The author | our special invited author lonely cold light
"Asahisha" (formerly "We Love History") is the headline number signed group media
Word count: 2180, Reading time: 6 minutes
Yuyang Nai came agitatedly, startling the neon feather song. The An Shi Rebellion destroyed Sheng Tang, and the rebel An Lushan came from Youzhou. In addition to An Lushan, there are many rebel figures throughout the history of Youzhou. Starting with Lu Xuan in the Western Han Dynasty, Peng Pet of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Gongsun Zhan of the Three Kingdoms, Luo Yi of the Sui and Tang Dynasties, Liu Shouguang of the Five Dynasties, and Zhu Di of the Ming Dynasty all used Youzhou as a base against the Central Plains regime. Since the emergence of the Great Unification Dynasty, Youzhou has always had a "tradition" of opposing the Central Plains regime. In ancient times, Youzhou was so remote, why could it become a base against the Central Plains?
Youzhou has a long history, although it has not become a state recorded in the Yugong, but it has been written into history more than 2,000 years ago. Although Youzhou has slightly different administrative divisions in previous dynasties, it is basically a prefecture with today's Beijing as the core. Since the Zhou Dynasty, there has been the saying youzhou, which is the northeasternmost place in the world. That is, the "Northeast Youzhou" in the "Zhou Li". The capital of the princely state of Yan was Ji, which was in the core area of Youzhou. By the time of the Han Dynasty, the world was divided into thirteen states, and Youzhou was one of them. The first history of thorns established by Emperor Wu of Han was the history of thorns in Youzhou. The history of the Western Han Dynasty was the right to supervise, which shows that during the Western Han Dynasty, Youzhou was not a place to worry about. If we open the topographic map of China, we will find that Youzhou is definitely a place of victory. To the north of Youzhou is the Yanshan Mountains and the Bashang Plateau. To the west of Youzhou is the Guangou and Taihang Mountains, to the east is the Bohai Sea, and to the northeast through the Liaoxi Corridor is the endless Northeast Great Plain. Moreover, the plains south of Beijing could be cultivated, which was definitely an important frontier for defending the Central Plains in ancient China.
At the beginning, Jing Ke presented the map to the most fertile land of the Yan Kingdom. According to the Khitan Chronicle of the Northern Song Dynasty, Youzhou is mostly a plain, and there are rivers such as giant horses and sangan inside. It can grow both grain and animal husbandry here, and is the most important granary of the Liao State. The reason why the Liao state was stronger than any previous nomadic regime was because the Liao state occupied the big granary of Youzhou. Youzhou is also the northernmost section of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal. In the fourth year of Daye, the Sui Emperor dug the Yongji Canal to connect Qinshui with the Yellow River. In the seventh year of Daye, the Sui Emperor recruited a large number of people from the south to transport the grain from Liyang and Luokou to Youzhou. Since then, Youzhou has become an important commercial center in ancient times. Before the Anshi Rebellion, according to the "Inscription of the Stone Scriptures of Yunju Temple", there were rice rows, meat rows, oil rows, carbon rows, iron rows, and cloth rows in Fanyang City, the seat of Youzhou. It can be said that at this time, Fanyang was no longer the remote frontier at the beginning, and had become an important handicraft and commercial prosperity metropolis. Fan Yang belongs to today's Beijing. Ancient people, especially before the Tang Dynasty, mostly lived in the Central Plains, and they did not know Youzhou at all. However, at this time, Youzhou had convenient transportation, developed agriculture, and prosperous commerce, so such a place could naturally become a base area against the Central Plains.
In the words of "Youzhou Fu", Youzhou "shape is better than the world". If Sichuan is the country of Tianfu in the southwest, then Youzhou can definitely be regarded as the country of Tianfu in the northeast. It is precisely because of this that since the Western Han Dynasty, it is normal for many gate valve families to live in Youzhou. For example, before Zhang Fei followed Liu Bei, he had a large manor in Zhuo County. Zhang Fei is definitely a strong man in Youzhou, but it is not very big. Where there is strength, there is the power to divide. When the Central Plains changed, the ambitions of the Youzhou region, like Jiangnan and Sichuan, began to swell.
In addition to the geographical conditions and economic foundation, the folk customs of Youzhou are also relatively fierce. Since historical records, Youzhou has been an area where nomadic and farming peoples have mixed. Yan Zhao Haoxia was very famous in ancient times. The Jibei region is a very important horse breeding land, and there are many iron mines in the western Liaoning region. With these strategic resources, coupled with the fierce folk style, it is quite difficult to think of a crack army. During the Western Han Dynasty, Emperor Wu of han recruited many soldiers in Youzhou to fight against the Xiongnu. Due to the long-term battle against the nomadic people such as the Xiongnu, the Youzhou soldiers were good at riding and shooting. By the time of Emperor Guangwu of Han, the Youzhou Army was already a powerful cavalry force. Liu Xiu was able to stabilize the world, relying on the Youzhou cavalry. Mr. Lü Simian said: "Guangwu Ding Hebei is also a real valley and Yuyang sudden riding." "After the great integration of the Tang Dynasty, the combat effectiveness of youzhou elite soldiers was even stronger. Du Fu praised Yuyang's sudden riding in the poem as very imposing.
Since Youzhou is a mixed residence of Hu and Han, there are naturally many Hu people. Local forces in Youzhou often recruited these Hu people as mercenaries when needed. For example, there were many Khitan, Xi, and Turkic soldiers under An Lushan's command. Moreover, An Lushan himself was not a Han Chinese. During the Tang Dynasty, many Hu people became mercenaries of the Tang Dynasty. During the Battle of Zhu Dijing, Duoyan Sanwei was also an important military force that Zhu Di was able to defeat the Southern Army. In addition to the elite soldiers in the Youzhou area, there are many fierce generals. Youzhou was located on the border of the Central Plains Dynasty, and some famous generals often appeared here. In the case of the Tang Dynasty, Luo Yi, Zhang Shuo, Feng Changqing, Zhang Shoujue, and An Lushan were all world-renowned generals. Ming Chengzu Zhu Di himself was a warrior general, and often chased the Mongols when he was the King of Yan. Famous generals and elite soldiers also have rich resources, as long as the world changes slightly, this will be a hotbed of rebellion. For example, Liu Shouguang, Gongsun Zhan, and others relied on Youzhou to chase deer from the Central Plains, which is not without reason.
Then there is the long-standing existence of a confined area in Youzhou. Bondage rule was a long-standing administrative model after the Sui and Tang dynasties. Places such as Youzhou, Liangzhou, Yunnan, Jiaotong, etc., where there are more ethnic minorities, were ruled by feudalism before the Sinicization of these ethnic groups. The so-called feudal rule was to use the local people as leaders, and then the leaders were given official positions in the imperial court to administer the local areas. Although the area was nominally under the administration of the imperial court, in addition to paying some tribute, the armed forces and taxes were all collected by themselves. These bonded areas did not have much loyalty to the central government. If mishandled, it can become a rebel force. For example, the reason why An Lushan's rebellion was successful was to constantly intensify the contradiction between the local Hu people and the central government. In the end, An Lushan directed all his anger to the Tang Dynasty, and the An Shi Rebellion broke out. These areas have been unstable. For example, during the Wu Zhou Dynasty, the governor Zhao Wenyi's violent conquest of ethnic minorities eventually led to a rebellion by Khitan Li Duzhong. The problem of Youzhou's mixed residence between Hu and Han became more serious at the end of the Tang Dynasty, which was also a basis for Shi Jingyao to cede Youzhou to the Liao state. It was not until the Ming Dynasty established the capital of Beijing that the Han Chinese completely dominated here. It is precisely for various reasons that Youzhou has become an important base for fighting against the Central Plains.
References: Old Book of Tang, Zizhi Tongjian, "Book and Sword Double Beauty": Military Skill Training and Cultural Education in Tanghe Shuo Fan Town
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