Chapter 802: I Have to Open a Separate Chapter to Explain a Historical Fact

I have to open a separate chapter to explain a historical fact

So as not to take up space in the main text, ha.

The An Lushan faction was not actually equivalent to the "Sogdian warrior faction."

Historically, Brother Ji's approach was to deliberately resettle the already-assimilated Western Regions' "Nine Surnames of Zhaowu" in Youzhou and the northeast (namely Yingzhou), in order to suppress the Khitan and Xi tribes of the northeast.

And to transfer the pro-Tang Khitan faction from the northeast, also within Pinglu Garrison, to Shuofang, so as to suppress forces such as the Uighurs.

To put it plainly, it was mixing in sand.

Therefore, even people of the same ethnic group, even members of the same clan or distant branches, had completely different political attitudes during the An-Shi Rebellion.

In other words, the Nine Surnames of Zhaowu from the Western Regions had already eaten their fill; they did very well under the existing system — even Lumang Qinling of Tibet's family had nearly entered the halls of power — so they had no desire for any trouble whatsoever.

The Nine Surnames of Zhaowu in the northeast, however, were worse off, and moreover belonged to the "Turkic faction" among the Nine Surnames of Zhaowu (including An Sishun); having failed to reap any benefits, they naturally harbored rebellious intentions.

These border garrison Nine Surnames of Zhaowu, represented by An Lushan and Shi Siming, were a large group, but!

They were not the leaders at first; they were latecomers who rose to prominence. There were others ahead of them — for instance, Shi Dingfang, for instance, Kang Ayi Qudagan, who had long since made their names.

These people's attitudes were not the same as An Lushan's and Shi Siming's. The attitudes of these border garrison military chiefs were also different from those of Hebei people.

Nowadays, many people — on certain platforms, let's not even mention TikTok and the like — on sites similar to Zhihu, are massively confusing the public, classifying some Sogdians who were loyal to the Tang court into An Lushan's camp.

Calling it nine parts true and one part false would be an understatement — more accurately, it's practically a three-seven split.

Their spirit way steles have already been unearthed, with the time, place, people, and events, and their official positions in the Tang court all written out clearly. To still be this careless — isn't that a bit impolite?

I saw the replies below, and not a single one refuted them, so I understood the general situation.

Some people only want to believe the facts they want to believe; even more people won't even pay much attention to the specifics — they glance at the gist and move on, and certainly won't check name by name (for instance, me).

I truly dare not imagine what history will look like a hundred years from now if no one does archaeological research. Those erroneous sources are still being cited repeatedly — is it really true that a lie repeated a thousand times becomes truth?

If I went around proclaiming that someone was a pig, and no one refuted it, would later generations think he was really a pig?

I've got a mild fever from the flu; the update will be a bit late.