The ninth day of the eleventh month of the fourteenth year of Tianbao in the Tang Dynasty.

An Lushan, who served as the envoy of Fanyang, Pinglu and Hedong, joined forces with Luo, Xi, Khitan, Shiwei, Turk and other tribal forces to form an army of 150,000, known as 200,000. In order to "worry about the danger of the country", the emperor

Using the secret edict to attack Yang Guozhong as an excuse, he raised troops in Fan Yang and openly rebelled.

A huge crisis befell the prosperous Tang Dynasty!

After Emperor Li Longji succeeded to the throne, he worked hard to eradicate chronic diseases, innovate official administration, appoint talents, and implemented a series of reforms in politics, economy, people's livelihood, and military. After more than 20 years of hard work by wise emperors and wise ministers, great progress has been made in all aspects

With the development of the Tang Dynasty, the world was in great rule, and the Tang Dynasty entered its heyday. This is the famous "Kaiyuan Golden Age" in history! However, peace has lasted for a long time, and the Tang Dynasty has experienced the glorious Kaiyuan Golden Age.

, the Anlushan rebels encountered little decent resistance everywhere, and the counties and counties in Hebei surrendered. In a short period of time, the rebels controlled most of Hebei and some counties in Henan, and their troops were directed towards Tokyo.

Luoyang, Xijing Chang'an.

Emperor Li Longji was furious when he learned the news of Anlushan's rebellion on November 14th. He immediately issued an edict to summon King Qin's troops, ordering Anxi Jiedushi Feng Changqing and You Jinwu General Gao Xianzhi to lead a temporary recruitment.

A large number of troops went out from Tongguan to march eastward, preparing to block the advance of the rebels.

However, An Lushan's troops have been fighting on the border for a long time and have rich actual combat experience. Their combat effectiveness can be regarded as one of the best among all the armies of the Tang Dynasty. The troops and horses temporarily dispatched by the court were unable to stop the rapid advance of the rebels. Feng Changqing, who was guarding Luoyang, successively

Defeat!

On December 13, Tokyo and Luoyang fell!

After the rebels captured Luoyang, they did not stop and continued to advance westward, aiming directly at Chang'an.

However, because the New Year was approaching and there was heavy snowfall, the rebels' attack was slowed down a bit.

After Feng Changqing was defeated in Luoyang, he retreated to Shaanjun and joined forces with Gao Xianzhi. Feng Changqing and Gao Xianzhi knew that they could not defeat the rebels in a short time, so they had to take a defensive stance, abandoning Shaanxi County and retreating to Tongguan. Tongguan was the defensive

If Tongguan, the gateway to Chang'an, is lost, Chang'an will not be protected either.

However, Feng Changqing's series of defeats and his move to unite Gao Xianzhi's army to retreat and defend Tongguan angered Emperor Li Longji. Under the strong request of Prime Minister Yang Guozhong and the eunuch Bian Lingcheng who oversaw the army, "Chang Qing used thieves to shake the crowd, and Xianzhi

Under the temptation of "abandoning Shaanxi territory for hundreds of miles and stealing soldiers' food and gifts", the imperial court finally executed Chang Qing and Gao Xianzhi for the crime of "disobeying the law and losing the teacher".

After the executions of Feng Changqing and Gao Xianzhi, the Tang Dynasty appointed Longyou Jiedushi Ge Shuhan, who was recovering at home, as the commander-in-chief of the army, and named him Shangshu Zuopushe. Tongzhongshu Menxiapingzhangshi led the army to guard Tongguan.

On the first day of the first lunar month of Tianbao's fifteenth year, An Lushan proclaimed himself emperor in Luoyang, and the country's name was changed to "Dayan", which was changed to "Shengwu".

On the eleventh day of the first lunar month, An Lushan sent his son An Qingxu to lead an army to attack Tongguan.

Ge Shuhan led his army to repel the invading enemy after a fierce battle, but he did not take advantage of the victory to pursue the enemy, but only stayed at the pass.

Then Anlushan sent his general Cui Qianyou to garrison in Shaanxi City, and Tian Qianzhen marched to Guanxia.

Cui Qianyou and Tian Qianzhen often sent troops to harass or provoke Tongguan City, but Ge Shuhan ignored them and did not go out to fight. They just defended against the natural dangers of Tongguan! When the rebels attacked, they gathered their elite men to kill the enemy immediately on the city walls; the rebels did not

When it's time to attack, you should stop fighting and focus on training your soldiers!

The rebels were unable to break through Tongguan, and they were so disappointed that they could only send a large army to garrison dozens of miles outside Tongguan City to confront Ge Shuhan's army.

When the rebels captured Luoyang and marched towards Chang'an, troops from various places rose up to resist the rebels, causing great trouble to the rebels. The brothers Yan Gaoqing, the governor of Changshan County, and Yan Zhenqing, the governor of Pingyuan County, summoned the officials and people of the seventeen counties in Hebei.

The fight against the rebels created a great momentum and cut off the post road from Luoyang to Fanyang, which once shaken the morale of the Anlushan Army.

Guo Ziyi, the governor of Shuofang, led his army eastward, defeated Anlushan's general Gao Xiuyan, took advantage of the victory to capture the Jingbian Army, and captured Mayi; Li Guangbi, the governor of Hedong, led his army out to the mainland and captured Changshan City. They captured Changshan City.

After the great victory, Guo Ziyi and Li Guangbi joined forces.

The rebels marched eastward and were blocked by the rebel army led by Zhang Xun, the magistrate of Zhenyuan County, at Yongqiu. Their march southward was blocked by Lu Jiong, the governor of Shannan Province, at Nanyang.

The rear was unstable, and Tongguan could not be captured for a long time. Anlu Mountain was in panic all day long, and planned to abandon Luoyang and retreat back to Fan Yang's home base.

The entire strategic situation developed in a direction favorable to the Tang army.

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In the fifteenth year of Tianbao, the second day of the sixth lunar month.

Xingqing Palace, in Xingqing Palace, the joyful Emperor Li Longji was sitting on the throne, looking at his highness and ministers happily.

A series of good news came, which cheered people up. Li Longji, who had been frowning for more than half a year, finally felt relieved.

The situation was developing in a direction that was very favorable to the court. An Lushan was preparing to withdraw his troops from Luoyang and return to Fanyang. Li Longji, who received these good news one after another, summoned a group of important ministers early the next morning to discuss countermeasures!

Li Longji, who has been in charge of the Tang Dynasty for more than 40 years, is over 70 this year. Over the years, he has been obsessed with music creation and the so-called "love" with Yang Yuhuan. He has long lost the bravery and fighting spirit of his youth. In addition,

He is getting older and is a bit senile. Over the past six months, he has received bad news continuously, which has made him mentally and physically exhausted. Today, he is in good spirits, but he still cannot hide the twilight look on his face!

After seeing that all the ministers to be summoned had arrived, Li Longji sat up straight, looked at His Highness's ministers and asked: "My dear brothers, Yan Gaoqing and Yan Zhenqing are cutting off the communication between Luoyang and Fan Yang in Hebei. Guo Ziyi

, Li Guangbi has severely damaged the rebel army one after another, and the rebels led by An Thief have plans to retreat to Fanyang. Under such a good situation, I would like to hear your suggestions on what method to take to defend the enemy next!"

The ministers in the palace looked at me, I looked at you, and then their eyes fell on the right minister at the head of the palace, Yang Guozhong, the Minister of the Ministry of Culture (formerly the Ministry of Personnel). No one dared to stand up and answer the emperor's inquiry at the first time.

When the rebels first rose up, the imperial troops were unable to resist the rebel offensive. Luoyang was lost within a few days, and the situation on other battlefields was also critical. There were few victories when the official army fought against the rebels!

Two months ago, the emperor was so angry that he executed the generals Feng Changqing and Gao Xianzhi. The people were panicked, the morale of the army was unstable, and everyone was in danger! Now I heard that there is a lot of good news coming, An Lushan said.

Leading the rebels and preparing to return to Fan Yang, many ministers felt a little at a loss and didn't know what to say about how to arrange the next war.

Nowadays, the great power of the court rests on the head of Prime Minister Yang Guozhong. He has the trust of Emperor Li Longji. His proposals are rarely opposed, except for Yang Guozhong's report on the rebellion of General An Lushan. Yang Guozhong repeatedly said

An Lushan was going to rebel. Li Longji just didn't believe it, but now it was proved that Yang Guozhong's prediction was correct. Although Li Longji felt regretful, he obeyed Yang Guozhong's words even more. Even two outstanding generals like Feng Changqing and Gao Xianzhi were there.

Yang Guozhong was repeatedly bewitched and killed him.

Yang Guozhong was very satisfied that all the ministers were following him, and after receiving the attention of the ministers, he stood up and reported: "Your Majesty, the rebel army has exhausted its momentum and is not far from being defeated! The war in the north is very serious to the imperial court.

It's beneficial. The An thieves are even ready to give up on Luoyang, and they will definitely withdraw from Tongguan in a few days. According to what I see, we should take advantage of the continuous victories in the north and the high morale of the soldiers to make an effort to wipe out the rebels outside Tongguan City! Brother

There are 200,000 men and horses stationed at Tongguan under Shu Han's command, which is far superior to the rebel army. If we can cover up and attack the rebel army when they are unprepared, we will surely defeat the enemy!"

Seeing that Yang Guozhong stood up and expressed his position first, all the ministers breathed a sigh of relief. Wei Jiansu, the Minister of the Ministry of War (Ministry of War), immediately stood up and agreed with Yang Guozhong's suggestion: "Your Majesty, I second the suggestion. The rebel army has weakened and has attacked Tongguan.

The bandit army is only tens of thousands, and we have nearly 200,000 troops stationed at Tongguan. We should take advantage of the enemy's morale to rush out. One battle can restore the defeat, and even put down the rebellion!

After Wei Jiansu expressed his position, several important ministers came forward and expressed the same opinion. However, just when everyone thought that the opinions would be unified quickly, Longwu General Chen Xuanli stood up and objected, "Your Majesty, I have objections!

Nowadays, the rebel forces in Luoyang and Tongguan are still very powerful. The troops led by Marshal Geshu are all newly recruited sergeants. They can barely cope with the defense of the city, but they can't go out to attack the enemy! If Tongguan's strength is used to fight, then Tongguan will

Without soldiers to defend Tongguan, if the rebels attack Tongguan, Tongguan will be lost; once Tongguan is lost, Chang'an will be in danger! I feel that we should defend Tongguan according to the natural dangers, and wait for the troops of King Qin from various places to arrive before going out to fight, instead of using all the troops and horses at Tongguan to fight.

!If the battle fails, Chang'an will be in danger!"

Seeing someone standing up to speak against him, he had a rift with Ge Shuhan. During this period, he and Ge Shuhan had a lot of unpleasantness. Yang Guozhong, who had been trying to borrow a knife to kill someone, looked annoyed. He immediately stood up again and said vigorously: "Your Majesty

, I object to General Chen’s wishes. Now we must not just defend without fighting! With the continuous great victories in the north, the morale of our army has greatly increased, and the rebel army is in panic all day long. I feel that we should take advantage of the numerical advantage of our army at Tongguan, while the rebel army is weakened and exhausted.

Under such circumstances, take the opportunity to attack! If you gather superior forces to attack, you will definitely win and save the situation! Even if the rebels are defeated thousands of miles away! Not only will the crisis in Chang'an be resolved, but the rebellion will be put down immediately!"

"Your Majesty, I object to Mr. Yang's proposal!" Chen Xuanli immediately stood up again and defended loudly with a panicked expression, "Your Majesty, the soldiers and horses of Anxi and Longyou have not yet arrived near Chang'an. They rely on the newly recruited troops.

There is no way to fight against the rebel army. If you defend without taking the city, you will be defeated! What you have to do now is to avoid the enemy's sharp edge, use the natural dangers of Tongguan to defend, wait for the troops of King Qin from all over the country to come over, and then fight the rebel army decisively. This is what Marshal Geshu said.

Cili Chen’s correct way! Your Majesty, you must not lead your brother Shu Han to lead his army out of Tongguan to fight!"

"General Chen's words are wrong! If we allow the rebels to besiege Tongguan without attacking, the morale of our army will be even lower. Now the rebels only have tens of thousands of troops arriving outside Tongguan City. It is very easy to defeat the enemy. If we wait until all the rebels arrive,

Outside Tongguan City, it will be even more difficult to defeat the enemy! General Chen will never talk about such things that delay the military situation!" With that, Yang Guozhong made a salute to Emperor Li Longji, who was sitting slumped and had not expressed his position.

Said: "Please make a decisive decision, Your Majesty, and immediately send Ge Shuhan to lead his army out of the city to meet the rebels, so as to quell the rebels' rebellion as soon as possible!"

Seeing Yang Guozhong being so arrogant and rude, Chen Xuanli had no choice but to retreat in grief and indignation without saying a word!

"Well! What Yang Aiqing said is very reasonable, I agree!" Li Longji, who was sitting on the throne, finally made up his mind, "Declaring my will, I will immediately order Ge Shuhan to send all his troops out of Tongguan to meet the bandit army. We must capture all the bandit forwards.

Annihilate, retake Shaanxi Province, and capture Luoyang!"

After Li Longji announced the order, he stood up from the throne and was about to leave. His confidant eunuch Gao Lishi, who had been standing beside him, immediately followed him.

The emperor left after announcing the order, and the ministers dispersed with different moods.

But no one knew that what was decided at today’s emergency meeting would bring disaster to the Tang Dynasty!

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Chapter completed!