Preamble:
Since the establishment of the Han Dynasty, successive kings have been plagued by the invasion of the Xiongnu, but their strength is not good, so they can only choose to constantly compromise and retreat. After Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty ascended the throne, he was determined to change this embarrassing status quo, so he gave up the policy of "peace and proximity" and decided to adopt military counterattack methods.
But as the saying goes, "it's hard to speak alone". In order to want to attack the strategy of the Xiongnu, there was the first Chinese who opened their eyes to the world. And this person was forced by the Xiongnu to marry a wife and have children because of one thing.
So, who is this man, and what has he done to reach more than a thousand descendants today?
Cause of the incident:
At the end of the Qin Dynasty and the beginning of the Han Dynasty, when the Central Plains was in turmoil, the Xiongnu took the opportunity to recapture the Hetao Plain and control the entire northern grassland. During this period, the Xiongnu had an advantage in the contest with the Central Plains Dynasty, and the southern border of the Xiongnu was also connected with the northwest frontier of the Western Han Dynasty in the continuous expansion.
In such a special geographical position, the Xiongnu undoubtedly became the biggest external threat and hidden danger to the weak Western Han Dynasty early regime, and the Xiongnu also reached the prosperous period of development, the establishment of the military plus subordinate regime of the capital, and the Xiongnu began to expand everywhere.
Due to the great disparity in the strength of the Han and Hungarians in the early period of the Western Han Dynasty, showing the characteristics of the Xiongnu being strong and the Western Han being weak and resisting, the Western Han Dynasty adopted a policy of recuperation and recuperation, and dealt with external aggression by making peace to alleviate border conflicts.
In the early days of the Western Han Dynasty, the primary task of the rulers of the Central Plains Dynasty was to maintain social stability and develop the economy. In the face of the powerful Xiongnu, harmony was in line with the situation at that time, and to a certain extent, it won a peaceful and stable external environment for a long period of time for the recovery of the national strength of the Western Han Dynasty.
On the other hand, for the Xiongnu, harmony also had a certain positive effect. The Western Han Dynasty gave a large number of brocade clothes, silk and gold, so that the Xiongnu obtained more economic benefits. As a result, the Xiongnu gradually became rich.
Therefore, from Liu Bang until the early years of Emperor Wu, he adhered to the policy of peace and proximity, and at the same time strengthened the border defense and strengthened the defense force. After Emperor Wu ascended the throne, the national strength of the Western Han Dynasty was greatly improved, and the conditions for fighting against the Xiongnu were ripe.
After a series of preparations, Emperor Wu of Han prepared to attack the Xiongnu. Based on past experience and lessons, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty believed that the Xiongnu Maodunshan invaded dozens of small states in the Western Regions with its powerful forces, and used the wealth and materials they deprived to support the Xiongnu's war against the Western Han Dynasty.
These small countries suffer greatly and are unwilling to be plundered and oppressed. Among the Xiongnu prisoners of war, the Dayue clan is one of the relatively large countries and hates the Xiongnu very much. In this way, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty decided to send an envoy to the Dayue clan in the Western Regions to achieve the strategy of "contacting the Dayue clan, cutting off the right arm of the Xiongnu, and pinching the Xiongnu".
In order to select a suitable candidate, the imperial court issued an edict to appoint a candidate. But at this time, a small Lang official was recruited and accepted the assignment. This person is Zhang Qian.
Zhang Qian's appearance:
Zhang Qian was born in a scholarly family, and he has been intelligent and well-read since he was a child. He studied Xi with his uncle Zhang Shizhi and was known as one of the "Ten Jun of the Han Dynasty". After growing up, Zhang Qian became the first Tanhua through the imperial examination, and became a high-ranking official and nobleman of the dynasty.
As a diplomatic envoy of the Han Dynasty, in the face of the vast long journey and difficulties and obstacles, as well as the dangers of the enemy country on the way, Zhang Qian was fearless and determined to live up to his mission!
In 139 BC (the second year of the founding of the Western Han Dynasty), Zhang Qian accepted the mission of envoy to the Western Regions, looking for and contacting the Dayue clan, who had been driven away by the Xiongnu, hoping to attack the Xiongnu with them.
Although Zhang Qian was not afraid of difficulties and dangers and resolutely took over the task of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, he was still very careful. They sailed west on a large amount of water. They don't know what to expect on long journeys.
Before leaving, Emperor Wu of Han came to see him off. There was a hint of anticipation in his eyes, because he had to cross the Huns' sphere of influence, and the future would be full of unknowns and dangers. He took more than 100 people, including his entourage Gan's father (Tangyi's father), from Chang'an, passing through Longxi and then marching westward.
In order to reach their destination, they had to first go out of Yumen Pass and Yangguan Pass, then through the hinterland of the Xiongnu, and finally through the desert. After Zhang Qian entered the Hexi Corridor, he originally planned to cross in disguise, but was caught by the cavalry patrolling by the Huns.
Unfortunately caught:
The Xiongnu soldiers knew that he was an official of the Han Dynasty, so they captured him alive and sent him to the Xiongnu royal court. When he learned of Zhang Qian's attempt, he smiled unconsciously, because he felt that Zhang Qian was too naïve, and crossed the Xiongnu to contact the Dayue clan, which was like the Xiongnu crossing the Han Dynasty to contact Nanyue.
There is an ancient saying that "if the two countries are at war, they will not be killed", but the Xiongnu and the Western Han Dynasty have many entanglements, and they have long been incompatible, and once Zhang Qian is arrested, it is likely that his life will not be guaranteed.
Shan Yu wanted to execute Zhang Qian directly, but he thought that he could still be used, so he imprisoned him. The Huns seemed to be Xi to keeping livestock all year round, and they especially liked to detain and confine people who were caught, and Zhang Qian was no exception, and was ordered to be detained by the Huns.
In the dark and damp prison, Zhang Qian never gave up hope. By questioning the Xiongnu soldiers, he learned that the Xiongnu nobles were not satisfied with Shan Yu and had many internal contradictions. As long as you wait patiently, there will always be an opportunity to resist the rule of the Xiongnu and fight for freedom.
During this period, the Huns either persecuted by force, or persuaded with good words, or promised high-ranking officials. It can be said that the Huns did everything they could to force Zhang Qian to change his ambition to go to the Western Regions.
Zhang Qian was stranded by the Xiongnu for ten years. During this period, he never forgot his mission, and still hid a yak tail by his side, which represented the status symbol of the Han Dynasty's envoys. Always thinking of a chance to escape. Moreover, in order to influence Zhang Qian, the Huns also chose a Hun woman for him as his wife.
The other party thought that if Zhang Qian could marry a wife and have children in the Xiongnu and start a family, then he would definitely be slowly assimilated. And in order to prevent Zhang Qian from taking advantage of his unpreparedness and running away without permission, he wanted to borrow his family and flesh and blood to tie him up.
With the help of this wife, Zhang Qian learned a lot about deserts and grasslands. However, Zhang Qian always adhered to the Han Festival, lived up to his mission, and cherished the matter of envoying the Dayue clan.
After spending more than 10 years of semi-prisoner life in the Xiongnu, Zhang Qian finally found a chance to escape. Ten years is enough to change many things, in this ten years, Emperor Wu Taoguang recuperated, and finally won the first victory against the Xiongnu under the leadership of Wei Qing, the "God of War".
It was at this time that Zhang Qian was able to escape from the surveillance of the Xiongnu and continue to complete the mission of sending the Dayue clan to fight against the Xiongnu.
Fight against the Huns:
Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty launched a large-scale war against the Xiongnu. The largest were the three battles. The first time it was called the Battle of Henan, which was the first victory this time.
Emperor Wu sent Wei Qing to attack the Xiongnu, and in this military campaign, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty decisively appointed Wei Qing as the general of the chariot cavalry to meet the Xiongnu. In the first battle with the Xiongnu, Wei Qing showed his edge, stood out, and showed outstanding military talent.
Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty personally deployed the strategic plan at the beginning, assigning four generals to lead 10,000 cavalry each to counterattack. The four roads are: the cavalry general Wei Qing went straight out of Shanggu, the cavalry general Gongsun Ao sent troops from Daijun, the light car general Gongsun He sent troops from Yunzhong, and the cavalry general Li Guang sent troops from Yanmen.
As a result, Gongsun He had no merit or fault; Gongsun Ao lost more than 7,000 people, and finally paid a lot of money to buy the death penalty and was demoted to a commoner; Li Guang, as a general, himself had the Huns take prisoners, and finally fled back by fraud; only Wei Qing smashed Longcheng directly, won the first 700 prisoners, and won a great victory in Longcheng.
In the second year, the Xiongnu soldiers divided into three routes, broke through the Great Wall Pass, and attacked in a big way. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty sent two generals, Wei Qing and Li Xi, to send troops quickly, and this time they also implemented roundabout tactics in the army's march.
After Wei Qing and Li Xi led their troops to secretly get out of the fortress, they made a great detour from the clouds to the west. The two divisions first marched westward along the north bank of the Yellow River, and under the cover of the Great Wall of Qin, they quickly advanced to Gaoque and occupied it, cutting off the connection between the Xiongnu Baiyang and Lou Fu kings stationed in Henan and the Xiongnu hinterland. By this time, the tactics of the Han army were very successful, and the two kings of the Xiongnu White Sheep and Lou Fu still did not know that the back road was cut off.
Wei Qing led his troops to quickly move south along the west bank of the Yellow River, completing the roundabout outflanking of the Hetao and the areas south of it, and suddenly attacked the Xiongnu Aries King and Lou Fu Wang, and the Erwang Department was defeated in one fell swoop under surprise. The two kings of the Xiongnu only led a few personal soldiers to escape.
In this battle, Wei Qing led the Han army to annihilate thousands of enemies, captured "3,071 people and more than 100,000 cattle and sheep, recovered all the land in Henan, and traveled more than 1,000 miles to Longxi, and the Han army's losses were minimal.
After this war, the Han Dynasty recovered Henan and set up two counties, Shuofang and Wuyuan, with 100,000 migrants living there. The recovery of Henan relieved the threat of the Xiongnu from the Hetao region to Chang'an, the capital of the Western Han Dynasty.
From then on, the war situation between the Han Dynasty and the Xiongnu began to change, with the Han army turning to the offensive and the Xiongnu going on the defensive. It became a turning point in the Han Dynasty's war against the Xiongnu during the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, Zhang Qian was also able to escape smoothly, which also played a key role in reaching the Dayue clan later.
Arrive at Otsuki:
With the help of his wife, Zhang Qian and the few remaining members of the mission escaped from the custody of the Huns. They traveled all the way west, overcoming many difficulties and obstacles, and they came to the country of Dawan and entered a relatively safe area.
With perseverance, Zhang Qian overcame many difficulties and finally reached his destination and arrived in Dawan. King Dawan was very happy about Zhang Qian's arrival, and personally arranged for a guide to be in charge of Zhang Qian's itinerary and escort him to Dayue's clan.
Unexpectedly, the Da Yue clan who settled on the north bank of Fushui (now Amu Darya) had long been far away from the invasion of the Xiongnu, and the people lived and worked in peace and contentment, and had no intention of retaliating against the Xiongnu. During Zhang Qian's stay here for about a year, he tried many times to persuade the king of the Yue clan to unite with the Han Dynasty to flank the Xiongnu. Unexpectedly, the Dayue clan rejected Zhang Qian's request on the grounds that the two countries were far away and it would be difficult to assist each other if they fought the Xiongnu together
The Dayue clan originally wanted to reconcile with the Western Han Dynasty, and did not want to continue to fight with the Xiongnu State, so they became allies with the Western Han Dynasty.
Zhang Qian lived in the Dayue clan for more than a year, but he never persuaded the new Dayue clan king to join the Han Dynasty alliance to flank the Xiongnu, and during this period, he contacted other small countries to establish an alliance, but he did not achieve his goal. I had to leave from Yueshi. So the group decided to leave for China. They traveled along the Nanshan Mountain, intending to make a detour to the place where the Qiang people lived.
Departure Home:
In the eastward return to the Han land. However, on the way back, he was intercepted by the Huns again. This time, Zhang Qian was closely guarded and could not break through at all. In the prison of the Huns, Zhang Qian thought of his distant hometown and relatives, and tears couldn't help but burst out of his eyes. He was always worried about his mother who was far away in the fiefdom, and he must be very worried about himself when he missed her.
Later, civil strife broke out in the Xiongnu, and the royal court was in turmoil. Zhang Qian took the opportunity to break through the siege and escape, and Zhang Qian and the others finally escaped from the care of the Huns, traveled all the way east, and returned to the capital Chang'an the following year. Zhang Qian and his delegation were gone for thirteen years. When the entire mission returned to Chang'an, there were more than ten people left!
The first trip to the Western Regions ended. Although the purpose of the alliance with the Yue clan was not achieved, Zhang Qian also brought back first-hand information about the customs and customs of the countries in the Western Regions, which made the influence of the Han Dynasty reach as far as the Green Ridge region, laying a solid foundation for the exchanges between the Han and the countries of the Western Regions.
Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was overjoyed after hearing this, and directly named Zhang Qian as the doctor of Taizhong, and Gan's father as the envoy. After that, with the experience of the first mission to the Western Regions, Zhang Qian used his knowledge of the Western Regions to participate in the war of Wei Qing's attack on the Xiongnu, so he was named the Marquis of Bowang. The fief is in Bowang Town, Fangcheng County, Henan Province.
After that, in order to eradicate the Xiongnu in one fell swoop, Liu Che, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, once again sent Zhang Qian to the Western Regions, intending to unite the countries of the Western Regions to fight against the Xiongnu.
This westward journey completely opened up the road of transportation between China and the West. Since then, the countries of the Western Regions have sent envoys to and from the Han Dynasty, and there is an endless stream of merchants and traders from all over the country. After returning to Dahan, Zhang Qian has been living in the feudal city, and his wife and children have also lived there.
It is said that Zhang Qian's descendants have lived in his former residence for generations, and until now, it is said that his descendants have exceeded 3,000 people, which can be said to be a rich descendant.
Epilogue:
From Zhang Qian's mission to the Western Regions to the eventual high-ranking official Houlu and other events, it can be seen that by sending Zhang Qian to the Western Regions, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty successfully let the people in the interior of the Central Plains understand the actual situation in the Western Regions, and Zhang Qian's mission to the Western Regions, although it went through hardships, made an important contribution to the Han Dynasty's development of trade and contacts in the Western Regions.
The mission to the Western Regions also successfully opened up the inland transportation arteries of Asia, established friendly exchanges with Western European countries, and promoted extensive economic and cultural exchanges between the East and the West, which is also of great significance in Chinese history.
Bibliography:
Book of Han
Historical Records
"Information Governance Guide"