Famous Han Dynasty generals: Han Xin, Peng Yue, Yingbu, Wei Qing, Huo Fuyi, Li Guang, Li Gan, Li Ling, Gongsun He, Zhao Chongguo, Dou Gu, Dou Xian, Deng Yu, Geng Yi, Cen Peng, Feng Yi, Wu Han, Chen Tang, Huang Fusong, Zhao Baonu, Li Guangli, Jia Fu, Kou Ke, Ma Yuan.
Famous Tang Dynasty generals: Li Jing, Li Ji, Wei Chigong, Su Dingfang, Hou Junji, Cheng Yaojin, Li Xiaogong, Li Daozong, Li Sheng, Li Yu, Guo Ziyi, Li Guangbi, Servant Gu Huai'en, Wang Zhongsi, Ge Shuhan, Gao Xianzhi, Feng Changqing, Black Tooth Changzhi, Li Keyong, Gao Biao, Xue Wanche, Xue Wanjun, Wang Xiaojie, Xue Rengui.
Famous Ming Generals: Xu Da, Chang Yuchun, Li Wenzhong, Feng Sheng, Fu Youde, Lan Yu, Tang He, Zheng Yuchun, Guo Ying, Mu Ying, Deng Yu, Zhang Yu, Zhang Fu, Zhu Neng, Xue Lu, Ma Fang, Wang Yue, Yu Dayu, Qi Jiguang, Tan Lun, Sun Chengzong, Li Chengliang, Yuan Chonghuan, Lu Xiangsheng, Sun Chuanting, Tang Shengzong, Lu Zhongheng, Li Dingguo, Qu Neng, Li Rusong.
The Han Dynasty, the Tang Dynasty, and the Ming Dynasty were all great unified dynasties, with famous generals like clouds and quite strong force values. If you have to be the first, you have to have a standard, after all, they are not in an era, there is no chance to pass the trick. The level of gold content of military generals mainly depends on the strength of the opponent and who the fierce enemy they have to face is. In order to unify the standards, these people can only fight "foreign wars", that is, fight with troops outside the Central Plains.
The Han Dynasty, whose main opponent was the Xiongnu cavalry on the steppe, fought each other for hundreds of years. During the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, wei Qing, Huo Fuyi and other famous generals attacked the Xiongnu continuously, winning successive battles, but did not solve the Xiongnu problem. In Li Guangli's era, the Han army continued to carry out the Northern Expedition, almost every time it failed, the elite of the Han army was lost, and Emperor Wu of Han had no choice but to issue a "crime against himself" and stop using troops. During the Eastern Han Dynasty, Dou Gu, Dou Xian and other famous generals attacked the Xiongnu, and after the Battle of Hangai Mountain and the Battle of Jinwei Mountain, the Xiongnu were seriously injured and forced to move west.
The Tang Dynasty, whose main opponents were the Turks, Tuguhuns, Tubo, Khitans, etc., also fought against the Abbasid Dynasty in Central Asia. After the establishment of the Tang Dynasty, there were wars almost every year, "either in wars, or on the way to fight", and the military generals were well trained and experienced. In the early stages of warfare, the Tang Dynasty won many victories, but it never solved the border problem, and the Turks were often revived with blood. During the era of Wu Zetian and Tang Xuanzong, most of the Tang armies were defeated and suffered heavy losses.
During the Ming Dynasty, the main opponents were Mongol cavalry, and later Jurchens, Wokou, and Western colonists. After more than two hundred years of fighting, Mongolia was torn to pieces, laying the foundation for the Qing Dynasty to finally solve the Mongol problem. The Wukou, Western colonizers, and the Ming Dynasty also fought back continuously, even if there were many internal contradictions, they still dared to show their swords. Liaodong Jurchen was once suppressed, and the "Chenghua Plough Garden" almost extinguished it. However, the northern border problem of the Ming Dynasty was never solved, which was the same as that of the Tang Dynasty.
The Han Dynasty dealt with the Xiongnu, and the Tang Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty did not complete the goal, does this mean that the Han Dynasty's military generals had the highest gold content? This is not the case, because the Strength of the Xiongnu, turks, and Mongols is not in the same grade. The nomadic cavalry on the steppe, the Mongols were the strongest, and the Ming Dynasty was the most stressful. It should be known that after Emperor Yuan Shun fled to the grasslands, The Northern Yuan was still a unified regime, with millions of male soldiers under its command, and the internal cohesion was very strong.
Neither the Xiongnu nor the Turks in their heyday could compare with the Northern Yuan. Moreover, the degree of development and internal cohesion of the Northern Yuan society are far from being comparable to the Xiongnu and Turks who were still in the slave society. During the Tang Dynasty, famous generals "destroyed the country" at every turn, in fact, it was just a small tribe, not a real big country. The powerful country destroyed by the Tang Dynasty was Goguryeo, but it was mainly the credit of the Sui Emperor, and Goguryeo had been seriously injured, and it took the Tang Dynasty decades to get it done.
After returning to the grassland, the Northern Yuan was still very powerful. After decades of war, the Northern Yuan was torn apart by Xu Da, Feng Sheng, and Lan Yu, and was divided into three parts: Tatar, Wallachian, and Wuliangha. Even when divided into three parts, the Mongol cavalry was still very strong, well-equipped and armed with firearms, which was not easy to deal with. Some people say that the Ming generals can only bully these "scattered soldiers" and the gold content is not high, which is a wrong understanding.
How powerful were the Mongol cavalry? The Dzungar Mongols were only one tribe in the Wala (Erut Mongols). The result? The three generations of emperors of Kangxi, Yongzheng, and Qianlong raised the soldiers and horses of the whole country, and it took decades to deal with them. During this period, the Dzungar Mongols also faced the Tsarist Russia, the Kazakh Khanate, and the Qing Dynasty at the same time, and their military strength could be imagined. Later, if it were not for internal divisions and the emergence of plague, Qianlong would not necessarily be able to deal with them.
Judging from the strength of the opponents, the Mongols were stronger than the Turks and the Xiongnu, and the Ming Dynasty faced the greatest pressure. However, the Ming Dynasty was able to break Mongolia apart, and instead of engaging in "peace and affinity" with the Han Dynasty and the Tang Dynasty, it continued to fight, and the high gold content of the famous generals can be seen. Therefore, from the perspective of "foreign war", the famous generals of the Ming Dynasty ranked first in terms of gold content, followed by the Tang Dynasty, which was full of strong enemies, and finally the Han Dynasty. The main opponents of the Han Dynasty were only the Xiongnu, while the Tang Dynasty had many and the pressure was even greater. Kangxi commented on the ming dynasty's achievements: "Zhilong Tang and Song, Yuanmai Hantang"
Bibliography: Ancient Chinese History