In 141 BC, Emperor Jing of the Han Dynasty died, and the young Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, Liu Che, succeeded to the throne. At that time, the power of the court was in the hands of the Empress Dowager Dou Yifang and the Empress Dowager Wang, and Liu Che needed to report to them on major national affairs, which could be said to be restricted.
However, Liu Che was not a puppet emperor, and he earned the title of "Emperor Wu" with his independent thinking and unique policies. He gradually seized power through means, changing the previous strategy of passive defense to adopting the strategy of active attack.
In the process, he conquered many territories, including the Xiongnu, which later made Kangxi very feared. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty successfully defeated the Xiongnu and made them retreat in successive defeats, and his "power of the tiger and wolf" can be seen.
Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty not only fought personally, but also captured an important province that still plays an important role on the map of China today. Want to know if Emperor Wu of Han fought in ** and where the provinces he captured are now located?
Let's explore the glory of Emperor Wu's four-way conquest and expansion of territory. Since the establishment of the Han Dynasty, it has been committed to the national policy of recuperation and recuperation, and until the accession of Liu Che, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the country's military and financial resources have been quite strong.
With such strength as support, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty decided to change the national policy, from "attaching importance to the development of national strength" to "attaching importance to the expansion of territory", and from passive defense to aggressiveness.
Therefore, in order to realize the ideal of great unification, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty began many years of conquest and military life.
1.In 112 BC, an envoy of the Han Dynasty and the empress dowager of the Nanyue Kingdom fell in love unexpectedly. The Empress Dowager tried to return the Nanyue Kingdom to the Han Dynasty, but this was only wishful thinking on her part.
When the courtiers of Nanyue learned of this, they killed the empress dowager and the envoys of the Han Dynasty, which aroused the wrath of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty led an army of 100,000 to attack Nanyue, and the state of Nanyue was finally destroyed, and its territory was incorporated into the territory of the Han Dynasty, and its territory was now Huojia County in Henan Province.
2.During the reign of Liu Bang, the emperor of Yan, Lu Xuan, betrayed the Han dynasty and fled to the Xiongnu, where he traveled with Wei Man and thousands of rebels. They then took the capital of ancient Korea and proclaimed it king by Wei Man.
Wei Manchu claimed that the queen was actively building the country, and the national power became stronger and stronger, which attracted the attention of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. In 109 B.C., Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty sent troops to attack Korea, and it took just over a year to strangle its rapidly growing enemy state.
Despite the great power of the country, it is not easy to conquer other countries. Throughout history, there are countless examples that prove this. The success of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was not only due to his advantages, but more importantly, his courage and talent.
He conquered and expanded many territories, including the expedition to Dawan. However, this sparked an event that is still talked about in later generations. In 104 BC, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty heard that the good horses of the Dawan Kingdom were famous, so he sent an envoy to buy them with a thousand gold.
However, what he got was the excuse of Dawanguo. The envoys of the Han Dynasty were killed by the King of Dawan after the exchange failed. Upon hearing this news, Emperor Wu of Han was furious and decided to send troops to attack Dawan.
After two expeditions and fierce battles, Dawan was finally successfully recovered by the Han Dynasty. However, the motives of Emperor Wu's actions have caused controversy. Some people believe that he did not hesitate to start a war just to get Dawan's good horse, which led to a war between the two countries, with countless casualties.
Is it really worth it?
Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty did not send troops to fight for his own likes and dislikes, according to the analysis of historians, he sent troops to fight mostly to expand the territory. If it is just for good horses, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty can look for horses in Qilian Mountain, because Qilian Mountain has high-quality water sources and fertile pastures, and it is the animal husbandry base of the Xiongnu tribes who are good at riding horses, and there are many good horses.
Therefore, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty sent troops to attack Dawan not for the sake of horses and horses, but for deeper considerations.
The Book of Han and the Biography of Tang Juguo show that the Dawan nobles had asked the Xiongnu for assistance, indicating that there was a connection between Dawan and the Xiongnu. And "The Biography of Zhang Qian" also mentions the fact that Dawan used the Xiongnu to fight against the Han army.
Therefore, it can be concluded that there was some kind of "collusion" between Dawan and the Xiongnu. The Xiongnu were long regarded as a threat to the Han Dynasty, like a thorn in the eye and a thorn in the flesh.
If you want to attack the Xiongnu, you must be fully prepared. However, due to factors such as topography, distance, and reinforcements, Emperor Wu of Han did not act rashly. Attacking the Xiongnu required weakening their power first, and recovering the countries of the Western Regions was one of the plans.
In a sense, only by conquering Dawan can we have the opportunity to complete the great cause of unifying the Western Regions. Therefore, the real purpose of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty to send troops to Dawan was to prepare for the attack on the Xiongnu.
Although the preference for horses was an excuse for the expedition to Dawan, it was actually a preparation for the attack on the Xiongnu.
Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty has always worked unremittingly in order to expand his territory. The most famous of these was the conquest against the Xiongnu, which ended in a great victory. It can be said that eradicating the Xiongnu was the inevitable choice of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty.
Why? Because since ancient times, the people of northern China have suffered greatly from the harassment of the Xiongnu. Even in the early days of the Western Han Dynasty, the contradictions between the Han Dynasty and the Xiongnu already existed.
Although Liu Bang, the ancestor of the Han Dynasty, adopted a friendly strategy, this was not out of fear, but out of national interests. However, Han-Hungarian relations did not improve. Therefore, Emperor Wu of Han had to eradicate the Xiongnu in order to ensure the security of the country and the tranquility of the people.
During the Han Dynasty, the barbarism and ferocity of the Xiongnu increased. Due to the national policy of recuperation and recuperation in the early Han Dynasty, there was no head-on conflict with the Xiongnu. However, after Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty succeeded to the throne, combined with various factors such as the country's strength and situation, he believed that it was time to eradicate this cancer.
So, he decided to get ready and prepare for the battle. In this process, he first selected talents who were proficient in mounted archery from all over the country to serve as the emperor's attendants. In this process, there are outstanding generals such as Huo Quzhi and Wei Qing, who will fight to defend their families and the country.
When forming an army, considering that the Xiongnu had cavalry as their main fighting force, ordinary army could be easily defeated in front of cavalry, therefore, they needed an army that could compete with it.
After careful consideration, Emperor Wu of Han decided to create cavalry units. In order to make the cavalry proficient, he recruited troops everywhere, raised the standard of training, and even hired people from the Xiongnu who were good at riding and archery to train the Han cavalry.
Because money can make ghosts grind, as long as you think hard, you can always find a solution to the problem. In the process of training, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty also comprehensively strengthened the country's strength through taxation and strengthening the centralization of power.
After 6 years of training, the strength of the cavalry of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was not inferior to that of the Xiongnu. After full preparation, the Han Dynasty's counterattack against the Xiongnu began. Then, the Battle of Henan, the Battle of Monan and the Battle of Hexi began in turn, and Wei Qing and Huo Qubing led their armies to attack the Xiongnu in these battles respectively.
In 127 BC, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty launched his first counterattack, and in the Battle of Henan, Wei Qing led an army to suddenly attack the Xiongnu's King Lou Fu and King Baiyang, defeating the enemy army, and the land of Henan was also recovered.
However, after taking Henan, the passage for the Xiongnu to invade the Central Plains has been cut off, how can they easily let go of this vital strategic place? As a result, in the next few years, the Xiongnu repeatedly attacked, but still resolutely maintained their aggressive heart.
Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty decided to fight back again, and in 124 BC launched the Battle of Monan, in which General Wei Qing served as the general of the chariot cavalry and stepped into Monan, in this battle, General Wei Qing went out of the fortress to raid the royal court of King Youxian.
The battle was also a great victory, not only capturing tens of thousands of enemy troops, but also forcing the Xiongnu to flee north, greatly reducing the threat. In the later Hexi Campaign, General Huo Qubing was brave and invincible, defeated the Xiongnu tribes in one fell swoop, captured several Xiongnu kings, as well as princesses, princes, generals and other people, a total of hundreds of people, this battle dealt a heavy blow to the Xiongnu army, and the Han Dynasty completely grasped the initiative in this protracted war.
It was not until the death of General Huo Quzhi and the influence of other factors that Liu Che's pursuit of the Xiongnu was temporarily stopped.
Emperor Wu of Han's decision to conquer the Xiongnu was undoubtedly a wise move, as it not only eliminated the Xiongnu threat to the Central Plains, but also caused the Xiongnu to flee northward, even to Europe.
This action not only achieved the strategic purpose of expanding the territory and expanding the territory, but also allowed Liu Che's achievements to be highlighted. However, during the Cixi period of the Qing Dynasty, the blind cession of land and reparations made the foundation laid by the ancestors, including Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, go to waste.
Although we have lost a lot of what should have been ours, history has left us with a permanent legacy – the territory once conquered by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty is still on China's map, and it is still a strategic province that is still beneficial to China's interests today.
So, what is the strategic province that Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty has conquered? [Xinjiang was included in the territory of the Han Dynasty and is still an important wealth of China] The strategic province conquered by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty is now Xinjiang.
Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty and Emperor Qianlong both contributed to the inclusion of Xinjiang in China. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty defeated the Xiongnu and established the Western Regions Protectorate, which incorporated Xinjiang into the territory of the Han Dynasty.
Emperor Qianlong, on the other hand, seized the opportunity to pacify the Dzungar tribes when the Dzungar tribes were in turmoil and incorporated Xinjiang into China's territory. History has its own process, and we don't need to delve into the details, but what we must know is that Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty pioneered the reclamation of Xinjiang.
The reason for this incident is explained in the Historical Records of the Xiongnu and the Hanshu Yinyi: Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty once married Princess Xijun to the king of Wusun, and sent troops to Wusun to promote Tuntian to help the king of Wusun resist the Xiongnu invasion and provide rations.
In that era, the Han army crossed the Ili River valley in the central part of the Wusun Kingdom, and was attracted by the fertile land and abundant water sources here, and began the construction of reclamation, planting, and water conservancy projects.
It is also recorded in the Hanshu Western Regions Biography that Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty sent troops to expand the territory and create the history of Xinjiang reclamation. Archaeological findings have found that the tomb of Wusun of the Western Han Dynasty has been found in the Ili area, and the iron plough of the tomb soil is completely consistent with the shape of the Western Han Dynasty agricultural tools in Guanzhong, Gansu and other places, which once again confirms that the Han Dynasty did go to Xinjiang to reclaim farmland.
Xinjiang has always been an inseparable part of China's territory, both ancient and modern, and its benefits to the country are immeasurable.
From a historical and strategic point of view, Xinjiang has always played an important role. Whether it is a necessary place on the ancient Silk Road or the core area of the modern "Belt and Road", Xinjiang has played a vital role in the country's economic development and resource exploration.
At the same time, Xinjiang, as a strategic buffer zone, has a far-reaching impact on protection. Therefore, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty fought everywhere and finally succeeded in conquering Xinjiang, and his strategic vision and military talent are undoubtedly commendable.