In 90 B.C., the famous general Li Ling persuaded Su Wu to surrender, and said meaningfully: "Why don't you surrender the Xiongnu like me, and you are crowned king by Shan Yu, which is much better than you herding sheep here." Su Wu was very upset and said angrily, "Are you sent by Shan Yu to persuade me?" How can I be like you!" ”
Li Ling quickly apologized and continued to persuade Su Wu: "You have been away from home for more than ten years, and I don't know if you are still alive. Your Majesty is old, the laws are impermanent, and there are dozens of ministers who have not committed crimes and have been exterminated. Please listen to me and don't say anything else. ”
Unmoved, Su Wu sighed and said, "Our father and son of the Su family have no merit, we have been knighted by Your Majesty, and my brothers are close subjects, and I have always wanted to repay His Majesty's kindness, even if I want to die now, I have no regrets."
Li Ling said, "Just listen to me!"
Su Wu said angrily, "I am already dead, if the Right Colonel King must make me surrender, please stop today's feast, I will die directly in front of you!" When Li Ling saw this, he said goodbye to Su Wu with tears.
Who is Su Wu? Why would he rather ask for death than surrender to the Xiongnu? Su Wu (苏武) was the son of Su Jian, the Dai commander of DaiGun during the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, and after Su Jian's death, Su Wu's three brothers were all officials bai langzhong.
In 100 BC, in order to show his overtures to the Han Dynasty, Marquis Shan Yu returned all the Han envoys who had been detained in the Xiongnu, and Emperor Wu of Han also ordered Su Wu to lead more than 100 people as a Zhonglang general to escort the Xiongnu envoys who were detained in the Han Dynasty back to China with a rune.
However, after arriving at the Xiongnu, Yu Chang, a subordinate of Shan Yu's adviser Wei Lu, was plotting to kidnap Shan Yu's mother Fu Shi to defect to the Han Dynasty, and Yu Chang privately visited Su Wu's deputy general Zhang Sheng and said: "I heard that the emperor of the Han Dynasty hates Wei Lu very much, and I can kill him for the Han Dynasty, but you have to ask for me in front of the emperor."
Therefore, Zhang Sheng promised Yu Chang, but a month later, Yu Chang's plan was revealed, just when the King of Zhen was killed, Yu Chang was captured, and Yu Chang also confessed to Zhang Sheng.
Therefore, Shan Yu sent Wei Lu to summon Su Wu to be tried, but Su Wu said to Chang Hui, who came with him: "Humiliated and humiliated, even if you are alive, what face will return to Han!" So he drew his sword and killed himself, and Wei Lu hurriedly hugged Su Wu and saved him for half a day before he was rescued.
Soon after, Shan Yu saw that Su Wu's injuries were improving, and then sent Wei Lu to persuade him to surrender, and Zhang Sheng was afraid of being killed and asked Shan Yu to surrender. Su Wu was not impressed, and Shan Yu put him in the cellar and did not give him food or drink.
However, Su Wu chewed snow for several days in a row to fill his hunger, and Shan Yu admired him, moved him to beihai to herd sheep, and said to Su Wu: "As long as the ram can give birth to a lamb, I will let you go back."
Later, Shan Yu learned that the Right Colonel Wang Li Ling knew Su Wu, so he sent him to persuade Su Wu to surrender, so there was a scene at the beginning of the text.
In 87 BC, when Emperor Wu of Han died and Emperor Zhao of Han succeeded to the throne, Li Ling came to Beihai and said to Su Wu: "The Xiongnu caught alive in the clouds, saying that the officials below Taishou were dressed in white, saying that the emperor had died." Su Wu listened to Xiang Nan crying, vomiting blood, and crying every morning and evening for several months.
A few years later, the Han envoys met the imprisoned Chang Hui and others in the Xiongnu, and Chang Hui informed the Han envoys of the news that Su Wu was still alive in the North Sea, and then asked the Han envoys to rebuke Shan Yu according to what he said, and the Han envoys did so, and Shan Yu had no choice but to apologize: "Su Wu and others are indeed still alive." ”
In 81 BC, Su Wu and his nine subordinates returned to Chang'an, and Su Wuguan worshiped the vassal state, Chang Hui, Xu Sheng, and Zhao Zhonggen all worshiped Zhonglang, and the remaining six returned to their hometowns due to old age, and each gave 100,000 yuan.
The following year, Liu Dan, Shangguan Jie, and Sang Hongyang the King of Yan rebelled and were killed, and Su Wu's son Su Yuan was also killed for his involvement, and Su Wu deposed him.
In 74 BC, Emperor Xuan of Han succeeded to the throne and made Su Wu the Marquis of Guannei (關内侯) with three hundred households, and only ordered him to enter the dynasty on the first and fifteenth days of the first month of each month. At the same time, he also sent Han envoys to the Xiongnu to redeem Su Tongguo, the son of Su Wu who had been born to the Xiongnu woman when he was herding sheep in the North Sea.
In 60 BC, Su Wu died at the age of eighty-one. Although Su Wu's life was not as glorious as Huo's disease, he spent nineteen years telling us what a hero is!
Reference: Book of Han
