History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 4 Heroes in Troubled Times
【Heroes of Troubled Times】

We often say "the strong Han Dynasty and the prosperous Tang Dynasty". The two dynasties do have many similarities, which makes people sigh that historical stories may not repeat themselves, but historical laws will repeat themselves again and again.

For example, both dynasties had problems with eunuchs' disorderly politics, and faced the awkward situation of being strong in the local areas but weak in the central government. As a result, the situation of separatist rule by princes and powerful people, warlords and vassal states emerged, and peasant uprisings that swept the country broke out in both dynasties...

In short, if you are familiar with the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, then when you read the stories of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, you will have a strong sense of time travel. Many stories are just different in names of people and places. History is always surprisingly similar.

Below I will list two simple tables to analyze the top reasons for the collapse of the empire from a God's perspective:
A brief list of emperors in the late Eastern Han Dynasty (emperor, age at accession, age at death, and the forces behind him):

Emperor Shang, 0.25 years old, <1 year old; supported by the Queen Mother;

Emperor An, 13, 32 years old; maternal relatives;

Emperor Ying, unknown, died after 206 days in office; foreign relative;

Shundi, 11, 30 years old; eunuch;

Chongdi, 2 years old, 3 years old; maternal relatives;

Emperor Zhi, 8, 9 years old; maternal relatives;

Emperor Huan, 15, 36; maternal relatives;

Emperor Ling, 12, 33 years old; maternal relatives;

Shaodi, 13 years old, was deposed after 5 months in office, and was forced to commit suicide at the age of 24; foreign relatives;

Emperor Xian, 9 years old, reigned for 30 years, abdicated to Cao Pi, and died of illness at the age of 54.

Among them, Emperor Xian of Han seemed to have the longest reign and the longest life, but there is no need to elaborate on this famous puppet emperor.

At this point, through these shocking figures, we can have a deep understanding of the eight words "At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the world was in chaos."

A bunch of little brats, basically all of them were elementary school students in their teens (excluding Emperor Shang of Han, who ascended the throne just 100 days after his birth and died before his first birthday, setting a double record of the youngest age to ascend the throne and the youngest age to die), supported by relatives or eunuchs, they must have been puppets controlled by these bigwigs behind the scenes, and became pawns in the political struggle between the eunuch party, relatives, and powerful officials. Whether these short-lived emperors died of natural causes is not something we dare to speculate.

Let’s look at the end of the Tang Dynasty:

Muzong, 25, 30 years old; eunuch;

Jingzong, 15, 18;
Wenzong, 18, 31; eunuch;

Wuzong, 26, 32: eunuch;

Xuanzong, 37, 50; eunuch;

Emperor Yizong, 26, 41; eunuch;

Xizong, 11, 27 years old; eunuch;

Zhaozong, 21, 38; eunuch;

Among the eight consecutive emperors, only one, Emperor Jingzong of Tang, was not supported by eunuchs. Although he was not supported by eunuchs, he was murdered by eunuchs. In addition, except Emperor Xuanzong of Tang who ascended the throne at the age of 37 and died at the age of 50, the ages of other emperors who ascended the throne were between 10 and 20 years old, and none of them lived beyond 41 years old.

The hotbed of troubled times is very intuitive. The top danger in the Eastern Han Dynasty came from foreign relatives, while the top crisis in the late Tang Dynasty came from eunuchs.

Qiu Shiliang, a famous eunuch in the Tang Dynasty, once said to his young eunuchs earnestly: "Do you know how to serve the emperor? The emperor cannot be left idle, because when he is idle, he will read books, read memorials, meet with ministers, and listen to political opinions. We must use games and extravagance to make him forget about politics, so that the important policies can fall on our heads." Many eunuchs in the future regarded the teachings of this predecessor as their code of conduct, and thus reached the pinnacle of power.

Li Wen, who just became a father at the age of 26, has the youthful vigor and passion, ambition and ideals.

The Tang Dynasty is showing signs of rejuvenation, but there are also hidden whirlpools and reefs under the empire. This is a severe test for the helmsman and concerns the fate of the empire.

The young Li Wen was full of confidence and determined to carry forward his father's career and restore the empire to its Kaiyuan and Zhenguan eras of prosperity.

The challenge came the same year he ascended the throne.

Qiu Fu in eastern Zhejiang gathered a crowd to riot.

Qiu Fu, who was born as a private salt dealer, first gathered 500 hungry people to riot. After a small victory over the government army, he became famous. Ruffians and scoundrels from the surrounding areas came to join him. The mob gathered together, numbering several thousand people, and the bandit force was huge.

The local government's military equipment was in disrepair, and there were less than 300 soldiers on active duty, so they had to urgently recruit new soldiers. However, the officials in charge of conscription took bribes and only recruited less than 200 old, weak, sick and disabled soldiers.

As a result, a fierce battle broke out between 500 government troops and thousands of bandits. The bandits had set up an ambush in the north of the Three Rivers in advance, and secretly built a dam upstream to store water, lowering the water level to a level that could be waded through on foot, and then formed a battle array in the south of the Three Rivers.

The government troops that came to suppress the rebellion were indeed trapped, and they waded through the water to chase the "fleeing" bandits. When they chased them to the middle of the river, the bandits broke the dam, and the flood rushed in. At the same time, the ambushers rushed out and surrounded the government troops. The government troops were almost wiped out, and the three leading generals all died heroically.

Qiu Fu's bandit army became famous in one battle, and soon grew to 30,000 troops. Qiu Fu was very proud and thought that the Tang Dynasty's official army was no better than him, so he announced a change of era name, and established the era name "Luoping". This small victory made Qiu Fu dream of becoming an emperor.

The governor of East Zhejiang realized the seriousness of the situation and quickly sent out a request for help from the neighbors. The neighbors sent him a total of 700 reinforcements. These 700 reinforcements received an allowance that was more than ten times the standard, but they still thought it was too little and were unwilling to fight.

"We are few in number and should be used where they are needed most. How can we place them in the outer city? We should concentrate our strength on protecting the highest local leaders." Therefore, 700 reinforcements were arranged in the government office in the inner city.

"We are unfamiliar with the place, and we need your local soldiers to act as guides and lead the way in front." The so-called local soldiers were basically those who escaped the previous battle. When they heard that they were asked to lead the way in front, they either pretended to be sick in bed, or pretended to fall off their horses and be injured, or asked for promotion first... So, the 700 reinforcements had a legitimate reason to refuse to go to the battlefield.

The governor of East Zhejiang did not invite 700 reinforcements, but 700 living ancestors. It seemed that the problem of Qiu Fu could not be solved locally, so he could only petition the central court and call in the heavenly soldiers and generals.

In the imperial city of Chang'an, Emperor Yizong of Tang summoned his ministers to discuss the selection of a general to quell the rebellion. Unexpectedly, Prime Minister Xiahou Zi did not recommend a military general, but a civil official, Wang Shi. Xiahou Zi explained that the eastern Zhejiang region was far from the sea and mountains, and transportation was inconvenient, so it was more suitable to take it by wits than by force. Although Wang Shi was a Confucian official, he had made a great contribution as the Protector General of Annan, and was well-known for pacifying the barbarians. If he was sent to the eastern Zhejiang region to fight the bandits, he would surely succeed!
Wang Shi came from a prominent family, which will be introduced later in the text, so I will not elaborate on it here.

Annan, which is today's northern Vietnam, was the territory of the Tang Dynasty at that time, and bordered the barbarians to the south. The situation in this region was complicated, with regional separatists and rebels ready to make moves, threatening the integrity of the Tang Dynasty's territory at all times. Before Wang Shi took office, this region had not paid tribute to the central government for a long time, and the situation was very grim.

Wang Shi used a combination of firmness and flexibility to suppress separatists with a tough attitude, safeguarding the territorial integrity of the motherland and the sovereignty of the Tang Dynasty. He also actively improved relations with neighboring barbarians and eased the regional situation.

The barbarians were intimidated by the Tang Dynasty's power and grateful for its leniency and generosity. They all submitted to the Tang Dynasty and offered tribute. The Tang Dynasty's southern border was consolidated. Rongguan (now Guangxi) also began to pay tribute to the central government again.

Pacificating Annan also became one of the three major achievements in Wang Shi’s life.

Now, Wang Shi was about to accomplish his second great achievement - suppressing Qiu Fu's rebellion.

Thanks to the book friend "zeorking抠jio蕉太郎" for the recommendation vote!


(End of this chapter)