Wei Qing, a famous general in the Western Han Dynasty, ranked first among the hundred officials by virtue of his outstanding military exploits to the great general Sima. In the struggle against the Xiongnu, he defeated the Xiongnu Shan Yu many times, winning peace and dignity for the Han people.
However, this famous general, who was above 10,000 people under one person, married a widow who was more than ten years older than him and was widowed twice. This can't help but make people feel that his life not only has brilliant military exploits, but also deep humanistic care.
People may be surprised that Wei Qing, a famous general, married a widow, but this widow is extraordinary, she is the sister of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, Princess Pingyang. Wei Qingneng married the widowed Princess Pingyang twice, not only out of a desire to survive, but also a reflection of his prudence in his life.
This marriage reflects Wei Qing's thoughtful side.
Wei Qing finally succeeded in counterattacking from a humble servant, and his acquaintance with Princess Pingyang preceded the change of his identity. Princess Pingyang's original husband Cao Shou is the great-grandson of Cao Shen, the founder of the Western Han Dynasty, and the two got a love in the title of Princess Pingyang, and had a son Cao Xiang, who has a deep relationship.
However, Wei Qing was just an ordinary slave in that era, and his family background was not good. He is an illegitimate child, and his mother Wei Yuan came to Princess Pingyang's Mansion as a ** because of her husband's early death, raising a son and three daughters.
Although Wei Qing's status is low, he relied on his intelligence and hard work to successfully counterattack.
When Wei Yuan was working in the Pingyang Princess's Mansion, she met Zheng Ji, a small official in Pingyang County, and the two had a relationship and a child Wei Qing because of their work. However, Zheng Ji already had a wife and children, and Wei Yuan could not marry him, so Wei Qing was handed over to Zheng Ji to raise.
However, Zheng Ji's wife is very ** and treats Wei Qing like a stranger, and his other children don't treat him as a brother. Wei Qing had a very difficult time in the Zheng family, and left home at the age of 14 to join his mother Wei Yuan.
Wei Yuan took him back to her side and arranged for him to be a slave in Princess Pingyang's mansion. Although Wei Qing worked as a slave in the princess's mansion, he felt the warmth of his family, especially the third sister Wei Zifu was very good to him, and Wei Qing changed his surname to Wei from then on.
Wei Qing was mainly responsible for leading the princess's horse and driving for the princess in Pingyang's princess's mansion, and it was also a stepping stone for her to get on the horse. Because he had to look at his stepmother's face since he was a child, Wei Qing developed a character of being observant, thoughtful, cautious and thoughtful.
This made him perform very well as a leading driver and was loved by Princess Binh Duong. This experience of riding slaves was of great significance to Wei Qing's growth, and also paved the way for his later life change.
In 139 BC, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty Liu Che went to Bashang to worship his ancestors and pray for the blessings of the people of the world, passing through Pingyang, and specially went to visit his sister Princess Pingyang. Princess Pingyang carefully prepared a banquet for Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, and Wei Qing's third sister Wei Zifu danced at the banquet, which deeply attracted Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty.
During the banquet, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty brought Wei Zifu to the carriage in which he changed clothes. Although the process was a bit rushed, Emperor Wu of Han was very satisfied with Wei Zifu's performance, and Princess Pingyang also gave Wei Zifu to Emperor Wu of Han with a sense of time.
After the banquet, Wei Zifu followed Emperor Wu of Han back to the palace, and she begged Emperor Wu of Han to bring her younger brother Wei Qing with her.
Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty decided to take Wei Zifu and Wei Qing back to the palace, but they were not immediately reused. Because Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty had every opportunity, Wei Zifu and Wei Qing were just transparent people for a long time.
Later, Wei Zifu took the initiative to apply for dismissal from the palace, but was found by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty in the dismissal list, re-favored, and conceived a child. However, Wei Zifu's pregnancy made Empress Chen very jealous, because Empress Chen had been infertile for many years and was angry at Wei Zifu's favor and pregnancy.
Before Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty became the crown prince, his mother Wang Wan often took him to Princess Guantao's house, hoping to get closer to Princess Guantao so as to help him become the crown prince.
Later, Wang Wan also asked Emperor Wu of Han to marry Empress Chen, the daughter of Princess Guantao, in order to gain the support of Princess Guantao. With the help of Princess Guantao, Emperor Wu of Han succeeded in becoming the crown prince and was grateful after succeeding to the throne.
In order to repay Princess Guantao's kindness, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty trusted Princess Guantao and Empress Chen's mother and daughter very much. Therefore, the power of Princess Guantao's Tangyi Marquis family gradually increased.
And Empress Chen, because she was unable to have children, was very jealous of the pregnancy of other concubines. She had secretly framed a pregnant concubine, causing Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty to never have children.
This time, when she learned that Wei Zifu was pregnant, she was even more annoyed. So, she went to her mother, Princess Guantao, to discuss how to assassinate Wei Zifu. However, Princess Guantao found it difficult for Wei Zifu to start, and suggested that she start with Wei Zifu's close relative, Wei Qing, who was a guard in the court.
Empress Chen decided to arrest Wei Qing and torture him to death, so as to make Wei Zifu miscarry.
It turned out that Empress Chen had sent someone to assassinate Wei Qing, but the result was that Wei Qing's sister and brother had a feud with Empress Chen and Princess Guantao's mother and daughter. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty took a fancy to the strength of Wei Qing and Wei Zifu's siblings, because they came from humble backgrounds, which was more conducive to suppressing Empress Chen and Princess Guantao's mother and daughter.
After that, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty began to vigorously promote Wei Qing, and gradually suppressed the power of Empress Chen and Princess Guantao. In the end, Empress Chen was deposed, and Wei Zifu and Wei Qing were replaced by the siblings, who became the most favored and valued people of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty.
Although Wei Qing ascended to the throne by virtue of his sister's connections, he has excellent military talents. When Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty divided his troops to attack the Xiongnu, Wei Qing led an army alone and won the Battle of Longcheng.
With this victory, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty began to rely on Wei Qing, and he conquered the Xiongnu for Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty six times, so that the Xiongnu did not dare to go south to herd horses. In the end, Wei Qing relied on his exploits in the conquest of the Xiongnu, and became the general of the Great Sima, integrating military and political power, with the title of Marquis of Changping, and the fiefdom was as high as 20,000 households, becoming the most courtiers at that time.
He is even qualified to marry Princess Pingyang, completing the counterattack from slave to mistress husband. However, Wei Qing had the opportunity to marry Princess Pingyang, and he had to start with his seventh campaign against the Xiongnu in the Battle of Mobei.
Wei Qing's exploits were world-renowned, and Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty devoted almost all the troops and materials of the country to organize this campaign. When Wei Qing and Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty discussed this battle, their goal was very clear, that is, to completely annihilate the Xiongnu tribes, and it was best to capture the Xiongnu leader Yizhi Xiandanyu.
According to Wei Qing's plan, this battle is indeed likely to capture Yi Zhi Xian Dan Yu alive. However, in the end, there was an omission in this battle, which led to Izu's escape.
And this omission is on the veteran Li Guang.
Li Guang was lost and caused Yi Zhi to escape, and when Wei Qing was held accountable, Li Guang thought he had been insulted and drew his sword to kill himself. Although Li Guang's mistake caused Yizhi to escape, the Battle of Mobei was still a great success, and the Xiongnu were completely defeated by the Han Dynasty and did not dare to invade south for many years.
The soldiers who participated in the Battle of Mobei were rewarded, and Wei Qing's nephew Huo Quai's illness was particularly prominent, and he established the merit of sealing the wolf Juxu, and was named the champion Hou and the general of the Great Sima Hussar, second only to Wei Qing.
However, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty did not give Wei Qing any reward, because Li Guang's death was attributed to Wei Qing, but in fact, Li Guang's character and cause of death had little to do with Wei Qing.
In fact, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty could no longer reward Wei Qing because his merits were too great. At that time, Wei Qing was not only one person below 10,000 people, his family was also very strong, Wei Zifu was the queen, Wei Zifu's son Liu Ju was the prince, his eldest brother Wei Changjun was a servant, the eldest sister Wei Junru married the prime minister Gongsun He, the second sister Wei Shao'er married Chen Zhang, the great-grandson of Chen Ping, the founder of the Western Han Dynasty, Huo Quzhi was named the champion marquis, and his official status was second only to Wei Qing, and even Wei Qing's three minor sons have been named marquis.
The Wei Qing family has become the second largest family in the country, with monstrous power, and Wei Qing's exploits are unparalleled, but this also makes Emperor Wu of Han feel threatened, he doesn't know how to reward Wei Qing, and Wei Qing himself is also worried that it will cause the suspicion of Emperor Wu of Han.
At this time, Princess Pingyang took action to solve this problem and solved the urgent needs of the two.
The original husband and wife were in love, but Cao Shou died short-lived. Princess Pingyang is in the year of the tiger and wolf, and she is unwilling to stay alone. She asked her younger brother Emperor Wu of Han to remarry, and was eventually given to Xiahou Po.
However, the relationship between the two did not match, and Xiahou Po even had an affair with his mother-in-law, and finally committed suicide in shame. Princess Binh Duong became a widow again, and although she was fifty years old, she longed to remarry.
So she held a meeting of her subordinates to discuss who to marry. Her subordinates suggested that she marry the general Wei Qing, but she hesitated because Wei Qing had been a slave. In the end, her subordinates told her that Wei Qing's status was extremely noble, and she agreed to marry Wei Qing.
Princess Pingyang decided to marry Wei Qing, a former riding slave, and she told Empress Wei Zifu about this idea, which in turn conveyed it to Emperor Wu of Han and Wei Qing. When Emperor Wu of Han learned the news, he laughed and thought it was a funny thing.
Wei Qing was also very happy, because he knew that marrying Princess Pingyang would not only get the greatest reward from Emperor Wu of Han for the Battle of Mobei, but also be close to Emperor Wu of Han and become his talisman.
Therefore, no matter how old Princess Pingyang is older than him, he is willing to marry her. Therefore, Princess Pingyang married Wei Qing, which solved the problem of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty's reward for him, and also made Wei Qing feel at ease.
Wei Qing and Princess Pingyang have a good relationship, and they have lived together for nine years. Before Princess Pingyang died, she begged Emperor Wu of Han to let her be buried with Wei Qing, which showed that she loved Wei Qing the most.
Wei Qing married Princess Pingyang, although it was a political marriage on the surface, judging from the requirements of the two for the final burial, their husband and wife relationship was actually very good. Although we don't know if Wei Qing really loves Princess Pingyang, with his cautious character, even if he doesn't like her, he won't show it, he will only satisfy her.
Wei Qing, as a person who understands among the famous generals in ancient and modern times, knows that the most important thing for a general after making a meritorious career is to avoid the suspicion of the king, so as not to shock the lord with high achievements. His prudence and thoughtful consideration enabled him to die a good death under the condition of high achievements and power in the opposition, avoiding the fate of military generals - the birds are hidden in the bow, and the rabbits are dead and the dogs are cooked.