Chapter 5381 Dong Zhuo’s Rebellion Begins in Xiliang
Xuanwu nodded: "The distinction between military households, civilian households, and soldiers is also an epoch-making change in the history of the military system. Mr. Baihu, you might as well make it more clear, especially how it evolves today.
, let us also review this process."
Baihu took a deep breath and said: "Before the Three Kingdoms, it was still the unified Han Dynasty. Although it experienced a short period of Wang Mang's new dynasty, it can still be regarded as a unified country for more than four hundred years. It's just that the Eastern Han Dynasty did not
Like the Western Han Dynasty, Chang'an was the capital and there was a powerful Central Army. This was the biggest difference between the two Han Dynasties. It was that the size and combat effectiveness of the Central Army were completely different. This also led to the Eastern Han Dynasty's central government having insufficient suppression power over the local areas and becoming overbearing.
Sitting big, of course, is not just a matter of the military system, but is consistent with a series of basic national policies. Simply put, the Eastern Han Dynasty can be seen as a country that did not restrain powerful landlords. The local grassroots gradually lost control and fell to the
It was in the hands of powerful landowners, or noble landowners, and the Western Han Dynasty was a powerful centralized state. The final reflection of the military system was the difference between having a strong central army and not."
"It is precisely because the central power of the Eastern Han Dynasty was weak and the local powerful forces were strong that the Yellow Turban Uprising was triggered at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty. On the one hand, there were too many people in the world, but the land was basically unchanged, making it difficult to sustain a population of more than 60 million.
, On the other hand, the Taiping Dao of the Yellow Turban Army is itself a powerful landlord wearing a Taoist cloak. The Zhang Jiao brothers are powerful, otherwise they would not be able to preach to the world. Moreover, in the middle..."
Having said this, Bai Hu paused: "I have a vague feeling that there may be the shadow of the Tiandao Alliance behind the scenes. In fact, throughout the dynasties, every few hundred years, there seems to be some major rebellions involving or incited by the Tiandao Alliance.
, because the weapons, food and grass that the rebels needed when they first started were not obtained for free."
Xuanwu nodded: "We will not discuss the Tiandao Alliance for the time being. Sir Baihu will continue to talk about the transformation of the military system in the late Eastern Han Dynasty, from a dynasty with insufficient central army strength to the Three Kingdoms period."
Bai Hu nodded and said sternly: "The military system of the Eastern Han Dynasty is a bit similar to guarding the outside but hiding the inside. There are very few troops around the capital of Luoyang. There are no standing northern and southern armies of tens of thousands or even more than 100,000 in the Western Han Dynasty to defend the capital.
The garrison force may be more than 10,000 people, or even less than 10,000 people. In order to defend against the Xiongnu and Xianbei, Liangzhou in the west always has powerful legions, both numbering in the tens of thousands, in order to defend against the Xiongnu and Xianbei people.
This is an abnormal phenomenon caused by the emptiness of the interior and the strength of the frontier army."
"The Yellow Turban Uprising was a major uprising that took advantage of the chaos and was launched across the country by Taiping Dao. Because of the fast speed of religious preaching, its wide scope, the large number of believers, and the possible participation of some external forces, the uprising quickly expanded.
The scale turned into a chaos that spread across the country, and the imperial court's standing troops, especially the Central Army in the capital, were simply not enough to cope with such a chaos. The Taiping Dao Rebellion quickly expanded, spreading throughout the Central Plains, and even threatening Luoyang.
"
"In such an emergency, on the one hand, the Eastern Han Dynasty quickly recruited troops across the country, transferred field troops back to border counties, and put them under the command of famous generals such as Huangfu Song. On the other hand, it allowed powerful landowners across the country to organize their own counter-insurgency campaigns.
The army, like Liu Bei, Cao Cao, and Sun Jian, recruited volunteers on their own and played a major role in quelling the Yellow Turban Rebellion."
"But after the Yellow Turban Rebellion was put down, the power of the world no longer belonged to the Eastern Han Dynasty. The powerful men from various places who had contributed to the suppression of the rebellion became officials, generals, and leaders of one party, including people like Dong Zhuo.
, he became the governor of Liangzhou and took control of the powerful Liangzhou Army, which became a huge hidden danger later."
Qinglong smiled slightly: "The following is the rebellion of the Shi Changshi. The general He Jin did not know what he thought about. Under Yuan Shao's suggestion, Dong Zhuo's Liangzhou army was sent to Beijing to prepare to kill these Shi Changshi in the palace. As a result,
It led to great chaos in the world. He Jin was killed by Shi Changshi in the palace, while Yuan Shao, Cao Cao and others led the Xiyuan Eighth School Lieutenant Army outside the city. Oh, these Eighth School Lieutenants were the Eastern Han Dynasty regime during the Yellow Turban Rebellion.
They ordered a new army to be formed to prepare to replace the original Central Army of the North and South Army. They brought this army to put down the rebellion of the Ten Constant Ministers, but they were unable to prevent Dong Zhuo, a more ferocious beast, from entering the capital."
Zhuque sighed: "Dong Zhuo's rebellion completely ended the Eastern Han Dynasty. He led troops to the capital, massacred the people, raped the palaces, and deposed the emperor. The authority of the emperor that the Han Dynasty had relied on for four hundred years was gone, and those who were in the Yellow Turbans
The powerful local factions who had obtained official positions during the war, especially the powerful people in the Guandong region, raised troops in the name of attacking Dong Zhuo, and the world completely entered a long-term war. However, from a legal perspective, at this time, the leaders led by Dong Zhuo should
It is an imperial army of an official nature, and the ones led by the various Guandong tycoons are rebels temporarily recruited from the people, you know."
Baihu said solemnly: "Yes, from a military perspective, that's the case. The Liangzhou Legion is a rank of official army. It is recruited from the common people of Liangzhou and various Qiang tribes, and it has to serve for several years.
Then the nature of retirement is the same as that of the official army of the Han Dynasty. Taxes are exempted during the service period, and there is room for rewards and promotions for meritorious service. Dong Zhuo himself also relied on his military exploits in quelling the Yellow Turban Rebellion to sit on this
He is the governor of Liangzhou. However, he is different from other governors of Liangzhou in that he is not content to just stay in the governor's mansion and enjoy it. Instead, he likes to go to various Qiang tribes and interact with those Qiang marshals, chiefs and warriors.
They exchanged the allegiance of these Qiang tribes by drinking, chatting, and even competing in martial arts to form brothers."
"Therefore, the Liangzhou Army was not only the Han people who were recruited normally, but also the Qiang and Di people. In the environment of long-term peace and insufficient military strength in the Eastern Han Dynasty, the troops composed of these alien races were more fierce and cruel. It was Dong Zhuo who dared to lead the troops.
Entering Beijing is where the confidence lies in abolishing the emperor's autocratic power."
Xuanwu raised his eyebrows: "In other words, many of Dong Zhuo's Liangzhou soldiers and horses did not comply with the normal recruitment system of the Eastern Han Dynasty and were recruited from the Qiang people, right?"
Bai Hu nodded: "Yes, originally these Qiang tribes lived in the Western Frontier, thousands of miles away from the Guanzhong area, and further from the Central Plains. It was often impossible to reach the Central Plains, but Dong Zhuo has since brought them in
After entering Guanzhong and even entering the Luoyang area, these Qiang people saw the prosperity and wealth of the Central Plains, and felt that the Central Plains army was vulnerable, so they began to have ideas. This was the origin of Wuhu Luanhua." (End of this chapter)
