Preface
The Eastern Han Dynasty was an era that played a pivotal role in Chinese history. Its existence directly changed China's position in the world and paved the way for the Tang Dynasty a hundred years later. He was also the first time China stepped onto the world stage.
But our artwork rarely shows this era, because he really doesn't have any interesting stories, and more often appears in the narration as the background of "Romance of the Three Kingdoms". So much so that when people mention the Eastern Han Dynasty, they think of the various ways of death of the underage emperors in the later period; Jian Shuo stretched out his hand and shouted: "Ginseng Tang"; the cowardly posture of the emperor and the chaotic officialdom in the early period of the Three Kingdoms.
Today, let us officially take a look at the glorious and undercurrent era of the Eastern Han Dynasty, and feel what the three-dimensional Eastern Han Dynasty was like, how strong it was once, and why it fell to such a point.
Emperor Ming of the Han Dynasty: Lao Tzu is a hero
Emperor Liu Zhuang of the Han Ming Dynasty was born in Shijiazhuang Yuanshi, and his biological mother was Liu Xiu's Bai Yueguang: Yin Lihua. The child born in the war has watched his parents strategize since he was a child, and he has naturally been exposed to it, plus Liu Xiu is also a big intellectual, teaching this child to read since he was a child. ”
In the fifteenth year of Jianwu, in the thirty-ninth year of AD, the twelve-year-old Liu Zhuang was awarded the title of Duke of the East China Sea. At that time, Liu Xiu ordered a national land census, and the top leaders in various localities wrote to report on their work. Just when Liu Xiu was reviewing, he saw that Chen Liuyan's document wrote this sentence: "Yingchuan and Hongnong can be asked, but Henan and Nanyang cannot be asked." Liu Xiu was also confused, what does this mean? Why do you have such a thing in your file?
When Chen Liuyan saw it, he hurriedly said that he didn't know, saying that he picked it up on the street. At this time. Liu Zhuang, who was in the back, stepped to the front and said, "This is their training material, teaching him how to check the land." Liu Xiu saw that his son understood so well, so he asked again: "Then why is there anything that can't be checked?" Liu Zhuang replied: "Henan is the location of the capital, Nanyang is our hometown, which of my uncles and uncles is not from Nanyang, and the land in these two places is privately occupied." ”
Liu Xiuren interrogated Chen Liuyi, and sure enough, it was exactly the case. Liu Xiu's "Dutian" ended in failure this time, and the power of the Hao clan made it impossible for Liu Xiu to exert too many punches on the land, and also buried the root cause for the demise of the Eastern Han Dynasty.
In the nineteenth year of Jianwu, in the forty-third year of A.D., the local rebellion. Due to the enemy's adequate preparations, the official army was unable to attack the city to encircle and suppress, so it was a stalemate. Just when the ministers advocated another strong attack, Liu Zhuang put forward a different idea: "The siege division must be lacking", leaving a loose opening, they will inevitably choose to break through, so that they will be exterminated just around the corner. Sure enough, Liu Zhuang's strategy was a great success.
The harm of the dictatorship of foreign relatives, the people of the Han Dynasty felt the most, from Wang Zhengjun to Wang Mang's end, this land was ravaged by natural disasters and man-made disasters. After Liu Xiu completed the unification, he began to move troops cautiously, regained his vitality, and saved the collapsed empire.
Through Liu Xiu's efforts, the vitality of the Eastern Han Dynasty was restored, and by the time of Emperor Ming, it began to burst out of its own strength. During the Western Han Dynasty, in order to curb the southern invasion of the Xiongnu forces and defend the connection between the Western Regions and the Central Plains Dynasty, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty set up the Western Regions Protectorate in Xinjiang. However, as the political situation deteriorated in the last years of the Western Han Dynasty, the Western Han government lost control of the Western Regions until the Eastern Han Dynasty was established. However, in the early period of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Liu Xiu's national strength was insufficient, and he could not launch a large-scale war here. This matter dragged on until the end of Emperor Ming of the Han Dynasty.
In the fifteenth year of Yongping, Liu Zhuang sent Dou Gu, the commander of Fengche, and Geng Bing, the commander of the horses, to prepare for the westward expedition in Liangzhou, and in the spring of the second year (friends who have read the chapter of Emperor Wu should be very familiar with the reason for sending troops in the spring) to send troops to the Northern Xiongnu in four ways. Dou Gu took the lead, led the army out of Jiuquan to the Tianshan Mountains, defeated the Huyan King of the Xiongnu, and stationed troops in Yiwulu City. And sent Ban Chao to lead people to break Shanshan and Khotan, since then, the countries of the Western Regions saw the return of the Han army, and all the countries sent their sons into the service, and the Western Regions and the Han Dynasty were absolutely 65 years old, and it was restored.
In the seventeenth year of Yongping, Dou Gu and Geng Bing led the army to attack the Northern Xiongnu again, arrived at Balikun Lake, set up the Western Regions Protector again in Qiuci (Kucha), and set up Wuji Captain in Cheshi (Turpan), since then, the Han Dynasty once again resumed its rule over the Western Regions, laying the foundation for the future story of the Eastern Han Dynasty.
Just restoring control of the Western Regions was enough for Emperor Han Ming to be famous for eternity, but he did more than that. Emperor Ming of the Han Dynasty's iron-blooded methods of the bureaucratic system made the officialdom habits of the late Western Han Dynasty look new. In dealing with corrupt officials and corrupt officials and meritorious officials who are powerful and powerful, Liu Zhuang really did what he should arrest and kill.
In the second year of Yongping, Dou Lin, the son of Dou Rong, the twenty-third son of Dasikong and Yuntai General, was captured and executed by Emperor Ming of the Han Dynasty; his own younger brothers Liu Jing, Liu Ying and others were also forced to death by Liu Zhuang; Liu Zhuang was not ambiguous at all, no matter what composition you have, under the big knife, all beings are equal.
Under the leadership of Liu Zhuang, the population of Dahan grew to more than 4 million in three phases and more than 10 million in 20 years.
Emperor Zhang of the Han Dynasty: Qin Se and Ming ruled the great powers
Cao Pi had an evaluation of the father and son: "Emperor Ming Chacha, Emperor Zhang's elder." "Emperor Zhang of the Han Dynasty, Liu Zheng's successor, his characteristic is leniency. And he is also an artist, a master of calligraphy, and the founder of Zhangcao. Liu Wei's existence fully proves that a good artist can also be a good emperor (there is no reflection of any Song Huizong Zhao Ji here).
As soon as he succeeded to the throne, a major problem, the natural disaster, weighed in front of him. In the eighteenth year of Yongping, there was a great drought and plague in the three states near Beijing, and Emperor Zhang of the Han Dynasty ordered Yanzhou, Yuzhou, and Xuzhou to be rent-free and tax-free, and opened warehouses to release grain. At this time, the ministers of the court and the central government took the opportunity to say to him: "The catastrophe in the world is that the emperor has neglected to overlook." The first emperor caught corrupt officials and corrupt officials too hard, and he was sentenced for greedy for a small amount of money, and these people had to be separated from their families, which was too miserable. ”
Kidnapped by these ministers, Liu Wei also felt pity and began to abolish some harsh legal provisions, and the officialdom of the Eastern Han Dynasty, which had been tense, instantly became lively, and everyone raised their glasses to thank Emperor Zhang for bringing spring to the officialdom.
At this time in the northwest, due to the death of Emperor Ming of the Han Dynasty, some countries in the Western Regions were once again restless and began to besiege the capital of the Western Regions and the garrison military camps. Emperor Zhang of the Han Dynasty ordered Duan Peng to defeat the Cheshi Kingdom, beheading more than 3,000 people, and scaring away the Northern Xiongnu forces. But the expenses of the Western Regions made Emperor Zhang feel that this money could be saved, so he chose to give up the Western Regions.
When the edict was sent to Ban Chao, the people of Shule begged Ban Chao to stay, because they knew that once the power of the Han Dynasty left, it would be bloody again. The commander of Shule looked up to the sky and sighed: "Hey! The envoys of the Han Dynasty abandoned me, and the mainland will be destroyed by the Xiongnu." Rather than die the next day, it is better to follow the Han envoy and send him back." After that, he killed himself.
Ban Chao had to go, and when he went to Khotan, the people of Khotan hugged the horse's legs and begged Ban Chao not to leave. Ban Chao was moved, he made his interests clear, and asked for reinforcements to pacify the Western Regions. Liu Wei saw that someone could govern the Western Regions well, so he began not to feel sorry for his money again, and directly sent a thousand people to support Ban Chao. After Ban Chao received Liu Wei's support, he led the army to take back Shule, which had just been captured.
After that, Ban Chao once again asked Liu Wei to send an envoy to comfort the king of Wusun, and for this reason, the Han Dynasty gathered a powerful force in the Western Regions as an ally. Ban Chao was also named the commander of the army by Liu Wei, representing the Eastern Han Dynasty to deal with the affairs of the Western Regions.
During Liu Wei's leadership of the Han Dynasty, he adopted a policy of leniency and benevolence to govern the country, reducing rents and military forces, and allowing the Han to continue to recover. But he also made one of the biggest mistakes, that is, nepotism made another start for the political intervention of relatives in the Eastern Han Dynasty. His replacement of the Empress Dowager Zhang Dedou, the first group of relatives in the Eastern Han Dynasty appeared on the stage.
However, this emperor is also really miserable, his empress and the servant Guo Ju (Liu Xiu's first empress, Zhang Yang's niece Guo Shengtong's niece's nephew, Dou Xian's son-in-law. That is to say, it is the relationship between the niece-in-law and the sister-in-law of the old father-in-law) was bumped into by Emperor Zhang of the Han Dynasty, and as a result, Guo Ju drew a knife and frightened Emperor Zhang, and died the next year.
Emperor Han He: Young people practice old and successful
It's shameful for someone in his own family to have an affair with someone else, the key is that this is still the queen. After the death of Emperor Zhang, Liu Zhao, who was less than ten years old, succeeded to the throne, that is, Emperor He of Han. Emperor He succeeded to the throne, and the court situation was controlled by the Empress Dowager Dou, which opened the era of foreign relatives in the Eastern Han Dynasty. Empress Dowager Dou appointed her elder brother Dou Xian as a servant in charge of important affairs of the imperial court, and her younger brother Dou Du was a general in charge of the forbidden army, and the other brothers also held important positions, and the court was controlled by the Dou family.
During this period, Dou Xian attacked the Xiongnu in the north, Yan Ran relegated the stone, and made immortal achievements, but the other brothers, especially Dou Jing, indulged the slaves in misconduct, bullied the people, forcibly seized property, seized sinners, and raped and occupied women, there was nothing they could not do. The ministers of the DPRK and China have been dismissed fifteen or sixteen times, and they have taken orders to play, but to no avail.
In the fourth year of Yongyuan, the Dou group and the Deng family wanted to kill the little emperor, and after Liu Zhao got the news, he found his brother Liu Qing and asked him to go to their brother Liu Yan to borrow Hanshu and learn how to kill his uncle. Emperor He ordered Ding Hong, a hardcore imperial party, to be appointed as the Grand Situ Jiatai Lieutenant to command the forbidden army in the palace, and named Dou Xian as the champion marquis, taking the opportunity to remove his military power.
Everyone had plotted a rebellion before, but now they didn't care about the little emperor tossing around, but it was this carelessness that killed themselves. Emperor He deceived the Guo family and the Deng family forces into the palace on the grounds of "Baihuguan preaching", and all of them were executed in prison, and they must die thoroughly", and at the same time asked the Dou family brothers who went to the feudal country to commit suicide with dignity, and if they are not decent, then help you be decent. Subsequently, all the characters related to the Dou family were disposed of. At this point, it was just a thirteen or fourteen-year-old child.
But as soon as the Dou family was dealt with, Emperor He cultivated another Deng Sui, but he had to be relieved that Empress Dowager Deng was at least a queen who could lead the Han people to hope.
Perhaps this is the influence of genes Liu Zhao is also a lenient and benevolent king, he continued the policy of lightly treating the people, and also continued to carry out this legal reform, and the emperor of the first dynasty, the Eastern Han Dynasty cultivated more than 7.32 million hectares of land (105 years), the largest in the Eastern Han Dynasty, and the registered population reached more than 53.25 million, which also left enough strength for the next achievements of the emperor.
The Western Kushan Empire attacked the Western Regions, and the emperor ordered Ban Chao to go to defend against the enemy, this battle, completely made the Kushan Empire surrender, and all the countries in the Western Regions submitted to the Han Dynasty; South China Sea. Beihai, but there is no West Sea, so they sent people to conquer Qinghai, renamed Xihai, and relocated people to reclaim, killing and wounding millions. Qinghai was originally a place inhabited by the Qiang people, and they surrendered to the Han Dynasty, so that the Qiang people began to rebel.
Emperor He succeeded to the throne and sent Liu Shang, the general of the expedition, Zhao Shi, the captain of the Yue cavalry, and others to conquest, and the Qiang people surrendered. Emperor He began to send people to repair Xihai County, and then Tuntian. The northwest was stable, Goguryeo in the northeast, and Namgun in the south were also consolidated during the Hedi era.
At the same time, in the Han and Emperor periods, in response to the drawbacks of the examination system, the examination system was started, which is known as the beginning of the imperial examination system. At the same time, in the third year of Yuanhe, Emperor He listened to his opinions and approved the Han rites; culturally, he ordered people to complete the examination of the meaning of Chinese characters, and China's first dictionary "Shuowen Jie Zi" was born.
In terms of science and technology, during this period, Cai Lun improved the art of papermaking; new siege weapons and military equipment were renovated, and the combat effectiveness reached a new level; astronomy also developed accordingly, promoting the progress of astronomical legislation on the mainland.
In December of the first year of Yuanxing, Liu Zhao died, and he created the pinnacle of the Eastern Han Dynasty, but he was jealous of his talents, and he was only twenty-seven years old at this time.
Resources:
Book of the Later Han Dynasty
Dongguan Hanji
"Information Governance Guide"
History of the Qin and Han Dynasties
Outline of National History
History of Chinese Humanities