The An Lushan Rebellion was a political rebellion that occurred in the Tang Dynasty of China. Next, let’s hear some of his stories from the editor of History Encyclopedia.
The Tang Dynasty was a highly discussed dynasty, with the first female emperor of China’s feudal history and the presence of Yang Guifei, who prevented the emperor from going to court early. Due to the strong economic strength during the Tang Dynasty,
Therefore, the people’s minds are open, so it is no wonder that some seemingly unimaginable things occurred during the feudal period.
The entire feudal history has reached halfway through the Tang Dynasty, and the Tang Dynasty has also pushed feudal history to a climax, so it has important significance for feudal history. The decline of the prosperous Tang Dynasty also means that the feudal period is about to pass, and the former glory is no longer there. The turning point for the fate of the Tang Dynasty or feudal period was the An Lushan Rebellion. The An Lushan Rebellion was the most lethal rebellion in feudal history, which not only destroyed the Tang Dynasty, but also directly changed the fate of the feudal period.
So why did An Lushan rebel back then? He was only the commander of the Three Towns, and even though Emperor Xuanzong favored Yang Guifei and did many shameful things, it was impossible for An Lushan to compete with him. So why did An Lushan, who is so smooth, do something extremely difficult? Actually, An Lushan had no choice,
He must take this step.
Tang Minghuang was one of the few emperors in history who excelled in civil governance, martial arts, and decisive battles. After the death of Empress Wu Zetian, there was a conflict between the two families. Due to Wu Zetian’s deliberate actions over the years, the power of the Wu family gradually increased. When Wu Zetian passed away and Li Dan succeeded to the throne, Li Dan’s personality was relatively weak, and the person who could help him stabilize the court situation was his son Li Longji.
After ascending to the throne, Li Longji was ruthless in his methods. He once falsely accused Li Ying and others of plotting rebellion due to Empress Wu Hui, but as his father, Li Longji did not distinguish between the truth and falsehood of the matter. Instead, he firmly believed that his son was plotting rebellion and executed three children in one day, which was rare in the entire feudal history. However, such a decisive emperor allowed An Lushan to watch helplessly as he rebelled.
After inheriting the crown prince, Li Heng, despite being the crown prince, remained cautious and dared not cross the line, as he witnessed Emperor Xuanzong’s attitude towards his other children. Although the Crown Prince was already very obedient, Emperor Xuanzong of Tang was still worried and repeatedly struck him.
In the eyes of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, everything seemed less important than his imperial power. The Crown Prince was in such an environment, trembling every day and almost being deposed several times. Prime Minister Li Linfu saw the intentions of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang and took the opportunity to add insult to injury, repeatedly spreading false accusations, which made Emperor Xuanzong even more dissatisfied with the Crown Prince.
But the Crown Prince also has a protective umbrella. The Crown Prince and Prince Zhongsi are good friends and have a close relationship. Moreover, Prince Zhongsi is a highly accomplished general who oversees the military forces in the entire northwest region. Therefore, although Emperor Xuanzong of Tang did not value the Crown Prince
But I dare not use him without authorization, because behind the Crown Prince is the support of the entire Northwest Army.
Faced with the power behind the crown prince, Tang Xuanzong naturally felt uneasy, so he needed to cultivate a force that could balance the power of the crown prince. With the support of Li Linfu and Tang Xuanzong, An Lushan, the military governor of the three towns in Hebei, emerged. An Lushan, who came from a poor background since childhood, naturally knew how to make Tang Xuanzong happy, so he did his best to deceive him.
He even chose Yang Guifei, who was even younger than him, as his adoptive mother to show his loyalty. There were also many unpleasant scandals between him and Yang Guifei, but Tang Xuanzong seemed to not care at all. He trusted An Lushan very much and constantly promoted him to higher positions and titles, while also showing great favor. And An Lushan also knew about the relationship between Emperor Xuanzong of Tang and the Crown Prince, so he was willing to confront the Crown Prince and even disrespect him in order to express his loyalty to Emperor Xuanzong of Tang.
For example, when Emperor Xuanzong and the Crown Prince appeared together, An Lushan did not even pay homage to the Crown Prince. He even said, “I only know the Emperor, he is a Hu person and does not understand the etiquette of the Tang Dynasty. He only knows that the Emperor does not know what the Crown Prince is.” This sentence made Emperor Xuanzong very happy, but he offended the Crown Prince. With Emperor Xuanzong as his backing, An Lushan did not care about the Crown Prince at all.
Summary: Originally, An Lushan thought that under his and Li Linfu’s suppression, the Crown Prince would definitely be deposed, so he has been working hard for this goal. But what An Lushan didn’t understand was that he was just a tool of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang to balance the weight of the Crown Prince.
I originally thought that the prime minister after Li Linfu could exclude the crown prince like him, but Yang Guozhong only wanted to ensure his own interests. At this moment, An Lushan had no way out. He watched as Emperor Xuanzong of Tang grew older and he had already offended the Crown Prince. If he waited for Emperor Xuanzong a hundred years later, where would he go?
An Lushan, who deeply felt that he had no hope for his future, could only launch a rebellion for his own survival. Although this rebellion was an adventure, once successful, he would become the ruler of the world. Success and failure each accounted for half. If he didn’t try, An Lushan would undoubtedly die when the crown prince succeeded him. Therefore, An Lushan could only take one step forward.
