Yang Guozhong (traditional Chinese: 楊國忠; simplified Chinese: 杨国忠; pinyin: Yáng Guózhōng; Wade–Giles: Yang Kuochung) (died July 15, 756), né Yang Zhao (楊釗), was a Chinese politician who served as principal chancellor of the Tang dynasty from 752 to 756, late in the reign of Emperor Xuanzong. Known in his youth as a gambler and wastrel, Yang rose rapidly to political power after his distant cousin, Yang Yuhuan, became Emperor Xuanzong's favorite consort in 744. His familial ties and skills as a financial administrator helped him navigate the tumultuous court politics of the late 740s and early 750s to become the emperor's leading chancellor in 752. While Yang enjoyed Emperor Xuanzong's trust, his competence as chancellor was questioned and he became entangled in a fierce rivalry with an erstwhile political ally, the general and imperial favorite An Lushan. Yang was blamed for precipitating An's cataclysmic rebellion in 755. In the following year, he forced the Tang army of Geshu Han, then holding favorable defensive positions in Tong Pass, to confront the rebel army, leading to a rout of Tang forces and the fall of the imperial capital, Chang'an. Yang attempted to flee to his base in Chengdu with Emperor Xuanzong, but when the imperial party stopped at Mawei Station in modern Shaanxi, Yang and his family, including Yang Yuhuan, were massacred by imperial guard soldiers who blamed them for the chaos.
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Imperial guard in the context of Scholae Palatinae
The Scholae Palatinae (lit. 'Palatine Schools'; Greek: Σχολαί, romanized: Scholai) were an elite military imperial guard unit, usually ascribed to the Roman Emperor Constantine the Great as a replacement for the equites singulares Augusti, the cavalry arm of the Praetorian Guard. The Scholae survived in Roman and later Byzantine service until they disappeared from the historical record in the late 11th century, during the reign of Alexios I Komnenos.
Imperial guard in the context of Jovians and Herculians
The Jovians (Latin: Ioviani) and Herculians (Latin: Herculiani) were the senior palatine imperial guard units under the rule of Roman Emperor Diocletian (r. 284–305). They continued in existence thereafter as senior units in the field armies of the Western and Eastern Roman Empires.