Chapter 7 Great talent roughly defeated the Huns

Emperor Wudi of the Han Dynasty is often compared with Emperor Qin, Tang Zong, and Song Zu by later generations, and appears in poems, prose and people's daily memory.In the era of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the country was strong and politically stable, and it was a period of vigorous development of the Chinese nation in ancient history.Zhang Qian, the most famous diplomat in Chinese history, went to the Western Regions in the 3rd year of Emperor Wu Jianyuan (138 BC); Sima Qian, the most famous historian in Chinese history, completed the He wrote "Historical Records" which was hailed by Mr. Lu Xun as "the swan song of historians, "Li Sao" without rhyme; national heroes and famous generals Wei Qing and Huo Qubing in Chinese history also appeared in the era of Emperor Wu.

Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty represented the splendid Chinese civilization, but also left many unsolved mysteries through the ages.Ban Gu praised him for dismissing a hundred schools of thought, respecting Confucianism alone, being a great talent and general plan, opening up territories and expanding land, and also "promoting Taixue, repairing suburban sacrifices, correcting Shuo, determining calendar numbers, harmonizing rhythms, composing poems and music, establishing Feng Chan, and worshiping hundreds of gods", unprecedented; However, Sima Guang said that he was extravagant and tortured heavily.The two diametrically opposite comments refer to the same person. Emperor Wu has long since disappeared, and posterity has never been able to determine whether Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was wise and powerful or will remain infamous for thousands of years.

When Emperor Wu was young, he often gathered a group of rascal children, chasing rabbits and shooting deer, traveling far away to play, trampling crops wantonly, and the people all gnashed their teeth and scolded him.Once, Emperor Wu used the name of his brother-in-law Marquis Pingyang to mess around outside. The local magistrate went to dissuade him, and Emperor Wu's entourage even wanted to whip the magistrate.The officials were furious, and led people to detain several wicked young men.Finally, Emperor Wu showed his token and was able to escape. But naughty and playful is just a teenager's nature, and the foresight of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty soon became apparent.

In 140 BC, Emperor Wu, who had just ascended the throne, issued an imperial edict, requiring officials at all levels to recommend virtuous and upright people who dared to speak up and advise, and encouraged officials and people all over the world to write directly to the emperor.Emperor Wu selected Dong Zhongshu, Zhufu Yan and other virtuous men from them.A few years later, Emperor Wu ordered the virtuous bachelor to write a countermeasure.In Dong Zhongshu's "Three Strategies of Heaven and Man", he said: "Those who are unified in the Spring and Autumn Annals are the regular scriptures of heaven and earth, and the friendship between ancient and modern times." According to Dong Zhongshu's theory, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty promulgated the edict of "inquiring Confucianism and suppressing a hundred schools of thought".

In 127 BC, Emperor Wu accepted the suggestion of Zhu Fuyan and implemented the "Tweet Order", ordering the princes and kings to entrust all the children within the scope of the country, and the emperor gave them names. This changed the previous method of inheritance by the eldest son, which greatly weakened the The power of princes and kings.A few years later, 106 people were deprived of their princely titles on the pretext that the amount and fineness of the gold offered by the princes to the ancestral temple was insufficient. Of course, the most commendable achievement of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was to fight against the Huns.At this time, famous generals of the Han Dynasty emerged in large numbers, and Wei Qing, Huo Qubing, Li Guang, Gongsun Ao and others fought many times.By 119 B.C., the Han army went straight to the court of the Xiongnu Shanyu, defeated the Xiongnu soldiers, and pursued to Langjuxu Mountain (now Mount Kent in the Mongolian People's Republic), sealed the mountain and returned it.After that, the Huns were no longer able to attack.

A few years later, in order to obtain the hard-earned horses of the Western Regions, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty sent 100,000 troops to conquer Gushi, Loulan, and Dawan, but only got dozens of high-quality horses and thousands of ordinary horses.The loss is greater than the gain, and the military is aggressive, so far it has reached the extreme, leaving an eternal infamy. Decades of wars in the south and north, the wealth accumulated by the Han Dynasty over the past 70 years since the founding of the country was exhausted.In order to solve the financial problem, Emperor Wu showed his generosity again.First, the monopoly of salt, iron, and wine was implemented throughout the country, and then the scope of taxation on businessmen was expanded, and those who exposed tax evasion were heavily rewarded.Then, two policies of equal loss and equalization were implemented, buying cheap and selling expensive to stabilize prices; five baht coins were used to unify the currency system.

However, large-scale wars cost a lot, occupied labor, affected production, and finally aroused fierce resistance from the people. In his later years, Emperor Wu felt remorseful, and issued the "Luntai Edict" to sin against himself, saying, "The current strategy lies in farming."Therefore, Tian Qianqiu was granted the title of Marquis of Fumin, and Zhao Guo was appointed Captain of Sou Su, and the "replacement method" was promoted to increase production by rotation.These policies finally restored the situation a little bit and laid the foundation for the rejuvenation of the Han Dynasty.Emperor Wu of the Han conquered the Xiongnu and saved the people of the Central Plains from the disaster of war. He made great contributions.Without this, the Chinese civilization would have been enslaved and destroyed by barbarian nations just like ancient Greece and ancient India, escaped the catastrophe of national culture, and finally survived for thousands of years until today.