Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty fought the Huns all his life. Why was the Xiongnu strong until his death?

During the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, he changed the humiliation of Huns in the early years of the Western Han Dynasty. Kissing? Policy, turn to attack, for the power of the whole country, appointed Wei Qing, Huo Qubing and other famous soldiers to attack the Xiongnu several times, driving the Xiongnu to Mobei area; Although it dealt a heavy blow to the Huns and greatly weakened their strength, it did not completely destroy them or make them surrender to the Han Dynasty.

Xiongnu has always been the biggest frontier trouble of the Central Plains Dynasty in Qin and Han Dynasties.

0 1. Qin dynasty

At the end of the Warring States period, it took Qin Shihuang 10 years to separate the six countries, not counting the harassment and occupation of the northern border by Xiongnu. After the reunification of the six countries, Qin Shihuang was busy with the domestic system construction and many affairs after the reunification, and temporarily shelved the affairs of the Xiongnu, which led to the rapid growth of the Xiongnu in the northern grassland and its advancement to the south.

In 2 15 BC, Qin Shihuang made his fourth patrol. He visited the right Beiping, Yuyang, Shanggu, Yanmen, Dai Jun and other places in western Liaoning bordering on Xiongnu, and saw the grim situation that Xiongnu constantly harassed the border, so he decided to build the Great Wall to resist Xiongnu. And then came out? Who died in the Qin Dynasty? It is rumored that Qin Shihuang ordered Meng Tian to send 300,000 troops to attack the Xiongnu in the north, and began to conquer the Xiongnu, expelling the Xiongnu forces from the north of Yuzhong, and building a city along the Yellow River in the south of Yinshan Mountain to defend the Xiongnu. In 2 13 BC, Qin Shihuang began to recruit people to build the Great Wall. In four years, he built the Great Wall of Wan Li from Lintao in the west to Liaodong in the east, and sent heavy troops to guard the border.

When the peasant uprising broke out at the end of Qin Dynasty, most of Qin Jun, who was guarding the Great Wall, withdrew to the mainland to deal with the uprising troops, and the Xiongnu once again took the opportunity to go south. At this time, the outstanding leaders of Xiongnu took the initiative to stand on their own feet. He conquered the Donghu King, with the Yueshi in the east, the Loufan King and the Aries King in the south, plundered most of the land collected by the State of Qin, established a relatively perfect slavery state power, and controlled the vast area of Wan Li from Daxinganling in the east to Pamir Plateau in the west, Lake Baikal in the north and the Great Wall in the south.

02. Early Western Han Dynasty

After Liu Bang established the Western Han Dynasty, the Huns marched south, and Liu Bang led 300,000 troops to the northern expedition. At the beginning of the war, the Han army won again and again, and they followed closely to build slaves. But because it was the middle of winter, it brought unexpected difficulties to the battle, and the situation began to be very unfavorable to the Han army. Liu Bang was cheated by Xiongnu for his victory, and was surrounded by 400,000 tarkan for seven days and seven nights in Deng Bai. Later, he and Chen Ping bribed E Shi, a Hun, and escaped.

After World War I, the Huns became more arrogant and stepped up their intrusion on the border of the Han Dynasty. Liu bang took Lou Jing's advice and began to take a gentle approach to Xiongnu? Kissing? Policy, at the same time, give the Huns a certain amount of property every year, and increase the defense force of the northern border. The early Han dynasty adopted an active defense policy against the Huns. After Liu Bang, Hui Di, Lv Hou, Wendi and Jingdi continued Liu Bang's policy towards Xiongnu. Although the Huns harassed the border on a small scale, the Han Dynasty also had time to farm.

03. During the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty

During Liang Wudi's reign, he changed his attitude towards Xiongnu. Kissing? From the Battle of Mayi in 133 BC to the appointment of Wei Qing, Huo Qubing and other famous soldiers by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty in 1 19 BC. After the war of 15, the Han Dynasty hit the Huns hard, drove them to Mobei area, recovered the Hetao area and Hexi Corridor, and extended the map of Dahan to Dayuan.

Because the strength of Xiongnu was greatly weakened, the damage to the border was reduced, and the Han Dynasty also consumed a lot of money at home because of the long-term war. In the following ten years, Sino-Hungarian relations eased and only small-scale battles took place. In 90 BC, Li Guang's army with an interest rate of 70,000 defeated the Xiongnu in Yangjushan. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was carried away by victory and decided to recruit Xiongnu again. In 87 BC, Li Guang had 5,000 infantry and 65,438+10,000 Xiongnu soldiers, who were defeated and captured. Li Guangli surrendered to the Huns for various reasons. From then on, the Han army could no longer launch a large-scale campaign against the Huns, and Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty decided to stop conquering and farming in his later years.

04. After Emperor Wudi

Although the Huns suffered heavy losses during the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty could no longer launch a large-scale conquest. During the period of Emperor Xuan Di, the pro-Xiongnu policy was resumed. Zhaojun is out of the fortress? It was during the reign of Xuan Di in the Han Dynasty. After that, Xiongnu became the biggest headache in the Han Dynasty. In the early years of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the Xiongnu was divided internally, and some of them went south to submit to the Han Dynasty, and the strength of the northern Xiongnu was greatly weakened. In the thirty-first year of Jianwu (Emperor Guangwu Liu Xiunian), General Dou of Xianbei attacked Xiongnu and won a great victory. The remnants of the northern Xiongnu fled to the western regions. From then on, the Huns began to decline. During the period of great ethnic integration in the Northern and Southern Dynasties, the Xiongnu gradually merged into other ethnic groups, and the once powerful existence of Xiongnu disappeared in the long river of history.

The War Strike against Xiongnu in the Period of Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty

In the early years of the Western Han Dynasty, after years of self-cultivation, the national strength was restored during the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. The same Xiongnu became stronger and stronger after years of development, due to the early Western Han Dynasty? Kissing? Defense policy, the Huns invaded and plundered the border more unscrupulously; After Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty gained state power, he began to deal with the Xiongnu issue. In BC 133, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty sent a letter to his ministers to discuss the war and problems against the Huns. Han Anguo, an ancient counselor, advocated peace, while Wang Huili advocated that the Xiongnu should be dealt with by force. The edge of temptation? Taking the initiative to attack the Huns, Emperor Wu adopted Wang Hui's suggestion.

In the Han Dynasty, Xiongnu besieged Mayi, and Emperor Wudi sent 400,000 troops to launch Mayi's siege. The Huns saw through the ambush plot and quickly withdrew their troops to the fortress. Although the siege of Mayi failed, it was the first time that the Han Dynasty took the initiative to attack Xiongnu after Liu Bang's conquest, which changed the humiliation of the Han Dynasty? Kissing? On the peace policy, the two sides launched a campaign of 15 years, of which there were three campaigns on a larger scale.

1. For the first time, from the sixth year of Yuanguang to the second year of Yuanshuo, Wei Qing, Gongsun Ao, Li Guang and Gongsun He each led 10,000 soldiers, and the four armies came together, and Wei Qing won all the way; In the second year, Wei Qing went out to the Wild Goose Gate. Li Xi went out of the county to repel the Huns; In the second year of Yuanshuo, Wei Qing was ordered to go out of the cloud to break the king of Loufan and the king of Aries in Longxi. Seize the Hetao area and rebuild Shuofang City.

The second time, from the first year of Yuanshou to the second year of Yuanshou, Huo Qubing went out from Longxi, went deep into Xiongnu for more than 1000 miles, moved to Gaolan Mountain, broke the evil king's department of Xiongnu, and captured King Xiutu to worship heaven. In the summer of the same year, Huo Qubing crossed the Juyan Sea for more than 2,000 miles from north to west and moved to Qilian Mountain, forcing the evil king of Xiongnu to kill Xiutu and surrender to the Han Dynasty, thus recovering the Hexi Corridor.

The third time, from the third year to the fourth year of Yuanshou, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty sent Wei Qing and Huo Qubing with 50,000 cavalry to fight back against the Huns. Until Mobei, Wei Qing and Xiongnu Khan joined forces and defeated Xiongnu Khan; Huo Qubing marched more than 2,000 miles to the north, defeated Xiongnu left, took Xiongnu Wang Ting, sealed the wolf and occupied Xu, and attacked Lake Baikal. Since then, the Huns have been weakened and fled to the far north.

Based on the Great Wall, the Han Dynasty built a frontier fortress on a thousand-mile defense line from Yunxi in the east to Jiuquan and Dunhuang in the west, and established an effective defense system. From BC 1 16 to BC1KLOC-0/year, Sino-Hungarian relations gradually eased, and there was no large-scale war, but both sides recovered? Kissing? Temptation, but the Huns insisted on the conditions before Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty, and Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty insisted that the Huns surrendered to the Han Dynasty, which finally failed to come true. In 87 BC, after Li Guangli was defeated and captured and took refuge in Xiongnu, it was basically difficult for the Han Dynasty to launch a large-scale war against Xiongnu.

During the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, Wei Qing and Huo Qubing attacked the Xiongnu in the north, and the Hetao and Hexi areas were recovered in the Han Dynasty, but the border problem of Xiongnu could not be completely eliminated. Killing the enemy for 1000 yuan and paying 800 yuan, and fighting the Huns for years, also caused heavy losses in the Han Dynasty and consumed huge national strength.

In the late period of Emperor Wudi, Xiongnu gradually recovered.

In the later years of Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty, Xiongnu began to recover gradually. Although it is not as good as before, it is still a hidden danger in the Han Dynasty. As a traditional farming nation, it was basically at a disadvantage to nomadic people in ancient times, including later Turks, Mongolians and Houjin. Therefore, the power of Xiongnu can only be weakened to the maximum extent during the period of Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty.

0 1. National custom decision

In the history of China for thousands of years, the Han Dynasty in the Central Plains almost never expanded to the outside world, and all foreign wars were basically defensive; Farming people in the Central Plains are accustomed to the settled life, and pay no attention to the territorial expansion and the land that is not suitable for the production and development of farming people. Therefore, in the eyes of the rulers of the Central Plains Dynasty, the barren grassland beyond the Great Wall has no value and temptation, is not suitable for farming, and the conditions are difficult; As long as the northern nomads don't attack or plunder, the rulers of the Central Plains dynasty are content with the status quo.

For nomadic people, they are more envious of the prosperity of the Central Plains, and of course they try their best to plunder the rich Central Plains. The living conditions of grassland people are relatively much more difficult, and their survival depends only on hunting and animal husbandry. In the face of disasters, they can only plunder the rich Central Plains in order to survive, and the method adopted by the Central Plains dynasty in the face of nomadic plunder is to actively defend and forcibly fight back. The main style of all border policies is defense, whether it is the construction of the Great Wall by Qin Shihuang or the construction of border villages and resettlement in Qin and Han Dynasties.

This way can't fundamentally solve the problem. Once the dynasties in the Central Plains change or the rulers weaken, nomadic people will take advantage of the situation to invade the south. The same was true during the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. Although the large-scale war weakened the strength of Xiongnu, it could not solve the problem from the root.

02. Nomadic people are more aggressive than farming people.

Although the Huns have a small population, they have always been a great disaster in the border areas of Qin and Han dynasties. It is easy for Xiongnu to plunder the Central Plains in the south, but it is difficult for the Central Plains Dynasty to organize a counterattack against Xiongnu, and the consumption is much higher than that of Xiongnu. Compared with the Central Plains Dynasty, it has several advantages:

1. Huns are all soldiers. Huns, who grew up on horseback, are good at riding and shooting, and are born to be the best cavalry. The living environment of Huns is hard, which makes Huns have stronger physique. Xiongnu is not short of horses, and can assemble a powerful cavalry regiment in a short time; However, there is a shortage of war horses in the central plains, and it costs a lot of money to collect them.

As long as there is a population, the Huns can quickly recover their fighting power. The Huns did not have the three cardinal guides and five permanents and ethics of the Central Plains Dynasty. In order to effectively increase the population, on the one hand, they plunder women everywhere, on the other hand, the Huns have? The custom of wife, stepmother and widowed sister-in-law, if in the Central Plains dynasty, was strictly prohibited by ethics, so the Huns' ability to recover their fighting power was very fast.

3. Huns are more dominant on the grassland. If there is no strong national strength as the backing, the conquest of Xiongnu cannot be realized at all, and it can only be passively defended. Without powerful cavalry, the battle with Xiongnu will always be at a disadvantage; Even if the same number of cavalry confronted each other, most of the cavalry in the Central Plains Dynasty were no match for nomads.

03. There are no strong threats and constraints around Xiongnu.

The fierceness of Xiongnu is not only a headache in Han Dynasty, but also a disaster faced by western countries. Countries in the western regions have also become the targets of Xiongnu plunder, and they have little resistance to the powerful Xiongnu. Xiongnu killed King Yue's family and made wine vessels out of his head, but Yue's family didn't have the courage to take revenge on Xiongnu. The same is true of other countries in the western regions, and they can only submit to humiliation in the face of Xiongnu's looting. Zhang Qian went to the Western Regions to try to find an ally against Xiongnu for the Han Dynasty, but all countries in the Western Regions were too scared to be enemies with Xiongnu.

The Central Plains dynasty was beyond its reach, and it could not really eliminate or subdue the external hidden dangers of Xiongnu. Emperor Wu devoted all his efforts to the whole country, but it was only a defeat and extermination, and it could not be completely solved. Decades later, it made a comeback. Without the restriction of powerful opponents, Xiongnu can recover and develop rapidly.

The Han Dynasty also paid a heavy price for the war with Xiongnu.

Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was able to defeat Xiongnu several times and suffered heavy losses. The most important condition was the early years of the Western Han Dynasty. After several generations of emperors' cultivation, the national strength of the Han Dynasty was strong, which laid the foundation for Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty to counterattack the Huns. After years of war, Liang Wudi has basically exhausted the national strength accumulated by Wenjing rule. The Huns fought thousands of miles in the North, not to mention the loss of military forces. The money and food spent alone are astronomical figures.

It consumed the wealth accumulated by several generations, and the final result was to drive the Huns to Mobei, but they dared not go south for decades, but they could not completely destroy the Huns. In the later period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the national strength was exhausted and there was a lack of effective generals. The strategy adopted was mainly defense. Although the Huns were weakened by the attack, they still invaded the border from time to time.

Conclusion:

During the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, through the war against Xiongnu, the territory of the Han Dynasty was expanded and the passage from the Han Dynasty to the Western Regions was opened. Needless to say, Liang Wudi's historical achievements, but for the Huns, it takes decades to restore a certain fighting capacity, and it is impossible for the Han Dynasty to launch a large-scale war against Hungary within a few decades; So in the Xuan Di period, did the Huns recover? Kissing? National defense policy. In fact, it's not just Huns. In the feudal history of China, nomadic people have always been the biggest threat to the Central Plains dynasty, which has never been completely solved. The flourishing dynasty defeated and weakened the nomadic people by relying on its strong national strength, but it could not be solved from the root. Decades later, nomads will still make a comeback.

Farming people in the Central Plains are not as bold and aggressive as nomadic people, but they have profound cultural heritage, rapid development of social civilization and strong assimilation ability. Therefore, in the end, nomadic people have been integrated into the big family of the Chinese nation through continuous national integration.