The three divisions are the collective names of the three financial departments of the Ministry of Households, the Degree Branch, and the Salt and Iron Department. In the Tang Dynasty, each of these three departments had a chief officer, who was in charge of tax collection and adjustment, fiscal revenue and expenditure, and the benefits of salt and iron, and was responsible to the prime minister who judged the three ministers. In the third year of Tianyou of the Tang Dynasty (906), Emperor Zhaoxuan appointed Zhu Wen as the envoy of the three divisions of Yantie, Duzhi and Hubu, which was the first time that the name of the three divisions appeared, but Zhu Wen did not accept it.

In the second year, Zhu Wen usurped the Tang Dynasty, and the history entered the five dynasties, and then Zhu Wen established the Jianchang Academy, so that it was in charge of the world's money and grain, salt and iron, and the degree of support, and judged the affairs of the court with his adopted son Zhu Youwen, the king of Bo, which can be regarded as the predecessor of the three envoys. After Li Cunqiao destroyed the Liang, he abolished the Jianchang Academy, first placed the national planning envoy, and then put the affairs of the three divisions under the tenant envoy, but still did not officially name the three envoys.

It was not until the first year of Changxing (930) of the Later Tang Dynasty that Li Siyuan unified these three departments for the first time and appointed Zhang Yanlang as the envoy of the three divisions. Because they held the financial power of the whole country, the three envoys had a very high status, and they became important officials in the court after the prime minister and the privy envoy, and were called the second minister or the second minister.

The emergence of the three envoys was a major breakthrough in the five-generation official system, and the rest of the central officials basically followed the Tang system. At the local level, the five dynasties also basically followed the Tang Dynasty system, implementing the three-level management system of Fang Town, Prefecture and County.

The main body of the five generations of armies can be divided into two categories: forbidden armies and local armies. The local army is the army under the command of the local feudal towns, and is responsible for external defense and local stability, and also has the obligation to cooperate with the forbidden army in combat.

However, since the end of the Tang Dynasty. The power of the festival is too great, and the local army is recruited by the festival envoy. Therefore, it is directly subject to the orders of the festival. The commander of the local army is the Jiedu envoy, and there are generals such as the guard, the waiter, and the soldier and horse envoy.

The size of the feudal town depended on the size of the feudal town and the strength of its finances. In the early and middle of the Five Dynasties, the feudal towns were extremely powerful and posed a threat to the central government many times, and in the Later Jin Dynasty, although there were rebellions from time to time, the degree of destruction began to weaken. After Chai Rong won the Gaoping War, he has basically reversed this situation.

The forbidden army system of the five generations should start from Houliang. When Zhu Wen usurped the Tang Dynasty, although he nominally led 21 articles, in fact, only the soldiers and horses of the four towns of Xuanwu (Bianzhou), Xuanyi (Huazhou), Tianping (Yunzhou), and Huguo (Puzhou) were directly under him. He used the soldiers and horses of these four towns to establish a forbidden army, which was originally called "Yuan Cong's pro-army", and took Yuan Cong's capital and Liu Cheng as the commander. Later, as the number of troops increased,

Zhu Wen followed the Tang system, and in the following year, he established the left and right dragon and tiger, left and right Yulin, left and right Shenwu, left and right Tianxing, left and right Guangsheng, left and right Longxiang and other armies, as the six armies and twelve guards, with the prince as the military envoy, and the important minister Zhang Quanyi sentenced the six armies to the guards. Among them, the most core "Yuan Cong Pro-Army" was renamed "Guard Pro-Army", which was the first appearance of the Guard Pro-Army in the Five Dynasties.

In the Later Liang forbidden army, the horse infantry army was divided. Each horse infantry army has a commander, also known as the unified army. Starting from the unification of the army, it is organized into a sequence of "compartments, armies, commands, and capitals", such as a certain unified army is divided into left and right compartments, and a certain compartment is divided into several armies. A certain army is divided into a number of commands, and a certain command is divided into a number of capitals, and the "capital" level is the minimum establishment. About a hundred people. Of course, there are special cases, such as the "Meichuan Capital" set up in the late Southern Han Dynasty for pearl diving. There are 8,000 people.

After Li Cunqiao destroyed Liang, he abolished the Chongzheng Yuan. The Privy Council was established to be in charge of military affairs, but not to command the army. The supreme commander of the army is still the commander of the Fan Han Mabu, and at this time the position is held by Li Cunxian, a famous general who also leads the Youzhou Jiedu envoy. The guards and pro-army were also abolished, and Li Cunmiao built "Congma Zhi" as the pro-army of the Son of Heaven on the basis of the original pro-army "silver gun capital in front of the tent". However, after Li Siyuan became emperor, because he had previously taken over Li Cunshen as the head of the Fan Han Mabu, he revoked this official position after ascending the throne, and re-established the guard pro-army in the following year. Since then, the pro-military division of the guard has gradually developed.

In the Later Jin Dynasty, the commander of the guards and pro-army was promoted to the highest commander, commanding all the forbidden troops, setting up a commander, and a deputy commander and a duyu waiting. The guards are divided into horses and infantry troops, and the system is the same as that of the superior units, and the left and right compartments are divided into military horns, and the carriages are divided into armies, and they are divided into several commanders and several capitals.

By this time, the Department of Guards and Guards had become the official body that commanded the national forbidden army, and the expansion of the scale of the guards and troops had begun to take on more responsibilities, not only to defend the capital, to fight rebellions, and even to go out of the town, the central government's control over the local area was gradually strengthened, and the six armies and guards system officially withdrew from the stage of history.

The Later Han Dynasty was relatively short, basically following the Jin system, when the guards and pro-army were in command to make Shi Hongzhao already in the ranks of the ministers, and the power became heavier and heavier, so it was necessary to check and balance this institution, so in the later anniversary, a new forbidden army system appeared, that is, the "palace front division".

Regarding the origin of the front division of the palace, there have been different sayings, and Ye Mengde of the Song Dynasty said: "The army in front of the palace started from Zhou Shizong." This statement is obviously wrong, because according to the record of "Zizhi Tongjian", before Guo Wei died, he deliberately sent Li Chongjin, the commander of the army in front of the palace, to visit Chai Rong, which shows that there was already this institution before Chai Rong succeeded to the throne.

In modern times, some scholars believe that the palace army originated in the Later Jin Dynasty or even earlier, because in the historical materials, "Tianfu (Later Jin Dynasty) at the beginning, tired of sending Fengde Military Academy, and then transferred to the palace to disperse the command of the Marquis of Yu", but in fact,

Even if the records of similar historical materials are correct, or if there really are similar official positions, it seems difficult to conclude that the palace army existed as early as before the Later Zhou Dynasty, because in all the major events of the Jin and Han dynasties, there is no record of the imperial court's large-scale recruitment of the palace army.

If the palace army really existed as a high-level forbidden army unit, it was unlikely that there would be no evidence left in that war-prone era. It is speculated from this that the real establishment of the palace army is likely to be in the middle and late Guo Wei era, and the mature period must be in the Chai Rong era.

After Chai Rong succeeded to the throne, Hou Zhou was invaded by the Northern Han Dynasty, Chai Rong led the army to drive the expedition, and then the Gaoping War broke out, which included the participation of the palace army, it should be able to conclude that the palace army at this time has a certain scale.

After the victory of the Great War of Gaoping. Chai Rong took the opportunity to issue an edict to "recruit warriors from all over the world, regardless of their origin." It was sent directly to Kaifeng by the states and counties, and was organized into the classes in front of the palace. "Formed a team" of soldiers and soldiers. In modern times, it is incomparable, conquering all directions, and all directions are victorious".

At first, the army in front of the palace set up a commander, and then changed to the front of the palace to check, and its subordinate deputy commander (vacant), Du Yuhou each one, and then divided into the commanders of each army, which is basically the same as the guard pro-army.

The first palace inspection was served by Guo Wei's son-in-law Zhang Yongde. Lieban was under the command of the guards and pro-army. However, due to the fact that Li Chongjin, who was the commander of the guards and pro-army at that time, was Guo Wei's nephew and a strong contender for the throne with Chai Rong, Chai Rong was suspicious of him, and then suppressed Li Chongjin by supporting Zhang Yongde's forces, so that Zhang Yongde's status in the army rose sharply.

However, in 959 AD, Chai Rong suddenly fell ill during the Northern Expedition to the Khitan, and had to withdraw the army. It was replaced by Zhao Kuangyin, who was the commander of the palace at the time. On June 19 of that year, Chai Rong died of illness. In the first month of the following year, Zhao Kuangyin launched the Chenqiao Mutiny, and the five generations of troubled times have since become history.

Feng Dao went through five dynasties, including the Later Tang, Later Jin, Great Liao, Later Han, and Later Zhou. He has served eleven emperors such as Li Cunxuan, Li Siyuan, Li Conghou, Li Congke, Shi Jingjiao, Shi Chonggui, Yelu Deguang, Liu Zhiyuan, Liu Chengyou, Guo Wei, Chai Rong, etc., among which Li Siyuan's real name is "Miao Jilie", and Li Congke's original surname is Wang. Coupled with the six surnames of Li, Shi, Yelu, Liu, Guo, and Chai, Feng Dao is also known as the "Eight Surname Slaves".

Besides. Feng Dao also served as a member of the army in the Dayan regime established by Liu Shouguang, but this was a puppet regime. And Feng Dao's status was not prominent at that time, so he didn't give calculations.

After Feng Dao fled from Youzhou to Hedong, he was first appointed as the secretary in charge by Li Cunqing, and after Li Cunqiao became emperor, he appointed Feng Dao as a bachelor of Hanlin, making him one of the senior leaders of the country.

And when Li Siyuan was proclaimed emperor, Feng Dao was appointed prime minister, and in the following decades, Feng Dao was like a boulder, let the wind blow and waves, I stood still, and always sat firmly in the center of the political vortex of all dynasties, the rise and fall of the country, the change of dynasties, it seems that it has nothing to do with him at all, and it cannot affect him at all.

Feng Dao's experience can be called unprecedented, to paraphrase a modern phrase, that is, "he became a beautiful scenery in the sea at that time".

However, it is precisely because of this that Feng Dao has become the best target for intellectuals in all dynasties to attack, abuse, and slander in the following thousand years.

This situation is not surprising, because in the more than 1,000 years after Feng Dao, the entire Chinese intellectual group, represented by Confucianism, collectively entered a strange circle, the main manifestation of which was that they were full of servility, willing to regard themselves as slaves, and were not ashamed, but proud.

At the same time, these intellectuals have constantly contributed ideas and suggestions to their own slave theory, so that they have a very complete set of ideological systems and behavioral norms.

Anyone who conflicts with their theories is heretical in their thinking, and their behavior is intolerable in heaven, and the consequences will be heaven and earth.

Since these intellectuals consciously want to regard themselves as slaves, of course, they must constantly show loyalty to their masters, so the best way is, of course, to elevate themselves by attacking others, so Feng Dao, who has such a complicated experience, naturally becomes their best target.

When Sima Guang commented on Feng Dao, he opened his mouth and said: "The ministers foolishly think that the righteous woman does not obey the second husband, and the loyal minister does not care about the second king." Then he said, "If a woman has married two husbands, no matter how beautiful her appearance is, no matter how skillful her workmanship is, she is not worthy of respect; If a courtier has served two monarchs, no matter how talented and strategic he is, and how brilliant he has made in governing the country, he is not worthy of praise, because they have lost their great fortunes. ”

There is no doubt that Sima Guang was a very knowledgeable person, a very upright person, and at the same time made outstanding contributions to history, and was very respected both during his lifetime and after his death. However, what he said after being brainwashed was really stupid. According to his theory, as long as a woman is married, no matter whether her husband is good or bad, and whether they are happy to live together or not, this woman can only live with this man for the rest of her life.

No matter whether this man beats her eight times a day, or has a hundred mistresses outside, or even before she crosses the door, this man dies, this woman can't remarry, otherwise it will be a big loss, and no matter how good it is, it is not worthy of respect. Then I can't help but wonder if I'm stupid enough to ask, "What the hell is this?" ”

Saying that "loyal ministers don't care about the two kings" is even more ridiculous. An intellectual, who studied hard for ten years, once he entered the office, met a wise monarch, and helped him govern the country. When I met a faint monarch or tyrant, he either acted for the tiger, or resigned and did not do it. So what is the use of the state in asking for such intellectuals? Or since you have this attitude to become an official, what knowledge do you need to learn?

This theory of ignorance and even cannibalism seems very ridiculous now, but it was still very marketable at the time, and almost the vast majority of intellectuals were convinced of it.

In fact, a country certainly needs to have a large number of loyal people with high moral character, and as a person, there is no doubt that he should also use the word "loyalty" to restrain his behavior, but this is definitely not what Confucianism advocates, the kind of foolish loyalty that does not need to think at all, and does not need to distinguish between right and wrong.

Personally, I foolishly believe that "loyalty" can be divided into two different forms of "loyalty", one is high-level, "loyalty" based on absolute justice, truth, and one's own lofty beliefs, which is a kind of sacred "loyalty". For his sake, even if he sacrificed his life or betrayed his own country and nation.

For example, during World War II, there was a German named Stephenburg who risked his life to assassinate Hitler in order to end the war one day earlier. By doing so, he not only sacrificed his own life, but also betrayed his country and nation.

However, at this time Stauffenberg's state and nation were encroaching on justice, truth, and the happiness of all mankind, which was in serious conflict with the faith to which he had always been faithful. Then Stephenberg was able to choose to be true to his faith at this time, and his actions were honorable and incomparably noble. (To be continued.) )