Preface
The name "Pang Xun and Qiu Fu Rebellion" has been almost forgotten in Chinese history, but it was the fuse for the demise of the Tang Dynasty.
The spread of this chaos marked the end of an empire, and at this moment, the heroes appeared one after another, and the battle of power and loyalty made history even more confusing.
China in the ninth century was in a period of turmoil, and the Tang Dynasty, although still in existence, had long since died out. In this turbulent land, one uprising after another continues to make waves and has far-reaching consequences.
Among them, the most striking are the Qiu Fu Rebellion and Pang Xun's Rebellion. These two uprisings, which seemed to be just local riots, undoubtedly opened the prelude to the decline and fall of the Tang Dynasty.
Salt merchant Qiu Fu's rebellion in eastern Zhejiang
Illicit salt dealers under heavy taxes in the salt industry
In 859 AD, Tang Yizong had been on the throne for several years, but the Central Plains was not as peaceful as its era name "Xiantong". At this time, a rebellion launched by the salt merchant Qiu Fu broke out in eastern Zhejiang, setting off the prelude to the fall of the Tang Dynasty.
Qiu Fu was born in Yan County, Zhejiang, and was originally an ordinary salt merchant. In ancient China, the salt industry has always been one of the important economic sources of the country, and the Tang Dynasty was no exception. It is recorded in the "New Tang Dynasty Book: Food and Goods Chronicle": "The endowment of the world, salt and profit are half, and the palace is served, the military salary, and the hundred officials are all relied upon." It can be seen that the salt industry played an important role in the financial revenue of the Tang Dynasty.
In order to control the profits of the salt industry, the Tang Dynasty has always implemented the salt government monopoly system and strictly controlled the salt industry. But this has also caused the price of salt to remain high, far beyond the ability of ordinary people to afford. As a result, there were a large number of illicit salt trafficking, and Qiu Fu was one of them.
Most of these smugglers come from ordinary backgrounds, but they are often bold and careful, good at organization and hard work. They did not hesitate to take risks, with the goal of making a fortune, and often clashed with the government. Because of the smuggling of salt and salt, they are almost all "outlaws", good at swordsmen and good at organizing the masses.
In the turbulent times of the late Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties, many warlords and generals had such backgrounds. It can be said that Qiu Fu's uprising stemmed from his identity and experience as a smuggler of salt.
Capture Xiangshan and set off riots in eastern Zhejiang
In the winter of 859, Qiu Fu led his Salt Gang into conflict with the local government in the coastal areas of Zhejiang. In the end, he simply led the crowd to occupy the county seat of Xiangshan.
At this time, the Tang Dynasty's military focus was mainly on the north, northwest and southwest borders, and the garrison in the southeast was relatively thin. It is recorded in the "Zizhi Tongjian": "When the second Zhejiang was long-lasting, people did not practice war, the first soldiers were dull, and the soldiers were less than three hundred." Such a weak county army of less than 300 people could not resist a group of experienced outlaws like Qiu Fu.
Qiu Fu then attacked the city and plundered the eastern part of Zhejiang, and soon gathered thousands of men. He also established an era name called "Luo Ping", hoping to gain more support from the people.
In the face of Qiu Fu's attack, the local government began to mobilize troops to encircle and suppress. However, because the garrison in the southeast was thin at that time, it was difficult to form an effective defense. Qiu Fu attacked the city and plundered the land all the way, setting off a large-scale riot in the eastern Zhejiang region.
Wang Shi quelled the chaos, and Qiu Fu lost
The local military could not suppress Qiu Fu's momentum, and the imperial court finally decided to send a large army to quell the rebellion. They appointed Wang Shi, who had made great contributions in the "Anshi Rebellion", as the envoy of the Wuning Army, and led the army to crusade against Qiu Fu.
Wang Shi was born in a famous family, conceited and talented, and once recommended himself: "The first fake minister, Kou is not enough to be peaceful." The army he led to quell the rebellion, and with the help of newly recruited Tibetan and Uighur cavalry, launched a fierce attack on Qiu Fu. In a fierce battle that lasted for three days and eighty-three times, Qiu Fu was finally defeated and captured. In August of the following year, he was escorted to Chang'an and executed.
The Qiu Fu Rebellion was over. But in the midst of the turmoil, some striking details have emerged. For example, when Qiu Fu was on the verge of danger, he killed the advisors who had advised him to develop outwardly, calling them "green worms". This kind of tragic fate of Chinese people in troubled times is often embarrassing.
In addition, the Tibetan and Uighur cavalry played a key role in the process of suppressing the rebellion in the royal style. These nomadic cavalry, which were once regarded as enemies by the Tang Dynasty, gradually became the protagonists on the battlefield of the Central Plains in the turmoil of the late Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties.
Although Qiu Fu was ultimately defeated, his rebellion undoubtedly set off the prelude to the fall of the Tang Dynasty. Although this uprising was confined to a corner of eastern Zhejiang, it had already sounded the death knell of the Tang Dynasty, and later larger-scale turmoil followed.
Guilin's soldiers serve the country and return home
The arrogance of the Xuzhou Silver Sword Army
Soon after the Rebellion of Jufu was put down, a larger uprising broke out in the south. And this uprising, in fact, is also inextricably linked to the Qiu Fu Rebellion.
In the ninth year of Xiantong (868), Xuzhou garrisons had been stationed in Guilin, Guangxi for six years. In this Xuzhou army, there is a special unit called the "Silver Knife Army" that is particularly famous. The composition of this silver sword army is mostly from local tooth soldiers, and the relationship between people is close, which is extremely difficult to control.
They are arrogant and domineering, often sitting on both sides of the hall of the Jiedu envoy with weapons, and arbitrarily demanding from the Jiedu envoy, and even if they are dissatisfied, they will launch a mutiny and expel the Jiedu envoy. Such an arrogant army that is difficult to control makes every Wuning military envoy a headache.
And this year, this Xuzhou soldier finally couldn't bear it anymore and launched a riot. They openly killed the commander, elected a petty officer named Pang Xun as their leader, and decided to embark on the journey north and return home.
Encounter重重阻碍,庞勋义无反顾
From Guilin, Guangxi to Xuzhou, Jiangsu, the distance in between is more than 1,500 kilometers. For this group of Xuzhou soldiers, it was undoubtedly a difficult trek to return to their hometown smoothly. However, the longing for their loved ones and their homeland made them decide that they would rather take the risk than go home.
When Pang Xun led the rebel army north, local officials along the way did not take any large-scale military action against them. Some local officials even took the initiative to help, bringing rice to the rebels, giving them banquets, and sending servants to cheer them up, hoping that they would cross the border as soon as possible. This practice undoubtedly also reflected the decay of the Tang Dynasty's rule at that time.
Finally, Pang Xun and his entourage came to the vicinity of his hometown of Xuzhou. At this time, Pang Xun delivered an impassioned speech to everyone: "We returned to the north without permission, just because we missed our wives and children. I heard that there was an order from above to hunt us down, and instead of throwing himself into the net and laughing at the people of the world, the eldest husband should work together to go to the soup and fire, not only to avoid disaster, but also to seek wealth. "
His words stirred up a thousand waves with one stone, and immediately inspired everyone's response. Everyone unanimously supported Pang Xun as the leader and jointly captured Suzhou, Anhui. Pang Xun recruited more soldiers with the looted wealth, and even the people along the way joined in.
In the months that followed, Pang Xun led this increasingly powerful rebel army to conquer more than a dozen states in Huainan, claiming to have "200,000 people". Such a scale has far exceeded the Qiu Fu Rebellion.
The imperial court dispatched various armies to crusade
Pang Xun conquered the city all the way, which greatly shook the foundation of the Tang Dynasty. Seeing that the main artery of Caoyun was cut off, the imperial court had to go all out to mobilize various armies to come to the crusade.
Among these large armies, the most crucial is the cavalry of the Shatuo tribe. At that time, the Shatuo tribe, under the leadership of Zhu Xie Chixin, became the key force that decided the battle. Their agile cavalry repeatedly attacked Pang Xun's troops and became the vanguard of the official army.
In the face of layers of encirclement, Pang Xun once achieved some successes, captured the city of Xuzhou and grabbed a lot of support. But in the end, it was difficult to resist the encirclement and suppression of the imperial court. He himself was killed in battle, and the uprising was a complete failure.
The outcome of the Pang Xun Rebellion was the same as that of many peasant uprisings. The initial success made Pang Xun conceited and arrogant, ignoring internal management. And when his generals began to do whatever they wanted, plundering the people's property and women, he finally lost the support of the people.
Although the Pangxun Rebellion ultimately failed, its impact was enormous. It cut off the main artery of the Tang Dynasty and consumed a lot of military and financial resources of the imperial court. Some scholars believe that the Tang Dynasty gradually declined in this violent turmoil.
The dawn of a new era
A closer look at this period reveals some interesting details. While the Pang Xun uprising was making waves, some young people were looking forward to a new era.
For example, Zhu Wen was only seventeen years old at the time, but he later became the overlord of the north and finally buried the Tang Dynasty with his own hands. Another example is Zhu Xie's thirteen-year-old son, who galloped on a horse in the process of quelling the chaos and launched a life-and-death struggle with Zhu Wen.
There is also Yang Xingmi, who is the same age as Zhu Wen, and at this time may be looking forward to one day making contributions and living up to this life. Even on the road of selling smuggled salt, a young man named Wang Jian appeared, and later established the former Shu Dynasty.
These young heroes are all closely related to this turbulent era. The final fall of the Tang Dynasty was also destined to be personally promoted by their generation. The two uprisings of Qiu Fu and Pang Xun were like the prelude to the late Tang Dynasty, which detonated the fuse of the fall of the Tang Dynasty.
In just a few years, one after another heroes have appeared, either by force or with resourcefulness, wandering through the turmoil, and finally rising one by one in this unprecedented turmoil. These people are the upstarts of the late Tang Dynasty in the true sense.
epilogue
The fall of the Tang Dynasty was ostensibly due to some local uprisings. However, after careful analysis, we will find that these turmoil are undoubtedly the inevitable result of the gradual accumulation of deep contradictions within Datang.
The uprising of Qiu Fu and Pang Xun was only the last straw that broke the camel's back. The Tang Dynasty has long existed in name only, and the predicament of internal and external troubles has made it crumbling.
And this turmoil has also paved the way for the rise of new powers. When a dynasty goes into decline, there is always new hope. Perhaps, this is the general law of historical development.