The Tang Dynasty, a dynasty that shone brightly in Chinese history, became the object of study and remembrance for future generations with its prosperous culture, strong national strength and brilliant artistic achievements. In the heyday of the Tang Dynasty, such as the reign of Zhenguan and the prosperous era of the Kaiyuan Dynasty, the country was prosperous and powerful, the people lived and worked in peace and contentment, culture and art flourished, and foreign exchanges were frequent, showing an unparalleled prosperous scene. However, like other feudal dynasties, the Tang Dynasty did not escape the fate of prosperity and decline. After experiencing the turmoil of the Anshi Rebellion, the Tang Dynasty gradually went into decline, and the atmosphere of the once prosperous era was gone.
The Anshi Rebellion was a turning point in the Tang Dynasty's transition from prosperity to decline, and this war brought great trauma to the Tang Dynasty. However, this war was not the only reason for the decline of the Tang Dynasty. After the Anshi Rebellion, the Tang Dynasty faced a variety of intricate problems, the most serious of which was the Rebellion of the Domain. In fact, the phenomenon of separating feudal towns has begun to take shape in the early years of the Tang Dynasty, when the border festival was set up, making the military strength of the Tang Dynasty heavy on the outside and light on the inside, laying the groundwork for the later secession of feudal towns.
In the reign of Tang Dezong, the phenomenon of feudal town division became more and more serious. These feudal towns set up their own official positions in the areas under their jurisdiction, intercepting state taxes, and formed a separatist force opposed to the ** regime. Among them, the three towns of Heshuo were the most powerful, and their military power was enough to threaten the rule of the Tang Dynasty. Emperor Dejong took a series of measures to weaken the power of the feudal town, but these measures caused even greater turmoil.
The "Two Emperors and Four Kings" Rebellion was a major event in the history of the Tang Dynasty. The cause of this unrest was Emperor Dezong's tough attitude towards the feudal towns inheriting the official position of Jiedu envoy. At that time, Li Weiyue of Chengde Town asked the imperial court to inherit the official position of Jiedu envoy, which was a common thing in the mid-to-late Tang Dynasty, and usually only needed to go through a formality to get the emperor's approval. However, Emperor Dezong saw this as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and he decreed that Li Weiyue would not be allowed to inherit the Jiedu envoy, a move that angered the feudal forces and provoked their rebellion.
In order to quell the rebellion, Emperor Dezong ordered Li Xilie, the envoy of Huaixi Jiedu, to lead an army to conquer the four rebellions. However, what he didn't expect was that it was still the feudal town that fought the feudal town. Although Li Xilie had a certain military talent, he was unable to completely pacify the forces of the feudal town. On the contrary, due to his overly aggressive and brutal methods, more feudal towns were involved.
In this turmoil, the Jiedu envoys colluded with each other, forming a situation of division between the four kings and the two emperors. Wang Wujun called himself King of Zhao, Tian Yue proclaimed himself King of Wei, Li Na was called King of Qi, and Zhu Tao was called King of Ji. These feudal forces fought with each other, which led to wars in the Central Plains. In order to quell the rebellion, Emperor Dezong constantly mobilized the army, which exhausted the country's financial and material resources.
In this turmoil, Li Xilie also took the opportunity to ask for the expansion of his jurisdiction, which Emperor Dezong did not allow. In addition to his anger, Li Xilie united with other feudal forces to resist the rule of the Tang Dynasty. Dezong had no choice but to mobilize troops for the conquest. However, due to the low morale of the army and the difficulty of supply, the conquest operation did not achieve the desired effect. Instead, during the Jingyuan Mutiny, the soldiers turned to attack Chang'an and proclaimed Zhu Zhu as Emperor of Qin. Li Xilie also called himself Emperor of Chu. This war of "two emperors and four kings" swept almost the entire Central Plains, bringing great disasters to the Tang Dynasty.
After quelling the rebellion of the "Two Emperors and Four Kings", the vitality of the Tang Dynasty was greatly damaged. Emperor Dezong began to realize the importance of eunuchs and enabled them to master the army. Although this move alleviated the problem of feudal towns to a certain extent, it laid the groundwork for the Tang Dynasty to fall into the dilemma of eunuch dictatorship in the future. The eunuchs gradually grasped the power of the imperial court, forming a new opposition to the power of the feudal towns, which made the Tang Dynasty suffer from the division of the feudal towns and at the same time fell into the dilemma of the eunuch dictatorship.
When later generations judged the turmoil that occurred in the Dezong period, they all sighed at the fact that the Tang Dynasty was gone. The prosperity of the Kaiyuan Dynasty has become history, and the Tang Dynasty is gradually declining under the dual troubles of feudal towns and eunuch dictatorship. This history tells us that the rise and fall of a dynasty depends not only on the wisdom of its rulers, but also on the ability to effectively solve the problems it faces. The Tang Dynasty's various mistakes and helplessness after the Anshi Rebellion eventually led to its glorious end. February** Dynamic Incentive Program