The An Lushan Rebellion occurred during the Tang Dynasty and was a turning point in the Tang Dynasty’s rise and fall. Whenever this is mentioned, the editor has to explain it in detail to everyone
The period from the first year of Xiantian (712) to the first year of Zhide (756) was the reign of the ninth emperor of the Tang Dynasty, Emperor Xuanzong Li Longji. After experiencing the continuous accumulation of national governance by previous generations of Tang emperors, the Tang Dynasty entered its heyday during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong, known as the “Kaiyuan Prosperous Era” in history.
But in such a prosperous and thriving scene, the Tang Dynasty also gave rise to many potential problems, like time bombs buried one by one, threatening the survival of the entire dynasty. As expected, in the later period of Emperor Xuanzong’s rule, the contradictions between monarchs and officials, civil officials and military officials within the ruling class became increasingly acute, which became the direct cause of the famous event in Tang history, the “An Lushan Rebellion”. At the same time, with the serious consequences of the struggle for power and profit within the ruling class on the country, the Tang Dynasty also went from prosperity to decline.
The reason why this civil war that broke out in the 14th year of Tianbao (755) is historically known as the “An Lushan Rebellion” is precisely because the main commanders who launched the anti Tang rebellion were An Lushan and Shi Siming. The character we are going to discuss today is related to An Lushan. This person is Li Baochen, the military governor of Chengde, one of the famous “Three Towns of Heshuo” in Tang Dynasty history. He is the son of An Lushan, who rebelled against the Tang Dynasty and later surrendered to the Tang Dynasty. Not only did he not die, but he was also crowned king. What the hell is going on here? Let’s continue reading below.
We have to start from the beginning about the origin of the character Li Baochen. Li Baochen, also known as Fu Zi, was from Miyun, Youzhou (now Miyun District, Beijing). He was tall and robust, with outstanding martial arts skills, and was very skilled in horseback riding and archery. He initially had no relationship with An Lushan, but was the adopted son of General Zhang Suogao of Fanyang, and adopted his surname and given name Zhongzhi. Afterwards, Li Baochen was highly valued by An Lushan, the military governor of Hedong, due to his martial arts skills and superb riding and shooting abilities. He became a confidant of An Lushan and was selected as a shooting officer. When An Lushan entered the court, he was left as a shooting officer by Emperor Xuanzong of Tang. However, during this period, Li Baochen did not receive much recognition and always worked as a low-level officer.
In the 14th year of Tianbao (755), An Lushan and Shi Siming launched a rebellion. As An Lushan’s confidant, Li Baochen also expressed his position and decisively chose An Lushan between the Tang Dynasty and An Lushan. He fled back to Fanyang from the Tang capital Chang’an and sought refuge with An Lushan. Seeing Li Baochen join him, An Lushan was very happy. It was also during this period that An Lushan officially recognized Li Baochen as his adopted son, which led to the father son relationship we mentioned earlier.
After joining the rebel camp, Li Baochen began to show off his skills and fully demonstrated his abilities in leading troops in battle. In the early stages of the rebellion, he charged forward and made himself one of the core figures in the rebel army through repeated military achievements. Li Baochen was brave and courageous. On his first mission with troops, he only led eighteen cavalry to successfully kidnap Taiyuan Governor Yang Guangchong, making the Tang army, which had more than ten thousand soldiers, dare not pursue him. Li Baochen was also given the important task of Governor of Hengzhou by An Qingxu, the son of An Lushan, just two years after joining the rebel army.
However, it has been proven that despite being brave and skilled in battle, Li Baochen is still a very indecisive person. His principle is: if he is strong, he should be attached to him; if he is weak, he should be abandoned. After the death of An Lushan, the rebel forces led by An Qingxu were repeatedly defeated in battles with the court. In the first year of Qianyuan (758), nine military governors including Guo Ziyi besieged An Qingxu in Xiangzhou. At this time, the rebel forces of An Qingxu were greatly defeated, and Li Baochen in Hengzhou did not lend a helping hand, but immediately chose to surrender to the Tang army. However, after this incident, Li Baochen’s wavering between the Tang army and the rebels did not end there. In the second year of Shangyuan (767), Shi Siming defeated the Tang army in Mengshan, and the Tang court temporarily lost the ability to launch a new attack on the rebels. When the situation of the rebels was booming, Li Baochen once again wavered between the Tang army and the An Shi rebels, leaning towards them. This was also Li Baochen’s third change of position. And how could Li Baochen, who could repeatedly change his stance, be completely unprepared? He has actually been secretly preserving his strength, gathering troops to observe, and the army is the most needed force for both sides. Therefore, this is also the confidence he dares to openly jump back and forth between the Tang army and the rebels.
The last time Li Baochen wavered between the An Shi rebels and the Tang army was after the death of Shi Siming. The rebels led by Shi Chaoyi were successively defeated by the Tang army. When Shi Chaoyi faced defeat, Li Baochen surrendered to the Tang army again and received rewards from the Tang court. According to the “Zizhi Tongjian”, “In Dingyou, Zhang Zhongyi was appointed as the military governor of Chengde Army, and he unified the five states of Heng, Zhao, Shen, Ding, and Yi. He was given the surname Li and the name Baochen.” This shows the great sincerity of the Tang court towards Li Baochen. From the fact that he was given the national surname, it indicates that the Tang court regarded Li Baochen as one of its own and treated him as a subordinate to the Tang court. Loyal ministers also demonstrate the great value of Li Baochen.
After the suppression of the An Lushan Rebellion, the Tang Dynasty, which had just ended its civil war, saw a sharp decline in its national strength. When faced with the issue of dealing with the old An Lushan generals, the court could only implement lenient treatment. As long as those who chose to surrender were mostly forgiven. Li Baochen was also appointed as the Minister of Inspection and Rites, the Jiedushi of Chengde, and the Duke of Zhao by the court. In the eleventh year of the Dali era (776), Li Baochen was appointed as the Left Minister of War and was also appointed as the Prince of Longxi County. In his later years, Li Baochen became superstitious about witchcraft, and sorcerers were afraid that their deception would be exposed and killed, so they chose to poison in the water. Li Baochen died shortly after being poisoned mute at the age of 64.
