The death of the Tang Dynasty The impact of the secession of feudal towns

Mondo History Updated on 2024-02-20

Feudal towns and festival envoys. Domain town is a kind of military system that began in the middle and late Tang Dynasty, literally, the domain is a "fence", with the meaning of "arch guard", the town refers to the military town, is a form of military organization at that time. The Tang Dynasty court set up military towns, and the original idea was to allocate a certain number of troops in the border areas and give its military commanders a certain right to make decisions on the spot. This is also in order to cope with the border situation at that time, due to the beginning of the middle of the Tang Dynasty, the territory of the Tang Dynasty continued to expand, the border line was also lengthened, foreign aliens continued to harass the Tang Dynasty, and there were rebellions in the border areas from time to time. The governor of the feudal town was named Jiedu Envoy, who was only in charge of the local military in the early days, but in the Tang Xuanzong period, Jiedu Envoy was not only in charge of the military, but also in charge of administrative, financial, civil affairs and other affairs, so that the Jiedu Envoy became a "soil emperor" who integrated military and political affairs. In the early days of the establishment of feudal towns, it did play a role in guarding the border and stabilizing border defense, but the decision-makers at that time probably did not expect that with the increase of power, some festivals would make their ambitions swell, so that the formation of feudal towns and towns, and even pushed the Tang Dynasty to the abyss of destruction.

Feudal towns were divided. Although this system strengthened the border defense, with the increase in the strength of the feudal town, the strength of the imperial court was relatively weakened. During the Tianbao period, the military strength of the border towns reached 500,000, of which Jiedu made An Lushan to govern the three towns of Pinglu, Fanyang and Hedong, with more than 200,000 troops, which was the strongest in the Jiedu envoys. At this time, the imperial court only had seventy or eighty thousand soldiers and horses, and the huge military difference plunged the imperial court into a crisis. From 755 to 763 A.D., a rebellion broke out led by An Lushan and Shi Siming, which lasted for nearly eight years and was known as the "Anshi Rebellion". This war greatly damaged the vitality of the Tang Dynasty, and it was also the Tang Dynasty's control over the feudal towns that was greatly weakened, so the trend of separating the feudal towns was inevitable.

Of course, at this time, not all feudal towns have formed separatist forces, in fact, the secession of feudal towns at this time is only a small part of all feudal towns, and it is the "Huangchao Uprising" that is really out of control that the situation of feudal towns is completely out of control. At the end of the Tang Dynasty, due to the mediocrity of the imperial court and the lack of livelihood of the people, the people had to rise up, and the uprisings came and went, among which the most influential was the "Huangchao Uprising", the rebel army led by Huangchao lasted for six years, turned to the north and south, and also conquered Chang'an and established the Great Qi regime. Although the uprising failed in the end, the uprising dealt a heavy blow to the rule of the Tang Dynasty, greatly weakened the strength of the imperial court, broke the balance between the imperial court and the feudal towns, and the high-level of the imperial court was no longer able to restrain the power of the feudal towns.

Five dynasties and ten kingdoms. Under the internal and external blows, the Tang Dynasty collapsed in 907 AD, and China's history entered a chaotic period of "five dynasties and ten kingdoms". In the Central Plains, there have been five dynasties in the Later Liang, Later Tang, Later Jin, Later Han, and Later Han, although they claim to be orthodox, but they are only the court of the feudal town, and they are unable to control the whole country. In addition to the Central Plains, in the last years of the Tang Dynasty, the feudal towns in various places have claimed to be kings, forming a separatist regime, after the fall of the Tang Dynasty, the feudal towns in various regions have established their own countries, forming the "Ten Kingdoms", so the "Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms" is the product of the feudal town system, is the result of the development of the feudal town separation.

In summary,As a military and political system, feudal towns maintained the unity and security of the country to a certain extent, but also exacerbated the contradictions and conflicts between the imperial court and the local government. The causes of the secession of feudal towns are many, including the excessive power and independence of the Jiedu and the weakening of the control of the Tang Dynasty over the border court, which eventually led to the confrontation and the formation of the situation of secession between the local Jiedu envoys and the Emperor, and had a profound impact on the history of the Tang Dynasty and subsequent China. February** Dynamic Incentive Program

Related Pages