Chapter 7 2. FROM ALLIANCE TO EMPIRE

If there is a coincidence in history, then the fate of China and Rome can be said to be similar.Before and after the demise of the Western Jin Dynasty, five ethnic minorities established their own regimes.According to the AD, the order is the Han-Qian Zhao (304 AD) of the Xiongnu, the Hou Zhao (319 AD) of the Jie people, the Qianyan (337 AD) of the Xianbei, the former Qin (351 AD) of the Di people and Later Qin of the Qiang people (384 A.D.).Of course, the Xianbei mentioned here is still the Murong Department. But then came the Tuoba Department. Similarly, before and after the demise of Western Rome, there were five Germanic barbarian states, namely Visigoths (AD 419), Vandals (AD 439), Burgundy (AD 457), Frank (AD 486) and Dongge Special (493 AD).It's almost like reenacting the history of China, but they are just a century late.

Germanic is the Wuhu of Europe. Frank is their Northern Wei Dynasty. In fact, the paths of the two peoples are indeed similar.They all had kingdoms first and then empires, and they all had setbacks when they went to empires.Tuoba's country was destroyed, and Frank fell into division.But by the middle Tang Dynasty in China, the territory of Frank Charlemagne's empire had already included part of today's France, Germany, Holland, Belgium, Austria, Italy and Spain. This is even more shocking than the Northern Wei Dynasty. Other Germanic countries cannot compare with it, including Suevi (Suevi, AD 409) in Spain and Lombard (A.D. 568) in Italy.In fact, only Frank was the real new force in the broken Roman world.This power was historical, not national, and was destined to give rise to two more empires: France and Germany.

Franks can be proud. What is even more worthy of their pride is that the Franks did not proclaim themselves emperors like Tuoba Gui or Liu Yuan, Shi Le, and Fu Jian before them, but were authorized by God through his agents.Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne on Christmas Day 800 AD and bestowed on him the title of Augustus. This incident aroused strong dissatisfaction from the Eastern Roman Emperor, because in his opinion he was the only heir to the imperial line, not to mention that the title of the first king of Frank was conferred by the Roman Emperor.But by 814 A.D., Byzantium also had to recognize the title of Emperor Charles, just as the Chinese Han scholar-officials who advocated that "there is no two suns in the sky, and there are no two kings in man", had to admit that the Northern Wei Dynasty was also a dynasty.

How similar it is to Nell! Tuoba Gui of the Franks was called Clovis, and he was originally the chief of the Salic Franks, just like Tuoba Gui was the leader of the Tuoba Xianbei.Clovis even moved his capital from Soissons to Paris, just as Tuoba Gui moved his capital from Niuchuan to Pingcheng, although they did not discuss it with each other. But their historical mission is the same, that is to transform a barbaric tribe into a civilized country.The same is true for the practical problem they face, that is how to reward and appease those brothers who follow them to fight in the country.After all, whether Clovis or Tuobagui, they all seized power and territory by force.

Clovis's solution was to divide the land among the soldiers, courtiers and bishops, which did not cost him too much.Because these lands originally belonged to the Roman royal family and the Roman treasury, he confiscated them, so he didn't need to pay for them himself. Such generosity, of course, satisfied the military nobles, and even won the favor of the bishops in Gaul.However, this completely private gift of land finally made the kingdom ashamed.So after two hundred years, Frank had to give birth to his own outstanding reformer and create a new system. The reformer was named Charles Martel.

Charlie Matt's method is to turn the reward into a transaction.Vassals can acquire land, called fiefs.But the condition is that you must fulfill your obligations and perform military service.Fiefdoms can be divided into layers, but not hereditary.After the vassal died, the lord took it back.If the descendants of vassals want to inherit, they must re-register and make new contributions. This is called fief system. The main beneficiaries of the fief system were the knights, and thus the knight class was born.Relying on the knights to fight the enemy bravely, Charles Martel defeated the Arabs and made the Frankish Kingdom a barrier against the infiltration of Islamic civilization into Europe.He himself also received the title "Matt", which means hammer.

The feudal system was born at the same time as the fiefdom system. Feudalism is also inevitable.Because after the collapse of the Roman Empire and civilization, all living beings who have lost their backbone can no longer rely on the committee, and can only rely on layers of people who are stronger than themselves.This formed the feudal relationship, and the fiefdom system, which was divided into layers, became the actual support of this relationship. Frank finally became a feudal empire. However, this solution is unlikely to be Tuobagui's choice.Because the feudal system was invented by the Zhou people as early as 1,500 years ago, and was completely abolished by Qin Shihuang 600 years ago.Tuobagui's path can only be one step from the tribal alliance to the empire era, and quickly complete the transition from barbarism to civilization.

Too bad it's not easy. We know that the Tuoba tribe of Xianbei, who lived on nomadism and plundering, was originally a loose tribal alliance.The real power in the alliance is the chiefs (ministers) of the tribes.These guys are like the bosses of various underworld gangs. They have many horsemen and younger brothers under them, and they don't think the king is meaningful.Even if there is, it is only the chairman of the bandit joint meeting, who can take turns to sit in the village. It was this group of people that Tuoba Gui had to deal with. But first you have to pay and appease.Tuobagui's method was to establish a "ban reward" system, whereby the king rewarded livestock and slaves according to their rank and military exploits, which was actually the legalization and institutionalization of the distribution of loot.Therefore, although the amount of reward was not large, order was established, which took the first step.

The second step is to take advantage of Xianbei people's ignorance of politics, employ a large number of Han intellectuals as civil servants, and set up Taixue to worship Confucius after moving the capital to Pingcheng.This won the favor of the ruled nation, and also gave Tuoba Gui confidence.He even said to the Xianbei generals: Where there are people, there is a country, where can't you be a king?The meaning is also very clear: don't think that I cannot do without your support. At the same time, agriculture increasingly replaced animal husbandry and became the economic lifeline of the Northern Wei Dynasty.Perhaps, this is the most critical step.In fact, if a people's mode of production changes from nomadism to farming, they must accept or establish civilization.Gone are the days when you can eat wherever you go. As a responsible husband and father, you have to consider real estate certificates and refrigerators.

Tuoba Gui decided to move the capital. The transfer took place in AD 398, three years after the Roman Empire was divided.Prior to this, Tuobagui had captured Bingzhou, captured Zhongshan (the capital of Houyan), and owned a large area of ​​land north of the Yellow River.In this vast land, it is obviously inappropriate to continue the tribal alliance system of the nomadic era. The time has come to build a great farming empire. Tuoba Gui made a bold move.He moved 500,000 conquered Houyan officials and craftsmen into Pingcheng and Gyeonggi, and distributed land according to household registration.The tribes of Tuoba also migrated here, and then disbanded on the spot and settled in the land.Those who manage these areas and subjects will no longer be the chiefs of the tribes, but the officials of the imperial court.The masters of the various ministries who originally occupied the mountain as kings became the registered households of Qimin in the Northern Wei Dynasty.

In other words, the chiefs have become ordinary people. As for the horse boys under the gang leaders, of course, they were also nationalized just like the chief's command over the tribesmen.They became the troops directly under the monarch of the Northern Wei Dynasty and were formed into a national army that was both brave and good at fighting and obeyed the central government. This is Tuobagui's "tribal disbandment policy".This policy has never been seen in the Five Hu and Sixteen Countries before. At the end of the year, Tuoba Gui proclaimed himself emperor. Calling himself emperor is well-deserved.In fact, when Tuobagui moved his capital to Pingcheng, the transition from alliance to empire was irreversible.Afterwards, the Northern Wei Dynasty will stumble forward.However, it is a road paved with thorns, and one after another will fall along the way, including Han people and Hu people, reformers and conservatives, as well as their emperors, and even Tuobagui himself.

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Notes: Volume one hundred and ten, Fan Wenlan. , Jian Bozan's "Outline of Chinese History", (Japanese) Kawamoto Yoshiaki's "The Collapse and Expansion of China Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties".