Chapter 361: The Price of Loyalty, Its Windy on the Gate Tower
Cao Shuang looked at Luoyang City in the dark night with emotion and said: "In times of war, loyalty is the most valuable thing. However, sometimes, the price paid for loyalty is often life, and sometimes even the life of the entire clan.
Because of this, many people would choose to betray their superiors and go to another force under such circumstances, and Zhang Xiu is one of them."
There are countless such situations. In the late Eastern Han Dynasty, many people betrayed several times for various reasons. The most famous one was Lu Bu, but even Lu Bu pales in comparison to Zhang Xiu and the others above.
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Many people call Zhang Xiu the Spear King of the North. No matter what, this is an affirmation of him.
Zhang Xiu was from Wuwei, Liangzhou, and the nephew of Dong Zhuo's general Zhang Ji. After Dong Zhuo's death, Zhang Xiu followed his uncle Zhang Ji to the border of Jingzhou. As a result, Zhang Ji died in the battle while attacking Rangcheng, so Zhang Xiu took over his tribe.
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At this time, Liu Biao sent people to appease them and arranged Zhang Xiu in Wancheng, using Zhang Xiu as a northern barrier to defend him against foreign enemies.
Zhang Xiu thought about it, his uncle was dead anyway, he couldn't defeat Liu Biao, let's not talk about revenge, just live on, so he agreed.
As a result, in the second year of Jian'an, Cao Cao attacked, and Zhang Xiu immediately betrayed Liu Biao and went to Cao Cao.
But Cao Cao died, and he had nothing to do with his aunt. As a result, Zhang Xiu immediately rebelled and almost killed Cao Cao, causing Cao Cao to kill his general Dian Wei and his son Cao Ang.
The next year, Cao Cao came back, and Zhang Xiu formed an alliance with Liu Biao and defeated Cao Cao. The third year, Cao Cao came again, and at this time, Zhang Xiu actually betrayed Liu Biao and turned to Cao Cao.
To say that he had a really big heart, he killed someone's son, nephew, and general and still dared to surrender. He really didn't want his life. But fortunately, Emperor Wu was really tolerant and treated him kindly regardless of previous grudges.
Cao Shuang was talking to the three women about the repeated rebellions of previous military generals, which made him think of Tian Chengsi in another time and space: "He rebelled against the Tang Dynasty six times, was promoted to a higher rank each time, and even married Princess Yongle.
The emperor has to give face, and this life is enough." During the Anshi Rebellion, Tian Chengsi was the biggest winner, which really has to be admired and admired!
Tian Chengsi, an Anshi rebel general, was brave and good at fighting. In 755, An Lushan raised troops, Tian Chengsi and Li Baochen served as the vanguard generals, captured Heyang, Luoyang, and Yingchuan, killed more than 30,000 Tang troops, and guarded Yingchuan.
In 757, Tian Chengsi defeated Lu Jiong, captured Nanyang, and killed 40,000 Tang troops. Soon after, Guo Ziyi regained Luoyang. Seeing that the situation was not good, Tian Chengsi surrendered to the Tang Dynasty and continued to guard Yingchuan.
In 759, at the critical moment of the Battle of Xiangzhou, Tian Chengsi rebelled against the Tang Dynasty again and served as Shi Siming's vanguard. The 600,000 Tang army was defeated, 9 Jiedu envoys fled, and Guo Ziyi was dismissed. Then, Tian Chengsi captured Luoyang, and the Central Plains was in chaos.
In 763, the Tang army regained Hebei, but Tian Chengsi took advantage of the situation and continued to surrender. Emperor Daizong of the Tang Dynasty was very happy and asked him to divide Hebei with Li Baochen, Li Huaixian, and Xue Song, and granted him the title of Jiedushi, like the "Emperor of the Earth".
As the military envoy of Wei Bo, Tian Chengsi himself collected taxes, appointed officials, recruited soldiers, and fortified the city, and refused to enter the court to see the emperor. The warlord separatism in Hebei began with Tian Chengsi, but he was not satisfied yet.
In 773, Tian Chengsi openly provoked the Tang Dynasty and built ancestral halls to worship the four "Dayan" emperors An Lushan, An Qingxu, Shi Siming and Shi Chaoyi, revering them as the "Four Saints" and presented them to the court, hoping to serve as
Prime Minister.
Emperor Daizong of the Tang Dynasty was very angry, but did not want to anger Tian Chengsi, so he made him the king of Yanmen County, and married Princess Yongle to his son Tian Hua, making them their children. After that, Tian Chengsi became even more wanton.
In 775, Tian Chengsi used the excuse of attacking Pei Zhiqing to sneak attack Xiangzhou, take it as his own, and openly annex it. The Tang Dynasty clan sent people to persuade, but Tian Chengsi refused to give face, and also captured Mingshui and Weizhou, and appointed officials as
own territory.
In the same year, the Tang Dynasty sent Li Baochen and other eight Jiedu envoys to attack Tian Chengsi with a so-called 200,000-strong army. The two sides fought in Hebei. Tian Chengsi failed in the battle and surrendered to the court, but immediately rebelled and launched a surprise attack on Handan.
Li Baochen and Li Zhengji counterattacked, and Tian Chengsi suffered another defeat, losing more than 50,000 troops. At this time, Tian Chengsi still used his "killing tool" and took the initiative to appeal to the court and was tolerated.
As soon as the imperial court withdrew its troops, Tian Chengsi immediately contacted Li Baochen and promised to help him obtain Youzhou. The two hit it off and sent troops to attack Fan Yang and kill the Tang army, once again playing tricks on the imperial court.
In 776, Emperor Daizong of the Tang Dynasty issued an edict to allow Tian Chengsi to attend the Hajj. Tian Chengsi not only refused again, but also sent troops to capture Huatai, drive away Li Mian, and expand his sphere of influence.
In 777, Li Lingyao rebelled and occupied Kaifeng, and the imperial court ordered a crusade. Tian Chengsi openly supported the rebels, intercepted the Tang army on the way and killed more than 5,000 people. Tang Daizong ordered a crusade, and Tian Chengsi "confessed", so Tang Daizong restored him
He was granted an official title and tacitly allowed him to occupy the six states of Hebei.
In 779, when Tian Chengsi was dying, he appointed his nephew Tian Yue as the military envoy to take over the "Tian family's foundation" and set a precedent for hereditary vassal towns. To this, Emperor Daizong of the Tang Dynasty could only agree and posthumously made him the Taibao.
He rebelled 6 times in his life, and was "forgiven" every time. He was promoted to a higher position and became a hereditary governor of the vassal town. Tian Chengsi was definitely the winner of the Anshi Rebellion. He lived a decent life and lived to be 75 years old. Of course.
There is only one person in the world, Tian Chengsi, not even Hou Junji, let alone Lu Fengxian and others who were several years ahead of him.
Cao Shuang thought this way, and he didn't want anyone to appear under his nose. No matter when such a powerful warlord appeared, it would be a headache, and those in power didn't want to see it, so he wanted to use his military power to
Only when you hold it firmly in your own hands will you be safe.
So, why does Tian Chengsi dare to be so arrogant? What is his confidence? From the perspective of force value, Tian Chengsi is very average and often loses battles. What qualifications does he have to challenge the Tang Dynasty and not give the court face? It's very simple, Tian Chengsi
Si was very smart and saw the weakness of the Tang Dynasty.
The Tang Dynasty did not have a strong direct armed force, so it relied on the military forces of the feudal towns to quell the Anshi Rebellion, and also relied on the conflicts between the feudal towns to maintain balance. In addition, the rise of Tubo often attacked Longxi, and Chang'an was always in peace, and it also needed the support of the feudal towns to fight against Tubo.
The vassal town and the Tang Dynasty were a "community" with many contradictions, but they relied on each other to maintain the overall situation. No one was willing to break the balance. Tian Chengsi was disobedient, so the Tang Dynasty relied on the vassal town to attack; the vassal town also kept a hand in order to meet each other in the future, and
Really fighting.
In this way, even if Tian Chengsi rebelled countless times, the Tang Dynasty could only tolerate it. This was due to the situation. Fortunately, there is no such soil today. After all, the three families have been separated for a long time in these troubled times, and there is no room for more people.
Come and share the world.
The four of them stayed on the gatehouse for a long time. The wind at night gradually became stronger. Cao Shuang said to the three women with concern: "Let me wait. The wind is a bit strong on the gatehouse. Although it is a summer night, it will blow too much."
It's easy to catch wind and cold." In fact, not only is the wind strong above the gate, but also the wind in the world. Since Emperor Wu, the wind direction has changed countless times in the past few years.
Jian Jia also said gently: "It just so happens that my sisters and I are already a little sleepy, so let's go back and rest."