A live-streamed Chinese language lesson under the sky—the ancients were taken aback.

"As we all know, climate also has a certain impact on the development of dynasties. According to some climate history studies, the early Tang Dynasty was a rare warm period in Chinese history. Chang'an rarely froze in winter, the glaciers in the Western Regions were retreating, the grass on the grasslands grew well, and the cattle and sheep were fat and strong."

This also provided certain basic conditions for the development of the northern nomadic tribes.

"What a pity, on such a beautiful day, the Tang Dynasty is gone forever."

"However, I do have some good news to share with everyone."

He continued speaking in a flat tone, seemingly wanting to say something but unable to, creating an atmosphere devoid of any good news.

"The leadership of the Tang Dynasty can go mad, and so can these foreign regimes."

By the mid-to-late Tang Dynasty, Tibet had split into several factions, with Buddhism and Bon fighting each other to the death, and the nobles and the Zanpu (Tibetan king) distrusting each other.

During the Huichang era, Langdarma, the last Zanpu (king) of Tibet, suppressed Buddhism, but was assassinated by Buddhist monks, which devastated the entire Tibetan Empire.

Warlordism and aristocratic infighting led to complete division, and Tibet was never unified again.

Of course, the persecution of Buddhism was merely the trigger; the real root causes of the division lay in the long-standing aristocratic conflicts within Tibet and the increasingly severe governance crisis following the excessive expansion of its territory.

The Tibetan Empire, which once stormed Chang'an and forced the Tang emperor to flee several times, plummeted from its peak to its lowest point in just a few decades.

I can't laugh.

The world is a giant makeshift operation.

[Exactly the same script as The Great Tang Dynasty]

……

"Having discussed the foreign tribes, let's now look at the regional military governors."

After the An Lushan Rebellion, regional military governors (fanzhen) spread throughout the country, with the most powerful ones forming semi-independent kingdoms.

The three towns of Lulong, Chengde, and Weibo in Hebei were the strongholds of the former An Lushan army. The military governors were succeeded by their sons or brothers, and the imperial court was completely unable to intervene.

In Shandong, Zibo and Qingzhou, and Huaixi, each held their own troops and acted independently, refusing to obey orders.

In other words, almost the entire north was under the control of the military governors.

Even in the Jiangnan and Guanzhong regions, there emerged regional warlords who defied the imperial court's orders.

The Tang Dynasty could only truly control a small area in Guanzhong and the tax-rich regions of Jiangnan.

A map showing the distribution of regional military governorships during the mid-to-late Tang Dynasty appeared on the screen, with densely packed colored blocks marking the entire country.

"This was the reality of the territory in the mid-to-late Tang Dynasty. The northwest was being nibbled away by the Tibetans, the southwest was being invaded by the Nanzhao Kingdom, and the Central Plains were filled with warlords who held sway over the country. The Tang emperor was nominally the ruler of the world, but in reality, the area he could govern was not much larger than that of a military governor."

The subsequent Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period was, frankly speaking, a continuation of the regional warlordism of the mid-to-late Tang Dynasty. These military governors tore away the last vestiges of feigned submission, declared themselves emperors, and the empire was completely divided.

"Don't these regional military governorships sound a lot like the feudal system?"

But they were completely different; in fact, one could say that a feudal system would have been better.

He wanted to speak but couldn't, and his voice became heavy.

"The power of the Jiedushi (military governor) comes from the emperor's administrative appointment. In essence, they are professional military officers of the empire, and their power is embodied in the 'jie' (military token)."

The emperor could theoretically appoint or dismiss officials at any time. Before An Lushan's rebellion, Emperor Xuanzong of Tang never doubted that he could transfer An Lushan's position with a single imperial edict.

After the An Lushan Rebellion, this chain broke.

With the central authority gone, the central government was no longer able to appoint or dismiss powerful regional governors. The succession of military governors became a matter of father to son or generals taking over. Afterwards, the governors would ask Chang'an to posthumously recognize their appointments. If they could not be posthumously recognized, they would resort to arms.

Originally, a military governor appointed by the imperial court was theoretically supposed to "govern the people on behalf of the emperor," bearing dual responsibility to both the court and the people.

A military governor who comes to power through a coup is only responsible to the army that put him in power.

The logic of rule has been completely reversed from "being responsible to superiors and governing downwards" to "buying off subordinates and extorting from superiors".

The privatization of the military has also mutated into something darker.

After the collapse of the Fubing system, the army was recruited by the Jiedushi (military governors).

Those who serve in the military are no longer self-employed farmers who take turns serving, but professional soldiers who make a living from it.

Their lives and fortunes were entirely dependent on the military governor.

This gave birth to the most horrible freak, the Tooth Soldier.

The guards were the personal bodyguards of the military governor, enjoying the best treatment and being the most arrogant.

Who are the tooth soldiers?

Bankrupt farmers, vagrants, street ruffians, and even surrendered barbarians—they had no land, no family ties, and their only value was the knife in their hands.

They are only loyal to the person who pays them.

Is the imperial court paying wages? It's about loyalty to the imperial court.

The military governor issued a decree? He pledged allegiance to the military governor.

When the military governor was killed by his own troops, a new governor was appointed, and the troops pledged their allegiance to the new governor.

Their loyalty is a continuous transaction.

In their eyes, official positions in the imperial court and the concept of the nation were worthless.

"The Emperor of Chang'an, the soldiers of the Wei court"—this saying reveals the most naked reality.

The constraints on them are not military law, but interests and terror.

Military law has become a dead letter. What keeps this army obeying orders is how much money the commander-in-chief can give them and how ruthless the commander-in-chief is.

If the commander-in-chief is unable to pay, or shows any weakness, the soldiers will not hesitate to launch a mutiny, kill the commander-in-chief's entire family, and elect a new one.

The soldiers' provisions and pay came from direct plunder of the territory under their jurisdiction.

Serving in the military is no longer about defending the country's borders, but about directly participating in the redistribution of social wealth through violence.

In the eyes of warlords, the common people were a source of wealth that they could plunder at will.

After the people were killed and robbed, they fled, the land became barren, taxes were reduced, and the army could no longer plunder.

This creates a devastating vicious cycle.

In order to save his life, the military governor had to constantly bribe this violent group that he could only rely on with benefits.

If he fails to satisfy the army's demands or appears weak, he will be ruthlessly eliminated by his subordinates and replaced with a more ruthless military leader.

At this time, being a military governor had become a high-risk profession. He needed to use violence to exploit the people to support his army, and he also lived in constant fear of the army's backlash.

This is a form of warlordism that has stripped away the veneer of blood ties, warmth, and etiquette, leaving only naked military violence and the exchange of interests.

He wanted to say more, so he finished speaking in one breath, then stopped and spoke again in a complicated tone.

"Please note that I am referring to the middle and late Tang Dynasty."

"The real hell has not yet begun."