In the year 763 AD, the An Lushan Rebellion, which lasted for more than 7 years, was quelled. The heavily damaged Tang Dynasty began a new round of restructuring its mountains and rivers. However, the prosperity of the past has passed away, and the unified situation is no longer the same. The prosperous Tang Dynasty has become a disappeared scenery. After that, the Tang Dynasty worked hard to rebuild for a century and a half, trying to restore the glory of the prosperous era. At one point, it also showed a glimmer of hope. However, the beautiful spring scenery is worth appreciating, and the fragrant garden is slanting on the white sun. We can see the flying birds and the falling flowers again. In the end, it had no choice but to decline and perish. What kind of difficult dilemma did the mid to late Tang Dynasty face? In 756 AD, Emperor Xuanzong of Tang fled Chang’an due to the An Lushan Rebellion. In the same year, the chess player Li Heng was located in Lingwu and became Emperor Suzong of Tang. In April 762 AD, Emperor Xuanzong and Emperor Suzong passed away successively. In order to quickly end the rebellion, the newly ascended Emperor Xuanzong of Tang had no choice but to adopt a compromise policy towards An Lushan’s surrender. He comforted the four vassal towns of Youzhou, Weibo, Chengde, and Xiangwei, which were later merged by Weibo Town and became the three towns. As these three towns were all located north of the Yellow River, they were commonly referred to as the Three Towns of Heshuo. The three towns were nominally subordinate to the court, but in reality, they each supported their own troops and appointed officials, intercepting them. Leaving taxes and becoming a military and political force on the separatist side, some Tang generals who participated in suppressing rebellions also invited merits and rewards, some of whom were promoted to military governors. As a result, the establishment of military governors in the Tang Dynasty expanded from border towns to the mainland, forming an increasingly serious situation of feudal separatism, The feudal lords not only did not listen to the court’s call, but also joined forces to fight against each other. Due to the conflict of interests, they clashed with each other, making the politics of the Tang Dynasty more turbulent. This form of conflict became the biggest dilemma faced by the Tang Dynasty after the An Lushan Rebellion, which was the fragmentation of feudal lords.
Professor Wu Zongguo from Peking University: The Tang Dynasty government made compromises with these feudal lords and military governors, and there was a considerable period of stalemate between them. From these aspects, they did not have the strength to attack the central government, and the central government did not have the strength to eliminate them.
For any emperor who aspires to restore the glory of the Tang Empire, the situation of feudal separatism is unacceptable. For more than 100 years in the middle and late Tang Dynasty, there has been a fierce battle between the central government and local feudal lords, with the largest scale being the two military campaigns of Emperor Dezong and Emperor Xianzong against feudal lords. In 779 AD, Emperor Dezong succeeded to the throne and changed his father’s policy of condoning feudal lords. He spared no effort to use force to suppress the feudal lords. However, due to financial constraints, Emperor Dezong implemented the Two Tax Laws throughout the country.
Huaiji Yongdiao Silver Cake Five Liang Tai Bei Dynasty Silver Collar Shaanxi History Museum
In order to replace the previously empty and empty tax law of rent and Yong adjustment, the principle of the two tax laws is that households have no land to settle down, housing is the record, people have no social status, and wealth is the difference. This has changed the previous system of taxation in China based on population, and from then on, the distribution of tax burden according to financial strength has become a basic principle of tax systems in Tang and later dynasties.
Researcher at the Institute of History, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences – Huang Zhengjian: One of the biggest characteristics of the Two Tax Law is that it uses money to collect taxes, which is to operate the country with money and currency. This is a relatively developed and complete state of the country. Over the course of 20 years, it relied on the Two Tax Law, it relied on tea, it relied on alcohol, and it relied on tax merchants. He accumulated a lot of wealth because Tang Dezong needed more money and materials to support his judgment.
However, the horn of Emperor Dezong’s reduction of fiefdoms had not yet been sounded, and fiefdoms such as Chengde Town, Weibo Town, Ziqing Town, and Youzhou Town were the first to launch a rebellion. In January of the second year of Jianzhong, Li Baochen, one of the Chengde Jiedushi in the three towns of Heshuo, died, and his son Li Weiyue succeeded to the throne, demanding recognition from the court. Originally, the death of the Jiedushi’s father and the succession of his son had become a common practice, and Li Weiyue believed that receiving recognition from the court was just a formality. However, Emperor Dezong had already made up his mind to attack it and refused to recognize Li Weiyue’s hereditary rights. Li Weiyue was displeased, so he joined forces with Tian Yue from Weibo Town. Li Zhengji from Ziqing Town and Liang Chongyi from Shannan East Road joined forces to resist the central government, known as the Four Towns Rebellion. Emperor Dezong had already prepared to order the Huaixi Military Governor Li Xilie to lead troops to conquer the Four Rebellions. In August, Liang Chongyi was defeated and committed suicide. In January of the following year, Li Weiyue’s general Wang Wujun killed Li Weiyue and surrendered to the Tang government, However, Wang Wujun later colluded with Wei Bo Jiedushi Tian Yue and Youzhou Jiedushi Zhu Tao to fight against Tang Ting. In November, the Three Town Jiedushi contacted Pinglu Jiedushi Li Na, imitating the feudal separatism of the Warring States period, and performed a farce of proclaiming himself king. At the same time, Huaixi Jiedushi Li Xilie, who was proud of his achievements, demanded to expand his jurisdiction, but was rejected by Emperor Dezong. He then joined forces with Chengde, Wei Bo, and Ziqing towns to rebel, and the rebellion situation further expanded. Emperor Dezong was very angry and ordered the armies of the neighboring roads in Huaixi to attack Li Xilie. However, this caused a bigger disaster, and Jianzhong On the second day of October in the fourth year, Yao Lingyan, the military governor of Jingyuan, led 5000 soldiers to Chang’an in the rain. However, the court gave them nothing and only rewarded them with coarse vegetables, which caused anger among the soldiers and led them to flee to Chang’an. Emperor Dezong fled to Fengtian, which was known as the Jingyuan Rebellion, The chaotic army and soldiers elected the Jingyuan Jiedushi Zhu Ju as emperor, and Li Xilie also took the opportunity to declare himself emperor. In addition, at that time, the four towns of Hebei and Shandong declared themselves kings, which was the incident of Emperor Dezong’s one dynasty, four kings, and two emperors. Thus, the disaster of the feudal lords was extremely severe.
Huang Zhengjian, a researcher at the Institute of History of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences: These military governors in the three towns of Hebei did not really want to seize power and become emperors themselves. They still wanted to maintain their maximum interests within the framework of the Tang Dynasty.
As the fire of judgment grew stronger and stronger, Emperor Dezong had no choice but to issue a decree to forgive Tian Yue, Wang Wujun, Li Na, and others for their crimes. He ordered the Tang army to concentrate their efforts to suppress Zhu Ju and Li Xilie, and ultimately relied on Li Sheng’s leadership to recapture Chang’an. The incidents of Zhu Ju and Li Xilie killing the Four Kings and Two Emperors for their subordinates came to an end, and the rebellion was barely quelled.
Tang Xianzong Jingling, Weinan City, Shaanxi Province
During the reign of Emperor Dezong, which was the most rampant era of feudal power, efforts were also made to combat feudal separatism. However, the political situation did not improve significantly. After the death of Emperor Dezong, Emperor Shunzong reigned for only eight months and was forced to abdicate due to illness. His eldest son, Li Chun, succeeded to the throne as Emperor Xianzong. This young emperor could not tolerate the existence of feudal separatism. Among all the feudal separatist towns, Wei Bozhen was definitely the most headache inducing thorn in the Tang Dynasty government and posed the greatest threat to the central government. Wei Bocheng became a concern for Emperor Xianzong, and in the 7th year of Yuanhe (812 AD), a turning point came. In August of that year, Tian Ji’an, the military governor of Wei Bo, died suddenly. His son Tian Huaijian was young and the power fell into the hands of his servant Jiang Shize. Soon after, Tian Chengsi’s nephew Tian Xing was supported by the army. He immediately announced that he would abandon his separatist rule and submit to the court, in recognition of his contributions, Emperor Xianzong specially named him Hongzheng. After four generations and five military governors, Wei Bozhen finally surrendered to the central government after fighting against the court for half a century. Wei Bozhen’s return to the court had important practical significance, as it caused the almost rigid separation of the three towns of Heshuo and also led to positive changes and improvements in the overall situation of Tang Dynasty’s reduction of feudal domains, further strengthening Xianzong’s determination to reduce feudal domains.
Professor Wu Zongguo from Peking University: So, how can we win without any risk? This is a big problem, and then he immediately accepted Li Jiang’s opinion, which is not to launch a comprehensive attack on the military governor immediately, but to use the internal contradictions of the military governor to adapt to changes in the situation and adapt to the times;
In September of the 9th year of the Yuanhe era, Wu Yuanji took over his father’s position as the Huaixi Changyi Jiedushi and immediately challenged the court, showing a very arrogant attitude. In January of the second year, Emperor Xianzong ordered 16 armies to flank the Huaixi region, thus launching the most intense battle among all the feudal domains in the Zhongwan Hall. In the early stages of the war, due to the court’s personnel mistakes, the front line suffered repeated defeats and the campaign reached a stalemate. In addition, Prime Minister Wu Yuanheng, who was in charge of feudal domain affairs, was assassinated, and the Imperial Censor Pei Du was also seriously injured. The situation became even more chaotic. The courtiers in the court requested to withdraw his troops, but Emperor Xianzong remained steadfast and decided to continue using his troops. Pei Du’s injuries improved slightly, and he was appointed as Prime Minister, taking on the important role of leading the campaign against Huaixi. Chu Huzi, Li Sheng (su) was the son of Li Sheng, a famous general who pacified the Jingyuan Rebellion 30 years ago and became the son of Emperor Dezong’s recapture of Chang’an. In December of the eleventh year of the Yuanhe era, Emperor Xianzong appointed Li Sheng as the Tang Deng Jiedushi to continue the campaign against Wu Yuanji. Pei Du and Li Zeng united sincerely, and the Tang army launched a campaign against Huaixi, Significant progress has been made, and the final decisive battle is about to begin. With a strong wind and snow, (flags and flags cracking, people and horses freezing, the dead and moving, the dead and moving looking at each other, the sky is dark, and the road east of Zhangchai Village is all called “tasting and walking” by the official army. Everyone thinks they will die, but they are afraid of it, and they dare not violate it.) This excerpt from Sima Guang’s “Zizhi Tongjian” titled “Li Zong’s Snowy Night Entering Caizhou” tells the story of a classic battle in which Li Zong led troops to launch a surprise attack on Wu Yuanji. When the Tang army reached the foot of the city wall, they suddenly saw a chicken and duck pond, and Li Zong ordered his soldiers to drive away the chicken and duck to make a sound to cover up the marching. The sound of footsteps. The defenders in the city are completely unprepared. The Tang army quietly climbed up to the city and killed the sleeping gatekeeper.
Li Zhi’s Night Attack on Caizhou Floating Wall Carving in Zhumadian City, Henan Province
At this moment, someone urgently reported to Wu Yuanji. Wu Yuanji lay in bed and laughed, saying that the prisoners were causing chaos. After dawn, they should kill all these guys, and then someone reported the fall of the city. Wu Yuanji still casually said that someone must have come to ask for cold clothes. After waking up, Wu Yuanji heard the Tang army’s order for tens of thousands of people, which made him afraid to lead his left and right to resist in Yacheng. But it was too late, so Wu Yuanji had to surrender.
Professor Wu Zongguo from Peking University: War itself is popular, but the consumption and destruction of war have finally begun to approach the maximum limit that the people can bear. During the reign of Emperor Xianzong of Tang, the entire country was finally unified, but in reality, it mainly eliminated the power of Huaixi. He had not completely eliminated their power against the Hebei feudal lords, especially his tooth army group, which was his follower. However, due to the powerful situation of the Tang Dynasty at that time, they had to surrender.
Runan County, Zhumadian City, Henan Province
After pacifying the Huaixi region, Emperor Xianzong personally ordered the great literary figure Han Yu to write an article and erected a monument to show future generations. Han Yu’s literary thoughts surged and he was praised by people outside the north gate of Runan City. This is the famous “Pinghuaixi Stele”
“Pinghuai West Stele” Pei Jin Gong Ci in Yuncheng City, Shanxi Province
More than 1000 years have passed, and the stone arch bridge to the north of Runan City is still there, while the famous “Pinghuai West Stele” has long been destroyed. However, this classic story has been passed down to this day. Suddenly, in the 12th year of the Yuanhe era, when Tianbao Chengping was rebuilt, the pacification of Huai West shook the strong feudal towns, and Henghai, Chengde, Youzhou, and others returned to power. In February of the 14th year of the Yuanhe era, after the suppression of Li Shidao in Ziqing, the situation of feudal rule changed completely after the An Lushan Rebellion, and the whole country was temporarily unified. Therefore, later historians referred to this unified situation as Yuanhe Zhongxing.
Huang Zhengjian, a researcher at the Institute of History of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences: What are his standards for ZTE? I think the most important thing is to see if the country unifies the authority of the central government, and precisely Tang Xianzong achieved this. Previously, various regions were divided into feudal lords and did not take the central government seriously, but now he is afraid to listen to the central government. His household registration needs to be reported to the central government, and his map map needs to be reported to the central government. His taxes should be reported to the central government, and his officials used to be appointed by the central government themselves. Now, if the central government is appointed, he will obey the central government, and the whole country will be unified.
The setting sun is infinitely beautiful, but it is only near dusk. The revival of Yuanhe is just a reflection of the dying Tang Empire. In the 15th year of Yuanhe (820 AD), Tang Xianzong was killed by eunuchs Chen Hongzhi and the prince Li Heng. This is Tang Muzong. In the first year of Muzong’s Changqing reign (821 AD), the Ministry of Rites held a tribute examination with the topic of birds scattering and flowers falling. Thinking of last year’s tribute examination and the question of early spring snow, we cannot help but marvel that history is so enlightening. This tribute examination question is a prophecy of the desolate scene of late Tang, where birds fly. Scattered, scattered flowers fell to the ground, leaving a few traces of snow on the fields in the morning. The late Tang Dynasty began like this. In July of the same year, the Youzhou army rebelled, opening the prelude to another rebellion by Heshuo. Just like a domino was toppled, the situation suddenly became uncontrollable. At the end of July, The Chengde army was in chaos again, and Tian Hongzheng, the former Wei Bo military governor who surrendered to the court, and more than 300 of his family generals were killed. The following year, Tian Hongzheng’s son, Wei Bo military governor Tian Bu, was also forced to commit suicide. As a result, the three towns of Heshuo once again broke away from the control of the court, maintaining a tense relationship between the three towns. From then on, the Tang court recognized the current situation of the feudal regime and had no plans to quell the rebellion.
Professor Wu Zongguo from Peking University: The problem is that during the reign of Emperor Muzong of Tang Dynasty, the Tang government wanted to further eliminate the power of the three towns in Hebei Province. At that time, there were several measures, one of which was the military sales policy, which was a desperate attempt to cut corners. Of course, this was wishful thinking. The second one is the implementation of the Two Tax Laws in Hebei, especially the monopoly of salt in Hebei, which means that all economic power should be taken back to the central government. So, of course, this violated the fundamental interests of the three towns of Heshuo, so in the end, they rose up to resist.
Fanzhen opera was a malignant tumor that grew on the body of the Tang Dynasty’s political power. If the existence of the three towns of Heshuo caused great pressure on the central government, then the various complex struggles within the court were even more helpless for emperors after Emperor Xianzong. In fact, during his reign, Emperor Xianzong had already paid attention to the tendency of court officials to form factions and had discussed the issue of cliques with the prime minister multiple times, but none of them could solve it. The imperial power after Emperor Xianzong became even weaker, and finally, a clique dispute that had an impact on the court for more than 40 years emerged. The conflict originated from a policy examination in the third year of Yuanhe (808 AD) of Emperor Xianzong, in which the examiners Niu Sengru, Li Zongmin, and others criticized the current politics in their countermeasures. With fierce language, he was admitted by the examiner. At that time, Li Deyu’s father, Li Jifu, was prime minister and believed that the target of the countermeasures was against him, and he did not appoint Niu Seng and Ru who were against him. This led to a feud between the two sides, which is known as the famous Yuanhe Three Year Plan in history. Among the two conflicting parties, with Niu Sengru as the leader, it was called the Niu Party, and Li Deyu as the leader, it was called the Li Party. Therefore, among the allied parties, it was also known as the Niu Li Party dispute. The struggle between the Niu and Li factions became a significant historical event in the later period of the Tang Dynasty and another major force that destroyed the Tang Dynasty’s political power. The climax of the struggle emerged in the Wenzong Dynasty, with the Niu faction first taking power and excluding the Li faction, followed by the Li faction taking power and excluding the Niu faction. From then on, both sides held discussions in the court and even started to criticize each other, causing a heated argument.
Professor Wu Zongguo from Peking University: There is basically no significant difference between these two parties in terms of background or political views. So the struggle between them was originally a struggle for power and profit, because the large landlords monopolized the land, they evaded taxes, and all taxes were passed on to the farmers. This means that it can alleviate the pain of the farmers, alleviate tax inequality, and prevent them from continuing to flee. Such a measure, they will definitely not take it, so subjectively speaking, they still hope that this country can survive.
Looking back at the reign of Emperor Zhenguan, the courtiers united and conspired for the great cause of the prosperous era. Compared to the constant struggles between factions and the chaotic atmosphere in the court, it not only left people deeply moved. In 643 AD, Wei Zheng died of illness, and Emperor Taizong of Tang wept and sighed. Using copper as a mirror, one can correct their clothes and hats, history as a mirror, one can know their rise and fall, and people as a mirror, one can see their gains and losses. Nowadays, there is no one who can be a mirror. After the death of Emperor Wenzong, the struggle between the two parties is still heating up. Emperor Wuzong succeeded Li Deyu as the prime minister, and Deyu chased all the officials of the Niu Party. He banished Niu Sengru, Li Zongmin, and others to the south, and Emperor Xuanzong succeeded him. In the third year of the Xuanzong reign (850 AD), Li Deyu died of illness in his exile in Yazhou, and the struggle between the Niu and Li factions came to an end with the victory of the Niu faction, Behind both the Niu and Li parties, there is implicit support from eunuch groups. In fact, the greater problem that led to corruption in the mid to late Tang Dynasty was eunuch dictatorship, which was a more difficult dilemma to solve.
Internal Attendant Picture of Prince Zhang Huai’s Tomb at Shaanxi History Museum
There were also struggles between different factions within the eunuchs, which were intertwined with the party struggles of foreign bureaucrats and brought great harm to the politics of the mid to late Tang Dynasty.
Researcher at the Institute of History of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences – Huang Zhengjian: Because we know that eunuch dictatorship was very powerful in both the Han and Ming dynasties, and the final impact was very significant, but the Tang dynasty had the greatest impact. Why? Because there was no army for eunuchs in both the Han and Ming dynasties, only the eunuchs in the Tang dynasty controlled the army, and this army was the strongest, the Central Forbidden Army’s divine strategy army. Tang Dezong consciously wanted to do so because he trusted eunuchs.
In the rampant Jingyuan Rebellion in the fourth year of the Jianzhong era (783 AD), Emperor Dezong fled in a hurry and ordered a ban on military escort, but no one arrived. In the end, only eunuchs Dou Wenchang, Huo Xianming, and others led the left and right attendants. In the face of such a crisis for the emperor, the appearance of the imperial court was inferior to that of eunuchs, which made it reasonable for Emperor Dezong to believe that eunuchs were reliable. Therefore, he believed that eunuchs were worth relying on, and became even more inclined towards domestic slaves. He entrusted the command of the main armed force directly controlled by the court, the 100000 Shence Army, to Dou and Huo, and became lieutenants of the Left and Right Shence Army Protectorate. This is the beginning of eunuchs gaining military power.
Professor Wu Zongguo from Peking University: Because the interests of eunuchs and the emperor themselves are aligned, the establishment of this divine strategy army has provided the central government with a stable, standing, and combat capable army. This has immeasurable significance for later flattening feudal lords and stabilizing the entire political situation.
Researcher Huang Zhengjian from the Institute of History of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences: Therefore, in various other policies, the Shence Army has been greatly favored, such as his clothing and weapons, which are the best. Moreover, when conflicts arise between the soldiers of the Shence Army, the state and county cannot be controlled. State and county officials are not allowed to enter the military camp of the Shence Army, no matter how high your rank is. Therefore, it is completely independent, laying a military foundation for the future eunuch dictatorship.
At the beginning, eunuchs intervened in military power mainly as military supervisors. The emperor, out of distrust of the generals, appointed eunuchs to go deep into the combat forces, intervene in military decision-making and command, plunder military achievements, and shirk responsibility. But after all, the supervising army cannot fully control the army. Now, Emperor Dezong has completely handed over the general’s power to eunuchs, which is the Tang Dynasty’s political power digging its own grave. However, obtaining military power alone cannot satisfy the power desires of eunuchs. Only by grasping military and political power can one truly hold power.
During the reign of Emperor Xianzong, the power of eunuchs continued to expand, with the establishment of left and right chief envoys, appointed by eunuchs Liu Guangqi and Liang Shouqian, becoming the hub between the emperor and the prime minister, making it possible for eunuchs to intervene in central decision-making. The emergence of chief envoys ultimately established a new pattern of the central system in the mid to late Tang Dynasty. On the other hand, during the reign of Emperor Xianzong, eunuchs further gained control over other forbidden armies besides the Shence Army, and the Central Forbidden Army was in full control. From then on, the two cardinal envoys and two lieutenants were known as the “Four Nobles” and held great military and political power, becoming the actual rulers of the government. The corruption of eunuchs is also alarming. Eunuchs were originally leftovers from punishment, but some large eunuchs even took wives, concubines, and adopted children, establishing a family of eunuchs that has been passed down for generations. The court’s civil and military officials bribed them one after another in search of support. Some imperial generals, in order to obtain the position of military governor, even borrowed money from wealthy families at extremely high interest rates to bribe the Left and Right Divine Strategy Lieutenant. After becoming a military governor, they vigorously searched for the common people to repay their debts. At that time, they were jokingly called “debt commanders” by the people.
The best rural houses in the Chang’an area are all owned by eunuchs. The palace market presided over by eunuchs is forcibly bought and plundered, causing great disturbance to the people. The people hate it very much. Bai Juyi’s “The Charcoal Merchant” portrays the faces of officials and the hardships and helplessness of the people:
Who are the two riders of Pianpian? Yellow clothed messenger in white shirt.
Hand in hand, reciting the imperial edict at the mouth of the text, turning back to the carriage, chiding the ox and leading it northward.
A cart of charcoal weighs over a thousand pounds, and the palace envoy will not spare it.
Half a piece of red silk, tied straight to the cow’s head and filled with charcoal.
Tang Xianzong Jingling, Weinan City, Shaanxi Province
This may be a unique phenomenon throughout history. In the late Tang Dynasty, almost all the abolishments and deaths of emperors were controlled by eunuchs. Emperor Xianzong himself died at the hands of eunuchs, and Emperor Jingzong also died at the hands of eunuchs. Except for Emperor Jingzong, the other eight emperors were supported by eunuchs. Eunuchs coerced the emperor, looked down upon the prime minister, bullied scholars, and engaged in corruption and bribery. It can be said that all evil deeds were committed, which inevitably conflicted with imperial power and court officials. Due to the fact that the institutions of eunuchs were located in the northern palace city, and the offices of court officials were located in the southern imperial city, the struggle between court officials and eunuchs was known as the “struggle between the southern and northern offices”, which also reached its climax during the reign of Emperor Wenzong.
Professor Wu Zongguo from Peking University: The authoritarian power of eunuchs is that the power of eunuchs is given by the emperor, which is actually an alienation of imperial power. One is to control military power, and there may be more military intervention. This is on the one hand, the second is the appointment of officials, and they may play a role. The third is that eunuchs themselves have factions, and the fourth is that there is collusion between eunuchs and ministers. Some emperors are established by eunuchs, but they do not have the same kind of gratitude towards eunuchs. They believe in eunuchs everywhere, but on the contrary, they want to weaken their power.
Emperor Wenzong attempted to salvage the unfavorable situation caused by his father, Mu Zong, during his reign. In order to dispel the vigilance of eunuchs, Emperor Wenzong appointed Li Xun, who had a close relationship with them, as the prime minister, and Zheng Zhu as the military governor of Fengxiang. A plan to eliminate eunuchs was about to be implemented after their careful planning.
On the morning of November 21, the 9th year of the Yamato era, General Han Yue of Jin Wu reported that sweet dew had fallen from the pomegranate tree in Zuo Jin Wu’s battlefield at night. Li Xun suggested that the auspicious omen of heavenly descent was close to the palace, and the Yellow Emperor should go to see it in person. Therefore, Emperor Wenzong ordered the prime minister and provincial officials under the Central Secretariat to go and watch. When the officials returned, they reported that they suspected it was not the true sweet dew. Emperor Wenzong then ordered eunuchs, including Lieutenant Qiu Shiliang and Yu Hongzhi of the Divine Strategy Army, to lead eunuchs to watch. At this time, Han Yue and others had already ambushed Jin Wu’s soldiers, and as soon as the eunuchs arrived, they were all caught. However, when the enemy soldiers arrived, When Liang and others arrived at the Zuo Jinwu Military Academy, they saw Han Yue panicked and discovered that armed soldiers were ambushed behind the scenes. They were immediately shocked and ran out. They fled to the main hall and held Emperor Wenzong hostage with lightning speed. Qiu Shiliang immediately dispatched divine troops to capture and kill Li Xun, Zheng Zhu, and all the prime ministers, Blood washed Chang’an City. After the eunuch’s massacre of the court, it was almost completely wiped out, and this incident was known as the Ganlu Incident.
Researcher at the Institute of History of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences – Huang Zhengjian: A plan like this is not well planned, and there may be an accident. After the accident, he himself was not a very strong person, and was immediately scolded by eunuchs by name. From then on, the eunuch’s dictatorship was irreversible. After the Ganlu Incident, Qiu Shiliang completely controlled the government, and Emperor Wen was like a puppet. From then on, he became depressed and unhappy. One day in the fourth year of the Kaicheng era (839 AD), Emperor Wen asked the Hanlin scholar Zhou Chi at the ideological and political palace, “Do you think I can compare to any monarch in the previous dynasty?” Zhou Chi said, “Your Majesty Yao.” Lord Shun, Emperor Wenzong said, “The reason why I asked you is to know how I compare to King Han Xian of Zhou. They are subject to powerful officials, while I am subject to domestic slaves. I am not as good as them.” He couldn’t help but shed tears as he said, and he never went to court again until his death. The factional struggle between feudal lords and eunuchs, coupled with their autocracy, intertwined to form a destructive force that pushed the Tang Dynasty, which was in a difficult situation, step by step into the abyss of destruction. Junzhou, the people’s water, can carry boats and capsize boats. This is Tang Taizong’s understanding of the relationship between the state and the people, and between the ruler and the people. If the emergence of the Zhenguan reign and Tang Taizong’s eternal success were the result of water carrying boats, then the Tang Dynasty, which had sailed for more than 200 years and had become dilapidated, was about to be overturned by the water and the people.
Professor Wu Zongguo from Peking University: In the early years of the Tang Dynasty, Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty proposed that the country should prioritize the people, which was the foundation of the Tang Dynasty. If you forget about the people’s livelihood, forget about the people, and make it impossible for the people to maintain the minimum standard of living, your country will inevitably lead to destruction. So if they don’t rise up and resist, what is the way out.
Every peasant uprising has a trigger, which is the continuous floods and droughts in Kanto during the Xiantong period. This catastrophic disaster caused only half of the summer wheat to be harvested from Tongguan to the seaside, and almost no autumn grain to be harvested. The people relied on Peng Shi Huai Ye as their food, but the government kept pushing for grain taxes every day, and the farmers were forced to demolish their houses and sell their wives and children, which led to the outbreak of the uprising. In the first year of the Qianfu reign of Emperor Xizong (874 AD), Wang Prophet first rebelled in Changyuan (now part of Henan). He issued a proclamation condemning the darkness of the government and the heavy taxation. Soon after, the people of the unjust sentence (now in the north of Caoxian, Shandong) rose up in response, and the troops quickly grew to tens of thousands. The Huang Chao Rebellion troops moved out of Shandong to fight between Huainan and Jingxiang. Soon after, Wang Xianzhi died in battle, and the Huang Chao became the leader of two uprising armies, launching a larger range of guerrilla warfare. The peasant uprising army first crossed the Yangtze River south into Jiangxi, arrived in eastern Zhejiang, opened a 700 mile mountain road in Xianxia Ridge, and entered a larger range of guerrilla warfare. Fujian continued to capture Guangzhou, and after a brief rest, they marched northward, heading straight towards the capital of Chang’an, which had been in the Tang Dynasty for 300 years. On December 5, 880 in the first year of Guangming, the Huangchao Uprising captured Chang’an City, and Emperor Xizong fled under the protection of the 500 Shence Army.
Huang Chao enters Chang’an and Yang Xiaoyang
This traditional Chinese painting of Huang Chao entering Chang’an reflects the joy of Huang Chao’s occupation of Chang’an City. The new government of Huang Chao, known as the Great Qi, symbolizes the aspirations and pursuits of the uprising farmers towards a society free from exploitation and oppression. However, Huang Chao’s ideas are obviously too idealistic, and the reality is so cruel. Faced with the uprising army, the various feudal lords have astonishingly consistent goals and are annihilated. Shortly thereafter, Huang Chao was forced to withdraw from Chang’an City.
On June 15th, the fourth year of the Zhonghe era, Huang Chao saw that all his troops had been lost and knew that the defeat had been decided. He couldn’t help but sigh that I wanted to punish the treacherous officials of the country, cleanse the court, and achieve success without retreating. To this day, he made the mistake of pulling out his sword and committing suicide. Huang Chao once chanted: Until the eighth day of the ninth month in autumn, my flowers will bloom and I will kill a hundred flowers. The fragrance of the sky will permeate Chang’an, and the city will be covered in golden armor.
The peasant uprising led by Huang Chao dealt a heavy blow to the ruling foundation of the Tang Dynasty with the momentum of autumn winds sweeping away fallen leaves, causing the Tang regime to be on the verge of collapse. However, the hundred legged insect died without stiffening, and the Tang Dynasty struggled for more than 20 years in the midst of wind and rain. During this period, the feudal system and eunuch dictatorship still existed, intertwined and intensified, ultimately ending the history of the Tang Dynasty.
In the game of various feudal lords and towns, Zhu Wen emerged victorious. In the third year of Tianfu (903), Zhu Wen led troops into Chang’an and killed all the eunuchs in the court. In the first year of Tianyou (904), Zhu Wen killed Emperor Zhaozong, and the following year, he killed more than 30 ministers including Prime Minister Pei Shu, and threw his body into the Yellow River.
Every time there is a change of dynasty, the land of China is devastated, and the most tragic is ultimately the common people. Every dynasty is destroyed, and this is no exception.
Professor Wu Zongguo from Peking University: The downfall of dynasties is an eternal theme, and no dynasty can escape this fate. Therefore, people have been exploring this issue for a long time. The fundamental reason, I believe, lies in the fact that at the end of each dynasty, due to economic development, land concentration, and institutional solidification, interest groups such as big landlords were formed in grassroots society. In the court, interest groups such as big officials colluded with each other, influenced each other, and influenced the entire political direction at that time. In order to maintain their own vested interests, they opposed all reforms that were conducive to people’s livelihoods, economic development, and easing social contradictions at that time. They fundamentally… I couldn’t have imagined this problem, so I don’t take the hearts of the people as my heart, and I don’t prioritize the people, I think this is the fundamental reason for the ultimate decline of every dynasty.
The greatest dynasties after the Tang and Han dynasties, as well as the few peaceful and prosperous periods in Chinese history, such as the Zhenguan reign, the Kaiyuan era, and the Zhongxing era, all occurred during this period. Once upon a time, the world was peaceful, all directions came to court, the people were prosperous, the doors were closed at night, and the roads were deserted. The prosperous Tang Dynasty was like the rising sun in the east. However, like all other dynasties, the Tang Dynasty was inevitably heading towards destruction. No matter how glorious it was, it eventually fell into a predicament and turned into a dead end. This was the fate that all authoritarian dynasties could not escape.
90 seconds in history: Tang envoy
In the early 8th century AD, a visiting delegation composed of Japanese officials, international students, and learned monks left their hometowns and embarked on a life journey to Chang’an, Tang Dynasty, thousands of miles away. These delegations were called envoys to Tang Dynasty, just like before. Their visit to China was to absorb the most advanced culture in the world. Islamic sage Muhammad once said, seeking truth, even if far away in China. At that time, China was in a golden age of brilliance, and Chang’an, as the cultural center of the Eastern world, had an unparalleled attraction to the neighboring island country of Japan. Thousands of Japanese people dedicated their lives to it and longed to be able to step on it. On the land of China, if they can go to Chang’an, they will be able to study, seek legal knowledge, and visit Chang’an, Witnessing the grandeur of the Tang Dynasty with one’s own eyes is considered the greatest honor of one’s life. Most scholars believe that Japan had sent Tang envoys to China at least 19 times, including Abe Nakamura and Yoshimoto Shinpei. Many Japanese celebrities at that time had a profound impact on Japan’s political, economic, and cultural development.
