Throughout the dynasties, foreign enemy forces have always been the heart disease of the rulers. During the Northern Song Dynasty, the Jin people were fierce and captured the two emperors of Song Huizong and Song Qinzong in one fell swoop. In the Southern Song Dynasty, the Mongols became a heart disease of those in power.
Who is primarily responsible for the demise of the Song Dynasty? Some people say that the emperor should bear the main responsibility, and during the reign of Emperor Huizong of Song, he did not hear about state affairs, only knew that he was greedy for pleasure, and did not pay attention to the development of the country. If he had been bent on developing the country at that time, the Northern Song Dynasty would not have perished so quickly.
If the Northern Song Dynasty was destroyed because the rulers did not care about state affairs, then in the chaotic late years of the Eastern Han Dynasty, why could foreign tribes not invade the Central Plains?
At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the world was divided into three kingdoms. Each country wants to defeat the other and become the rulers of the unified Central Plains, but in fact, the three are holding each other back.
For the foreign tribes, this is undoubtedly a perfect opportunity to invade the Central Plains. However, whether you are reading the history books about the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty or reading the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, it is difficult to find information about foreign invasions. Who is guarding the frontier?
I. Han Dynasty
In that year, after Xiang Yu killed himself in Wujiang, Liu Bang became the final winner. In 202 BC, Liu Bang officially founded the Han Dynasty and made the capital at Chang'an. However, the situation in the world has not yet completely stabilized.
In 201 BC, Han Xin colluded with the Xiongnu to rebel, and subsequently, Liu Bang personally led an army to resist the Xiongnu. However, Liu Bang took it lightly, fell into the strategy of the Xiongnu, and was besieged at Baishan Mountain. Thanks to Chen Ping's help, Liu Bang was finally able to reverse qiankun and highlight the siege. After experiencing the Siege of Baideng, Liu Bang reached an agreement with the Xiongnu and signed a peace treaty.
Liu Bang exchanged this strategy for a brief peace, but the Xiongnu did not always abide by the peace treaty. Therefore, after Liu Che ascended the throne, he launched three counterattacks against the Xiongnu.
In 127 BC, the Xiongnu led troops to invade Shanggu, Yuyang and other regions, and then Liu Che secretly ordered a counterattack against the Xiongnu, which is also known as the Battle of Henan. In the following years, Liu Che again ordered Wei Qing, Huo Zhiyi, and others to launch a counterattack against the Xiongnu. Although these three counterattacks failed to completely eliminate the Huns, they still caused fatal damage to them.
In 89, Emperor Liu Ofhan ordered Dou Xian to lead troops to the Northern Xiongnu. Dou Xian lived up to expectations and won a complete victory, basically eliminating the Northern Xiongnu, while the remaining forces fled to the Kangju State. As for the Southern Xiongnu, they were obedient to the Han Dynasty and never created a second, so they did not pose a threat. After these several sweeps, the Xiongnu power was basically eliminated.
2. Cao Cao
At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, although Liu Xie was still the nominal emperor, Cao Cao was the de facto ruler. Everyone believes that Cao Cao's greatest enemies were Liu Bei and Sun Quan, and only by eliminating these two people could Cao Cao complete the great cause of reunification. But in fact, Cao Cao's biggest enemy was Wu Huan.
Cao Cao and Yuan Shao were originally the closest friends, but the two eventually turned against each other over the issue of rule. After Yuan Shao's death, both his sons Yuan Shang and Yuan Xi defected to Wuhuan. Subsequently, Cao Cao sent troops against Wu Huan. Cao Cao's move had two purposes, one was to sweep away the remaining forces of the Yuan family, and the other was to pacify Wuhuan.
In 207 AD, Cao Cao led an army to attack Wuhuan, but when the White Wolf Mountain was in place, the two armies suddenly met, and the situation between the two sides was in stark contrast. Wu Huan fangcai had many generals, but Cao Cao's main army still did not arrive. After all, Cao Cao had a wealth of combat experience, and he never showed timidity when facing the crowded Wu Huan.
Subsequently, Cao Cao stood on a high ground and watched the situation of Wuhuan. Cao Cao saw that although Wuhuan had a large number of generals, the troops were very scattered, and they had not yet set up a formation to meet the battle. Therefore, Cao Cao directly ordered an attack on Wu Huan.
The vanguard general on Cao Cao's side was Zhang Liao, who was brave and good at war, and was a rare capable general during the Three Kingdoms period. After receiving Cao Cao's orders, Zhang Liao immediately led a force to attack. Under Zhang Liao's strong attack, the Wuhuan side quickly became confused, and the leader Jian Dun Shan Yu also died under Zhang Liao's sword. Not long after, Cao Cao's side was victorious, and at least 200,000 people in Wuhuan's army surrendered.
In 218, Wuhuan again launched a counterattack. Cao Cao then sent Cao Zhang, Tian Yu, and others to meet the battle. In this war, the Wuhuan army was once again defeated. After that, in order to stabilize the order of the frontier, Cao Cao sent Tian Yu to garrison the frontier. Under the garrison of Tian Yu, the Wuhuan army did not dare to make a mistake again. In short, although Wu Huan had the ambition to rule the world, because his military strength was too weak, he did not dare to make a mistake.
3. Zhuge Liang and Sun Quan
Cao Cao solved the problem of foreign tribes in the north, so who will pacify the foreign tribes in the south? There is no doubt that this heavy responsibility fell to the wu and Shu states. Although the military strength of these two countries was not as good as that of Cao Cao, it was a piece of cake to deal with foreign tribes.
In 223 AD, Liu Bei fell ill and died. Before his death, Liu Bei entrusted the power to zhuge Liang in managing the affairs of the state, because he knew that his son Liu Adou was simply not enough to take on this heavy responsibility. When the foreigners heard of Liu Bei's death, they began to attack the Shu state.
In the face of foreign invasions, Zhuge Liang did not immediately send troops to quell the war, but first repaired the relations between the two countries with Eastern Wu, so that even if all his troops were used to defend against foreign tribes, the Shu state did not have to worry that Eastern Wu would launch an attack on itself.
In 225 AD, Zhuge Liang led an army to fight against the Xiongnu. Compared with the north, the strength of the southern Xiongnu was even weaker. Soon, the State of Shu defeated the Yongmin army. After that, Zhuge Liang began to find a way to capture Meng Yu. Meng Yu was the leader of Nanzhong, and as long as he could surrender in good faith, the other horses would definitely surrender.
After that, as long as Zhuge Liang caught Meng, he would release him, and the cycle was as many as 7 times. In the end, Meng Yue was finally touched by Zhuge Liang and finally surrendered to the Shu state.
As for Sun Quan, the problem he faced with foreign invasion was even smaller. Sun Quan sent He Qi and other generals to fight against the foreign tribes, although he spent a certain amount of time, but did not cause a scuffle.
epilogue:
During the chaotic period of the Three Kingdoms, although there was infighting in the Eastern Han Dynasty, they all united the front in dealing with the foreign ethnic group. Relatively speaking, the situation facing Cao Cao was more severe, but fortunately, his military strength was very strong, and under his strict defense, the foreign tribes did not dare to make another attempt.
In addition to Cao Cao, Liu Bei, and Sun Quan, the rulers of the Han Dynasty also made great contributions to this, especially Emperor Wu of han. In the face of the Attack of the Huns, he made the most accurate choice. For the Han Chinese, working together to resist foreign invasions may be a silent tacit understanding.
Resources:
Romance of the Three Kingdoms
Book of the Later Han Dynasty