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Guo Ziyi was born in the second year of the Wansui Tongtian reign of Empress Wu Zetian of the Tang Dynasty. He was born into the Huayin Guo family, a branch of the Taiyuan Guo family.

He was over six feet tall and had a handsome appearance. He took part in the military examination in his early years and was appointed as the Chief Clerk of the Left Guard with high scores. Later, he was promoted to the Chief Clerk of the Guizhou Military Governor's Office and served as the Deputy Envoy of the General Affairs Office.

"In the fourteenth year of Emperor Xuanzong's Tianbao reign, An Lushan, a high-ranking official of the Tang Dynasty, rebelled."

"In November, the court appointed Guo Ziyi as the Minister of Imperial Guards, and concurrently appointed him as the governor of Lingwu County, and temporarily appointed him as the governor of Shuofang, and ordered him to lead the Shuofang army to attack the rebels in the east."

"Guo Ziyi led his army out of the Chanyu Palace, first took over the Jingbian Army, beheaded the rebel general Zhou Wanqing, and circulated his head to the three armies."

"Afterwards, he defeated the rebel general Gao Xiuyan at Hequ, recovered Yunzhong, and opened up Dongxing Pass. Guo Ziyi was awarded the title of Imperial Censor for his merits."

"In the first month of the following year, An Lushan's general Cai Xide captured Changshan County and took over all of Hebei."

"In February, Guo Ziyi led his army and Hedong Jiedushi Li Guangbi out of Jingxing Pass to attack Changshan and defeated Cai Xide at Jiumen."

"He then continued southward to attack Zhaojun, captured 4,000 people in one battle, and killed Guo Xianqiu, the pseudo-prefect appointed by the rebels, and seized tens of thousands of weapons. After the battle, Guo Ziyi released all the captives."

"Guo Ziyi led his troops back to Changshan, and An Lushan's general Shi Siming gathered tens of thousands of people to follow behind him."

"Guo Ziyi selected 500 elite cavalrymen and sent them to harass and challenge Shi Jun day and night without rest."

"Three days later, when the army reached Xingtang, Shi's army retreated on their own due to exhaustion."

"Guo Ziyi saw this and ordered his troops to pursue the enemy, defeating Shi's army at Shahe."

"The Tang army went to Hengyang to rest. After An Lushan heard that Shi Siming was defeated, he sent troops to reinforce him."

"Shi Siming saw that reinforcements were coming and followed Guo Ziyi to Hengyang."

"Guo Ziyi devised a strategy to tire out the troops, to fortify the city, to defend when Shi's army attacked, and to pursue when Shi's army retreated, harassing the camp day and night."

"A few days later, Li Guangbi told Guo Ziyi that Shi Siming's army was exhausted and ready to attack."

"In June of the same year, Guo Ziyi and Li Guangbi led Tang Dynasty generals Pugu Huai'en, Hun Shizhi, Chen Huiguang and others to form a battle array in Jiashan, while Shi Siming led Cai Xide, Yin Ziqi and others to form a battle array."

"In this battle, Guo Ziyi's army defeated Shi Siming's army, beheaded more than 40,000 people, captured more than 5,000 people alive, and captured more than 5,000 war horses. Shi Siming fled to Boling."

"So the counties in Hebei Province killed the generals of Shi Siming's army and welcomed Guo Ziyi's army, and Hebei was pacified."

"At this time, the prince's vanguard general Ge Shuhan was defeated in Tongguan. Xuanzong went to Shu, and the prince Li Heng went to Lingwu. Guo Ziyi asked the deputy envoy Du Hongjian to stay in Shuofang, and he went to welcome Li Heng's carriage."

"In July, Crown Prince Li Heng announced his ascension to the throne in Lingwu, changed the reign title to Zhide, and ordered Guo Ziyi to return to the capital in an attempt to recapture the two capitals."

"In August of the first year of Zhide, Guo Ziyi and Li Guangbi arrived in Hebei with a total of 50,000 infantry and cavalry."

"At that time, the imperial court had just been established and the army was small and weak. When Guo Ziyi and Li Guangbi led their troops to where Li Heng was, the imperial court's military prestige was greatly boosted and there was a trend of revival."

"Li Heng promoted Guo Ziyi to be the Minister of War and the co-minister of the Secretariat, and he still served as the Chief Clerk of the Lingzhou Grand Military Governor's Office and the Jiedushi of Shuofang."

"Li Heng reviewed the six armies and sent troops south to conquer the Guanfu to Pengyuan County area. Prime Minister Fang Guan asked for his army to lead the expedition. He was defeated by An Lushan's army in Chentao, and more than half of the army was killed or wounded. Li Heng could only rely on the Shuofang Army."

"In November, the Turkic general Ashina Congli led 5,000 cavalrymen from the Turkic tribes of Tongluo and Pugu out of the border, luring tens of thousands of Hu tribe soldiers from the nine prefectures and six states in Hequ, and tried to besiege Li Heng's location."

Su Shi: Guo Ziyi and the Uighur leader Geluozhi joined forces to defeat them, killing tens of thousands of them, and Hequ was thus pacified.

In March of the second year of Emperor Suzong of Tang's Zhide reign, An Lushan's henchman Cui Qianju occupied Tongguan. Guo Ziyi led his troops to attack him and defeated Cui's army in front of the pass. Cui Qianju retreated to Baopuzhou, and Guo Ziyi pursued him.

At that time, Zhao Fu, the Yongle Wei, Han Min, the Hedong Sihu Canjun, Xu Jing, the Sishi, and Li Feng, a member of the royal family, heard in Puzhou City that the Tang army was about to arrive, and decided to act as an insider. When Guo Ziyi arrived with his army, they killed the general guarding the city, opened the city gate, and welcomed Guo's army.

Later, Cui Qianhu led his people to Anyi in the north. The people of Anyi pretended to surrender. When Cui Qianhu's troops had entered more than half of the city, the Anyi defenders suddenly lowered the city gates and attacked them. At that time, Cui Qianhu had not yet entered the city and escaped to the east.

Guo Ziyi took the opportunity to send his son Guo Gan to attack Yongfeng Warehouse, where he won a great victory and killed tens of thousands of soldiers. Guo Gan died in the battle.

Guo Ziyi recaptured Yongfeng, and from then on the passage between Tongguan and Shan County was no longer obstructed.

In the same month, An Lushan died. When the imperial court learned the news, it prepared for a large-scale attack and ordered Guo Ziyi to return Fengxiang to plan a major attack.

In April, Guo Ziyi was granted the title of Sikong and served as deputy marshal of Guannei and Hedong.

In May, he was ordered to lead his army back to the capital. When he arrived at the west of the Qingshui River, he fought with the rebel generals An Taiqing and An Shouzhong. However, the Tang army was defeated, the troops were scattered, and a large number of weapons were scattered in the Qingqu Canal.

Guo Ziyi gathered the remnants and retreated to Wugong. He wrote a letter to the court to apologize and requested to be demoted. The court demoted him to the position of Zuo Pushe, while he still served as the co-director of the Secretariat and the rest of his official positions remained the same.

Soon, Guo Ziyi was promoted to deputy marshal of the army, and concurrently served as the governor of Longyou, Hexi and Shuofang with the titles of Minister of War and Prime Minister. He followed the Grand Marshal of the Army, Prince Guangping Li Chu, and led an army of 150,000 to attack Chang'an.

The Uighur tribe also sent Prince Yehu to lead 4,000 troops to assist the Tang Dynasty.

Guo Ziyi and Yehu had a very good relationship and agreed to put down the rebellion.

Marshal Feng ordered Guo Ziyi to be the central army, Li Siye to be the vanguard army, and Wang Sili to be the rear army. The army stretched for thirty miles and fought with the 100,000 rebel troops led by An Shouzhong and Li Guiren to the north of Xiangji Temple in the west of Beijing. While the battle was fierce, the Uighurs sent a surprise attack to the rear of An's army and attacked the Tang army from the front and back. The Tang army beheaded more than 60,000 people and An's army was defeated.

When Zhang Tongru, the defending general in Chang'an, heard that An's army was defeated, he fled to Shan County overnight.

The next day, Prince Guangping Li Chu entered the capital. Millions of people, young and old, lined the streets to welcome him, and the capital was thus pacified.

After three days of rest, Li Chu led his army to continue the eastward expedition.

An Lushan's son An Qingxu sent his subordinate Yan Zhuang to mobilize 100,000 troops to Shanzhou to resist the Tang army together with Zhang Tongru.

Upon hearing that the Tang army was approaching, the An army stationed all its forces in Shaanxi and formed a battle formation with their backs to the mountain. Guo Ziyi led his army to attack head-on. The Uighur army climbed the mountain and attacked from the rear, but encountered an army of the An army hiding in the mountains. The fight with them delayed the time for the meeting with Guo Ziyi, and the Tang army retreated while fighting.

Upon seeing this, An Jun divided his army into 3,000 troops to block the Tang army's retreat. At this time, the Uighur army arrived. Guo Ziyi commanded the Uighur army to attack and killed all the soldiers blocking the way.

The An army cried out in surprise that the Uighurs had arrived, and then they were defeated, with corpses strewn all over the ground.

Yan Zhuang and Zhang Tongru fled to Luoyang, and then crossed the river with An Qingxu to retreat to Xiangzhou. Guo Ziyi took advantage of the situation to recapture the Eastern Capital.

At this time, the three counties of Hedong, Hexi and Henan were all pacified. Guo Ziyi was promoted to Si Tu for his merits, and was granted the title of Duke of Dai, with a fief of 1,000 households.

Soon the Tang army returned, and Li Heng sent troops to welcome them at Bashang. He comforted Guo Ziyi and said that his country was rebuilt by him.

Guo Ziyi bowed his head to express his gratitude. In December of the same year, Guo Ziyi returned to the Eastern Capital and was ordered to manage the northern campaign against the rebels. "In July of the first year of Emperor Suzong's reign, Guo Ziyi defeated the An army on the bank of the Yellow River, captured the rebel general An Shouzhong alive, and presented him to the capital."

"Li Heng ordered all officials to welcome him at Changle Posthouse, and personally went to Wangchun Tower to host a banquet. During the banquet, Guo Ziyi was promoted to the position of Zhongshu Ling."

"In September, Li Heng ordered Guo Ziyi and nine other governors, including Li Guangbi, the governor of Hedong, to join forces to attack An Qingxu."

"Because Guo Ziyi and Li Guangbi were both great heroes, it was difficult for them to be controlled by each other, so no marshal was appointed, and only the eunuch Yu Chaoen was sent as an envoy to observe the military appearance and comfort the people."

"In October, Guo Ziyi led his army to cross the river at Xingyuan and besiege Weizhou. An Qingxu and his generals An Xiongjun, Cui Qianju, Xue Song and Tian Chengsi led their troops to support them."

"Guo Ziyi dispatched 3,000 crossbowmen in advance to ambush inside the camp."

"He ordered the Tang army to pretend to retreat, and when the An army approached, they climbed the city walls, made noises, and shot arrows at the same time."

"On the day of the battle, Guo Ziyi pretended to be defeated, and An's army pursued him to the camp. The ambushed soldiers immediately fired their bows and crossbows, and arrows rained down, and An's army was defeated."

"Guo Ziyi led his army in pursuit and defeated An's army, beheading 40,000 people and capturing hundreds of thousands of armors and helmets. He also captured An Qingxu's brother An Qinghe alive and recovered Weizhou."

"An Qingxu fled, and Guo Ziyi pursued him to Yecheng. Dong Qin, Xu Shuji, Wang Sili and Xue Jianxun, the military governors of various routes, also arrived one after another and fought with An's army again at Chousigang, where An's army was defeated again."

"An Qingxu entered the city to defend it, while Guo Ziyi and other troops joined forces to besiege Yecheng, diverting the Zhang River to flood it, which lasted for two hours."

"Although Yecheng was not captured, the food supply in the city was running out and people were resorting to cannibalism. An Qingxu sent people to ask Shi Siming for help on the condition of abdication."

"In February of the second year of Emperor Suzong's reign, Shi Siming sent 130,000 troops from Weizhou to rescue An Qingxu."

"In March, the troops of Li Guangbi, Xu Shuji, Wang Sili, and Lu Jing encountered Shi Siming's troops in the south of Yecheng. The two sides fought fiercely, and more than half of their troops were killed or wounded."

"Guo Ziyi led the army in the rear, and before they could form a battle array, a strong wind suddenly arose, and the sky became dark. Both the Tang army and the An army were terrified. The Tang army went south, and the An army went north. They each retreated, and both sides suffered countless losses of weapons and supplies."

"All Later Tang troops were withdrawn, and Guo Ziyi's troops retreated to Heyang."

"Afterwards, Li Heng issued an imperial decree to appoint Guo Ziyi as the governor of the Eastern Capital and the commander of the camps in the Eastern Capital, Shannan East Circuit, and Henan Circuit."

"Yu Chaoen, the envoy who comforted the army, was jealous of Guo Ziyi's achievements, so he used this incident to slander Guo Ziyi to Li Heng, blaming Guo Ziyi for the defeat in Xiangzhou."

"Li Heng ordered Guo Ziyi to return to the capital, and appointed Zhao Wang Li Xi as the Grand Marshal of the Army, and Li Guangbi as the Deputy Marshal and the Governor of Shuofang, taking away Guo Ziyi's military power."

"Soon after, Shi Siming conquered the Heluo region again. The imperial court was in trouble and worried that the border towns would take the opportunity to attack the capital again."

"In the first month of the third year of Emperor Suzong's reign, Li Heng appointed Guo Ziyi as the governor of Bin and Ning, but still kept him in the capital."

"Later, an official reported that Guo Ziyi had made great contributions to the country and should not be left idle until the rebels were eliminated. Li Heng agreed with this."

"In September of the first year of Emperor Suzong's reign, Li Heng appointed Guo Ziyi as the commander-in-chief of all the troops, and Guan Chongsi as the deputy commander-in-chief, and led the imperial guards of Yingwu, Weiyuan, and the divisions of the various towns in Hedong and Hexi to march to Fanyang to suppress the rebels."

"A few days after the order was issued, the matter was blocked and cancelled by Yu Chaoen."

"In February of the second year of Shangyuan, Li Guangbi, Pugu Huai'en and others were defeated at Mangshan, and Heyang fell."

"A year later, there was another rebellion in Hezhong. Li Guozhen, the commander of the Shuofang army, and Deng Jingshan, the governor of Hedong, were killed by their subordinates one after another. The court was worried that these two armies would unite with the rebels."

"So it was decided to appoint Guo Ziyi as the military governor of Beiting, Hezhong, Shuofang, Lu, Yi, Ze, Qin and other provinces, and the deputy marshal of Xingping and Dingguo, and confer him the title of Prince of Ruyang, and order him to stay in Jiang."

"At that time, Li Heng was seriously ill and would not see the ministers. Guo Ziyi allowed Li Heng to see him on the grounds that he was old and would die in another place and could not close his eyes without seeing the emperor."

"Li Heng entrusted all affairs of Hedong to Guo Ziyi, and gave him horses, silverware and other items."

"After Guo Ziyi arrived in Jiangzhou, he ordered the execution of dozens of people including Wang Yuanzhen, who led the rebellion. After hearing the news, the new governor Xin Yunjing also executed the leader of the rebellion. The Hezhong incident was quelled, and all the states wrote to the emperor to abide by the law and dare not rebel again."

Xin Qiji: When Li Yu, Emperor Dezong of Tang, ascended the throne, the eunuch Cheng Yuanzhen believed that he had the merit of supporting and making decisions.

Worried that the old general would be difficult to manage, he falsely accused him and requested the dismissal of the deputy marshal.

So Li Yu recalled Guo Ziyi, added 700 households to his fief, stripped him of his deputy marshal's post, and appointed him as the envoy of the mountain and mausoleum to supervise the construction of Emperor Suzong's mausoleum.

Guo Ziyi was worried about slander, so he presented all the more than 1,000 handwritten edicts and imperial decrees given by Li Heng to Li Yu, and submitted a memorial to the emperor.

After reading it, Li Yu comforted him, telling him that it was his fault that made him worried, and that Guo Ziyi would not have to worry anymore from now on.

At this time, Shi Chaoyi still occupied Luoyang. Li Yu planned to let Prince Yong Li Shi be the commander-in-chief and Guo Ziyi as the deputy commander-in-chief to conquer Luoyang.

However, due to the slander of Yu Chaoen and Cheng Yuanzhen, this plan was never carried out.

Soon, Liang Chongyi, the governor of Shannan Road, rebelled in Xiangyang, and Pugu Huai'en, the deputy marshal of Hebei stationed in Fenzhou, colluded with the Uighurs and Tubo to invade Hexi.

When Tubo first invaded the border, the generals at the border sent a warning message, but Cheng Yuanzhen concealed the situation.

In October of the first year of Guangde reign of Emperor Daizong of Tang Dynasty, Tubo invaded Jingzhou and captured Jingzhou governor Gao Hui. Gao Hui led the Tubo army deep into the capital and attacked Fengtian and Wugong.

Lu Ri, the military commander of the Weibei camp, led his troops to fight against the Tubo army. He beheaded thousands of people, but more than half of his subordinates were injured.

As the Tibetan army approached the capital, Li Yu was at a loss as to what to do. He appointed Prince Yong Li Shi as the Marshal of Guannei and Guo Ziyi as the Deputy Marshal, stationed in Xianyang.

After Guo Ziyi was defeated in Xiangzhou and Li Guangbi took over the military power, he was dismissed and sent back to the capital. His subordinates dispersed, and when he took up the post of deputy marshal of Guannei, he had only 20 personal soldiers under his command.

When Guo Ziyi arrived in Xianyang, the Tubo army had already crossed the Wei River and marched eastward with 200,000 troops.

Guo Ziyi sent the judge and the secretary Wang Yanchang to report back to Li Yu and request reinforcements, but was stopped by Cheng Yuanzhen.

By the time Li Yu inquired about military affairs, the Tubo army had already crossed the convenient bridge. Li Yu fled in fear to Shan County. At this time, all officials fled and soldiers hid.

After hearing this, Guo Ziyi hurried back to Chang'an, but it was too late. Li Yu's carriage had already left that day.

As soon as Li Yu and his entourage passed through Chan, the archer general Wang Xianzhong who was accompanying him led 400 cavalrymen, took Feng Wang Li Gong and ten other princes hostage, defected back to Chang'an, and prepared to surrender to Tubo.

When Wang Xianzhong met Guo Ziyi at Kaiyuan Gate, he told Guo Ziyi that the emperor had fled to the east and the country was without a master, and as the marshal, whether to depose or enthrone the emperor depended entirely on his word.

Guo Ziyi rebuked Wang Xianzhong and the other princes, and sent people to escort the princes to where Li Yu was. Then the Tibetan army entered the empty city of Chang'an. (End of this chapter)