Preface
In the pages of history, sometimes a civil strife is enough to destroy the foundation of a dynasty, and the Tang Dynasty once experienced a turbulent period known as the "Four Kings and Two Emperors".
In this turmoil, the fate of Datang is in jeopardy, and it seems that darkness is shrouded. However, just when everyone thought that the Tang Dynasty would decline, one person emerged in the chaos, and that was Tang Dezong.
So how did he keep the throne in the midst of turmoil? How did he make a comeback and revive the majesty of the Tang Dynasty? Let's uncover this breathtaking history and explore the wisdom and courage behind Tang Dezong.
The rise of the "Four Kingdoms Prime Minister".
Li Weiyue's rebellion was initially just to inherit his father's throne, but as events unfolded, the situation became more and more serious. He soon formed an alliance with Tian Yue, the envoy of Wei Bojiedu, and Li Na, the envoy of Ziqing Jiedu, and the three of them proclaimed themselves "Three Kingdoms Ministers". What is even more shocking is that at this time, Tang Dezong's henchman Li Xilie also openly rebelled and established his own "Chu" state.
In this way, the situation took a turn for the worse, from a simple issue of official succession to a large-scale rebellion that destroyed the Tang Dynasty. Tang Dezong was faced with a serious threat from four kings and one emperor for a while, and the entire dynasty was in jeopardy.
At that time, the Tang Dynasty had long since ceased to be the prosperous scene that re-emerged after the Anshi Rebellion. The once mighty empire is now shattered, rife with feudal towns. What is the reason for this? And how did you get the situation to get to such a deterioration?
The bane of the feudal towns
After the Anshi Rebellion, in order to appease the rebellious generals, Tang Dynasty Zong adopted a very unwise approach: appoint these generals who had defected as Jiedu envoys to take charge of the occupied areas of that year. As a result, these people suddenly felt that they had military power in their hands, and the area under their jurisdiction was their private property. Slowly, they became real warlords.
These feudal towns sometimes united against each other, but more often than not, they fought among themselves. They collude with each other, dump each other, and do whatever it takes for their own interests. This situation continued until the accession of Tang Dezong.
Now the Tang Dynasty and the opposition are in turmoil, and the imperial power is in jeopardy, the root cause of which lies in this wrong decision after the Anshi Rebellion. The disputes in the feudal towns continued, the vitality of the imperial court was greatly damaged, and the great country was on the verge of extinction, which is really a sigh.
The rebellion of the "King of Ji" Zhu Tao
At that time, in order to clean up these wanton feudal towns, Tang Dezong first targeted Zhu Tao, the envoy of Youzhou Jiedu. Zhu Tao is a feudal town leader who has not been very obedient for a long time. His relationship with the imperial court had always been strained, and he often openly expressed his displeasure.
Moreover, he had an even more troubled family background: his older brother Zhu Jun had entered the court as an exemplary loyal servant, but was later ostracized by the court, leading to his resentment with the government. Now Zhu Tao saw the injustice of the imperial court to his beloved brother, coupled with his long-term grudges, he finally couldn't bear it anymore, openly rebelled, and called himself "King Ji". This can make Tang Dezong angry.
After all, Zhu Tao was a very powerful feudal town leader, and since he dared to openly establish himself as the king, he must have accumulated quite a lot of power. In addition, he also colluded with several other festival envoys, and Tang Dezong's situation became extremely dangerous for a while.
At that time, the imperial court was almost about to admit defeat in the face of this wave of rebellion, but a man named Li Sheng appeared in time to help Tang Dezong turn the situation around.
The Shence army marched to the camp to make Li Sheng
Li Sheng is a rare loyal minister and military general. He had assisted Tang Dezong in quelling the rebellion many times before, and he was quite useful. This time, in the face of the coalition of the "Four Kingdoms Prime Minister", Li Sheng played an irreplaceable role.
He first used his position and connections in the imperial court to win over other feudal towns to join Tang Dezong's side. Whether it was Hun Xuan, Han Yougui or Shang Kegu, they all came to support the imperial court under his inspiration. This gave Li Sheng a great boost.
At the same time, Li Sheng also skillfully took advantage of the internal contradictions of the "Prime Minister of the Four Kingdoms" to always be vigilant and prevent them from colluding internally. He was adept at mobilizing resources from all sides, dispersing the targets, and finally tearing apart the coalition forces. In the end, Zhu Tao's troops were finally defeated, so that the "King of Ji" had no choice but to retreat.
Although this victory was very difficult, it greatly frustrated the arrogance of the "Four Kingdoms Prime Minister", and Tang Dezong finally breathed a sigh of relief for a while. However, what is worrying is that at this time, another disturbing news came: Li Xiyeol also openly rebelled.
Li Xilie called the emperor to build "Chu"
Li Xilie is an old friend of Tang Dezong, who has followed him since he was a child, and can be described as a cronie among cronies. But this man's heart is elusive and extremely ambitious.
Last time, when the alliance of the "Four Kingdoms" had not yet been formally formed, Li Xilie took the lead in an open rebellion, claiming to have established the "Chu" state. This self-proclaimed "King of Chu" can be described as ambitious, and he is never willing to be the leader of a feudal town.
Although the battle to drive out Zhu Tao made Tang Dezong feel safe for the time being, Li Xilie's appearance soon broke this peace. His forces should not be underestimated, and he secretly colluded with other feudal towns, and immediately launched a fierce attack on Tang Dezong's territory.
Seeing that the situation had taken a turn for the worse again, Tang Dezong was anxious and urgently needed to find a talent who could turn things around again. At this critical moment, an impressive divine soldier suddenly appeared from the sky.
"Jingyuan Military Mutiny"
In order to deal with the rampant of the "Four Kings and Two Emperors", Tang Dezong decided to dispatch the elite troops of the imperial court again, the Jingyuan Army. This army once made great achievements in the Anshi Rebellion, and its prestige spread far and wide, and it was deeply valued by Tang Xuanzong.
Tang Dezong sent the Jingyuan Army to conquer the rebels, originally to save the overall situation on the verge of collapse. Who knew that when this elite army passed through Chang'an, it suddenly launched the appalling "Jingyuan Military Mutiny".
This elite army, which is second to none in China, turned against the imperial court and directly captured Chang'an City. Tang Dezong was forced to abandon the city and flee, watching the dynasty he had worked so hard to maintain fall apart.
The trigger for this rebellion turned out to be an extremely unbelievable thing: the officials sent by the imperial court to comfort and boost morale did not even prepare a meal properly, and the sergeants were so enraged by this treatment that they thought that they were serving the country but did not receive the respect they deserved, so they completely reversed.
It can be said that the edge of the sword was sharpened, and it caused such an earth-shattering chaos from a small mistake. This unexpected military mutiny made Tang Dezong, who was in danger, even worse. He originally thought that with the help of the Jingyuan Army, he could easily save the Tang Dynasty, but it backfired, but the situation worsened to the point of losing the imperial city.
Welcome to a new usurper: Zhu Zhu
With the capture of Chang'an by the Jingyuan army, the situation of "four kings and two emperors" was finally completely formed. At this critical moment, one man emerges from it as the new usurper. He is the former Jingyuan Jiedu envoy Zhu Jun.
Zhu Zhu is a character with a lot of stories. During the Anshi Rebellion, he took the lead in giving up his status as a feudal town and bringing troops into the dynasty to serve his allegiance, and was regarded as a "model of loyalty and righteousness" by Tang Xuanzong. But later, because of the rebellion of his younger brother Zhu Tao, he was treated coldly and degraded, and was finally removed from the position of the Jiedu envoy.
At this time, Zhu Jun finally seized this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Taking advantage of the chaos to invade Chang'an, he was surrounded by his generals and ascended to the throne and became the new emperor of "Great Qin". This means that the once glorious Datang has once again fallen into chaos.
Now Datang is really in danger. One after another, the leaders of the powerful feudal towns rebelled one after another, and in the end, someone directly usurped the throne, and the entire dynasty was already shaky. Tang Dezong fled to Mukden in a hurry, and it became very difficult to even keep his rule. Does he still have a chance to turn things around and revive the majesty of the Tang Dynasty? Let's move on.
Zhu Zhu's short reign
Zhu Jun has not been able to really consolidate his position. Although he has already sat on the throne, he is actually not very controlling. After all, the other "four kings" were still unwilling to submit to him, and there were many internal contradictions.
At the same time, Tang Dezong did not give up. While he was struggling to support himself in Mukden, he was actively looking for an opportunity to turn the situation around. At this time, he finally waited for a key person who could turn things around: Li Sheng, the envoy of the Shence Army.
Li Sheng made another miraculous achievement
Li Sheng had already helped Tang Dezong defeat the rebellion of the "King of Ji" Zhu Tao, and now he also showed excellent resourcefulness and organizational skills in the face of the new "Great Qin Emperor" Zhu Zhu.
First of all, Li Sheng used his position and connections in the imperial court to constantly win over the surrounding feudal towns to join the anti-Zhu Zhu camp. Whether it is Hun Ying, Han Yougui or Shang Kegu, they all responded under his inspiration. This greatly strengthened the strength of the Don army.
At the same time, Li Sheng was also good at dividing the contradictions within the "four kings and two emperors" and provoking them against each other. He skillfully guided Li Huaiguang to betray Zhu Zhu, causing Zhu Zhu's forces to begin to fall apart. In the end, under the pressure of Li Sheng, Zhu Zhu fled from Chang'an in a hurry and was soon killed by his subordinates.
Zhu Jun's ending also frightened several other "Four Kings", and they all obediently wrote a review for a while and bowed their heads to Tang Dezong and surrendered. At this point, Tang Dezong was finally able to regain control of Chang'an and stand up again from a desperate situation.
This battle can be described as another outstanding performance of Li Sheng. He is not only good at mobilizing resources from all sides, but also good at taking advantage of the internal contradictions of the enemy to break the alliance of the "Four Kings and Two Emperors" layer by layer, and finally help Tang Dezong stabilize the situation. This minister, who is both military and strategic, has undoubtedly become Tang Dezong's most effective assistant.
However, this is just the beginning. Just when Tang Dezong regained control of Chang'an, another, even more terrible rebellion was coming. This time, the protagonist is Li Huaiguang, the former Shuofang Jiedu envoy.
Li Huaiguang's rebellion
Li Huaiguang's rebellion made Tang Dezong's situation worse. Just as he succeeded in recovering Chang'an and regaining control of the situation, the originally reliable Shuofang Jiedu envoy suddenly rebelled again.
Li Huaiguang had previously helped Tang Dezong defeat Li Xilie's rebellion, and he could be described as a loyal minister. But now he openly declared his independence, quickly annexing several surrounding feudal towns and becoming an even more formidable rebel force.
For this new threat, Tang Dezong felt very troubled. He has just escaped from the crisis of the "Four Kings and Two Emperors", and now he has to face an even more difficult enemy. Caught in danger again, Tang Dezong was anxious and didn't know what to do.
Fortunately, at this time, Li Sheng stepped forward again and displayed his excellent strategy and organizational skills. First of all, Li Sheng used his influence in the imperial court to skillfully deal with Li Huaiguang. On the one hand, he issued a call to King Qin to the surrounding feudal towns, and once again recruited Hun Xuan, Han Yougui and others to support the imperial court. At the same time, he also continued to divide and disintegrate the internal unity of Li Huaiguang's camp.
Under pressure from Li Sheng, Li Huaiguang finally had to protect himself and chose to withdraw from the siege of Chang'an. This greatly boosted the morale of the Tang army, and it soon won a complete victory in the area of the Wei River, completely defeating the remnants of Zhu Zhu.
Zhu Zhu fled from Chang'an in a panic, but was killed by his subordinates. This major blow made several other "four kings" finally fully realize the strength of the Tang army, and they took the initiative to surrender to Tang Dezong.
At this point, Tang Dezong finally stabilized the situation and regained control of Chang'an. The driving force behind this is Li Sheng, who has been standing up at critical moments.
Li Sheng's miraculous performance
Li Sheng's ability to turn the tide at a critical moment was due to his outstanding military talent and extraordinary resourcefulness. First of all, Li Sheng is good at mobilizing resources from all sides and integrating various armies to fight the enemy together. Whether it was Hun Xuan, Han Yougui or Shang Kegu, they all joined the camp of the Tang Army under his inspiration. This greatly strengthened Tang Dezong's military power.
At the same time, Li Sheng is also good at taking advantage of the internal contradictions of the enemy to constantly divide and disintegrate their alliance. He skillfully guided Li Huaiguang to betray Zhu Zhu, leading to the collapse of the internal unity of the "Four Kings and Two Emperors". This plunged an otherwise formidable enemy into internal strife.
Finally, Li Sheng also showed extraordinary military talent. At the critical moment, he personally led the army to the battle, and finally won a decisive victory in the area of the Wei River. This battle not only eliminated Zhu Jun's forces, but also completely crushed the arrogance of several other "four kings", so that they had to take the initiative to surrender to Tang Dezong.
It can be said that it was Li Sheng's wise decision-making and outstanding performance that enabled Tang Dezong to finally overcome many crises and regain control of the situation. He can be called a key figure in this change, and his contribution is indispensable.
However, despite the temporary victory over the rebellion of the "Four Kings and Two Emperors", Tang Dezong's situation is still not optimistic. Because the root cause of the power of these feudal towns lies precisely in a series of wrong decisions after the Anshi Rebellion. Only by completely solving this problem can Datang's foundation be more stable.
The bane of feudal towning
After the Anshi Rebellion, in order to appease the rebels, Tang Dynasty Zong made a wrong decision: some generals who had participated in the rebellion were appointed as Jiedu envoys to control the occupied areas of the year.
Although this pacified the rebels for a while, it sowed serious disasters. These generals suddenly felt that they had military power in their hands, and the area under their jurisdiction was their own private territory. In this way, they gradually became real separatist warlords and no longer obeyed the command of the imperial court.
Since then, until the time of Tang Dezong, these feudal towns were constantly fighting and fighting among themselves. For the sake of their own selfish interests, they often collude with each other and turn against each other, which seriously affects the stability of the central power. Until the end, it evolved into a huge crisis of "four kings and two emperors".
It can be said that this wrong decision after the Anshi Rebellion was the root cause of the division of the feudal town. The imperial court was supposed to use the imperial examination system to bring the Shu group into the political center and replace the dynamously wealthy clans. But it has embarked on the road of no return to the warlord separatism.
It was not until the Northern Song Dynasty that this problem was fundamentally solved. The perfection of the imperial examination system finally gave the Shu group a channel to the political center, thus gradually replacing the power of the feudal towns and establishing a centralized situation.
But until then, this problem of feudal division had plagued the Tang Dynasty until it nearly led to its demise. Although Tang Dezong finally overcame the crisis with the help of Li Sheng, it was only temporary. Only by solving the root causes can Datang's future be more stable.
epilogue
The rise and fall of the Tang Dynasty is really thought-provoking. The various wrong decisions after the Anshi Rebellion led to the ravages of the feudal town, and finally it was on the verge of extinction.
The wheel of history is rolling forward, and a once glorious country will inevitably encounter all kinds of disasters. However, as long as we prescribe the right medicine and recognize the root cause of the problem, we will be able to finally turn the danger into a disaster and regain the glory of the past. That's the endless charm of historical stories.