Chapter 220 The Emperor Leads the Army in Person

【Faced with two routes to start a rebellion, An Lushan did not hesitate for too long and chose the easy mode:

It took only one month from starting the rebellion to conquering Luoyang, which was extremely fast.

Fanyang, where An Lushan started his rebellion, has another name: Zhuozhou, which is also a magical place.

At the end of the Han Dynasty, Zhang Fei and Liu Bei both left from here to venture into the world.

In the middle of the Tang Dynasty, An Lushan started his rebellion here, and his final death was similar to Zhang Fei, violent and without grace.

In the Northern Song Dynasty, this was the end of the Gaoliang River drag racing track. The emperor arrived first and saved his life. Later generations even praised him with poems:

Outside Xizhimen, the killing sound was urgent, and the Song and Liao armies competed for superiority.

Although Yelu's cavalry was brave, his donkey cart had drift.

Well...this is a bit off topic. In short, An Lushan chose to go directly south to cross the Yellow River, and then go west to conquer Luoyang. This road was very smooth.

An Lushan had already become a god, but Xuanzong was still hanging up at the fountain.

When the urgent military information from Hebei Province, which was 800 miles away, was delivered to Xuanzong's desk, Xuanzong laughed: Those who hate An Lushan are liars.

You, don't make these big news just because you are jealous of An Lushan!

Don't talk nonsense with your eyes open, An Lushan is difficult.

Look for the reasons from yourself. Have you really tried to please me after not being promoted for so many years?

It was not until more and more reports were sent to Chang'an that Xuanzong forced himself to believe this fact: An Lushan really rebelled!

And the next question facing Xuanzong was: how to quell the rebellion?

The officials in the court pushed each other, and no one dared to show up.

It happened that Feng Changqing returned to the central government to report on his work. This loyal and good governor who was born as a refugee and started his career in the army took the initiative to ask for battle.

Xuanzong naturally wanted it, and ordered Feng Changqing to lead the central army to quell the rebellion.

After leading the troops out of Tongguan, Feng Changqing quickly realized that something was wrong.

At this time, there were two central armies: the Qi and the Beiya Imperial Army.

Having been stationed in Chang'an for a long time without the risk of war, and with a noble status, it has always been a good place for the children of nobles to gild themselves.

After Xuanzong changed the government soldiers to recruit soldiers, the brave soldiers in the central imperial army chose to respond to the call to fight the enemy in the border to fight for their status, and they were not bullied by the young soldiers, so the two central armies quickly decayed.

The most clearly recorded one was the Qi, which was reduced from the full quota of 120,000 to 80,000, and basically had their own livelihoods.

The rich soldiers went out to do business, and the poor soldiers went out to perform wrestling, tug-of-war, and carry iron to earn rewards.

Even if such a force was led by Feng Changqing, the outcome was predictable. After repeated defeats, Luoyang soon fell.

The fall of the Eastern Capital shocked the court and the public. At this time, Xuanzong also realized that it was a critical moment and quickly issued an edict:

Edict 1: The fall of Luoyang was the responsibility of Feng Changqing. He was spared and demoted to a white-clothed man and sent to Gao Xianzhi in Shanzhou to obey orders.

Edict 2: I will personally lead the army to the front line of Shanzhou to supervise the battle! 】

〖Zhao Kuangyin: Who is the Donkey Cart Emperor? How can the Song Dynasty call itself the Northern Song Dynasty?

Zhuge Liang: After the shameful surrender in Jingkang, the Emperor of Song fled south and changed his surname. Your Excellency, do you not know? 〗

Li Shimin was speechless when he saw the two lines of words on the screen. Zhuge Wuhou was afraid that Zhao Kuangyin would be happy.

But he did not intend to get involved. Although the Song Dynasty inherited the Tang Dynasty, Li Shimin really did not want to recognize it. At least...

"This Xuanzong can take the initiative to lead the army in person, which is quite courageous!"

Compared to the Song Dynasty emperor who was smeared with Fengshan and had to be forced by ministers to go to the front line, he was still a little stronger.

And before that, there was the brothel emperor, Wanyan Zhaodi, and now there is another donkey cart emperor.

Li Shimin is not stupid. No matter how you look at it, it does not seem like a good title.

Therefore, he felt a little better, but not much, because in his opinion, the best opportunity to wipe out the rebels was lost after all.

In this regard, Li Jing and Li Shimin agree:

"If the two imperial guards are fully staffed, they should have 200,000 soldiers. Facing the rebels rushing from Hebei, they should wait for them to tire themselves out."

"If we can blunt the enemy's sharp edge, they will certainly be in disarray and wait for the four governors to surround them..."

Li Jing shook his head, but it was a pity that these were just fantasies.

Hou Junji continued: "Even if the rebels are attacking from a long distance, they can still be called the frontier army of the prosperous Tang Dynasty."

"And whether this imperial guard can be called an army is still a question."

At this moment, it has nothing to do with the little tricks in his mind. Hou Junji sighed:

"Even if this famous general Feng Changqing has tens of millions of soldiers in his chest, he is unable to make this imperial guard a combat-ready army."

Although he felt that Feng Changqing was wronged, Hou Junji would not say it out loud.

Du Ruhui couldn't understand it now:

"Later generations say that An Lushan is like Zhang Fei, which shows that he died at the hands of his personal followers."

"Although the court was defeated, there was the emperor rewarding the army, Tongguan is a natural barrier, and the four Jiedushi also had elite soldiers. How could it be..."

Du Ruhui couldn't continue, because he immediately remembered two sentences that later generations said casually.

Even if there was a dog tied to the throne, there would not be a final eight-year chaos!

Not afraid of the rebellion in Hebei, but afraid of the emperor's random edict?

And the younger generation also said that An Lushan was a dying man due to diabetes, but he still continued to cause chaos for eight years because the contradictions could not be resolved.

Du Ruhui fell silent and began to think carefully about the content he had copied before.

Fang Xuanling asked Li Jing for advice:

"According to Master Yao, now that Feng Changqing has been defeated, what should we do if we want to quell the rebellion?"

Li Jing twisted his beard and said nothing.

Hou Junji rolled his eyes and closed his mouth tightly.

Li Shimin snorted:

"From Luoyang to Tongguan is the Wei River Valley, which is flat and level."

"The enemy has many elite cavalry, and the imperial army is in disarray. How can we fight against the enemy?"

"We can only withdraw and defend Tongguan to eliminate the advantage of the cavalry. When reinforcements from Shuofang border on the west side of the Longyou River arrive, we can surround and kill this beast."

In Li Shimin’s opinion, does this still need to be taught? The soldiers and horses in hand are either doing business or performing arts. In this case, make good use of Tongguan and wait.

Although it is a little embarrassing, it is better than being forced to die, which is both embarrassing and life-threatening, right?

…

In the Chengdu government office, Kong Ming was helpless as he threw the note into the light screen.

Small countries have no sovereignty, and weak countries have no diplomacy. Combined with Ji Han's situation in the light curtain, this sentence becomes even more profound.

But fortunately, the situation today is completely different.

Next to him, Liu Bei was already patting Zhang Fei on the shoulder:

"Yi De, Yide, you should encourage yourself."

Zhang Fei felt aggrieved and hummed:

"I've already given credit to Fan Jiang."

Regarding this matter, Fa Zheng can testify:

"During the attack on Hanzhong, Fan Jiang and Zhang Daxian almost died from the rice thieves' sword, but General Yide bravely came to his rescue."

Liu Bei was very pleased:

"Third brother has become a general!"

Fazheng added with a smile:

"The two of them were swept away by General Yide with his long sword. They lay on the bed for three months before they could get off the ground."

Liu Bei was speechless for a moment, but finally patted Zhang Fei on the shoulder, saying nothing.

Xu Shu criticized Xuanzong's two edicts:

"The fault of this defeat lies with the Forbidden Army, but does the responsibility for the corruption of the Forbidden Army lie with Feng Changqing?"

And sneered:

"Those who are timid are not guilty, but those who ask for war for the country are punished. How can it be justified?"

"It seems that the bravery of the Tang Dynasty lies in the generals and soldiers, not the princes in the court."

For the people in the Chengdu government office, Gao Xianzhi, who was lamenting the bloody battle with the Talas just a moment ago, had someone to succeed him.

This letter from Chang Qing led troops to knock on the country's gate and forced the king to surrender. How powerful was it!

The next moment, such a heroic and famous general turned white and was involved in the turbulent currents of the Anshi Rebellion, which is surprising.

[Xuanzong had just made a high-profile statement in Chang'an when he received an urgent report from the front:

Gao Xianzhi abandoned Shaanzhou and led his troops to retreat to Tongguan.

This decision was made under Feng Changqing's persuasion, and the comprehensive considerations of the two famous generals were also very reasonable.

First of all, the Tianwu Army led by Gao Xianzhi at this time was also recruited from the Forbidden Army. The level of the Forbidden Army at this time is, to use a sentence in the history books, "all are not armored."

That is to say, Gao Xianzhi didn't even know how to wear armor, and Gao Xianzhi was already tortured by the bad soldiers.

Secondly, although Tongguan was naturally dangerous at this time, there were no troops stationed there. If Gao Xianzhi was unfortunate enough to be defeated by the rebels, the rebels would be able to directly penetrate Tongguan in one wave and march to Chang'an.

Therefore, after Feng Changqing arrived, the two famous generals considered each other and finally decided to retreat to Tongguan and wait for reinforcements from other Jiedu envoys.

The two of them knew the capabilities of the Tang Dynasty's border troops. Even if An Lushan's Zahu men were strong, Longyou and Hexi would have to fight against Tubo for years. Who was worse than the other?

The decision of the two generals, applied to current comments, is:

Militarily, he is blameless, but politically, he can be used as a guide.

On December 1, 755, Gao Xianzhi was ordered to quell the rebellion and recruited troops in Chang'an to leave the customs.

On the 12th of the same month, Gao Xianzhi retreated to Tongguan.

On the 20th of the same month, the eunuch Bian Lingcheng falsely accused Gao Xianzhi of reselling military rations.

On the 21st of the same month, Bian Lingcheng followed Xuanzong's handwriting and ordered Gao Xianzhi to be granted the title of Changqing and beheaded in Tongguan.

Regarding the conflict between Bian Lingcheng and Gao Xianzhi, the old Tang book said that the eunuch wanted to interfere in military affairs, while the new Tang book said that Bian Lingcheng had a private matter to entrust.

But in short, they were all pushed back by Gao Xianzhi, who put state affairs first, and the two had a grudge.

After Xuanzong was betrayed by An Lushan, his mentality changed drastically, and his extreme trust in the generals turned into extreme distrust.

The eunuch Bian Lingcheng accurately felt Xuanzong's pulse, and then used the sharp sword of imperial power to kill the famous general loyal to the Tang Dynasty.

At this time, in order to calm people's hearts, Xuanzong issued another edict:

If I really want to go on a personal expedition, I will definitely kill the traitor An Lushan with my own hands! 】

Cut off his own arms again, two at a time?

Li Shimin felt like laughing, laughing that Xuanzong had himself to blame for personally destroying Li Tang's country to such an extent.

But I also want to cry loudly, for this loyal minister and good general, and for the innocent people of the Tang Dynasty who suffered.

In the end, the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty seemed to have given up on himself. Regardless of Sun Simiao's dissuasion, he filled a glass of grape wine for himself, drank it all and threw the glass to the ground:

"Then let me see how this rebel army conquered this great gate in the world!"

"Let me see how this good son and grandson can lead a military expedition!"

There was a sense of gritted teeth between the words.

Now Li Shimin has already tasted it:

If Wang Zhongsi was here, would An Lushan dare to rebel?

Now that Feng Changqing and Gao Xianzhi are dead, can Tongguan still be said to be impregnable?

Now that his arm has been cut off three times in a row, Li Shimin wants to see how cold the heart of a loyal soldier is:

How did this good son and grandson turn the tide and get himself to Chengdu?

…

Zhang Fei was amazed:

"Is An Lushan really not Xuanzong's illegitimate son?"