An Lushan revolt: minus 36 million people
Against the emperor
The end of 40-x - the beginning of the 50-s of the eighth century for China was not easy. The problems that have arisen among the people not through the fault of the "upper", these very "upper" only exacerbated. Not only were the taxes raised, so the famine was caused by natural disasters and floods in the 754 year. But the government looked at the problems of its subjects, to say the least, through our fingers. He had more important concern - the imperial army (it’s also the borderline) began to embrace discontent. And his reasons were rooted in the house of the sovereign, where squabbles and intrigues always reigned.
The main striking force in the imperial army was equestrian riflemen and latniks. And around them was a huge swarm of various auxiliary "brigades": infantry, attendants, commissaries, a wagon train. All these people made up the army. And with the exception of drummers, there was little use of them on the battlefield. More precisely, they were inefficient units, needed only to serve elite warriors. But without them it was impossible to do. After all, the squads and arrows did not bother to care for their horses, weaponsand also did not provide themselves with food. This was explained by the fact that soldiers should always be rested and ready for battle. Otherwise, in the event of a battle, they will not be able to pull a tight bow string or swing a sword. And in the conditions of the battles of the eighth century, most often, the outcome of the battle was decided by a single episode in which the drummers needed to invest all their accumulated forces. Simply put, the Chinese army was a complex mechanism, where some could not exist without others. And while all remained unhappy with each other, and most of all - the government.
It must be said that in those days most of the patrons and horse riflemen were representatives of various nomadic peoples, of which there was plenty in northern China. They entered the imperial army, pursuing selfish goals - the soldiers were eager for victories and wealth. But ... despite the courage, the Chinese army more and more often began to fail. Nomads began to resent, because it was not for this that they came to the service of the emperor. The soldiers could not blame the military leaders for defeats, because they too were nomads, which means they were their own. Another thing is Chinese officials from the capital. They are completely alien people, living as if in a parallel world. Due to the loss of a sense of reality, the government severely restricted career development for nomadic mercenaries. At most, they were trusted in positions in the border army, and they were not allowed to take up high posts in the provinces. It painfully beat the vanity of proud steppe men. Therefore, they regarded the ruling elite and the entire imperial court with hostility. In general, repeated story the end of the seventh century, when the Turkic mercenaries simply took and left the imperial army. But that incident was long forgotten and did not remember the tops of the lesson.
The imperial army was located near the capital of the Tang dynasty. Here was the guard. Only the natives of their aristocratic families of China, who at one time became allies of the Tang dynasty, served in it. This army was large and well-armed, but all the advantages were questioned by one serious drawback - the guards had practically no combat experience. Therefore, as an assistant, the Northern Army was located near it, which was more often called the “Army of Fathers and Sons”. This name was a thing of the past when Emperor Taizong, with the help of his supporters, managed to take the throne in 619. Then this army was made up of the sons of those veterans. In general, it was the Northern Army that played the decisive role in all palace intrigues. It depended on the success or failure of the next coup.
In addition to these enormous forces, China had a cavalry bodyguard recruited from slaves and prisoners of war. But this army belonged to the powerful Li family and, accordingly, acted solely in the interests of their masters.
And closer to the middle of the eighth century, this whole armed fraternity began to doubt the current emperor and his political course. Discontent began as early as the beginning of the 30s, when the ruler ordered several commanders to commit suicide at once, since, in his opinion, they demanded an undeserved advance along the career ladder. Then the riot was avoided and the matter was somehow hushed up. But at any opportunity the emperor was remembered by those events.
Poured oil on the fire and the Tibetan front, where the Chinese army was heavily stalled. All this led to the fact that the government sent the Northern Army there. The soldiers, accustomed to intrigues and fighting the internal enemy, in fact, for the first time found themselves face to face with the external enemy. Naturally, despite their numbers and weapons, they could not break the Tibetans. The emperor and his entourage understood the weakness of the Chinese troops, who could defeat the army of slaves or withstand the defense of the fortress. But they could not fight against maneuverable and experienced opponents, unlike the same steppe inhabitants. Therefore, the brewing conflict, which affected all the numerous troops, frightened the elderly ruler Xuan-tsung. He, by and large, did not see because of the fear of getting out of the current situation, and therefore, he tightened the loop on his own neck only stronger. Xuan Zong tried to hide behind his favorite - Yang Gui-Fei - and trusted her to solve the most pressing issues. But she acted not as a tactician and strategist, but as a peasant who unexpectedly gained more power. Therefore, Yang at the highest positions arranged their many relatives - the Chinese. Her actions led to the fact that the real combat generals were expelled from the imperial court. The power migrated from “commanders to eunuchs,” as Lev Gumilyov described those events.
Yang Gui-Fei hated and cursed everyone. She was accused of raising taxes, the violence of the elements, failures in wars, arbitrariness and the stupidity of officials ... Chinese soldiers were ready to demolish the capital, along with its top, completely divorced from reality. But they needed a leader whose authority no one would doubt. And this was found. An Lushan stood at the head of the mudflow of the multinational army of the Celestial Empire.
Fighting
An Lushan came from Sogdina. This is a territory in the valley of the Zerafshan River (from modern Bukhara to Khujand). By the way, "An" is the Chinese name of Bukhara. Nomads who had sided with China often fought with representatives of other steppe peoples. Lushan was no exception. But the beginning of his career turned out to be crumpled. In 736, he, leading the reconnaissance squad, fought the Kindans in southern Manchuria and destroyed almost all of his soldiers. For this he was sentenced to death, but allowed to explain the reason for the defeat of the emperor and his entourage. And Lushan managed to escape death through cunning and flattery. Played a role and the fact that most of the officials at the court were dishonest. And Anh wisely used it. Lev Gumilyov wrote: “An Lushan combined Turkic indomitability with Chinese cunning, he was equally able to flatter and fight, to hypocrite and order. Knowing the venality of the palace hangers-on, he did not spare money for bribes, and therefore his elevation went quickly. ” So, instead of the death penalty he was expected to be promoted. Bribed officials justified the investment in them.
By the time the rise of An Lushan in the Chinese summit again began strife. So these events were described by Gumilev: “At that time there was a struggle between“ aristocrats ”, that is, members of high-ranking families, and“ scholars ”who received the grades by passing exams. The leader of the latter, Li Lin-fu, the head of the government, having defeated his rivals, began to nominate completely illiterate nomads to military posts, considering them to be not dangerous. ”
It would seem that nomads should be satisfied. But no. The fact is that these posts got the wrong people. Pursuing certain goals, Li Lin-fu gave positions to the most loyal and loyally inclined generals to him. However, he did not pay attention to their popularity among the soldiers and military successes. The main thing is that the steppe should be illiterate, stupid, but extremely faithful. This, of course, turned most warriors against Linfu. They were already unhappy with their position for a long time, and the new government policy only strengthened the negative.
Lushan began his preparations for the uprising in the 1940s. Thanks to the military reform that took place in the 744 year, he became the head of the corps in the Manchurian Pinla. Then Anh increased the number of his troops at the expense of corps in other cities. Skillfully maneuvering between corrupt officials, he gained access to the emperor's horse herds in order to freely fill the ranks of his cavalry. After recruiting elite soldiers from nomadic tribes into their ranks, Lushan began to actively bribe officials to be on his side if necessary.
Such a behavior of a military leader could not but worry the government. And Minister Yang Guo-chung dared to start a lawsuit against Lushan. The main complaint was that An collected too many soldiers and possessions in his hands. The commander was not scared and personally appeared in the capital to testify. He managed to parry all the charges. And he justified himself on all points so deftly and skillfully that he had the courage (and arrogance) to demand awards for two and a half thousand of his subordinates. He did this, of course, in pursuit of his goals, and not out of the goodness of his heart. In the head of An Lushan, a riot plan was already ripe, so he needed to show his commanders before the beginning of the uprising that he appreciated them.
In the fatal year for all of China 755, An Lushan went into open conflict with Yang Guo-chung. He demanded instead of three dozen Chinese officers to put nomads. Go-chjun tried as best he could to prevent the progress of this initiative of the Sogdian, but the emperor unexpectedly took the side of Lushan. After that, An realized that it was time for action.
In November, 755, in Yuyane, in Hebei Province, he announced a rebellion. And the first task was the elimination of the entire Yang family. More than one hundred and fifty soldiers from the border army supported Lushan. He was joined by the Turkic prince Ashin Chem-ching. Naturally, everybody understood perfectly well that the elimination of the Yang family is just a cover (and, at the same time, a settling of accounts). The main goal was to overthrow the ruling dynasty, which completely discredited itself in the eyes of the nomads.
When the government and the Chinese learned about the rebellion of nomads, whom they contemptuously called “hu” (barbarians), the huge country officially split into two warring camps. The emperor first ordered the execution of his son Lushan, who at that time was in the capital. After that, two armies moved forward to meet the nomads, with a total of about one hundred and seventy thousand people. But since they consisted of inexperienced soldiers, the rebels broke them and went to the capitals of the empire.
Lev Gumilyov described the uprising in the following way: “An Lushan immediately launched an attack on the capital. The eastern capital - Luoyang - immediately fell into his hands. The road on Shenxi, to Chang'an, was covered by an outpost in the Tongguan mountain pass, and in the east, in Hebei and Hedong, the son of the Khitan prince Li Guan-bi organized active defense against the rebels. In the summer of 756, he managed to defeat the rebellious commander Shi Ximing, and then Hebei's part rebelled against An Lushan.
However, the battle of Lanbao, in which Chinese government troops were defeated, caused panic among the Tongguan garrison. The soldiers who defended the passage retreated, and the 10 insurgents in July 756 broke into Shaanxi. ”
The success of the rebels for Lushan unexpectedly turned into a new serious problem. Since his soldiers, to put it mildly, did not have warm feelings for the Chinese, they did not stand on ceremony with the local population. Accordingly, it caused strong discontent.
Initially, the Chinese also negatively treated the emperor and his entourage. But the behavior of the insurgent nomads forced them to reconsider their point of view, and the peasants defended the dynasty. They contemptuously called warriors An Lushan "hu" and began to consider them the main enemies of the state.
But the forces were unequal. Nomads repeatedly won confident victories. The first to show his weakness and worthlessness was the emperor himself. Together with his favorite, he escaped from the capital. Moreover, his personal guards and guards, who initially were for the ruler, changed their opinion after this act. They did not want to die because of all the hated Yan Gui-fei. In addition, the soldiers of the emperor considered her to be the culprit of the revolt.
Also very quickly and found a scapegoat. They became Minister Yang Kuo-chjun. The emperor ordered him to commit suicide. Xuanzong and his entourage hoped that the official’s death would force An Lushan to stop the bloodshed. Go-chjun fulfilled the order. But this was not enough. The bodyguards and guardsmen decided that it was necessary to eliminate the main source of ills - favorite Yang Gui-Fei. The emperor, of course, was against such a development of events, but no one listened to his opinions. The woman was strangled with a silk cord, and the ruler was ordered to abdicate the throne and transfer power to her son, Suzun. Emperor Xuanzong agreed because this was the only way to save life.
Disgraced ruler sent to Sichuan. And the troops of An Lushan occupied Chang'an without a fight. The local population, fearing the cruelty of the nomads, simply fled.
Of course, the troops, who remained loyal to the dynasty, tried to stop the rebel offensive. But their strength was not enough. Then Lee Heng, heir to the throne, decided to ask for help. In 756, he managed to enlist the support of Tibetans, Uighurs, Abbasid Arabs, and other neighboring nations.
The ruler of the Uygur kaganat was the only one who set the conditions in exchange for military assistance. He demanded peace, equality and kinship. Suzong had no choice, and the Chinese emperor agreed, marrying the Uygur princess. It is clear that the Khans, agreeing to help, acted solely in their own interests. They needed the Chinese army to suffer as much as possible during the insurgency. Her weakness is the guarantor of the independence of the Uigurs. But at the same time they needed the Tang Dynasty, with which agreement and equality appeared. Therefore, the Uighurs knew what they fought with the rebels.
By that time, discontent was growing in the camp of the insurgents. An Lushan went blind and began to behave inadequately. Instead of a clever and cunning commander, the intimate saw a nervous, cruel and suspicious person.
They didn’t tolerate the distraught leader for a long time. On the night of January 30, 757, adviser Yan Zhuang and the eunuch Li Zhu-er killed An Lushan. And his death was hidden. Won the assassination leader's time killer took advantage. At first they declared Lushan a new emperor of China, having assigned the role of an heir to his feeble-minded son. And a little later they reported about the sudden death of the ruler, putting the son of Lushan on the throne. In fact, Yan Zhuang concentrated power in his hands.
New wave of riot
But Chuang came to power too late. Powerful troops made up of the allies of the Tang dynasty came out against the rebels.
Lev Gumilyov wrote: “In September, 757, on the banks of the r. Phunshui opponents met. Huai-en, commanding the Uighurs, went around the rebel army. During a round, he stumbled into an ambush and hacked her to the last rider, and then hit her from the rear. At the same time, Li Sy-ye, commanding the Khotanese, Arabs and chateau, attacked the rebels from the front. The latter were defeated, their losses were calculated in 60 thousand people, which is, of course, the usual exaggeration, since the campaign was not over. This would not be possible if the rebel army really lost 40% personnel. At the same time, it is necessary to take into account that its rear areas had to be protected from Uighurs and Khitan. ”
Regardless of the losses of the rebels, the fact remains that they suffered a crushing defeat, and it was almost impossible to recover from it.
Further more. The allies of the dynasty recaptured Chang'an and defeated the rebels in several subsequent battles. Yan Zhuang, taking with him his son Lushan, retreated over the Yellow River. The legitimate emperor Sujun returned the power to his father. The moment of calm has come.
But as soon as the aged Xuanzong had gained power, he began to punish those close to him for the slightest misdemeanor, accusing them of complicity with the rebels. It got, of course, and those who were his ardent supporter. For example, the emperor ordered the execution of his three sons, whom he suspected of treason. A contemporary of those events wrote: “He killed everyone, only he wanted to live.”
In 759, the imperial army managed to drive the leaders of the insurgency into the city of Yecheng. The siege began. But Shi Simin came to the aid of the rebels, who once led one of the armies of the Chinese ruler. In the midst of the battle, a typhoon unexpectedly flew. Both armies suffered heavily, but it was Symin who managed to unite the scattered detachments and inflict defeat on the Chinese. This victory allowed the commander to rise above the rest. Taking advantage of the moment, he executed his son An Lushan and declared himself emperor. After which he began an offensive operation.
Emperor Xuanzong panicked again and turned to the Uighurs for help. As a sign of eternal friendship and respect, he sent his daughter to Khan and declared him his closest relative. Uygur appreciated the deed. Gumilev described his reaction in this way: “Khan was satisfied and presented 500 with horses, sable fur and white wool and also sent 3 thousands of horsemen to fight the rebels.”
But this help was not enough. Shi Symin continued to successfully counteract the Allied armies. The poet Du Fu has works in which he described how almost children were sent to war with the rebels, since mobilization was announced in the country. Women who went to the front in the role of servants did not stand aside.
Only in 761, the “swan song” of Shi Symin ended. The commander was killed by conspirators, after which he was declared emperor of his son. He first decided to establish friendship with the Uighurs. He understood that the success or failure of the protracted insurgency depends entirely on them. But ... in the diplomatic field, Emperor Dai-tszung bypassed him, who took the throne after the death of his father, Xuan-tsung (Sujong was left unchanged). Therefore, in the 762 year, the Uighurs were again on the side of the Tang dynasty.
The Chinese and Uighurs began systematically to destroy the scattered armies of the rebels. In order to bring victory closer, Dai-zong announced that he would forgive all the rebels and their accomplices if they switch to his side. This turned out to be the final point for the rebellion. And the son of Shi Simin was soon killed or committed suicide.
So Lev Gumilev described the end of the rebellion raised by An Lushan: “The Uygur-Chinese army in the autumn of 762 hit the rebels and defeated their army. According to “Ganmu”, the rebels lost 60 thousand killed and 20 thousand prisoners. November 20 Uighurs broke into Luoyang {1537}. Shi Chao-and locked himself in Mochou, but then left there the commandant and went to recruit reinforcements. The commandant surrendered the fortress to Pugu Huai-enu. After that, commandant Fanyana surrendered, and the case of the rebels was lost. Hunted as a beast, Shi Chao-and hanged himself in the woods, and the civil war ended.
China lay in ruins. The Uigurs robbed the population, destroyed the houses in the villages, and the surviving residents, losing all their clothes, covered themselves with paper. The population loss was enormous: according to the 754 census, the Empire had 52 880 488 souls, and in 764 16 900 000 souls, but it must be borne in mind that the holdings mostly fell away from China. The army - the pride of the Tang dynasty - lay down entirely, left the militia and mercenary detachments. The idea of the Empire was completely lost: there was no longer any strength, no means, no will to carry it out. ”
***
According to official figures during the rebellion, China’s population has declined by thirty-six million people. At that time, it was about a sixth of the population of the entire planet. And before the Second World War, the revolt of An Lushan was the bloodiest armed confrontation in the whole history of mankind.
True, according to some historians, the death toll is greatly exaggerated. Since many residents of northern China, when the war began, moved to the south, where neither the nomads nor the rebels got. By the way, the next emperors of China ruled a huge country from the southern territories too, fearing the northern lands like powder kegs.
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