The World Online

Chapter 990 – Guts That Were Castrated

The difference between the An Lushan Rebellion and the previous seven Battle Maps was that this was an internal rebellion raised by a border general. It was not a faceoff between two sides.

Talking about this battle, one had to briefly mention the Provincial Governor system of the Tang Dynasty.

Tang Taizong, Tang Gaozong first took down Liaodong, then the west Turks, Tuyuhun, and other nearby regions, causing the Tang Dynasty to be an empire with a vast border.

To strengthen their control of the border regions, the border defenses, and their control of the minority races, Tang Xuanzong set up 10 garrisons, appointing 9 Jiedushi and one military commander.

What was a Jiedushi?

Based on the history of the later Tang Dynasties, it was someone with power over land, over people, over finances, and over troops. As such, the Jiedushi ruled a region and became a problem for the Tang royal family.

Tang Xuanzong removed the conscription system, causing their military strength to be strong externally but weak internally. At that moment, there were 500 thousand soldiers at the border and less than 80 thousand soldiers in the Imperial Court. The Jiedushi’s could already threaten the safety of the Imperial Court. Just An Lushan alone, who was the Pinglu Jiedushi, Fanyang Jiedushi, and Hedong Jiedushi had 150 thousand troops.

To the emperor, to decide whether a person rebels or not was not related to the heart to rebel but rather if the person in question had the ability to. Without a doubt, An Lushan had the ability to.

There were many people who tried to tell Tang Xuanzong that An Lushan might rebe,l but Tang Xuanzong did not listen. The one whose attitude was most the adamant was the prime minister at that time, the brother of Yang Guifei – Yang Guozhong.

Yang Guozhong and An Lushan had a bad relationship, and they had a long history of bad blood. However, Fan Xuanzong did not interfere in this. An Lushan held onto his ambitions and had many troops in hand, which gave him a chance to betray Tang.

This gave rise to the rebellion that lasted for eight years. Until the war ended, there was no real winner.

Yang Guozhong was murdered by furious soldiers in the mutiny of Maweiyi, Yang Guifei was forced to kill herself, while Tang Xuanzong and his son Li Heng went their separate ways.

The rebels did not have a good ending either.

The ironic thing was that the two rebel leaders did not die on the battlefield but died from the hands of their own sons. An Lushan was killed by his son, An Qingxu, while Shi Siming was killed by his son, Shi Chaoyi.

Their personal fates were secondary. Most crucially, the An Lushan Rebellion affected the fate of the Tang Dynasty, which affected the fate of the entire Chinese race.

The An Lushan Rebellion destroyed the ruling foundations of the Tang Dynasty, weakening the centralization of power and creating the necessary conditions for feudalism.

When the Huangchao Rebellion at the end of Tang Dynasty occurred, Chinese history welcomed a hugely chaotic time – five dynasties and 10 kingdoms.

During the five dynasties and 10 kingdoms period, many mutinies occurred with the rulers changing frequently.

To prevent similar situations from occurring, Zhao Kuangyin executed his policy to focus on civil servants and not military, prohibiting generals from interfering in politics. He also used the cheerful opportunity while drinking to remove old generals from their positions.

Although his actions successfully weakened local powers and prolonged the Song Dynasty, it caused the dynasty to be weak and poor with a heavy outside problem.

At the end of the two Song Dynasties, the situation did not change.

Ever since the Tang Dynasty ended, generals becoming ministers was a dream and civil servants ruling generals became a tradition. Some people said that the guts of the Chinese people were castrated at this moment, and they were unable to be as majestic as the Han and Tang Dynasties.

…

Shanhai City, Xia Palace.

The moment the notification ended, Feng Qiuhuang came over to Shanhai City to discuss matters with Ouyang Shuo.

There were only the two of them left in the Shanhai Alliance.

There were many officials and generals from Great Xia that were born in the Tang Dynasty. Hence, no matter what choices Di Chen and the others make, Ouyang Shuo would still choose the Tang Dynasty camp.

If they also choose the same side, this battle would be pointless.

However, with Di Chen’s arrogance, he would want to fight with Ouyang Shuo. The reason being that in terms of soldier numbers, Yanhuang Alliance held the advantage.

Although Ouyang Shuo was a prince, he could only bring 100 thousand troops. Feng Qiuhuang was a 1st class Marquis and could bring 50 thousand troops, so they could bring a total of 150 thousand soldiers.

The members of the Yanhuang Alliance were all 1st class Marquis and could bring 300 thousand troops in total, double that of the Shanhai Alliance. The Battle Map also allowed them to use contribution points to revive dead soldiers, so Di Chen and the others had little to worry about.

Toward this matter, Ouyang Shuo was still a little optimistic.

“If we are united, wouldn’t it be too boring?” Ouyang Shuo said to Feng Qiuhuang.

Feng Qiuhuang nodded; she was a person that loved to compete.

Ouyang Shuo said, “This battle is a great chance for Fallen Phoenix City to recruit generals.” Ouyang Shuo saying this was him taking the initiative to give up on his chances of recruiting the Tang Dynasty camp generals.

Feng Qiuhuang had Ran Min, Wang He, and Zhou Bo. The only thing she lacked was a top commander to lead the troops.

Tang Dynasty Guo Ziyi was undoubtedly a suitable choice.

Feng Qiuhuang smiled, “Then I’ll go ahead.” Between the two of them, there was naturally no need to be too polite.

…

Jingdu Province, Handan City.

Di Chen and the others gathered together to discuss battle matters.

“The old fox has spread the word that he will choose the Tang Dynasty camp. What are your thoughts?” Di Chen asked.

Chun Shenjun gave a cold smile, “He really knows how to take advantage of the situation. Choosing the Tang Dynasty camp in advance, he clearly wants to beat us once more.”

“You cannot put it that way.” Zhan Lang did not agree, “With the way Tang Xuanzong acts, choosing the Tang Dynasty camp may not be advantageous. Furthermore, the rebellion lasts for eight years, so who knows which part of it Gaia would use?”

“That’s right.” Xiong Ba nodded, “With Gaia’s character, it would not be biased. No matter which camp is chosen, it would still be the same.”

Seeing that everyone had given their opinion, Di Chen smiled, “So you all want to fight once more?”

“Fight!”

“That’s right, we cannot yield. I will feel unhappy if we do not win even once,” Sha Pojun said.

Chun Shenjun did not oppose, and he smiled, “That’s right. We have fought seven times, much less once more. Based on the experts, the next few battles for the China region might be one camp against the outside world. As such, the chances we have to fight the old fox are getting lesser and lesser.”

Di Chen said, “That’s settled; let’s give it our best shot.”

The Yanhuang Alliance and the Shanhai Alliance were going to face off once more.

************

Gaia 5th year, 1st month, 15th day, 9 AM, the System Notification announcement sounded.

“System Notification: 755 AD, Jiedushi An Lushan and Shu Siming started a rebellion and was suppressed by the Tang Dynasty. 8th Battle Map – An Lushan Rebellion officially begins!”

“Checking battle requirements, selecting forces, choosing camp…”

The 100 thousand troops Great Xia chose were the two heavy mountain barbarian infantry divisions in the 1st legion of the Guards Legion Corps, the 2nd Guards Legion, and the three thousand Divine Martial Guards.

As the Tang Dynasty did not lack famous generals, to prevent themselves from overpowering their hosts, Ouyang Shuo did not bring Huo Qubing.

“System Notification: Teleportation begin!”

After a short while of twisting and turning, Ouyang Shuo and his men appeared on the battlefield.

“System Notification: Welcome player Qiyue Wuqi, descending on the Tang Dynasty camp -Chang An.”

“Chang An?”

Ouyang Shuo was shocked; this meant that Chang An city had not been taken down by the rebels yet.

Based on the historical progression, Tang Xuanzong had not taken his ministers and wives to escape to the Shu Lands. The famous mutiny of Maweiyi had not occurred yet.

“Then has Tong Pass fallen?”

What Ouyang Shuo cared about was that. As the last barrier to Chang An, if Tong Pass fell, then there was no meaning in remaining in Chang An.