Li Shimin, Zhu Yuanzhang, and Genghis Khan: Who Ranked First?
["Murong Chui, Emperor Wucheng of Later Yan, who dealt Huan Wen a crushing defeat at Fangtou, routed the famed Eastern Jin general Liu Laozhi, destroyed Zhai Wei and Western Yan, and never suffered a defeat in his life."]
["Liu Yu, Emperor Wu of Liu Song, who put down the Sun En Rebellion, destroyed Huan Chu, Later Qin, and Southern Yan in succession, and unified the south."]
["Li Shimin, Great Emperor Taizong of Tang, who raised an army in his youth, fought campaigns in all directions, and was honored as the Heavenly Khagan by the surrounding foreign peoples."]
["Li Cunxu, Emperor Zhuangzong of Later Tang, who repelled the Khitan in the north, annexed Qi, destroyed Former Shu and Later Liang, and shook the southern states."]
["Chai Rong, Emperor Shizong of Later Zhou, who defeated Later Shu in the west, crushed Southern Tang in the south, and broke the Liao State in the north, and was praised by historians as a heroic ruler of his generation, with godlike martial prowess and grand strategy."]
["Zhao Kuangyin, Great Emperor Taizu of Song, who destroyed Jingnan, Wuping, Later Shu, Southern Han, and Southern Tang, ending the chaos of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms."]
["Yelü Dashi, Emperor Dezong of Western Liao, who defeated a hundred-thousand-strong Seljuk coalition at the Battle of Qatwan and became the hegemon of Central Asia."]
["Wanyan Aguda, Emperor Taizu of Great Jin, who declared himself emperor, founded a state, and swept away the Liao State."]
["Genghis Khan, Borjigin Temujin, Emperor Taizu of Great Yuan, who unified the lands North of the Gobi, destroyed Western Xia, campaigned west against Khwarazm, and conquered half the globe."]
["Zhu Yuanzhang, Great Emperor Taizu of Ming, who eliminated Chen Youliang, Zhang Shicheng, and other separatist forces in succession, raised an army for a northern expedition, and was the only emperor in history to fight his way from south to north and succeed."]
["Zhu Di, Great Emperor Chengzu of Ming, who moved the capital to Beijing, created the celebrated tale of the Son of Heaven guarding the nation's gates, led five expeditions North of the Gobi, and was the only emperor to perform the feng sacrifice at Mount Langjuxu."]
["Aisin Gioro Nurhaci, Emperor Taizu of Great Qing, who raised an army with the thirteen suits of armor left by his grandfather, unified the Jurchen tribes, defeated three Ming armies in five days at Sarhu, and swept across Liaodong."]
["Aisin Gioro Hong Taiji, Emperor Taizong of Great Qing, who led two campaigns against Korea, destroyed the Chahar, and captured Hong Chengchou alive at the Battle of Songjin, laying the foundation for the Manchu Qing's entry through the pass."]
"If there were ten sages in the Ten Philosophers of the Martial Temple of Emperors, the Taizu and Taizong of our Great Qing would surely be among them!"
"Murong Chui never suffered a defeat in his life? What history book would dare say that?"
"Conquered more than half the globe? Is the globe a place name?"
"Zhu Di only succeeded in rebelling because Zhu Yunwen, Li Jinglong, and their like were too incompetent! If it had been our Great Qing, would he have had a chance to rebel? Five expeditions North of the Gobi and a feng sacrifice at Mount Langjuxu—sounds impressive, but the descendants of the Yuan Dynasty had already been crippled by Zhu Yuanzhang's generation. When he marched over there with hundreds of thousands of troops, who would dare face him head-on? If an emperor of our Great Qing wanted to, he could perform the feng sacrifice at Mount Langjuxu whenever he pleased!"
"Cao Cao only unified the north in his entire life, so he wasn't all that formidable. Sima Yi couldn't beat Zhuge Liang, yet he deserves a place in the Emperors' Martial Temple? Who's Tuoba Tao? Never heard of him."
"Heavenly Khagan Li Shimin and Genghis Khan Temujin were formidable. That can't be denied!"
Seeing that he was not among the candidates for the Ten Philosophers of the Martial Temple of Emperors, Emperor Wu of Han was disappointed and began considering leading troops in person to attack the Xiongnu in the north.
[Not one of these eighteen men in the video had an undeserved reputation. If we have to pick ten, we should first choose from the emperors of unified dynasties, then fill the remaining places with emperors who dominated their own regions.]
[Forget Nurhaci and Hong Taiji. If there really were to be an Emperors' Martial Temple, I think only Liu Xiu, Li Shimin, Genghis Khan, and Zhu Yuanzhang would qualify for a place.]
[The Qing Dynasty fought to win its realm? I'd sooner believe it picked the realm up.]
[The Qing Dynasty did fight to win its realm. It's just that the realm came so easily that people mistakenly think it was picked up!]
[There's no principal figure to receive the sacrifices. I think the Yellow Emperor Xuanyuan, who dealt Chiyou a crushing defeat, could be the principal figure in the Emperors' Martial Temple.]
[I looked it up online. In the ranking of emperors by fighting ability, Li Shimin was first, Zhu Yuanzhang second, Genghis Khan third, Liu Yu fourth, Liu Xiu fifth, and surprisingly, the First Emperor of Qin, Ying Zheng, was sixth. Seventh was Emperor Shizu of Yuan, Kublai, eighth was Ran Min, ninth was Chai Rong, tenth was Li Cunxu, eleventh was Emperor Wu of Han, Liu Che, twelfth was Chen Baxian, and thirteenth was Yang Guang.]
[This ranking is even less reliable. Ying Zheng and Liu Che never personally led troops into battle, so neither of them counts.]
[If we're choosing from the eighteen people in the video, I think it should be Li Shimin, Zhu Yuanzhang, Genghis Khan, Xiang Yu, Liu Yu, Liu Xiu, Chai Rong, Li Cunxu, Murong Chui, and Wanyan Aguda.]
[Wow, even Emperor Taizu of Song didn't make the list!]
[Emperor Wu of Wei, Cao Cao, didn't make it either!]
[Zhu Yuanzhang unified the realm in fifteen years. Cao Cao only managed to unify the north in his entire life.]
[Why don't you mention that Cao Cao's opponents were more formidable than Zhu Yuanzhang's?]
[If Zhu Yuanzhang had lived at the end of the Han, he wouldn't even have had the chance to beg for food.]
[Why wasn't Ran Min in the video?]
[The Song Dynasty never achieved full unification. Northern Song was a little better off, with a larger realm. By the time of Southern Song, it had lost the territory north of the Yangtze River from an already incomplete realm, becoming a state confined entirely to one corner. The Song Dynasty lasted longer than both Liao and Jin, and it was a Central Plains dynasty, so it became a link in the orthodox succession of Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming, and Qing. In other words, Northern Song was much the same as Later Yan, except that Northern Song had more territory.
Murong Chui wasn't undefeated throughout his life, and Zhao Kuangyin suffered defeats too. But I think the Wei, Jin, and Northern and Southern Dynasties period was more difficult than the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, and Murong Chui's opponents were more formidable than Zhao Kuangyin's!]
[The Song Dynasty really wasn't a unified dynasty! If I were a historian, I would deny the Song Dynasty's orthodox status and classify Song, Liao, and Jin together as an era of three rival states, like Wei, Shu, and Wu after the end of the Han.]
Seeing this comment, the Song Dynasty officials were displeased.
A Northern Song official addressed the sky screen. "Those words from a person of later generations are mistaken! Although our Great Song did not recover the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun, it reached unprecedented heights in politics, economics, literature, and other fields. Our dynasty had an advanced imperial examination system that selected countless outstanding talents, as well as flourishing commerce and developed maritime trade, making the nation rich and prosperous. By comparison, Liao and Jin were merely nomadic peoples. Though powerful for a time, they lacked deep cultural foundations. Moreover, our Great Song possessed the vast lands of the Central Plains. Therefore, the orthodox succession of the realm belonged to none other than our Great Song!"
[Of Li Shimin, Zhu Yuanzhang, and Genghis Khan, who ranked first in military ability?]
"In my view, when it comes to leading troops in battle, Genghis Khan may have had the edge. Genghis Khan unified the Mongol tribes, conquered vast territories, and established the immense Mongol Empire. His army was exceedingly powerful, and its cavalry tactics were flexible and varied. They made good use of terrain and weather, often defeating larger forces with smaller ones, and made the Mongol cavalry's might feared throughout the world."
"Li Shimin pacified the realm and ushered in the Reign of Zhenguan. He won victory after victory in foreign campaigns, subdued the surrounding nations, and was honored as the Heavenly Khagan. He was the emperor of both the Central Plains and the grasslands. He was far better than Genghis Khan!"
"Li Shimin, Zhu Yuanzhang, and Genghis Khan were all outstanding figures. It's hard to compare them."
People from the three eras of Li Shimin, Genghis Khan, and Zhu Yuanzhang believed their own emperor or khan was the best at warfare and deserved to rank first.