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In the early years of Emperor Yongyuan (89-104), the Northern Xiongnu moved westward, giving Xianbei an important opportunity for its own development; In the middle of the 2nd century, the mighty, brave and resourceful Xianbei chieftain Tan Shihuai unified the Xianbei tribes and established a military alliance of grassland tribes, thus pushing the Xianbei power to the peak of strength.
1. Xianbei's invasion
The tribal military alliance under the leadership of Tan Shihuai occupied a vast area from Liaodong in the east to the Tianshan Mountains in the west, thus replacing the Xiongnu as the most powerful force in the north. Xianbei's strength lies not only in its vast area, large population, and 100,000 soldiers, but also in the fact that it has obtained a large number of fine gold and iron from the Han land and the planning of the Han people.
During the An, Shun and Huan periods, due to natural and man-made disasters, many Han people in the northern counties went into exile or fled to the Xianbei area, some became the "masterminds" of the upper Xianbei class, some guided the Xianbei people to make weapons and armor, and some taught the Xianbei people to learn Han culture, thus greatly promoting the all-round development and growing strength of Xianbei. The increasingly powerful Xianbei not only oppressed the Xiongnu and subordinated the Liaodong tribes, but also invaded the border counties along the Han with overwhelming momentum.
In the ninth year of Yanxi (166), Xianbei united a variety of forces, marched on several routes, from Wuwei and Zhangye in the west to Shangjun and Yanmen in the north, and attacked the border counties of the Eastern Han Dynasty on all fronts. In June, Xianbei united with the Southern Xiongnu and Wuhuan to separate ways and invade the nine counties along the border, killing and plundering the people. In July, Xianbei united with Shen Shiqiang and Anding Xian Lingqiang to plunder Wuwei and Zhangye counties.
Emperor Huan ordered Zhonglang to lead Zhang Huan to lead the army to attack Xianbei. As a result of the war, Wuhuan and Xiongnu all disarmed and surrendered, and only Xianbei went out unruly.
Xianbei's move made Emperor Huan really feel that the imperial court was no longer able to restrain Xianbei militarily, so he had to do an article on "enveloping" to control Xianbei. Emperor Huan sent him to make Tanshi Huai the king and wanted to make peace with him.
Tanshi Huai didn't appreciate it at all, and very arrogantly rejected the "title" and "harmony" of the dignified Han Dynasty.
The lack of military restraint and the ineffective policy of co-optation indicate that the strategy of the Eastern Han Dynasty in dealing with the contradictions with Xianbei has been exhausted.
When Emperor Ling ascended the throne, he was faced with Xianbei's harassment of the border counties, and the plundering continued unabated.
The powerful Xianbei tribal military alliance is divided into three parts:
From the east of the right Beiping to Liaodong, it borders with Fuyu and Mao, and is the east, with a total of more than 20 yi; From the west of the right Beiping to the upper valley, it is the middle, with a total of more than 10 yi; From the west of Shanggu to Dunhuang, west of Wusun, for the west, there are more than 20 yi.
During the reign of Emperor Ling, Xianbei continued to launch a step-by-step raid on the Han border from their three bases. From the first year of Jianning (168) to the fifth year of Xiping (176), in the eight years, only in the records are: Xianbei six Kou and Zhou, four Kou Youzhou, one Kou Liangzhou.
Since Emperor Ling's accession to the throne, there have been too many internal and external troubles, and the national strength of the Eastern Han Dynasty has weakened, so Emperor Ling is powerless and has no time to parry Xianbei's successive plunder. But just when he couldn't parry, Emperor Ling actually sent an expedition to Xianbei.
2. The "unexpected" battle of Xianbei
During the reign of Emperor Ling Xiping (172-177), Xianbei's plundering of Hanbian County had reached the point of unscrupulousness. In the sixth year of Xiping (177), from spring to autumn, Xianbei went to Koubian more than 30 times. Such frequent and unbridled plundering shows that due to the weakness and incompetence of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Xianbei's greed swelled viciously.
In a tense burst of Kou police, in the sixth year of Xiping (177), Xia Yu, the captain of Wuhuan, presented a letter requesting to go to Xianbei.
In the third year of Xiping (174), Xianbei invaded the north, and Xia Yu, who was the Taishou of the north, led his troops to repel the invaders. Probably inspired by this victory, Xia Yu not only asked to go to Xianbei, but also confidently claimed: "One winter and two springs, we will be able to destroy them!" ”
Does Xia Yu really have such a great ability?
Although the Northern Kou Police repeatedly spread the rumors, although the Spirit Emperor was anxious, Xia Yu's desperate request for life failed to arouse the slightest enthusiasm and positive reaction from the Spirit Emperor.
Emperor Ling knew in his heart that the Han army was far from being Xianbei's opponent. He even knew very well that Xia Yu's pure life and his confidence in "victory" were not based on "knowing each other and knowing oneself", but the mentality of wanting to further invite merit after the victory of the generals. In Emperor Ling's view, in the third year of Xiping (174), Xia Yu's victory came a bit of a fluke, so it doesn't mean anything. Although Xianbei had just been defeated in the Northland, he then plundered in Bingzhou.
Probably because of these, Emperor Ling did not allow Xia Yu's request. However, this "expedition to Xianbei" did not take the original will of Emperor Ling as a transfer in the end.
Due to the intervention of Wang Fu, the problem of "going to Xianbei" suddenly became complicated. Tian Yan, the captain of Huqiang Colonel, was sentenced for a crime, and soon received a pardon, and then stayed in the capital privately, always seeking an opportunity to make a comeback.
Tian Yan and Xia Yu once destroyed Zhuqiang with Duan Cheng. During this period, they cooperated with each other tacitly and made great achievements. Therefore, when Tian Yan learned the news that Xia Yu was begging for his life to go to Xianbei, he thought that going on the expedition with Xia Yu was the best opportunity to "rise again".
So, he immediately bribed Wang Fu and asked him to ask Emperor Ling to give him a chance to go on an expedition. Since the greedy and shameless Wang Fu has received generous bribes from others, and at the same time, he is also happy to have more to do with other forces outside the eunuch group, so he spares no effort to deal with Tian Yan's affairs. There is no material to show what means Wang Fu used to make Emperor Ling change his original intention and agree to send Tian Yan and Xia Yu to fight against Xianbei.
3. Cai Yong's suggestion
As soon as the news of the expedition to Xianbei came out, the court was in an uproar, and almost all the civil and military officials opposed the expedition to Xianbei. Emperor Ling had to convene his ministers to reconsider the matter.
At the court meeting, Cai Yong, the speaker of the council, raised a representative objection. Cai Yong first analyzed the feasibility of "going out". He believes that during the time of Emperor Wu of the Western Han Dynasty, when the country was rich and the people were strong, he attacked the Xiongnu, and as a result, "both the government and the people were scarce", and all kinds of social contradictions were intensified; Today's Xianbei "soldiers are more than the Huns", while the Eastern Han Dynasty is "lacking in people and money", and "county thieves cannot be banned". Such an objective comparison shows that it is undoubtedly impossible to "go out to Xianbei".
Cai Yong also reminded Emperor Ling that whenever everyone opposes and doubts, the Holy Monarch will not act rashly. Cai Yong not only opposed the "expedition to Xianbei", but also put forward a proposal to solve the Xianbei problem, believing that he could follow in the footsteps of Emperor Yuan of the Han Dynasty "Strike Pearl Cliff" and Zhao General "Li Mu Shoubian" during the Warring States Period.
Objectively speaking, Cai Yong's suggestions of "guarding the border" and "abandoning the border" were not advisable at that time. With the escalation of the rebellion and rebellion of the surrounding ethnic groups, the theory of "abandoning the border" of the Eastern Han Dynasty was also put on the agenda of the imperial court from time to time. However, once the border is "abandoned", it will not only stimulate the surrounding ethnic groups to advance one after another, but also meet with strong opposition from the indigenous people. Therefore, as a last resort, the dynasties before Emperor Ling did not easily implement the "abandon the border" policy. Dealing with the extremely aggressive and predatory Xianbei is, of course, not something that can be solved by "abandoning the border".
As for the Zhao general Li Mu's "guarding the border" technique, Xianbei's strength has surpassed that of the Xiongnu, and the desire for the wealth of the Han people is extremely strong, and the Eastern Han Dynasty, which is about to decline, no longer has a good general like Li Mu. Emperor Ling should have a good idea of this series of problems, so he was not moved by Cai Yong's suggestion of "guarding the border" and "abandoning the border".
However, Cai Yong's rejection of the analysis of the feasibility of "going to Xianbei" is not unreasonable. As early as the period of Emperor Huan, the imperial court was already powerless to restrain Xianbei militarily, and it was a foregone conclusion that Xianbei would be passively beaten. During the reign of Emperor Ling, not only did the relationship between the two sides not show any positive changes in favor of the Han court, but also caused the Han Dynasty to sink deeper and deeper into the quagmire of "helplessness". Such a general trend is doomed to the inevitable failure of the expedition to Xianbei. Such an obvious "current situation", Emperor Ling used to be clear, otherwise he would not have rejected Xia Yu's request to "go on an expedition" in the first place.
However, a Wang Fu made Emperor Ling change his correct judgment on the "Xianhan situation", completely ignoring the opposition of the courtiers, and insisted on going his own way to go on an expedition to Xianbei.
Although it is impossible to understand how Wang Fu of Zhongchang served to influence Emperor Ling on the issue of "going to Xianbei", one thing is very clear, that is, the political structure of the court at that time was extremely conducive to Wang Fu's influence on Emperor Ling.
During the Xiping period (172-177), that is, after the incident of "killing Bohai Wang Kui", the position of the eunuch group in the palace was greatly consolidated, and its power reached its peak. It is precisely this political pattern that provides a reliable guarantee for Wang Fu to seize power in important military affairs. A eunuch who seized power promoted Emperor Ling in this way, and pushed tens of thousands of Han troops meaninglessly into the abyss of death.
4. The fiasco of the expedition to Xianbei
In the autumn of the sixth year of Xiping (177), the Han army attacked Xianbei in three ways.
Emperor Ling Ren Tian Yan is the general of the middle of the Xianbei Dynasty, out of the clouds; Captain Xia of Wuhuan raised Takayanagi; Protecting the Huns, Zhonglang will Zang Min out of Yanmen. The three generals each led 10,000 cavalry, and went out of the fortress for more than 2,000 miles to the rear to encounter the Xianbei soldiers. Tanshi Huai then "ordered the three adults to lead the counter-battle".
The overall quality of the Han army had already deteriorated greatly, and its disadvantage was even more obvious compared with the Xianbei soldiers, who were good at cavalry and archery. This time, the disadvantaged Han army added to the fatigue of traveling thousands of rivers and mountains, while the strong Xianbei army waited for work. In the wilderness outside the autumn Sai, the two armies immediately clashed, the Xianbei soldiers fought with all their might, and the Han army was vulnerable, and in less than a few rounds, they were all on the battlefield.
The Han army was so vulnerable, which suddenly frightened Tian Yan and others, and in a panic, the three generals Tian, Xia, and Zang each led dozens of horsemen to flee desperately. The Han army had three people, seven or eight out of ten, and thousands of surviving remnants of the horse, wrapped in the bleak autumn wind outside the plug, rushed back to the Central Plains piecemeal.
The only sortie in the Lingdi period was Xianbei, and it ended in a fiasco.
In the years that followed, the dark clouds of Xianbei harassment and plundering were even more densely enveloped the border counties along the Han Dynasty. During the Guanghe period (178-183), after the death of Tanshi Huai, the sons and disciples fought each other, and the Xianbei military alliance gradually collapsed, so that the threat of Xianbei to Hanbian was slightly reduced. Although the threat from Xianbei has diminished slightly, Wuhuan has taken advantage of the gap to raise a huge rebellion.
5. Wuhuan's rebellion
In the early years of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Wuhuan and Xianbei and Xiongnu joined forces to harass and plunder the Kou in various places east of Dai County, and the people of each county were ravaged. Constrained by interests, although there was an alliance between Wuhuan and the Xiongnu and Xianbei, it was often inevitable to have contradictions and offensive battles. In the middle of the 1st century, the gradually powerful Xianbei posed a great threat to Wuhuan, and Emperor Guangwu took advantage of the situation to envelop the Wuhuan Lord with money in order to change the situation of the troops of the various departments outside the Saiwai, and agreed that the Wuhuan under the pressure of Xianbei moved from outside the fortress to Liaodong, Liaoxi, Youbeiping, Yuyang, Guangyang, Shanggu, Dai, Yanmen, Taiyuan, Shuofang and other ten counties.
In terms of social organization, the Wuhuan still lives in settlements, and the tribes have their own territories, each with its own chief; In terms of economic lifestyle, although they are gradually accepting agricultural life, this development and change is very slow, and nomadism still has an extremely important position in the economic life of the Wuhuan people.
Due to these characteristics, the inextricable connection between the Wuhuan and the outer Wuhuan and the Xiongnu and Xianbei is bound to be difficult to severe. Therefore, after the middle of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the Wuhuan attached to it often joined forces with Xianbei and the Southern Xiongnu to invade the Han Border.
During the period of Emperor Ling, the powerful people with Wuhuan were even more untamed.
In March of the second year of Zhongping (185), Huangfu Song, the general of the left chariot cavalry, requested to levy 3,000 Wuhuan soldiers to fight Qianghu in the west, and many generals opposed the levy of Wuhuan on the grounds that Wuhuan was "outnumbered" and "weak", and the imperial court had to give up the levy of Wuhuan soldiers.
In fact, the development of the internal Wuhuan is very uneven, some have indeed reached the point of "outnumbered" and "weak", but some are powerful. During the time of Emperor Ling, the Wuhuan tribe in Youzhou flourished and was the most powerful. At that time, there were more than 9,000 Wuhuan in Shanggu; There are more than 5,000 Wuhuan in Liaoxi; There are more than 1,000 Wuhuan in Liaodong; There are also more than 800 Wuhuan in the right Beiping, and its leaders are all kings.
There are more than 16,000 Wuhuan in the above four counties, amounting to hundreds of thousands. Youzhou Wuhuan not only has hundreds of thousands, but also has strong combat effectiveness, and history calls it "brave and strategic". In the rebellion of Han officials and warlords in the late Eastern Han Dynasty, Youzhou Wuhuan played an important role.
In that case, it should not be a problem to requisition 3,000 men from it. So, why did all the courtiers claim that Wuhuan was "outnumbered" and "weak"? Because the Wuhuan people in Youzhou are strong and strong, and the weakened imperial court is difficult to control, they generally do not take Youzhou Wuhuan as the target of recruitment.
The four governments discussed, and the scope of requisition involved in the discussion of the hundred officials should be limited to those attached Wuhuan who are relatively tame because of the small number of soldiers and the weakness of the people. Soon after, Emperor Ling was forced to requisition 3,000 Wuhuan elite cavalry and triggered a major rebellion, which is an excellent proof that the imperial court has been unable to command the powerful Wuhuan.
During the Zhongping period (184-189), Emperor Ling's world has been in turmoil.
At the beginning of Zhongping (184-189), the Yellow Turban Rebellion broke out on a national scale, and the Qiang-Hu Coalition Uprising in the northwest and the Central Plains. Although the main force of the Yellow Turban Army uprising was suppressed, the rest of the army soon set off a new upsurge of struggle.
In the northwest, under the fierce offensive of the Qiang-Hu coalition army, the official army has been at a disadvantage of losing and retreating. Rebellions and uprisings have also erupted in other places. The DPRK became more chaotic, and the struggle between various forces within the ruling group became more intense. In this situation, more and more Han officials lost confidence in the imperial court and no longer had any hope for the Eastern Han Dynasty. As a result, some of them threw themselves into rebellions everywhere, while others sought opportunities to develop their strength.
In the defeat and retreat of the official army, in August of the second year of Zhongping (185), the imperial court was forced to levy 3,000 fine cavalry from the already uncontrollable Youzhou Wuhuan to seek Bianzhang and Han Sui in the west.
6, Zhang Chun's "Dream of the Son of Heaven"
Zhang Chun, the prime minister of Zhongshan, was very resolute in asking the general of the Northwest Military of the Governor to lead 3,000 Wuhuan elite cavalry to fight the rebels. Zhang Chun's invitation was not motivated by loyalty to defend and save the imperial court, but by personal ambition to forge some kind of connection with the powerful Wuhuan in order to achieve his own goals. When the dynasty was about to fall, Zhang Chun, as a Han official, had been painstakingly seeking another way out. I don't know for what reason, Zhang Wen didn't appreciate Zhang Chun's initiative to ask for help, but ordered Gongsun Zan to command 3,000 fine horses with Zhuo County.
Although the 3,000 Wuhuan elite cavalry went out with the Han generals, on the march, because of the lack of military food, "they all rebelled and returned to their own country". The Han Dynasty did not take any punitive action against the Wuhuan soldiers' escape. Wu Huan's untamed and rebellious spirit, as well as the weakness and incompetence of the imperial court, were fully demonstrated in this incident.
Stimulated by this incident, Zhang Chun's political ambitions quickly swelled, so he decided to use Wu Huan's rebellious mood and strength to realize his ambition of replacing Han.
Zhang Chun understands that "replacing the Han with the Han" is such an important matter, and it must not be acted rashly.
Therefore, Zhang Chun first conducted a comprehensive analysis of the general trend of the world to weigh whether the time is ripe for "replacement".
Since Wuhuan entered the fortress, he was still relatively "deferential" in the Ming, Zhang, and III dynasties, and in recent decades, Wuhuan has always been waiting for opportunities to harass and plunder. Now that the world is in turmoil, the anxious Emperor Ling is no longer able to control the situation, and since the strong Wuhuan dares to defect from the battle, he must also hope and dare to take advantage of the gap to rebel and plunder. Not long ago, a woman in Luoyang, the capital of Beijing, gave birth to a series of babies, which is a sign that Han Zuo is declining and there should be two masters in the world.
This series of analyses prompted Zhang Chun to unswervingly take the first step of "replacement" - to find political allies. After his repeated persuasion, Taishan Taishou Zhang Ju agreed to lead the Wuhuan people to raise troops to determine the great cause.
In the fourth year of Zhongping (187), Erzhang, who wanted to create a great cause of "replacement", thought that the time was completely ripe, so he allied with Qiu Liju, the great man of Wuhuan in Liaoxi, and jointly raised troops against the Han. The land of the north suddenly rose to the wind of rebellion.
Zhang Chun proclaimed himself "General Mitian and the King of Stability", and regarded Zhang Ju as the "Son of Heaven", gathered more than 100,000 people, and fought fiercely with the official army in Youzhou. The rebels sacked Jizhong and attacked and killed Liu Zheng, the Taishou of Youbeiping, the Taishou Yangzhong of Liaodong, and the captain of Wuhuan. Immediately after a series of military victories, Erzhang issued an edict to the prefectures and counties, claiming that Zhang Ju was a "contemporary Han" and that "the Son of Heaven would abdicate the throne and the Emperor would be welcomed".
Immediately afterwards, Zhang Chun sent Lord Wuhuan of Liaodong to lead 50,000 troops to cavalry, plundered Hebei, Qing and other prefectures, and captured Qinghe, Pingyuan and other counties.
The anxiety brought by the rebels to the Spirit Emperor, and the humiliation caused by the traitors openly claiming to be the emperor, were like thousands of poisonous scorpions mercilessly biting and stinging the Spirit Emperor's heart. Extremely anxious and furious, Emperor Ling was determined to suppress the rebels, so he ordered Gongsun Zan and Zongzheng Liu Yu to lead their troops to separate ways.
Suffering from the lack of troops, Emperor Ling had no choice but to send troops to the Southern Xiongnu to cooperate with Liu Yu to fight against the rebels.
7. Who will put down the rebellion?
Around the twenty-second year of Jianwu (46 years), the Xiongnu suffered a major natural disaster, and there were internal disputes over the succession to the throne, so the Xiongnu were divided into two parts: the north and the south.
In order to get rid of the oppression of the Northern Xiongnu and the deadly threat of natural disasters, the Southern Xiongnu took the initiative to join the Eastern Han Dynasty and entered the counties of Shuofang, Yunzhong, Wuyuan, Yanmen and Xihe. In the early period of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the Southern Xiongnu and the Eastern Han Dynasty basically maintained a good subordinate relationship.
After the middle of the Eastern Han Dynasty, due to the decline of dynastic rule, the Southern Xiongnu were not so tame. Since the middle of the 2nd century, the Southern Xiongnu plundered and harassed the Han border from time to time.
Although the relationship between the Han court and the Southern Xiongnu was tense, Emperor Ling carefully maintained the relationship between the two sides. In the second year of Guanghe (179), Zhonglang clashed with the Southern Xiongnu Shan Yu Huzheng, and Zhang Xuan killed Hu Zheng without authorization. In order to maintain Han-Hungarian relations, Emperor Ling actually put Zhang Xuan to death.
Since Emperor Ling's accession to the throne, there has been no major friction between the Southern Xiongnu and the Han Dynasty. Because of this, Emperor Ling was confident that it would not be a problem to levy the Xiongnu. After Shan Yu Qiangqu received the edict, he immediately sent King Zuoxian to lead the cavalry to Youzhou. Who knew that this dispatch of troops caused a great chaos within the Southern Xiongnu. The nobles of the Southern Xiongnu who aspired to the throne, taking advantage of the subject's fear of Shan Yu's endless army, united Hugh to slaughter each Hu, supported more than 100,000 people, and attacked and killed Shan Yu Qiangqu. Emperor Ling's plan to use the Southern Xiongnu to kill the rebels came to naught.
Due to the unsuccessful conscription of the Southern Xiongnu soldiers, Emperor Ling's "painful suppression" strategy went bankrupt due to insufficient troops. For this reason, the Spirit Emperor urgently summoned the ministers to reconsider the countermeasures.
The civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty suggested changing the "painful suppression" to "suppressing and appeasing at the same time", and unanimously agreed that only when Liu Yu sent an envoy to Youzhou to appease Wuhuan could he receive the effect of "not working on the masses".
Liu Yu, whose name is Bo'an, is a native of Tan, East China Sea, known for his incorruptibility, and once served as the assassin of Youzhou. During his tenure in Youzhou, he was not only honest and honest, but also able to properly handle the relationship with Wuhuan and Xianbei, so he was very popular with the people. Emperor Ling adopted the public opinion, on the one hand, with Liu Yu as the pastor of Youzhou, and went to Youzhou to pacify the rebellious Wuhuan; On the one hand, Gongsun Chan was ordered to continue to fight the rebels by force.
In November of the fifth year of Zhongping (187), Gongsun Chan defeated the rebels at Shimen Mountain, a vassal state of eastern Liaodong. For a time, the rebels abandoned their armor and helmets, and fled. Gongsun Zhan took advantage of the victory to pursue, and the lone army went deep into Guanzi City in western Liaoning, and was besieged by Qiu Liju, the lord of Wuhuan in western Liaoning. The two armies faced each other for more than 200 days. When the wind and snow were pervasive and the weather was cold, the officers and soldiers ran out of food, more than half of them died, and the rebels were forced to withdraw from the siege due to hunger and cold.
On the occasion of Gongsun Zhan's defeat of the rebels, Liu Yu, the pastor of Youzhou, arrived at the ceremony. After Liu Yu took office, he immediately set about dividing and disintegrating the rebel army. On the one hand, he "dismissed the provincial troops and served the benevolence of the people", so as to show friendship to Wuhuan; On the other hand, he sent a wedge between Zhang Chun, Zhang Ju and Wuhuan to unite them, and repeatedly made the Wuhuan lords known to King Yu and other Wuhuan lords, stating that the court would only investigate the crimes of the traitor Erzhang, and "be generous and open a good road" to them.
The Wuhuan tribe had a good impression of Liu Yu, and they had been defeated militarily, so Lord Wuhuan gladly accepted Liu Yu's advice and sent his troops back to their camp. Next, Liu Yu immediately offered a reward for the purchase of two heads. Suddenly, Zhang Chun and Zhang Ju became alone, and they had to abandon their wives and children, and fled in panic.
In March of the sixth year of Zhongping (189), Zhang Chun was killed by his subordinate Wang Zheng, and this rebellion was quelled.
(End of text)
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