[Reading Notes] About Emperor Wu and Wei Huo

The so-called principle of employment, I think, is more of a problem that people think about when they go to history. Maybe in the eyes of Emperor Wu, this matter is not that complicated. Emperor Wu was a man of great talent, but he was self-willed and did not allow anyone to challenge his authority. Leading so many troops was actually very suspicious in the context of the early Han Dynasty. To go to war, first, there is no political risk, second, it is absolutely controllable, and third, it is talented. There are only a few sources of people who can be used, the inner court and the outer court, the inner court has the surname of Liu and the outer court, the outer court is the courtier, and the eunuchs may be involved both inside and outside, but they did not constitute power at that time. In the inner court, Liu's surname is not acceptable. They are blood relatives but the political risk is too great. The old foreign surnames, Dou Ying and Tian Fan, have proved that they have been in business for too long and cannot control them. People who are not related by blood from the outer court are even less trustworthy. There is no more suitable person to support some people who have blood relationship, no political risk, and can control. I think Han Wu and Gillian's break-up may not be just because of their sex decline and love Chi, but more because they want to get rid of aunt's control. As for whether Wei Qing or something has military talent, it is actually considered later. Of course, fighting is a technical job. However, there are still generals in the imperial court. As long as the generals are not confused and can follow the good, they do not necessarily have to be the best military talents. There are so many relatives, try it out, reuse it if you can, and occupy a space if you can’t use it a lot, even if you are in charge of security. After trying, Wei Qing and Huo Qubing came out, which Emperor Wu himself may not have thought of at first. In many cases, these principles and rules and regulations may not really be the issues that decision makers struggled with at the beginning. Wei Huo has become, and he wants to support Li Guangli. At this time, the comparison of strength is different. Emperor Wu thinks that he may lead his troops there, but he didn't expect Li Guangli to be able to do so. So, I think that historical figures may not be as complicated as we think, they may not be entangled in the issues we are entangled in, and they may not know what happened later.

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Grave Sweeping Dog Jingdang Turtle : Post Old Article 1: Wisdom and nepotism

The full screen of long braids has just been flagged, and "Han Wu the Great" has been fired again. At the beginning of the year, the Chinese people who watched a "Prosperity Gala", recalling the present and thinking about the ancient times, naturally have a higher enthusiasm for the dynasty that marked our nation, and the street talk for a while has become fashionable. The author has been away from TV for a long time, and has not been able to take full advantage of it. However, when I recently read the "Han Shu", I have some impressions here.

The people of Han Wu, who are only able to dominate the roost, have made many achievements in their lives, and the most dazzling is the martial arts. Conquering the Xiongnu, settling the Western Regions, harvesting Baiyue, and ministering to Korea, it can be said that they have made great achievements and are illustrious throughout the ages. Ji Zan in the Book of Han does not speak of martial arts, but only a prejudice of the Eastern Han Dynasty, so Ban Gu completely obliterated it. In the history of our agricultural nation against the nomadic cavalry, the achievements of Han and Wu’s northern expedition against the Xiongnu are a rare and proud thing. Therefore, laboring the people and hurting the wealth has become a small part, and it cannot prevent the “Fenglang Juxu” from being passed down from generation to generation.

However, on closer inspection, Han Wu's ability to achieve such feats probably also had a bit of luck. Just looking at the "nepotism" of the two famous Northern Expedition generals, one or two can be inferred. Wei Qing and Huo Qubing, one is the same mother and brother of Empress Wei of Emperor Wu, and the other is the son of Wei Hou's sister. Wei Qing first entered Suwei because of her sister's use. , just one way in the Fourth Route Army. Leading ten thousand people and beheading only hundreds of prisoners, the record is not amazing. However, at that time, the northern expedition was difficult, the other three routes were unsuccessful, and many soldiers were damaged, so Wei Qing's achievements were outstanding. At that time, he was given the Marquis of Guannei, and he left Yanmen in the second year (the first year of Yuanshuo). In the following years of war, seven out of the absolute fortress, Henan, set up Shuofang, the official to Da Sima, the general, the three sons and the marquis, the most important minister. Wei Qing was strict in governing the army and acted cautiously, and he was sure to be successful. However, it is difficult to say how much of Wei Qing's appearance on the stage was due to the affection of Mrs. Wei Qing is an indifferent person. He was only weak when he first made meritorious service and was named Hou. He already has a reputation for acting low-key. And the Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty saw the potential of a general in this taciturn brother-in-law at a glance and acted boldly, or whether it was a smooth human relationship for the smile of Bomei people, it can be considered.

Huo Qubing's standing out is relatively clear. "The queen's elder sister (the son of Shiwei, who gave birth to Liu Ju, has already been enthroned), was eighteen years old as a servant. She is good at riding and archery, and then she will serve as a general." Overdoing it", he was the champion of the whole army, and the name of "Champion Hou" was established. The first Marquis of Huo Qubing was in the sixth year of Yuanshuo. At that time, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was thirty-five years old and had been on the throne for more than 18 years. It was when he was in power and ambitious. Huo Qubing was a general who had only passed his youth. From the time he joined the army at the age of eighteen to his death at the age of twenty-three, his unrelenting sharpness never diminished. Every time he went out of the fort six times, he brought with him "people who dare to fight and go deep". Beheading prisoners of more than 110,000 levels has far surpassed Wei Qing's achievements. Wei Huo's exploits can be regarded as timely, and he has also achieved the fame of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty for thousands of years. Later generations only praised the high quality of the relatives of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, or felt that the goddess of luck favored the "disobedient servant" old lady Wei without any snobbery (Zhao Yi's "Notes on the Twenty-two History: The Three Generals of Emperor Wu Are All Favored by Women"). The relationship between "Ren Xian" and "Ren Qin" has always been entangled. Wei Huo has both, which seems to be quite a coincidence. If we want to praise Hanwu, we might as well say that he is "internally motivated and does not avoid relatives".

However, this idealization seems wrong. "The three generals of Emperor Wu", Wei Huo is in the front, and there is also Li Guangli in the later period. In fact, Guangli's people's achievements are not small. After Zhang Qian's death, the surrender of the Western Regions is due to the reputation of "General II Division". However, before this person, there were tens of thousands of soldiers who could not defeat a small Yucheng for two years, and he was humiliated by Emperor Wu's anger and blocked the Yumen from coming back. He also unceremoniously pointed out that his appointment was entirely due to Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty "desiring Mrs. Li". Because Han Gaozu had an appointment with his ministers, he had no merit but was not a lord, and people said that the city of Ershi in Dawan was easily accessible, so he was specially rewarded with the opportunity to make meritorious deeds. Sima Wen's "Tongjian of Zizhizhi" came to this point, and he bitterly criticized the "major military affairs" that "the safety of the country and the life and death of the people are related". It is better to use the name to selfish what one loves, and it is not as good as being a lord without merit.” Therefore, it is said that Han Wu is “unseen in setting up generals”, which is a self-consciousness who vainly observes the ancestral precepts and does not know the big rules, so let Emperor Wu of the Han worship it. It's really hard to argue. Guangli set off on the expedition in the first year of Taichu (104 BC), when the favor of the Empress Wei declined for a long time. Huo Qubing and Wei Qing died successively, which coincided with the decline of Wei's family. Mrs. Li worked hard to keep her youthful and healthy beauty in Emperor Wu's heart forever. "I wanted to support my brothers deeply", and it really paid off. Guangli became a dignitary in the late Han Dynasty and Wu Dynasty for twelve years.

Han Wu in Guangli, the meaning of cronyism, has almost become a typical example. From this, how can we not doubt the motives of Wei Huozhi? It is true that in the Guangli period, the martial arts of the Han Dynasty were extensive, and their ambitions gradually declined. However, Fu Junlu's affairs are based on his personal love, and it seems like a habit no matter how you look at it. Or it can be considered that because Wei Huo's performance was too good, Emperor Wu of the Han had blind trust in his intuition of choosing generals, which is unknown.

The cronyism of the Chinese Empire is less about political morality or wisdom than about culture. Since the Qin and Han dynasties, the society has undergone great changes, the power of the nobility has collapsed and the empire has been created. At the end of the Qin Dynasty, Liu Bang, the chief of the Sishui pavilion, "were added to the sea", creating "the bureau of commoners and generals in the early Han Dynasty". This was a major event that completely changed the nature of the imperial government, and from then on the government became the representative of the "state" and gradually became elitist—that is, composed of social elites. On the other hand, the royal family became the only nobles due to the existence of the emperor and hereditary inheritance, and gradually occupied an increasingly important position in the politics of the empire. Although the emperor "takes the country as his home", he is not always in line with the government representing the "official office". The government, or the bureaucracy, is independent, and a monarchical dictatorship that "does not violate its words" is not a reasonable political norm. This situation may be caused by the fact that the emperor theoretically possesses absolute power over the empire and at the same time assumes the only absolute responsibility. In other words, while "country" is "home", "home" is also "country". There was a differentiation between the emperor as an individual and the "emperor" as a representative of the state, and since the bureaucracy was formed, it had a "convergence" of similar interests and responsibilities and showed a subjective dynamic effect, so the differentiation gradually grew. It is the contradiction between the emperor and the government, and even a certain degree of "opposition".

On the one hand, the emperor established a bureaucratic system to undertake the political operation of the empire; on the other hand, the emperor adjusted the degree of realization of his own authority by fighting against the bureaucracy. Considering that the foundation of the empire must be stable and administrative efficiency needs to be guaranteed, the emperor is not often the dominant side in this struggle. The emperor's "struggle" efforts often made imperial politics show some characteristics. For example, cronyism.

Here, above all, is the age-old question of balancing loyalty and efficiency. Loyalty and efficiency were the most important factors considered by the emperor when constructing the government, because these two almost reflected the basic reason for the existence of government. And while inefficiency could spell disaster for the empire, a government that lacks loyalty (or is perceived by the emperor to lack loyalty) is clearly a greater and more immediate threat to the emperor. Obviously, most emperors will choose to put loyalty in the first place, that is, they should use "trustworthy" people first, and the wise and the foolish will come second. As for who is "trustworthy", "there is no relationship between strangers" is an ancient adage.

There is a law in politics: people close to the center of power, with or without the legitimacy of their intervention, can always have some influence on decision-making. Back to our topic, due to the elimination of the power of the nobles, the emperor, as the supreme, has become the only center of the concentric circle of power, and this center can basically be said to be the "individual" of each generation of emperors. The range, at least the range that enters the line of sight "to be selected". Influenced by the hereditary system of the throne and the patriarchal culture of the society, the main category included in this category is kinship.

From this point of view, it is almost natural that the prime-aged Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty wanted to expand his territory during the important period when Wei Qiwu’an died one after another and all the world’s major affairs were in his hands. However, Emperor Wu's own political wisdom and his consistent efforts to manage a strong imperial power made him not consider his mother's family and his own family who were in danger of usurping the throne, but chose members of the wives' family who were from humble backgrounds and had no background. Emperor Wu's almost willful favor on Li Guangli in the later period just reflected his irresistible self-respect. From the end of the Han Dynasty to the Wu Dynasty, cronyism was always based on the strong imperial power, so the consequences of its deterioration of the tyranny of relatives and other threats to the emperor's authority or the stability of the empire may not be included in the discussion of this article. In the end, Han Wu gave Gou Yili his son to kill his mother, and he did a great job. He was someone who didn't want anything to develop beyond his control.

The title of this paper, "wisdom, discerning talents and nepotism," is discussed in the context of the powerful imperial power of the Han and Wu dynasty, emphasizing the latter, but the real concern is the subject of this joint predicate structure. One praise and one criticism, no matter whether it is praised or criticized, it belongs to the people. This is the landscape of the "prosperous age" back then, under thousands of years, why comment?

(Refer to the main "Han Shu" chapters: "The Chronicles of Emperor Wu", "Biography of Wei Qinghuo Qubing", "Biography of Zhang Qian and Li Guangli", "Biography of Foreign Relatives")