Chapter 124 Chao Cuo
[In the Central Plains, the Han Dynasty was established after the victory of the Chu-Han Contention. However, although the dynasty was established, the devastation caused by the war in the Central Plains could not be changed just because of the establishment of the dynasty.

Against this background, Han Wangxin, who was granted the title of Duke of Dai by Liu Bang, defected to the Huns and led his troops into Jin and all the way to the city of Jinyang. Liu Bang personally led his troops to stop them, but made the same mistake as the Donghu, of underestimating the enemy. Maodun pretended to retreat, and Liu Bang advanced recklessly with his light cavalry, and was trapped in Baideng for seven days and seven nights.

Liu Bang sent someone to give gifts to Yanshi, asking her to whisper in Maodun's ear; it happened that Wang Huang and Zhao Li, who had previously agreed to meet with Maodun, did not arrive on time. Maodun suspected that this was a strategy of the Han army, so he temporarily lifted a corner of the encirclement, and Liu Bang took the opportunity to escape.

After that, the Han Dynasty began a policy of marriage with the Xiongnu. Through marriage, the Xiongnu realized that they could not destroy the Han Dynasty as they had destroyed the grassland tribes, so they only harassed the Han Dynasty's borders and did not engage in such a full-scale war.

The early years of the Han Dynasty.

Looking back at his own failure, or shameful experience, Liu Bang was very calm.

This was indeed his fault, there was nothing to argue about. At that time, he was confused by Maodun's feigned retreat, and was trapped by his own idea of ​​​​defeating the Huns in one go and deciding the outcome in one battle. He was also blinded by his past achievements in defeating Xiang Yu and subduing the princes, so he led his light cavalry to chase Maodun.

This isn't his fault, so whose fault is it?

After all, when it comes down to it, Maodun's method is not only not new, but also not particularly clever or mysterious.

But it worked, and it was quite successful - Maodun's withdrawal in the end could not be regarded as the result of his gift to Yanshi, but more because Maodun himself suspected whether the Han Dynasty had any conspiracy and did not want to take the risk.

Han Dynasty, the fourth year of Yuanshou.

Looking back at the shame his ancestors had suffered in the past, Liu Che had a calm expression, yet a sense of confidence emanated from it.

That’s right, the shame of Emperor Gao and Empress Gao cannot be whitewashed. Of course, he, his ancestors, and his ministers also do not think that there is anything to whitewash. Shame must be recorded, clearly and distinctly, so that future generations can know their enemies and know what attitude to use to deal with these people and things.

The Han Dynasty at that time was indeed no match for the Xiongnu. Even after the marriage alliance, the Xiongnu only stopped launching large-scale attacks and instead harassed the border. And such a thing can still be described as "just" - compared with a large-scale war, such harassment was only on the border, and it was indeed "just".

But now it’s different. The Han Dynasty can finally avenge itself and take revenge on the Huns!
[Policies such as marriage alliances brought temporary overall peace.

But the Huns' humiliation of the Han Dynasty did not stop.

On the one hand, the Xiongnu repeatedly attacked the border, which was an action to show their disdain for the Han Dynasty and prove the weakness of the Han Dynasty at that time;

On the other hand, Maodun also used his personal behavior to demonstrate his mockery of the Han Dynasty: After Liu Bang's death, when Lu Zhi was in power, Maodun wrote a letter to Lu Zhi, the general content of which was that we are both lonely monarchs, and both very unhappy. In this case, why don't we exchange what we have for what we don't have... Of course, Maodun also took the opportunity to despise the Han Dynasty's military and show off its military power.

After reading the contents of the letter, Lu Zhi was furious, but finally endured it because of the situation between Han and Xiongnu. She replied that she was "old and ugly, her hair and teeth were falling out, and her steps were unsteady", so "the Chanyu's overhearing is not enough to discredit me. My country is innocent and should be pardoned."

After receiving the reply, Maodun may have realized his impoliteness or found that he could not achieve his goal, so he changed his mind and sent another envoy to apologize, claiming that he did not understand the etiquette of the Central Plains and had offended him, and offered horses and marriage to the Han Dynasty.

The early years of the Han Dynasty.

Liu Bang fell silent.

His reaction at this moment was indescribable.

He was not on good terms with Lu Zhi, and he did not like their son very much. In addition, he followed the typical style of an emperor - when facing any matter related to the Han Dynasty, he would always weigh it from the perspective of the interests of the Han Dynasty. Therefore, from this perspective, Lu Zhi's response at the time was perfect. For the sake of the Han Dynasty, what did the monarch's personal face, personal face that was not actually damaged, matter?
But at the same time, he also had the most ordinary mentality as a husband: Lu Zhi was his wife. No matter how they felt about each other, they were still husband and wife. In the case that his own life and country were not involved, the identity of his wife was still very important. Moreover, Lu Zhi had contributed to his unification of the world after all.

Han Dynasty, the fourth year of Yuanshou.

Liu Che was in high spirits about this period of history: "Emperor Gao left me with the worry of Pingcheng, and during the reign of Empress Gao, the Chanyu wrote to me to renounce his rebellion. In the past, Duke Xiang of Qi avenged nine generations of hatred, and the Spring and Autumn Annals praised it."

The Han Dynasty today is in a period where revenge is beginning to prevail. If there is a blood feud, like what happened to Duke Xiang of Qi, nine generations of hatred can still be avenged.

Under the guidance of the great revenge ideology, everyone from the emperor and nobles to the common people agrees on one point: "If a minister does not punish his king, he is not a minister; if he does not seek revenge, he is not a filial son" - if one sharpens his knife, exhausts all his energy and finally kills his enemy for revenge, he will be praised and respected by the whole society.

Moreover, until the reign of Emperor Liu Che, such hatred had not yet reached the ninth generation.

Now, after several generations of recuperation, the Han Dynasty has a strong army and horses, and has eliminated the worries of the princes. It also has two generals, Wei Qing and Huo Qubing. How can it not wipe out the Huns?
In the sixth year of the Yuan Dynasty, Maodun Chanyu died, and his son Jiju ascended the throne, named Laoshang Chanyu.

Laoshang Chanyu was not a man who would live in peace and stability. After he succeeded to the throne, he personally led 140,000 people to attack the Han Dynasty, burning, killing and looting. It was not until the Han army arrived that the Huns gradually retreated outside the Great Wall.

Fourteen years later, his son came to the throne as Junchen Chanyu, who was also a Chanyu ready to attack the Han Dynasty at any time. During the reign of Emperor Wu, an attempt was made to lure him into an ambush, but he became suspicious because "there were livestock everywhere but no one grazing them", and ultimately failed.

But the prosperity of the Xiongnu gradually came to an end. Since the Han Dynasty launched a brutal and relentless attack on the Xiongnu during the reign of Emperor Wu of Han, the Xiongnu never recovered their former glory and split up repeatedly. The Southern Xiongnu was directly placed under the jurisdiction of the Han Dynasty.

Eastern Han Dynasty, the 17th year of Jianwu.

Liu Xiu listened to the story of the Xiongnu and Emperor Xiaowu, and could not help but sigh: "Emperor Xiaowu was a man of great talent and strategy, and he appointed talented people and made reforms. That is why the Han Dynasty was not afraid of border troubles later."

At that time, the Han Dynasty and the Huns were indeed fighting to the death - not only was the battle with the Huns endless, but the Han Dynasty was also under various domestic pressures, including natural disasters, food, economy, people's livelihood, etc. Once these problems got out of control, the Han Dynasty would also come to an end.

But Emperor Xiaowu held on! Although he was indeed suspected of being a tyrant, he held on in the end, and never gave up or regretted it. This highlighted his character and ability, which was completely different from other emperors.

The Xiongnu, on the other hand, had tried and attempted to regain power when the Han Dynasty sometimes had no spare energy to control them, but so what? Even if the Han Dynasty was not strong enough, they had no chance of revival. All their chances disappeared after they were defeated by the Han Dynasty during the reign of Emperor Xiaowu.

Han Dynasty, the fourth year of Yuanshou. Liu Che, Huo Qubing and other generals were so excited that they almost danced to express their excitement. Wei Qing was not among them because although he was also happy about it, he remained calm and did not show his emotions like these people.

In contrast, some ministers in charge of the country's finances and people's livelihood, if asked if they were happy about the emperor's achievements, they would answer loudly: Of course!
But, of course, they still have to return to their own jobs after that. "Fight to the death" and "violent", these two words, although they are good for combat results, are not friendly to logistics. What kind of war can be described by these two words? ! National finances... are they okay?

[The last period of the Huns was during the Southern and Northern Dynasties. After that, the Huns were completely integrated into various ethnic groups and were no longer discussed separately.

There is another thing about the Xiongnu during the Northern and Southern Dynasties: one person founded the Former Zhao.

Tang Dynasty, Zhenguan period.

The Zhenguan emperors and ministers who knew this history looked at each other and fell silent.

This former Zhao is really...

"I wonder what the Emperor would think if he knew that he would be worshipped by the Xiongnu one day."

Han Dynasty.

Whether it was the Western Han monarchs such as Liu Bang, Liu Heng, Liu Qi, and Liu Che, or the Eastern Han emperors such as Liu Xiu, as well as powerful ministers, they all felt a little chill for some reason:?
[The name Former Zhao was not the original name of this dynasty. At first, the founding emperor named the country Han.

Later, someone changed the country's name to Zhao, so this dynasty can also be called Han Zhao.

The founding emperor of Han Zhao was called Liu Yuan. He ascended the throne in the name of restoring Han. He was a Hun and a descendant of Maodun Chanyu.

As for restoring the Han Dynasty and taking the name of Han, his reasoning was this: "I am also the nephew of the Han family, and we are brothers. When the elder brother dies, the younger brother will take over. Isn't that fine? Moreover, we can call ourselves Han and honor the later lord posthumously to keep people's hopes alive."

The nephew of the Han family here, or roughly brothers, refers to the marriage alliance between the Han Dynasty and Maodun, and the roughly brothers, and the later ruler is Liu Chan, the later ruler of Shu Han during the Three Kingdoms period.

Therefore, Liu Yuan honored Liu Chan as Emperor Xiaohuai, built the shrines of the three ancestors and five ancestors from Emperor Gaozu of Han to worship him. He also adopted the official system of the Han Dynasty, setting up the prime minister, the imperial censor, the general and six ministers as the central officials, and the senior generals such as the great marshal, the general and the general as the military officials.

The early years of the Han Dynasty.

The wine cup in Liu Bang's hand suddenly became as heavy as a thousand pounds, and he could no longer drink the wine.

He put the wine cup down, and for a moment he could not find his previous sense of relief. All his eloquent intelligence seemed to have disappeared in an instant - what was going on!

Being able to assimilate the Xiongnu is of course a great thing, but is this considered assimilation? Why did the descendants of Maodun have the surname Liu? And they also recognized the ancestors of the Liu family? They also agreed that the elder brother would succeed the younger brother, but he didn't know that he and Maodun were so close. If this is the case, if there is a succession problem with Maodun, the Han Dynasty should be considered the orthodox Xiongnu...

Hmm? It seems that it is not impossible?
Liu Bang finally found the sharp and resourceful self again. If this is the case, then it makes sense to me. Maodun and I are brothers, so uncles should help their nephews!

The brotherhood between Maodun and me is extremely deep. How can I just watch his tribe run into problems?
Even if we cannot use troops directly for the time being, it would be good to have some progress in theory.

Eastern Han Dynasty, the 17th year of Jianwu.

Liu Xiu sneered, fearing that the real reason might be "to keep people's expectations"!
Our Han Dynasty has lasted for hundreds of years and has the support of the people. How could Liu Yuan be willing to not use such a popular figure?
As for the official system of the Han Dynasty, didn’t I abolish the Grand Marshal and replace it with the Grand Commandant? Then how come the Grand Marshal appeared again in Han Zhao, and even coexisted with the Grand Commandant?
The power setting of the Grand Marshal is purely for powerful ministers. Could it be that such a legitimate official position was re-established by future generations? Then wouldn't the world of our Han Dynasty fall into the hands of powerful ministers again!

Eastern Han Dynasty, Jian'an period.

At this time, none of the Three Kingdoms had yet proclaimed themselves emperors or established their own kingdoms, and Liu Bei was still a separatist regime.

However, although they were not very interested in the posthumous title of the Xiongnu, Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang still sensed something bad: "Ji Han, did Ji Han fall in the hands of Adou?"

On the one hand, Adou was called the Houzhu. Regardless of whether the Houzhu refers to the monarch who lost his country, if Adou is the Houzhu, the only one who is opposite to the Hou is the Qianzhu, which means that including himself, Ji Han only had two monarchs.

On the other hand, since Adou had ascended the throne, why was he posthumously conferred the title by Liu Yuan? It could only be that he had not been given the posthumous title of emperor before.

[However, it is true that the Xiongnu declined during the reign of Emperor Wu, and the role played by Liu Heng in it cannot be underestimated.

Although during the reign of Liu Heng, the Han Dynasty basically maintained a peaceful policy towards the Xiongnu, and apart from defending against Xiongnu invasions, it basically did not actively launch attacks on the Xiongnu, but the military attitude of the Han Dynasty at this time had already changed.

In addition to the spontaneous changes in the civil and official circles, Liu Heng's attitude was equally crucial.

On the one hand, while Liu Heng was working hard to develop civilian production, he did not forget to enrich the military rations. He adopted the suggestion of Chao Cuo, the then Prince's Household Manager, to "pay grain and be awarded a title", recruiting people from all over the country to pay grain to the border, and these people could get a title that would exempt them from punishment. This method not only improved the situation of the farmers, but also made the military rations on the border more and more abundant.

On the other hand, in order to effectively defend the border, Liu Heng "recruited people to strengthen the border", established cities on the border, and recruited people to move in. The court distributed farm tools, food and clothes to the people who moved in until they settled down. At the same time, these people had to be organized into groups of ten and five and trained in peacetime to prepare for the invasion of the Huns.

This policy developed the border, strengthened defense, and reduced the burden on the interior.

Finally, a very critical policy was the horse policy. Liu Heng established 36 horse farms in the border areas, distributed in the north and west, with 30,000 official slaves raising 300,000 horses. At the same time, he encouraged and rewarded the people to raise horses.

(End of this chapter)