In the last years of the Western Han Dynasty, the Han Dynasty of the Liu family was controlled by the foreign relative Wang Mang, and then the country partially disintegrated, and various rebel armies began to rise, but it was not someone else who laughed at the end, but also a person surnamed Liu. This legendary figure is none other than Liu Xiu. Liu Xiu was not only brave in battle, but also regained the original chaotic world and established the Eastern Han Dynasty. In addition, after succeeding to the throne, Liu Xiu also carried out many political reforms, which were praised by later generations as "Guangwu Zhongxing". In this way, Liu Xiu can indeed be called a good king, but his sense of existence is not very strong.
Liu Xiu, the Guangwu Emperor of the Eastern Han Dynasty, was the ninth grandson of Liu Bang, the founding emperor of the Han Dynasty, and a true relative of the emperor. It is the generation of Liu Fa, the son of Emperor Jing of Han, because the relationship with the royal family is relatively far away, when liu Xiu arrives here, the sense of existence is relatively low. During the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the Tui En Order was implemented, and the children and grandchildren of the royal family enjoyed fewer rights and interests.
Therefore, Liu Xiu's family is not rich, although his father is a small county order, but he died early, Liu Xiu's brothers began to farm. After growing up, Liu Xiu came to the highest school at that time, that is, Taixue in Chang'an. It was also at this time that he met his future wife, Yin Lihua. The most important thing in Liu Xiu's life was to overthrow the new dynasty government ruled by Wang and directly establish the Eastern Han Dynasty. In the original Western Han Dynasty, internal contradictions have accumulated, the imperial relatives and nobles have annexed land on a large scale, while ordinary civilians have not received any benefits, and bankrupt peasants can only become displaced people in the end. Although this phenomenon was discussed within the Western Han Dynasty at that time, because the cheese of the nobility was moved, the discussion was ultimately fruitless, and the contradictions became deeper and deeper. Wang Mang took advantage of social contradictions, won the support of the people and ministers, and usurped the power of the Western Han Dynasty.
After Wang Mang succeeded to the throne, he carried out many reforms to the social ills of the time, but the reforms did not succeed in the end, but intensified social contradictions. The law of the dynasty has always been the outbreak of peasant uprisings, and Liu Xiu is one of the powerful forces, which eventually develops strongly. At that time, the rebel armies launched uprisings under the banner of Liu's descendants. In 17 AD, the Green Forest Army, led by Wang Kuang and Wang Feng, rose rapidly in Hebei. The following year, the Green Forest Army, led by Xu Xuan and others, rose up in Shandong. This was followed by a nationwide rise. The rebel team composed of the brothers Liu Ji and Liu Xiu was called the Lingling Army. They were the sons of the Liu family, and they wanted to restore the cause of Liu Bang, the ancestor of Gaozu, so they gathered many sons of the clan and a rebel team was initially established. In the course of the uprising, the strength of the contingent gradually grew stronger.
And Zhao Yi also commented on the situation at that time, that is, people's minds are in their hearts. At that time, the rebel army was all named after Liu Shi, so Emperor Guangwu of Han was able to ascend to the throne in just three years, and its speed was rare in all dynasties. For example, at that time, the king of Hebei was the son of emperor Hancheng who pretended to be himself, and the Green Forest Army, which was relatively prestigious in the rebel army at that time, supported Liu Xuan as the first emperor, and the Chimei army at that time also supported Liu Penzi as a puppet emperor. And Liu Xiu also made full use of his own advantages. During the uprising, Liu Xiu raised the banner of "anti-reckless restoration of Han", and also hoped to restore the foundation of Liu Bang, the ancestor of Han Gao, and with his true value as a relative of the Liu clan, he also created conditions for his later development. The Liu Xiu brothers conquered Gengzi Township and entered Huyang along the way.
As the rebel ranks grew, these troops began to merge, and Liu Xiu's brothers' Lingling army was also among them, with the Green Forest Army as the main force. In 23 AD, the rebel army finally broke through Chang'an, and the new government established by Wang Mang collapsed. Of course, Liu Xiu's earliest was not remarkable, and after Liu Xuan became the more first emperor, Liu Xiu's position was not very high. Then it can stand out mainly by virtue of excellent military capabilities. For example, the Defense of Kunyang was one of the excellent battles and won a good reputation in military history. In the defense of Kunyang in 23 AD, if ordinary military generals could blow for a lifetime. If you are interested in the military, you can learn more about this battle.
As the prestige of the two expanded, The emperor Liu Xuan, who was supported at the time, was also quite jealous of their growing prestige, and his brother, Liu Ji, who was quite prestigious at the time, was killed in Huangquan because of suspicion. And Liu Xiu was able to successfully escape from danger because of his forbearance. In 23 AD, Liu Xiucai was able to escape and cultivate his own power. Liu Xiu was appointed as the Grand Sima Master at that time and came to hebei to run the business. After Liu Xiu escaped, with the help of his confidant Deng Yu, he took measures to benefit the people's livelihood, first of all, to implement benevolent government for the people at that time and reduce the burden. The people of that time were very satisfied with this and rushed to comfort the soldiers with meat and wine. In addition, Liu Xiu reformed the military and consolidated the forces entrenched in all sides. In the process of recruitment, the strategy of combining soft and hard and using both grace and power has been adopted.
For example, in 25 AD, Liu Xiu fought in Hebei and made his leader Hou, which absorbed a large number of military talents. In 27 AD, Liu Xiu fought in Henan, conquering the Chimei army in a row, and Liu Xiu also sealed his fields and mansions to the generals who surrendered to him. This strategic approach greatly strengthened Liu Xiu's power.
In addition, Liu Xiu also recruited a large number of outstanding military talents, laying the foundation for the future unification of the whole country. Liu Xiu employed people in an eclectic manner, and when he first started the incident, the only people who followed Liu Xiu to start an incident were Deng Yu and Wu Han in the same township. Later, Guo Ji suggested to Liu Xiu that he should not only use his hometown and take a long-term view. Liu Xiu adopted this opinion and absorbed a lot of military talents, that is, the "Twenty-Eight Generals of Yuntai" who were later regarded as beautiful talks, of which except for these old departments in Nanyang, most of the rest were from other places. In the selection of officials, Liu Xiu is also eclectic. In order to absorb outstanding talents, Liu Xiu specially sent people to promote outstanding talents in various places, and did not look at their origins, but only whether they were talented. Many of them were defeated by her subordinates, and they were also promoted and reused by Liu Xiu, which strengthened the ranks of the uprising.
In 25 AD, Liu Xiu established the Eastern Han Dynasty with his own skills and reunified the chaotic world. From his beginning to the unification of the chaotic world, it took only a few years, which was rare in all dynasties and dynasties. However, because of the former inheriting Emperor Wu of Han and then the Three Kingdoms, the sense of existence of Emperor Guangwu was not particularly high, which was also very regrettable.