After the Tang Emperor had gone through countless hardships to finally put down the Anshi Rebellion that swept across half of the country, it should have been possible to make the empire appear to be a sign of prosperity through the means of reform; but no matter what efforts the Tang Emperor made, it had been unable to replicate the previous prosperity. The reason for this situation is mainly because the three new contradictions added after the Anshi Rebellion have always restricted the actions and will of the Tang Emperor. Not only that, these contradictions that plagued the Tang Emperor eventually became an important factor in promoting the collapse of the Tang Empire.
Schematic diagram of the Anshi Rebellion of the Tang Dynasty
The Tang Emperor fought against local feudal towns
After the Tang dynasty successively quelled the rebellions in many regions, some of the emissaries who participated in the rebellion chose to surrender to the imperial court. At this time, although the Anshi Rebellion was nearing its end, this did not mean that the Tang Dynasty already had the ability to absolutely suppress local emissaries. In order to avoid the recurrence of chaos and shake the foundation of the empire, the Tang court chose to continue to maintain the current situation, that is, to still give local moderation and power, which directly led to the formation of the situation of feudal division. In this regard, Ren Weijun, a master of the School of History, Culture and Tourism of Guangxi Normal University, mentioned in the article "The Impact of the "Anshi Chaos" on the Society of the Tang Dynasty":
They "each had tens of thousands of strong pawns, and after the completion of the city, they belonged to the civil and military generals, and did not provide tribute." Or the succession of the father and the dead son, or the selection of the general, the central government must not ask questions, can only admit it.
After the Anshi Rebellion, a large number of feudal towns appeared in the north
The formation of the situation of the division of the feudal towns was certainly not the original intention of the Tang Emperor and the bureaucratic clique, which was the product of their compromise with the current situation. In order to ensure that the surrendered emissaries would not launch a second rebellion, the Tang court added many emissaries to balance the former, which in turn accelerated the formation of the situation of the division of the feudal towns. In a sense, this is the Tang Dynasty taking the initiative to increase the difficulty of consolidating the unification situation for itself.
With the passage of time, the national policies promulgated by the Tang Dynasty became more difficult to implement to all corners of the empire, and these divisions made them increasingly reluctant to obey the orders of the central court. At this time, although the emissaries in various places ostensibly respected the Tang Emperor, the status of the Tang Emperor was already very close to that of the Eastern Zhou Tianzi, that is, there was an emperor's name but no emperor.
The eunuchs and bureaucrats fought fiercely
After the Anshi Rebellion, the Tang Emperor supported the power of the eunuch clique with both active and passive. Because the Tang Emperor subjectively believed that foreign ministers were unavailable, he was always on the lookout for emissaries in various places. But in fact, the reason why the Tang court was able to quell the anshi rebellion was inseparable from the efforts of those who were still loyal to the Tang Emperor in their hearts and deeds.
The rise of the eunuch clique soon provoked resentment among the bureaucracy. The bureaucratic clique mentioned here mainly refers to the bureaucratic clique represented mainly by civilian officials. The two constantly alienated the relationship between the opponent and the emperor in front of the emperor, which led to a fierce struggle.
After Succeeding to the throne, Emperor Wenzong of Tang tried to get rid of the eunuch clique, so he united with the bureaucracy to prepare to eliminate dissidents. In 835, Emperor Wenzong of Tang ordered Qiu Shiliang, the head of the eunuch clique, and a large number of eunuchs to go to the backyard of the Janissaries Palace to see the nectar. However, due to the fact that the matter was too strange, the eunuch group gained insight into the true intentions of the emperor.
Emperor Wenzong of Tang, who intended to eradicate the power of eunuchs
In order to avoid being wiped out by the emperor and the bureaucratic clique, the eunuch clique took the lead in attacking and killing many important courtiers in order to change the nectar. After the Ganlu Revolution, the emperor lost the opportunity to suppress the eunuch clique, and the eunuch clique also grew in power because of this incident.
The change of Ganlu is a concrete embodiment of the fierce contradiction between the Tang Emperor, the bureaucratic clique and the eunuch clique. Due to multiple reasons, such as the inconsistencies devised by the Tang Emperor and the bureaucratic clique, the best time to suppress the eunuch clique was lost. Not only that, but because the bureaucracy was devastated by the change of ganlu, the power of the bureaucracy was also controlled by the eunuch clique along with the imperial power. At this time, the Tang Emperor was more like a puppet.
Tang Dynasty eunuch Qiu Shiliang
Infighting within the bureaucracy
From the beginning of the Tang Xianzong dynasty, fierce struggles were waged within the bureaucracy, of which the more representative was the "Niu-Li Party Struggle.". The so-called Niu-Li Party Struggle refers to the struggle between the Niu Party, which is headed by Niu Monks and Children, and the Li Party headed by Zheng Qin.
The representative figure of the cattle party is the cow monk and child
On the system of electing officials, the two parties engaged in a fierce debate. The Niu Party believed that the imperial examination system should be vigorously promoted in order to select a large number of political elites from the Shu landlords in order to reverse the political decline since the Anshi Rebellion, while the Li Party insisted on recruiting talents according to the Mendi, because most of the members of the Li Party entered the political arena for the way of the Mendi.
The two parties also disagreed on the issue of the division of the feudal towns. The Niu Party believed that the Current Tang Dynasty did not have the conditions to restore a unified pattern, so it should try to adopt a conservative and concessionary policy in dealing with local envoys and feudal towns, while the Lee Party insisted on maintaining the unity of the empire and eliminating the situation of feudal division no matter how much it cost.
It is not difficult to find that on the issue of the election system, the bull party's propositions are more reasonable. Although the examination system itself has some inherent ills and negative effects that are difficult to eliminate, it is more "scientific" than the traditional way of taking the disciples by the door. As for the issue of the division of feudal towns, it is clear that the Proposition of the Lee Party is more correct. If the division of feudal towns is not eliminated, then the Tang Empire will one day split into multiple small countries.
Although the two debated endlessly on current and political issues and put forward relatively correct suggestions, the struggle between the two did not finalize a specific national policy for the Tang Dynasty. In other words, the two argue only for the sake of arguing, and do not implement the results of the controversy into practice. With the passage of time, the two parties of Niu and Li gradually developed into a serious partisan dispute, which caused serious damage to the political situation in the middle and late Tang Dynasty.
Zheng Qin, the representative figure of the Li Party
Through the above analysis and discussion, it can be found that since the Anshi Rebellion, many new contradictions have arisen within the Tang Empire. Among them, the contradiction between the Tang Emperor and the local feudal towns was an external problem, while the growing eunuch clique and the long-standing struggle within the bureaucratic clique were internal worries affecting the normal operation of the state apparatus.
After the Anshi Rebellion, it was already very difficult for Tang Ting to solve the situation of the division of the feudal towns. At this time, the central court not only did not unite together, but launched an endless struggle around power. In this way, it was more difficult for the Tang Emperor to integrate the political resources that were not sufficient enough to solve external problems, and the situation of the division of the feudal towns became more and more serious.
The endless internal friction made Tang Ting and Tang Huang lose the opportunity to finally turn the tide. At this time, the Tang Emperor had basically lost control of the empire. With the deterioration of the current situation of the empire and the decline of the personal governance level of the Tang Emperor, the national fortunes of the Tang Empire also "died".