It was not that no one in the army objected to this secret edict, but they were frightened back by An Lushan's official letter. An Lushan posted in the army: "The crusade against Yang Guozhong, a dog thief, is an order of the emperor, a military order, and a military order is like a mountain, if anyone dares to incite soldiers to oppose this action, don't blame this section to exterminate his nine clans." ”

An Lushan's rebel troops marched south in four directions.

The vast majority of the more than 100,000 troops were elite cavalry, and the dust of the battle was flying, and the drums and trumpets were sounding in unison. At that time, the Tang Dynasty had a long period of peace and stability, and the common people had not experienced war for several generations.

The Hebei region is under the jurisdiction of An Lushan, so when Shi Siming and others led the army to pass through, most of the nearby prefectures and counties were self-defeating, and some county guards and county commanders even opened the city gates in person to welcome the arrival of the rebels. There were also those who were cowardly, but unwilling to surrender, directly abandoned the city and fled, and those who had a little backbone and were ready to hold on were captured and killed by the rebels.

At this point, the rebels have passed everywhere, and few people dare to resist again.

Before An Lushan's army was preparing to attack Taiyuan, he first sent the generals He Qianqian and Gao Miao to lead 20 Xi cavalry, claiming that they had come to the imperial court to offer warriors who were skilled in cavalry and archery.

On the tenth day of the first month, Yang Guang, the deputy guard of Taiyuan, fell into their plan and went out of the city to greet him, but was knocked to the ground by He Qianqian with a slap and hijacked directly. Taiyuan reported the situation to the imperial court on the same day. The surrendered city in the east also said that An Lushan rebelled.

When he first heard the news of An Lushan's rebellion, Tang Xuanzong also thought that this was a deliberate fabrication of facts by people who hated An Lushan, he didn't believe that it was true, and scolded everyone: "Don't be sensational, An Lushan will not rebel." ”

In fact, Tang Xuanzong's words were a bit vain.

On the 15th, Xuanzong got the exact news that An Lushan had indeed led his troops to rebel. hurriedly summoned important ministers to discuss contingency measures.

Yang Guozhong didn't take this matter to heart, he said triumphantly: "Now only An Lushan is the only one who wants to rebel, and none of the soldiers in his department want to rebel." In less than ten days, someone will definitely cut off An Lushan's head and send it to the capital. ”

Tang Xuanzong Li Longji deceived himself into believing Yang Guozhong's words, but the ministers did not think so, and they were all shocked.

At the suggestion of the courtiers, Tang Xuanzong sent a special envoy to Bi Sichen to Tokyo, and the Jinwu general Cheng Qianli to Hedong, each recruiting tens of thousands of people, each with convenience, and organizing coaches in order to resist the rebels.

Xinwei (16th), Anxi Jiedu envoy Feng Changqing into the court, Tang Xuanzong asked him about the plan to quell the rebellion, Changqing exaggerated and said: "Now because the world has been peaceful for a long time, everyone is very afraid when they see the rebels." But things go against the grain, and the situation will change abruptly. I request that I go to Tokyo at once, open the treasury, recruit warriors, and then cross the Yellow River with a wave of the Prancing Horse, and in a few days I will have the head of the traitor An Lushan and present it to Your Majesty!"

Tang Xuanzong was overjoyed when he heard this.

Renshen (17th), he appointed Feng Changqing as the envoy of Fan Yang and Pinglu Jiedu. Feng Changqing took a stagecoach to Tokyo to recruit troops on the same day, and raised 60,000 people in ten days. Then destroy the Ha Yang Bridge and prepare to defend against the rebel attack.

Jiaxu (19th), An Lushan came to the south of Boling County, He Qianqian and others brought Yang Guang to see, An Lushan blamed Yang Guang for clinging to Yang Guozhong, and then killed him to show the public. An Lushan asked the general An Zhongzhi to lead the elite soldiers to be stationed in Tumen (An Zhongzhi is a member of the Xi tribe and the adopted son of An Lushan). He also appointed Zhang Xiancheng to act as the agent of Boling Taishou (Zhang Xiancheng is Zhang Shou's son).

Soon An Lushan led the army to attack Gaocheng, Changshan guarded Yan Gaoqing (Yan Gaoqing is Yan Silu's great-great-grandson) had few soldiers at hand, and he was timid and afraid of things, and did not dare to face the enemy head-on, so he took Yuan Luqian, the chief historian, to meet An Lushan. An Lushan immediately gave Yan Gaoqing a goldfish bag of purple clothes, and took his child away as a hostage, and still let him be stationed in Changshan.

An Lushan also sent his general Li Qincao to lead thousands of troops to guard Jingcheng Pass to guard against the Tang army attacking from the west. On the way back, Yan Gaoqing pointed to the goldfish bag purple clothes given by An Lushan and said to Yuan Luqian: "Why should I wear such clothes?" Yuan Luqian understood what he meant, so he secretly plotted with Yan Gaoqing to raise an army to attack An Lushan.

Bingzi (21st), after Tang Xuanzong received secret music from all over the country, he was furious, first killed An Lushan's son Taifu Qing An Qingzong, and then gave the county lord Rongyi to commit suicide. Then he appointed Shuofang Jiedu to make An Sishun the head of the household department, and An Sishun's younger brother An Yuanzhen as the imperial servant. Appointed Shuofang's right-wing soldier and horse envoy, Jiuyuan Taishou Guo Ziyi as Shuofang's Jiedu envoy, and Wang Chengye, the general of the right Yulin, as Taiyuan Yin. Set up Henan Jiedu envoys, unified command of the armies of Chen Liu and other thirteen counties, and appointed Zhang Jieran, a member of the Weiwei Qingyi clan, as the Jiedu envoy. He also appointed Cheng Qianli as the governor of Luzhou. Began to set up defensive envoys in strategic points in the counties.

Ding Chou (22nd), Tang Xuanzong appointed Li Wan, King Rong, as the marshal, and Gao Xianzhi, the general of the right Jinwu, as the deputy marshal, commanding the eastward expedition of all armies. He also took out the money cloth in the inner house, and recruited 110,000 troops in the Beijing Division, called the Tianwu Army, and gathered them in ten days, and the members were all the children of the people in the city.

On the first day of the twelfth month, Deputy Marshal Gao Xianzhi led the flying cavalry, cavalry and newly recruited soldiers, plus a total of 50,000 border soldiers who stayed in Beijing, and set off from Chang'an. Tang Xuanzong and the eunuch Bian Lingcheng sent the general eunuch to supervise the army and stationed in Shaanxi County.

Dinghai (the second day of the first month), An Lushan crossed the Yellow River from Lingchang, tied the broken boat and weeds and trees with ropes, crossed the river, and froze like a pontoon bridge in one night, so the army crossed the river and captured Lingchang County. The infantry rebels led by An Lushan were scattered in a scattered ranks, and the number was innumerable, and the places they passed through were burned, killed, looted, and ruined.

Henan Jiedu made Zhang Jieran to Chenliu for only a few days, An Lushan led the rebels to come, Zhang Jieran ordered the soldiers to go to the city to guard, the soldiers were frightened and could not fight.

Geng Yin (the fifth day of the first month), Chen Liutai guarded Guo Na and surrendered the city. An Lushan entered from the north of the city, and when he learned that An Qingzong was dead, he wept bitterly and said, "What crime do I have to kill my son!" At that time, there were nearly 10,000 soldiers on both sides of the road who surrendered, and An Lushan killed all of them to vent his anger. killed Zhang Jieran at the military gate again. appointed his subordinate Li Tingwang as the envoy of the festival to guard Chen Liu

Renchen (the seventh day of the first month), Tang Xuanzong issued a letter saying that he would personally lead the troops to conquer An Lushan, and ordered the town soldiers of Shuofang, Hexi, and Longyou to go to the camp except for staying in the castle, and ordered the envoys of each town to lead in person, and all of them should be gathered within 20 days.

At first, Yan Zhenqing, the Taishou of the Plains, knew that An Lushan was going to raise troops to rebel, so he took the opportunity of the heavy rain to build a moat, count the adults who could fight, and enrich the warehouse. An Lushan thought that Yan Zhenqing was just a scholar and didn't pay attention to him. When An Lushan rebelled, he sent an official document asking Yan Zhenqing to lead 7,000 soldiers from the plains and Boping counties to guard the crossing of the Yellow River, Yan Zhenqing immediately sent Li Ping, a soldier of the plains, to report to the imperial court from the small road.

When Tang Xuanzong first learned the news that An Lushan had raised troops to rebel and that the counties in Hebei had surrendered one after another, he sighed and said: "Isn't there not a single benevolent and righteous person among the 24 counties in Hebei?" After Li Ping arrived, Xuanzong said happily: "I don't know what Yan Zhenqing is like, but he is so loyal!" Yan Zhenqing also sent his cronies to contact other states and counties with a secret reward for the killing of the rebels, so many states and counties responded one after another.