Speaking of Jiedushi, for this position, friends who like the history of the Tang Dynasty absolutely know. Many people believe that the reason why the Tang Dynasty later declined was because of the jiedushi. Without the harm of the emissaries, the Tang Dynasty would not have declined. Of course, some people say that the reason why the Tang Dynasty can exist for so long is also because of the reason of moderation. Without the support of the Emissaries of Jiedushi, the Tang Dynasty could not have existed for so long. So, what kind of existence is the real moderation, whether it saved the Tang Dynasty or harmed the Tang Dynasty.
Jiedushi did not originate in the Tang Dynasty, but appeared in the Northern Zhou Dynasty. During the Northern Zhou and Sui Dynasties, the imperial court placed a commander-in-chief in important areas, that is, a military commander who was dispatched by the festival, and was responsible for managing the dispatch of military supplies at the time of initial establishment, and at the same time managing the camp envoys of Tuntian, in charge of military affairs and defense against foreign enemies. To put it bluntly, the main task is to resist foreign enemies, which is similar to the role of the current military region. If the Tang Dynasty's moderation was only this role, it would not be able to harm the Tang Dynasty. During the Tang Dynasty, the power of the Jiedushi regime changed.
In 710, Emperor Ruizong of Tang made Xue Ne, the ambassador of Youzhou Zhenshoujing, the general of Zuo Wuwei and the governor of Youzhou, the first time that the Tang Dynasty established a jiedushi envoy. However, the moderation at this time was similar to the function of the Northern Zhou Dynasty. However, by the time of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, Jiedushi was also the envoy of the Prefecture and County of the Dao, and he combined the three governments of the army, the people, and the finance, surpassing the Governor of Jiedu in the Wei and Jin Dynasties, then known as "Jiezhen". From only holding military power before, to later mastering military power, civil power, and financial power, it is impossible for such a position not to be independent. Of course, there is a reason why this change occurred in the Tang Dynasty's moderation.
Everyone knows that the tang dynasty was very powerful, constantly expanding to the outside world, and its territory was very vast. However, this territorial expansion was still sustainable when the dynasty was strong, and once the power weakened, it was difficult to maintain. In order to maintain this vast territory, the Tang Dynasty began to think of new ways. The prefectural military system and the Juntian system in the early Tang Dynasty began to collapse in the middle of the Tang Dynasty, so if the Tang Dynasty wanted to continue to maintain its strong and prosperous situation, it must use a new system. This is the reason why the system of moderation has emerged, and it has initially adapted to the development of the times.
At that time, the moderation made the system solve many problems, first of all, the prefectural military system became a conscription system. Soldiers are recruited freely everywhere, and soldiers recruited everywhere are certainly loyal to the place. If they had set up towns on the frontier, these soldiers would have sworn to defend their homeland to the death. In this way, the Tang Dynasty not only reduced military expenditure, but also solved the problem of recruiting soldiers, and more importantly, maintained the stability of the border. Since this system was very effective, the Tang Dynasty began to vigorously promote it, and set up a number of temperance system in the border areas. This is why the Tang Dynasty had so many festivals, but initially it was only in the border areas. When war breaks out, the envoy must grasp the power of the people and the power of finance. If the war had been going on, they would have held these powers. After a long time, the local power was all controlled by the moderation.
However, there were no problems when the festival was first established. As we said earlier, the emergence of moderation is a social necessity. Therefore, at the beginning of its establishment, the festival ensured the strength and prosperity of the Tang Dynasty, maintained the stability of the border, and made a very great contribution. Without the system of moderation, the Tang Dynasty would not have been able to maintain such a prosperous life for so long. Therefore, the Jiedushi envoy saved the Tang Dynasty at the beginning, and there was no harm to the Tang Dynasty. However, after a long time, the shortcomings of this system are reflected.
When the jiedushi masters the military, civil, and financial powers, they have independent capital, which is no different from the princes. Of course, they will still follow the instructions of the central authorities. However, the later developments were the same as those of the Zhou Dynasty. The Western Zhou Dynasty carried out a sub-feudal system, and when the Zhou royal family was strong, the local princes would obey the central government. However, when the Zhou royal family weakened, the local area would be divided, which is the history of the Eastern Zhou. The same was true during the Tang Dynasty, when the central government of the Tang Dynasty was strong, the emissaries of the Festival would obey the Central Committee, but once the Tang Dynasty weakened, these Festivals would absolutely rebel against the Central Committee. The Anshi Rebellion is the best proof of this. This is the greatest harm that moderation makes.
Although the Anshi Rebellion turned the Tang Dynasty from prosperity to decline, it did not cause the Tang Dynasty to perish. On the contrary, the Tang Dynasty was because of the Anshi rebellion that the system appeared because of the festival, but it was also because the festival made the system quell the Anshi rebellion and continued to rule the world for more than a hundred years. At the time of the Anshi Rebellion, the central Tang Dynasty declined, but there were many powerful emissaries in the local area. Tang Suzong only succeeded to the throne with the support of the jiedushi envoys in various parts of the northwest, and later it was also with the support of the jiedushi envoys in various places that the war was put down. It can be said that without the support of other envoys, the Tang Dynasty would not be able to quell this war. Moreover, after this war, the moderation system still played an important role.
After the Anshi Rebellion, jiedushi had more and more power, and by the late Tang Dynasty, his power had been greatly strengthened, and he had reached the point of monopolizing power, but this was not necessarily a bad thing. The strength of the moderation shows that the local strength is strong, and in the confrontation between the central and local governments, the localities are in an advantageous position. Although the local power is strong, not all the emissaries are against the central government. The vast majority of knots are centrally supported. As long as the central government has the support of the vast majority of the emissaries, it can suppress other opposing emissaries, so that the rule can be maintained. And more importantly, now the central government cannot centralize power, and the maladministration of the central government cannot reach the localities, even if the emperor faints, the harm to the localities is not very great.
Of course, moderation makes power stronger, and invisibly makes the imperial power more stable. Because although the emperor is the head of the center. But the central authorities were too small, so there was not much interest in the emperor's seat. If the power of the emperor is small, it will be very stable, and there will not be too many people vying for this position. This is the reason why the Japanese emperor has a lineage, and it is useless to fight for it if he does not have the power.
In general, after the Anshi Rebellion, the reason why the Tang Dynasty was able to rule for so long was because of the support of the envoys. The reason why the Tang Dynasty collapsed in the late Tang Dynasty was because there were too few emissaries, a small number of people controlled the place, and the imperial power was completely emptied. Otherwise, it wouldn't have perished so quickly.
It can be said that the system of moderation is not all bad, and the benefits are obvious. Of course, the Song Dynasty abolished this system because it found a better system to abolish it. Otherwise, the system of moderation would not have perished in the Tang Dynasty, and would have existed in the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms.