Preface
Emperor Wu of Han's brothers-in-law, Li Guangli and Wei Qing, one was considered much worse than the other. However, miracles always seem to happen unexpectedly, and Li Guangli was able to occupy a place on the stage of history.
Why, then, did Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the Ming lord, reuse a mediocre general in his later years? Wasn't he good at employing people? Why did he look away and let this incompetent man Li Guangli lead an expedition again and again?
In fact, there is another hidden meaning behind this. Today, let's see why Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty fell in love with this brother-in-law, and how he paid the price for his conceit and slackness?
The tragedy caused by the love of the concubine
Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty's favor for his favorite concubine, Mrs. Li, can be said to be doting to the extreme. This smart and clever beauty knows that Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty loves her not for her intelligence, but for her alluring appearance. Therefore, when she was seriously ill, she deliberately put her head under the quilt to prevent Emperor Wu of Han from seeing her loss of beauty.
She said to the people around her: "In this way, I will always be beautiful in the memory of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty." He naturally took care of my family. Sure enough, after the death of Lady Li, Emperor Wu of Han often missed her and began to reuse her brothers Li Yannian and Li Guangli.
Li Yannian was good at music and rhythm, and Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty set up the official position of assistant lieutenant for him to be in charge of music. And Li Guangli is quite brave, when Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty wanted to fight Dawan, he was the first to think of him. This may also stem from Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty's deep attachment to Madame Li.
Madame Li was an extremely intelligent woman, and she knew that Emperor Wu of Han's favor for her was not due to her talents, but to her looks. So before she died, she deliberately covered her face to prevent Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty from seeing her loss of beauty. She hoped that Emperor Wu of Han would always remember her beauty and would always take care of her family.
The ploy worked. After losing Lady Li, Emperor Wu of Han missed her face and began to reuse her brother. This not only reflects the human side of Emperor Wu of Han's temperament, but also reflects his preference for beauty. As an emperor, he valued beauty more than talent, which also became an important reason for him to reuse Li Guangli in his later years.
A bad decision
The reason why Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty let Li Guangli go to Dawan first was actually influenced by an illusion. Previously, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty had sent Zhao Ponu, Huo Quai's old department, to attack the Loulan Kingdom in the Western Regions. Zhao Ponu only used 700 cavalry to capture the king of Loulan. This made Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty think that all the countries in the Western Regions were very weak, and whoever led the army to the expedition would be able to win a complete victory and successfully become a marquis.
So, he gave this opportunity to Li Guangli. But Emperor Wu of Han obviously underestimated Dawan's strength. Although Li Guangli led 6,000 cavalry and tens of thousands of "evil boys" to the expedition, on the way to Dawan, he suffered heavy losses because the logistics could not keep up. In the end, he didn't even see Dawan Wangcheng, so he returned with a miserable defeat. After two years of expedition, less than 1/10 of the soldiers returned.
Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was so angry that he sent an envoy and ordered him not to enter the Yumen Pass. This failure made Emperor Wu of Han realize his wrong judgment. The countries of the Western Regions were not as weak as he thought, and Dawan was clearly a formidable opponent.
But Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty did not give up on Li Guangli because of this. On the second expedition, Li Guangli spent more than a year preparing before he won Dawan. However, his performance was still clumsy, which greatly disappointed Emperor Wu of Han.
The reason why Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty made such a mistake was mainly due to his misjudgment of the strength of the Western Regions. Zhao Ponu easily took Loulan, which gave Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty the illusion that all the countries in the Western Regions were weak. He believed that as long as he sent an army to the battle, he could easily take Dawan.
But in fact, Dawan's strength far exceeded Emperor Wu of Han's expectations. This mistake made Emperor Wu of Han realize that there was a problem with his judgment. However, even so, he still did not give up on Li Guangli, but continued to reuse him. This may also reflect Emperor Wu of Han's attachment to Madame Li, as well as his conceit in his own judgment.
The reuse of a mediocre general
It stands to reason that Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty should send Li Guangli into the cold palace. But unexpectedly, when attacking the Xiongnu, Emperor Wu of Han once again reused him. Li Guangli seems to have become the most reused general by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty after Wei Qinghuo went to illness.
It was not that Emperor Wu of Han was carried away by Madame Li's love. In fact, in the later years of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, Li Guangli was already his most capable general. Let's take a look at the achievements of the generals in the late Han Dynasty after Wei Qinghuo went to illness:
In the sixth year of the Yuan Dynasty, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty sent Gongsun He, the old department of Weiqing, and Zhao Ponu, the old department of Huo Quai, to lead the cavalry to attack the Xiongnu. As a result, these two people did not even see the shadow of the Huns, and returned in vain.
In the third year of Yuanfeng, Zhao Ponu led tens of thousands of people to attack Loulan, and captured the king of Loulan with only 700 vanguard troops. However, with a population of less than 20,000 and a force of only a few thousand, such a victory is not surprising. But such a Zhao Ponu, 6 years later, when he surrendered to the Xiongnu, he was surrounded, and finally 20,000 troops surrendered en masse, and he himself became a prisoner of the Xiongnu.
In contrast, although Li Guangli suffered heavy losses when attacking Dawan, he actually won this distant country after all. In the eyes of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, he was already the most successful general at that time.
Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty reused Li Guangli, not entirely out of nostalgia for Mrs. Li. More importantly, in the later years of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, Li Guangli was already his most capable general.
Great generals like Wei Qing and Huo Qubing had already risen to prominence in the early days of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty and achieved a series of brilliant achievements. But in the later years of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, such talents were hard to find. Since Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty could not find a better general, he would naturally continue to reuse Li Guangli.
An unbeaten record
In the second year of the Tianhan Dynasty, Li Guangli led 30,000 cavalry to attack the Xiongnu Youxian King, and both sides suffered heavy casualties. Li Guangli lost more than half of his men, but he also beheaded tens of thousands of Huns. Although it was not a big victory, it seemed that it was already the best record of the Han army at that time.
Because of the general Gongsun Ao and the strong crossbow captain Lu Bode, even the shadow of the Huns was not seen. Although Li Ling fought a brave battle, he finally surrendered to the Xiongnu and became a disgrace to the Han Dynasty.
There is no harm without contrast. Li Guangli's record, although it was only barely a draw, was already the most effective among the generals in the same period. This also reflects the overall strength of the Han generals at that time.
Great generals like Wei Qing and Huo Qubing no longer exist, and the other generals either had mediocre records or were simply defeated. In contrast, although Li Guangli only played a draw, he was already the best at that time.
This also made Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty have a sense of dependence on Li Guangli. In the absence of a better general, he could only continue to reuse Li Guangli. This dependence also reflects the conceit and slackness of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty in employing people. He failed to discover the second Wei Qinghuo to get sick, and eventually paid the price.
In the fourth year of the Tianhan Dynasty, Li Guangli once again led 60,000 cavalry and 70,000 infantry to attack the Xiongnu. You must know that Huo Quzhi led the most troops once, and it was only 50,000 cavalry. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty gave Li Guangli such a heavy army, which shows how much he attached importance to Li Guangli.
In this battle, Li Guangli and the Xiongnu broke through and returned after more than 10 days of fighting with an army of 100,000 and fought a draw again. The other generals who attacked at the same time either returned in vain or withdrew when they saw that the situation was unfavorable.
Although Li Guangli's record is mediocre, he is already the best against the backdrop of his peers. So, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was in the third year of the expedition and reused him to attack the Xiongnu for the third time. This also reflects Emperor Wu of Han's dependence on Li Guangli and his conceit in employing people.
The conceit of an emperor
In fact, before the last battle, Li Guangli had always been the most capable general of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty in his later years. The reason why Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty repeatedly reused him was not entirely out of nostalgia for Mrs. Li.
More importantly, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty had lost the ambition and energy to dig out another Wei Qinghuo to get sick. Since Li Guangli's record looks okay and he is his brother-in-law, he will use it.
But Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty obviously underestimated the strength of the Xiongnu and was too conceited about his generals. Wei Qinghuo Quai's outstanding talent is also rare for 5,000 years. Emperor Wu of Han ultimately failed to unearth a second of them, and paid the price.
Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty's conceit in employing people can be said to be a major flaw in his later years. He once unearthed generals like Wei Qing and Huo Quzhi, but in his later years, he couldn't find a second such talent.
In the face of such a powerful enemy as the Xiongnu, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty could only use mediocre talents like Li Guangli. He was too conceited in his judgment, believing that by sending an army, he could easily take down the enemy.
But in fact, the strength of the Xiongnu far exceeded the expectations of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. In the end, Li Guangli was completely annihilated in the final battle, and Emperor Wu of Han also paid a heavy price for it.
epilogue
Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty reused Li Guangli in his later years, of course, out of nostalgia for his favorite concubine. But more importantly, Li Guangli was already the most capable of the Han army generals at that time.
Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was conceited and neglected to employ people, and failed to discover the second Wei Qinghuo to get sick, which doomed Li Guangli, a mediocre general, to be reused. It was not until the crushing defeat in the final battle that Emperor Wu of Han realized his mistake. It's a pity that a generation of heroes has reused such an incompetent person!
However, it is also a warning that even the wisest monarch can inevitably look away in some areas and make wrong decisions. We should be humble in learning and diligent in reflection to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past.