After the victory in Kunyang, the Liu Xiu brothers won a reputation beyond anyone else in both the Han army and the enemy. As Liu's fame grew, the gang felt that Liu was a growing threat to them, so they killed Liu under the pretext.
The murder of his brother is undoubtedly a great blow to Liu Xiu, but he can hold back his sadness and become more humble, and his grief and indignation are invisible, showing his perseverance in hiding his strength and bearing the burden of humiliation. In order not to be suspected by the emperor from the beginning, he hurried back to Wancheng on his journey to the south to apologize and refused to contact his eldest brother Liu privately [example]. Although Kunyang's contribution was Liu Xiu's first, he did not show Kunyang's contribution, and said that his brother was guilty and he was also wrong. Therefore, Liu Xiu was not convicted, but was named Wu Xinhou. However, whenever Liu Xiu lives alone, she always secretly tears, does not drink or eat meat to express her grief for her brother.
However, I know that even if Emperor Geng Shi does not doubt himself at this time, he may be like his brother Liu [illustration] in the future. After all, he is well-known and has made great contributions to Gao Zhen. At that time, although the Xin Mang Dynasty perished, all counties and counties in Hebei (north of the Yellow River) held a wait-and-see attitude and never joined the new regime. The Red Eyebrow Army is developing rapidly in Shandong, with increasing momentum. There are "Three Kings of Hebei", Tongma, Youlai, Xiao Wei, Gongsun Shu and other separatist forces. Liu Ci said to Liu Xuan, "Liu Xiu is the best person to go to Hebei for zhaofu. And it is only suitable for Liu Xiu to go to Hebei. " However, the generals represented by Bi strongly opposed the patrol of Hebei. When killing Liu [illustration], it was a strong suggestion from Li Yi. Zhu Bi, the reason why they won't let Liu Xiu go is very simple. It's not that he has no ability, but that his ability is too strong. While Liu Xuan was hesitating, Feng Yi gave Liu Xiu a trick up his sleeve: he must try to please Cao Jing, the left prime minister. Liu Xiu listened to Feng Yi's advice and "waited patiently". As a result, Liu Xiu got her wish. Since October of the first year of the new year (23 years), as a general of breaking Lu, he was transferred to Hebei as Zhao Fu and "North Crossing". In this way, Liu Xiu can be said to be a tiger out of the cage and a dragon into the sea. At the same time, he is under great pressure. Although Liu Xuan gave him a good status and considerable power, he still had some reservations in the most crucial place-he was not equipped with military force, let alone the trench. The history books say that Liu Xiu "toured Hebei by bike"
Liu Xiu is in Hebei. Everywhere he went, he inspected officials and went up and down according to his ability. Restore unjust imprisonment and release prisoners; Abolish Wang Mang's tyranny and restore the official name of the Han Dynasty. During his stay in Hebei, Liu Xiu also smashed a rebellion that pretended to be the son of Emperor Han Cheng to establish another court. For the peasant army, Liu Xiu adopted the policy of division, disintegration and incorporation. At that time, the largest peasant army in Hebei was the "bronze horse". After Liu Xiu defeated the Bronze Horse Army, he incorporated it and greatly enhanced his military strength. Therefore, it also won the title of "Bronze Horse Emperor". After more than a year of hard work, Liu Xiu finally took full control of Hebei. At this time, the emperor in Chang 'an sent a special envoy to Hebei to appoint Liu Xiu as Xiao Wang in an attempt to recall him to Chang 'an. This shows that Liu Xuan is not at ease with Liu Xiu and wants to weaken his power and regain power. Liu Xiu naturally understood this intention and refused to be called into Chang 'an on the grounds of "Hebei injustice". The rift between Liu Xiu and Liu Xuan began to be obvious.
In the third year (25 years), in June, Liu Xiu, who was already a "land across the state with a million troops", ascended the throne in Qian Qiu Pavilion in Juancheng, Hebei Province, which was the throne of the emperor. In order to show the intention of reviving the Han Dynasty, Liu Xiujianguo still used the title of "Han" and renamed it "Jianwu", which was called "Hou Han" in history. In October of the first year of Jianwu, Liu Xiu made Luoyang its capital.
After Liu Xiu proclaimed himself emperor, he devoted himself to unifying the wars in the world and adopted a series of correct strategies and tactics, which showed his true nature of "being able to fight".
Wang Fuzhi, a historian in the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties, made an interesting comparison between Guangwu's unification of the world and Liu Bang's victory over Xiang Yu, and thought that Guangwu was in a particularly difficult position from the beginning. He said: "(Guangwu) has been set in Luoyang, and the chaos in the world is in the ascendant. The emperor's income is unique to those who do something. While Chong Peng rebelled against Youzhou, the five factions still crossed the inner yellow. Although Kansai Deng Yu entered Chang 'an and surrounded it with red eyebrows, Yu Fu could not control it. Yan, Wan, Zhaxiang, Xinye and Hongnong are close to each other's cheeks, rebelling against each other, but restraining each other ... Liu, Zhang, Dong Xian and Su Mao are all generals of Dongwu, and they are at stake. Xiao Wei, Gongsun Shu, not to mention Xu Ding. "In this case, who to attack first, who to attack later, priorities, need to have a very sober estimate and wise choice. Liu Xiu had enough estimates of the difficult situation. After weighing, he decided on a more correct and feasible strategy, which is the strategy and tactics of attacking from west to east and from a distance. That is to say, in kanto region, including the north, south and east directions of the Luoyang area controlled by Liu Xiu, the attack was taken, while in the west of Guanzhong, the defense was temporarily taken. " There are certain strategies, and then there are certain achievements. " Under this general strategic policy, Liu Xiu immediately formulated a series of specific tactics.
Let's talk about Liu Xiu's strategy of "going west and going out". Liu Xiu only sent Deng Yu and Feng Yi to lead a small number of troops to occupy the Guanzhong area first, and then basically took the defensive. It is very important to occupy Guanzhong. Because Guanzhong is the seat of Chang 'an, the capital of Han Dynasty, controlling Chang 'an is of great significance in public opinion. In addition, the occupation of Chang 'an has also played a buffering role in Luoyang, which can largely relieve the worries of the West. At the same time, Liu Xiu's capture of Guanzhong undoubtedly hit a nail in the west. To the west and south, he can defend or attack. As long as the conditions are favorable, he can immediately take a sharp offensive against Tianshui and Bashu in Longyou. However, Liu Xiu's westward advance was enough, as the Biography of Gongsun Shu in the later Han Dynasty said: At that time, "Lu was controlled by force, but it was not intended to make a westward expedition", so after making progress in Guanzhong, he basically took the defensive in a few years. Tianshui, Longyou separatist regime Xiao Wei and Bashu separatist regime Gongsun Shu all adopted peace policies. Liu Xiu once said to the generals, "Let's put these two sons in the outer ear." Until the sixth year of Jianwu (30 years), Liu Xiu had basically pacified the hero of Kanto.
However, although the general trend is to adopt a peaceful policy, Liu Xiu has adopted different treatments to the two major separatist forces in the West strategically according to different situations. Basically, in the early years, Xiao Wei adopted a policy of political co-ordination and military alliance. In order to stabilize Xiao Wei, Liu Xiu even acknowledged the equal status of Wei Xiao and Han in name. The history contains "three years (Jianwu) imperial edict, and Guangwu learned that he was specially rewarded, praised and used the instrument of the enemy, which was very comforting." After Xiao Wei's joint action against Bashu and Gongsun Shu was reached, Liu Xiu further wooed him and wrote several letters to express the meaning of "more courtesy and more thought". This net settlement policy lasted for at least five or six years. By 30 AD, on the one hand, Liu Xiu was full-fledged, and he turned his main attention to the west. On the other hand, Liu Xiu also saw that Xiao Wei was "unwilling to unify the world" and "useless in the end", so he decided to change his strategy from "westward advance" to "westward attack". As for Bashu Gongsun Shu, Liu Xiuze took a hostile attitude from the beginning, but because the East was not peaceful, he could not make a move for the time being, so he could only carry out some small-scale defensive encounters, such as Ren Man, who resisted Gongsun Shu's crusade in Guanzhong in the third year of Jianwu (now Fengjie, Sichuan). But until the 11th year of Jianwu (35 years), the basic policy was to force Gongsun Shu to stay on the defensive in Bashu, not to destroy this separatist force. In the end, the national situation is completely favorable and the strength is absolutely strong. Won the Dragon and Looking at Shu. For Dou Rong, which is farther west, Liu Xiuze completely adopted a peaceful strategy, and the two sides cooperated closely, allowing Dou Rong to contain Xiao Wei and Gongsun Shu from the rear.
Liu Xiuxi's policy has achieved remarkable results, enabling him to easily eliminate the threat and imminent danger between the pharynx and cheeks in the East. Then, we gathered the strength and material resources of the whole East, came to Xiao Wei and Gongsun Shu, a corner of the Western Expedition, and finally completed all the work of unifying the world. Chen Liang, a political commentator in the Southern Song Dynasty, appreciated Guangwu's strategy and tactics very much. He commented: "If you have the ability, you can take it well, and you can make it second ... Now Guangwu is also a resurgence."
Let's talk about Liu Xiu's "eastward advancement" strategy. Liu Xiu's "eastward advance" is not an average use of troops, but a flexible tactic. Because Luoyang is in the land of four wars, there are Deng Feng, Cen Yan, Qin Feng and Tian Rong in Nanjun area of Nanyang in the south, Liu Yong, Dong Xian and Zhang Bu in the east and Chong Peng and Zhang Feng in the north, no matter which side attacks, it will pose a great threat to Liu Xiu's political center. In this way, Liu Xiu must take action against the enemies of these three parties at the same time. Liu Xiu's strategy for the hero of Kanto is to take an all-round fan attack centered on Luoyang and Hanoi. In the second year of Jianwu (26 years), Cen Peng was sent to lead 90,000 troops south to win Nanyang Dengfeng, Gaiyan was sent to lead 50,000 troops to crusade for Liu Yong and Dong Xian, and You Zhu and Ji Zun were sent to lead the army north to win Chong Peng and Zhang Feng. However, in this fan-shaped offensive operation, according to the urgency of hostile forces, the use of the main force of war is appropriate and flexible. For example, Cen Pengyuan was responsible for conquering Qin Feng in Nanjun County. "At the age of three, he attacked Qin Feng and beheaded more than 90,000 people." Qin Feng defended Li Qiu (now Yicheng, Hubei) with surplus soldiers, and "ate and drank in the city" with less than 1,000 defenders. Liu Xiu "turned from prosperity to decline" and immediately decided to "make You Zhu take Peng Shou's position" and transferred the main force of Cen Peng to the battlefield in Yiling (now Yichang, Hubei) where Tian Rong was more needed.
The success of Liu Xiu's fan-shaped offensive in the eastern battlefield is crucial, that is, it mainly depends on the unity within Liu Xiu's leading group. The key lies in Liu Xiu's proper employment and mutual sincerity. If there is a major mutiny in one of the three battlefields in the east, south and north, the fan-shaped offensive will immediately fail on all fronts, resulting in the situation being out of control. Therefore, the application of Liu Xiu's brilliant strategy and tactics depends first on the sincere cooperation between the monarch and the minister. The so-called "the beauty of thighs, the beauty of arms, the capacity of the head of state." Dunmu Jiuzu, known as Tang Yu; Noble and simple, with Huang Xi elements; Accept modestly, there is a lot of work to vomit. "