In the Weiyang Palace, the flowers and moonlight are blooming, and the singing and dancing are just around the corner.
I have always relied on an independent king. Who can be upright if he is slandered and promoted in one day?
The sky is thousands of miles away, and the sky is in the city of Chang'an.
In the spring breeze, the sound of the flute and Shao music is heard, which alone covers the tears in the turban.
Tears are streaming down my face, God knows, I will never see you again in this life.
It’s not as good as the Xiongnu envoys in southern Guangdong, and it’s time to sail to Mount Tishan!
This song "The Revenge of Changmen" was written by Lu You, a great poet of the Southern Song Dynasty. It expresses the love and resentment of the married woman towards the king of the Central Plains. Every time there was a marriage, someone would accompany the woman to the Huns as a dowry. Since Lou Jing proposed the marriage plan, I don’t know how many people went to the Huns as dowries. The dowry person may not want to leave his hometown, but there is nothing he can do.
During the reign of Emperor Wen, a very vengeful dowry appeared - Zhongxing Shuo.
Zhongxing said - a person from the Western Han Dynasty during the reign of Emperor Wen of Han Dynasty. He was originally an eunuch, but because he was dissatisfied with being an attaché to the Han-Hungarian peacemaker, he harbored a grudge against the Han Dynasty and turned to the Huns. Later he became an important adviser to Shan Yu.
In the sixth year of Emperor Wen's reign (174 BC), the peach and plum blossoms in Chang'an actually bloomed in October.
The ancients believed that if there were strange phenomena in the sky, something big would happen. Then, the arrogant and surly King Liu Chang of Huainan rebelled and died on the way to being demoted. Liu Heng was heartbroken. The sadness of Liu Chang's death on hunger strike was still lingering in his mind, so Mao Dun suddenly wrote a letter to Liu Heng:
A few years ago, King Youxian of the Xiongnu invaded your territory, which caused a sudden rift between the two families, which was very inappropriate. In order to punish King Youxian, I ordered him to attack the Yueshi. God has blessed me. After King Youxian destroyed the Yueshi, twenty-six countries including Loulan and Wusun all surrendered to the Xiongnu. The north has been pacified and is all under my control. The Xiongnu hoped to make peace with the Han again.
Anyone with a little political knowledge knows that Moton's letter is a request for friendship on the surface, but in reality it is a threat. He pacified the north and greatly increased his power. He might imitate the King of South Vietnam and suddenly proclaim himself emperor in the north. His simple letter was indeed troublesome, and Liu Heng summoned the courtiers to discuss countermeasures. At this time, the Han court really had no one in the court and no generals in the army, so everyone agreed to make peace. The reason given by the courtiers was that the Xiongnu had just unified the north and were in full swing. Even if the Han Dynasty won, the saline-alkali land would not be good.
Liu Heng didn't like fighting, so the courtiers' proposal to make peace was exactly what they wanted. If Jia Yi were in the government, he would definitely make a big talk about troops. The mediocre cannot tolerate the talented, and the talented will suffer the blows of depression, grief and anger. When a goshawk falls into the water, it can only lower its head indifferently, close its eyes and wait for death. If it struggles reluctantly, it will only make future generations more sad.
Unfortunately, Mao Dun, an old friend of the Han Dynasty, died shortly after receiving Liu Heng's marriage letter. After Maodun died, his son Jizhu succeeded to the throne and was named Laoshang Shanyu. At the critical moment, Maodun left, all the previous efforts were in vain, and everything had to be started again. The new chanyu succeeded to the throne, and the Han Dynasty wanted to send a bride to marry him.
Liu Heng was busy choosing the daughter of the princess, who was the daughter of the Liu clan who married the Huns. After choosing the heroine, you also choose a dowry. This dowry is what the Bank of China said. Zhongxing said he didn't want to go, so he was forced to go. When he left, he left a message: I must be a Han patient. What BOC said was that if I had to go, I would definitely cause trouble.
BOC can say it and do it. As soon as they arrived at the Xiongnu, the Bank of China said that they would surrender immediately to the old Shanyu. Zhong Xing said that he had a flexible mind and could speak well, and told Shanyu everything about the Han Dynasty in detail. The Huns did not know much about the Central Plains area and were quite afraid. The Bank of China said that it was Chen's family background and told Shan Yu that there was no one in the Han dynasty and no generals in the army. The disadvantages of marriage gradually gained Shan Yu's favor.
At the beginning, Lou Jing proposed a marriage, saying that if a Han Dynasty princess married a Xiongnu, he could put in a few good words to reconcile the two families. He also said that there is no reason for a son-in-law to bully his mother-in-law or a grandson to beat his grandfather. Lou Jing must not have expected that Bank of China would become a spy of the Han Dynasty. The Bank of China vigorously advocates that the Huns should break away from Han objects, get rid of Han thinking, and become true Huns. The Bank of China said that this move is very similar to the salvation slogan issued by knowledgeable and wise people when foreign invaders invaded through economic means: promote domestic products and oppose Western products.
The Huns like to eat Han Chinese food, such as rice, steamed buns and other delicate items. The Bank of China said: "The Huns are not as numerous as the Han Dynasty in one county. The reason why the Huns are stronger and better than the Han people is because of the difference in food and clothing." . What the Huns ate could strengthen their bodies, but what the Hans ate would only make them sluggish. If the Huns were greedy for the good taste of Han food, and all liked Han food, and ultimately relied on Han food, the Han Dynasty would only provide two-tenths of their wealth. It can make the Huns surrender. The clothes of the Han people are easy to tear and are not as good as felt blankets and leather robes; the food of the Han people is not enough, and there is no meat to satisfy their hunger." The Huns felt that what Zhongxing said was reasonable and gave up the Han things they had grown to love.
The Huns don't know how to count. Bank of China teaches the Huns how to count. The Bank of China said it was doing its best to encourage the Huns not to use Chinese products, so as not to become deeply dependent on the Han people. He was eloquent and liked the Huns. He gradually changed their thoughts and behaviors, and he continued to change.
All the things that the Han Dynasty gave to the Xiongnu, the Bank of China asked the Shanyu to give them all back to the Han Dynasty. They only doubled the size of the letter and changed "The emperor asked the Xiongnu that the Xiongnu was fine" to "The Xiongnu's Shanyu was set by the heaven and earth on the birthday and the moon." Yu Jing asked if the Emperor of Han was okay."
The Bank of China said that on the one hand, it persuaded the Huns and tried to make the Huns become real Huns; on the other hand, it argued with Han envoys to destroy the spirit of the Han people and promote the prestige of the Huns. The Han envoy said that the Huns despised the old and the weak, and the Bank of China retorted that if the Han army went out on an expedition, there would be old people giving food to the young children. This was not essentially different from the Huns' practice. The Han envoy said that it was illegal for a Huns son to marry his father's concubine, but the Bank of China retorted that it was to continue the family lineage.
Zhongxing said that he was very clever and quick-thinking. No matter what the Han envoy said, he could refute it, point out the advantages of the Huns' actions, and belittle the behavior of the Han people. The Han envoy wanted to say more, but the Bank of China threatened him: "You must give enough gifts from the Han Dynasty, otherwise the army will go south and the Han people will be in danger."
In the eleventh year of Emperor Wen (169 BC), the Xiongnu robbed the Han Dynasty border.
Representative of Politicians and Legalists——Chao Cuo
After Jia Yi, another capable person emerged from the Han Dynasty. He was Chao Cuo, who himself preached - Zongheng Theory on Public Security.
Jia Yi is Liu Heng's think tank, and Chao Cuo is the prince Liu Qi's think tank. Both his father and son were good thinkers, but both of them died because of his father and son. The "Government of Wenjing" is like the flowers in a garden, and Jia Yi and Chao Cuo are like two towering trees. These two big trees are strong and upright, one displays the Confucian style and is righteous; the other continues the Legalist uprightness and is inviolable.
Chao Cuo was a native of Yingchuan (today's Yu County, Henan). He was severe, upright and harsh. In a word, he has the character required by a representative of Legalism. He once studied the thoughts of Shen Buhai and Shang Yang under Zhang Hui, and his articles were erudite, and Ren Taichang knew a lot about them. Chao Cuo's character and knowledge foreshadowed his future destiny. He was a political hardliner and was willing to sacrifice himself for his ideals. When I read Chao Cuo, I couldn't help but think of Javert in Hugo's novel. Javert is Hugo's fictional character, and Chao Cuo's character is almost fictional.
After the First Emperor of Qin burned books and harassed Confucian scholars, the study of "Shangshu" was on the verge of extinction. There was a man named Fu Sheng in the State of Qi who was well versed in the Book of Documents. Fu Sheng was ninety years old and could not be drafted, so the imperial court sent Chao Cuo to study. When Chao Cuo returned from his studies, he was full of "Shang Shu", just like Jia Yi was full of "Poems" and "Books". He was promoted to Prince Sheren and awarded the title of doctor. Chao Cuo and Jia Yicai had similar academic backgrounds and similar resumes, but their studies were different. One advocated Confucianism and the other believed in Legalism.
Chao Cuo marched forward bravely and wrote a letter asking the prince to learn arithmetic. Shushu refers to the strategy and means of governing the country. Most emperors took it to extremes and distorted it into the art of the south. Later, it developed into a thick and black school in the officialdom. The world hates the word Shushu. Liu Heng saw Chao Cuo's talent and made him an official of the prince. Liu Qi's character was very similar to Liu Heng's, but his intelligence was not as good as Chao Cuo's. He always lost to Chao Cuo in arguments. Chao Cuocai defeated the prince, everyone respected him, and he was known as a wise man. Chao Cuobian was better than the prince, and his toughness played a big role.
The old Shanyu listened to Zhongxing's advice and sent troops from time to time to invade the Han Dynasty's borders. Chao Cuo wrote a letter stating the countermeasures, which is called "Yan Bingshi Shu". Chao Cuo learned strategies well. After Jia Yi died, Chao Cuo was the first. Chao Cuo's words and deeds are profound, his thoughts are concise, and he is full of integrity and power. In comparison, Chao Cuo's rationality is well developed, while Jia Yi is good at perceptual analysis.
Chao Cuo pointed out that since the Han Dynasty, the Huns had "made small gains if they invaded small, and big profits if they invaded big", causing the people to live in dire straits. If the people are miserable, we cannot blame them for being useless, because "'There are generals who are sure to win, but there are no people who are sure to win.'" Chao Cuo analyzed the similarities and differences between the Han Dynasty and the Xiongnu from three aspects: terrain, generals and weapons, and pointed out the strategy of "attacking barbarians with barbarians", which required cultivating an army with the same fighting habits as the Xiongnu. Chao Cuo's argument is very similar to the Zhongxing theory's persuasion to the Huns, both pointing out the influence of living habits on people.
With the strategy of "attacking barbarians with barbarians", Liu Heng began to cultivate a sharp army. It takes ten years to cultivate trees and a hundred years to cultivate people. It is difficult for generals in the army to cultivate them when they are in a hurry. "There are generals who are sure to win, but there are no people who are sure to win." Since the founding of the Han Dynasty, there has not been a sure-win general like Meng Tian in the court. If the general does not appear for a day, the Han Dynasty will not be able to break through the bottleneck of eliminating the threat of the Xiongnu.
Like a river thawing, Chao Cuo Zhi Cai surged forward, rolling in, out of control. In order to cooperate with the strategy of "attacking barbarians with barbarians", Chao Cuo then proposed the strategy of recruiting people to strengthen the border. Chao Cuo said that the Qin Dynasty's unplanned "exile" was a mistake that would arouse public resentment and cause the people to rise up. He suggested that Liu Heng use reward policies to encourage people to settle and develop the frontiers, such as exonerating the guilty and giving rewards to the innocent.
Once a climate of "attacking barbarians with barbarians" and recruiting people to strengthen the border was established, the Huns would not be able to invade the border wantonly. Chao Cuo's analysis can be said to be profound. The Han Dynasty trained its army and recruited people to strengthen its borders. The Huns were afraid and eager to destroy it. Not long after these two policies were implemented, in the 14th year of Emperor Wen (166 BC), Shanyu led an army of 140,000 troops from Chaona Xiaoguan (now southeast of Guyuan, Ningxia) to Pengyang (now east of Yuanzhen, Gansu Province), and invaded and plundered all the way. , smashed, looted and destroyed, killed the northern captain, burned back to the Zhonggong (now west of Longxian County, Shaanxi Province), and the heroic cavalry approached Ganquan (now northwest of Chunhua, Shaanxi Province).
The straight-line distance between Ganquan and Chang'an is about 80 kilometers. It can be reached by Qingqi in one day. Chang'an is in urgent need. The courtiers were flustered, but Liu Heng commanded calmly, without losing Huang Lao's style. Facing a bunch of useless courtiers and a weak army, only a kind and indifferent monarch like Liu Heng could endure it. If it were the violent Liu Bang, I don't know how many people would be beheaded. Existence is reasonable, and even if it is unreasonable, existence will slowly become rationalized. Liu Heng allowed the people to recuperate and recuperate, but also took away the masculinity of the court and weakened the court officials' culture. Once the emperor and his courtiers, whatever the emperor's character is, the courtiers must also play the emperor's character, otherwise they will suffer like Jia Yi.
The Xiongnu came with great force this time. Liu Heng ordered Lieutenant Zhou She and Lang Zhong to order Zhang Wu to lead thousands of chariots and 100,000 cavalry to guard outside the city of Chang'an. Lu Qing, the Marquis of Chang, was made the general of Shangjun; Wei Su, the Marquis of Ning, was made the general of the north; Zhou Zao, the Marquis of Lu, was the general of Longxi; Zhang Xiangru, the Marquis of Dongyang, was the general; and Dong Chi, the Marquis of Cheng, was the general and led the troops to attack the Xiongnu.
The Han army mobilized in large numbers, but the Xiongnu did not escape. The two armies fought for more than a month. After experiencing many hardships, the Han army expelled the Xiongnu from the fortress. Although the Han army won, they killed very few Xiongnu. This is a weak war that consumes fresh troops and tests supplies. After a war, both armies will suffer losses. This war exposed the weaknesses of both armies. The Huns had few soldiers and the Han army had no generals. Mao Dun once led 300,000 troops to march into Pingcheng, and his boss, Shanyu, led 140,000 troops to the south. The number of Xiongnu soldiers was getting smaller and smaller.
Seeing that the Han army had no generals, Chanyu became increasingly arrogant, exploited his strengths and avoided weaknesses, concentrated his superior forces to fight guerrilla warfare, and entered whenever he wanted, causing numerous casualties among the people, with Yunzhong and Liaodong suffering the most. As Chao Cuo said: "There are generals who are sure to win, but there are no people who are sure to win."
This time to expel the Xiongnu, although Liu Heng mobilized many generals, there was no strong general. He was a benevolent emperor. In his heart, war was a sin, and he just wanted to have peaceful interactions with the Huns. He doesn't understand war, let alone invasion. He just wants the people to live a good life. Liu Heng was like this, Chao Cuo went against him, and the emperor and his ministers took different paths, which indicated that Chao Cuo's official career would be difficult to achieve.
