What kind of emperor was Liu Xiu?

Among all the founding emperors in Chinese history, Liu Xiu is definitely an inconspicuous one. Maybe it's because his character is not as controversial as his ancestors, maybe it's because he doesn't have much martial arts skills, maybe it's because his road to becoming a king is relatively smooth. In short, people rarely mention him when mentioning promising kings in ancient times. But as an emperor, especially an emperor who founded a country, he must have his own merits.

Liu Xiu’s sixth generation ancestor was King Ding of Changsha, and was one of the 14 sons of Emperor Jing of the Western Han Dynasty who became king. Later, his ancestors passed through the ranks of marquis, prefect, captain, and county magistrate, descending from nobles one after another, passing through the status of upper-middle-level bureaucrats and finally becoming ordinary civilians. During Wang Mang's time, Liu Xiu went to school in Chang'an. Because he didn't have enough money, he and his classmates pooled money to buy donkeys, which were led by their accompanying servants to carry things for people to make money. He also participated in litigation for his uncle and sold grain during famines. Therefore, he was extremely calculating and could be regarded as a middle- and lower-class gentry businessman in the society at that time.

Most of the generals who rebelled against him in the future had similar backgrounds to him. This was a highly mobile social class with a wide range of contacts. Wu Han was a horse dealer, Deng Chen was an official gentry, "General Big Tree" Feng Yi was the governor of five counties (equivalent to the current mayor's secretary), Wang Ba was the jailer, Li Tong was a wealthy businessman, and only Wang Chang was a subordinate. He was born in the green forest and was truly a desperado.

In the last years of Wang Mang, the "rising of bandits and bandits" spread to the middle-class society due to civil unrest, causing rebellion across the country. Liu Xiu and his brother Liu Yan (should be the character next to the character) started the incident at this time. At that time, Wang Mang had been a "fake emperor" for many years as a resident, and he had also been a "real royal family" for more than ten years, so rising up at this time was still considered a rebellion, but not necessarily an "uprising." Therefore, when Liu Yan launched an attack, disciples from various schools hid one after another. Later, when they heard that Liu Xiu was also participating, they said: "Those who are cautious and honest will also do it again." This broke the barrier between rebellion and uprising. But it was still Liu Yan who persuaded Wang Chang to win over the "Xiajiang generals" who belonged to Lulin, and the Liu family's "Han Army" to master the initial basic military strength. And most of these people are young people. Guangwu was 28 years old at the time of the uprising; Deng Yu, who was initially unwilling to participate but did not join until Guangwu gained control of Hebei, was 24 years old; another general who surrendered to the north, Geng Qian (not found in the original character input method, can only find a homonym and meaning) Similar words replaced) 21 years old.

Although the Liu brothers played a leading role in this movement, they were not the only ones who represented Liu Han's recovery. Liu Xuan, the elder brother of the clan, was favored by the "New City Soldiers" of Lulin, and was established as emperor in 23 AD, known as the "Gengshi Emperor". Because he was jealous of Liu Yan's reputation, he executed him on pretexts. Not only did Liu Xiu not avenge his brother, but he also did not cry in mourning. Instead, he went to see Liu Xuan in person and expressed that he had no grudge. He may have already made long-term plans for the future at this time. At that time, there were more than ten groups that were independent kings in the country. Wang Mang owned territory from Luoyang to Chang'an. Emperor Gengshi and his subordinate Green Forest controlled today's northwest Hubei and southwest Henan. The red eyebrows of Shandong occupied Qingzhou and Xuzhou. At that time, Hebei under his control was among the major forces. No matter who wanted to develop himself, fighting him was the first consideration of the major forces. And this large area, called "Kuandong" by the Han people, is the place that has suffered the heaviest losses from natural disasters in consecutive years. Rogue bandits continue to appear here. Once the bandits here are eliminated, rogue bandits will appear again, making it difficult to control. Under this situation, within a month of Wang Mang's appointment, he was appointed by Emperor Gengshi to go to the north to appease various places in the name of General Polu and as a clan member of the Liu family, stabilizing his control in Hebei and expanding his power. The range prevented him from being defeated when he was still young, and at the same time created a situation of independence. Before he went north to appease, he appointed Kou Xun as the governor of Hanoi to guard against attacks by other forces. Later, Kou Xun "cut down the pigs in Qiyuan with a target of more than a million" and successfully completed the task. Liu Xiu traveled north to Handan, where Wang Lang proclaimed himself emperor. He felt that he was not strong enough and adopted a roundabout strategy. He went straight north to Jizhou, Ding County in the far north. Along the way, he used persuasion and conquest to wipe out the bandits, and finally gathered tens of thousands of people. of military strength. At the turn of the spring and summer of the following year, he turned around and pulled out the king of Handan.

In 25 AD, Ru Ziying, who was established in front of Wang Mang, was proclaimed emperor again. This person was indeed more worthy of inheriting the Han Dynasty than anyone else, so Gengshi Emperor Liu Xuan needed to attack him immediately and dismember his body. Liu Xiu only had to wait and see. It was not until June of this year that he proclaimed himself emperor and ascended the throne under the circumstances of "the generals' insistent invitation" and the "Red Talisman Mandate of Heaven". Within a few months, Chimei entered Chang'an, Liu Xuan surrendered to Chimei, and was killed by Chimei again. Guangwu first recovered Luoyang and then Chang'an. The situation developed very smoothly. Since then, his base in Luoyang and Chang'an has not been subject to any serious threats. Although the conquests by all parties were still protracted, it was not until the last enemy Gongsun Shu died in Chengdu in 36 AD that Emperor Guangwu Liu Xiucai finally defeated the heroes.

Liu Xiu wanted to command and control many people who were not easy to lead, and he was able to learn from each other's strengths and weaknesses. In addition to his clan status, cautious reputation, and destiny mentality, his genius for leadership cannot be denied. . At the same time, he personally supervises the management of all matters, big and small, without slacking off. He often risked his life to go to the front lines when the situation was difficult and critical. In the Battle of Kunyang, he made a decisive decision to lead thousands of cavalry into the enemy's main formation before major reinforcements arrived, and finally won this decisive battle. Some people say that throughout his life he was "cowardly when seeing a small enemy, but brave when seeing a big enemy".

We can also imagine that the enemy has been anticipated by him. If he does not avoid it, he must be ready for a showdown, so he can face danger without fear. On the contrary, small enemies appear unexpectedly, and you need to be vigilant. If you don't handle it properly, you may lose everything.

From the above things, we can see that Liu Xiu is a man who is good at planning, calculating, deep in the city, strong in self-control, cautious and courageous.