When it comes to the peasant uprising at the end of the Tang Dynasty, many people know that it was the Huangchao Uprising, however, why did Huangchao revolt that year? Looking at it carefully, people can't help but be a little confused. After all, this family condition is good, there is no shortage of food and drink, in theory, his initiative in the uprising should not be very strong.
One of the well-known reasons about the Huangchao Uprising comes from a Tang poem written by Huang Chao, "Not the First Later Fuju".
Until the autumn comes on September 8, I will kill a hundred flowers after the flowers bloom. The incense of the sky penetrated Chang'an, and the city was full of golden armor.
Look, readers have a lot of ambition, even if they fall off the list, they will never lose their share. Chang'an, don't look at the buddy I lost this exam, believe it or not next time I come again, bring a knife into the examination room!
Therefore, because of the unhappiness of the fall, Huang Chao had the heart to rebel, which was widely recognized by later generations.
In the "Zizhi Tongjian", it is also mentioned in passing:
"Huang Chao, a wronged person, also gathered thousands of people to ying Xianzhi. Chao Shao and Xian Zhi are both engaged in smuggling salt, Nest is good at riding and shooting, Xi Renxia, roughly involved in book transmission, and repeatedly raises soldiers to be the first, so they are thieves. ”
So just because he can't pass the entrance examination, will Huang Chao rebel? Why is he so willful!
In the Tang Dynasty, it was difficult to pass the entrance examination, known as the "fifty young jinshi", fifty years old to be admitted to the jinshi, are considered young, Huang Chao fell in the first year, but also in his early fifties, there is an opportunity, can not pass the exam, you have to go to the rhythm of pushing down and starting again?
Which is easier, and can you really not have a score in your heart?
Therefore, Huang Chao's statement that because of his fall, unbalanced heart and impulsiveness, which led him to embark on the road of rebellion, actually could not withstand scrutiny.
But this brother is bent on becoming an official and taking the road, but it is true, this kind of person who has repeatedly failed to pass the examination, when history suddenly gives him a chance to go astray, do you think he will be moved?
Judging from the development of history, he was indeed moved, and in the end he chose the shortcut that he believed to be the ultimate shortcut to the south - rebellion.
However, salt dealers have existed in all dynasties and dynasties, why did the salt dealers in the late Tang Dynasty have a group riot, from Wang Xianzhi to Huang Chao, thousands of salt dealers participated in the fluctuation, why did the situation at that time make everyone throw themselves into it without hesitation?
What kind of temptation did Huang Chao finally dare to face the risk of rebellion and face the threat of death?
Next, let's take a closer look at the choice that Huang Chao faced at that time, to tell the truth, according to the conditions of that year, Huang Chao finally chose to rebel, which is indeed understandable.
First, the success of colleagues has made Huang Chao see hope
Friends who are familiar with the history of the late Tang Dynasty must know that when this uprising was first launched, it was Wang Xianzhi, who was also engaged in private salt trading, who first made a fuss, and huangchao, who was nearby at the time, did not choose to follow up immediately.
He quietly observed at home for half a year without any statement.
Huang Chao's calmness was very normal, you must know that during the Tang Yizong period, Henan Province and the nearby Huainan Province, rebellion was not a rare thing, from the Silver Sword Army to Qiu Fu to Pang Xun, these people made a big fuss one by one.
But later, not all of them stopped cooking.
Therefore, Huang Chao was not sure whether his old colleague Wang Xianzhi would repeat the same mistakes.
However, Huang Chao did not notice that Henan Province at this time was in an excellent period of rebellion.
First of all, from the Silver Blade Army to Pang Xun's rebellion, a large number of remnants of the rebels and rebels fled to the mountains and forests after the defeat of the war, waiting for the opportunity, once there is a wind and grass, these people will flock out to fight for a time to turn over.
This can also explain why this great uprising in Henan Province, the thieves of mountains and seas, can flock to the city, these people have a relatively high quality of combat, the general imperial court army, can not be determined, and the addition of these people, but also greatly improved the combat effectiveness of the rebel army, objectively contributed to the initial strength of the rebel army.
Secondly, the imperial court was busy with nanzhao PK to the south, and all the troops were pressed to the southwest border, and the troops in the central plains and southeast coasts were empty, especially the god of war Gao Biao had just been transferred from the tianping junjie town to Xichuan, which greatly relieved the people who had ideas in Henan Province.
Xue Chong, the new envoy of the Tianping Army, was a vegetable melon in terms of fighting. Therefore, after his garbage operation, he frequently inflated the confidence value of Wang Xianzhi and others who were originally the first time, inexperienced, and more nervous.
Turns out I really can.
Wang Xianzhi and his party Shangjun commander attacked Puzhou and Caozhou, with tens of thousands of people; Tianping Jiedu made Xue Chong send troops to attack them, which was defeated by Xianzhi.
And Wang Xianzhi's ability, after mixing together for such a long time, Huang Chao is naturally not a stranger, he can, I naturally can.
Wang Xianzhi's rapid success stimulated Huang Chao, who had been lurking at home, and he decided to follow up and gamble.
So why does Huang Chao think that rebellion is not only not a way to kill the head, but a shortcut to success?
This is because, within the Tang Dynasty, there was such a common understanding:
Rebellion is a double-edged sword, and if the rebellion fails, then nothing will be said, and naturally there will be no recovery.
However, if the rebellion becomes the climate, it is not far from the imperial court's edict, that is, success.
Second, the example of the three towns of Heshuo is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people
The reason why the Tang people have such a strange cognition is because, starting from the Middle Tang Dynasty, in the Hebei territory of the Tang Dynasty, there have always been three thorn heads, always giving everyone an example and setting up a flag.
These three thorn heads are the three towns of Heshuo, which have been occupying the land of Hebei since the Anshi Rebellion, and although the imperial court tried to destroy them several times, they were eventually destroyed.
Later, unable to destroy their imperial court, they also confessed their fate and drew a bottom line for these people:
As long as you recognize me as a big brother, your territory, you decide.
This compromise of the imperial court made the three towns of Heshuo legally become the country within the country of the Tang Dynasty, and also let many careerists see hope.
I'll go, it's okay, if I'm stronger, I can't be autonomous.
As a result, in the late Tang Dynasty, there were often some "efforts to cheer up" emissaries, bent on taking the three towns of Heshuo as an example, and many rebels who rebelled and dominated one side also bargained with the imperial court and wanted to become the second "three towns of Heshuo".
Therefore, for Huang Chao and others, the surging uprising momentum at this time is also a perfect opportunity to get rich and promote officials.
From the back, Huang Chao and Wang Xianzhi fought a big fight in Puzhou because of the uneven sealing of the imperial court Zhao'an, and when they arrived in Guangzhou, they once again proposed zhao'an conditions to the imperial court, which showed the motives of Huang Chao's initial uprising.
It's really realistic.
However, in addition to Huangchao's own desire for success, a very serious problem at that time also forced Huangchao to consider and should be changed.
Third, the reality of having to rebel, the salt merchants have no surplus grain
Smuggling salt has been a high-risk industry in all dynasties and dynasties, and the reason why the salt dealers in the Tang Dynasty are armed is because they often have to compete with the imperial court's anti-smuggling tolerance because they transport smuggled salt.
If you can resist it, this salt will be shipped, but if you can't resist it, the head will have to stay.
How bad this kind of knife head licking blood is, only Huang Chao and others know. Although there is no shortage of food and drink, no one knows whether they can eat and drink tomorrow.
In particular, the two events that happened in the late Tang Dynasty made Huang Chao and others deeply feel that they had to transform.
The first thing was that there were several rebellions near Huainan Province, so that the imperial court constantly sent troops to encircle and suppress, and in this war, the imperial court must strictly guard against various traffic arteries and mountain and forest trails.
Compared with sea salt, well salt is not delicious here, and the supply of goods in the south has been repeatedly cut off because of the impact of the war, which makes the salt dealers in Henan Province involuntarily have deep anxiety.
This industry can't go on.
Secondly, in the past few years that Gao Biao sat in Tianping Junjie Town, the salt merchants in the territory under his jurisdiction had fallen into blood mold.
The friends who are familiar with the history of the late Tang Dynasty must all know that Gao Biao is a person with talent, wrists, and viciousness, and is a person who does big things.
His method of dealing with salt dealers, according to his style, is basically to strike hard.
The salt merchants must have had a rather miserable life under his iron fist, otherwise, when we look at the uprising at the end of the Tang Dynasty, the salt merchants who first rose up to rebel were all in the land under his rule. (Gao Xianzhi – Puzhou under Tianping Festival Town, Huangchao – Cao Prefecture under Tianping Festival Town).
Lack of supply, but also surrounded and suppressed all day, in this case, the salt dealers under the Tianping Junjie Town, must carefully consider how the future road should go.
For example, take a certificate, wash it?
Fifty-five-year-old Huang Chao really didn't want to continue like this at that time.
He originally wanted to wash his family through the examination, but after several attempts, he always couldn't get through. Under all kinds of anxiety, there was suddenly an opportunity in front of him, how could he easily give up.
That year, the fifty-five-year-old Huang Chao finally chose to start a business again, and the death knell of Datang also rang out at the moment when he led his little brother to defect to Wang Xianzhi.