Live History Broadcast: Opening Ceremony Spoilers - Our Ancestor Was Enraged

Chapter 47 The An Lushan Rebellion

Han Dynasty, Emperor Wu period

Liu Che picked at his ear, still not believing it, and turned to ask Wei Qing beside him, "What the hell? These barbarians control a third of the country's military force?"

Wei Qing sighed, "Yes, Your Majesty, I also cannot understand it. Leaving aside the saying 'those who are not of our race are bound to have different intentions,' it's still inappropriate to allow one person to command such a large force."

Emperor Wu of Han was speechless! This is outrageous!

If his burly man had this many people, he would be laughing in his sleep!

He figured this was most likely done by Li Longji!

I'm so bored!

……

Lin Ke: "As we mentioned earlier, Li Linfu served as prime minister for 19 years after Zhang Jiuling, eliminating dissidents in the court and consolidating power, which further expanded the power of the prime minister."

To consolidate his power, Li Linfu advised Li Longji: "The Hu people are loyal, brave, and without ulterior motives; they are simple and honest. Therefore, Hu people should be appointed as military governors to guard the borders."

Li Erfeng of the Tang Dynasty: You're the most naive of all!

"Subsequently, most of the military governors of the Tang Dynasty were of non-Han origin, granted the power of military command, and upon their campaigns, they established their own military headquarters and erected six banners."

"By the tenth year of the Kaiyuan era, the border military governors commanded hundreds of thousands of troops, while the central imperial guards numbered only tens of thousands, creating a situation where the borders were stronger than the central government."

"In the fourth year of the Tianbao era, An Lushan, in order to gain merit on the border, repeatedly plundered and killed Khitan and Hexi people, which led to the Khitan and Hexi people killing two princesses who had been sent to marry foreign rulers and rebelling. He was indeed implicated in this."

"An Lushan then launched an attack on the Khitan and the Xi, and after several battles, he suffered initial defeats but ultimately won, capturing the Xi king Li Riyue."

"Using the pretext of fighting the Khitan and the Xi, he built Xiongwu City on the frontier, ostensibly for defense, but in reality for storing weapons, food, and other supplies."

"In the eleventh year of the Tianbao era, Li Linfu passed away, and Yang Guozhong ascended to the throne. Unlike Li Linfu, who had some connection with the Li Tang imperial family, Yang Guozhong's ability to become prime minister was mainly due to his sister, Yang Yuhuan."

Bai Juyi wrote in his "Song of Everlasting Regret": "Thus, the hearts of parents throughout the land wished for daughters, not sons."

"This refers to how the Yang family rose to prominence because of Yang Yuhuan; even though Yang Guozhong lacked talent, he wielded considerable power."

"This plunged the imperial court into chaos once again. An Lushan still held Li Linfu in some respect, but he disregarded Yang Guozhong, who came from a humble background."

"Yang Guozhong and An Lushan were not on good terms. Yang Guozhong frequently advised Emperor Xuanzong (Li Longji) that An Lushan was plotting a rebellion, but Xuanzong ignored him."

"More than that, Yang Guozhong constantly used various methods to prove to Li Longji that An Lushan intended to rebel."

"An Lushan simply paved the way for Yang Guozhong. On the ninth day of the eleventh month of 755 AD (the fourteenth year of the Tianbao era), An Lushan and his fellow townsman Shi Siming launched a rebellion in Fanyang under the pretext of punishing the traitor Yang Guozhong, which is known in history as the An Lushan Rebellion."

"When An Lushan rebelled, Hebei Prefecture, which had been under his jurisdiction for a long time without fighting, saw Tang soldiers surrendering en masse. Some local magistrates opened the gates to welcome him, while others abandoned their cities and fled. He quickly gained control of Hebei."

"But one person chose to go against these traitors, and that person was Yan Gaoqing."

"Yan Gaoqing was originally a subordinate of An Lushan, who promoted him to the position of Prefect of Changshan. Faced with his superior An Lushan's rebellion against the Tang Dynasty, he resolutely chose not to."

An Lushan was furious when he heard this. "Haven't I been good enough to you? I promoted you to prefect! Without me, you'd still be just a nobody!"

"Yan Gaoqing is getting cocky! You were just a sheep thief all along! His Majesty appointed you military governor of three towns, and you've never treated His Majesty fairly! My Yan family has served the Tang Dynasty for generations; our only regret is that we can't execute you!"

"An Lushan directly breached the defenses. Historical records state that they tied Yan Gaoqing to the second pillar from the west at the south end of the central bridge, and then cut off pieces of his flesh one by one. During the execution, Yan Gaoqing's cursing never stopped."

Even so, An Lushan still felt it wasn't enough. He not only brutally murdered Yan Gaoqing, but also dismembered his son Yan Jiming into eight pieces. More than thirty members of the Yan family were also killed.

"Later, when Yan Zhenqing went to search for the remains of the Yan family members, he only found Yan Jiming's head; the rest of the Yan family members were also found with incomplete remains."

"Yan Zhenqing could not suppress his grief and anger, and under these emotions, he wrote the 'Draft of a Eulogy for My Nephew,' which is considered the second best running script in the world."

"This article isn't particularly beautiful, and it's hard to believe it was written by a master calligrapher."

"But the truth is, almost the entire Yan family was wiped out, slaughtered, with only Yan Zhenqing surviving."

"The Tang Dynasty has never lacked ministers of integrity, but Emperor Li Longji did not believe that An Lushan's rebellion was not a frame-up until November 15th of the fourteenth year of the Tianbao era."

During the reign of Emperor Taizong of Tang Dynasty

Li Shimin was furious. He spat out a mouthful of blood, forced himself to his feet, and cursed, "Why doesn't Heaven take this thing away! He deserves to die! He deserves to die! All the people of my Great Tang are dying because of him!"

Li Shimin's vision blurred, his head spun, and his chest tightened. Amidst the gasps of the crowd, he collapsed.

……

"The Yan family was full of loyal and righteous men. Yan Zhenqing, a scholar, was no less so. When the entire court was currying favor with Yang Guozhong, Yan Zhenqing refused to associate with him and was sent to Pingyuan County as its prefect. This place was not far from An Lushan. He firmly believed that An Lushan would rebel, so he encouraged the soldiers and civilians to build city walls."

"After An Lushan continued his southward advance, Yan Zhenqing believed that the Tang Dynasty still had three brilliant generals—Geshu Han, Gao Xianzhi, and Feng Changqing. He planned to secretly lead his troops to aid the Tang soldiers in their battle against An Lushan, thus trapping them like turtles in a jar."

"Unfortunately, he never anticipated Xuanzong's unpredictable actions."

"Feng Changqing was the military governor of Anxi. On the seventh day after An Lushan's rebellion, Feng Changqing happened to return to the capital to report to Emperor Xuanzong. Upon learning of this, he told Xuanzong that An Lushan was not a threat and that once he recruited some troops, he would surely take his head within ten days."

Emperor Xuanzong was delighted upon hearing this, and allocated funds to him, raising 110,000 troops, most of whom came from the common people.

"Feng Changqing led these troops to Luoyang. Historical records indicate that Feng Changqing first went to Hulao Pass in Luoyang, but suffered a major defeat. He then retreated to Kuiyuan, where he was defeated again. He retreated to the East Gate of Luoyang, where he was defeated once more. He was defeated again upon reaching Luoyang, and finally, he was trapped in the city. He broke through the west city wall and escaped."

"A force assembled from a group of commoners is ultimately no match for a well-trained soldier."