Chapter 103 The Eternal Yan Zhenqing

……

[Then Yan Zhenqing ordered his soldiers to head straight for Wei County, and with half the enemy's force, they defeated the Wei County rebels and recaptured Wei County in one fell swoop.]

[At this time, Yan Zhenqing became a banner in the early days of the An-Shi Rebellion. Not only Hebei, but even the entire Tang Dynasty was inspired by Yan Zhenqing. ]

……

"If it weren't for Yan Zhenqing, half of our Tang Dynasty would have fallen into the hands of the enemy."

Li Shimin sighed.

The bandits were coming with great force, winning battle after battle. Their morale was high, while the morale of the Tang Dynasty soldiers was low. A victory was urgently needed to boost morale.

If Yan Zhenqing had not turned the tide at the critical moment, defeated the bandits, and enhanced the military prestige of the Tang Dynasty, who knows how arrogant the bandits would have become!

I wonder how many people will surrender!
It can be said that the great victory that Yan Zhenqing brought to the Tang Dynasty was of extraordinary significance!

"It's really shameful for an ordinary civil servant to be like this!"

……

[Why did Yan Zhenqing want to attack Weijun? Here I would like to introduce a young man named Li E. It was this man who helped Yan Zhenqing formulate the general strategy for the battle.]

[In Yan Zhenqing's conception, An Lushan would have three routes of operations. The first route would go north and attack Hebei.]

[However, according to Yan Zhenqing's understanding, the imperial court has already sent General Cheng Qianli to lead 10 troops to Hebei, but now they are blocked by the enemy outside the dangerous pass. As long as Yan Zhenqing captures Wei County, he can welcome these 10 troops to enter Hebei. ]

[By then, Hebei will have strong troops and horses, and will be able to completely cut off An Lushan's route back north. ]

[On the eastern front, Henan has 100,000 troops under the command of Wu Wang Li Zhi, and on the western front, there is the natural barrier of Tongguan.]

[In Yan Zhenqing's opinion, An Lushan would not be able to defeat any of these three lines. It would not take long for An Lushan to be caught in a trap and be defeated.]

[From the subsequent development of the war, An Lushan did take action on the three fronts of east, west and north. ]

[On the first northern route, he sent out his ace, Shi Siming, to march north. ]

[The second route is the eastern route, sending heavy troops into Henan, and then building the money bag of the Tang Dynasty, the Jianghuai region.]

[The third route on the western front attacks Chang'an City, the last barrier of Tongguan. ]

[Later, the two fronts in the northeast were similar to what Yan Zhenqing had envisioned, and An Lushan was not able to conquer them. However, there were two minor differences. First, the person responsible for supporting Hebei was not Cheng Qianli, but the ruthless Guo Ziyi.]

[The one who finally stopped the enemy army's eastward advance was not Wu Wang Li Zhi, but a scholar, the small Zhenyuan County Magistrate, Zhang Xun, the iron gate of the Tang Dynasty.]

[An Lushan, who failed in his two attempts to break out of the Northeast, was extremely frightened.]

[At this time, he complained to his confidants, "You guys instigated me to rebel and told me it would be foolproof. But now Tongguan cannot be taken, the route back to the north has been cut off, and we are surrounded. How can it be foolproof?"

……

After seeing Yan Zhenqing's battle plan, many famous generals from all dynasties nodded secretly.

Although this person is a civil servant, he has such insight and such a broad perspective, which is not easy to come by.

He is a capable minister.

"It's a pity that the battle failed because of Xuanzong's stupidity."

Zhao Kuangyin, who knew about this history, shook his head regretfully.

This battle was a typical case of an amateur guiding an expert, and ultimately resulted in failure, for which Li Longji could not escape blame.

But then again, why should I feel sorry?
If the Tang Dynasty really won, would there be any chance for Zhao Kuangyin?
……

[But at this time, a black swan event broke out, and Tongguan, which seemed to be the most foolproof, was lost. ]

[The one responsible for guarding Tongguan is Geshu Han, the last of the three brilliant generals of the Tang Dynasty.]

[Geshu Han originally wanted to defend Tongguan, but the treacherous minister Yang Guozhong, who was at odds with Geshu Han, forced Geshu Han to go out to meet the enemy, resulting in the annihilation of the 20 Tang soldiers.]

[In the end, Geshu Han was defeated and surrendered to the enemy.]

[An Lushan is not happy anymore, but my mortal enemy Yang Guozhong is the best to me. ]

【Yan Zhenqing wanted to cry but had no tears. The idea of ​​encircling An Lushan to death was shattered in his mind.】

……

The turn of events caught many people off guard and left them speechless.

The situation was originally very good, but because of Yang Guozhong's outrageous actions, the 20-strong army was wiped out. Who could bear this?

They are simply pig teammates!
Li Shimin's eyes went dark and he felt dizzy and dark.

What an idiot!
How can there be such stupid people in the world!

When the country is in danger of survival, instead of thinking about sincere cooperation and national safety, they are fighting among themselves and struggling for power. How can there be such idiots in the world!

How did Li Longji allow such an idiot to become prime minister?

Is this still the Li Longji who founded the prosperous Tang Dynasty?

Don’t you understand that laymen should not guide experts?

Wouldn't you stop him?
It's really unheard of that he killed three generals in a row.

Anyone with a bit of common sense would not have let things get so bad. In Li Shimin's opinion, Li Longji had an unshirkable responsibility for the fact that the Anshi Rebellion lasted so long!
...【It was this series of mysterious operations that caused the An-Shi Rebellion to last for eight years.】

[After the An-Shi Rebellion ended, the prestige of the imperial court fell to the bottom. Jiedushi in various places had their own troops and many of them refused to obey the imperial court's orders.]

[24 years later, Yan Zhenqing was already 74 years old, but he still had a temper that could not tolerate any injustice and was still upright and outspoken.]

[Because of this temper, he offended several prime ministers, and his career as an official also experienced ups and downs.]

[However, as an old hero who had made great contributions during the An-Shi Rebellion, his prestige in the court was always high. ]

[The prime minister at that time was Lu Qi, a descendant of the prominent Fanyang Lu family.]

[In order to suppress the highly respected Yan Zhenqing, Lu Qi used a shady trick. At that time, Huaixi Jiedushi Li Xilie was plotting a rebellion, so Lu Qi suggested that we should select a highly respected old minister to reprimand Li Xilie in person.]

[Who should I choose? Yan Zhenqing, a veteran of three dynasties, highly respected. ]

……

At this moment, the faces of the people who were looking at the sky curtain changed.

Zhang Fei was furious: "Isn't this sending people to their deaths? Is this what a human being would do?"

Not only Zhang Fei was furious.

Many heroes are furious when they see such a despicable person pushing someone into the fire even though they know it's a dead end.

I wish I could go to the Tang Dynasty and poke hundreds of transparent holes in Lu Qi's body!

……

[Everyone knows that this is tantamount to committing suicide, so everyone advises Yan Zhenqing not to go.]

[Yan Zhenqing said to Lu Qi in a gloomy voice, "Back then, the rebels cut off your father's head and sent it to Pingyuan County. I respected his loyalty and bravery, so I licked the blood off his head with my tongue and buried him with honor. Are you ostracizing me now?"]

……

When these words were spoken, many people were moved.

There is actually this kind of relationship between the two of them.

"Ungrateful!"

Now not only Zhang Fei couldn't bear it anymore, Liu Bei also drew his sword.

It can be said that Yan Zhenqing was kind to Lu Qi by burying his father, but Lu Qi repaid the kindness with hatred, which is not worthy of being a human son!

……

[Yes, this is what we mentioned before. When An Lushan captured Luoyang, the censor Lu Yi sent his wife and children away and died bravely.]

[This Lu Qi is the child that Lu Yi sent away that year.]

[A minister reported that losing a senior official was a shame for the country, and asked to keep him.]

[It means that letting an old minister die is a disgrace to the court and cannot be allowed.]

[However, Yan Zhenqing, knowing that he would surely die, still resolutely walked towards the enemy camp.]

[Before he left, he left his son six words: serve the family temple and take care of the orphans.]

[This is a farewell letter. Please make good offerings to the family temple and take good care of the children.]

[When they arrived at the enemy camp, the rebel general Li Xilie ordered his thousands of adopted sons to hold up their sharp knives and form a steel corridor for Yan Zhenqing to pass through. He also ordered these adopted sons to insult Yan Zhenqing constantly.]

【And what about Yan Zhenqing? 】

[Faced with sharp knives and insults, his face remained unchanged. He walked up to Li Xilie, explained the righteousness between the monarch and his subjects, and advised him to turn back.]

【Li Xilie respected Yan Zhenqing's character and did not kill him, but put him under house arrest. He also sent messengers to tell Yan Zhenqing that he had heard that he had a high reputation and good morals. If he was willing to submit to him, he would let him be the prime minister.】

[Yan Zhenqing sneered and said, "Have you heard of a man named Yan Gaoqing? When An Lushan cut off his flesh piece by piece, he did not waver. He is my cousin. This is the character of our Yan family."]

[Seeing that soft tactics didn't work, Li Xilie resorted to hard tactics. He ordered people to dig a big pit and threatened Yan Zhenqing, saying, "I'm going to bury you alive."]

[Yan Zhenqing was not afraid at all, and said why bother with so much trouble, if you want to kill me, wouldn’t it be more satisfying to just chop me with a knife? ]

[Yan Zhenqing was imprisoned by Li Xilie for one year and seven months. He was an old man in his seventies.]

[On the third day of the eighth month of the first year of Emperor Dezong of Tang's Xingyuan reign, Li Xilie sent someone to execute Yan Zhenqing.]

[He remained calm in the face of adversity and humiliation, and despite several ups and downs in his career, he remained patriotic. This is the character of Yan Zhenqing.]

[His heroic and heroic death for his country also adds glory to his calligraphy, and he is a true gentleman of morality.]

【Looking at Yan Zhenqing's ups and downs in his political career, he passed the imperial examination at the age of 26 and was selected by the Ministry of Personnel at the age of 28 to embark on the road of officialdom. After that, he served in four dynasties, was diligent and loyal, and sacrificed his life to maintain the unity of the Li Tang Dynasty, becoming a model of a loyal and righteous man. 】

[Whether in the government or in the distant world, Yan Zhenqing always adhered to the principle of serving the people and the country, which was his personality charm. "It is what my heart desires, and I will not regret it even if I die nine times", this is the bright spot of Yan Zhenqing's personality. 】

[Looking back at history, China has always had people who work hard, people who work hard, people who plead for the people, and people who sacrifice their lives for the law.]

[These shining historical figures are the backbone of the Chinese people. ]

【Yan Gong will live forever.】

(End of this chapter)