Preface
Li Guang, a name, a legend. With his brave and good fighting exploits, he made immortal contributions to the Han Dynasty's counterattack against the Xiongnu. However, despite his successes, he was not crowned a marquis in the end, which is a highly controversial topic.
So, why did this famous general fail to be crowned a prince in the end? Is it not enough military merit? Or is it politically inadequate? Or is there something else going on? Let's unravel the mystery of this legendary figure and discover the deeper reasons for his failure to become a prince.
The rise and fall of a generation of famous generals
Speaking of Li Guang, we have to review his family history first. Li Guang was born in a famous family and was a descendant of Li Xin, a famous general in the Western Han Dynasty. From an early age, he showed his extraordinary martial arts, especially the bow and arrow archery, and legend has it that the arrows he shot could be pierced deep into the stones, which shows his extraordinary archery skills. Such a brave and warlike general naturally attracted the attention of the rulers of the time.
In 166 BC, when Li Guang followed Emperor Wen of Han to hunt, he changed his usual steadyness, rushed to the front, and personally dealt with a fierce beast. Seeing this, Emperor Wen of Han couldn't help but sigh: "It's a pity, you didn't meet a good time!" If you are in the period of Han Gaozu, what is it if you are a marquis of ten thousand households!" It can be seen that the people in power at that time were very appreciative of Li Guang's ability.
However, fate made people, and in the years that followed, Li Guang was defeated repeatedly, never made great achievements, and missed the opportunity to be a marquis in the early days. He spent most of his life on the front line of the war against the Xiongnu, and successively served as the Taishou of eight counties, including Shanggu, Longxi, Beidi, and Shangjun, which can be described as conscientious.
But in the crucial confrontational battles, he suffered repeated setbacks. During Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty's large-scale conquest of the Xiongnu, Li Guang could have made great achievements, but unfortunately missed the opportunity. He went on a total of 5 expeditions, two of which took little credit for not encountering the enemy, twice because the enemy was outnumbered, and the last time he was lost and failed to participate in the main decisive battle.
In the end, Li Guang chose to commit suicide in shame and ended his military career. It can be said that although Li Guang is an outstanding figure in military affairs, he is quite unsatisfactory in politics.
Even during Emperor Wu's large-scale conquest of the Xiongnu, many generals whose martial arts were far inferior to Li Guang were awarded the title of marquis, and Li Guang never won this honor. What is it that makes it difficult for this famous player to be crowned?
The political IQ is not high: offending the prince and causing trouble
When it comes to why Li Guang is difficult to seal, we must first understand his political IQ. In fact, Li Guang had lost the opportunity to become a marquis as early as the reign of Emperor Jing of the Han Dynasty.
In 154 BC, the famous "Rebellion of the Seven Kingdoms of Wu and Chu" occurred in the Western Han Dynasty, and Emperor Jing of the Han Dynasty ordered Zhou Yafu, the imperial lieutenant, to lead an army to quell the rebellion. Li Guang also participated in the operation as a member of the fierce general. Under the city of Changyi, Li Guang rushed into the enemy formation and captured the rebel banner in one fell swoop, which can be said to have made great achievements.
It stands to reason that this kind of military exploit should be able to be exchanged for a rich reward, but Emperor Jing of Han did not give Li Guang any reward for a long time. It turned out that in the previous army, Li Guang had accepted the general seal ribbon awarded by Liu Wu, the king of Liang. This was a big mistake for the political landscape at the time.
As you know, the relationship between Emperor Jing of the Han Dynasty and his younger brother Liu Wu, the king of Liang, has always been delicate. Emperor Jing of the Han Dynasty once said to Liu Wu in front of his mother, Empress Dowager Dou, at a banquet: "I plan to pass on the throne to you after I live a thousand years." Although Liu Wu shirked on the surface, he still couldn't hide his yearning in his heart. And Empress Dowager Dou also hoped that Emperor Jing of Han would appoint Liu Wu as his heir.
In this complex political situation, Liu Wu, the king of Liang, may have given Li Guang the general's seal ribbon out of admiration for Li Guang, or for the purpose of wooing. However, Li Guang obviously did not realize the deep-seated reason behind this, and directly accepted this gift. This undoubtedly greatly offended Emperor Jing of the Han Dynasty and made him lose the opportunity to be a marquis during this period.
It can be said that Li Guang's political IQ is indeed not very high. Although he is a generation of famous generals, he is unable to judge the situation correctly in political wrestling, and finally misses the opportunity to become a marquis. This undoubtedly caused a great obstacle to his future career development.
The way of administering the army by "entering politics with force" is difficult to resolve
In addition to his low political IQ, Li Guang's other Achilles' heel is that he has serious problems in managing the army. Li Guang has always managed his subordinates in the form of "entering politics with force," and this is undoubtedly an extremely dangerous practice.
When he went out to fight, Li Guang never formulated a strict troop establishment and tactical deployment, but set up camp at random where there was water and grass. During the station, the soldiers were also "free for all" and without any discipline. Li Guang would not even take such routine measures as "fighting with knives to defend himself," let alone any military orders.
Sima Guang has such a passage in "Zizhi Tongjian" to describe Li Guang's way of governing the army: "Li Guang's army is extremely simple, but there is no way to prohibit it from being captured. It can be seen that this lack of discipline can easily fall into passivity when encountering a surprise attack.
Sure enough, Li Guang suffered a big loss on many expeditions. Two times because they couldn't meet the enemy and didn't make any achievements, two times because they were outnumbered, and the last time because they lost their way and missed the main battle. It can be said that Li Guang's way of "using force to enter politics" in governing the army has dealt him a fatal blow.
Later commentaries said, "Those who do this with their broad ability will not be disciplined in governing the army, so they will not be rewarded with honors and knights, and then they will die." In other words, it was precisely because Li Guang had serious problems in governing the army that he finally found it difficult to make great achievements, and thus lost the opportunity to be made a marquis.
However, despite the shortcomings of Li Guang's way of governing the army, he treated his soldiers with extraordinary leniency. It is said that after his death, "the whole world knows and does not know, and everyone mourns". It can be seen that even though Li Guang is not good at using political means, his strict requirements and earnest concern for his subordinates still won the support and respect of his subordinates.
Dismal Ending: The tragic end of suicide and apology
After all kinds of twists and turns, Li Guang finally ended up with a tragic ending. In the last decisive battle of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty against the Xiongnu, Li Guang felt ashamed and unable to participate in the battle because he was lost, so he chose to commit suicide to apologize.
This is undoubtedly an embarrassing ending. We have to think, as a generation of famous generals, why did Li Guang end up like this? Was there something wrong with the way he ran the army, or was there something else that led to this?
In fact, from the analysis above, we found that Li Guang's experience is closely related to his own political IQ and the way he governs the army. We have already mentioned that Li Guang lost the opportunity to be a marquis as early as the reign of Emperor Jing of the Han Dynasty because he accepted the general seal of the King of Liang. This undoubtedly shows that he lacks political sensitivity and judgment.
Later, at the critical moment when Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty conquered the Xiongnu, he once again failed to make great achievements, and missed the decisive battle because he got lost, which made him feel extremely ashamed, and finally went to the end of suicide. It can be said that Li Guang's political IQ has always plagued him, and eventually became an important reason why he was difficult to become a marquis.
On the other hand, Li Guang's simple and rude style of governing the army brought him a heavy price. In fact, he did not pay attention to the discipline of the troops at all, and the soldiers were able to move freely and freely, and as a result, it was difficult to form an effective defense in the face of enemy attacks. Such an approach naturally made it difficult for Li Guang to make great contributions and was ignored by the imperial court.
At the same time, Li Guang's frankness and kindness to his subordinates also won their support. However, this excessively lenient style will inevitably encourage the arrogance and indulgence of the soldiers, which will undoubtedly bring hidden dangers to the battle.
It can be said that Li Guang's problems erupted in the final battle, which eventually led to his tragic end. A generation of famous generals is finally difficult to marquis, which also makes future generations sigh.
In the face of this tragic ending, I also have to sigh that Li Guang, as a famous general of a generation, if he could be more politically shrewd and more strict militarily, I am afraid the outcome would be very different. It's a pity that in the end, he still failed to get rid of the tricks of fate and failed to leave his rightful place in history.
epilogue
It can be said that Li Guang's life experience is undoubtedly embarrassing. As an outstanding military talent, his military talent was enough to amaze his contemporaries, but in the end, he failed to achieve his political wishes, and it was difficult to obtain the rich rewards he deserved.
Through Li Guang's experience, we can find that in order for a person to truly become a great historical figure, it is not enough to have outstanding talents.
Political wisdom, strategic vision, and a strict way of managing the army are all indispensable and important factors. No matter how brilliant a military genius is, if he lacks these key factors, I am afraid that in the end, it will be difficult to avoid Li Guang's tragic end.
Do you think that as a generation of famous generals, Li Guang will find it difficult to get the reward he deserves in the end, where is the root cause? What are the implications for us to think about and learn from? Feel free to share your thoughts with me in the comments section, and let's explore the life trajectory of this legend together.