Chapter 20 Chapter 20 Why Guangwu Called ZTE

In the evolution of Chinese history, there is a well-known word called "Zhongxing".The so-called ZTE refers to a period when a dynasty is in decline or even on the verge of extinction, but suddenly there is a period of hard work. Through the adjustment of internal and external policies, the dynasty can save the crisis and regain prosperity. Such a period is for Countless feudal scholar-bureaucrats and common people yearned for "ZTE". In Chinese history, there have been many times of "ZTE".The five major feudal dynasties of the Han, Tang, Song, Ming and Qing Dynasties all had the "Zhongxing" era that feudal historians talked about, but most of the ZTEs often had two problems: First, the duration of these ZTEs was relatively short, and most of them were It is the period when a certain king is in office, and it will come to an abrupt end with the death of the king; second, most of these revivals are achieved through the readjustment of policies within the system, and the process of revival is mostly superficial Prosperity, the internal contradictions are deeply hidden. Under such circumstances, ZTE's "gold content" is actually discounted.If you really want to say which ZTE is worthy of the name, then the "Guangwu Zhongxing" founded in the Eastern Han Dynasty is the undisputed "No. 1 ZTE".

Historians of all dynasties have praised the historical evaluation of "Guangwu Zhongxing".For example, Zhang Chun, a scholar in the Eastern Han Dynasty, once said that "(Guangwu) prospered in the common people, swayed the world, punished the riots, and succeeded the ancestors."There are also many praises from later generations. For example, Chen Liang in the Southern Song Dynasty said that "the revival of ancient and modern times is nothing more than this", which is obviously the supreme evaluation.The reason why the evaluation is very high is that the achievements of Guangwu Zhongxing not only ended the war situation since the Western Han Dynasty, but also rebuilt a prosperous Han Dynasty, and the history of this ZTE did not stop abruptly because of Liu Xiu's death, but continued to develop , continuing for subsequent generations.No matter in terms of durability or "GDP achievements", Guangwu ZTE is well-deserved in Chinese history.

Let's take a look, what does the real Guangwu Zhongxing look like? Later generations say that Guangwu Zhongxing has made great achievements. An important reason is that when Liu Xiu came to the throne, he faced a very dilapidated mess. Even compared with the founding emperor of the Western Han Dynasty, Liu Bang, he faced more difficulties. No less. When Liu Xiuchu came to the throne, Feng Yan, who was at the same time as Liu Xiu at that time, once said that "the scourge remains unresolved, the war continues, the criminal law is deepened, the tax is heavier, the couple is separated, and the huts fall into the ruins."Because of the years of internal and external wars that began in the last years of Wang Mang, the economic damage of the Han Empire was extremely serious. According to the statistics of demographers, more than half of the Chinese died in the wars from the last years of the Western Han Dynasty to the early years of the Eastern Han Dynasty. Most of them are young adults.Chang'an, the old capital of the Western Han Empire, was even surrounded by corpses, exuding a rancid smell all year round.What was more serious than the founding of the Western Han Dynasty was the successive years of large-scale plagues during the Eastern Han Dynasty. After the war with the Huns, various plagues from the grasslands began to spread in a large area of ​​China. Chinese medicine at that time was very sensitive to these new "super germs", there is hardly any good way to do it.The plague, in particular, was the disease with the highest mortality rate in China at that time.Correspondingly, the well-known scholar-official class generally adopted a wait-and-see and non-cooperative attitude towards the newly established Eastern Han regime, especially the prestigious and famous families, who refused to be summoned by the Eastern Han government many times.Moreover, the problem at the border became more and more serious. The Huns took the opportunity to invade the border. The border defense of the Han Empire was almost at war for years. The situation of internal and external difficulties was placed in front of Liu Xiu.

Various historians have given high praise to the various measures adopted by Guangwu Zhongxing. The main focus is on Liu Xiu's various policies of developing production and resting with the people.In fact, the reason why Liu Xiu was able to quickly get the country out of the devastation of war, stabilize the country's political situation and restore the economy was different from Liu Bang's, and that was to concentrate the authority of the central government before fully restoring the national economy.This is the biggest difference between the Eastern Han Dynasty and the Western Han Dynasty. The Western Han Dynasty adopted the Taoist Huang-Lao theory, advocating the rule of inaction, that is, to encourage the free development of the private natural economy without too much interference from the state.The Eastern Han Dynasty was different. What the Eastern Han Dynasty advocated was the Confucian doctrine of great unification. It emphasized that the country concentrates its power on major tasks, uses the power of the country to integrate resources, and makes the economy take off at a high speed. Therefore, in order to achieve this, Liu Xiu had to The first thing to rectify is China's political system at that time.

Liu Xiu's rectification of the political system at that time, if summed up in one sentence, was to strengthen imperial power and restrict foreign relatives.That is to use the method of administrative reform to make his personal will quickly become the main idea of ​​the country and penetrate into every corner of the national economy. The first one is to strengthen the administrative control of the central counterparty. When the Eastern Han Dynasty was founded, the general land area was about the same as that of the Western Han Dynasty. The country used counties as local governments. There were 118 states and counties in the country. From the perspective of the number of local divisions, the number of local counties in the Eastern Han Dynasty was far greater than that in the Western Han Dynasty. It is precisely for the purpose of decentralizing the rights of the localities and ensuring the absolute control of the central government over the localities.At the same time, the thirteen governors who were temporarily set up during Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty were reformed by Liu Xiu into permanent institutions.The governor is responsible for the management of its territory, and has the power to lead and send troops. The power of traditional local state and county officials has been greatly weakened.At the same time, due to the decrease in population, Liu Xiu started the "County Merger" campaign across the country. A large number of local counties were abolished and merged in order to gather the population and comprehensively restore the economy.

The identities of the local officials who founded the country in the Guangwu era of the Han Dynasty were also very different from those who founded the country in the early Western Han Dynasty.When the country was founded in the early Western Han Dynasty, the appointment of local officials were all seasoned and prudent local celebrities with relatively simple ingredients.In Liu Xiu's era, the composition of local officials was very complicated. There were old officials from Wang Mang's period, as well as royal family members.These old officials during the Wang Mang period are inextricably linked with the previous dynasty. Although these people have very rich experience in governing the local area, the bad habits of the previous dynasty are also very serious, especially in plundering the people and breaking the law. In practice, many people are "veterans". These people not only need to use, but also need to supervise.As for the royal family members and veteran generals, their problem is "to win the world immediately, but it is difficult to rule the world immediately". Most of these people are soldiers, and their greatest advantage is fighting. Simple and crude methods, on the contrary, will do bad things with good intentions and cause counterproductive effects.Therefore, it is particularly important to set up the governor system to supervise local officials, weaken the power of local officials to the greatest extent, and not give them the opportunity to monopolize power.

When the local powers were adjusted, the central institutions of the Eastern Han Empire were also undergoing reforms. The official system of the Eastern Han Dynasty mainly followed the Western Han Dynasty’s Sangong Jiuqing system, that is, Situ, Sikong, and Taiwei were called Sangong, but in terms of specific powers However, the Eastern Han Dynasty carried out vigorous reductions.Unlike the Sangongs who often had honorary titles such as "Taishi", "Taibao" and "Taifu" in the Western Han Dynasty, the Eastern Han Dynasty only retained the "Taifu".The Jiuqing of the Eastern Han Dynasty, unlike the Western Han Dynasty, was completely classified as a subsidiary of the Sangong. On the surface, this strengthened the rights of the Sangong, but in fact Liu Xiu was "bad".One is that Liu Xiuyi rebelled against the practice of letting Zhou Bo and Chen Ping, the founding fathers, serve as prime ministers in the Western Han Dynasty. In his government, the founding fathers could not serve as the three princes.In terms of power, the Sangong actually shrunk a lot. Most of Liu Xiu's ruling policies were implemented by Shang Shutai, and the Sangong was actually more of an honorary position.

And Liu Xiu's new invention in the central government is the famous "Shangshutai".The Shangshu existed in the Western Han Dynasty, but at that time, the Shangshu was just an office of the Shaofu, and did not even have a separate title. In the Liu Xiu period, the power of the Shangshu expanded rapidly. Shangshuling, under which there is a deputy supervisor—Shangshupushe, plus left and right inheritance.There are 62 officials at all levels including Cao Shi below.During the Eastern Han Dynasty, Shangshutai was the highest core of national power. They held high positions and weights. The court made decisions, secretly planned, and rewarded and punished officials.In stark contrast, the officials at Shangshutai are not of high rank. In this way, the three officials have high positions but no real power, and Shangshutai has real power but no high positions. The two families check each other, and Liu Xiu's imperial power can also be controlled from them. sit back and relax.In order to unify the authority of the central government, Liu Xiu took great pains.

This method of strengthening individual authority, during the founding period of the Eastern Han Dynasty, not only did not cause resistance from below, but it aroused the support of the whole country, because although the officials of Shangshutai were of low rank, most of them came from the relationship with heroes and veterans The close officials have already formed an intricate relationship from top to bottom.Therefore, a "harmonious" situation can be formed from the beginning between the high-ranking Sangong and the low-ranking Shangshutai.However, from the perspective of restoring the national economy at that time, the establishment of Shangshutai really played a role in speeding up the country's administrative efficiency. For the emperor, there is only unconditional respect, and the emperor's authority has been greatly strengthened in this process.

Simultaneously with the reform of the administrative organization, it was Liu Xiu's containment of the foreign relatives group.At that time, Liu Xiu was extremely wary of foreign relatives. Because the Western Han Empire was destroyed by the Wang Mang Group of foreign relatives, Liu Xiu imposed various restrictions on foreign relatives after the founding of the country. The most important policy was to exchange money for Power, that is, to give relatives sufficient economic privileges in exchange for their administrative power.At this point, Liu Xiu took his own uncle first. His uncles Fen Dan, Fen Xun, and Fen Hong successively became Marquises. Give the three uncles famous horses and high cars, and let them show off in their hometown to show their honor and favor.Liu Xiu's three uncles are also very knowledgeable.For example, Liu Xiu's uncle, Fen Hong, has repeatedly warned his family members to be humble, and he took "wealth and honor overflowing with self-overflow" as an ancestor's motto, and asked his family members to be upright.The uncles took the lead, not to mention the others.When Liu Xiu made Guo Shengtong the queen, she made several of the queen's brothers Marquis by the way. Later, Guo Shengtong was abolished, but her brothers were not held accountable.After Guo Shengtong, Yin Lihua, who was named the queen, her elder brother Yin Shi fought with Liu Xiu for many years and made great contributions. However, when Liu Xiu declared that he wanted to be the Marquis of Yin Zhi, Yin Lihua privately told her brother not to accept it lightly. , As a result, Yin Zhi backed down several times when he was awarded the title, and even burst into tears. After Liu Xiu commended him several times, he reluctantly accepted the canonization with tears of gratitude.Performing like this is just to show the world a gesture.Under Liu Xiu's rule, the relatives have to behave with their tails between their legs.Later, Yin Xing, Yin Shi's younger brother, also refused to be promoted many times, and finally simply retired to the mountains and forests.This exemplary role also gives political signals to everyone.Liu Xiu's brothers-in-law Deng Chen and Li Tong voluntarily handed over their official positions after the founding of the People's Republic of China, and only enjoyed the glory and wealth as foreign relatives.In addition to Huairou methods, Liu Xiu sometimes kills chickens for monkeys to see. Feng Yan, a famous scholar in the early Eastern Han Dynasty, was a well-known talent. But it was almost zero. Because he was recommended by Yin Lihua's younger brother Yin Xing, he had a very secret relationship with the Yin family.This was a trivial matter, but Liu Xiu was very annoyed when she found out, and put Feng Yan in prison on the spot. Later, under the plea of ​​Queen Yin, he reluctantly pardoned his crimes and sent him back to his hometown to live in peace. Naturally, I want to warn those foreign relatives: Be honest with me, I, Liu Xiu, don't tolerate sand in my eyes.

Liu Xiu's suppression of his relatives in the early days of his accession to the throne had achieved good results. During the period of Liu Xiu and several generations of emperors behind him, his relatives were quite low-key, almost acting with their tails between their legs.The typical representative is the daughter of Ma Yuan, a famous general of the Han Dynasty, who later became the queen of Emperor Ming of the Han Dynasty. When Emperor Ming of the Han Dynasty treed the "Twenty-Eight Generals of Yuntai", he originally wanted to include Ma Yuan, but because Ma Yuan was his own " "Old father-in-law", in order to avoid others saying that he reused his relatives, he had no choice but to give up.It can be seen that in the early days of the founding of the Eastern Han Dynasty, foreign relatives were a very embarrassing group. Without the constraints of his relatives, Liu Xiu was very at ease. In the early Eastern Han Dynasty, a large number of grassroots officials were promoted to official careers.As for the matter of foreign relatives actively colluding with officials, it was a high-voltage line in the officialdom at that time. In Guangwu Zhongxing's state system, there is another important factor that has been neglected: governing the country with Confucianism. On the surface, Liu Xiujianguo adopted the same policy of "rest and rejuvenation" as the Western Han Dynasty, but the soil for the establishment of these two recuperation policies is quite different.The recuperation during Liu Xiu's period was based on Confucianism ruling the country. This is not only a consideration of the country's major policies, but also Liu Xiu's personal hobby. The reason why Liu Xiu adopted the policy of ruling the country with Confucianism was because the national characteristics of the Eastern Han Empire at this time were very different from those of the Western Han Dynasty.In the early days of the founding of the Western Han Dynasty, it was still in the period of the sequelae of Qin Shihuang's burning of books and burying Confucianism. The country's talents withered, especially the Confucian group was brutally suppressed, and the Legalists became the public enemy of the Han Empire because of the tyranny of the end of Qin Dynasty. Under such circumstances, the Huang-Lao School of Taoism, which was not too suppressed by the Qin Empire because of its peaceful thinking, became the mainstream of national thought.The situation in the Eastern Han Dynasty was different. In China at that time, after Emperor Wudi of the Han Dynasty dismissed all schools of thought and only respected Confucianism, most of the thoughts of various schools of thought withered, but the development of the Confucian scholar group was extremely rapid. By the end of the Western Han Dynasty, during the war, it had formed Hundreds of schools of thought, large and small, were established, and "scale management" was realized. The mainstream of the country's intellectual circles at that time were Confucian scholars. Therefore, continuing to establish the orthodox position of Confucianism became the voice of the entire intellectual circle at that time.Moreover, the political situation of the founding of the Eastern Han Dynasty was quite different from that of the Western Han Dynasty. After the founding of the Western Han Dynasty, through the purges of Han Xin, Peng Yue, Yingbu, etc., the heroes who threatened the central government had been basically wiped out. To stabilize people's hearts, it is natural to implement "governance by doing nothing" in administration.But the situation in the Eastern Han Dynasty was different. Liu Xiu did not carry out the purges like Liu Bang. He mainly gave the heroes high political status and economic rights to reduce their political rights. It is impossible for the emperor of a unified dynasty not to be afraid of meritorious officials, so using the Confucian idea of ​​"respecting the emperor" to further myth the imperial power and establish the supremacy of the imperial power has become Liu Xiu's inevitable choice. Moreover, Liu Xiu himself is also a person who is very passionate about Confucianism. He was born in a landlord's family and was educated by Confucian scholars since he was a child. Even after he became an emperor, his love for Confucianism continued unabated.He often discussed the Confucian way of governing the country with Confucian scholars after work every day. Sometimes he did not rest until late at night. Prince Liu Zhuang worried about his health and persuaded him to go to bed early, but he replied, "I like it. So don't get tired", that's how the famous idiom "Let's not get tired" comes from.Not only did he love Confucianism, Liu Xiu was also keen to be a master of culture. There were many schools of Confucianism at that time, and various schools of thought were constantly arguing. Defeat, establish the Confucianism of the main body.In stark contrast, although Liu Xiuyi founded the country immediately, he never did any military discussion activities. Feng Yi, a famous general in the Eastern Han Dynasty, once persuaded him to take the time to "give a report" to the army and tell the story of his campaign. Liu Xiu's answer was "The world does not talk about the long-term military revolution, what is the benefit of talking about it." Liu Xiu's Confucian thought of governing the country had an important influence on the entire Eastern Han dynasty.First of all, when it comes to the appointment of officials, Liu Xiu’s first priority is civil servants with Confucian background, including after the establishment of Shangshutai, those who really exercise the administrative power of the country are quite famous Confucian scholars, not meritorious officials and aristocrats. ; In terms of local administrative power, local officials mostly select local prestigious Confucian scholars through the system of filial piety and honesty, and Confucian ethics are often used as an important way to evaluate officials by Liu Xiu. In order to seize power, the heroes who had made military exploits when Liu Xiu conquered the world have also become very knowledgeable.For example, in the thirteenth year of Jianwu, Li Tong, as a hero, first handed over his official position as "Situ". Liu Xiu immediately gave Li Tong a generous gift and issued an edict to commend his meritorious deeds. Once this political signal was released, heroes from all walks of life They responded one after another, and the great general Deng Yu also handed over his military power. Afterwards, the court abolished the position of general, and placed the military power that was originally an independent command under the rule of the "Three Dukes".In this way, the regime of the Eastern Han Dynasty truly eliminated the greatest threat to imperial power. Another measure to govern the country with Confucianism is the large-scale disarmament of the whole country.During the founding war of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the number of Liu Xiu's army reached more than 1 million at the most. After the founding of the country, disarmament was put on the agenda.In the Eastern Han Dynasty at that time, except for maintaining a certain number of standing troops on the border, most of the troops were disarmed and returned to the fields.Especially in inland areas such as Henan and Shandong, Liu Xiu once issued a policy that the state would grant generous land and rewards to all troops who turned into farmers, and distribute farm tools to resume production.During the reign of Liu Xiu, the army of the entire Han Empire was reduced to about 300,000, but the combat effectiveness of the Eastern Han Imperial Army did not decrease. In the subsequent wars against the Huns and Qiang, the Eastern Han Army maintained a high level of combat quality. , Liu Xiu's policy of streamlining troops and simplifying administration continued throughout the Han Empire. Liu Xiu, who advocates Confucianism, often gives people a "feminine" feeling.The "feminine" here refers to his generosity and peace.For example, after Liu Xiu proclaimed himself emperor, he went back to his hometown once and summoned his uncles and aunts in the countryside. These fellow villagers started talking casually after drinking too much alcohol. It's too kind to ignore small things." Liu Xiu really didn't care about it, and instead admitted that "I want to rule the world with judo."In other words, the Confucian way of "benevolence" is Liu Xiu's strategy for governing the country.After Liu Xiu won the world, various measures to resume production and recuperate, the root of his governance comes from "judo". Another content of Liu Xiu's "judo" is to strengthen the imperial power, especially the myth of the imperial power.Liu Xiu advocated frugality all his life, and he was reluctant to spend money on anything, even when he was fighting the Huns. There was only one thing, he was very willing to spend money, and that was to engage in various sacrifices and promulgate deified prophecies as Symbol, to express the idea of ​​divine right of kings.On this issue, many Confucian scholars he trusted had different opinions. For example, Zheng Xingjin, a doctor of the Taizhong, once asked Liu Xiu not to be superstitious about these prophecies. The kind Liu Xiu was furious on the spot and said, "You don't even study this , how can I be a doctor."Zheng Xing was so frightened that he admitted his mistake on the spot, and was almost pulled out by Liu Xiu and hacked.Heng Tan, another well-known Confucian philosopher at the time, advocated materialism. He insisted on Confucian atheism all his life. He believed that Liu Xiu's practice of sacrifice was contrary to Confucius' thought and should be stopped immediately.As a result, Heng Tan, who was deeply trusted by Liu Xiu, was suddenly demoted to Lu'an as a prime minister, and died inexplicably on the way. Some people said that he "died of fright", and others said that he died of assassination. Although Liu Xiu has handled several unjust cases and wronged some officials because of the strengthening of theocracy, but in terms of personal morality, he is indeed a very "judo" person.For example, he advocated frugality, had simple food and lodging, and disliked wine and music. In order to promote a thrifty life, he once ordered that the eunuchs (those who manage the court food) be not allowed to accept the delicacies and delicacies presented by the counties and countries, and foreign envoys who came to the Eastern Han Dynasty to pay tribute. Minister, all the rare jewels sent by him are used to reward meritorious officials and nobles.Moreover, his personal "magnanimity" is also praised by others.When Liu Xiu was emperor, it can be said that he was relatively lenient, even for those who disrespected him, he mostly ignored them.For example, Zhou Dang, a famous scholar in Taiyuan, was a descendant of the Jin royal family in the Spring and Autumn Period. He was quite famous at that time. Liu Xiu always wanted to call him an official, but Zhou Dang refused. During the meeting, Zhou Dang was arrogant and even "worshiped instead of kneeling" to Liu Xiu, which was a very "disrespectful" behavior at the time.Liu Xiu didn't care about it, but made Zhou Dang an official.Zhou Dang was ignorant and insisted that he did not want to be an official. Even so, Liu Xiu did not make things difficult for him. After giving him some money generously, he sent someone to send him home.Yan Ziling, Liu Xiu's old friend, was childhood friends with Liu Xiu, and they had a deep friendship. After Liu Xiu proclaimed himself emperor, Yan Ziling refused to serve Liu Xiu. Instead, he hid in a lake in Shandong to fish and live in seclusion.Liu Xiu drew his portrait and spread it all over the place, and finally found him in Shandong. Yan Ziling still refused to be an official.The allusion of Yan Ziling's fishing is still talked about. But Liu Xiu, who is generous, sometimes has a cruel side, especially when it comes to rectifying officials. He hates corruption very much. He made a rule in the early days of his ascension that all officials in the capital who broke the law should be whipped in front of him. Pumping, officials with a salary of more than 2,000 shi will first be punished after corruption is detected.Although this move caused a lot of criticism at the time, the corruption in officialdom that began in the late Western Han Dynasty sometimes didn't work without heavy codes. After the founding of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Liu Xiu tossed a lot, tossing the political system internally, tossing the local administrative system to the bottom, and tossing Confucianism all over the country. The purpose of doing so was to stabilize the development of internal affairs.During this period, he still has one important thing to do, which is to solve the border troubles that have been raging in the Central Plains Dynasty since Wang Mang usurped the Han Dynasty. The protagonist of the border troubles is the old friend of the Han Empire, the Xiongnu. During the Zhaoxuan Zhongxing period of the Western Han Dynasty, the Xiongnu basically disappeared, especially after Chen Tang wiped out the northern Xiongnu, the southern Xiongnu treated the Han Dynasty basically like they treated their father.But in Wang Mang's time, things changed.The matter was provoked by Wang Mang. After Wang Mang proclaimed himself emperor, in order to strengthen his authority, he went to the Xiongnu to take back the canon seal granted by the Han Empire and changed it to his own reissued canon seal. However, in terms of content, he changed the original level to "king The Xiongnu nobles who were "nobles" were reduced to "marquises".The change of one word aroused the anger of the entire Xiongnu class. Since then, the war between the Central Plains and the Xiongnu has reignited, and the war has continued. Moreover, the land of the Western Regions, which was already the territory of the Han Dynasty, also declared its rebellion against the Han Dynasty because of Wang Mang's inappropriate policies. , the territory west of Yumen Pass is no longer owned by China for the time being.The more serious consequence was that, taking advantage of the civil war in the Central Plains, the Xiongnu frequently sent troops to harass China's borders, and colluded with various separatist forces in China to threaten the rule of the central government.During the reign of Liu Xiu, the Xiongnu first supported the separatist regimes of the two traitors Peng Chong and Lu Fang in northern China. Under the leadership of these "puppet troops", they frequently invaded, and the northern border was devastated.In particular, the five counties of Wuyuan, Shuofang, Dingxiang, Yunzhong, and Yanmen were the barriers for the Central Plains Dynasty to resist the invasion of the Huns in the Western Han Dynasty, but at that time, they all fell into the hands of traitor regimes such as Lu Fang.At this time, Liu Xiu's situation was very similar to that of the Zhao Song Dynasty established more than 1,000 years later. It also lost the important northern areas that almost included the sixteen prefectures of Youyun, and faced continuous intrusion from nomads.In the early days of Liu Xiu's accession to the throne, he organized many large-scale counterattacks. Under the continuous suppression of the Han army, the "traitor regime" of various roads either died or surrendered. With the largest anti-Han force-Lu Fang finally surrendered , The Eastern Han Dynasty finally took back the strategic point of resisting the Xiongnu.However, the situation did not improve because of this. In the first 20 years of Liu Xiu's ascension to the throne, the Xiongnu had large-scale invasions in historical records, and the scale of more than 10,000 people reached 37 times. Such frequent invasions are a huge threat to the northern border. , and the Wuhuan and other tribes in the east who were originally surrendered by Huo Qubing in the Western Han Dynasty also took the opportunity to collude with the Xiongnu. On the northern border of thousands of miles, wars have been raging again since Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. In order to resist the Xiongnu, Liu Xiu thought of various methods, such as relocating the northern border residents to live in the country, increasing the number of troops and dividing them into guards, but the effect was not obvious. At this time, a god-sent opportunity appeared.In 46 AD, a severe snowstorm occurred on the Xiongnu grassland, and most of the Xiongnu tribe died. At this time, the Huns were also divided into two factions. One faction advocated moving to the Tarim Basin to control the Western Regions; the other faction advocated going south and surrendering to the Han Dynasty.The two factions couldn't settle down, and finally fought each other. As a result, the Xiongnu split into two major groups, the North and the South. Among them, the Southern Xiongnu surrendered to the Han Dynasty in Wuyuan County, expressing their willingness to become a vassal of the Han Dynasty and help the Han Dynasty resist the invasion of the Northern Xiongnu.The attachment of the Southern Huns caused controversy in the Han court at that time. One faction of the generals in the court advocated taking advantage of the opportunity to send troops to completely wipe out the Southern Huns.However, Liu Xiu made a rational judgment. It is unwise to choose war at this time.Therefore, after repeated discussions, Liu Xiu formally accepted the surrender of the Huns the following year, and the two sides signed an alliance. In the Wuyuan area, the royal court of the Southern Huns was established.In order to show their loyalty, the Southern Huns also sent princes to the Han Dynasty as hostages.In the winter of this year, the Northern Huns aggressively invaded the border of the Han Dynasty. The eight tribes of the Southern Huns who were eager to show off quickly attacked and repelled the invasion of the Northern Huns after suffering heavy casualties.Later, in order to facilitate the rule, Liu Xiu moved the Southern Xiongnu Shanyu to Xihe, Shanxi, and scattered the tribes of the Southern Xiongnu in various northern border counties. In the Han Dynasty's defense of the north, they actually played the role of scouting cavalry. To deal with the Xiongnu, Liu Xiu adopted a policy of fighting or pulling, but for Wuhuan, who was the "dog leg" of the Huns at that time, Liu Xiu's principle was to fight!Beginning in AD 44, Liu Xiu used horses to aid the army and launched wars against Wuhuan many times. After several times of severe damage to Wuhuan, Liu Xiu "slapped and rubbed three times" and took the initiative to send people to appease.In 49 A.D., Wuhuan finally surrendered to the Han Dynasty, and at the request of the Han Dynasty, he moved to Senei as a new force for the Han Dynasty to consolidate the northern frontier defense.Liu Xiu used the method of wooing the Southern Huns to deal with the Northern Huns, and then used the method of wooing Wuhuan to deal with the Xianbei who harassed Liaodong. The policy of combining horizontal and vertical was perfectly used at that time. During this period, Liu Xiu also made a mistake: the problem of the Western Regions. The Western Regions were the territory of the Western Han Empire since the establishment of the Protectorate of the Western Regions during the reign of Emperor Xuan of the Western Han Dynasty. Although Wang Mang's improper policies later led to the rebellion of the countries in the Western Regions, most of the countries in the Western Regions still have deep feelings for the Han Dynasty.By the beginning of the Eastern Han Dynasty, there were already 55 countries in the Western Regions, and the call for returning to the Han Dynasty was also increasing. Especially after the blizzard in 44 AD, the Northern Huns moved to today’s Tarim Basin and began their cruelty to the land of the Western Regions. rule.Under the coercion of the Xiongnu, the countries in the Western Regions on Tianshan North Road had to surrender to the Huns, but their nostalgia for the Han Dynasty is still very strong. Among the countries in the Western Regions, Shache State has the deepest affection for the Han Dynasty.King Yan of the Shache Kingdom lived in the Han Dynasty as a hostage when he was Emperor Yuan of the Han Dynasty. He was very envious of the highly prosperous culture of the Han Dynasty. When he was dying, he had a last word: "Generation should not fail the Han family."Therefore, when the Northern Huns ravaged the Western Regions, the Shache Kingdom was the country with the most intense resistance. After the fall of the Western Regions Protectorate established by the Han Dynasty in the Western Regions, the Shache Kingdom took the initiative to take in the local Han Dynasty garrisons, with a total of nearly 10,000 people. .After the founding of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the State of Shache expressed its intention to submit to Liu Xiu through Dou Rong, the great general of Hexi. Considering himself a Chinese courtier, he led the countries in the Western Regions south of the Tianshan Mountains to jointly fight against the Xiongnu. The family members of the Han people who guarded the border here in the past were preserved because of this. But the good times didn't last long. In 33 A.D., Wang Kang, the king of Shache Kingdom who was awarded the "King of Jianhuai Merit" by Liu Xiu, died of illness. His younger brother Wang Xian came to the Han Dynasty and asked to inherit his elder brother's title. It was a good opportunity to rule the Western Regions, but the governor of Dunhuang, Pei Zun, made a statement, thinking that it was inappropriate to grant power to the "barbarians".Liu Xiu also pushed the boat smoothly and withdrew the canonization of King Shache. The reason why Liu Xiu did this was obviously not only because of Pei Zun's performance.This time, Wang Xian's request was forwarded through Da Situ Dou Rong. As the master of the military power in the Hexi Corridor, Dou Rong has always been feared by Liu Xiu, and the relationship between Dou Rong and Shache Kingdom has always been very close. Liu Xiu made this decision based on the consideration of "the art of controlling people".But this decision was wrong. Annoyed Wang Xian returned to the Western Regions, established himself as Shan Yu, began to expand his territory everywhere, and no longer obeyed the rule of the Han Empire. In the hands of the Eastern Han Dynasty, it is also no longer owned by the Eastern Han Dynasty. In 45 A.D., countries in the Western Regions who had been bullied by the Shache Kingdom and the Huns for a long time jointly formed a "petition group". Eighteen countries including Cheshi and Shangshan came to Luoyang to petition, crying to Liu Xiu about the Huns and Shache's struggles in the Western Regions. He asked the Han Empire to send troops to the Western Regions, but Liu Xiu, apart from being kind to the envoys, did not obey their decision. Instead, he told them that we welcome those who are willing to stay in the Han Dynasty, and respect those who are willing to leave the Han Dynasty.The consequence of doing so is that these petitioning countries not only did not invite soldiers to rescue them, but were retaliated and massacred by the Shache Kingdom and the Huns.After that, the countries in the Western Regions either returned to the Xiongnu or Shache, and they all broke away from the rule of the Han Dynasty.As a result, the Silk Road was interrupted, and the Han Empire regained its sovereignty over the Western Regions. It was later that Ban Chao communicated with the Western Regions. Although there are mistakes, but in terms of "GDP" achievements, Guangwu ZTE still deserves its name. The biggest difference between Liu Xiu's recuperation policy and Liu Bang's policy is that Liu Bang "does nothing" and Liu Xiu "does".Liu Bang's "governance by doing nothing" actually means that the government does not intervene in the economy and allows the economy to develop freely and slowly.Liu Xiu, on the other hand, took the approach of the government concentrating its efforts and actively investing in the recovery and development of the economy, among which the construction of water conservancy was the most important.The number of water conservancy projects in the early Eastern Han Dynasty was relatively large in Chinese history. For example, in the Hexi Corridor area, Liu Xiu set up a water officer to dig ditches and irrigate farmland. Agriculture in the Hexi Corridor flourished. Another innovation in the economy during the Eastern Han Dynasty was the expansion of the economic belt.During the Eastern Han Dynasty, the most affluent economic regions in China were mainly the three regions of today's Guanzhong, Henan and Shandong.During Liu Xiu's period, agricultural areas were set up in Jingzhou, Xiangfan and other areas, and refugees were recruited to come to cultivate. As a result, Jingxiang area developed and became one of the important grain-producing areas.Later, during the Three Kingdoms period, the reason why Jingxiang had such a rich population and important strategic location was closely related to the policy of developing central China started during the Liu Xiu period. Its function of water conservancy irrigation has been restored, and the economy of the Guanzhong area has been restored, but since then, it has not been the center of China's economy. While agriculture was vigorously restored, the handicraft industry in the Eastern Han Dynasty also developed again.The biggest feature of the handicraft industry in the Eastern Han Dynasty was "state-owned enterprise", that is, the government set up handicraft workshops, including smelting, textiles, salt making, civil engineering and other industries, all of which were dominated by government "state-owned enterprises".However, compared with the high degree of monopoly of official salt and iron in the era of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the Western Han Dynasty did not prohibit the development of private handicrafts. On the contrary, it allowed its development, but guaranteed the dominance of official handicrafts. Liu Xiu's various policies paid off during his lifetime. After more than 20 years of development after the founding of the Eastern Han Dynasty, China's economy has taken off again.从发展速度上来对比，东汉建国的早期，经过光武、明帝、章帝，到和帝的四代皇帝，仅用了40多年时间，就恢复到了西汉文景之治的最高经济水准。中国的人口，到了东汉和帝的时候，达到了历史的最高水准——53296219人。在刘秀统治的后期，东汉经济已经初现繁荣，史载当时“五谷登衍，蚕麦善收”“吏称其官，民安其业”，以至于“天下安平”。有此局面的刘秀时代，说是“光武中兴”，可谓当之无愧。