China knows everything for 5000 years

Chapter 20

In 17 AD, the middle reaches of the Yangtze River were plagued by successive years of famine, and the hungry people launched an uprising under the leadership of brothers Wang Kuang and Wang Feng.Because this rebel army was originally stationed in Green Forest Mountain, it was called the Green Forest Army.The scattered Green Forest Army attacked the landlords' armed forces everywhere, and developed rapidly.Their battle dealt a heavy blow to Wang Mang's rule in the south.In 18 A.D., a great famine occurred in Qingzhou and Xuzhou. Fan Chong, a native of Langya, led an uprising of more than a hundred people in Ju County.Everyone in the rebels painted their eyebrows red, so they were called the "Red Eyebrow Army".In 22 AD, the rebel army and the new army fought fiercely in Chengchang (now Dongpingxi, Shandong), and the new army was defeated.The insurgents took advantage of the victory and pursued, attacked until there was no salt, and killed more than 10,000 enemies.After this battle, the Red Eyebrow Army's power increased greatly, and its number grew to [-]+ people.They fought in the vast areas at the junction of Shandong, Hebei, Henan, Anhui and other provinces, disintegrating Wang Mang's rule in the east.

The outbreak of the Lvlin and Chimei uprisings made Wang Mang's new rule crumbling.

##No.12 Series Eastern Han Revival
●Zhan Kunyang Liu Xiu Yang Wei
After Gengshi Emperor Liu Xuan became emperor, he sent generals to attack the city.Seeing the commander of the Han army rushing straight in, Wang Mang panicked and sent Sikong Wangyi and Situ Wangxun to lead an army of more than 9000 troops to rush towards Kunyang aggressively. A fierce battle was imminent.At that time, there were only 11 or [-] Han troops in Kunyang City, and there was a huge disparity in the strength of the enemy and ourselves. The generals of the Han army believed that if the enemy was besieged for a long time, Kunyang would definitely be captured.Therefore, Liu Xiu and Li Yi led [-] cavalrymen, risking their lives to break through the siege from the south of the city to move rescue soldiers elsewhere.

As soon as Liu Xiu left Kunyang, Wang Yi and Wang Xun ordered the soldiers to dig tunnels and smashed into the city gate with rams. Arrows fell like rain in Kunyang city.The Han army fought tenaciously and repelled the attacks of Wang Mang's army time and time again.At this time, Liu Xiu and others had already rushed to Yancheng and Dingling, rushed to Kunyang with reinforcements, and rushed to Wang Mang's army, which was several times their own.In order to boost the morale of the defenders in the city, Liu Xiuxiu wrote a letter, falsely claiming that another main force of the Han army had broken through Wancheng, and sent envoys to the defenders in the city.This letter was later intercepted by Wang Mang's army, which caused chaos for Wang Mang's army.Liu Xiu saw the opportunity coming, and immediately organized a commando to rush towards Wang Mang's army.

Wang Yi and Wang Xun did not take it seriously when they saw that Liu Xiu's reinforcements were not many.The two of them personally led more than [-] people to fight, and at the same time ordered the troops of each battalion not to attack.After Liu Xiu's commando rushed into the enemy's formation, they fought hard.Wang Yi's army was in chaos, and other generals did not dare to rescue each other due to military orders.Liu Xiu led the army to kill from left to right, and soon rushed to Wang Xun and killed him.Seeing this, the defenders in the city took the opportunity to fight out of the city, attacking inside and outside, and the sound of killing was earth-shattering.Wang Mang's army was in chaos, fleeing in all directions, trampling each other, causing countless casualties.It just so happened that there was a strong wind and thunder at this time, and the rain was pouring down, and the puddles in the north of Kunyang City rose sharply.Many people from Wang Mang's army fell into the puddle and drowned, and their corpses blocked the river.

The Han army won the Kunyang War, and Wang Mang's 40 troops turned into birds in an instant.After the officers and soldiers were defeated and fled, countless food, grass and weapons were left behind, and the Han army hadn't finished moving after more than a month.The Kunyang War was a glorious battle in Liu Xiu's military career. Since then, Liu Xiu has become famous all over the world.

Ascension to the throne "Guangwu Zhongxing"

After Liu Xiu ascended the throne, it took about ten years to eliminate peasant uprisings and local separatist forces, large and small, and basically reestablish a unified situation. Historically, Liu Xiu's rebuilding of the Han Dynasty was called "Guangwu Zhongxing".

At the beginning of Liu Xiu's accession to the throne, he abolished all the systems and policies established by Wang Mang, and basically restored the systems and policies of the Western Han Dynasty.In 30 A.D., he ordered the counties and states to reduce land rents and restore the old system of "one tax per thirty".The second is to select good officials and reduce punishment.Liu Xiu also ordered the promotion of frugality, better troops and simpler administration.These policies and measures had positive significance for the recovery of agricultural production and the stability of social order in the Eastern Han Dynasty.

Liu Xiu established a feudal regime even more authoritarian than the Western Han Dynasty.He gave titles and fiefs to heroes, but did not give them political power.He elevated the Shangshutai, which had been handling documents in the inner court, to a decision-making and ordering institution, directly commanded by the emperor.He also further weakened the power of the prime minister and replaced him with Situ, Sikong and Taiwei, also known as the "Three Dukes".On the surface, Sangong has great power, but in fact it can only handle some routine business affairs, and Shangshutai is the highest jurisdiction organ for actual administrative affairs.Emperor Guangwu also strengthened the supervision system, setting up Yushitai and Sili Xiaowei in the central government, responsible for supervising and reporting offenders of the imperial court officials and the affairs of various counties.Emperor Guangwu also abolished more than 400 counties and a large number of officials to improve the efficiency of local administration.During the Eastern Han Dynasty, the supervisory power of the governor was expanded, and all local administrative, judicial and military powers gradually fell into the hands of the governor.

In order to increase government taxation and taxes, in 39 AD, Liu Xiu issued an edict to "dutian" to clear and verify the household registration and land across the country.However, the powerful landlords still did everything possible to transfer the burden of taxes and labor to the peasants, and at the same time used armed resistance to save the land, which aggravated social turmoil.Later, Liu Xiu adopted a combination of suppression and disintegration to quell the riots caused by Dutian, which was conducive to the collection of taxes and corvees.Liu Xiu ordered the liberation of some slaves six times in a row, and improved the legal status of slaves.The emancipation of slaves was to increase the workforce directly controlled by the government.

●Ma Yuan and the Horse Leather Shroud
Ma Yuan was born in Maoling, Fufeng, Shaanxi, Eastern Han Dynasty.The ancestor was Zhao She, a famous general of the State of Zhao, who was named "Ma Fu Jun", so he took Ma as his surname.

In 32 AD, Ma Yuan defected to Liu Xiu and assisted him in Xiping Kaixiao.In the battle of breaking Qiang and Anlong, he took the lead, his calf was pierced by an arrow, and he bled profusely, and he persisted until he won. Liu Xiu gave him a thousand sheep and three hundred cows, and he distributed these products to his subordinates, so he won the favor of the soldiers. respect and admiration.

Later, Ma Yuan was awarded the title of "General Fubo", and everyone came to congratulate him, including an official named Meng Yi.Ma Yuan said to Meng Yi, "Why doesn't Mr. Praise me instead of teaching me?" Meng Yi didn't know how to respond.Ma Yuan said: "General Fubo during the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, Lu Bode, opened up the land of seven counties, and his fiefdoms were only a few hundred households. My contribution is much smaller than that of General Lu, and the fiefdoms reached as many as [-] households. Rewards outweigh merits, sir, why don’t you teach me in this area? Today, the Xiongnu and Wuhuan are still invading the north, I plan to ask the court to be a pioneer, to be an aspiring man. Men should die in the frontier wilderness battlefield How can you lie on the bed and die beside your children?" Meng Yi was sincerely impressed.

In the winter of 47 AD, there was a riot in Hunan, and the imperial court sent officers and soldiers to suppress it many times but failed to win. Liu Xiu was very worried about the situation there.At this time, Ma Yuannian was 62 years old, weather-beaten and sick. Hearing the news, he jumped up from the bed, put on his horse, and asked for a battle.Liu Xiu pitied him for his old age and frailty.Ma Yuan said: "I am old and strong, and I can still put on armor and mount a horse!" He flew on the horse, led the army to gallop on the battlefield, and won many battles.Due to the hot climate in the south, many soldiers died of heatstroke. Ma Yuan himself also fell ill, and soon died in the army, realizing his ambition of "shrouded in horse leather".

After Ma Yuan's death, Liu Xiu personally inscribed the golden plaque of "Horse Leather Shroud" and sent someone to his home. He also ordered people to compose "Horse Leather Shroud" into a song as a military song. It was stipulated that the Han army must sing it three times before going out. to boost morale.

●Ban Chao and Cong Rong
Ban Chao is the youngest son of Ban Biao, a famous historian of the Eastern Han Dynasty, and the younger brother of Ban Gu, the editor of "Hanshu".Ban Chao had great ambitions since he was a child. Although he didn't pay attention to grooming his appearance and details, he was very filial to his elders and often did rough and tiring work at home.Ban Chao is good at debating and has read various books and classics.

In 62 A.D., 30-year-old Ban Gu was called to be an official in Luoyang, the capital city, and his mother accompanied him.Due to his poor family, Ban Chao often copied books for the government to obtain some income.

After a long time, Ban Chao was very tired of copying and writing all day long. He felt that doing this kind of thing for a long time was fruitless and his life was boring. One day, he was immersed in copying books when he suddenly felt something. He threw away the pen and sighed: "Man You should have a great talent, and you should be like Fu Jiezi and Zhang Qian, who went to the Western Regions to make contributions and gain high officials and rich salaries. How can you always bury your head in copying books between pens and inkstones like this!" The people who copied books with Ban Chao heard him say this. They didn't take it seriously, and laughed at him as whimsical.Ban Chao said solemnly: "You mediocre villains, how can you understand the ambition of a strong man?"

Soon, Ban Chao joined the army and later became a famous general in the Eastern Han Dynasty.

●Ban Chao once again communicated with the Western Regions

After Ban Chao "throwing his pen into the army", he was ordered to go to the Western Regions in 73 AD. The 200-year history has proved that in the balance of Han-Hungarian relations, the Western Regions are a decisive weight.The Han family united with the Western Regions, and the Xiongnu were isolated; the Han family broke up with the Western Regions, and the Huns were powerful.If you want to control the Xiongnu, you must first unite with the Western Regions and remove its right arm.This is the strategic mission that Banchao entrusted to the Western Regions.

When Ban Chao and his entourage came to Dushan (formerly known as Loulan, in today's Kaklik, Ruoqiang County, Xinjiang, located in the South Western Region), King Dushan was attentive and enthusiastic to the Han envoys at first, but then suddenly became alienated and neglected.Ban Chao realized that there was a reason for this, maybe the Huns also sent envoys, and King Dushan was suspicious and uncertain about where he would go.This judgment was confirmed by the messenger of Dushan.Ban Chao immediately negotiated secretly with 36 companions, made a decisive decision, preemptively attacked the Huns envoy at night, otherwise the Han envoy would be killed by him.Ban Chao then led his officials to attack the Huns envoys in the middle of the night.Ban Chao killed 3 people with his own hands, his companions beheaded more than 100 people, and the remaining [-] people were all burned to death.The next day, Ban Chao invited the King of Shanshan. When King Dushan saw the head of the Huns envoy, he was also shocked by the heroism of the Han envoy. .

Then, Ban Chao and his entourage passed through Yuwen (now Hotan, Xinjiang), and won the King of Khotan.Yu Wenren took the initiative to kill the "guardian envoy" sent by the Huns to enslave them.

Banchao continued westward and came to Shule (now in the Kashgar area of ​​Xinjiang), where he learned that King Douti of Shule was not from Shule.The king of Kucha relied on the power of the Huns to kill the former queen of Shule, and sent Douti to be the king of Shule, so as to rule Shule.The Shule people hated him, but they didn't dare to offend Qiuci and the Huns.Ban Chao and several partners came to see Douti, caught him by surprise, and announced his guilt.The people of Shule rejoiced all over the country and promoted their own people to be kings.Ban Chao asked the Shule people to put the pocket title back in Kucha, and asked him to warn the king of Kucha not to rely on the power of a big country to oppress a small country.

In 75 A.D., the third year of Banchao's envoy, the southern route to the Western Regions had been opened, while the northern route was still under the control of the Xiongnu.At this time, the Eastern Han court ordered Ban Chao to withdraw from the Western Regions.After the people of Shule knew about it, the whole country was worried, and they refused to let them leave.A captain couldn't bear the emissary to leave, so he drew his knife and committed suicide.When Ban Chao was passing through Kuetan, everyone from the king to the people cried and wailed, hugging Ban Chao's horse's legs tightly.Seeing this situation, Ban Chao couldn't bear to leave with half the effort, and wrote to the court, willing to stay in the Western Regions.

In the Western Regions, Banchao united weak and small ethnic groups, united and resisted violence, and successively defeated Shache (in the area of ​​Shache, Xinjiang today), Qiuci, Yanqi (in the area of ​​​​Yanqi, Xinjiang today), and other countries. , More than 50 countries in the Western Regions established friendly relations with the Eastern Han Dynasty.

Ban Chao has been operating in the Western Regions for 30 years.In 102 A.D., he returned to Chang'an with a walking stick at the age of 71, and died a month later.

Ban Chao's name will always be associated with the "Silk Road".

●Wang Jing governs the mother river
The Yellow River is the mother river of the Chinese nation, but it is also a river that has brought many disasters to the Chinese nation. The flood disasters brought by it have always been the confidant of the Chinese nation.In a certain sense, the 5000-year history of civilization in my country is also a history of the Chinese nation governing the Yellow River.

Wang Jing (born around 20 A.D.), courtesy name Zhongtong, was born in Langya Buqi (now southwest of Jimo, Shandong).Since he was a child, he has "peeped a wide range of books", learned a lot, mastered a variety of skills, and was especially enthusiastic about the construction of water conservancy projects.One year, the Junyi Canal (a section of the Bian Canal) near Junyi (now Kaifeng, Henan) was washed away by the Yellow River, affecting people's life stability and agricultural production, and the imperial court issued an edict to restore it.According to the recommendation of Sikong (official name), the imperial court immediately sent Wang Jing to help Wang and Wu build the Yiqu.Wang Jing suggested that Wang Wu adopt the "weir flow method" and quickly repaired the Junyi Canal. Since then, there has been no disaster and has been praised by the people. "Weir flow method" is a great creation of Wang Jing.The so-called "weir flow method" is to set up a lateral overflow weir on one side of the embankment, which is specially used to divert and discharge flood water.The successful management of the canal this time made Wang Jing famous for his "ability to manage water".

In the early years of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the Yellow River in the county of Henan underwent drastic changes. Due to the large swing of the river course to the south, the branches of the Yellow River, Jishui, and Bianqu were turbulent.Among them, Yanzhou (now northern Henan, western Shandong, and southeastern Hebei) and Yuzhou (now eastern and southern Henan, and northwestern Anhui) suffered particularly severely.Later, dozens of counties were submerged in the south of the Yellow River.After Liu Zhuang ascended the throne, the situation worsened.

One day in AD 69, Liu Zhuang accidentally heard that Wang Jing had a lot of research on water conservancy, so he sent someone to summon Wang Jing.Wang Jingchao said: "The river is the source of harm to Bian, and Bian is the manifestation of harm to the river. If the river and Bian diverge, the transportation path will be disloyal. If the river and Bian are governed together, the benefits will be endless." Liu Zhuang admired Wang Jing's governance. He had an opinion about the river, so he ordered him to preside over the water control affairs.In April of that year, Wang Jing, Wang Wu and others led hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians to start a large-scale flood control project.According to historical records, the main content of this water control project is: "Build embankments, straighten canals, cut off water, erect water gates, divert the river and Bian, and restore their old traces."

The amount of work that Wang Jing presided over this time is enormous.The Yellow River has more than a thousand miles, and the Bianqu Canal has seven or eight hundred miles. The embankment and dredging projects totaling about [-] miles cost tens of billions of dollars.The construction period ended in April of the following year, a total of one year.Decades of yellow water disasters have subsided, and a large area of ​​land north of Dingtao (now north of Dingtao, Shandong) has dried up for cultivation, and agricultural production has begun to resume.

In the summer of 70 A.D., Liu Zhuang decided to take a boat tour along the river in person, and asked Wang Jing to accompany him.Liu Zhuang looked at the neat and solid dikes on both sides of the bank, and the boats passing by on the water. He was full of praise for the achievements of Wang Jing and others. Then he gave each of Wang Jing's river management officials a rank, especially for Wang Jing. , He was granted the title of Shi Yushi and Hedi Yezhe (the official in charge of the river defense project in the Eastern Han Dynasty).

●Written by Ban Gu and Ban Zhao (Han Shu)

In AD 64, Liu Zhuang ordered Ban Gu to write the history of the Han Dynasty.Ban Gu was a historian of the Eastern Han Dynasty.Ban Gu was born in a family of historians with a good family background. He was erudite since he was a child.After the death of his father Ban Biao, he inherited his father's will and began to compile "Han Shu". Some people sued Liu Zhuang for "privately writing the history of the country".After Liu Zhuang read his manuscript, he attached great importance to his talent and agreed to compile "Han Shu".Later, due to the involvement of the Dou Xian incident, Ban Gu died in prison in 9 AD. There were still eight tables in the "Han Shu" and "Astronomical Records" were not completed. Finally completed the first dynastic history work of Chinese historiography.

The "Hanshu" chronicle begins in the first year of Gaozu (206 BC) and ends in the fourth year of Wang Mang Dihuang (23 AD), with a calendar of 12 generations and 230 years.Including Twelve Chronicles, Eight Tables, Ten Chronicles, and Seventy Biographies, a total of 100 chapters.The content is magnificent and the structure is rigorous, and the arrangement style of its four parts: Ji, Biao, Zhi, and Biography is almost the same as that of "Historical Records". "Ji" and "Table" are used to describe historical events and historical processes, "Zhi" describes laws and regulations, and "Biography" describes the history of various figures and ethnic minorities. "Hanshu" abolished the "family" in "Historical Records".The change of "Book" to "Zhi" deliberately highlights the commanding position of "Emperor Ji" over the whole book, strengthens the programmatic nature of "Ji", and at the same time, "Biography" is more substantial and "Zhi" is more clear.

"Han Shu" created "Hundred Officials, Gongqing Biao" and "Ancient and Modern People's Biao" for the first time, and the records of "Han Shu" were valued by later generations.Although some chronicles evolved from the eight books of "Historical Records", their content is mostly different from "Historical Records". "Han Shu" created the "Criminal Law", "Five Elements", "Geography" and "Art and Literature". "Hanshu" is an important historical record for the study of the history of the Western Han Dynasty. Because Ban Gu was once the official historian of Lantai, he was in charge of the royal catalog and the secretary of the school, so he had the conditions to see enough materials.Since the compilation of this book has the basic basis of "Historical Records" and "Hou Zhuan", from the perspective of preserving historical materials of the Western Han Dynasty, "Hanshu" is the most complete existing historical records.

●Wang Chong's "Lunheng" broke the Buddha

Wang Chong has been very smart since he was a child. He began to read and write at the age of 6, and went to the library to study at the age of 8. He has both good character and learning.Therefore, he was sent to the Imperial Academy of the Imperial Academy for further study, where he studied with the great scholar Ban Biao, and later traveled to Luoyang for 16 years.Inheriting the fine tradition of the materialist thinkers of his predecessors, Wang Chong absorbed the achievements of natural science in the Han Dynasty and wrote the book "Lunheng", criticizing the theological teleology of the interaction between heaven and man with the theory of vitality and nature.He believes that vitality is the most primitive material foundation that constitutes all things in the world. The sky is a material and natural sky, without emotion and meaning, which shakes the foundation of the relationship between heaven and man.Wang Chong has an upright and upright character, he does not show off his cleverness to pursue salary, and he does not try to curry favor with officials for personal interests.

(End of this chapter)