After the establishment of the Tang Dynasty, there were many tribes in the frontier, and the Tang Dynasty was in place in management, which not only restored the previous territory, but also promoted the construction and development of the frontier. At the beginning of the establishment of the Tang Dynasty, it continued to follow the strategy of the Sui Dynasty and also changed the thinking of "heavy summer and light Yi" in previous dynasties. In ancient times, the relationship between "Xia Yi" was actually a matter of ethnic relations. From the Sui Dynasty to the Tang Dynasty, they all thought of many tricks in this regard, and on the whole, both dynasties attached great importance to solving ethnic problems and to strengthening economic and cultural ties with various ethnic groups in the frontier. The Sui and Tang dynasties attached great importance to border construction, which was also related to the long-term migration and integration of the two dynasties, who were well aware of the importance of strengthening border construction and changed the traditional border defense thinking of "gui China, poor Yidi".
Under the administration of the Sui and Tang dynasties, the integration of various ethnic groups was good, but it was not excluded that there were ethnic groups that rebelled or rebelled, and the strategy of combining martial conquest and Huairou was mainly adopted. According to the Book of Sui, Yang Jian once used Wei Chong as the governor of Yingzhou, "Huai Fu Jing and Khitan can cause their death." After Li Shimin conquered the Eastern and Western Turks, he was able to properly place his tribal people, and also reused the Upper Turks as frontier officials to help the Tang Dynasty govern the frontier. The specific moves are as follows:
The first move: the establishment of the official.
On the whole, the Tang Dynasty was very proper in dealing with the frontier problem, except for the restoration of its rule over the western regions, mainly in the restoration of sovereignty over the frontier territories. At the beginning of the establishment of the Tang Dynasty, it strengthened its ties with the Khitans, Murong Wei, Xi, Jing and other ethnic groups in the northeast region, and effectively managed these areas. In 722 AD, the Tang Dynasty appointed the chief who lived in the lower reaches of the Heilongjiang River as the Assassin of Boli Prefecture, and in 726 AD, the Tang Dynasty established the Heishui Governor's Office to administer the vast area from the middle and lower reaches of the Heilongjiang River up to its entry into the sea. In 713, Emperor Xuanzong of Tang made Dazuorong, the chief of the Late Sui Dynasty, the king of Bohai Commandery and the governor of Kuhan Prefecture, and appointed Dazuorong as the governor of Kuhan Prefecture.
The famous Tang Dynasty general Li Guangbi was a Khitan and his father Li Kailuo was appointed deputy envoy of Shuofang Jiedu. The Tang Dynasty also appointed Li Baochen, Zhang Xiaozhong, Shi Xiancheng, and others of the Xi clan as envoys to the Tang Dynasty.
During the Tang Dynasty, the tribe that confronted the Tang Dynasty was Tubo, and the contradiction between Tubo and the Tang Dynasty ran through the entire history of the Tang Dynasty, good and bad. During the reign of Emperor Gaozong of Tang, He tubo Zangpu Songzan Gampo was made the "King of Xihai County", and during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, pi luoge, the leader of Nanzhao, was made the Duke of Zhao and the King of Guiyi in Yunnan.
In addition to official titles, the Tang Dynasty also appointed people from the Tongqi, Turkic, Khitan and Xi ethnic groups to Chang'an as officials, and the number was also very large. For example, the famous generals An Sishun, An Lushan, Gao Xianzhi, and Ge Shuhan were all envoys of the Tang Dynasty and held the military power of the frontier. For this reason, the formation of a faction to divide the town laid hidden dangers.
Pros and cons:
The Tang Dynasty achieved the goal of using yi to control yi by setting up some regions and cities, and by appointing some local chiefs in the northeast region. However, in this way, although the Tang Dynasty achieved rule in the border areas, in the late Tang Dynasty, the official power of some border areas gradually increased, and when the emperor was unable to manage, some areas could be established independently. However, when the Tang Dynasty was first established, the focus was still on the Central Plains and the southern region, the northeast, the northwest and even further north, and the population was sparsely populated, and it was impossible for the Tang Dynasty to send inland officials to govern.
The second trick: great autonomy
In addition to appointing the leaders of some frontier ethnic minorities as officials, the Tang Dynasty gave them not only military power, but also gave them greater autonomy. In the early years of the Tang Dynasty, the tribal officials of the Tang Dynasty did contribute to the consolidation of the Tang Dynasty's border defenses, and most of the border nationalities were stable, and they were also very dedicated to guarding the border for the Tang Dynasty.
The Tang Dynasty gave autonomy to the frontier tribes, which had certain advantages when the Tang Dynasty was a powerful emperor, or when the Tang Dynasty was strong, and no one in the frontier dared to mess with it. However, by the end of the Tang Dynasty, the emperor was weak, the dynasty was weak, and at this time, those in the frontier with greater autonomy would go their own way, confront the dynasty, and even stand on their own.
The third trick: get along with the relatives
The Tang Dynasty paid attention to economic and cultural exchanges in the governance of the frontier areas, but in order to cooperate with the political federation of the border areas, the Tang Dynasty also imitated the Han Dynasty and intermarried with the border tribes, that is, "peace and kinship". Judging from that time, the upper echelons of the frontier areas, especially the chiefs, could only strengthen their ties with them, and the only way to do so was "peace and affinity."
During the Tang Dynasty, the most famous princesses were Princess Wencheng and Princess Jincheng who married Tubo Zampu; Princess Honghua and Princess Yanjun successively married Khitan Khan; Princess Ningguo, Princess Xian'an, and Princess Taihe successively married back to Qi Khan. These and relatives are not simply marrying the Tang Dynasty princesses, they are all very important political marriages. This strengthened the relationship between the Tang Dynasty and the leaders of the frontier nationalities, and also promoted the integration of the nationalities.
The tribes in the border areas also like "peace and kinship", they yearn for the highly developed economy and culture of the Central Plains, and some tribes even aspire to naturalize into Han People, so they are willing to marry princesses of the Tang Dynasty. Of course, in addition to the royal family, there were also intermarriages between border people and tribes in the border areas, which was very common in the Tang Dynasty.
The harmony between the Tang Dynasty and the tribes made the relationship between the frontier tribes and the Tang Dynasty close, and also strengthened the integration between the nationalities. But with a close time, not a lifetime. Even the descendants born to the princess, in a long period of tribal life, also forgot their feelings for the Tang Dynasty, coupled with the Tang Dynasty's weak control over the frontier, some tribes were not at ease under the rule of the Tang Dynasty. Tubo is a good example, Princess Wencheng and her relatives, and tang dynasty friendship, but when princess Jincheng, Tubo did not turn face with the Tang Dynasty. However, in general, peace was also a feasible measure taken by the Tang Dynasty.
The fourth trick: build roads and mail
Although the Tang Dynasty restored its rule over the Western Regions, after all, the frontier areas were far away from the tang Dynasty, and many frontier areas were sparsely populated and inconvenient to survive. However, in order to control the territory left by these ancestors and strengthen the relationship between the interior and the frontier, according to the New Book of Tang, the Tang Dynasty was invited by Yan Qi to "open a large moraine road for pedestrians", once again stretching the ancient Silk Road. In the twenty-first year of Zhenguan (647), Li Shimin opened the "Samtian Khan Road" in the northern region and set up postal envoys to promote trade exchanges between the Central Plains and the northern region.
After the Tang Dynasty opened trade channels and strengthened exchanges with the frontier areas, it brought prosperity to barter trade between the Tang Dynasty and the border areas. The Tang Dynasty could get good horses from the western regions and the north, and the frontier regions could also get the Tang Dynasty culture and the goods they needed. There are pros and cons to everything, and when the Tang Dynasty was in a weak position at the end of the Tang Dynasty, the frontier tribes could lead their troops to offend the Tang Dynasty along the originally built postal and trade routes.
epilogue
Overall, the Tang Dynasty's policy in the frontier areas is still worthy of affirmation. The prestige of the Tang Dynasty was deeply rooted among the tribes in the frontier areas. Yearning for Datang and integrating into Datang became a fashion for various tribes in the frontier areas at that time, and also made Datang famous.