An Lushan, who has outstanding ability, not only often shows loyalty in front of Tang Xuanzong, but also licks his face at the age of 45 and recognizes 29-year-old Yang Guifei as his godmother, so he has been favored and reused by Tang Xuanzong without limit. Since then, this rare talent in the eyes of Tang Xuanzong has flourished!
As the saying goes, "If you don't die in a great disaster, you will be blessed." "The sheep thief who was almost executed twice, An Lushan, the general of the Zahu people stationed in the frontier, served as the envoy of the Pinglu Festival in 742 AD, concurrently served as the envoy of the Fanyang Festival for two years, and then served as the envoy of the Hedong Festival seven years later, and became the envoy of the three towns of the entire northeast border in just nine years.
So far, An Lushan has more than 200,000 troops in his hands, accounting for as much as 40% of the total number of border guards of the Tang Dynasty at that time.
At that time, the assessment level of the Tang Dynasty was divided into upper, upper, upper, upper, middle, middle, lower, lower, and lower, and they had to be assessed every year. Among them, the entrance examination is a high-hanging ideal that exists like a saint, and there will never really be a ** that can be evaluated. For example: Yao Chong, a generation of virtuous ministers, is the highest in the upper middle school entrance examination;He has been the chief prime minister for 19 years, and Li Linfu, who is good at stammering, is the highest in the upper and lower examinations.
However, An Lushan, who escorted prisoners to the imperial court every year and shocked the frontier, was rated as an unprecedentedly high school entrance examination in 750 AD. Of course, Tang Xuanzong specially greeted the ** of the evaluation department. At the same time, he was also knighted as the king of Dongping County, and was crowned king by a frontier general, which was unprecedented and created a historical precedent!
In 747 AD, An Lushan accompanied Tang Xuanzong's family banquet, and Yang Guifei and her brothers and sisters were present. During the banquet, An Lushan said: "I am a miscellaneous person, Your Majesty has promoted me to such a high position, I really can't repay it, I hope that one day when I defend the frontier, I can die for Your Majesty." When Tang Xuanzong heard this, he was very moved.
So, he asked Yang Guifei's brother, three sisters and two cousins who were present to recognize An Lushan as a godbrother. After becoming a godbrother, An Lushan went in and out of the court more intensively. One day, An Lushan pleaded with Tang Xuanzong with a face to let him recognize Yang Guifei as his godmother, but he didn't expect that his godmother was only 29 years old, but his son was 45 years old.
Since he is Yang Guifei's godson, then the treatment is definitely different from that of other civil and military **. Once Tang Xuanzong held a banquet, and the civil and military ** could only sit downstairs in the Qinzheng Building;An Lushan sat upstairs on a small couch next to Tang Xuanzong.
An Lushan often had to go to Chang'an from the border to meet Tang Xuanzong, and it was not very convenient to stay in a hotel. So, in 750 AD, Tang Xuanzong issued an edict to build a house for him. Tang Xuanzong told those handling personnel to be sure to build it well and not lose the face of the imperial court. Soon, a mansion was built.
According to the record of "Zizhi Tongjian": the mansion is specially tailored for the big fat man of An Lushan, such as: the bed is one zhang long, six feet wide, and the tent is one zhang and eight feet;An Lushan is not only fat, but also tall and big, so the rice washing basin and rice bowl can hold five buckets of rice, which is completely set according to the standard of feeding a bear.
Moreover, the materials of furniture or articles are extravagant and expensive, and they are either gold or silver. For example, the rice bowl that can hold five buckets of rice is coated with gold, the rice washing basin is coated with silver, and the vegetable basket for washing vegetables and the fence for scooping vegetables are woven with silver wire.
Tang Xuanzong loved face very much, and often sent eunuchs to the construction site to convey his will, saying: "An Lushan is a Sogdian, and the Sogdians have been doing business for generations, and they are used to seeing gold and silver treasures, so the house should be of high standard, don't let him laugh at me." In this way, in terms of luxury, An Lushan has surpassed Emperor Tang Xuanzong himself, and has a sense of arrogance.
It is precisely because Tang Xuanzong gave official positions, power, high evaluation, high status and high treatment, and favored and reused An Lushan without principles and bottom lines, so that a sheep thief who was almost executed turned into a powerful envoy of the Three Towns and Jie Du and an envoy of Hebei Province for interviews and disposals.
At the same time, An Lushan's long-term operation for more than ten years has long been strong, forming an unshakable force and unimaginable consequences. In the end, the ambitious An Lushan personally ignited the flames of war against the rebellious court and launched the "Anshi Rebellion", which not only buried the prosperity of the Kaiyuan Dynasty, but also made the Tang Dynasty turn from prosperity to decline, which is embarrassing!