The general guards the border passes, and the troops are abundant, why no one dares to rebel
In ancient times, the important ministers of the frontier had heavy troops in their hands, why did no one dare to rebel?
Successive Chinese dynasties faced harassment from ethnic minorities and foreign barbarians when dealing with frontier issues, and in order to defend the frontier, the emperor usually sent skilled generals to garrison them.
However, the border pass was far away from the imperial court, and the military generals were heavily armed and not under the jurisdiction of the emperor, did they really not have the intention of rebelling? In fact, there are several reasons why the border generals did not dare to rebel:
In ancient times, people believed in the concept that "the whole world is not the king's land", which stemmed from the loyal education they received from childhood. They regarded the emperor as a symbol of the country, and loyalty to the monarch means loyalty to the country.
The people regarded the emperor as a symbol of social tranquility, production development, and even protection for themselves, and although the ancient monarchs were sometimes mediocre, the people still did not dare to disobey.
Of course, a major factor was the harsh punishment in ancient times, which made the people powerless to resist and had to obey the arrangements of those in power. In this constant state of existence, each generation has embraced the idea of loyalty to the king, so the idea of betraying the king does not arise at all, as it is seen as disrespect to the ancestors and rebellion against tradition.
If the people are still like this, the generals who serve the court will not betray the emperor, they will only be more loyal to the emperor, and only those who do not care about life and death will choose to rebel.
The second reason: the emperor will contain the border generals. The emperor is willing to hand over millions of military power to a general, but he will also make the soldiers turn their hearts towards the general, so as to prevent the general from using his power to monopolize military power.
At the same time, the emperor would give the generals rich rewards, such as a house in the capital, to ensure their material needs in the hard life of the border guards, and at the same time to allow their families to enjoy the glory and wealth.
The emperor regarded the general's family as a reward, but in fact he wanted to restrain their behavior and ensure that they did not mess around on the frontier. In addition, the regular rotation of frontier generals can not only avoid the monopoly of one person, but also allow them to supervise each other, thus reducing the risk of rebellion.
When a general went on a campaign, the emperor usually sent an overseer to accompany him, and his duty was not to direct the battle, but to monitor the movement of the soldiers at all times.
This overseer is undoubtedly the emperor's most relied on cronies, and once he finds any abnormalities, he will immediately report to the emperor, and the emperor's first reaction when he learns about it is to detain the general's family.
The general has not moved, and the family has been uprooted. However, in history, there are endless rebels, some who have achieved fame and some who have ultimately failed, why do they dare to risk their lives to challenge authority?
An Lushan in the Tang Dynasty is a good example.
An Lushan has a heavy army in his hands and occupies the three towns of Jiedu, and his strength should not be underestimated. What is even more striking is that his family was left behind in the capital, but still dared to rebel. This is not because Tang Xuanzong underestimated his ambition, but because his ambition was so big that he disregarded his family and morality and made a desperate bet.
As a Hu man, he has less sense of belonging and identity for the emperor of the Central Plains, and the abandonment of these two points makes him fearless. An Lushan's rebellion proves that once a person's ambition is released, he can have no scruples, even at the expense of his family.
The third reason: the problem of the dispersion of the military power of the border generals. Normally, the border generals only had the power to deploy defenses, while the power to transfer troops was in the hands of the imperial court or the supervising army.
The army they could really command was probably only a few hundred private troops brought from home, and the loyalty of these soldiers did not belong to the generals, but to the emperor.
The Song dynasty, for example, valued civilian officials over military generals, and the real power of border generals was constantly curtailed, and even though they nominally had hundreds of thousands of troops, they had no autonomy in arranging troops.
Proposals could be made on the battlefield, but action had to wait for orders from the imperial court, otherwise the general would be executed regardless of victory or defeat. Therefore, how can these generals rebel when they do not have the power to command the army?
Finally, and most importantly, there is logistics. As the old saying goes'The soldiers and horses did not move, and the grain and grass went first', which is enough to show the importance of grain and grass in war. There have been many battles in history that have failed because of grain and grass problems, among which the Battle of Chibi is a typical example. "
The Sun-Liu coalition army won more with less, which can be called a miracle in the history of warfare, but although Cao Cao had a heavy army, he finally had no choice but to retreat. The reason for this is actually the problem of grain and grass. At that time, Cao Cao's northern part was initially determined, the foundation was not stable, and the logistics supply line of this campaign was too long, and the transportation of grain and grass became a major problem.
Coupled with the interference of the occasional service, Cao Cao's soldiers and horses were exhausted, and Cao Cao was well aware of this, so he took the initiative to withdraw so as not to cause greater losses.
In war, burning the enemy's grain and grass is a common strategy, because without it, the enemy will be in trouble and unable to resist for a long time. But where does this supply of grain and grass come from?
The answer is from the imperial court. Hundreds of thousands of border soldiers were supported by the imperial court, and once the war began, they needed the financial support and food of the imperial court. Wars tend to last for a long time, perhaps months, or even years.
As a result, food, medicine, and money were in great demand, and many dynasties had depleted their coffers because of war.
If the frontier generals wanted to rebel, where would their food come from after the imperial court cut off supplies? One might suggest that some generals may have been secretly preparing for years and had stored enough food to support their operations.
However, such a possibility is practically unlikely. The food of hundreds of thousands of people is not a trivial matter, and if the emperor does not even know anything about such a thing, then he may well be a mediocre and incompetent monarch.
Therefore, in terms of probability, the possibility of a frontier general rebelling is actually very small. However, there are indeed some successful rebels in history, such as Zhao Kuangyin, Zhu Yuanzhang, etc., how did they achieve their goals?
The key to Zhu Yuanzhang's successful rebellion lies in his political wisdom and appeal that is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. At the end of the Yuan Dynasty, the society was in turmoil, the people were living in dire straits, and natural and man-made disasters were even worse.
In this context, Zhu Yuanzhang called on the people to revolt in a way that won the hearts of the people and set up the banner of rebellion against the Yuan Dynasty. His decisive actions and firm belief made him have no worries before the rebellion, and he took his relatives to his side.
His success stems not only from his political wisdom, but also from his deep love and concern for the people.
The rebel army led by Zhu Yuanzhang stood out among the feudal dynasties. The reason for their revolt was not dissatisfaction with the imperial court, but the weariness and rebellion of the common people against the mediocre emperor.
The grain and grass of the rebel army were not provided by the traditional imperial court, but were collected all the way, whether forced or voluntary, reflecting the people's nature of the rebel army. In addition, Zhu Yuanzhang's leadership style is also very popular with the people, he is full of love for the soldiers and the people, and he will get the active support of the local people everywhere he goes.
Therefore, the concept of "loyalty" did not exist for the rebel army, but the goal was to protect the people and overthrow the corrupt rule.
With his prestige, he attracted a large number of defectors and became a mainstay in the uprising. The soldiers admired him and worked together as one, which was a key factor in the success of his uprising.
At that time, there were several uprising teams with comparable strength, but in terms of strength, Zhu Yuanzhang was slightly better and finally became the winner. After Zhu Yuanzhang ascended the throne, he quickly stabilized the situation.
Why did no one resist Zhu Yuanzhang later? Because he was well aware of the conditions required for rebellion, he had already taken full precautions.
The risk of this transaction is extremely high, but the chance of success is very small, from the Han Dynasty onwards, rebellion was severely punished by the law, beheading and exterminating the three clans. As time passed, the emperor's power became more concentrated, and the charges of rebellion became more serious.
Success can change the dynasty, and failure will be punished by the nine clans, so the "cost performance" of rebellion is not high.
If the roots are cut down, the flies in the house will not be able to fly out, and the branches of the past generations will suffer this fate and disappear from the world. Ancient torture was so colorful that no one wanted to try it, and as long as torture existed, it was a deterrent to the world.
Taking such a risk and completing a task with a near-zero success rate, no one dares to try it easily, unless the world is in turmoil, the imperial power is shaken, and the people resist to the end, it is possible to succeed.
On the whole, the reason why the border generals did not rebel was, on the one hand, due to their lack of courage, but more importantly, their lack of strength and ability to rebel.