……

"I knew it, Guo Ziyi would have to come to the rescue!"

Zhang Fei had an expression that said 'I've seen through everything'.

Liu Bei laughed in silence. The Tang Dynasty repeatedly sent an old general to fight. It seemed that the Tang Dynasty really had no more talents available.

Of course, these are just Liu Bei's own guesses, perhaps because no one else is as loyal as Guo Ziyi.

……

[Pugu Huai'en was previously a subordinate of Guo Ziyi, and the main force he led was the Shuofang soldiers brought up by Guo Ziyi.]

[When the Shuofang soldiers heard that the court had sent Guo Ziyi to suppress the rebellion, many of them said that they would not do bad things with Pugu Huai'en anymore, otherwise they would not have the face to see their old leader again.]

[The soldiers under him kept protesting. Pu Gu Huai En saw that the Shuo Fang soldiers were unreliable, so he simply went west to find his Huihe son-in-law to borrow soldiers.]

[Before leaving, Pugu Huai'en went to say goodbye to his old mother. ]

[His mother was also a foreigner, very fierce, she picked up a knife and chopped at her son, shouting, "I will chop off your heart and cut out your traitor for the Tang Dynasty to thank the army!"]

[Pugu Huai'en was so frightened that he covered his head and ran away.]

……

"Although he is a foreigner, he has a righteous heart and is worthy of praise and tears."

Looking at the old man who sacrificed his own relatives for the sake of justice, Li Shimin was deeply moved.

There are few people who understand the big picture so well.

At the same time, he also felt sorry for Pugu Huai'en.

Isn't it sad and regrettable that a famous general, who had made great military achievements for the court, was eventually branded as a traitor?

As for borrowing troops from the Uighurs and turning against the Tang Dynasty, although Li Shimin felt that it was a bit excessive and despised it, he could also understand it.

Once you embark on the path of rebellion, there is no turning back.

The imperial court will not forgive him. If Pugu Huai'en sits and waits for death, he will only have one way out, and he will have no choice but to go down this path until the end.

Of course, there is a better solution.

It can only be said that both the imperial court and Pugu Huai'en are responsible for the situation having come to this point.

……

[Guo Ziyi followed the emperor's order to suppress the rebellion and came all the way to Fenzhou. Many Shuofang army generals came to surrender.]

[These veterans burst into tears when they saw their former leaders again.]

[Not long after, Pugu Huai'en led the Huihe people and personally led an army of 100,000 to attack. Guo Ziyi then led his troops to Fengtian to meet the enemy.]

【Guo Ziyi quickly determined the battle plan. The rebels had come a long way and must be eager to win a quick victory. I have issued an order that all soldiers must not leave the city to meet the enemy. Those who disobey military orders will be executed.】

[The imperial court has learned its lesson this time, and no one is forcing Guo Ziyi to go to war again. ]

[Guo Ziyi chose a strategic location at Qianling Mausoleum and set up a solid camp for defense.]

[Sometimes, people have an indelible respect for their old leaders, such as your class teacher or your first manager after you start working.]

[Pugu Huai'en faced his old leader Guo Ziyi, and after looking at Guo Ziyi's impregnable defense, he chose to retreat without a fight.]

……

"I can understand that Pugu Huai'en doesn't dare to face his old general, but what are these class teachers and managers?"

Zhang Fei felt completely confused. He didn't understand what a class teacher and a manager were, and why people in later generations were afraid of them.

"It should be a quoted allusion."

Liu Bei thought about it and gave his own guess.

Zhang Fei continued to look at the sky and commented:

"The court finally didn't force Guo Ziyi to go out to fight. The two defeats I suffered made me angry and upset. There were so many opportunities to end the rebellion, but he made a lot of stupid decisions. The emperor is to blame for the current situation of the Tang Dynasty!"

Zhuge Liang sighed in his heart, who said it wasn't true?

Immortals fight, mortals suffer.

A wrong decision made by those in a higher position can result in countless deaths and injuries among the people below. This shows how important public resources are.

Zhuge Liang couldn't help but remind himself that if he was in a high position in the future, he must think carefully when making decisions. He must not waste national strength and people's livelihood and make the people suffer because of wrong decisions.

……

[After Pugu Huai'en returned, he made sufficient preparations and came again in September of the following year.]

[This time he not only contacted the Huihe people, but also the allied forces of various ethnic groups including Tubo, Tuyuhun, Dangxiang, and Nuqi.]

[The troops were divided into three groups and invaded in a massive way. ]

……

"Why is this happening! Why is this happening!"

This time Li Shimin was really defeated.

Whether it was the Anshi Rebellion or Puguo Huai'en's rebellion against the Tang Dynasty, it was ultimately due to the emperor's wrong decisions.

These disasters could have been avoided, but due to the outrageous actions of the father and son, they caused irreparable losses. How could Li Shimin not be angry?

How not to feel sorry.

……

[No matter how powerful you are, Guo Ziyi, you are only one person. This time I divide my troops into three groups. How can you defend against them? ]

[Guo Ziyi quickly submitted a memorial, asking Emperor Li Yu to quickly send military governors from various towns to provide support.]

[Most of the military governors of various towns are procrastinating and not sending troops on time. If this continues, the Tang Dynasty will have to prepare to abandon the city again.]

【At this time, another accident happened. 】

[After all, the Tang Dynasty still had good fortune. Pugu Huai'en, the leader of the rebel project, died on the way to the march, and the coalition forces of various ethnic groups were leaderless. ]

[The most powerful Tubo and Huihe tribes are unwilling to submit to each other and both want to be the boss. ]

【Guo Ziyi seized this opportunity and sent envoys to the Huihe camp, hoping to make peace with them.】

[As we all know, it is easy to win over the Huihe people. If you fail to win them over, it must be because you did not reach an agreement on the price.]

……

"I know this, they are mercenaries."

In the early Han Dynasty, Emperor Gaozu Liu Bang drank fine wine while looking at beauties, occasionally glancing at the sky and showing off the knowledge he had just learned.

The emperors of other dynasties might have been busy recording what Tianmu said, hoping to learn some methods from it to ensure the long-lasting prosperity of their dynasties.

But Liu Bang, who always accepted his fate, always treated the things inside the sky curtain as a story.

There is no eternal dynasty.

To be honest, Liu Bang was already very satisfied that the Han Dynasty had a descendant like Liu Bei, who could have a dignified exit and that everyone in later generations called themselves "Han people".

As for how to make the Han Dynasty strong and maintain long-term stability, we will leave it to the younger generations to worry about.

There is never a shortage of smart people in this world.

Liu Bang chose to believe in the wisdom of future generations.

……

[When the Huihe people heard that it was Guo Ziyi's envoy who came, they expressed disbelief and said, "Don't lie. Pugu Huai'en told us that Guo Ziyi died a long time ago. If you can get Guo Ziyi to come to the military camp to see us, we will believe you." [After receiving the envoy's reply, Guo Ziyi said that he would go, and then he only brought a few personal soldiers and rushed to the Huihe camp.]

[Guo Ziyi and the Huihe had cooperated in the battle of Xiangji Temple. Didn’t they drink together? They had an emotional foundation.]

[When the Huihe chieftains who had participated in the Battle of Xiangji Temple saw it, they were shocked. It was really Guo Ziyi, and he came alone. Their courage was truly admirable.]

[So these chieftains were very impressed and dismounted from their horses to kneel down and pay homage to Guo Ziyi, saying that they had never expected that Mr. Guo was really here.]

[Guo Ziyi asked, we were getting along well before, why do we have to fight each other? ]

[The Huihe generals said, we were deceived. We came here only because we heard that you, Lord Guo, were dead. If we knew that you were leading the army here, how could we dare to fight you?]

[After the two sides exchange pleasantries and play the emotional card, it’s time to talk about the price. ]

[Guo Ziyi said, "Do you know that the Tibetans have robbed a lot of gold, silk, and children along the way? This is a gift from God to you. We should not miss this opportunity. Let's go and get it back together."]

[The Huihe chieftains who disliked Tubo all said yes. A few days later, the Tang-Huihe coalition defeated the Tubo army in Lingtai, killing more than 5 enemies, looting countless gold and silver treasures, and successfully rescued 4000 Tang children who were captured by Tubo.]

[This is the famous story of Guo Ziyi making a solo alliance with the Huihe people. ]

……

"Great!"

Liu Bei said admiringly.

Liu Bei had led troops before, so he naturally knew what it meant to kill 50,000 enemies.

However, what he admired most was Guo Ziyi's courage.

Although the two parties have cooperated before, they have not seen each other for many years. It is not something that ordinary people can do to dare to attend the banquet alone.

If the Uighur general had tied him up or killed him, the Tang army would be leaderless and it would be hard to say what would have happened.

……

[So, the reason why Guo Ziyi was able to avoid the fate of being a famous general who was abandoned after the bird was killed and the rabbit was cooked was, of course, first of all because of his strong ability, but another important reason was that for the Tang Dynasty, the bird never got in and the rabbit never died.]

[Not only that, there are also wild beasts lurking around, eyeing the Tang Dynasty covetously.]

[At this time, the Tang Dynasty could not do without Guo Ziyi, and even regarded Guo Ziyi's survival as an important indicator of national security. ]

【Finally, let’s take a look at Guo Ziyi’s later life. Guo Ziyi, who helped the Tang Dynasty, had his portrait placed in the Lingyan Pavilion. Everyone knows how honorable this is.】

……

"This person is indeed qualified to enter the Lingyan Pavilion with me."

Zhangsun Wuji commented that Guo Ziyi had made great contributions to the reconstruction of the Tang Dynasty, and such achievements were more than enough for him to be included in the Lingyan Pavilion.

As the founder of Lingyan Pavilion, Li Shimin also nodded in affirmation.

With Guo Ziyi's achievements, he was fully qualified to be included in the Lingyan Pavilion which he founded.

……

[Guo Ziyi had eight sons and seven sons-in-law, all of whom held important positions in the court.]

[His son Guo Yan married the emperor's daughter, Princess Shengping.]

[The famous story of Drunken Beating of the Golden Branch in history was written by these two people.]

[The general process is that the prince consort and the princess had a big fight. ]

[The couple got into a heated argument, and the prince consort bluntly said, "Don't think you're great just because your father is the emperor. Your family's empire was conquered by my father. If my father wanted to be the emperor, he would have done it long ago."]

[You wouldn't have thought that even a princess who is a royal consort would argue with her father. ]

[The princess was so angry that she went back to her parents' home to complain to the emperor. Unexpectedly, the emperor said that the prince consort was right. The empire was conquered by the prince consort's family. If the prince consort's father really wanted to be the emperor, he would have done it long ago.]

……

"Uh……"

Looking at the scene on the sky, many people were dumbfounded.

Through the example of "Drunken Beating of the Golden Branch", the ancient people of the pre-Tang Dynasty finally intuitively felt how powerful Guo Ziyi was.

It should be noted that such treasonous words would generally be treated as treason in other dynasties. However, when it came to Guo Ziyi, the emperor was not angry and even said that what he said was right. This shows how great Guo's contribution was.

Moreover, the emperor personally acknowledged his achievements and said that if Guo Ziyi wanted to be emperor, he would have become emperor a long time ago... It is really rare for an official to achieve this level.

It is not an exaggeration to say that it was a great help to the Tang Dynasty.

Especially the sentence "If I had wanted to be the emperor a long time ago", which was so heartbreaking that even Li Shimin couldn't help but feel fortunate that there were such loyal ministers in the Tang Dynasty.

If such a person had a rebellious heart like Sima Yi...it is not impossible to change the dynasty!
……

[Guo Ziyi had more than a dozen grandchildren who often came to pay him respects, which was considered a great family happiness.]

[Guo Ziyi's home was in Qinrenli, Chang'an, occupying a quarter of the entire lane, and was home to more than 3000 masters and servants.]

[Guo Ziyi's home has no walls, people can come and go freely, there is no wall, one is that Guo Ziyi wants to show his magnanimity, and the other is that his home is really too big. ]

[Unfortunately, Guo Ziyi's extraordinary wealth and status aroused the jealousy of another powerful official, Yu Chaoen, the military inspector and envoy.]

[One day, he wrote an invitation to Guo Ziyi for the first time, inviting Guo Ziyi to go to Zhangjing Temple to burn incense and worship Buddha. Another powerful official of the time, Yuan Zai, sent someone to tell Guo Ziyi not to go, saying that Yu Chaoen was trying to harm him.]

[Guo Ziyi refused to go, and he did not take any soldiers with him, only a few servants.]

[Yu Chaoen was surprised to see that Guo Ziyi only brought a few followers. Guo Ziyi told Yu Chaoen that someone said you were planning to murder me. Wouldn't it be easier for you to take action if I brought fewer people?]

[Yu Chaoen held Guo Ziyi's hand and said emotionally, "Alas, only an honest elder like you would not be suspicious of me at all."]

[After saying this, he supported Guo Ziyi, and the two of them went to the temple to worship Buddha.]

[As Guo Ziyi got older, he requested to resign many times, but the emperor refused, saying that he still depended on the emperor and could not leave.]

[In the second year of Jianzhong, Guo Ziyi was seriously ill. The emperor sent Prince Shu to Guo Ziyi's home to deliver an imperial edict to inquire about his condition. Guo Ziyi could not get up, so he knocked his head with his hands to express his gratitude.]

[Guo Ziyi died at the age of 85. The emperor was very sad and stopped attending court for five days. He issued an edict ordering all officials to go to the government to pay their respects. The money needed for the burial could be obtained from the government.]

[On the day of the burial, the emperor came to Anfu Gate to weep and bid farewell to Guo Ziyi. When Guo Ziyi's coffin passed by, all the officials stood in silence and shed tears.]

[After Guo Ziyi died, he was given the posthumous title of Zhongwu and was enshrined in the temple of Emperor Daizong to receive sacrifices.]

[According to regulations, the height of the tomb of a first-rank official should be 18 feet. The emperor issued an edict to increase the height of Guo Ziyi's tomb by one foot to commend Guo Ziyi's great achievements.]

……

"Such a loyal minister, I wish I could use him."

Cao Cao was also extremely envious.

As the saying goes, an old man who doesn't die is a thief.

Guo Ziyi and Sima Yi were both old but not dead, and both held high positions. In such similar situations, destiny was on the side of the Tang Dynasty.

Guo Ziyi is not Sima Zhongda.

Even though he commands a large army and has greater achievements than his master, he has no intention of replacing him. How rare is that.

……

[Although Guo Ziyi was the best in the middle Tang Dynasty and was even praised as the one who recreated the prosperous Tang Dynasty, if we only talk about fighting skills, whether it was Huo Qubing, Li Jing, Lan Yu who conquered the Wolf's Lair, or Bai Qi, Han Xin, Ran Min, Chen Qingzhi, Gao Changgong, etc. who were invincible in their time, Guo Ziyi seemed to be inferior to them. ]

[But if you want to talk about a person's lifetime evaluation, Guo Ziyi, who had all five blessings, is undoubtedly the first person in history. ]

[The so-called five blessings are longevity, wealth, happiness, a good death, and many children and grandchildren. ]

[For a man who suppressed the An-Shi Rebellion, whose achievements were so great that they frightened the emperor, and who was also a military commander, he was able to enjoy his old age, live a luxurious life, have many children, wives and concubines, and finally be a loyal man. Compared with people like Nian Gengyao and Lan Yu, this is nothing short of a miracle. 】(End of this chapter)