As the most powerful dynasty in Chinese history, the Han Dynasty has a 400-year-old state. We all know that the Han Dynasty took Wang Mang's usurpation of the Han Dynasty as the dividing line, and was divided into the Western Han Dynasty and the Eastern Han Dynasty. During the time of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the Han Dynasty had already beaten its former enemy, the Xiongnu, far from the desert, and its strength was far inferior to that of before, coupled with the internal division of the Xiongnu, the Xiongnu were divided into the Southern Xiongnu and the Northern Xiongnu. The first expedition of the Eastern Han Dynasty to the Xiongnu was during the hanming emperor Liu Zhuang, at this time Liu Xiu's yuntai twenty-eight generals had died, and there were only some second-generation generals left under the Hanming Emperor, but among the second-generation generals, why did the Hanming Emperor choose Dou Gu as the commander? Was it just because Dou Gu was the brother-in-law of Emperor Hanming?
We all know that during the time of Emperor Ming of Han, Liu Xiu's former twenty-eight generals of Yuntai all passed away, and the only people left for Emperor Han Ming were the sons or nephews of the twenty-eight generals of Yuntai, these second-generation generals. And emperor Han Ming wanted to expedition against the Xiongnu and could only use these second-generation generals! Dou Gu was the nephew of Sima DouRong, the twenty-eight generals, and Emperor Hanming chose him as his commander not only because he was his brother-in-law, but Dou Gu was the only one among all the second-generation generals who had led soldiers and fought alone, and had a certain experience in independent combat, and it was better to choose Dou Gu as the commander than to choose some who had not fought!
Then there is that Dou Gu once followed Dou Rong to deal with frontier affairs in Hexi, and the purpose of Emperor Hanming's first conquest of the Northern Xiongnu was to maintain the alliance between the Han Dynasty and the Southern Xiongnu, and it was the Han Dynasty and the Qiang, Wuhuan, Xianbei, Southern Xiongnu and other countries to fight the Northern Xiongnu together, Dou Gu was more aware of the situation of the enemy and enemy situation in the western frontier, and it was also convenient to fight with the Southern Xiongnu countries, which was only Dou Gu was competent among the second generation of generals at that time! There is also the purpose of Emperor Hanming's conquest of the Xiongnu this time is only to maintain the alliance between the Western Regions and the Southern Xiongnu and the status of the Han Dynasty, not to give the Xiongnu a fatal blow, it can also be said that this is the opportunity for the Han Ming Emperor to give the second generation of generals the actual combat test and accumulate practical combat experience, victory or defeat is nothing, it is completely for the Han army and generals to train their hands!
Judging from the above analysis, the first conquest of the Xiongnu by Emperor Ming of Han was to maintain the position of the Han Dynasty in the countries of the Western Regions and also to accumulate practical combat experience for the second generation of generals of the Eastern Han Dynasty, so he chose Dou Gu as the commander! What do you think?