and horses from various Taoists. All the envoys hated Yuan Zhen, and none of them responded to the edict. Even Li Guangbi refrained from going.But the ministers in command were afraid of Yuan Zhen and dared not impeach him. Only Dr. Taichang Liu Kang went up to ask him to kill Yuan Zhen to thank the world.Daizong got the book, and because he was grateful for Yuan Zhen's support, he only took away the official title and sent it back to his hometown.Later, Yuan Zhen entered the capital privately, and was exiled to Jiangling soon after, until he died of illness. In the Tang Dynasty, there was also Yu Chaoen, a eunuch with exclusive power.Yu Chaoen, a native of Luchuan, Luzhou (now Luxian, Sichuan), served as the commander of the imperial guards during Suzong's time, and served as an envoy to observe the appearance of the army, publicize and dispose of them during Daizong's time.When Daizong went to Shaanxi, the officials fled and the soldiers were cold and starved. Only Yu Chaoen led the Shence Army from Shanzhou to meet him, and solved Daizong's temporary difficulties.General Fan Zhicheng of Pugu Huai'en led the rebels to attack Jingyang, and the Tang Dynasty's clan made a personal conquest. In the name of suppressing the rebellion, Yu Chaoen used Dasuo's officials and people to run privately, which made people panic and rushed to escape. Yu Chaoen is in control of power, powerful in the government and the public, very arrogant, even the Tang Dynasty Emperor doesn't see it in his eyes.Yu Chaoen had an adopted son who was an envoy during his tenure. He had a dispute with his colleagues. After returning home, he told Chaoen. Chaoen brought his adopted son to Daizong and asked Daizong to give him purple clothes to improve his adopted son's status. Bringing the purple clothes to Yu's adopted son to put on, Dai Zong put on a happy face and kept silent, feeling very dissatisfied with Yu Chaoen in his heart.Prime Minister Yuanzai saw the right time and asked the emperor to eradicate Chaoen, and Daizong promised.They took advantage of the cold food festival in March when wine was placed in the palace and Yu Chaoen was attending a banquet, and secretly hanged him to death. Li Fuguo, Cheng Yuanzhen, and Yu Chaoen were all eunuchs. They were able to rely on their favor and interfere in political affairs. The reason was that Daizong was indecisive.When the eunuchs were in power and endangered Daizong's rule, Daizong took advantage of the conflicts and struggles between court officials and eunuchs to get rid of the eunuchs.This kind of struggle between court officials and eunuchs to fight for favor and position constituted the political characteristics of the late Tang Dynasty. After the Anshi Rebellion, the northern economy was severely damaged.The barren land in the relatively developed Yellow River Basin, coupled with the continuous natural disasters for many years, caused many people to leave their hometowns and turn to die in the ravines. There was a scene of depopulation and depression for thousands of miles. As the center of China's economic development in history, the vast northern region, Began to slump and go down the road of decline.At the same time, the Jianghuai region developed rapidly due to less wars.And because many areas in the north were occupied by Fanzhen, the area ruled by the central government in the north became smaller and smaller, so the Jianghuai area became the main target of the Tang government's exploitation and search. The Tang government's exploitation of the Jianghuai area was very heavy.In the first year of Baoying (762 A.D.), Yuan Zai, the envoy of Zuyong, went to Guanghuai to pursue the 8-year rent owed by the people since the last year of Tianbao. No matter who was found to have property and food in the family, he would take half of it, and some even took ten of it. eighty-nine.The envoys of the various Taoists often imposed levies indiscriminately, and state and county officials even set up names to exploit the people.Under this kind of cruel exploitation and oppression, the people couldn't bear it anymore and rose up to resist. There were more than 10 rebel armies recorded in history books, numbering hundreds of thousands.Among them, the largest ones were the Yuan Chao Uprising and Fang Qing Uprising that broke out during the Tang Dynasty. Although these peasant uprisings were finally defeated by the Tang army due to scattered forces and lack of fighting experience, the Tang government had to issue some decrees to reduce exploitation and resume production under the blow of the peasant uprising.The burden on the people has been eased. During the reign of Emperor Li Yu of the Tang Dynasty, the Tang government was severely damaged by the Anshi Rebellion.Faced with the crisis, Emperor Daizong also appointed some talented people to carry out reforms in an attempt to revive the country's prestige. Chang'an, the capital of the Tang Dynasty, was located in the northwest, and the grain produced in the Guanzhong area could not fully meet the large consumption needs of the people in the capital and the garrison.Every year, about 1 million grains in the southeastern region need to be transported from the Huaihe River to the Yellow River through the Bian River, and then transferred to the Wei River to reach Chang'an.During the Anshi Rebellion, Luoyang was occupied, the Huaihe River was blocked, and this water transportation route was completely cut off.In the first year of Guangde (763 A.D.), Tang Jun recovered Luoyang and quickly quelled the Anshi Rebellion.The restoration of water transportation and the transfer of grain from the Jianghuai River to Guanzhong have become problems that must be solved.Tang Daizong handed over this heavy burden to Liu Yan, the imperial envoy doctor. In the second year of Guangde, Liu Yan led people deep into the Jianghuai River, inspected the terrain, understood the people's sentiments, summed up the experience and lessons of the predecessors in handling water transportation, and then mobilized migrant workers, organized soldiers, controlled the dredging, built ships, and changed the past rich households to supervise the water transportation. Official transport; change the direct transport to segmented transport.This set of methods is very effective.Grain from the Jianghuai area was continuously transported to Chang'an through waterways, and 400,000 shi was transported a year, sometimes reaching 1.1 million shi.The price of expensive rice in the capital fell. During the Tang Dynasty, the salt administration was also reformed.At the beginning of the Tang Dynasty, no salt tax was collected. After the Anshi Rebellion, the government had financial difficulties, and in the first year of Qianyuan (758 A.D.), a salt monopoly was implemented.Set up "supervisory institutes" in salt-producing areas to manage salt affairs. The price of salt is much higher than before.In the second year of Yongtai (766 AD), Liu Yan was appointed to make major improvements to the salt affairs. Liu Yan first streamlined the salt agency, reduced redundant staff, merged the supervisory courts, and set up 13 inspection courts in major cities to manage the salt sales market and investigate salt smuggling.Liu Yan also reformed the salt monopoly system, changing the original official sales to "on-the-spot monopoly", stipulating that the salt produced in various places should be uniformly purchased by salt officials and not sold to merchants privately.The salt collected by the salt officials was resold to salt merchants in the salt field, and the merchants were free to transport and sell the salt after paying the salt payment and salt tax.At the same time, in order to prevent merchants from raising the price of salt, "Changping Salt" was set up in remote areas to stabilize the price of salt.It also ordered to prohibit local Jiedu envoys from increasing taxes on salt merchants, so as to avoid price increases through intermediate links. With the support of Tang Daizong, Liu Yan also set up patrol courts in various provinces, and selected capable and honest people as court officials.The Zhiyuan officials report to the central government the situation of rain, snow, and abundance in the counties and counties of the province every month.The government buys grain at a price higher than the market in areas with good harvests, and sells it at a price lower than the market in areas with poor harvests to stabilize prices.While implementing the "Changping Law", Liu Yan also promoted the "Equal Loss" method, that is, using part of the local rent and tax income and salt profits to buy local specialties from various places and supply them to the capital, which not only facilitated the lives of the people in the capital, but also It promoted the development of native products in various places, and improved the difficult political situation and financial constraints during the Tang Dynasty.Liu Yan's reform violated the interests of some big bureaucrats and big landlords, but only because Tang Dynasty Zong needed to use him to manage money and give him support, the reform persisted.After Tang Daizong's death, Liu Yan's reform also came to an end. In May of the fourteenth year of Dali (779 A.D.), Emperor Zong of the Tang Dynasty died, and in October, he was buried in Yuanling.His posthumous posthumous title is "Emperor Ruiwen Xiaowu".