In ancient times, there were actually many cases of generals revolting and becoming emperors. However, the vast majority of generals followed the pattern of creating a false enemy situation, then leading troops to go on an expedition, then mobilizing rebellion, and then joining forces to attack the capital. But there is also a strange general in history who had a very strange experience as an emperor: The general ran out of ammunition and food, and his request for reinforcements was rejected 10 times. He was so angry that he surrendered to the enemy, and finally founded his country and proclaimed himself emperor.
The Tang Dynasty perished in 907 AD, but in fact the Tang Dynasty existed in name only a long time ago: warlords fought in a melee, powerful ministers were in power, and the emperor was just a mascot like a "well-known trademark". The decline of the Tang Dynasty began with the Anshi Rebellion in 755 AD, and the sunset of the Tang Dynasty began in 878 AD. If the Anshi Rebellion cost the Tang Dynasty half its life, then the Huangchao Uprising directly killed the Tang Dynasty!
Huang Chao himself was a wealthy salt merchant, but he was also a very ideal "literary young man", so when he was young, he was very active in taking the imperial examination. But what is more regrettable is that although he wrote when he was 5 years old, "The rustling west wind fills the courtyard with plants, and the pistils are cold, fragrant and cold, and butterflies are hard to come. If I were the Qing Emperor in his time, I would be rewarded with peach blossoms blooming together." Famous sentence, but failed the test many times as an adult. The angry Huang Chao once thought of chrysanthemums and wrote:
Huang Chao, who "failed the college entrance examination", was so angry that he launched an uprising in 878 AD and directly began to punish those who failed the college entrance examination. The Tang Dynasty, the culprit, began a violent counterattack. Huang Chao swept the entire territory of the Tang Dynasty by avoiding the real and using the weak, and fighting on the move. At this time, the Tang Dynasty was no longer the loyal people like Zhang Xun and Guo Ziyi, but only warlords and powerful officials.
However, Huang Chao failed to unify the world and become emperor in the end. He only named himself Emperor of Daqi in 881, but was driven out of Chang'an in 882. In 884, Huang Chao was defeated and killed. So, why did Huang Chao fail to unify the world in the end? The big reason is probably that he has a group of very unreliable "generals". His generals are both arrogant and powerful, but also particularly disobedient to orders.
For example, when he invaded Chang'an, Huang Chao did not originally want to kill the people. But soon there was a vicious incident in which Huang Chaojun "killed people all over the street, and the nest could not be banned". Among all the "unreliable" generals in Huang Chao, there is one who is more reliable named Zhu Wen. Zhu Wen was born into a poor family and had been a troublemaker since childhood. With nothing to do, he became the leader of local refugees and bandits during the war years. In 877, Zhu Wen defected to Huang Chao.
Compared with other rebels, Zhu Wen is actually a "cultural man". His parents were engaged in education. Although he was poor, he was influenced by some knowledge. Therefore, he was often able to win unexpectedly in battles and achieve greater results, which attracted Huang Chao's attention. Soon after, Zhu Wen grew into Huang Chao's right-hand man. In 881, Zhu Wen was appointed Marquis of Yu by Huang Chao. When he returned to Chang'an after capturing Dengzhou, Huang Chao went to greet him in person, which shows that the relationship between the two was unusual.
However, soon after, the two fell out. The next year, Zhu Wen was sent by Huang Chao to fight in Tongzhou, but Zhu Wen was still victorious in every battle. But after the victory, he met his greatest enemy in life, Wang Chongrong, the governor of Hezhong. Wang Chongrong's army was very strong, while Zhu Wen was short of soldiers and food. After several battles, Zhu Wen was completely defeated by Wang Chongrong. This tycoon in troubled times finally couldn't stand it anymore. With almost no ammunition or food, he sent a letter of distress to Huang Chao.
Perhaps out of fear, Zhu Wen sent another distress letter not long after the first letter was sent. But at this time, Huang Chao's letters were controlled by a close associate named Meng Kai. Meng Kai didn't know whether he was unhappy because Zhu Wen had done so much or something, so he intercepted Zhu Wen's letter for help. Huang Chao never saw the letter written by Zhu Wen. Zhu Wen had already become anxious following Wang Chongrong's attack.
After sending out the tenth letter asking for help, we still haven’t received any reply. At that time, Huang Chao even heard some rumors that Huang Chao had been defeated by the Tang army. Zhu Wen, who was already afraid of death, suddenly became uneasy. So he was angry and simply defected to Wang Chongrong, and directly turned against Huang Chao's army. The emperor of the Tang Dynasty was overjoyed when he saw it: Huang Chao's right-hand man actually turned to me. So I simply gave him a reward and named him Zhu Quanzhong.
However, if anyone knows about Tang Xizong after his death, he will definitely regret giving him this name. In 904 AD, Zhu Wen took control of Tang Zhaozong, the emperor of the Tang Dynasty, and then "moved the capital to Luoyang". This is the Tang Dynasty's version of "holding the emperor's hand to command the princes". In 907 AD, Emperor Ai of the Tang Dynasty "voluntarily" abdicated the throne to Zhu Quanzhong, and soon after he killed the 17-year-old Emperor Ai of the Tang Dynasty.
In this way, the Tang Dynasty was destroyed both in fact and in name. Zhu Wen, who betrayed Huang Chao, betrayed the Tang Dynasty again and established the first dynasty of the Five Dynasties - Houliang, calling himself emperor. As the saying goes: Those who do not accumulate virtue will soon be blessed. Zhu Wen was a typical repetitive villain and very cruel. He was assassinated to death after becoming emperor. The dynasty he founded fell soon after. This result is equivalent to what Jia Yi said about the Qin Dynasty:
He became emperor through violence and conspiracy, leading the people from one abyss to another, how successful his rise was. As quickly as it is destroyed, it must be destroyed in a hurry. How can one be an emperor without benevolence and righteousness?