These works are also admired and imitated by later generations, calling his and Liu Gongquan's calligraphy "Yan Gu". During the Song Dynasty, Mi Fei commented that he was "guilty". In fact, this evaluation is not only related to the excellence of Yan Zhenqing's calligraphy itself, but also stems from his indomitable nature.
1. Yan Zhenqing, the enemy of the plain, is from Langya County. His ancestor was Yan Zhitui, who wrote "Yan Family Instructions". From Yan Zhitui to Yan Zhenqing, Yanshi is a veritable scholarly family.
Yan Zhenqing took the imperial examination as an official, and when he served in a local office, he judged unjust, false and wrong cases for the benefit of the people. Especially after Wuyuan county handled a series of unjust imprisonment, Wuyuan county experienced a long drought and suddenly it rained heavily. At that time, people called it "Yu Yu" (Yan Zhenqing was the censor at that time), and received rave reviews at that time.
After that, Yan Zhenqing served as assistant censor and minister of armed forces, until he was pushed out of North Korea by Yang and became the magistrate of Pingyuan.
Pingyuan County was in the period of An Shi Rebellion, and our time was in three towns. At this time, the trace of An Lushan has been exposed, so it can be said that Yang arranged Yan Zhenqing in Pingyuan County, which can be said to be self-inflicted. However, it was under the clutches of An Shi Rebellion that Yan Zhenqing not only showed his extraordinary political talent, but also became the forefront mainstay of the Tang Dynasty with the help of a scholar who was not afraid of power.
As soon as Yan Zhenqing took office, he used rain to damage the city walls as an excuse to repair them, raise funds and store food and grass to prepare for the coming war.
At the same time, Yan Zhenqing also made full use of his status as a scholar, rowing and reciting poems with a group of scholars all day, paralyzing An Lushan. This trick is very useful. An Lushan "takes (Yan Zhenqing) as a scholar." .
In 755 AD, 10 month, the Anshi Rebellion caused most counties and counties in Hebei to fall with the wind. Tang Xuanzong can only sigh, "There are no loyal ministers in the twenty-four counties of Hebei." There must be loyal ministers, and Yan Zhenqing is a great loyal minister.
In February 65438+, Luoyang fell, and Li Yi, Zhong Yi and interview judge Jiang Qing who stayed in Tokyo were killed. An Lushan sent jokes with three heads to threaten Yan Zhenqing to surrender, but Yan Zhenqing was unmoved. But directly beheaded Duan Duan Guang, and then wept and worshipped for the three-headed texture, so as to unite people's hearts.
In addition, Yan Zhenqing's cousin, Changshan satrap Yan Gaoqing, defeated the An Lushan army at this time, which greatly boosted the morale of Hebei counties. Seventeen counties entered the DPRK on the same day, headed by Yan Zhenqing, and assembled 200,000 troops, forming a powerful force in the rear area of An Lushan.
It is worth mentioning that in early 756, Yan Gaoqing was defeated and killed. Before he died, he cursed An Lushan without fear. Later generations used "long mountain tongue" to describe a righteous man who would rather die than surrender.
In 756 AD, Pingyuan County and Qinghe County jointly fought against thieves. At the same time, Qinghe County asked Li Chen to analyze the situation for Yan Zhenqing, plan Hebei strategy, and formulate the strategic policy of taking Wei County in the south, Yecheng in the north and Luoyang in the west. After stabilizing the situation, we should grasp the key points and keep our position clear.
Chen Licai is in her twenties, but she has a strategic vision. If Tongguan was not lost later, this strategy would be absolutely feasible.
According to Li's strategy, Yan Zhenqing and An Lushan fought Yuan Zhitai in Wei County. As a result, Yuan Zhitai was defeated, and the Yan Zhenqing army "beheaded more than 10,000 people and captured more than 1,000 people" and captured Wei County.
Since then, Yan Zhenqing has been reinforced by the North Sea satrap Helan Jin Ming to further recover lost ground. Coupled with the armies of Guo Ziyi and Li Guangbi, Shi Siming could not find the north, and almost all the land in Zhao Yan returned to the hands of the Tang Dynasty.
However, in June 756, the war situation changed suddenly, Tongguan fell and Xuanzong fled to the west. Guo and Li Dajun had to return to the north, and Shi Siming took the opportunity to recapture counties in Hebei. At that time, "people's hearts are in danger and cannot be recovered." In June+10, 5438, Yan Zhenqing had to give up Pingyuan County and dive to Fengxiang.
At this point, the plain county, which struggled alone for a whole year, was declared lost.
During this year, Yan Zhenqing has always been a sword behind An Lushan, relying on his indomitable spirit and the death of rebels. If Tongguan is not lost, Yan Zhenqing can cooperate with Guo and Li Dajun to put down the rebellion, and the Anshi Rebellion may end several years ahead of schedule.
Second, the unyielding rebels in Su Zong and Dai Zong dynasties, Yan Zhenqing successively served as imperial doctor, Zuo Cheng, Shangshu of punishments, and Prince Shaofu, and was promoted to Duke Lu, so Yan Zhenqing was called Duke by later generations.
In 782 AD, Li Xilie rebelled against Huaixi Province. The following year, Li Xilie conquered Ruzhou. Prime Minister Qilu took the opportunity to exclude Yan Zhenqing from North Korea and sent him to Li Xilie to read the imperial edict, that is, to surrender to Li Xilie.
This plan is exactly the same as when Yang arranged for Yan Zhenqing to be a plain satrap. Qilu made it clear that Yan Zhenqing was going to die. At that time, Li Mian, Yinzheng Shuze in Henan and others all advised Yan Zhenqing not to go. Yan Zhenqing replied: "Your life is also, how will you avoid it?"
By this time, Yan Zhenqing was over 70 years old. Before he left, he wrote to his son to explain the matter.
Yan Zhenqing's trip is fraught with dangers, but for Li Xilie, Yan Zhenqing doesn't mean killing can kill. As Qilu said, Yan Zhenqing is "an old minister of three dynasties, loyal and resolute, famous at home and abroad, and convinced by people", which has great political significance. If we can win Yan Zhenqing over, Li Xilie's rebellious road will naturally be much smoother.
And that's what Li Xilie did. He used all means of intimidation and inducement to Yan Zhenqing.
After coming to Xuzhou, Li Xilie first gave Yan Zhenqing a duel. Li Xilie issued a broadsword, shouting and cursing endlessly, and the big battle scared Yan Zhenqing. As a result, Yan Zhenqing "stayed put" and didn't take it seriously. Li Xilie had no choice but to be polite.
Soon, Wang, Tian Yue and Li Na, who had competed with the imperial court, made suggestions for Li Xilie at the same time. Li Xilie deliberately asked Yan Zhenqing, "It is the general trend for the four kings to persuade at the same time. Yan Zhenqing thundered that "this is four fierce, what is four kings".
The envoys of the Four Kings bluntly said that Yan Zhenqing could be the prime minister of Li Xilie. Yan Zhenqing thundered: "I am eighty years old, and I know that my ears are dead, so I am threatened by Confucianism." . Soft cannot be hard. Li Xilie ordered people to dig a big hole and threatened to kill Yan Zhenqing. Yan Zhenqing is very calm. "Life and death are fixed, so why bother?" You might as well just give me a sword.
Li Xilie had no choice but to apologize to Yan Zhenqing.
In March, Li Xilie led the army to defeat the loyalist. Li Xilie showed Jeff, the prisoner and commander-in-chief of loyalist, to Yan Zhenqing. Yan Zhenqing fell to the ground crying, almost unconscious, "naturally don't talk to others".
In the first month of 784, Li Xilie arrogantly claimed to be the emperor and sent someone to threaten Yan Zhenqing: Either you surrender or I will burn you. Yan Zhenqing jumped into the fire in desperation, but was stopped. In August, Li Xilie finally lost patience with Yan Zhenqing and ordered him to be killed.
A generation of famous ministers died at the hands of the rebels.
Yan Zhenqing was the backbone of the Tang Dynasty. He held a celebration outside and refused to give in to the rebels. He insists on etiquette and rectification at home. To this end, he offended Yang, Li, Yuan Zai, Yang Yan and other dignitaries, which led to his own tragic ending.
On the other hand, Yan Zhenqing's excellent personal qualities and indomitable spirit made him an ancient sage. Compared with his calligraphy, this point should be remembered and studied by future generations.