Chapter 13 Another farce of patricide and usurpation

Shi Siming was consumed by Li Guangbi. This consumption took a full year and four months. From October of the second year of Qianyuan (759 AD) to February of the second year of Shangyuan (761 AD), Shi Siming tried his best to defeat Li Guangbi or at least get rid of his restraint, but in the end it proved to be a futile effort. Not long after the defeat of Heyang, that is, at the end of the second year of Qianyuan, Shi Siming sent general Li Guiren to lead 5,000 cavalry quietly westward, preparing to attack Shanzhou (now Sanmenxia City, Henan) by surprise, and then threaten Tongguan.But when Li Guiren traveled to Qiziban (south of Sanmenxia City), he was hit head-on by Wei Boyu, the Jiedu envoy of the Shence Army stationed in Shanzhou.Later, Wei Boyu cooperated closely with Li Zhongchen, the envoy of the Shence Army, and firmly guarded between Yongning (north of Luoning County, Henan Province) and Shazha (west of Luoning County), repeatedly defeating Li Guiren, preventing him from going to the Go west half a step.

In February of the first year of Shangyuan, Li Guangbi personally led his troops to attack Huaizhou. His intention was very obvious. He wanted to cut off the Yan army's return to the north, so that Shi Siming could neither advance nor retreat, and trapped him in a place where there was no danger to defend. Luoyang.Of course, Shi Siming couldn't let Huaizhou fall into Li Guangbi's hands, so he immediately rushed to help, but was ambushed by Li Guangbi in Qinshui, and was beheaded by more than 3,000 levels. In March, Li Guangbi defeated the guard of Huaizhou, An Taiqing, under the city; in April, Shi Siming and Li Guangbi fought in the west of Heyang, and were defeated again, and were beheaded by more than 1,500 ranks; in June, Shi Siming sent his generals eastward, He tried to march into Jianghuai, but was defeated by Tian Shengong in Zhengzhou.

In the winter of the same year, Li Guangbi sent troops to attack Huaizhou again. After more than 100 days, he finally conquered it and captured Antaiqing alive. The fall of Huaizhou undoubtedly made Shi Siming's situation worse. If the situation of the battle cannot be reversed in a short period of time, the morale of the Yan army will inevitably be greatly shaken.The only way to reverse the situation in a short period of time is to force Li Guangbi to go to the south bank of the Yellow River for a decisive battle.However, it was precisely this that made Shi Siming helpless. Because Li Guangbi's strategy was to consume him to death, how could he take the initiative to fight him?

Barring a miracle... In February of the second year of Shangyuan, the miracle Shi Siming was looking forward to finally appeared. Because someone objectively did him a huge favor. This person is Tang Suzong's confidant eunuch Yu Chaoen. His position at this time is the military envoy of Shanzhou.The celebrities in front of the emperor did not appreciate Li Guangbi's style of play.He believes that the Yan army is all from the north. They must be homesick after they have been fighting abroad for a long time.He repeatedly emphasized this meaning to Suzong, and Suzong thought it made sense, so he ordered Li Guangbi to attack Luoyang.However, Li Guangbi did not move, and said in the memorial: "The bandits are still sharp, so they can't advance lightly."

As the deputy marshal of the world's soldiers and horses, and the de facto leader of the imperial army, Li Guangbi's opinion must be very important, and Suzong had to treat it with caution.After receiving Li Guangbi's report, Suzong had no choice but to shelve the matter temporarily.But at this critical moment, another heavyweight in the military sided with Yu Chaoen and insisted on attacking. He is Pugu Huai'en. As we all know, among the various armies of the Tang Dynasty, the Shuofang Army has always been the most important main force in countering the rebellion in the empire. Three pillars.

Pugu Huai'en is a member of the Pugu tribe among the Nine Tribes of Tie Le. His ancestors surrendered to the Tang Dynasty in the last year of Zhenguan.In the middle period of Tianbao, Pugu Huai'en was promoted to the general of the left leader army, and then transferred to the Shuofang army, where Wang Zhongsi, An Sishun, and Guo Ziyi were involved.It is said in history that he was "a man of great determination and reticence", "reached the feelings of all Tibetans, and had the ability to rule", so he was highly valued by Guo Ziyi. After the outbreak of the Anshi Rebellion, Pugu Huai'en followed Guo Ziyi to the north and south, "often a pioneer", "bravely crowned the three armies", and made great contributions to Suzong's court's successful recovery of the two capitals.

However, Pugu Huai'en also has an obvious problem, that is, he takes credit for his pride and "just decided to commit a crime".Like him, the "Fan Han soldiers" under his command, relying on military merits, regard the imperial court as nothing, "mostly illegal", but they have been sheltered and condoned by Pu Gu Huai'en for a long time.Due to Guo Ziyi's generous nature and "valuing Huai'en", he has always been tolerant of Pugu Huai'en and his followers, and always turned a blind eye to their many illegal acts, "everything is tolerant".

However, when Guo Ziyi lost power due to the defeat of Yecheng and Li Guangbi succeeded Shuofang Jiedu envoy, the comfortable days of Pugu Huaien and others came to an end.Because Li Guangbi's style of running the army is completely opposite to Guo Ziyi's, and he is known for "serious upholding the law" and "doing nothing under the law", so Pugu Huai'en and his gang of arrogant soldiers had no choice but to restrain their minds and behave with their tails tucked. Pugu Wynn is a very conceited and ambitious person, of course he can't bear this kind of life with his tail between his legs for a long time.

If you want to get rid of such depression and depression, the best way is to replace Li Guangbi! In fact, ever since Li Guangbi was promoted to the top of the Shuofang Army and the Imperial Army, Pugu Huai'en, the number two man, had already coveted the top spot. Since you, Li Guangbi, can replace Guo Ziyi, why can't I, Pugu Huai'en, replace you, Li Guangbi? In Pugu Wynn's view, all he needs is a suitable opportunity. And now, the opportunity finally came. Under the influence of Yu Chaoen, Emperor Suzong was already dissatisfied with Li Guangbi, who insisted on sticking to his defense and refused to fight. At this time, as long as Pugu Huai'en insisted on taking the initiative to attack, he could effectively suppress Li Guangbi and fight in front of the emperor. Invite pets.Therefore, Pugu Huai'en must of course stand by Yu Chaoen's side without hesitation.

Two to one, the main combat faction gained the upper hand, Suzong immediately made up his mind to counterattack. In late February, Suzong continued to send envoys to Heyang, ordering Li Guangbi to send troops.The situation is exactly the same as when Xuanzong repeatedly forced Ge Shuhan to fight. Li Guangbi had no choice but to order general Li Baoyu to garrison Heyang, and then sent troops together with Pugu Huaien, Yu Chaoen and Wei Boyu to attack Luoyang. On February 23, the second year of Shangyuan, Shi Siming's long-awaited moment finally arrived. This day will be Shi Siming's lucky day, and it will also be the day when he completely washes away his shame.

When the Tang army arrived at the foot of Mang Mountain outside Luoyang City, Shi Siming was already waiting here.Li Guangbi chose a dangerous terrain to line up, while the smug Pugu Huai'en led his troops to line up on the flat plain.Li Guangbi quickly warned him: "Depending on the danger, you can attack when you advance, and you can defend when you retreat; if you line up on the plain, if you lose, the whole army will be wiped out. Shi Siming is good at field warfare, and you must not underestimate it!" However, Pugu Huai'en turned a deaf ear to it. Just when the Tang army had just formed their formation and their foothold was not stable, Shi Siming couldn't wait to issue the order to attack. The anger smoldering in Shi Siming's chest for a year and four months finally turned into a deafening order at this moment, resounding in the ears of the officers and soldiers of the Yan army. In an instant, the Yan army cavalry flooded the plain like a tide. Fighting in this terrain suitable for cavalry charges, the Tang army is really no match for the Yan army.Facing the roaring Yan army, Pugu Huai'en's formation was the first to be overwhelmed, and the troops fled in succession.Seeing this, the morale of other Tang troops was greatly weakened.Although Li Guangbi had been defending the dangerous position and fighting to the death, he still couldn't withstand the fierce offensive of the Yan army and was soon defeated. As soon as Li Guangbi's commander-in-chief of the Chinese army fell, all the Tang troops collapsed without fighting, and all turned around and fled at the same time. In this battle, Tang Jun was beheaded thousands of times, and countless military equipment was discarded.Li Guangbi and Pugu Huai'en crossed the Yellow River and fled all the way to Wenxi (now Wenxi County, Shanxi); Yu Chaoen and Wei Boyu fled back to Shanzhou; Li Baoyu who was stationed in Heyang abandoned the city; They fell one after another. The strategic advantage that Li Guangbi gained by sticking to Heyang for more than a year disappeared overnight. After the victory at Mangshan, Shi Siming took advantage of the victory and marched westward, and ordered Shi Chaoyi to be the forward, attacking Shanzhou from the north road; he himself led the army to advance westward from the south road. On March 9th, Shi Chaoyi went to Qiziling (now south of Sanmenxia City), and was caught off guard by Wei Boyu who was ambushing here. Shi Chaoyi launched several counterattacks, but was repelled one by one by Wei Boyu. Seeing that the forward suffered repeated setbacks and could not cross Shanzhou half a step, Shi Siming's southern army did not dare to advance rashly, so he had to retreat to Yongning (now north of Luoning County, Henan).He hated iron and steel and said to the left and right: "The boy is cowardly, and he will not be able to help me achieve great things after all!" He threatened to behead Shi Chaoyi and his generals in accordance with military law. Under normal circumstances, Lao Tzu said that he wanted to kill his son, but it was just a moment of anger, and it was basically not taken seriously.But for Shi Chaoyi, the words of his old man Shi Siming were enough to make him shudder. Because he knew it was not an angry word. For a long time, Shi Siming has never had a good look at Shi Chaoyi, the eldest son, but only dotes on the youngest son Shi Chaoqing.Shi Chaoyi also didn't understand why he was not welcomed by his father.He can only be careful and try his best to do things, other than that, he really doesn't know what else he can do. After Shi Siming proclaimed himself emperor, Shi Chaoyi found that his situation not only did not get better, but even worse.Because the father made it clear that he wanted to pass on the throne to Shi Chaoqing, and his eldest son was at best a pawn, a tool to fight the world for his father and younger brother.Leaving aside the possibility of death at any time during the process of conquering the world, even if Li Tang was captured after going through all kinds of difficulties and dangers, Shi Chaoyi would not benefit much, and he would not even be able to avoid his fate. Many times, Shi Chaoyi felt that his situation was exactly the same as that of An Qingxu back then.But An Qingxu took that step in the end, turned misfortune into blessing, and ascended the throne of the emperor of Yan Dynasty in one fell swoop.Now, does Shi Chaoyi dare to do what An Qingxu did? Thinking of this, Shi Chaoyi couldn't help but tremble in his heart, and a layer of cold sweat broke out from the pores all over his body. In fact, if Shi Chaoyi really wanted to make a move, the odds of winning were very high. Because his father is very unpopular. Shi Siming was suspicious by nature, cruel and bloodthirsty, and those who were slightly disobedient by his left and right would lose his head at least, and be punished by his clan at worst.Therefore, many generals under Shi Siming's command fear him on the surface, but in fact they have long been alienated from him.On the contrary, these generals all had a good impression of Shi Chaoyi.Because Shi Chaoyi is humble and cautious, has a gentle temperament, and is very sympathetic to the soldiers.For these generals of the Yan army, if this young master can replace the murderous devil emperor, their life will undoubtedly be much easier in the future. Because of this, when Shi Siming repeatedly revealed to the left and right the idea of ​​abolishing the elders and establishing the younger ones, many generals privately disclosed this information to Shi Chaoyi, and their intention was of course to encourage him to act first. However, Shi Chaoyi was still unable to make up his mind. Because this is no ordinary murder and treason, but patricide and usurpation of the throne!No matter who puts this kind of matter on the head, it is not easy to decide... After the defeat at Canziling, Shi Chaoyi found that his father looked at him with colder and colder eyes, and even revealed a murderous intent. His inner fear and struggle naturally became more intense, and the idea of ​​being the first to attack was recurring in his mind over and over again. Ups and downs. On March 13th, Shi Chaoyi received an order from his father to build a "Sanyu City" (a castle with three walls built against a mountain) near the barracks to store military rations.This was originally a normal task, but the problem was that the construction deadline given by Shi Siming was only one day. This seems very abnormal. What does Shi Siming mean?Had he given such a short deadline only because of military urgency?Or does he have ulterior motives? Shi Chaoyi didn't dare to think about it so much, so he could only lead his subordinates to rush to work, and finally finished building the wall at dusk.But there is still a mud-coating process behind.At this time, Shi Siming came to inspect.Seeing that the project was not yet completed, he immediately pointed at Shi Chaoyi's nose and cursed, and then ordered the left and right attendants to watch over Shi Chaoyi's work.Shi Chaoyi led his men to continue working hard, and finally finished the last process before night fell.Shi Siming came to check with a gloomy face, rode around the wall, and finally stopped in front of Shi Chaoyi, and suddenly gritted his teeth and said: "When Shanzhou is captured, I will kill you, a thief!" Shi Chaoyi almost collapsed to the ground. At this moment, the terrible thought surged up in Shi Chaoyi's heart again, making him tremble all over. That night, Shi Siming stayed in Luqiaoyi (now in Luoning County, Henan Province) and ordered a confidant general surnamed Cao to be the guard. Shi Chaoyi's barracks is very close to Luqiao Station, if you want to do it, tonight is the best chance. To kill, or not to kill?this is a problem. Just when Shi Chaoyi was troubled by this problem, Luo Yue and Cai Wenjing knocked on the door of his room.As soon as Luo Yue came in, he said straight to the point: "My Majesty and I are already at stake! Since ancient times, it has been common practice to depose the old lord and install a new one. You must not be indecisive. Please summon General Cao immediately to discuss the matter together. Seek great things!" Shi Chaoyi lowered his head and said nothing. Luo Yue and Cai Wenjing looked at each other, and then said: "If Your Majesty does not allow it, I will join Li Tang today, and I am afraid that Your Majesty will not be able to survive in the end." After a long time, Shi Chaoyi raised his head, and Luo Yue and Cai Wenjing saw that his face was covered with tears. Of course, the tears at this moment are not lacking for show, but it is undeniable that they also contain deep pain and helplessness. Finally, Shi Chaoyi said softly: "You gentlemen, do your best, and don't disturb the emperor." Once Shi Chaoyi nodded, the next thing would be easy.Luo Yue immediately sent someone to summon General Cao, told them all about their plan, and then asked him blankly what he planned to do. Now that the matter has come to this, what else can General Cao do? He knows that Shi Siming is unpopular, and he also knows what it means to be angry.If he didn't agree, his blood would be splashed on the spot immediately, and he would become Shi Siming's dishonorable funeral object. Therefore, General Cao only hesitated for a short moment before nodding in agreement. Afterwards, Luo Yue and others surrounded General Cao, led Shi Chaoyi's 300 personal soldiers, and went straight to Luqiao Post, fully armed.When the guards saw so many people approaching with murderous intent, they knew something was wrong, but when they took a closer look, it was their immediate superior, General Cao, who took the lead, so they gave way one after another, and no one dared to stop them. After Luo Yue and the others successfully entered the station, they rushed straight into Shi Siming's bedroom. But there was no one inside. Luo Yue and the others turned pale with shock, and hurriedly searched around.Because the night was too dark to see clearly, Luo Yue and the others cut down anyone they saw, regardless of whether they were indiscriminate or not.Several other attendants were so frightened that they lay on the ground, raised their hands and shouted: The emperor is in the latrine. Luo Yue hurriedly led people to the backyard of the post station, only to see that Shi Siming had jumped on a horse and was about to escape through the back door.Luo Yue and others immediately released arrows, one of which hit Shi Siming's arm.Shi Siming fell off his horse, and everyone rushed up and tied him up tightly. Shi Siming looked frustrated and asked, "Who is the troublemaker?" Luo Yue said coldly: "By the order of King Huai (Shi Chaoyi)." Shi Siming understood everything at once.He looked up to the sky and sighed: "I said something wrong during the day, and I deserved to end up like this. But why don't you wait until I capture Chang'an? It's too early to kill me now, and there may be no hope for the great cause." Luo Yue didn't want to care about Shi Siming's great cause, he was most fortunate that he and King Huai could finally escape death.In the middle of the night, Luo Yue imprisoned Shi Siming in Liuquanyi (now Xiliuquan Town, Yiyang County, Henan Province), and then returned to the camp to report to Shi Chaoyi. His report actually only had three words: It's done! At that time, Zhou Zhi, Prime Minister of the Yan Dynasty, led the rear army to garrison Fuchang (now Xifuchang Town, Yiyang County). After hearing the news that King Huai's mutiny and the emperor's capture, he was so frightened that he fell to the ground and couldn't recover for a long time.The next day, Shi Chaoyi left his camp and returned to Luoyang. When he passed Fuchang, Zhou Zhi bravely went out to greet him.Luo Yue secretly persuaded Shi Chaoyi, saying that Zhou Zhi is Shi Siming's number one confidant, and if he is not eliminated, it may cause future troubles.Shi Chaoyi immediately arrested Zhou Zhi and beheaded him.After the army arrived at Liuquanyi, Luo Yue and others feared that the army's mind would change, so they sent someone to hang Shi Siming to death. On the day he returned to Luoyang, Shi Chaoyi couldn't wait to ascend the throne under the support of Luo Yue and others.On the same day, Shi Chaoyi sent Zhang Tongru and others back to Fanyang, and executed Shi Chaoqing, his mother Xin and his party members. Shi Chaoyi's act of cutting grass and roots quickly caused a huge panic in Youzhou City.Soon, the various factions inevitably clashed, and Zhang Tongru was killed. The turmoil lasted for more than two months, and the death toll reached thousands.Shi Chaoyi immediately appointed Li Huaixian, a confidant general, as Fan Yangyin and Yanjing to stay behind, and then gradually controlled the situation. Although Shi Chaoyi usurped the throne of the Yan Dynasty, the Jiedu envoys stationed in various places basically did not buy his account.Because most of them are the old part of An Lushan, even Shi Siming may not be able to subdue them, let alone this young Shi Chaoyi. In other words, from the day Shi Siming was killed, the so-called Yan Dynasty has only a nominal body left.Although the generals of all parties belonged to the Yan Dynasty on the surface, in fact none of them obeyed Shi Chaoyi's order, and they were all making their own small calculations.In such a situation of being in harmony with each other, and sharing different dreams in the same bed, Shi Chaoyi is really at a loss as to how far he can go and how far he can play the situation... In this familiar farce of killing the father and usurping the throne, the Yan Dynasty completed another abnormal power change. No one would have expected that the way Shi Siming left this world would be exactly the same as that of An Lushan. Once upon a time, An Lushan and Shi Siming rebelled against the Li and Tang Dynasty without hesitation, but in the end, their son also rebelled against them mercilessly.In the words of Buddhism, this is called karma, which is not pleasant at all.And the way of retribution is so similar, and it comes so quickly, it is really far beyond people's expectations. From being proclaimed emperor in April of the second year of Qianyuan to being killed in March of the second year of Shangyuan, Shi Siming's career as emperor was only one year and eleven months in total.Before that, An Lushan was worse than him, and died in Huangquan after only one year as emperor. In the torrent of history, they look like two fleeting waves. But in fact, they are not waves, but unfathomable eddies.Because as soon as the giant boat of the Tang Dynasty passed by them, it began to bump and shake violently, and since then it has entered a half-century voyage... Although An Lushan and Shi Siming died unexpectedly, everything did not end there. Rather, it's just the beginning. Although An Lushan and Shi Siming have died in Huangquan, countless An Lushan and Shi Siming will flourish behind them; Join hands to open an era of great fission unprecedented in the history of the Tang Dynasty!