The Difference Between Emperor Wu of Han and Emperor Taizong of Tang's Foreign Expansion
[The difference between Emperor Wu of Han and Emperor Taizong of Tang's foreign expansion #history #Han Dynasty #Tang Dynasty]
"Emperor Taizong of Tang? That should be me!" Li Shimin muttered to himself.
The emperor he admired most was Emperor Wen of Han, Liu Heng.
He had thought that, after his death, being called "Emperor Wendi Taizong" would be fine.
It concerned him and even compared him with Emperor Wu of Han, so Li Shimin was eager to watch.
People who lived before Emperor Taizong's time were very interested in the video. They wanted to see how the territorial expansion of the Han and Tang dynasties differed, and whether they could learn a thing or two; those who lived after Emperor Taizong's time and had read the histories already knew the answer.
["Both expanded abroad, so why did Emperor Wu of Han leave the people destitute while Emperor Taizong of Tang grew richer the more he fought?"]
["Because the Han and Tang expanded in different ways."]
["Emperor Taizong of Tang beat you until you called him big brother, then happily took you in as his little brother."]
["Emperor Wu of Han typically seized your land and took your life, so naturally the price both sides paid was different."]
["Take the campaigns against the northern nomads as an example. According to the 'Account of the Xiongnu' in the Records of the Grand Historian, during Wei Qing and Huo Qubing's campaign North of the Gobi alone, more than 70,000 Xiongnu were beheaded. That might sound like a tiny fraction of the wartime losses incurred while the First Emperor of Qin unified China, but for the Xiongnu, 70,000 people was no small number."]
"Emperor Wu of Han really is me!"
Seeing Wei Qing and Huo Qubing's names appear on the sky screen confirmed Liu Che's suspicion that he was Emperor Wu of Han.
He was very interested in how Emperor Taizong of Tang grew richer the more he fought and wanted to learn a thing or two.
But now that he had seen it, it didn't seem very promising.
["The Xiongnu sphere of influence may have looked huge on the map, but everyone knows what the plateau's ecology is like. According to estimates by Ma Changshou, a modern historian of ethnic groups, the Xiongnu population at the time was at most 1.5 million. If we assume one-tenth were young people capable of fighting, that was only 150,000."]
["Think about it: the Han army wiped out more than half their young people in one go, a population loss rate of 50%. In human history, that was almost on par with the Soviet Union during World War II. One of the most important contributions of Emperor Wu of Han's reign was that he not only crippled the Xiongnu but also occupied their land."]
["Take the Hexi Corridor, for example. It used to be within the Xiongnu sphere of influence, but by Emperor Wu of Han's time it had become a major Han settlement. Its population structure was transformed on a massive scale, and for the first time, the Chinese Empire's territory stretched from the oval shape it had before the Qin into a dumbbell shape."]
["In terms of long-term returns, the gains were undoubtedly enormous, but the price of those enormous gains was a massive loss of life. After all, they were won with real swords and spears."]
["But Emperor Taizong of Tang was different. The Tang campaigns against the north focused on attacking the leaders—that is, the ruling nobles of the Göktürk tribes. As for the Göktürk herders, rather than physically sending them to the afterlife as Emperor Wu of Han did, he kept large numbers of Göktürks penned up, letting them settle together in northern Hebei and even allowing them to retain their original culture."]
["Wei Zheng was firmly opposed to this at the time. He demanded that they either be slaughtered to the last person or be completely assimilated into Han culture. After all, the Wei, Jin, and Northern and Southern dynasties had only recently passed, but Emperor Taizong of Tang did neither. That meant the Tang did not resolve the population structure in the north."]
["In its early years, the Tang Dynasty was rather like the Former Qin of the Northern and Southern dynasties: a multiethnic state composed primarily of a large Han population, along with the Göktürks and other peoples."]
["Emperor Taizong of Tang was not only the Son of Heaven of the Central Plains empire, but also the Heavenly Khagan of the steppe tribes."]
["It looked a little like what the later Qing Dynasty did, but his actual ability to exercise control was far inferior to the Qing's. Even Emperor Taizong of Tang himself suffered for it."]
["Because there were too many Göktürk nobles in Chang'an, the governor of Liangzhou at the time sensed something was wrong. He said China was the root of the realm, while the foreign peoples were merely its branches and leaves. If the emperor valued the branches and leaves over the root, trouble was bound to follow. Besides, those Göktürks still kept their own customs and refused to assimilate into Han culture, yet he had stationed them so close by. If they caused an uprising, it would be disastrous."]
["Sure enough, in the thirteenth year of Zhenguan, Khagan Tuli's younger brother Jiesheshuai joined forces with more than forty Göktürks and launched a surprise attack on Jiucheng Palace, where Li Shimin was staying, scaring him half to death."]
Li Shimin: What do you mean, scared half to death? You'd better not say that again! Now that you've said it, what will the people of the realm think of me?
["After that, Emperor Taizong of Tang's attitude toward these people changed. He said the foreigners had human faces but beastly hearts, and that once they were dissatisfied, they would surely become a menace."]
["The later restoration of the Göktürk state, the founding of Bohai, and the An Lushan–Shi Siming Rebellion were all caused by the failure to assimilate the northern population into Han culture early on."]
["The rebellions that later broke out in frontier regions such as Mongolia and Shaanxi and Gansu in the late Qing show that the more Han people there were, the more stable the situation was."]
"Those who are not of our kind must have different hearts!"
"Wasn't Emperor Taizong of Tang a wise ruler? Why did he seem so stupid when dealing with these foreign peoples?!"
"Li Shimin had non-Han blood. Maybe he was naturally close to the steppe people in the north."
["It was precisely because Emperor Taizong of Tang used a low-cost approach that he left behind enormous hidden dangers."]
["By comparison, although the toll during Emperor Wu of Han's reign was severe, the benefits for later generations really were the most tangible."]
"That's it?" Emperor Wu of Han sneered disdainfully.
He had originally wanted to learn from Emperor Taizong of Tang, but after watching the video on the sky screen, he instantly abandoned the idea.
Hadn't the sky screen said so? Emperor Taizong of Tang's low-cost approach had left behind enormous hidden dangers. Although the toll during Emperor Wu of Han's reign was severe, the benefits for later generations really were the most tangible.
Emperor Taizong of Tang's plane.
Li Shimin was very embarrassed. He had just been thinking of using the sky screen to boost his prestige, but now he would be lucky not to become a laughingstock.
"Your Majesty, according to the sky screen, I will advise you in the future, but you won't listen. Surely you should listen to the sky screen!" Wei Zheng's words were like a knife stabbing into Li Shimin's heart.
Fortunately, there were other people around.
Zhangsun Wuji comforted Li Shimin, while Yuchi Gong and the other military commanders all volunteered to go to the Göktürks and chop Jiesheshuai to pieces.
[Those who are not of our kind must have different hearts.]
[The tail grew too large to control.]
[The Tang Dynasty's expansion was temporary, while most of the Han Dynasty's gains became permanent territory.]
[The two weren't even on the same level in terms of ability.]
[That's why the Tang fell to regional warlords, and after the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, what it left the Han people was an increasingly powerful northern nomadic people.]
This comment made the eyes of many Song Dynasty emperors and officials light up.
That's right! It was all the Great Tang's fault!
The Great Tang was also responsible for their inability to recover the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun!