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Chapter 397 If you can’t get into Chang’an, then kill your way in! (History of the Tang Dynasty)
"Huang Chao came from a wealthy family and was quite intelligent. He could compose poems at the age of five. He was also good at swordsmanship, horsemanship and archery. He was a man of both civil and military talents."

"Huang Chao's 'competence in both civil and military affairs' does not mean that he is only slightly proficient in both civil and military affairs, but that he has the real talent. He won the first place in the martial arts examination, which means that if he only considers martial arts, he can definitely become the top scholar. But Huang Chao has two major shortcomings. First, his family background is not good enough; second, his appearance is not very good!"

"When Huang Chao grew up, he took the imperial examinations several times, each time with high hopes, but he failed every time. Even when he won first place in the martial arts examination, he was eliminated because of his ugly appearance."

Meng Tian asked: "Is the Tang Dynasty's imperial examination to select talented people or handsome men?"

The answer to this question is of course to select handsome and talented people, to choose handsome people among talented people, and to choose talented people among handsome people. This situation existed in many dynasties.

Wang Jian smiled and said, "It seems like two major shortcomings, but in fact there is only one. Huang Chao's family background is not good enough. If he was born in one of the Five Surnames and Seven Nobles, even if he was ugly, he would be considered to be extraordinary and extraordinary. How could he be dismissed?"

Li Nian smiled and said, "What the old general said is very true. It is also true in later generations. As long as one has enough family background and money, even if one's appearance is not good, people will think that he has something special. After failing the imperial examinations several times in a row, Huang Chao realized that the imperial examinations were not a path he could take."

"This road looks like it is open to all talented people, but in fact, it says 'Those of humble origins should not enter this door', 'Those with weak backgrounds should get out', and 'Ugly people are rejected'! This door is only for those of aristocratic families and the royal family. There is no place for people like Huang Chao."

"After Huang Chao saw through the truth, he stopped taking the imperial examinations. He wrote a poem full of resentment, "Ode to Chrysanthemums after Failure," and left Chang'an: 'Wait until September 8th in autumn, when my flower blooms and all other flowers die. The fragrance will penetrate Chang'an, and the whole city will be covered with golden armor.'"

This poem is not of high quality, but it is full of momentum, and especially makes people feel a chilling murderous intent, as if Huang Chao was looking back at Chang'an coldly before leaving Chang'an: Today you have made me fail in the imperial examination, so I can only leave in disgrace. Someday I will come back and take everything back!
Don’t look down on Huang Chao’s ugliness, there is still a long way to go!
"After leaving Chang'an, Huang Chao returned to his hometown, inherited his ancestral business, and became the leader of the salt gang. Most of those who sold private salt were desperate criminals. Huang Chao's ability to become their leader was enough to show his ability! But at this time, Huang Chao did not immediately revolt. There was a private salt dealer named Wang Xianzhi who was ahead of him."

"At the end of every dynasty, natural disasters often occur frequently, and the Tang Dynasty is no exception. Since the end of the Xiantong period, floods and droughts have occurred frequently in various parts of the Tang Dynasty. In addition, due to political corruption and heavy taxes, the people of the Tang Dynasty are no different from those in the end of other dynasties. It is difficult for them to survive."

"Of course people are unwilling to die like this. Their patience is limited. When they reach a critical point, they will make a choice: to rise up in rebellion!"

"In the second year of Emperor Xizong's reign, Wang Xianzhi, a private salt dealer from Puyang, and Shang Junchang and others gathered thousands of people and rose up in Puyang, attacking cities and towns, and captured Cao, Pu, Yunzhou and other places!"

Li Nian added: "As for the location of Wang Xianzhi's uprising, there are also historical records that it was in Changyuan. After Wang Xianzhi's uprising, Huang Chao felt that the time had come and soon launched an uprising in response."

"The people from all directions, who had suffered from the Tang Dynasty for a long time, rushed to join the rebel army. In just a few months, the number of rebels grew to tens of thousands, and they attacked more than ten states. Although the Tang Dynasty court was politically corrupt and slow to respond, it was impossible for it to turn a blind eye to the rebel army, especially since the rebel army would threaten the areas controlled by some Jiedushi. Some Jiedushi even regarded the rebel army as a merit to be gained."

"So, Tang officials and soldiers began to pacify the rebels. In July of the third year of Qianfu, Song Wei defeated Wang Xianzhi. Song Wei reported that Wang Xianzhi was dead and took his troops back to Qingzhou without authorization. The Tang emperor and his ministers congratulated Song Wei, but a few days later, some prefectures and counties reported that the rebel army had not been eliminated and was still there."

"The Tang court hastily ordered the soldiers who had already returned home to pacify the Tang army again, but the soldiers were all angry and wanted to rebel. Instead, Wang Xianzhi, Huang Chao and others took advantage of this time to rest and regroup, and took advantage of the Tang army's unwillingness to fight, and fled to Henan, approaching Jiacheng, and captured eight counties in less than ten days."

"Zhacheng was not far from the eastern capital Luoyang, which made Emperor Xizong of the Tang Dynasty very worried. He ordered troops from all provinces to stop the rebels and annihilate them. According to historical records, the rebels grew to 300,000 people in just half a year, and the Tang government troops were overwhelmed."

Hearing that the rebel army had grown to such a large number in just half a year, Feng Quji sighed and said, "Even if the number of people recorded is exaggerated, so many people have joined the rebel army in just half a year, which shows how unpopular the Tang Dynasty is."

Li Nian smiled and said, "It's not the people's fault for being disloyal to the Tang Dynasty, but the Tang Dynasty's fault for them. If they hadn't done such atrocities and forced the people to live, how could they have rebelled? How can the fall of the dynasty be blamed on the people? It's said that the people rebelled, but in fact it was the officials and the court who forced the people to rebel!"

"The people just want to live, what's wrong with them? If we can't understand why the people are rebelling and make corrections, it will only be a repetition of the cycle of history!"

"Some people may think that Taizong, Gaozong, and Xuanzong in the first half of his life made the Tang Dynasty prosperous and brought a good life to the people of the Tang Dynasty. They should be grateful and loyal to the Tang Dynasty from generation to generation, even if the Tang Dynasty was corrupt and did evil things, they still had to be loyal."

"Who doesn't know that heroes are great, but they can only achieve great things with the help of millions of people. Otherwise, how can they accomplish anything with their own strength? It is the people who become their soldiers and subjects, who bear the corvée and taxes for them, who grow food for them, and who weave clothes for them!"

"The prosperity of the Tang Dynasty was actually created by the people. If it weren't for the diligence of the people of the Tang Dynasty, how could there be such a prosperous Tang Dynasty? The people of the Tang Dynasty don't owe the Tang Dynasty anything!"

After the last sentence was spoken, the First Emperor and others looked at Li Nian. This sentence can actually be changed to the Qin version: The people of Qin do not owe the Qin Dynasty anything!
Although he seemed to be talking about the Tang Dynasty, the boy was actually reminding them not to forget their roots just because they were standing at a high position.

Li Nian added: "However, just as the rebel army grew bigger and stronger, Wang Xianzhi and Huang Chao parted ways. The reason was that Qizhou Governor Pei Wo could not resist the rebel army, so he agreed to petition for official positions for Wang Xianzhi, Huang Chao and others."

"People like Wang Xianzhi and Huang Chao didn't really want to plead for the people. They rebelled because they couldn't get promoted. If they were given the official positions and rewards they wanted, there would be a good chance that they would be recruited. This kind of thing was quite common in the Song Dynasty. Rebelling and being recruited was faster than Huang Chao taking the imperial examination to get promoted!"

"But I don't know whether the Tang court looked down on the rebels or did it on purpose. After receiving Pei Wo's letter, Emperor Xizong of the Tang Dynasty rewarded Wang Xianzhi with an official title, but Huang Chao did not receive any reward. Wang Xianzhi was very happy to hear that he was appointed as the Ya Ya of the Left Shence Army!"

"However, Huang Chao, who was standing on the side, saw that Wang Xianzhi got the official position, but he didn't. How could he be happy? He had failed the imperial examinations many times, and now he was not included in the amnesty for his rebellion. Wasn't his rebellion in vain?" "Huang Chao then rebuked Wang Xianzhi, 'You surrendered, but you got the official position alone. What can you do with the five thousand people? Beg for my soldiers, and I will not leave any.' He even punched Wang Xianzhi on the spot. Wang Xianzhi saw that he had offended the public and did not dare to accept the appointment of the Tang court. He ordered the looting of the Tang army in Qizhou. But this still could not prevent the split of the rebel army. Huang Chao and Wang Xianzhi each led the rebel army and divided their troops."

"Because of this incident, the bad image of the Tang court in Huang Chao's mind became even worse, and it also laid the groundwork for what happened later. In February of the fifth year of Qianfu, the rebel army led by Wang Xianzhi was defeated by the Tang general Zeng Yuanyu. Wang Xianzhi died in the battle, and his troops were divided into two groups, one of which joined Huang Chao in Bozhou."

"The generals elected Huang Chao as king, calling him 'General Chongtian' and 'King of the Yuan Dynasty'!"

Hearing this strange title of the general, Meng Tian said: "This title of 'General Chongtian' should be related to Huang Chao's poem, 'The fragrance of the sky penetrates Chang'an, and the whole city is covered with golden armor.' Huang Chao really wants to return to Chang'an!"

Li Nian nodded and said, "That's right! But Huang Chao's road to leading the uprising was not all smooth sailing. In the fifth year of Qianfu, Huang Chao suffered repeated defeats. He advanced to Xiangyi and Yongqiu, but was blocked by Li Yi, the governor of Huazhou. He attacked Yecheng and Yangdi, and his attempt to attack the eastern capital Luoyang was also blocked. He attacked Xinzheng, Jia, Xiangcheng, and Yangdi, but was driven back by Cui Anqian."

"Huang Chao was very depressed and went to the Tianping Army of the Tang Dynasty to surrender. He was given an official position for his surrender this time and was appointed General of the Right Guard by Emperor Xizong of the Tang Dynasty. Unfortunately, Huang Chao was no longer the same Huang Chao as before. He had already established himself as a king. How could he be willing to surrender to the Tang court?"

"After enduring the period of frustration, Huang Chao soon rebelled against the Tang Dynasty again. In March of the sixth year of Qianfu, he led his army into Fujian, captured various prefectures in Fujian, and even entered Guangdong from Fujian, besieging Guangzhou."

"But Huang Chao did not attack Guangzhou immediately. Instead, he wanted Li Tiao, the governor of Lingnan East Road, who was trapped in Guangzhou, to write a letter to the Tang court on his behalf, asking for the title of governor of Tianping."

Feng Jie laughed and said, "Huang Chao doesn't want to surrender to the Tang court, he wants to use this to benefit himself. If his plan succeeds, it will cause greater harm to the Tang court. If the people in the Tang court are not stupid, they will not agree to it!"

Li Nian said: "Huang Chao wanted to get legal rights through the Tang court. If this was successful, he would not be a rebel, but a member of the Tang army. The change of identity would make it easier for him to do many things. For example, some talented people at that time might not join the rebels, but would join a great Tang Jiedushi."

"Unfortunately, Huang Chao's plan was discovered by his superiors, and they thought that Huang Chao should not be appointed as the governor of Tianping. Huang Chao was unwilling to accept this and requested to be appointed as the governor of Annan and the governor of Guangzhou. However, his request was rejected and Huang Chao was given the official title of 'Rate of the Right Guards of the Crown Prince', which was in charge of the imperial guards that protected the crown prince."

When everyone heard this, they understood immediately. They had no intention of giving Huang Chao an official position at all. They just wanted to disgust Huang Chao. How could a traitor like Huang Chao possibly become the commander of the prince's guards?

Wang Ben laughed and said, "If Huang Chao finds out about this official position, he will be furious!"

Li Nian also laughed and said, "They actually just wanted to disgust Huang Chao. "We gave you the official position, but you didn't dare to come. That's your problem, you can't blame us." But they didn't expect Huang Chao to really come!"

"After seeing the imperial edict, Huang Chao immediately cursed and rushed to attack Guangzhou. He broke through the city in one day and captured Li Tiao alive. Huang Chao also knew that there was no turning back for him and the Tang court. He called himself the "Commander-in-Chief of the Righteous Army" and issued a manifesto to enter the pass. He also pointed out the various malpractices of the Tang court, the eunuchs in power, the corrupt officials who corrupted the government, the ministers bribed and made friends with the middlemen, and the selection of talents was not good enough. If he were to govern the country, he would prohibit the provincial governors from amassing wealth and the county magistrates who were found guilty of corruption would be executed."

"Wang Duo, the then prime minister, requested to attack Huang Chao. He was appointed as the governor of southern Jing and the commander-in-chief of the southern camp, and led troops from various routes to attack. However, Wang Duo was no match for Huang Chao. His plan was broken by Huang Chao, and more than 100,000 Tang soldiers were killed. Their bodies were thrown into the river, blocking the river water."

Wang Jian shook his head and said, "Huang Chao's power is already established. Even if we can defeat him later, our vitality will be greatly damaged, and the Tang Dynasty is already in trouble..."

"But Huang Chao was defeated again soon. After occupying Jingnan, he wanted to continue to attack Wang Duo, but was defeated by Cao Quanzheng, the commander of Jiangxi, and Liu Jurong, the governor of Shannan East Road. This battle caused Huang Chao to suffer heavy losses. According to historical records, eight out of ten were captured. If Huang Chao had continued to pursue, his entire army might have been wiped out, but Liu Jurong let Huang Chao go."

"He said: 'There are many people who have failed in our country. We will not be stingy with rewards in times of crisis. If things are settled, we will be offended. It is better to keep the enemy and hope for good fortune in the future.' So he stopped chasing, allowing Huang Chao to catch his breath and regroup his army to attack Ezhou."

Liu Jurong was also a talented person, who kept the enemy at bay to protect himself, but it also showed how low the credibility of the Tang court was at that time. His own governors all said, "There are many people who have failed in the country. They will not be stingy with rewards in times of crisis, but will offend people when things are peaceful." He was unwilling to trust the court.

"Although Huang Chao still had his share of victories and defeats, overall, his victories outweighed his defeats, and his momentum was growing stronger. On November 17th of the first year of Guangming, Huang Chao led his army into Luoyang. The Eastern Capital of the Tang Dynasty was finally captured by Huang Chao, but Huang Chao did not stay in Luoyang for long. His goal was very clear: if he couldn't pass the exam to enter Chang'an, then he would kill his way into Chang'an!"

"On December 3rd of the first year of Guangming, upon hearing that Huang Chao's troops were approaching, all officials fled. Emperor Xizong of Tang also fled to Xianyang under the protection of 500 Shen Ce soldiers. He fled in a hurry and did not take many concubines and royal family members with him. He only took the four princes Fu, Mu, Tan, and Shou and one or two concubines. This was another time that the emperor of the Tang Dynasty abandoned the capital and fled!"

"On December 5, Huang Chao really came. Because Huang Chao was powerful and the emperor and some important officials had already fled, Huang Chao did not encounter any resistance and entered Chang'an smoothly. I once again set foot on the land of Chang'an. I wonder what Huang Chao thought at that time?"

"Perhaps he really thought that instead of taking the imperial examination to enter Chang'an, it would be better to lead the troops to attack Chang'an. From the uprising in the second year of Qianfu to the December of the first year of Guangming, it took Huang Chao five and a half years to attack Chang'an. This might really be easier than if he had continued to take the imperial examination!"

Li Nian smiled and said, "It's hard to be sure what Huang Chao was thinking or feeling, but the nobles in Chang'an must be in a bad mood. A private salt dealer who was looked down upon and trampled under their feet actually broke into Chang'an!"

(End of this chapter)