In 25 AD, the first emperor Liu Xuan was killed by the Chimei army that entered Guanzhong in the east. In a chaotic atmosphere, the Guangwu Emperor Liu Xiu ascended the throne with the era name Jianwu, but at this time, it was still twelve years before he could unify the country.
At this time, a teenager, Ban Biao, who was only twenty-three years old, had to go into exile in the northwest because of the war, and on the way to exile, he remembered his bumpy career and the country with broken mountains and rivers, and wrote the famous "Northern Expedition" with great sorrow and indignation. In the article, the young man reflected on the reasons for the demise of Wang Mang's new dynasty, and at the same time expressed his infinite remembrance of the wenjing period.
History has summarized many reasons for Wang Mang's fall of the country, among which several mistakes made by Wang Mang are the focus of historians' research, such as unrealistic reforms that touched the interests of the landlord class, or a series of economic measures squeezing the living space of the people, and so on.
In the "Northern Expedition", Ban Biao has a different view, he believes that the reason for Wang Mang's fall of the country is not inside but outside, it is blindly exhausting the military force, so that his country is in the exhaustion of financial resources to the demise.
The more stable it is, the more tolerant and tolerant, and the longer it is, the greater the Wall. The tired people of the drama are tired and build grievances for the strong Qin. Shegaohai's anxiety is worrisome, and things are barbaric. Not Yaode to Suiyuan, Gu Hou solid and feudal. The first identity is not embarrassing, and the merit is counted and resigned. He Fuzi's vain words are cruel, and the clouds and the earth are crippled.
According to The Book of Han by Bangu, wang mang's new dynasty had just been established, and the Xiongnu invaded the Central Plains, killing people and setting fires, and plundering countless wealth.
It was 300,000 people, three hundred daily breads, and at the same time ten ways were out at the same time, chasing the Xiongnu poorly, and the inside was Ding Ling.
Wang Mang chose to fight a decisive battle because of the invasion of the Xiongnu, and the final result was recorded in the history books: the world was in turmoil.
Although Wang Mang won the initial victory in the war and adopted a certain policy of appeasement in his subsequent dealings with the Xiongnu, this act of exhausting the military did exhaust the national strength of the new dynasty, but it did not completely solve the problem.
From this point of view, Wang Mang's demise stems from his argument that he is exhausted and militaristic, which seems to have some truth.
After the fall of the new dynasty, Liu Xiu, a late Han dynasty, rebuilt the Han Dynasty through a series of military actions, known in history as the Eastern Han Or Later Han. Ban Biao, after a period of exile, was recommended to Liu Xiu by his superiors and was appreciated by Liu Xiu, so Ban Biao became Situ Tuan, an official position similar to Situ's secretary-general.
And the Situ of the Eastern Han Dynasty was in charge of the country's taxes, salaries, and military finances, and from this point of view, this official of Ban Biao, although of low rank, was still quite critical. More importantly, there is no one who knows the country's economic strength better than he does.
Although Liu Xiu unified the country, the Eastern Han Dynasty had just been established and faced the threat of nomadic peoples in the north. At this time, the northern nomads had the former overlord Xiongnu, and at the same time added some fresh blood such as Wuhuan, Qiang, and Xianbei.
Because of the policies of Wang Mang's period, the north at this time was even more desolate, "within a few years, the north was empty, and the wild had violent bones." The freezing point between Wang Mang's new dynasty and the Xiongnu also became Liu Xiu's hot potato. In fact, at the beginning, Liu Xiu had the idea of using force to completely eliminate the Xiongnu, but after several short military contacts, Liu Xiu dispelled such an idea.
The combat effectiveness of the Xiongnu army was indeed strong.
Just when Liu Xiu was facing the northern nomads and seemed helpless, Ban Biao gave Liu Xiu a loose hand, which made Liu Xiu gradually stretch his face.
This song is the famous "Fu Hu Qiang Colonel Shu", the content is very short, the most important thing is a sentence:
In the old system, the Yizhou Ministry placed the barbarian riding lieutenant, the Youzhou Ministry placed the Wuhuan Lieutenant, and the Liangzhou Ministry placed the Qiang Lieutenant, all holding the festival collar protection, rationalizing their grievances, following the rules when they were old, asking about the sufferings. A number of envoys were also translated and moved, so that the Saiwai Qiang was turned into the eyes and ears of the officials, so that the prefectures and counties could be prepared. It is better to return to the old days and defend ourselves with a clear deterrent.
After Liu Xiu saw it, he readily agreed and restored the Western Han Dynasty's Qiang Lieutenant. At the same time, a large number of rewards were also given to the Qiang, Qi, and other ethnic groups to strengthen the unity between the nationalities, and this was only for one purpose, that is, the Xiongnu.
Regarding the Xiongnu, although the Eastern Han Dynasty was in decline, he was still very unfriendly to the Han Dynasty. The Xiongnu often accepted the gifts of the Han Dynasty, and their relatives often gladly accepted them, but while accepting them, they did not abide by the agreement, or from time to time they had to go south to herd horses, burn and loot, such a greedy act, the Han court must think of some other countermeasures.
However, although the Xiongnu's attitude towards the Han Dynasty was not very friendly, he was still quite friendly to the surrounding ethnic groups, and when he went south to herd horses, he would often bring other tribes, "At the beginning of guangwu, the Xiongnu were strong, and the Xiongnu were humble and humble, and Wuhuan Kou copied the north, killing officials, and there was no Ning Age." ”
Why the Xiongnu invaded the border, but also brought other tribes, in this regard, the Book of Later Han also gave the answer, the reason is that within himself, there were also very serious natural disasters, presumably to offend the strong man alone, he was also weak-hearted. "Among the Xiongnu, there have been years of drought and locusts, thousands of miles of red land, dry grass and trees, hunger and epidemic of people and livestock, and half of the deaths and consumption."
It seems that the Xiongnu are only strong in the outside world, due to the instability of nomadic production, in the face of a menacing drought and locust plague, the Huns will only think of using the method of diverting contradictions and burning and looting to heal their wounds.
That is, it is also necessary to brag about the market, take the little brother of his own alliance, and loot it together.
From this point of view, the countermeasure proposed by Ban Biao, with the restoration of the Lieutenant of the Qiang Guards as the core, is indeed very effective. In 46 AD, a rebellion occurred within the Xiongnu due to a long period of natural disasters, "Wuhuan took advantage of the weakness to break it, and the Xiongnu turned north and migrated thousands of miles, and the desert was empty." The policy of appeasement of Wuhuan succeeded in disintegrating the Xiongnu, splitting them into the Southern and Northern Huns.
At this time, Xianbei gradually drifted away from the Xiongnu, but instead accepted the canonization of the Guangwu Emperor and became a "mercenary" within the empire, crowning the leader of Xianbei as "Dadu Protector", and encouraging the Han people in biansai to communicate with the Xianbei people.
In this contrast, the so-called "Xiongnu are strong" is also the external strength of the middle. Due to the lack of historical data, we cannot know what kind of secret agreement was reached between Xianbei, Wuhuan and the Xiongnu, but the Book of Later Han clearly records: "The emperor bribed Wuhuan with money" and "made the greeting to Xianbei to show wealth." ”
The policy of emperor Guangwu not only enabled the Eastern Han Dynasty to avoid the attack of the Xiongnu to a certain extent, but also promoted the exchange and integration of the Han people and the nomadic peoples in the north, which was a two-pronged thing.
In fact, this is also the last resort of the Guangwu Emperor, because the dynasty has just been established, the most urgent thing is to rest with the people, the state does not have enough manpower, material and financial resources to solve the Xiongnu problem on the northern border, had to choose to disintegrate the friends of the Huns, use the nomads to fight against the nomads, this way is undoubtedly the best choice at that time.
This is the cleverness of Ban Biao, when he wrote the expedition, he had already thought of such a countermeasure, "no labor and coin plus" seems to emphasize the Wenjing period, the emperor's policy is clever, in fact, it is also a reflection on the northern border of China at that time.
However, Ban Biao and Emperor Guangwu changed the problem a bit and gave the money to the Xiongnu friends, which although more utilitarian, the effect was better than before.
The Eastern Han Dynasty also relied on such a policy, lying dormant for decades, recuperating, and when the national strength was strong again, it eliminated the Northern Xiongnu in one fell swoop. Ban Biao's son, Ban Chao, was also involved.
What do you think?
Note: The picture comes from the Internet, if there is infringement, please contact the author to delete.