[End of Huang Chao]
There are many folk opinions about Huang Chao's fate, which can be roughly divided into two schools, one is the "Death School" and the other is the "Poetry and Distance School".
The "Death Sect" Huang Chao did indeed die in Langhu Valley, and his head was taken out by Lin Yan. However, there are two branches within the "Death Sect". One, as recorded in official history, Huang Chao committed suicide and asked Lin Yan to take his own head to claim the reward; the other branch believed that Huang Chao died because of a plot by Lin Yan.
The "Poetry and Distant School" insisted that Huang Chao was not dead, saying that Lin Yan had just 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 still left a poem "Self-Inscribed Portrait" Poetry, cloud:
"I remember when I was flying on the grass, wearing iron clothes and monk robes.
There is no one on the Tianjin Bridge. I am leaning against the railing to watch the sunset. "
The theory of "Lin Yan's conspiracy" is somewhat difficult to implement in practice. Huang Chao himself was highly skilled in martial arts, good at swordsmanship, and had excellent archery skills. Moreover, Lin Yan was carrying the heads of seven Huang Chao brothers. If you insist that Lin Yan got them all drunk...
As for "poetry and distance", it can only be said to be a romantic feeling of people. Not only did Huang Chao have such beautiful sustenance, but there were also similar legends after Li Zicheng's death. People seemed unwilling to believe that such legendary figures would die in such a simple way, but were more willing to believe that they would escape pursuit, escape into Buddhism, see through the world of mortals, and even meet the emperor in private in a Zen temple a few years later. People know each other's true identity but tacitly agree not to reveal it, and then they talk and laugh happily...
There are many folk legends about Huang Chao, and they basically belong to the category of feudal superstition, so this book will not adopt them.
Legend has it that Huang Chao looks extremely ugly, with a wide mouth and eight layers of teeth...unless Huang Chao has shark blood. According to common sense reasoning, Huang Chao's teeth should be rugged and crooked. From rumors to legend, it turns out that he has eight layers of teeth and is born to eat people.
People simply believe that a hero should have thick eyebrows and big eyes, a traitor should have a sharp mouth and monkey cheeks, and a bandit should have a pockmarked face...
Huang Chao's appearance is probably not that good. Some people said that he failed the ranking because he was ugly. I disagree with this, because we have already read his masterpieces before, and he failed the list based on his strength.
Can a person who is extremely ugly (eight-layered teeth) still find a scapegoat who looks similar? If you can hide it from Shi Pu, you can hide it from Li Shiyue, how can you still hide it from Shang Rang?
There is no doubt that what is hanging outside Chengdu is the authentic original Huang Chao head. It was simply impossible for Lin Yan to steal and change things.
In addition, I would like to mention one more thing about the controversy about the place of Huang Chao's death. Langhu Valley, there is no objection to this. The point of dispute is where the Langhu Valley is today.
Many existing information will show that "Langhu Valley, today's Laiwu City, Shandong Province". As mentioned above, this book is set 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 area under the jurisdiction of Jinan City. "Laiwu City" has become a historical term. The original Laiwu City was merged into Jinan City as "Laiwu District" and "Gangcheng District".
Therefore, all printed and published materials before 2019 must be shown to be within the territory of Laiwu City, and after that, we must be more rigorous and say that it is within the territory of Jinan City. As a Jinan native, I must fight for this honor.
The largest civil uprising in the late Tang Dynasty, the "Huang Chao Uprising" came to an end. This civil uprising hollowed out the body of the Tang Dynasty.
First, there was severe trauma, which led to a surgical reshuffle of the Tang dynasty's feudal towns.
The warlords in emerging vassal towns are either "remnants of the nest party" (such as Zhu Wen of Bianzhou) or the consequences of mutiny (such as Xuzhou Shipu and Caizhou Qin Zongquan). They are alienated from the imperial court; while the only remaining old vassal towns (such as Gaopian) are hostile to the imperial court. It's also a coincidence.
The situation of separatist vassal towns initially took shape after the "An-Shi Rebellion", but worsened sharply and reached its peak after the "Huangchao Uprising".
The power of the vassal town was strengthened during the crusade against the "Huangchao Uprising", while the power of the central government was weakened. The trend of “strong local governments and weak central government” has become increasingly 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".
Second, there were fatal internal injuries.
The "Huangchao Uprising" triggered a fierce power struggle within the imperial court, and the political struggle following the "Niu-Li Party Struggle" revived and became more intense.
Objectively speaking, overt and covert struggles among vested interest groups have always existed, and the "Huang Chao Uprising" only played a catalytic role.
The struggle between the scholar-official group and the eunuch group, such as Wang Duo vs. Tian Lingzi; the struggle within the scholar-official group, such as Lu Xie vs. Zheng Tian; the struggle within the eunuch group, such as Tian Lingzi vs. Yang Fuguang; the struggle between the imperial court and local governments, Such as Tang Xizong VS Gao Pian; the struggle between localities, such as Gao Pian VS Zhou Bao...
At this point, the results of Wuzong's "Huichang Zhongxing" and Xuanzong's "Dazhong Rule" were finally completely consumed by the unremitting efforts of Yizong and Xizong. The Tang Dynasty no longer had any hope of being revived, and its demise was a foregone conclusion.
Times make heroes. Huang Chao induced and catalyzed the internal strife in the Tang Dynasty, and also benefited from the internal strife in the Tang Dynasty. The two complemented each other and caused each other.
Since the Huangchao uprising, Song Wei and Liu Jurong have successively invaded the enemy, causing the Grass Army to regenerate; the prime ministers have fought for power and repeatedly dismissed the military power of powerful generals; Gao Pian not only supported the bandits' self-respect, but also wanted to use the Grass Army to threaten the imperial court; local feudal towns The two sides took advantage of the chaos to merge...
Therefore, Huang Chao's ability to occupy Chang'an and claim the title of emperor was mainly due to the dim political field in the late Tang Dynasty. Even if there are no yellow nests, there will be green nests and red nests.
Huang Chao is not a chess player, just a chess piece. It was history that chose him, he did not change history.
But he also has a chance to change history.
Chenzhou is the opportunity given to him by history. However, Huang Chao is really not worthy of the word "hero", and his feelings eventually harmed him.
If Huang Chao did not fight against Chenzhou, but took a detour home, carried forward the glorious tradition of the Grass Army exchanging space for time, and continued the strategic thinking of "quasi-mobile warfare" and "quasi-guerrilla warfare", it would still be possible for him to make 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 and ten months in Chenzhou! During this period, the Tang Dynasty took time to heal its wounds and gained precious respite.
If there were emoticons at that time, Tang Xizong would definitely send Huang Chao a GIF of Liu Huaqiang humiliating Feng Biao, "I gave you a chance, but you're useless!"
