Chapter 21 Tubo enters Chang'an

Since the founding of the Tang Dynasty, the Tang Dynasty has continuously expanded its territory and expanded its sphere of influence. It has set up several Dudufu and Duhufu on the northwest border of the empire and the entire vast Western Region, and has jurisdiction over many states and counties.By the mid-Kaiyuan period, the Tang Empire had set up Shuofang, Longyou, Hexi, Anxi, Beiting and other envoys in the Northwest and Western Regions respectively, and every year recruited elite and strong soldiers from the Kanto region to guard the border. On the one hand, a large number of pastures have been opened up to raise war horses, cattle and sheep; between all important castles and fortresses, there are patrol cavalry cruising day and night.

In this way, the Tang Empire built a huge, solid, and rigorous border defense system on the thousands of miles of border.Over the years, although Tubo has never stopped invading the northwest border of the Tang Dynasty, it has never been able to effectively break through the border defenses of the Tang Dynasty, let alone have the opportunity to drive straight in. However, since the outbreak of the Anshi Rebellion, the empire's border defense system has existed in name only. In order to quell this unprecedented rebellion, the Li Tang court transferred all the elite troops from key border towns such as Shuofang, Longyou, Hexi, Anxi, and Beiting back to the country, leaving only some old and weak soldiers to garrison.The Tubo army took advantage of the situation and entered from Dazhenguan (now southeast of Zhangjiachuan County, Gansu), and successively captured Lanzhou (now Lanzhou City, Gansu), Kuozhou (now Hualong County, Qinghai), Hezhou (now Linxia City, Gansu), and Shanzhou. Zhouzhou (now Ledu County, Qinghai), Taozhou (now Lintan County, Gansu), Minzhou (now Minxian County, Gansu), Qinzhou (now Tianshui City, Gansu), Chengzhou (now Linan County, Gansu), Weizhou ( In today's Longxi County, Gansu Province) and other places, all the lands in Hexi and Longyou were taken.

Under the continuous encroachment of the Tubo army, dozens of states in the northwest of the empire fell one after another in just a few years.By the time Daizong ascended the throne, the territory of the Tang Dynasty to the west of Fengxiang (now Fengxiang County, Shaanxi Province) and north of Binzhou (now Binxian County, Shaanxi Province) had all fallen into the hands of the Tubo people. In July of the first year of Guangde (763 A.D.), Tubo launched a large-scale attack on the Tang Dynasty again. The border guards were frequently in distress. He didn't play Daizong, nor sent troops to defend against the enemy.The Tubo army then drove straight in, and soon reached Jingzhou (now Jingchuan County, Gansu).Gao Hui, the governor of Jingzhou in the Tang Dynasty, not only gave up resistance and surrendered the city, but also acted as a guide for the Tubo people, leading the enemy troops deep into Guanzhong.It wasn't until the Tubo army crossed Binzhou (now Bin County, Shaanxi Province) that Emperor Daizong Li Yu was shocked to hear the news of Tubo's invasion.

On October 2, the Tubo army quickly arrived at Fengtian (now Qianxian County, Shaanxi Province) and Wugong (now west of Wugong County, Shaanxi Province). When the capital was terrified, Emperor Daizong urgently ordered Li Shi, king of Yong, as the marshal of the pass, and at the same time appointed Guo Ziyi as the deputy marshal. Quickly stationed in Xianyang to organize defense. The country is in trouble, and Guo Ziyi, who has been left alone for a long time, has only returned to people's sight.However, Guo Ziyi at this time was a polished commander. Because of "being idle for a long time, the parts are scattered" (Vol. 223), at this time Guo Ziyi can directly mobilize only 20 soldiers under his command.

Because the military situation was urgent and the front line did not send any accurate information, Guo Ziyi was eager to understand the enemy's situation, so he had no time to wait for the imperial court to recruit troops, so he immediately took his "Twenty Man Corps" to the front line. After arriving in Xianyang, Guo Ziyi immediately sent scouts to investigate.Soon, the scouts brought back accurate information.When Guo Ziyi heard this, he was immediately shocked - the invading enemies this time were not only Tubo people, but also Tuyuhun people, Dangxiang people, Di people, and Qiang people, with a total strength of more than 200,000!

At this moment, the Tubo army had already crossed the Wei River and was rapidly advancing eastward, pointing directly at Chang'an. Guo Ziyi urgently ordered Wang Yanchang, the general of the Ministry, to return to the court quickly, and asked the court to send troops immediately.However, what Guo Ziyi never expected was that at the time when the great enemy was at hand and the capital was in critical condition, Cheng Yuanzhen, who overshadowed the sky with one hand, ignored the safety of the country and refused to meet Wang Yanchang, let alone dispatch a soldier. Guo Ziyi was completely desperate.

He knew that Cheng Yuanzhen had always been jealous of his merits and prestige, and had been sparing no effort to exclude him, but Guo Ziyi never imagined that at this point, Cheng Yuanzhen was still bent on gaining power and rejecting dissidents! Seeing the two hundred thousand enemy troops marching towards Chang'an from under his nose, Guo Ziyi could only let out a long and desolate sigh in his heart-Chang'an was over. On October 4th, Tubo's vanguard arrived in the west of Zhouzhi (now Zhouzhi County, Shaanxi Province), where they encountered the only resistance of this invasion, and were repelled by Lv Yuejiang, an envoy of the Tang Weibei camp.

However, this is destined to be only a weak resistance.Because General Lu Yue's troops were only two thousand, he couldn't hold back Tubo's 200,000 troops no matter what! On October 6, the main force of Tubo arrived in Zhouzhi.Lu Yue will try his best to fight to the death, and finally the whole army is wiped out, defeated and captured. On October 7, the Tubo army crossed the Xiwei Bridge.So far, Chang'an, the imperial capital of the Tang Dynasty, has been completely exposed to them. Upon hearing the news that Tubo troops were approaching the city, Emperor Daizong Li Yuru was struck by lightning.He was at a loss what to do, and finally had to escape from Chang'an surrounded by a few forbidden soldiers and eunuchs, and fled to Shanzhou (now Sanmenxia City, Henan).

As soon as the emperor fled, the capital was thrown into chaos, the civil and military forces of the Manchu dynasty fled for their lives, and the six imperial guards also collapsed in an instant.When Guo Ziyi rushed back to Chang'an, the emperor and all the officials had disappeared, and Chang'an had become an undefended city. Not long after Daizong escaped from Chang'an, Wang Xianzhong, the general of the forbidden army who accompanied him, defected with more than 400 riders, and rushed back to Chang'an with Feng Wang Li Gong (Xuanzong's son, Daizong's uncle) and a dozen other princes, preparing to surrender to the Tubo people.

Wang Xianzhong and his party had just entered Kaiyuan Gate (Northwest Gate of Chang'an), and happened to meet Guo Ziyi head-on.Guo Ziyi yelled loudly, Wang Xianzhong hurriedly dismounted to meet him, and said: "Now that the emperor has moved to the east, the country has no owner, and you are the marshal. Deposing the emperor is just a matter of your words. Why don't you follow the trend?" Guo Ziyi glared at Wang Xianzhong and said nothing. Wang Xianzhong said with a sneer, "Why doesn't your lord speak?" Before he finished speaking, Guo Ziyi ordered his left and right to rush forward and push him to the ground.Wang Xianzhong looked at each other in dismay, but he was intimidated by Guo Ziyi's prestige, no one dared to resist, so he obediently followed Guo Ziyi to turn around and go west, chasing the emperor's chariot.

On October 8, Daizong and his entourage fled to Huazhou (now Hua County, Shaanxi Province). All the local officials ran away, and no one provided meals.At this time, Yu Chaoen, the military commander stationed in Shanzhou, rushed to rescue him non-stop. Daizong Li Yu, suffering from hunger and cold, suddenly had mixed feelings. In times of crisis, civil servants are unreliable, and military commanders are also unreliable, but eunuchs are the most caring! On October 9, the Tubo army occupied Chang'an without bloodshed. On the same day, Ma Chongying, a general of Tubo, and Gao Hui, a descendant of the Tang Dynasty, directed a farce: Li Chenghong, the king of Guangwu (grandson of Li Shouli, the cousin of Xuanzong’s cousin, Li Shouli), was established as emperor, Yu Ke, a Hanlin scholar, was named prime minister, and at the same time, the title was changed. It's a pleasure to set up a hundred officials. Afterwards, the Tubo people began to burn, kill and loot, "plundering the treasury and the city, burning the houses, and Chang'an was completely empty." (Volume 223) What is ironic is that those officers and soldiers of the Forbidden Army who disarmed early and hid among the people, not only did not stand up against the atrocities of the Tubo people at this moment, but took advantage of the chaos to join the ranks of robbery.Unbearable, the people of Chang'an escaped from Chang'an one after another and hid in Zhongnan Mountain. On October 12th, Daizong fled to Shanzhou under the escort of Yu Chaoen, and the civil and military officials who fled in all directions came to see him one after another.Guo Ziyi traveled to Yusuchuan (now southwest of Chang'an County, Shaanxi Province), and when he learned that the Son of Heaven was out of danger, he decided not to go to Shanzhou. Instead, he traveled eastward along the foothills of the Qinling Mountains to gather his troops in Shangzhou, Wuguan and other places.He said to Wang Yanchang: "Most of the disbanded Forbidden Army soldiers are in Shangzhou. Let's rush over now, gather the stragglers, and at the same time recruit the garrison troops in Wuguan (northwest of Shang County, Shaanxi Province). Within a few days, we can go north." Lantian, counterattack Chang'an." At this moment, Guo Ziyi has only thirty cavalry under his command. Guo Ziyi was already sixty-seven years old when Tubo invaded Chang'an. The wind and frost of the years had already dyed his temples white, and the ups and downs in his official career had repeatedly dealt heavy blows to him. , The courage and belief in defending the country. Without Guo Ziyi, the recovery of Chang'an would probably be in the foreseeable future, and Daizong Li Yu's escape career would undoubtedly be greatly prolonged.Because, after Daizong fled to Shanzhou and issued the imperial edict to the Quartet, for more than a month, the various envoys were dissatisfied with the imperial court because they hated the eunuch's monopoly, so they stood still and no one reported to Guanzhong. Send a soldier! Among them, Li Guangbi, the anti-rebellion hero who was stationed in Xuzhou at that time, was included. In other words, the eunuch Cheng Yuanzhen's arrogance and disorderly government have already chilled the hearts of the people of the world. Even Li Guangbi, who has always been loyal to the court, has given up his beliefs, and has completely chilled the hearts of the emperor and the court. However, Guo Ziyi's heart is not cold. Even though the Tubo soldiers were pressing down on the border, the power eunuch Cheng Yuanzhen was still plotting against him by all means, but his heart was still not cold. It is not difficult for a person to become a famous general, and it is not difficult to become a hero. The difficult thing is that when everyone in the world gives up their beliefs, you are the only one who chooses to persevere.Therefore, the reason why Guo Ziyi's status and reputation in the eyes of later generations is much higher than that of Li Guangbi is not because he is better at fighting than Li Guangbi, nor is it because he understands official philosophy better than Li Guangbi, but because he is more loyal than Li Guangbi. The belief in the heart is better at making the most correct choice at the important moment of life. In this world, there are many things that can make people feel cold and bloody, but in the end, whether your heart is cold or your blood is cold does not depend on others, but on yourself. Guo Ziyi may be able to disregard personal gains, losses, honors and disgraces because of the never-cooling blood in her body, and she keeps getting up and down again and again, getting more and more frustrated, so as to turn the tide and help the building to collapse. Become the mainstay of the Tang Dynasty in the troubled times from prosperity to decline, and become the only hero in this turbulent history who started well and ended well (both the position and the name)! In mid-October, Guo Ziyi went south along Lantian, Shangzhou, and Wuguan. He gathered more than 4,000 scattered soldiers. Then he turned north and swore blood in Shangzhou.Later, Emperor Daizong Li Yu was worried that the Tubo people would march into Tongguan, so he ordered Guo Ziyi to lead the army to Shanzhou to escort them, but Guo Ziyi said on the table: "If you don't take the capital, you can't see your majesty. If you send troops to Lantian, the captives will definitely not come." Dare to go east." (Volume 223) Daizong made sense after thinking about it, so he agreed to his plan to counterattack Chang'an. However, Guo Ziyi has only 4,000 people, so how could he possibly beat Tubo's 200,000-odd army? Attacking by force is of course out of the question.The only way is to outsmart. Guo Ziyi decided to use the strategy of suspicious soldiers to confuse the Tubo people and force them to voluntarily withdraw from Chang'an. Subsequently, Guo Ziyi sent Sun Quanxu, the chief general of Zuo Yulin, and others to lead his troops to Lantian.According to Guo Ziyi's plan, Changsun Quanxu made great fanfare during the day and lit countless bonfires at night, making the Tibetans think that the Tang Dynasty army had arrived.In addition, Changsun Quanxu sent people to sneak into Chang'an, secretly contacted a group of heroes from all over the world, beat drums and shouted on Zhuque Street every day, causing chaos, and at the same time spread the news among the people that Guo Ziyi had assembled hundreds of thousands of troops, Soon they will attack Chang'an. The Tubo people were panicked by Guo Ziyi's suspicious strategy, so they wanted to retreat. In addition, Chang'an's beauties and wealth had been looted by them, so in their opinion, it was really not worth paying the blood price for this empty city at this moment.On October 21, the Tubo army hurriedly took their spoils and withdrew from Chang'an that day. Seeing the Tubo people abandoning him and running away, surrendered general Gao Hui had no choice but to ride eastward with more than 300 men under his command. When he reached Tongguan, he was captured by guard Li Riyue and beheaded on the spot. On October 23, Emperor Daizong Li Yu felt great relief when he learned the news of Chang'an's recovery.He issued an imperial edict on the same day, appointing Guo Ziyi as the left guard in Xijing, and Fifth Qi as Jing Zhaoyin. At the same time, he asked Prime Minister Yuan Zai to replace Cheng Yuanzhen as Marshal and Sima. Although Chang'an has returned to the hands of the Tang Dynasty, in any case, this is an intolerable humiliation.In Guo Ziyi's words, this is a "national humiliation". Why did the empire suffer this national humiliation? This account cannot be counted. In fact, as early as when Daizong fled to Shanzhou, Mr. Liu, a doctor of Taichang, had already helped him settle the account clearly.Liu Gong said: "The Tubo people drove straight in, and the soldiers entered the capital without bloodshed. They looted the palace and burned the mausoleum, but none of the soldiers fought with manpower. This general betrayed your majesty. People dare to offend Yan Zhizhi, this minister rebelled against His Majesty; just after His Majesty left the capital, riots broke out in the public, the mob openly robbed the treasury and killed each other, and the people of the capital rebelled against His Majesty; His Majesty issued an order from the beginning of October. In the past forty days, no chariot has entered the customs, and the four directions have rebelled against His Majesty. Since both inside and outside are rebellious, I ask Your Majesty, is the situation today safe or dangerous? If you think it is dangerous, how can you sit back and relax and not fight for the world? sinner?" Mrs. Liu came to the conclusion that if you want to eradicate the source of the disaster and preserve the ancestral temple and the community, you must cut off a person's head. This person is the eunuch Cheng Yuanzhen. Liu Kang also said that in addition to killing Cheng Yuanzhen, the powers of eunuchs at all levels must be taken back and returned to relevant departments; He condemned himself and announced that he would reform himself from now on, otherwise he would be willing to abdicate and let the virtuous. In the end, Mrs. Liu made a bet with the emperor: "If this is the case, and the soldiers still haven't arrived, the people still don't feel it, and the world still doesn't accept it, please tear the whole family into pieces to thank Your Majesty!" As soon as Mrs. Liu's account was settled, Daizong Li Yu's face was completely torn. Li Yu was depressed for many days because of this. But in the end he had to admit that what Mrs. Liu said was the truth, and every sentence was honest advice from the bottom of his heart. However, facts belong to facts, and loyalty belongs to loyalty. It is impossible for Daizong to abolish all the eunuchs, and it is even more impossible for him to issue an edict to sin himself and reform himself. As for the killing of Cheng Yuanzhen... it seems It is also unnecessary. On the second day of November, Emperor Daizong issued an edict to remove all the officials and titles of Cheng Yuanzhen and send him back to his original place. The superficial reason why Daizong didn't kill Cheng Yuanzhen was that Cheng Yuanzhen had contributed to eradicating Li Fuguo, and Daizong couldn't bear to kill him, but in fact, Daizong Li Yu also discovered many problems when Tubo invaded this time.Just like Liu Kang said, there are many reasons for the fall of Chang'an this time. In addition to Cheng Yuanzhen's dictatorship and disorderly government, everyone, whether it is soldiers, generals, officials, or Sifang towns, actually bears an inescapable responsibility. .If he wants to be held accountable, Cheng Yuanzhen is definitely not the only one who should be held accountable this time! In that case, what's the use of killing him?Will killing him make everyone loyal to the emperor and the court from now on? That is impossible. Therefore, the main reason why Daizong did not kill Cheng Yuanzhen was that he still had great trust in the group of eunuchs, so he didn't want to do everything to avoid hurting the hearts of other eunuchs. In Daizong's view, he still had to rely on eunuchs in many cases.For example, if one day the enemy bandits came again, the soldiers, generals, ministers and officials all fled for their lives, and the Sifang towns stood still and watched from the sidelines, at least he would have an eunuch like Yu Chaoen to protect him. This time the invasion of Tubo made Daizong see a cruel reality, that is - no one is really reliable! If officials are reliable, sows may climb trees; if feudal towns are reliable, elephants may also dance... As for eunuchs, of course they may not always be reliable.But at the very least, the eunuch is always a force to check and balance the officials and restrict the town; at the very least, when the emperor is alone and helpless, the eunuch is always a shoulder that can be temporarily relied on. To put it bluntly, since the outbreak of the Anshi Rebellion, Li Tang's court has gradually fallen into a situation of internal and external troubles and the separation of people's hearts.The invasion of Tubo this time was a concentrated outbreak of all the old and new problems of the Li and Tang dynasties.In such a severe situation, it is "perhaps" dangerous to appoint eunuchs, but it is "certain" to be dangerous if they are not used! As the saying goes, the lesser of two evils.It's not that Emperor Li Tang didn't know the harm of appointing eunuchs, but he had to use them knowing that it was harmful.This is their helplessness. In December of this year, Emperor Daizong returned to Chang'an from Shanzhou. Guo Ziyi led hundreds of officials in the city and various departments of the Tang Army to greet him on the east bank of Chanshui (a tributary of Bashui River), prostrated himself on the ground, and offered to bear the responsibility for the fall of Chang'an.Daizong helped him up with his own hands, and said excitedly: "It's all my fault that I didn't start using Aiqing a day earlier, so I fell to this point!" At the end of December, Emperor Daizong issued an edict, appointing Yu Chaoen, who had made great contributions in escorting this time, as the "Envoy of Observing the Military Appearance of the World, Propagating and Disposing of it", and commanding the forbidden troops of all ministries. From then on, Yu Chaoen completely replaced Cheng Yuanzhen and became a new generation of powerful officials with "incomparable power and favor". Everything will pass, and everything will come again. This is the curse of history, which will always linger on the head of Li Yu, the emperor of the Tang Dynasty, and will always be entwined on the heads of the twelve emperors of the Tang Dynasty thereafter.