On the 16th day of November in the 14th year of Tianbao (755), that is, the seventh day of An Lushan's army in Fanyang, the deputy capital of Anxi, who had led the army to break through the Great Bolu State, the general Feng Changqing, happened to enter the Hajj to meet Tang Xuanzong. In the Huaqing Palace in Lishan, Xuanzong asked Feng Changqing about the counterinsurgency strategy, and Feng Changqing said confidently, "The minister requests to go to the Eastern Capital immediately, open the treasury, recruit brave soldiers, raise whips and horses, and cross the Yellow River in the north, I believe that in a few days, the head of the rebel Hu will be dedicated to His Majesty!" Xuanzong was overjoyed when he heard this, and immediately appointed Feng Changqing as the envoy of Fan Yang and Pinglu Jiedu, and immediately went to the eastern capital to organize defense. In the middle of the day, Feng Changqing recruited 60,000 people in the eastern capital. On the 21st, Tang Xuanzong hurriedly returned to Chang'an and completed the strategic deployment in about ten days. In the east of the river, with Shuofang's right wing soldiers and horses, Jiuyuan Taishou Guo Ziyi as Shuofang's jiedu envoy, Wang Chengye, the general of the right Yulin, as Taiyuan Yin, and Cheng Qianli as the governor of Luzhou, the three of them coordinated defense to prevent the rebels from advancing westward. On the Henan side, a total of three lines of defense were set up, with Wei Weiqing Zhang Jieran as the envoy of Henan Jiedu, leading Chen Liu, and other 13 counties to form the first line of defense; Feng Changqing recruited 60,000 troops on the spot in Luoyang to form the second line of defense; and Gao Xianzhi, the general of the Right Jinwu, was the deputy marshal (the marshal was named by Li Wan, the son of Xuanzong), and led 50,000 people to guard Shaanxi County as the third line of defense.

After doing all this, Xuanzong breathed a sigh of relief. In his opinion, even if this defense plan could not destroy the rebels in a short period of time, it would be enough to thwart its edge and ensure that the two capitals were safe. However, Xuanzong was wrong. This seemingly tight defense plan will soon be completely crushed by the invincible An Lushan. On December 2, An Lushan's army crossed the Lingchang Ferry and went south and captured Lingchang County on the same day. A few days after the new Henan Jiedu envoy Zhang Jieran arrived in Chenliu, the rebels had already overwhelmed the border, and Henan Jiedu made Zhang Jieran's state city lose and martyrdom. On the 5th, Chen Liutai guarded Guo Na to open the door and surrender, and the first line of defense collapsed.

On the 8th, An Lushan marched westward, quickly captured Xingyang, and the troops pointed directly at the eastern capital Luoyang. Feng Changqing led his troops to enter the Tiger Prison Pass, preparing to defend the danger. But the 60,000 men he recruited were all untrained recruits, and fighting the battle-hardened rebel cavalry was tantamount to hitting a stone with an egg. The officers and troops were defeated in the first battle, and the Tiger Prison Pass was immediately lost. The second line of defense collapsed. On the 12th, the rebels entered Luoyang and wantonly burned and looted. Feng Changqing retreated to Shaanxi County and reported to Deputy Marshal Gao Xianzhi: "After days of bloody battles, thieves cannot be used. And there are no soldiers in Tongguan, if the madness rushes, the Beijing division is in danger. It is advisable to abandon this guard and urgently protect Tongguan. "According to the established battle plan of the imperial court, Gao Xianzhi should march east from Shaanxi County and take the initiative to meet the rebels. However, in the face of Feng Changqing's report, Gao Xianzhi realized that if he continued to advance eastward as originally planned, the only result would be to kill himself! Therefore, Feng Changqing's suggestion was correct, and only by temporarily avoiding the enemy's edge and retreating to Tongguan could he fight a protracted battle with the rebels while ensuring that the Beijing division was safe.

Due to the critical military situation, Gao Xianzhi did not have time to report to the imperial court, and immediately led his troops to retreat in the direction of Tongguan. As soon as they left the west gate of Shaanxi County with their front feet, the rebels killed them with their back feet. The officers and soldiers were caught off guard and were beaten by the rebels, and everyone scrambled for their lives. Gao Xianzhi and Feng Changqing retreated into Tongguan in a hurry with the remnants, and immediately ordered people to repair the fortifications. When the rebel advance arrived at Tongguan, they found that the officers and troops were already in battle, and then retreated. However, at this time, Gao Xianzhi and Feng Changqing would never have thought that the moment they entered Tongguan, Bian Lingcheng, the eunuch of the prison army, had quietly left Tongguan and rushed towards Chang'an. After seeing Xuanzong, he tried his best to exaggerate the responsibility for the defeat of Feng Changqing and Gao Xianzhi, saying: "Changqing shook the crowd with thieves, Xianzhi abandoned Shaanxi for hundreds of miles, and stole and reduced the food of the soldiers. Feng Changqing did say that "the thief cannot be a thief", but that was a correct judgment based on the "bloody battle for many days", not the fear of the enemy's cowardice and shaking the morale of the army, and at that time Shaanxi County was indeed no danger to defend, and the defense of Tongguan was weak and empty, so Gao and Feng took the initiative to give up Shaanxi County and retire Tongguan. Tongguan terrain is dangerous, easy to defend and difficult to attack, as long as Tongguan is held, not only Chang'an can be guaranteed, and the rebels are blocked outside Tongguan, for a long time, the lack of grain and grass will be chaotic. From a purely military point of view, there is nothing wrong with what they have done, but politically speaking, they have undoubtedly committed three capital crimes. The first case: fleeing without a fight, abandoning the city and land, the second case: acting without authorization, without the court, and the third case: violating the will of the Xuanzhi and sabotaging the plan of the Eastern Crusade. All in all, in Xuanzong's view, Gao and Feng were really unforgivable! The end of Gao Xianzhi and Feng Changqing came. Xuanzong, who was burned with anger and lost his mind, immediately issued an edict, ordering Bian Lingcheng to go to Tongguan immediately and behead Gao Xianzhi and Feng Changqing on the spot!

Feng Changqing knew that the ministers of the court and the central government all thought that An Lushan was arrogant and rebellious, and it would not be long before he would fail. And he himself and the rebels several battles, saw the combat effectiveness of the rebels, is the jackal, tiger and leopard division, in contrast, the soldiers he recruited have no combat experience, but become a rabble, he lost the battle, worried that there will be no good end, so he wrote a note in advance, warned Xuanzong, the table said: "The envoy Luo Fengxian to, Fengxuan mouth, forgive the crime of ten thousand deaths, the effect of receiving the ministers, but the ministers went to Shaanzhou, with Gao Xianzhi camp, the axe and the prisoner, suddenly untied, the general of the defeated army, and allowed to be repaired." The minister was sincere and happy, and he paused. The minister has come from the fall of the city, and he has sent envoys three times before and after to serve the table, with a description of his heart, but he was not led right. The ministers came here, not to make a living, but to Chen Sheji's plan and break the tiger and wolf's strategy. I want to worship the first court, spit out my majesty, talk about the strength of the army against Hu, and discuss the other strategies of Chen to defend it. Reward the grace of death to repay the favor of a lifetime. Unexpectedly, Chang'an is getting far away, and there is no reason to see him; Hangu Guan Yao is too late to express his feelings! The minister read "Spring and Autumn" and saw that the wolf said that he had not been given a place to die, but the minister was now retained. Yesterday, he engaged in battle with Kahu, and since the 7th of this month, the army has been fighting, and as for the 13th, it has not ended. The soldiers of the ministers are all rabble, and they have never been trained. Led the people of Zhounan City, when the Yuyang Raider cavalry division, he still killed the enemy and blocked the road, and the blood flowed all over the field. The minister wants to stand up and die, in front of the army, he is afraid of rebelling against Hu's prestige in order to frustrate the momentum of the king's division. It is to gallop to the sun, and return to heaven. In the first phase, His Majesty beheaded the ministers under the city to warn the generals; in the second phase, His Majesty asked the ministers to warn the troops with the posture of a traitor; and in the third phase, His Majesty knew that the ministers were not willing to die, and the ministers were exposed. The minister is now going to die to resist the table, and His Majesty may use the courtier's disobedience as a recourse after the minister's disobedience; Your Majesty may use the courtier's loyalty to the fullest extent and see with all his heart. After the death of the minister, I hope that His Majesty will not take this thief lightly, and if he does not forget the words of the minister, he will hope that the society will be restored, and the rebellion will be defeated, and the minister's wish will be fulfilled. Raise your head to the sky and drink the donkey, and seal it to the sun, that is, you are the minister of the corpse, and you are the ghost of the holy pilgrimage. If you know what you are going to do, you will be in front of the army. On the return wind array, lead the king's division and level the thieves. Life and death reward, not grateful, the minister Changqing has no eternal resignation of the sundae of sorrow. ”

Sure enough, Bian Lingcheng came with the intention of Xuan Zhi to take his life, and wanted to correct Feng Changqing and Gao Xianzhi on the spot. Before the execution, Feng Changqing handed over a testament that had already been written to Bian Lingcheng and asked him to forward it to Xuanzong, and then looked at Chang'an from afar and said the last sentence calmly: "Changqing is so immortal, he can't bear to defile the country, and he is killed by thieves;

Feng Changqing died, so naturally it was the turn of the deputy commander Gao Xianzhi. Bian Lingcheng was still a little jealous of Gao Xianzhi, so when he went to Xuanzhi, he deliberately brought more than 100 Mo swordsmen. After Gao Xianzhi knelt down to listen to the announcement, he was immediately tied up and taken to the execution ground.

One day in December of the fourteenth year of Tianbao (755), dark clouds rolled over Tongguan, and the wind roared. Tens of thousands of Tang soldiers were summoned around the execution ground and ordered to watch the execution. At this time, it had only been more than a month since An Lushan raised his army, and a large area of land east of Ketongguan, including the eastern capital Luoyang, had all fallen into the hands of the rebels. 150,000 Fan Yang iron cavalry invincible, like a bamboo, its vanguard has been in the city of Tongguan, leading the troops stationed in Tongguan is the Tang Empire's famous generals Gao Xianzhi and Feng Changqing. However, today they were about to be beheaded, because they were repeatedly asked for bribes by the eunuch Bian Lingcheng, but instead slandered them in front of Xuanzong for embezzling military salaries and retreating to Tongguan without authorization. Around the execution ground, military flags embroidered with the characters "high" and "sealed" fluttered in the gale, making a cracking sound. With a flash of cold knife light, the head of the first prisoner fell to the ground. Soon, the second Qin prisoner was escorted up, and when he saw Feng Changqing's body, Gao Xianzhi suddenly became sad and shouted loudly: "I retreat when I meet the enemy, and it is better to die." Now I am wearing the sky and walking on the ground, and if I am accused of stealing and reducing food, I will be false!" At the last moment, Gao Xianzhi said to Feng Changqing's corpse: "Feng Er, the son is from the subtle to the top, and I will lead the son to be my judge, and Russia will be the envoy of the festival on my behalf, and today I will die here with the son, how can I be a husband!" Yan Bi was killed.

In fact, from the moment An Lushan brazenly launched a rebellion, the tragedy of Gao Xianzhi and Feng Changqing was already doomed. Because the monarchs and ministers of Xuanzong, as well as the soldiers and civilians who have been immersed in the dream of the prosperous era for a long time, do not have the slightest ability to resist risks and setbacks. Therefore, when the veil of beauty of the prosperous era was peeled off by An Lushan, and the true face of pale, fat, languishing and weak was suddenly revealed; when the peaceful picture of singing and dancing and prosperity was completely replaced by the tragic image of devastation and shattering mountains and rivers, Tang Xuanzong, who was terrified and angry, was bound to arrest a few people to carry this embarrassing and heavy historical black cauldron. In other words, there will always be people who will have to pay for this, and there will always be people who will have to pay for the emperor's mistakes! It can only be said that Gao Xianzhi and Feng Changqing were really unlucky, because they made a choice at the wrong time and in the wrong place, which was extremely correct militarily but extremely wrong politically, so they were destined to become victims.

This erroneous handling of Tang Xuanzong not only destroyed the Great Wall, but also caused the morale of the army to waver, and also caused the Tang Dynasty to lose two generals with combat experience, which had a serious adverse impact on quelling the rebellion. Judging from the battlefield situation, Feng Changqing's strategy of retreating to protect Tongguan is very correct, if this plan is implemented, the Tang army will stick to Tongguan, the rebels will not be able to attack for a long time, plus the battle line is too long, the supply of grain and grass is insufficient, and it will inevitably be chaotic for a long time, but it is too late...