Fenyang Guo Wang Ziyi

In Shaanxi, there is a well-known drama "Beating the Golden Branch", which tells the story that Ai Guo, the son of the famous Tang Dynasty Guo Ziyi, beat Princess Shengping with a golden branch and a jade leaf. Princess Shengping made up her mind and ran back to the palace to tell her father Tang Daizong. At the same time, Guo Ziyi learned the situation, took Ai Guo seriously and confessed to Tang Daizong. Tang Daizong is tolerant and reasonable. Instead of blaming Ai Guo, she suggested that Princess Shengping make peace with Ai Guo, and a storm ended successfully. Hit the golden branch

The story of Romance is true in history, so why is Emperor Taizong, as an emperor revered by the country, especially kind to Guo Ziyi? This should start with Guo Ziyi's life experience and historical achievements.

First, the ancestors of Guo Ziyi.

Speaking of, first of all, say his surname, because his surname "Guo" has a long history. If traced back to ancient times, Guo's surname originated from Ji's surname, which flourished in ancient China, and the Zhou Dynasty in the early history of our country was established by Ji's surname.

The Zhou Dynasty implemented the enfeoffment system. Zhou Wuwang sealed his uncle Guo Shu in Xiguo (now Baoji East, Shaanxi) and Guo Zhong in Dongguo (now northeast of Xingyang, Henan). Zhou Ping moved eastward, mainly relying on Zheng and Jin to build the country, so he gave some places including Dongguo to Zheng, and Jin also took the opportunity to expand his power and quickly destroyed Beiguo (with its capital in Li Jiayao, southeast of Shaanxi County, Henan Province). Judging from the unearthed cultural relics, the Northern Kingdom was also established in the Western Zhou Dynasty, and it may also be the imperial clan of the Zhou Dynasty. In addition, after Pingdong moved to the east, the Guo family remained in a place called "Guo", which was destroyed by the State of Qin in 687 BC.

After Pingdong moved eastward, the national situation became weaker and weaker, only nominally maintaining the status of co-owner of the world, but actually forming a situation in which princes competed for hegemony. When he ruled, he threatened the Zhou royal family with force and accused it of destroying Guo. The royal family of Zhou Dynasty was awed by its prestige, and Xu, a descendant of Zhou Dynasty, was sealed in Yangqu (now southeast of Dingxiang, Shanxi) and changed to Guo Weiyin with the same word. In this way, yangqu became.

After the preface, the boundary of Yangqu gradually moved south to the north of Taiyuan City, Shanxi Province. The place names of Yangqu have also been renamed as Yangzhi and Fenyang, which are under the jurisdiction of Taiyuan. Therefore, New Tang Book, Prime Minister's Genealogy Table, Compilation of Yuanhe Surnames, and Guo Bei, when introducing their families, respectively said that their families were Taiyuan people, and native Taiyuan people took their surnames instead of Taiyuan, especially Guo.

Guo Ziyi's ancestral home in Taiyuan was also recognized by the Tang Dynasty. In the early Tang Dynasty, officials often chose a beautiful title, such as Li Jing's title of defending the country and Li Fang's title of Lord of England. But in the future, except for the royal family, "all sealed cities must obtain their surnames." That is to say, official titles must be named after their ancestral homes, such as Pei Du's Duke of Jin (ancestral home in Hedong, now Shanxi), Li Duozuo's title of Liaoyang County King (ancestral home in Bohai, now Northeast), and so on. In the second year of the Tang Dynasty (76 1), Guo Ziyi awarded "Guo Ziyi" based on Guo Ziyi's "land of surnames" and "Fenyang", which is now Shaanxi Yangqu. It should be noted here that the word "Fenyang" does not refer to Fenyang in Shanxi today. Today, the name of Fenyang in Shanxi began in the 23rd year of Wanli in Ming Dynasty (1595), which is far from the Tang Dynasty.

Guo Ziyi's ancestral home is Taiyuan, which can be further confirmed by his descendants' knighthood. For example, in The Biography of Guo Ziyi in the New Tang Dynasty, Guo Yao, the son of Guo Ziyi, was given the title of Taiyuan Gong, and Guo Sun, the grandson of Guo Ziyi, was also given the title of Taiyuan Gong, and their title of Taiyuan was also based on their "place of surname" (that is, ancestral home). As far as ancestors are concerned, the earliest recorded ancestor of Guo Ziyi is Guo Ting. Guo Ting had a great-grandson named Guang Zhi (some of whom wrote Guangde), and once served as a doctor of Guanglu. Guang Zhi's son Meng Ru is the satrap of Feng Yi. Because Fengyi County was established by Wei in the Three Kingdoms Period, Meng Ru was appointed as the prefect of Fengyi in the Cao Wei period. During his tenure, Meng Ru moved his family, and his descendants settled in Zheng County (now hua county, Shaanxi Province), where Feng Yi belonged. By the end of the Western Wei Dynasty (535-55 1), Guo Huiren, a descendant of Guo Mengru, was a Sima from the same state. At that time, Yang Zhong (the father of Emperor Wendi of Sui Dynasty, the founding emperor of Sui Dynasty) was the secretariat of the same state, so Guo Hui had a considerable relationship with Yang Zhong. After serving in the same state, Guo Hui continued to be promoted, and later he served as the secretariat of Zhou Xun and the county magistrate of Feng 'ancheng. After the establishment of the Sui Dynasty, Guo Hui was favored because of his old friendship with Emperor Wendi's father. Guo Jin, Guo Hui's younger brother, is the sixth ancestor of Guo Ziyi. When talking about his life experience, Guo Ziyi once said that he was Guo Rong's uncle Guo Jin, and he said that Guo Rong was Guo Hui's son and Guo Jin's nephew. Guo Ziyi emphasized Guo Rong for a reason, because Guo Rong is a very famous figure in the Guo Ziyi family. When he was in the Northern Zhou Dynasty, he attacked the Northern Qi together with the general Yuwen Hu, and made great achievements. Later, he made friends with Emperor Wendi of Sui Dynasty. After Emperor Wendi of Sui Dynasty proclaimed himself emperor, Guo Rong was highly regarded, and he led troops to quell the rebellion of ethnic minorities in southwest China. After Yang Di acceded to the throne, he followed Yang Di to conquer Tuguhun and Liaodong, and made remarkable achievements. When Yang Xuangan rebelled in the Sui Dynasty, he was appointed to be responsible for the defense of Taiyuan, a military town. Guo Rong was a famous general in Sui Dynasty. He was a city official from official to general. He has a very important position in Guo Ziyi's ancestral home and also occupies a very important position in Guo Ziyi's mind. Guo Rong's fighting experience and martial arts achievements inspired Guo Ziyi. From his great grandfather, the Guo family has been an official for generations. First, great-grandfather Guo Luqiu was appointed as the treasurer of Jinzhou to join the army. Later, his great-grandfather Guo Chang was appointed as Facao in Liangzhou, and his grandfather Guo Tong was appointed as the captain of Meiyuan County. Guo Ziyi's father, Guo Jingzhi, has a detailed record in Historical Records. He began to join the army and worked as a clerk in Fuzhou, Tang Dynasty (now Fuling County, Sichuan Province), and has been active all over the country since then. Successively (now Ji 'an City, Jiangxi Province), Shou (now Shouxian County, Anhui Province), Sui (now Suide County, Shaanxi Province) and Xi 'an (now loufan county, Shaanxi Province) were the secretariat of five states. In any case, the area involved in Guo Jingzhi's appointment is very broad, which can be said to be from east to west and from south to north, almost all over the motherland. Officials in the Tang dynasty moved to their posts, and the means of transportation were mainly chariots, horses and boats. This long-distance and large-scale migration is conducive to broadening people's horizons, and the local climate, landforms and customs are very different, which is more conducive to increasing people's knowledge. Guo Ziyi may have been following his father's life, walking around the north before he became an adult.

This experience has a great influence on Guo Ziyi's growth. Guo Jingzhi was a local official. After retirement, I returned to Chang 'an, the capital, and spent my old age in Changle Square (located at the southernmost tip of Chang 'an, about the east section of today's Xi 'an Anzhang Badong Road). Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty died at the age of 78 on the 10th day of the first month in 744. After Guo Jingzhi's death, after some years, Guo Ziyi became more and more important and won the respect of the imperial court. So he gave Guo Jing a special gift to protect the Duke of Qi. Guo Ziyi moved his father's grave and reburied him. At this time, the famous "Guo Jia Miao Bei" written by the great calligrapher Yan Zhenqing was written for Guo Jingzhi. The inscription not only describes Guo Jingzhi's life, but also describes his appearance, saying that he is eight feet two inches (Tang feet) long, with a voice like Hong Zhong, eyes full of gods, bearded cheeks, personable, and looks like a fairy; He also praised his conduct, saying that he was kind and virtuous since childhood and never did anything against etiquette in his life. Guo Ziyi's growth path was influenced by his father's good moral character.

Second, Wu Ju entered the official position.

Guo Ziyi was born in the first year of Dengfeng (696). Long live Wu Zetian. Guo Jingzhi was 30 years old this year. Guo Ziyi was born during the reign of Wu Zetian. Wu Zetian ruled the world as a woman, although there were many obstacles in the open Tang Dynasty. In order to consolidate her rule, she urgently needs to win the wide support of society and recruit civil and military talents to participate in politics. On the other hand, at that time, due to the destruction of the land equalization system, the system of officers and men based on the land equalization system was gradually disintegrating. At the same time, border wars are increasing day by day, so there is a sharp contradiction between the huge demand for the army in the war and the decline of the military system owned by the government. This dilemma requires feudal countries to quickly adjust their policies in order to broaden their sources of soldiers and recruit military talents.

In order to solve the urgent need of national military talents once and for all, Wu Zetian founded martial arts in the second year of Chang 'an (702). At this time, Guo Ziyi was 6 years old, and the establishment of Wu Ju paved the way for Guo Ziyi to enter the army.

Wushu is a regular subject. The so-called regular subjects usually refer to the imperial examinations held regularly in Beijing every year. The candidates are from Xianggong and the students of this school. The contents, methods, standards and examiner departments of the evaluation are relatively fixed. The examiner's department is the Ministry of War, and Yuan Wailang is in charge. Wushu is more flexible than other subjects. In addition to rural tributes and school students, students can also recommend themselves, which provides more opportunities for heroes and warriors in the world to be officials than in the past ... At that time, candidates who took the martial arts exam every year gathered in Chang' an with bows and arrows, which was very grand and lively. Fierce competition requires contestants to engage in various martial arts exercises from an early age. It can be said that Guo Ziyi has been studying and training various martial arts examination subjects since he founded martial arts, or since his childhood, in order to win martial arts.

Besides, since the Northern Dynasties, folk customs were martial, and riding, shooting and cornering were popular in China. Wu Zetian opened Wu Hou, and the government publicly taught people to learn martial arts; He also made wooden horses and taught people to practice riding and shooting among the people. Therefore, on the basis of the martial arts in the Northern Dynasties, it added fuel to the flames, making martial arts become a common practice, and even literati students fencing, riding and shooting to be good at martial arts. For example, the great poet Li Bai traveled around the world with a sword; Du Fu, another great poet, once called an eagle to chase animals and a horse to shoot birds. In such a social atmosphere, the martial arts examination should be of high standard, and Guo Ziyi won the martial arts examination with excellent results.

Wu Kao must be 18 years old. Maybe Guo Ziyi is 18 years old or later. The content of the exam is roughly as follows: first, draw five groups of circles on silk and put them on the target. Candidates' shooting distance 105 step (one step in Tang Dynasty is equal to 5 feet). And put two fake deer on a low wall with the same width and height as the arrow target and shoot at a fast horse. This is called shooting a horse. He also made a Woodenhead and put it on the low wall. There was a square board on Woodenhead's head. He ran near the low wall with a spear, and stabbed it with a spear, so that the board fell, but Woodenhead did not fall. This is called a carbine. In addition, there are also examination subjects such as puncture (nail shooting), lifting the latch (lifting the latch length 1.7 feet, 3.5 inches in diameter), holding the latch one foot at a time, lifting the latch 10 times), bearing weight (carrying 5 meters, taking 20 steps), body shape, and speaking. In all the exams, being able to get five excellent ones is the first place. This practical, standardized and rigorous examination enables candidates to show their abilities and select outstanding military talents under the condition of equal competition.

After Guo Ziyi's martial arts success, he became the commander-in-chief of Zuo Wei, and later he was promoted to Khan Duhu and Zhenyuan (far from being a military ambassador). Among them, Chanduhufu was once named Anbei Duhufu, located in Tuchengzi, northwest of Helinger County, Inner Mongolia, and was a military town in the northern border of Tang Dynasty. There are two kinds of military forces: one is that Zhang Renyuan, a general in the second year of Tang Jinglong (708), attacked and rode with a silent Khan, which was established when he built the Three Surrender City in the north of the Yellow River Hetao, where he ruled the East Surrender City (now the north bank of the southwest Yellow River in Tuoketuo County, Inner Mongolia). From then on, Turks dare not invade Yinshan Mountain in the south again. In the fourth year of Tianbao (745), Zhenwu Army moved to Jinhe (now Tuchengzi, northwest of Inner Mongolia and Linger). Second, in the 17th year of Kaiyuan (72 1), Zhang Shou, a general of the Tang Dynasty, and other soldiers attacked and pulled out the stone castle (in present-day Qinghai). These three places, no matter where Guo Ziyi was guarding at that time, were very important.

During the Tianbao period of the Tang Dynasty (742-755), Guo Ziyi was renamed Hedong County (now yongji city, Shaanxi Province). In the eighth year of Tianbao (749), the Tang Dynasty established the Hengsai Army and Anbei Khufu in Muci Mountain (located in the northwest of Urad Front Banner in Inner Mongolia), and appointed Guo Ziyi as the ambassador of Hengsai Army. However, due to the unfavorable location, they moved to the north of Yongqingmen, where Tiande German and Guo Ziyi served as Tiande German ambassadors and concurrently served as the satrap of Jiuyuan.

In a word, after practicing martial arts, Guo Ziyi stepped into the military field and undertook many important tasks, which was highly valued by the imperial court.

Third, the critical moment was ordered.

During the reign of Tang Kaiyuan Tianbao, the development of feudal economy reached its peak, showing superficial prosperity, but the decadent forces in society were also expanding rapidly, which eventually led to a great disaster-Anshi Rebellion.

In the later period of Xuanzong in Tang Dynasty, the military strength of border towns was constantly expanding, which gradually changed the military situation in Tang Dynasty from "emphasizing the inside and neglecting the outside" to "emphasizing the outside and neglecting the inside". At that time, all the elite soldiers gathered in the border towns. Officials who hold the force in border towns are called our envoys. Our troops were then called buffer towns or square towns. In the early days of Tianbao, the Tang Dynasty set Anxi (governing Qiuci Wei), Shuofang (governing Lingzhou, now southwest of Lingwu in Ningxia), Hedong (governing Taiyuan in Shanxi), Fanyang (governing Youzhou, now Beijing), Pinglu (governing Yingzhou, now northwest of Jinzhou in Liaoning), Longyou (governing Yanzhou, now Ledu in Qinghai) and Sword. The garrisons in the above ten towns, together with some small garrisons in other border areas, have a total of 490,000 border soldiers and more than 80,000 war horses. At that time, the total strength of the Tang Dynasty was about 570,000. In other words, at that time, the forces controlled by the central government and the mainland were only over 80,000 people, only one-sixth of those in border towns. These envoys not only led the troops, but also took charge of civil affairs and finance, and soon became a powerful local separatist force. The Anshi Rebellion broke out against this background.

An Lushan was born in a miscellaneous lake in Yingzhou. He was appreciated by Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty for cruelly suppressing Xi and Qidan people, and was appointed as our envoy in Pinglu, Fanyang and Hedong. He is very ambitious. He has been to Chang 'an many times. In the activities of the imperial court and officialdom, he had a very clear understanding of the corruption and weakness of the imperial court, and thus accumulated a different ambition to fight against the Tang Dynasty. Shi Siming, who rebelled against Anshi Rebellion, also came from miscellaneous Hu, and was closely associated with Anshi Rebellion. He went to Chang 'an to play things, which was quite liked by Tang Xuanzong. Before the Anshi Rebellion, he was sent to Pinglu by officials. In order to launch a rebellion, An Lushan made full preparations for the expansion of troops and material reserves, and also made careful arrangements for the specific steps of sending troops. As far as the latter is concerned, although An Lushan controlled the three towns, Hedong Town, once the capital of Ethereum, is actually not under his control. At that time, Chang 'an, Tang Dou and Anshi Rebellion were all in Fanyang. If the Anshi Rebellion starts from the south, Taiyuan can send troops to Jingxingguan to intercept it, or take a back road, which is very unfavorable to the rebels strategically. So, An Lushan used a trick to capture Yang Guang 〓, the commander guarding Taiyuan, alive before he rose to the ground. After everything was ready, in the winter of the fourteenth year of Tianbao, An Lushan rose in Fanyang by secret order, and then led 1.5 million troops south to Haocheng (now Gaocheng County, Hebei Province) via Hebei Plain, and ordered the rebel Qin Li to assemble thousands of soldiers to guard Jingxingkou to guard against Taiyuan attack. In addition, the Anshi Rebellion also occupied parts of Inner Mongolia and northern Shanxi, and sent troops from these areas to intimidate Taiyuan.

At first, the Tang court didn't know enough about the strategic intention of the Anshi Rebellion and the development of the war at that time. It was not until An Lushan reached Tongguan and the news reached Chang 'an that Emperor Xuanzong really felt the seriousness of the problem. He immediately beheaded An Lushan's son, Anqing Zong, who stayed in Chang 'an, and made two major personnel arrangements: one was to be appointed commander of Shuofang, leading the army to attack the rebels in the east, and the other was to appoint General You Yulin as Taiyuan Yin. The appointment of Guo Ziyi had a great influence on the situation at that time.

After receiving the order, he immediately led the army to attack the rebels eastward through the Hetao area of the Yellow River, and first conquered the Jingbian army (now Youyu County, Shanxi Province) and beheaded the rebels Zhou. Then, he went south to attack Hequ (now Hequ County, Shanxi Province), defeated the rebels and Xue, recovered Yunhe (now Datong City, Shanxi Province) and Mayi (now Shuozhou City, Shanxi Province), and opened the key gateway to Taiyuan. In this way, Guo Ziyi not only relieved the threat of rebels in the north of Taiyuan, but also went south to Taiyuan and east to Jingxingguan, and gained a very favorable strategic position. Secondly, after the war between An Lushan and Shi Siming, it was unstoppable, and the counties in the Tang Dynasty fell in succession, and the rebels soon approached the capital of the Tang Dynasty. At this time, Guo Ziyi's success in Lien Chan made Tang Jun and the people proud, and their fighting spirit increased greatly.

Just as the news of victory spread in Guo Ziyi, Yan Gaoqing, the satrap of Changshan (now Zhengding, Hebei Province) in Tang Dynasty, and Yan Zhenqing, the satrap of Pingyuan (now Lingxian, Hebei Province), also wanted to jointly mobilize troops to recover the lost land in Hebei Province, strategically forming a trend to intercept the return of Anshi rebels, thus curbing the rebels' March to Chang 'an, Tang Dou. However, at that time, almost all of Hebei Province fell into the hands of Anshi Rebellion. If they want to remember the soldiers, the most important thing is to get the support of Taiyuan. So, they first killed Li, an Anshi rebel guarding Jingxingkou, and disbanded his soldiers, thus opening the road from Taiyuan to Hebei Plain. Later, the general of Tang Jun, He Qian, analyzed the situation to Yan Gaoqing in and thought: Since you want to start fighting for the imperial court, you should be cautious from beginning to end. At present, the soldiers we recruit are just a mob, so it is difficult to confront the enemy. The current plan is to stay in the deep ditch and hold the city, and not to fight with the rebels. After the arrival of Guo Ziyi's army, Qi Xin will attack the rebels together, and at the same time spread all over Hebei and cut off. Then it was suggested that Yan Gaoqing threatened, and Guo Ziyi ordered his troops to lead 65438+100000 Li Guangbi cavalry out of Jingxingkou; It is also suggested that Yan Gaoqing send someone to lobby Zhang Xiancheng, the satrap of Boling in the Anshi Rebellion, in order to praise Guo Ziyi's military strength and belittle that most of his men are local armed forces, lacking training at ordinary times and unable to resist Guo Ziyi's strength. After hearing this, Yan Gaoqing did as He Qianyuan said. As a result, Zhang Xiancheng was awed by Guo Ziyi's fame and fled, and his Yingyong armed forces collapsed for a while. Later, Yan Gaoqing ordered people to comfort the soldiers, and at the same time ordered people to patrol the counties in Hebei Province, saying that Guo Ziyi's army had left Jingxingguan and would soon attack the counties in Hebei Province. Those who surrender first are rewarded, and those who hesitate to wait and see are punished! As soon as this statement came out, counties in Hebei responded one after another. At that time, 17 County surrendered to join the Tang Dynasty without fighting, and Yan Gaoqing's army expanded rapidly, reaching more than 200,000 people. At that time, Hebei was a rebel army, with only five counties: Fanyang, Lulong, Miyun, Yuyang, Yeye. Not only that, but also almost drove An Lushan back to the army. At that time, An Lushan was preparing to personally lead an army against Tongguan. After hearing the news of the changing situation in Hebei, he immediately retreated and ordered his elite soldier Cai Xide to lead 65438+ 10,000 troops from Hanoi (now north of the Yellow River in Henan Province) to point directly at Yan Gaoqing's stronghold Changshan. Almost at the same time, Shi Siming also led an army to Changshan.

As far as the actual situation is concerned, Guo Ziyi needs stable public security and a short rest to conquer Jingbian, Hequ, Yunzhong and Mayi at high altitude. We can't immediately go south to Taiyuan, east to Jingxingkou, and attack Hebei. It is wise for Yan Gaoqing to rely on Guo Ziyi's prestige when he joined the army. But with the development of the situation, he should get assistance from Taiyuan, a military town at that time, as soon as possible. The king who stayed in Taiyuan was jealous of Yan Gaoqing's meritorious service and stopped. When Shi Siming and Cai Xide captured Changshan, Yan Gaoqing was captured, and Hebei counties stood by while recovering. The Tang Dynasty lost a good opportunity to defeat the Anshi Rebellion.