When Zhang Xun grew up, he was seven feet tall, he was a tall and mighty beautiful man, he liked to read the military book formation, no wonder he won every battle later.

He is ambitious, likes to communicate with learned elders, talks and laughs, and has no vain contacts, and vulgar people never enter his eyes. The promotion level of the Tang Empire is nothing more than military exploits, imperial examinations, and father's shadow.

He was the third in the Jinshi examination in the last year of Tang Xuanzong's Kaiyuan Dynasty, and his brother Zhang Xiao served as the supervisor of the imperial history at that time.

During the Tianbao period, Zhang Xun transferred the county order of Qinghe (now northwest of Qinghe, Hebei). He helped the needy, poured money into the poor, and was listed as the highest in the performance evaluation, and returned to Chang'an after the expiration of his term of office. At that time, Yang Guifei's brother Yang Guozhong was the prime minister of the dynasty, and the emperor's favor was overwhelming, and the officials who stayed in Beijing to move went to Yang Guozhong's door

, Someone also advised Zhang Xun in this way, let him find a good way out, but Zhang Xun sternly refused, "This person's power is definitely not a blessing of the country, I will never go to attach to him", although Zhang Xun has outstanding political achievements, but he will not be promoted, soon,

He was transferred to the county magistrate of Zhenyuan (present-day Haozhou, Anhui). Zhenyuan is located in the Central Plains, the powerful landlords are rampant, the fish and meat villagers, there is a smooth mouth in the local area, "South Jinkou, Ming Mansion Hand", referring to the strong landlord South China Jin,

He is the local "Southern Batian". After Zhang Xun arrived in office, he collected evidence of Hua Nanjin's violation of law and discipline, and executed him in accordance with the law.

Pardoned Hua Nanjin's henchmen, this group of people no longer dared to do evil, and they all changed their careers to do good, and Zhenyuan County was a peaceful scene. Zhang Xun's government is simple, and it is recorded in the history books that "the people are very suitable".

The Tang Empire has been peaceful for a long time, and there has been no war in the Central Plains for many years, and the three towns of Pinglu, Fanyang, and Hedong have made An Lushan control nearly one-third of the country's army, and he saw that the interior was empty.

The idea of replacing the Tang family was born. In the fourteenth year of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty (755 AD). An Lushan lied that he was ordered by the emperor to kill Yang Guozhong, raised 150,000 troops, and killed Luoyang and Chang'an.

"Yu Yang Mo came agitatedly and broke the song of the neon clothes and feathers." By the time Tang Xuanzong came to his senses, the rebels had already captured the counties of Hebei and were preparing to go south to seize the land of Jianghuai. After An Lushan occupied Luoyang,

With his general Zhang Tongyu as the Taishou of Suiyang (now south of Shangqiu County, Henan), he led the elite troops to the east.

Yang Wanshi, the Taishou of Qiaojun (present-day Boxian County, Anhui), surrendered to the rebels. forced Zhang Xun to serve as the chief historian and go to the west to meet the rebels. Zhang Xun was indignant, led the people to cry at the Xuanyuan Emperor's Temple, and swore an oath to fight the thieves.

There are thousands of servants. In the fifteenth year of Tianbao (756 AD), Shan Father (now Shanxian County, Shandong) Wei Jia Ben conquered Suiyang, killed Zhang Tongmei, and raised troops to contend with the rebels.

At that time, the county commander of Yongqiu (now Qixian County, Henan) ordered Huchao to raise the city to rebel, defeated the Huaiyang rescuers, and captured more than 100 people. He took the captives to Yongqiu. Prepare to be executed in public.

Ordered the fox tide to go out of the city to do errands, and the captives took the opportunity to break free from the ropes, kill the guards, and welcome Jia Ben into the city, and Zhang Xun also personally led a thousand people to Yongqiu to meet Jia Ben. Ling Huchao's wife and children are all in Yongqiu City,

Zhang Xun killed them all, so that Linghu Chao outside the city could see clearly, and Linghu Chao was furious, swore to avenge his wife and children, and led the elite rebels to attack Yongqiu. Kill Jia Ben outside Yongqiu City.

Zhang Xun led everyone, strictly guarded and did not leak, although the rebels were arrogant. But there is no chance to take advantage of it. At this time, it was the first year of Tang Suzong to Germany (756 AD),

The Tang army guarding Yongqiu City was only 3,000 people, while the besieging rebels had 15,000 people, and the rebels suffered more than half of the casualties in a month.

Still can't shake Yongqiu City. The reason why both sides are determined to win. It is because the Jianghuai region was the financial supply place of the Tang Dynasty, and Yongqiu was on the main road from Luoyang to the Jianghuai region.

The strategic location was extremely important, once lost, the consequences were unimaginable, Wu King Li Yi learned of Zhang Xun's battle situation, and entrusted Zhang Xun with the battle east of Yanzhou, so that he could take on the heavy responsibility of guarding Yongqiu.

The rise of the Turks

The ancestors of the Turks originated in the Aral Sea region of Central Asia, and retrospectively, the Turks should be another branch of the Xiongnu. Later it moved to the upper reaches of Lake Yenisei.

The Turks were first nomadic in the upper reaches of the Yenisei River in Central Asia, and later migrated to the Beishan Mountains (now Bogdo Mountains) in Gaochang (present-day Turbo), where they were famous for their wrought iron. In the middle of the 5th century, Rouran conquered the Turks and moved them to the southern foot of the Golden Mountains (present-day Altai Mountains).

In 552 A.D., that is, during the Western Wei period of the Northern and Southern Dynasties, the Turks were under the leadership of Ashina. Under the leadership of Tumen, he defeated Rouran and occupied the Mobei region.

The Turkic Khanate was founded. When the country was at its strongest, its territory was very vast, stretching from Liaodong in the east, the Black Sea in Central Asia in the west, and Lake Baikal in the middle. Even the current Mongolian People's Republic and the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region,

All the way to the area around the Bohai Sea, to the west, it controlled the areas around the Western Regions, all of which were controlled by the Turkic Khanate.

In 583 AD, the Turks were divided into two tribes, the Eastern Turks and the Western Turks, and there were constant civil wars between the two over the throne. At the beginning of the establishment of the Tang Dynasty, the Turks relied on great power,

Twice intruded on Guanzhong and threatened Chang'an, the capital of the Tang Dynasty. In 629, Tang Taizong sent the generals Li Jing and Li Tao to lead more than 100,000 troops to part ways and attack the Eastern Turks. In 630, the Tang Dynasty defeated the Eastern Turks. In 657, the Western Turks were also destroyed by the Tang Dynasty.

After the Anshi Rebellion, the Tang Dynasty troops withdrew from Central Asia, and the Turks became active again. Around 1000 AD, a Turkic tribe led by the sheikh Seljuk invaded Iran.

In 1055 A.D., he invaded Baghdad. In 1071 AD, he went north to Byzantium, occupied Asia Minor, and formed a large country, which is called the "Seljuk Turks" in the history books. Subsequently, it quickly collapsed due to infighting,

It was divided into many small states, one of which was the "Sultan of Rum", also known as the "Sultan of Rûm", located in the northwest corner of Asia Minor.

At the end of the 12th century, the Turkic people who remained in Central Asia established the state of Khorezm, with the capital city of Ursach, including the entire territory of Central Asia, Iran and Afghanistan, which was a large country in Central Asia.

In 1216, Genghis Khan sent a caravan of 450 men to Khorezm, but only one person was left to report the news, and all the others were killed. Genghis

The Khan again sent emissaries to protest, only to be killed again.

In the autumn of 1218, Genghis Khan personally led an army of 200,000 to conquer Khorezm. Soon, Khorezm was conquered by the Mongols. King Khorezm fled to an island in the Caspian Sea.

And die there. Under the persecution of the Mongols, the Turkic people migrated westward in large numbers, and finally came to Asia Minor.

Peaceful coexistence with the Seljuk Turks. Later, a piece was obtained from the Sultanate of Rum on the southern shore of the Dardanelles

Fief.

In 1242 AD, the Sultan of Rûm collapsed under the blows of the Mongols. The Turks from Khorezm, led by their leader Osman,

Take the opportunity to defeat the neighboring tribes and Byzantium. Declaration of independence. In 1326 AD, he seized the important town of Brusa in Asia Minor and made it the capital, called the Ottoman Turks. There were many Turkic people living in Asia Minor,

They have long been integrated and assimilated with various peoples such as Greeks and Armenians. A new ethnic group was formed, known as the Turks, also known as the Ottoman Turks.

The word "Turkey" is transformed from "Turkic". For this reason, the Ottoman Turks are also known as Ottoman Turkey. That is, the predecessor of today's Turkey.

Therefore, after the 11th century AD, the "Turkic" used in some foreign historical books,

It is no longer limited to the original Turkic peoples, but is a common name for the Turkic peoples of the Altaic speaking family.

Ling Huchao led 40,000 rebels to Yongqiu City, and the soldiers and civilians in the city were greatly frightened. They all thought that the city was difficult to hold. Zhang Xun boosted morale in time, and everyone's hearts were a little calmer.

The Tang army took the initiative to attack and took the rebels by surprise. The rebels were annoyed and angry, and set up a hundred stone cannons around the city, desperately bombarding, the city tower and the female wall on the city were all destroyed, and the city was in danger.

Zhang Xun led the crowd to set up a wooden fence on the city to block the rebel attack. The Tang army poured the bundles of artemisia grass with grease, lit them and threw them one after another. The rebels who climbed the wall were burned to the ground, and a ghost cried wolf.

The Tang army held out for more than 60 days, experienced more than 300 battles, and ate with armor. Wounded and wounded, the rebels were unable to move forward, despite their outnumbered numbers.

In mid-May, Ling Fox Tide made a comeback, and this time, he wanted to surrender without a fight. He himself came to the city. Persuade Zhang Xun,

"The imperial court soldiers can't get out of the customs, the general trend has gone, you lead the old and weak soldiers to defend this dangerous city, what's the point, it's better to surrender,

can also ask for a wife and a son", Zhang Xun is full of loyalty and patriotism, how can he listen to Ling Fox Chao's rhetoric, he is righteous and awe-inspiring,

Reprimanded Ling Huchao, "Since ancient times, the monarch killed his father, and the courtiers could not retaliate. You have a grudge against the court because your wife and children were killed, and you tried to use the power of the rebels to wash the city in blood.

In the future, he will definitely end up beheading and showing the public, leaving behind the infamy of rebellious ministers and thieves. If you read the book of sages, you can know how to write the two words "loyalty and righteousness", which made the fox Chaoli resign and retreat in shame.

Before this, the battlefield shape shì was quite beneficial to the Tang army, Ge Shuhan blocked An Lushan outside Tongguan, and the rebels were stalemate for half a year, Guo Ziyi and Li Guangbi cut off the communication line between the rebels and Fanyang's nest behind the enemy, and the rebels' eastward advance was blocked by Zhang Xun in Yongqiu,

Going south was blocked by Lu Jiong in Nanyang (now Dengzhou, Henan), An Lushan was in a dilemma, and he had the idea of giving up Luoyang. At the critical moment, Tang Xuanzong insisted on going his own way and forced Ge Shuhan's soldiers to go out of Tongguan and fight a decisive battle with the rebels.

200,000 Tang troops fell into a rebel ambush in Lingbao, the whole army was annihilated, Tongguan was lost, and the gate of Chang'an was wide open.

In the panic of Tang Xuanzong, he took the prince's sons and grandsons and fled to Shu for refuge. The crown prince Li Heng, supported by everyone, rushed to Lingwu (now southwest of Lingwu, Ningxia) to command the resistance to the enemy, which was for Tang Suzong.

Yaozun Tang Xuanzong was the emperor. When Linghu Chao learned of the fall of Chang'an, he immediately wrote to Zhang Xun, saying that he was in a clear shape and persuaded him to surrender again, and six generals in the Yongqiu garrison also said that there was a huge disparity in the strength of the two sides.

Surrender is the best policy to protect the city, Zhang Xun is facing internal and external pressure, and he already has a plan in his heart, he wants to kill the chicken to show the monkey, to see who dares to mention the word surrender again.

Zhang Xun hung the painting of Tang Xuanzong on the lobby and led the soldiers to worship, and for a while, there was crying everywhere.

Zhang Xun knew that the morale was available, so he brought the six generals who were about to surrender to the hall, and beheaded them all with great righteousness.

Since then, everyone has broken off the idea of surrendering, and followed Zhang Xun wholeheartedly to guard the city, not daring to complain.

At that time, there was a shortage of food in the city, and hundreds of ships carrying salt and rice by the rebels were about to arrive, Zhang Xun learned the news, and immediately made a decision, led some people out of the city, and restrained all the troops of Linghu Chao.

The rest that could not be taken away were burned, giving the rebels a head-on blow. The rebels were temporarily frustrated, but the offensive did not decrease,

The Tang army lacked supplies, and the arrows were quickly depleted. Zhang Xun frowned, and after thinking about it, he led the soldiers to tie up thousands of straw men, put black clothes on them, and put the straw men down in the city in the middle of the night.

After the rebels found out, they thought that the Tang army attacked the camp in the middle of the night, and suddenly ten thousand arrows were fired, shooting the straw man like a hedgehog.

A few days later, Zhang Xun sent people out of the city in the middle of the night, but this time, it was 500 warriors he personally selected. The rebels thought that the Tang army was repeating the old tricks and did not take precautions.

The five hundred warriors were all invincible, causing the Fox Chao's military camp to be chaotic and chased out ten miles away by the Tang army. Annoyed and angry, the rebels increased their forces and continued to besiege Yongqiu.

Yongqiu was besieged for many days, the firewood ran out, and the Tang army had no armor to contend with the rebels. Zhang Xun had another plan, he sent someone to inform Ling Huchao, "Yongqiu can't hold it, we plan to give up this city, you retreat sixty miles, make way for us to break through", so that Huchao believed it,

Retreating as promised, Zhang Xun led the sergeants to quickly demolish all the houses within a radius of dozens of miles, transport the wood back to Yongqiu, and continue to organize the defense. made the fox tide furious, accusing Zhang Xun of not believing it,

Zhang Xun replied, "If you want Yongqiu City, you must give me thirty war horses, I and the generals will take them, and this city will be left to you", Ling Hu Chao immediately sent someone to send thirty war horses,

Zhang Xun gave all the parts to his subordinates and told them, "Tomorrow the rebels will attack the city, and each of you will go and capture an enemy general."

The next day, Ling Huchao saw that Zhang Xun had not yet acted, and couldn't help but reproach, Zhang Xun replied at the head of the city, "I want to leave this city, but the soldiers are unwilling to give up, and I have no choice."

The fox was so angry that he trembled, and ordered the rebels to attack in formation, and the 30 generals of the Tang army took the lead, went straight into the enemy formation, beheaded more than 100 ranks, captured 14 rebel generals, and got a lot of weapons, cattle and horses.

Ling Fox Chao was deceived again and again, and this time he ran until Chenliu (now Kaifeng, Henan) to breathe a sigh of relief.

In the same month, Linghu Chao, who was unwilling to fail, sent four more envoys to Yongqiu to persuade him to surrender, but he was all beheaded by Zhang Xun, and his entourage was escorted to Li Yi, the king of Wu, to obey the fate.

Zhang Xun's strict management of the army, so that the fox tide has already been taught, the previous Lang general Lei Wanchun was ordered by Zhang Xun to talk to the fox tide in the city,

He was shot six times in the face by the rebels' crossbow machine, and he still stood still, which made Ling Fox Chao tremble and lose his confidence.

Zhang Xun held on to the lonely city for four months with thousands of people, resisting the crazy attacks of tens of thousands of rebels, winning every battle, effectively stopping the rebels' attempt to drive south, and winning precious time for the Tang army to counterattack.

At that time, Henan Jiedu made Li Jutun, the king of Yu, guard Pengcheng (now Xuzhou, Jiangsu), and pretended Zhang Xun to be the vanguard and act as the mainstay of the resistance to the enemy. (To be continued.) )