Zhuangzhi was hungry for meat and laughed about thirsting for The blood of the Huns. Wait to start from scratch, clean up the old mountains and rivers, and go to the sky. - "Man Jiang Hong, Writing Nostalgia"
According to the "History Book", at the end of the Warring States period, Li Mu of the Zhao State formed a mortal vendetta with the Xiongnu, not only breaking the Xiongnu several times, but also defending the Xiongnu outside the Yanmen Gate. This is one of the important reasons why the Xiongnu are so hostile to the Han people, as a nomadic people, born on horseback from an early age, their mobility is very strong, it can be said that they have come and gone without a trace.
Therefore, in order to better resist the Xiongnu, the First Emperor Yingzheng connected the Great Wall into one piece. However, due to the failure of Hu Hai of Qin II to administer benevolent government, which led to the death of Qin Dynasty II, China began the road of unity and long-term division. During the Chu-Han struggle for hegemony, the interior conquests continued for many years, and the Xiongnu were stepping up their development, which eventually led to the problem of the Xiongnu in the early Han Dynasty.
In the early han dynasty, the Xiongnu were too strong in military strength, and the 200,000 troops led by Liu Bang, the ancestor of Han Gaozu, could not stop it, and they were trapped in Baishan Mountain, and finally had to make peace with the Xiongnu. It can be said that from here, the military strength of the Han Dynasty began to have a gap compared with the Xiongnu, and the Han Dynasty also had to adopt a policy of courtship with the Xiongnu, which was not until the time of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. So why could Emperor Wudi of Han restore the glory of the Great Han in one fell swoop, and even domineeringly shout out the words: "Kou can go, I can also go", "Those who offend my strong Han, although they are far away, they will be punished"?
First, The fertility policy after Lü Hou
In ancient times, the most important thing in fighting wars was to rely on manpower, after all, in the period of cold weapon warfare, unless there were particularly excellent tactics and harsh terrain conditions, almost all of them were wounded to the enemy by one thousand and eight hundred self-inflicted damage. Therefore, as the primary productive force, people can not only expand production, but also meet the important conditions for the collection of sick people.
In the early han dynasty, after Liu Bang, the ancestor of Han Gao, was trapped in Baideng Mountain, the military strength and confidence of the Han Dynasty had been completely defeated, and the degree of humiliation of the Han Dynasty was no less than that of the modern war of aggression against China, and even Lü Hou had been singled out and wanted to be included in the harem. This kind of behavior of the Xiongnu undoubtedly challenged the self-esteem and determination of the Han Dynasty, so the Han Dynasty began the road to a strong country.
First of all, after being humiliated, Lü Hou was determined to rectify the population problem. At that time, due to the fact that there were very few young and middle-aged men throughout the year, in order to change this problem, Lü Hou issued a shameless order to young girls across the country, that is, women who had reached the age of 15 must have children, and if they did not marry and have children after 15 years, they would increase the tax revenue by 50%.
As an agrarian society, fifty percent of the tax revenue is astronomical, so when a girl is a minor, her mission is to marry and have children, which is extremely unfair from a modern point of view. Although this policy was unfair to women, having a child exempted from two years of labor was relatively beneficial to the family as a whole, so that having more children had become the norm at that time.
With more and more people, the productive forces became more and more powerful, and the more young and middle-aged people in the Han Dynasty period, their national strength increased significantly. After 57 years, the Han Dynasty truly achieved a strong army, and Emperor Wudi of the Han Dynasty was able to show his grand plan and drive the Xiongnu thousands of miles away in one fell swoop and become a famous emperor for thousands of years.
Second, the cultivation of the fathers
If the rise of the Han Dynasty is inseparable from these two emperors, that is, Emperor Wen of Han and Emperor Jing of Han, these two generations of emperors created the "rule of Wenjing" in history, and this prosperous era gave Emperor Wu of Han a great logistical support.
Due to the chaos in the early Han Dynasty, it can be said that it was not until the beginning of Emperor Wen of Han that it was truly stable. Although there were three emperors before Emperor Wen, due to the chaotic political environment and the fate of early death, the politics of the Han Dynasty were relatively chaotic. However, Emperor Wen's ascension to power was determined to exert great efforts to govern and strive for self-improvement, and the people also lived and worked in peace and contentment and lived a well-off life.
With the death of Emperor Wen and the succession of Emperor Jing, he even achieved the ultimate in recuperation with the people. The two can be said to support the history of the Han Dynasty, with a key role in carrying on the upper and lower levels, if there is no cultivation of these two bags, then the great dream of Emperor Wu of Han to drive out the Xiongnu will eventually be a failure.
This was China's first reign. The "rule of Wenjing" well undertook the population policy of Lü Hou, and the rich productivity made the country richer and stronger. At the same time, it also enlightened the unification heart of Emperor Wudi of Han, and under the rich national economy, Emperor Wudi of Han had enough confidence to meet the powerful Xiongnu and won victory.
Third, the great destruction of the Xiongnu, a shame before the snow
Inspired by Lü Hou's population policy and blessed by the aura of Wenjing's rule, Emperor Wudi of Han stepped onto the political stage. Emperor Wudi of han, as an emperor with great ambitions, knew very well that in the face of the Xiongnu, he must build an excellent cavalry force, and in terms of mobility, not to mention surpassing the Xiongnu, he also had the strength to fight with them.
Therefore, in the early period of the reign of Emperor Wu of Han, the Han Dynasty waited for dan, while appeasing the Xiongnu, on the other hand, stepping up war preparations. Both horses and weapons are made of the finest materials. Until everything was ready, and the heavens sent two famous generals - Wei Qing and Huo Toyi. Emperor Wu of Han's heart to conquer the Xiongnu became stronger, so in 129 BC, he began a counterattack against the Xiongnu.
It should be mentioned here that in the early Han Dynasty, due to the problem of marriage with the Xiongnu, coupled with the excessive weakness of the imperial court against the Xiongnu, it was generally based on defense. However, after Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the Han Dynasty army changed from defending to attacking, from the Battle of Yuyang to the Battle of Monan to the Great War of Mobei, and the three major wars completely annihilated the living forces of the Xiongnu.
Since then, the Xiongnu have no longer been able to harass the surrounding towns of the Han Dynasty, and have lost the fat Hexi Corridor and other places, and the Xiongnu have moved far to the desolate desert north and have since gone into decline. Emperor Wudi of the Han Dynasty thus became an emperor throughout the ages, and although the history books have mixed praise and criticism of him, I have always believed that it is particularly important to defeat the Xiongnu and restore the dignity of China a few years ago. And after this war, the Silk Road was opened up, and to this day, China has been continuing to inherit.
epilogue:
To sum up, the success of Emperor Wudi of Han was inseparable from the unremitting efforts of several generations of Lü Hou, Emperor Wen, and Emperor Jing, and their excellent policies and determination to exert themselves to govern gave Emperor Wudi of Han a great logistical support force, which made a very great contribution to his conquest of the Xiongnu and the expansion of the country's territory. But in the same way, after this war, the Han Dynasty's family foundation was almost completely hollowed out, although Emperor Wu of Han issued a decree on his own sins at the end of the period, but it still accelerated the process of the fall of the Han Dynasty.
But it has to be said that every era has the historical responsibility that each era deserves, just like Lu Hou, the population incentive policy of that year caused many people to be dissatisfied, and even the history books said that her decision-making was wrong. But it was precisely because of this policy of hers that the Han Dynasty was eventually disgraced. Therefore, I always believe that they have all fulfilled their historical mission, destroyed in the present but have made great achievements.
References: "History of Song", "History of Song. Yue Feichuan