Taiyuan

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Taiyuan (太原) is a major city in north China. It lies in the centre of a valley formed by the Taihang Mountains to the east and the Lüliang Mountains to the west. Under the Tang dynasty, it was honoured with the status of tertiary capital after Chang'an and Luoyang as a result of being the original base for the ruling Li family prior to their ascent to power. For this reason, it was then also known as the North Capital (北都), and it was the administrative centre for the Taiyuan Prefecture (太原府).

History

In the opening stages of An Lushan's rebellion, the jiedushi's march from Fanyang southward towards the secondary capital of Luoyang was inexorable. All the commanderies of Hebei Circuit either submitted nominally or were destroyed. On 8 January 756, Lushan's army crossed the Yellow River, and Luoyang fell on the 18th. His elite Yeluohe led by Sun Xiaozhe then threatened Tong Pass, the last line of defence for the imperial capital of Chang'an. To protect his flank, Lushan had dispatched five thousand troops under Yeluohe generals Gao Miao and Li Qincou to occupy Tumen Pass in Taiyuan Prefecture. Unbeknownst to Lushan, a counter-rebellion movement was brewing back in Hebei, where Grand Protector Yan Gaoqing of Changshan Commandery was planning a surprise attack on Tumen Pass with the help of the Hidden One Li E, thereby allowing his loyalist forces to link up with the garrison at Tong Pass under the command of Gao Xianzhi.

On the night of either 27 or 28 January, Yan Gaoqing and his son Yan Jiming approached Gao Miao's fort at Tumen Pass with pots of wine as though to offer a feast as a gesture of goodwill. Gao Miao saw through Gaoqing's ruse to sneak in soldiers, but this did not save him from Li E. The Hidden One assassinated Gao Miao and Li Qincou, following which Changshan forces seized control of Tumen Pass before Yeluohe reinforcements under He Qiannian could arrive. This permitted them to launch an ambush on the unwitting Qiannian. Taiyuan Prefecture now appeared to be fully under control of Tang loyalists. Having slain three Yeluohe generals in a single night as promised, Li E travelled alone to Taiyuan to rendezvous with a detachment from Tong Pass. However, the general who had volunteered to meet with Li E was Wang Chengye, the commander of the Feathered Forest unit of royal guards aligned with Chancellor Yang Guozhong and the Golden Turtles. Wary of losing power should other parties take credit for putting down the rebellion, the Golden Turtles decided to thwart Xianzhi and Li E's efforts.

At the Taiyuan city gates, Chengye ordered his troops to surround Li E and take him captive. He was brought to the Mengshan Giant Buddha in the city, which had been configured as a secret prison and where he awaited execution. In the meantime, Gao Xianzhi and his lieutenant Feng Changqing were executed under false charges brought by the eunuch Bian Lingcheng, so that no reinforcements from Tong Pass to Changshan or vice versa would be forthcoming. By the time Li E escaped from the prison by leaping into the river outside from the Buddha, he had already been too late to save Changshan and his friend Jiming from a massive retaliatory attack conducted by Lushan's lieutenant Shi Siming on 12 February 756.

Appearances

• Assassin's Creed: Dynasty