Chapter 12 A stable South Vietnam wins the hearts of the people

Cai Dongfan has a poem "Praise Han Wendi Huairou Zhao Tuo", which says: "Warrior strength is as good as literature and education, and the way to resist barbarians lies in Huairou. Chapter 7) The content of the poem is very vernacular. It is about Zhao Tuo, the king of Nanyue, proclaiming his vassal to Liu Heng. However, there is a not simple story behind this poem. After the Qin Dynasty unified the six countries, it immediately pacified the Yangyue area and established Guilin County, Nanhai County and Xiang County.These three counties were desolate and backward, and to the people at that time, they were definitely regarded as backwaters, so they became the places where criminals and officials of the Qin Dynasty were exiled.The criminals who were exiled here lived with the Yue people for thirteen years.

At the end of the Qin Dynasty, Ren Xiao, the captain of Nanhai County, was seriously ill.The county lieutenant was originally the deputy of the county guard and was in charge of the military. However, due to the large number of barbarians in Nanhai County, the tough folk customs, and the fact that it was not long after it was settled down, the county lieutenant was always the top leader, and the military chief "grasps" the general and political power. When Ren Xiao was seriously ill, he thought that his time was short, and knew that the world was in chaos, so he called Zhao Tuo, the magistrate of Longchuan County, his confidant, and said to him: "The Central Plains is in chaos, and the heroes are competing for the throne. I don't know when it will calm down." Now many people have broken away from the rule of the Qin Dynasty and become self-reliant. I originally planned to send troops to cut off the connection with the Central Plains and wait for the opportunity to make great achievements, but now I am seriously ill and cannot defend our place. Panyu is backed by mountains and faces the sea. The territory is vast, and there are still many wise Han people who can help us, and if they are done well, they can become the lord of one side and establish a country. The officials in the county can't be trusted, so I called you here and entrusted these things to you." After finishing speaking, Ren Xiao wrote a letter of appointment, asking Zhao Tuo to act as Nanhai Commandant.

It didn't take long for Ren Xiao to pass away. After his death, Zhao Tuo immediately ordered heavy troops to guard the three important passes of Hengpu Pass, Yangshan Pass and Huangxi Pass. lost his cronies. After the demise of the Qin Dynasty, Zhao Tuo annexed Guilin County and Xiang County, closed the door and became the leader of the local snake, and established himself as the King of Wu in South Vietnam, dominating one side. When Emperor Gaozu of the Han Dynasty pacified the world, according to "Historical Records: Biography of Nanyue", Liu Bang was unwilling to let the people suffer from wars, so he did not conquer the Nanyue Kingdom.However, judging from the fact that Liu Bang only sent Lu Jia to South Vietnam in the eleventh year of Emperor Gaozu (196 BC), Liu Bang did not deal with the issue of South Vietnam in the early days of the founding of the country, mainly because of two points.

First, Liu Bang did not pay attention to the issue of the establishment of the South Vietnamese nation at all. The "commoner emperor" sounds very close to the people, but there are always some short-sighted problems.Liu Bang's short-sightedness and lack of crisis awareness eventually directly led to the rise of Zhao Tuo's power. Second, there are many civil strife at this time.Political struggle and rebellion have already kept Liu Bang busy, and with the threat of the Huns in the north, how could he care about the barbarians in the south?Moreover, Liu Bang disbanded many armies after unifying the world, and the number of soldiers was greatly reduced. Zhao Tuo established a country in a remote place in the south, and Liu Bang was really unable to divide his troops to conquer.

However, the problem must be solved, and Lu Jia's mission successfully persuaded Zhao Tuo to submit.Liu Bang and Zhao Tuo exchanged talismans, asking Zhao Tuo to handle ethnic relations well in the South Vietnam region, actively communicate with the Changsha government, and have a good relationship with the then Changsha king Wu Rui. Liu Bang's ability to agree to such a peace negotiation condition without "oil and water" undoubtedly showed a gesture of peace.In the end, Liu Bang was still unable to use force against South Vietnam, which shows the decline of the entire country in the early Han Dynasty after the war.Fortunately, the folk customs in South Vietnam are simple and honest. As for the ethnic minorities, aggressiveness is aggressiveness, but that is because of their straightforward nature.

However, the act of surrender was ultimately initiated by the South Vietnamese. Liu Bang just threw out an olive branch, and Zhao Tuo could have refused to accept it.This means that in the minds of the South Vietnamese, they themselves have always been in an advantageous position, and they still feel that they are better than the people of the Han Dynasty.Therefore, in the period of Empress Lu, they rebelled as soon as they encountered the blockade of ironware by the Han Dynasty, and they believed that Wu You (great-grandson of Wu Rui), the king of Changsha, instigated Empress Lu to do it in order to satisfy his desire to expand the territory.

So the angry Zhao Tuo stopped calling himself king, and directly called himself Emperor Wudi of Nanyue, sent troops to attack Changsha, and defeated several counties in Changsha.Empress Lv was shocked when she heard about it, and sent Long Li Hou Zhouzao to lead troops to conquer. As a result, the unacceptable water and soil caused the plague to spread in the army, and the soldiers vomited and diarrhea, so the Han army had to give up. In July 180 BC, Empress Lu died. Zhao Tuo took the opportunity to develop his power and bought the Minyue Kingdom of Wuzhu, the Xiou Kingdom in Guangxi, and the Luoyue Kingdom in northern Vietnam.This time, the territory of the Nanyue Empire stretched for more than ten thousand miles from east to west, and its territory increased greatly.Zhao Tuo also became very proud, and used the guard of honor with the yellow house left banner, just like the emperor of the Central Plains.Zhao Tuo asked the Han Dynasty to place Changsha County under the territory of Nanyue, and these actions showed provocation everywhere.

By the first year of Emperor Wen's Yuan Dynasty (179 BC), the Nanyue Kingdom had become a hot potato, but Liu Heng was not in a hurry. Liu Heng felt that there was no place to show his talent and establish his prestige. The more active, the happier Liu Heng is.Although it is not difficult to send troops to destroy the Nanyue Kingdom, Liu Heng's purpose is to promote the New Deal and convince people with virtue.So Liu Heng did two things to pave the way for him to conquer South Vietnam with virtue: First, send special personnel to protect the tomb of Zhao Tuo's parents in Zhending, and make sacrifices on time;

Second, all Zhao Tuo's brothers in his hometown were appointed high-ranking officials and rewarded with generous salary to show their respect and favor to Zhao Tuo. When dealing with Zhao Tuo's issue, Liu Heng is not only targeting the South Vietnam.By dealing with Zhao Tuo's problem, he made a gesture, a tolerant and magnanimous gesture, for all the princes and kingdoms with different surnames and the local forces of ethnic minorities. The people's confidence in him made them believe that he could settle the two issues of the kingdom and the nation. On Chen Ping's recommendation, Liu Heng sent Lu Jia to South Vietnam again, with Liu Heng's letter, which is a letter of persuasion, saying:

"Emperor Han sincerely greets the King of Nanyue. I am not the direct son of Emperor Gao, but I was enshrined in the Kingdom of Dai. That place is too far away from the Kingdom of Nanyue, and I was still young and inexperienced at that time, so I have never been in touch with the Kingdom of Nanyue. . "Emperor Gao died early, and Emperor Xiaohui passed away before he lived for a few years. Empress Lu later became the emperor, but her health has not been very good, so sometimes she can't turn around when thinking about things for a long time. The Lu family is more arrogant. Take the fake descendants of the Liu family to inherit the throne of Emperor Xiaohui. Fortunately, with the blessing of the gods, the Lu family has been killed by the heroes, and the big man has regained stability.

"A few days ago, I saw the letter you asked Long Lihou to forward, asking me to find your brother and withdraw the army that attacked you. I have done everything now. I heard that you, the king, always harassed our borders and caused Changsha and Nanjun The chickens and dogs were restless, and I thought, what good does this do for your country? It’s just that more soldiers will be killed, more generals will be disabled, and more widows, orphans and old people will be left behind. Ten', I can't bear it. "I plan to give you all the land around the Nanyue Kingdom, but someone told me that it was arranged by Emperor Gao, and I can't change it. Some people say that your land is not big for our Han Dynasty, why not It's all up to you. Although you have already proclaimed the emperor, but the two emperors stand side by side, there is always a need for an envoy to connect with each other. At least you should let me know in advance. So I asked Lu Jia to come here. If you agree Don’t disturb our borders anymore. I have 50 thick cotton-padded clothes, 30 medium-sized cotton-padded clothes, and 20 thin cotton-padded clothes for you. I hope you will forget your worries and enjoy yourself. Xiou Kingdom, Luoyue Kingdom." A careful analysis of Liu Heng’s letters shows that first of all, his attitude is very low. After all, Liu Heng is betting that Zhao Tuo will surrender. He wants to use Zhao Tuo’s surrender to establish prestige and win people’s hearts, so he must lower his attitude to increase the chances of success. probability. The second is not to take any actual responsibility, and to eliminate Zhao Tuo's grievances with himself.No matter what measures and suggestions, as long as Zhao Tuo is unhappy, it is Liu Bang, Empress Lu and the officials who did it. Three, if Zhao Tuo intends to make peace, and Liu Heng's attitude is so low, then Zhao Tuo should be even lower, and it will better satisfy Liu Heng's pursuit of fame, and put Nanyue Kingdom in an absolute position in its exchanges with the Han Dynasty. This is Liu Heng's petty weakness. Zhao Tuo already knew that he would never be able to defeat the Han Dynasty. He was just "seeking peace through war". After reading Liu Heng's letter, he quickly borrowed the donkey from the slope, so he wrote back: "Zhao Tuo, the leader of the barbarians in the south, asked the heroic emperor. Back then, Empress Lu bullied us Nanyue people and refused to sell us ironware. I suspect that it was the King of Changsha who spoke ill of us Nanyue people. I killed all my sons and dug up my ancestral grave. That's why I cut off ties with the Han Dynasty and invaded the border of Changsha. "As for proclaiming the emperor, it's because you don't understand the situation, the emperor. The leaders of our primitive and barbaric countries such as Minyue, Xiou, and Luoyue have all become kings. I want to control them, so I can't call them one by one. But because I have no education and can't come up with another name, so I proclaim myself emperor, but it's just for fun, how dare I report to the emperor formally!" So Zhao Tuo kowtowed to admit his mistake, and issued an imperial edict: "One trough cannot accommodate two horses, and two heroes cannot coexist at the same time. After all, I am still the emperor of the Han Dynasty. I will no longer be called emperor, and I will not use the emperor's honor guard." Liu Heng was very happy after hearing this.After this incident, Liu Heng's public support rate skyrocketed, because the common people knew that in Liu Bang's era, the princes and chieftains often rebelled, but now they have all surrendered.This time, the psychological superiority of the people of the Han Dynasty gradually recovered, their trust in Liu Heng was also strengthened, and the country became more confident in the future. Recruiting and surrendering the Nanyue Kingdom was the most successful thing Liu Heng did in dealing with ethnic affairs during his reign.