Chapter 353: Restoring the old system and relying on strength to speak
Bai Lingjun continued: "During the Western Han Dynasty, more than a dozen princesses were sent to the Western Regions to make peace with the Xiongnu and other places. However, there was no such case in the weaker Eastern Han Dynasty. However, if future generations want to obtain temporary stability on the border, they must restore the old system.
of."
Cao Shuang smiled and said: "Lingjun, don't worry. When the world is unified in the future, I will not agree with what the Wei Dynasty did. After all, how can the peace bought by women's marriage be real peace? Dealing with those people on the grassland,
In the end, strength will speak for itself, just like it was during the time of Emperor Wu. Only by scaring them can we prevent them from going south."
"Marriage" is a frequent phenomenon in Chinese history. No matter in which dynasty, there are records of marriages between princesses or clan girls.
The practice of marriage has existed since ancient times. According to historical records, during the period of King Xiang of Zhou Dynasty, King Xiang married Lady Di as his queen, and then joined forces with Rong Di to attack Zheng. This was an earlier marriage event in history.
In 200 BC, Liu Bang, the founder of the Han Dynasty, was besieged by the Xiongnu on Baishan Mountain. He escaped after seven days and nights.
After that, the Western Han Dynasty began to implement the policy of "peace marriage" with the Xiongnu. Women from the Central Plains married the Xiongnu chanyu in the name of princesses in order to obtain peace on the border.
Since the opening of the marriage door in the early Han Dynasty, this seems to have become an important political method for the Central Plains dynasties to get along with the nomadic peoples.
When the relationship between the two families is tense, make peace to temporarily alleviate the conflicts between the two parties. When the relationship between the two families is harmonious, make peace and continue to deepen this hard-won harmonious relationship.
However, in most cases, the marriage between the Central Plains dynasties and the nomadic peoples was forced.
Because the military strength of the Central Plains dynasty was weak or the national power was not strong, it was unable to start the expedition mode. It could only sacrifice a woman's happiness and establish a "son-in-law" relationship with the nomads to achieve the purpose of stabilizing the border and peaceful coexistence.
But there is an old saying that goes well: Strength determines everything!
Sacrificing women's happiness in exchange for peace was not only a great shame for the Central Plains dynasty, but the peace gained was only a temporary superficial phenomenon, and it was difficult to maintain long-term stability.
"Peace and marriage" has since become an important means for Chinese dynasties to deal with relations with neighboring ethnic groups. However, not every dynasty can accept "peace and marriage".
In the history of the Eastern Han Dynasty, there was a proposal for "peace and marriage", but it was not implemented.
In the early years of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the Huns were powerful and often raided the borders, becoming the most serious threat to the Eastern Han Dynasty.
The Eastern Han Dynasty was busy with the domestic unification war and had no time to take care of it, so it sought to improve relations between the two sides.
In the 22nd year of Emperor Guangwu's founding of the Han Dynasty, the Xiongnu Chanyu sent an envoy to the Eastern Han Dynasty to ask for peace, but was not granted. Twenty-four years after Emperor Guangwu's founding, the Xiongnu split into northern and southern parts. The southern Xiongnu attached itself to the Han, while the northern Xiongnu continued to occupy Mobei.
, confronting the Eastern Han Dynasty, and at the same time constantly sending envoys to request peace.
In order to seek peace, the Northern Xiongnu donated a large number of horses and furs, and also brought commercial contributions from the countries in the Western Regions. However, they were still rejected by Emperor Guangwu of the Han Dynasty. During the periods of Emperor Ming and Emperor Zhang of the Han Dynasty, the Northern Xiongnu continued to request peace many times, but at the same time
They invaded the Eastern Han border several times and were finally defeated by the Eastern Han Dynasty.
The second one is the Song Dynasty. Although the Song Dynasty was known for being "poor and weak", it never made peace with foreigners.
Historically, the Liao Kingdom and the Jin Kingdom were once potential candidates for peace with the Song Dynasty, but neither came true. When the Song and Liao Dynasties signed the "Chanyuan Alliance", the Liao Kingdom requested "peace peace" during the negotiations, but the Song Dynasty did not agree. Sima Guang's "Sushui Jiwen" stated: "After the captive soldiers retreated, they came to seek peace and marriage, and ordered Liu Renfan to go and discuss the matter. Renfan expressed his regrets and ordered Cao Liang to take advantage of him instead."
At the end of the Northern Song Dynasty, after the Jin Dynasty destroyed the Liao Dynasty, it took advantage of the momentum to attack the Song Dynasty, captured Kaifeng, and captured the two sects of Hui and Qin, which was called the "Shame of Jingkang".
According to the "History of the Song Dynasty" records: During this period, the Jin people also made a request for "peace and marriage" to the Song Dynasty. "The Biography of Shen Yuqiu": "It said: I have two sages far away, and Qu Ji makes peace...Yu Qiu said "Marriage is a strategy that the Jin people have tried many times, but it is not trustworthy."
But there is no point in not agreeing to get married when the country is weak. If you don't give it to others, others will come to snatch it. Only when the country is strong can you have enough confidence and strength to refuse this matter, and you can only do it like what will be done later. The Ming Dynasty had just done this with determination.
The Ming Dynasty also never made peace with the surrounding ethnic groups. After the Tumubao Incident, the Yingzong of the Ming Dynasty was captured. In order to welcome the Yingzong back, some ministers once suggested making peace with the Oara.
Zhou Xu, a lecturer at the Hanlin Academy in Nanjing, wrote in a letter: "His Royal Highness is the Holy One, brotherhood is brotherhood, friendship is king and minister, the hatred between king and father is irreconcilable, it is advisable to avenge Wu with king and minister like the King of Yue, who lay down his salary and tasted courage... If we can, we can do it... If you return to the Holy Spirit, you will make a good marriage and live happily ever after." Zhou Xu believed that although the Ming Dynasty and Wala had sworn hatred, in order to welcome back the Yingzong, they could adopt the expedient measure of making peace with each other.
Japan also proposed peace with the Ming Dynasty. In the 20th year of Wanli (1592), the Japanese army invaded North Korea. Li Rusong and others led the Ming army into North Korea to defeat the Japanese army. After a series of battles, the two sides ceased war and negotiated peace. During the negotiations, Japan Toyotomi Hideyoshi proposed that the Ming Dynasty marry the princess to the emperor (marriage). In the end, neither Oara nor Japan could make peace with the Ming Dynasty.
Bai Lingjun continued: "In the past, Emperor Wu was able to pacify the Huns in the north and welcome back Cai Yong's daughter. I and my two sisters believe that my husband can do the same."
In the sixth year of Zhongping, Emperor Ling died. General He Jin transferred Dong Zhuo and Ding Yuan from Bingzhou to the capital, King Qin, and these two took away the main army of Bingzhou.
In this way, Bingzhou created a power vacuum, which was filled by foreign forces such as the Xiongnu and Montenegro. The Eastern Han Dynasty completely lost control of Bingzhou.
The foreign forces did not stop there, but wanted to compete in the Central Plains, participate in the melee of the Central Plains, and gain more benefits. It was at this time that Cai Wenji was kidnapped by the Huns.
In the third year of Chuping, Yufuluo joined forces with Baibo and Heishan to attack Yanzhou while the country was in chaos and warlords were fighting. At this time, Cao Cao was appointed governor of Dongyang County, the county was established in Dongwuyang, and the army was stationed in Dunqiu.
In the Battle of Neihuang, the main enemies that Cao Cao faced were the leaders of the Black Mountain Army Yu Du and Sui Gu, and the Xiongnu leader Yu Fuluo. At that time, Cao Cao's East Commandery was located in Dongwuyang, and his garrison was stationed in Dunqiu.
Yu Du took the opportunity to lead the Black Mountain Army to attack Dongwuyang, and the situation was very critical.
Faced with this situation, Cao Cao, who was proficient in military art, adopted the strategy of "encircling Wei and rescuing Zhao" and led his army to attack Yu Du's base camp, thus successfully forcing Yu Du to give up the attack on Dongwuyang. Immediately afterwards, Cao Cao took advantage of the victory to pursue and first defeated Sui, another leader of the Black Mountain Army. Gu, he also defeated the leader of the Xiongnu, Yu Fuluo, in Neihuang.
Although in terms of the scale of the war, the War of Neihuang was not actually grand; in terms of influence and popularity, the War of Neihuang is often overlooked.
But it is worth noting that Cao Cao's military command skills, especially his ability to use military tactics, were vividly demonstrated in this battle. With this battle as a symbol, Cao Cao began to gradually shine on the military battlefield, which can be said to be a foreshadowing.
An important battle for the rise of Cao Cao's power, of course, this was only the beginning of the Xiongnu's nightmare...