Study 1 of "Book of the Later Han Dynasty": This Chronicle·The Chronicle of Emperor Guangwu (1)

Emperor Guangwu of the Eastern Han Dynasty was named Liu Xiu (5 BC - 57 AD), with the courtesy name Uncle Wen. He was a native of Caiyang County, Nanyang County, and the ninth grandson of Liu Bang, the emperor of the Han Dynasty. Liu Bang gave birth to Emperor Wen of Han, Liu Heng, and Liu Heng gave birth to Emperor Jing of Han, Liu Qi. Liu Qi's sixth son was named Liu Fa. Liu Fa was named the King of Changsha, and his 13th son was named Liu Mai. Liu Mai was named the Marquis of Chongling Festival. Liu Mai gave birth to a son named Liu Xiongqu, who was Liu Xuan's great-grandfather. The other son was named Liu Wai. Liu Wai served as the governor of Yulin and gave birth to a son named Liu Hui. Liu Hui served as the captain of Julu. He gave birth to a son named Liu Qin. Liu Qin served as the magistrate of Nanton County and gave birth to two sons. The eldest son was named Liu Yan (pronounced yǎn, Yan), also known as Boxheng, the second son was named Liu Zhong, and the younger son was Liu Xiu.

Liu Xiu became an orphan at the age of nine and was adopted into the home of his uncle Liu Liang. Liu Xiu is seven feet three inches tall. He has very beautiful beard and eyebrows, a big mouth, a high nose bridge, and full forehead. Liu Xiu likes to cultivate crops, and usually enjoys herding cattle to plow the land. His brother Liu Boxheng usually liked to raise knights and celebrities. He often joked that Liu Xiu only knew farming and said that Liu Xiu was as useless as his brother Liu Zhong. During the reign of Wang Mang and Tianfeng, Liu Xiu came to Chang'an and received education in "Shang Shu" and became somewhat familiar with its great meanings.

In the last years of Wang Mang, the world was plagued by locust plagues year after year, and thieves were everywhere. The instability of Wang Mang's rule was very clear to everyone. In the third year of Emperor Di Huang's reign (AD 22), a famine occurred in Nanyang County, and most of the guests of powerful landowners became petty thieves. Liu Xiu fled to Xinye County and made a living by buying and selling millet in Wancheng County. Li Tong, a native of Wancheng County, and others used prophecies to persuade Liu Xiu: "The Liu family will rise again, and the Li family will assist."

Liu Xiu did not dare to take the responsibility at first, just thinking about his brother Liu Boxheng's normal life He likes to make friends with knights, he will definitely achieve great things, not to mention that the signs of Wang Mang's defeat have appeared, and the world has just begun to turmoil, so he decided on a strategy with Li Tong and others and began to purchase various weapons. In October, Liu Xiu, Li Tong's cousin Li Yi and others raised troops from Wancheng County. He was twenty-eight years old.

In November, a comet was born in Zhangsu. Liu Xiu led his guests back to Chongling. At this time, Liu Boxheng had gathered everyone to raise troops. At the beginning, the children of the powerful landlords were very afraid of the Liu family. They all fled and hid, and there were rumors: "Bo Sheng will kill me." When they saw Liu Xiu appearing in dark red clothes and a big crown, they were all surprised and said: "It turns out that the cautious and kind Liu Xiu has also started to raise troops!"

The situation calmed down a little. Liu Boxheng recruited Xinshi soldiers and Pinglin soldiers, and together with Wang Feng and Chen Mu, the leaders of this group, they attacked Changju westward. Liu Xiu began to fight on a bull, and after killing the Xinye County lieutenant, he got a war horse.

He led his followers to massacre the city in Tangzi Township and killed the Huyang County captain. At this time, the distribution of supplies in the army was extremely uneven, which aroused the resentment of many people, who wanted to betray the Liu brothers. Liu Xiu then gathered all the property that his clan had robbed and distributed it all to everyone. Everyone was happy and dissatisfied. The rebel army conquered Jiyang and fought with Wang Mang's former officer Zhen Fu and Zhengliang Qiuci in Xiaochang'an. As a result, the Han army was defeated and retreated to defend Jiyang.

On the first month of the first year of Gengshi (AD 23), on the first day of Jiazishuo, the Han army led by Liu Xiu once again fought against Zhenfu and Liangqiuci west of the Xi (sound bǐ, Bi) River, resulting in a major defeat of Wang Mang's army. The troops killed Zhen Fu and Liang Qiuci. On the other side, Liu Boxheng also defeated Wang Mang's Nayan general Yan You and Zhizong general Chen Mao in Tuoyang, and then led his army to surround Wancheng.

On Xinsi Day in February, Liu Xuan was proclaimed emperor by the rebel army, and Liu Bo was promoted to chief minister, and Liu Xiu was appointed Taichang partial general.

In March, Liu Xiu led his troops to capture Kunyang, Dingling, and Lin counties one after another, seizing many cattle, horses, and property, as well as hundreds of thousands of grains, which were then given to the Han who surrounded Wancheng. military. Wang Mang was very frightened when he heard that Zhen Fu and Liang Qiuci had died in battle, and that Liu Xuan had been proclaimed emperor. He immediately sent Grand Situ Wang Xun and Grand Sikong Wang Yi to lead more than one million troops, including 420,000 soldiers. He arrived at Yingchuan in May and met with the remnants of Yan You and Chen Mao.

At the beginning, Liu Xiu once complained to Yan You about the rent arrears of Chongling Hou's family. Yan You was surprised to see Liu Xiu. When Yan You led his army to the expedition, the people in the city who were surrounded and surrendered said that Liu Xiu did not rob property at all, but only considered military strategies.

Yan You smiled and said, "Is he the handsome man from back then? Why did he do this before he died!"

At that time, Wang Mang conscripted the world to boast that he was proficient in the sixty-three schools of war. There were hundreds of soldiers, all appointed as military officials; military guards were selected and trained, warriors were recruited, and the banners and baggage of the new dynasty army stretched for thousands of miles. At this time, there was a giant named "Big Mac", who was ten feet tall and ten inches thick at the waist. He was appointed as a base captain. In addition, many strangers were called in to drive away ferocious beasts such as tigers, leopards, rhinoceros, and elephants to boost the military strength of the army. Power. Since the Qin and Han Dynasties, there has never been such a grand occasion for military expeditions.

Liu Xiu led thousands of troops to intercept Wang Mang's army at Yangguan. When the generals saw that Wang Xun and Wang Yi's troops were too strong, they turned around and fled into Kunyang City. They were all worried and frightened, and began to miss their wives and children. They all wanted to disband and return to their own cities.

Liu Xiu convened everyone for discussion and said: "Now we have very few troops and food, and the enemy is very powerful. If we defend with all our strength, we can almost win. If we only want to disperse and resist defense, there will definitely be no one left." We can survive. What's more, Wancheng hasn't been conquered yet, and the army there can't rescue us. Kunyang City is in danger, and all the generals will be wiped out within a day. Why don't everyone work together to achieve fame, but instead want to protect themselves? Where are the wives, children and property?" The generals were furious and said, "How could General Liu say such a thing?" Liu Xiu stood up with a smile. At this time, the scouting report came back, saying that Wang Mang's army was about to reach the north of Kunyang City. The troops were arrayed for hundreds of miles, and the rear group could not be seen at all. The generals hurriedly said to each other: "Let's ask General Liu to make up his mind to defeat the enemy." Liu Xiu once again planned success or failure strategies for everyone. The generals were all worried and embarrassed, so they had to respond in unison: "Everything is at General Liu's disposal!"< /p>

At this time, the total number of troops in Kunyang City was only eight or nine thousand. Liu Xiu sent Chengguo Duke Wang Feng and Tingwei General Wang Chang to stay in the city, while he himself took advantage of the cover of night. Thirteen cavalrymen, including General Zong Yi and General Li Yi of the Five Powers, rushed out of the south gate of Kunyang City, hoping to break out of the encirclement and collect reinforcements. At this time, Wang Mang had hundreds of thousands of troops under the city, and Liu Xiu was almost captured and could not escape.

Liu Xiu came to Linxian and Dingling and mobilized all the remaining troops. However, all the generals were greedy to save their money and wanted to divide their troops to stay in the city. Liu Xiu said: "If we can defeat the enemy now, we will gain ten thousand times the treasure, and we will achieve great success; if we are defeated by the enemy, we will all move our heads, and what treasures will we cherish!" The generals followed Liu with all their strength. Show off.

Huang Qijun

? Written on July 12, 2022 (June 14, Renyin year in the ancient calendar)

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