If you want to vote for the weakest one in the Great Unification Dynasty, I believe that the two Song Dynasty are definitely the most powerful contenders for the top spot. Whether it is the "Alliance of the Yuan", "The Shame of Jingkang" or "Trumped-up Crime", it has been spurned by countless people in later generations.
The external weakness of the two Song Dynasty was caused by many factors, and the loss of the Sixteen Prefectures of Youyun was definitely a key link.
Among them, the fall of Youzhou is the most deadly, after losing this important Central Plains barrier, the border of the Northern Song Dynasty is no longer in danger to defend, and it is naturally passive everywhere.
In fact, Youzhou is extremely important to the Central Plains Imperial Court, and once a rebellion breaks out here, it will inevitably break the bones, and this crucial place will always become a base for the rebels.
So, where was the ancient Youzhou, and why did it always breed large-scale rebellions that made it difficult for the imperial court to deal with?
The location of Youzhou
In the eyes of many people, the ancient Youzhou is today's Beijing area. The influence of this statement is so great that even some people familiar with history are misguided.
In fact, Beijing does belong to Youzhou, which is the most important seat of the latter, and is the well-deserved political, economic and cultural center of the region.
But Youzhou isn't just Beijing, the area it occupies is actually very vast.
The reason why it is called "Youzhou" is because the ancients associated gold, wood, water, fire and earth with east, west, north, south, and central, and the north corresponds to the water in the five elements.
And the latter accumulates into a pond after it is darker, and Youzhou is located in the north of the Central Plains, so it is named.
The first official appearance of the name "Youzhou" was in "Zhou Li, Xia Guan, Zhifang's Clan". Later, the "Erya Shidi" clearly pointed out the location of Youzhou, and Guo Pu clearly wrote in the annotation compiled for him: "Yan said Youzhou, from Yishui to Beidi. ”
The so-called "Yi Shui" refers to a river in the western part of Hebei Province that originates in Yi County and eventually flows into the Juma River.
"Beidi" refers to the nomadic people in the north, mostly active in eastern Liaoning, so the Youzhou identified by Guo Pu is roughly the northern part of Hebei and Liaoning.
However, the concept of Youzhou briefly disappeared with the establishment of the Qin Dynasty, which implemented a county system.
After the death of Qin, Liu Bang inherited its political system, so there was no such thing as a "state" in the early Han Dynasty. It was not until 106 BC that Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty added one level on the basis of the county and divided the world into thirteen states, and Youzhou reappeared.
Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty set up Youzhou as a vast state, and its seat of government was in present-day Beijing, and its scope of rule included the Beijing-Tianjin region, northern Hebei, southern Liaoning, and northwestern Korea.
The huge Youzhou during the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty
However, as time passed, the scope of control of the Youzhou Thorn Mansion gradually shrank.
Although the core city of Beijing has not changed, in the Northern Wei Dynasty, only three parts of Yan County, Fanyang County and Yuyang County were left in Youzhou, which was once rich in land and resources.
After that, the Sui Dynasty briefly restored the county system, but after the Tang Dynasty dominated the world, Youzhou was "killed back" again.
Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty set up the Youzhou Jiedu envoy here, and the jurisdiction was roughly the same as that of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, except that the northwestern part of Korea was replaced by the northeastern part of Shanxi.
After the fall of the Tang Dynasty, Youzhou was dedicated to the Khitan Emperor by Shi Jingjiao, and for more than 400 years, it was successively controlled by the Great Liao, Jin and Yuan. It was not until Zhu Yuanzhang unified the country that he reclaimed this area to the Central Plains Dynasty.
However, the Ming Dynasty inherited part of the Great Yuan system, which divided the world into provinces, and the name "Youzhou" has become history.
Youzhou during the Three Kingdoms period
A breeding ground for rebellion
Although there have long been sayings about "Kyushu" in the land of China, many of them are not well-known, such as Liangzhou, which is less known. The name Youzhou is now well-known because it has a strong presence in history.
The reason for this situation is that many important events have occurred in Guyouzhou that affect the general trend of history.
Among them, the Northern Song Dynasty's obsession with the "Sixteen Prefectures of Youyun" definitely played a considerable boosting effect.
Because of the loss of an important barrier in the north, the Song Dynasty could only defend passively in the face of the Great Liao and the Jin State, and if there was a slight mistake, it would be attacked into the hinterland of the Central Plains.
Therefore, the recapture of the "Sixteen Prefectures of Youyun", especially the important town - Youzhou, has become the obsession of the monarchs and ministers of the Northern Song Dynasty, and has been repeatedly mentioned. When later generations analyzed the gains and losses of the Song Dynasty, they inevitably took Youzhou as an example.
In fact, Youzhou had a strong presence throughout the feudal era, because it was not only a key position for the Great Unification Dynasty against the nomads, but also a breeding ground for rebellions, and many famous mutinies took place here.
The first large-scale rebellion in the Youzhou area was in the early years of the Eastern Han Dynasty, when Emperor Guangwu Liu Xiu unified the world and appointed Peng Chong, a heavy minister, as the Taishou of Yuyang, a feudal loyal marquis.
However, after the holy decree was issued, Peng Pet was dissatisfied, he thought that he had high merit, and always felt that he would be crowned king, but he didn't expect Liu Xiu to finally only crown him a marquis.
This discontent continued to accumulate, and finally in 26 AD, Peng Pet rebelled, making Youzhou an important base and proclaiming himself King of Yan.
However, Peng Chong's strength was not good, and the rebellion was completely wiped out a year later.
In the following hundreds of years, there were many rebellions in Youzhou, large and small, including the self-reliance of Gongsun Zan in the late Eastern Han Dynasty, and the unveiling of Luo Yi by Hu Benlang at the end of the Sui Dynasty.
Of course, the most influential rebellion among them was the "Anshi Rebellion" during the reign of Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, which lasted for 8 years and swept through most of the Tang Dynasty, causing this prosperous dynasty to completely decline and collapse from then on.
And the initiator of this rebellion, An Lushan, was the envoy of Youzhou Jiedu at that time, and the Yanzhao cavalry led by him brought a great threat to the Tang Dynasty army.
Generally speaking, rebellions that occur in Youzhou will basically be suppressed or subdued in the end, with the only exception being the famous Battle of Jingjing.
Zhu Di raised troops in Beijing and captured the city of Nanjing in just over three years, successfully seizing the throne from Emperor Jianwen.
Generally speaking, Youzhou is indeed a "sweet and sweet" in the eyes of many careerists, why is this happening? What are the advantages of Youzhou compared with other places?
Blessed with a "terrorist" advantage
For ancient military warfare, Mencius once made a high-level analysis, that is, the famous one: "The time is not as good as the place, and the place is not as good as the people." ”
Therefore, when analyzing why Youzhou can become a hotbed of rebellion, we must first analyze it from the topography.
Although the territory of Guyouzhou was vast, the imperial court's ability to control was limited at that time, and the only areas that the assassins or generals could really control were the core areas, that is, Beijing, Tianjin, and part of Hebei.
This area is typically easy to defend and difficult to attack, with barriers on the north, east and west, either high mountains or endless seas.
To rebel here, you only need to hold the southern defense line, and you can sit back and relax, and with such a huge terrain limit, it is bound to be difficult for the imperial army to give full play to its numerical advantage.
Beijing is surrounded by mountains on three sides
Of course, there are many places like Youzhou that are easy to defend and difficult to attack, but they are often surrounded by mountains, and there is not enough arable land to supply the army with the food needed to fight the war.
Youzhou has a unique advantage in this regard, it contains a piece of plastered land in the North China Plain, and can completely achieve self-sufficiency in grain.
Not only that, as an important town in ancient times, the imperial court built a large number of ditches in the hinterland of Youzhou, which was of great benefit to the development of agriculture.
In this way, as long as it is not a large-scale dry weather, there will be no big problem with the growth of grain in Youzhou.
Historically, once the nomads occupied Youzhou, they immediately became difficult. Because they could get enough food from here, they could start a war with the Central Plains Dynasty.
In history, the Great Liao, who fought against the Northern Song Dynasty, avoided the fate of whirling and extinction precisely because of the acquisition of the sixteen states of Youyun.
Food was the foundation of warfare in ancient times
Finally, the ancient cavalry was superior to the infantry, and its excellent mobility was also very useful in many areas.
For anyone who wants to rebel, having a sufficient number of horses is the difference between victory and defeat.
Youzhou encompasses a large area in northern Hebei, with vast grasslands, and was the most important horse breeding ground of the Central Plains Dynasty.
From this point of view, it is inevitable that Youzhou will become a breeding ground for rebellion and cavalry.
Such a place that was easy to defend and difficult to attack, could achieve self-sufficiency in grain and grass, and also had a large number of war horses, it was almost impossible to find a second one at that time.
In addition to the geographical advantages, the "careerists" will choose to rebel in Youzhou, but also because it occupies a certain amount of "people".
First of all, Youzhou has been the forefront of the Central Plains Dynasty against nomads since ancient times, and the imperial court built a number of fortified cities here.
To break through these cities, it often takes several times the strength of the defenders, and if a rebellion is launched here, the imperial court will inevitably have to mobilize a large army if it wants to completely destroy it.
Secondly, as the front line against the nomads, Youzhou can obtain a large number of weapons and equipment and excellent defensive equipment every year.
In the event of a rebellion, these abundant resources will immediately be armed to the teeth of the rebels, making them highly combative.
Finally, the combat quality of soldiers does not appear in a vacuum, and training day after day can provide part of it, but the key is the tempering of blood and fire.
Battles between the border army and the nomads occurred from time to time, and they were naturally superior to other units in terms of combat capability.
Moreover, the replenishment of military resources in Youzhou is very convenient, and the local people are fierce and martial. With a little training, these people will have extremely strong combat effectiveness.
Not only that, but there are also quite a few ambitious people among the nomads, who are eager to get a piece of the pie after the chaos in the Central Plains.
Therefore, in history, those who launched rebellions in Youzhou often formed a linkage with the powerful on the grassland, and threatened the imperial court with the latter's power.
With so many advantages, after the careerist finds the right opportunity, he naturally wants to try it in Youzhou to see if it can be realized.
conclusion
After understanding the specific location and core area of the ancient Youzhou, a little analysis will reveal why it became a breeding ground for rebellion.
Raising troops here, as long as you find the right opportunity, you can easily deal a fatal blow to the imperial court, no wonder it will become the first choice of careerists.
However, the most important factor affecting the war is still the "time of the day", if the imperial court is properly governed and the world is clear, even if the careerist masters Youzhou, he can only stop fighting. If you forcibly launch a rebellion regardless of the time, it will be nothing more than a delicate disease in the face of panic.