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Chapter 218 The Rise and Fall of the Eastern Han Dynasty

In fact, Wang Mang's reforms did not go smoothly. Although his starting point was good, his ideas were too advanced and completely inconsistent with the level of productivity development in society at that time, so he was opposed by everyone from the royal family to the common people.

To make matters worse, the climate changed drastically during this period, natural disasters occurred frequently, the Yellow River burst its banks, and plagues were rampant. The common people simply could not survive, so civil unrest broke out and calls to overthrow Wang Mang grew louder and louder.

In 21 AD, a comet appeared in the southeast for 5 days before disappearing, which was seen as a sign of getting rid of the old and starting anew. In the same year, famine also occurred in Nanyang where Liu Yan and Liu Xiu were located, and many farmers began to rebel.

In the year of the great disaster, Liu Xiu had no land to farm, so the next year he and his brother Liu Yan raised an army and joined the Green Forest Army, a rebel army that was very powerful at the time.

When Liu Yan first started his army, the clan members were reluctant to follow him. Later, when they saw Liu Xiu also appeared in military uniform, they were surprised that even the honest Liu Xiu had started his army, and then they began to join the Green Forest Army.

The Green Forest Army grew rapidly, and later supported Liu Xuan, a relative of the Han Dynasty, as the Gengshi Emperor, and Liu Xiu was appointed as the General of the Imperial Household. From the initial battles on cows, they finally fought their way onto tall horses.

A small-scale uprising would have been fine, but declaring oneself emperor under his nose was not acceptable. Wang Mang immediately dispatched Grand Marshal Wang Yi and Grand Tutor Wang Xun to send a total of 42 elite troops from various states and counties, claiming to be an army of one million, to destroy the Gengshi regime.

Wang Mang's army was well-equipped. Not only did it have a tactical master who was said to be proficient in 63 military strategies, but it also recruited many extraordinary people, including those who could drive away ferocious beasts such as tigers and leopards, and some who could ride rhinos and elephants.

There was also a fellow called Jumbo, who was ten feet tall and had a waist that was ten times thicker than his waist. He walked in front of the team as a pioneer. The army's flags stretched for thousands of miles, which was the largest military expedition since the Qin and Han dynasties.

At this time, Liu Xiu was ordered to lead several thousand people to stop this unprecedented army. When they were halfway there, the sentry came back and reported that the Xinmang army was so powerful that the rear of the army could not be seen even from the top of the mountain.

Liu Xiu was shocked and rushed to the nearby Kunyang City to stay overnight to persuade everyone to defend Kunyang City. He led 13 riders out of the city to ask for reinforcements.

The Xinmang army surrounded Kunyang City with dozens of layers of defense inside and outside. Some troops built cloud cars, some dug tunnels, and some directly used battering rams to ram the city, and bows and arrows were shot into the city like they were free.

When the Kunyang defenders saw this, they thought, how can they defend this city? They held up the door panels to block the arrows and begged for surrender, but unexpectedly, Grand Marshal Wang Yi refused to accept the surrender and said that they would have to fight to the death in this city.

But that night, a shocking event suddenly destroyed Wang Yi's prestige. When the Xinmang army was sleeping soundly, a meteor with a flaming tail suddenly smashed into the Xinmang army's camp, and then more than 1 reinforcements invited by Liu Xiu also arrived.

He personally led 1000 cavalrymen to the front. But at this time, Wang Yi's brain short-circuited, and he ordered to send only the same number of troops as Liu Xiu, and other troops were not allowed to participate in the battle.

Then an even more shocking scene occurred. Liu Xiu, who was usually honest and timid, was like a god of war possessed. He killed his way in and out of the melee, and in a short while he chopped off dozens of heads of the Xinmang army.

Liu Xiu's men were all stunned. Either Liu Xiu was too good at pretending, or the enemy was simply too vulnerable. The morale of the Han army rose immediately. They fought bravely with one man against a hundred. For a while, the shouts of killing shook the earth. More than 1 people actually disrupted the Xinmang army of hundreds of thousands.

However, this was not enough. With a loud thunder in the sky, a strong wind suddenly blew up, so strong that it directly blew off all the roofs in Kunyang City. Then, heavy rain poured down like a floodgate opened, and the water level of the Fuchuan River beside the city surged.

The tigers, leopards, jackals and wolves in the Xinmang army were all trembling with fear, and the giant was nowhere to be seen. The Xinmang army was immediately in chaos, countless people drowned, and the Chu River was blocked by corpses.

Hundreds of thousands of troops were annihilated, and Wang Yi and the remaining thousand bannermen managed to escape by crossing the river on corpses. Liu Xiu and his men moved the captured military supplies to the city for more than a month, but they had not yet finished moving.

He himself became famous because of this, and the various miracles that occurred in this battle made his title of Son of the Plane well-deserved.

The battle of Kunyang exhausted the main force of the Xin Mang Dynasty and made it unable to resist the attacks of the various rebel armies. A few months later, the Green Forest Army invaded Chang'an, and Wang Mang was killed. His body was divided up by the army, and his head became a collection of the emperors of the Eastern Han Dynasty.

The decisive battle between the Son of the Plane and the Son of the Time Travel came to an end.

In 25 AD, Liu Xiu proclaimed himself emperor at Qianqiu Pavilion in Gaocheng, Hebei, and established the Eastern Han Dynasty. He was known as Emperor Guangwu of Han. Twelve years later, Emperor Guangwu pacified Guanzhong, pacified Longxi, and finally unified the country.

[Understand the rise and fall of the Eastern Han Dynasty in one breath - Trivia about the Eastern Han Dynasty]

In 25 AD, Liu Xiu proclaimed himself emperor, continuing the Han Dynasty and ushering in the Eastern Han Dynasty.

From the founding of the Eastern Han Dynasty by Emperor Guangwu of Han in 25 AD to the abdication of Emperor Xian of Han in 220 AD, the Eastern Han Dynasty lasted for 195 years and had 14 emperors. In this video, let's take a look at the Eastern Han Dynasty.

When the Eastern Han Dynasty was first established, the country was not unified. Although Wang Mang had died, local warlords continued to fight each other. After Liu Xiu ascended the throne, he sent his generals to besiege Luoyang.

The Green Forest Army in Luoyang held out for several months, and surrendered to the Eastern Han Dynasty under the persuasion of Liu Xiu. The dynasty established its capital in Luoyang, and after a successful start, Liu Xiu continued to march into Guanzhong to annihilate the Red Eyebrow Army.

Next, the imperial army eliminated separatist forces of all sizes in Longyou, Bashu and other places, and it took 11 years to finally unify the country.

Liu Xiu learned from the historical lessons of the Western Han Dynasty, dismissed meritorious officials and promoted civil officials. While giving generous material treatment to the founding heroes, he did not give them real power.

At that time, there were 20 to 30 founding heroes and 100 people were granted titles of nobility. Only Deng Yu, Li Tong and Jia Fu were allowed to participate in state affairs. At the same time, Liu Xiu strictly prevented the interference of relatives and entourages in government affairs and did not allow them to participate in government affairs.

While guarding against nobles and external relatives, Liu Xiu vigorously rectified the administration of officials, restored the economy, improved the system of recommendation, selected wise men from all over the world to serve as officials in the court, thereby strengthening centralization and laying the foundation for the prosperity of the early Eastern Han Dynasty, which is known in history as the Guangwu Restoration.

In 57 AD, Emperor Guangwu of Han, Liu Xiu, passed away and Emperor Ming of Han, Liu Zhuang, ascended the throne. Liu Zhuang inherited his father's ruling principles, restrained the royal family and the aristocracy, adopted a policy of recuperation, encouraged agriculture and sericulture, and built water conservancy projects.

At this time, the Silk Road had been cut off for more than 60 years, and the Western Regions were ruled by the Northern Xiongnu. In 73 AD, Emperor Ming of the Han Dynasty sent Dou Gu and Geng Bing to fight against the Northern Xiongnu, and defeated King Hu Yan in Tianshan. The Western Regions countries all submitted to the Han Dynasty, and the Silk Road, which had been interrupted for half a century, was reopened.

Soon after Emperor Ming of Han died, the Northern Huns counterattacked and besieged the Han army together with the Cheshi Kingdom. After Emperor Zhang of Han, Liu Da, succeeded to the throne, he sent troops to rescue the Han army and reinforced Ban Chao twice, allowing him to continue to manage the Western Regions.

Emperor Zhang of Han continued the work of his father and grandfather, and later generations called the reign of Emperor Ming and Emperor Zhang the Ming and Emperor Zhang's reign. Although the Eastern Han Dynasty had been strictly guarding against foreign relatives since Emperor Guangwu, the phenomenon of foreign relatives being domineering still appeared during the reign of Emperor Zhang of Han.

Emperor Zhang of Han was kind-hearted and quite indulgent towards his brother-in-law Dou Xian. In addition, Emperor Zhang of Han died young, which eventually allowed the Dou family to seize power, and once again led the Eastern Han Dynasty onto the old path of power dominated by foreign relatives.

After the death of Emperor Zhang of Han, Emperor He of Han, Liu Zhao, was only 10 years old and his adoptive mother, Empress Dowager Dou, served as regent, which opened the precedent of empress dowagers ruling the country and external relatives holding power in the Eastern Han Dynasty.

Empress Dowager Dou was the champion of palace fighting during the reign of Emperor Zhang of Han. After she came to power, she excluded the princes of the royal family, promoted her relatives from her natal family, sent her brother Dou Xian to the north to fight against the Xiongnu, and appointed Le Yang to conquer the Wolf's Lair. In this way, Dou Xian was promoted to the rank of general, ranking above the Three Dukes.

As Emperor He of Han grew older, Dou Xian became more arrogant and domineering, which made Emperor He of Han very dissatisfied. In 92 AD, Emperor He of Han killed Dou Xian and regained power. The national strength of the Eastern Han Dynasty reached its peak after Emperor He took power.

The countries in the Western Regions submitted to the Eastern Han Dynasty, and the influence of the Eastern Han Dynasty reached the Mediterranean through the Silk Road.

However, Emperor He of Han died at the age of 27, and the Eastern Han Dynasty fell into a vicious circle of the empress dowager ruling the country and the emperor seizing power. When Emperor He of Han died, Empress Deng Sui of Hexi appointed Liu Long, who was just 100 days old, as emperor and ruled the country in the name of the female monarch.

However, Liu Long died before he was one year old. Deng Sui then made Liu Hu, a member of a side branch of the royal family, the emperor, namely Emperor An of Han, and continued to rule the country from behind the scenes. Deng Sui ruled for 16 years.

At that time, the Eastern Han Dynasty was plagued by natural disasters and man-made tragedies. Deng Sui was frugal, concerned about people's livelihood, put an end to extravagance and waste, redressed unjust cases, and won over scholars, which earned her a lot of goodwill and left her with the good name of "Empress Dowager Deng prospered the Eastern Han Dynasty" in later generations.

However, Deng Sui never relaxed her power during her reign. Emperor An of Han was like a puppet. While relying on her brothers from her natal family, Deng Sui also made the eunuchs around her her confidants, which also led to the subsequent problem of eunuchs' monopoly of power.

In 121 AD, after Deng Sui died, Emperor An of Han Dynasty immediately liquidated the Deng family, but Emperor An of Han Dynasty was far inferior to Empress Dowager Deng in terms of skill. The new eunuchs and palace maids colluded with the Empress' Yan family, making the court a mess.

The national strength of the Eastern Han Dynasty went downhill from then on. Queen Yan Ji persecuted Crown Prince Liu Bao. History records that Emperor An deposed Liu Bao and made him King of Jiyin.

However, Emperor An died suddenly shortly after he deposed the crown prince. Yan Ji and her brother Yan Xian secretly appointed Emperor An's cousin Liu Yi as emperor, but Liu Yi died of illness soon after he ascended the throne.

Just when Yan Xian and his sister were in despair, the eunuchs launched another coup, killing Yan Xian's party and supporting the deposed Crown Prince Liu Bao as emperor, known in history as Emperor Shun of Han.

After all this turmoil, the national strength of the Eastern Han Dynasty was no longer as strong as before. Emperor Shun of Han was only 11 years old at this time, and Empress Dowager Yan was driven out of the palace. The power of the government was controlled by eunuchs and their wet nurse Song E.

Emperor Shun of Han introduced the Liang family, a relative of the emperor, to check the eunuchs and abandoned the wet nurse Song E. However, after Emperor Shun of Han died, the Liang family continued to monopolize power. The Eastern Han Dynasty had entered a dead end. Ironically, when the relatives of the emperor and the eunuchs left the stage one after another, the rule of the Eastern Han Dynasty would also come to an end.

Emperor Chong of Han died at the age of 3, and Empress Dowager Liang appointed Liu Zhi, a member of the imperial clan, as emperor, known in history as Emperor Zhi of Han. Emperor Zhi of Han was dissatisfied with the Liang family's monopoly of power and was poisoned to death. Empress Dowager Liang continued to force Liu Hong, a member of the imperial clan, to become emperor, known as Emperor Ling of Han.

The phrase "I have never failed to sigh and hate Emperor Huan and Emperor Ling" in "The Memorial to the Emperor on Leaving the Capital" refers to the period of Emperor Huan and Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty. At this time, the Eastern Han Dynasty was in a period of corruption, malpractices abounded, and social crises were deepening.

Some upright scholars and students gathered together to criticize current social ills, attack politics and oppose the eunuchs' dictatorship. Their voices grew stronger and stronger. The eunuch group was not to be outdone and, relying on the emperor as their backer, they retaliated against their political enemies, triggering the first Party and Factions Persecution.

The second Party and Faction Persecution occurred during the reign of Emperor Ling of Han. Emperor Ling of Han was also from the royal family and was supported by his relative Dou Wu. After Dou Wu came to power, he stood on the side of the clean stream and used these punished scholars to plan to eradicate the eunuch group.

Unexpectedly, the conspiracy was exposed, and the eunuch Cao Jie took the initiative to launch a coup, exterminated Dou Wu's family, moved Empress Dowager Dou to the Southern Palace, and launched the second Party Imprisonment Disaster. The two Party Imprisonment Disasters caused a large number of scholars to flee, with extremely bad consequences.

As the emperor, Emperor Ling of Han, Liu Hong, had no ability to govern the country. He sold official positions and titles and allowed the eunuchs, the Ten Constant Servants, to do whatever they wanted. Emperor Ling of Han even said, "Constant Servants Zhang is my father, and Constant Servants Zhao is my mother." The eunuchs and their followers ran rampant in the countryside and oppressed the people.

The people's lives became more difficult, and at the same time, an ominous prophecy began to spread in the Eastern Han Dynasty. At that time, the study of prophecy was popular in the Eastern Han Dynasty. A prophecy book called "Spring and Autumn Fate and Calendar Preface" predicted that the Han Dynasty would have a great disaster in 400 years.

At this time, the Han Dynasty was plagued by natural disasters and its death knell was about to ring.

In 184 AD, the Yellow Turban Rebellion broke out. Zhang Jue raised the slogan "The blue sky is dead, the yellow sky should be established, the year is Jiazi, and the world is auspicious" and gathered people to rebel, which dealt another heavy blow to the already corrupt Eastern Han Dynasty.

Although the Yellow Turban Rebellion was quickly suppressed, its impact was far-reaching. First, a large number of new generation generals made military achievements and emerged in the fight against the Yellow Turban Rebellion.

Secondly, the imperial court was busy dealing with the Yellow Turban Rebellion and allowed local prefectures and counties to recruit soldiers, which directly led to the emergence of separatist forces in the future.

After Emperor Ling of Han died, Empress He made her own son Liu Bian the emperor, the Shao Emperor. His brother He Jin fought for power with the Ten Eunuchs, listened to Yuan Shao's advice, and summoned Dong Zhuo to the capital.

However, before Dong Zhuo arrived, He Jin was killed by the Ten Eunuchs. Yuan Shao and Cao Cao led their troops into the palace and slaughtered all the eunuchs. Zhang Rang and others took the young emperor hostage and fled, but when they saw the pursuers approaching, they committed suicide by drowning.

At this point, the problem of power monopolized by foreign relatives and eunuchs that had plagued the Eastern Han Dynasty for a hundred years was eradicated through physical means, but the Eastern Han Dynasty was in name only.

After Dong Zhuo entered the capital, the central government of the Eastern Han Dynasty completely became a puppet of warlords. Dong Zhuo made Liu Xie, the Prince of Chenliu, the emperor for Liu Bian, the young emperor of the Han Dynasty born to Empress He, which attracted the crusade of various princes and opened the prelude to the Three Kingdoms era.

There were endless fightings in the northern towns, and a large number of scholars fled south, bringing advanced production technology and culture to the slash-and-burn south, laying the groundwork for the future Three Kingdoms and the confrontation between the North and the South.

In 196 AD, Cao Cao appointed Liu Xie as regent in Xuchang, used the emperor to control the princes, and gradually unified the north. In 208 AD, in the Battle of Chibi, the coalition forces of Sun Quan and Liu Bei defeated Cao Cao with fewer troops, and the trend of the Three Kingdoms was formed.

After the war, Sun Quan and Liu Bei argued for several years over how to divide Jingzhou. In 214 AD, Liu Bei obtained Yizhou and discussed the demarcation of the Xiang River with Sun Quan, but Sun Quan was still dissatisfied.

In 219 AD, Liu Bei defeated Cao Cao in the Battle of Hanzhong, and Guan Yu, who stayed in Jingzhou, marched north to Fancheng. Sun Quan sent Lu Meng to cross the river in white clothes to occupy Jingzhou. Guan Yu was attacked from all sides and was killed by the Eastern Wu.

In 220 AD, Cao Cao died and Cao Pi succeeded him. He forced Emperor Xian of Han to abdicate and changed the country's name to Wei. The Eastern Han Dynasty came to an end and the Three Kingdoms era officially began.