vrcanaries Chapter 55 The End of the An Lushan Rebellion
Chapter 55 The End of the An Lushan Rebellion
Wu Zhou period
Li Longji was eight years old at the time, and his face still looked somewhat childish and innocent.
After Empress Wu learned that he had overturned half of the prosperous Tang Dynasty, she kept him by her side.
But the young Li Longji knew that his situation was not secure, especially since his grandmother already knew about his future.
Wu Zetian frowned and pondered. Li Longji was getting old and senile, and she saw that Li Heng had made many foolish moves.
Sigh, let's leave it at that for now. I'll wait until Miss Lin finishes recounting the An Lushan Rebellion before taking any action!
……
The live stream on the screen continued.
Lin Ke: "It's as if everything is starting over again. Shi Siming, like An Lushan during the An Lushan Rebellion, personally leads an army of 100,000 from Fanyang, marching south with his sword pointed at Luoyang."
Luoyang: Damn it, it's me again!!!
"According to records, five years have passed since An Lushan's uprising began, and now Shi Siming's uprising has begun. The most difficult period has not been for the noble families, but for the suffering common people."
"The Tang Dynasty in the middle of the war did have opportunities to end the rebellion, but the court always made blunders, causing the Tang Dynasty to miss great opportunities."
"Sigh, the news reached the capital, and Li Heng was furious. This is never going to end."
"He entrusted the task of suppressing the rebellion to Li Guangbi, who quickly determined that Luoyang, the eastern capital, could not be defended, and simply retreated the entire army to Heyang."
"His decision wasn't wrong, but it caused great suffering for the people of Luoyang, forcing them to wander and suffer."
"Li Guangbi held off Shi Siming's army at Heyang, and this siege lasted for another year."
"Logically speaking, an emperor should either be knowledgeable in military strategy and command troops, or, like Zhu Jianshen, delegate all power to frontline generals and ignore all impeachment memorials."
"You know nothing, you're just giving orders blindly, and yet you call yourself a general who can go to the battlefield and fight well???"
Zhu Baba of the Ming Dynasty: We still have to see how our Zhu family descendants fared!
Li Erfeng of the Tang Dynasty (angry and depressed): ...
Cheng Yaojin of the Tang Dynasty: Is he going to pull some kind of trick?
……
"Yu Chaoen, the military commissioner in charge of pacification and relief, reported to Emperor Li Heng that Li Guangbi was vehemently criticizing him for cowardice. Li Heng agreed, having long been dissatisfied with Li Guangbi's refusal to engage in battle while merely holding the city; could such a strategy truly quell the rebellion?"
"Li Heng then gave an order: 'Li Guangbi, you go out and meet the enemy.'"
"Do you remember when Geshuhan was forced into battle and suffered a crushing defeat?"
"That's how Tongguan was lost, and the Tang Dynasty lost its first opportunity to quell the An Lushan Rebellion. And this time, the result is the same."
"After capturing Heyang, Shi Siming continued westward, sending his own son, Shi Chaoyi, to attack Shanzhou."
"The garrison commander of Shanzhou fought desperately, and the rebel army was unable to capture the city after a prolonged siege. Shi Siming expressed dissatisfaction with his son Shi Chaoyi's performance, even threatening to punish him according to military law."
A peasant boy from the Ming Dynasty exclaimed: Good heavens, this is his own son!
"Shi Siming clearly hasn't read the history of the Tang Dynasty carefully. What's the most important thing for a boss in the Tang Dynasty? It's to be wary of your own son."
Li Erfeng of the Tang Dynasty: ……
All Emperors of the Tang Dynasty: ……
A peasant boy from the Ming Dynasty: Oh dear, I spoke too soon!
……
"Shi Chaoyi didn't want to be killed by his father, so he simply launched a mutiny, killed Shi Siming, and became the leader of the rebels. This is truly a case of 'filial piety between father and son.'"
"Coincidentally, just a few months after Shi Siming was killed, Emperor Suzong of Tang, Li Heng, and the retired Emperor Li Longji died within ten days of each other, and Emperor Daizong of Tang, Li Yu, ascended the throne."
"At this point, the initial leaders of both sides were dead, but the An Lushan Rebellion was not over; the battle had to continue."
"The banner of suppressing the An Lushan Rebellion was transferred from Li Guangbi to Pugu Huai'en, another general who had once served under Guo Ziyi."
"Pugu Huai'en is a vassal general, a member of the Tiele tribe. He followed Guo Ziyi for a long time, and he led the Uyghur soldiers in the Battle of Xiangji Temple."
"Furthermore, in order to facilitate the Uyghurs' request for military assistance, Pugu Huai'en even married off his three daughters to the Uyghurs."
"The entire family of Pugu Huai'en was filled with loyal martyrs. During the entire An Lushan Rebellion, 46 members of their family sacrificed their lives for the Tang Dynasty."
"Words cannot adequately describe Pugu Huai'en's loyalty to the Tang Dynasty, and he was merely a small microcosm of the many who fought for the Tang during the An Lushan Rebellion."
"On the other hand, the rebel leader Shi Siming knew that the emperor had died and felt it was a golden opportunity, but by this time the rebel army had already been severely weakened by years of continuous warfare."
"So Shi Chaoyi followed Li Heng's example and wrote to the Uyghurs, who were known for their opportunistic and financially driven military campaigns, requesting their assistance in capturing Chang'an."
"He offered a tempting offer: the Tang imperial family has lost two emperors, and now the Central Plains are without a ruler. I request that Dengli Khan join me in sending troops to seize their treasury."
"The greedy and treacherous Dengli Khan quickly agreed to send troops. Emperor Daizong Li Yu panicked upon hearing this. After deliberation, the court dispatched Pugu Huai'en to negotiate with the Uyghurs, since several of his daughters had married into the Uyghur tribe."
"The negotiations went smoothly, and the Uyghur troops turned and headed straight for Luoyang. With the Uyghurs' assistance, the Tang army's morale soared, and after another fierce battle, the rebels suffered a major defeat."
"Shi Chaoyi fled eastward, and Pugu Huai'en ordered a pursuit. Shi Chaoyi was routed and forced to retreat. Seeing Shi Chaoyi in such a sorry state, the rebel soldiers all surrendered to the Tang Dynasty."
"To encourage the rebels to surrender, Pugu Huai'en ordered that surrendered soldiers could continue to hold their original positions, which angered other Tang soldiers."
"The Tang generals, led by Xin Yunjing, submitted a memorial to Emperor Li Yu, stating that Pugu Huai'en's actions were tantamount to forming cliques for personal gain and that he might harbor rebellious intentions."
"Emperor Li Yu, wanting to quell the An Lushan Rebellion quickly, chose to side with Pugu Huai'en, declaring that all surrendered soldiers would not be prosecuted."
"Shi Chaoyi fled all the way to Fanyang, but was stopped outside by the garrison commander there. He then fled to Guangyang, where he was also stopped outside by the garrison commander there."
"At that moment, Shi Chaoyi knew he had nowhere to turn, so he went into the woods and hanged himself."
"Thus, the An Lushan Rebellion, which had lasted for eight years, finally came to an end."