Preface
Throughout the history of the rise and fall of dynasties, in the process of changing the old and new regimes, there is an ironclad law, that is, the pro-virtuous ministers and the far villain, the dynasty prospered, and the vice versa declined.
Obviously, to be able to become the founding emperor of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Guangwu Emperor Liu Xiu is the former, he knows people well, and his soldiers are brave and extraordinary, and he played an extremely important role in the process of following him in the Eastern and Western Wars and even later establishing the country and becoming the emperor.
Among the generals under Liu Xiu, there is a general who has followed loyally from the beginning of Liu Xiu's uprising, made many meritorious contributions, and was named the general of the auxiliary Han Dynasty and the general of the Broken Capture after Liu Xiu ascended the throne.
This person is Deng Feng, but unlike the ending of the past when loyal ministers and good generals had a good death when they became famous, Deng Feng was finally killed, which also became the biggest regret of Liu Xiu's life......
1. They are old acquaintances of each other's in-laws, and they have the merit of protecting the queen, and they have won the trust of the emperor
Judging from Deng Feng's family background, the Deng family was originally a wealthy and powerful family in today's Henan region, and they had some reputation in the local area.
For example, Deng Feng's uncle Deng Chen is a very talented general, he followed Liu Xiu to raise troops in his early years, and made great contributions to the Eastern and Western Wars, and was a well-deserved founding father of the Eastern Han Dynasty, and a general who intervened in the core power center very early.
In terms of in-law relationship, Deng Chen and Liu Xiu's second sister Liu Yuan became husband and wife, and Liu Xiu's close relationship with the entire Deng family, including Deng Chen and Deng Feng, was bound, and since then honor and disgrace have been one.
Later, Liu Xiu was sent by the first emperor Liu Xuan to Luoyang to repair the palace, such an errand is not a fat difference to enjoy in peace.
Moreover, the transportation in ancient times was even more inconvenient, the distance was long, not to mention the fatigue of traveling, and no one could predict any unknown and dangerous situation, so Liu Xiu naturally could not bring his family to go with him.
At this time, Liu Xiu has been married to Yin Lihua for three months, and no matter how difficult it is, she has to make a trade-off in front of the overall situation, so there is a problem here about how to settle the family.
Yin Lihua was also born in a prominent wealthy family in Xinye, Henan, and the Yin family was the famous minister of the Spring and Autumn Period who assisted Qi Huan Gong to achieve a generation of hegemony, so Liu Xiu decided to send his wife back to her parents' house first, at least under the protection of the strong family to ensure her safety.
Later, Deng Feng raised troops to occupy Shuyang, and the two families of Deng Yin were already related, and Yin Lihua's brother Yin Zhi was also Deng Feng's subordinate general, and both sides were old acquaintances.
Yin Lihua went to Huaiyang, where she was fully protected by Deng Feng, and under Deng Feng's meticulous arrangement, Yin Lihua was carefully taken care of by her side.
On the other hand, Liu Xiu was in full swing in present-day Hebei, and greatly expanded his political power through political marriage, lobbying, and armed conquest.
A few years later, the growing Liu Xiu officially proclaimed himself emperor in present-day Hebei, and Yin Lihua, as the emperor's original wife, was also sent south by Liu Xiu to the Xinye area of present-day Henan to welcome back.
Liu Xiu and the Deng family already have a great friendship, and this time his second brother-in-law's nephew Deng Feng has more merit in protecting the queen in times of crisis, which makes Liu Xiu have a sense of intimacy and affection for the Deng family that can be entrusted to the rear wealth, which can be described as full of trust.
Deng Feng, who was deeply favored by the emperor, immediately led his troops to join the Han army, worshipping the positions of general of the Han Dynasty and the general of the broken captivity, coupled with the supreme status of Deng Chen's founding father, Deng Feng, Deng Chen and even the entire Deng family were in the limelight at the beginning of the Eastern Han Dynasty.
2. Out of righteous indignation, he raised troops to quell the chaos, but ended up rebelling and being killed
However, Deng Feng, or it can be said that the spring breeze of the entire Deng family, did not last long, and it was like a flash in the pan, and he soon fell lonely and became a victim of the imperial power of a generation of emperors.
At the beginning of the incident, the time came to the second year of Liu Xiu's ascension to the throne, this year, there were small-scale rebellions in the townships and counties in some areas of Henan, and the leader was named Dong Xun, and the clan surnamed Liu Taishou was arrested, and the entire city was out of control.
With this rebellion in the first place, some rebellious ministers and thieves in the vicinity who were already ready to rebel also rebelled in groups, and even supported each other, and their power grew day by day.
If these rebel forces all form an alliance with each other to fight against the central government, then the rule of the Eastern Han Dynasty is in jeopardy, Liu Xiu obviously understands this truth better, he does not dare to delay for a moment, and quickly orders a number of brave generals to lead more than 100,000 Han army main forces south to quell the rebellion.
Needless to say, the combat effectiveness of the soldiers who followed Liu Xiu to his death and laid down a great country is needless to say, and the Han army has also won many battles as expected, seeing that the counterinsurgency is about to achieve complete victory, and the people will also enjoy a peaceful residence after the war, which should be celebrated by the whole world.
But the bad thing is that among these generals sent by Liu Xiu, there was a general named Wu Han, who not only failed to promote the family of the army and the people and help the people who had been harassed by the war to rebuild their homes, but instead connived at his subordinates to take advantage of the plunder, and the people everywhere he went were miserable.
At that time, the people could not even distinguish the difference between the rebels and the counterinsurgency army of the imperial court, in their hearts both were the same, and they would bring suffering to the people, and the people fled one after another as soon as they knew that there was an army stationed there.
Coincidentally, Deng Feng was rushing to his hometown Xinye to visit his relatives at this time, standing on the countryside that gave birth to himself and his hometown fathers, Deng Feng witnessed the cruel and evil deeds done by the army led by Wu Han to ordinary people, shocked, resentful, and a variety of emotions surged into his heart.
With a sense of justice and compassion for his homeland and his loved ones, Deng Feng didn't even have time to report to the emperor, so he immediately led the villagers to revolt, aiming to defeat the Wu and Han forces and stop this terrible crime.
Naturally, to be able to win the honor of the general, Deng Feng is not incompetent, and then with the blessing of righteous indignation, Deng Feng cut off the other party's grain and grass, adopted the strategy of breaking one by one, and quickly took many places in Nanyang, at the same time, Deng Feng also formed alliances with many large and small forces around him, and his strength continued to expand.
Although there are reasons for this, the most striking feature of the centralized system under the rule of the ancient absolute monarchy is the exclusive power of the emperor, and Deng Feng's move is undoubtedly on the opposite side of Liu Xiu.
As the emperor, Liu Xiu had to send troops to quell the rebellion again in the face of such a situation, but in the face of the strong Deng Feng and his army, the Han army won fewer victories and lost more, and its morale was frustrated.
In the early years of the founding of the People's Republic of China, Emperor Liu Xiu was very busy, the front foot just eliminated the threat from the west, and the back foot immediately went south to conquer Deng Feng, and finally the morale of the Han army was high under the emperor's personal conquest, and the troops on Deng Feng's side were also exhausted.
At this point, Deng Feng took the initiative to surrender and undressed for the crime, and the emperor Liu Xiunian committed his first offense and there was a reason for the incident, coupled with the relationship between the two families, he wanted to pardon his capital crime.
But this was opposed by the ministers, and everyone thought that they should be killed as an example, so as not to be followed by future generations to rebel, Liu Xiu thought about it again and again, so he had to order Deng Feng to be killed.
The life of a generation of brave generals came to an end, and this incident undoubtedly directly affected the recognition of the overall loyalty of the Deng family by those in power, and had a profound impact on the political development of the descendants of the Deng family.
From Liu Xiu's personal point of view, he has very complex emotions in the face of the rebellious Deng Feng, the old acquaintance, the wisdom of knowing people, the reason of in-laws, the merit of protecting his wife, etc., plus Deng Feng's rebellion and rebellion are to protect the people, so from the bottom of his heart, Liu Xiu naturally does not want to give death to such a loyal minister.
But at the beginning of the founding of the country, internal and external troubles, after solving the external troubles, the branches and factions within the court were complicated, for the stability of the overall national fortune rule, Liu Xiu thought again and again that he could not do anything, and people could not be resurrected after death, how could this not be the biggest regret of Liu Xiu's subsequent life!