(Flying General Li Guang)
"Flying General" Li Guang is a famous general in the Western Han Dynasty, the Tang Dynasty poet Wang Changling a poem "but make the dragon city fly will be in, do not teach Humadu Yinshan" on the enthusiastic praise of General Li Guang's brilliant deeds and hehewei name, but about Li Guang, there is a sentence called "Feng Tang is easy to old, Li Guang is difficult to seal", Feng Tang was unknown all his life, old before he was appreciated by Emperor Wen, although he could express the block in his chest, but in the end most of his life was wasted; Li Guang spent his life on the battlefield, hungry and thirsty, but he always lost his position with the marquis, and finally committed suicide. Later generations will sigh when they think of this, why has such a prestigious general never been able to achieve fame?
(Li Guang's biggest regret in his life is that he was unable to be crowned marquis in his lifetime.)
Some people say that it was the emperor's malicious suppression, but Li Guang's life was the three dynasties of Emperor Wen, Emperor Jing, and Emperor Wu, and it was impossible for the three emperors to look at Li Guang unfavorably! I am afraid that this is more of their own reasons, today we will study what exactly caused the "Li Guang is difficult to seal"!
First, let's take a look at how to be a marquis in the Western Han Dynasty.
Clan members
(Look at the people's Tian Feng, there is a nephew who became the emperor, and he was named a marquis without much effort)
Either you are the Liu surname clan, born with the aura of a prince, others are still desperately fighting for the title on the battlefield when you have easily arrived, or what sisters and sisters in the family, daughters and nieces have beautiful, it is best to be beautiful even the emperor can not see the road, and the emperor married as a relative to become a foreign relative, as if you can become a marquis, the Wang family in the Western Han Dynasty, the Dou family in the Eastern Han Dynasty, all began to develop after becoming a foreign relative, there are several marquises in one door, and Emperor Wu of Han ascended the throne. His uncle Tian Yu was given the title of Marquis of Wu'an, but this brother had no power to bind the chicken, and what Wu'an was, just because he was a foreign relative!
Military merit
(If you don't want to be the prime minister like Gongsun Hong, you can still be a marquis))
Since the old Liu family took the oath of Gao Zu and the meritorious men in the White Horse League, they stipulated: Non-meritorious and non-marquis, non-Liu not king. That is to say, if you want to be a marquis, you can only exchange solid military merit for it, otherwise you can only catch the blind. However, in the period of Emperor Wu of Han, a new policy was also introduced: if he became a chancellor, he could also be given the title of marquis, for example, Gongsun Hong, a famous minister during the period of Emperor Wu, was made a marquis after his death, and Gongsun Hong was also the first person to be given the title of marquis because of his chancellor. So let's take a look at Li Guang, this grandfather first had no contact with Liu Zong' relatives, he had been serving in the frontier for many years, and he had been a ninth secretary at the highest in his life, and he had nothing to do with the chancellor, so the above points were all passed, so General Fei still had to rely on solid military merit to change.
Speaking of military merit, this involves the military merit knighthood system in the Qin and Han Dynasties, the ancient judgment of military merit rank is also simple, cut off a few people to get how many grades, in turn, want to calculate your merits, very simple answer, pull out the first rank you have won a little bit, let's go according to the rules and regulations, even the emperor can't embarrass you!
(There were not many wars during Emperor Wen's time, so looking at Li Guang, who was brave and martial, Emperor Wen of Han lamented that he was not born at the right time)
In this regard, Li Guang, who was born in Wufu, was indeed very disadvantaged, he entered the army during the relatively peaceful Emperor Wen, and was appointed as a Zhonglang by virtue of his merits in killing the Xiongnu (that is, the number of first ranks killed was not enough to be a marquis), so even Emperor Wen of Han could not help but sigh, your little boy was not born at the right time, if you were to be a marquis of ten thousand households in the Gaozu period! At this time, the world was determined, of course, it could not be compared with the turbulent late Qin and early Han Dynasty, during the period of Emperor Wen, Emperor Jing and Emperor Wu, many people were knighted because of their military achievements, and since Li Guang was one of the best flying generals, why didn't you get the title of marquis?
(During the Rebellion of the Seven Kingdoms, Li Guang played a dazzling role, seeing that the marquis's position was about to be acquired)
In fact, Li Guang is not without a chance, but this goods is his own death. For example, during the rebellion of the Seven Kingdoms of Wuchu, Li Guang served as a lieutenant to follow the lieutenant Zhou Yafu to quell the rebellion, the rebellion of the Seven Kingdoms affected most of the Western Han Empire, and the troops of the two sides participated in the war were hundreds of thousands, and in the face of such a large war, Li Guang, you finally have a stage to fully display your talents! Li Guang also lived up to the expectations of the people, he bravely killed the enemy in the process of quelling the chaos, charged forward in every battle, and made great achievements in capturing the flag under Changyi City.
(However, Li Guang accepted the general's seal letter privately engraved by the King of Liang, which also made Emperor Jing of Han very unhappy, and the matter of being a marquis was also adrift.)
However, Li Guangzuo died, and he privately accepted the general's seal letter from the King of Liang... Who is King Liang? Emperor Jingdi's brother, Empress Dou, thought like wanting Emperor Jing to give the throne to The King of Liang after his death, do you think that Li Guang accepted the general seal issued by the King of Liang, who coveted the throne, what was Emperor Jingdi's idea, are you loyal to me or my brother? The emperor was not happy, of course, this marquis's position could not be thought of, so this close at hand to the opportunity to be a marquis was pushed out of the door by himself, this time to quell the rebellion of the Seven Kingdoms is a good opportunity to be a marquis, how many generals have been knighted! Including Dou Bao (after the war, he was given the title of Marquis of Wei Qi), Wei Xuan (after the war, he was given the title of Marquis of Jianling), Gongsun Hun (after the war, he was given the title of Marquis of Pingqu), Luan Bu (after the war, he was given the title of Marquis of Juan), etc. were all made marquises because of this peace, Li Guang, Li Guang, Li Guang, look at people and look at you, you regret it!
Of course, Li Guang is still young, and there are still many opportunities in the future, and he can always be crowned!
Is this really the case? I am afraid that this is not necessarily necessary, to know that military merit is not only to see the enemy killed and injured but also to see the number of losses, if the enemy killed more than the enemy died in battle, it should naturally be sealed, but if it is dead, it is more than killing... Then don't talk about the marquis, the imperial court still has to hold you accountable! And Li Guang has repeatedly suffered losses at this point.
If we count some of the relatively large-scale wars that took place between Li Guang and the Xiongnu, there were four times recorded in the Records of History:
(Although Li Guang was famous, he did not take much advantage in the battles of the Xiongnu, and the whole army was destroyed several times)
The first time was in the fifth year of Yuanguang, the Xiongnu attacked Shanggu on a large scale, Emperor Wu of Han sent Wei Qing and Li Guang and four other generals to each send 10,000 people to lead from different places to meet the Xiongnu, but this battle Li Guang fought very badly, 10,000 soldiers and horses were completely destroyed, and he was even captured (although he later escaped with wit) The number of Xiongnu first rank captured in this battle is naturally impossible to count; the second battle is in the sixth year of Yuan Shuo, Li Guang followed Wei Qing as a partial general. As a result, when the other generals had all received battle merits (even Li Guang's younger brother Li Cai was also awarded the title of Marquis for his merits in this battle), Li Guang still had zero battle merits (the Guang army had no merit); the third time was in the third year of the Yuan Hunt, When Li Guang led 4,000 cavalry from Right Beiping to conquer the Xiongnu, he encountered the 40,000 cavalry of the King of Zuoxian, and Zhang Qian was lost at this time (because Zhang Qian's marquis was gone) And the reinforcements did not catch up in time, so Li Guang once again destroyed the whole army, and this time killed about 3,000 Xiongnu people (according to what we have just said). , his own casualties are greater than the other side's losses, and Li Guang still has to eat a lawsuit after returning to the imperial court).
(The last battle of Li Guang's life ended in a lost way, and Li Guang, who was sad and indignant after the war, drew his sword and committed suicide)
The last time was the last battle of Li Guangzhuang, four years after the Yuan Hunt, Emperor Wu planned a decisive battle with the Xiongnu, although Li Guang strongly demanded to be a forward, but under the instructions of Emperor Wu of Han, Wei Qing still accepted Li Guang as a partial teacher, and Li Guang tragically encountered the problem of getting lost, and after the war, he was held responsible, Li Guang was indignant and drew his sword and committed suicide, and since then, the dream of being a marquis has completely disappeared.
In these several battles, Li Guang was completely annihilated twice, once with zero battle merits and once when he got lost, and such meritorious deeds naturally could not be crowned marquis. But then again, there were a few times when Li Guang was really forced, for example, in the first war, the Xiongnu wanted to eat the famous flying generals first, which naturally could deter other Han generals, so Li Guang was blocked by the Xiongnu in all directions, which gave Wei Qing the opportunity to attack the enemy's weakness, and the third time 4,000 to 30,000 such a whole army was destroyed, so it is not shameful, after all, the difference in strength between the two sides is too big, but the key problem is that whether it is bad luck or reputation, Li Guang did not meet the standard of the marquis after all. Therefore, even Emperor Wudi of Han was powerless.
Now the more common saying is that Emperor Wu of Han reused foreign relatives, deliberately suppressed the talented veteran Li Guang, and repeatedly let him act as a winger, causing him to miss the opportunity to make a contribution, but is this really the case?
Let's list the exploits of Wei Qing and Huo Fuyi, the two foreign relatives!
In the fifth year of Yuan Guang, Wei Qing led 10,000 cavalry to attack the Xiongnu from Shanggu, directly attacked the Xiongnu holy land Ofon, and captured 700 people in the First World War. In the second year of Yuan Shuo, Wei Qing led a large army to attack the Xiongnu Hetao area, capturing thousands of people alive and millions of livestock, Emperor Wu of Han built Shuofang County in the Hetao area, Wei Qing was also awarded the title of Marquis of Changping (su Jian and Zhang Cigong, the younger brothers of the army, were also named Marquis of Pingling and Marquis of Antou because of their military achievements), in the fifth year of Yuan Shuo, Wei Qing led 30,000 cavalry to cripple the Xiongnu Right Xian King, and the little king was captured more than a dozen times, and more than 10,000 tribal men and women, after this battle, Emperor Wu of Han worshiped Wei Qing as a great general. Wei Qing's three sons were made Marquis, Li Guang's younger brother Li Cai was made Marquis of Le'an, and other generals including Gongsun Ao, Han Shuo, and Gongsun He were all made Marquis for their merits (I don't know if Li Guang's eyes were hot or not); in the sixth year of Yuan Shuo, Wei Qing once again led 100,000 cavalry to attack the Xiongnu, and the Six Roads Army was huge (Li Guang was the rear general), killing a total of more than 20,000 Xiongnu troops, zhang Qian was named Marquis of Bowang for his merits, and Wei Qing's nephew Huo Qing led eight hundred cavalry to kill more than 2,000 senior Xiongnu officials when he first went to the battlefield. He was named a champion hou after becoming famous in the First World War, but Li Guang did not achieve anything...
(In the Battle of Mobei, Huo went ill to seal the wolf Juxu and was praised by the ages, and Wei Qing crushed the main force of the Xiongnu, making Mo nan a territory of the Han Dynasty)
Finally, in the fourth year of the Yuan Hunt, Li Guang ushered in his final battle, compared with Li Guang's miserable misery, Wei Qing led a large army to crush the main force of the Xiongnu in the south of the desert, and Huo Wentyi led the army all the way north for more than two thousand miles, all the way to the Wolf Juxu Mountain, and held a solemn ceremony to sacrifice to the heavens ("sealing the wolf Juxu" also became the dream of every military general in later generations), after this battle, the Xiongnu fled to the distant north of the desert "The Xiongnu are far away, and there is no royal court in the south of the desert", when Gao Zu was surrounded by Bai Mountain, Emperor Wen, During the Jing Emperor's period, in the face of the Attack of the Xiongnu, it could only be passively defended, and the imperial court had to offer princesses to the Xiongnu every year to seek peace, and the humiliation of more than a hundred years was finally swept away.
(Li Guangli, the general of the Second Division, has to say that Emperor Wu of han lost his eyes in his later years and handed over military power to this incompetent foreign relative.
Even if Emperor Wudi of Han gave the main opportunity for meritorious service to Wei Huo and the two of them, but the people did not live up to the emperor's expectations in the slightest, and created incomparably dazzling achievements, rather than saying that Emperor Wudi of Han reused foreign relatives, it was better to say that he was "wise and wise to see Yingjie", looking at the merits of Wei Qing and Huo To get sick, what was Li Guang not convinced? Can you compare to others! (Of course, in his later years, Emperor Wu favored Li Guangli, the general of the Second Division, and as a result, it was also an indisputable fact that he went out to conquer the Western Regions, and Liu Xiang also said bitterly when mentioning it, "The General of the Second Division donated 50,000 yuan to the division, and after four years of hard work, he only received thirty horses, although he beheaded the head of the King of Wan, it was not enough to repay the fee")
(MataHun)
What's more, Emperor Wu also gave Li Guang a chance, but Li Guang did not use his battle achievements to repay the emperor who trusted him (of course, this is not Li Guang's lack of ability, it is indeed an unexpected factor that affected Li Guang's play), so in Emperor Wu's heart, Li Guang was gradually marginalized, and after the rise of Wei Qing, Li Guang was sent by him, and after Huo Guang's illness was born, Li Guang's position was even more precarious, and more importantly, you said that Li Guang could not fight, right? It is true that people have the courage to crown the three armies, and they have a high prestige among the soldiers, but if you want to say that he can fight, the historical records record that Li Guang's battle record is "Guang's losses are many, born of prisoners", "when the Guangdong army is few", "the number of his generals is humiliated", how can this be accepted by Emperor Wu of Han who only looks at the results and does not look at the process? Therefore, in the decisive battle between the Han and the Xiongnu in the fourth year of the Yuan Hunt, Emperor Wu of Han also deliberately pulled Wei Qing to instruct " Li Guangshuqi , do not order The order should be Shan Yu." "What do you mean, even Emperor Wu of Han thought that Li Guang's life was not good, so he could not play the heavy task of resisting the Xiongnu Shan Yu!"
(General Cheng, who was equally famous as Li Guang, still had not been able to be made a marquis in his lifetime, so General Fei should be able to feel a little comforted!) ）
Moreover, among the famous generals of the Han Dynasty, there were not many unthrested marquises for life, and Cheng Buzhi, who was equally famous as Li Guang, was known as an "undefeated general", he once served as a Shanxi Taishou, a guard of Changle, and defended the frontier against the Xiongnu, which can be described as outstanding merit, but people have also not been able to be crowned marquis in this life, and after Li Guang's death, there are constantly literati rioters who write moving poems praising this flying general, but Cheng Guang is ignorant but lonely and nameless, so compared to this, Li Guang is much luckier, but let's be fair, Li Guang has not been able to be a marquis in this life, in fact, it is not unjust!