Diqin Designer

Chapter 394: The Rise and Fall of the Tang Dynasty (History of the Tang Dynasty)
Meng Tian asked curiously, "Did Emperor Xuanzong really order the execution of Yang Yuhuan?"

Given how much Xuanzong doted on Yang Yuhuan, I'm afraid he wouldn't be willing to kill her, right?

"Xuanzong naturally did not want to kill Yang Yuhuan. He believed that Yang Guozhong was indeed guilty and should be executed, but Yang Yuhuan was innocent, so he wanted to pardon her. However, the mutinous imperial guards believed that Yang Yuhuan was a scourge to the country and the Anshi Rebellion was caused by her. If he did not kill her, it would be difficult to appease the public anger and boost the morale of the army."

The First Emperor commented: "Even if Yang Yuhuan had faults, Xuanzong's faults were greater. The real cause of the An-Shi Rebellion was Xuanzong himself. Yang Yuhuan was his daughter-in-law. If he hadn't forced her into the palace, there wouldn't have been any subsequent events. It's just that they knew it was difficult to hold the person who was really responsible accountable, so they pushed the blame onto Yang Yuhuan. How ridiculous! The rise and fall of the country was actually attributed to a woman. The Tang Dynasty was destined to decline!"

The First Emperor did not think that there was nothing wrong with Yang Yuhuan, but he felt that the people in the Tang Dynasty put the blame for the Anshi Rebellion on Yang Yuhuan and lacked responsibility and integrity.

Li Nian nodded and said, "I think that putting the main blame for the An-Shi Rebellion on Yang Yuhuan is not much different from sending a daughter to marry a foreign prince, and putting the safety of a country on a woman. This is not an honorable thing, but a shameful act!"

"Faced with the mutinous imperial guards, Emperor Xuanzong, who was already over seventy years old, chose to accept Gao Lishi's advice and sentenced Yang Yuhuan to death in order to protect his own life."

When Meng Tian heard this, he sneered: "It seems that Xuanzong also loves Yang Yuhuan so much, but he killed Yang Yuhuan for his own life. He loves me more!"

"Regarding the way Yang Yuhuan died, many historical records say that she was hanged, while others say that she died by swallowing gold or was killed in a chaotic battle. But no matter how she died, this 'shy flower' among the four great beauties of China died at this point."

"Bai Juyi wrote in "Song of Everlasting Sorrow": 'Under Mawei Slope, in the mud, there is no trace of the beautiful woman's death. Her hairpins are scattered on the ground, no one picks them up, while the green parrot and the golden sparrow scratch her hair with jade. The king covered his face, unable to save her, and looking back he saw blood and tears flowing together.'"

"After killing Yang Guozhong, Yang Yuhuan and others, the imperial guard general Chen Xuanli expressed his willingness to remain loyal to Emperor Xuanzong, which made Crown Prince Li Heng somewhat embarrassed."

"In Li Heng's mind, he and Chen Xuanli forced Emperor Xuanzong to kill Yang Yuhuan and others, so Chen Xuanli should stand on his side. Unexpectedly, Chen Xuanli was really a 'loyal minister' for the Tang Dynasty and Emperor Xuanzong. After successfully completing the plan to eliminate the traitors, he immediately stood on Emperor Xuanzong's side."

"Prince, please do not contact me again. I am afraid that the emperor will misunderstand me. I previously joined forces with you, the prince, only to eradicate the evil concubine and the treacherous villain. Now that the emperor has repented and corrected himself, I will still be loyal to the emperor."

Hearing Li Nian talk about the conflict between Emperor Xuanzong and Crown Prince Li Heng, Qin Shi Huang and others were not surprised. It is not surprising that the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty has conflicts with the Crown Prince. It would be strange if there were no conflicts. But what will be the outcome between Emperor Xuanzong and Crown Prince Li Heng this time?
This made them extremely interested, and they kept speculating in their hearts. However, combined with the information Li Nian had given them previously, Xuanzong lived to be seventy-eight years old before he passed away. At this time, Xuanzong was not yet seventy-eight and had a few years to live. Perhaps Xuanzong won this battle.

Li Nian didn't know what the First Emperor and the others were speculating, so he continued, "Because Chen Xuanli didn't stand on his side, Li Heng was put in a passive position. Li Heng knew that the conflict between him and Xuanzong was difficult to reconcile, and when Xuanzong recovered, he would definitely target him. Therefore, the best way for Li Heng was to part ways with Xuanzong and stay away from him."

"Li Heng's strategy is correct. If he continues to follow Xuanzong, Xuanzong will sooner or later start a reckoning against him for forcing Yang Yuhuan to kill. But even if he leaves Xuanzong, the crisis is still not resolved..."

Feng Quji continued, "Xuanzong is still the emperor, and he has great justice for the world. As long as Li Heng is the crown prince, he will be controlled by him. When Xuanzong's imperial edict is passed down, Li Heng will be in danger."

At this point, Feng Quji showed a bit of surprise on his face, and the First Emperor and his companions who heard it also looked surprised. They had already thought of Li Heng's next move.

Li Nian smiled and said, "For Li Heng, the situation was indeed like this, so after he left Xuanzong, he quickly made a decision: On July 12, the 15th year of Tianbao, Li Heng ascended the throne at the south gate tower of Lingwu City, changed the reign title to 'Zhi De', and respected Xuanzong as the Supreme Emperor."

The Tang Dynasty was indeed full of talented people, with all of them being "kind fathers and filial sons". Xuanzong probably didn't even know he was being killed, and he had already become the emperor emeritus.

Li Heng is also a talented person. Since my father is the source of my crisis, why don’t I become the emperor myself?
"Generally speaking, although the new emperor will change the reign title after ascending the throne, the old emperor's reign title will be retained for another year when counting years. In other words, the new year after ascending the throne will be the first year of the reign title."

"But after Li Heng changed the reign title, he changed the fifteenth year of Tianbao to the first year of Zhide, and sent an envoy to Shu to report to Emperor Xuanzong on the same day."

Wang Ben laughed and said, "Li Heng has a deep grudge against Emperor Xuanzong. When Emperor Xuanzong hears the news, he will be shocked and angry!"

Li Nian shook his head and said, "However, no matter how angry Xuanzong is, he is only angry for a moment! He caused the Anshi Rebellion, and his throne is no longer stable. Even if he issues an edict to depose Li Heng from the throne and the crown prince position, no one will obey him."

"Li Heng saw this point, so he quickly ascended the throne before Xuanzong could react, creating a fait accompli and replacing Xuanzong as the emperor recognized by the world."

Xuanzong was certainly unwilling to become the emperor emeritus, but Li Heng acted too quickly and without martial ethics, and he launched a surprise attack on this old man over 70 years old.

"Although Li Heng ascended the throne, the An Lushan Rebellion would not be quelled immediately because of his ascension. An Lushan started the rebellion for the throne of emperor. On the first day of the first month of the fifteenth year of Tianbao, An Lushan proclaimed himself emperor in Luoyang, named the country 'Yan', called himself the Xiongwu Emperor, and the reign title was Shengwu."

"An Lushan was already over fifty years old, obese, and covered with poisonous sores. After he started the rebellion, his vision gradually became blurred, and he eventually became completely blind. This made An Lushan extremely irritable, and he was rude to his important officials. His adviser Yan Zhuang was often beaten with a whip."

This is also a common plot in history, where the monarch is tyrannical towards his important ministers, causing the ministers to become resentful and murder the monarch.

"So, Yan Zhuang, together with An Lushan's second son An Qingxu and An Lushan's confidant Li Zhuer, killed An Lushan. But even though the 'An' who started the An Lushan Rebellion was dead, the rebellion was still not over! The rebels in the An Lushan Rebellion were the elite of the Tang Dynasty's border troops, and could be said to be the strongest army in the Tang Dynasty!"

"In April of the second year of Zhide, in order to recapture Chang'an and rebuild the Tang Dynasty, Li Heng appointed his son, Li Chu, the Prince of Guangping, as the Grand Marshal of the Army and Guo Ziyi as the Deputy Marshal, and ordered them to recapture Chang'an. In September, Li Chu and Guo Ziyi gathered 150,000 troops and borrowed 4,000 troops from the Huihe..."

Speaking of "borrowing troops from the Huihe", Li Nian said: "Li Chu borrowed troops from the Huihe, not without conditions. The conditions he gave to the Huihe people were: after retaking Chang'an, the land and commoners would return to the Tang Dynasty, and the gold, silk, and children would all return to the Huihe people, and the Huihe people would be allowed to plunder for three days." Wang Jian sighed: "What a shame! If the Great Tang Taizong were to be resurrected, I'm afraid he would slap these unworthy descendants to death with one palm!"

The Tang Dynasty had indeed declined. In order to borrow 4,000 soldiers, it agreed to allow foreign races to plunder its own people. However, Li Nian said this, not to talk about whether the Tang Dynasty had declined or not, but to say that these nobles did not regard the people as their own. In their eyes, they were nothing more than a bunch of leeks, a price to pay for being cut and then growing again.

"But the Huihe people were not able to plunder Chang'an, because Luoyang had not yet been recovered. Li Chu said in front of the Huihe Prince Yehu's horse: 'We have just captured Xijing. If we capture and plunder immediately, the people of Dongjing will be entrenched by the bandits and we will not be able to take it back. I am willing to go to Dongjing as promised.'"

Meng Tian shook his head and said, "A bunch of shameless people, are they really descendants of Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty? Are the people of Dongjing Luoyang not citizens of the Tang Dynasty? Do you want to let the Huihe people plunder them?"

Li Nian said: "In the eyes of people like Li Chu, the people are not human beings at all, but the price of continuous growth. As long as they can accomplish their great cause, what's the harm in a little sacrifice? Anyway, they will not be the ones to be sacrificed, and they will only feel pain when the knife cuts themselves. So, although I don't like Huang Chao, I like the pain that Huang Chao brought to these people!"

After this, no one else spoke, only Li Nian's voice continued: "When the troops gathered by Li Chu and Guo Ziyi reached the Xiangji Temple in the south of Chang'an City, they encountered the 100,000 rebels led by An Shouzhong and Li Guiren."

"Both sides were elite troops, and the fighting was extremely brutal. After several hours of fierce fighting, the Tang army beheaded more than 60,000 rebels and captured more than 20,000, while the Tang army also suffered more than 70,000 casualties. After this battle, Chang'an was recaptured by the Tang army, and the main force of the rebels in the Guanzhong capital was destroyed. This battle is known as one of the pinnacles of cold weapon battles in Chinese history!"

Although Li Nian spoke calmly, from the number of casualties he mentioned, Qin Shihuang and his companions could feel the bloody cruelty of this battle. One hundred thousand rebels fought with their opponents and only lost 60,000 of them. What kind of tenacity was this?

No wonder Li Nian said that the rebels were the elite of the Tang Dynasty. If they were not elite, how could they have held out until 60% of them were killed or wounded before being defeated!
"Later, many people believed that the battle at Xiangji Temple was an internal fight among the elite Tang army, which almost wiped out the Tang army's elite soldiers and generals, making it difficult for the Tang army to recover to its heyday."

Li Nian continued: "The battle of Xiangji Temple resulted in a great defeat for the rebels, which also announced the final outcome of the An-Shi Rebellion. The rebellion would definitely be quelled by the Tang army. But it would take time! Although An Lushan was dead at this time, An Qingxu and Shi Siming were still alive. The An-Shi Rebellion lasted for nearly eight years until the death of Emperor Suzong of Tang, Li Heng, and the second year after Emperor Daizong of Tang, Li Yu, ascended the throne. It was finally quelled."

Li Nian added: "Li Yu is Li Chu. In April of the first year of Qianyuan, when Li Heng appointed him as the crown prince, he changed his name to 'Li Yu'. It is said that when Li Heng appointed Li Yu as the crown prince, he thought of the 'Yuzhou presents Jiahe' when Li Yu was born, and thought it was a good omen, so he changed his name to Li Chu."

"In fact, Xuanzong and Li Heng, father and son, died in the same year, but Xuanzong lived to be 78 years old, while Li Heng was only 52. ​​When they died, the An-Shi Rebellion had not yet been completely quelled."

"After Xuanzong's death, he was posthumously named the Great Saint Emperor of Great Dao and Great Ming Xiao, and his temple name was Xuanzong. Li Heng was posthumously named the Great Saint Emperor of Great Ming and Great Xiao, and his temple name was Suzong."

"Looking back at Xuanzong's life, his Kaiyuan period was definitely very successful. The Tang Dynasty reached its peak under his rule, and its prestige spread far and wide. The people of the Tang Dynasty were wealthy, trade was thriving, and the cities were prosperous. People from all over the world flocked to Chang'an. At that time, the Tang Dynasty was the center of the world."

"Xuanzong's achievements during the Kaiyuan Period were recorded in history as the 'Kaiyuan Flourish', which was as famous as the 'Zhenguan Reign' of his great-grandfather Taizong. The poet Du Fu grew up during the Kaiyuan Flourish and witnessed the Tang Dynasty's decline."

At this point, Li Nian recited a poem by Du Fu: "Recalling the heyday of the Kaiyuan era, even small towns still housed tens of thousands of households. The rice was fat and the corn was white, and the public and private granaries were full. There were no jackals or tigers on the roads of the nine provinces, and one did not need to wait for an auspicious day to travel far. The Qi silk and Lu silk carts were lined up in rows, and men ploughed the fields and women mulberryed the trees without missing a beat..."

"In that prosperous era, many literati and poets emerged in the Tang Dynasty. The great poets, poet saints and poets of China all lived in this era. If there had not been the An-Shi Rebellion, it would have been a great era for many people. They would have been born in a prosperous era and died in a prosperous era, and there would have been no regrets!"

Just by hearing these titles, you can tell that none of them is simple. The gods and Buddhas are sacred, proving that people believe that such poems should not be written by mortals.

"Li Bai, the poet immortal, has been described as 'one word from his embroidered mouth is half of the prosperous Tang Dynasty', and I think this is true. Immortals are as ethereal as clouds, wandering around the world. Li Bai's poems are like him, unrestrained and free, full of heroic spirit. Even after years, one can still feel it."

"'Have you not seen the Yellow River coming from the sky, rushing to the sea and never coming back? Have you not seen the white hair in the mirror in the hall, which was black in the morning and turned white in the evening...'"

Although the poems of this era are different from those of the Tang Dynasty, it is not a good thing, and Qin Shihuang and others can still tell it. It's just that these two lines of poetry do not seem to be heroic and free and easy. Instead, there is a kind of sadness that life is gone and time is wasted.

But the next sentence Li Niannian said immediately changed their minds, "When life is happy, you should enjoy it to the fullest, and don't let the golden cup face the moon in vain. I was born with talents that will be useful, and I will get them back even if I spend all my money. Cooking sheep and cattle is fun, and I must drink three hundred cups at the party..."

These lines of poetry change the mood of the first two lines. The First Emperor and others seem to see a poet who is already drunk, with unsteady steps, but still holding a wine glass, inviting them to drink across time and space: Come, come, let's get drunk together today, and don't stop drinking!
Li Nian said: "'Bells, drums, delicacies and jade are not expensive, I just want to be drunk forever and never wake up. Since ancient times, all saints and wise men have been lonely, only drinkers leave their names...'"

Listening to Li Nian reciting the entire poem "Song of the Wine", Qin Shihuang and others either recited it in their hearts or recited the lines that touched them the most.

The First Emperor commented: "Listening to this poem, Li Bai is indeed a free and easy and heroic person. Only a prosperous dynasty can give birth to such a poet!"

Wang Wan said: "Listening to his poems, this person is not only free and easy, but also arrogant and unrestrained, and he is quite confident in himself."

Indeed, the lines “I was born with talents that will be useful, even if I spend all my money I will get it back” and “All saints and wise men in ancient times were lonely, only drinkers left their names” can all show the wildness of this immortal poet.

Li Nian smiled and said, "Your Majesty and Prime Minister Wang are right. Li Bai is a very bold man. It is said that Emperor Xuanzong admired his poetic talent and asked him to write poems."

"Li Bai got so drunk in the Changsheng Palace that he asked Yang Guifei to grind ink for him and Gao Lishi to take off his boots for him before he wrote "Qingping Diao" which has been passed down to later generations. 'The clouds are like clothes and the flowers are like faces. The spring breeze blows on the threshold and the dew is gorgeous. If we hadn't met on the top of the Jade Mountain, we would have met under the moon on the Jade Terrace.'"

(End of this chapter)