For the outstanding emperors in history, people often bear a very lofty title, that is, the emperor of the ages. Today we will explore who really deserves this title of shocking the ancient and the present.
There are many outstanding emperors in Chinese history, since we want to evaluate the emperor of the ages, we must first determine the specific criteria of the emperor of the ages, and some hard indicators must be met.
First, they must be the emperors of the great unified dynasty, and the local separatist forces and the emperors of the dynasties who have not realized the unification of China are not included in this list. At this moment, many emperors with very strong abilities were excluded, such as Liu Yu of The Liu Song Dynasty, Liu Bei of the Three Kingdoms, tuoba hong, the Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei Dynasty, etc., who were extremely prominent in a certain aspect and made many historical contributions, but the emperors who did not achieve unification were excluded first.
Second, it is necessary to have a high achievement in civil rule, and it is best to have a far-reaching system created. For example, Emperor Wen of Sui, who founded the imperial examination system, this merit alone was enough to make him a strong competitor for the emperor of the ages.
Third, in terms of martial arts, the most important indicators are the achievements in foreign combat, the construction of the army system, and the achievements in opening up the territory and expanding the territory.
Fourth, whether the influence on the historical process has positively affected the historical process.
These criteria take into account both the situation of the country as a whole at that time and the individual capacity of the emperor. With these criteria, now let's see which emperors can be selected for this list of emperors through the ages.
Before the Qin Dynasty, the Xia and Shang Dynasties, the historical records were not detailed enough, China was not yet a centralized state, and there was no title of emperor, so the monarchs of the pre-Qin era, such as Dayu, Zhou Wen, and Zhou Wu, were first excluded.
In the Qin Dynasty, Qin Shi Huang deservedly entered the primary election.
Terracotta Warriors and Horses Museum of Qin Shi Huang
In the Han Dynasty, Liu Bang, the Ancestor of Han Gaozu, Liu Che of the Han Dynasty, Liu Qing, the Emperor of Han Xuan, and Liu Xiu, the Emperor of Han Guangwu, could enter the primary election.
Han Gao Zu Liu Bang Chang Mausoleum
Mausoleum of Emperor Liu Chemao of the Han Dynasty
During the Jin Dynasty, the darkest era of the great unified dynasty in Chinese history, the Wuhu Chaohua caused a near-devastating blow to the Chinese civilization, and naturally no one was selected.
During the Sui Dynasty, The Sui Emperor Yang Jian could enter the primary election.
In the Tang Dynasty, Tang Taizong Li Shimin could enter the primary election.
The Song Dynasty, in the strict sense, the Song Dynasty was not a unified dynasty, but in the fields of culture, science and technology, military and other fields, the Song Dynasty achieved extremely high achievements, and Zhao Kuangyin, the grandfather of the Song Dynasty, could be selected.
In the Yuan Dynasty, a generation of heavenly arrogance Genghis Khan can be selected.
In the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang, the Ancestor of the Ming Dynasty, could be selected.
Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang's tomb of filial piety
In the Qing Dynasty, Qing Shengzu Kangxi could be selected. There is a lot of controversy about the Qing Dynasty on the Internet, and given Kangxi's great fame and achievements, he entered the list first. (The TV series Kangxi Dynasty directly said that Kangxi was an emperor throughout the ages)
Let's analyze in detail from various indicators who is most worthy of this title. From the perspective of civil rule, Emperor Wen of Sui, who founded the imperial examination system; Qin Shi Huang, who unified writing, currency, and weights and measures; and the Tang Taizong period, which inherited and further carried forward the Sui Dynasty system, was politically clear, and the culture was flourishing, should be ranked first. The second file is the Emperor Wu of Han, who was a master of Confucianism, which strengthened the cultural centralization; Liu Bang, the ancestor of Han Gaozu, who was good at controlling talents and recuperating with the people; and Liu Xiu, the Emperor of Han Guangwu, Zhu Yuanzhang, the Emperor of Ming, Zhao Kuangyin, the Taizu of Song, and Liu Qian, the Emperor of Han Xuan. Kangxi, who repeatedly suffered from literal prison, and Genghis Khan, who only knew how to bend the bow and shoot large eagles, were in the third gear.
In terms of martial arts, Qin Shi Huang, who unified the six kingdoms, Emperor Wu of Han, who defeated the Xiongnu, Tang Taizong, who defeated the Turks, Ming Taizu, who unified the north from the south, and Genghis Khan, who was proud of the first generation, were ranked first. Han Gaozu, Ming Taizu and Han Xuandi are the second gear, and the rest are the third gear.
In terms of the influence of the historical process and personal influence, Qin Shi Huang established the first unified centralized state, and created many systems that have influenced the ages, which can be super-first; Emperor Wu of Han, Tang Taizong and Ming Taizu can be the first file; Han Gaozu, Sui Wendi, Han Xuandi, and Kangxi are the second file; Han Guangwu Emperor, Song Taizu, and Genghis Khan are the third file.
In terms of personal ability, Tang Taizong, who is revered as the "Heavenly Khan", occupies the super file, Liu Bang, the ancestor of Han Gaozu, and Liu Xiu, the emperor of Han Guangwu, can be the first gear, Emperor Xuan of Han, Emperor Wen of Sui, and Qin Shi Huang can be the second gear, and others are the third gear.
On the whole, Qin Shi Huang, Emperor Wu of Han, Tang Taizong, and Emperor Wen of Sui were the four most powerful contenders of the First Emperor of the Ages, and they all had outstanding merits. From the perspective of influencing the course of history, the first emperor, Qin Shi Huang, was undoubtedly the most able to bear this title, followed by Emperor Wu of Han and Emperor Taizong of Tang. In contrast, the Sui Emperor Yang Jian was slightly low-key, not famous enough, and the Sui Dynasty was too short to be listed last. In terms of the personal ability of the monarch, Tang Taizong Li Shimin should be more worthy of this title. Li Shimin captured two kings in one battle, and basically the entire Tang Dynasty was laid down by him, and he was both a strategic decision-maker and a tactical executor, which is extremely rare. In addition, Tang Taizong was also very successful in selecting talents and cherishing the people's strength, unlike Qin Shi Huang and Emperor Wu of Han, who were somewhat militaristic. The First Emperor of Qin and Emperor Wu of han mainly served as the decision-makers of the empire, and were the achievements made under the accumulation of certain capital by the previous kings. Before Qin Shi Huang unified China, in fact, the strength of the Qin State had already crushed the Six Kingdoms, reunification was only a matter of time, and Emperor Wudi of the Han Dynasty even exhausted the wealth accumulated in the Wenjing era.
Therefore, Qin Shi Huang and Tang Taizong deserve the most suitable for the title of Emperor of the Ages, of course, the two of them are not perfect, the people of the Qin Shi Huang period lived extremely poorly, and Tang Taizong also had a black spot of Xuanwumen Change, which is criticized by people, personally prefer Tang Taizong, what do you think?
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