Years: 755-763
An Lushan a Sogdian origin General in the Tang Dynasty was quickly gaining influence both in the royal court and in the military.
Emperor Xuanzong of Tang who went by the personal name of Li Longji, was deeply impressed by his bravery and simple nature.
All of which was a clever act, a brilliant ruse set by An Lushan himself to prop himself in the spotlight.
He had initially enlisted in the army when he was caught stealing sheep during the year 732, but dreamt to be something more than just an ordinary soldier.
Fighting hard in the army, he knew he needed victories under his belt to get the Emperor to notice him.
But how?
In the turbulent years of 751–752, the Tang Empire faced a growing threat. An Lushan had long been provoking the Khitans. The Khitans, responding to his provocations, began to march south, threatening the very heart of the Tang Empire.
In turn, the Tang mobilized their forces. In the eighth month of 751, An Lushan led an army of 60,000 soldiers, bolstered by 2,000 Xi guides, into Khitan territory to meet the advancing Khitan forces head-on.
But the battle took an unexpected turn. As the two armies clashed, the Xi forces, once allies of the Tang, switched sides, throwing their lot in with the Khitans. This unexpected betrayal shifted the tide of the battle.
The Khitan-Xi alliance, with their combined strength, pushed the Tang army back.
Torrential rains added to the chaos, making the Tang forces vulnerable and disorganized. The Khitan-Xi army overwhelmed them, leaving only a handful of survivors. Among them was An Lushan, who managed to escape the carnage, fleeing to Shizhou with just twenty cavalrymen by his side.
He had never dreamed of such an outcome, but he knew he couldn't afford to return to the capital with such a heavy loss, biding his time he waited for reinforcements.
Su Dingfang, another Tang general, quickly responded to the retreat.
He rallied the remaining Tang forces and halted the Khitan pursuit, forcing them to retreat.
Though the Tang had technically won the battlefield, An Lushan's escape meant that the war was far from over.
They needed to capture him, expecting answers for the embarrassing and the horrible slip-up which had been done during his leadership.
The Tang army laid siege to the city in hopes of capturing him, but it was only when Shi Siming, one of An Lushan's trusted generals, intervened that the siege was lifted. In the aftermath of the failed siege, An Lushan, furious over the defeat, executed two of his generals—blaming them for their failure and sending a clear message of his ruthless leadership.
But things were far from over, by 752, the Tang Empire, enraged by the audacity of the Khitans and the humiliation of their army's defeat, mustered a colossal force. 200,000 soldiers, a mix of Chinese and foreign warriors, marched north to confront the Khitans once more.
An Lushan's schemes were still far from over. He reached out to Li Xianzhong, a general of the Tujue, hoping to rally more support for his cause. However, Li, fearing An Lushan's growing power, turned against him. Li's rebellion effectively halted An Lushan's campaign, leaving the Tang forces in a precarious position.
He was eventually granted an audience with the Emperor and he knew he needed to make an impression.
Boldly ignoring the crown prince Li Heng, he went straight to the Emperor.
When asked about his disrespectful behaviour, he simply replied feigning stupidity, "I don't understand the concept of a crown prince, I am after all just a barbarian.".
This was a power move as even stated in the first law in the 48 Laws of Power. 'NEVER OUTSHINE THE MASTER'.
By displaying that he was nothing but a simpleton, he garnered sympathy from the Emperor himself. But this wasn't all that the clever man had up his sleeve.
He asked the Emperor's most favorite concubine Yang Guifei who is regarded as one of the four beauties of ancient China, to be his adoptive mother even though she was 16 years younger than him.
His request though odd was granted and he devoutly greeted her first before greeting his now adoptive father, the Emperor himself, explaining that in his culture, one greets the mother first and then the father.
This deeply impressed the Emperor and An Lushan immediately got on his good side. Showering him with plenty of favors whenever he asked, for he was their 'adoptive son'.
All of this was viewed with suspicion by the court's chancellor, Li Linfu who wondered whether these moves will allow the survival of An Lushan in the royal court.
But not only did the clever man survived, he thrived.
Being showered with treasures and gifted a luxurious mansion to live in, he was enjoying life, though it came with the cost of him often parading himself naked in the court for the Emperor and his concubine's pleasure.
All this was observed by Li Linfu with suspicion who had maintained his power by cunning and trickery all his life as a chancellor for the Tang dynasty, a whopping 18 years. He maintained good relations with the general allowing his shenanigans in the court but still keeping a watchful eye.
All until the year 753 when he died and was replaced by a much jealous Yang Guozhong.
He didn't like An Lushan one bit, always accusing him of plotting rebellions which the general actually was guilty of. Failing to do so, due to the Emperor's views on him still considering him as an adoptive son, Yang Guozhong went on to frame and execute all of An Lushan's subordinates one by one.
An Lushan definitely felt the pressure. The Emperor's protection and unwavering support could halt any moment for he was already 70 years old.
He needed to do something big and quick.
Remember Li Xianzhong and how he had rebelled against An Lushan and put his forces in a dangerous position?
Well, three years had passed since then in the tense standoff, and by the fourth month of 755, An Lushan realized what needed to be done and boldly declared victory.
He began to form new alliances, breaking his ties with the Tang clan and shifting his allegiances.
With the Tang Empire at a crossroads, An Lushan seized the opportunity, launching a rebellion of his own on 16 December, 755.
This was what he wanted to do ever since he had came to power as a general. He wanted more. He was hungry for it. He was obsessed.
I would call it ambition.
With the heartland of the Tang vulnerable and unprotected, An Lushan moved southward, aiming to strike swiftly and decisively.
As he marched, he called upon the northern nomads for assistance. The Tujue, Uighurs, Khitans, Xi, and Shiwei—tribes and groups that had once been his allies or adversaries—rallied to his cause.
Among them, the Khitans provided some support, largely through prisoners An had captured in earlier battles.
He kept pushing deeper and deeper in mainland China.
He crowned himself the Emperor of his own, the Yan Dynasty and furthered his conquests.
He had the confidence to win, for he commanded the frontier, battle-hardened soldiers, while mainland China had fewer soldiers.
The Tang did try recruiting professional mercenaries to defend the capital but the recruitment still was in its early stages for they had never in their wildest dreams expected such treachery.
An Lushan's forces quickly conquered the second capital, Luoyang.
This was too dangerous now and the Emperor needed to create a final stand against the general he treated as his own son.
He called for the frontier soldiers from the western front, led by the famed General Gao Xianzhi of Goguryeo descent.
He and General Feng Changqing created a nearly impenetrable defense with the help of loyal troops and held An Lushan for quite a while.
The rebellion could have been quelled with the joint effort of the two men. Many lives could have been saved since it was only the year 756, one year since the betrayal of An Lushan.
But ambition often does wonders, and in other ways one does not expect.
In the midst of the brutal and unrelenting war, the two generals, found themselves embroiled in a far more treacherous conflict—one that raged not on the frontlines but in the shadowed halls of the imperial court.
Bian Lingcheng, the influential eunuch who had long held power behind the scenes, watched with growing anxiety as the two men's triumphs began to gain them favor with the emperor. The generals, fierce in battle, had become the talk of the court, with whispers of their impending success against the notorious rebel leader An Lushan stirring both hope and fear. If they succeeded, their fame would eclipse that of many, and perhaps even catch the emperor's eye in ways that threatened to shift the power dynamics at the heart of the empire.
Bian, consumed by fear and jealousy, saw the generals as a looming threat to his own influence. He feared their rising prominence would cost him dearly, and that the emperor might grow fond of them—too fond.
In his desperation, Bian set in motion a series of calculated actions aimed at undermining the generals, knowing full well that he needed to strike before their victory was cemented. With rage and cunning, he carefully weaved a web of intrigue, manipulating the courtiers against the two generals, sowing distrust and doubt within the emperor's closest circles.
Though another influential person was behind the eunuch's actions. The man who was the most paranoid about the safety and guarantee of his position, Yang Guozhong, the Chancellor himself.
The two generals were falsely accused of treason and promptly executed by the eunuch and the Chancellor.
With the two impending war heroes out of the way the Chancellor who was a master at deceit and courtship but a fool in military judgement appointed General Geshu Han as the replacement for the two generals.
The General was pressurized by the Chancellor to face Lushan's troop on an open field which was a terrible mistake.
After another bloodshed, the Tang forces were finally defeated, leaving the path to the capital Chang'an clear.
General Geshu Han was captured and killed later in the year 757.
The Emperor and the crown prince fled and went separate ways.
As the saying goes, what goes around, comes around and the Chancellor, Yang Guozhong paid the price with his life as he was promptly executed for his blatant misjudgment.
To save face, the Emperor also had Yang Guifei executed by strangulation stating that if she had not accepted An Lushan's request to become his adoptive mother, all this would never have come to pass.
The two were put to death in the year 756.
Funny, how people often find the most blameless to take all the blame.
Later after the fall of Chang'an in the month of July, 756, the crown prince Li Heng declared himself Emperor of the Tang, becoming Emperor Suzong at Lingzhou.
Meanwhile, Chang'an was completely destroyed by An Lushan and his troops, its wealth looted and its residents chased or killed.
Emperor Suzong soon appointed Generals Guo Ziyi and Li Guangbi to deal with the rebellion.
Taking help from the Turkic Tujue tribe, the Huihe by borrowing troops from them, three thousand Arab mercenaries were also sent to join the new Tang forces to face An Lushan.
The new Tang Imperial forces proved to be strong as they recaptured both Chang'an and Luoyang in late 757.
How come were they able to win against the savage barbarian?
Well, the answer was simple.
They didn't.
An Lushan was betrayed and killed by his own son An Qingxu on 29 January, 757.
Li Zhu'er, An Lushan's trusted Eunuch had just unclothed the Emperor of the Yan and waited for him to take his bath.
Then together with another conspirator Yan Zhuang, the two hacked the naked Emperor general as he screamed, "this is a thief of my own household!" as he desperately shook his curtains, unable to find his sword.
An Lushan's intestines came out of his body.
A gruesome death to the ambitious general.
All of this was plotted and planned by his own son who had became paranoid of his violent tendencies.
He later crowned himself Emperor of the Yan and ordered the retreat of his soldiers back to Yan's heartland northeast.
That was how the Tang reclaimed their lost capital cities.
But amidst all these conflicts, one particularly stood out. A battle which revealed the depths of human nature and will. Primal would be an appropriate term for it, according to me.
In the beginning of the year 757 and continuing through October, a stalemate between the Yan and Tang forces occurred in Suiyang.
Due to such a long siege, the city's rations quickly depleted and in desperation the Tang forces stationed in the city resorted to, hopefully their last best possible option.
Cannibalism.
Large scale cannibalism.
The Tang were determined to fight till the last man standing, so in their zeal the 9,800 soldiers cooked and ate around 50,000 civilians.
It proved futile in the end, though the small force of Tang managed to kill 120,000 of the Yan soldiers, they still lost.
They truly fought till the bitter end.
Hold on, would bitter be the appropriate term here? I am not so sure myself, that tale of horror could more appropriately be told by those citizens who had the misfortune of being inside the city. They could think of a better term I suppose.
But I believe it's for the best that we are spared the details about what happened inside those city gates of Suiyang.
Humans are the most marvelous of creatures.
One moment they consider themselves civilized, above the animals which share the planet with them.
But when it comes to sheer will they resort to the same wilderness they earlier ridiculed. Embracing it rather.
All thanks to ambition I suppose.
On 10 April 759, An Qingxu was killed by Shi Siming who enthroned as Emperor Zhaowu of Yan.
Apparently, Quingxu proved to be inept as a leader since he was known to be very shy.
Funny for a man to be able to plot and kill his own father but be nervous to talk to his subordinates whenever they needed him.
Humans truly are marvelous.
Shi Siming soon left and headed south. He quickly captured Bian Prefecture and Luoyang, but his further attempts to advance were rebuffed by Tang forces at Heyang, and the sides stalemated once again.
By 762, Emperor Suzong had become seriously ill; and the combined forces of the Tang and their Huige allies were led by his eldest son. He was originally named Li Chu, but changed it to Li Yu in 758, after being named crown prince.
On 18 May 762, on the death of his father, he became Emperor Daizong of Tang.
The Yan too had lost all their momentum due to unstable leadership and were on the verge of collapse since their troops were actively defecting to the Tang.
Then, in the winter of 762, the eastern capital Luoyang was retaken by Tang forces for the second time.
But this never ending game of ambition would soon catch upto Shi Siming himself as his own general, Shi Chaoyi rebelled against him and had him killed by his subordinates.
This was the end of An Lushan's most trusted general and friend, a man he had known ever since he had joined the army.
Shi Chaoyi crowned himself Emperor of the Yan but this new power was short lived.
The Tang forces who had managed to reclaim all their lost territory chased the Yan Emperor Shi Chaoyi.
He attempted to flee, but was intercepted early in 763.
Shi Chaoyi chose suicide over capture, dying on 17 February 763, ending the eight-year-long rebellion.
The rebellion took 36 million lives according to many historians.
Most of which wasn't even caused due to the military conflicts but due to the famine the general public had to face, for neither side could provide a stable government to feed it's people.
Not to mention the unrecorded atrocities committed by both the sides.
How could they care for any of it?
They were in a power struggle after all.
A power struggle out of which none of the original instigators won, rather, they lost everything.
Some might call it greed. I will still call it ambition.
Greed is an ugly word.
Surprisingly, a greedy person only hurts himself and the people closest to him.
Ambition on the other hand is a beautiful word.
But an ambitious person brings destruction everywhere he goes for he will not rest unless it has been satisfied.
Thought-provoking, isn't it?
But this is the way history has always painted these two words.
That is the reason why I use the word ambition.
Humans after all, only like beautiful words.