History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 70 Huang Chao's End
【Huang Chao Ending】

There are many different opinions among the people about Huang Chao's fate, which can be roughly divided into two camps: one is the "death faction" and the other is the "poetry and distant places faction".

The "Must-die Faction" believes that Huang Chao did die in Wolf and Tiger Valley, and his head was taken out by Lin Yan. However, there are two branches within the "Must-die Faction". One branch believes that Huang Chao committed suicide as recorded in official history, and asked Lin Yan to take his head to claim credit and receive a reward. The other branch believes that Huang Chao was killed by Lin Yan's conspiracy.

The "Poetry and Distant Places School" insisted that Huang Chao was not dead, saying that Lin Yan had only found a scapegoat who looked similar to Huang Chao. Huang Chao himself shaved his head and became a monk, and lived for a long time. During this period, he also left a poem "Self-Portrait", which said:
"I remember flying over the grass in those days, wearing iron armor and monk's robes.

No one recognizes me on Tianjin Bridge, I lean on the railing and watch the sunset alone.

The statement that "Lin Yan plotted against him" is somewhat difficult to implement in practice. Huang Chao himself was a skilled martial artist, good at swordsmanship, and excellent at archery. Moreover, Lin Yan was holding the heads of Huang Chao's seven brothers. If we insist on saying that Lin Yan got them all drunk...

As for "poetry and distant places", it can only be said to be a kind of romantic sentiment of people. Not only Huang Chao has such beautiful sustenance, but there are similar legends after Li Zicheng's death. People seem unwilling to believe that such legendary figures will die so simply, and are more willing to believe that they will escape the pursuit, become monks, see through the world, and even meet the emperor in a Zen temple several years later. The two know each other's true identity but tacitly do not reveal it, and then they chat and laugh indifferently...

There are many folk legends about Huang Chao, which basically belong to the category of feudal superstition, so they are not adopted in this book.

Legend has it that Huang Chao was extremely ugly, with a huge bloody mouth and eight layers of teeth... Unless Huang Chao had shark ancestry, common sense would have it that Huang Chao's teeth should be uneven and crooked, so rumors spread that he had eight layers of teeth and was a man-eating demon.

People simply believe that heroes should have thick eyebrows and big eyes, villains should have sharp chins and monkey cheeks, and bandits should have pockmarks on their faces...

Huang Chao's appearance is not considered high. Some people say that he failed the exam because he was ugly. I don't agree with this because we have read his representative works before. He failed the exam because of his ability.

How can a person who is extremely ugly (with eight layers of teeth) find a scapegoat with a similar appearance? If he can deceive Shi Pu and Li Shiyue, how can he deceive Shang Rang?

There is no doubt that the head hanging outside Chengdu is the real original Huang Chao's head. It is impossible for Lin Yan to replace the original with a fake one.

In addition, I would like to mention the controversy over the location of Huang Chao's death. There is no dispute about the location of the Wolf and Tiger Valley. The point of contention is where the Wolf and Tiger Valley is today.

Many existing data will show that "Langhu Valley is now Laiwu City, Shandong Province." However, this book says in the previous text that it is in Jinan City, Shandong Province.

Listen to me.

In January 2019, the State Council approved the administrative adjustment of Shandong Province, abolished Laiwu City, and placed its jurisdiction under the jurisdiction of Jinan City. "Laiwu City" has become a historical term, and the original Laiwu City was merged into Jinan City as "Laiwu District" and "Gangcheng District".

Therefore, all materials printed and published before 2019 must show that they are in Laiwu City, and after that, we must be more rigorous and show that they are in Jinan City. As a Jinan native, I must fight for this honor.

The largest civil uprising at the end of the Tang Dynasty, the "Huang Chao Uprising", came to an end. This civil uprising hollowed out the Tang Dynasty.

First, there was a serious external trauma, which carried out a surgical reshuffle of the Tang Dynasty's vassal states.

The emerging warlords were either the "remnants of the Chaos Party" (such as Zhu Wen of Bianzhou) or the consequences of military rebellion (such as Shi Pu of Xuzhou and Qin Zongquan of Caizhou). They were alienated from the imperial court; and the few remaining old warlords (such as Gao Pian) were also superficially loyal to the imperial court.

The situation of separatist regimes was initially formed after the "An Lushan Rebellion", and it deteriorated sharply and reached its peak after the "Huang Chao Uprising". The power of the separatist regimes was strengthened in the process of suppressing the "Huang Chao Uprising", while the central power was weakened. The trend of "strong local and weak central" became more and more obvious. It not only accelerated the demise of the Tang Dynasty, but also laid the political foundation for the subsequent "Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms".

Secondly, there are fatal internal injuries.

The "Huang Chao Uprising" triggered a fierce power struggle within the court, and the political struggle following the "Niu-Li Factional Struggle" was rekindled and intensified.

Objectively speaking, the open and covert struggles between vested interest groups have always existed, and the "Huang Chao Uprising" only played a catalytic role.

The struggle between the literati and eunuch groups, such as Wang Duo vs. Tian Lingzi; the struggle within the literati and eunuch group, such as Lu Xie vs. Zheng Ting; the struggle within the eunuch group, such as Tian Lingzi vs. Yang Fuguang; the struggle between the court and the local governments, such as Emperor Xizong of Tang vs. Gao Pian; the struggle between local governments, such as Gao Pian vs. Zhou Bao...

At this point, the achievements of Emperor Wuzong's "Huaichang Restoration" and Emperor Xuanzong's "Dazhong Governance" were finally completely consumed by the unremitting efforts of Emperor Yizong and Emperor Xizong. The Tang Dynasty no longer had any hope of revival, and its demise was inevitable.

Times make heroes. Huang Chao induced and catalyzed the internal strife of the Tang Dynasty, and also benefited from the internal strife of the Tang Dynasty. The two complemented each other and were mutually causal.

Since Huang Chao's uprising, Song Wei and Liu Jurong have successively indulged the enemy, allowing the Grass Army to revive; the prime ministers have fought for power and repeatedly dismissed the military power of the brave generals; Gao Pian not only nurtured the enemy for his own benefit, but also wanted to use the Grass Army to threaten the court; the local vassal states were indecisive and took advantage of the chaos to annex...

Therefore, Huang Chao was able to occupy Chang'an and claim the title of emperor, thanks to the dark political scene at the end of the Tang Dynasty. Even if there was no Huang Chao, there would be Green Chao and Red Chao.

Huang Chao was not a chess player, but just a chess piece. History chose him, but he did not change history.

But he also has the opportunity to change history.

Chenzhou was the opportunity that history gave him. However, Huang Chao really did not deserve the title of "hero", as his sentiments ultimately ruined him.

If Huang Chao did not fight to the death in Chenzhou, but took a detour back home, carried forward the glorious tradition of the Cao Army of exchanging space for time, and continued the strategic thinking of "quasi-mobile warfare" and "quasi-guerrilla warfare", he still might have made a comeback.

Because none of the old problems of the Tang Dynasty were solved, new and more difficult problems broke out, ushering in one crisis after another.

The Tang Dynasty needed time, and Huang Chao also needed time.

However, Huang Chao wasted three hundred days in Chenzhou, a full ten months! During this period, the Tang Dynasty used time to heal its wounds and gained a precious breathing space.

If there were emoticons at that time, Emperor Xizong of Tang would definitely send Huang Chao a GIF of Liu Huaqiang humiliating Feng Biao, "I gave you a chance, but you are useless!"

Thanks to book friend "Zhang Yunji" for the recommendation!
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(End of this chapter)