[Lightscreen]
[A question: In the prime of the Tang dinasty, Kaiyuan era, how does a "lowly foreigner" of mixed blood climb the social ladder?
By that point, the imperial examinations were effectively a dead end.
The so-called xingjuan system had already taken root: recommendations, patronage, background, talent, and—above all—money. It was not a game someone from the margins could realistically win.
Contemporary critiques said it plainly:
"The tribute examinations are chaotic and corrupted. Sons of powerful families wine and flatter each other, while talented men of humble birth are discarded six or seven out of ten."
If the examinations were blocked, and you had no one above you to rely on lineage privilege, then only one path remained before you, Military merit.
From the founding of the Tang onward, thanks to a refined merit system—and because Li Erfeng himself set the example—the ideal of martial valor had been carved straight into Tang DNA
One piece of evidence that survives to this day is a collection of family letters.
Zhao Yishen, a native of Luoyang, was stationed in Gaochang after Li Shimin insisted on destroying it and converting it into a prefecture. Three thousand li from home, Zhao Yishen wrote letters whenever he missed his family.
After his death, he was buried in Gaochang. Those letters became his grave goods.
Thirteen hundred years later, when the tombs were excavated, Zhao Yishen's correspondence resurfaced.
In a letter from the twentieth year of Zhenguan, Zhao's parents informed him that his elder brother had been awarded the title Yunqiwei.
The Tang military merit ranks had twelve grades. Yunqiwei was second grade—nominally equivalent to Proper Seventh Rank—just one step above Wuqíwei.
And his family's reaction?
"Joy beyond words."
The value of military merit in the Tang, and the people's reverence for it, could not have been clearer.
It was precisely this worship of martial achievement that allowed the Tang to build an empire unprecedented in both scale and brilliance.
And so, for someone who began life as a zahu, An Lushan—who would eventually hold three regional commands simultaneously—naturally used military merit as his ladder.
Thus began his version of the Tang Dream].
---
Chengdu Prefectural Office
The atmosphere here was relaxed.
After all, the Tang Dynasty lay four or five centuries in the future. Compared to the chaos surrounding them, it felt… distant.
Surely history couldn't reach back and stab them, right?
Yet when ancient tombs appeared on the screen, everyone instinctively straightened their posture.
These were soldiers from centuries past.
Spirits unextinguished. Border defense unbroken.
They themselves lacked the power to reach the Western Regions in their own age—and that knowledge made the emotions all the more complicated.
"So this," Kongming said thoughtfully, "is the foundation of the Great Tang?"
His steel pen never stopped moving as he recorded observations.
For example: Tang's numerical rank system—clearly descended from the Nine-Rank System—actually seemed… practical.
"This system," Liu Bei mused, "appears sound."
"Later generations say the rebel died quickly, yet the chaos lasted eight years."
"Which shows that whether Xuanzong died early, or the rebel died early, the contradictions themselves could not be resolved."
Everyone nodded.
In a sense, their own situation wasn't much different.
Dong Zhuo died—did the chaos end?
Zhang Fei, ever carefree, peeled two peanuts and tossed them into his mouth.
"This Zhao Yishen," he said, "was a real man."
Even knowing future generations excavated tombs for scholarship, Zhang Fei still felt uneasy.
Especially considering… his own grave might never even be found.
---
[Lightscreen]
[712 CE.
An Zhenjie, then Vice-Governor of Lanzhou in Hedong Circuit, received news:
His elder brother An Xiaojie's Turkic tribe had been destroyed by the Turkic Khaganate. The entire family fled to seek refuge.
An Zhenjie dared not delay and personally went to receive them.
Upon reunion, An Xiaojie repeatedly praised the An Yanyan family—the ones who had saved his life.
With life-saving grace and shared Sogdian roots, the two families quickly grew close, agreeing that their children would treat one another as brothers.
Among those children, however, was one discordant presence:
Yaluoshan.
His mother was Turkic. His father died shortly after his birth. His mother then remarried An Yanyan.
An Zhenjie was generous. He still accepted the arrangement, granted him the surname An, and thus Yaluoshan became—
An Lushan.
Another refugee was An Yanyan's nephew, An Sishun.
Though not blood-related to An Lushan, the two were extremely close.
At An Zhenjie's recommendation, the brothers chose different paths—yet reached similar ends.
An Sishun entered the army, soon reaching the Longyou frontier, where he served thirty-eight years. eventually commanding legends like Guo Ziyi
Eventually, he became Jiedushi of two commands.
An Lushan, meanwhile, rejected the military and chose commerce, working as Ya Lang"—a middleman or broker.
In this job, he learned six foreign languages and honed his silver tongue.
Just as his ambitions were about to take flight—
Economic crisis.
No—Tibetans.
The Tibetan invasion cut off the Hexi Corridor and the Silk Road. An Lushan's commercial empire collapsed before it began.
So he revised his career plan:
Broker by day. Sheep thief by night.
Naturally, he was arrested and dragged before Youzhou commander Zhang Shougui, who sentenced him to:
"Dragged out and beaten to death."
Panicking, An Lushan shouted:
"Does my lord not wish to destroy the Two Barbarians?
Why kill Lushan!"
An Lushan understood no strategy, but the words caught Zhang Shougui's interest.
He was spared—but reassigned as a zhuosheng general, essentially a reconnaissance officer tasked with capturing enemy prisoners alive.
By 732, An Sishun was already Governor of Taozhou and commander of the Momen Army—rewarded with silk, silver, cash, and five thousand troops.
An Lushan looked at his sole subordinate, Shi Siming, and nearly wept.
Regaining composure, he made a decision:
If I cannot become a strategist, then I shall become a hero like Lü Dongxiang (Lu Bu).]
---
Ganlu Hall
Li Shimin's attention finally shifted from An Lushan himself.
"Jieli Khan of the Eastern Turks was destroyed by me," he frowned.
"And the Western Turks were destroyed by my son, Emperor Zhicrown Prince Zhi."
"Whence comes this Turkic Khaganate?"
Sun Simiao turned pale. Emperor Zhi? What happened to the Crown Prince? He realized the Emperor was sharing secrets that could get a man killed.
No. Absolutely not.
Yan Lide, seasoned in politics, noted that his brother and the other ministers remained calm.
There must be context.
Du Ruhui reasoned from An Zhenjie's Lanzhou post:
"This Khaganate must be north of Hexi—surely a crafty restoration."
Restoration.
Li Shimin frowned.
Had he been… too lenient with Turkic remnants?
After Jieli's fall, the court had debated long and hard:
Establish jimi prefectures, appoint tribal leaders as governors, later divide and resettle—those who submitted moved inward, the unruly left as a northern buffer.
A consensus—but not flawless.
Fang Xuanling was more optimistic.
"Your Majesty need not worry. The Western Turks yet remain. There is room to adjust policy."
"But this An Sishun—An Lushan's brother, commander of two regions—together they explain the scale of the rebellion."
Reasonable.
Li Shimin nodded, yet still ground his teeth.
A sheep-stealing broker creates such calamity?
Why didn't Youzhou execute him on the spot?!
---
Chengdu.
Zhang Fei laughed when he saw Lü Bu mentioned.
"This An Lushan calls the Tang emperor his godfather—then rebels and takes Chang'an."
"Lü Bu called Dong Zhuo his godfather—and killed him."
Fa Zheng smiled.
"Lü Bu killing Dong Zhuo could be called slaying a traitor.
An Lushan rebelling, though…"
The implication was clear.
Zhang Fei sighed.
"Being a godfather is risky."
He glanced at Kongming.
After all—Liu Shan was right there in Chengdu, and Liu Bei had once suggested Kongming become his godfather.
Kongming's face darkened instantly. He waved his feather fan in refusal.
Don't even think about making me teach him mathematics.
Liu Bei, however, sighed at An Lushan's story.
"Without the Tibetan chaos, perhaps An Lushan would have lived and died a mediocre merchant."
Then he laughed at himself.
"What 'ifs' are there?"
---
[Lightscreen]
[ An Lushan discovered that this new job suited him.
He was a zahu, fluent in six languages, adept at reading faces.
Everything he'd learned as a broker transferred seamlessly to reconnaissance—and even to pleasing superiors.
Zhang Shougui hated fat people.
An Lushan starved himself.
He washed Zhang Shougui's feet without complaint.
That such favor could be earned was also because Zhang Shougui himself was competent—born of a respectable family, promoted through victories against the Turks.
He had previously quelled the Tibetan invasion that destroyed An Lushan's business.
Sent to Youzhou, his mission was to pacify the "Two Barbarians": the Khitan and Xi.
Victories followed.
An Lushan clung to Zhang Shougui's coattails, bribed officials aggressively, and saw results.
Eventually—
Zhang Shougui accepted An Lushan as an adoptive son.
Now, An Lushan had a trio: a biological father, a stepfather, and an adoptive father.
Then trouble came.
An Lushan was not a real field commander.
As a scout, he was exceptional. As a general, disastrous.
Zhang Shougui, confident and indulgent, gave him sixty thousand troops to attack the Khitan.
The result?
Xi rebellion. Khitan encirclement.
An Lushan was shot in the saddle, lost helmet and shoes, fled with twenty riders—
Tang forces were crushed.
Zhang Shougui wasn't a man like Zhuge Liang who could 'weep while executing Ma Su
After hesitation, he chose to protect his godson.
How?
By sending An Lushan to the capital.
And Chang'an—
Was already half his home ground.]