The Tang Dynasty (618-907) was founded in the early 7th century by Gaozu Li Yuan, and after being promoted by the "Rule of Zhenguan" of The Heavenly Khan Tang Taizong, the Tang Empire finally ushered in a more brilliant era - the Kaiyuan Dynasty. During the reign of Emperor Xuanzong Tianbao, the Tang Dynasty reached its peak, but when the water was full, it overflowed, and the moon was profitable and lost. Just when Tang Xuanzong abandoned the government and was indulging in pleasure, he spent all day with his daughter-in-law Yang Guifei in the Huaqing Palace. The three towns (Pinglu, Fanyang, Hedong) made An Lushan in Fanyang, and suddenly attacked, he personally unified an army of 150,000, a huge wave, and killed the eastern capital Luoyang, which broke out the famous "Anshi Rebellion" in Chinese history, described in the verse of Bai Juyi's "Long Hate Song": "Yuyang Nai agitated to come and break the neon feather song." Although after eight years of arduous war, the Tang Dynasty finally put down this huge rebellion, but the Tang Empire has since collapsed and its glory is gone.
Tang Xuanzong Yang Guifei
Although in the middle, the Tang Dynasty also had a revival, which was the "Yuan and Zhongxing" that was talked about by Tang historians, but later history showed that this was only a flashback, and soon the Tang Empire fell into a more chaotic period of feudal division. It may also be providential, since Emperor Xuanzong Li Chen succeeded to the throne, the Li Tang Dynasty has completely slid into the abyss of destruction and entered the period of "cruel Tang" as Mr. Luo Guanzhong called it. During the fourteen years of the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang (reigned 846-859), the tombdiggers of the Tang Dynasty were born in batches, including Zhu Wen (Later Liang), Li Keyong (Later Tang), Qian Wei (Wu Yue), Yang Xingmi (Wu), Ma Yin (Chu), Li Maozhen (Qi), Wang Jian (Former Shu), Wang Chao (Min), and Gao Jixing (Nanping).
Anshi Rebellion
In the second year of Emperor Qianfu of the Tang Dynasty (875), wang Xianzhi, a salt smuggler, took the lead in starting an incident in Puyang(present-day southwest of Puyang), Puzhou, thus opening the prelude to the peasant revolt at the end of the Tang Dynasty. Just in the process of pacifying the Huangchao War, Zhu Wen and Li Keyong and others began to emerge, soaring yellow and tengda, and then divided into dominance. After more than twenty years of conquest, the eldest brother in the town, Xuanwu Junjiedushi and Liang Wang Zhu Wen finally established the Liang Dynasty in the fourth year of Tang Tianyou (907), and the Tang Empire, which ruled China for 289 years, officially collapsed. As a result, China entered another famous chaotic era in ancient history- the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. So which five dynasties were the five dynasties after the fall of the Tang Dynasty, and who were the founders of these dynasties? What life experiences do they have, and what problems can we see behind their great deeds?
(1) The Five Dynasties of the Tang Dynasty - Later Liang (907-923 AD)
Founded by Zhu Wen (852-912)
Birthplace: Songzhou (present-day Zhongshan, Anhui)
Temple Number: Taizu Shen Wuyuan Shengxiao Emperor
Biography:
Zhu Wen, born in a family of poetry and books, did not produce in his early years, specialized in riding and shooting, and was hated by the townspeople. In the fourth year of Tang Qianfu (877), Zhu Wen defected to the Huangchao rebel army. In December of the first year of Guangming (880), he followed Huang Chao and attacked Chang'an. In the second year of Zhonghe (882), after engaging Wang Chongrong in the Middle Festival of the Tang River, Zhu Wen was defeated, because of his feud with Huang Chao's confidant Meng Kai, and Huang Chao could not achieve great things in the end, so he rebelled against Qi and surrendered to Tang, taking the most important step in his life. Emperor Tang, who was far away in Chengdu, was overjoyed to hear that Zhu Wen had surrendered in the first battle under Huang Chao, and gave him the name Quan Zhong, and made him the deputy envoy of the Hezhong camp. In the third year of Zhonghe (883), at the age of 32, Zhu Wen entered the prefecture and served as an envoy to Xuanwu's army, which also became the basis for his later deposing of Tang Jianliang.
Zhu Wen had a bad reputation, but he was very good at leading troops to fight, and in order to expand his territory and expand his strength, he cleverly borrowed the name of the emperor and kept on conquest. In the first year of the Dragon Age (889), Zhu Wen attacked Anderson of Qin Zongquan, who had become emperor at Cai Prefecture(蔡州), in the fourth year of Qianning (897), the Jiedu of Yanzhou Prefecture (郓州) caused Zhu Xuan to be killed by Zhu Wen; and in the third year of Tianfu (903), Fengxiang Jiedu had Li Maozhen forced to negotiate peace and hand over the kidnapped Emperor Zhaozong under Zhu Wen's continuous attacks.
In order to control the emperor nearby, tianzi was held hostage to order the princes, and in the first year of Tianyou (904), Zhu Wen coerced Tang Zhaozong to move to Luoyang. In order to prevent Li Keyong and Li Maozhen and other feudal princes from using the banner of Emperor Zhaozong to attack themselves, Zhu Wen, who was fierce and fierce, secretly sent someone to kill Emperor Zhaozong that year, and then established Emperor Zhaozong's ninth son, Li Li, as emperor; in April of the fourth year of Tianyou (907), under the persuasion of a number of close ministers, Zhu Wen deposed Tang and established the Liang Dynasty, known as "Later Liang".
Zhu Wen
Zhu Wen, who was called empress dowager, focused on attacking his fierce enemy, Li Keyong of Hedong. Although Li Keyun died of illness in the second year of Liang Kaiping (908), his son Li Cunxun was a rare military genius of the five dynasties of the Tang Dynasty, and Li Cunxun led his troops to attack The Elite of Later Liang in the Battle of Baixiang in the first year of Liang Qianhua (911). At this point, the twenty-year-long Liang-Jin hegemonic situation began to reverse. After that, under the leadership of Li Cunxun, the King of Jin, the Hedong Army continued to squeeze the living space and sphere of influence of Hou Liang through military means. In the second year of Liang Qianhua (912), the lonely and desperate Zhu Wen was actually killed by his second son Zhu Youjue, and Zhu Wen, a generation of tyrants, completed the end of history with such a tragic ending.
Personal evaluation:
Zhu Wen was born in the lower class, and in the chaotic era of the late Tang Dynasty, through military merit, he was constantly promoted. After nearly 30 years of bloody conquest, the foundation was finally established and the rear beam was established. Although he was the founding monarch, Zhu Wen failed to win the praise and praise of later historians, and people generally did not have a high evaluation of him. Everyone felt that Zhu Wen was too fierce and cunning, and his unscrupulous approach to achieving his goals was even more heinous. Chairman Mao has said that Zhu Wen is in the land of four battles, slightly the same as Cao Cao, but cunning is excessive. Later Later Tang, Later Jin, Later Han, and even The Later Zhou regimes did not recognize the orthodox status of the Zhu Liang Dynasty, believing that Zhu Wen usurped Tang to stand on its own and established Later Liang, which was purely a pseudo-dynasty. Only the historian Mr. Lü Simian's evaluation of Zhu Wen was relatively polite, and Mr. Lü believed that although Zhu Wen had personal morality and losses, he was a politician who resisted foreign nationalities and made contributions to the people.
Li Cunxun
(2) The Five Dynasties of the Tang Dynasty – The Later Tang Dynasty (923-936 AD)
Founded by: Li Cunxun (885-926)
Birthplace: Jinyang (present-day Taiyuan, Shanxi)
Temple Number: Emperor Zhuangzong guang, the holy god Min Xiao
Li Cunxun, Shatuo renye, whose original surname is Zhu Xie, is good at riding and shooting, good at reading "Spring and Autumn", and is both literate and martial. Because of his grandfather Zhu Xie's red heart (Li Guochang), who participated in the suppression of the rebellion against Pang Xun, he was given the national surname - Li by the Tang Emperor. In the second year of Qianning (895), Li Cunxun, who was only 11 years old, accompanied his father to lead the army to serve the king, and for the first time he met Tang Zhaozong, and Emperor Zhaozong saw that Li Cunxun was heroic and angry, and he sighed: This child has an extraordinary appearance, and in the future he will be the pillar of the country, don't forget to be loyal to my Li Tang Dynasty. Afterwards, Tang Zhaozong also praised Li Cunxun as "Keyaqi's father", from which Li Cunxun was also named "Li Yazi".
Li Cunxun first demonstrated his superb political strategy in the third year of Tianyou (906). In this year, Zhu Wen attacked Cangzhou, and Youzhou Jiedu made Liu Rengong ask Li Keyong for help, Li Ke used his dislike for Liu's personality, deliberately refused, and the 22-year-old Li Cunxun saw the situation on the side and hurriedly persuaded his father: Today, Zhu Wen, stealing the Central Plains, remotely controlling Hebei, is very powerful, the northern provinces, only I Hedong and Youzhou can fight against it, if Liu Rengong is destroyed by Zhu Wen, and his lips are cold, then the situation in Hedong will be precarious, and he hopes that his father will help him and revive the military might of Hedong. Li Ke heard the words and thought deeply.
In the fifth year of Tianyou (908), Li Ke, who had fought with Zhu Wen all his life, ended up depressed. At the age of 24, Li Cunxun succeeded Hedong Jiedu to the throne and attacked the King of Jin. Legend has it that before his death, Li Ke gave his son Li Cunxun three arrows, which represented three enemies—Hou Liang ZhuWen, Youzhou Liu Shouguang, and Khitan Yelü Abaoji. Li Ke hoped that his son would lead the Hedong army after his death, shooting arrows of revenge at these three enemies and comforting his spirit in heaven.
Battle of Youzhou
In order to complete his father's unfinished business, soon after succeeding to the throne, Li Cunxun ordered the loyal eunuch Zhang Chengye to stay in Taiyuan, while he led his troops to find opportunities to fight a decisive battle with the Liang army, and defeated the Bianzhou army at Luzhou (present-day Changzhi), thus greatly boosting the morale of the Hedong army. In the eighth year of Tianyou (911), Li Cunxun annihilated Zhu Wen's Dragon Horse, Shen wei, and Shen Jie elites in the Battle of Baixiang. At this point, Zhu Wen, who had been on horseback for half a lifetime, was no longer able to fight against the hehe army's helitant army. After that, the Hedong army, with its hundred victories and victories, continued to attack the dissident towns of the pro-Liang domain, and by the thirteenth year of Tianyou (916), except for Liyang (present-day Xun County), the land north of the Yellow River was all owned by Li Cunxun of Hedong.
In the fourteenth year of Tianyou (917), the famous general Li Siyuan of Hedong was outside youzhou city and defeated the Khitan army of Yelü Abaoji, and Li Cunxun finally avenged his father with an arrow. After the northern border troubles were lifted, Li Cunxun pointed his sword directly at Shandong, and he planned to clear the peripheral forces of the Zhuliang puppet dynasty (Hebei, Henan, and Shandong) one by one, and then advance eastward to capture Bieliang. By the twentieth year of Tianyou (923), the Later Liang regime was in turmoil, and most of the major generals who followed Zhu Wen at that time had withered away, and the liang dynasty's true qi at this time had been exhausted.
In April of the twentieth year of Tianyou (923), under the repeated persuasion of zhuzhen, on the side of Liang, Li Cunxun established the state of Wei Prefecture (present-day Daming County) as emperor, changed the name of Yuan Tongguang, and set the name of the country as Tang, and the history was called "Later Tang". In October of the same year, Li Siyuan led an army, starry night and night, and made a surprise attack on the city of Bieliang, and the last emperor Zhu Youzhen was cornered, committed suicide and martyrdom, and Later Liang perished. In order to distinguish between the pseudo-dynasties and draw a clear line with Zhu Liang, Li Cunxun abandoned Bieliang and moved the capital to Luoyang. Emperor Zhuangzong was full of ambition, and in the third year of Tongguang (925), he appointed Li Jiquan the Prince of Wei as his commander to conquer the Former Shu regime that had divided Liangchuan. In November of the same year, The Later Lord Wang Yan led hundreds of officials out of the city to surrender, and Former Shu perished. At this time, after the Tang Dynasty's Hehe Wugong, Wei Zhen Huaxia, local feudal princes, such as Wang Zhenzhi, Qian Wei, and Ma Yin, all claimed to be subjects, and Gao Jixing, who had divided Jingnan, also went to Luoyang to pay homage to Emperor Zhuangzong Li Cunxun.
Li Ke used
However, the good times did not last long, and in February of the fourth year of Tongguang (924), a mutiny occurred in Yidu, and Li Cunxun hurriedly sent Li Siyuan to quell the rebellion, not wanting Li Siyuan to be abducted and coerced by his subordinates, and even joined forces with the rebels, marched south, and marched south to Luoyang. At this time, the commander Guo Congqian saw that the emperor had rebelled and suddenly launched a rebellion, leading his men and horses to attack the Xingjiao Gate. Li Cunxun had to lead a small number of pro-army generals, desperately resisted, how could he be outnumbered, and was killed by the rebel army, at the age of 43.
Li Cunxun is a typical example of the former ming and dark monarchs in Chinese history. On the one hand, he was strategic, strong and brave, invincible, invincible, and invincible, and was an out-and-out military giant; even Zhu Wen, a military veteran who had been a warrior all his life, praised Li Cunxun and said that he should be like Li Yazi when he had a son; on the other hand, he called the empress dowager, he was nepotistic, ignored the government, rewarded and punished unfairly, and behaved frivolously, causing hundreds of officials and generals to be centrifuged, and it can be said that he was a political dwarf. Due to poor self-control, arrogance, low political attainment, coupled with many character defects, comprehensive evaluation, I think Li Cunxun is a Qi Huan Gong, Tang Xuanzong-style monarch, that is, with the assistance of sages, then ming jun, no sages to assist, is a mediocre lord. Li Cunxun's later fainting and hard work before, this anti-positive, clear and clear, is really intriguing.
Conclusion:
From the end of the Tang Dynasty to the beginning of the Five Dynasties, although the feudal towns were constantly fighting, in fact, the protagonists who were really qualified to stand on behalf of the Tang were only Zhu Wen and Li Keyong, so this history is also known as the Liang and Jin dynasties. Li Ke was able to ride and shoot well since childhood, and in his early years he accompanied his father on expeditions, often leading the way, so he was called "Flying Tiger Son". At the end of the Tang Dynasty, that was definitely the number one person. Unfortunately, he was not born at the right time, the strong have their own strong hands, he met the immortal tyrant Zhu Wen, throughout his life, in the process of competing with Zhu Wen for hegemony, Li Keyong was in the inferior position.
Liang Jin competed for supremacy
But Li Ke used a successor, he had a good son. When Li Cunxun, the new king of the Jin Dynasty of the Hedong Army, stepped into the political front, Hou Liang's life would not be good. Li Cunxun was flesh and bloody and ambitious. He first sought an opportunity to annihilate the elite troops of the Later Liang army, at the same time, sent troops to conquer the outskirts of the Later Liang Fanping, cut off its wings, and when the Later Liang only had a corner of the south of the Bianliang River, he then sent an army to raid Zhu Wen's old nest of Bieliang, such a delicate strategic layout, coupled with the Xiao Yong and good fighting of the Hedong Army, therefore, after Zhu Wen's death, the late Later Liang emperor Zhu Youzhen was simply powerless and could only sit back and wait for destruction. However, although Li Cunxun was invincible in the military struggle, he lacked the ability to govern the country, so after the fall of Later Liang, Tang Zhuangzong's poor political performance was very obvious, so that in the end, the people rebelled and their families were destroyed (END).
bibliography:
History of the Old Five Dynasties – Xue Juzheng (Northern Song Dynasty)
History of the New Five Dynasties – Ouyang Xiu (Northern Song Dynasty)
Zizhi Tongjian - Sima Guang (Northern Song Dynasty)