Chapter 80 Chapter 80: Into the Tiger's Den

"Don't you think it's too boring to spend most of the day listening to other people talking about useless things?" Ban Gu turned his head and said this sentence.He was angry at his brother Ban Chao's meddling.Ban Chao listened to the black slaves brought back from Jiaozhou tell about the "Daqin" from early in the morning until noon.After the black slave returned, Ban Chao turned over the map drawn on the cloth.This was drawn by him himself, with the place names of various places in the Western Regions written on it.He added the word "Daqin" to the part that is more western than the Western Regions.After putting down the pen, he crossed his arms and began to think.

"I heard that in the Great Qin Dynasty, thirty-six generals discussed state affairs together, and the wise man became the king. When the country changed, the king was abolished and a new king was established, but the abolished king did not complain about it..." Ban Chao sighed deeply. Daqin refers to "Rome".I heard that a black slave from a friend's house had been to Daqin, so Ban Chao specially invited him to ask some questions.The dark-skinned slave looked anything but bragging.Some things can't be told unless they've seen them with their own eyes, and the slave was fluent in everything he was asked.

"Going west from the Western Regions, you will definitely arrive at Daqin..." Ban Chao said in a hopeful tone.His older brother Ban Gu and younger sister Ban Zhao looked at him and shook their heads.The brothers and sisters had very different ideas. Ban's family is a scholarly family.His father, Ban Biao, devoted his life to rewriting Sima Qian's "Historical Records".This work is not yet done.Ban Gu, who served as the school secretary, was in charge of proofreading in the royal library on the one hand, and on the other hand inherited the legacy of his late father.Although she is a woman, her younger sister Ban Zhao, who is quite talented in literature, assists in this great cause.The business that the whole family of the Ban family is committed to accomplish is the "Hanshu" with one hundred chapters and one hundred and twenty volumes passed down to later generations.

Ban Chao, who was born as a member of the Ban family, of course received education from a young age, and his talents are quite outstanding.Even so, he hated such a "family business" more and more. Perhaps this is the so-called "reactionary" or "rebellious"?This situation is like a family of doctors that has been passed down for generations, but there is a son who absolutely does not want to be a doctor.The scholar's family can be described as extremely quiet, and they are not even allowed to make a sound when walking in the corridor.Loud noises are of course not allowed.

"This environment is really disgusting!" Ban Chao often thinks so. ——A man's true qualities lie not in writing, but in holding a sword! Outside, he often speaks like this in front of his friends.At home, the same words can only be said to myself. ——How could the Ban family do this! Brother Ban Gu often frowned at this.And his sister Ban Zhao, who sympathized with him, thought—— The second brother is really poor.How nice it would be to set him free! "It's better to run away from home!" Ban Chao had this idea many times.He hasn't run away from home yet, because his mother is still alive.He couldn't grieve his aging mother.

Ban Chao was forty years old when his mother died and he was freed. Emperor Guangwu, the founder of the Later Han Dynasty, had passed away for many years at this time, and Emperor Ming, who was born to Empress Yin, took the throne.The empress of Emperor Ming was the daughter of Ma Yuan who was called "Hao Shuo Zai". At this time, the imperial court was discussing an expedition to the Western Regions. As mentioned earlier, during the founding period of the Later Han Dynasty, the situation in all aspects was much worse than that of the heyday of the Former Han Dynasty, but the east, north and south of the border were still considered safe, and the problem was only in the west.After the split, the Northern Huns were wreaking havoc in the Western Regions.

Countries in the Western Regions also broke away from China during the Wang Mang era, and the situation is the same as that of Goguryeo.Wang Mang advocated the realization of the Confucian ideal, which is nothing more than the theory of difference that "the younger generation must absolutely obey the upper generation, so Huayi must be strictly distinguished". The heads of the thirty-six countries in the Western Regions all claimed to be kings, and were recognized by the seal and ribbon of the Han Dynasty.However, Wang Mang advocated the ideal of Confucianism, and ordered that "it is an act of arrogance for the barbarians to become kings, and they should be downgraded to lords", intending to withdraw the seal and ribbon.Such a move is tantamount to forcing them to rebel.

After Emperor Guangwu came to the throne, the countries in the Western Regions were oppressed by the Northern Huns, so they asked the Later Han court for help. In this regard, Emperor Guangwu shook his head and refused.He is a very cautious person, and he was called "Slow Doctor" when he was young.In fact, he's a very cool realist.He knew that the Later Han Dynasty at that time did not have the spare power to send troops to the Western Regions, and he could not force it, but must recognize the reality-he firmly believed in this creed. Fifteen years have passed since Emperor Guangwu died, and the Xiongnu's power in the Western Regions has become stronger and stronger. Even near Dunhuang, the western base of the Later Han Dynasty, there are Hun soldiers haunting them.Now is the time to defeat the Xiongnu and pacify the Western Regions!

In the fifteenth year of Yongping (72 AD), the mobilization order was issued.The commander-in-chief is Dou Gu, the son-in-law of Emperor Guangwu. It is a matter of course that Ban Chao volunteered to accompany this expedition. "The Western Regions are on their way to Great Qin. I know the geography of this place very well, and I can even visualize this map in my mind..." He joined the army with the spirit of giving it up to me. Ban Chao, who participated in the expeditionary army, served as a fake Sima, just a junior general. The thirty-six countries in the Western Regions, in fact, the size of each country is comparable to the counties in the Central Plains. They belong to urban countries, most of which are oasis cities. Due to the distance from each other, they form independent countries.The countries of the Western Regions, which are countries in form but lack the power that a country should have, have a basic mentality of maintaining peace under the protection of powerful forces.For a long time, the Western Regions, which had been guaranteed peace under the authority of the Han, severed their relationship with the Han due to Wang Mang's ignorant handling.Those who failed to ensure their own safety had no choice but to rely on the Northern Huns.

Emperor Guangwu, who was cautious in everything, took a negative attitude towards the Western Regions considering the strength of the Later Han Dynasty at that time.As a result, the Northern Huns became more and more deceptive, and even more harassed the Hexi region of the Han Dynasty-Dunhuang and other areas.It was not until the time of Emperor Ming that the Later Han Dynasty began to manage the Western Regions with a positive attitude. After the Expeditionary Army of the Later Han Dynasty was organized in Jiuquan, it went to Dunhuang to complete the review of the whole army, and then crossed the Yumen Pass, fought against King Huyan of the Northern Huns, won a complete victory, and obtained the land of Yiwu.This is Hami now.In this battle, Ban Chao made great achievements in battle, and was noticed by Commander Dou Gu.

——To persuade King Shanshan. The commander then assigned this task to Ban Chao.Ban Chao then led thirty-six subordinates to Shanshan, trying to persuade the king to obey Han. Since they were the envoys of the late Han Dynasty, a powerful country in the east, King Shanshan treated them with courtesy.Every meal has delicious food and wine, and Wang Zhizhong led five subordinates to come to greet him twice a day.Kneeling and prostration are performed at the greeting time. One day, the abundance of delicious food suddenly decreased, and the retainers who followed the important minister were also reduced to two.Not only these things have changed, but the way of saluting is also different.What was done before was kneeling and saluting, but now it is just bowing. "Something must have happened." Ban Chao has been aware of the general situation.It must be the envoys of the Huns who came here.So he asked the Hu interpreter sent by King Shanshan to take care of the Han envoys: "Where does the Hun envoy live?" The translator thought that the secret of the visit of the Huns' envoys had been exposed, so he answered according to the facts.It turned out that two hundred Xiongnu envoys had come and were setting up a curtain in the north of the city. The treatment of Han envoys has become sloppy, which is likely to be the reason why King Shanshan changed his original intention and planned to take refuge with the Huns.In any case, it is a fact that the Huns had a large number of envoys. After Ban Chao imprisoned the Hu people, he called his subordinates to hold a banquet.It is a certain truth that you will become more courageous after drinking.When he saw that his subordinates were slightly drunk, Ban Chao stood up and said: "The dishes and the number of retainers have decreased because the envoys of the Huns came here. It seems that King Shanshan intends to surrender to the Huns. Maybe he will send all The head of the envoy of the Han Dynasty was dedicated to the Xiongnu to prove the intention of submission. We have no way to retreat. In order to survive this crisis, you give your life to me, Ban Chao, is it okay?" Of course, none of the members expressed any objection. "Let's attack the Huns' envoys tonight!" After Ban Chao said this, he added, "If you don't enter the tiger's den, how can you catch tiger cubs!" This catchy idiom comes from this. The moon is dark and the wind is high.The envoys of the Huns should not have known that the envoys of the Han Dynasty were here.The king of Shanshan, who was caught in the middle, should not have told either side that the envoys of the hostile countries were here. "You must know that the Xiongnu had no idea that the envoys of the Han Dynasty were here. Therefore, when they were raided by us, they had no idea how many people we had. So, don't be discouraged because there are only thirty-six people, we can make them think we are It's five hundred, one thousand, five thousand troops!" Ban Chao then gave instructions to his subordinates.With only thirty-six people, no matter how much they shouted in unison, it was impossible for people to think that it was an army coming, so they decided to use gong drums.Ban Chao selected ten fighters and asked them to beat the drums desperately while starting to attack. In addition, choose three quick-moving people to take on the task of setting fire. The tents used by the Xiongnu were made of animal hair felt, and the surface was coated with animal oil for strength, which was quite easy to burn.The three people responsible for setting the fire set the tents on fire as quickly as possible. Fire together is the signal to start an attack.The fighters waved their white knives and shouted, and broke into the enemy camp in one fell swoop.The sound of gongs and drums is noisy... The panicked Huns envoys instinctively fled in the opposite direction from the sound of the drums. Ban Chao has already taken this into account.This side is ambushing several selected bow and arrow masters.The Huns were shot down one by one. Thirty-six post-Han envoys who went deep into the tiger's den finally wiped out the two hundred Hun envoys.The fire spread faster than expected. At least one hundred people were killed by the fire, and more than thirty people were hacked to death.None of the post-Han personnel died in battle. The Xiongnu ambassador Wu Laidai and his deputy Bi Lizhi were beheaded.Ban Chao took the heads of the two men and asked to meet King Shanshan. The terrified Shanshan King decided to take his son as a hostage and vowed to obey the Later Han.Ban Chao finally got the tiger cub in a beautiful way.Because of this, he was promoted from a fake Sima to a military Sima. The next target is Khotan.This is an unstoppable country on the South Road of the Western Regions. Because it is subordinate to the Huns, there are troops of the Huns stationed there. ——hope to obey Han. Ban Chao made this request to King Tian.To this, the King of Khotan replied—— It is customary in our country that important questions must be asked by a shaman.Please wait a while before you get a divine vision. The spirit finally came down. ——Han has a dark horse.Please come and sacrifice to me. Given a choice between the two, God has always sought that which he dislikes.The oracle that demanded the black horse of the Han, expressed his hatred of the Han, and continued to obey the Xiongnu. Khotan rejected Han Zhi's request under the guise of an oracle.In fact, this method is actually more tactful.King Khotan asked his retainers to reply to Ban Chao. "This is God's will, please give it to the black horse." The king's envoy said. "In that case, I want to tell the wizard of the oracle to come to see me in person. I will follow the oracle and hand over the horse to the wizard." Ban Chao replied. When the wizard came to the tent of the Han envoy, Ban Chao drew his sword and cut off his head.The head was sent to the king of Khotan. "This……" Wang Tieqing of Khotan couldn't speak a word. Cutting off the wizard's head expressed Han's determination to make Khotan obey no matter what, so it would not work to be perfunctory. "The determination of the Han envoy can be seen by beheading the wizard's head. Now it's our turn to express our determination..." Although King Khotan sighed, he cheered up and ordered the minister: "Attack and kill the Hun army stationed there immediately, and prepare to meet the Han envoys!" Ban Chao thus succeeded in making King Khotan submit without bloodshed. Shanshan and Khotan and other countries in the southern regions of the Western Regions were easier to deal with, but the northern region with Kucha as the center was deeply penetrated by the Huns. The King of Kucha, who was supported by the Huns, attacked the neighboring Shule Kingdom, killed its king, and appointed a Kucha named Douti as the King of Shule. Qiuci was the puppet state of the Huns, while Shule was the puppet state of Qiuci. Banchao attacked Shule the year after he surrendered Khotan and captured its puppet king. Ban Chao made the son of the elder brother of the original Shule king who was killed by King Qiuci the new Shule king. This happened in March of the seventeenth year of Yongping (AD 74).Then he attacked Che Division in November of this year.This is the area from Turpan to Urumqi today.Che Shiguo finally surrendered to the 14,000 Han Cavalry Regiment. The positions of "Guardian of the Western Regions" and "Wuji Xiaowei" that had been abolished since Wang Mang were restored. The national prestige of the Han Dynasty once again reached the Western Regions.