preface
The story of Su Wu Muyang is too famous. For many people, they may have heard this story when they were in elementary school.
Therefore, everyone may be familiar with the detailed history of this story. Everyone knows that Su Wu was an envoy during the Western Han Dynasty. After he sent an envoy to the Xiongnu, he was detained by the Xiongnu. During this period, the Xiongnu repeatedly persuaded him to surrender, but Su Wu never agreed. So later, the Huns directly exiled him to the Baikal side and completely detained him on the Hun side.
It was not until nineteen years later, because of the change in relations between the Han Dynasty and the Xiongnu, that Su Wu had the opportunity to return to the Han Dynasty again. And when Su Wu returned to the Han Dynasty, his story was instantly respected by everyone in the Han Dynasty. After this, Su Wu himself became a symbol, a national hero who represented steadfastness and indomitability.
In addition to the story itself, what is more important is actually the logic behind Su Wu Muyang's matter. This logic is, why can't Su Wu surrender? Why did Su Wu not surrender and should be respected?
This story has to start from the background of the era in which Su Wu lived.
According to later historians, Su Wu must have been born at the end of the reign of Emperor Jing of Han, or when Emperor Wudi of Han had just ascended the throne. Before Su Wu was born, the Han Dynasty had just experienced a reign of literary scenery, and the country was in a state of peace for a long time. As for the Xiongnu in the north, the Han Dynasty also implemented a policy of peace for a long time, trying to maintain peace with the Xiongnu.
Therefore, Su Wu is actually the same age as that Huo Qubing. Compared with the later Huo Guang, Su Wu's age was actually a little older.
As for Su Wuta's father, his name was Su Jian, who was a middle-level lieutenant in the Han Dynasty at that time. Later, after the Han Dynasty counterattacked the Xiongnu, he began to work under Wei Qing, and he was also Wei Qing's henchman.
Then, as Su Wu grew up, the Han Dynasty began to officially go to war with the Xiongnu. It was also during Su Wu's youth that Emperor Wudi of Han waged several large-scale wars. By the time Su Wu came of age, the Han Dynasty had just finished the Battle of Mobei. So in the concept of Su Wu's generation, the Han Dynasty is invincible.
This is actually the fundamental reason why the later Su Wu was able to hold out for more than ten years in the Xiongnu. Because for their generation, the Huns were a defeated subordinate and simply did not deserve to surrender.
After Su Wu became an adult, Su Wu relied on his father's relationship and gradually entered the dynasty as an official. In the next nearly twenty years, Su Wu began to climb on the road of shi. When he was about forty years old, he finally rose to the position of a middle-level official.
It was in this historical context that when Su Wu was forty years old, a major event happened on the Xiongnu side. This year, the Xiongnu side of Shan Yu was replaced.
Speaking of which, the Xiongnu have also been unfavorable in recent years. In the past hundred years, since the Xiongnu unified the grassland and until Emperor Wudi of Han ascended the throne, the Xiongnu changed a total of four Shan Yu. However, after the end of the Battle of Mobei, as the Xiongnu turtle retreated back to Mobei, various problems began to arise within the Xiongnu.
From the end of the Battle of Mobei, in the next twenty years, the Xiongnu changed four Shan Yu. In 101 BC, the Xiongnu were replaced by the fifth Shan Yu, and Marquis Shan Yu.
Such frequent exchange of orders is actually very unfavorable for the restoration of the strength of the Xiongnu. Therefore, after this Marquis Shan ascended to the throne, he soon began to show favor to the Han Dynasty. In the previous twenty years, although the Xiongnu side had retreated to northern Mobei, it had never bowed to the Han Dynasty. Moreover, when the Han Dynasty sent envoys over, they were often easily detained directly.
It was not until this Marquis Shan ascended the throne and intended to repair relations with the Han Dynasty that he released all the detained emissaries.
In the face of the Xiongnu's overtures, Emperor Wudi of Han naturally had to express it. So next, Emperor Wudi of Han set up a mission, intending to go to the Xiongnu side to communicate. At that time, Su Wu was selected as the official envoy of this mission, and he was fully responsible for everything.
Because of the above history, when Su Wu went on an envoy, he actually did not think that this trip to the Xiongnu would be dangerous. Everyone can see that the Xiongnu already had the meaning of bowing their heads at that time. Even that Marquis Shan Yu himself, in his letter to the Han Dynasty, claimed to be the junior of the Han Dynasty emperor.
So at that time, everyone felt that this mission was actually a good opportunity to brush up on military merits. As long as you go around the Xiongnu side and bring the meaning of the Han Dynasty, there will be no problems at all. However, what everyone did not expect was that because of two special figures, Su Wu would be detained by the Xiongnu for nineteen years.
The first person was Su Wu's deputy, Zhang Sheng.
After the mission arrived in the Xiongnu, the negotiations basically went relatively smoothly. After all, both sides are interested in peace talks at this time, and the Xiongnu side will naturally not embarrass the mission. The only thing that was a little unexpected was that the Xiongnu were still very disobedient to the Han Dynasty at this time, so they were a little arrogant when receiving the mission.
But this arrogance, in Su Wu's opinion, is not unacceptable. Anyway, the Xiongnu will be called vassals next, arrogance is actually not a big problem, and these problems can be solved slowly afterwards.
However, when the two sides had negotiated everything and the mission was about to prepare to return to the Han Dynasty, an accident happened.
To put it simply, this was what happened at the time. At that time, there was a man named Yu Chang on the Xiongnu side, who wanted to plot a coup d'état and kidnap Shan Yu's mother. If it goes well, maybe they can directly assassinate Shan Yu. Once this was done, they would follow the mission directly and flee back to the Han Dynasty. After returning to the Han Dynasty, with the merit of assassinating Shan Yu, they will definitely get a high reward.
For this matter, Su Wu actually did not know about it, and this matter had nothing to do with the mission. But later, this Yu Chang and Su Wu's deputy Zhang Sheng had a bit of a personal relationship. This Yu Chang, who used to be a member of the Han Dynasty, but later defected to the Xiongnu. During the Han Dynasty, he had a lot of dealings with Zhang Sheng, the deputy of this mission.
So at this time, in order to succeed, Yu Chang directly found the deputy envoy of this mission, intending to join the mission to assassinate Shan Yu together.
But as a result, before the assassination began, a subordinate under Yu Chang directly defected and revealed the news to the Xiongnu high-level. So after this, the Xiongnu directly sent troops to surround the mission and arrested everyone.
And when Su Wu saw that the embassy was surrounded, he was also confused for a while, and he didn't know what was happening at all. After that, the Xiongnu arrested all the people in the mission for interrogation. At that time, there was no diplomatic immunity, so Su Wu was also arrested.
At a critical moment, Su Wu simply turned his heart and directly chose to commit suicide. But as a result, he did not succeed in suicide, but was saved by the Xiongnu.
After that, after some interrogation, the Xiongnu side also roughly figured out the situation. That Shan Yu also knew that this matter was done by the deputy envoy of the mission, and it really had nothing to do with Su Wu. But the problem is that if Su Wu is just let go back, the Han Dynasty will definitely not be willing to do so, and the two sides will definitely have to go to war afterwards. And if you kill Su Wu, the result is also a war.
Therefore, the Xiongnu, who were in a dilemma, thought of directly recruiting Su Wu and making Su Wu surrender. Anyway, when the Han Dynasty surrendered to the Xiongnu, there were not a few. Coupled with Su Wu's previous suicide, it really made him admire. So next, Shan Yu offered a very high price to make Su Wu surrender. Moreover, Shan Yu also sent several high-ranking generals who had surrendered from the Han Dynasty to persuade Su Wu to surrender.
As a result, Su Wu finally scolded all these people back, and he did not surrender.
For this result, the Xiongnu Shan Yu naturally had a headache. Killing is not good to kill, and letting go and not being put, no matter how you look at it, it seems to be a scourge. So in the end, Shan Yu exiled Suvu directly to the side of Lake Baikal, which at that time was called the North Sea. Shan Yu said that as long as he herded sheep here, and then the ram could give birth to lambs, he would let him go back.
In this way, Su Wu was exiled by the Xiongnu. If you look at it from the perspective of future generations, Su Wu at this time can actually die completely. Since Su Wu is unwilling to surrender, and the Xiongnu side has no intention of releasing people, then why is Su Wu still willing to insist on surviving?
This question, from the perspective of modern people, may not be easy to understand. But if you get the historical background at that time, it is actually easy to understand. Because in the eyes of Su Wu at that time, even if he was exiled to the side of Lake Baikal, it would not be long before the Han Dynasty army would immediately fight and take him back!
This is really not that Su Wu is overconfident, but because just twenty years ago, the battle in which Huo Qubing sealed Wolf Juxu directly led troops to penetrate the entire territory of the Xiongnu. At that time, Huo Qubing led troops to the area of Lake Baikal. Therefore, in Su Wu's view, since the Xiongnu attacked and killed the mission, with the national strength of the Han Dynasty, he would definitely start a war with the Xiongnu next.
And after the war, perhaps in less than two years, the Han Dynasty will be able to penetrate the Xiongnu again, and then it will be able to go back itself.
Objectively speaking, Su Wu's idea is really not blindly confident, because the Han Dynasty did have this ability at that time. But the problem is that after that, Su Wu was pitted by the second important person.
This person's name is Li Guangli. Those who are familiar with this history know that after the deaths of Huo Qubing and Wei Qing one after another, Emperor Wudi of Han promoted Li Guangli, who was also a foreign relative, because he felt that there was no one in the army. After Li Guangli led the troops, he first led troops to expedition to Dawan in the Western Regions, and later led troops to fight with the Xiongnu.
When Su Wu sent an envoy to the Xiongnu, Li Guangli had already finished fighting Dawan. At this time, Li Guangli had completely taken over Wei Qing's class and became the number one general of the Han Dynasty. So when the news of the embassy being killed came back, Emperor Wudi of Han once again launched a large army to attack the Xiongnu, and it was this Li Guangli who was in charge of leading the troops at that time.
But as a result, because Li Guangli's level was too poor, after the battle between the two sides, the Han Dynasty not only failed to defeat the Xiongnu, but also lost troops and generals continuously. This result made the Xiongnu side also confused. Even that Marquis Shan Yu couldn't understand why the Han Dynasty could easily defeat the Xiongnu at its peak more than twenty years ago. And twenty years later, the Xiongnu declined, but the Han Dynasty could not defeat them?
For this result, the Xiongnu side may not have been able to think clearly at that time, but this did not prevent them from going to war with the Han Dynasty. In the following years, because of Li Guangli's poor command, the Xiongnu once again walked out of northern Mobei and began to expand again into southern Mo.
It was also during this period that the surrender of Li Ling occurred in the Han Dynasty. Even the grandson of the Fei general Li Guang surrendered to the Xiongnu. And the famous historian Sima Qian also suffered palace punishment for this. After Li Ling surrendered, he also came to Beihai to see Su Wu, hoping to persuade Su Wu to surrender. As a result, as expected, Li Ling was also scolded back by Su Wu.
And for Su Wu, who is far away in the North Sea, this matter is also very influential.
When Su Wu had just been arrested before, the Xiongnu did not dare to be too difficult for him. Even if the Han Dynasty could not penetrate the Xiongnu, after defeating the Xiongnu in the future, it could use this matter as a bargaining chip and ask the Xiongnu to let Su Wu return. However, Li Guangli's successive defeats caused the Xiongnu to quickly regain their confidence, and after that, they were even less afraid of the Han Dynasty.
In this way, if Su Wu wants to go home, it is naturally completely impossible.
In this way, since he and Su Wu were captured by the Xiongnu, in the blink of an eye, thirteen years passed in a hurry. During these thirteen years, a lot happened on the Han Dynasty. First, the Han Dynasty fought with the Xiongnu, and then lost several wars. Then, in the later years of Emperor Wudi of Han, the scourge of witchcraft occurred again.
Thirteen years later, Emperor Wudi of Han also died, and then Emperor Han Zhao ascended the throne.
In the main line of history on the side of the Han Dynasty, Su Wu did not have any sense of existence, because he was indeed not in the Han Dynasty at that time. And when a lot of things happened on the side of the Han Dynasty, Su Wu was herding sheep on the Baikal side, and the bitterness was not good. By the time Emperor Wudi of Han died, Su Wu was 54 years old.
Therefore, when Su Wu heard that Emperor Hanwu had died, he cried directly until he vomited blood. This is not only crying about the death of Emperor Wudi of Han, but also crying about his own future.
While Emperor Wudi of Han was alive, he was not yet able to return to the Han Dynasty. Then after the death of Emperor Wudi of Han, I am afraid that he will have no chance to go back in this life.
But what Su Wu didn't expect was that after the death of Emperor Wudi of Han, his life ushered in a turning point.
The historical truth of this paragraph is probably like this. Needless to say, since the death of Emperor Wudi of Han, the young Emperor Zhao of Han ascended the throne. After that, the Han Dynasty was governed by Huo Guang and several other auxiliary ministers, and the country began to completely stop the war.
On the Xiongnu side, although there is no clear historical record, according to the research of later historians, a lot of things also happened.
A few years after Su Wu was exiled, the Xiongnu's Marquis Shan Yu died, and his son Hugu Lu Shan Yu took over. And two years after the death of Emperor Wudi of Han, this fox deer Shan Yu also died, and then Hu Yan Shan Yu took over.
For this pot alone, the historian knows very little, and even nothing. First, on the side of the Xiongnu, there was no habit of recording history, and they did not even have a systematic text. Second, during the reign of this Shan Yu, the Han Dynasty rested for a long time and had little communication with the Xiongnu. In this way, the Han Dynasty did not know much about this Shan Yu.
But there is one thing, we know. He was the penultimate Shan Yu during the Xiongnu unification period. Only ten years after his death, the Huns were completely divided.
Therefore, if this Hu Yan Shan Yu is taken to the history of the Central Plains Dynasty, it is probably equivalent to the Hancheng Emperor of the Western Han Dynasty, the Han Ling Emperor of the Eastern Han Dynasty, or the Emperor of the Apocalypse of the Ming Dynasty who likes to be a carpenter. Anyway, he is basically the last monarch.
In general, in this case, no matter which regime it is, there will be many internal contradictions.
Therefore, when the Han Dynasty began to recuperate, various internal contradictions began to appear on the Xiongnu side. And after that, the Xiongnu could not move, and even they could not even organize a group to attack the border of the Han Dynasty. In this way, in the future, to maintain trade and obtain materials that cannot be obtained on the grassland, the Xiongnu can only choose to resume communication with the Han Dynasty and resume trade.
In this way, in the era of Emperor Han Zhao, there was a new connection between the Xiongnu and the Han Dynasty.
When the two sides began to re-communicate, the Han Dynasty soon asked for Su Wu's release. At the beginning, the Xiongnu side did not release people, so it was said that Su Wu was dead. But later, Chang Hui, another of Su Wu's subordinates, managed to meet the envoy sent by the Han Dynasty during this period and told the envoy that Su Wu was not dead.
So in the end, the envoy told the Xiongnu Shan Yu that the emperor of the Han Dynasty received a wild goose in the capital, and the wild goose had a letter from Su Wu tied to its leg, which proved that Su Wu was still alive. After this, the Xiongnu side had to bring Su Wu back and let Su Wu return to the Han Dynasty.
In this way, after Emperor Han Zhao ascended the throne, the two sides fought for nearly six years, and Su Wucai finally returned to the Han Dynasty.
After returning to the Han Dynasty, Su Wu lived for another twenty years. During this time, Su Wuxian was recognized by the entire Han Dynasty and was given a very high status. But a few years later, when Huo Guang was fighting for power with two other auxiliary ministers, he was unfortunately involved again, and his son was executed for treason.
Later, after Emperor Xuan of Han ascended the throne, Su Wu was promoted again because he participated in supporting Emperor Xuan of Han, and was given a lot of wealth. However, for Su Wu at this time, the so-called fame and fortune are actually not important. Because Su Wu at this time had no descendants in the Han Dynasty.
Fortunately, later, after Emperor Han Xuan knew about this matter, he still paid more attention to it. Later, Emperor Xuan of Han knew that Su Wu still had a son on the Xiongnu side, so he sent people to contact the Xiongnu, and finally brought Su Wu's son back, which was regarded as inheriting incense for Su Wu. And when Su Wu's Xiongnu son returned, within a few years, Su Wu died at the age of eighty.
This is the final ending of Su Wu.
Since Su Wu's death, in later history, Su Wu has actually become a person similar to a symbol. For future generations, Su Wu represents the kind of character that is unyielding and would rather die than surrender.
So why was Su Wu's status so high in later history? The answer is actually very simple, because the Han Dynasty needed such a person. Or rather, all later Central Plains dynasties needed such a symbol.
People familiar with the history of the Western Han Dynasty should have noticed such an interesting phenomenon: during the period of Emperor Wudi of Han, there were many Han Dynasty ministers who directly defected to the Xiongnu. Some of these people, some later claimed to have surrendered falsely, and eventually returned to the Han Dynasty. There were also people who finally surrendered completely and stayed with the Huns all their lives.
Such people were really not two at the time. For example, the famous explorer Zhang Qian, who lived in the Xiongnu for twelve years, belongs to the former. When Zhang Qian was in the Xiongnu, he is said to have left heirs.
As for the latter, then more. For example, the general Li Ling who surrendered, and Li Guangli, the brother-in-law of Emperor Wudi of Han, both surrendered to the Xiongnu and did not return.
If from the perspective of later generations, people like Li Ling and Li Guangli should naturally be spurned, because they betrayed the Han Dynasty.
But the problem is that at that time, this kind of thing, people were actually not so resistant. Because at that time there was no concept of between countries.
In the eyes of the people of the Han Dynasty, the Han Dynasty was a dynasty, and then the Han Dynasty was surrounded by his little brother, or a group of barbarians. Because there is no clear concept of the state, the boundaries of surrender are not so clear.
Because the people at that time could not clearly divide, who was their own person and who was the enemy. Which war is a foreign war and which war is a civil war.
If according to blood relations, then the Huns are actually their own people. Because from the history books of the Han Dynasty, the Han Dynasty people believe that the ancestors of the Xiongnu are the descendants of the Xia Dynasty royal family exiled to the grassland after the fall of the Xia Dynasty that year. Other frontier regimes, such as the Qiang, Yelang, South Vietnam, East Vietnam, and Wei Manchu Korea, if they had to go back to their roots, they might also have Yanhuang bloodlines.
So if we discuss it from the perspective of blood relations, then these border regimes are also their own people. The wars between the Han Dynasty and them were also civil wars.
But if discussed from the perspective of the state, these frontier regimes are obviously not the same thing as the Han Dynasty. But at the same time, if it is based on the state, then how should the war between the Han Dynasty and those local princely states be calculated?
Therefore, these problems, for a long time, have plagued the ruling class of the Han Dynasty. In this way, everyone's definition of surrender is different.
And the appearance of Su Wu just solved this problem.
epilogue
Su Wu's story is almost a perfect benchmark. The ruling class of the Han Dynasty may not be able to strictly explain what kind of war is considered a foreign war and what kind of war is a civil war. But they can say that people like Su Wu are right. In the future, as long as everyone learns from Su Wu, then it will be okay.
Therefore, since then, Su Wu has become a symbolic figure. Later feudal dynasties also needed to face this problem. In this way, Su Wu's story was naturally widely spread and gradually known by later generations.