Chapter 41 Lingwu: Soul of the Empire

On July 28, the first year of Zhide (756 A.D.), Xuanzong and his party went through hardships and finally arrived at the end of this exile—Chengdu.There were only 1,300 officials and soldiers of the imperial army who accompanied him to Chengdu. The more than forty days of exile career came to an end.Recalling the hunger, exhaustion, sorrow, fear, pain, and sorrow experienced along the way, Xuanzong's mood was really hard to calm down for a long time. On August 2, Xuanzong issued an imperial edict to amnesty the world, as if to share with the world the joy of his remaining life after the catastrophe.On the same day, Fifth Qi ("fifth" is the compound surname), an official from Hebei Province, went to Shu for an audience, and reported to Xuanzong that the counter-insurgency war required huge military expenditures, and the wealth of the empire was located in the Jianghuai area. He was appointed to be responsible for the management of Jianghuai wealth, and he promised to provide a steady stream of military expenses for counter-insurgency officers and soldiers everywhere.After Xuanzong heard about it, he gladly granted Fifth Qi the post of supervisory censor and Jianghuai Zuyong envoy.

Prior to this, Xuanzong had successively appointed Cui Yuan, Fang Guan, and Cui Huan as prime ministers on the way to Shu, and carried out the necessary reorganization of the high-level power in exile.There are various indications that since the Maweiyi Incident, Xuanzong has obviously been trying to get out of the shadow of the incident, and has been trying to perform his duties as an emperor again.Combined with the strategic edict issued by Xuanzong in Pu'an, we have every reason to believe that at this moment Xuanzong has restored his previous self-confidence and calmness to a certain extent, and has already prepared to "clean up the old mountains and rivers from scratch." " fully prepared.

However, Old History played a cruel joke on him at this time. On August 12, several envoys from Lingwu arrived in Chengdu, bringing Xuanzong the news that Prince Li Heng had ascended the throne in Lingwu a month ago. Although Xuanzong had more or less a premonition of the arrival of this day at the moment of Mawei's division of troops, when it really came, Xuanzong was still greatly surprised and shocked. Of course, he didn't let the consternation in his heart show on his face. In fact, as an emperor who has ruled the world for forty-four years and as an extremely experienced politician, Xuanzong knew exactly what he should do.Therefore, it only took him a short time to complete the work of self-persuasion in thought, and complete the role change from emperor to emperor in mentality.Because he knew——in the face of this unprecedented rebellion, his son Li Heng, who was in his prime, must be more suitable than the seventy-year-old man to be the leader of fighting the rebellion, and he is more likely to lead Li Tang's subjects to victory in this war victory.

Although Li Heng's practice of getting on the bus first and paying for the ticket made him feel a little uncomfortable and entangled, but since the raw rice has been cooked, Xuanzong can only face the reality, nip all the negative emotions in his heart in the bud, and focus on the overall situation, Put national interests above personal political interests. Therefore, when the Lingwu envoy presented the prince's memorial to Xuanzong nervously, Xuanzong immediately responded with a magnanimous and open-minded smile, and at the same time said with relief: "My son is obedient to the sky, so I don't have to worry about it!" (Volume 218)

On August 16th, Xuanzong issued the edict for the last time as the emperor, declaring that from now on, the official documents issued by him will no longer be called edicts or edicts, but "gao"; He is the overlord.In addition, all major military and state affairs were handed over to the emperor for adjudication, and he was reported to him afterwards; once Chang'an was recovered, he would no longer interfere in any government affairs. On August 18, Xuanzong ordered the prime ministers Wei Jiansu, Fang Guan, and Cui Huan to go to Lingwu on his behalf with the jade seal of the Chuanguo and the edict of passing the throne, and officially canonize Li Heng as emperor.

In just a few days, Xuanzong quickly initiated the procedures for the transfer of imperial power, handing over all the power in his hands to Li Heng, only retaining the right to know about major military and state affairs, and this limited power is still time-sensitive. It will be automatically canceled when you return to Chang'an.That is to say, once the world is settled, Xuanzong will completely fade out of the political arena of the empire as a supreme emperor who keeps his ears to the outside world. There is no doubt that this is a very beautiful curtain call gesture. It was not that Xuanzong disliked power, nor did he dislike the political arena that he had dominated for nearly half a century, but in the end he resolutely chose to quit, and he did so simply and neatly, without being messy at all.For this alone, he is much better than those emperors in history who still hold on to power when they are about to die.Although Xuanzong's actions were largely compelled by the situation, if he had not had the slightest idea of ​​delegating power and the wisdom of retreating bravely, it would never have been possible to leave such a perfect curtain call gesture in history.

In this sense, Tang Xuanzong Li Longji is indeed a remarkable figure.Although the Anshi Rebellion finally broke out due to his desolate government affairs and arrogance and lust in his later years, once he wakes up, we can still appreciate the wisdom and mind of an outstanding statesman. In short, truly great people often have two qualities at the same time: one is to be able to afford it, and the other is to be able to let it go. At some point, the latter is even more important than the former. Since the fall of Tongguan, the situation on the Hebei battlefield has undergone a major reversal.

Originally, Guo Ziyi and Li Guangbi had fully grasped the initiative on the battlefield in Hebei, and were besieging Shi Siming in Boling. The next plan was to go straight to Fanyang; Li Bingtuan echoed each other from afar and attacked the Yan army's lair.But at this juncture, news of the fall of Tongguan reached Hebei.Considering the safety of the capital and the emperor, Guo Ziyi and Li Guangbi had to lift the siege of Boling, led the main force to withdraw from the battlefield in Hebei, and retreated from Jingxingkou to Hedong, ready to return to Guanzhong at any time. As soon as the Tang army withdrew, Shi Siming immediately followed and pursued, but was repelled by Li Guangbi.Shi Siming couldn't get any cheap from Li Guangbi, so he immediately turned around and went north to attack Liu Zhengchen in Pinglu.Liu Zhengchen did not expect that the Yan army would take the initiative to attack, he was caught off guard, and more than 7,000 men were killed in battle.Liu Zhengchen hastily abandoned his wife and children, and fled alone.

Now that the main force of the Tang army has withdrawn, the fate of Hebei can be imagined. Wang Chu, who was the prefect of Changshan at that time, immediately lost the will and determination to stick to it.It can't be blamed entirely on his greed for life and fear of death. It's really because he has no regular army under his command, only some militias recruited from nearby areas.Therefore, Wang Yu decided to surrender to the Yan army. However, Wang Chu's thoughts were soon noticed by some generals.Afterwards, the generals conspired and took advantage of a polo game to kill Wang Chu and seize the command of Changshan.However, the generals knew very well in their hearts that even if they did not surrender, the militiamen would not be able to defend Changshan alone.The only way to defend against Shi Siming is to seek help from nearby friendly forces.

At that time, Wu Chengen, the prefect of Xindu (now Jixian County, Hebei Province), had a 3,000-strong Shuofang army under his command.The Changshan generals immediately sent people to Xindu to ask Wu Chengen to lead his troops to Changshan.However, no matter how the emissary from Changshan moved with emotion and reason, Wu Chengen remained unmoved and refused to move. A few days later, Shi Siming and Cai Xide sent troops south to attack Jiumen.Tang Jun defended tenaciously.On the tenth day of the attack, Tang Jun finally announced his surrender.Shi Siming was overjoyed, and immediately entered the city to prepare to receive it.But at the moment when he boarded the city gate, the ambush of the Tang army suddenly rushed out. Shi Siming had no way to escape, so he had to jump down from the tower, was stabbed in the left chest by an antler (sharpened wooden stake), and fled back to Bobo overnight. Mausoleum.

Although Tang Jun's trick of feigning surrender was successful, forcing Shi Siming to retreat, but at this time, Tang Jun soldiers knew very well that Yan Jun's retreat was only temporary, and they would make a comeback soon.The method of false surrender is irreplaceable. At that time, the line from Jiumen to Changshan is destined to fall into the hands of the Yan army. In other words, without Guo Ziyi and Li Guangbi, Hebei will sooner or later be dominated by Shi Siming! At the beginning of August, Shi Siming sent troops to attack Jiumen again and conquered it on the 10th.On the day of the fall of the city, Shi Siming retaliated wildly and massacred thousands of people.Subsequently, the Yan army took advantage of the victory and entered to besiege Gaocheng.On the 20th, Gaocheng fell. On the first day of September, Shi Siming attacked Zhao County, captured it on the fifth day, and then stormed Changshan.Ten days later, Changshan fell.The Yan army massacred the city again and killed thousands of people. With the successive fall of Changshan and other places, the morale of the Tang army in Hebei fell into a trough again. At this moment of panic, the news of Suzong Lingwu's accession to the throne reached a person's ears.He is Yan Zhenqing who has been fighting against the Japanese in Pingyuan County. After receiving the news, Yan Zhenqing was overwhelmed with surprise, and immediately wrote a memorandum, sealed it in a "wax pill" (the usual way of sending secret documents in ancient times), and sent someone to Lingwu.Seeing the table, Emperor Suzong immediately issued an imperial edict, expressing great appreciation and encouragement to Yan Zhenqing and the steadfastness and courage of the soldiers and civilians in Hebei. He waited for the post, and then issued the imperial edict to Pingyuan County in the form of wax pills. After Yan Zhenqing received the edict, he immediately ordered people to send it to the counties in Hebei, Henan, Jianghuai and other places. It was only at this time that Li Tang's subjects in the north and south of the river knew that the young and powerful prince Li Heng had ascended the throne, and their hearts were greatly inspired, and their will to fight against the rebels became stronger. Just before Suzong's edict was issued to Hebei, Guo Ziyi had led 50,000 Shuofang elites back to Lingwu, and Suzong's court, which had few major generals, immediately became stronger and stronger.Li Heng was overjoyed, and immediately promoted Guo Ziyi to be Minister of the Ministry of War and Chief History of Lingwu. Afterwards, Li Guangbi and Guo Ziyi divided their troops and led 5,000 troops to Taiyuan to prevent Shi Siming from going west to Jingxing and attacking Hedong. Obviously, Guo Ziyi and Li Guangbi's return to teachers this time is really a great encouragement to Suzong Li Heng who is in trouble.Because, since the rebellion broke out, Guo and Li have become a banner of the Tang army, and they are also heavyweights who have attracted the attention of the government and the public. They were able to return to Suzong's command in time when the new court was just established. The strength of the new court was enhanced, and the appeal of Suzong's court was greatly enhanced politically.It can be said that it was not until the arrival of the Guo and Li corps that Suzong's court finally got rid of the embarrassing situation of having nothing in the initial period, and initially possessed the scale and strength that a rebellious court should have. "The power of the Lingwu Army has only just flourished, and people have the hope of revival!" (Volume 218) Lingwu, an ordinary northwest frontier, has now attracted the attention of the world and carried all the hopes of Li Tang's subjects. In this extraordinary period when the world is divided, it has become the soul of the empire.