Chapter 45 An Empire of Internal and External Troubles

Although Yizong Li Wei was fortunate enough to sit on the throne under the support of eunuchs, Li Tang Tianxia at this time was not so easy to sit on.Although the empire has gained relative peace for more than ten years under the strong governance of Xuanzong Li Chen, various historical evils have not been completely eliminated, at most they have been temporarily covered up.In other words, the superficially stable Dazhong era is not enough to become a big tree that allows future generations to enjoy the shade, but at best it is just a hand holding the spring. When Xuanzong Li Chen's powerful big hand was removed from the spring, the sudden rebound force was destined to shock Yizong Li Wei's weak and weak arm.

Does Li Wei have any mental preparations for this? Sadly, he didn't. He thought he was sitting on a dragon chair of the Taiping Emperor, but unexpectedly it was an extremely hot crater. In December of the thirteenth year of Dazhong, just a few months after Li Wei came to the throne, Qiu Fu, a commoner in eastern Zhejiang, rose up and ignited the first beacon of the peasant uprising in the late Tang Dynasty; The Nanzhao Kingdom, which paid tribute and proclaimed its vassal, suddenly changed its face, dispatched troops to invade the invaders, and fought a protracted war with the Li and Tang Dynasty...

This is the beginning of an era of internal and external troubles. Qiu Fu was a commoner in eastern Zhejiang, at the beginning of the uprising, there were only a hundred or so brothers under his command, but all of them were extremely fierce, and they all had the courage to stand up to ten.Therefore, as soon as Qiu Fu raised the anti-flag, he quickly captured Xiangshan (now Xiangshan County, Zhejiang).The local officers and soldiers repeatedly encircled and suppressed all failed, and even the gates of Mingzhou (now Ningbo City, Zhejiang Province) were closed on all sides during the day.Later, Qiu Fu took advantage of the victory to attack Shan County (now Shengzhou City, Zhejiang Province), and there was a commotion in eastern Zhejiang for a while.

In the first month of the second year, the officers and soldiers sent by Zheng Zhide, the observation envoy of eastern Zhejiang, suffered a disastrous defeat in Tongbaiguan (northwest of Tiantai County, Zhejiang today), and the commander Liu Qing only escaped with his own life.A few days later, Qiu Fu occupied Shan County, opened the treasury, and recruited troops. In just a few days, the team expanded to thousands of people.Frightened, Zheng Zhide hastily recruited 500 recruits to conquer, but was defeated again by Qiu Fu in the west of Shan County. All three generals who led the army were killed, and almost all the troops were wiped out.

Qiu Fu won all the battles, jobless people from all over the world flocked to join him, and the number of rebels quickly increased to 30,000.Qiu Fu cheered up immediately, claiming that the world knows soldiers and horse envoys, established the year name "Luoping", and cast a great seal of "Tianping Kingdom". In late March, the rebellion became more and more rampant, and successively plundered Quzhou, Wuzhou (now Jinhua City, Zhejiang), Taizhou (now Linhai City, Zhejiang), Shangyu and other places, and captured Tangxing (now Tiantai County, Zhejiang), Yuyao, Cixi, Fenghua, Ninghai.Wherever they went, all young and middle-aged people were arrested as strong men, while the old, weak, women and children were mercilessly massacred.

The news of the rebellion in eastern Zhejiang spread to Chang'an, which greatly shocked Yizong Li Wei. Jiangnan is the "money bag" and "granary" of the empire. How could it catch fire? Since the Anshi Rebellion, social production has been seriously damaged due to the continuous war in the northern part of the empire. In addition, the Hebei vassals have been supporting the army and enjoying their own taxation. Therefore, the tax revenue of the empire can only rely on the Jianghuai region.Fortunately, for more than a hundred years, the south of the empire was generally stable, so it was able to support the court's expenses.But right now, Qiu Fu's first rebellion in eastern Zhejiang will undoubtedly break the tranquility of Jiangnan in one fell swoop, and will directly threaten Li and Tang's central government's financial revenue, and the Yizong court will naturally be shocked by it.Seeing that a single spark was about to start a prairie fire, Yizong hurriedly dispatched the former Annan Governor Wangshi to take over as the observation envoy of Eastern Zhejiang, and ordered troops from Zhongwu, Yicheng, and Huainan to be dispatched by him to suppress Qiu Fu's rebellion with all his strength.

Although Wang Shi is a civil servant, he is a man of courage and strategy.It is said that during his tenure as the Protector of Annan, he "deterred Huayi" with his extraordinary courage and talent.Knowing that the imperial court sent Wang Shi to quell the rebellion, Qiu Fu and his party members panicked, and the morale of the army began to slacken.Some people advised him to allocate some troops to attack Fujian and prepare a retreat, while others advised him to stick to the danger and flee to the sea if he couldn't.Qiu Fu listened to it, but still couldn't make up his mind.

In April of this year, Wang Shi arrived in Yuezhou, the governing place in eastern Zhejiang. While rectifying military discipline, he ordered all localities to open warehouses to release grain to help the poor.This approach greatly restored the hearts of the people, and the local people began to support the army, so the situation on the battlefield changed suddenly.Before long, the officers and soldiers won repeated battles and forced to land the rebel generals Hong Shijian, Xu Huineng, Wang Gao and others. In late June, the retreating rebel army was besieged, leaving only an isolated city in Shan County.Seeing that the situation was over, Qiu Fu had no choice but to leave the city and surrender.

In August, Qiu Fu was escorted to the capital and beheaded in Dongshi. At this point, Yizong's hanging heart finally fell to the ground.In November, the imperial court pardoned the world and changed the name to "Xiantong". Although the rampant civil uprising in the southeast was quickly suppressed, at this moment, on the southwestern border of the empire, a larger-scale war was in full swing. This is the war between Nanzhao and Datang. At this time, Yizong certainly would not have expected that this war would not only be huge in scale, but would also last for more than ten years, almost the same as his entire imperial career...

It is said that there is no love without reason in the world, and there is no hate without reason.The reason why Nanzhao suddenly fell out with Datang was certainly not for no reason. Nanzhao was originally attached to Tubo, but since Prime Minister Li Mi implemented the strategy of besieging Tubo during the reign of Emperor Dezong, Nanzhao turned to the Tang Dynasty.Over the years, Nanzhao has paid tribute to the Tang Dynasty every year, and has always abided by the etiquette of being a vassal.Of course, Nanzhao also gained a lot of benefits from Datang. The first benefit is to send overseas students to the Tang Dynasty (the cost of studying abroad is paid by the Tang Dynasty).In the 50 to 60 years since Emperor Dezong, Nanzhao sent thousands of international students to Chengdu to study Tang Dynasty culture every year. The living and learning expenses during this period were all borne by the local government.If this matter had been left in the Tianbao period, the rich and powerful government of the Tang Dynasty would never have frowned, but since the Anshi Rebellion, the economic situation of governments at all levels in the Tang Dynasty has been worse than before, and they almost have to live on their fingers, even if they are a little Spare money must also be ready to deal with contingencies such as wars and famines.It's a good thing now, even if I have to budget carefully and spend every penny in half, but I still have to swell my face to pretend to be fat, and save food and money to support those Southern barbarian children, the local government is naturally full of complaints, so the treatment provided to foreign students is also It's not as good as a year.

Of course, Nanzhao was very unhappy about this.His king, Fengyou, immediately handed over a letter of credence to the Tang Dynasty, threatening to recall all the overseas students back, and the wording was extremely arrogant. In addition to the overseas students, the second benefit Nanzhao got from Datang was paying tribute. It stands to reason that it should be the benefit of the Tang Dynasty that Nanzhao paid tribute to the Tang Dynasty. How could it be the benefit of Nanzhao instead? The reason is simple - the Chinese are a nation that pays attention to courtesy and reciprocity. Since their vassal states came from thousands of miles to pay tribute, the Tang Dynasty, as a great country, naturally also returned the courtesy. Therefore, Nanzhao pays tribute every year, and the Tang Dynasty will greatly reward the missions, and the value of the gifts is much higher than those tributes. Nanzhao tasted the sweetness, and the enthusiasm for "paying tribute" was greatly increased. Everyone rushed to "pay tribute" to the Tang Dynasty, so the number of missions sent to the Tang Dynasty increased year by year.Over time, the Tang government was naturally overwhelmed.In the reign of Emperor Xuanzong, under the suggestion of Xichuan Jiedu envoy Du Ji, the Li Tang court finally greatly reduced the rewards to the Nanzhao tribute missions, and stopped doing loss-making business. King Fengyou of Nanzhao was so angry that he blew his beard and stared again. At the end of the year, he stopped paying tribute and only sent envoys to send a congratulatory form.In the next few years, whether to pay tribute depends entirely on his mood. If he is in a good mood, he will make up some casually. Therefore, at the end of Xuanzong, although the Tang Dynasty and Nanzhao had not yet developed into a state of hostility, the relationship between the two countries was actually on the verge of breaking. In the thirteenth year of Dazhong, Emperor Xuanzong passed away and Emperor Yizong ascended the throne. The Li and Tang courts sent eunuchs to announce the obituary, and notified the vassal states to send envoys to Chang'an to express their condolences.Coincidentally, King Fengyou of Nanzhao also died at this time, but the Tang Dynasty knew nothing about it.As a result, the eunuchs sent to Nanzhao naturally couldn't see their good looks. At this time, the new king of Nanzhao was Fengyou's son Shilong.He glanced at the edict and threw it aside, angrily said to the envoy of the Tang Dynasty: "There are funerals in our country, why didn't the imperial court send people to mourn? Moreover, the name of the former king is written on the edict. This is not an insult to the king." ?" The messenger looked embarrassed and was speechless.Afterwards, Shilong sent the envoy to a simple inn outside the city, and the reception standard was extremely low.The eunuchs were full of grievances, and after returning to Chang'an, they reported the encounter to Yizong in detail. The young and vigorous Yizong Li Wei also became popular when he heard it.He retaliated immediately and resolutely refused to confer on Shilong, that is, he refused to recognize him as the king of Nanzhao.Yizong also gave two reasons for not canonization: 1. Dare not to send envoys to express condolences, which is clearly disrespectful to the imperial court; 2. Shilong's name is a taboo, the word "Shi" is a taboo against Taizong, and the word "Long" is a taboo against Xuanzong, which is obviously a crime of disrespect. Yizong thought that Shilong would obediently bow his head and admit his mistake in order to obtain the title of the imperial court. But he was wrong.The new Nanzhao king was far more stubborn and powerful than he had imagined.Shilong sneered on the day he received the edict from Li Tang's court asking for guilt.Do you think I care about your canonization?If you don't let me be the king, I will be the emperor myself! A few days later, instead of seeing Shilong bowing his head and admitting his mistakes, Yizong received a report that stunned him——Shilong proclaimed himself emperor, the country was named "Dali", the Yuan was changed to "Jianji", and at the same time he sent troops to invade On the border of the Tang Dynasty, Bozhou (now Zunyi City, Guizhou Province) has been captured. The war between Nanzhao and Datang kicked off. In November of the first year of Xiantong (860 A.D.), Annan Governor Li Hu launched a counterattack against the invading Nanzhao army and recovered Bozhou.However, Nanzhao took advantage of the emptiness behind him and sent 30,000 troops to attack Jiaozhi (now Hanoi, Vietnam) under the guidance of the Annan barbarians, and captured it in one fell swoop.Li Wei's back road was copied, so he had to flee to Wu'an (now Haiphong City, Vietnam) in a hurry. In the first month of the second year of Xiantong (861 A.D.), Emperor Yizong issued an edict ordering Yongzhou (Lingnan West Daozhi, today's Nanning City, Guangxi) and neighboring provinces to send troops to rescue Annan and prevent Nanzhao's attack.In June, the imperial court demoted Annan Governor-General Li Wei to Sima of Danzhou on charges of dereliction of duty, and at the same time appointed Yanzhou (now Dingbian County, Shaanxi) defense envoy Wang Kuan as Annan economic envoy. In July, the Nanzhao army captured Yongzhou again. In February of the third year of Xiantong (862 A.D.), Nanzhao committed an offense against Annan again. Wang Kuan was incompetent and wrote letters frequently.Yizong's court had no choice but to change the coach again, and ordered Hunan Observation to make Cai Xi replace Wang Kuan, and urgently mobilized 30,000 soldiers from Zhongwu, Yicheng, Wuning, Xuanwu, Jingnan, Shannan Dongdao, Hunan, and Eyue Badao to Cai. attack command. Seeing that the Tang army was powerful, Nanzhao withdrew temporarily. In November of the same year, Nanzhao assembled 50,000 horses to make a comeback, and captured Jiaozhi again in the first month of the fourth year of Xiantong (863 A.D.).Cai Xi led the crowd to fight, and both left and right died in battle. He was shot by ten arrows and finally died by jumping into the sea. Nanzhao captured Jiaozhi twice, killing and capturing a total of 150,000 Tang troops.Seeing the power of Nanzhao, the barbarians in Annan surrendered one after another.The front line was defeated one after another, and the Li Tang court had to abandon Annan, and ordered all the soldiers stationed in Annan to retreat and retreat to Lingnan West Road. Only a few years after Yizong ascended the throne, the empire's internal and external troubles came one after another, and all people of insight in the ruling and opposition parties were deeply worried about it.However, Yizong Li Kui did not show the slightest sense of urgency, but was immersed in entertainment and banquets every day. Zuo Suiyi Liu Hui went up angrily: "Nowadays the Nanban is invading massively, fighting everywhere, and the world is not at peace. The emperor doesn't look worried in front of everyone, how can he ask the ministers to be loyal to the death? I implore your majesty to reduce entertainment activities, Waiting for peace in all directions and peace of mind, it’s not too late to try to have fun!” However, Yizong Li Wei turned a deaf ear to it. With such a hedonistic emperor on the table, one can imagine the fate of the empire.