China knows everything for 5000 years

Chapter 18

In 119 BC, the imperial court decided to launch another large-scale attack on the Xiongnu, marching towards the Xiongnu in two routes. Li Guang, who was already old, took the initiative to ask for a battle and served as a former general under the command of Wei Qing.Li Guang lost his way several times on the way, and when he arrived at the rendezvous point, it was several days behind the appointed time. At that time, the Xiongnu had been defeated by Wei Qing's army.After the rendezvous, Wei Qing sent his subordinates to ask about Li Guang's lost journey, and urged Li Guang's subordinates to go to Wei Qing to confess his guilt.

Li Guang said angrily: "My subordinates are not guilty. I am solely responsible for being late. If you want to interrogate, interrogate me. Now I will go to the general's shogunate to wait for interrogation." Then, Li Guang said to his subordinates : "I have fought more than 70 battles with the Huns in my life. This time I fought with the general. I was very lucky to fight the Huns. I didn't expect the general to transfer my team and let me go back to the distant place. Isn’t it God’s will that I lost my way, but I lost my way? Besides, I’m already so old, after all, I can’t deal with those petty officials who play with words!” After finishing speaking, he drew his sword and refused.

The whole army was weeping.People all over the country, whether they knew him or not, were deeply saddened by General Li Guang's famous life and his tragic ending.

●Fighting the Xiongnu Wei Qing became famous
After Mayi ambushed the Huns and returned without success, Liu Che was dissatisfied with Wang Hui, the general who commanded the battle of Mayi. In a rage, he imprisoned Wang Hui on the charge of "failing to succeed as the leader" and forced him to commit suicide.In order to find talents who can take on the important task of fighting the Xiongnu, Liu Che's eyes first fell on Wei Qing, the younger brother of his favorite concubine Wei Zifu.From then on, Wei Qing stood out among many generals and became one of the most important generals who fought against the Huns during Liu Che's period.

Wei Qing was born in Pingyang, Hedong (now southwest of Linfen, Shanxi).His father, Zheng Ji, was a lowly official in Pingyang County. As an illegitimate child, Wei Qing spent his childhood and youth in a difficult environment full of discrimination and indifference.After becoming an adult, Wei Qing served as the servant of Princess Pingyang.In 139 BC, Wei Qing's youngest sister, Wei Zifu, was favored by Liu Che.After Wei Zifu was named his wife, Wei Qing was also promoted to Taizhong doctor and became an upstart in the imperial court.

In 129 BC, the Xiongnu invaded Shanggu County, killing and plundering officials and people.Liu Che appointed Wei Qing as the general of chariots and cavalry to lead Wanqi, and went straight out of Shanggu to fight against the Xiongnu.After the fledgling Wei Qing led his army to defeat the enemies who invaded Shanggu, he went deep into the territory of the Xiongnu until Longcheng, and returned in triumph after capturing more than 700 Huns.Liu Che was very happy that Wei Qing made great achievements in battle when he first joined the army, and awarded Wei Qingjue the title of Marquis of Guannei as a reward.

After the First World War in Longcheng, the Xiongnu invaded again in 128 BC. Wei Qing was ordered to go out and lead 3 soldiers to Yanmen to meet the Xiongnu.After Wei Qing led his army straight to Yanmen, he fought fiercely with the invading Huns. The Huns were defeated and fled in embarrassment, leaving behind thousands of corpses.Wei Qing won both attacks, showing outstanding military talent and gaining fame.In the famous Battle of Henan that ensued, he became the commander of the Han army as a matter of course.

In 127 BC, Liu Che was not moved by the Xiongnu's offensive on the eastern front, and adopted the combat policy of the Xiongnu's eastward attack and the Han army's westward advance, and decisively launched the famous Henan Campaign.It can be said that this is the first victory in a strategic decisive battle since the Han Dynasty launched a war against the Huns.Liu Che ordered Wei Qing to go out for the third time, commanding an army of tens of thousands from Yunzhong (northeast of Tuoketuo, Inner Mongolia today) and marching northwestward along the north bank of the Yellow River, capturing Gaoque (the name of the plug, located in the northeast of Jinhanghou Banner, Inner Mongolia today), cutting off the The relationship between King Baiyang, King Loufan and Shanyu Wangting who were stationed in Henan was broken.Then, Wei Qing immediately led his troops to the south and drove directly to Longxi (now Lintiao, Gansu) along the Yellow River, completing the siege of King Baiyang and King Loufan.When King Baiyang and King Loufan realized that they were trapped in a heavy siege, the defense line in Henan had completely collapsed, so they had to lead the remnants across the Yellow River westward and escaped outside the Great Wall in a panic.In this battle, the Han army wiped out thousands of enemies, intercepted more than [-] livestock, and recovered all of Henan, achieving a major victory.Wei Qing's command of this battle changed the Han army's combat mode of ambush, blocking, and reinforcements in previous operations. After seeing the combat intention of the Han army, they have already fallen into the siege of the Han army, and the overall situation of failure is set.Wei Qing was also granted the title of Marquis of Changping because of his meritorious service in capturing Henan.

After the Han army captured Henan, Emperor Wu adopted the suggestion of the counselor Zhu Fuyan and set up Shuofang County (now the Urad Banner area of ​​Inner Mongolia) and Wuyuan County (northwest of Baotou, Inner Mongolia) in the Henan area, and Su Jian was responsible for the construction of Shuofang City ( Today's Inner Mongolia Hangjin Banner) also repaired the Great Wall built in the Qin Dynasty, and immigrated 10 people to live in Henan.As a result, the Henan area was consolidated and strengthened, and became an important base for the Han army to attack the Huns.

Since then, Wei Qing has repeatedly attacked the Xiongnu, invincible and famous in China.

●Huo Qubing seals the wolf to live in Xu
In the spring of 123 BC, Liu Che ordered General Wei Qing to lead the six generals Gongsun Ao, Gongsun He, Zhao Xin, Su Jian, Li Guang, Li Ju and more than 10 troops out of Dingxiang for hundreds of miles to directly fight the main force of Xiongnu Shanyu. , Beheaded thousands of people and returned to Hansai.After more than a month, Wei Qing led six generals out of Dingxiang to attack the Xiongnu, beheading more than 3000 people.However, the 800 cavalry led by the right general Su Jian and the former general Zhao Xin met Shan Yu's main force. After a day of fierce fighting, the Han army was completely lost.Zhao Xin was originally the little king of the Xiongnu, and after he surrendered to the Han, he was named Xihou. Seeing that the situation was unfavorable at this time, he led his remnants of more than 3000 cavalry to surrender to the Xiongnu.Zhao Xin surrendered to the enemy before the battle, and Su Jian was in a more difficult situation, so he abandoned the army and fled, returning alone.This is the first setback since Wei Qing left the army, losing more than 18 cavalry and two generals.But in this battle, Huo Qubing, who was only [-] years old, stayed away from the army with a courageous and fearless spirit, and made military exploits alone, showing his sharpness.

In the autumn of 120 BC, the Xiongnu attacked Youbeiping and Dingxiang counties with two armies, tens of thousands of horses each, killing more than 1000 Han officials and people.Therefore, Liu Che decided to launch the Battle of Mobei against the forces of Shanyu Headquarters of the Huns and King Zuoxian.In order to ensure the victory of the battle, Liu Che mobilized more than 14 cavalry, divided into two cavalry groups, Wei Qing and Huo Qubing, and used a large number of infantry and 5 horses as a transport army to transport food, clothing, and ordnance.Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty asked Wei Qing and Huo Qubing to lead [-] horses each, and marched separately. He also equipped Wei Qing with battle-tested veterans Li Guang, Gongsun He, Zhao Shiqi, Cao Xiang and others to ensure the victory of the Battle of Mobei.Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty entrusted the most difficult task to Huo Qubing's army.The original plan was to send Huo Qubing's troops out of Dingxiang (now Inner Mongolia) to focus on attacking Shanyu's main force; to send Wei Qing's troops out of Daijun (in today's Hebei).Later, it was learned from the captives' confessions that Shan Yu's main force was in the east, and Huo Qubing's army was sent out of Daijun immediately, and Wei Qing's army was sent out of Dingxiang.

In the spring of 119 BC, General Wei Qing and General Huo Qubing led their troops northward after they were ordered.At this time, the main force of the Xiongnu Shanyu had retreated to Mobei, and moved its military supplies to the farther rear.After Wei Qing left the fortress, he knew that the main force of the Huns was indeed in front of him.Therefore, he ordered the former army's Li Guangbu and the right general Zhao Shiqi's troops to join forces, go out from the east road, cover his flank, and attack the left back of Shanyu's army. Wei Qing personally led the main force to attack Shanyu.

The army led by the general Wei Qing advanced more than 1000 li to the north and crossed the vast desert. Suddenly, he found that the main force of Shanyu was waiting in full formation, so Wei Qing immediately ordered the troops to use Wugang vehicles to "circle themselves into a battalion", In case of a sudden attack by the Huns, 5000 cavalry were sent to make a tentative attack on the Huns.The Xiongnu Shanyu also sent more than 200 cavalry to meet the Han army.The two armies fought fiercely until the end of the day. Wei Qing seized the opportunity and sent the main force to move back from the left and right flanks to surround the Huns.Yi Zhixie Shanyu saw that his army was surrounded by the Han army, and the Han army was numerous and strong. It would be very unfavorable for him to continue fighting. He was afraid of being defeated and killed, so he took advantage of the wind and sand at dusk and led hundreds of strong cavalry to stand out. Surrounded by the Han army, they fled to the northwest.The two armies fought fiercely until late at night, with heavy casualties on both sides. Shan Yu had already fled before dusk, so Wei Qing hurriedly ordered Qing cavalry to pursue him, and he immediately led the main force to chase after him.They chased him until dawn, and drove for more than 1 li, but did not find Shan Yu's direction.At this time, the Xiongnu soldiers had collapsed and more than [-] people were beheaded by the Han army. Wei Qing led his army to chase to Zhaoxin City on Zhenyan Mountain (now Nazhute Mountain in Mongolia), and seized the food and other military supplies collected by the Huns to supplement his own resources. The army stayed for a day, set fire to the remaining military resources and Zhao Xincheng, and returned to the division victorious.

In order to fight against the Xiongnu more effectively, the hussar general Huo Qubing's army selected Congqihou Zhao Ponu, Changwuhou Anji, Beidi Duwei Xingshan, Xiaowei Li Gan, etc. as the generals, and returned with the former Xiongnu generals. Yihou Fuluzhi and Yijijin were the guides, accompanying the army in charge of camping and security, looking for water sources and pastures.The army left Daijun and attacked northward.Crossing the desolate and inhabited desert, he drove straight for more than 2000 miles, and encountered the Zuoxian King's tribe of the Xiongnu.Huo Qubing's army launched a fierce raid on Zuoxian's army. Zuoxian's army was defeated, and he led his cronies and generals to abandon the army and fled. , Captured three people including King Tuntou and King Han of the Huns, 83 people including Generals, Xiangguo, Danghu, and Duwei, captured and killed 70443 Huns officials and soldiers, and almost all the troops of King Zuoxian of the Huns were wiped out.

To commemorate the victory of this important battle, Huo Qubing ordered people to build a memorial platform on Langjuxu Mountain. At the same time, he built a platform for worshiping the sky under Guyan Mountain (the eastern suburb of Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia). Raising the torch, offering sacrifices to heaven and earth, and comforting the heroic spirits who died heroically, the cheers of soldiers celebrating victory resounded through the sky.Huo Qubing's army returned triumphantly with the honor of victory.So far, the earth-shattering Han-Hungarian Mobei Battle ended with the victory of the Han army.

●Sima Qian worked hard to write history
Sima Qian, courtesy name Zichang, was born in Xiayang (now Hancheng, Shaanxi).The ancestor of Sima Qian's family was a historian of the Zhou Dynasty. His father, Sima Tan, was rich in knowledge and served as Taishi Ling during Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty.Sima Tan hopes that his son can inherit his studies, and has given Sima Qian a comprehensive education since he was a child.When Sima Qian was 10 years old, he was able to recite classics handed down from ancient times such as "Zuo Zhuan", "Guo Yu" and "Shang Shu", laying a solid foundation in both literature and history.

Sima Qian likes reading and learning. When studying, he likes to delve into, understand and understand, and likes to visit places of interest and historical sites.From the age of 20, Sima Qian traveled to various places, almost all over the country.Everywhere Sima Qian went, wherever there were records in ancient books or famous places in legends, he had to go to investigate in person and visit the local old people.After years of travel and investigation, Sima Qian broadened his horizons, increased his experience, exercised his ability to observe and analyze things, and accumulated a large amount of original materials, which provided a solid foundation for writing "Historical Records".

When Sima Qian was 36 years old, his father Sima Tan died of illness.Sima Tan was writing a history book during his lifetime, and had already collected and prepared materials, but he was seriously ill just before he started writing.When he was dying, Sima Tan took his son's hand and repeatedly asked Sima Qian to fulfill his wish-to write history.With tears in his eyes, Sima Qian repeatedly promised to accept his father's legacy.

In 108 BC, Sima moved to the post of Taishi Ling and began to write the history books that his father could not finish.At this time, he had the opportunity to get in touch with various documents and archives of the central government, and read many precious books in the royal collection. His knowledge became more abundant and the materials he collected became more complete.

However, when Sima Qian was 48 years old, an indiscriminate disaster suddenly befalls him.Sima Qian's good friend Li Ling was surrounded and captured by the Huns. Liu Che was furious and executed his whole family.When Li Ling heard the news, he was forced to surrender to the Xiongnu.Sima Qian had known Li Ling for many years and knew Li Ling better. He defended Li Ling in front of Liu Che, so he offended Liu Che and was punished with corruption (that is, the cruel punishment of cutting off reproductive organs to make people lose their reproductive ability).Although it did not endanger his life, Sima Qian suffered great humiliation.

Sima Qian suffered heavy blows and cruel tortures on his personality and body. He was so sad that he wanted to commit suicide several times, but thinking that his father's last wish had not been fulfilled, he was unwilling to die like this.Sima Qian was determined to live tenaciously and finish writing that history.Therefore, Sima Qian continued his writing in prison, working hard day and night to write books.In 96 BC, Sima Qian was pardoned and released from prison, and served as Zhongshu Ling.After he was released from prison, Sima Qian continued to write books.

After years of hard work, at the age of 53, Sima Qian basically completed the immortal historical masterpiece "Historical Records". "Historical Records" has 130 articles and more than 52 words.It includes 12 chapters of "Benji", which record the emperor's deeds according to the emperor's age and order; 10 chapters of "Table", which record major events and important figures in a tabular manner, which are concise and practical; 8 chapters of "Book", which record important laws and regulations. , astronomical and geographical phenomena, political facilities, and social and economic conditions; 30 "family" records the historical events of special important figures such as princes, kings, Confucius, and Chen Sheng; 70 "biographies" record important officials, celebrities, The history of ethnic minorities and neighbors, including the biographies of some lower-class social figures.The most important things in the book are the biography and biographies, so later generations call it biographical history books.Since the "Historical Records" pioneered this genre of history writing, the official history books of all dynasties in China (commonly known as the 24 histories) have basically been written in the form of biography based on "Historical Records" as a model.

"Historical Records" is not only rich in content, accurate and reliable, but also a masterpiece of history that connects the past and the future. It is also a great literary masterpiece with vivid text, beautiful language and lifelike characterization.In "Historical Records", Sima Qian enthusiastically praised and praised the wise emperors and ministers, officials who loved the country and the people, and folk heroes; he ruthlessly criticized and criticized tyrants and treacherous officials.For the history of the Han Dynasty, no matter good or bad, they dare to record truthfully.Not to give too much credit to good things, not to cover up bad things, that is, to give a realistic account of the shortcomings and faults of Emperor Wu of Han, the ruler at that time.What Sima Qian left to future generations is not only a precious cultural heritage, but more importantly, a down-to-earth attitude towards writing history.

●Su Wu shepherds the same festival
In 100 BC, Liu Che was about to send troops to attack the Xiongnu, but the Xiongnu sent envoys to seek peace, and released all the envoys of the Han Dynasty that had been detained before.In order to reply to the Xiongnu's kindness, Liu Che sent Zhonglang General Su Wu with his deputy Zhang Sheng and his entourage Chang Hui as an envoy to the Xiongnu.

Su Wu and his party traveled long distances, eating and sleeping in the open, and finally arrived at the place where the Xiongnu Shanyu lived.When Shan Yu saw Su Wu coming to his door with gifts, he thought the Han Dynasty was weak, so he was arrogant and impolite towards Su Wu and his envoys, and his attitude was domineering.Su Wu endured humiliation and completed the mission. Just as they were about to return to Chang'an, something unexpected happened.

It turned out that Wei Lu, the envoy of the Han Dynasty, surrendered to the Huns when he was an envoy to the Huns a few years ago, and was named king by Shan Yu.Wei Lu's former deputy envoy, Yu Chang, was dissatisfied with Wei Lu's selling himself to the Huns. Zhang Sheng, the deputy envoy this time, was his old friend. Yu's mother killed Wei Lu.However, when more than 70 of them were about to start an incident, someone informed them.Shan Yu arrested Yu Chang and wanted to take the opportunity to force Su Wu to surrender.

Su Wu didn't know about this at first, but at this time, Zhang Sheng was afraid of being implicated, so he told Su Wu.Su Wu said: "The matter has come to this point, and I will definitely be implicated. If people are interrogated before dying, wouldn't it be more embarrassing for the court?" After saying that, he drew his knife and wanted to commit suicide.But Zhang Sheng and Chang Hui took the sword away and comforted him a lot.

Wei Lu was ordered to coerce Su Wu to surrender, but was sternly refused. Su Wu drew out his sword and stabbed himself violently.Wei Lu hurriedly hugged Su Wu, grabbed the sword, and found someone to heal him.Shan Yu heard that Su Wu would rather die than surrender, and he respected Su Wu's patriotism, but he was unwilling to let such a talent return to the Han Dynasty, so he threatened and lured Su Wu to surrender, but Su Wu was unmoved.

So Shan Yu decided to lock Su Wu in the cellar without giving him food or drink, trying to force him to submit by long-term torture.It was winter and it was snowing heavily outside.Su Wu suffered from hunger and hunger. When he was thirsty, he held a handful of snow to quench his thirst. When he was hungry, he pulled some belts and sheepskins to satisfy his hunger.A few days passed, but he did not starve to death.

Shan Yu sees that Su Wu will not accept the soft and hard, and makes a living, trying to use the difficult living environment to wear down Su Wu's patriotic will, and induce him to finally surrender.He ordered Su Wu to be exiled to Beihai (now Lake Baikal in Siberia, Russia) to graze sheep.Before leaving, Shan Yu said to Su Wu, "I won't let you go until the ram gives birth to lambs."

The North Sea is uninhabited, covered with snow all year round, and even birds and animals are hard to see.Sometimes Su Wu was so hungry that he couldn't help it, so he dug the voles' holes and took out the fodder in the holes to satisfy his hunger.Every day, while tending the sheep, he caresses the "scepter", hoping that one day, he will be able to return to the motherland with the scepter.Over time, the fluff on the scepter fell off and became a bare stick, but Su Wu still regarded it as the pillar of life, and even when he slept, he hugged it tightly to his chest.

In 85 BC, the Shan Yu of the Huns died, and civil strife broke out in the Huns, which divided them into three countries.Xin Shanyu did not have the strength to fight the Han Dynasty again, so he sent envoys to ask for peace.

In 81 BC, after several negotiations between the Han Dynasty and the Xiongnu, the Xiongnu released Su Wu and nine of his entourage back to Chang'an.When the people in Chang'an heard that Su Wu was back, they all came out to greet him.They were all moved to tears when they saw the white-haired Su Wu still holding the bald "scepter" tightly in his hand.Su Wu has been determined for 9 years, and his legacy will last forever.

(End of this chapter)