When it comes to "Shi Ji", in addition to thinking of the evaluation of "the great singing of historians, the rhymeless "Departure from sorrow", more is thought of its author - Sima Qian. Mentioning Sima Qian, we have to think that he had been tortured by the palace, and this protracted work was completed after he was tortured. The Li Ling incident was a major turning point in Sima Qian's life, allowing him to see clearly the essence of the feudal rulers, and when he created, he was no longer simply summarizing history, but melted into his own life sigh, making the whole book shrouded in a strong tragic color. For Sima Qian's suffering, posterity often responded with great sympathy.
So, why did Sima Qian have this disaster? After suffering from this disaster, is it unjust? What exactly is the "Disaster of Li Ling"?
We know that during the Han Dynasty, there were many Xiongnu prisoners, and in that era, there were many famous generals who resisted the Xiongnu, and the more familiar ones were Li Guang, Wei Qing, Huo Fuyi, and so on. Fighting against the Xiongnu was a common thing for the military generals of the Han Dynasty.
During the reign of Emperor Wu of the Western Han Dynasty, Li Guang was ordered to attack the Xiongnu with 30,000 cavalry, and Li Ling led 5,000 infantry to attack at the same time. However, during Li Ling's march, he encountered a Xiongnu army. Undaunted, he led his men into a heroic battle and dealt a heavy blow to the Huns. However, outnumbered, with no reinforcements and no food, Li Ling chose to surrender to the Xiongnu. What's next, how do things go?
According to the "Chronicle of General Li", "Shan Yu has a tomb, has heard his family's voice, and is strong in battle, but he is precious for the tomb of his female wife." Han Wen, the wife of the mother of the clan tomb". After Li Ling surrendered, he married Shan Yu's daughter, and when the imperial court heard the news, it executed Li Ling's family. Emperor Wu's behavior can be said to be the emperor's ruthlessness.
Compared with the simple records of the "Historical Records", the "Book of Han" is much more detailed. In the "Hanshu Li Guangsu Jian Biography", it is written: "The ruins of the tomb went to the place of sequestration for more than a hundred miles, and the side was stuffed to smell." The Battle of the Dead..." What does this mean? It shows that Emperor Wu originally hoped that Li Ling could "fight to the death", but Li Ling surrendered! This was contrary to the emperor's wishes. So the question is, why did Emperor Wu want Li Ling to die on the battlefield? The answer can also be found in the Book of Han: "In the second year of the Tianhan Dynasty, the second master rode thirty thousand out of Jiuquan and attacked the King of Shixian on the Tianshan Mountain. Summoning Ling, in order to make the second division general Heavy Weight", at first Emperor Wu only wanted Li Ling to escort the second division general. But Li Ling refused, and asked 5,000 infantry to "go south of Langan Mountain to divide the soldiers." When Emperor Wu heard this, he felt that this Li Ling was good, had the courage, "went up strong and promised", and had great expectations for Li Ling, but this later fact was that Li Ling surrendered. Emperor Wudi of Han had a huge psychological gap in his heart, and he naturally had a breath in his heart. In this case, the courtiers naturally knew what the emperor's attitude was toward Li Ling, so "all the courtiers were guilty of crimes." Only Sima Qian, he is not! When the emperor asked him, the situation was "Qianshengyan: ...". Think about it, above the air-solidified court, the courtiers carefully pondered the holy will, while Sima Qian "spoke with great words", expressed his views and attitudes in a hanging mouth, openly contradicted it, and poured a spoonful of oil on Emperor Wu, who was already angry.
Just because he interceded for Li Ling, Sima Qian was tortured by the palace? It doesn't seem to be all of them. According to history, in the war of 99 BC, in addition to Li Ling, there was another person who could not be ignored - the general of the Second Division, Li Guangli. Who is he? He was the brother of Emperor Wu's favorite concubine, Lady Li. So what did this second division general do in the war? "The general of the Han Envoy Second Division rode thirty thousand out of Jiuquan and attacked the Right Xian King Yu Tianshan, and returned with more than 10,000 ranks. The Xiongnu great siege division, almost unable to get out, The Han soldiers and materials were so old that they had six or seven", at the beginning they won a little battle merit, but in the subsequent battles, the Han army lost 60% or 70%. Compared with the two, Li Ling appeared more and more heroic. Moreover, Li Guangli was the main general and Li Ling was a partial master. The more he compared the two, the more he reminded Emperor Wu of Han that he had made a mistake in appointing the main general. Therefore, Sima Qian's performance, in the eyes of Emperor Wu of Han, was to say to himself in front of the Manchu Dynasty Wenwu: You use people improperly, do not distinguish between right and wrong, and reward and punishment unfairly. Compared with Li Ling's surrender, Sima Qian more directly punched the emperor in the face.
On the whole, praising Li Ling's courage did cause Emperor Wu's face to be dull and disgraceful, and criticizing Li Guangli was the reason why Emperor Wu was completely angry.
Then again, when Tianzi interceded for Li Ling under tianzi's anger, was the relationship between these two people particularly good in private? It is mentioned in the "Book of Reporting to Shaoqing": "The husband and servant and Li Ling live under the door, they are not good to each other, they are interested in giving up a different path, they have not tasted a cup of wine and received the joy of courtesy", in private, the two did not intersect, and interceded for Li Ling, completely out of his observation and understanding of Li Ling in his daily life, thinking that he xu was looking for an opportunity to repay the imperial court, and surrender was only a temporary measure. However, how could Sima Qian have thought that it was this remark that brought misfortune to him?
In feudal society, the Son of Heaven monopolized power, was moody, and brought with him charges if he did not pay attention. Therefore, Sima Qian was tortured by the palace, saying that he was not wronged, in fact, he was quite wronged, he just did his duty as a courtier; if you want to say injustice, but in that case, you did not choose to follow the public and protect yourself, and with this difficulty, it seems that it is not very unjust.
Whether you have been wronged or not, you have the right to see what you think.
However, one thing is certain, if there were no "disasters of Li Ling", the "History" might not be what we see today.