Throughout history, in the history of our country, there have been many dynasties of all sizes. Qin Shi Huang named himself the "First Emperor" of the Qin Dynasty, and he believed that his successor would be the second and third... Until the end of the world. He hoped that his dynasty would continue from generation to generation, but the result disappointed him.
The Great Qin Empire, founded by Qin Shi Huang, was destroyed after only three generations. After him, there are no less than 20 dynasties of all sizes in the history of our country. Perhaps, every ruler hopes that his dynasty will continue from generation to generation, but to this day, no dynasty can achieve true longevity.
Prosperity and decline are a natural law, which is very applicable in any era. Therefore, no matter which dynasty, from the beginning of its establishment to its decline, it will inevitably go through two stages: prosperity and decline. It can be said that no dynasty can escape this natural law, and the same is true of the famous Tang Dynasty in China's history.
When it comes to the Tang Dynasty, most Chinese are still familiar with it. It is a very famous dynasty in the history of our country, and in its heyday it established diplomatic relations with almost all the neighboring gentile countries. Moreover, it also created a grand situation for the dynasty of all nations, and the Silk Road created in that period is still famous even today.
But even such a prosperous dynasty, too, could not escape the fate of history that was declining.
From the middle and late Tang Dynasty, this powerful dynasty has gradually gone downhill. Maybe the comfortable life will really corrode people's will a little bit. In the middle and late Tang Dynasty, the rulers of this dynasty gradually stopped working hard like their predecessors. They began to slack off the government, began to be extravagant and lascivious, and began to levy and tyranny...
In the end, step by step, he pushed his people into a deep and fiery abyss.
Isn't there a saying called "upward and downward effect"? The rulers were slack at the beginning, so the lower-level officials naturally learned from them, and the Officials of the Tang Dynasty naturally had such a common disease. In the Li Yan period of emperor Wuzong of the Tang Dynasty, this powerful dynasty that had stood for hundreds of years finally came to the end of its qi.
When he ascended the throne, Emperor Li Was still a child in his early teens, although the children of ancient times were precocious, but this little master of the Tang Dynasty did not seem to have such potential. At this time, he did not understand what was the government, nor did he like to deal with those boring and tedious government affairs, what he liked was play, all kinds of enjoyment.
Normally speaking, if the young lord ascends the throne, if there is a good general to assist, then the emperor may not be able to do something. However, Emperor Xianzong was not so lucky, and he did not have either of these things. Moreover, it is even more unfortunate that when he took over Jiangshan, the Tang Dynasty was already in ruins.
Li Yan is just an ordinary teenager, and naturally has no ability to turn the tide. Therefore, it is inevitable that the Tang Dynasty will only become more decayed and decayed. The first victims of the decay and decay of a dynasty are the common people. The original harsh taxes and miscellaneous taxes of the imperial court had already forced them to have no way to live, and the natural disasters of the past few years had made it worse.
At this time, the desperate people naturally have to choose to resist, and any collective activity needs a leader. At this time, it was the turn of a big figure Huang Chao to step onto the stage of history, this person was originally a merchant who sold smuggled salt, was good at riding and shooting since he was a child, because his family had a lot of assets, so he read a lot of books, so he still had some leadership skills.
This can be seen in the poems he wrote:
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.
Thus, such a rich, talented, and ambitious man in the eyes of ordinary people was deservedly elected as the leader of the rebel army. In this long-lasting uprising, Huang Chao did show some leadership skills. The rebel army he led did win many battles, the most famous of which was the strategy of "avoiding the real and taking the false".
Using this mobile combat method, Huang Chao led his rebel army and successively captured more than ten provinces such as Shandong, Henan, Hunan, and Guangxi. Although his approach is quite effective, there are many drawbacks.
First of all, although he had captured so many cities, he had no base of his own. Without a base, nature has no people of its own, and without its people, where is the desire of the people? Secondly, the supply of grain and grass is also a big problem, and without a base area, there will naturally be no supply of grain and grass. This was also the most fundamental reason why although he invaded tang capital, he still ended up in failure.
After the defeat, it is said that Huang Chao himself later died in battle, but there are also legends that Huang Chao became a monk in Luoyang after the failure of the Huangchao Uprising. Judging from this poem, he did not die in battle, and later cut his hair and became a monk:
I remember when the grass flew, and the iron clothes were full of monk's clothes.
No one on the Tianjin Bridge knew, and he leaned on the railing to see the sunset.
Huang Chao has been anti-Tang all his life, but he has not succeeded until his death, so why is this?
In the final analysis, the main reason is that because their small peasant consciousness is too strong, most of the rebel army is just some ordinary people. In the eyes of the professional army, they are just a bunch of rabble. They have neither an economic base nor a mass base, relying only on a momentary will, and such a contingent is doomed to not go far.
Moreover, we can see through a large number of historical facts the ideas, political ambitions and practices of Huang Chao's life. Huang Chao's political thought is mainly feudal absolutism, and his political ambition has always been to be the head of the "final say" and try to change this irrational social reality with his own strength. However, its specific goals of struggle have changed due to changes in the situation.
Moreover, even Huang Chao, as a leader, does not have the ability to govern the country, he does not know how to govern the country, nor does he know how to appease the people. Therefore, in the end, even if they captured the Tang Capital, they could not overthrow the Tang Dynasty. However, this is only my personal opinion, and it may also be that the original intention of their uprising was to find a way to live.
Resources:
【New Book of Tang", "Old Book of Tang", "Zizhi Tongjian"】