Chapter 42 Chang'an chaos

While Emperor Suzong Li Heng was working hard to create a new situation in Lingwu, the occupied Chang'an was experiencing a terrible disaster. The worst one was the Li Tang royal family who were stranded in Chang'an. Not long after the Yan army entered Chang'an, An Lushan ordered Sun Xiaozhe to kill Princess Huo Guochang (Xuanzong's sister) and many concubines of Li Tang, concubines, grandsons, princesses, and county owners.What is outrageous is that An Lushan's order is not just to kill these Tianhuang nobles, but to dig out the bloody hearts after the killing, and dig out the bloody hearts to pay homage to his eldest son An Qingzong .In addition, all the cronies of Yang Guozhong and Gao Lishi, as well as those princes and ministers whom An Lushansu hated, basically died ugly.Yan Jun smashed the heads of many people with iron bars on the street, causing their brains to be smeared on the ground, and blood flowed horizontally.It is said that more than 80 people died unexpectedly.

Under the terrorist rule of Anlu Mountain, not only the royal family of Li Tang and princes and ministers were devastated, but even ordinary people were in panic all day long.An Lushan heard that when Xuanzong escaped, the people of Chang'an took advantage of the chaos to loot a lot of property, so he ordered the army and government offices at all levels to dispatch every day to search their homes.Anyone who hides some property at home will be confiscated and arrested and punished.And if a family suffers, relatives and friends will also be implicated.For a time, "continuous search and arrest, endless branches", resulting in "folk commotion, thinking about the Tang Dynasty". (Volume 218)

Mao Zedong once said: "Where there is oppression, there is resistance!"Although the people in Chang'an did not rise up on a large scale like the people in Yanzhao, they also had their own means of resisting violence. Most of the unarmed civilians launched a psychological warfare with the Yan army.When they learned that Prince Li Heng had divided his troops from Mawei to the north, they spread gossip every day, saying that the prince had assembled a large army in the north and would go south to conquer Chang'an at any time.Not only that, but many people would suddenly run to the street in the dead of night, shouting loudly, "The prince's army is coming! The prince's army is coming!"

This spontaneous psychological warfare by the people of Chang'an made the Yan army miserable.During the day, whenever Yan Jun saw the smoke and dust on the northern horizon, he thought it was Tang Jun who had killed him, so they ran around in panic; Waking up with a start, and daring not to fall asleep again after waking up.In short, under the frequent harassment of the people in Chang'an, the officers and soldiers of the Yan army were basically in a state of high tension. Over time, many people suffered from neurasthenia. In addition to psychological warfare, some heroes and righteous men in the Gyeonggi area also organized many underground resistance forces, killing a patrol today and killing a few scouts tomorrow.Although each movement is not big, but it is mysterious, making Yan Jun hard to guard against.The Yan army also launched several campaigns, but the effect was not satisfactory.Because these resistance forces are like leeks in spring, just after one crop has been cut, another crop will emerge, "resurrecting and resurfacing one after another", which makes Yan Jun very troubled.

When the Yan army first entered Guanzhong, its sphere of influence not only included the Gyeonggi area, but also reached Luojiao (now Fu County, Shaanxi) in the north and Fufeng (renamed Fengxiang after Suzong ascended the throne, now Fengxiang County, Shaanxi) in the west. But later, with the continuous rise of the resistance movement, the Yan army had to withdraw its front line sharply. As far as its strength was concerned, it was no more than Yunyang (now Jingyang County, Shaanxi Province) in the north, and Wuguan (now the northwest of Shangnan County, Shaanxi Province) in the south. The west is no more than Wugong (now west of Wugong County, Shaanxi), basically only occupying an isolated city in Chang'an.As long as the small units of the Yan army dare to step out of the west gate of Chang'an, they may be wiped out by the resistance organization at any time.

It is precisely because of the effective resistance movement of the people in Chang'an and Guanzhong that the Yan army was firmly contained within the Gyeonggi area, and could neither go west to pursue Xuanzong nor go north to attack Lingwu.More importantly, because of this, the wealth collected in the Jianghuai area can be transported continuously to Chengdu and Suzong, where Xuanzong is located, through Xiangyang Xishang, bypassing Shangjun (now Yunxi County, Hubei), and then passing through Fengxiang. Where is Lingwu. For the Li and Tang Dynasties whose mountains and rivers were broken and the country was in ruins, this transportation line was undoubtedly a vital lifeline.Only by ensuring the smooth flow of this lifeline, can Suzong Liheng gradually get out of the predicament and start a war to restore the country and reorganize the country.

It is worth mentioning that the prefect of Fengxiang at that time was Xue Jingxian, the former magistrate of Chencang County who killed Guo Guo's wife.After Suzong came to the throne, he was promoted immediately and let him sit in Fengxiang.Facts have proved that Suzong's appointment played a key role in the future.Because Fengxiang's strategic position is extremely prominent, it is not only a bridgehead to defend the westward advance of the Yan army, but also an important hub on the empire's wealth transportation line.After Xue Jingxian took office, he repeatedly repelled the attacks of the Yan army and firmly defended this strategic location. It can be said that he made great contributions to the Li and Tang Dynasty in crisis.

As the resistance movement in Guanzhong became increasingly active, the morale of the Yan army began to waver. The first to defect from the Yan Dynasty was a Tongluo general named Ashina Congli. He predicted that the Yan army would not be able to gain a long-term foothold in Chang'an, so he saw the opportunity, and led five thousand cavalry under his command to escape from Chang'an and ran to Shuofang.However, he didn't want to jump ship to join Suzong, but he was going to collude with other barbarian tribes in the frontier to take advantage of the chaos and stand on his own.In other words, he neither wanted to work for An Lushan, nor Li Longji or Li Heng.

Of course, Suzong Li Heng would not allow this barbarian to separate himself under his nose.Therefore, as soon as Ashina settled down in Shuofang from Li, Li Heng secretly sent people to lobby his followers and tried every means to persuade them to surrender.As a result, before Ashina could make any move from Li, a large group of people under him were fooled away by Li Heng. Ashina was furious from Li, so he incited the Hu tribes of the nine surnames of Tie Le and the six Hu tribes, and soon gathered tens of thousands of people, and marched to the north of Lingwu, ready to launch an attack at any time.Suzong heard the news and ordered Guo Ziyi to recruit the Tiande Army (based in the northeast of Urad Front Banner, Inner Mongolia today) to crusade against Ashina Congli.Guo Ziyi handed over the task to his Zuo Wufeng envoy Pu Gu Huai'en (a member of Tie Le Jiubu).Pugu Huai'en immediately ordered his eldest son, Pugu Fing, to send troops, but was defeated by Ashina Congli, and Pugu Fing was captured.

A few days later, Pugu Fing escaped from the enemy camp by chance, but what greeted him was ruthless military law and cold guillotine.In order to boost morale, Pugu Huai'en cut off his son's head without hesitation.Seeing this scene, all the soldiers of the three armies were shocked.Afterwards, Pugu Huai'en sent troops to fight again, and all the soldiers of the Tang army fought bravely to be the first, and all of them fought against a hundred, and they defeated the Tongluo and Zhuhu coalition forces. After defeating Ashina Congli, Suzong Liheng suddenly had a new idea. Since Ashina can collude with the Hus to cause chaos, why can't I borrow troops from the Hus to put down the rebellion? !

The fighting power of the Hu people is obvious to all. If we can get their support, together with Guo Ziyi and Li Guangbi's Shuofang force, the victory over Chang'an will be just around the corner! Suzong was very excited by the idea of ​​borrowing troops, and immediately sent his servant Gu Huai'en to Huihe, asking them to send troops to help the Tang Dynasty suppress the rebellion. All the children returned to Huihe." (Volume 220) When Chang'an is conquered, the land and people will belong to the Tang Dynasty, and the wealth and beauties will belong to you! In order to regain the capital as soon as possible, Li Heng, the emperor of the Tang Dynasty at this moment, can no longer care about the dignity of himself and the empire. As we all know, since the early years of Zhenguan, the emperor of Tang Dynasty has been respected as "Heavenly Khan" by all the barbarians.At that time, which of the minority countries and tribes around the Tang Dynasty did not regard the Tang Dynasty emperor as the sovereign of the world?When Emperor Taizong recruited Sibari soldiers and horses, which time didn't he come and go as soon as he was called?But now, Tangtangtian Khan's descendants are no longer qualified to issue orders to Shiyi.Not only does he have to condescend to borrow troops from the foreign race, but he also has to trade the capital's wealth and beauties with the foreign race! This is the sorrow of Suzong Liheng and the shame of the Tang Empire. But, can Li Heng be blamed for this? What dignity does an emperor who was beaten by the rebels and fled here and there without even a capital have? In fact, from the moment Xuanzong's monarchs and ministers fled Chang'an in a hurry, the dignity of the Li and Tang Dynasties had been demolished.In other words, in this world, whether it is a person or a country, when there is a crisis of survival, it is really a luxury and a ridiculous thing to discuss dignity.Although Li Heng has already ascended the throne in Lingwu, and the court he established has begun to take shape, after all, he has not really escaped the crisis of survival.Therefore, although it seems shameless for Li Heng to use the wealth and people of the empire to make deals with foreign races, this is the reality.Without such promises and temptations, it would be impossible for Huihe to send troops.If Huihe did not send troops, it would be much more difficult to regain Chang'an.And if he can't get Chang'an back, Li Heng will never get back his lost dignity. Therefore, it is not that Li Heng is shameless, but that the face of Li Tang Dynasty has been torn to pieces by An Lushan long ago.Li Heng had no choice. For the Yan army in Chang'an, Ashina Congli's defection undoubtedly made the already shaken military spirit even more scattered.Whether it is the officers and soldiers of the Yan army, or the former officials of the Tang Dynasty who surrendered to the Yan Dynasty, everyone is busy finding a way out for themselves and is ready to anoint their feet at any time.As a result, no one went to work in the yamen at all levels in the capital, prefecture, and county, and even the prison guards disappeared, so that the prisoners swaggered out of the prison one by one and wandered all over the street. There was another serious riot in Chang'an. Under such circumstances, Jing Zhaoyin Cui Guangyuan had to reconsider his future and destiny. The Yan Dynasty is so unpopular, how many days can Chang'an survive?If I follow An Lushan wholeheartedly, what will happen in the end? The more Cui Guangyuan thought about it, the more afraid he became, and he took action immediately. He sent troops to surround the mansion of General Sun Xiaozhe of the Yan Army. On the surface, he said he wanted to strengthen security, but in fact he was monitoring Sun Xiaozhe.There are two reasons why Cui Guangyuan wants to monitor him: 1. In order to prevent the situation in Chang'an from getting out of control completely, it is necessary to prevent Sun Xiaozhe from escaping; In Cui Guangyuan's view, this is a way to get the best of both worlds.Regardless of whether Tang Dynasty won or Yan Dynasty won in the end, he would be invincible. However, Sun Xiaozhe is not an idiot.Of course he knew exactly what Cui Guangyuan was thinking, but because this person was Jing Zhaoyin personally appointed by An Lushan, Sun Xiaozhe didn't dare to touch him casually.However, this does not mean that Sun Xiaozhe will tolerate a large group of "guards" standing guard at the door of his house every day. Afterwards, Sun Xiaozhe submitted a secret memorial to An Lushan, the content of which was naturally to accuse Cui Guangyuan of having a different mind, and asked An Lushan to issue an order to kill him. As soon as Sun Xiaozhe's secret memorial was sent out, Cui Guangyuan got the news. He had no choice but to realize that the method of stepping on two boats by himself was no longer feasible, and if he did not make a choice, catastrophe might strike at any time.In the end, Cui Guangyuan had no choice but to flee Chang'an secretly with a dozen officials from the Chang'an prefecture and the county government, and ran to Lingwu in one breath. Facing these despicable villains like grass on the wall, although Su Zong was extremely contemptuous in his heart, he still showed a magnanimous gesture of letting go of the past, not only warmly welcomed them back, but also immediately granted corresponding official positions.Among them, Cui Guangyuan was once again appointed as Jing Zhaoyin, and at the same time served as the imperial doctor.Of course, Suzong's court at this moment doesn't even have a capital, so the so-called Jing Zhaoyin is naturally just a blank veil. After being appointed as an official, Suzong immediately gave Cui Guangyuan a glorious and arduous task. He asked him to go to the Weibei area to recruit those officials and people who were in exile or were forced to surrender to the enemy. Suzong looked at Cui Guangyuan with a pleasant smile, clearly saying in that smile: You see, people with special experiences like you are the most qualified to carry out this task, and no one is more suitable than you. Cui Guangyuan was a little dumbfounded. But he knew very well in his heart that a person like him no longer had the right to pick and choose.Now he can only accept the task honestly with the mentality of atonement.After all, his head didn't move, so he should be thankful. Compared with Cui Guangyuan, the eunuch Bian Lingcheng was not so lucky.A few days later, he also fled back to Lingwu from Chang'an, but what awaited him was not an opportunity to redeem himself, but death. Sukjong cut him almost without thinking. Also as a former traitor, the reason why Bian Lingcheng and Cui Guangyuan received completely different treatment is not because of his particularly serious crimes, but because for Suzong Li Heng, Bian Lingcheng and Cui Guangyuan have different use values—— ——Li Heng kept Cui Guangyuan alive, and let him reinstate his official position, in order to let him speak out to appease those who had already surrendered to the Yan Dynasty; and Li Heng killed Bian Lingcheng, also to let him use his head to deter those who were about to surrender People from the Yan Dynasty. Turn around quickly, and you will be able to return to your original posts like Cui Guangyuan; if you persist in your obsession, Bian Lingcheng will be a lesson for you! So Cui Guangyuan can live, but Bian Lingcheng must die. The reason is as simple as that. By the end of September in the first year of De, that is, more than two months after Suzong Lingwu ascended the throne, his court was completely different from when it was first established. He now has soldiers, money, and food, and he has Huihe Austrian aid outside, and officials and people from all over the world support him.He seemed to have everything a court should have.Therefore, at this moment, Suzong Li Heng has more and more a feeling that the will is bright and the future is coming. Next, he finally set his sights on Chang'an. On September 17, Suzong left Lingwu and entered Hue (now Qingyang County, Gansu) on the 25th.This place is only about five hundred miles away from Chang'an.In the following days, Suzong will continue to go south, approaching Chang'an step by step, organizing and launching an imperial counterattack to recover the two capitals and revive the country. And on the same day, the prime ministers Wei Jiansu, Fang Guan, Cui Huan and others who were in charge of presenting the jade seal of Chuanguo and the edict of passing on the throne also happened to arrive in Hue. finally come! Thousands of feelings rushed into Li Heng's heart in an instant. Although Xuanzong's gift to his son came a bit late, it was not too late. Before the battle to regain Chang'an started, this gift actually came at the right time. If soldiers, horses, money and food are the flesh and blood of Suzong's court, and the morale of the people is the bone marrow of Suzong's court, then Xuanzong's purpose of passing on the throne is equivalent to injecting the most important things into Suzong's court. soul. Yes, from this moment on, Sujong Lee Hyung no longer has any regrets.The ultimate certification of the regime's legitimacy from Xuanzong enabled Li Heng to finally appear in front of the world as a well-deserved and genuine emperor! Of course, Li Hengcheng's mansion is extremely deep, and he will not let the excitement in his heart be revealed easily.At the moment when he saw the Chuanguo Yuxi and the imperial edict, although Li Heng's heart was turbulent, his expression was extremely calm, as if he was still the humble, restrained, low-key prince of the East Palace. Li Heng unexpectedly declined Xuanzong's order.He said to Wei Jiansu and others: "Compared to the fact that the Central Plains is not yet settled, how can all the officials in charge of power dare to take advantage of the danger and make a sudden attack?" (Volume 218) It is only because the Central Plains have not yet calmed down that I have the power to lead all the officials. How dare I take advantage of the country's crisis and rashly inherit the throne? When the officials heard the words, they couldn't help flattering and praising Li Heng for his humility, benevolence and filial piety. At the same time, they tried their best to persuade him to accept the order.However, Li Heng insisted on refusing to accept it.In the end, he enshrined the jade seal and the edict in the other hall, and worshiped once every morning and evening, just like performing the "morning and evening ceremony" to the Supreme Emperor. This is of course for show. Li Heng said that he did not dare to "take advantage of the danger to pass on the throne", but in fact, he did not wait to pass on the throne and inherited it privately.Therefore, Li Heng's behavior at the moment can be called "humility, benevolence and filial piety" if it sounds good, but it can be called cheap and obedient if it is bad. However, from a politician's point of view, it is actually necessary for Li Heng to do so.Because only by doing so can the mouths of the people in the world be blocked, and people will no longer find an excuse to criticize him for being "good at standing". ——Look, he even refused to accept the throne passed on by the Supreme Emperor. How can you say that he robbed his father of the throne? Although Li Heng did not accept the order, no one dared to question his legitimacy as the emperor anymore.And the three prime ministers sent by Xuanzong from Chengdu naturally stayed by his side. Among Wei Jiansu, Fang Guan, and Cui Huan, Li Heng hated Wei Jiansu the most.Because in Li Heng's view, Wei Jiansu and Yang Guozhong have been wearing the same pair of pants, which is obviously not a good bird. Fang Guan was most appreciated by Li Heng. This person has always been known as a virtuous person, and Li Heng had a good impression of him, and when Fang Guan saw Li Heng, he immediately showed an attitude of worrying about the country and the people, and talked about the general situation of the world impassionedly, so Li Heng was attracted by his Impressed by his demeanor, he has been deeply relied on since then, "Military and state affairs are resourceful in Guan".And Fang Guan also did his part, "taking the world as his own responsibility, knowing that there is nothing he can't do, and making decisions exclusively in his mind; all the relatives give in to him." (Volume 218) However, at this moment, Li Heng didn't know—this Fang Guan was just a guy with great eyesight but little ability. On Li Heng's road of reorganizing the mountains and rivers and revitalizing Li Tang, amidst the smoldering flames all over the world, the person who can really help him clear up the fog and correct his direction is not this eloquent and eloquent prime minister Fang Guan, but a person who is indifferent by nature, The commoner who has nothing to do with the world. He is the legendary figure in the history of the Tang Dynasty - Li Bi.