"But make the dragon city fly in the future, do not teach Humadu Yin Mountain" is a famous sentence of Tang poetry that shocks ancient and modern times. Since the founding of the Han Dynasty, the Xiongnu have always been eyeing the Central Plains.
In 201 BC, Liu Bang, the ancestor of Han Gao, personally led an army of 320,000 to conquer the Xiongnu, hoping to completely remove the Xiongnu threat to the Han. However, because Liu Bang was too light on the enemy, the main force of the Han army that penetrated deep into the hinterland of the Xiongnu was suddenly surrounded by Xiongnu cavalry. In the end, it was Chen Ping's clever trickery that allowed Liu Bang to escape.
After that, the Han Dynasty was very jealous of the Xiongnu. In order to avoid war, several emperors adopted the method of peace and tribute to curry favor with the Xiongnu. It was not until after Emperor Wu of Han ascended the throne that the famous general Li Guang was born, and the situation changed. At that time, when the Xiongnu army saw Li Guang, they hurried to flee in all directions, and they did not have the courage to face the battle.
Li Guang not only defended the frontiers of the Han Dynasty, but also played the famous name of the Han army. In the third year of the founding of the Tang Dynasty (782 AD), Tang Dezong ordered the recognition of sixty-four ancient generals and built a temple for worship, including the fei general Li Guang. While Li Guang made the Xiongnu feel frightened, he also inspired generations of hot-blooded men to defend their families and defend the country.
It is regrettable that the famous Li Guang had a grandson who surrendered to the Xiongnu. This man's name was Li Ling, and after he surrendered to the Xiongnu, he never returned to the homeland of the Han Dynasty in his lifetime.
Perhaps because of his birth as a general, Li Ling had a strong interest in the military as a teenager. Whether it was archery on horseback or marching, Li Ling was very good at it. Over time, many people praised Li Ling in front of Emperor Wu of Han, saying that Li Ling's courage was no less than that of Li Guang at that time. Emperor Wu of Han was very happy after hearing this, and in addition, remembering the merits of Li Ling's grandfather Li Guang, he announced that Li Ling had gone to the temple and prepared to entrust Li Ling with a heavy responsibility.
Looking at the vigorous and vigorous Li Ling, Emperor Wu of Han immediately ordered him to deliver grain and grass for the great general Li Guangli who was far away at the front. At that time, Li Guangli was fighting the Xiongnu on the front line. Emperor Wu of Han's move was, first, to let the young Li Ling have a good experience, and second, to see if Li Ling really had the talent of a general like Li Guang. Unexpectedly, the young and vigorous Li Ling mistakenly thought that the emperor was deliberately despising himself. He took a step forward and said to Emperor Wu of Han: "Your Majesty, the soldiers under your command are all elites who are one of the best in a thousand miles, and they can take on great responsibilities." Li Ling's intention in saying this was obvious, that is, he wanted to face the Xiongnu head-on, and it was not a "big task" to transport grain and grass.
Emperor Wu of Han frowned and said coldly, "I see that you don't want to obey the command of General Li Guangli." Now the war horses of the imperial court were on the front line, and there was not even a surplus. After Li Ling listened, he said unconvincingly: "Without war horses, it is not necessarily impossible to achieve victory, and the subject only needs five thousand pawns to kill the xiongnu's royal court." "The royal court is heavily guarded and is the core area of the Xiongnu, equivalent to chang'an, the capital of the Han Dynasty. Listening to Li Ling's words, Emperor Wudi of Han couldn't help but feel his blood boiling. Therefore, he immediately allocated 5,000 elite soldiers to Li Ling, and ordered the general Lu Bode to meet him on the way.
In this way, Li Ling led five thousand soldiers to the road to the Xiongnu. Although the trip was too dangerous, Li Ling did not feel afraid. Because, as a well-read scholar of the art of war, he had already made strategic arrangements. In Li Ling's view, the main forces of the Xiongnu were all fighting against Li Guangli's army, and they could not take care of their own troops in a short period of time. Moreover, these five thousand soldiers were all brave men from the Jingchu area, and they fought very bravely. If the Xiongnu divided their troops to attack, as long as the troop strength was not too disparity, Li Ling was completely sure of winning. The bold and careful Li Ling continued to march towards the Wang Ting area, and finally came to his destination without any danger.
On the way, Li Ling carefully recorded the terrain near the Xiongnu king's court and made a map to be presented to Emperor Wu of Han for viewing. After obtaining enough information, Li Ling issued an order to withdraw his troops, wanting to end this thrilling march. According to his estimation, the main Xiongnu force was still fighting fiercely with the Han army, and he had enough time to withdraw to Chang'an. However, Li Lingwan did not expect that the Han army led by Li Guangli would be so vulnerable. Under the conspiracy of Shan Yu and others, Li Guangli, who was a light enemy, continued to venture forward, and eventually strayed into the encirclement of the Xiongnu King Zuoxian and The Right Xian.
It didn't take long for the Xiongnu army to kill tens of thousands of Han troops. If it were not for Zhao Chongguo and other fierce generals who desperately broke through, I am afraid that Li Guangli would have ended up with a complete annihilation of the army. It was also a coincidence that when the Xiongnu Shan Yu led 30,000 cavalry back to the division in triumph, he happened to meet Li Ling's 5,000 infantry. Shan Yu saw that the number of this Han army was very small, and he couldn't help but be overjoyed. He hurriedly ordered 30,000 Xiongnu cavalry to rush forward, and Li Ling and the others were soon under siege. At first, Shan Yu planned to surrender Li Ling. However, Li Ling not only did not agree, but instead shot and killed many Xiongnu soldiers with arrows. Shan Yu was furious and ordered the total annihilation of this Han army unit.
In his opinion, he already had a huge advantage of six to one in terms of troop strength, not to mention cavalry versus infantry. No matter from which angle of analysis, Li Ling is difficult to fly with wings. However, Li Ling's bravery far exceeded Shan Yu's expectations.
After the two armies fought, Shan Yu looked at it from a distance, only to see Li Ling with one to ten, the cry was tremendous, and the ordinary Xiongnu cavalry was cut off before they could get close. Shan Yu frowned and ordered his subordinates to speed up the attack, hoping to use the tactics of the sea of people to drag down Li Ling. At Shan Yu's behest, the Xiongnu cavalry continued to kill Li Ling. Although Li Ling had killed countless enemies, he was still slashed by the enemy army, and his body and armor were dyed dark red by blood. At the same time, the Han army was also frightened by the endless Xiongnu army, and began to appear a small range of escapes.
Shan Yu's face showed a smile, thinking that Li Ling was already at the end of the crossbow. He signaled to several generals, ready to divide the Han army into several parts by dividing them, and then breaking through each one. But soon after, the war situation suddenly changed dramatically. Li Ling desperately shrunk his troops, and then led the soldiers to the place where the Xiongnu army was most densely concentrated. This Seemingly small Han army was as sharp as a dagger. More than 30,000 Xiongnu cavalry could only be equal to Li Ling's 5,000 Han army. Shan Yu was worried that the Han army would escape the siege, so he hurried to ask the Xiongnu King Zuoxian and The Right XianWang for help. Soon, the left and right xianwang who heard the news rushed to the battlefield with 50,000 cavalry, blocking Li Ling in the encirclement.
After the Xiongnu reinforcements joined the battlefield, the Han army had no possibility of survival.
Li Ling led his army and fought and retreated, and after shooting the last arrow, the Xiongnu army was already in front of him. In order to save his life, Li Ling temporarily chose to surrender, looking for an opportunity to escape, and then continued to serve the Han.
However, when the news of Li Ling's surrender came, the ministers in the court had their own opinions, some people tried their best to excuse Li Ling, and some people believed that Li Ling had betrayed the country. Emperor Wu of Han was undecided, so he sent the general Gongsun Ao to lead an army to inquire about the news. After entering the territory of the Xiongnu, Gongsun Ao rammed around like a headless fly, and could not know the whereabouts of Li Ling.
Seeing that the time set by Emperor Wu of Han was getting closer and closer, Gongsun Ao was worried about being blamed by the emperor, so he planned to make a mistake in a deceptive way. After returning home, he cried and said to Emperor Wu of Han: "The subject was ordered to go to save General Li, but General Li was wholeheartedly training soldiers and horses for the Xiongnu. Emperor Wu of Han believed it to be true and immediately issued an order to exterminate the clan.
At this time, Li Ling, who was far away from home, was still stepping up his plans to escape.
But before he could flee the Xiongnu, Li Ling learned the news that he had been beheaded by the door. Under the sadness and indignation, Li Ling completely cut off the idea of returning to his homeland. In Li Ling's view, he fought hard against the Xiongnu and used 5,000 Han troops to resist 80,000 Xiongnu cavalry, which can be described as a defeat. Now, since Emperor Wudi of han was so ruthless, he no longer had the need to serve the Han Dynasty.
In this way, the disheartened Li Ling remained in the Xiongnu forever. During this period, many Envoys of the Han Dynasty persuaded him to return to his homeland, but he refused one by one. Twenty-five years later, in the first year of Yuan Ping (74 BC), Li Ling died of illness. These twenty-five years of exotic time are difficult for ordinary people to imagine.
As for how to evaluate the character of Li Ling, most people in the world are like this, and they only remember the past for a while and do not remember the past. Such national sentiments have been expanding, and it is no wonder that Li Ning won three Olympic gold medals and was condemned by the people to send him blades and ropes. Zhu Jianhua, who broke the high jump record, was reprimanded for winning the bronze medal at the 1984 Olympic Games, and the windows in his home were smashed. And then To Liu Xiang...
As for Li Ling's descendants, one last mention can be made, that is, until 648 AD, a tribute group from the upper reaches of the Yenisei River in present-day Russia, under the leadership of its chieftain Qu Azhan, arrived at the Capital of the Tang Dynasty, Chang'an. Chieftain Huangjiasi claimed to be a descendant of Li Ling of the Han Dynasty, and was the same sect as the Tang Emperor, and wanted to "recognize" the Tang Emperor.
According to historical records, Li Ling was crowned as the Right Colonel Queen by the Xiongnu Shan Yu, and was responsible for ruling the area around Jiankun, which was conquered by the Xiongnu at that time, and Jiankun happened to be the ancient name of The Tang Dynasty. In addition, most of the People of TheRgas are red-haired and green-eyed, while the people who claim to be descendants of Li Ling are black-haired and black-eyed, which obviously has the characteristics of mixed blood with the Han People.
Therefore, the claim that the chief of the Tang Dynasty claimed to be a descendant of Li Ling was still very credible.
Resources:
【History", "Old Book of Tang"】