ps: Thanks to Xia Ke Xing 2010 for the reward, and thanks to Brother Xiyi and Long Tianxia for their monthly votes.
In the decades after Huang Chao raised his army, especially in the ten years at the end of the ninth century and the beginning of the tenth century, there were few peaceful days in the entire Tang Dynasty. The imperial court issued orders not to leave the capital, and local feudal towns used weapons and weapons at every turn. Today
You beat me, tomorrow I will beat you, and the day after tomorrow they join forces to beat others. It can be said that there is a lot of chaos and chaos.
This was an era in which the status of military commanders reached its peak, unprecedented and unprecedented. The emperor, nobles, famous Confucian ministers, and noble families were all knocked to the ground by the military commanders and trampled under their feet without mercy.
In such an era, any topic such as the so-called "historical inevitability of the world's separatism" based on the analysis of the current social situation based on certain attributes is false and completely unable to withstand scrutiny.
It is said that the weakness of the imperial court leads to the rise of local areas, and the emperor cannot control the feudal towns. This is to replace the cause with the effect, and use the results to explain the internal causes. In other words, it is to reverse the saying that the strength of the feudal towns leads to the weakness of the emperor to explain the reasons for this situation.
, is unconvincing. If you have to explain it this way, you can easily find two examples to refute it completely. The more distant example is the Anshi Rebellion, and the more recent example is the Huangwang Rebellion. These two were criticized
The turmoil aimed at "destroying the foundation of imperial rule" was actually far less serious for the central authority than people imagined. It can even be said to have a certain degree of cohesion for the central government's real power.
By quelling these two turmoils, Suzong's court and Xizong's court had stronger combat effectiveness and more capable armies than their predecessors. The army directly controlled by the court had a much stronger deterrent effect on the local area. Facts
It also proves that in the first few years after these two turmoils were suppressed, the power of the court increased greatly, and all the vassal towns in various places respected and followed the central government's orders.
Some people in later generations tried to analyze this period from the perspective of "economic foundation", and then proposed that the landlord manor economy led to local separatism, but the results deduced from this were different from reality. The prevalence of landlord manors was precisely the most important thing for the court relatively speaking.
The submissive Jiangnan region was also the main source of money and food for the imperial court. However, in the Central Plains, Hebei, Hedong, Longyou and other places where the separatist forces were the strongest, the powerful gentry were destroyed to the point of dying or even almost extinct.
If you want to sort out a little bit of the clues and clarify a little bit of the context, you may not need to look at it from such a complicated perspective. The simplest, perhaps most direct, and most core explanation is the rise of professional soldiers.
The evolution of the military system of the Tang Dynasty went through three periods. At the beginning of the Tang Dynasty, it was the Fubing. The Fubing was the Dudufu and the soldiers of the military government. They farmed in peacetime and served as soldiers in wartime. Their household registration was controlled by the military government and they were assigned by the imperial court during expeditions.
Under the general, the general does not know the soldiers, and the soldiers do not know the general, which can well avoid the hidden danger of the generals supporting the troops. However, this military system largely follows the form of garrison. When land annexation is serious and population flow is blind,
The soldiers who were attached to the land lost their roots and became virtual names only on the pages of the register.
This situation emerged after Kaiyuan. Emperor Xuanzong had to cancel the imperial army system and replaced it with a recruitment system. The army was recruited by generals who guarded various places, and was selected and eliminated by the generals. In order to reduce the huge consumption of money and grain transportation, the court
Gradually, self-financing at the station replaced central allocation, and the military and political control of the Jiedushi was truly formed. This was the second period. And this change in the military system immediately showed its power. On the occasion of Kaiyuan and Tianbao, the Tang Army
In foreign affairs, he conquered more than others, conquered the barbarians, and frightened the world.
Of course, this approach also led to the inability of the Jiedushi to lose their strength. As a result, the military power of the imperial court declined, and the imperial army was unable to compete with the town army.
There is no term of service in the Tang Dynasty. Many soldiers gradually revealed their talents during the battle and grew up after being washed in previous wars. Such soldiers have extremely rich combat experience and extremely keen military sense. They can lead troops in peacetime and in battle.
No general can allow such soldiers to withdraw from the army, so many soldiers serve longer and longer, ten, twenty years, or even until they are old. They regard fighting as their profession and combat as their duty.
Apart from fighting, he had nothing to do, no farming, no business, no work, no scientific research. The whole family relied on military pay, seizures and rewards to make a living. This was the third period, the birth of professional soldiers.
Many veterans were promoted to officers after meritorious service, and then taught their skills to their younger generations. The younger generations continued to join the army, made new achievements, and then passed them on to the next generation. As a result, the professional soldier class developed and grew, and in the later stages of development, the professional army emerged.
A family of generals have been in the army for generations and have made war their career. They don’t care who is the general or who is the commander. They only care about their own interests. In other words, they will support whoever can bring benefits to their family as their general.
.Once the general or the commander-in-chief does something extraordinary, they will not hesitate to throw away their immediate superiors and establish a new commander-in-chief. They have no intention of responding to the court's righteousness and restoring the authority of the court, let alone whether the commander-in-chief becomes stronger.
Able to command the world, they can fight for the commander-in-chief against the imperial court, or they can attack the commander-in-chief for the imperial court. It all depends on whether it can bring benefits to their own family.
This is the reason why the vassals and towns have been divided for hundreds of years, but the Tang Dynasty still enjoys unification. Therefore, this is an era when professional soldiers are most glorious, and the representative figures of professional soldiers, generals, have the highest status.
When this situation reached its peak, a Huangwang rebellion broke out. All the professional soldiers and generals suddenly realized that the emperor would be driven out of the palace by the mud-legged people. When faced with such a group of unbearable common people,
, the imperial court was unable to do anything, so that the local ruffians stole the treasure, and the ordinary people showed off their power. So they were no longer indifferent. The more they discovered the military incompetence of the mud-legged soldiers in the process of suppressing the rebels, the more they despised the imperial court.
Princes, generals and prime ministers, would you rather have the right kind? The mud-legged people can call themselves emperors and kings, why can't we? It's even worse to find a high-ranking official such as a general or military governor, which is also a matter of honoring our ancestors!
In the process of suppressing the turmoil sweeping the world with force, professional soldiers and military generals began to find and support their own agents, and after the war, they were ready to attack other weak surrounding forces. As a result, swords were rampant, beacon smoke was ignited, and the Yellow King
After death, not only was there no peace in the world, but wars became more frequent.
By the time of Guanghua, Tian Fu Nian, the chaos had actually been basically sorted out, because the big fish ate the small fish, and the small fish ate the shrimps. The weak vassal towns were almost annexed, and the situation in the world could be vaguely seen.
Clues.
A rough calculation shows that there are four sources of turmoil in the entire Tang Dynasty.
The Gyeonggi and Guannai areas centered on Chang'an are mainly chaotic battles between the imperial court, Fengxiang, Jingyuan, Fenning and other forces competing for control of the central government. It is characterized by repeated coups by internal servants and ministers, and Jiedushi constantly leading troops.
Entering the capital, the emperor packed his bags and fled at any time.
The continuous battles in Hebei and Hedong were mainly due to the violent suppression of the Hedong Army and the Lulong Army by the Xuanwu Army. The army was the most powerful and the fighting was the fiercest. Rivers of blood flowed frequently and villages and towns were massacred.
In the land of Liangchuan, Jiedu envoy Wang Jian managed Shu and conquered Gu Yanhui. This place was far away from the Central Plains and was relatively stable.
The source of chaos in Jiangnan was mainly between the Jiedushi of Huainan and the Jiedushi of Zhenhai. Yang Xingmi and Qian Chuo went back and forth and repeatedly competed for this area where the economy and population were gradually developing, as the foundation for future hegemony.
In fact, in the original historical context, the situation after the fall of the Tang Dynasty has already begun to take shape at this time. If history does not change, Zhu Quanzhong, the king of Dongping, will rely on the powerful force of the Xuanwu Army to establish Daliang, and Li Keyong will continue to fight
Under the banner of the Tang Dynasty, they fought against the Zhu family until Li Cunxu usurped the throne. Wang Jian would also establish the Shu Kingdom in both Sichuan. Yang Xingmi and Qian Wei would become the masters of the Wu Kingdom and Wu Yue and continue to fight. As for Lulong, the Liu family
Then the State of Yan will be established.
This situation is very confusing. If we have to find a main conflict, it should be in the battlefields of Hebei and Hedong, not in Gyeonggi and Guanhai.
The battlefields in Hebei and Hedong are divided into two places, but they are actually one. Hedong faced the main force of the Xuanwu Army, while Lulong faced the servants of the Xuanwu Army, Yiwu, Chengde and Wei Bo. In September of the first year of Tianfu,
, both sides gathered strength, and a new war was about to begin.
After obtaining the understanding from Hedong, Liu Rengong, the prince of Liaodong County, suppressed his opposition to the support and began to work hard for Lulong's future. The Lulong Army's scouts and cavalry were out in four directions, food and grass were gathered, and the army was fully equipped, ready to attack Yiwu at any time.
The three towns of De and Wei Bo took action.
The army was ready, but Liu Rengong thought hard in the commander's tent for a long time and decided to go to the camp of his second son Liu Shouguang in person. He wanted to have a good talk with Liu Shouguang. The enemy was facing the enemy. Although he used the commander's power to
His identity forcibly suppressed his objections, but he still hoped to persuade his son Erlang from the bottom of his heart and gain the wholehearted support of the group headed by Liu Shouguang.
In fact, Liu Rengong himself did not realize that his behavior was quite strange. From a fair point of view, he is the commander-in-chief of the entire army. From a personal point of view, he is Liu Shouguang's father. No matter where you start from,
, he should not have taken the initiative to find Liu Shouguang, but should have summoned Liu Shouguang to the Chinese Army. There is only one explanation for this approach, which is the subconsciousness that Liu Rengong himself has not thought about - a rift has arisen between father and son, and he has
I am afraid of my son.
Liu Rengong went straight into the Yier Army camp. No one dared to stop him, and no one would stop him. While he was thinking about how to persuade his son, he came to Liu Shouguang's tent.
Liu Shouguang was not in the camp, so no one came out to greet him. Only a few panicked duty officers hurriedly saluted Liu Rengong and then told him that Liu Shouguang was out handling military affairs.
Liu Rengong was still immersed in his own thoughts. He said "Huh" and said casually: "Go look for him. I'm waiting in the tent." Then he walked in through the curtain, and Liu Rengong, the star officer on duty, was chasing after him.
I didn’t catch the words clearly either.
It wasn't until he was sitting in the handsome case that Liu Rengong noticed a man lying in the corner, shivering, with his head buried on the carpet. He looked familiar.
Liu Rengong was stunned and said: "Who is it?"
The man raised his head and said with a pale face: "I have seen the master."
Liu Rengong took a look and saw that it was Liu Gou, the housekeeper.