Chapter 81 Chapter 81: The Emperors Are All Young

In August of the eighteenth year of Yongping (AD 75) when the Western Regions were restored, Emperor Ming died at the age of forty-eight.Crown Prince Da was born of the Jia family and was the fifth son of Emperor Ming, but became the adopted son of Empress Ma. Because he was regarded as the son of the royal family and enjoyed the treatment of a son-in-law, he was established as the crown prince.This is Zhangdi, the third emperor of the Later Han Dynasty, who was eighteen years old when he came to the throne.The death of the emperor in the era of autocratic monarchs was a major event, and a big funeral would be held. During this period, the administration, military affairs, etc. were almost paralyzed.Of course, the Northern Huns and the countries in the Western Regions who held an anti-Han attitude could not miss this opportunity.

Attacking the Han army base in the Western Regions during the funeral, there will never be any reinforcements.The anti-Han faction Qiuci and Yanqi then attacked and killed Chen Mu, the governor of the Western Regions.The Xiongnu joined forces with Che Shi to attack Wuji Xiaowei.Guan Chong, the school captain of Han Zhiji, was killed in battle. ——With the current strength, is it still possible to manage the Western Regions? The dignitaries in Luoyang, who lost their self-confidence, abolished the Western Regions Protectorate System.Ban Chao, who was on the front line as a military commander, also received an order to return.

"Since it is an edict, what else can I say?" Ban Chao in Shule decided to return to Luoyang. Shule, who relied on the power of the Han to drive the Kucha forces out of the country, what will happen to the retreat of the Han?It is obvious that the Kucha forces will take the opportunity to enter the country again with a rush.Behind Kucha is the power of the Huns. When the combined forces of the Xiongnu and Qiuci ruled Shule again, the pro-Han faction would of course be purged immediately.For the Huns, torture was routine.It is better to die now than to be killed. A minister surnamed Li in Shule shouted: "Can Han abandon us!" Then he drew his knife, supported the blade with both hands, pointed it at his own neck and slammed forward--killing himself.

The minister asked Ban Chao not to go back with a remonstrance.Ban Chao was indeed moved.But he could not disobey the imperial order. On the way home, he arrived in Khotan. In Khotan, everyone below the prince cried loudly when they heard that Ban Chao was going back to the country. "You once beheaded our wizard to show Han's great determination. We Khotan are grateful for Yu Han's decision, so we follow Han. But..." At this point, the king was sobbing. King Khotan was indeed moved by Ban Chao's decisive action, so he killed all the Huns stationed in the country and defected to Han.Han is now leaving the country.After the Han army left, the Xiongnu army would of course move in.Isn't the King of Khotan who killed all the Huns before going to be massacred?

Embracing each other's feet is not acceptable. History books describe the situation at this time like this.That is to say, people grabbed the horse that Ban Chao was riding and cried loudly.Can he get rid of these people and leave by force?It is obvious that the pro-Han faction will be massacred, and the reason they are about to face such a fate is entirely due to Ban Chao. "Can you just leave it alone and go back to Luoyang?" Ban Chao asked himself this question and answer on horseback. "it is good!" Finally, he gave a big nod and jumped off the horse briskly.He decided to disobey the imperial order and stay in the Western Regions.He really couldn't bear to leave these people who worked for Han and him to death, so he just left.

Ban Chao hurried back to Shule by way. After he left, the country had surrendered to Qiucha, and the new Kucha faction in the country of Yufu raised its head again.Ban Chao, who rushed back, quickly wiped out the pro-Kuzi faction. Of course, disobedience to imperial orders requires considerable determination.Fortunately, his violation of the edict did not cause any major problems, because the central government's own Western Region policy has not yet been determined.After that, the once abolished Guardian of the Western Regions was restored three times, and Ban Chao was finally appointed to take up this post.Although nothing happened, the turmoil in Ban Chao's heart, who was once determined to disobey the edict, continued.His later behavior was somewhat strange, and it was entirely due to this reason.

Maybe it's an attachment, Ban Chao's mind is full of things about the Western Regions.When he was suffering from a fever, he babbled again and again: "Daqin (Rome)... Daqin...does anyone want to go to Daqin..." Ban Chao stayed in the Western Regions for 30 years, during which time he led the combined forces of Shule, Khotan, Kangju, and Jumi to fight against the combined forces of pro-Huns such as Qiuci and Shache.He also fought against the Da Yuezhi in Afghanistan. In China, Emperor Zhang died, and Emperor He ascended the throne.He was appointed as the Protector of the Western Regions in the third year of Emperor Yongyuan (91 AD), and was named "Marquis of Dingyuan".

Ban Chao began to get lucky.It turned out that the old enemy Xiongnu was oppressed by the Xianbei and Dingling tribes, and its power declined rapidly. As long as the power of the Xiongnu weakens, the former anti-Han faction countries such as Qiuci and Wensu will surely surrender to the Han respectively. Dingyuan Hou Banchao finally pacified the entire Western Regions! "I don't know why it became like this..." Strange to say, Ban Chao, who was terribly fascinated by the Western Regions, suddenly became very homesick for his hometown.At this moment, he is very nostalgic for the "scholar family" in his hometown that he hated and ran away from home, making him breathless.

Coming to the long-awaited Western Regions and Rome, which I have been obsessed with day and night-such enthusiasm has faded away.It's really unbelievable that I will have such a change. "Probably because of old age?" He thought so. Then in the twelfth year of Yongyuan (AD 100), he applied to the Luoyang court to return to the country. ——I have no intention of stepping on the land of Jiuquan, I just want to enter Yumen Pass... Such pleading really made people feel sympathy for him. Entering Yumen Pass is the land of Han Dynasty.Although this place is full of deserts, there is something Han about it, right?Ban Chao hoped to die after smelling this breath.

As a result, the imperial court refused to approve his application for returning to the country on the grounds that he could not find a successor. His younger sister Ban Zhao also wrote a letter, pleading for his brother's return to the country.After becoming a widow, she took on the role of educating the women in the harem, so she had a considerable say in the Ouchi. In August of the fourteenth year of Yongyuan, Ban Chao was finally allowed to set foot on the land of Luoyang.This is the thirty-first year since he left his home country. He died a month after returning to Luoyang at the age of seventy-one.Are you satisfied that he can come back alive?

Three years after Ban Chao died in Luoyang, the imperial capital, Hedi also died. He ascended the throne at the age of ten and ended his career at the age of twenty-seven. During Banchao's more than 30 years of fighting in the Western Regions, the Later Han Dynasty was already dying. The reign of Emperor Guangwu of the first generation and Emperor Ming of the second generation is still called Pingshun.The main reason for the smoothness is that there are no relatives who are domineering.When the empress or empress dowager's mother's family takes power, it is certain that the state affairs will be in chaos. Both Emperor Guangwu's Yin Empress and Ming Emperor's Ma Empress can be called "Empress Ming".They all took an extremely cautious attitude to prevent the members of the mother family from participating in politics, and at the same time, they themselves never interfered in politics.They are the ones who can wield power but avoid it. Empress Ma had only one intention to use her empress power.She is the daughter of General Fubo Ma Yuan, and one of the ancestors of the Ma family, Ma Heluo, was executed for treason in the time of Emperor Wu.So she begged the writer of "Han Shu"—Ban Chao's brother Ban Gu—not to include the event of Ma Heluo's rebellion in the record. Ban Gu was very troubled by this.It can be considered if it is a small incident, but it is impossible for a historian to erase the facts of the crime of treason from history.It's not that he doesn't know Empress Ma's desire to protect the honor of his ancestors, but Ban Gu also has the reserve of being a historian. In the end, Ban Gu recorded this rebellion in history.However, he changed the name of the culprit of the rebellion that occurred in the first year of Emperor Wu's reign (88 BC) to Mang He Luo. If Queen Ma should be blamed for something, that's probably the only point, right? Later Han began to derail during the third generation of Emperor Zhang.This is because Dou, the empress of Emperor Zhang, is contrary to the style of Yin and Ma, and attaches great importance to power.She is the wife of the wife, but she has no children.Therefore, she accepted the son of Emperor Zhang's concubine Liang as her adopted son at the request of Queen Mother Ma.The crown prince at that time was the child of a woman named Song. In order to make her adopted son the crown prince, Empress Dou designed to frame the Song family and the crown prince.As a result, the Song family committed suicide and Crown Prince Liu Qing was demoted to King Qinghe.Empress Dou's adopted son Liu Zhao was of course established as crown prince.The queen even killed the new crown prince's biological mother, Liang. Liu Zhao ascended the throne at the age of ten and was called Emperor He.In this era, it was Dou Xian, the older brother of Empress Dowager Dou, who held power. After the death of Emperor He, the baby Liu Long, who was born just over a hundred days ago, came to the throne, but he also died within a year. From Emperor He to the demise of the Later Han Dynasty, there were nine emperors who ascended the throne, but none of them came to the throne after adulthood.Emperor Huan, who came to the throne at the age of fifteen, was considered the oldest.When the young emperor came to the throne, of course the empress dowager was his assistant, so the power of his relatives increased. Liu Long, who died within a year of his accession to the throne, was called Emperor Shang.This baby was hidden among the people after Hedi and a woman were born, and was found out later.Hedi has no other children.Therefore, Liu Hu, the son of Liu Qing, who was once the crown prince but was later demoted to King Qinghe, was established as emperor, that is, Emperor An, who was only thirteen years old when he came to the throne. The empress of Emperor An is the Yan family.She is a very jealous woman.When a concubine named Li gave birth to Emperor An, Empress Yan killed Li. Emperor An died at the age of thirty-two, and Liu Bao, born by the Li family, came to the throne.Empress Dowager Yan died this year. Liu Bao is Emperor Shun, and his empress is Liang. The domineering era of the Liang family began in Yan.Its degree of dominance is still more domineering than that of the Dou family in the time of Emperor Zhang, the Deng family in the time of Emperor He, and the Yan family in the time of Emperor An. Among Empress Liang's younger brothers, there was a villain named Liang Ji.This person is a deer-headed mouse, a stutterer, and can only read a few big characters.It stands to reason that such a person is not even qualified to be a petty official.But under the shade of his sister, he was appointed as a general after the death of his father Liang Shang. Emperor Shun also died at the age of thirty, and the emperors of all dynasties were short-lived.Crown Prince Liu Bing came to the throne, because he was a two-year-old child, and of course the Empress Dowager Liang was regent, and the Liang family's power increased even more.The young Chongdi also died the following year. After Emperor Chong, Liu Zuan, the son of Bohai King Liu Hong, came to the throne.He was an eight-year-old boy, still under the regent of Queen Mother Liang. The eight-year-old emperor is called Zhidi. Although he is young, he is very smart. Liang Ji and the Liang family despised the emperor, and the young emperor was very displeased with them.Once, Emperor Zhi saw Liang Ji and said, "Oh, is this man a domineering general?" It is really appropriate to describe Liang Ji as "dominant". "This emperor is a big kid, and in the future he will be 'formidable for younger generations'!" Liang Ji immediately had this idea. Once such a person grows up, he will definitely work hard to reduce the influence of the Liang family. In order to avoid future troubles, it is best to deal with it as soon as possible... Liang Ji then ordered his confidants to poison the young Zhidi to death.Isn't this a veritable domineering general? Liu Zhi, the son of Liu Yi, Marquis of Liwu, was established as the successor emperor, Emperor Huan, who was only fifteen years old when he ascended the throne. Because the new emperor was supported by Liang Ji, Liang Ji's domineering situation became even more extreme.Not only that, even his wife Sun Shou became domineering. Sun Shou is a beauty.Most of the fashions at that time were created by her.In terms of hairstyle, makeup and footwork, all ladies in the world are proud to imitate Sun Shou. There are two new makeup methods created by Sun Shou: "frowning eyebrow" and "crying makeup".Frowning means that after the eyebrows are shaved off, thin and curved crescent eyebrows are drawn.This kind of makeup will give people a feeling of sadness, so it is called frowning.This is quite similar to the eyebrows that were popular in the 20th century.Crying makeup is a makeup method that creates a hazy feeling in the area under the eyes.Because this kind of makeup seems to have just cried, it has this name. The popular hairstyle created by Sun Shou is called "falling horse bun".This is a hairstyle that keeps the hair on one side as much as possible.When a person is about to fall off a horse, his hair will turn to one side, hence the name.Hairstyles similar to the ponytail are often seen now. "Bending waist step" is also a footwork invented by Sun Shou.This is a way of walking with twisted willow waist and pretending.The so-called "Monroe-style footwork" is probably similar to this, right? The following criticisms were made of these new fads: "How unlucky these things are! Soon, there will probably be some bad things happening to the Liang family, right?" It means that it is unlucky to draw eyebrows that look sad and makeup that looks like weeping.This person thought that this was a sign that the Liang family would encounter catastrophe, so he lamented. As a result, this speculation was indeed correct! The heyday of the Liang family cannot last long.The more you act like no one else, the more people will resent you.Especially as an emperor, it is impossible to be manipulated by others forever.