Yesterday, when reading the "Zizhi Tongjian", I saw Ma Yi's plot again, carefully tasted Sima Guang's description, and only felt cold sweat on my back. This is simply a mantis cicada catching yellow finches in the back of the story ah, think about it very scary.
The whole story of Ma Yi's plot is very simple, the arrogant Emperor Wu of Han could not stand to make peace with the Xiongnu, and wanted to go to war and annihilate the Xiongnu in one fell swoop. Two factions were formed in the imperial court, the main peace faction headed by The Imperial Master Han Anguo, and the main war faction headed by Daxing Ling Wang Hui. Wang Hui came up with a plan to send the merchant Nie Yi to deceive the Xiongnu warlord Shan Yu, saying that he could kill the county commander of Mayi (马邑, in present-day Shuozhou, Shanxi), and let the Xiongnu go to Mayi City to plunder it.
The military ministers were only happy and personally commanded an army of 100,000 people, and at this time, the 300,000 elite soldiers arranged by Emperor Wu of Han had also been ambushed in place, just waiting for the turtles to be caught in the urn. However, the Huns found that the livestock that roamed the mountains along the way did not see the herders, and they could not help but be suspicious. They caught a border officer, learned of the whole conspiracy under questioning, were shocked, and immediately retreated.
An ambush battle was unsuccessful, and the army led by Wang Hui was supposed to go around and attack the Xiongnu, but when he saw this situation, he abandoned the original plan. In the end, Emperor Wu of Han executed Wang Hui for the crime of cowardice, turning the Plot of Ma Yi into a complete farce.
Although the Mayi conspiracy was not successful, but the historical significance is still very far-reaching, from then on, the Han-Hungarian completely tore their faces, began a large-scale war, and finally ended with Huo Toufeng Wolf Juxu as the end, the Xiongnu completely withdrew from the stage of history, and Emperor Wu of Han also became an emperor for thousands of years.
Looking back at the matter of Ma Yi's plot, there are actually many doubts. It is not at all common sense that such a major military operation was organized like a child's play, and not only the grass-roots officials at the border knew the details of the whole incident, but even the grazing civilians knew that they were going to fight.
Later generations simply blamed this on Wang Hui, the planner of the whole plan, believing that he would only talk on paper, and the specific operation was a mess, not only leaking secrets on a large scale, but also timidly avoiding battle, and did not send troops to pursue after the Xiongnu discovered, missing a good opportunity. Being killed by Emperor Wu of Han was not at all unjust.
Wang Hui
So is Wang Hui really so unbearable? Looking through the history books, there are very few records of Wang Hui, only that he was a border official, so he was well aware of the scourge of the Xiongnu, and also understood that the Huns could not be bound by peace, and if they wanted to solve the problem once and for all, they must be completely eliminated or subdued. This is also why Wang Hui firmly fought.
Looking at Wang Hui's position at that time, this official position sounds very strange, but it also has a more well-known name: Dahongxu. He is the highest official in charge of a country's foreign exchange affairs, which is basically equivalent to the current foreign minister and a first-class high-ranking official.
How could a high-ranking official who could sit in such a position be a stupid person, make such a low-level mistake and make a big military operation known to everyone? There must be something hidden in this.
To find out the historical truth behind it, we have to start with another key figure in the whole incident that has been overlooked, Han Anguo.
Han Anguo , a native of Cheng'an County ( present-day Minquan County , Shangqiu ) in the Liang kingdom , entered the political arena during the reign of Emperor Jingdi of Han and served for a long time under Emperor Jingdi 's half-brother Liu Wu the Prince of Liang.
Han Anguo
Han Anguo first entered the public eye during the Rebellion of the Seven Kingdoms, he led the army to resist the rebels, and stubbornly defended the liang capital Suiyang, winning a precious opportunity for the imperial court army to suppress the rebellion, making great contributions, and also showing his outstanding military talent.
After Emperor Wu of Han ascended the throne, his uncle Marquis Tian Ofe of Wu'an served as a chancellor, and his power was in the sky, and Han Anguo was very knowledgeable and sent a gift of five hundred gold to Tian Feng, and thus rose all the way to the Imperial History Dafu, from here it is not difficult to see that in politics, Han Anguo belongs to the Tian Feng faction, and Tian An Guo is his backer.
So, what was the relationship between Tian Yu and his nephew Emperor Wu of Han? It can be described in four words, and the situation is the same as water and fire.
Tian Yu was mean and arrogant, and empress dowager, the birth mother of Emperor Wu of Han, was very protective of her shortness, and she was extremely arrogant and indulgent to this half-brother. Once, Tian Yu and Dou Bao's best friend Dou Bao of Wei Qi had a conflict, and the two went to Emperor Wu of Han for this reason, each holding a word. Emperor Wu intended to support Dou Bao, so he had the two sides debate openly.
As a result, the matter was known to Empress Wang, who immediately went on a hunger strike and issued her own hunger strike: "Now I am in Yaye, and everyone is through my brother; after I am a hundred years old, all fish and meat!" "Now that I am alive, you will dare to bully my brother, and after I die, you must not kill him like a fish."
Empress Wang
As soon as this remark came out, Emperor Wu of Han completely confessed and not only executed the entire Shifu clan, but even Dou Bao himself was also executed.
At the most arrogant time, the appointment and dismissal of officials and officials of the imperial court were all in the hands of Tian Feng, so that Emperor Wu of Han wanted to promote several minor officials, and he complained angrily: "You have arranged everything, what do I do?" Leave a few for me to appoint a line down the line! ”
It is not difficult to see that although the young Emperor Wu of Han was already pro-government, he actually did not have much power, and the foreign forces that plagued the Western Han Dynasty were still strong at this time, and had already eroded the imperial power. Emperor Wu of Han, as an ambitious king, wanted to change all this, but his wings were not yet strong, so he had to seek perfection.
The conflict between the Tian Qiao Party and the imperial power was all-encompassing, including the policy towards the Xiongnu. Emperor Wu of Han wanted to launch an all-out war, the purpose of which was nothing more than to establish his own military merits and enhance his prestige, thereby suppressing the forces of Tian Yi. Of course, the Tian Yu Party would not allow Emperor Wu of Han to come in such a chaotic manner, for them, maintaining the status quo was the most beneficial and could maximize the interests of their own side.
The deep-seated dispute between Wang Hui and Han Anguo is the conflict between imperial power and the Tian Qiao Party.
In the first round of the confrontation between the two sides, there is no doubt that the han wudi side won.
Regarding whether the Xiongnu should be used as an army, the two sides held an open debate, and Han Anguo first gave the example of Liu Bang, the ancestor of Han Gao, with Liu Bang's strength, his advisers like clouds, and his military generals like rain, and he was also surrounded by the Xiongnu, which was humiliated. Therefore, we must not start the war lightly.
The implication is that you Liu Che is a hairy boy, far worse than your Ancestors of the Liu Family, and you don't have the strength to fight the Xiongnu, wash and sleep.
Wang Hui retorted on the spot: "At that time, it was only because the country was founded not long ago, the country was too poor and weak, but now after the recuperation of the two emperors of Wenjing, it is fully capable of sweeping away the Xiongnu." ”
Han Anguo continued to be aggressive, putting forward three famous reasons, he believed that the Han Empire had three fatal shortcomings in the Han-Hungarian War, which were simply summarized: cannot be found, cannot be won, and cannot be defended.
Can't find it is to say that the northern grasslands are too large, the nomadic people are uncertain, and it is very likely that the people will not be able to see them in the end, and they will return without success;
Whether to win is to say that the Han army, which is mainly infantry, and the Xiongnu, which is mainly cavalry, has a low chance of winning;
As for being unable to hold on, it is even simpler, even if you really win the battle, is it difficult for you to build a city on the grassland and not leave? When the cost of occupation is too great, the war is meaningless.
Emperor
To be fair, regardless of what plans Han Anguo has behind it, these three mentions are indeed deeply critical, not only in the Western Han Dynasty, but also in China for thousands of years, and between the northern nomads, there has always been such a death hole.
At that time, no one expected that Wang Hui was prepared, and he came up with a set of impeccable solutions. Luring the Xiongnu to take the initiative to attack, through ambush to catch turtles in the urn, annihilating their living forces, so that the Xiongnu could no longer rebel on the border. Perfect solution to the problem of not being able to find, not winning, and not being able to keep.
Speaking of this, Han Anguo has no bottom card and can only agree to send troops.
So is Wang Hui's plan feasible? I think it is very operable, and Wang Hui, who has been dealing with the Xiongnu for a long time, knows the Huns very well, knows that the Xiongnu are less profitable and will definitely covet the wealth of Mayi City. Moreover, in the past, the Han Empire has always been reclusive, which will also encourage the arrogance of the Xiongnu and make them neglect to guard.
The facts also confirmed Wang Hui's conjecture, and the Xiongnu king's military subject Shan Yu did indeed make a large-scale attack, but it was a coincidence that he captured a border official and discovered the whole plan, resulting in the failure of the Han army.
Speaking of this, I think everyone should be able to guess that a military operation of such great significance, but even a small official knows the truth, it must be someone who deliberately leaked secrets, in line with the principle of the greatest benefit, then the person who leaked the secrets will also be ready to come out, and Tian Yu and Han Anguo will not be able to escape.
The purpose of everything is only to prevent the imperialist forces from gaining power and thus affecting their own interests.
So why did Emperor Wu of Han have to kill Wang Hui? Is it really because when the Xiongnu retreated, Wang Hui did not move and did not pursue?
This must be a reason, the Xiongnu are not defeated, but retreated, and the number of them is three times that of Wang Hui's army, and rushing to catch up is likely to cause serious losses. Therefore, Wang Hui's decision was completely correct, but not chasing after it would give people a feeling of cowardice and dare not fight, so that the face of the young Tianzi was lost, and he could not raise his head even more in front of the Tian Qiao Party. Therefore, Emperor Wu of Han would definitely anger Wang Hui and punish him, but killing him seemed unreasonable.
This brings us to a detail that many people have overlooked, Wang Hui was in prison, and he actually made a faint move, he entrusted someone to send a thousand gold to Tian Feng, asked Tian Feng to speak kindly in front of the empress dowager, and saved his life.
This is really a big trick, the most feared in politics is the two ends of the rat, repeatedly jumping sideways. Wang Hui's approach is equivalent to telling the emperor that he is going to change the ranks, and if Emperor Wu of Han really pardons Wang Hui because of Tian Feng, then it will not only be a matter of shame, but it will make the forces supporting him in the imperial court completely turn against him and throw himself into Tian Feng, and whether the throne can sit firmly at that time is two questions.
Therefore, we saw a rare scene, the filial piety emperor, who had always obeyed the empress dowager, rebelled against the empress dowager for the first time and said a cruel word: If you don't restore it now, you can't shoot the world.
Wang Hui in prison, hearing these words, instantly understood how big a wrong move he had taken, and he knew that the immortals could not save himself, so he had to commit suicide.
In fact, from the fact that Wang Hui committed suicide instead of being executed, we can also see that Emperor Wudi of Han still had feelings for this minister who had supported him vigorously, and finally left a whole corpse for him.