In the first few years of Emperor Wudi's reign, the Han Empire was still under the influence of the idea of quiet and indifferent Huang Lao, and the foreign forces and courtier forces in the court were still very strong, which led to the limited imperial power in the hands of Emperor Wudi of Han, and it was still far from saying everything and concentrating great power in one.
Imperial power is subject to many restrictions, the emperor has no absolute authority, as a new monarch with great talent, Emperor Wudi of the Han Dynasty naturally wanted to do his best to break through such a dilemma, and then realize the unification of imperial power.
In ancient and modern China and abroad, there is a shortcut for the boss to centralize power, that is, to launch a war, especially to launch a foreign war to defend the national prestige.
Once such a war is fought, the boss can not only quickly occupy the moral commanding heights, but also effectively bypass all kinds of contradictions in the court and tie the hands and feet of the opposition; more importantly, the power in the court will be quickly concentrated in the hands of the boss as the curtain of war is opened.
After decades of recuperation in the Han Empire, when Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty ascended to the temple, the increasingly powerful national strength provided him with such an opportunity.
War is crude, but how to start it is a political art in the courtroom.
Emperor Wu of Han was very clever in his approach, and before he decided to conquer the Xiongnu, he stood on the moral high ground of not forgetting the shame of the Great Han Dynasty, and wielded two swords of revenge -- Emperor Gao had been "shamed by Pingcheng", Gao Hou had been "humiliated by the Book of Concubines", and the conquest of the Xiongnu was a revenge and shame, a Spring and Autumn righteousness, and a promotion of the prestige of our Great Han State.
To this end, Emperor Wu of Han issued an emotional and resounding edict, which contained the following words: Emperor Gao sent Pingcheng to worry, and Gao Hou Shidan was absolutely rebellious. The revenge of Xi Qi Xianggong Fu Ninth Dynasty, "Spring and Autumn" is great! (Chronicles of the Xiongnu)
In May of the sixth year of Jianyuan (135 BC), the authoritative Empress Dou died, which cleared the biggest obstacle for Emperor Wu of Han to conquer the Xiongnu.
The first attack on the Xiongnu, Emperor Wu of Han wanted to play a big game, it was best to wipe out the main force of the Xiongnu in one fell swoop and kill the Xiongnu Shan Yu.
In the seventh year of Jianyuan, he presented a brilliant plan to Emperor Wu of Han.
This is the famous strategy of Mayi - taking advantage of the Xiongnu's credulous psychology of the Han in the situation of peace and affinity, to sacrifice the border trade town of Mayi as bait, predetermined tens of thousands of ambush troops, and when the Xiongnu alone led the crowd to arrive, they would gather and annihilate them.
Let's not talk about the flaws in The Mayi conspiracy, just to say that its strategic concept is completely in line with the appetite of Emperor Wu of Han, and if this plan can be successfully implemented, it will be a complete annihilation of the main force of the Xiongnu and accompanied by a beheading operation.
When the court discussed this plan, although the lord and the imperial master Han Anguo stood up against it, Emperor Wu of Han vigorously opposed the public opinion and quickly landed this first blow on the strategic chess card.
In June of the second year of Yuan Guang (133 BC), the plan to lure the Xiongnu into the implementation stage.
Emperor Wu of Han issued several orders in succession: he appointed Li Guang as the general of Xiao Qi, Gongsun He as the general of the light car, Wang Hui as the general of the general Tun and Li Xi the Grand Master of Taizhong as the general of the Material Officer, commanding 300,000 troops and ambushing them in the valley near Mayi; after the Xiongnu soldiers went south, Wang Hui led another army to quickly leave Dai County and intercept the Xiongnu army from behind; han Anguo, the imperial master, was the general of the escort army, supervising the various armies, and the four generals belonged to him.
Advocating factional warfare, the main and factional supervision, and the platooning and deployment of troops by Emperor Wudi of the Han Dynasty, he still stressed political wisdom and the art of employing people.
The battle front was quietly deployed, and the next important link was to lure the Xiongnu Shan Yu to the bait, and the one who undertook this key mission was Wang Hui's old friend, the rich merchant Nie Yi of Mayi.
Nie Yi's arrival did not arouse the suspicion of the Xiongnu Shan Yu, and when he heard that there were such good things, the Xiongnu Shan Yu clapped his hands and said yes. Seeing that the Xiongnu had been hooked, Nie Yi and the Xiongnu Shan Yu agreed: After killing Mayi County Ling and County Cheng, they would send someone to report, and then the Xiongnu Shan Yu could lead his troops into the city to be surrendered.
After the hook went out smoothly, Nie Yi returned to Mayi.
A few days later, two human heads were indeed hung on the upper floor of Mayi City, and next to them were a white cloth with names and incriminating charges written on them, one for the county order and the other for the county beggar.
These two human heads, who were actually impersonated as death row prisoners, successfully dispelled the doubts of the Xiongnu Shan Yu, after which the Xiongnu Shan Yu led an army of 100,000 people through the Great Wall, Yuewu Prefecture, and came straight to Mayi.
Now it is time to talk about the flaws of Ma Yi's plot, which is certainly clever, but it also has a fatal weakness - hundreds of thousands of troops play a conspiracy, the details are not in place, as long as one person has a problem and misses the wind, it may eventually be a wasted work.
Perhaps too much to let the Xiongnu 100,000 troops enter the ambush circle as soon as possible, the Han army made a mistake of "wanting to cover up the Messi", the Xiongnu shan yu found an abnormal phenomenon, this way over, along the way, there was actually not a single Han army blocking the attack, there were cattle and sheep everywhere, but there were no shepherds in sight.
When things go wrong, there must be deception.
In order to further explore the falsehood, the Xiongnu Shan Yu immediately ordered an attack on a sentry pavilion of the Han army in Bian County.
Unexpectedly, luck sided with the Xiongnu at this critical moment, and they captured Wei Shi of Sentinel Pavilion, who, in order to survive, gave the truth that 300,000 Han troops were ambushed in Mayi.
Knowing this fact, the Xiongnu shan Yu looked up at the sky and laughed, I have wei shi, this heaven help also!
After laughing, he immediately turned his horse's head, and with a command, the 100,000-strong army quickly retreated.
In this way, a tongue completely destroyed a big chess game of Emperor Wu of Han.
The four generals sent by Emperor Wudi of the Han Dynasty, if the Xiongnu army successfully entered the ambush circle, Wang Hui was most likely the one who had made great merit, for the simple reason that it was easy to intercept the Xiongnu with strong troops; second, if the Xiongnu alone broke through the siege, it was likely to fall into his hands; however, if the Xiongnu army did not enter the ambush circle and turn around and run, who was the most unlucky?
It wasn't someone else, it was Wang Hui.
Let's take a look at Wang Hui's real situation.
According to the original deployment, Han Anguo and other ambush troops attacked in an all-round way, and Wang Hui intercepted The weight, which should be launched at about the same time, so that Wang Hui would face the rear rear troops of the Xiongnu, rather than the entire main force.
Now, the 100,000 main forces of the Xiongnu did not enter the ambush circle at all, and wang Hui was not facing the tail of the Xiongnu, but the fangs of the Xiongnu.
To fight or not to fight?
This question seems to be a test of courage, but in fact it is a test of political wisdom.
Unfortunately, Wang Hui's political wisdom failed to cope with this situation, and he made a choice that he thought was loyal and courageous, and instead of attacking, he watched as the Xiongnu Shan Yu led a hundred thousand main forces away.
Why does Wang Hui think that his choice is faithful and courageous?
Back in Chang'an, in the face of Emperor Wu of Han's severe rebuke, Wang Hui pained Chen——
At the beginning, it was about to enter the city of Mayi, and the soldiers and Shan Yu were connected, and the subjects attacked its weight, and could be profited. Now that shan yu does not return, the subject is invincible with 30,000 people and is humiliated. Gu Zhi returned and beheaded, but his majesty completed thirty thousand people.
The meaning of this is that without a war, I know that I will not be able to escape death, but in order to avoid humiliation, in order to save Thirty Thousand Soldiers for Your Majesty, I can only do this.
This approach is quite serious, why should we say that Wang Hui's choice lacks political wisdom?
He was too lacking in political height, the first attack on the Xiongnu, if he could not win with one blow, it was even more necessary to defend the determination of the war with a deadly battle, which was the need for the political centralization of the Han Wudi Emperor. Wang Hui thought that saving 30,000 soldiers was for the sake of Emperor Wu of Han, but he could not imagine that in this situation, Emperor Wu of Han would need to exchange the lives of 30,000 soldiers for the initiative of a political game.
Obviously, Wang Hui's answer was difficult to satisfy Emperor Wu of Han, and subsequently, Wang Hui was handed over to the court lieutenant, and according to military law, he was sentenced to beheaded for the crime of avoiding the enemy in the front.
At this time, Wang Hui made another stupid choice in order to survive.
He paid thousands of dollars and asked Xiang Tian to dredge it on his behalf. Tian Yue's political consciousness was very high, and he knew the key point, so after receiving the money, he did not directly help, but took a detour and asked his sister Empress Wang to intercede with Emperor Wu of Han.
At this time, Emperor Wu of Han was facing the pressure of the Lord and the Faction, and if he accepted Empress Wang's statement, it would mean the collapse of his will to fight.
Therefore, Wang Hui must be killed, nominally to apologize to the world, but in fact to swear a determination to fight.
Poor Wang Hui, at this time, fully understood, but it was too late, and finally he had to draw his sword and kill himself.
In fact, if Wang Hui had more political wisdom, after going to prison, he should not dredge up, but should hold high the banner of Emperor Wudi of Han's battle and relieve the pressure for Emperor Wudi of Han, in that case, maybe he would still have a chance to make meritorious deeds.
The war is brutal.
Politics is more brutal than war.