Ban Chao (32~102), a famous military and diplomat of the Eastern Han Dynasty. The word Zhongsheng. A native of Fufeng Pingling (present-day northwest of Xianyang, Shaanxi). Fengding Yuanhou (封定遠侯), known as "Ban Dingyuan". He turned to the side of the frontier and traveled thousands of miles, making great contributions to opening up the Western Regions and strengthening the relations between the Han nationality and the various ethnic groups in the Western Regions.
First, throw the pen from rong deep into the tiger's den
Ban Chao is the younger son of the famous historian Ban Biao, who has great ambitions and is good at words since childhood. In the fifth year of Emperor Yongping of the Ming Dynasty (62), Ban Chao's elder brother Ban Gu was summoned to Jingzhong as a school secretary, and Ban Chao and his mother moved to Luoyang with him. Due to his family's poverty, Ban Chao copied documents for the government to make ends meet. He often remembered his lofty ambitions, and he was depressed, and one day he finally threw in his pen and sighed: "The eldest husband has no other ambitions, just like following Fu Jiezi and Zhang Qian's meritorious service in a foreign land, in order to take the title of Marquis, An Nengjiu's pen research (Yan) is between them!" People thought he was not self-sufficient, but Ban Chao said, "How can you people understand the ambition of a strong man?"
After some time, Emperor Hanming asked Bangu: What is your brother doing now? Ban Gu said: Copy documents for the government, earn some money, and support the elderly mother. Emperor Ming listened, and immediately appointed Ban Chao as the Lantai Lingshi, in charge of the chapters and documents. However, not long after, Ban Chao was dismissed from his post for minor negligence.
In the sixteenth year of the level (73), Dou Gu, the governor of Fengche, sent an army to attack the Xiongnu, and Ban Chao accompanied him on the Northern Expedition, serving as a false Sima (acting Sima) in the army. As soon as Ban Chao arrived in the army, he showed a unique talent. He led his troops to attack Yiwu (present-day Hamixi, Xinjiang), fought in the Pushi Sea (present-day Balikun Lake, Xinjiang), tried his cattle knife, beheaded and captured many enemies. Dou Gu returned to his division in victory, admired his military prowess, and sent him on a mission to the Western Regions with Guo Ke.
Ban Chao and Guo Ke led 36 men to the Western Regions, with the first stop at Shanshan (present-day southwest of Lop Nur in Xinjiang). King Shanshan first greeted Ban Chao and the others with warm greetings and courtesy, and then suddenly changed his attitude and became slack and cold. Ban Chao estimated that King Shanshan must have illusions about the Xiongnu, so he summoned the Shanshan attendants who received them and asked him unexpectedly: "The envoys of the Xiongnu have been here for a few days, where do they live?" The waiter was suddenly unable to say anything, so he had to tell the truth about the situation. Ban Chao imprisoned the waiter, and then immediately summoned his subordinates and drank and held a high meeting. When it was time to drink, Ban Chao deliberately set off a statement to provoke everyone, and everyone expressed their willingness to obey the command, so Ban Chao led his soldiers straight to the Xiongnu emissaries' station, set fire to the wind, killed more than thirty Xiongnu people, and the rest were buried in the sea of fire. The next day, Ban Chao invited King Shanshan to show him the head of the Xiongnu emissary. King Shanshan was stunned, and the whole country was shocked. Ban Chao soothed his words and knew that he was reasonable, and King Shanshan expressed his willingness to submit to the Han Dynasty and agreed to send the prince to the Han Dynasty as a proton.
Ban Chao completed his mission, led the crowd back to Kyoto, and reported the situation to Dou Gu one by one. Dou Gu was overjoyed, and the above table played ming ban beyond the envoys and achievements, and asked the emperor to send emissaries to the western regions again. Emperor Ming admired Ban Chao's bravery and strategy, and thought that he was a rare talent, and said to Dou Gu, "With such a capable person as Ban Chao, why choose someone else?" He ordered Ban Chao to be promoted to military commander and asked him to go on a mission to the Western Regions again, and to continue to complete the previous meritorious service. Ban Chao was preparing to go to the Western Regions again, but Dou Gu thought that his men were too few and wanted to add some to him. Ban Chao said: "I have the original 36 people is enough, if you encounter an accident, more people will be cumbersome." ”
Ban Chao and others marched to the western regions, and soon arrived at Khotan (present-day Hotan, Xinjiang). The Khotanese king Guangde had recently attacked Shache (沙車, in present-day Shache, Xinjiang), and in Southern Province, the Xiongnu sent emissaries to Khotan, named guardianship of his country, and actually held the power of the country. After Ban Chao arrived in Khotan, the King of Khotan was not polite to him and was quite cold; The local shaman advised the king of Khotan to kill the Malay sacrifice of the Han Dynasty emissaries to the angry gods, otherwise there would be great disaster. The King of Khotan sent someone to ask Ban Chao for the horse, and Ban Chao already knew the truth of the matter and happily agreed, but offered to ask the witch to lead himself. When the witch arrived, Ban Chao involuntarily killed him and returned the first rank to the king of Khotan, knowing the stakes and taking responsibility for morality. The King of Khotan had long heard of Ban Chao's act of killing the Xiongnu envoys in the Shanshan Kingdom, and was quite frightened, so he immediately ordered the Xiongnu emissaries to be killed and submitted to the Han Dynasty. Ban Chao rewarded the King of Khotan and his courtiers.
In the spring of the following year, Ban Chao again led his men from the trail to shule country. Soon after, he and his subordinates deposed the shule king of Guizi and set up a nephew named "Zhong" who was killed as king. The Shule people rejoiced. The new king and a group of officials want to kill Tuti, but Ban Chao convinces everyone to release Tuti in order to declare the Han Dynasty's weide faith.
Up to this point, Ban Chao sent two envoys, and with wisdom and courage, he had successively restored friendly relations with the Han Dynasty between the three kingdoms of Shanshan, Khotan, and Shule.
Second, the dismal operation of wei zhen western region
In the eighteenth year of Yongping (75), Emperor Ming of Han died, and Yan Qi took the opportunity of the great mourning of the Han Dynasty to besiege the Western Regions and kill duhu Chen Mu. Ban Chao was left alone. And Guizi, Gumo and other countries also repeatedly sent troops to attack Shule. Ban Chao and Shule Wang Zhong were each other's horns, echoing from end to end, refusing to defend the city. Although it was lonely, it still operated dismally and refused to hold on for more than a year.
The following year, the imperial court was worried that Ban Chao was alone in the frontier and would find it difficult to support him, so he was ordered to return to China. Ban Chao was ordered to return, and the whole country was panicked. Ban Chao led his troops to Khotan, and the people of Khotan, the king of Khotan, cried loudly, and many people still hugged Ban Chao's horse legs and struggled to save them. Ban Chao saw the situation and knew that Khotan's father would never let him return to the east, and he also wanted to stay here, so he resolutely decided not to return to the Han Dynasty and return to Shule. Two of the cities of Shule were re-surrendered to Guizi after Ban Chao left, and they united with the Weitou State in an attempt to cause chaos. Ban Chao captures the rebel leader and breaks through the Weitou Kingdom, making Shule as blocked as before.
In the third year of the founding of Emperor Zhang of Han (78), Ban Chao commanded more than 10,000 soldiers from Shule and other countries to attack Gumo and break through it, isolating Guizi.
In the first five years of the founding, Ban Chao wrote to Emperor Zhang, analyzing the situation of the countries in the Western Regions and their own situation, and proposing to take the opportunity to pacify the countries in the Western Regions. Emperor Han Zhang's list, knowing that Ban Chao's deeds can be accomplished, is very satisfied, and is ready to increase Ban Chao's strength. Xu Gan, a Pingling man, was like-minded and asked to go to a foreign land and assist Ban Chao. The imperial court immediately appointed him as acting Sima and sent him to lead 1,000 men to reinforce Ban Chao. Xu Gan arrived at Shule just in time for the Shache state to surrender to the Xiongnu, and Shule's lieutenant Fanchen rebelled. Ban Chao and Xu Gan killed Fanchen and quelled the rebellion.
After Ban Chao broke through Fanchen, he wanted to march into Guizi. At that time, the Wusun state was strong in strength, and Ban Chao thought that it should be used for its strength, so he wrote to suggest that the imperial court send emissaries to comfort Wusun. Emperor Zhang took his advice, and in the eighth year of the founding of the first year (83), he appointed Ban Chao as the general Changshi (長史), falsely advocated The Emperor, promoted Xu Gan to the post of Military Commandery, and sent Li Yi (李邑) the Marquis of Wei to escort Wusun's emissaries and give Kun mi the following jinshu. Li Yi walked to Khotan, just in time for Guizi to attack Shule, and was too frightened to move forward. In order to cover up his cowardice, he wrote to the imperial court, saying that the affairs of the Western Regions were fruitless, saying that Ban Chao embraced his wife and son, and only wanted to be happy in the Western Regions, forgetting the Han Dynasty and forgetting his homeland. Emperor Zhang of Han was well aware of Ban Chao's loyalty to the state, and issued an edict to rebuke Li Yi fiercely, and asked Ban Chao to decide whether to let Li Yi stay in the Western Regions according to the situation. Ban Chao immediately asked Li Yi to take Wusun's attendant back to the capital, but did not leave him behind.
Just as Ban Chao was preparing to mobilize Shule and Khotanese soldiers and horses to attack Shache, Shache sent people to bribe Shule Wang Zhong with heavy gifts, and Zhong betrayed Ban Chao, launched a rebellion, and occupied Wuji City. Ban Chao changed the capital to The Great King of Shule, mobilized troops to attack Zhong, and recaptured Wucheng. After three years, Zhong borrowed some soldiers and horses from King Kangju, colluded with Guizi, and sent people to surrender to Ban Chao. Ban Chao saw his treachery, calculated the plan, killed Zhongzhong at a banquet, and marched to defeat his soldiers, and the southern road was passed.
The following year (89), Ban Chao dispatched more than 20,000 soldiers from Khotan and other countries to attack the Shache state again. King Guizi sent 50,000 troops to rescue Shache. The enemy is strong and we are weak, and Ban Chao decided to use the strategy of moving the tiger away from the mountain. The King of Guizi was indeed in the plan and poured out of the nest. Ban Chao detected that they had sent troops, and quickly ordered all the troops to send out in unison, and when the chickens were chirping, they directly attacked the Shache base camp. The battalion was unprepared, the sergeants fled, and the squad won a complete victory. The Shache kingdom had to surrender, and King Guizi and others had to disperse. Since then, Ban Chaowei has shaken the western region.
3. The kingdoms return to China in the twilight years
At the beginning, the Great Moon Clan Kingdom had helped the Han Dynasty attack cheshi. In the first year of Zhang He (87), the king sent emissaries to Ban Chao's residence to pay tribute to the Han Dynasty treasures, lions and other things, and proposed to marry a Han Dynasty princess. Ban Chao refused this request, and the King of the Great Moon Clan was annoyed. In the summer of the second year of Yongyuan (90), Xie Xie, the deputy king of the Great Moon Clan, led an army of 70,000 troops to attack Ban Chao in the east. There were not many soldiers under Ban Chao, and everyone was panicked. Ban Chao, however, believed that as long as they gathered grain and insisted on not fighting, it would only take dozens of days for the enemy soldiers to be in trouble. Xie attacked Ban Chao, but he could not conquer it, plundered grain and grass without gain, and was indeed tired and sick. Ban Chao estimated that he would run out of food and grass, and would send someone to Guizi for help, so he pre-ambushed the soldiers, killed the messenger, and sent someone to show Xie Xie the gift of help. Xie was stunned and had no basis for retreat, so he had to send an envoy to ask Ban Chao for guilt, hoping to let them have a way to live. Ban Chao let them return to China, and the Ōtsuki clan was very grateful and reconciled with the Han Dynasty.
The following year, the states of Guizi, Gumo, and Wensu all surrendered. The imperial court appointed Ban Chao as the protector of the capital, Xu Gan as the chief historian, and Bai Ba as the king of Guizi. At this time, only the three kingdoms of yanqi, weisu, and Weili were left in the western regions because they had killed the western region capitals to protect Chen Mu, and they were afraid and had not yet returned to Han, and the rest of the countries had been pacified.
In the autumn of the sixth year of Yongyuan (94), Ban Chao dispatched 70,000 troops from eight countries, including Guizi and Shanshan, to attack Yanqi, Weisu, and Wei Plough. When the army reached the place of Wei Plough, Ban Chao sent an emissary to inform the king of the Three Kingdoms: "If you want to reform yourself, you should send high-ranking officials to greet you. At the end of the matter, they will all lead the soldiers back. Now, first send you 500 horses of five-colored silk. King Guang of Yanqi sent Zuo to send cattle wine to the Northern Branch to greet Ban Chao. Ban Chao gave Beifang zhi many gifts and let him return to China. When King Yanqi guang saw that the Northern Branch was fine, he personally led a high-ranking official to greet Ban Chao in Wei Plough and offer gifts. However, he did not really want Ban Chao to enter the border, and immediately after returning, he ordered the demolition of the bridge at the border pass. Unexpectedly, Ban Chao entered his country from another road and garrisoned an army 20 miles away from the royal city. When the Yanqi King saw Ban Chao's sudden arrival, he was horrified and wanted to escape from the mountain and resist. Yuanmeng, the Left Marquis of Yanqi, had once taken a hostage in the past, and he quietly sent emissaries to report to Ban Chao. In order to stabilize the nobles of the Yanqi kingdom, Ban Chao killed yuan meng's emissaries.
Ban Chao set a time for a banquet for the kings and ministers of the Three Kingdoms, claiming that he would be rewarded generously at that time. More than thirty people, including Wang Guang of Yanqi, Wang Fan of Weili, and Beiqian Zhi, believed it to be true and came to the meeting together. The 17 people who had been in the middle of the Yan Dynasty for a long time fled in fear of being killed, and the King of Danger did not come. At the beginning of the banquet, everyone sat still, and Ban Chao's face suddenly changed, and he asked The King of Yanqi and others "why didn't the King of The Dangerous Beards arrive, why did he flee for a long time", and ordered the samurai to capture Guang, Fan, and so on, and killed them all in the old city where Chen Mu was stationed, and passed them on to the capital division. Ban Chao then made Yuan Meng the King of Yanqi. In order to stabilize the situation, Ban Chao stayed there for half a year.
So far, more than fifty countries in the western region have been annexed to the Han Dynasty, and Ban Chao has finally realized the ideal of making meritorious contributions to foreign lands. In the seventh year of Yongyuan, the imperial court made Ban Chao the Marquis of Dingyuan and a thousand households.
Ban Chaojiu is in the frontier, old, and gradually has the idea of the countryside. In the twelfth year of Yongyuan (100), he wrote to the imperial court and sent his son Ban Yong back to Luoyang, where he showed a sincere homesickness. But the imperial court did not immediately recall him, but shelved him for nearly three years. Later, Ban Chao's sister Ban Zhao went to the table again, hoping that the emperor could have mercy and summon Ban Chao to survive. After emperor He saw Ban Zhao's table, he ordered Ban Chao to be recruited back to Han.
Ban Chao was in the Western Regions for 31 years. In August of the fourteenth year of Yongyuan (102), Ban Chao returned to Luoyang. The imperial court appointed him as a lieutenant of the Archery School.
Ban Chaosu had a disease, and after returning to the Dynasty, the illness worsened. And the emperor sent Zhonghuangmen to comfort and give medicine. In September of that year, Ban Chao died at the age of 71.