History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 52 People Still Don't Like Tang

Let’s talk about the military aspect first.

Since the Cao army launched the Northern Expedition, it has been unstoppable and has dug its way into the heart of the empire. The Cao army soldiers are indeed brave, but behind this brilliant record is the halo of the pig opponent:
Tanzhou, the opponents are Zhao Kuo and Ma Su-like characters, which is almost equivalent to giving it away for free;

In Jiangling, the commander abandoned the city and fled, and the garrison commander stole the money, giving it away for free;
On the Mengshui defense line, the opponent had internal strife and mutiny, and the victory was lost;
Luoyang, the eastern capital, surrendered voluntarily and was given away for free;

At Tongguan, 600,000 men against 3,000, the enemy mutinied due to lack of food, which was almost like giving them a free hand;
Chang'an took the initiative to surrender and gave it to them for free.

The only direct confrontation with the Tang army was the Battle of Xiangyang, which ended in a great defeat for the Cao army.

In terms of military, the strength of the Huang Qi regime was not optimistic.

Let’s talk about the ideological aspect.

When Emperor Xizong of the Tang Dynasty fled west to Sichuan, he met with Zheng Ting, the former prime minister and the then governor of Fengxiang, when he passed through Fengxiang.

When Zheng Ting arrived at the town, he recruited 500 elite soldiers, known as "Thunder Generals", with explosive combat power, and the bandits in the territory dared not act rashly. After the fall of Luoyang, the eastern capital, Zheng Ting immediately sold his family property to help the people, paid out of his own pocket to reward the soldiers, and sent troops to assist in the defense of Chang'an. His wife personally sewed clothes for the soldiers. The troops were united and shared the same hatred for the enemy.

Now, Emperor Xizong of Tang asked Zheng Ting to help him cover his retreat and stop the pursuing troops in the east, and authorized him to unite the troops from various war zones to help the king and fight the enemy.

"You cover me, I will retreat first."

Zheng Ting was once persecuted by the "Research Protection Party" and was one of the victims of the "Medical Dispute Case". At that time, I warned him that he would cause great trouble in the future. Now, it has come true.

Zheng Ting was very clever and asked for an order to "act at one's own convenience". The reason was that the road to Shu was long and the external environment was complicated, and it was difficult to deliver the memorials in time, and the situation on the front line was unpredictable and changeable. "Acting at one's own convenience" meant that he could kill first and report later, or even just kill without reporting, and he could also issue orders in the name of the emperor... It can be said that he was equivalent to the emperor.

Emperor Xizong of Tang approved the proposal.

Zheng Ting returned to the base and called a military meeting with his subordinates to discuss the battle strategy for retaking Chang'an. The soldiers said in unison: "The bandits are currently very powerful, so we should slow down rather than rush. It is best to wait until all the troops have gathered before discussing slowly..."

"What?" Zheng Ting slammed the table and stood up, saying angrily: "Do you intend to follow the enemy? Are you trying to persuade me to surrender?" Before he finished speaking, he fainted from anger and hit his head on the brick guardrail, scratching his face.

After being shaken awake, he still couldn't speak. Old man Zheng Ting was anxious and angry, and he actually suffered a stroke and became aphasic and paralyzed.

Everyone was very anxious.

At this time, the envoys of the Huang Qi regime arrived with the imperial edict of the Huang Qi regime. Led by the eunuchs who supervised the army, the civil and military officials of Fengxiang stood in line according to their official ranks and listened respectfully to the imperial edict of the Huang Qi emperor Huang Chao.

The general meaning of the edict is that the world has changed, the Tang Dynasty has perished, and the Great Qi Dynasty has taken its place. As long as you know the times and follow the rule of the Great Qi Dynasty, the Great Qi Dynasty will guarantee that your official titles will only rise and not fall, and you will still enjoy wealth and glory...

Everyone signed the letter of allegiance in the name of Zheng Ting, affixed Zheng Ting's seal, and kowtowed in the direction of Chang'an to thank the Lord (Huang Chao) for his grace. Then, a banquet was held to entertain the Huang Qi envoy. During the banquet, many officials present secretly shed tears. The Huang Qi envoy asked everyone why they were crying.

Everyone replied that they were sad because our leader (Jiedushi Zheng Ting) suddenly suffered a stroke and was paralyzed in bed, so he could not share our happiness.

When the people of Fengxiang heard the news that their area had surrendered to the bandits, they cried sadly.

When the bedridden Zheng Ting heard the news that officials and people were crying in grief, he actually jumped up from his sickbed and was able to speak. He said with relief: "I know that deep down people have not given up on the Tang Dynasty. The day when the bandits will hand over their heads is not far away!" Then he cut his finger, wrote a letter in blood, and sent his confidant to secretly deliver it to Emperor Xizong.

Afterwards, Zheng Ting secretly summoned all the generals and explained the difference between loyal and rebellious. The generals were deeply moved and said that their previous actions were only temporary and they were not really following the enemy and rebelling. They were willing to accept his leadership and support the Tang Dynasty.

Zheng Ting then swore an oath of blood with everyone and vowed to kill the traitor. He then repaired the city walls, improved fortifications, polished weapons, trained soldiers, and secretly sent people to contact nearby vassal states to join forces to fight the traitors, and agreed to meet in Fengxiang. It happened that tens of thousands of imperial troops scattered in the Guanzhong area lost their command, so Zheng Ting sent people to summon them and spent all his family wealth to pay for the military expenses. As a result, the military prestige was greatly boosted, and tens of thousands of imperial troops stood under Zheng Ting's command.

In terms of politics, to quote Zheng Ting, "people's hearts are not yet tired of the Tang Dynasty." Among the warlords who have expressed their surrender, there are those like Zheng Ting who are loyal to the Tang Dynasty but make small moves, and there are also "fence-sitters" who are indecisive (there seem to be more of these). In short, there are almost no ones who wholeheartedly follow the Huang Qi regime.

In terms of internal construction, thanks to the short-sighted "Dragon Followers", Huang Chao was instigated to launch a bloody purge against former Tang officials less than a month after he usurped the title of emperor. This made the former Tang officials and surrendered officials feel insecure and nostalgic for the old times, thus completely isolating the nascent Huang Qi regime.

Let’s look at its so-called mass base.

After all, Huang Chao's army was a bandit by nature, and when they first entered the city, they did give money to the people of Chang'an. They also spread the word that King Huang was not like Emperor Li Tang who was unsympathetic to the people, and that we love the people like our own children, blah blah blah... A few days after he proclaimed himself emperor, he tore off the mask of hypocrisy, and his soldiers wantonly looted the residents of the city.

This harassment of the people was not an individual act of the soldiers, but an organized and premeditated military action, because this action had an action code name - "Taowu".

The main purpose of this operation was to rob money, food, and women. It coincided with the "following the dragon faction" launching a large-scale purge against the "old ministers faction", so they used the excuse of searching for political prisoners to break into people's homes, rape and rob at will, and commit all kinds of evil. Historical records record: "They seized people's wives and daughters and raped them."

This is not the first time such organized criminal activity has occurred.

Three months later, someone wrote a poem on the gate of the Shangshu Province, satirizing the Huang Qi authorities. Shang Rang was furious and arrested the officials and gatekeepers of the Shangshu Province, dug out their eyes and hung them upside down at the gate. He also searched for literate people in Chang'an City and executed anyone who could write poetry; those who could not write poetry but could read were punished with slavery.

It was Huang Qi's version of "literary inquisition", with over 3,000 victims.

In the subsequent tug-of-war in Chang'an, Huang Chao took his anger out on the people of Chang'an and massacred more than 80,000 people...

Less than half a year after occupying Chang'an, Huang Chao's group committed numerous crimes, and their hands were stained with the blood of the people. Huang Chao's group used their power to make the people of the world miss the old times and miss the Tang Dynasty.

On the surface, the Huang Qi regime was prosperous, rising rapidly. But in reality, it was full of crises and undercurrents, like a colorful soap bubble, swaying and rising...

Maybe in the next second, a gust of breeze, the close contact of a leaf... or just its own over-expansion, it will disappear with a "pop".

(End of this chapter)