Chapter 436 Liu Dan's Achievements
The commercial tax, asset tax and the death of the King of Jiaodong have caused a lot of controversy, just like a huge rock hitting a deep and vast lake or sea, which may stir up countless waves, but will eventually return to calm.
Emperor Liu Dan's action was just a small violation of the rules, which was nothing to the people of the world, especially since it did not affect enough princes and affected enough people.
With the virtues of the four emperors Gao, Hui, Wen and Wu, Emperor Ding was not a person who would bring chaos to the world. The Han Dynasty could be said to be as stable as Mount Tai.
As the situation gradually calmed down, the focus of the world returned to the war against the Southwestern Yi. Although a lot of trouble was caused by collecting taxes, Sang Hongyang did succeed in collecting the money, enough to support the needs of the army.
In Changle Palace.
Liu Dan looked at the generals in front of him with a gleaming gaze, his face full of excitement, and said loudly: "I have gathered all the money and food, and the rest will be handed over to you ministers.
If you can win, everything will be fine.
If we cannot win, I will personally lead the army to conquer the southwest, to see what kind of dangerous place it is that can defeat my great Han army."
Emperor Liu Dan's tone was not harsh, but it was full of desire for victory. He personally presided over and strongly supported this war. If he won, his prestige would be greatly enhanced, especially if he led the army in person to win, which would completely make up for all his shortcomings.
After finishing speaking, Emperor Liu Dan was still a little worried, and said: "Whether it is Guanzhong or Guandong, most of the Han army soldiers are from the Central Plains. They will definitely not adapt to the wild land of the southwest. You may not be familiar with the mountains, rivers, hydrology and geography. This is because the time and place are not favorable for our army.
The only thing that can defeat the barbarians is the excellent armor and strong personal abilities of our Han army soldiers. Follow the strategy I have formulated and do not take risks. The Han Dynasty cannot accept another failure. Do you understand?"
“Yes!”
The dukes and ministers, led by the general, responded in unison.
There were about twenty marquises who went on this expedition, with two thousand private soldiers alone, plus three thousand imperial guards. These were elite soldiers who could carry armor. Together with the auxiliary soldiers who cooperated with these armored soldiers and the peasant soldiers who transported logistics, it could be said that there was an army of one hundred thousand.
The army set out from Guanzhong in a mighty manner and headed towards the southwest.
…
Luo Sheng stayed in Chang'an City, quietly watching the imperial army go out. The housekeeper, who was also one of Luo Sheng's brothers, asked curiously, "Sir, do you think the imperial court can win?"
Luo Sheng smiled and said, "As long as the Han court is not greedy, it will be victorious."
“Not greedy?”
Luo Sheng explained: "Could it be those Southwestern Yi who are hindering the victory of the Han army?
Since the unification of the Han Dynasty, since the development of iron smelting, and since the martial spirit became popular in the Han Dynasty, no other barbarians except the Huns have been able to threaten the survival of the Han Dynasty.
To the east of the Han Dynasty is the sea, to the north is the grassland and Gobi, to the west is the desert, and to the south are towering mountains. These natural terrain barriers have always hindered the victory of the Han army.
The family has a geomancy map of the world, and the terrain of the southwest is very clear. It is a natural place of separatism. If the indigenous people living there cannot be made to accept the unification of the court culturally, even the most prosperous Central Plains dynasty will be dragged down there.
If it were just to maintain counties in the plains, it would be very simple. The Southwestern Yi were not qualified to fight the Han army head-on and could only hide in the mountains.
However, the emperor knew about this matter at the court meeting that day, so there is a high probability that he will win."
In fact, before modern society, the southwest region has always been semi-autonomous, with the so-called chieftain rule. It was not that the idea of changing the chieftain system to the official system was not unthinkable, but that it was simply impossible to do. In the Jinchuan battles, how much money was spent, how many artillery pieces were used, and how many Sauron soldiers died before it was finally taken. It was because the mountains were high and steep and beyond human reach. It was really like one man blocking a pass and ten thousand men unable to get through.
The housekeeper suddenly realized what was going on and asked, "Sir, when are we leaving for the Western Regions?"
Luo Sheng was originally there to support Liu Jin, but when Liu Jin died, Luo Sheng decided to go to the Western Regions to meet his second brother, Wushuang Hou Luo Shi, the current Protector General of the Western Regions.
Luo Sheng waved his hand and said worriedly: "Don't worry, stay in Chang'an first and see the situation of the war in the southwest. Also, we need to observe the emperor carefully. I hope he is not a reckless emperor who only knows military affairs.
The Han Dynasty has finally achieved its current prosperity. If it were to be defeated by an emperor, wouldn’t all the efforts made by the ancestors for the Han Dynasty become a joke? "
…
After the Han army entered the southwest, they changed their previous strategy of underestimating the enemy and advancing rashly. Except for marching, they never went into the mountains. On the contrary, the Southwestern Yi people, because of their previous victory, looked down on the Han army. They thought that these troops from the Central Plains were not as powerful as rumored. As a result, they were severely taught a lesson by the Han army.
The Western Regions and the Xiongnu could obtain sophisticated armor, sharp bows and arrows, sharp swords from Central Asia, and even had soldiers who were no less capable than the Han army, but the Southwestern Yi had absolutely none of these.
In this era when there was no migration to the south, only the Lingnan Kingdom had the culture and technology obtained from the Han Dynasty. The gap in weapons, technology and civilization between the Southwestern Yi and the Han court was too great.
The saying "one Han against five barbarians" refers to these mixed barbarians.
Without the emperor holding them back, the Han army was able to recover lost territory with great momentum. In the relatively flat areas, between the gurgling streams, and in the few farmlands suitable for farming, there was blood and corpses everywhere.
The coarse cloth clothes on the corpses were all tattered, and the stones scattered on the ground seemed to be some farm tools from the sharp edges. When iron tools had been basically popularized in the Central Plains, these southwestern barbarians were still using stone tools. It was as if you were back three thousand years ago, giving you a feeling of time travel.
Seeing the barbarians fleeing to the mountains, the general knew it was time to put away his fierce tactics and adopt a gentle approach, so he ordered: "Destroy all habitable places, burn all things needed for survival, and then raise the flag of the Han Dynasty.
Tell those barbarians who are willing to submit and surrender to the court to come down the mountain and swear in the name of King Su that I will not kill them. "
The Han army soldiers cheered loudly. This is what the Han army should experience, victory!
Continuous victory!
…
"How can the mere Southwestern Yi stop the Han people?"
Emperor Liu Dan laughed loudly, so loud that it even shook the roof of the palace and caused a little dust to fall. He waved the battle report in his hand and said to the ministers in the palace: "This is the battle report that the general just sent.
After the army set out from Chang'an, it marched for two consecutive months, crossed the Qinling Mountains, crossed the river, and reached the southwest.
Since our Han soldiers entered the southwest, they rested for a while to adapt to the local environment, and then immediately marched quickly to raid the cities occupied by the Southwestern Yi.
We have won more than ten battles, big and small, and have recovered all the lost territories in the last war in the South and recaptured all the cities. I can now declare that the southwest has returned to the territory of our Han Dynasty.
After the army recaptured the city, they fought fiercely with the Southwestern Yi who came to support them. Eight thousand Han soldiers faced one hundred thousand Yi people, and killed more than 50,000 Southwestern Yi people. They also killed three Southwestern Yi kings, who were among the tribes that caused the greatest damage to our Han soldiers last time.
The casualties among our soldiers were no more than a hundred, and the casualties among our officers and men were no more than three thousand. In order to avoid being hunted down by our Han soldiers, the remaining barbarians fled into the mountains and never dared to show up again.
My Lords, I am delighted!
The soldiers of the Han Dynasty fought hard and achieved such results. How can I not be happy?
What do you think, gentlemen? "
Victory can cover up all contradictions, let alone such a great victory?
Many people even thought that if the last war in the South had been fought by the current emperor, the 200,000 soldiers would probably not have shed blood in the mountains and forests.
"Long live the Han Dynasty! Long live your Majesty!"
The first person shouted this, then a few people, and soon the whole palace was shouting this.
Liu Dan laughed a little wildly. This was his goal.
Force your brother to death?
Increase taxes on the people?
Merchant bankruptcy?
Look at the eyes of these ministers. There is only admiration and awe. There is not even the slightest dissatisfaction.
Those things were all blamed on incompetent emperors. As long as unprecedented achievements were created, as long as the Han Dynasty could be pushed to an unprecedented peak, what would a few mistakes matter?
There is no one in this world who does not make mistakes. Thinking of this, Liu Dan even regretted killing those people who slandered him before. He should have let them see what is happening now.
I am the most suitable emperor for the Han Dynasty!
Luo Mansion.
Luo Sheng also received the news of the great victory in the southwest, and smiled and shook his head and said: "It seems that this emperor is much more capable than we thought, and every decision he made in the southwest war was correct.
This is a good thing. As long as you show some sympathy to the people, the Han Dynasty will become extremely powerful. Let's go to the Western Regions."
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"Tyrannical emperor" is what the ancient Chinese called Liu Dan. In fact, compared with the tyrants in Western history, this emperor who appeared in the middle of the Han Empire was actually an accomplished emperor. He had military talents that were not inferior to his father. He strongly supported military meritorious officials, and military expenditures increased significantly again. A series of military actions strongly maintained the empire's rule over the territory. ——"Global History: Qin and Han Volume 5"
————
In recent years, some people who are trying to attract attention have cited Western historians' historical evaluation of Liu Dan under the pretext of different perspectives. This is not wrong, but the author needs to remind you that the West's high evaluation of Liu Dan is mainly due to the long-term tolerance of military emperors in Western history, which is completely different from the focus of Chinese history. In this chapter, the author will give a detailed account of Liu Dan, an extremely key emperor of the Han Dynasty. ——"History of the Rise and Fall of the Han Dynasty"
(End of this chapter)
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