The so-called "general trend of the world, unity will be divided for a long time, and division will be united for a long time", division and reunification, have been staged back and forth in China's history. Those monarchs who unified the whole country, such as Qin Shi Huang, Emperor Wu of Han, Emperor Wen of Sui, Kublai Khan, Kangxi, etc., became the "Emperor of The Ages". However, there are many emperors in history who have struggled for unification in their careers, but in the end they have failed because of accidents, and their careers have either been left to the next generation or fall apart. This article will take stock of the 10 great emperors in history who have been close to unifying the country, in chronological order.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="3" >1, Cao Cao, King of Wei</h1>
Cao Cao was the de facto founder of the State of Wei. During his reign, he exerted great efforts to govern, promote Tuntian, restore the economy, and gradually became the most powerful prince. He successively eliminated Yuan Shu, Tao Qian, Lü Bu, Yuan Shao, Ma Chao, Zhang Lu and other princes, and unified the north. By 208, Cao Cao had the power to unify the country. However, when he was sending troops to Jingzhou, he was accidentally defeated by Sun Liu's allied forces at the Battle of Chibi, losing the opportunity to unify the country. Cao Cao's biggest mistake at that time was a strategic problem, he should not rush to attack Jingzhou, but should take Hanzhong, but take Yizhou, so that he could go down the upper reaches of the Yangtze River. Although Cao Cao was defeated at the Battle of Chibi, he unified the north and restored the economy of the north, laying the foundation for the later unification of the Western Jin Dynasty.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="39" >2, Former Qin Emperor Jian Jian</h1>
Jian Jian was the most outstanding monarch in the entire Sixteen Kingdoms period of the Eastern Jin Dynasty. He appointed Wang Meng as his prime minister, promoted benevolent government, and managed Guanzhong in an orderly manner, known in history as "Guanlong Qingyan, the people's prosperity". He eliminated the northern states of Dai, Yan, and Liang, and unified the Central Plains. He also conquered the western region, took the Bashu region, and achieved a strategic encirclement of the Eastern Jin Dynasty. However, he was too anxious about the war in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, and recently let his 800,000 troops be defeated by the Eastern Jin Dynasty at the Battle of Shuishui, and the entire empire soon fell apart, and the north was once again divided.
Map of the former Qin and Eastern Jin dynasties
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="41" >3, Emperor Liu Yu of the Song Dynasty</h1>
Liu Yu was the founder of the Southern Song Dynasty and the beginning of Hanmen's rise to power. After Liu Yu came to power, he strengthened the centralization of power, cracked down on the warrior clan, suppressed mergers, and rectified the rule of officials, making the Southern Dynasty stronger. He quelled Sun En's uprising, eliminated Huan Chu, Western Shu, Lu Xun, Liu Yi, Sima Xiuzhi and other separatist forces, and unified the southern region. After that, he also sent troops to the Northern Expedition, destroyed the Southern Yan, Later Qin and other states, surrendered to Qiuchi, greatly destroyed the Northern Wei Iron Horse, and recovered a large area of land in the north. In 422, Liu Yu prepared to send troops to Northern Wei to unify the north, but before he could leave the division, he died of illness. Liu Yilong after Liu Yu did not have Liu Yu's great talent, and could only sit back and watch northern Wei become strong, and eventually lost the opportunity to unify the country.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="42" >4, Northern Wei Taiwu Emperor Tuoba Tao</h1>
Tuoba Tao was the third emperor of the Northern Wei Dynasty, and he had the ambition of "defining four tables and mixing one Ronghua". After taking the throne, he attached importance to agriculture, reduced taxes, straightened out the administration of officials, and attached importance to Sinicization, so that the Northern Wei Continued to move towards strength and prosperity. He successively destroyed Hu Xia, Northern Yan, and Northern Liang, conquered Shanhu, surrendered the western states of Shanshan, Guizi, and Sogdia, expelled Tuguhun, and unified northern China. The north is rouran, driving away the enemy for thousands of miles, and spreading the "Tuoba" (peach blossom stone) as the name far away from the desert. In 450, he defeated the Song and drank the Yangtze River. Two years later, Liu Yilong was killed and the Southern Dynasty was in chaos, which was the best chance. However, Tuoba Tao also suffered a coup d'état and was killed by his own hands at the age of 45.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="43" >5, Northern Zhou Wu Emperor Yuwen Yong</h1>
Yuwen Yong, also known as Emperor Wu of Northern Zhou, was also the most prominent emperor of Northern Zhou. During his reign, he continued to implement the juntian system, developed the prefectural military system, and implemented the policy of exterminating Buddhism, which enabled the rapid recovery of the northern economy. In 577, Yuwen Yong destroyed Northern Qi, achieving the unification of the north and occupying two-thirds of the world. After that, he formulated a plan to unify the whole country, that is, "if you want to exhaust the army, pacify the Turks, and fix the south of the jiangsu, within one or two years, you will unify the world." In 578, the Turks attacked Youzhou, Yuwen Yong northern expedition, died on the way, and the plan to unify the country was not realized. Although Yuwen Yong failed to unify the country, it laid the foundation for the unification of the Sui Dynasty.
Northern Zhou unified the north
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="46" >6, Tang Xianzong Li Chun</h1>
Tang Xianzong was the most effective emperor in the late Tang Dynasty. Since the "Anshi Rebellion", the Tang Dynasty has fallen into a situation of division of feudal towns. After Tang Xianzong ascended the throne, he carried out political innovations, revised laws and decrees, rectified the imperial examinations, and reduced provincial officials, so that the strength of the tang dynasty central government was restored to a certain extent. After that, he successively pacified Liu Pei of Xichuan, Li Kui of Jiangdong, Wu Yuanji of Huaixi, and recovered the twelve prefectures of Ziqing, so that the feudal towns in the whole country were successively submitted, and the world began to restore unity, known in history as "Yuan and Zhongxing". However, he later went into a fainting and failed to continue to promote the cause of reunification. In 820, he was killed by eunuchs at the age of forty-three. The Tang Dynasty could no longer change its decline.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="47" >7, Later Zhou Shizong Chai Rong</h1>
Zhou Shizong Chai Rong was the most outstanding emperor of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms. During his reign, he carried out comprehensive reforms, reorganizing the army to train pawns, eliminating redundant and weak, inviting exile, reducing taxes, and revising liturgical music, which made the Later Zhou strong. After that, he defeated Hou Shu in the west and took the four prefectures of Qin, Feng, Cheng, and Jie; three expeditions to the Southern Tang Dynasty, and all the fourteen prefectures of Huainan in the north; the Liao State in the north, and the three prefectures of Lianke Sanguan, which historians praised as "the heroic lord of the generation". Unfortunately, he suddenly fell ill while plotting to capture Yanyun Sixteen Prefectures, and died soon after, at the age of thirty-nine. After his death, Zhao Kuangyin inherited his career, and it can be said that Zhou Shizong laid the foundation for the unification of the Northern Song Dynasty.
Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Later Territory
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="49" >8, Song Taizu Zhao Kuangyin</h1>
After the death of Zhou Shizong, Zhao Kuangyin "added his yellow robe" and "Chen Qiao mutinied" and established the Song Dynasty. On the basis of Zhou Shizong, Zhao Kuangyin established the unified policy of "first the south and then the north" and "first easy and then difficult", and successively destroyed the separatist regimes of Jingnan, Wuping, Later Shu, Southern Han, and Southern Tang. In 976, Zhao Kuangyin died, just one step away from unifying the country. After that, Zhao Kuangyi took the throne, he subdued Wu Yue and destroyed the Northern Han Dynasty, but he failed to defeat the Liao State, Xia Prefecture, and Jiaojiao, and thus failed to truly achieve great unification.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="50" >9, Jin Hailing Wang Yanliang</h1>
Yan Liang was the fourth emperor of the Jin Dynasty. Since he was a child, he has been deep and general, advocating Han culture. In 1149, Yan Liang usurped the throne and became emperor. During his reign, he exerted great efforts to govern, persuaded Nongsang, rectified the bureaucracy, promoted Sinicization, and moved the capital to Yanjing, making the Jin Dynasty officially become the orthodox dynasty of the Central Plains. Yan Liang's ambitions were great, determined to unify the whole country, and he wrote in his poem: "Wanli Che Shu Yao is mixed, is there a different frontier in Jiangnan?" Raise troops on the West Lake, and immediately the first peak of Wu Mountain. In 1161, Guanyanliang launched a major war against the Southern Song Dynasty, but just when the Jin army banner was victorious, a coup d'état broke out in the rear of the Jin State, and Guanyanliang was hanged, and the cause of unifying the country came to an abrupt end. After that, the Emperor of the Jin Dynasty basically based on the management of the north, forming a pattern of confrontation between Song and Jin.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="51" >10, Mongolian Möngke Khan</h1>
Möngke was the first Great Mongol Khan after Genghis Khan to be able to control most of the Mongol soldiers and horses. His army was mainly inherited from the 100,000 elite soldiers left by Genghis Khan. After Möngke ascended the throne, he launched a great conquest of the kings of the Chagatai and Wokoutai clans, strengthening the authority of the Great Khan. After that, he conquered Dali, Tubo, Goryeo and other states, and realized the siege of the Southern Song Dynasty. In 1258, Möngke, Kublai Khan, and Wuliang attacked the Southern Song Dynasty in three ways, intending to unify the country in one fell swoop. Möngke captured most of Sichuan, but could not attack Diaoyu City for a long time, and eventually died under the city. Möngke's mistake was to attack Diaoyu City to the death, the consumption was too large, he should bypass Diaoyu City, and still cooperate with Kublai Khan and Wuliang Hetai to attack the core area of the Southern Song Dynasty. After Möngke's death, the Mongol Empire was completely divided, and Kublai Khan established the Yuan Dynasty.