Who is the most extraordinary person in Chinese history? Guo Ziyi, a famous general of the prosperous Tang Dynasty. At the age of forty, Guo Ziyi served as the military governor of Shuofang, wielding 100000 elite soldiers. After the outbreak of the An Lushan Rebellion, he served as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of War. After the recapture of Chang’an, he was promoted to the rank of Situ and conferred the title of Duke of Dai. Below, the history encyclopedia editor will bring you a detailed introduction. Let’s take a look together!
In 758 AD, he passed the imperial examination and became the true prime minister. In 762 AD, Guo Ziyi was granted the title of Prince of Fenyang County for his achievements. In 779 AD, Guo Ziyi was honored by the emperor as “Shangfu” and was given the title of Grand Commandant. In 781 AD, Guo Ziyi passed away and was awarded the title of Grand Tutor by the court, with the posthumous title of “Zhongwu”. And later historical books praised it as: ‘High achievements are beyond doubt, and powerful courtiers are not afraid.’.
Guo Ziyi’s legendary and glorious life began with her first place in the martial arts examination during the reign of Empress Wu Zetian.
During the reign of Empress Wu Zetian, in order to eliminate opponents, the army underwent a major purge and all were replaced with trusted aides. Empress Wu Zetian and her confidants had more failures than successes, which led to repeated defeats in foreign wars and a severe decline in the combat effectiveness of the Tang Empire. In view of the increasing pressure on border defense, Wu Zetian established the Military Science Department on the basis of the imperial examination system to select talents, enrich the army, and stabilize border defense.
Jiuyuan County, the birthplace of Guo Ziyi. Guo Ziyi was born into a family of literati in Zheng County, Huazhou. Due to the decline of his family, Guo Ziyi did not participate in the humanities, but instead participated in the martial arts. After becoming the top scorer in martial arts, Guo Ziyi went to work at the Danyu Protectorate as the Left Guard Chief. After years of tempering, Guo Ziyi accumulated merits and became the commander of the Tiande Army and the governor of Jiuyuan.
Afterwards, due to jealousy from her superiors, Guo Ziyi was left idle and never received any important positions. The idle life has cultivated Guo Ziyi’s character of being humble and magnanimous.
The An Lushan Rebellion was a turning point in Guo Ziyi’s fate. Gold will always shine. Guo Ziyi remained in the position of Tiande Military Envoy and Jiuyuan Prefect until the outbreak of the An Lushan Rebellion. After the outbreak of the An Lushan Rebellion, the problem of the Tang Empire being too heavy on the outside and too light on the inside, and being stable for a long time, completely erupted.
Because An Lushan served as the military governor of Hedong and controlled the northern part of Hedong Road, he posed a serious threat to the northern capital Taiyuan. The central government of the Tang Empire hastily remembered Guo Ziyi, who had been idle for many years, and appointed him as the military governor of Shuofang, fully relieving An Lushan’s threat to Taiyuan.
Guo Ziyi went deep into Hebei and single handedly stabilized the overall situation of the country. Guo Ziyi did not disappoint the expectations of the central government and easily recaptured Hedong. After reclaiming the lost territories in Hedong, we began to work on reclaiming the lost territories in Hebei. An Lushan has been operating in Hebei for many years and has a relatively stable influence. In addition, there are a large number of grassland Hu people in Hebei, who fully support An Lushan, making Guo Ziyi’s plan to recapture Hebei difficult.
At this time, Yan Zhenqing and his brothers rebelled against An Lushan in Changshan County, Hebei Province. Seventeen counties in Hebei Province responded immediately, and the situation was very good. Faced with such a favorable situation, Guo Ziyi seized the opportunity and went deep into Hebei, dealing a heavy blow to the An Shi rebel army and shaking the world for a time.
