pjbooks Chapter 62 The Last Glory of the Tang Dynasty
Chapter 62 The Last Glory of the Tang Dynasty
During the Zhenguan period of the Tang Dynasty
Li Shimin was practically spitting blood. He had just digested the An Lushan Rebellion caused by his unworthy descendants, but this was not the end of it. He had known for a long time that Feng Deyi was good at scheming, but he really did not expect that he would suspend court for three days for him!
Wait, I only realized this many years later. Isn't this even more disgusting than eating locusts?
On the other side, Feng Deyi, who was being watched like a monkey, was trembling with fear. When will His Majesty decide how to punish me? It's really unbearable to have this knife hanging over my head!
Cheng Yaojin, standing to the side, was quite boisterous, and even leaned in close to Li Shimin, laughing loudly, "Your Majesty, this man has a really thick skin! He's quite the character!"
Li Er: Get out! Get out! Get out!
……
Lin Ke began by describing a scene: "A group of soldiers with white hair stood on the yellow sand city wall, gazing into the distance. One of the soldiers leaned close to another and said: 'Boss, do you think Chang'an is farther away or the sun?'"
“Nonsense, of course the sun is far away. I’ve only heard of people coming from Chang’an, not from the sun!” his leader answered without hesitation.
"But then he suddenly sobbed softly: 'Why can't we see Chang'an of the Tang Dynasty from here? All we can see is the sun. Will the Tang reinforcements ever come to take us home?'"
The people in Wanchaozhong were deeply distressed. What kind of ruler would allow a group of white-haired veterans to guard the frontier, only to find that they could not wait for reinforcements?
"The earliest origins can be traced back to the An Lushan Rebellion that broke out in December 755 AD. In order to quell this war, the court transferred almost all the elite border troops from the northwest to the interior. At this time, the Tang Dynasty set up three major institutions in the northwest: the Anxi Protectorate, the Beiting Military Governor, and the Hexi Military Governor."
"Why did the Tang court set up these things? It's obvious that it was to control the Western Regions. However, the An Lushan Rebellion broke out, and the heavy troops that the court had deployed in the west were transferred to the interior to quell the rebellion. This caused the Tang Dynasty to gradually lose control of the Western Regions, which also allowed the Tibetan Empire to take the opportunity to nibble away at the Tang Dynasty's territory in the Western Regions."
"In 763 AD, the first year of the Guangde reign of Emperor Daizong of Tang, the Tubo army invaded Dazhen Pass, occupied Lankuohe Shanzhou and other prefectures, and took all of the Longyou region. In February of that year, the An Lushan Rebellion, which had lasted for eight years, was finally quelled."
"But before the Tang Dynasty could catch its breath, news came that Pugu Huai'en, the famous general who had quelled the An Lushan Rebellion, had colluded with the Uyghurs."
"The Tang Dynasty dispatched Guo Ziyi to the capital to provide relief, and the two armies clashed in Fengtian. Meanwhile, Yang Zhilie, the military governor of Hexi and Yixi, and the military commissioner of Beiting, heard of the emergency in Chang'an and decided to send his supervising officer Bai Wenda with 10,000 troops to attack Lingzhou, the hometown of Pugu Huaien, in order to force him to withdraw his troops from Fengtian."
"But just after Bai Wenda's successful sneak attack, Pugu Huai'en led 20,000 Tibetan troops back to reinforce the area. The Hexi army suffered half its casualties in exchange for Guo Ziyi's army's great victory over the Tibetan army in Fengtian."
Afterwards, Yang Zhilie said to Bai Wenda: "This mission has rendered meritorious service to the capital; what harm is there in dying in the process?"
"It was precisely this one sentence that chilled the hearts of many Hexi soldiers. Afterwards, taking advantage of Yang Zhilie's weakened state, the Tubo attacked Liangzhou. The Hexi soldiers resented Yang Zhilie and refused to fight. In desperation, Yang Zhilie led a group of his confidants to flee to Ganzhou."
"At this time, the eastern gateway to the Hexi Corridor fell, and consequently, Hexi, Anxi, and Beiting lost contact with the Tang Dynasty."
"Yang Zhilie went to the vicinity of Yumen Pass to recruit soldiers in order to continue resisting the Tibetans, but he was betrayed by his subordinate Zhou Yi, who ordered the Shatuo people to kill Yang Zhilie."
"His other subordinate, Cao Lingzhong, who also came from the Hexi army, witnessed the assassination attempt. He later assembled an army of 5,000 to attack Zhou Yi, becoming a solid support for the Tang army in Hexi."
"The pressure from the Tibetans and Uyghurs on Chang'an has been temporarily eased, and the crisis in Chang'an has been resolved."
"In 769 AD, Emperor Daizong of Tang dispatched envoys via the Uyghur route to deliver the 'Imperial Edict to the Generals of the Northwest Court' to the Tang soldiers who were isolated in the Western Regions."
"Perhaps the Tang soldiers who have stood guard alone for over a decade would also be overjoyed to hear that the Tang Dynasty still remembers them."
Three years later, Cao Lingzhong, the magistrate of Jiashan under Emperor Daizong of Tang, was given the new name Li Yuanzhong. From then on, the people of Anxi, Beiting, and Hexi would often look eastward, anxiously awaiting the arrival of the royal army from the west.
"However, though the sun shines, Chang'an remains unseen. The Tang Dynasty, preoccupied with dealing with regional military governors and the Tibetan Empire, ultimately failed to fulfill its promise to the garrison in Anxi."
During the reign of Emperor Wu of Han
Liu Che sighed, a rare occurrence, and pointed at the screen, saying, "The court has probably forgotten about them. Once they're embroiled in internal strife, they'll be too busy taking care of themselves to remember those they've lost contact with."
Wei Qing, standing beside him, frowned deeply, feeling a pang of sorrow yet unable to suppress his anger.
Those people were abandoned by the Tang Dynasty they loved so much. Why not bring them even a little bit of aid? Even just food!
What good is that reward?! Can it be used for food or for fighting?! It's just as infuriating as the clothes Zhang Xun received when he asked for help!
……