preface
In June of the ninth year of Tang Gaozu Wude, Li Shimin, the King of Qin, launched the "Xuanwumen Rebellion", which eliminated the crown prince Li Jiancheng, and in August, Li Shimin accepted Gao Zuchan as the second monarch of the Tang Dynasty, which is the famous Tang Taizong in history. During his reign, Li Shimin pioneered the world-famous "Rule of Zhenguan", in addition to achieving internal governance
In addition to major achievements, Li Shimin's management of other ethnic groups on the frontier has also reached a unique point, and he once honored Li Shimin as "Heavenly Khan", and even formed a "Heavenly Khan" system with the Tang Dynasty as the core, so what is the reason why they respect Li Shimin so much?
Turkic Khanate
The Turkic Khaganate arose in the middle of the sixth century as a predominantly nomadic confederation of tribes, mainly in the northern desert. The Turkic Khaganate had a vast territory, reaching 50 million square kilometers at its largest, making it the greatest threat to the Central Plains. As early as the Sui Dynasty, the Turks had repeatedly waged wars with the Central Plains, but fortunately Emperor Wen of Sui actively responded to the war and achieved good results in many battles against the Turks.
1. The rise of the Turks
Ashinatumen was the leader of the Turkic tribes, and he led the Turkic tribes to destroy the Rouran Khanate that originally occupied the north, and expanded its territory to the western region and Central Asia, establishing a powerful tribal alliance with a radius of 5,000 square kilometers in just thirty years. At that time, the Central Plains was experiencing the period of the Northern and Southern Dynasties, and there was no time to look north. Therefore, the Turks took the opportunity to constantly harass the Central Plains forces such as Northern Zhou and Northern Qi, which greatly interfered with the unification process of the Central Plains.
▲ Map of the Turkic territory of the late Southern and Northern Dynasties
2. One is divided into two
In 581, after the Sui Dynasty completed the unification of the Central Plains, in order to eliminate the hidden dangers in the north, it began to fight against the Turks. The Sui Dynasty used a two-pronged approach to the Turks to divide and attack by force, with remarkable results. In 583 AD, the Turks split into two forces, the Eastern Turks and the Western Turks. The Eastern Turks surrendered to the Sui Dynasty, and the Western Turks disappeared in exile.
▲Portrait of Li Shimin
3. Rise again
In the last years of the Sui Dynasty, due to the Sui Dynasty's war against Goguryeo and the excavation of the Grand Canal, which led to a rapid decline in national strength, the Eastern Turks seized the opportunity to make a comeback. What's more, by the time of the rebel armies and warlords in various places at the end of the Sui Dynasty, many warlords had to rely on the Eastern Turks to claim their subjects for peace and support, including Li Yuan. During this time, the Eastern Turks gained enormous benefits and once again became an obstacle to the unification of the Central Plains.
▲ Map of the distribution of Turkic and Central Plains forces at the end of the Sui Dynasty
Pacify the Zhuyi
In 626 AD, Li Shimin succeeded to the throne of the Tang Dynasty, and since then a period of dazzling Tang civilization has begun in Chinese history. He created a prosperous scene of "Zhenguan Rule" at home, pacified Zhuyi externally, attacked the two major threats of eastern Turkistan and Xueyantuo, and forced Goguryeo, Gaochang, Tuguhun and Guizi to submit. The establishment of four towns in the northwest of Anxi has greatly consolidated the northwestern border defense, protected the transportation fortresses of the Central and Western lands, and played a role in appeasing the Western Turks, so that the northwest has achieved peace and stability.
1. The Alliance of Weishui
In 626, shortly after Emperor Taizong Li Shimin had just succeeded to the throne, the Eastern Turks heard of the tang dynasty's power change and seized the opportunity to send troops to attack the Tang. More than 100,000 Eastern Turk troops directly attacked Jingzhou, and then approached Wugong, and the capital Chang'an at this time was already under the offensive of the Eastern Turks. Emperor Taizong of Tang sent the general Chi Jingde to lead an army to resist, but although he achieved a small victory, he was still unable to stop the advance of the Eastern Turks. Immediately, the Eastern Turks approached Weishui and threatened Chang'an. At this time, the troops in Chang'an City were empty and did not have the ability to defend the city. At this time, Li Shimin showed the super boldness of a generation of monarchs, and he only took six people to the Weishui River to talk to the Eastern Turks, forcing the Eastern Turks and the Tang Dynasty to sign a peace agreement and conclude a covenant, known in history as the "Alliance of Weishui".
▲Distribution of peripheral forces in the early Tang Dynasty
2. Destroy the Eastern Turks
From the time of Li Yuan to li Shimin's "Alliance of Weishui", the Eastern Turks invaded the Tang Dynasty more than forty times in eight years. In order to completely eliminate the threat, Li Shimin began to actively prepare for the war since the "Weishui Alliance", which lasted several years and became an elite team of brave and good at war. In 629, the Eastern Turks once again harassed the Tang Dynasty and invaded Hexi. Tang Taizong realized that the time had come to counterattack the Eastern Turks, and Emperor Taizong appointed Li Jing as the commander-in-chief, led more than 100,000 troops, and divided the troops into six roads to attack the Eastern Turks. Eventually, Jieli Khan was captured, and the rest of the people surrendered, and the Eastern Turks perished.
▲ The Tang army counterattacked the Battle of the Eastern Turks
3. Turkic autonomy
After the fall of the Eastern Turks, li Shimin adopted the method of Turkic autonomy in the face of the Turkic people who were very different from the habits of the Central Plains. He set up four governorates in the range from Youzhou to Lingzhou, and the officials of the governor's palace were all Turkic, and the internal system and management methods were all formulated according to the customs and characteristics of the Turks themselves. This move was greatly supported by the Turks, and at the same time, this measure also made the surrounding ethnic groups see the sincerity and respect of the Tang Dynasty for other ethnic groups.
▲ Map of the territory after the Tang Dynasty destroyed the Eastern Turks
The co-lord of the world
"Khan" is the historical title of the supreme leader of the northern nomads, and "Heavenly Khan" is the honorific title of Li Shimin by other ethnic groups at that time. During the Tang Dynasty, the Tang Dynasty was strong and powerful, and the surrounding nomads all submitted to it and jointly supported Li Shimin as the co-lord of the world. Later, it developed into the "Heavenly Khan" system, which was an international alliance headed by the Tang Dynasty, which established an international order and system with the Tang Dynasty as the core, which was also the first international organization in the history of the mainland. Through this system, the Tang Dynasty achieved unified leadership over neighboring countries and nationalities in all aspects of political affairs, military affairs, and economy.
1. Huairou policy
In 626 AD, Tang Taizong, who had just succeeded to the throne, once said about the relations between the surrounding ethnic groups: "The king regards the four seas as one family, and within the feudal domain, all of them are pure sons", and later said that "the world is the home". Through Tang Taizong's words, it can be seen that Emperor Taizong maintained a benevolent and caring attitude towards handling ethnic relations. Under this kind of thinking and attitude, the implementation of the Taizong period was very friendly and kind to the national and Sino-foreign relations. Destroying the Eastern Turks and giving them autonomy is the best embodiment of the friendly strategy, in the face of the Eastern Turk leader Jieli Khan, who humiliated and threatened the Tang Dynasty, Tang Taizong did not execute him, but instead crowned him as the King of Guiyi and the Great General of the Right Guard, and the rest of the officials who surrendered were also rewarded, and Tang Taizong's benevolent and fraternal heart made all the peoples convinced.
▲Portrait of Tang Taizong Li Shimin
In order to promote ethnic integration, Tang Taizong also implemented a policy of peace and affinity with all ethnic groups, Tang Taizong did not rely on the tang dynasty's strength to despise other weak and small ethnic groups, and all the nationalities that were willing to make peace with the Tang Dynasty, no matter how weak and small, Tang Taizong treated each other kindly. The most famous peace relative in history is that Princess Wencheng married Songzan Gampo, and this peace not only greatly promoted the friendship between the Tang Dynasty and Tibet, but also consolidated the stability of the western part of the Tang Dynasty and set an example for national integration. The implementation of this equal and friendly national system has greatly reduced the estrangement and antagonism between nationalities and promoted a harmonious situation of common development of many nationalities.
▲Image of Princess Wencheng
2. Unified leadership
The formation of the "Heavenly Khan" system further expanded the influence of the Tang Dynasty. Militarily, all countries and nations should obey the unified dispatch of the "Heavenly Khan" to protect the vassal forces, and for the act of destroying peace and launching wars against other countries, other countries should follow the "Heavenly Khan" in conquest, which can be said to be a joint force with the Tang Army as the mainstay, which further protects the survival rights and interests of some weak and small countries and nations. In political affairs, the change of leaders of neighboring countries and nationalities must be crowned by the Tang Dynasty to be considered orthodox, and the surrounding countries must pay tribute and congratulations to the Tang Dynasty on time, and all monarchs who have not been approved by the Tang Dynasty have the right to abolish them. Economically, a trade center with the Tang as the main trade center was formed, and the trade route reached the west to Central Asia and West Asia; Eastward to the Korean Peninsula; Reach the Persian Gulf area by sea; All kinds of medicinal herbs, coins, tea, porcelain, silk, etc. were passed back and forth between the east and the west, strengthening the dependence of the countries on the economy of the Tang Dynasty.
According to historical records, during the tang dynasty, people from large and small countries sent pilgrimage were endless, especially on the first day of the first lunar month, and the number of pilgrims reached thousands, forming a highly prosperous and prosperous situation.
▲Images of Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty
The decay of the "Heavenly Khan" system
The Tang Dynasty's "Heavenly Khan" system stopped at Emperor Suzong of Tang. Tang Xuanzong broke out in the last year of the "Anshi Rebellion", this war continued until the early years of the Tang Dynasty, the "Anshi Rebellion" was the turning point of the Tang Dynasty from prosperity to decline, after this war, the Tang Dynasty suffered heavy losses in population and great loss of national strength, although the war was quelled later, but the Tang Dynasty's national strength could not control the surrounding countries. The "Anshi Rebellion" drew heavy troops from the Tang Dynasty's frontiers, resulting in a lack of border defense, tubo took advantage of the opportunity to launch a large-scale attack, successively seized the Hexi Corridor, Longyou and other important places, and in the Tang Dezong period, it lost the Anbei Court, and since then the Tang Dynasty has no control over the western region, and the "Heavenly Khan" system has also vanished with the continuous decline of the Tang Dynasty.
▲Late Tang Dynasty territory
summary
The rise and fall of the "Heavenly Khan" system and the fortunes of the Tang Dynasty were inseparable, and the survival of the system was completely dependent on the national strength of the Tang Dynasty. During the period from Tang Taizong to Tang Suzong, the tang dynasty's national strength was in a strong state, so the "Heavenly Khan" system was fully operational; However, once the Central Plains Dynasty changed, the surrounding countries waited for the opportunity to move, which also proved that the alliance relationship under the "Heavenly Khan" system was not solid, the neighboring countries and nations were not loyal to the rule of the Tang Dynasty, and the robbery of Tubo also showed the ambitions of neighboring countries and nationalities to covet the Central Plains. Therefore, it is not difficult to see from the rise and fall of the "Heavenly Khan" system that strength is the backing of the country, and when you are strong, the surrounding areas are respectful and friendly; When you are weak, you are surrounded by robbers and bullying. Only by being strong can we gain the respect and fear of others, and this truth has never been outdated since ancient times, and it is worthy of the vigilance of the world.
Bibliography:
Old Book of Tang, Volume II, Benji Ii
New Book of Tang, Volume II, Benji II
Zizhi Tongjian
"Tang Hui Wants: Volume VII"