GBP Chapter 114: The Two Pillars of the Empire - Huo Qubing
Chapter 114: The Two Pillars of the Empire - Huo Qubing
Ancient times
After Wei Qing's video was played, the ancient people were all looking forward to it. They all knew that the next video would definitely be about that spirited young man.
Sure enough, the picture on the sky changed and the title appeared on the screen.
[Understand the life of the young war god Huo Qubing in one breath. The two pillars of the empire. The history of the Han Dynasty. The young war god]
[At the age of seventeen, he was crowned a marquis in one battle, shocking the world. ]
[At the age of nineteen, he rode a horse far ahead of others, set up a battle array in the Qilian Mountains, opened up the Hexi Corridor, expanded the vast territory of the Han Dynasty, and from then on, the Silk Road was unobstructed. ]
[At the age of 21, he went deep into the northern desert, trampled the Xiongnu on horseback, and marched to the shore of Lake Baikal, forcing the Xiongnu to flee far away. There was no king's court south of the desert, and he achieved the highest honor that all Chinese military generals dreamed of - Fenglangjuxu.]
[It made all the generals of the Western Han Dynasty pale in comparison to him, but unfortunately, he died young. After his death, Emperor Wu of Han almost devoted all his national strength to his funeral and even buried him in Maoling Mausoleum.]
——"Not only was he buried in Maoling, his mausoleum was also built in the shape of the Qilian Mountains."
——"Alas, God is really jealous of talented people."
[In this video, let us follow the chronological order and understand the legendary life of the young military god Huo Qubing in one go. ]
——"It's nothing legendary. My brother is sixteen years old and he's the Glory King. Doesn't this title sound more impressive?"
——"My little brother is playing as a solo Rakshasa, sounds pretty awesome. (Doghead)"
[From his birth in Pingyang County in 140 BC to his early death due to illness in 117 BC, Huo Qubing was only years old. ]
[Although he only performed on the stage of history for a short period of 6 years, he left behind the heroic words "How can I return home if the Xiongnu is not destroyed?".]
[He achieved the highest military achievement of Chinese generals and became an immortal legend for thousands of years. Emperor Wu of Han even specially granted him the highest title - Marquis of Champion, which has evolved into a synonym for the number one today.]
[To understand Huo Qubing's life, we have to start from the beginning. ]
[Huo Qubing's mother Wei Shao'er and his aunt Wei Zifu were both singers in the mansion of Pingyang Marquis at the time. Wei Shao'er had an affair with a minor official named Huo Zhongru from Pingyang County and gave birth to Huo Qubing in 140 BC.]
[But soon after, Huo Zhongru's term of service expired and he lost contact with Wei Shaoer. Therefore, Huo Qubing was an illegitimate child when he was young and did not know who his father was. It was not until he became a general of the cavalry that he was able to recognize his father.]
——"Forget it. Huo Zhongru was just playing with Wei Shaoer. After that, he went back to his hometown. He never wanted to recognize Huo Qubing."
——"To be honest, Huo Qubing probably didn't want to acknowledge this father. He had never seen him since he was a child. If it weren't for those broken rules of the ancients, he would have been merciful if he didn't kill Huo Zhongru."
[One year after Huo Qubing was born, an event that changed his life happened. On his way back to the palace from Bashang to worship his ancestors, Emperor Wu of Han, Liu Che, stopped by the Marquis of Pingyang's mansion to visit his older sister, Princess Pingyang, who was getting married.]
[Since Emperor Wu of Han and Chen Ajiao had been married, they had no children, so Princess Pingyang wanted to select some women from the two families and take the opportunity to present them to Emperor Liu Che, but Emperor Wu of Han did not like any of them.]
[When it was time to eat, the singing girls from the Marquis's mansion came up to perform. Emperor Wu of Han immediately took a liking to Wei Zifu, who was among the crowd. In this way, Wei Zifu had her first favor in the Shangyi's carriage, and soon after, she was sent to the palace by Princess Pingyang.]
[Emperor Wu of Han favored Wei Zifu more and more every day. Ten years later, Wei Zifu was made empress, and the entire Wei family rose to prominence. As the empress's nephew, Huo Qubing naturally lived an upper-class life, which gave him the opportunity to lead the army to war in the future.]
Huo Qubing treasured the rich resources he had obtained. With his extraordinary talent, he acquired a lot of skills in his youth, and was very good at riding and archery.
[Emperor Wu of Han loved his grandson and his dog, and wanted to teach him the art of war of his grandson and Wu Qi himself, but Huo Qubing refused on the grounds that "I only care about the strategy, not the ancient art of war". I am afraid that throughout history, there has never been anyone who dared to talk to Emperor Wu of Han like this. 】
Han Dynasty.
When Liu Che saw this, he couldn't help but recall the expression on his face when he heard his "bullshit".
I don't know where that brat got his arrogance from. He even dared to refuse him. But he still had the ability to prove that he was not conceited but confident.
He actually used his own achievements to tell the world that his own way of employing troops was the art of war, and there was no need to learn the art of war from the ancients.
"Someone, call that brat over. His video is being played on the skylight, so why doesn't he come to watch?" Liu Che said "dissatisfiedly".
Seeing this, Wei Qing on the side couldn't help but shook his head slightly.
Your Majesty's preference for Qubing sometimes even exceeds that for the Crown Prince.
……
[In 123 BC, the Xiongnu repeatedly invaded the border of the Han Dynasty. Emperor Wu of Han could no longer tolerate it. Huo Qubing, who was only years old, was appointed as the lieutenant of Piaoyao by Emperor Wu of Han and followed General Wei Qing to attack the Xiongnu.]
[This Piaoyao means brave and vigorous. Emperor Wu of Han originally wanted his nephew to go out and exercise with his brother-in-law.]
[But it was unexpected that Hou Qubing, who was fearless like a newborn calf, begged Wei Qing for 800 light cavalrymen after arriving on the battlefield. He then marched hundreds of miles and directly raided the Xiongnu's lair.]
[In this battle, Huo Qubing killed 2000 enemies and wiped out the grandfather and uncles of the Xiongnu Chanyu.]
——"The restrictions on getting sick leave are like human radar. Li Guang has been fighting with a cane all his life. He gets lost as soon as he gets to the desert. He gets lost as soon as he gets to the desert. It was his first time on the battlefield, and it was like he had turned on the navigation system and went straight to the enemy's base camp. (Covering face)"
——"Don't even mention Li Guang. Zhang Qian was captured and lived in the desert for many years. When he led his troops to fight, he still got lost. (Covering his face)"
——"Some people are born with a mission. To put it bluntly, they come here to do this thing. Isn't it like cheating?"
[After Huo Qubing won the first place in the army twice, Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty specially created a title for him to commend him, the Marquis of Champion, which ranked above all other marquises. This is also the origin of why we now call the first place "Champion". 】
——"First there was the champion, then there was the champion. This sounds great."
——"Emperor Wu of Han was a genius at naming. Many of the official titles and place names he created sounded very nice! This is much better than the aesthetic taste of the people in the Pigtail Dynasty. I would like to mention Emperor Qianlong here."
Han Dynasty.
When Liu Che saw the barrage on the sky, he couldn't stop laughing.
Yeah!
That’s right, he is a person with high aesthetic taste. He likes to hear such praise.
……
Qing Dynasty.
Qianlong was so angry that he almost vomited blood.
Damn it, this matter has nothing to do with him, but how can it bother him?
What's wrong with his aesthetic? It's called high-end retro style. Okay, he thinks it's pretty good, and his ancestors also thought it was pretty good, so what!
After all, he is still the emperor. Why do later generations have to hold him against the emperor?
……
[Two years later, Emperor Wu of Han appointed the 19-year-old Huo Qubing as General of Cavalry, and sent troops to the Hexi region in two offensives, in spring and summer.]
[In the spring offensive, Huo Qubing led 6 cavalrymen out of Longxi, crossed Yanzhi Mountain, and marched over a thousand miles in six days, fighting in the five states of Hexi, and finally fought against the Yuhunxie King tribe at Gaolan Mountain.]
[In the end, they annihilated more than 9,000 enemies, defeated five Hun tribes, and destroyed the Xiutu King City in one fell swoop. Not only did they almost capture the Hun Chanyu's son, they also stole the Hun people's golden man for offering sacrifices to the sky.]
[The number of high-ranking officials captured by the Xiongnu was even more numerous. In the summer offensive of the same year, Emperor Wu of Han originally planned to arrange Huo Qubing and Gongsun Aobing to advance in two different directions.]
[However, Gongsun Ao had lost his way and the army was late in arriving, so Huo Qubing decisively attacked and penetrated deep into the enemy's territory, crossed the Lesser Yuezhi, and formed his troops under the Qilian Mountains. He defeated the Xiongnu and killed more than 5,000 of them in three to five years. He captured the Xiongnu king alive and forced the Xiongnu King Hunxie to lead more than 40,000 people to surrender to the Han Dynasty.]
[The Han army suffered only one-third of the Xiongnu’s casualties. After this battle, the northwest border of the Western Han Dynasty was almost free of Xiongnu invasions, and the number of soldiers sent by Emperor Wu of Han to guard the border was reduced by half.]
[This not only reduced the burden of corvée labor on the people of the country, but also enabled the Han Dynasty to completely control the Hexi Corridor and opened up the road between the Han Dynasty and the Western Regions. The Xiongnu sang a sad song about this, "The loss of Mount Qilian has caused my livestock to stop breeding, and the loss of Mount Yanzhi has caused my married women to lose face."]
[The ordinary lieutenants who followed Huo Qubing into battle were all promoted to Zuo Shuzhang, and many were even granted the title of marquis. This shows how great Huo Qubing's contribution was in this battle.]
——"It is indeed outrageous. It is the highest achievement for a military commander. If you have someone around, you will be extremely rich."
——"It would be so lucky to be able to follow such a boss."
——"To be honest, he is not very kind to his subordinates, but he can win battles and gain military merit, so I don't think this is a shortcoming."
[In 119 BC, the -year-old Huo Qubing and his uncle Wei Qing each led an army of deep into the northern desert, waiting for an opportunity to engage in a decisive battle with the main force of the Xiongnu. Because Huo Qubing was flexible in the use of troops and good at long-distance raids, he was able to launch large-scale detours and large-scale interspersed annihilation battles.]
[So before going to war, Huo Qubing carefully selected a group of soldiers with extremely high combat skills, and boldly recruited the Huns, which is basically equivalent to the king of special forces in today's terms. ]
[When the decisive battle began, Huo Qubing learned through catching the tongue that the main force of the Xiongnu Chanyu was heading in the direction of Wei Qing's corps, so Huo Qubing decisively led his troops to march north for more than 2,000 miles and defeated the main force of the Xiongnu Zuoxian King in one fell swoop.]
[After that, he pursued the victory and fought all the way to Langjuxu Mountain, sealed Langjuxu, and climbed the vast sea, which is now Lake Baikal of the Russian bear. In this battle, Huo Qubing once again annihilated more than 70,000 enemy troops with a casualty ratio of one to three.]
[This wiped out the humiliation that the Han Dynasty had suffered for nearly a hundred years. The Xiongnu fled far away, and there was no large-scale Xiongnu tribe south of the desert.]
[One day, Emperor Wu of Han gave two bottles of imperial wine to Huo Qubing. He did not want to drink alone, so he poured the wine into the river to share with his soldiers. This river is now called Jiuquan.]
【After the war, Emperor Wu of Han specially set up the position of Grand Marshal to commend Wei Qing and Huo Qubing for their outstanding military achievements. General Wei Qing, General Yao and Huo Qubing were both Grand Marshals. From then on, Wei Qing's power gradually declined, while Huo Qubing became more and more prominent.】
[In 117 BC, the Xiongnu leader Yizhixie refused to submit to the Han dynasty, so Emperor Wu of Han decided to completely annihilate the main force of the leader. However, when preparing for the battle, Huo Qubing, who was only years old, died young due to long-term fatigue and fighting in a difficult environment.]
——"Isn't it because of drinking raw water?"
——"Isn't it because we have to drink raw water in such a difficult environment? There shouldn't be any serious problem with this reason."
——"There is no specific record of the cause, but it seems that someone said he was sick, but I don't know what the disease was. What a pity, he is not even as old as me."
[Emperor Wu of Han was therefore forced to temporarily stop fighting the Xiongnu. The extremely sad Emperor ordered Huo Qubing to be buried with him in Maoling Mausoleum, and also built Huo Qubing's tomb to look like the Qilian Mountains to highlight his extraordinary achievement in defeating the Xiongnu.]
[The carving of a horse trampling the Huns by the royal craftsmen in front of the tomb has been passed down to this day. Not only that, Emperor Wu of Han also specially donated money to the armored troops of the five counties in Hexi, with horses wearing black armor and lined up from Chang'an all the way to the tomb of Huo Qubing.]
——"My goodness, this is too impressive."
——"He deserves it. Given his contributions, it would be difficult to reward him while he was alive, but after his death, it is appropriate to give him a lavish reward."
——"Why doesn't the king produce a Huo Qubing!"
——"Farmers, get out of here!"
[Although Huo Qubing's life was short, he became a model for military commanders to emulate for thousands of years. He was successful at a young age, and when faced with the mansion he was rewarded with, he left behind the heroic words that have been passed down through the ages: "How can I have a family if the Xiongnu is not yet destroyed?"]
[After a thousand years, how many people will still remember this undefeated god of war who rode away from the dust in the desert amidst the smoke and yellow sand?]
[If Huo Qubing had not died young, how would the outcome of history have been rewritten? ]
——"There is nothing much to say, except for Liu Che in his later years. If he hadn't died, Huo Qubing would have died earlier than Liu Ju, and there would have been no room for him."
——““The champion of the cavalry, the brave and powerful, the six-wheeled march, the lightning and thunder, the drinking water from the vast sea, the sealing of the wolf's lair mountain, the west of the river, the counties of Qilian.”
——"The grandfather of blitzkrieg."
——"What a magnificent life! I was so excited that I immediately got up from the bed and did two push-ups. I felt too tired, so I lay back down and continued to play the game. (Covering my face)"
——"A bug in the system caused the combat power to go off the charts. Later, the system discovered it and recycled it after the experience was over. This was a huge blow to ordinary players."
——"My brother is already 27 years old, and all he knows is eating, drinking, having fun, and pooping."
——"It's pretty good. If you don't indulge in drinking, whoring and gambling, just be happy."
——"Alas, he died young, but he accomplished everything he should have done. He had so many great achievements, so he lived his life without regrets."