Recently, the domestic animation "Thirty-six Rides" ended. The animation tells the magnificent epic of Ban Chao leading 36 cavalry to fight against the Xiongnu during the Eastern Han Dynasty and finally pacifying the countries of the Western Regions.
Since Zhang Qian of the Western Han Dynasty carved out the land and opened up the Silk Road to the world for China, the Western Regions has become the target of the Central Plains Dynasty in successive dynasties. At the turn of the Han Dynasty, the new dynasty established by Wang Mang once lost control of the Western Regions.
In this context, how did Ban Chao lead his cronies "Thirty-six Cavalry" to reopen the Western Regions for the Eastern Han Dynasty when the national strength was not as strong as that of the Western Han Dynasty?
Ban Chao in "Thirty-six Rides". ** Screenshot of the domestic anime "Thirty-six Riders".
What makes Ban Chao "throw pen from Rong".
In 37 AD, Emperor Guangwu of the Han Dynasty, Liu Xiu, finally eliminated the local secession regime and established the unified Eastern Han Dynasty. However, after decades of war, the people of the world are in hardship, and the majestic Han family iron cavalry in the past has long been not as large as when Emperor Wu and Emperor Xuan were in the past. So Liu Xiu, who "immediately fought the world", actually chose to learn the route of "the rule of Wenjing" Xi, put his swords and guns into storage, and recuperate.
Qing people painted Liu Xiu's portrait. ** Portraits of Chinese Celebrities in Past Dynasties, edited by the Conservation Department of the Chinese History Museum, Strait Literature and Art Publishing House, 2003.
Taking advantage of the decades of chaos in the world, the Northern Xiongnu, who were crushed by the Western Han Dynasty, re-emerged, united with Xianbei, Wuhuan and other ethnic groups to continue to attack the border counties of the Han Dynasty and kill the people. At this time, Liu Xiu and his team to fight the world are still there, and the combat power of the hundred battles of the founding of the country still exists, if Liu Xiu sends troops to the north to conquer the Xiongnu, he may not be able to win. However, Liu Xiu would rather move more than 60,000 officials and civilians from Yanmen County, Dai County, and Shanggu County to the east of Juyong Pass and Changshan Pass as a way of escaping rather than send another arrow to the north. Fortunately, the Liaodong Taishou priest he appointed was a strengthened version of "Li Guang", who not only defeated the invasions of various tribes in the grassland many times, but also encompassed Xianbei and Wuhuan to stand on the side of the Han Dynasty against the Xiongnu.
Liu Xiu's practice of arranging sacrifices to defend instead of attacking has defused the pressure on border defense and stabilized border tranquility to a certain extent. However, the Western Regions once again fell under the control of the Xiongnu, which could not be changed without taking the initiative. The countries of the Western Regions sent envoys many times to ask the Han Dynasty to send troops to rescue them, but Liu Xiu thought that he should develop himself first now, and not care about things so far away in the Western Regions.
As the son of the Eastern Han Dynasty historian Ban Biao, Ban Chao grew up in the context of this major national policy. Under the influence of a strong family background, Ban Chao has read a lot of books since he was a child, learned Xi the truth of the rise and fall of chaos in ancient and modern times, and established lofty ambitions. But although there is a family history, Ban Chao's family is not rich, and his father died when he was in his early 20s, leaving little property to the three brothers and sisters of the Ban family. At that time, there was no imperial examination system, and filial piety could not be lifted on himself, so Ban Chao could only earn money by copying official documents in the capital Luoyang.
Qing people paint a super portrait. ** Portraits of Chinese Celebrities in Past Dynasties, edited by the Conservation Department of the Chinese History Museum, Strait Literature and Art Publishing House, 2003.
Although he is doing simple work, Ban Chao's heart of making contributions has never been cold, and he often puts down his pen, lamenting that his husband should be like Zhang Qian and make contributions in a foreign country. Once, Ban Chao went to meet someone, and the person who met him said: "Your forehead is like a swallow, your neck is like a tiger, flying and eating meat, this is the appearance of the marquis of thousands of miles!."These words inadvertently broke Ban Chao's fate in this life.
As a literary and historical family in Fufeng County (now Baoji, Shaanxi), the Ban family has been Confucian for generations, but Ban Chao wants to go to the border to make meritorious contributions and fight, does it mean that he is an outlier?
Definitely. The ancestors of the Ban family in the early years of the Western Han Dynasty, Ban Yi and Ban Ru, were brave warriors, robbing the rich and helping the poor, presiding over justice, and being praised by the people of the state and county. It wasn't until the family entered the capital and began to study Xi scriptures that they embarked on the road of "literature". Despite this, the martial style was not annihilated in the Ban family, and Ban Biao's uncle Ban Bo had held a festival to welcome the Xiongnu Shan Yu during the period of Emperor Cheng of the Western Han Dynasty, and also took the initiative to ask Ying to quell the rebellion of the Hao clan in Dingxiang. It can be seen that Ban Chao's bravery and ambition are not genetic mutations, but also genetic inheritance.
Map of Fufeng County in the Eastern Han Dynasty. ** Tan Qixiang, Historical Atlas of China
After Ban Chao's eldest brother Ban Gu served as the school secretary, Emperor Ming of the Han Dynasty appointed Ban Chao as the Lantai Lingshi, in charge of the chapters and documents. After decades of recuperation, the national strength of the Eastern Han Dynasty rose to a new level, and Emperor Ming began to change the original national policy and actively traveled through the grassland and the northwest. In the sixteenth year of Yongping (73), Emperor Ming sent Dou Gu, a general of his relatives, to lead a large army to the northwest in an attempt to recapture the Western Regions from the Huns. Ban Chao was sent by Emperor Ming to Dou Gu's account and served as a fake Sima (**Sima) in the army.
Dou Gu originally thought that Ban Chao was born as a literati and only planned to make him an ordinary general, but he didn't expect this fake Sima who was over forty years old to be so "violent". Ban Chao sensed that the Huns would attack the Han army camp at night, so he suggested that Dou Gu show the enemy with an empty camp, and the main force was ambushed on the outer line, waiting for the Huns to come and attack. Dou Gu followed what he said, and sure enough, he broke the Hun cavalry in a battle.
Dou Gu greatly appreciated Ban Chao's talent, and sighed that he could pick up the treasure now, so he said to Ban Chao: "I am going to send you to Shanshan to persuade the king to form an alliance with the Han to fight against the Xiongnu, do you dare to go?"”
The countries of the Western Regions have been controlled by the Northern Xiongnu for decades, and no one can guarantee whether this will succeed, and may even lose their lives. Unexpectedly, Ban Chao was happy when he heard the battle: Isn't this the opportunity that I have always wanted to make contributions thousands of miles away?So I immediately agreed. Dou Gu asked him how many people he needed to bring, and Ban Chao said that I didn't need to bring a lot of people, and bringing the 36 people I was familiar with around me was enough to "convince people with virtue". So Dou Gu asked him to lead Guo Sui and 36 other people to Shanshan Country together. And the 36 strong men led by Ban Chao are the origin of "Thirty-six Horsemen".
The "Thirty-six Cavalry" won the first battle
Fight with one punch, lest a hundred punches come. In the case that the countries of the Western Regions were subordinate to the Xiongnu, Shanshan became the first object to be "killed and set an example for monkeys". After Ban Chao and his entourage entered Shanshan Kingdom, King Shanshan received them respectfully. But when it came to the second meeting, King Shanshan became cold. In this way, Ban Chao expected that there must be a ghost, and it must be the envoy of the Northern Huns. So he consulted with 36 people and said: If we are discovered by the Xiongnu envoys, it will be more than lucky. If you don't enter the tiger's den, you can get the tiger. It is better for us to kill the Xiongnu envoy at night, so as to force the king of Shanshan to return to Han.
Map of Shanshan in the Eastern Han Dynasty. ** Tan Qixiang, Historical Atlas of China
Everyone looked at each other, thinking that we were more than 30 people, and we were still fighting away, could this work?But seeing Ban Chao's determined eyes, then muster up the courage to gamble!So Ban Chao led everyone to ambush in the camp of the Hun envoys that night, and lit a fire along the wind, and the Hun envoys who were still sleeping suddenly fled in shock, and were blocked in front of the camp by Ban Chao and others. On the second day, seeing more than 100 Xiongnu heads neatly placed in front of him, King Shanshan and his courtiers trembled with fright, and immediately expressed their willingness to pay tribute to the Han Dynasty and handed over the proton to Ban Chao to take back to Luoyang.
The subjugation of Shanshan Guo is undoubtedly the battle of Ban Chao's fame. Dou Gu was going to send him as an envoy to Khotan, wanting to send more men to Ban Chao, but Ban Chao still only led 36 warriors to act. After arriving at the court of Khotan, Ban Chao found that the status of the sorcerer in Khotan was very high, and the Khotanese monarchs and ministers looked for sorcerers for divination in everything, and the sorcerers had already colluded with the Northern Xiongnu. This time, the king listened to the advice of the sorcerer, treated Ban Chao and his party coldly, and sent the prime minister to ask Ban Chao for horses to sacrifice to the gods. Ban Chao said that there was no problem, but the condition was that the wizard must personally lead the horse and practice, and the ministers should also come together.
When everyone was in place, Ban Chao quickly drew his waist knife and killed the wizard, tied up the prime minister and whipped him, and then asked the Khotanese courtiers to take it to the king of Khotan. The king of Khotan had long heard that Ban Chao was powerful in Shanshanguo, and this time he personally felt it again, and he was also frightened. Ban Chao said that the wizard looks so godly, but he can't even count that he will be killed, which means that he can't represent the will of the gods. And we, the Son of Heaven, are the sons of God, and Khotan can only follow God's instructions if he joins the Han Dynasty. The king of Khotan hurriedly ordered the killing of the Xiongnu envoys and officially annexed to the Han Dynasty.
Eastern Han Dynasty steel knife. ** National Museum of China.
After the affairs of Khotan are done, the next target is Shule. At that time, among the 36 countries in the Western Regions, the country of Qiuci was the most powerful, and with the support of the Huns, they broke through the Shule country, killed the old king, and established the Qiuci people as the king, turning the Shule country into a vassal state of Qiuci. The brutal rule of the Dou Di aroused the strong dissatisfaction of the Shule people, and Ban Chao decided to take advantage of this opportunity to send Tian Ji, one of the "Thirty-six Cavalry", to recruit the Dou Ti, and if it didn't work, he would directly capture the Dou Ti. The previous battle had proved the combat effectiveness of the "Thirty-six Cavalry", and Tian Xi was one of the masters, taking advantage of the opportunity to get in close contact with Dou Di in the Shule Palace, and directly hijacked Dou Di to the Han camp.
Ban Chao and his entourage were on the streets of Shule Country with a question. Seeing this, the Shule army and civilians who were originally dissatisfied with the rule of the topic responded one after another and attacked the army left behind in Shule by Qiuzi. Ban Chao solemnly announced the sins of the Northern Huns to the princes and ministers of Shule State, and set up the nephew of the old king of Shule, who had been killed by the Qiuzi people, as the new king. However, Ban Chao did not kill the question, but considered that he wanted to fight for the return of Qiuzi to Han, and just drove the question back to Shule. Be a man and leave a line, and see each other in the future.
After Shule returned to the Han Dynasty, many small countries in the Western Regions surrendered. So far, it took only 2 years for Ban Chao to take the "Thirty-six Horsemen" to re-open the Silk Road. Emperor Ming of the Han Dynasty announced the reopening of the Western Regions Protectorate.
Turn the tide and stabilize the situation
When Ban Chao and his party were preparing to make persistent efforts to subdue other countries, Emperor Liu Zhuang of the Han Ming Dynasty died in 75 AD. According to the regulations of the Han Dynasty, the emperor could not take the initiative to take military action during the state funeral. As a result, under the instigation of the Northern Xiongnu, Yanqi, Qiuci and other countries attacked the capital of the Western Regions. At the same time, Qiuzi and Gumo took the opportunity to besiege Shule, where Ban Chao was located, and Ban Chao led the Shule army and people to resist for many days and barely broke the siege. The newly enthroned Emperor Zhang of the Han Dynasty was unable to send reinforcements to support Ban Chao out of the need to stabilize the political situation, so he issued an edict to let Ban Chao return to China.
If Ban Chao listens, then Ban Chao's two-year efforts will be directly in vain. When the soldiers and civilians of Shule heard that Ban Chao was leaving, they knelt down on the road and begged Ban Chao to stay. The local governor said with tears in his eyes that if the Han envoy left the Western Regions, then Shule would soon be annexed by Qiuzi again, and he would draw his sword and kill himself. Ban Chao couldn't bear it, but the emperor's order was difficult to disobey, so he gritted his teeth and continued to travel west to Khotan. The soldiers and civilians of Khotan, like Shule, also knelt down on both sides of the road and begged Ban Chao to stay.
Map of the Eastern Han Dynasty and the Western Regions. ** Tan Qixiang, Historical Atlas of China
Ban Chao promised the Khotanese that the Han would protect them, but now that he left suddenly, not only would his reputation be ruined, but the prestige of the Han in the Western Regions would inevitably be damaged. Considering both national strategy and personal aspirations, returning to China is not a wise choice. The two ** people, especially the lieutenant who committed suicide, deeply touched him. So Ban Chao gritted his teeth and decided not to go back this time!
At this time, Shule was besieged by a large army, and some ghost officers were ready to sell the city to the enemy, but fortunately, Ban Chao arrived in time to quell the rebellion. Then he led his army to attack and defeated the enemy advance. The combined forces of Qiuzi and Gumo fought for days, but the logistics were insufficient, and the men and horses were exhausted, so they could only withdraw their troops. Ban Chao then waved his army to cover the killing, and the armies of Khotan, Kumi and Kangju invaded Gumo, cut off Qiuzi's arm, and completely resolved the crisis.
After stabilizing the situation in the Western Regions, Ban Chao began to plan an overall strategy to completely stabilize the Western Regions. In 80 A.D., Ban Chao wrote to the imperial court, proposing that the main contradiction in the Western Regions lies in Qiuci, and almost all the actions of the Western Regions against the Han Dynasty have the presence of Qiuci people, if the problem of Qiuci and Yanqi can be solved, the 36 countries of the Western Regions can be subjugated.
Cave 14 of the Kizil Gaha Caves, about the 6th century AD, copied by Guo Feng, from the above picture you can see the exotic characteristics of the appearance of the Qiuci people. ** CNR.
How to solve the problem of Qiuzi and Yanqi?Ban Chao mentioned that now Shule, Kangju and other countries are on the side of the Han Dynasty. The land in Shache and Shule was fertile, the grass was lush and the animals were abundant, and the local garrison of the imperial court was sufficient for self-sufficiency, and there was no need to transport them from the interior. The kings of Gumo and Wensu are all puppet monarchs of Qiuzi, and the military and civilians of the two countries are not of the same mind, so the military and civilians of the two countries will tend to turn their backs on Qiuci and surrender to the Han Dynasty. We should rely on the prestige of the Han Dynasty to order the armies of other Western Regions vassal states to fight, and strive to support the servant of Qiuci as the king of Qiuci, and send hundreds of cavalry to escort him back to Qiuci, instead of the king of Qiuci supported by the Huns, so that the problem of Qiuci can be solved. As soon as Qiuzi is done, Yanqi will also defect.
Emperor Zhang of the Han Dynasty is also a generation of Ming monarchs, and he did not hold Ban Chao accountable for disobedience to stay in the Western Regions before, but this time he appreciated Ban Chao's performance very much, and sent ** Sima Xu Gan to take a thousand people to the Western Regions to support Ban Chao and work together.
At that time, Shanshan, Khotan, Shule and other countries in the southern Tianshan Mountains, as well as the Kangju and Dayue clans further afield, were all focused on the Han Dynasty, while the countries on the northern Tianshan Road fought against the Han Dynasty together with the Northern Xiongnu, and the only centrist was the Wusun Kingdom, which had made peace with the Western Han court. Both the Han Dynasty and the Xiongnu wanted to win over Wusun to their side, and Ban Chao proposed that he could follow the example of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty to marry the princess to the king of Wusun, and go to form an alliance with Wusun again. Emperor Zhang of the Han Dynasty adopted his suggestion, and in 83 A.D., he paid tribute to Ban Chao as the commander of the army, promoted Xu Gan to the rank of military commander, and sent the Marquis of Wei Li Yi to escort the envoys of Wusun to the state of Wusun.
Unexpectedly, this Li Yi dropped the chain halfway, and as soon as Khotan heard that Qiuzi was attacking Shule again, not only did he not dare to go to Wusun, but he also slandered Ban Chao to the imperial court. Emperor Zhang of the Han Dynasty trusted Ban Chao very much, not only did he not listen to slander, but also asked Li Yi to accept Ban Chao's dispatch, and let Ban Chao decide whether to let Li Yi stay in the Western Regions according to the situation. After the success of the alliance with Wusun, Ban Chao asked Li Yi to return to Beijing with Wusun's servant. Subsequently, the imperial court sent **Sima to lead the army to reinforce Ban Chao.
Eastern Han Dynasty "Nanyang Wanzao Four Stones" copper crossbow machine. ** Zhenyuan County Museum.
The Shache Kingdom in the South Tianshan Province was bewitched by Qiuzi, rebelled against the Han Dynasty, and sent envoys with heavy sums of money to bribe King Zhong of Shule, who had been supported by Ban Chao to ascend the throne. Although the king's name was "Zhong", he was not at all loyal, and joined forces with the army of Qiuzi and Shache to attack Banchao. Ban Chao mobilized Shule and Khotan to attack Zhong with his own soldiers and horses, but he didn't expect that Kang Juguo, a potential ally of the Han Dynasty, also sent elite troops to besiege Ban Chao, and the current ally Wusun actually remained neutral. "Whoever wins, they help whom", this movie line is very appropriate at this time.
Ban Chao couldn't attack the capital of Shule for a long time, so he thought of a way to break the diplomatic situation. Ban Chao took advantage of the opportunity of the marriage between the Dayue clan and Kangju to give the monarch of the Dayue clan a generous gift and asked him to persuade Kangju to withdraw from the army. The reason why Kangju went to war was to take the opportunity to expand his power in the Western Regions, and in the face of the Otsuki clan, which was stronger than him and had an in-law relationship, he could only give a face and withdraw his troops. Ban Chao took the opportunity to defeat the coalition forces of Qiuzi and other countries, and Zhong was taken away by King Kangju. Ban Chao supported the new King of Shule to ascend to the throne, and the Kingdom of Shule was once again attached. Unexpectedly, this Zhong finally escaped with his life but did not give up, and secretly colluded with Qiuzi to borrow some Kangju soldiers and horses to surrender to Ban Chao. Ban Chao will make a plan, promise to surrender to the loyal, and set up a Hongmen banquet for him. Zhong, along with his subordinates, ended his life in the Yingge Yan Dance during the banquet.
In 87 A.D., Ban Chao mobilized more than 20,000 soldiers from Khotan and other countries to attack Shache, and the king of Shache hurriedly asked for help from Qiuci, and the king of Qiuci came with a total of 50,000 allied troops from Wensu and Gumo. Ban Chao considered that the enemy was outnumbered and could not fight head-on, so he convened a meeting of kings and generals of various countries, deliberately claiming that it was difficult for our army to meet the enemy, so everyone might as well withdraw at night, and also explained the withdrawal route. Ban Chao did this to take a closer look at the turtle he had caught before. Later, he deliberately relaxed his control over these people, so that they could flee back to report the news.
King Qiuzi is also very arrogant. King Qiuzi and King Wensu led 18,000 men and attempted to ambush Banchao on the withdrawal route revealed by Qiuzi Shisaku. Who knew that Ban Chao was a trick to divert the tiger from the mountain, deliberately separating the stronger Qiuzi reinforcements from Shache, and he led the main army to attack the Shache army at the time of the rooster's crow. King Shache was caught off guard, and more than 5,000 people were killed on the spot, and he was also captured alive, so he could only bow his head and surrender. King Qiuzi squatted all night on the "withdrawal road", but when he got the news that Shache Country was attacked by Ban Chao, he knew that he had been "stolen", so he could only withdraw his troops and return to China in frustration.
After the Shache affair was resolved, the Dayue Clan, which had a good relationship with the Han Dynasty, became a vast Kushan Empire and one of the four great powers of Eurasia at that time, along with the Han Dynasty, Rome and Anxi (Parthia). The monarch of the Kushan Empire sent an envoy to ask Ban Chao to marry the princess of the Han Dynasty, but limited to the geographical and transportation conditions at that time, Ban Chao did not know enough about the new situation of the Kushan Empire, and he still communicated ** There was a translation error: the Han Dynasty translated the other party's request to marry the princess as asking to marry the "eldest princess". You must know that the eldest princess is generally the sister or aunt of the emperor of the Han Dynasty, and her status is not trivial. Therefore, Ban Chao directly rejected Guishuang's request.
Copper coins unearthed during the Kushan Dynasty. ** Shanghai Museum.
Feeling humiliated, the King of Kushan sent his vice-king to lead an army of 70,000 to attack Banchao. At this time, Ban Chao had only 20,000 horses, and in the face of the 70,000-strong Guishan army, everyone was a little at a loss. However, Ban Chao did not know how many battles he had won before, and with his rich experience, he pointed out that the enemy was attacking from afar, and the logistical pressure was bound to be very great, and we could completely hold the barrier, so that the enemy would be exhausted and retreat without a fight.
As Ban Chao expected, Guishan's army did not have enough food, and they couldn't advance or retreat for a while, so they could only send people to borrow food from the Qiuzi people. And Ban Chao had already predicted this, ambushed the soldiers halfway to kill the grain borrower, and sent someone to show the head to the Guishan generals. The Guishan generals understood that this battle could not be fought anymore, so they had to come to ask Ban Chao to surrender. After this battle, Ban Chao also had a deeper understanding of the strength of the Kushan Empire, and he was unwilling to offend the other party more, so he shook hands with the other party and let them go back. King Kushan also found that the Great Han was not the object of his own shaking, and since there was a need for communication on both sides, it was better to send envoys and protons to each other's countries.
It's done, and the fallen leaves return to their roots
At the same time that Ban Chao repelled the Kushan army, good news came from the northwest. The Northern Xiongnu, the "behind-the-scenes" who controlled the countries of the Western Regions, were defeated by the Han army led by Dou Xian in Mobei, leaving behind the myth of "Yan Ran Legong" at the same level as "Feng Wolf Juxu". In this way, the country of Qiuzi is also lonely.
Screenshot of "Yanran Mountain Ming" published on the official website of the Mongolian Studies Research Center of Inner Mongolia University. ** People's Daily Online.
As the thorn head of the Western Regions, Qiuzi was repeatedly attacked by the Han army and the biggest backer, the Northern Xiongnu, was defeated, and the internal gradually fell apart. When the coalition troops led by Ban Chao approached the city, the Qiuzi people no longer had the spirit of the original soldiers surrounding Ban Chao and chose to surrender. Ban Chao named Bai Ba, the servant of the Qiuci Kingdom, as the king of Qiuci, and Qiuci has since become a vassal state of the Han Dynasty.
After Qiuzi surrendered, Yanqi, Wei Xu, and Yu Li resisted stubbornly for fear of retribution because they had killed Chen Mu, the capital of the Western Regions. Seeing that these three kingdoms were so stubborn, Ban Chao gathered a total of 70,000 troops from 8 subject states such as Qiuci and Shanshan in 102 AD. Ban Chao supported the pro-Han kings of the three countries to come to power, and escorted all the pro-Hungarian princes and ministers who participated in the siege of the Western Regions Protectorate in the Three Kingdoms to the place where Chen Mu and other Han soldiers were buried, and all of them were executed to comfort the heroic souls.
So far, all the 36 countries in the Western Regions have returned to the wings of the Han Dynasty, and Ban Chao was named "Marquis of Dingyuan" by the imperial court for his great achievements, and was known as "Ban Dingyuan" in history. He developed production in the Western Regions, treated the people well, gave strict orders, and did not interfere too much in the affairs of the 36 countries in the Western Regions. For the farther Wusun, Kangju and Kushan empires, Ban Chao also tried his best to maintain friendly diplomatic contacts with them.
In 102, Ban Chao, who was over seventy years old, seemed to have a premonition that his life was coming to an end, and asked the imperial court to return to Luoyang, and the imperial court approved his request. After nearly 30 years, Ban Chao finally returned to his homeland in his memory, and died suddenly after enjoying his old age for 1 month.
You don't see it, Ban Dingyuan, and the peerless light cavalry urges the battle clouds".
The bloody legend of Ban Chao leading the "36 Cavalry" to fight in the Western Regions has left a strong mark in the history books, and for thousands of years, it has inspired the sons and daughters of China to establish the ambition of serving the country and making meritorious contributions to the country.