When Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty first ascended the throne, he made great efforts to govern like an eternal emperor. Under his governance, he created the prosperity of Kaiyuan. However, when Xuanzong came to power in the middle and late Tang Dynasty, the once diligent and wise monarch disappeared and became a fatuous monarch who was content with the status quo and indulged in pleasure.
No matter from the national politics or personal life, what Tang Xuanzong did was undoubtedly the reason for the decline of the prosperous times. After Yang Guifei entered the palace, she indulged in debauchery every day. At that time, thousands of people in the palace were waiting on Yang Guifei's clothes, so it was reasonable that this absurd behavior of spending money like water caused people's dissatisfaction.
It's better up and down. The following people are more corrupt than one, and then Tang Xuanzong, who has no intention of governing the country, made a big mistake in employing people. The emperor became fatuous, but it happened that Li, the prime minister, was also a treacherous yes-man. He was responsible for pleasing the emperor and excluding dissidents.
In order to consolidate his position, Li pushed the Anshi Rebellion to the position of our time. It can be said that the outbreak of the Anshi Rebellion was also closely related to him. But apart from Xuanzong's personal factors, there must be hidden dangers in other aspects of the Tang Dynasty.
At that time, the economic structure of the Tang Dynasty changed from small-scale peasant land ownership to big landlord land ownership, and princes and nobles chose to annex land to expand their manors. Rich and powerful people are getting richer and richer, and those who have no money and no power are humiliated, and the polarization between the rich and the poor is extremely serious.
Only by constantly improving the land ownership of small farmers can the country and society maintain long-term stability. If we have to destroy this system, only two things will happen. One is that powerful people struggle because of uneven interests, and the other is that farmers resist powerful forces.
Once these situations happen, it will inevitably lead to the overall decline of national productivity, so the decline of the country is an inevitable result. If corrected in time, it may be restored to its original state, but it may also lead to irreversible decline. The Tang Dynasty is the most vivid example.
In the early Tang Dynasty, when the "land equalization system" was popularized and implemented, almost everyone in the Tang Dynasty had land. As long as they are willing to work, they will gain something. Only in this way can people live and work in peace and contentment. However, in the later period of Wu Zetian's rule, corrupt dignitaries watched this prosperity and greed rose sharply.
Originally, the country's land was distributed to tens of millions of farmers in Qian Qian, but the income of the rich and powerful people was not enough to support their luxurious life, so they reached out to the farmers' land. Once a person has tasted the sweetness, it is difficult to stop. Coupled with people's convergence psychology, this kind of land merger behavior soon spread throughout the country.
From princes to officials to landlords and wealthy businessmen, everyone is committed to annexing land. Powerful people rely on power, and rich people rely on wealth. For example, Prime Minister Li occupied hundreds of hectares of fertile land, but Tang Xuanzong was not surprised by this, but praised it as "Tada Weng".
Those farmers have no land to plant after their land is taken away, so they can only live a wandering life, and a few lucky people can find jobs to make a living. At that time, there was a saying to describe this very serious social problem: "If you register today, you will escape halfway", which shows how bad the impact of land merger is.
Even Buddhism in its heyday was annexing a lot of land to build temples. It seems that the emperor in the middle Tang Dynasty was using Buddhism to rule the people, but in fact it was used by Buddhism to become the best propaganda means of his faith, thus obtaining more incense money.
After the land equalization system was destroyed, the system of officers and men could not be discussed. After the court found that there were no soldiers to pay, it abolished the system and replaced it with a recruitment system. As a result, the national defense force is seriously inadequate, and An Lushan's status as an envoy is even higher, with growing ambitions.
The ignorance of the emperor, the corruption of the imperial platform, the weakness of troops and the crisis of the Tang Dynasty all provided opportunities for An Lushan's rebellion. People have been extremely disappointed in the regime of the Tang Dynasty, and An Lushan won the loyalty of many people with a little affection.
The "prosperity" in the prosperous era of Kaiyuan is more about the luxurious life of these rich and powerful businessmen, which is essentially different from the chastity rule of all the people. The rule of Kaiyuan seems to be the peak prosperity of the Tang Dynasty since the founding of the People's Republic of China, but in fact, there are already many holes behind the prosperity.
The big landlords annexed land crazily, but Tang Xuanzong didn't care about it, which was the root cause of the Anshi Rebellion.
References:
A new probe into the causes of Anshi rebellion
Analysis on the Causes of Anshi Rebellion
Why is there a crisis in the prosperous times?
author
A hundred rivers flow, I would like to be a historian and write about China for five thousand years.