The Han and Tang dynasties were the two most prosperous dynasties in ancient China, and the history is called "The Prosperous Era of the Han and Tang Dynasties".
In many film and television dramas, we can clearly see the prosperity of these two dynasties. In particular, the once beloved "Journey to the West" shows the style of the Tang Dynasty. Emperor Taizong of Tang had both moral integrity and ability, which made countless ethnic minorities and Fanguo honor him as "Heavenly Khan", and it was also he who brought the Tang Dynasty into one of its most prosperous periods.
And the Han Dynasty? There is the rule of Wenjing on the top, and the prosperity of Han Wu on the bottom, especially the Han Wu Emperor who can be compared with the First Emperor Qin Shi Huang of the Ancients, which is even more praised by posterity. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, as one of the most outstanding kings in China's feudal dynasty, but in the eyes of many historians, there is no good impression, and even more, he believes that he is not a real emperor of the ages, but an emperor who is poor in military force.
So why?
First, historians argue that Emperor Wudi of the Han Dynasty was not the founder of the empire's heyday. The Han Dynasty, once a very powerful and brilliant dynasty, also experienced a period of internal turmoil. First, it was the "meritorious rebellion" at the beginning of the founding of the People's Republic of China, and then the "foreign relatives interfering in the government" caused by the dictatorship of Lü Hou and the "Rebellion of the Seven Kingdoms" that almost changed dynasties. It can be said that that history is thrilling.
Under such an era background, the early Han Dynasty pursued Lao Tzu's rule of inaction: tax relief and legal relaxation, which gave the common people great space for recuperation and recuperation, and also laid a deep foundation for the later prosperity. In these decades, it was necessary not only to quell civil unrest and resist harassment by the Xiongnu, but also to realize the national strategy of enriching the country and strengthening the army. This tedious and complicated matter is not as easy as the history books say.
Therefore, the abilities of the emperors who were in office during this period, Emperor Jing of Han and Emperor Wen of Han were not inferior to those of Emperor Wu of Han. However, emperor Wu of Han was based on the efforts of Emperor Wen and Emperor Jing to have a relatively stable internal environment, and in the end, he was able to realize his heroic strategy. Here, to be honest, if you change someone to become an emperor, you may not be able to achieve such a great cause as Emperor Wu of Han, after all, it is easy to start a business and it is difficult to keep your business, and it is not easy to keep the empire left by your predecessors.
Secondly, in the early days of China, the people who compiled history books were some readers with wind bones and personality. And the ancient readers, most of them were very stubborn, and it can be said that they can be regarded as a model of not fearing power.
It is said that there was once an emperor who gave his sister a blessing when it was dark because he could not see the appearance of his concubines. However, this "bad manners" thing was recorded by the historical officials accompanying the emperor, and the emperor was very unhappy about this, saying: "This is my family affair, it is also a small matter, there is no need to remember it." However, the historian still insisted on recording it, and said bluntly: "The king's affair is the world's affair, and the world's affairs are no small things." In this regard, the emperor was angry and itchy, but he had no choice.
For Confucian students, Wenzhi is what they most appreciate and respect. Liu Bei, who was three gu maolu, was praised for many years as a "corporal of Li Xian", but Cao Cao, who killed Yang Xiu in anger, became a chaotic thief on the stage forever. However, Emperor Wudi of Han was an excellent "militant" in foreign wars, and after achieving the economic construction within the country, Emperor Wudi of Han began to attack the Xiongnu who had invaded the borders of the empire for many years. He first sent Zhang Qian on several missions to the Western Regions, and after understanding the situation in the Western Regions, he raised troops in a large scale, and let Wei Qing and Huo Quyi lead hundreds of thousands of horses and horses to go deep into the Western Regions to fight the main forces of the Xiongnu.
This series of battles not only greatly weakened the strength of the Xiongnu, but also realized the long-cherished wishes of the emperors of the Han Dynasty, and even temporarily alleviated the frontier crisis of the Han Empire. However, in the view of historians, such an act not only consumed a large amount of the national strength of the Han Empire in successive years of conquest, but also made the people's livelihood of the Han Dynasty increasingly difficult, and made the national economy face the brink of collapse. In addition, in addition, some absurd behaviors of Emperor Wudi of Han himself in the later period made people's livelihood more difficult.
Finally, as a monarch sitting on a prosperous empire, Emperor Wudi of han liked to enjoy it like many emperors.
While enjoying it, he was also a lover of cultivating immortals, and despite the persuasion of his ministers, he built palaces and mausoleums in a big way, during which he not only lost the originally rich treasury, but also brought a heavy burden to the people. In order to amass wealth, he even encouraged people to report businessmen who had falsely paid taxes, and rewarded half of the confiscated property to whistleblowers. As soon as this policy was introduced, people throughout the country reported it, and almost all the merchants above the middle level were denounced, and after they lost their homes, the wealth of the world belonged to the imperial court.
In addition, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty also relied on Sang Hongyang and others to implement policies such as salt and iron official camps, liquor monopoly (liquor monopoly), and equal loss, and competed with the people for profits. However, the result of these measures was that wealth was concentrated in the hands of the court and officials, and the people became poorer. By the end of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the population of the whole country had been reduced by half. After Emperor Wu of han, the national strength of the Han Empire also went downhill, and there was no longer a prosperous era to speak of as the glory of the past. In this regard, Emperor Wudi of the Han Dynasty, who had consumed the powerful national strength of the Great Khan Empire, needed to bear part of the responsibility!
Moreover, when Emperor Wu of Han decided to pass the throne to Liu Fuling, he also decided to execute Liu Fuling's biological mother, Lady Hook Yi, on the grounds that: "In the ancient country, there was chaos, and the lord was less and the mother was strong. Women live alone and arrogantly, fornicate and self-indulgent, and cannot be forbidden. Ru does not smell the evil of Lü Hou! So I had to go first. Lady Hook Yi was never given the opportunity to interfere in politics with the status of empress dowager, "killing her mother and establishing her son", and Emperor Wu of Han believed that in the face of the absolute authority of imperial power, people's feelings became worthless!
It is no wonder that in the eyes of some historians, Emperor Wudi of the Han Dynasty will be given a bad evaluation, which is not unusual at all!
Sima Guang's evaluation of Emperor Wu of Han was more moderate: "Filial piety is poor and extravagant... There are few people who are different from Qin Shi Huang. However, qin is the death, the Han is prosperous, filial piety can respect the way of the previous kings, and know what to rule... Therefore, there is the loss of the dead Qin and the misfortune of the dead Qin! While pointing out the faults of Emperor Wu of Han, he also compared them with Qin Shi Huang, and "there is the loss of qin and the disaster of qin" is indeed an objective test for evaluating emperor Wu of Han!
Even so, the Book of Han comments that Emperor Wu of Han was "heroic and strategic", and the Tanfa says that he was "mighty and strong and wise and knows martial arts", that is, majestic, strong, wise, and benevolent. In Chinese history books, "Qin Emperor Han Wu" is often connected to each other. His exploits had a far-reaching impact on the course of Chinese history and the development of the Western Han Dynasty after that, opening up a vast territory and laying the basic scope of the Han Dynasty.
As the saying goes: No one is perfect, but people have shortcomings, and the same is true of Emperor Wu of Han. He is also a mortal, so he will also make mistakes, there will be such a bad side, human nature is inherently complex, so that we can not use a single standard to evaluate anyone, but it is undeniable that Emperor Wudi of the Han Dynasty had a profound impact on the development of future generations.
Resources:
["Hanshu Wudi Ji", "Zizhi Tongjian", "Hanshu Xiyu Biography", "History, Volume 49, Foreign Relatives"]