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Chapter 198 The Slandered Fake Villain

Guo Ziyi was defeated, so An Qingxu sent people to Shi Siming to ask for reinforcements, promising to abdicate the throne of Great Yan to him. Shi Siming really sent troops to help, and defeated the Tang army. Guo Ziyi failed to take the city after a long siege, so he withdrew his troops.

An Qingxu was unwilling to fulfill his promise and was hanged by Shi Siming, who was also a Turk and from the same hometown as An Lushan and was born one day earlier than An Lushan.

After Luoyang was recaptured by the Tang army, Shi Siming saw that the Anshi regime had no future, so he led his troops to surrender to the court. Tang Suzong was delighted and named Shi Siming the Prince of Guiyi and ordered him to attack An Qingxu.

However, Shi Siming, as An Lushan's old subordinate, did not really surrender to the court, and he had private dealings with the rebels. So Tang Suzong sent Wu Chengen and Ashina Chengqing to Shi Siming to find an opportunity to get rid of Shi Siming, but they did not expect it to backfire. Wu Chengen's lobbying of Shi Siming's subordinates was reported to Shi Siming by Shi Siming.

Shi Siming killed Wu Cheng'en and others, and went to the Shangshu of Emperor Suzong of Tang to question him, and rebelled again. Soon, An Qingxu sent people to ask Shi Siming for help, promising to give up his position to Shi Siming.

Unexpectedly, after the siege was lifted, An Qingxu was unwilling to fulfill his promise, so Shi Siming hanged An Qingxu and his four brothers and usurped the throne. In 759 AD, Shi Siming recaptured Luoyang, but at this time Luoyang was already an empty city, and the people had been relocated by the Tang Dynasty.

Shi Siming gained nothing, so he plundered the city and prepared to attack the three cities of Heyang. As the war continued to fail, Shi Siming's situation became increasingly difficult. In 761 AD, Shi Siming defeated the Tang army outside Luoyang City, and the Tang army was forced to abandon the three cities of Heyang.

Shi Siming pointed his sword at Chang'an, and the court was terrified. However, Shi Siming also repeated the mistakes of An Lushan. Shi Siming was dissatisfied with his eldest son Shi Chaoyi and favored his youngest son Shi Chaoqing. He often wanted to depose the eldest son and establish the youngest son, which made Chaoyi dissatisfied.

So he joined forces with his subordinates to kill Shi Siming. At this point, the An-Shi Rebellion, which had lasted for 6 years, was about to come to an end. At the same time, a coup d'état also took place in the Tang Dynasty court. Emperor Suzong Li Heng was seriously ill. Empress Zhang wanted to depose Crown Prince Li Yu, but was beaten to death by the eunuch Li Fuguo. Li Yu ascended the throne and became Emperor Daizong of Tang.

In 762 AD, Shi Chaoyi was defeated in the northern suburbs of Luoyang. The Tang army recaptured Luoyang and Shi Chaoyi was deserted by his friends and relatives. The following year, Shi Chaoyi was forced to commit suicide and his head was sent to Chang'an. At this point, the An-Shi Rebellion was completely quelled.

The An-Shi Rebellion marked the decline of the Tang Dynasty, and countless civilians died in the war. During the judgment process, the feudal lords gained more autonomy and competed with the imperial court.

The power of eunuchs also grew stronger and stronger. In the next 150 years, the Li Tang royal family had to share the world with the local warlords and eunuchs until their demise.

[Understand the historical stories of false traitors who were wrongly accused in one breath]

There have always been treacherous and infamous people in every dynasty, but are these treacherous and infamous people really unforgivable? Are the concubines of the Golden Branches and Demons in operas really guilty of heinous crimes or were they just smeared by others? Today, let's talk about those fake treacherous and infamous people who were smeared by others.

First place: Gao Lishi

Speaking of eunuchs, we have to mention Gao Lishi, a favorite of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang. Li Bai was once talked about by people for Gao Lishi taking off his boots. Gao Lishi was also mostly a white-faced clown in operas of all dynasties. But was this powerful eunuch loyal or treacherous?

Why did Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, Li Longji, trust him so much that he even said, "When Li Shi is on duty, I can sleep peacefully"? To understand this, we have to start with the Tanglong coup in 710 AD.

As an eunuch in the palace during the reign of Wu Zetian, Gao Lishi had a keen eye. As early as when Empress Wei was in chaos, he saw that Li Longji was definitely not an ordinary person. So Gao Lishi decisively stood on the side and helped Li Longji do many things openly and secretly.

After the success of the Tanglong coup, Li Longji became the crown prince, and Gao Lishi naturally became the number one meritorious official. When it came to rewards based on merit, he was named the crown prince's guardian, and later promoted to the position of doctor of three dynasties. From then on, Gao Lishi officially started his official career.

In 713 AD, not long after Li Longji ascended the throne, Princess Taiping planned to seize power in a coup. Upon learning of this, Li Longji decided to take the initiative and launch the Xiantian coup.

As a capable general under Li Longji, Gao Lishi also participated in the plan. He killed Prime Ministers Cen Xi and Xiao Zhizhong who had defected to Princess Taiping, laying the foundation for the success of the Xiantian coup.

After the coup, Gao Lishi was promoted to the rank of Yinqing Guanglu Doctor out of turn, and later he also served as the General of the Right Guard, officially becoming a popular eunuch.

Gao Lishi participated in two coups and made great contributions twice. Li Longji saw Gao Lishi's loyalty and ability. Therefore, he was relieved to hand over the government to Gao Lishi. From then on, all official documents submitted by the court had to go through Gao Lishi's hands first. Gao Lishi could make decisions on small matters, and Gao Lishi would report to Li Longji on major matters.

Although his status continued to rise, Gao Lishi became more cautious. Even if someone close to him broke the law, he would not help him. He even had a thorough understanding of the court situation.

In 744 AD, he persuaded Emperor Xuanzong of Tang not to rely on Li Linfu, and even later, at the risk of offending Li Longji, he persuaded him to check Yang Guozhong and An Lushan. These actions made him known as the eunuch of all time, but Gao Lishi's painstaking advice could not stop Emperor Xuanzong of Tang Li Longji from seeking his own death.

In 755 AD, the An-Shi Rebellion broke out, and Emperor Xuanzong Li Longji fled in a hurry. Emperor Suzong ascended the throne and turned the tide. After the An-Shi Rebellion was quelled, Li Longji had already become the emperor, and Emperor Suzong was very rude to him in order to protect his throne. The eunuch Li Fuguo led his troops to block Li Longji's way when he was moving. Fortunately, Gao Lishi stepped forward to save him from harm.

However, Gao Lishi's loyalty to Li Longji made Li Fuguo resentful. He hated Gao Lishi for causing Gao Lishi to be exiled. In 762 AD, Gao Lishi cried and vomited blood when he learned that Li Longji had passed away. A generation of loyal ministers died. After learning about this, Emperor Taizong of Tang, Li Yu, posthumously named him the Grand Commander of Yangzhou and granted him the right to track down Li Longji and bury him with him.

Second: Empress Liu

If Gao Lishi was slandered because the eunuchs were in power, then Empress Zhang Xian Liu became the protagonist of the story of the cat replacing the prince for no reason.

Liu lost both her parents when she was young. When she was in her teens, she made a living by singing. In 10 AD, when she was 983 years old, she finally met her destined prince charming - Emperor Zhenzong of Song, Zhao Heng, who was then the Prince of Xiang.

After Liu entered Prince Xiang's Mansion, she and Zhao Heng were inseparable. However, at this time, the fact that she was of humble origin and had been married once was discovered by the then Emperor Taizong of Song. The emperor was furious and wanted to drive Liu out of the capital.

Zhao Heng had no choice but to hide him, and the two of them would meet secretly when they had time. In 997 AD, Zhao Heng ascended the throne and became Emperor Zhenzong of Song. Not long after ascending the throne, he could not wait to take Liu into the palace, and Liu, the Cinderella of the Song Dynasty, finally became a real imperial concubine.

After entering the palace, Liu and Zhao Heng lived in harmony. In 1007, when the queen died, Emperor Zhenzong of Song even wanted to make Liu the empress. Unfortunately, Liu had no sons at the time and her family background was not high, so the process was delayed again and again. For the sake of his beloved Liu, Emperor Zhenzong of Song also took great pains and even came up with a method of surrogacy.

He favored Liu's maid Li, who became pregnant with a child, and then lied that the prince was born to Liu, so that Liu could become the empress. Although the court officials knew the truth, they had to give in because of the persistence of Emperor Zhenzong of Song, Zhao Heng. In 1012 AD, Liu finally took the coveted position of empress, but the position of empress was not the end of Liu's life.

After Emperor Zhenzong of Song, Zhao Heng, became seriously ill, the government fell into the hands of Empress Liu. She did not disappoint Emperor Zhenzong and managed the government in an orderly manner. In 1020 AD, Emperor Zhenzong of Song died of illness, and Empress Liu was promoted to Empress Dowager Liu.

Song Renzong, who had just succeeded to the throne, was young, and the government was still controlled by Empress Dowager Liu. During her reign, Empress Dowager Liu not only managed the government in an orderly manner, but also dismissed Jin Xiangding, who had encouraged the previous emperor to build large-scale projects.

In addition, Empress Dowager Liu had a family list of all officials compiled and hung it in her bedroom. Whenever someone recommended an official, she would check the family list and basically discard those whose names were on the list.

In 1033 AD, Empress Dowager Liu finally came to the end of her life. Her life story from Cinderella to a foreign queen mother was adapted into the opera "The Substitute Prince" in the Ming Dynasty, and the stigma attached to Empress Dowager Liu also came from this.

Third place: Wang Zhi

The literati of the Ming Dynasty not only threw dirty water on Empress Liu, they also did not let go of the eunuch Wang Zhi of the dynasty. In 1467, when Wang Zhi was still a child, he was sent to the palace and became a eunuch under Concubine Wan. Concubine Wan was deeply favored, and Wang Zhi also benefited from Concubine Wan's influence and appeared in front of Emperor Xianzong of the Ming Dynasty early.

Later, under the promotion of Emperor Xianzong of the Ming Dynasty, Wang Zhi was promoted to the position of eunuch of the Imperial Horse Administration. In 1476, Taoist Li Zilong colluded with eunuchs to enter the palace and plotted something bad. Upon learning of this, Emperor Xianzong of the Ming Dynasty felt it necessary to understand the situation outside the palace, so he sent Wang Zhi out of the palace to secretly investigate. Wang Zhi lived up to expectations and completed the task perfectly, which made Emperor Xianzong of the Ming Dynasty very satisfied.

In 1477, Emperor Xianzong of the Ming Dynasty established the Western Factory to facilitate control over court officials, and the post of commander-in-chief of the Western Factory was given to his most trusted eunuch, Wang Zhi.

As in the past, after being promoted to admiral, Wang Zhi devoted himself to serving Emperor Xianzong of the Ming Dynasty. He even dealt with Yang Ye, the commander of the Fujian ship's internal guards who had harmed the people, and arrested Qin Lipeng, the Nanjing town supervisor who had sold private salt and killed officials. He could be called the Justice Bao of the Ming Dynasty.

In addition, Wang Zhi was just as his name suggested, fair and upright. When Yang Jizong, the prefect of Jiaxing, came to Beijing, Wang Zhi wanted to meet him, but Yang Jizong avoided him. Logically, he should have completely offended Wang Zhi this time, but when Emperor Xianzong asked Wang Zhi which official was honest, he said Yang Jizong's name without hesitation.

In addition, Henan Governor Qin Hong secretly impeached Wang Zhi. Wang Zhi was not angry when he found out. Instead, he told Emperor Xianzong that Qin Hong was a virtuous man, so he dared to impeach him directly. Wang Zhi was not only upright in his official duties, but also had his own rules for leading troops.

In 1479, when the Jianzhou Jurchens rebelled, Wang Zhi led his troops to suppress the Tatars and entered Datong, where they burned, killed, and looted. It was also Wang Zhi who led the troops to collect the levies. Afterwards, Wang Zhi led his troops to guard Datong. During his time in Datong, the enemy never gained an advantage over the Ming army.

However, this eunuch who was good at fighting was transferred from Datong to Nanjing in 1482 AD because of his disagreement with the general Xu Ning. As soon as he left the Ming army, thousands of people were killed and wounded, and Datong was almost lost. This shows Wang Zhi's ability.

No. 4, Imperial Noble Consort Dunsu. If Wang Zhi was defamed more or less because of his own reckless behavior, then Imperial Noble Consort Dunsu Nian got the reputation of being domineering because of her brother Nian Gengyao.

In 1723, Emperor Yongzheng ascended the throne, and his concubine Nian was named a noble concubine, second only to Empress Nara. However, this noble concubine Nian was different from Concubine Hua in "The Legend of Zhen Huan". She was not domineering, but rather humble and polite.

Nian was a noble woman. In Li Fei's edict, it was written that Nian's "Bingzhen returned to the earth and made her annotate the square to give birth to life", which means that Concubine Nian was not only able to quote from classics, but also acted in accordance with the rules and regulations, and her good reputation spread far and wide.

In addition, unlike in film and television dramas, this Concubine Nian was not childless. On the contrary, from 1712 to 1723, all of Emperor Yongzheng's children were born to Concubine Nian.

Later, Concubine Nian's brother Nian Gengyao became arrogant and proud of his achievements. Emperor Yongzheng punished Nian Gengyao but did not implicate Concubine Nian, which shows that this concubine was deeply loved by the emperor. However, Concubine Dunsu Nian was in poor health and died of illness in 1725. Her legendary story also came to an abrupt end in this year.

[Understand the rise and fall of the imperial examination system in one breath - the history of the imperial examination system]

Did the imperial examination system have more advantages or disadvantages? Why did the imperial examination, which only considered real talent and knowledge, become the culprit that imprisoned people's thoughts and led to China's backwardness? This video will help us understand the imperial examination system in one go.

Before the Sui and Tang dynasties, officials were selected mainly through the system of recommendation and the system of nine-rank selection. The system of recommendation also required an examination of conduct and ability, while the latter was entirely based on family background.

"There are no commoners in the upper class, and no aristocrats in the lower class." Although there was a method of selecting children from poor families into officialdom through examinations in the Southern and Northern Dynasties, it was obviously impossible to shake the rule of the aristocratic families at that time.

After the unification of the Sui Dynasty, Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty, Yang Jian, issued an edict to prefectures and counties to formally establish the imperial examination, hoping to select truly talented people through the examination.

During the reign of Emperor Yang of Sui, the Jinshi examination was further established, and restrictions on family background were abolished, with promotion based entirely on test scores. This was a very advanced policy in world history at the time.

However, in the Sui Dynasty and the early Tang Dynasty, high positions and noble titles were still held by aristocratic families. The imperial examination did not become the mainstream selection method of the court, but was only a way for scholars and officials to obtain the qualifications to become officials. It was difficult for common people and poor children to compete with the Guanlong Group, which had power, financial resources, and family background.

The situation changed again after Wu Zetian came on the scene. In order to clear the obstacles to her ascension to the throne, Wu Zetian vigorously suppressed the nobles of the Li Tang clan and promoted a group of children from poor families.

The imperial examination system of the Tang Dynasty was further developed during the reign of Emperor Gaozong, who established the military examination and increased the number of Jinshi candidates. In order to win the hearts of the people, Wu Zetian often opened more special examinations, which greatly increased the number of people who entered the officialdom through the imperial examination.

Among the 27 prime ministers during the Kaiyuan period of the prosperous Tang Dynasty, 18 entered the government through the imperial examination, and 14 of them were from lower-middle classes. This was unimaginable in the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties when the Nine-Rank System was implemented.