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It is said that "the general trend of the world, divided for a long time, must be divided, and a long time must be divided", which was especially evident in the late Eastern Han Dynasty.
From Guangwu Zhongxing to the great chaos at the end of the Han Dynasty, after four hundred years of Han Dynasty went into decline, the three families of Cao, Sun and Liu rose up and stood tall.
Why did the Eastern Han Dynasty turn from prosperity to decline? And how did it develop into a situation where the three countries stood together? What is the reason for the formation of the Tai Li situation?
The cause of chaos in the late Eastern Han Dynasty
With the Yellow Turban Army led by the three Zhang brothers raging on the territory of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the four-hundred-year-old Han has quietly reached the "end of life".
From the Snake Slashing Rebellion of the ancestor of Han Gaozu to the Guangwu Zhongxing, this dynasty has occupied an important position in the history of the Chinese nation, but it is now declining.
The decline of the Eastern Han Dynasty has many reasons and a profound historical background.
First of all, economically, the issue of land annexation in the Eastern Han Dynasty has a long history, and this substantive issue has not been resolved since Emperor Guangwu came to power.
The powerful landlord forces occupied a large amount of land, so they requisitioned a large number of peasants as slaves for their own benefit.
The loss of land combined with the lack of labour has seriously affected state revenues.
The powerful landlord forces acquired a large amount of wealth through large-scale land acquisitions, so the economy of the Eastern Han Dynasty was unbalanced.
Although the contradictions were eased through a series of policies during the reign of the Guangwu Emperor Liu Xiu, they did not solve the root cause.
With the increasing wealth of the landlord class, coupled with the profligacy of the rulers in the late Eastern Han Dynasty, the upper class of the Eastern Han Dynasty also set off a wave of luxury.
As a result, at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the economy was completely unbalanced, wealth was only in the hands of a few powerful landowners, and the wealth of the country and the people became increasingly empty, resulting in intensified social contradictions.
Coupled with the plague and frequent natural disasters in the late Eastern Han Dynasty, the people at the bottom were hungry, starved, and even had the tragic situation of cannibalism.
Politically, in order to solve the situation of empty national wealth, the rulers of the late Eastern Han Dynasty adopted measures to openly sell official titles to alleviate difficulties, resulting in dark officialdom and political corruption.
At the same time, the middle and late Eastern Han Dynasty faced the threat of the dictatorship of foreign relatives and eunuchs, because many "child emperors" appeared in the late Eastern Han Dynasty, and they had no ability to govern at all.
In order to eliminate foreign qi and stabilize the imperial power, the later rulers favored the eunuchs and relied on the eunuch forces to fight the foreign qi.
As a result, foreign relatives and eunuchs fought for dictatorship, and they formed parties for personal gain and cronyism. The phenomenon of disorderly government caused dissatisfaction among the clan officials, who wrote to advise them.
They attacked Shi Dafu, and thus the famous "Party Disaster" occurred during the reign of Emperor Huan and Han. ”
Militarily, due to the collapse of the economy and the decay of politics, which led to frequent riots, the Eastern Han government had taken care of itself.
As a result, the local tycoons began to build their own armed forces to protect themselves, and the scale of the armed forces became larger and larger, and they divided one side to become local warlords.
The peasant uprising, the division of warlords, and the chaos of the dynasty made the Eastern Han Dynasty completely lose control, and began a final struggle to continue to control the ruling class.
At that time, in order to eliminate the power of eunuchs, the foreign general He Jin wanted to use the hands of the warlord Dong Zhuo to get rid of the eunuchs, but Dong Zhuo occupied the Magpie's Nest and became the first person to "hold the Son of Heaven to order the princes", and existed in name only in the late Eastern Han Dynasty.
Seeing that Dong Zhuo's power became stronger and stronger, and it also stimulated the ambitions of various warlords, they all wanted to get a piece of the pie, so the world was in chaos and the situation of dominance was formed.
However, "a long time must be divided, and a long time must be united" is the law of the development of ancient Chinese history, and in the face of the chaotic situation in the world, unification has become the aspiration of the people, and at the same time the general trend.
The unification of Cao Cao with northern China
At that time, the north was not only the political center of China, but also the economic center and grain production powerhouse, and whoever controlled the Central Plains in that agrarian civilization could occupy a seat.
The chaos of Li Ban was not only a crisis, but also an opportunity, so Cao Cao entered the stage of history.
By pacifying the Yellow Turban Army, he made meritorious contributions and quickly established a local armed force with the help of the consortium and became a prince of one side.
With armed forces, Cao Cao not only had the capital to compete for the Central Plains, but also obtained the support of the local clan class, and after having many basics, Cao Cao began to develop his grand plans.
Politically, he listened to Xun Yu's suggestion and nominally controlled the power of the Eastern Han Dynasty at that time with the "Son of Fengtian to Lingbuchen", which also attracted more clans.
Since the birth of the "imperial examination system", there was not much way out for the disciples of the cold disciples, so Cao Cao attracted a large number of talents of the disciples of the cold disciples through "meritocracy".
Economically, because the land problem at that time needed to be solved urgently, he realized the integration of soldiers and farmers through the "tuntian system", so that the labor force could normally engage in agricultural production activities, and at the same time, it also solved the problem of military food, laying the foundation for future strength.
Militarily, Cao Cao recruited the pawns of the Yellow Turban Army by conscripting the Yellow Turban Army, formed the "Qingzhou Army", and through the strict Ming Zhi Army, he lived the troops that had always had high combat effectiveness.
Therefore, under the strategic planning of Xun Yu and other advisers, Cao Cao conquered Tao Qian, Lü Bu, and defeated Yuan Shu, basically realizing the unification of the Central Plains.
At this moment in the Hebei region, the warlord Yuan Shao, who came from a famous family, occupied the Hebei region through a victory in a battle with Gongsun Zhan, so the war between Cao and Yuan became inevitable.
At that time, Yuan Shaoxiong was in Hebei and had been operating here for many years, which can be said to be rich in money and food, strong in soldiers and horses, and higher than Cao Cao in terms of sorting out his combat power, which was the biggest obstacle to Cao Cao's unification of the north.
At this moment, Yuan Shao was eyeing Cao Cao, but Yuan Shao did not take the advice of the adviser to "welcome the Son of Heaven", nor did he adopt his strategy to consume the Cao army through a protracted war, let alone his advice not to divide power among Yuan Shao's three sons.
Instead, he tried to win through the First World War, and these wrong strategies were keenly captured by Cao Cao, so in the Battle of Guandu, Yuan Shao was defeated, and Cao Cao took advantage of the victory to pursue, completely annihilating the Yuan forces entrenched in Hebei, and basically pacifying the north.
At the same time, he also included all the protégés and former officials and sword armor soldiers under Yuan Shao, greatly enhancing his own power and becoming the most powerful prince at that time.
At this time, Cao Cao was already unstoppable, and was preparing to march south, and then unify the world.
Sun and Liu were unified with the south
At this time, the Sun's clique ruled southeast China by the Jiangdong clique, and because the north was the main battlefield of the chaotic wars of the princes, the continuous wars caused serious damage to agricultural production, and many people and clans went south to escape the war.
The southward movement of these people not only increased the population of the south, but also made certain achievements in economic development and land development in the southern region.
Because of his father's unfortunate death in battle, Sun Ce, who served under Yuan Shu, took his father Sun Jian's group of old subordinates to the south to Jiangdong, and established his own armed forces, basically unifying the southeast region, and after Sun Ce's death, his younger brother Sun Quan took power.
During the years that the Sun father and son were in charge of Jiangdong, they adopted a policy of "paying equal attention to agriculture and commerce" economically, because the main battlefields at that time were concentrated in the north, and there were relatively few military conflicts in the southeast, so the degree of war damage was relatively light.
In addition, the population of the north has moved south in large numbers to escape the war, which not only provides productivity, but also brings some advanced technology.
With a stable situation and the right measures, Soochow's grain production has steadily increased.
At the same time, because Soochow has the advantage of the coast, it has also made considerable achievements in commercial and trade exchanges, so that Soochow's economy has been restored and developed.
However, due to the growth of Cao Cao's power, Sun Quan also faced the threat of Cao Cao's southward march at all times.
At the time of Cao Cao's southern expedition, Liu Bei was still only a fallen person who "lived" in Liu Biao's place, and as Cao Cao went south to Jingzhou, Liu Bei's situation was also precarious.
After Cao Cao captured Jingzhou, Sun Quan's Eastern Wu faced a great threat, and Cao Cao was about to go down the river and directly take Eastern Wu, with the potential to dominate the world.
However, at this time, Zhuge Liang was "ordered between dangers" and created the banner of the "Sun-Liu Alliance" with Lu Su to jointly resist Cao Cao.
As a result, a fire in Chibi not only completely destroyed Cao Cao's army, but also completely lost the possibility of unifying China in his life.
After the victory, Liu Bei began his "life of opening and hanging", and he successively captured the Jingnan region, and then moved west to take Yizhou.
It can be said that it occupied the southwest region of China and established the Ji Han regime, and since then the situation of dividing the world has basically taken shape.
In the process of governing Shudi, Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang also implemented a number of measures. At that time, Chengdu was very rich and was known as the "Land of Heavenly Prefectures".
Because Liu Zhang's father and son have been operating here for many years, there is basically no war, so the production has not suffered much damage.
However, Shudi also has congenital shortcomings, except for the Chengdu Plain, Shudi is steep and mountainous and has a small area, which seriously limits the development of production.
Therefore, Zhuge Liang practiced "rule of law by law" in politics, and during Zhuge Liang's reign, officials in Shudi were basically honest and honest, and the political situation was stable, which first provided the prerequisites for the development of Shudi.
In terms of economy, Zhuge Liang paid attention to agricultural production and practiced farmland in the Hanzhong and Guanzhong regions.
At the same time, according to local conditions and emphasis on trade, Shujin became the hard currency at that time, and in this way, the situation in the southwest gradually stabilized.
In addition to the political, economic, and military measures of the Cao Sun and Liu families, there are other objective reasons for the triumph of the Three Kingdoms.
At that time, Western Shu had the danger of mountains and rivers, and Eastern Wu had the solid of three rivers, which could be said to be easy to defend and difficult to attack, and objectively hindered communication, so a situation was formed in which the three forces were unable to hold each other for a while.
At the same time, the formation of the three kingdoms also has its historicism, and it is a historical necessity for the world to move from division to unification, and from chaos to small union, from small union to great union, and from partial unification to great unification of the world is also in line with the laws of ancient Chinese history.
epilogue
It is precisely because the contradictions existing in the development of the dynasty cannot be solved that the Eastern Han Dynasty is difficult to return, and at the same time, the chaotic situation in the world also provides a stage for Cao, Sun and Liu to show their strength.
The Three Kingdoms is an episode in Chinese history, and the formation of the Three Kingdoms has its coincidences, but there are also inevitabilities in coincidences.
Reference material:
(1) Zhao Changxin. Journal of Yangtze University(Social Science Edition),2011,34(06):185-186.)
(2) Lu Zhicheng. On the formation and reasons of the triumphant situation of the three countries[C]//Education and Teaching Innovation Professional Committee of China Society for Education Development Strategy.2019 National Education and Teaching Innovation and Development High-end Forum Proceedings (Volume 1). [Publisher unknown], 2019:231-232.