The biggest difference between the An-Shi Rebellion and the previous seven battles was that this was an internal rebellion initiated by the generals at the border, not a battle between two major powers.
Speaking of this battle, we have to briefly talk about the military governor system of the Tang Dynasty.
Emperor Taizong and Emperor Gaozong repeatedly expanded their territory and pacified the Liaodong, Eastern Turkic, Western Turkic, and Tuyuhun regions, making the Tang Dynasty an extremely vast empire.
In order to strengthen the central government's control over the border, consolidate the defense, and govern the foreign tribes, Emperor Xuanzong set up ten military towns at the border in the tenth year of the Kaiyuan Era, which were managed by nine military governors and one military governor.
What was a military governor?
According to the 'Book of the New Tang Dynasty', the 40th Army ', "It has its own land, its own people, its own armors, and its own taxes." Because of this, the military governors dominated a region and became a worry for the Tang Imperial Family.
Emperor Xuanzong abolished the military system, making the Tang Dynasty more powerful on the outside and weaker on the inside. At that time, there were five hundred thousand soldiers at the border, but the Imperial Family had less than eighty thousand soldiers. The local military governors were already a threat to the Imperial Family. An Lushan alone was the military governor of Pinglu, military governor of Fanyang, and military governor of Hedong. He had one hundred and fifty thousand soldiers.
To an emperor, whether an official wanted to rebel or not did not depend on whether the official had the intention to rebel or not, but whether the official had the ability to rebel or not. Without a doubt, An Lushan had the ability.
Many officials in the Imperial Family submitted memorials to Emperor Xuanzong, saying that An Lushan might rebel, but Emperor Xuanzong did not listen. The most resolute one was the Prime Minister, Yang Guozhong, the brother of Yang Guifei.
Yang Guozhong and An Lushan had been enemies for a long time, but Emperor Xuanzong did not interfere. An Lushan also had other ambitions and had a large military force, so he rebelled in the name of fighting against Yang Guifei.
Thus, the eight-year rebellion began. When the war ended, there was no real winner.
Prime Minister Yang Guozhong was killed by the angry soldiers in the Mawei Inn Mutiny, Yang Guifei was forced to commit suicide, and Emperor Xuanzong parted ways with Crown Prince Li Heng. In the end, he was forced to abdicate and become the retired emperor.
The rebels did not have a good ending either.
Ironically, the two rebel leaders did not die on the battlefield, but were killed by their sons. An Lushan was killed by his son An Qingxu, and Shi Siming was killed by his son Shi Chaoyi.
Personal fates were secondary. More importantly, the An Lushan Rebellion directly affected the Tang Dynasty's future, and indirectly affected the fate of the entire Chinese Nation.
The An-Shi Rebellion destroyed the foundation of the Tang Empire's rule, weakened the centralized feudal power, and created the necessary conditions for the feudal separatist regime. The Tang Empire fell from prosperity to decline, never to rise again.
During the Five Dynasties and Ten Mutiny, about the Emperor of the Tang dynasty, and the Song Dynasty, Emperor Zhao Kuangyin, destroyed the Dynasty.
During the period of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, there were cases of military dictatorship, usurpation, and mutiny of soldiers and generals, such as Guo Wei, the founder of the Later Zhou Dynasty, and Zhao Kuangyin, the founder of the Song Dynasty, took advantage of the 'Chenqiao Mutiny, wearing the Yellow Robe' to gain power.
In order to prevent this kind of thing from happening again, Zhao Kuangyin implemented the policy of emphasizing culture and despising military. He encouraged scholars to become generals, and strictly prohibited martial artists from interfering in politics. He also used the opportunity of drinking and drinking to inform the generals to resign.
Although Zhao Kuangyin's policy of emphasizing culture and despising military succeeded in weakening the local power and prolonging the reign of the Song Dynasty, it caused the Song Dynasty and the Song Dynasty to be poor and weak. The Song Dynasty was in dire financial straits, and the region was in dire straits.
Throughout the Song Dynasty, this situation did not change much.
After the Tang Dynasty, it became an extravagant hope for the generals to become ministers, and it became a tradition for the civil officials to control the generals. Some people joked that the Han Nation was castrated, and they would no longer have the glory of the Han and Tang Dynasties.
… …
Shanhai City, Xia Palace.
As soon as the system announcement ended, Feng Qiuhuang came to Shanhai City to discuss the war with Ouyang Shuo.
Right now, there were only the two of them left in the [Shanhai Alliance].
There were many civil and military officials from the Tang Dynasty in the Great Xia Dynasty. Therefore, no matter what Di Chen and the rest chose, Ouyang Shuo would still choose the Tang Dynasty's side.
If the [Yan Huang Alliance] also chose the Tang Dynasty's side, then there would be no suspense in this war.
However, with the arrogance of Di Chen and the rest, they would probably want to fight with Ouyang Shuo on the battlefield. One of the reasons was that the [Yan Huang Alliance] had the absolute advantage in terms of military strength.
Although Ouyang Shuo was a Duke, he could only command 100,000 soldiers. Feng Qiuhuang was a First Grade Duke, and could command 50,000 soldiers. In total, it would be 150,000 soldiers.
The [Yan Huang Alliance] had 6 First Grade Dukes, and could command 300,000 soldiers. This was exactly twice the number of the [Shanhai Alliance]. The soldiers on the battlefield could be revived with battle contribution points. Therefore, Di Chen and the rest had nothing to worry about.
Ouyang Shuo was happy to see this happen.
"Isn't it too boring if we're all in harmony?" Ouyang Shuo said to Feng Qiuhuang.
Feng Qiuhuang nodded. She was also a person who liked to fight.
Ouyang Shuo continued, "This war is a great opportunity for Fallen Phoenix City to subdue their generals. You have to make good use of it." Ouyang Shuo's words meant that he was voluntarily giving up his authority to subdue the Tang Dynasty's generals.
Feng Qiuhuang had Old K, Wang Ci and Zhou Bo, 3 generals under her. This was already good enough. The only thing she lacked was a commander level general.
The Tang Dynasty's famous general Guo Ziyi was undoubtedly a suitable candidate.
Feng Qiuhuang smiled brightly, "Then it would be impolite of me to refuse." There was no need for formalities between the two of them.
… …
Jingdu Province, Handan City.
Di Chen and the rest gathered together to discuss the war.
"The old fox has already said that he will choose the Tang Dynasty's side. What does everyone think?" Di Chen asked.
Lord Chunshen sneered, "He really knows how to take advantage of the situation. By choosing the Tang Dynasty's side, isn't it obvious that he wants to defeat us again?!"
"You can't say that." War Wolf disagreed, "With Tang Xuanzong's stupidity, choosing the Tang Dynasty's side may not be beneficial. Furthermore, the Anshi Rebellion lasted eight years in history. No one knows when Gaia will extrapolate the war to. There are many variables. "
"That's right." Xiong Ba nodded. "With Gaia's nature, they will not be biased towards any side. It's all the same no matter which side we choose. The key is how we operate."
Seeing that everyone had expressed their opinions, Di Chen smiled and said, "What everyone means is to fight again?!"
"Fight!" Xiong Ba said concisely.
"That's right. We can't be afraid. If we don't win once, I won't be satisfied." Military Kill Ripper took it to heart.
Lord Chunshen did not object. He smiled and said, "That's fine. We've already fought seven times. One more time won't make a difference. According to the speculations of the family's experts who specialize in the rules of war, the next few wars in the China region are likely to be single-faction wars. We won't have many chances to wrestle with the old fox anymore. "
Di Chen said heroically, "Alright, then it's decided. Let's go all out and fight again."
[Yan Huang Alliance] and [Shan Hai Alliance] once again began their confrontation.
On the 15th of January in the fifth year of Gaia, 9am, the system announcement rang.
"System Announcement: In the year 755, military governor An Lushan and Shi Siming rebelled against the Tang Empire in the name of 'crusading against Yang Guozhong'. In the end, they were suppressed by the Tang Empire. The eighth epic war — The An-Shi Rebellion has officially begun!"
Checking the conditions for participating in the war, selecting the participating troops, choosing the faction …
Ouyang Shuo chose two Mountain Barbarian Heavy Infantry Divisions from the First Legion of the Imperial Guards, the Second Legion of the Imperial Guards, and the Three Thousand Divine Martial Guards to form an army of one hundred thousand.
Since the Tang Empire did not lack famous generals, Ouyang Shuo did not bring Huo Qubing on this trip.
"System Announcement: Begin teleportation!"
After a brief moment of dizziness, Ouyang Shuo and his party appeared on the battlefield.
"System Announcement: Welcome to the main camp of the Tang Empire — Chang 'an."
"Chang 'an?"
Ouyang Shuo was stunned. This meant that Chang 'an had not been conquered by the rebel army yet.
According to history, Emperor Xuanzong should not have brought his ministers and concubines to take refuge in Shu. The famous Mawei Inn Mutiny had not happened.
"Then, has Tong Pass already fallen?"
Ouyang Shuo was most concerned about this. Tong Pass was the last line of defense for Chang 'an. If it fell, then there was no point in staying in Chang' an.
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