Since the beginning of the Yellow Turban Rebellion, the Eastern Han Dynasty has a situation of division of the masses, and the princes of various places have fought hard to seize the territory, until Cao Pi claimed the title of emperor to end the chaotic war. At this point, it was 36 years, and the population of the world went from 56.48 million to only 7.67 million when the Shu kingdom fell. When the Central Plains regime was so chaotic and its military strength was greatly reduced, why were there no foreign invasions that were not within the scope of the Han Dynasty?
Some people may say that at that time, the Central Plains regime controlled the richest agricultural resources in the country and could continue to export grain and soldiers, but foreigners did not have such conditions, so they did not have much strength to invade the Central Plains. This statement is absolutely wrong! Not to mention the Xiongnu, Xianbei, and Qiang, which are familiar enemies of the northern frontier of the Han Dynasty, that is, the southern barbarians of the Shu Kingdom, and the mountains of Eastern Wu are enough to annoy the rulers.
Hun invasion
There were many reasons why the Central Plains Dynasty was able to resist the invasion of powerful foreign enemies while fighting among themselves.
First, the rule of the two Han Dynasties for more than 400 years brought the Central Plains Dynasty a strong capital that could be squandered for decades. When Liu Bang had just established the Western Han Dynasty, the Xiongnu had almost killed him at Mount Baishan. In the reign of Wen jing, who later cultivated and recuperated and made good friends with relatives, the military strength and economic strength of the Han Dynasty far exceeded that of the Xiongnu. Therefore, Emperor Wu of Han changed his previous compromise policy and ordered Wei Qing, Huo Zhiyi and other famous generals to lead the army to eliminate border worries forever. In this way, the Xiongnu and other regimes in the north were completely broken up by the Han army and split into one tribe after another that did not interact with each other.
Hodge disease
It should be known that at that time, the Han army did not only defeat the Xiongnu with advanced weapons and equipment and military scale, but more importantly, tactical strategy. The Xiongnu depended on vast grasslands, lakes and rivers, and they needed to feed cattle, horses, sheep and even children here before they could continue to invade the Han Dynasty. When these conditions ceased to exist, the Huns had nothing to worry about. It was not until hundreds of years later, during the Rebellion of the Eight Kings of the Western Jin Dynasty, that the grasslands regained their former vitality, and the nomadic peoples such as the Xiongnu were able to relax their spirits.
Second, while the foreigners were recovering, the Central Plains Dynasty did not stop its own development. During the two Han Dynasties, our military equipment and farming technology went further, and coupled with the emergence of talents in the Three Kingdoms period at the end of the Han Dynasty, the border worries were far from the difficulties of infighting.
Ancient farming
For example, in Youzhou and Jizhou in Hebei, the Xianbei tribe made Gongsun Zhan unable to raise his head, or suffered a big loss in the cavalry field battles they were good at; and then Yuan Shao and Cao Cao, who succeeded him, were not idle people, and the strong bows and crossbows of the Han officials made these foreigners who could only ride horses and shoot arrows almost unable to touch the edges of the city wall.
In order to completely eliminate the hidden dangers of the northern border, Cao Cao led his army to exterminate the Xianbei, Wuhuan and other foreign tribes that had invaded the Han for many years, and even cut off the heads of their leaders. So that in the end, the nomads just saw the flag of the Han official army, and they were frightened and could not form a fighting force.
Cao Cao crusaded against Wu Huan
On the southwest and southeastern borders of the Han Dynasty, the foreign forces faced by the Shu and Wu states were much weaker in comparison. Although Zhuge Liang's seven captures and seven longitudinal Meng's victories are folk tales, it is a solid achievement to pacify the southern barbarians, so that the Shu kingdom will not have any worries about the southern frontier for decades to come. Sun Quan also implemented a policy of clearing the wilderness in the face of the hidden mountain Yue, so that these foreigners could only hunt in the deep mountains for a living, and could not enter the resource-rich city area.
Therefore, in the three kingdoms at the end of the Han Dynasty, it was not that there was no invasion by foreign enemies, but that foreign enemies could not defeat these princes who were divided into one side. Since this is the case, it is better to make friends with the Han and obtain resources through economic and trade, is it not the best of both worlds?
Third, the Central Plains Dynasty has long established the ruling concept of "if it is not my race, its heart must be different". Whether it was the later Three Kingdoms of Wei shu and Wu, or the princes who once divided one side, they did not treat the Xiongnu, Xianbei and other foreigners as Han Chinese. Even if the Han army will absorb foreign soldiers who are brave in battle, they must be established under the management and leadership of the Han people, and they will not be promoted to knighthoods for meritorious service, and there is a strict rule system.
Therefore, we see that even if many princes are at risk of annihilation, they will never lure wolves into the house and borrow the hands of foreigners to fight against the Han. Because they agree with a point of view from the bottom of their hearts: no matter how fiercely we fight between our own people, we can't let outsiders bully us!
This is why, during the Three Kingdoms period at the end of the Han Dynasty, no foreign nationality was able to take advantage of the opportunity to invade and occupy the territory of the Han Dynasty. It is only a pity that the Han regime consumed too much in this infighting, coupled with the poor governing policy after the unification of the Western Jin Dynasty, that foreign enemies had an opportunity to take advantage of and plague the Central Plains for decades.
This history deserves to be remembered, no matter what happens in the future, our country must not fall into infighting anymore, and we should concentrate on putting the gun on the outside world and safeguarding our common national and national interests!