Research On The Relationship Between Hezhong Town And The Central Committee In The Tang And Five Dynasties

Hezhong region was a link between the two capitals of Tang Dynasty.The establishment time of Hezhong prefecture was second only to Jingzhao prefecture and Henan prefecture.Hezhong town was also one of the earliest military governors established in the interior of china during the An-Shi Rebellion,which reflected that the Tang government attached great importance to the status of Hezhong.The academic research on Hezhong town mainly focuses on the aspects of salt politics,history and geography,and literati communication,etc.,while the research on the relationship of political,military and economic between Hezhong town and the central government in the Tang Dynasty is very few.And this kind of research about Five Dynasties has not been found.During the period of Tang and Five Dynasties,as a military governor near to the capital which had a close relationship with the central government,Hezhong town had a special position in the historical period.Further research on it is helpful to further understand the relationship between local and central government,and to explore some characteristics of the military governor system in this historical period.As a military governor near to the capital,Hezhong town played an important role as a military barrier for the central government of the Tang Dynasty.In the early stage of pacifying the An-Shi Rebellion,when there was no military governor in Hezhong region,Hezhong was actively ordered to go to war,which played a positive role in recovering the two capitals.After the An-Shi Rebellion,the Shuo Fang Army led by Guo Ziyi stationed in Hezhong.During the 15 years,the army in Hezhong diapatched troops many times to help central government suppress rebellions of the military governor and maintain the rule of the Tang Dynasty.Not only that,Guo Ziyi also led troops into the northwest of capital for many times,effectively resisting many attacks of Tubo,really played an important role in defending the capital and maintaining the rule of the Tang Dynasty.After Huang Chao's uprising army captured Chang An,Hezhong town took the lead in advocating the troops of all the military governors to lay siege to the uprising army,and made a big contribution to the war of annihilating the rebel forces and recovering Chang An.Hezhong town maintained the rule of Tang in terms of military,at the same time,there were also several military actions against the central government,which mainly refered to the five dynasties of Pugu Huai' en.Li Huaiguang and Li Shouzhen etc.Although the duration was not long,it made a big difference.The central government realized the necessity of strengthening the control of Hezhong town,thus took some effective measures.Finally,the process of centralization of the Hezhong town was established in the time of Tang Dezong.As for Li shouzhen's rebellion during the Five Dynasties period,it was only a minor episode and did not affect the long-term control of the central government over Hezhong town.With the reign of the later Tang Dynasty tottering,the rebellion of the military governors arose one after another.Two of the most powerful military blocs,namely Zhu Quanzhong and Li keyong group,fought fiercely for the importantly strategic location of Hezhong.Finally,Zhu Quanzhong took control of the Hezhong region,thus established his military superiority in the early Five Dynasties during the antagonism of the Liang and Jin Dynasties.During the Later Jin,Later Han and Later Zhou Dynasties,the military status of Hezhong town declined,and its military importance was mainly reflected in controlling the military governors in northwest.The political relationship between Hezhong town and the central government is complicated,because there are contradictions between the central government and the Hezhong town,between eunuchs and the military executives,and between Hezhong town and other military governors.Overall,from the establishment of Hezhong town to the Tang Yizong period,it had a close political relationship with the central government of Tang,and once played an important political role,which even related to the stability of the central government of Tang Dynasty.Except for a few special periods,most of the military executives in Hezhong town were able to obey the orders of the central government.From the beginning of Tang Muzong,the military governors rebelled one after another.There was a trend towards independence.Since Hezhong was a military governor near to the capital,the central government had strict control over it,so its trend of independence appeared relatively late compared with other military governors.It was not until Wang Chongrong in the late Tang Dynasty that Hezhong began to become independent.The dispute between the central government and Wang Chongrong over salt interests was a reflection of this change in political relations.In the Five Dynasties period,because the central government vigorously promoted the policy of crippling military governors to weaken the strength of them,the relationship between the Hezhong and the central government,except for the period of Li shouzhen,most of the military executives maintained a relatively harmonious relationship with the central government.However,in the Five Dynasties period,there was a strong trend of transforming from military executive to military official,which made the political stability of this period worse.Among the 23 military executives in Hezhong,there were only 2 civilian officials,which led to more internal wars in the town compared with other periods.It was basically consistent with the situation of other military governors in the same period.