Research On The Military Status Of Shouzhou In The Tang And Five Dynastie

Since ancient times,Shouzhou is a hotly contested spot for the military.In the Tang Dynasty,Shouzhou as a normal state plays a role of economic and transportation value.Because of its location on the south bank of the Huai River,on the one hand,it has a dense river network,so Tang royal family’s increasing emphasis on its traffic status in the late Tang Dynasty;on the other hand,Shouzhou as a strategic location,can shield the Huainan Dao in the wartime.So in the Tang Dynasty,Shouzhou is still a military town.After An Lu-shan’s rebellion,rival principalities forces gradually rise,which makes the central authority declined.But thanks to the establishment of the local rival principalities,Tang Dynasty central government can keep its control.The late Tang Dynasty rely on the finance of the Southeast region,so the basic principle to dominate the Southeast region is keeping it steady rather than building massive military forces.The Huainan Dao is located in transition zone between the Central Plains region and the Southern region,which means military value should be slightly higher than the other Southeast towns.And Shouzhou as a bridgehead for the whole areas of Huainan Dao,plays an important role of keeping it from Central Plains War as a result of the advantage of shielding the areas of the Huainan Dao.But because of the dominant mode which the Tang Dynasty holding to the Southeast region,Shouzhou’s military position is not outstanding.During the end of the Tang Dynasty,The Wang Xian-zhi and Huang Chao Uprising,and Gao Pian being the executive of Huainan town,which resulted in Huainan Dao changing from the land of wealth that Tang Dynasty firmly controlled to a military town that is going far away from the Tang Dynasty.After that,Shouzhou started to elect executives by the military officers,which makes military color more obvious.Since Yang Xing-mi occupied the Shouzhou and win the Huainan Dao,Huainan Dao became a strong military town,and opened the times of Yang Wu regime and the Southern Tang dynasty.During this period,Shouzhou played a military role in defending the Southern regime mergering by Central Plain regime.In the late Five Dynasty,the Later Zhou Dynasty launched a war to conquer the Southern Tang dynasty,during this process,Shouzhou is the most important town which deciding the war situation.The Southern regime holding the sovereignty of Shouzhou delayed thereunification of the Northern Regime in a certain extent.