Poster, [swio] posted on 2007-2-1023:03:39 | Delete the main post | Delete the top

I saw it from the record of the great Han Empire.

Explore the Death of General Mist for Thousand Years

At the age of ten, he went out of Dingxiang twice and had the greatest achievements in the entire army; at the age of nineteen, he conquered Hexi three times and expanded his territory; at the age of twenty-one, he commanded the three armies and spread across the northern desert.

Huo Qubing, a name that represents youth, courage and miracles.

He commanded the army to fight against the Huns several times in his life. Each battle was a deep danger and fought alone. Every battle was a battle of few and a large victory!

However, this pride of heaven who was loved by many people suddenly came to an end when he was twenty-three years old. It was like a meteor, crossing the night sky, dazzling, but it came and left in a hurry, making countless descendants sigh for it over the past thousands of years!

Sima Qian, who was in the same era as Huo Qubing, described the funeral after Huo Qubing's death in Records of the Grand Historian, from the origin of the funeral team to their clothes and dress, to the shape of the tomb, and even the meaning of the posthumous title. However, no word mentioned why this famous invincible battle would die early in his prime.

If some people think that when Huo Qubing died, the Huns were no longer able to fight again, Huo Qubing's death had no effect on the historical process at all, so the historian could remember his death or not. This statement is really wrong.

Records of the Xiongnu biographies:

After the Battle of Mobei, both sides were injured. The Huns' envoys were married. The Han Dynasty sent Ren Chang to negotiate terms with the Huns. However, the Huns not only did not accept the conditions of the Han side but instead detained the envoy Ren Bi. So Emperor Wu decided to launch another war against the Huns. "The Han side collected soldiers and horses again" and actively prepared for the war. However, at this time, Huo Qubing, the main general, suddenly passed away. This time, the Second Mobei War, which was likely to completely destroy the Huns' forces, died prematurely.

Huo Qubing's sudden death was of great significance to both the Han and the Huns.

Regarding Huo Qubing's death, the court will definitely announce a cause of death to the public, otherwise how to explain it to the soldiers who are about to go to war. However, Sima Qian actually missed it. He talked about Huo Qubing's funeral in detail, but he missed the most critical cause only, which was extremely important.

Looking at Sima Qian's discussion on the Han-Xiong War, he collected a lot of news from the bottom, but most of these news was superficial and trivial. Sima Qian did not write down the decision-making strategies and major policies that really worked for the war, giving people the feeling that it was not serious, extreme and narrow.

However, this was not the result of Sima Qian's choice. On the contrary, it was the result of his lack of choice. He had no way to get to know these important news, so he could only start from the bottom and the surface to record history. After all, Sima Qian was just an ordinary person at that time, not omnipotent. He just narrated the turbulent history from the perspective of an ordinary intellectual. He could only remember lightly, but not heavy, because many important things and hidden things were not something that he, a little man, could not know.

More than two thousand years have passed, and later generations seem to be even more unaware of it. Huo Qubing's death has become a mystery for the ages!

However, later generations could not help but make various speculations about Huo Qubing's death, and the most important thing was the theory of death.

This theory first came from Chu Shaosun during the Western Han Dynasty. He had a supplementary note in the chronology of Marquis since the Jianyuan period. He used Huo Guang's mouth to say that Huo Qubing died of illness, but there is no record of what kind of disease Juxiu was.

This passage comes from a memorial submitted by Huo Guang to the emperor. There is a case to be investigated, and there is no need for Chu Shaosun to lie, so it is basically credible. This means that the official statement is death from illness.

However, Huo Qubing is a general who is on the battlefield. He is good at riding and shooting. He is often the first in the battlefield. He has good physical fitness and cannot be weak or sick. At the age of 23, he is still in his prime. His body is still in the rising period, and it is impossible to get sick by overwork. If there is a plague, why does it not spread on a large scale? Why did the generals who fought with him in Mobei have not been infected? Why is the incubation period lasting for two years?

The saying of death from illness is difficult to convince people. Moreover, if it is really death from illness, why doesn’t Sima Qian remember it? Why did he remember so many details but miss the main cause?

A reasonable explanation is that the theory of illness and death is just an excuse, and no one believed it at that time, and Sima Qian was no exception. He was responsible for historical facts and did not write the false cause of death in his history books. However, he had neither the ability nor the interest in exploring the true cause of Huo Qubing's death, so such a vacancy was formed.

If Huo Qubing died abnormally, then who killed him? Why did he kill him? Why did the court cover up?

When I read the record of the Grand Historian, I felt like a mess, and I had no idea how to start, and many places couldn't explain it. However, if I could find a main line, could I figure out the mess clearly?

The answer is yes. When an important person who has been neglected for a long time surfaces, all the problems are solved.

This person is Prince Wei Liu Ju.

The reason why he was ignored was that when Huo Qubing passed away, Prince Wei was only twelve years old and was just a child. His intelligence and ability were limited, and he could not do many earth-shaking things.

But don't forget that this child is not isolated. He represents the interests of a large group of Wei family that are closely related to his interests. He represents the interests of the prince's young tutor, the prince's grand tutor and other series of politicians who want to gain benefits from him.

Here it is necessary to clarify the relationship between the prince and the Wei family. The prince is closely related to the Wei family and is one. The prince needs the power of the Wei family to support it, and the Wei family needs the position of the prince to consolidate it.

In the late period of Emperor Wu, he might have wanted to separate the prince from the Wei family. He did not want the prince to rely too much on his relatives, so he made a lot of efforts to suppress the Wei family and make the prince independent. But the facts proved that the prince and the Wei family were inseparable at all, and they did not want to separate. In this case, the prince and the Wei family suffered losses and prospered together.

The main line of clearing away the fog is the interests of the prince and the entire Wei clan group.

Let’s first take a look at several historical facts before and after Huo Qubing’s death.

In 119 BC, in the Battle of Mobei, Li Guang committed suicide and Li Gan stabbed Wei Qing. Emperor Wu secretly respected Huo Yuwei.

In 118 BC, Li Guang's relative Prime Minister Li Cai invaded the cemetery and committed suicide. The prince's young tutor Zhuang Qingzhai succeeded as Prime Minister Huo Qubing shot Li Gan.

In March 117 BC, Huo Qubing repeatedly asked Liu Che to make the third prince king. In April, he was appointed the third prince, and the wife of Emperor Wu's favorite concubine, died of illness. In September, Huo Qubing died of illness.

In 116 BC, Wei Qing's eldest son Wei Kang was removed from the marquis for forgery of edicts.

In 115 BC, the censor Zhang Tang was framed and committed suicide by Prime Minister Zhuang Qingzhai and his three chief ministers. Emperor Wu executed Zhuang Qingzhai and the third chief minister. The crown prince's grand tutor Zhao Zhou succeeded to the prime minister.

In just a few years, the court experienced a violent shock, with two prime ministers, one general and the other censor, and three princes were enfeoffed. Both the internal and external courts had great personnel changes, which contained complex political struggles and were full of blood.

The only benefit from this series of changes is the prince, the Wei clan group.

Let's analyze the situation at that time based on the following points:

1. Why did Emperor Wu respect Huo and Wei after the Battle of Mobei, and the relationship between Huo Qubing and Wei family?

After the Battle of Mobei, Huo's tribe received extremely high rewards, and the Ministry of Defense gradually declined, one was at the peak of the sky and the other was at the peak of the sky. As this continued, Huo Qubing would have the potential to replace Wei Qing. A sharp contradiction in interests formed between Wei and Huo.

Wei Qing is humble and polite, gentle and generous, respects affection for his family and righteousness for his friends. Look at the generals around him during the Battle of Mobei, you can tell that he is. Gongsun Ao is his savior, Gongsun He is his eldest brother-in-law, Cao Xiang is his stepson, and Li Guang is assigned to him by the emperor...

This is his personality, and he never says no to relatives or friends. He carries too much family interests and is the most ideal guardian of the Wei family.

On the other hand, Huo Qubing used people in a completely different style. His capable subordinates were almost all surrendered generals from the Huns. The soldiers selected were all low-level officers who could ride and shoot with their horses. Everything was focused on the battlefield, and there was no relative or friend who had been with him, and there was no trace of human favor to talk about. Even the generals who had always been assigned by the emperor could refuse.

This method guaranteed his steadily victorious on the battlefield, but he lost the support of the royal relatives headed by the Wei family and noble relatives.

The rise of Huo Qubing was all the outsiders who benefited from it, and the Wei family did not get any benefits. It can be said that although Huo Qubing came from the branch of the Wei family, he did not represent the interests of the Wei family.

Why did Emperor Wu secretly respect Huo Yinwei? It is because Huo Qubing is an isolated individual, and no matter how high the status is, it is given by the emperor. He did not form a group of interests. Those who gained wealth and prosperity with Huo Qubing were the people at the bottom, and most of them were the Huns. These people had no power in the court, so Huo Qubing had no possibility of forming cliques and did not pose a political threat.

However, Wei Qing was different. Although Wei Qing was always cautious, he was responsible for the interests of too many people. These people gathered together and had a huge power. Emperor Wu had to find a way to curb him, and the method he took was to control Wei Huo.

When Huo Qubing was awarded the title of marquis as a general of the general, he was the icing on the cake of the Wei family. When he threatened the position of Wei's protector Wei Qing, he was the enemy of the entire Wei family.

If Wei Qing faced rebellions after the Mobei War, while Huo Qubing faced relatives. The profiteers of the Wei family were absolutely unwilling to see Huo Qubing replace Wei Qing's status, they would do their best to protect Wei Qing.

1st floor, [swio] posted on 2007-2-1023:04:56 | Delete post

2. The incident of Li Gan injuring Wei Qing and its background

Records of the Grand Historian: Li Gan used the lieutenant to attack Hu Zuoxian King with the cavalry general, fought hard, seized Zuoxian King's drum flag, beheaded, awarded the title of Guannei Marquis, and had 200 households. He was appointed as the ruling of the doctor. After a while, he blamed General Qing for hating his father, so he attacked and injured General, and General hid him.

From this account, we can see that after the end of the Mobei War, Li Gan was granted the title of Marquis of Guannei and served as the doctor. "Xinzhi" Li Gan injured Wei Qing because of his father's revenge. This year was 119 BC.

Li Gan went to Wei Qing to fight for his life because of his father's revenge, which was in line with the identity of a soldier who had just come off the battlefield and the simple personality of the Li family. Wei Qing did not make any statement afterwards but concealed the matter, which was in line with his always kind and concessional personality.

We don’t know whether Wei Qing’s generosity made Li Gan feel guilty, but no matter whether Li Gan later hated Wei Qing, his actions were enough to lay the root of disaster for the decline of the entire Li family.

2nd Floor, [swio] posted on 2007-2-1023:06:35 | Delete posts | Add essence

3. Li Cai's death and Li Gan's death

Prime Minister Li Cai committed suicide in March of the following year, fearing guilt, and his charge was for occupying a piece of land in the tomb of the predecessor.

A ridiculous reason is that Li Cai is neither a fool nor a lunatic, and there is no sign that he is a wealthy lover who wants money but lives. The world is so big that as the prime minister, he wants to occupy a piece of land, why should he invade the cemetery of the late emperor? Even a three-year-old child knows that it is a death sentence. Why did Prime Minister Li take great risks to occupy that piece of land? What huge benefits did he get after occupying this piece of land?

Politics does not follow the logic of cause and effect. Some people have conclusive evidence that he committed such a crime of rebellion. The emperor could only send someone to investigate. Before he was imprisoned, Li Cai committed suicide. After all, he was just a mediocre general and was vulnerable in the complex political struggle.

3rd Floor, [swio] posted on 2007-2-1023:07:36 | Delete posts | Add essence

If Huo Qubing had been planning to kill Li Gan for a long time, it really doesn't make sense, because the method he took was so stupid, it did not benefit him at all, and it would also bring him all kinds of potential consequences. There are hundreds of better ways in the world than this. Why did Huo Qubing, who is extremely smart, find this way that is harmful to him but not beneficial to him?

If it weren't for the long-planned murder, then this incident would be an emergency. Wei Qing blocked the news after being injured, and Huo Qubing had never known about it. He had just learned about Li Gan's injury to Wei Qing before hunting in Ganquan Palace, or when he was hunting. Based on his decisive personality on the battlefield, he took Li Gan's life with one arrow.

Why did Huo Qubing suddenly know the news? Who revealed the news to him? Why did he choose to be a hunting ground? What is the purpose of the person who disclosed the information?

Excluding accidental factors, if someone deliberately revealed the matter to Huo Qubing, then this person must have a very close relationship with Wei Qing, otherwise he would not have known that Wei Qing was once injured by Li Gan.

4th floor, [swio] posted on 2007-2-1023:08:44 | Delete posts | Add essence

I chose to go to the hunting ground, one is because there are too many people here, and the other is because there is enough space here, so Huo Qubing can easily kill people with the bow and arrow in his hand, just like he killed people on the battlefield.

The purpose of this person revealing this matter is very obvious, he will kill someone with a knife!

If Huo Qubing takes action on his own impulse, it would be better. If Huo Qubing does not rush to do it, but tells Emperor Wu about this, the designer's goal has also been achieved, and Li Dan will undoubtedly die.

If someone deliberately wants to kill Li Gan, why not immediately but endure it for such a long time?

This issue is not difficult to explain as long as it is related to the Li Cai incident. Li Cai died in March of this year, when spring was in bloom. There is no record of the specific month Li Gan died, but he died while Emperor Wu was hunting, so it should not be winter. At that time, the calendar was winter at the beginning of the year, and Li Gan's death should have been after spring.

According to common sense, Li Gan's death is likely to be close to Li Cai's death, because to deal with the Li family, of course, it is to deal with Li Cai, who is the prime minister first. Killing Li Gan is just a trivial matter, so there is no need to hurry up.

5th Floor, [swio] posted on 2007-2-1023:09:33 | Delete posts | Add essence

Li Gan and Li Cai's uncle and nephew died together this year. The Li family's power was uprooted. There were almost no adult males in the Li family, and no one would seek revenge from the Wei family again.

Huo Qubing executed Li Gan in an extreme way, and there were no few who sympathized with the Li family. This would inevitably cause a lot of trouble, and even Emperor Wu would have some dissatisfaction with him. Isn’t this the result that Wei family wants to see?

With one kill, Wei won a great victory.

What is strange is that after the Li family's power declined, Li Gan's two children later got the opportunity to get close to the prince and were favored by the prince.

If no one recommends it, how can the children of the Li family enter the Prince's East Palace? The recommender is likely to send the children of the Li family in under the slogan of protecting Li Gan's orphans and preventing Huo Qubing from taking another jealousy.

Huo Qubing's killing of Li Gan was an open secret at that time. There must be many witnesses in the hunting ground in Ganquan Palace. Even the little Sima Qian knew that Li Gan's family could not be unaware of it. The hatred of killing his father was irreconcilable. The prince brought the two Huo Qubing's enemies by his side, raised and spoiled him. What did he want to do?

6th floor, [swio] posted on 2007-2-1023:10:58 | Delete posts | Add essence

4. Huo Qubing’s mystery of asking for the third prince

Huo Qubing has been leading troops in war since he was a teenager and has hardly participated in the government affairs. However, in the sixth year of Yuanshou, something extremely strange happened. He took the lead twice and asked Emperor Wu to appoint the third prince as king. This incident was strongly supported by the Prime Minister and the Censor Zhang Tang. It was a huge momentum, and all the civil and military officials of the court joined in.

The matter of enfeoffing the prince seems to have nothing to do with Huo Qubing. Why did Huo Qubing be the initiator and leader? Was he extremely bored when he was not fighting and was in charge of other people's business?

When we seize the main line of Prince Wei, this bizarre strange thing is not surprising at all. The third prince was canonized as king, and the biggest benefit was the prince.

The queen guard's son, the husband, has long been old and has lost favor, and has been out of favor for a long time. At this time, Emperor Wu favored Mrs. Wang. Mrs. Wang had a son, which had already threatened the position of the prince.

After the Battle of Monan, Wei Qing did not win the title, but received a reward of a thousand gold medals. At this time, one of his disciples advised him to give Mrs. Wang's family a generous gift. Wei Qing did as he did and gave half of the reward to Mrs. Wang's family. After Emperor Wu learned about this, he immediately promoted the disciple, which shows Mrs. Wang's influence.
To be continued...