Guo Ziyi
Guo Ziyi, King of Fenyang
There is a long-standing and well-known drama "Strike the Golden Bough" in Shanxi, which is about the famous Tang Dynasty general Guo Ziyi The son-in-law, Guo Yan, beat Princess Jinzhiyuye Shengping. Princess Shengping was aggrieved and angrily ran back to the palace to complain to her father, Emperor Tang Daizong. At the same time, Guo Ziyi learned of the situation, heavily blamed Guo Ai, and asked Emperor Daizong of the Tang Dynasty to plead guilty. Emperor Daizong of the Tang Dynasty was tolerant and sensible. Instead of blaming Guo Ai, he persuaded Princess Shengping to reconcile with Guo Ai, and the turmoil ended successfully. The story told in "Striking the Golden Bough
" is indeed true in history. So why was Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, the leader of a country, so polite to Guo Ziyi? This depends on Guo Ziyi's life experience and historical achievements. rise.
1. Ancestors of Guo Ziyi
Speaking of Guo Ziyi, we should first talk about his surname, because his surname "Guo" has a lot of origins in history. If we go back to ancient times, the surname Guo is derived from the surname "Ji", and the surname Ji was very prosperous in ancient my country. The Zhou Dynasty in the early history of our country was founded by the surname Ji.
The Zhou Dynasty implemented a feudal system. King Wu of Zhou enfeoffed his uncle Guo Shu to Xi Guo (east of today's Baoji, Shaanxi), and Guo Zhong to Dong Guo (now northeast of Xingyang, Henan). King Ping of Zhou moved eastward and mainly relied on Zheng and Jin to establish his country. He rewarded some places including Dongguo to Zheng. Jin also took the opportunity to expand its power and soon destroyed Beiguo (the capital was Shangyang, today's Lijiayao southeast of Shaanxi County, Henan). According to the unearthed cultural relics, Beiguo was also established in the Western Zhou Dynasty, and it may also be a clan clan of the Zhou Dynasty. Besides, after King Ping moved eastward, the two Guo tribes remained in their original places and were called Xiao Guo. They were destroyed by Qin in 687 BC.
After King Ping moved eastward, the country became weaker and weaker. He only maintained his status as the world leader in name, but in fact formed a situation where princes competed for hegemony. When King Chuzhuang was hegemonic, he threatened the Zhou royal family with force and accused them of destroying Guo. The Zhou royal family was frightened by the prestige of King Chuzhuang and sought out a descendant of Guo Zhong named "Xu" and granted him the title of Yangqu ( Today Shiyang in the southeast of Dingxiang, Shanxi), and at the same time changed "Guo" to the word "Guo" with a similar pronunciation. In this way, Yangqu became the origin of the surname "Guo".
After Xu was sealed, the boundary of Yangqu gradually moved southward to the north of Taiyuan City, Shanxi Province. The place name of Yangqu has also been renamed "Yangzhi" and "Fenyang" successively, and it is under the jurisdiction of Taiyuan. Therefore, "New Book of Tang·Genealogy Table of Prime Ministers", "Compilation of Yuanhe Surnames" and "Guo Family Temple Stele" are introducing Guo Ziyi When it comes to family history, it has been said that the family "came from Taiyuan", "originally from Taiyuan", and "given the surname of Taiyuan". In particular, the "Guo Family Temple Stele" comes from the great calligrapher Yan Zhenqing. Yan Zhenqing and Guo Ziyi were officials in the same dynasty and had a close relationship. Thick and very believable.
Guo Ziyi’s ancestral home in Taiyuan was also recognized by the Tang court. In the early Tang Dynasty, when officials were granted titles, they often chose a beautiful name, such as Li Jing was granted the title of Duke of Wei, Li Jing was granted the title of Duke of England, etc. However, in the future, except for the royal family, "all the towns that were granted must be given the place of surname." That is to say, the title of officials was granted. The title must be based on the name of the ancestral home. For example, Pei Du was granted the title Duke of Jin (his ancestral home was Hedong, which belongs to today's Shanxi region), Li Duozuo was granted the title of Prince of Liaoyang County (his ancestor was the chief of Bohai, which belongs to today's Northeast region), etc. In the second year of Shangyuan of Tang Dynasty (761), Guo Ziyi was granted the title of "Prince of Fenyang County", which was based on Fenyang, the place where Guo Ziyi got his surname. The so-called "Fenyang" is today's Yangqu, Shanxi Province. It should be noted here that the "Fenyang" he refers to does not refer to Fenyang, Shanxi today. The name Fenyang in Shanxi today originated from the Fenyang Mansion established in the 23rd year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty (1595), which is far away from the Tang Dynasty.
Guo Ziyi's ancestral home in Taiyuan can be further confirmed by the titles granted to his descendants. For example, "New Book of Tang·Biography of Guo Ziyi" records: Guo Ziyi's son Guo Yao was once named "Taiyuan County Duke", and Guo Ziyi's grandson Guo Zong was also named When they were granted the title of "Taiyuan Duke", the "Taiyuan" in their titles was also based on the "place where they got their surname" (that is, their ancestral home). As far as ancestors are concerned, the earliest ancestor of Guo Ziyi whose history can be traced is Guo Ting. Guo Ting had a great-grandson named Guangzhi (written as Guangde in some books), who once held the official position of Doctor Guanglu. Guangzhi's son Meng Ru served as the prefect of Feng Yi. Because Feng Yi County was established by the Wei state during the Three Kingdoms period, Meng Ru became the prefect of Feng Yi during the Cao Wei period. During his tenure, Meng Ru moved his family to his post, and his descendants settled in Zheng County (today's Huaxian County, Shaanxi Province) where Feng Yi belonged. By the end of the Western Wei Dynasty (535-551), Guo Hui, a descendant of Guo Mengru, was appointed Sima of Tongzhou. At that time, Yang Zhong (father of Yang Jian, the founding emperor of the Sui Dynasty) was the governor of Tongzhou, so Guo Hui and Yang Zhong had quite a relationship.
After taking office in Tongzhou, Guo Hui continued to be promoted, and later became the governor of Xunzhou and was granted the title of Duke of Ancheng County. After the establishment of the Sui Dynasty, Guo Hui was favored because of his old friendship with the father of Sui Emperor Yang Jian. Guo Hui's younger brother Guo Jin is the sixth generation ancestor of Guo Ziyi. When Guo Ziyi talked about his life experience, he once said that he was the descendant of Guo Rong's uncle Guo Jin. The Guo Rong he mentioned was Guo Hui's son and Guo Jin's nephew. There is a certain reason why Guo Ziyi focuses on Guo Rong, because Guo Rong is a very famous figure in the family of Guo Ziyi's ancestors. During the Northern Zhou Dynasty, he fought with the general Yu Wenhu against the Northern Qi Dynasty and rose to prominence. Later, he became friendly with Yang Jian. Yang Jianzheng's empress Guo Rong was placed in a high position and once led troops to quell the rebellion of the ethnic minorities in the southwest. After Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty came to the throne, he followed Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty to conquer Tuyuhun and Liaodong, and made outstanding achievements. When Yang Xuangan rebelled in the Sui Dynasty, he was also assigned to be responsible for the defense of the military town of Taiyuan. Guo Rong was a famous general in the Sui Dynasty, with the rank of general, and the title of Bo Chenggong. He had a very important position in Guo Ziyi's ancestral family, and also occupied a very important position in Guo Ziyi's mind. Guo Rong's battle experience and martial arts achievements inspired Guo Ziyi. Starting from the great ancestor of Guo Ziyi, the Guo family has been officials for generations. First, the great ancestor Guo Luqiu was appointed as Sicang of Jinzhou and joined the army. Later, his great-grandfather Guo Chang was appointed as Liangzhou Facao, and his grandfather Guo Tong was appointed as the captain of Meiyuan County. Regarding Guo Ziyi's father, Guo Jingzhi, there are relatively detailed historical records. He began to record affairs and join the army for Tang Fuzhou (governing today's Fuling County, Sichuan). Southeast of Longxi County, Gansu Province), Shou (ruling today's Shouxian County, Anhui Province), Sui (governing today's Suide County, Shaanxi Province), and Xian (governing today's Loufan County, Shanxi Province). It is also said that he served successively as Sui, Wei, and Gui (governing today's Loufan County, Shanxi Guilin City, Guangxi), Shou and Si (governing present-day Suqian County, Jiangsu) were the governors of the five states. No matter which way you say it, the geographical area covered by Guo Jingzhi's tenure is very broad. It can be said that from east to west, from south to north, almost All over the motherland. When officials of the Tang Dynasty migrated to their posts, the main means of transportation were carriages, horses and ships. Such long-distance and large-scale migration is conducive to broadening people's horizons, and the climate, landforms and customs of the places they pass are very different, which is more conducive to Increase people's knowledge. Before Guo Ziyi became an adult, he may have been living with his father, traveling all over the country.
This experience had an important impact on Guo Ziyi's growth. After retirement, he returned to Chang'an, the capital, and lived in Changlefang (located in the southernmost part of Chang'an City, about the eastern section of Zhangba East Road in today's Xi'an City) to spend his later years. On the tenth day of the first month of the third year of Tianbao (744), Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty died of illness. Died at the age of 78. Some years after Guo Jingzhi's death, Guo Ziyi became increasingly prominent and won the respect of the court. For this reason, Guo Jingzhi was given the title of Taibao and was posthumously granted the title of Duke of Qi. Guo Ziyi moved his father's tomb and reburied him. The "Guo Family Temple Stele" was written for Guo Jingzhi at this time. In addition to describing Guo Jingzhi's life, the inscription also described his appearance, saying that he was eight feet and two inches tall (Tang ruler). , his voice is like a bell, his eyes are bright, his beard is down, his demeanor is elegant, and he looks like a god; he also praises his character, saying that he has been kind since childhood, has grown up to be virtuous, and has never done anything that violates etiquette and law in his life. His father's good moral character influenced Guo Ziyi's growth path
2. Martial arts examination
Guo Ziyi was born in the first year of Wu Zetian's Long Live Dengfeng (696), when Guo Jingzhi was 30 years old When Guo Ziyi was born, Wu Zetian ruled the world as a woman. Although there were many obstacles in the open-minded Tang Dynasty, she urgently needed to win widespread support from society and recruit civil and military talents to participate in politics. On the other hand, due to the destruction of the equalized land system at that time, the fubing system based on the equalizing land system also gradually collapsed. At the same time, border wars continued unabated. In this way, the large demand for the army in the war and the decline of the fubing system. , formed a sharp contradiction. This dilemma required the feudal country to quickly adjust its policies to expand its military resources and recruit military talents.
In order to solve the urgent need for military talents in the country once and for all, Wu Zetian was in Chang'an for two years. (702) Creation of martial arts examinations. Guo Ziyi was 6 years old at this time. The creation of martial arts examinations paved the way for Guo Ziyi to enter the military world.
Military examinations are regular subjects. The so-called regular subjects usually refer to them. The imperial examinations are held regularly in the capital every year, and candidates come from rural tributes and students from schools. The content, method, evaluation criteria, and examination department are all relatively fixed. The examination department is the Ministry of War, which is headed by Yuan Wai Lang.
The martial arts examination is more flexible than other subjects. In addition to rural tributes and school students, students can also be self-recommended. This provides the world's heroic warriors with more opportunities to enter the officialdom than in the past. At that time, candidates who took the martial arts examination every year held a bow. Carrying arrows, they gathered in Chang'an, which was very grand and lively. Fierce competition requires candidates to engage in various martial arts exercises assiduously since childhood. It can be said that Guo Ziyi has been setting up martial arts examinations since his childhood, or that since his childhood, in order to win the martial arts examinations, he has been engaged in the study of various martial arts examination subjects. and training.
Besides, since the Northern Dynasties, the people have favored martial arts, and riding, archery, and cornering have been popular in China. After Wu Zetian established the martial arts examination, the government publicly taught people to practice martial arts; they also made wooden horses and taught people to practice riding and archery among the people. Therefore, on the basis of the martial arts culture in the Northern Dynasties, martial arts practice became popular, and even literati students also fencing, riding and shooting, so as to practice martial arts. For example, the great poet Li Bai traveled around the world with his sword on his back; another great poet Du Fu also once called the eagle to chase the beasts and rode his horse to shoot the birds. In such a social atmosphere, the martial arts examination is considered to be of high standards, but Guo Ziyi passed it with excellent results.
The age for the martial arts examination must be 18 years or above. It is possible that Guo Ziyi passed the martial arts examination at the age of 18 or later. The content of the test is roughly as follows: First, draw five sets of circles on the silk and place them on the target. The candidate shoots the target at a distance of 105 steps (one step is equal to 5 feet in the Tang Dynasty). Two fake deer were placed on a low wall with the same width and height as the archery target, and they were shot on horseback, which was called horse shooting. He also made a wooden figure and placed it on a low wall, with a square plank on top of the wooden figure's head. He approached the low wall with a horse and a spear, and stabbed with the spear. If the plank fell but the wooden figure did not fall, it was called a carbine. In addition, there are also piercing (shooting armor), Qiaoguan (lifting the door latch, the door latch is 1 feet and 7 feet long, 3 and a half inches in diameter, holding the door latch a foot away, lifting 10 times), carrying weight (carrying 5 stone meters, walking 20 times) Selection and examination subjects such as steps), body shape, language, etc. In all exams, those who can get 5 top marks are considered to be in the middle. This highly practical, standardized and rigorous examination enables candidates to demonstrate their special abilities and survive the fittest under conditions of equal competition, thereby screening out outstanding military talents.
After Guo Ziyi passed the military examination, he was first appointed as the Chief of the Zuo Guard, and later he was promoted to Shanyu Deputy Protector and Zhenyuan (Yuan Yingwei Wu) Military Envoy. Among them, the Shanyu Duhufu was once named Anbei Duhufu, and its administrative location was Tuchengzi in the northwest of Horinger County, Inner Mongolia. It was an important military town on the northern border of the Tang Dynasty. There were two Zhenwu armies: one was built by General Zhang Renyuan in the second year of Jinglong of the Tang Dynasty (708) when he rode Mochuo Khan to attack the sudden cavalry and built Sanshoujiang City in the area north of Hetao on the Yellow River. (North bank of the Yellow River in the southwest of Tuoxian County). From then on, the Turks did not dare to go south to the Yinshan Mountains to invade. In the fourth year of Tianbao (745), the Zhenwu army moved to Jinhe (now Tuchengzi, northwest of Horinger, Inner Mongolia). The second one was built after the Tang general Zhang Shou and others defeated Tubo in the seventeenth year of Kaiyuan (721), and Shuofang soldiers captured the Stone Castle (in today's Qinghai Province). In the above three places, no matter where Guo Ziyi was guarding at that time, his responsibilities were very important.
During the Tianbao period of the Tang Dynasty (742-755), Guo Ziyi changed the town to Hedong County (which governs today's Yongji City, Shanxi Province). In the eighth year of Tianbao (749), the Tang Dynasty established the Hengsai Army and the Anbei Protectorate in Muchishan (located northwest of present-day Urad Zhonghou United Banner in Inner Mongolia), and appointed Guo Ziyi as the Hengsai Military Envoy. However, because the location was not conducive to army farming, It was also moved to the north of Yongqingzha and was named Tiande Army. Guo Ziyi served as Tiande Army envoy and concurrently as the prefect of Jiuyuan.
In short, after Guo Ziyi passed the military examination, he entered the military world, repeatedly assumed important positions, and was highly relied upon by the court.
3. Accepting orders in times of danger
During the Kaiyuan Tianbao period of the Tang Dynasty, the development of the feudal economy reached its peak and showed superficial prosperity. However, the corrupt forces in society also expanded rapidly, which finally led to A great disaster - the Anshi Rebellion.
In the later period of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, the military force in border towns continued to expand, which gradually changed the military situation of the Tang Dynasty from the original "emphasis on the inside and light on the outside" to "emphasis on the outside and light on the inside". The elite soldiers at that time The fierce generals gathered in the border town. The officials who control the military force in border towns are called Jiedushi. Jieduzhi's forces were called Fanzhen or Fangzhen at that time. In the early years of Tianbao, the Tang Dynasty government set up Anxi (governing Qiuciwei), Shuofang (governing Lingzhou, southwest of Lingwu in Ningxia today), Hedong (governing today's Taiyuan City, Shanxi Province), Fanyang (governing Youzhou, today Beijing City) ), Pinglu (governing Yingzhou, now northwest of Jinzhou City, Liaoning), Longyou (governing Shanzhou, today Ledu, Qinghai), Jiannan (governing Yizhou, today Chengdu, Sichuan), nine Jiedu envoys and one Lingnan Five He served as the official envoy of the government (governing today's Guangzhou City). Including the garrisons in the above ten towns and some small garrisons in other border areas, there are 490,000 soldiers and more than 80,000 horses in border towns nationwide.
At that time, the total military strength of the Tang Dynasty was approximately more than 570,000. This means that the central government and the mainland controlled only more than 80,000 troops at that time, which was only one-sixth of the military strength in the border towns. These Jiedu envoys not only led troops, but also took charge of civil affairs and property, and soon became powerful local separatist forces. It was against this background that the Anshi Rebellion broke out.
An Lushan was born in Zahu, Yingzhou. He was appreciated by Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty for his brutal suppression of the Xi and Khitan people, and was successively appointed as the Jiedushi of Pinglu, Fanyang and Hedong towns. He was extremely ambitious and visited Chang'an many times. During his court and official activities, he had a clear understanding of the corruption and weakness of the court, and thus he had the ambition to launch an army to destroy the Tang Dynasty. Shi Siming, who rebelled with An Lushan, was also from a mixed background and had close contacts with An Lushan. He went to Chang'an to carry out affairs, which was quite popular with Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty. Before the Anshi Rebellion, he served as the military envoy to Pinglu. In order to launch the rebellion, An Lushan made full preparations for the expansion of the army and material reserves, and also made careful arrangements for the specific steps to raise troops. As for the latter, although Anlushan controlled the three towns, Hedong Town, with Taiyuan as the capital, was actually not under his control. At that time, Chang'an was the capital of the Tang Dynasty, and the Anshi rebels' home base was Fanyang. If Anshi raised his troops and went south, Taiyuan could send troops east out of Jingxing Pass to intercept them or take their retreat. This would be strategically very disadvantageous for the rebels. Therefore, Anlu Before Shan raised his troops, he used a trick to capture Yang Guang, the general guarding Taiyuan. After everything was ready, Anlushan raised troops in Fanyang in the winter of the 14th year of Tianbao in the name of pursuing a secret order against Yang Guozhong, and then led an army of 150,000 southward through the Hebei Plain and marched to Haocheng (today's Gaocheng County, Hebei), where he ordered the rebel generals Li Qinmin led thousands of soldiers to guard Jingxingkou to prevent troops from Taiyuan from attacking. In addition, the Anshi rebels also occupied some areas in present-day Inner Mongolia and northern Shanxi, and sent troops from these areas south to threaten Taiyuan.
At the beginning, the Tang court had insufficient understanding of the strategic intentions of the Anshi rebels and the development of the war at that time. It was not until An Lushan troops forced Tongguan and the news spread to Chang'an that Tang Xuanzong truly felt the seriousness of the problem, and immediately An Qingzong, the son of An Lushan who stayed in Chang'an, made two major personnel arrangements at the same time: First, he appointed Guo Ziyi as the governor of Shuofang to lead his army to the east to fight against the rebels; second, he appointed General Wang Chengye of Youyulin as the commander of Taiyuan. Yin. Guo Ziyi's appointment had a significant impact on the situation at that time.
After receiving the order, Guo Ziyi immediately led his army to attack the rebels eastward through the Hetao area of ??the Yellow River. He first captured the Jingbian Army (governing present-day Youyu County, Shanxi Province) and killed the rebel general Zhou Wanqing. Then, he went south to attack Hequ ( Hequ County, Shanxi Province today), defeated the rebel generals Gao Xiuyan and Xue Zhongyi, took advantage of the situation to regain Yunzhong (Datong City, Shanxi Province today) and Mayi (Shuozhou City, Shanxi Province today), and opened the key pass to Taiyuan, Dongxing Pass (Daizhou City, Shanxi Province today). East). In this way, Guo Ziyi not only eliminated the threat from the rebels to the north of Taiyuan, but also could go south to Taiyuan, leave Jingxing Pass in the east, and steal the Anshi retreat, forming an extremely favorable strategic trend. Secondly, after An Lushan and Shi Siming raised their troops, they were unstoppable. The prefectures and counties in the Tang Dynasty collapsed, and the rebels quickly approached the capital of the Tang Dynasty. At this time, Guo Ziyi won consecutive battles, which could not help but make the Tang army and people feel proud and motivated. Big increase.
Just as Guo Ziyi continued to spread news of victory, brothers Yan Gaoqing, the prefect of Changshan (now Zhengding, Hebei), and Yan Zhenqing, the prefect of Pingyuan (now Lingxian, Hebei), also wanted to join forces to regain the lost land in Hebei. Strategically, it formed a tendency to cut off the return route of the Anshi rebels, thereby containing the rebels from marching towards Chang'an, the capital of Tang Dynasty. But at that time, almost all of the Hebei area fell into the hands of the Anshi rebels. If they wanted to revolt, the most important thing was to get support from Taiyuan. Therefore, they first used a conspiracy to kill the Anshi rebel general Li Qincuo who was defending Jingxingkou. And disbanded his soldiers, thus opening the road from Taiyuan to the Hebei Plain. Afterwards, He Qianqian, the general of the Tang Army, analyzed the situation to Yan Gaoqing and thought: Since we want to raise troops to serve the imperial court, we should start carefully and end carefully. The soldiers we have recruited now are just a ragtag group, and it is difficult to fight with the enemy. The current plan is to go deep. Build a high fort, hold on to the city, and don't fight with the rebels. After Guo Ziyi leads his army, they will work together to attack the rebels. At the same time, they will spread the message to all parts of Hebei to cut off the rebels' return. Then, he suggested that Yan Gaoqing threaten to say that Guo Ziyi had ordered his general Li Guangbi to lead 10,000 infantry and cavalry out of Jingxingkou. He also suggested that Yan Gaoqing send people to lobby Zhang Xiancheng, the prefect of Boling in Anlu Mountain, to praise Guo Ziyi's military might and disparage it. Most of Xiancheng's troops were trained and armed by local regiments. They usually lacked training and did not have strong armor and soldiers, so it was difficult to resist Guo Ziyi's powerful troops.
After hearing this, Yan Gaoqing did what He Qianqian said. As a result, Zhang Xiancheng was so frightened by Guo Ziyi's reputation that he abandoned the city and fled, and his regiment's armed forces collapsed. Afterwards, while Yan Gaoqing ordered people to comfort the soldiers, he also ordered people to patrol the counties in Hebei and said: Guo Ziyi's army has left Jingxing Pass and will arrive soon to attack the counties in Hebei. Those who surrender first will be rewarded, and those who hesitate to wait and see will be punished! As soon as the words came out, all counties in Hebei responded one after another. At one time, 17 counties surrendered to the Tang Dynasty without fighting. Yan Gaoqing's military strength rapidly expanded to more than 200,000. At that time, only Fanyang, Lulong, and Miyun were the rebels in Hebei. There are only 6 counties: , Yuyang, Ji, and Ye. Not only that, but An Lushan was almost forced to return to the army. At that time, An Lushan was preparing to personally lead his army to attack Tongguan. After hearing the news of the change in the situation in Hebei, he immediately withdrew his troops and ordered his general Cai Xide to lead 10,000 elite troops from Hanoi (today's area north of the Yellow River in Henan Province) to attack Yan Gaoqing. At Changshan, the base camp, almost at the same time, Shi Siming also led his army to Changshan.
As far as the actual situation is concerned, Guo Ziyi conquered Jingbian, Hequ, Yunzhong, Mayi and other places in one go. He needed to stabilize public security and take a short rest. He could not immediately go south to Taiyuan, leave Jingxingkou in the east, and rush to Hebei. . When Yan Gaoqing started his army, it was a wise move to rely on Guo Ziyi's reputation. However, as the situation developed, he should get military assistance from Taiyuan, a military town at that time, as soon as possible. However, Wang Chengye, who stayed behind in Taiyuan, was jealous of Yan Gaoqing's meritorious service and sat back and watched. Shi Siming and Cai Xide captured Changshan, Yan Gaoqing was captured, Hebei counties were gained and lost, and the Tang Dynasty lost a good opportunity to defeat the Anshi rebels.