Cao Shuang looked at the improved papermaking process under Ma Jun's guidance and thought for a while: "Although the final demise of the Western Han Dynasty was indeed related to his relatives, and it was due to Wang Mang's usurpation of power,
However, the difference is that Wang Mang obtained political power through abdication, which was a peaceful transfer, without violence and bloodshed, and had no destructive impact on the world at that time.
It's just that Wang Mang was arrogant, fanatical about advocating the ancient system, didn't know how to adapt, deceived himself and others, and didn't care about the people, which eventually led to the people's uprising.
On the issue of eunuchs and relatives, the Western Han Dynasty was much better than the Eastern Han Dynasty. In the Eastern Han Dynasty, there were so many fights for power and profit!" Cao Shuang casually picked up the sheets of paper he had just made and read them.
From the relatives, we can find a problem, which is the solidification of class.
During the Western Han Dynasty, especially the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, which was the peak period of the Western Han Dynasty, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty employed people in an eclectic way.
Wei Qing and Huo Qubing were both illegitimate sons of minor officials, Jin Rixi was a Huns slave, Zhang Tang was the son of a minor official, and the master father Yan, Gongsun Hong, Dong Zhongshu, Sang Hongyang, Huang Ba, etc. were not born into nobles.
He was not even as good as a commoner when he was born,
But Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was able to use them to govern the world, and in the end he succeeded them, and also Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. From this we can see that the early and middle periods of the Western Han Dynasty were dynamic and positive.
During the Eastern Han Dynasty, Emperor Guangwu Liu Xiu, under the guidance of "Judo" thought, changed the conquest of border ethnic minorities since Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, pursued "governing the border with virtue", and broke the iron law that strictly prohibited the inward migration of ethnic minorities.
This gap was opened, and then a protracted national war broke out in the northwest area. This war almost lasted throughout the Eastern Han Dynasty.
Since then, in order to make up for the lack of military strength and labor force, the Central Plains dynasty often lured ethnic minorities such as the Xiongnu and Xianbei in the west and north.
At the same time, the Hu people also longed for a prosperous and stable life in the Central Plains, so various ethnic groups continued to migrate to the Central Plains, gathering more and more people.
This war affected the current Qinghai, Gansu, Ningxia, Shaanxi, Shanxi and other regions. Although it did not directly threaten the core areas of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the long-term turmoil seriously consumed the strength of the Eastern Han Dynasty and ultimately accelerated the demise of the Eastern Han Dynasty. This war
, known as "Qiang Rebellion".
Qiang generally refers to the nomadic people living on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and Hexi.
The Han nationality, the predecessor of the Chinese nation is also the Qiang, and is known as the "ancient Qiang".
About 10,000 years ago, the Chinese ancestors migrated to the Weihe River Basin, developed a farming economy, and gradually separated from the ancient Qiang people.
During the Shang Dynasty, merchants in the east collectively referred to the ethnic groups in the west as "Qiang", which meant the shepherds in the west, which naturally included the Zhou people. After the establishment of the Zhou Dynasty, the Qiang people living in the Wei River Basin were called "Rong".
In fact, "Rong" is a farmer among the Qiang people, and they mainly live in river valleys.
In the late Spring and Autumn Period, the Qin State unified the Wei River Basin, and the Rong people basically integrated into the Chinese nation.
At this time, Qin State bordered Hexi and Qinghai-Tibet, so the word Qiang was used again.
During the period of Duke Li of Qin, Wuyi Yuanjian, a Qiang man, was captured and made a slave by the Qin people. Yuanjian learned farming in Qin.
Later, the Qiang people also began to develop agriculture in the Hehuang area. However, the Qiang people generally focused on animal husbandry. The "Book of the Later Han·Biography of the Western Qiang" records: "The place they live in is impermanent, relying on water and grass. The land is short of grains, so they produce livestock."
For business".
In the early Western Han Dynasty, the Xiongnu and the Western Qiang jointly attacked the interior. After the Han Dynasty captured the Hexi Corridor, the alliance between the Xiongnu and the Western Qiang was interrupted, and the Han Dynasty also began to expand into the Western Qiang territory.
In 111 BC, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty sent Li Xi and Xu Zi to lead an army of 100,000 to conquer the Western Qiang. After six years of war, they finally occupied the Hehuang area, set up captains to protect the Qiang, and carried out immigration and farming. This marked the
The Qinghai area began to be included in the territory of the Central Plains Dynasty.
During the reign of Emperor Xuan, counties were set up in Hehuang to further strengthen control over Hehuang. In 81 BC, Jincheng County was established, and most of the county was under the jurisdiction of Qiang land.
During the reign of Wang Mang, Xihai County was established in the Qinghai Lake area. The Han Dynasty's farming in the Hehuang area would inevitably occupy the cultivated land and pastures of the Qiang people, and the Qiang people could only migrate to barren areas. This management method
It destroyed the interests of the Qiang people, and was known in history as "the Qiang people suffered hardships for the Han people".
Therefore, during the Western Han Dynasty, the Qiang people continued to launch rebellions. Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty reused Zhao Chongguo to quell the Qiang rebellion.
Zhao Chongguo also recognized the root cause of the Qiang rebellion, so after quelling the Qiang rebellion, he gave up the policy of farming, granted land to the Qiang people, and ennobled the Qiang leaders as officials to implement Jisi jurisdiction. This policy of Zhao Chongguo soon had miraculous effects.
The Qinghai area quickly settled down.
The governance of Hehuang in the Western Han Dynasty proved that the development of China was not achieved overnight.
There are great economic and cultural differences between ethnic minority areas and the Central Plains areas, and there are great conflicts of interest.
In the early days of the Central Plains dynasty's management of ethnic minorities, they should first adopt a restrained governance method, so as to minimize ethnic conflicts and increase their sense of identity.
When the economic and social development of ethnic minority areas reaches a certain level, and cultural identity reaches a certain level, then the implementation of the county system of management will be a matter of course.
The re-intensification of the contradiction between Qiang and Han began with Wang Mang. During Wang Mang's period, inappropriate ethnic policies were adopted, which led to the deterioration of ethnic relations between the Central Plains Dynasty and the Xiongnu, the Western Regions, Wuhuan, and Goguryeo. The same was true for the Western Qiang.
In 5 AD, Wang Mang established Xihai County in Qinghai and ordered large-scale farming in Xihai. Seeing that their land was being plundered in large quantities and that they had to retreat to dangerous conditions, the Qiang people launched a rebellion and expelled the prefect of Xihai County.
After the establishment of the Eastern Han Dynasty, it adjusted its policies with the Xiongnu, Wuhuan, and Xianbei, and adopted the policy of "using barbarians to control barbarians."
However, farming did not stop in the Hehuang Valley, and even increased the scale of farming. If we compare the farming in the two Han Dynasties, we will find that the farming in the Western Han Dynasty was mainly located in the Western Regions.
On the other hand, the Eastern Han Dynasty reduced its farming operations in the Western Regions on a large scale, and instead vigorously farmed the rivers and rivers. The development directions of the two Han Dynasties were different. The Western Han Dynasty placed more emphasis on the Western Regions, while the Eastern Han Dynasty paid more attention to Qinghai.
In order to reduce the vitality of the Qiang people in Hehuang area, the Eastern Han Dynasty chose to migrate a large number of Qiang people to the counties and counties along the Great Wall.
Its purpose is very obvious. One is to reduce the number of Qiang people in Qinghai, and the other is to let the Qiang, Xiongnu and Xianbei attack each other and reap the benefits. The so-called "Qiang and Hu attack each other and use barbarians to defeat barbarians."
In the Eastern Han Dynasty, the Qiang people who stayed in Qinghai were called "Western Qiang", while the Qiang people who migrated to the Great Wall were called "Eastern Qiang".
The reason why the Qiang people entered the inland was because the Eastern Han Dynasty wanted to occupy the Qiang people's land and forced the surrendered Qiang people to move to the inland. This resulted in a mixed situation of Han and Hu people living in the northwest area, which ultimately intensified the conflict between the Han and Hu ethnic groups.
Ma Jun also sighed with emotion: "If Emperor Guangwu Liu Xiu hadn't made a bad opening and allowed the Hu people in the north to move to the northwest of Liangzhou and other places, attracting wolves into their homes, and then tacitly allowed the local tyrants to oppress them, I think the Eastern Han Dynasty would not have
It’s so easy to lose such a good horse breeding land.”