An Lushan Rebellion
When he was a young man An Lushan learned 6 non-Chinese languages. His aptitude for languages soon earned him a job as an interpreter for the Chinese Tang military. Then in 732 AD, An became friends with General Zhang Shougui. After some time the two became very close and General Zhang began treating the portly An as his son. Four years later, An was serving under Zhang in the Pinglu Army when he led a failed attacked against both the Xi and Khitan armies and was defeated. According to Chinese military law the loss required that An be sentenced to death, but before he could be executed he was given a reprieve from the Tang Chinese Emperor Xuanzong. Xuanzong found that An was very capable and he soon made him the governor of what today is called Beijing. His assignment while in Beijing was to control the nomadic tribes who were invading from their base in Manchuria.
Golden Age of China
The reign of Emperor Xuanzong is considered the most glorious period of the Tang dynasty. It began when he led a coup d'etat that overthrew Empress Wei, and would last for 44 years. When Xuanzong became emperor he found that the government had been looted by extensive corruption that had existed for decades. He immediately undertook cost cutting measures that included his own household staff. Xuanzong ordered his empress, consorts, and the women in his concubine not to wear or buy pearls, jade, embroidery, or brocades. He also stopped wealthy families from establishing Buddhist monasteries so that they could evade taxes. At the same time he ordered 30,000 monks to return to lay life(life outside of the church) and start paying taxes.