Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty failed to destroy the Xiongnu and ceased war, so why did he promulgate the "Edict of Guilt"?
There are two reasons why Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty could not completely eliminate the Xiongnu of the Han Dynasty: one is that it is really difficult to completely eliminate a nomadic people, and the other is that the price paid is too great. The reason why Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty went down"Guilty of his own edict"It is because Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty not only did not achieve the expected results in the war against the Xiongnu, but had a great impact on the overall situation of the country, so he hesitated to adhere to the national policy for a long time.
The difficulty of exterminating the nomads of the north.
This problem existed not only in the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, but also in the later Tang Dynasty when the Turks were destroyed, the Jin Dynasty destroyed the Liao, and the Ming Dynasty destroyed the Yuan Dynasty, but none of them achieved the desired effect, and the nomads soon reappeared. In my view, the main problem lies in the failure to ensure effective management of the northern grasslands.
It is not difficult to destroy a state founded by a nomad, and if a country is strong enough, it is not impossible to defeat its main power or even destroy it, and in fact there are dynasties that have succeeded in doing so. However, even if the other side is defeated or eliminated, the other side is still unable to completely conquer the pastures, which is the main reason why the problem of the northern border cannot be solved.
The northern nomads were not suitable for farming due to their special environment, so they adopted a special nomadic lifestyle, which was characterized by high mobility and the need for frequent migration. On the other hand, the way the country is governed in the Central Plains is shaped by urbanization. Due to the relative fixation of the land, the residence of the people in the Central Plains was also relatively fixed, which greatly facilitated the effective management of the imperial court. However, the state system of the Central Plains was not conducive to the nomads. In a period when communication was not developed and transportation was not convenient enough, the nomadic way of life was destined to be only extensive herding management.
Different forms of rule kept the nomads at war for a long time, while the centralized dynasties were relatively more united and stable. At the same time, the reason for this difference is also that the northern nomads are extremely tenacious in their ability to survive, while the ** centralized dynasty is unable to establish effective rule over them.
The cost of paralyzing nomads is also very high.
For the same two reasons, the Central Plains Dynasty often paid a heavy price in its struggle against the nomads: first, the relative inconvenience of transportation in ancient times limited the combat radius; Secondly, the nomads were highly mobile and scattered, and the Central Plains dynasty did not have enough horses and cavalry to inflict a devastating blow on its main force.
Take the war of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty against the Xiongnu as an example. Although there were some successes, the Han Dynasty also paid a heavy price for it.
In the fourth year of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty (119 BC), Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty mobilized the power of the whole country to completely eliminate the Xiongnu. He sent Wei Qing and Huo Qubing to lead 50,000 cavalry to the palace in the Xiongnu Desert, and in order to ensure the smooth progress of the battle, he also mobilized 240,000 war horses"Matthew"and hundreds of thousands of infantry as logistical support. Although only 100,000 soldiers directly participated in the war, the total number of troops mobilized was as high as 500,000. In this battle, the Xiongnu lost more than 90,000 people and a large number of horses and livestock, causing the Xiongnu to lose control of the Monan region and gradually move to the northwest of the Mongolian Plateau.
Although the Western Han Dynasty won this battle, it also paid a great price, with the Han army of 780,000 people and the loss of more than 100,000 horses. This directly led to a shortage of war horses in the Han Dynasty, and although the Han Dynasty had to participate in the war on foot and on horseback, the Han Dynasty recovered very well compared to the Xiongnu.
The war between Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty and the Xiongnu can be said to be a defeat for both sides, and after the Battle of the Northern Desert, the two sides did not engage in a large-scale war for several years. However, due to the strong resistance of the Xiongnu, although the Han Dynasty won many battles in the early stage, after the reduction of war horses in the later period, the Han Dynasty almost posed no threat to the Xiongnu, which directly led to the Han Dynasty's successive defeats in the later period.
The Han dynasty paid a heavy price and was forced to declare a truce.
Like the success of the Qin Dynasty's domination of the world, the exploits of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty were also inseparable from the accumulation of successive emperors, especially Emperor Wen and Emperor Jing, who laid a solid enough foundation for Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, but this accumulation was basically exhausted in the many wars with the Xiongnu.
1.The loss of national strength is enormous. Although Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty suffered huge losses before the war against the Xiongnu, the losses of the Han Dynasty were also extremely heavy, the Han Dynasty went through several generations of emperors such as Han Gaozu, Han Gaohou, Emperor Wen of Han, and Emperor Xuan of Han, and the vast majority of the national strength consumed was the Han Dynasty, the number of Han households was halved, and the grain was basically exhausted.
2.The loss of war horses. In order to deal with the Xiongnu cavalry and strong military force, Emperor Wen of Han established 36 cavalry gardens in the north and the western regions respectively, using more than 30,000 officials and maids, so that Emperor Wu of Han established a large cavalry force. After the reign of Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty and Emperor Jing of the Han Dynasty, in the early years of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the national war horse reserve reached more than 300,000 horses, but after a series of wars with the Xiongnu, the loss of war horses was basically exhausted.
Despite such a heavy price, Emperor Wu of Han was unable to completely eliminate the Xiongnu. Although the Xiongnu occupied the Monan region and established Jiuquan, Wuyuan and other counties, these places were not fortresses, but battlefields on both sides, and the Xiongnu came and went freely. Although the Xiongnu suffered heavy losses and failed to hold Monan, they quickly recovered and once again posed a threat to the northern Han Dynasty. Especially in the final stage of the Xiongnu campaign, Li Guangli attacked the Xiongnu three times, but the result was one defeat and two heavy defeats, which drew an end to the Xiongnu campaign.
Although it became increasingly difficult for the Han Dynasty to achieve victory in the war against the Xiongnu in the following years, the imperial court and ** continued to support the war, and Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty had to reflect on whether his long-term national policy was correct. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty unilaterally declared a truce with the Xiongnu and issued the Edict of the Guilty Ruler, but a few years later the Xiongnu regained their vitality, and in 87 BC, the year of the death of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the Xiongnu invaded Shuofang, **many** and the people.
Although Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty's war against the Xiongnu did not achieve the expected results, it was not without positive significance. It dealt a heavy blow to the left flank of the Xiongnu, forced the Xiongnu to migrate to the northwest, prompted the Xiongnu to become the first in the interior, and laid a solid foundation for the solution of the Xiongnu problem during the later period of Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty.