Chapter 24 The Price of Tranquility: The Beginning and End of the "Central Shu Rebellion"

If the Tang Empire is regarded as a human body, then An Lushan and Shi Siming are undoubtedly malignant tumors, and the "Anshi Rebellion" is the cancer of the empire. The reason why cancer is terrible is the spread of cancer cells.Once it starts to spread, even if you cut the tumor, it won't help.Today's Tang Empire is similar to this.Although An Lushan father and son and Shi Siming father and son were wiped out, countless An Lushans and countless Shi Simings flourished in all directions of the empire.Pugu Huai'en, who launched the rebellion immediately after An Shi, can be regarded as the first cancer cell to spread.After him, the successive Emperors of the Tang Dynasty will have no choice but to discover that the cells that are or are about to develop disease are not measured by single digits, but hundreds, thousands, thousands...

What's more terrible is that you don't know which healthy cell will suddenly become diseased at which moment, and you don't even know whether it will develop into a malignant tumor as terrible as An Lushan and Shi Siming. For example, now, in the winter of the first year of Yongtai, the Pugu Huai'en Rebellion had just been put down, and something happened in the relatively peaceful Shuzhong—a general named Cui Min made a mess in Shuzhong, causing Daizong's court to be seriously injured brains. This Cui Nai is a good fighter, and he is highly valued by Jiannan Jiedu envoy Yan Wu. He was ordered to attack the Tubo army in Xishan (the mountainous area west of Chengdu), stretching several cities and expanding the land for hundreds of miles.On the occasion of the class teacher's triumphant return, Yan Wu held a grand welcome ceremony for him. It is said that he specially made a "Qibaoyu" (a car decorated with various precious jewels) and asked him to sit on it. Entering Chengdu City swaggeringly with envious and jealous eyes, it feels so exciting.

At that moment, Cui Na suddenly felt that he was the legendary unrivaled hero. In April of the first year of Yongtai, Yan Wu died, and Cui Na was more sad than the death of his parents.But the heart is sad, the most important thing is to quickly choose a Jiedushi who has a strong relationship with me. Cui Na soon recommended a general named Wang Chongjun to the court. It's a pity that Cui Min was half a beat too late, and Guo Yinggan, the well-known military envoy, took the lead.Guo Yingqian contacted several other senior generals and recommended his brother Guo Yingyi. Since Guo Yinggan was recommended first, and the joint recommendation was the main general of Jiannan Road, the imperial court appointed Guo Yingyi.After Guo Yingyi took office, he was very displeased with Wang Chongjun, who had participated in the competition. Within a few days, he found a random crime and killed him. Then he sent a transfer order to Cui Nai, who was the military envoy of Xishan Douzhi at that time, and immediately returned to Chengdu. , claiming otherwise appointed.

Cui Min was not stupid, of course he knew that this so-called transfer order was a death notice, so he stayed in Xishan on the grounds of guarding against Tubo. Guo Yingyi was on fire. You kid actually dared to disobey orders, do you still have my Jiedushi in your eyes?Don't think that you are awesome just because you took a Qibao car, I have plenty of ways to deal with you! Afterwards, Guo Yingyi cut off the food and salary of Cui's subordinates.This trick was really sinister, and it suddenly forced Cui Na to have no way out.What's even more embarrassing is that because Cui Nai was the governor of Hanzhou and his family members lived in Hanzhou (now Guanghan City, Sichuan), Guo Yingyi sent people to rob his family members to Chengdu, and took Cui Nai's concubine concubine.Cui Min was inexplicably sad and indignant, but after all, he was a majestic Jiedushi, with a high position and authority, with many soldiers and generals, and he really couldn't twist his thighs with his arms.In the end, Cui Nai had no choice but to lead his troops into the deep mountains, planning to fight guerrillas with Guo Yingyi.

It is said that they have been forced to this point, and Guo Yingyi should stop when he sees it, but this guy wants to kill him, so the "Central Shu Rebellion" kicked off. Guo Yingyi then personally led troops into Xishan in the name of helping Cui Nai fight against Tubo, preparing to eliminate Cui Nai in one fell swoop.Unexpectedly, it was snowing heavily at that time, and the snow in the valley was several feet thick. Guo Yingyi's troops were struggling, and many soldiers and horses froze to death, and their morale was extremely low. Cui Na took advantage of the situation to attack and beat Guo Yingyi until he threw up his helmet and armor, and fled in defeat, letting out a fierce breath of anger.

Guo Yingyi fled back to Chengdu in embarrassment with only a thousand remnants. This fight made Cui Yi see one thing clearly - this Guo Yingyi is just a paper tiger with a strong outsider and a weak one, and he doesn't fight at all! Immediately afterwards, a thought popped into Cui Nan's mind. He can replace it! In fact, after careful analysis, it is very possible that Cui Min will replace Guo Yingyi.Because Cui's troops fought against Tubo in mountainous areas all the year round, the soldiers were more hard-working and their combat effectiveness was much higher than that of ordinary troops; while Guo Yingyi's troops were stationed in Chengdu all the year round, pampered and pampered, they were naturally more pussy when fighting.

In addition, another very important point is that Cui Yi and his brothers have been getting along for many years, and they have deep feelings for each other, and the soldiers are of the same heart; while Guo Yingyi is new here, it is difficult to win the support of the soldiers in a short time, and Guo Yingyi is cruel by nature and does not sympathize with soldiers , The military order is harsh, so the soldiers in Shuzhong are alienated from him. In such a comparison, Cui Nan felt that he basically had the chance to win.Next, as long as you find a suitable excuse to send troops, you can go straight to Chengdu and wipe out the doggy Guo Yingyi!

There are always excuses to find, not to mention that Guo Yingyi is not a good person, and it is easy to catch him.Soon, Cui Wei took advantage of the location of Guo Yingyi's Jiedu envoy to create public opinion in central Sichuan, saying that Guo Yingyi wanted to rebel. Where did this remark come from? Cui Na is definitely not biting people with empty teeth, he has evidence. ——The Jiedu Shi Mansion where Guo Yingyi lived was originally the palace where Emperor Xuanzong lived when he was lucky to Shu. The courtyard here is gorgeous, with lush flowers and trees, and is praised by the locals as "the place of victorious form".After Xuanzong returned to Beijing, the relevant departments changed the palace into a Taoist temple, and cast a statue of Xuanzong with gold, enshrining it in the Taoist temple for scholars and people to look up to.After successive Jiedu envoys came to Jiannan, the first thing they did was to pay a visit to the temple, and then officially took office.But as soon as Guo Yingyi came, he coveted this geomantic treasure land, and immediately removed the statue of Xuanzong, expelled all the Taoist priests in the temple, and openly took this place as his own.

What kind of problem is this?Isn't this just trying to rebel? Cui Min said to the soldiers: "Yingyi is rebellious! Otherwise, why destroy Xuanzong's true appearance and claim it?" ("Old Tang Book·Cui Ning Biography") The time for revenge has come. In the late October of the first year of Yongtai, Cui Min led more than 5,000 troops to attack Chengdu.Guo Yingyi went out of the city to fight, and the two sides fought in the western suburbs of Chengdu.As Cui Ji expected, the troops in Chengdu had no combat effectiveness at all, and most of the soldiers held resentment towards Guo Yingyi and didn't want to work for him.Therefore, after several consecutive defeats, the generals under Guo Yingyi surrendered to Cui Min one after another.Cui Na then ordered them to turn around and attack Guo Yingyi.

Guo Yingyi was unable to resist, so he was defeated. All the subordinates under his command surrendered, died, and fled, basically the whole army was wiped out.Guo Yingyi fled alone, but just after he ran to Puzhou (now Anyue County, Sichuan), he was captured by Cui Na's friend and Puzhou governor Han Cheng.Han Cheng chopped off his head without saying a word, and sent someone to give it to Cui Min. After Cui Nai invaded Chengdu, the first thing he did was to kill all of Guo Yingyi's family. Guo Yingyi, the dignified Jiannan Jiedu envoy, had not been in office for less than a month, so he ended up with the tragic end of his family and government.

Once the Jiedu envoy died, all the dragons in Sichuan were leaderless.As a result, generals from all over the country raised troops one after another, threatening to attack Cui Na, but in fact they wanted to take advantage of the chaos to expand their strength and seize territory.For a time, there was chaos in Sichuan. In February of the second year of Yongtai (766 A.D.), Dai Zong ordered Du Hongjian, then prime minister, to serve as the deputy marshal of various provinces in central Shu and the envoy of Xichuan Jiedu in Jiannan, responsible for quelling the chaos in central Shu. Later, he ordered Zhang Xiancheng, the Jiedu envoy of Shannan Xidao, to also serve as the Jiedu envoy of Dongchuan in Jiannan, and ordered the two to work together to crusade against Cui Yi. This Du Hongjian was one of the ministers who supported Suzong in Lingwu back then. He was cowardly by nature, greedy for money and easy to bribe, and had no other skills. He was best at political speculation.Supporting Suzong back then was the most beautiful thing he did in his life.With just one vote, he won the glory and wealth of the entire second half of his life, including the current position of prime minister. However, the task of "pacifying Cui Min" at the moment made him very distressed.Because what he fights on the battlefield is real ability, but what Du Hongjian lacks most is real ability. what to do? It seems that the only option is to use the "dragging" tactic, let Zhang Xiancheng go up and fight first, and make plans depending on his success or failure.Later, Du Hongjian stayed in Chang'an for a period of time.Soon, the battle report in Shuzhong was sent back to the capital. To be precise, this is a report of defeat - "Xiancheng and Xi fought in Zizhou, and Xiancheng's army was defeated, only to save themselves, and all the festivals were taken by Xi." (Volume 224) Faint to death, this brother Xiancheng is too miserable, not only the whole army was wiped out, but even the flags and talismans were robbed, it seems that Cui Ye is really not easy to mess with.That being the case, sending troops to suppress is tantamount to seeking a dead end, and the only way left is to appease. Afterwards, Du Hongjian spent several months in the capital, and it was not until the fall of this year that he slowly set off for Shu.Before departure, Du Hongjian specially sent someone to Cui Mi to send a secret letter, solemnly promising him that after he took office, he would only use a false name, and that all military and political affairs would be handled by Cui Mi, and that everyone would live in peace and harmony. expensive. Cui Na was overjoyed when he saw the letter, and immediately sent Du Hongjian a humble reply letter, and at the same time presented thousands of bolts of silk, which made Du Hongjian happy. After arriving in Chengdu, Du Hongjian really kept his promise, drinking and having fun with a group of civil and military officials all day long, "the state government affairs are all entrusted to him", and he repeatedly recommended to the court, saying that Cui Min is a rare talent and should be reused. He even said that he would give up his position as Jiedushi to him. Daizong couldn't laugh or cry when he saw Du Hongjian's performance. I asked you to fight against the rebels, but you wear the same pair of pants as the rebels, what is this? The emperor was very angry, but the consequences were not serious. Because Daizong Li Yu really couldn't think of a better way to deal with Cui Na. Guo Yingyi and Zhang Xiancheng were both generals who participated in the pacification of the Anshi Rebellion. Even if they did not say they had experienced hundreds of battles, they were at least veterans of the battlefield. What to play? In desperation, Daizong had no choice but to adopt Du Hongjian's suggestion, not only ignoring Cui Min's past, but also appointing him as Chengdu Yin and Xichuan Jiedu Marching Sima. The chaos in Central Shu was "pacified" in this way, but the result was really speechless. Because the winner is not the court, but Cui Yi. In exchange for superficial peace and tranquility, Emperor Daizong had to sacrifice the court's discipline, and had to follow the same principle as Du Hongjian - live in peace and peace is the most important thing. To put it bluntly, this is called compromising and conniving, appeasement and nurturing! In the second year, under the repeated recommendation of Du Hongjian, Daizong officially appointed Cui Na as the envoy of Xichuan Jiedu, and named him "Ning".From then on, Cui Ning became the local emperor of Sichuan. "For more than ten years in Shu, the land was dangerous and the soldiers were strong, and they were extravagant and poor. Most of the officials' wives and concubines were prostituted, and the court was troubled by them and could not be questioned." The imperial court was very dissatisfied and worried about Cui Ning's actions, but they didn't dare to ask. Perhaps, this is the price of "tranquility".