Chapter 104: The Greatest General in History, Guo Ziyi
Song.

Ouyang Xiu, Su Xun, Su Shi, Su Zhe, Wang Anshi, Zeng Gong and others looked at the tragic and heroic death of Yan Zhenqing, their eyes filled with tears, and they knelt down in worship.

"Everyone knows the Preface to the Orchid Pavilion, but few have heard of the Sacrifice for My Nephew."

"Mr. Yan revised it again and again, fearing that he could not write about this family of loyal heroes."

"Eternal glory to Yan Gong!"

……

【Why is Guo Ziyi called the greatest general of all time. 】

As the new video title appeared, it instantly touched the hearts of countless generals.

"The greatest general of all time?"

The young Huo Qubing looked at the Wolf Mountain, with a sharp look in his eyes: "Interesting."

"Isn't that a bit too arrogant?"

The soldiers around were talking about it, all with a look of dissatisfaction on their faces.

"Why can this man be called the greatest general of all time? Is there anyone in the world who can lead troops and fight as well as our general?"

"That's right! Why should he?"

"I think this is probably some unfilial descendant from later generations making up nonsense!"

The soldiers were indignant.

Since ancient times, there has been no first in literature and no second in martial arts. Tianmu had previously said that the General of Cavalry was a true god of war and an idol of countless famous generals in later generations.

Now, a person suddenly appears and is hailed as the "greatest general of all time". Seeing that his reputation is greater than that of Huo Qubing, everyone is naturally dissatisfied.

Throughout the dynasties, many generals who were unaware of Guo Ziyi's deeds had similar reactions.

Of course.

Everyone was looking forward to Tianmu's next narration, wanting to know who Guo Ziyi was and why he could be regarded as the greatest general of all time.

"If I remember correctly, Guo Ziyi only came to prominence during the An-Shi Rebellion."

During the Zhenguan period, with Fang Xuanling's reminder, many people recalled Guo Ziyi's information and looked surprised and doubtful.

Their Tang Dynasty actually produced the greatest general in history?
……

[Today, we will use the perspective of Guo Ziyi, a legendary general who helped rebuild the Tang Dynasty, to fully understand the entire process of how the An-Shi Rebellion, the largest civil strife in Chinese history, was quelled.]

[Zizhi Tongjian commented on Guo Ziyi in this way: "His achievements were so great that the ruler did not doubt him; his position was so high that the ministers did not dislike him; his extravagance was so extravagant that no one criticized him."]

[Translation means that Lao Guo has made great contributions, but the emperor does not suspect him; he has great power, but the officials do not envy him; he has tremendous wealth, but no one criticizes him.]

……

"How can one be so powerful yet not be suspected?"

"Let's not talk about how he fought in battles, just the fact that he was able to retire after achieving success is enough to praise him."

“This person has great wisdom!”

Throughout the dynasties, many officials have discussed this issue.

Since ancient times, the relationship between the ruler and his subjects has been a profound subject.

There are very few examples of rulers and ministers like Zhuge Liang and Liu Chan in history books.

It is normal for the ruler and his subjects to be suspicious of each other and for those who are more successful than their ruler to not have a good end.

It is well known that when the cunning rabbit dies, the good dog is cooked; when the high bird is gone, the good bow is hidden; when the enemy country is defeated, the counselors die.

Han Xin and Fan Li are typical representatives of this type.

therefore.

Not to mention "the ministers are not angry when one is in the highest position, and no one criticizes him when he is extravagant and lustful". Just being able to "achieve the highest achievements in the world and the lord does not doubt him" is enough to make people curious.

So how did Guo Ziyi do all this?

The sky curtain successfully aroused the interest of countless high-ranking officials and ministers.

……

【Let’s start with Guo Ziyi’s life. 】

[When Guo Ziyi was 20 years old, he took part in the military examination and was admitted to the imperial court as an official with an exceptional score.]

[But his good grades did not make him a successful official. The famous generals of the Tang Dynasty at the same time were all high-ranking officials at the age of 40. However, as the most brilliant general among them, Guo Ziyi was nearly years old. Not to mention being a high-ranking official, he almost lost his head.]...

"As long as people have the ability, age is not a problem at all."

Liu Bang thought about himself. Who says that one can’t accomplish great things when one is old?
Didn’t I also become the ruler of the world at an old age?
……

[Guo Ziyi committed a crime in Bingzhou. Fortunately, a famous person came to his rescue and saved Guo Ziyi, which also extended the Tang Dynasty's national destiny for 150 years. ]

[This famous person is Li Bai, the famous poet in the literary and artistic circles of the Tang Dynasty. ]

……

"Li Bai!"

"The great poet Li Bai!"

"He has this kind of relationship with Marshal Guo!"

Many scholars discussed the relationship between the two.

Many people were impressed by Li Bai's poetic talent, and those who regarded Li Bai as their idol were even more delighted.

Unexpectedly, the immortal poet once saved Guo Ziyi's life.

In this case, didn’t the great poet Li Bai indirectly save the Tang Dynasty?

He is worthy of being called the Immortal Poet!
……

What exactly happened?

[When Guo Ziyi got into trouble, Li Bai happened to be traveling in Bingzhou with his good friend Yuan Yan.]

[Yuan Yan is the elder brother of Dan Qiusheng, who is the one who is trying to persuade others to drink in Li Bai's "Song of the Wine".]

[Yuan Yan's father was the prefect of Bingzhou at the time, the top military and political official.]

【At that time, Li Bai was famous, and Yuan Fuyin gave Li Bai a grand welcome. Later, Li Bai recalled this incident and wrote about Yuan Fuyin in his poem.】

[It was during this period of travel in Bingzhou that Li Bai and Guo Ziyi met.]

[At that time, Guo Ziyi was still a young general in the forage camp. Despite this, Li Bai became very interested in Guo Ziyi when he first saw him. He thought he was a rare talent, and the two soon became good friends.]

[As mentioned earlier, Guo Ziyi was just a junior officer in the forage camp at that time. It is said that his subordinates accidentally caused the forage to catch fire, and Guo Ziyi failed to supervise it properly, so he was convicted and his life was in danger.]

[No one cares about the life of a young general. ]

[However, at this critical moment, for the sake of his friend, Li Bai did not hesitate to spend a fortune and personally went out to help Guo Ziyi get rid of the crime. ]

[At that time, Li Bai was already a widely admired great poet, and with his relationship with the prefect of Yuan, his reputation was still very valuable.]

【So he successfully rescued Guo Ziyi in the end. 】

[Although Guo Ziyi was spared the suffering of criminal law with the help of Li Bai, his career advancement was still very slow in the next 20 years. It was not until he was 57 years old that Guo Ziyi was appointed as the military commander of the right wing of Shuofang Jiedushi.]

[It was not until the An-Shi Rebellion broke out that Guo Ziyi finally had his day to shine, serving as the governor of Shuofang and becoming a true frontier official.]

[Because of his meritorious service in recovering the two capitals (Chang'an and Luoyang), he was promoted to the position of Si Tu, Duke of Dai, and then to the position of Zhong Shu Ling. Later, he was granted the title of Prince of Fenyang. He achieved great success and was in a high position among officials.]

[But faced with the hard-earned wealth, Guo Ziyi could just say he didn't want it.]

[It turned out that not long after Guo Ziyi became the governor, his old friend Li Bai, who had saved his life, met with an accident.]

[Those who know Li Bai's life story should be familiar with this matter. 】

[During the An-Shi Rebellion, Li Bai, whose career was not going well, traveled all the way to Anhui and joined the team of the emperor's younger brother, Prince Yong Li Lin, and became his staff member.]

[In 757 AD, Yong Wang Li Lin was killed for treason. Li Bai was imprisoned for treason and sentenced to death because he wrote a poem praising Li Lin.]

[Li Bai, who was imprisoned, quickly wrote to his relatives and friends for help, but he did not ask for help from Guo Ziyi, a good friend he had made 20 years ago. Perhaps it was because they had not been in contact for 20 years and he felt embarrassed.]

[However, Guo Ziyi, who was grateful for Li Bai's kindness, heard that Li Bai had been arrested in the past and took the initiative to plead with the emperor, and was willing to exchange all his official titles for the life of his old friend Li Bai.]

[Later, the emperor really pardoned Li Bai's death sentence and exiled him to Yelang.]

[The journey to Yelang was long. Halfway through, Li Bai heard that there was a drought and the emperor had issued an amnesty order. Li Bai did not need to go to Yelang and could go home.]

[This scene excited him to write the poem "Early Departure from Baidi City" 'The monkeys on both sides of the river are crying, and the boat has passed thousands of mountains.']

[It is worth mentioning that in the movie Chang'an, the one who saved Li Bai was Gao Shi, his close friend who shared the same quilt with him. However, in historical records, there is no record that Gao Shi, the then governor of Huainan, rescued Li Bai.]

[Even though his close friend did not save him, his old friend from more than 20 years ago was willing to sacrifice his career to save him. This shows that the importance of friendship is not necessarily determined by how close one is. This also shows that Guo Ziyi is a man of deep friendship and loyalty.]

(End of this chapter)