Chapter 820 Collusion between generals and eunuchs
If someone is thinking about Ming Gao, he will be troubled by the accumulated snow.
The great river is so cold that it cannot be crossed, and the scales of the ice dragon cannot be cut.
Miaoxian Mountain is extremely steep, and you can hear the noisy sounds of nature.
The frost cliffs are as white as a long fan, like the waves of the sea.
——Excerpt from "Ming Gao Ge to Send Cen Zhengjun off" by Li Bai
…
After the Battle of Heyang in the second year of Qianyuan, Li Guangbi mobilized tens of thousands of troops to confront Shi Siming in the Luoyang area.
This confrontation lasted for one year and four months.
From October of the second year of Qianyuan (AD 759) to February of the second year of Shangyuan (AD 761), Shi Siming led troops many times in an attempt to fight Li Guangbi. However, Shi Siming racked his brains and tried his best to defeat Li Guangbi. .
As early as the end of the second year of Qianyuan, Shi Siming sent General Li Guiren with 5,000 cavalry to surprise Shaanzhou (today's SMX City, Henan Province). However, when Li Guiren arrived at Zongziban (south of SMX City), he was attacked Wei Boyu, the military envoy of the Shence Army stationed in Shaanzhou, was ambushed. Wei Boyu joined forces with Li Zhongchen, the military envoy of the Shence Army, and firmly guarded Yongning (now north of Luoning County, Henan) and Shazha (west of Luoning County). In between, Li Guiren was unable to advance westward.
In February of the first year of the Yuan Dynasty, Li Guangbi personally attacked Huaizhou with his cavalry, trying to cut off the rebels' return north. Shi Siming led his troops to help, but was ambushed by Li Guangbi in Qinshui, and more than 3,000 people were beheaded.
In March, Li Guangbi defeated the rebel guard An Taiqing at the foot of Huaizhou City; in April, Li Guangbi defeated Shi Siming again and beheaded more than 1,500 rebels; in June, Shi Siming sent his generals eastward to Jianghuai, but was captured in Zhengzhou. Tian Shengong's Pinglu army was defeated.
In the winter of the same year, Li Guangbi attacked Huaizhou again. It took more than a hundred days to finally capture Huaizhou and capture An Taiqing alive.
The fall of Huaizhou made Shi Siming's situation worse.
The road back north was cut off, and the situation of the war could not be reversed in a short time. The rebels were trapped and died in Luoyang, which was defenseless. The army was demoralized and food was in short supply.
This was exactly Li Guangbi's strategy. Instead of charging into a decisive battle with the rebels' powerful cavalry in the wild, he would camp step by step, cut off food routes, and consume Shi Siming's life or death.
Before his eyes, the rebels were about to be defeated. However, at the most critical moment, Li Guangbi's strong fortress was breached from within.
…
In the court, Bai Fu and Lai Ai criticized the court's system of military supervisors, especially the eunuchs who served as military supervisors.
These accusations are not groundless. Li Guangbi's Mangshan defeat was caused by the eunuch's military envoy. This person was the eunuch Yu Chao'en who was the military envoy of Shaanzhou at that time.
In the last years of Tianbao, Yu Chaoen entered the palace and served in the Xiaohuangmen. After the Anshi Rebellion, he fled with Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty and served the prince Li Heng. He was quite trustworthy and served successively as the prosecutor of the three palaces, the general of the left prison guard, and in charge of the internal affairs department.
Unlike Li Fuguo who served Suzong all year round and competed for favor, Yu Chaoen chose another path to become a popular figure of the emperor - to supervise the army on behalf of the emperor and control the military power.
Yu Chaoen had been observing people's words all year round and realized that Suzong was extremely worried about the Tang army generals who held military power, fearing that they would become the second An Lushan. So, he used clever words and tricks and quickly won the position of military supervisor.
In the first year of Qianyuan (758), the Tang army and An Qingxu fought a decisive battle in Yecheng. Yu Chaoen was appointed as the military commander Rong Xuanwei and supervised the hundreds of thousands of troops of the nine military governors. Due to his blind command, the Tang army The Battle of Yecheng was a major defeat. Afterwards, Yu Chaoen blamed Guo Ziyi for the defeat of Yecheng. Suzong believed his slander and soon transferred Guo Ziyi to the capital and dismissed Guo Ziyi from his post.
Bai Fu uncovered the secrets in Wu Daozi's mural "Eighty-seven Immortals" and determined that Yu Chaoen was An Lushan's spy lurking in Chang'an. But Suzong didn't know why, but he didn't believe Yu Chaoen was a spy and still valued him.
.
Perhaps Suzong thought that because An Lushan held Yu Chaoen's hand, he had no choice but to be loyal to the puppet Yan. But when An Lushan died, Yu Chaoen was like a bereaved dog. It was the best choice to seek refuge with Suzong, but he did not dare
Have two minds.
After all, for an emperor, it is better to perform well than to perform well.
Bai Fu couldn't understand this. He could only say that people who commit great crimes and evil must have something special about them. At least they have a better understanding of human nature than ordinary people and are better at grasping the weaknesses of human nature.
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After arriving at Shuofang's army, the eunuch Yu Chao'en was jealous of Li Guangbi's military exploits and constantly slandered Li Guangbi's steady tactics as a retreat.
After the Tang army captured Huaizhou, the eunuch Yu Chaoen believed that the rebel soldiers who had been fighting south all year round must be homesick, so they should take advantage of the disillusionment of their troops and their popular sentiment to launch a massive counterattack.
Yu Chaoen repeatedly advised Suzong: If we attack at this time, the Tang army will definitely win.
Suzong was bewitched by him, so he issued an edict and ordered Li Guangbi to take the initiative to attack Luoyang. However, Li Guangbi held back his troops on the grounds that "the thieves are too sharp to advance lightly".
Li Guangbi was an outstanding military general and the first person in the imperial military circles. His opinions were of great importance. Suzong attached great importance to Li Guangbi's opinions and put the counterattack on hold from then on.
After Yu Chaoen tried several times, he found that Suzong was indifferent. If he could not bring down Li Guangbi, Yu Chaoen would not be able to truly hold the military power of Shuofang Army in his hands. Not only would he be unable to compete with Li Fuguo for favor, but he would also be unable to complete his special mission...
Yu Chaoen knew that it was not that Suzong did not trust him, but that he did not trust his military command ability. If he wanted to convince Suzong, he must join forces with other heavyweight generals in the military.
Soon, Yu Chaoen found his ally - Li Guangbi's deputy, Tie Le's famous general Pugu Huaien.
The Pugu family is one of the nine surnames of Tiele, the "Pugu tribe". In the 20th year of Zhenguan (646), Li Ji, a famous general of the Tang Dynasty, destroyed the Xue Yantuo Khanate and swept across the Mobei region. The nine surnames of Tiele led his tribe to surrender to the Tang Dynasty.
Pugu Huai'en was a descendant of Pugu leader Pugugelanbayan, and he inherited the post of governor of Jinweizhou.
In the middle period of Tianbao, Pugu Huai'en was promoted to the general of Zuo Lingjun, and was later transferred to Shuofang Army, where he served as the three major military envoys: Wang Zhongsi, An Sishun and Guo Ziyi.
Pugu Huai'en was a resolute, taciturn, brave and courageous man. In addition, as the leader of the Tie Le Pugu tribe, he was well versed in the affairs of the Hu and Bo tribes and had the talent to govern, so he was highly valued by Guo Zi.
After the Anlushan rebellion, Pugu Huai'en followed Guo Ziyi and fought in the north and south. He was often a vanguard and bravely championed the three armies. Shuofang's army successfully recaptured the two capitals and made great contributions, and was named Feng Guogong (today's NMG).
It stands to reason that such a famous general with great military exploits would never join forces with an insidious and cunning eunuch like Yu Chaoen. But the unpredictable fate of God tied the fate of the two together.
It is a common problem among people to rely on their talents and be arrogant. The more capable people are, the more tempered they are. This is also due to the character of being jealous of talents.
In this regard, Pugu Huai'en was particularly outstanding. He was proud of his merits and decided to commit the crime. The powerful Han soldiers under his command were also like him. They relied on Pugu Huai'en's connivance and regarded military regulations and disciplines as nothing.
Guo Ziyi was generous by nature and always valued Huai'en. In every battle, he also relied on Pugu Huai'en to complete his mission. Therefore, he always tried to be tolerant of Pugu Huai'en and his arrogant soldiers. He always put the overall situation first and took care of everything.
Of.
However, when Li Guangbi succeeded Shuofang Jiedushi, the happy days of Pugu Huai'en and others came to an end.
Li Guangbi was a Khitan and did not take special care of the Hu generals. Li Guangbi had a strict temperament, was strict in running the army, and strictly enforced the law. All major and minor incidents were punished in accordance with the law. He showed no mercy at all, forcing Pugu Huaien to restrain his generals.
, Tuck your tail between your legs and be a human being. Pugu Huaien was afraid of Li Guangbi and hated him extremely.
Pugu Huai'en was always arrogant and ambitious. In the dead of night, he often thought: "Even if a military veteran like Guo Linggong gives himself enough face, how can a mere Li Guangbi drive himself like a shepherd dog?"
"
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In October of the second year of Qianyuan (759 AD), Li Guangbi and Shi Siming fought a decisive battle in Heyang City.
During the Battle of the North City of Heyang City, Pugu Huai'en and Pugu Jian's father and son gradually retreated under the pressure of the rebels.
However, Li Guangbi not only did not send Hao Tingyu, Lun Weizhen and other generals to respond, but instead asked Bai Fu to take their heads.
When Pugu Huai'en and his son saw a horse galloping out of the city, they came straight towards them with swords in hand. It was Bai Fu who was ordered to come to enforce the law. Pugu Huai'en knew that something was wrong. If he continued to retreat, he would be killed by Bai Fu.
After falling off his horse, he quickly led his troops into the enemy's formation again, and only then escaped disaster.
The fact that Li Guangbi borrowed a knife to kill someone made Pugu Huaien's resentment towards Li Guangbi reach the extreme. He felt that Li Guangbi had been looking for this kind of opportunity to use military law to kill him in a reasonable and reasonable manner.
You can't escape the first grade of junior high school, but you can't escape the fifteenth grade. If you want to avoid being plotted by Li Guangbi, the best way is to replace him with Li Guangbi!
In fact, ever since Li Guangbi was promoted to the position of military governor of Shuofang and deputy marshal of the world's troops, Pugu Huai'en, who was the number two figure in the Tang military, had already coveted the top spot in the imperial army.
As we all know, among the various armies of the Tang Army, the Shuofang Army has always been the main force that the imperial court relied on most to counter the rebellion. As the commander-in-chief of the Shuofang Army, the three senior generals Guo Ziyi, Li Guangbi, and Pugu Huai'en were undoubtedly the key to the Tang Army's counterinsurgency effort.
pillar.
Pugu Huaien thought to himself: "Since you, Li Guangbi, can replace Guo Linggong, why can't I, Pugu Huaien, replace you?"
…
As the supervisor of the army, he could talk to the generals at all levels of Shuofang Army at any time to learn about military developments. Pugu Huaien's thoughts were quickly learned by Yu Chaoen, who was good at observing words and emotions.
With a common enemy, the two hit it off.
One is a popular figure in front of the emperor, and the other is a general with military power. Once they join forces, they can deceive the Holy Listening and interfere with the Holy Judgment.
The reason why traitors are called traitors is because they can use all means and do whatever it takes to achieve their goals. They have absolutely no worries about ordinary people sacrificing the interests of their family and country to be generous.
The reason why loyal ministers and good generals are not the opponents of traitors is that the chips on the balance of good and evil are different. If you lose your humanity, you will lose a lot; if you lose your bestiality, you will lose everything.
Facing such an enemy, Li Guangbi's defeat was only a matter of time.
Note:
The eunuch is attached to the emperor, just like a parasite is attached to its host.
Most parasites will not kill their hosts because their survival depends on the nutrition of the host, but there are exceptions, such as iron worms, which will not hesitate to eliminate the host in order to reproduce.
Ironworms need to reproduce near water, so they control the insect's brain by releasing chemicals, control the host to find water sources, and force the host to jump into the water to end its life.