Once, Emperor Xuanzong of Tang walked up to the entrance of Yang Yuhuan’s palace and found men’s laughter inside. Upon closer inspection, it turned out that An Lushan and his concubines were playing and frolicking. Tang Xuanzong was furious and had the heart to kill An Lushan: “Why didn’t you come to visit me first when you entered the palace, but instead came to the Noble Consort’s bedroom first? What do you want
It can be said that An Lushan is also a smart person. When he heard this, he reacted very quickly and immediately knelt down on the ground: “Your Majesty, forgive me. I am a Hu person, and in our place, we always visit our mother first and then our father. ”Upon hearing this, Emperor Xuanzong not only dispelled his doubts, but also rewarded him with many treasures.
An Lushan was originally from the Hu ethnic group. Once, he was caught stealing sheep. Zhang Shougui, the military governor of Youzhou, originally wanted to beat the thief to death with a stick. However, An Lushan spoke in a shocking way: “Don’t you want to eliminate two clans? Are you really going to kill me?” Zhang Shougui saw that his words had a hint of heroism, so he didn’t kill him and let him and his fellow townsman Shi Siming capture the prisoners alive together.
Although An Lushan was a big fat man, he was brave and skilled in battle. Zhang Shougui adopted him as his son. In 740 AD, An Lushan was appointed as the Military and Horse Envoy of Pinglu. He also bribed court officials with large sums of money to speak well of himself, and Emperor Xuanzong of Tang preferred him. It shows that An Lushan is very good at dealing with things, has a clever mind, and is able to adapt to both sides.
During his time working in the imperial court, An Lushan discovered that Emperor Xuanzong of Tang doted on Yang Guifei very much, almost always responding to her requests. An Lushan wanted to curry favor again, knowing that pleasing Yang Guifei was equivalent to gaining the trust of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang. So there was a very funny scene. An Lushan, who was 16 years older than Yang Guifei, said, “I have lacked maternal love since I was young. When I see your kind appearance, I think of my mother. I want to recognize you as my godmother, and I hope Your Majesty can agree.” Emperor Xuanzong of Tang laughed heartily and said, “This is a cheap son for nothing, so he agreed.
With this relationship, An Lushan ran to the palace every few days, claiming to visit his mother, and finally gained the trust of Yang Yuhuan. Yang Guozhong, the brother of Yang Yuhuan, once told Tang Xuanzong that An Lushan would definitely rebel, but Tang Xuanzong just smiled and didn’t take it seriously, which shows the role of Yang Yuhuan and laid the foundation for later tiger breeding.
On the first day of the first lunar month in 751 AD, which was An Lushan’s birthday, on the third day after his birthday, a messenger suddenly came, saying that it was summoned by the Noble Consort. An Lushan looked confused and only found out when he went to the palace that it was the Noble Consort who was going to bathe him (bathing was an important ceremony in ancient China, and was performed on the third day of a newborn’s birth).
An Lushan was particularly overweight, so Yang Yuhuan ordered someone to put him into a large bathtub and imitate the scene of a baby bathing. An Lushan also cooperated very well, calling out one mother at a time. After taking a shower, he wrapped him in a specially made swaddle and carried him on a sedan chair, wandering around the harem, calling out “Lu’er Lu’er” with great joy.
Emperor Xuanzong of Tang found this scene very amusing and rewarded him with many treasures. An Lushan’s favor grew day by day. He concurrently served as the military governor of Pinglu, Fanyang, and Hedong towns, and there was no refusal to submit requests to the court. He demanded money and money, people and territories, and rebellion was only a matter of time.
But An Lushan was afraid of only one person, which was the prime minister Li Linfu at that time. With the favor of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, An Lushan was arrogant when he saw him. Li Linfu just stared at An Lushan, and after two seconds of eye contact, An Lushan felt breathless. Li Linfu summoned the imperial censor Wang Ting again, who held a position second only to Li Linfu in the court. Wang Ting showed great respect to Li Linfu. Seeing Wang Ting’s posture like this, An Lushan also showed respect to Li Linfu.
After Wang Ting left, Li Linfu spoke out An Lushan’s intentions and ideas without any doubt. An Lushan broke into a cold sweat when he heard this. In front of this person, he was naked and had no secrets. Later on, every time he saw Li Linfu, An Lushan was very scared, even in winter he would sweat profusely.
After An Lushan returned to Fanyang, whenever an envoy came back from the capital, he only cared about what Li Linfu had said. If it was a warning or something like that, An Lushan would hold onto the bed with both hands and say, “I’m dead, I’m dead now.” It wasn’t until 753 AD, when Li Linfu passed away, that Yang Guozhong conspired with An Lushan to falsely accuse Li Linfu of conspiring with the rebel Abu Si to rebel. Li Linfu’s home was raided and his family was exiled.
After Li Linfu’s death, no one could suppress An Lushan anymore. Due to Emperor Xuanzong’s excessive focus on pacifying Mount Lu, Yang Guozhong was dissatisfied and the two often engaged in open and covert battles. Emperor Xuanzong also acted as if watching a play. Only two years after Li Linfu’s death, in 755 AD, under the pretext of a secret edict to suppress Yang Guozhong, the “An Lushan Rebellion” broke out in Fanyang, which lasted for eight years.
In his later years, Emperor Xuanzong of Tang was incompetent and favored treacherous officials. He was easily deceived by An Lushan’s sweet words, which gave him the capital to rebel. It has to be said that An Lushan is very good at networking. From the emperor’s consort to the soldiers, they all trust him very much. After his death, the former soldiers even called him a saint.
After the prime minister Li Linfu took office, he was afraid that the scholars would be unfavorable to him. The imperial examination was also forced to be interrupted. Li Linfu said that it was because Emperor Xuanzong of Tang was too wise, and there were no outstanding talents left. Talents had already been recruited to the court to become officials, resulting in a shortage of talents in the court and the rule of treacherous officials. Li Linfu proposed to Emperor Xuanzong of Tang that in order to prevent border generals from taking credit, some uneducated Hu people could be appointed as generals. An Lushan was also highly valued as a result, and Li Linfu’s true purpose was to fear that outstanding generals would enter the court and become officials, posing a threat to himself. This also laid the groundwork for the An Lushan Rebellion.
The An Lushan Rebellion was a turning point in the rise and fall of the Tang Dynasty, causing a devastating blow to it. After quelling the An Lushan Rebellion, the Tang Dynasty did not calm down, but instead formed a situation of regional separatism and eunuch dictatorship. In the late Tang Dynasty, wars continued and the economy declined. In 907 AD, Zhu Quanzhong forced Emperor Ai of Tang, Li Zhu, to abdicate and change the country’s name to Liang. As a result, the Tang Dynasty was destroyed and the country was founded 289 years ago.
