An Lushan's anti-Tang actions plunged the Tang Dynasty into the deepest disaster in history, and it was also the key point in the decline of the Tang Dynasty. As a confidant of Tang Xuanzong, An Lushan was once trusted and favored by the emperor, why did he provoke a war and subvert the rule of the Tang Dynasty?
A common theory is that An Lushan's opposition to Tang was due to Tang Xuanzong's excessive favor and trust in Yang Guozhong, which made the relationship between him and Yang Guozhong increasingly tense, and even developed hatred, which eventually led to his rebellion.
However, this explanation is not comprehensive and inaccurate. So what is the real reason?
An Lushan's power and life An Lushan, a Hu man from the frontier, has been known for his bravery and good fighting since he was a child. During his career, Zhang Shouqi, the Hebei frontier general, became his adoptive father and mentor, leading him to fight in all directions.
In the twenty-eighth year of Kaiyuan, Tang Xuanzong Li Longji appointed him as the Pinglu soldier and horse envoy to take charge of the military important places in Hebei. An Lushan not only has excellent martial arts, but also has the intelligence to be agile and adaptable.
In order to consolidate his position, he did not hesitate to bribe the important ministers of the court and the imperial history, so that they could speak for him in front of the emperor. Tang Xuanzong valued him very much, regarded him as a confidant, and rewarded and rewarded him many times.
With the trust and favor of Tang Xuanzong, by 744, An Lushan had been promoted to the envoy of the Fanyang Festival. Yang Guifei is the favorite concubine of Tang Xuanzong, and the Yang family is also powerful.
An Lushan wisely recognized Yang Guifei as his stepmother, and every time he entered the palace to worship, he would first visit her.
Due to the favor of Tang Xuanzong, An Lushan claimed that the custom of the Hu people was that the mother came first and the father came last. Tang Xuanzong agreed with this, believing that this was his respect for Yang Guifei.
Therefore, An Lushan was able to get close to Yang Guifei and received more trust and rewards from Tang Xuanzong. Since then, An Lushan's career has been smooth sailing. However, he has one person he is very afraid of, and that is Li Linfu.
Because Li Linfu can always accurately discern his thoughts, especially in the court, which makes him feel very uneasy. Therefore, every time he saw Li Linfu, he would feel sweaty.
As the years passed, An Lushan's weight soared all the way, reaching an astonishing three hundred and thirty catties. However, he showed extraordinary skills in front of Tang Xuanzong and Yang Guifei, and he danced the Hu Xuan Dance smoothly and freely.
This made Tang Xuanzong love him even more. As his ambitions grew, An Lushan finally decided to rebel After Li Linfu's death, An Lushan no longer had any scruples. He even made a request to the emperor to serve as the envoy of the Hedong Jiedu, and Tang Xuanzong did not hesitate to comply with his request.
However, Yang Guozhong, the right minister, was disgusted with An Lushan and repeatedly warned Tang Xuanzong An Lushan that he might rebel. But Tang Xuanzong never listened to Yang Guozhong's advice.
In 755, An Lushan, as the envoy of the three towns of Hebei, rose up in Fanyang. He claimed that he came here under the secret edict of Tang Xuanzong, with the purpose of eradicating the ** filthy officials and eliminating the traitors in the court, and Yang Guozhong was his primary target.
In order to increase the legitimacy of the uprising, An Lushan will"Four-star tail"The celestial phenomena are used for propaganda to prove that they are chosen by the heavens and are the founders of a new dynasty.
This rebellion caused a great shock to Tang Xuanzong, and he had to flee from Chang'an in a hurry, like a lost dog, and there was no longer the wisdom and martial arts of the year. Although the history books record that the disagreement between An Lushan and Yang Guozhong was the fuse that triggered the Anshi Rebellion, in fact, this was only a manifestation of his ambition and strength.
An Lushan's rebellion was not a spur-of-the-moment impulse, but the result of a long period of deliberation. His ambition was an important motivation for opposing the Tang Dynasty, because he had rebelled against the Tang Dynasty and surrendered to the Khitan in his early years, and later surrendered to the Tang Dynasty.
And Tang Xuanzong's connivance fueled his disobedience. It can be said that Tang Xuanzong raised tigers for trouble, and An Lushan's ambition was raised by him. In addition, An Lushan also secretly colluded with foreign tribes such as Tubo and Hui to attempt to ** the territory of the Tang Dynasty, which was an important preparation for him before the rebellion.
Second, the shortcomings of the Tang Dynasty's system were the underlying reasons for its collapse. During the Kaiyuan Tianbao period, the Tang Dynasty's national strength reached its peak, but there was a hidden crisis. Tang Xuanzong's neglect and indulgence in government and favor treacherous people led to political corruption, chaos in official governance, and boiling public resentment.
At the same time, Tang Xuanzong also appointed Hu people as envoys to the frontier, so that they had heavy troops, forming a situation where the outside was strong and the inside was weak, making it difficult to control the local warlords.
An Lushan took advantage of the loopholes in the Tang Dynasty's system and gained sufficient autonomy in military, economic, and personnel matters, so as to have the conditions and opportunities for rebellion.
In addition, An Lushan's strength also gave him the courage to rebel.
Under the rule of Tang Xuanzong Li Longji, the Tang Dynasty prospered, but the incursions of the surrounding ethnic minorities threatened the country's border defense. In order to consolidate the frontier and defend the territory, Tang Xuanzong formulated and implemented a series of military strategies, one of the most important measures was to set up ten jiedu envoys in the border area, who were fully responsible for the military and local affairs.
These ten envoys were all important military officials of the Tang Dynasty, and they held military power, could mobilize the troops of the regions under their jurisdiction, and had administrative power to manage the prefectures and counties and finances of their regions.
The festival envoy has the power equivalent to a small emperor in the local area, and can have reservations about the orders of **. This has led to the growing ambition of some of the knots. An Lushan held the power of the envoys of the three towns, and the combined strength of the three towns exceeded 180,000.
Among them, the Pinglu Jiedu envoy was stationed in present-day Liaoning, the Hedong Jiedu envoy was in present-day Taiyuan, Shanxi, and the Fanyang Jiedu envoy was in present-day Beijing. The jurisdiction of these three towns is connected and can go directly south to Luoyang and Chang'an.
And Tang Xuanzong was mediocre in his later years, and he didn't notice the connection between these three towns, which eventually caused a catastrophe.
Thus, the system played a key role in the decline of the Tang Dynasty. To sum up, An Lushan's rebellion against the Tang Dynasty was not due to Tang Xuanzong's preference for Yang Guozhong, nor was it out of hatred for Yang Guozhong, but from his personal ambitions and the political system of the Tang Dynasty.
These deep-seated reasons are the root cause of An Lushan's anti-Tang Dynasty, and they are also the main factors in the decline of the Tang Dynasty.