Diqin Designer

Chapter 258 The Highest Honor for a Military Officer
Meng Tian was just wondering who Genghis Khan was and why he was called "the pride of his generation". Then he heard Ying Zheng say: "Genghis Khan was a Hu emperor in later generations. The territory he conquered reached Zhuzhou (Europe) and Yangzhou (India), which was several times that of the Qin Dynasty."

Upon hearing this, Meng Tian immediately understood that although Genghis Khan was a Hu people, he was also an extraordinary emperor. However, even a Hu people emperor like Genghis Khan had the blood of Pei Gong, so how many descendants of Pei Gong did he have?
Although Pei Gong died, he had many descendants, which not only passed on his bloodline, but if his luck was better, he might have had a chance to repeat the glory of the Han Dynasty.

It seems that the Qin Dynasty could also learn a thing or two from this approach of having many children, more blessings and more opportunities. In the future, the one with the most descendants in the world will not be Liu Ji, but him, Ying Zheng.

Li Nian said: "People in later generations will use the name of Pei Gong's descendants mainly because the Han Dynasty is strong and popular, and its reputation spreads far and wide, making many people admire it!"

Indeed, if the Han Dynasty had not been so long-lasting and powerful, how could later generations remember this dynasty so fondly?

Even if the Qin Dynasty learns and draws on the strategies of the Han Dynasty, if it cannot do these things, it will still not be able to be the same as the Han Dynasty.

It is interesting to say that many strategies of the Han Dynasty in history were based on the Qin Dynasty. The Qin Dynasty crossed the river by feeling its way forward, and the Han Dynasty crossed the river by feeling its way forward. Now the Qin Dynasty is adopting some of the strategies of the Han Dynasty.

"Emperor Wu not only solved the problems of the various kings, but also cracked down on the powerful and forced many local powerful people to migrate to weaken their power. He also took over the salt and iron monopoly and the right to mint coins."

"In terms of talent education, a system of recommendation was established, requiring the counties and states to select filial and honest officials, scholars, virtuous and upright people, and to establish the Imperial College in Chang'an. The counties and states were also ordered to appoint academic officials to select and train talents for the court."

"All of the above are about internal governance, but Emperor Wu's posthumous title is 'Emperor Xiaowu', so naturally he cannot avoid the word 'Wu'. Later generations' reverence for Emperor Wu also stems from this, because of his outstanding military achievements!"

Li Nian said: "Emperor Wu was different from his father and great-grandfather. He had a tougher character. At that time, the Han Dynasty had been recuperating for many years and was already quite strong. The grass was lush and the horses were strong. There was plenty of food and fodder. In addition, there were outstanding generals like Wei Qing and Huo Qubing available."

"Emperor Wu no longer compromised with the Xiongnu like Emperor Wen and Emperor Jing did, but dared to take the initiative to fight the Xiongnu, and defeated the once arrogant Xiongnu and forced them to migrate far away. In Chinese history, the 'Sealing the Wolf and Lair', which is regarded as one of the highest honors by countless military generals, was accomplished by Champion Marquis Huo Qubing during Emperor Wu's reign."

Meng Tian and Meng Yi's eyes gleamed with fire. Although they could also do the work of civil officials, their main job was to be military generals. Now they heard from Li Nian that one of the highest honors for a military general was "sealing the wolf at Juxu", they felt dissatisfied, but at the same time they also wanted to know what kind of military achievements Huo Qubing had made to be called the highest honor for a military general.

General Bai Qi had great military achievements, but he was not named; General Wang Jian had outstanding military achievements, but he was also not named. So what were Huo Qubing's achievements and abilities?
Li Nian said, "Huo Qubing is the nephew of Wei Zifu and Wei Qing. He is very much loved by Emperor Wu, who treats him like his own son or nephew. When he was young, he was appointed as the imperial attendant and could enter and leave the palace and serve Emperor Wu."

"Emperor Wu regarded Huo Qubing as a piece of unparalleled jade and wanted to carve him into the strongest general under his command. Huo Qubing himself was also very motivated. He had a very outstanding talent in military affairs. With the careful carving of Emperor Wu, his personal talent and his own hard work, Huo Qubing was able to become a great general."

Talent, resources, background and personal effort are all maxed out. A genius is already scary enough, but this genius is also hardworking and has a strong background. How bad is that?
"When Huo Qubing was 18 years old, he followed his uncle Wei Qing to fight against the Xiongnu for the first time. He led 800 cavalrymen deep into the desert, beheaded and captured 2,228 prisoners, captured the Xiongnu prime minister and the head of the household, beheaded the Xiongnu Ji Ruohouchan, and captured Luo Gubi, the younger uncle of the Xiongnu Chanyu. His achievements were the best of the whole army!"

He was indeed a natural born general. The first time he went to the battlefield, he dared to lead 800 cavalrymen deep into the desert. The desert was not a good place at all, and they might get lost while walking. However, not only did Huo Qubing not get lost, but under his leadership, he achieved military exploits several times greater than his own.

As a general who was going into battle for the first time, this achievement was quite impressive, but it was not the highest honor for a general. Huo Qubing must have had even greater military achievements, Li Nian said. "Huo Qubing was named Marquis of Guanjun by Emperor Wu because of his military achievements. Emperor Wu also realized that the peerless sharp knife he had carefully carved and forged was ready for use. So in the next few years, Emperor Wu asked Huo Qubing to lead the army to fight against the Xiongnu many times..."

Listening to Li Nian's talk about Huo Qubing's military exploits, Ying Zheng, Meng Tian and Meng Yi were also moved. This champion marquis of the Han Dynasty was too fierce. Ying Zheng thought it was a pity that they were a hundred years apart from the Qin Dynasty and it was a pity that he could not become a general of the Qin Dynasty.

Meng Tian and Meng Yi were wondering whether they could do the same as Huo Qubing. The answer seemed to be no. When they were the same age as Huo Qubing, they probably could not do the same as Huo Qubing.

He was young and so good at fighting. No wonder the Emperor Wu of Han loved him so much. What's more, this peerless general was trained and sculpted by himself. When he saw the person he sculpted achieved extraordinary achievements, the sense of accomplishment and satisfaction was indescribable.

"In the spring of the fourth year of Yuanshou, Emperor Wu ordered Wei Qing and the 22-year-old Huo Qubing to lead 50,000 cavalry each to fight against the Xiongnu again. In this campaign, Huo Qubing once again achieved great military exploits."

"Taishigong recorded in the Records of the Grand Historian: 'The Han general of the cavalry marched out of Dai for more than 2,000 miles and fought with the Left Wise King. The Han soldiers captured more than 70,000 captives of the Huns, and all the generals of the Left Wise King fled. The cavalry was granted a post at the Wolf Mountain, and he returned to the Han Sea. After that, the Xiongnu fled far away, and there was no royal court in the south of the Huns.'"

"This is 'sealing the wolf in the lair and drinking from the vast sea'!"

Ying Zheng, Meng Tian and Meng Yi heard a young general appear before their eyes. After defeating a powerful enemy, he stood on a high mountain that originally belonged to the enemy and offered sacrifices to the heaven, announcing to the sky of the desert: From now on, this is the land of our Han family, and there will be no more Xiongnu royal court south of the desert.

It is domineering, powerful, and makes people admire it. No wonder it is regarded as the highest honor for military generals by many generals in later generations!
But the three of them also thought of one thing. Huo Qubing had already achieved such achievements as "sealing the Wolf's Lair and drinking from the vast sea" when he was only 22 years old. According to common sense, Huo Qubing still had a long life to live and would most likely achieve greater achievements. However, there was no higher military honor mentioned in Li Nian's words, which meant that Huo Qubing did not achieve any higher military exploits in the future.

The three of them thought to themselves: "Could it be that Emperor Wu could not tolerate Huo Qubing's achievements and thought that his achievements were too great to be tolerated by the emperor, so he restricted Huo Qubing or even tried to murder him?"

Yes, Huo Qubing was too young. He had such great military achievements at such a young age and held such a high position. However, Emperor Wu was older than him. It was normal for an emperor to be wary of Huo Qubing.

Even if Emperor Wu was confident that he could suppress Huo Qubing, what about the successive Han emperors? And would Huo Qubing's own thoughts change over time?
When Huo Qubing was young, he was loyal to Emperor Wu and the Han Dynasty. But as time went by and he became more powerful, would he have different ideas?

The three of them wanted to know the ending of Huo Qubing and were more interested in him than Emperor Wu. They almost forgot that Li Nian was originally talking about Emperor Wu.

Li Nian told them about Huo Qubing, both out of respect for the Marquis of Champion and because he felt that there might not be another Marquis of Champion Huo Qubing in the world, so he wanted to tell them his story.

(End of this chapter)