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Text: Yanyan
Edited by Yeon-yeon
Preface
Liu Yuan and Shi Le are two legendary figures in Chinese history who laid the foundations of the Han and Later Zhao regimes, respectively.
Liu Yuan, the brilliant leader, succeeded in ending the rule of the Western Jin Dynasty; And Shile, a slave from humble origins, through his extraordinary wisdom and courage, achieved an astonishing counterattack and established his own empire.
How are the fates of these two heroes intertwined? How did they rise in the turbulent times?
1. The origins are very different, and the young man has the world in his heart
At the beginning of the fourth century, the Central Plains under the rule of the Jin Dynasty was in turmoil. Ethnic minorities such as the Qian, Di, Qiang, and Xianbei have risen up one after another to compete with the Han people for the world.
Liu Yuan was born into a Xiongnu aristocratic family in Taiyuan. When he was seven years old, he lost his mother. This young man, who understands the Confucian "filial piety" way, cried and fainted several times in front of his mother's spirit.
Liu Yuan has been familiar with Confucian classics since he was a child, and his speech is extraordinary, coupled with his tall and handsome figure, he has won the praise of the government and the opposition. As the son of a Xiongnu chieftain, he was sent to Luoyang as a hostage.
At that time, Luoyang was magnificent, singing every night, and the decadence and extravagance of the upper class of society opened the eyes of this young man. He secretly vowed that one day he would change all this and build an empire of his own.
Shile came from a humble background, and his parents were slaves. Born in troubled times, he was displaced at a very young age, changed hands several times, and became a slave. He was strong and tall, loved to practice martial arts, and had a taciturn personality.
In the process of being bought and sold repeatedly, he met the kind-hearted owner Guo Jing's family. The Guo family gave Shi Le the dignity of being a human being, and it was there that he learned to ride and shoot and practiced his skills. From then on, the seeds of rebellion were planted in Shiler's heart.
Second, the rise of heroes in troubled times opened the road to nation-building
The Yongjia Rebellion broke out, and the Eight Kings Rebellion rose one after another. The land of the Central Plains is full of flames, and lives are devastated. Liu Yuan saw the opportunity, united with the Xiongnu forces, and raised troops in Taiyuan.
In 304 AD, he established himself as king, established the Han regime, and set the capital Pingyang. This was the first regime in the Sixteen Kingdoms, and it opened the prelude to the Five Chaos of China.
During the war, Shile was repeatedly abducted and trafficked. He was rescued by a landlord named Shi Huan and was freed. Shile gathered a rabble and began a career of robbery. Soon, he stood out for his bravery and leadership, gathering a loyal group.
Later, Shi Le took refuge in the Xiazhou clan Jisang. In a battle against Kisang's enemies, he showed his skills and became the number one general under Kisang's command in one fell swoop.
Opportunities are always reserved for those who are prepared. Liu Yuan sat on a heavy army, won all four battles, and successively annexed Liangzhou and Qinzhou. In 308 A.D., he proclaimed himself emperor and established the former Zhao regime. The Han scholars and Confucian scholars responded one after another, and jointly assisted him in expanding the territory, forcing the secluded annex in the north and bordering the Jiang and Han dynasties in the south.
In 310 AD, Liu Yuan died. On his deathbed, he passed the throne to his eldest son Liu He and handed over the military power to his second son Liu Cong. The brothers were unwilling to divide equally, and Liu Cong killed his brother to seize the throne, ending Liu Yuan's dream of "three sons and grandchildren in the world".
So far, it is not so much that the former Zhao was created by Liu Yuan, but that he was a pioneer who opened the door to the founding of the Huns. Shi Le has also transformed from a reckless man to a trendsetter of the times.
Third, the Northern Expedition called the king and the emperor, and wrote the hegemony of the thousand years
Jisang died in battle, and Shile became the "sweet and sweet" of the Xiongnu regime. In 310 AD, he submitted to Liu Yuan's son, Liu Cong. At this time, he had a heavy army in his hands, and he began to be eager to try. But at this time, there were still two strong rivals in the north: Wang Jun, the assassin of Youzhou, and Liu Kun, the great clan of Jinyang.
Wang Jun was Sima Yan's confidant and once led the Xianbei reinforcements to wash Yecheng in blood. Shile hated him to the core. But he did not rush to send troops, but waited for the rabbit, made a big fanfare, and showed weakness and sued for peace.
Wang Jun obeyed Shi Le's words, not knowing that he had laid an ambush outside the city. When Shile attacked the city, Wang Jun only had time to make the last resistance, and soon he was captured. After that, Shi Le waved his army south and attacked Liu Kun.
In 316 AD, the city of Jinyang was broken and Liu Kun was captured. At this point, Schle unified the north. The military officials under his command repeatedly wrote to persuade him to take the throne of the emperor.
In 319 A.D., Shi Le obeyed the will of the people and called him King Zhao, and the year name was "Guangchu". This move is undoubtedly paving the way for the upcoming emperor. The throne is within reach, but the real challenge has just begun.
Schler was faced with the dilemma of navigating south. At that time, the famous general of the Jin Dynasty, Zu Ti, who guarded Jiangdong, repeatedly went on northern expeditions and dealt a heavy blow to Shile. In 321 A.D., Shi Leqin led a large army to confront him on the slippery platform, and the two sides fought for three days, and it was difficult to distinguish the victory or defeat.
Shi Le admired Zu Ti's military talent, and once said, "If you get your grandfather, you can set the world with me." Heaven does not fulfill people's wishes. Zu Ti died of illness soon after, and Shile, who no longer had to worry about the south, began the tireless cause of reunification.
In 329 AD, he successively destroyed the former Liang, Qianyan and other separatist forces, and unified the Yellow River Valley. The following year, he proclaimed himself emperor in Xiangguo and established the Later Zhao regime.
Fourth, support the children of cronies and bury hidden dangers of chaos
After Shile came to power, he appointed many of his cronies. Among them, there is his nephew Shi Hu. Shi Hu's real surname is Murong, and he is incognito to avoid revenge. He met his uncle Shile in Xiangguo, and only then did he revert to his surname.
Shi Le trusted Shi Hu very much, and he led many battles. In 333 AD, Shile became seriously ill and passed the throne to his son Shihiro on his deathbed. Shi Hongcai was mediocre, and the actual power fell into the hands of Shi Hu.
Shi Hong's two younger brothers, Shi Ning and Shi Min, soon noticed that Shi Hu had bad intentions. They dissuaded Shi Hong many times, asking him to beware of Shi Hu, but Shi Hong disagreed. In 334 AD, Shi Hu staged a palace coup d'état, killed the three Shi Hong brothers, and usurped the Later Zhao regime.
The Shi regime continued to have civil strife, and the powerful of all ethnic groups began to move. Ethnic minorities such as the Murong clan, the Qian, and the Xianbei also took the opportunity to rise. Soon, a Han general named Ran Min established the Wei regime, and Ran Wei's soldiers pointed directly at Later Zhao.
In the same year, with the support of his clansmen, Shi Le's son Shi Di rebelled against Hou Zhao in Jincheng, Shanxi Province, defeating Shi Hu's army in one fell swoop, forcing the latter to flee in a hurry.
In 350 AD, Yecheng was breached, and the Later Zhao established by Shi Le was completely destroyed, and the Shi family withdrew from the historical stage.
Fifth, loyalty and filial piety are difficult to achieve, and children and grandchildren bear the burden
In the arduous entrepreneurial stage, Shile was carefully cared for by Guo Jing's family. Later, when conquering the city, he met his benefactor Guo Jing again. Facing the captive Guo Jing, Shi Le knelt on the ground and worshipped, treating him as a reborn parent.
Even though Guo Jing repeatedly persuaded him to give up his ambition to seize the world, Shi Le still ignored his previous suspicions and treated him as a guest. But Schle has different standards for his own son.
He once thought about passing on the throne to his more talented youngest son Shi Di, but due to the traditional concept of "it is contrary to human ethics to establish a successor or not to establish a long-term heir", he finally handed over the throne to his eldest son Shi Hong.
Even when he was dying, he had a premonition that Shi Hu would be unfavorable to his children and grandchildren, but he still failed to eradicate the troubles ruthlessly. In that era when the brother was the last brother, Shi Le, who was powerful in the past, did not get rid of his blood fate after all, but buried the catastrophe under the foundation of Hou Zhao.
epilogue
Liu Yuan and Shi Le, rare grassroots emperors in Chinese history, started from scratch, struggled in troubled times, and finally reached the pinnacle of power. But it is difficult to achieve both family and country, and loyalty and filial piety are difficult to achieve both.
The fratricidal nature of the Jin royal family created opportunities for Shile; And his kindness to his relatives eventually led to a big mistake, and his family was driven out and killed.
The lives of the two are the epitome of the magnificent waves of that turbulent era, and they have also left endless thoughts for future generations. Thousands of years later, when we relive this eventful time, we still sigh for the fate of those influential figures.