|Miscellaneous Talks of Guiyi Army/Thursday Update/Zhu Shu (Written by)|
No matter which family or surname controls the regime of Guiyi Army, it is essential to have a title. Fewer: Jiedushi.
The Hexi states centered on Gua and Sha were liberated from the Tubo people by Zhang Yichao with the help of his family. During this period, there was no intervention from the central dynasty of the Central Plains. This also just shows that for a long time, the power of the Central Plains dynasty, or the traditional Han government, has not been able to penetrate deep into the Hetao, and all policies can only be maintained by the Guiyi army.
So since the establishment of the Guiyi Army, this regime has fallen into a quagmire surrounded by aliens. It faces constant squeeze and intrusion, mixed with the strife and changes of power within the regime. These are the only requirements that the leading group of the Guiyi Army must have more exclusive and centralized authority than the princes of the Central Plains.
The title Jiedushi can perfectly solve the problem of full-time integration for the Guiyi Army: since the Tang Dynasty, Jiedushi has been able to control military and political power in the local area and is almost independent of outsiders. A hat that the leader of the Guiyi Army must hold in his hand.
So we will see that in addition to the successful Zhang Yichao, whether it is Zhang Huaishen, Suo Xun or Zhang Huaiding, they have tried their best to seek justice from the Tang court throughout their lives, even at the expense of making some concessions on the territory of Hexi. . Later, the Zhang family was so obsessed with the desire for the power represented by the Jiedushi that Zhang Chengfeng wanted to establish his own country and proclaim himself emperor, so as to avoid the pain of repeatedly praying to the Central Plains for blessings, and built the two states of Guasha. A more localized dedicated group.
This was a path that could be tried. Unfortunately, Zhang Chengfeng made a failed attempt.
Not only did the Guiyi Army fail to successfully get rid of the influence of the Central Plains Dynasty by forming an independent body, but they infinitely weakened their own strength after repeated military mistakes, and had to rely more on turning to the Central Plains. The embrace of a great dynasty - this was exactly the first thing the Cao family, the successors of the Guiyi Army, did after the fall of the Dunhuang Kingdom in the Western Han Dynasty.
The specific process of Cao Rengui's statue of Cao's replacement is still a mystery. It is only known that from the fall of Jinshan Kingdom, the Guiyi Army entered the "Cao Family's Guiyi Army Era"
After the defeat After being given to the Ganzhou Uighurs, the Dunhuang Kingdom of the Western Han Dynasty represented by Zhang Chengfeng quickly collapsed due to a precipitous drop in prestige.
When the Cao family took over the power of the weakened Zhang family, they found that the Guiyi Army in front of them was a complete mess: Although the Jinshan Kingdom had been destroyed, the Guiyi Army and the Ganzhou Uighurs There is still a "father-son relationship" between them. As soon as this embarrassing vassal bond is unsolved, the Guiyi Army will always live in the shadow of fear of the Uighurs; and the continuous wars and defeats of the wars have consumed Shazhou's military and economic power, even if Cao Rengui, the head of the Cao family and the founder of Cao's Guiyi Army, is unable to break the current deadlock on his own.
Fortunately, he still has lessons to learn from the past, which is to learn from the Zhang family's early routine: be a licking dog honestly, bow to the Central Plains, and ask for the title of Jiedushi , and then used the power of the central dynasty to intimidate the surrounding Xiaoxiao, and win breathing space for the Guiyi army.
At that time, the Tang Dynasty was finished, and the most "orthodox" and powerful dynasty in the Central Plains was the Later Liang Dynasty founded by Zhu Wen.
In order to change the feuding situation between the Jinshan Kingdom and the Central Plains, Cao Rengui immediately downgraded the Jinshan Kingdom to the Guiyi Army after he came to power in 914 AD. This means that he temporarily acts as the agent for the internal affairs of the Guiyi Army vassal town, and shows weakness to Hou Liang.
Subsequently, when the Central Plains was still in chaos and many princes did not recognize the Hou Liang court, Cao Rengui, who was far away in Dunhuang, immediately identified the Hou Liang as the successor of the Tang Dynasty, and wrote in "A Vow" "Wen" and "The Record of Merits" wildly praised the emperors and ministers of the Later Liang Dynasty: "The Emperor of the Liang Dynasty will rule the world forever, and he is willing to shine on the border, and his kindness will never stagnate."; "Dedicate."
After doing all this, Cao Rengui planned to send his envoy to Kaifeng of the Houliang Dynasty as soon as possible to ask the Houliang court for the post of Jiedu envoy of the Guiyi Army.
Later Liang Dynasty during the Five Dynasties
However, on this road to Beijing to seek festivals, Cao Rengui still had to overcome three difficulties: First, he wanted to go east to the Central Plains and return to the Central Plains. The rebel army must obtain the approval of its "father", the Uighur Khan of Ganzhou; secondly, the road going east at that time from Dunhuang had to pass through Lingzhou, which was under the jurisdiction of Shuofang Jiedushi. Will Shuofang Jiedushi Han Zhu meet? Whether they will be allowed to pass is a variable; the third difficulty is the Momo people and the Western Qiang tribes who are looting everywhere along the way.
Unexpectedly, the first difficulty that Cao Rengui was most worried about actually collapsed at the very beginning: Ganzhou Uighur Khan (guessed to be Tianmu Khan recognized by the Tang Dynasty) was not Knowing what considerations he had, he actually directly agreed to Cao Rengui's request to go to the Central Plains as an envoy.
Facing the second difficulty, Cao Rengui adopted the same strategy as he did with Hou Liang: licking.
When Cao Rengui's mission marched eastward for the first time in 916 AD, they took with them a set of eight documents, "Quanzhi Guiyi Army Jiedu Soldiers and Horses Remaining Envoy Cao Yijin" ( That is, "Cao Rengui"), which is equivalent to a self-report document submitted by Cao Rengui to the Later Liang Dynasty. However, in this set of documents submitted to the Later Liang Dynasty, there are a lot of praises for "a certain Xianggong". For example, the fourth "Farewell Paper" writes about this Xianggong: "He was born between Luwang. Walking high in the gentry... share the worries of the Holy Lord, the dragon banner holds the festival; the prayers of the common people, the chicken tree rests again." And the seventh item is also called "Farewell Paper": "I wish to entrust the good of the family. "" and other words are Cao Rengui's praise and expectations for the Prime Minister of the Later Liang Dynasty.
According to the third document in this set of documents: "Send the (Guiyi Army) back to the west... and Zeluotian (the imperial court) to the west." It is speculated that this Xianggong was stationed to the east of the Guiyi Army and to the west of the Later Liang Court. ; According to the seventh item: "Its river Shuo is adjacent to the border", it is straightforward and clear. These words of praise were given to Shuofang Jiedushi who blocked the mission's only way.
As for why it is called Xianggong, it is because Shuofang Jiedushi was added to Tongping Zhangshi and had the same position as prime minister. Therefore, according to the custom followed in the Tang Dynasty, he can be called "Xiangong".
Shuofang Jiedu Envoy’s Territory
The first two difficulties that were the most difficult to solve, Cao Rengui’s mission successfully passed by relying on luck and a set of documents from Cao Rengui, but But they never expected that they would fall into the last difficulty: in 916, when the mission overcame the difficulties all the way and arrived at the border of Liangzhou in the east, they were robbed by a group of Momo people due to negligence.
Although the members of the mission successfully escaped, the road to the east was blocked, and they had to return to Dunhuang with their unfinished tasks and the set of documents written by Cao Rengui. This set of documents was later unearthed in the Dunhuang Scripture Cave, which fully proved that the first mission did not arrive in Kaifeng.
If it doesn’t work the first time, try again. The failure of the first tribute did not dampen Cao Rengui's determination. He soon sent another mission to the east in the spring and summer of the fourth year of Zhengming: just like the last time, the Uighurs and Shuofang Jiedu and others did not embarrass the mission, and with the lessons learned from the last time, the mission successfully avoided the marauding Qingqi this time, and finally successfully arrived at Liangting in Kaifeng within the year.
The journey from west to east was full of difficulties. The only new belief that supported the mission through all these difficulties was to bring back a banner of Jiedushi - yes, they have succeeded now They arrived in Kaifeng and submitted the paperwork, but could they really succeed in getting the certificate?
Unfortunately, we do not know the outcome of this difficult search for justice, because there is no record in the history books whether the Later Liang Dynasty awarded Cao Rengui the title of Jiedu Envoy. However, judging from the existing resources, Kaifeng may have disappointed Cao Rengui, who had longed for it.
Hou Liang did not completely ignore the good intentions of the Guiyi Army. There is a sentence in the poem "Wang Jiangnan" written at that time: "A few years apart, the court ceremony was lost... Xin'en surrendered to the fortress." From this, it can be inferred that after meeting the envoys, Hou Liang also sent an envoy to the Guiyi Army. Expressing reward, Cao Rengui was given a title of "favored high grade", which may mean that he was given an honorary official position such as a senior prose official, from Doctor Yinqing Guanglu to Doctor Zijin Guanglu.
However, there is no mention of Cao Rengui's request for Jiedushi in either the song "Wang Jiangnan" or the document written by Cao Rengui.
Not only that, another evidence that the Later Liang Dynasty did not grant Cao Rengui the opportunity to return to the rebel army is that until the Later Tang Dynasty, we can still see Cao asking for a banner from the Later Tang Dynasty, and in the documents sent to the Later Tang Dynasty Ren Ran signed "Quan Zhi Guiyi Army Jiedu soldiers and horses left behind, Shazhou Governor", and did not claim to be the title of Guiyi Army Jiedu Envoy or anything like that.
Later Tang Dynasty
In addition, the fact that Cao Rengui was named Jiedushi appeared for the first time in history books. It was also published in the history books of Later Tang Dynasty, and there was a special book on this matter. , without any hesitation.
The nominal control of the Hetao border is undoubtedly a blessing to the reputation of the Central Plains Dynasty. Since the Later Tang Dynasty will not obscure this matter, we have no reason to believe that the Later Liang Dynasty will not record similar events.