The great man will live forever

Chapter 178 Life is full of regrets

In order to find out whether Li Ling really surrendered, in the fourth year of Tianhan (97 BC), Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty launched another war against the Xiongnu.

He ordered Li Guang to lead [-] cavalry and [-] infantry out of Shuofang; Lu Bode, the strong crossbow captain, led more than [-] troops to join Li Guangli;
The guerrilla general Han Yuo led 3 infantrymen out of Wuyuan; General Yinjiao Gongsun Ao led [-] cavalry and [-] infantry out of Yanmen...

The Han army invested a total of 20 troops, including nearly [-] cavalry, which was comparable to the Battle of Mobei.

Liu Han wrote a letter requesting to take the initiative to fight, but Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty refused and asked him to sit in the center.

After the Xiongnu learned about it, they moved their women, children, family members and assets to the north of Yuwushui (today's Tula River in the Mongolian People's Republic), and Shanyu, the Marquis of Tutankhamun, led a hundred thousand Xiongnu troops to fight Li Guangli on the south bank of Yuwushui.

Li Guangli and Shan Yu fought for more than ten days before breaking out of the encirclement, but Han Shuo gained nothing.Gongsun Ao fought against King Zuo Xian, but when he saw that the outcome of the battle was unfavorable to him, he withdrew his troops and returned.

Liu Han has carefully counted Li Guangli's achievements. He is not a famous general, but he is not particularly incompetent. His achievements are average, and his military ability is barely qualified.

First, in 108 BC, Emperor Wu worshiped Zhao Ponu as General Xionghe, Wang Hui as General Zhonglang, and Li Guangli, the Cavalry Captain, as the supervisor of the army, and went to Loulan and Gushi.

Basically, Zhao Ponu fought in the front, and Li Guangli followed to gain experience. After the war, Zhao Ponu was granted the title of Marquis of Zunye, with an increase in the number of households. Wang Hui was granted the title of Marquis of Hao, and Li Guangli, the Cavalry Commander, was promoted to General of Yulin Zhonglang.

Next was the Battle of Dayuan. In 104 BC, Emperor Wu appointed Li Guangli, the general of Yulin Zhonglang, as the general of the Second Division. He led [-] cavalrymen from the country and [-] bad boys from the county. They left Yumen Pass in the west and pointed their swords at the Dayuan Kingdom. , As a result, Dawan Yucheng was defeated.

In the spring of the following year, more than 3000 people sadly returned eastward, stationed at Yumen Pass, and sent people to plead guilty to Emperor Wu.

In fact, he is not entirely to blame this time. After all, it has set a record for the Han's furthest expedition. There are indeed many difficulties on the road.

Immediately afterwards, the second expedition to Dawan was carried out. In 102 BC, General Li Guangli of the Second Division led 8000 captains and captains, [-] cavalry, [-] war horses, [-] camels and donkeys each, and fully loaded with grain and grass. Dayuan.Li Guangli slaughtered Luntai, destroyed Guishan, destroyed Yucheng, and was granted the title of Marquis of Haixi, with a settlement of [-] households.

As for the result, more than 6 people set out with 1 war horses. Only more than 1000 people came back and entered Yumen Pass, leaving only a pitiful [-] or so horses...

The effect was achieved, but few people came back, and the losses were huge. Just accept it reluctantly. Leaders often only look at the final results. After all, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty got the BMW that he had cherished so much, and his national prestige was also achieved.

Then, in the second year of Tianhan (99 BC), Li Guangli was ordered to lead [-] cavalry out of Jiuquan to attack King You Xian in Tianshan, and captured more than [-] soldiers before returning.During this period, Li Guangli's army was besieged by the Xiongnu army and was almost unable to escape. The Han army suffered heavy casualties, with a mortality rate as high as [-] out of [-]...

This time, he fought 13 against 10 Huns. The Han army had an advantage in numbers, and the infantry and cavalry fought together. Li Guangli still failed to win, but he retained his strength, which was not particularly embarrassing.

These records may seem a bit poor, but in fact they are barely passing. People who can leave their names in history are not simple figures. For ordinary people in future generations, I am afraid that if you are asked to manage a class, it will be a mess, let alone lead. Tens of thousands of people went on expeditions.

You have to take care of their food, drink, toilet, and sleep, and you have to take care of fighting, which will kill people. If not, they will be defeated and die.

This time, before the Battle of Yuwushui between Han and Xiong was launched, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty specially gave Gongsun Ao an additional small task. Taking advantage of this battle to go deep into the Xiongnu, if the battle went smoothly, he would bring Li Ling back from the Xiongnu.

Gongsun Ao was surrounded in the later Battle of Yuwushui. Not only was he defeated and killed according to the law, but Li Ling was not taken back. In order to escape guilt, Gongsun Ao was ready to tell a big lie: "If you capture him alive, you can tell Li Ling I taught the Chan Yu how to prepare troops for the Han army, so I gained nothing."

He wanted to pass the responsibility for his defeat to Li Ling.

Liu Han naturally didn't want him to do this, so he sent someone to deliver a message to him, "General, tell the truth. Losing a battle is a common thing for military officers. I will put in a good word for the general. I don't think your majesty will blame you too much. Whether Li Ling surrenders to the Huns, Qian Please confirm."

In fact, Gongsun Ao's fighting ability is indeed average, but his qualifications show that he is Wei Qing's best friend.

Liu Han actually wanted to meet him in person, but it was difficult to get out of Chang'an. You, the Great Sima, left Chang'an without authorization to meet with the generals who went to the frontier. Everything seemed wrong. Are you planning to rebel?
Gongsun Ao received Liu Han's letter. After hesitating for a long time, he made the same choice as in history.

Liu Han still wanted to try again. After he learned the news, he went to the palace to persuade him, "Your Majesty, Li Ling probably won't work hard for the Huns. Besides, the prisoners' words may not be trustworthy."

"Da Sima, why do you think so highly of Li Ling and trust him so much? Are you familiar with him?"

Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty turned red and said, "Here comes someone, behead Li Ling's whole family."

"His Majesty."

"That's enough. Does Da Sima want to make a decision for me?"

Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was very angry. At this time, he was like an angry tiger. He felt deceived.

"Don't dare."

"What are you afraid of? You are the Grand Sima of the Imperial Court, and I am the God of War of the Han Dynasty. Do you want to take this position?"

"The minister will die."

Liu Han knelt down and kowtowed. He knew that it was useless to say anything.

Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty calmed down slightly. Perhaps he felt that he had spoken too harshly, so he softened his tone and said, "I know that you were deceived by Li Ling. He dismounted and surrendered on his own. This is a fact. And if he didn't teach the Huns Training troops, how could they be defeated this time?"

Good guy, this time the failure was clearly due to the average general level. Li Guangli and Gongsun Ao were not even as good as Zhao Ponu. Not to mention Wei Qing and Huo Qubing, and with the years of fighting, the soldiers were getting more and more war-weary. The national power of the Han Dynasty also began to decline rapidly...

These various reasons combined made this expedition almost fruitless.Of course, Liu Han couldn't say this. If he said it, wouldn't it be equivalent to scolding Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty for being a tyrant because he was so militaristic and so happy with his achievements?

Looking at Liu Han kneeling on the ground, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty seemed to have thought of something and asked Su Wen.

"Is Sima Qian still in prison?"

"Still, Your Majesty."

"Since he still has some unfinished works, and Da Sima admires him very much, saying that he is knowledgeable about ancient times and modern times, and understands civilization and geography, I will exempt him from the death penalty. He thinks that he is a bloody man with no king and father, and the death penalty can be exempted from the penalty of life. It’s hard to escape, so let’s use corruption to make him learn to be quiet in the future.”

As Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty spoke, he glanced at Liu Han's lower body intentionally or unintentionally. Liu Han raised his head, their eyes met, and he quickly lowered his head.

He wanted to say something for Sima Qian, but he couldn't do it at this time. It wouldn't be cost-effective to involve himself.

Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty obviously used Sima Qian to beat him and gave him the money to atone for his sins. It is simply unreasonable for him to do this, but what can he do? He is an emperor.

When he learned that his whole family had been killed, Li Ling of the Xiongnu wept tears of blood.

His heart was miserable, "Your Majesty, I really don't want to surrender. Why don't you give me some time. When I gain Shan Yu's trust, I can..."

"If you are unkind, don't blame me for being unjust."

Since then, Li Ling has completely surrendered to the Huns, and not long after, the Han and Huns temporarily ceased war, and envoys from the Han Dynasty came to the Huns, hoping to redeem Su Wu.

Li Ling finally couldn't help it and said to the envoy: "I led five thousand infantry for the Han Dynasty to sweep across the Xiongnu. I was defeated because there was no rescue. Why should I be sorry for the Han Dynasty and want to kill my whole family?"

The envoy said: "Your Majesty heard that Li Shaoqing is training troops for the Huns."

Li Ling cried and said, "That's Li Xu, not me."

Li Xu was originally a captain outside the Great Wall of the Han Dynasty, stationed in Xihou City. When the Huns came to attack, he surrendered. The Chanyu treated him with great courtesy and was placed above Li Ling.

Li Ling hated him for training troops for the Huns and had his whole family killed, so he sent people to assassinate Li Xu. The Dalan clan wanted to kill Li Ling, so the Shanyu hid him in the north. He did not return until after the Dalan clan died.

After the envoy returned, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty heard the truth and discovered the truth. It turned out that Gongsun Ao was lying. Li Ling did not really teach Shan Yu how to use troops, nor did he completely betray him.

He was very angry, but there was nothing he could do. He would not admit his mistake, so he arrested Gongsun Ao and said that he had defeated the army and deceived the emperor. He was punished for both crimes and was upgraded from being beheaded to "cut in half."

Therefore, in the first month of 96 BC, Gongsun Ao was "cut in half". However, Gongsun Ao had already planned it. He played a trick of "faking death", concealed the truth and escaped the disaster, and then disappeared from the public.

Liu Han was very angry with him and asked people to report it to Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty and find him out. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was very angry and wanted to kill him.

Li Guangli tried to persuade him, "Your Majesty, after all, General Gongsun has fought in the north and south, and has made great contributions to the court, and he is also old, so why not..."

Liu Han said calmly: "Your Majesty, this is the crime of deceiving the emperor. This is the law of the court."

"Behead! The whole family was beheaded."

Liu Han still relented, "The crime is not as bad as that of his family. After all, he has made meritorious service to the court. Let the whole family forget about it."

"Okay, the Grand Sima on the left and right are good people, but I am the bad guy."

As a result, Gongsun Ao, who could have lived for several years but hid from the witchcraft, died prematurely.

On the other hand, facing the punishment of Dapi, he died out of admiration for his righteousness. Although his reputation could be saved, the book was not completed and his reputation was not established. This death was like the death of a drop of a cow, no different from the death of an ant.

Think of King Wen deducing the "Book of Changes" while in prison, Zhongni writing "Spring and Autumn" when he was in trouble, Qu Yuan only writing "Li Sao" after being exiled, Zuo Qiu being blind but writing "Guoyu", Sun Bin practicing the art of war after being tortured by Binji, Lu Buwei It was only after he was demoted to Shu that the "Lu Shi Chun Qiu" was handed down. Han Fei was imprisoned in the Qin State and wrote "Speaking of Difficulties" and "Lonely Anger". Three hundred "Poems" were probably written by wise men and saints to vent their anger.

Finally, in that era when "Zang's maids and concubines can still lead to execution", Sima Qian resolutely chose to endure corruption instead of death.

At this point, Sima Qian was burdened with the ideal that his father could not complete throughout his life, and he was not shy in the face of capital punishment.In perseverance and humiliation, he completed the mission that belonged to Tai Shigong.

After he was released from prison and recuperated for a period of time, he and his family came to thank Liu Han. Liu Han felt a little heartbroken when he saw that he was getting older.

But his eyes became more determined, as if they could shine.

"If you need anything, please feel free to ask."

"Thank you, Chief Sima. I will complete the historical records well."

His leaving figure was a little desolate, but full of strength, making Liu Han want to cry several times.

(End of this chapter)