According to the "Old Tang Dynasty Book: The Biography of Huangchao", Huangchao, Caozhou injustice sentence (also known as Wanyu, ancient place name, southwest of Heze City, Shandong Province) people. In history, the Huangchao family has been selling salt for generations, and the family is quite wealthy. It is said that he himself used to sell smuggled salt as a business, because this is a profitable business, so he is quite rich, so he has the opportunity to study and get an education, it stands to reason that such a person will not embark on the road of no return to kill people and cross goods, pull flags and rebel.
When he was young, Huang Chao was indeed confused about the way to go in the future. He was also undecided in the face of the choice between ascending to the first place in the imperial examination or being the king of the mountain, and he was extremely confused. However, Huang Chao, who has been studying books since childhood, probably understands that participating in the scientific examination is definitely more promising than taking risks to become a thief, and he can glorify his ancestors more. And Huang Chao is different from all the reckless heroes in history, he has the innate conditions to study and be an official: his family is rich, he is not stupid, and he has a talent for reading.
According to records, Huang Chao has been smart and enlightened since he was a child, and when he was just 5 years old, he was able to recite poems, and he could recite one and a half poems, the first half of which was:
"It can be the head of a hundred flowers, and the natural angeles are yellow."
A 5-year-old child can chant such a poem, and it faintly reveals the meaning of restlessness and unwillingness to live under others, which is really suspicious. Although "ochre yellow clothes" is to describe yellow chrysanthemum, but it is easy to remind people of the "ochre yellow robe" worn by the emperor, which belonged to the "rebellious" language at that time, his father blamed him for talking nonsense, and wanted to beat him with a stick, his father dissuaded him: "How can a child understand this? He can write poems at such a young age, and it is indeed not simple to be talented, so you stop, why not let him write another poem to see." So the little yellow nest groaned slightly, opened his mouth and came:
"The sassy west wind is planted all over the yard, and it is difficult for the cold and fragrant butterflies to come. If I am the Green Emperor in his year, I will repay the peach blossoms to bloom together."
Huangchao seems to have a relationship with chrysanthemums, and several famous poems are titled "Yongdai". Can you not be impressed by the fact that you can chant such a profound poem at such a young age, and can skillfully borrow things to sing the Zhi, and the meaning is deep and ruthless? As the saying goes: Three years old looks old, judging from Huang Chao's later life choices, it does make sense.
Tried and tested
"Old Tang Book" records that in the early years, Huang Chao did not have a "backbone" in the back of his head, and like most aspiring young people at that time, he also wanted to take the right path of studying to be an official and glorifying the lintel. He has participated in the imperial examination, and more than once, but he has lost his name to Sun Shan. Huang Chao actually has a talent for reading, and it can be seen from the poems he left behind, the brushstrokes, ideas, and styles are all on the table, and it is said that there are also works that have been included in the "All Tang Poems", which shows its good strength.
Born in the Tang Dynasty, it is not surprising that Huang Chao has repeatedly been nameless. He is neither Guanlong Li's family, nor Qinghe Cui's family, Taiyuan Wang's family, Xingyang Zheng family, Fanyang Lu family, etc., and he has no famous teachers such as He Zhizhang, Han Yu, Bai Juyi, etc., plus his talent and fame in the Tang Dynasty where there are many literary and opera stars are not big enough to deter examiners, it seems not strange that he has failed repeatedly. Although Huang Chao was disappointed in the field, he was defeated by Maocai (Xiucai, suspected to have been beaten by lifting people??), and was much stronger than Hong Xiuquan, another rebellious scholar 800 years later (Hong didn't even pass the Xiucai test).
Huang Chao participated in scientific expeditions again and again, and failed again and again. "Zizhi Tongjian" also said that Huang Chao:
"If you don't rank in the first place repeatedly, you will become a thief."
From this point of view, the examiners of those sessions should indeed be killed, and you can miss anyone, but you shouldn't brush off Huang Chao, the "Demon Lord of the Mixed World". It is said that Huang Chao failed in the imperial examination for the last time, and he was indignant in his chest, and he decided to close the pen and tear the book, cut off the road of the scientific examination, and wrote a poem "Fu Ju" that will be handed down to future generations:
"Stay until autumn comes on the eighth of September,
After my flowers bloom, a hundred flowers are killed.
The heavenly incense array penetrates Chang'an,
The city is full of golden armor."
He's on a bar with chrysanthemums. The poem reveals a feeling of extreme dissatisfaction, imminent trouble, or anger.
Why did Huang Chao, a scholar and salt lord, take the risk to become a thief? It is suspected that it is caused by cynicism in the scientific field
Huang Chao is not a rotten Confucian who can only read to death. History records that he likes Xi martial arts since he was a child, and in addition to studying, he practiced Xi boxing sticks, knives and guns, and riding and archery. Now that the road of scientific research has been cut off, let's go back to our old profession - a smuggler of salt. In addition to Huang Chao, there are also Wang Xianzhi, Wang Jian, Qian Poliu (Qian Hao), Xu Wen, Shang Rang, etc. The Tang Dynasty implemented a monopoly on salt, that is, it was monopolized by the state, which was the most important source of income for the imperial court (similar to today's PetroChina, Sinopec, and China Tobacco...... ）。 Since the salt profits were so abundant, the Tang Dynasty naturally implemented a state monopoly and strictly prohibited private sales, and tried its best to maintain the monopoly of the government.
The Tang court stipulated: selling more than one bucket of smuggled salt shall be punished with 100 rods (cane punishment), and selling smuggled salt of more than one stone, and shall be sentenced to death, and illegal income and means of transportation shall be confiscated——
“坊市居坻主人，市侩皆论坐”......
Such severe punishment and strict laws still cannot stop the active trafficking of salt dealers. This is not surprising, didn't Marx say:
“...... For the sake of 100 percent profits, there will be people (or capital) who dare to trample on all human laws, and if there are 300 percent profits, there will be people who dare to commit any crime, and even risk hanging their heads."
Selling smuggled salt must be a profiteering business, otherwise there would not be so many people risking being killed. But not everyone can do it. Selling illicit salt, no matter how powerful a person is, must form a force in groups, and the leader must also have courage, strategy and martial arts, because on the way to sell illicit salt, you will often encounter bandits, bandits, robbers, or with the officers and soldiers who set up cards to investigate. No matter who they meet, if they refuse to pay for the road, the salt dealers will inevitably have to lick the blood with their knives. Therefore, the big salt lords who have survived the smuggling activities for many years are all brave and ruthless people, and most of the backbone members of their gangs are outlaws, and the organizational ability and combat effectiveness of the leaders must be first-rate, otherwise they will never be able to survive the long-term brutal brawls.
"Old Tang Book" said that Huang Chao is good at salvos, fists and sticks are fine, there is ink in his belly, he can speak well, and he is quite prestigious among the brothers who sell smuggled salt.
(To be continued)
[Illustration from the Internet]