In the early years of Tianbao, Chang'an's registered population was about 1.2 million.
When An Lushan rebelled against the Tang Dynasty and invaded Tongguan, most of the people in the city fled south, leaving less than 30% of the people behind.
After Hebei rebels entered Chang'an, they burned, killed, and looted, and the city's population dropped to 180,000.
After that, Chang'an City came under the jurisdiction of Yan Bing, and although the population rebounded, in the fifteenth year of Tianbao, Fang Guan led his troops south to fight the rebels. The people of Chang'an responded one after another and wanted to return to the Tang Dynasty.
In that battle, Fang Guan "talked a lot but didn't do anything" and used the Spring and Autumn chariot fighting method. As a result, the Tang army was defeated and more than 40,000 people died in the battle.
After this battle, the Yan soldiers hated the people of Chang'an so much that they launched a massacre in the city.
The population of Chang'an dropped sharply again, even falling below 100,000 at one time.
Chang'an City at that time was almost no different from hell on earth.
Du Fu also wrote poems that described the tragic situation at that time:
The son of a good family from ten counties in Mengdong, his blood was made by Chen Taoze, who entered the water. The wilderness was clear and there was no sound of fighting, and 40,000 rebels died on the same day.
The time has come, the spring of the third year of the New Year (763).
After a long period of recuperation, Chang'an City gradually returned to prosperity, and its population returned to about 800,000.
As early as a month ago, the battle report of Guo Ziyi's recapture of Luoyang also reached Chang'an City.
When the people of Chang'an heard that Luoyang was restored and the rebels were defeated, they rejoiced and spontaneously held celebrations in the city for many days.
Gao Shi, who stayed in Chang'an and was also the left prime minister of the Northern Tang Dynasty, was also hosting a banquet in the Chang'an official residence for a group of distinguished guests from Liangcheng.
Among the guests were Du Fu, the Minister of Rites, Cen Shen, the minister of household affairs, Li Bai, the young eunuch of the Xuanwen Supervisor, Lu Lun, the acting chief of the Xuanwen Supervisor, and many civil servants from the capital of Liangzhou.
These officials gathered at a banquet in Chang'an. It was said that it was for the government affairs of compulsory education, but in fact it was a cultural meeting.
Du Fu was sitting at the top of the banquet, with Zuo Xiang Gao Shi next to him. He looked at the banquet attendees and said with emotion: "At the Qujiang Banquet in the tenth year of Tianbao, the world's literati gathered in Chang'an. How many years have passed?
, Du thought he would never see the grand occasion again, but unexpectedly, everyone is gathered together again."
Hearing Du Fu's words, Gao Shi looked at the vicissitudes of life and sighed: "A few years have passed by just like a snap of a finger. Mojie layman (Wang Wei), Wang Xiaoshu (Wang Changling), Li Fuxu (Li Qi), Zhang Chang
Shi (Zhang Xu)...the friends from back then are no longer here..."
Hearing this, the crowd suddenly became quiet.
Du Fu then sighed, shook his head and said, "The deceased has passed away, so there is no need to complain. Drinking has never been a good idea. Now that the wine is warm, success and fame are achieved, and the sea of clouds and the horizon are as far away as the sky."
Li Bai drank the wine in the cup and said: "Compared with them, we are lucky. We can at least see the recovery of Chang'an and Luoyang, and we can also see the day of peace in the world."
Gao Shi looked at Li Bai and asked: "Li Hanlin had been in Jiangnan for a long time, but had he ever thought that one day he would return to Chang'an?"
Li Bai looked at the city outline in the distance and softly chanted: "Longing for lovesickness, in Chang'an. Luo Wei cries in autumn in Jinjinglan, the light frost is desolate and the mat is cold. The lonely lamp cannot be seen, and I am heartbroken. I roll up the curtain and look at the moonlit sky and sigh."
Gao Shi picked up the wine glass and said quietly: "On the day Tongguan was breached, Marshal Geshu committed suicide in front of a certain person. On the way out of Chang'an, I saw the bandit army slaughtering the people of Chang'an, and Qujiang River was dyed red with blood.
The corpses were like floating oars, blocking the river. At that time, I had the illusion that I might never be able to return to the Chang'an of the past in this life."
"Afterwards, I met His Majesty and handed Marshal Geshu's sword to him. In the following days, I stayed with His Majesty, watching him step by step, turn the war into an almost dead end.
, step by step, it turned around. It was also at that time that I realized that there might be hope for Chang'an."
Li Bai drank a lot and heard Gao Shi talking about the atrocities committed by the bandits. He remembered something and blurted out: "I heard that after His Majesty ascended the throne, he liquidated the clan members and ministers who had had fornication with the bandits in order to straighten the government?
"
As soon as Li Bai said this, everyone in the hall fell silent.
Zhou Jun's succession to the throne was full of twists and turns.
The emperor, the clan, the nobles, and the old ministers all had ulterior motives.
Therefore, the so-called liquidation has complex relationships that cannot be explained clearly in just a few words.
Li Bai was a bold man at first, but after drinking, he became less scrupulous. He asked: "Luoyang has returned, and there are Tang clan members and old ministers in the Eastern Capital who have taken refuge with the bandits for many years. Logically speaking, they should be punished together. Someone.
But I went to His Majesty, Your Majesty, and said that these people should be pardoned and returned to the court. Is this possible?"
Everyone here knows what Li Bai said.
After Luoyang recovered, Guo Ziyi captured many prominent people.
Among them were Li Tang's clan and former important ministers.
For example, Chen Xilie, the left prime minister when Li Longji was in power, Xi Xun of Henan Yin Da, Prince Consort Zhang Bian, and many others.
Previously, the Northern Tang Dynasty had a precedent for dealing with surrendered ministers.
For example, in the city of Chang'an, Zhou Jun mostly adopted the method of exile for those Tang officials and clan members who surrendered to the Yan State; in the earlier Liangcheng coup, due to the harsh political struggle environment, Zhou Jun acquiesced to Kong You.
Extremely high-pressure thunderous methods were used, that is, they were executed together.
This time, Luoyang was restored, and there were many different opinions in the court on how to deal with the captured clan members and old ministers.
Some people think that people who take refuge in the rebel army are no different from treason and should be executed; some people think that these people can be sentenced to exile; and some people report to the emperor that these people can neither be killed nor exiled, but should be
Pardon the crime.
And Gao Shi went to the emperor and put forward his idea, which was the third type.
This memorial by Prime Minister Zuo caused quite a stir in the court at that time.
Let’s not talk about whether Gao Shi’s opinion is reasonable or not. Chen Xilie, Da Xixun, Zhang Bian and others did not play a very glorious role in the Anshi Rebellion, and they also did many shameful things. If they are pardoned, it will indeed cause a stir.
Very controversial.
Therefore, many courtiers criticized Gao Shi, let alone an outspoken person like Li Bai.
In response to Li Bai's accusation, Gao Shi did not argue too much, and just said: "Killing the ministers from Luoyang will not be beneficial to the Tang Dynasty, and it will not be beneficial to your majesty."
Li Bai frowned and said: "Those are the guilty officials who rebelled against the Tang Dynasty. If they are not punished on the spot, it is already a favor. How can we not even punish them, but directly pardon their crimes?"
Gao Shi didn't want to say more: "This matter is complicated, you don't understand."
What do you mean this matter is too complicated and you don’t understand it at all?
Hearing this, Li Bai immediately lost his temper.
He rolled up his sleeves, stood up, left the desk, took two quick steps, and wanted to argue with Gao Shi on the spot.
Seeing that the situation was not right, Du Fu quickly left the stage, grabbed Li Bai, and said: "You and the Left Prime Minister were good friends in the past, so why are you arguing about government affairs here? At today's banquet, everyone will only talk about elegance and put aside the dispute for the time being."
Hearing Du Fu's words, Li Bai and Gao Shi were both stunned.
In the third year of Tianbao's reign, Li Bai, who had just offended the powerful and was deprived of his official position, and Du Fu, who was frustrated and had no way to seek an official position, took a small boat to cross the Yellow River and traveled to the Liang and Song Dynasties. They happened to meet Gao Shi unexpectedly.
The three of them were both poets and had similar temperaments, so they started singing and boating on the river.
That year, Li Bai was 43 years old, Gao Shi was 40 years old, and Du Fu was 32 years old.
At that time, the three of them became close friends who talked about everything.
But now, Li Bai and Gao Shi were gray-haired and old. When they reunited in Chang'an City, they looked at each other angrily, but it was hard to see the friendship they had back then.