Founding of Eastern Han: 东汉， 光武帝 Pt.4 The Shining Martial Emperor 救世主
The realm was shattered and reunited in 1 generation, by a savior who fixed it so seamlessly that in hindsight it was as if he hadn't existed at all. From farmer to rebel, from rebel to warlord, and from warlord to the sovereign- we will cover the final strides of the man who saved the Han dynasty from the brink of total anarchy and brought it back right into another golden age.
Music: Balance
There were over 200,000 restless Red Eyebrow rebels ready to strike, and in the year 25, they were ready to burn the world down to assert their place in it. The Chimei 赤眉 (lit. "Red Eyebrows") were distinguished by their painted scarlet eyebrows and lower foreheads. They were a visceral reaction to all that had gone wrong in the years since Wang Mang ruled. Of the millions of rebels who had rose up and formed hundreds of their own bands across the empire, the Red Eyebrows remained as one of the most formidable and dangerous in the post- Wang Mang world. Impetuous and led by proven veteran commanders, the Red Eyebrows declared war on the Lulin- installed Gengshi Emperor in 25. The facade of a restored Han dynasty under the Lulin crumbled, and the world was in flame again.
CHIMEI~ THE RED EYEBROWS
The Chimei 赤眉 (lit. "Red Eyebrows") were distinguished by their painted scarlet eyebrows and lower foreheads. They rose up in massive numbers largely from the north of modern Zhejiang Province and Shandong Province. They began as many small local uprising that quickly coalesced into one movement to topple Wang Mang's regime. Despite initially being vastly outnumbered and outmatched, the Red Eyebrows decisively destroyed two successive Xin dynasty invasions- each numbered well over 100,000. After the collapse of Mang Mang's Xin dynasty, they stood as one of the most prominent rebel groups. The only rebel group that matched their ferocity was that of the Lulin from Northern Hubei Province which had put up a puppet Emperor on the throne of a restored Han dynasty.
A weaving of forces. The Red Eyebrows initially began as many separate local rebellions against Wang Mang's rule. Due to Wang's crippling taxes, repeated military failures against the Xiongnu, and draconian laws which caused even citizens with minor offenses to be executed- many regions across Zhejiang and Shandong exploded into rebellion around 15-17 AD. It was a tapestry of the starving, desperate, and dreadfully provoked.
Music: Way of the Open Palm
Cry of an Outraged Mother. One of the bands that later formed into the Red Eyebrows was wrapped in revolutionary and insurrectionist fires. Mother Lü 呂母- whose son was a minor official accused of a minor offence was subsequently executed by the Xin magistrate. To avenge her son's wrongful death, Mother Lü, (a substantial landowner) sold off all of her property and used the proceeds to recruit poor young men across the county. When she gathered thousands, she stormed the county seat in the year 17 and killed the magistrate. Mother Lü's anecdotal success soon inspired numerous people all over the Xin to rebel against Wang Mang's rule.
Soon, her thousands of followers swelled into tens of thousands, and in the wake of her death her band merged with the nearby rebels to combine into the Red Eyebrows. Though many of these desperate rebels did not have a proper military training nor are they familiar with battle arrays, this weakness was compensated by the fact they were led by charismatic rebel commanders who were capable generals and tacticians. In 18 AD, Fan Chong was made rebel leader of a group of landless peasants in Shandong and was immediately joined by dozens of other groups under Pang An 逄安, Xu Xuan 徐宣, Xie Lu 谢禄 and Yang Yin 杨音 (as well as the late Mother Lu's loyal band.) In order to distinguish between friend and enemy, the rebels painted the lower part of their foreheads in red, which gave them the name of "Red Eyebrows".
They proved themselves when they utterly destroyed 2 massive Xin invasions and even slew the Xin commanders of the expedition. Due to Wang Mang's unpopularity and his army's devastating scorched earth tactics, many of the enraged locals rushed to join the Red Eyebrow's ranks. By contrast, the Red Eyebrows fostered their own populist reputation by adhering to a strict code of no plunder, no rape, and only targeted large landowner's estates and killing Wang Mang's debt collectors and tax farmers. This proved extremely popular and by 25 AD their numbers ballooned to well over 200,000.
(CHIMEI VS LULIN)
THE RED EYEBROW/ GREEN FOREST WAR
However, despite the rapid success of the Red Eyebrows, they failed to accomplished their ultimate aim of creating a new regime for themselves. Someone else had beaten them to this, the Lulin 绿林 rebels from the area of modern Hubei thwarted their efforts by claiming the first rights on a new age. Before the Red Eyebrows were able to depose Wang Mang and capture the capital, the Lulin had (under Liu Xiu) crushed the Xin imperial army at Kunyang in 23 AD. The Lulin then raced to Chang An and slew Wang Mang with the support of the locals. Then they installed their own puppet as the emperor of the whole nominally restored Han empire. It was apparent to all that in this post- Wang Mang power vacuum, there's 2 tigers in one cage. Both armies possessed a host of capable leaders, and both proven in decisive victories against the Xin. Both- that's still armed to the teeth.
Despite initial overtures by the Lulin- backed puppet Gengshi Emperor to re-induct the Red Eyebrows into the fold of the new regime, nothing came to fruition from these talks. Key Red Eyebrow leaders like Fan Chong and some 19 other generals went to Luoyang where they were given noble titles and conferred the ranks of as marquesses. Nevertheless, they were not given any actual lands of their own. As the months passed, seeing that Gengshi Emperor was about to disband their formidable army which was still numbered over 200,000 soldiers, they hastily left Luoyang in 24 and returned back to their base at Puyang. By 25, the mobs of Red Eyebrows were getting restless and wanted to go home. Due to the lack of an enemy and supply challenges, the cohesion and unity of the Red Eyebrows were deeply strained, to keep the band together, the leaders of the Red Eyebrows directed its hostility toward the Gengshi Emperor and the Lulin- controlled Han regime.
Neither side was truly surprised by these developments, since both had been amassing large armies in preparation to unseat the other. For the upcoming war, the Red Eyebrows- commonly seen as folk heroes and champions of the poor farmers, amassed 2 huge armies which numbers over 200,000 soldiers. One would strike at the Gengshi Emperor's newly relocated Han capital at Chang An, while the other would cross the Yellow River and sweep down into the Central Plain around Luoyang.
Realm's de facto Truce Broken. Lulin- backed Han dynasty in Yellow, including both the territories controlled by the puppet Gengshi Emperor, and also that of Liu Xiu's northern expedition headquartered at Handan. By early 25, Liu Xiu had crushed most of the local Tongma (Bronze Horse) rebels in the area and made it his domain. Red Eyebrow rebel held territories are marked in red.
Music: Way of the Closed Fist
In two massive prongs, the Red Eyebrows barreled south, at first taking key Lulin passes with lightning speed, then- after having crossed the Yellow River, cleverly combined into a massive army at Hongnong (modern Sanmenxia, western Henan), and defeated the Lulin imperial armies that the emperor sent to stop them. After having blown aside the Lulin army. The defeated Lulin lost control of the vitally strategic Central China- the breadbasket of the empire as well as lost their ability to coordinate and reinforce their separated armies.
Many in Central China sensed that the wind was blowing in the direction of the Red Eyebrows. The victorious Red Eyebrow army soon snowballed to over 300,000 soldiers. Again, the two Red Eyebrow army split up, again, one would veer off and continue to take Luoyang, while the other race to seize Chang An and knock off the Gengshi Emperor. By this time, the exasperated Gengshi Emperor in Chang An was plagued with court intrigues and rebellions from his ranks and was forced to both spend time setting his own house in order as well as repel the Red Eyebrows.
Imitation is often the best form of flattery: At the town of Huayin 华阴, the Red Eyebrows snatched a 15 year old distant relative of the imperial Liu clan. Looking at the template of the Lulin rebel's success, they soon proclaimed the 15 year old prince Liu Penzi 刘盆子 as an alternative Emperor of the Han dynasty, and continued marching to march west (but this new "Emperor" had no real power and only served as a cattleman in the army.) With a puppet of their own, and several notches of victories against the Lulin, the Red Eyebrows now have everything they needed to claim the whole empire under a new Mandate of Heaven.
LIU XIU WATCHES
Though the sudden assault of the Red Eyebrows might have caught some of the Lulin leaders off guard, it did not came as any surprise to one of the key players we have been intimately following north of the Yellow River. For by the late winter of 24 and early 25, Liu Xiu had already calculated the possible outcomes and had long been preparing for this day.
After Liu Xiu's elder brother was wrongfully slain by the Gengshi Emperor, many ministers of high ability lamented Liu Xiu's misfortunes and have kept up communications with him while he marched north in his northern expedition. After Liu Xiu had pacified Handan in the name of the Gengshi Emperor and decisively crushed the pretender Wang Lang's rebellion, flocks of capable ministers around the Gengshi Emperor made their way to Liu Xiu's camp in the north.
A MARSHALING OF FORCES
They brought troubling news, many who had just departed the Gengshi Emperor's court reported of the smearing of Liu Xiu's character in his absence. Behind his back, Gengshi Emperor's handlers had been telling the easily swayed puppet Emperor that Liu Xiu had been wasting time killing peasants and have nothing to show for. They whispered to the Gengshi Emperor of Liu Xiu's power, even feeding him rumors that Liu Xiu had been calling himself an Emperor (the Tongma Emperor) in his own right (because he had crushed the pretender Empreor Wang Lang and also lorded over the territories of the Tongma rebels).
It was clear that Gengshi Emperor's handlers had became alarmed at the progress of Liu Xiu's success beyond the Yellow River. Having realized that Liu Xiu was too dangerous to be kept in the frontiers accumulating power, they immediately ordered Liu Xiu to return to the imperial court at Chang An. However, Liu Xiu- a keen reader of both people and political climates- realized that he would be in severe danger if he were to relinquish his power base and return unguarded to the capital (where he'd likely suffer a similar fate as his wrongly slain elder brother.) Knowing that Gengshi Emperor's court was both poorly run and that the Gengshi Emperor has very little power to challenge his handlers, Liu Xiu's flocks of defecting ministers advised that he should make the preparations and declare himself Emperor.
During the massive uprising led by the pretender Wang Lang in the winter of 23, Liu Xiu
barely escaped with his life and survived a dozen near deaths. After enduring famine,
exhaustion and attrition to winter, Liu reached the safety of the Han Great Walls. Liu-
an exceptional diplomat soon convinced several of the most powerful generals
in northern China to join his cause.
Together, the combined army of veteran soldiers crushed Wang Lang's rebellion and retook
Handan. By late 24, they became loyal high ranking officers in Liu Xiu's new army. This core- combined with Liu's old loyal Lulin soldiers and most of the Tongma rebels he pardoned
became his private army.
Through out late 24 AD, Liu Xiu repeatedly made excuses to the court's recall orders, writing that there's still many rebels to be pacified in the north and that the people needed proper infrastructure to be constructed in the Gengshi Emperor's good name. At the same time, Liu Xiu began to shuffle his sub-commanders. Many of these officers have been Gengshi Emperor's spies pegged to Liu Xiu's army to explicitly watch his every move. Liu managed to indirectly sack many of them for small punishable offenses and then replace these untrustworthy commanders with those deeply loyal to him. Liu Xiu was also keen to spare most of the rebels he defeated in battle and enrolling them en mass into his army.
Then? Liu Xiu simply waited. Having predicted that the Gengshi Emperor's regime has shaky foundations and that one day the Lulin and the Chimei/ Red Eyebrows will duel out their differences, Liu Xiu waited dispassionately with his well fed- and reorganized army. All of it played out before him as if it was a boulder rolling downhill toward their fated mark.
Music: Into the Fray
RED EYEBROWS VICTORY, REALM SHATTERS
The rapid series of victories achieved by the Red Eyebrows left Central China defenseless for the Lulin forces. Soon, the Red Eyebrows darted toward the imperial capital itself at Chang An. Seeing the unsalvageable situation, many Lulin advisers around the Gengshi Emperor tried to persuade him to relocate the capital and flee. The Gengshi Emperor staunchly rebuffed their suggestions and believed his army could still prevail.
LIU XIU MAKES HIS BID- EASTERN HAN INAUGURATED
With the Lulin and Chimei fully entangled in what's essentially a turf war, Liu Xiu felt free from any obligations towards the rebel cause. In the winter of 24, Liu sent out his loyal general Wu Han 吴汉 to kill Gengshi's minister Xie Gong 谢躬 who was tasked of monitoring Liu's movements with some 10,000 soldiers.
In the summer of 25, Liu Xiu made a formal break with the Gengshi Emperor. By crossing the Yellow River- his personal Rubicon, Liu Xiu made his way into Central China. His forces briefly fought with those still under Gengshi's rule. His general Deng Yu attacked westward, rapidly capturing Shanxi, further reducing the Gengshi Emperor's strength. Now Liu Xiu effectively held all the lands from Luoyang northward to the foot of the Han Great Walls. After scattering Gengshi's holdouts from the towns surrounding Luoyang- he adopted the title of Emperor of the Han dynasty in Hao 鄗 and easily took Luoyang for his own. At Luoyang, the 30 year old Liu was proclaimed the Guangwu Emperor (lit. "Shining Martial Emperor") of a restored Han dynasty -with Luoyang as his capital. The Eastern Han dynasty was born there.
GENGSHI EMPEROR KNOCKED OUT
Gengshi Emperor's illusions vanished when the Red Eyebrow army swept aside all of the Lulin forces and approached Chang An. In the autumn of 25, many of Gengshi's own generals rebelled against his rule and he warred with them, As the Red Eyebrows approached and began to invest the city, the Gengshi Emperor fled, being followed by only a few loyal supporters. Despite this, in the winter of 25 Gengshi's followers convinced him to surrender himself to the Red Eyebrows and handed over the imperial seal.
Liu Xuan 刘玄- the Gengshi Emperor rose up as one of the many landed gentry with an imperial bloodline, he led his own rebel band that joined the Lulin rebels, much similar to Liu Yan and Liu Xiu's Chongling army 舂陵军 from northern Hubei. Despite his personal ambitions, he was both easily influenced and inept in rule. As a puppet, his tenure was marked by further divisions among the realm's warlords and endless internal intrigue.
Music: Fresh Air
The Red Eyebrows initially promised to show clemency to him and make him the Prince of Changsha, a prestigious title that would enfeoff him in the remote southern China, but in reality, they kept him as a prisoner. Meanwhile, the Red Eyebrows installed their own puppet- the Emperor Penzi on the Han throne in Chang An and ruled through him. In the end, the Red Eyebrows had no intention of keeping the former Gengshi Emperor around. He was soon strangled by his captors. Thereafter, the Lulin- and their generals largely faded into obscurity.
Although the Red Eyebrows performed brilliantly on military matters; with a track record of repeatedly out- punching much more formidable foes during insurgency struggles, on civilian matters, their rule proved to be inept and fueled by desperation. For one thing, as a very decentralized rapacious horde, the Red Eyebrows were clueless to ruling the empire. Despite the facade of their amateurish rule through their puppet- Liu Penzi, the realm's affairs worsened. Despite their previous restraint discipline, as the supplies all but ran out, beset by hunger, the Red Eyebrows broke discipline and plundered the countrysides all around Chang An. The heroic liberators had lived long enough to see themselves became the public enemy.
After realized they cannot hold on to Chang An- and desperate to grab everything they can for their long track back home, the Red Eyebrow forces burned many Chang An palaces and and pillaged many homes in the city. Afterwards, feeling ashamed, the Red Eyebrow leaders ordered a march back home. Their looting and chaotic misrule would plunge the realm into anarchy.
ANARCHY- GUANGWU EMPEROR'S FIRST YEARS
Anarchy, the various warlords that existed at the foundation of the Eastern Han with the most powerful warlords paired with a dragon's sigil: Liu Yong (teal) in eastern Henan and Zhejiang was another powerful Han- blooded Prince and ruled the northern banks of the Huai River as his private domains. In the north, Lu Fang (sand) controlled the boarder to the steppes and allied himself with the Xiongnus, in the west, Kui Xiao (blue) coordinated many anti- Red Eyebrow rebels around Chang An and forced them to flee east. Gansu and the Hexi Corridor was held by the warlord Dou Rong (lavender) who only paid nominal overtures to Liu Xiu, in the west, Gongsun Shu (umber) made Sichuan into his private domains and rebuffed all attempts of reconciliation.
Without an existing government, the local magnates around the capital decided to take their fate into their own hands. They raised local troops to defend their homes against the Red Eyebrows, hid the grain reserves, and organised tenacious armed resistance against the rebels. Soon, most of Shaanxi- the region that cradled Chang An erupted in rebellion. After a failed march to break out into the north west, the Red Eyebrows army was forced to begrudgingly march back to the east. At this time, they suffered from a sudden cold spell that froze many soldiers to death they were also repeatedly attacked by local armies lead by the warlord Kui Xiao 隗嚣.
After realized they cannot hold on to Chang An- and desperate to grab everything they can for their long track back home, the Red Eyebrow forces burned many Chang An palaces and and pillaged many homes in the city. Afterwards, feeling ashamed, the Red Eyebrow leaders ordered a march back home. Their looting and chaotic misrule would plunge the realm into anarchy.
Music: Balance
ANARCHY- GUANGWU EMPEROR'S FIRST YEARS
THE NEW AGE
At the age of 30, Liu Xiu maneuvered himself to the position of Emperor and declared the Eastern Han dynasty. He would inherit a fragmented realm in flames. He would spend the next 12 years reuniting the realm under his new Han dynasty.
Liu Xiu- by now the Guangwu Emperor, inherited a shattered realm in simultaneous rebellion, his first priority included the daunting task of putting down the various warlords across the empire- a task that he would spent the next decade doing. For his first acts, the Guangwu Emperor turned his attention to his most immediate enemies, the Red Eyebrows. When his spied made out the return of the Red Eyebrow army (after their disastrous adventure in Chang An) Guangwu deployed his troops to guard all of the key passes south of the Yellow River. This prevented Fan Chong's army from being able to escape back to their headquarters north of the Yellow River. Then, Guangwu simply waited, letting the Red Eyebrows be destroyed by their worst enemy, themselves.
Guangwu Emperor waited until the Red Eyebrows condition deteriorated before he ordered his loyal general Deng Yu to block off the Red Eyebrow's long march home. He had been ordered to not engage the Red Eyebrows until they are fully trapped.
Having observed the decentralized nature of the Red Eyebrows and their nature as a rapacious horde, Guangwu resorted to let their flames burn out. He watched the Red Eyebrow's supplies ran out, and waited until they were forced to withdraw eastward in a breakneck attempt to return home (modern Shandong and northern Jiangsu,) then prepared and ambush at Xin'an 新安 (near modern Luoyang) and Yiyang 宜阳 (also near Luoyang) to cut off all ways to escape eastward to Shandong. With his forces well entrenched, the Guangwu Emperor ordered that his forces should only attack with rapid retractable jabbing attacks while presenting an impenetrable defense. This would exacerbate the daily condition of the Red Eyebrow's army- pick off smaller bands while preventing them from breaking out of their predicament.
Despite the Guangwu Emperor's clever strategic maneuvering (as well as entrenchment with veteran soldiers,) the Red Eyebrows were did not gave up and put up a stubborn resistance. After 1 year of inconclusive skirmishes around Henan, In spring 27, the desperate Red Eyebrows attacked general Deng Yu and won a great victory against both Deng Yu and Feng Yi- who was sent to relieve Deng at Hu, near where they had previously blow away Gengshi's armies during the Yellow River crossing. During this battle, the Red Eyebrows feigned defeat by luring Deng to a false victory and letting him spot what looked like an abandoned supply wagon train.
The Deng forces- by then starving and had long been under- supplied during their entrenchment against the Red Eyebrows readily took the bait to capture the baggage train. However the baggage train was a decoy and Deng's forces were ambushed and drove off the field.
This unexpected victory would be the last for the Chimei. About a month later, they suffered a major defeat at Feng Yi's hands. Feng created confusion for the Chimei by also coloring his troops' eyebrows red. The remnants of the Red Eyebrows withdrew east toward Yiyang. The Guangwu Emperor personally led the troops and waited for them. As the retreating Red Eyebrows arrived at Yiyang, they were surprised to see Guangwu's massive forces well entrenched and waiting.
During the 3rd year of his rule, Liu Xiu personally led his armies and trapped the Red Eyebrow army, with no way to confront his overwhelming forces, the Red Eyebrows had no way out.
Music: Service and Sacrifice
By this point teetering on the brink of collapse, the Red Eyebrow leaders parlayed and negotiated for terms of surrender. Liu Xiu personally talked with the leaders and offered generous terms for the Red Eyebrow's surrender, including a full pardon of the rebel soldiers, its commanders, as well as that of the young puppet emperor Liu Penzi. Hundreds of thousands of men were there after relieved to return to their fields and homes.
A REALM RETURNED TO FIELDS & HOMES
An apt description of Liu Xiu's ability is that he possessed a remarkable ability to sense the various people's wishes- and thus predict their behavior patterns from such observations. Resourceful and a keen reader of people, often Liu's greatest arrow in his quiver is granting the wishes of his enemies and thus win them to his side without having to spend time destroying them.
Perhaps even more surprisingly, Liu Xiu would enact many of the demands initially made by the many Red Eyebrow bands in their rebellions against the Xin government. For the next three decades, the Guangwu Emperor would enact modest but significant land reforms that reduced the abuses of the tenant farming system, and broke apart power blocs of many debtors that had forced many rural peasants to become landless and became such desperate men.
Liu Xiu pardoned the puppet Emperor Liu Penzi. Long realized the boy was no threat
and only used by the Red Eyebrows, Liu Xiu made Penzi into a royal assistant to the royal
uncle, the Prince of Zhao. When Liu Penzi suffered an illness later in life which made him
blind Liu Xiu gave him a many tracts of good farmlands- where by the rent from those feifs
would be provided to him for the rest of his life. His tomb is located in modern Hebei
To ensure that talented men from rural families would have good opportunities to ascend to positions of power. And- to tie their fortunes to the well being of the empire, Liu Xiu established hundred of state institutes at the court's expense across the empire, with the aim to train and uplift the best students and induct them into imperial service (not to mention created a direct channel of public servants solely loyal to the Emperor and bypassed the many powerful landowners who were had became warlords in the post- Wang Mang era.) These multi- tiered reforms drastically curbed the once- ubiquitous population of the unruly vagrant - refugees seen in the empire during the last days of the Western Han dynasty and Xin dynasty. The restoration of the rural class's well being lead to great stability across the empire for the next century.
Concurrent to his land reforms, Liu Xiu also (in great contrast with the orthodox Wang Mang's crippling taxes and proclivity for passing death penalty laws for minor offenses) : lowered the tax rates across the realm and unilaterally curbed unnecessary expenditures throughout the imperial bureaucracy. The total number of official positions in the capital as well as in the districts (xian 县) was considerably reduced. In conjunction, death penalty and harsh punishments, including corvee labor were severely reduced across the empire (in comparison to Guangwu's own ancestor, Emperor Wu, who routinely had whole clans executed and once executing some 10,000 officials.) In running this lean, but highly efficient system, that's characterized by mercy, the Red Eyebrows returned to their homes. Though like the Lulin, from here, the Red Eyebrows would fade into obscurity, the vast majority that were once Red Eyebrows returned to their home s and fields as fresh Han citizens.
VICTORY AND MERCY- REIGN OF THE SHINING MARTIAL EMPEROR
The disintegration of the Red Eyebrows removed Guangwu's most immediate and dangerous rivals from the field. At the successful conclusion of this 3 year engagement, the Guangwu Emperor directed most of his attention on internally reforming the newly restored Han regime and legitimizing his sway over the newly pacified areas of the empire. His ruling style could be summarized as highly centralized (including the aforementioned greatly reduced and lean bureaucracy.) Although he was keen to reward generals and officials for good services, he was extremely discreet in not allowing them to have overlapping powers.
Often, he chose to either to horizontally grant swaths of lands or vertically in powerful government posts, but almost never combined. He was also keen to bestow meaningless titles that does not have real powers in the imperial chain of command. Ultimately, the levers of power in the imperial government resided in his edicts (Imperial Secretariat (shangshu sheng 尚书省,) his inner palace eunuchs, and the reinvigorated caste of civil servants raised from state funded schools. Despite this keen preservation of imperial power, it was not exclusionary, unlike most Chinese progenitor emperors, the Guangwu Emperor did not carry out massed purging of enemies nor his own capable generals.
RESTAFFING OF THE NEW REGIME- MERCY & RIGOR
Brimming with Confidence: The Guangwu Emperor in court attire. Liu Xiu was distinguished by his brilliant eyes, his squarish nose and broad forehead. He is depicted as well groomed with a fair complexion, his mustache is immaculately trimmed. Although initially dismissed by many for his shyness and caution, Liu proved to be a brilliant diplomat and cerebral strategist.
Tactical Diplomacy: an accomplished diplomat, usually Guangwu's words are as powerful as his decisive use of his armed forces. In taking the effort to communicate with every surrounding power and giving a face to his regime (as well as promising good terms using his reputation as a merciful victor) Guangwu enrolled many former rivals into his new empire without the need to resort to warfare.
His ascension was marked by a series of unexpected choices, ranging from his massed pardon of the Red Eyebrows to that of the puppet Red Eyebrow Emperor Liu Penzi himself. A keen reader of people's intentions~ and what's more, their desires, Guangwu next began a broad-sweeping campaign of correspondences with the nearby warlords, giving them both generous terms for surrender as well as offering them tantalizing positions within the newly restored Han dynasty. In sparing the many Tongma (Bronze Horse) rebels in his northern expedition and the Red Eyebrows, Guangwu made use of his wide spread reputation as a magnanimous victor. Nevertheless, as someone who had personally lost his brother to an unjust execution, this is not to say he was blind to truly tenacious threats.
The realm in 29, 2 years after the Guangwu Emperor pardoned the Red Eyebrows, his domination seemed almost inevitable. Guangwu focused his attention eastward and quickly annexed many of the smaller- sized territories that existed to his east. By the year 29, most of the eastern coast of China was either conquered or willing submitted to Han rule. Liu Yong (another imperial claimant and prince) - who held a large swatch of land north of the Huai river was defeated by the Han in 27 and his son was defeated in battle in 29. The only upset to Guangwu's progress erupted behind the emperor's lines in the area of modern Beijing by the former ally Peng Chong.
When Fan Chong and another Red Eyebrow general (both residing at Luoyang at this point) plotted to start a rebellion again, Guangwu had both executed. But these decisive killings were the exception rather than the rule. The rest of the key Red Eyebrow generals lived in Luoyang with their families and were given stipends of land and incomes while no military posts, while some of the old Lulin rebel generals who were once his allies were given Han offices while not armies. This process of inclusion negated the former rebel leaders' potential threat out there as possible territorial rivals.
NOT FROM THE SADDLES BUT THROUGH LETTERS
From this point on, most of Guangwu's time was devoted to reforming the Eastern Han government, much of his field armies were led by his talented generals instead. Guangwu's most capable generals were named the 28 Generals of Cloud Terrace after his death, and remembered for their meritorious services. In this matter, Guangwu also proved to be different, for although he possessed many tactically capable commanders, Liu Xiu did not not rely on many strategist advisers. Instead, for military matters, Liu Xiu served in person as his own strategist and would personally give instructions on how to defeat the powerful warlords his general faced. More often than not, his instructions led to the defeat of his enemies afar. This singular quality would inspire many future Han monarchs in the future to emulate his style, but to no avail. This of course, was concurrent to Guangwu's intense bureaucratic and tax reforms aimed at alleviating the plight of the peasantry.
PROTECTOR OF THE POOR
To further alleviate the strain that had been placed upon the peasantry since Wang Mang's rule. Guangwu reintroduced the pre-Wang Mang tax system at a thirtieth of the harvest. Nine times Guangwu nationally proclaimed amnesty to private debt payment and those forced into indentured servitude. Many debt- slaves were thus brought back to normal live and would pay taxes and work the fields. To protect their rights, laws were also pass to better protect them against abuse by creditors.
Guangwu also picked a ripe time to institute these desperately needed measures. The era that led to Wang Mang and before Guangwu's ascension saw millions of poor Han farmers loose their land and became debt- slaved to the extremely powerful landowner clans- those who cannot pay their debts were frequently ejected from their homes. At once time there were tens and hundreds of thousands of migrant refugees created by debtors. When Wang Mang attenmpted to reformed the country many landowners became warlords. Guangwu's maneuvers not only made him popular but also strategically deprived many powerful (and dangerous) landowners of their power. However, generals Guangwu militarily relied on- he did allow their clans to accumulate regional lands to ensure their loyalty. The ensuing stability would create a century of internal stability and prosperity for the economy.
Eastern Han supremacy. By the middle of 30 AD there was no doubt the Han would reunite the realm. Despite the Han's great success, other regions stubbornly resisted the Han conquest- mostly in the areas of Gausu and Sichuan. During those campaigns, Han generals did resort to sacking many cities and slew some stubborn garrisons to the last. In the immediate aftermath of this era, the Trưng sisters of Vietnam briefly defied against Han imperial rule and was put down by the Han general Ma Yuan. Despite Liu Xiu's personal military success, externally he was cautious and restrained in regards to foreign states out of the Han's orbit. This does not mean he is complacent when opportunities presented itself, when the Xiongnu erupted in civil war, he acknowledged one of the Khagan's submission.
In the year 37 AD, after 12 years of warring, the realm was fully reunited under Liu Xiu. The Guangwu Emperor's reign lasted a total of 32 years. His long reign- characterized by national rebuilding and clemency provided a much needed period of stability and healing for his state. At the time of his death in 57 AD, the Han entered into another Golden Age. The talented and much beloved emperor would gave his dynasty another 200 year lease in its lifespan.
Music: Jade Empire
COMMENTARY
Such was the life of the towering emperor who is now virtually unknown both in China and the world abroad. Liu Xiu's backdrop was an age of chaos, a realm in flames, yet he personally put out the flame and re-elevated his people. At the time of his death the Han was both internally secure and brimming with prosperity. An age of innovation and flourishing of art would follow. His lean and frugal court was staffed by capable ministers and he left no standing dangerous enemies for his heirs. Despite a handful of wrong decision and occasional setbacks, the Shining Martial Emperor's reign was exemplary in that it was both civil 文, as well as martial 武, it was both military successful as well as remarkably lenient.
On a personal front, the Guangwu emperor was also quite unique to have risen from a completely civilian background (literal civilian landowning gentry) and proven to be militarily capable in winning massive lopsided battles so decisive it proved instrumental in toppling whole regimes~ then turning those strings of victories into uniting a whole fragmented realm. In terms of character, Guangwu was one of the very few founding Chinese emperors to have not engaged in a major purging of his previous enemies and his own capable generals (something even the lauded Taizong struggled with in his late life). This- when paired with having a diligent work ethic and commitment of being an affectionate family man makes the Guangwu emperor one of the rarest Chinese Emperors of all time.
Eastern Han: PART ONE- Rebel
Eastern Han: PART TWO- General
Eastern Han: PART THREE- Warlord
Eastern Han: PART FOUR- Emperor
FADED TO OBSCURITY
And there lies the strange tragedy for Guangwu emperor. That he restored the Han so seamlessly that to observers in posterity it was as if he hadn't been there at all. Most textbooks both in China and in the west usually covers the expansion under Emperor Wu, then devotes a footnote on Wang Mang before moving on to the innovations of the Eastern Han and the intrigue of later Eastern Han. Because in the grand scheme of things, the Han went from Golden Age to a momentary crack during Guangwu's lifetime, then went on to another Golden Age.
If Liu Xiu had a different last name, if he had chosen to start a dynasty with a different name, he would no doubt be more recognized both in China and abroad today. Historically his dynasty would be remembered as one of the remarkable ones and he would be remembered as one of the most dynamic of founding Chinese emperors. Novertheless, in some modern circles, the Shining Martial Emperor would know well that he still shines to those that sees his light.
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A glimpse of the Guangwu Emperor's temperance and graciousness. Liu Xiu married his childhood love Yin Lihua, whom he had always loved. However, in the same year of their marriage in 23 AD, a massive rebellion erupted all around Handan which nearly killed Liu and totally destroyed his army. In order to get 10,000 crack troops to come to his army's aid from a northern general, Liu agreed to marry his niece Guo Shengtong to seal the alliance (at the time Chinese men were permitted to have several wives and concubines.) Though Liu Xiu and Guo were not married for love, Liu still respected her and showed her the proper deference.
Music: Santuary
The early Eastern Han dynasty could be seen as a period of respite and prosperity amidst renewed hopes.
When Liu Xiu became the Guangwu Emperor, Liu wanted to make Yin his empress because he had always loved her. But advisers suggested he needed to keep his good relation with his generals- Yin was also submissive and refrained from the political life so also encouraged her husband to make Guo his official empress. This was done, though in time, Guo angered Liu when she repeatedly complained of the lack of favors. He eventually demoted her from being an empress. However, unlike many cast- out women disgraced in palace intrigues in Chinese history who were either made into civilians, banished, imprisoned, or out right executed, he promoted her to become an imperial Princess (essentially a Duchess) with a generous stipend.
He also continued to show her family with respect and kept her brothers, and other members in important positions. Her son- the Crown Prince Jiang- knowing his father's true love for Yin Lihua and his shaky political situation, repeatedly offered to step down from his position. In the end, Liu Xiu relented, but still made him a Prince (translated as Prince but more like an autonomous Duke) They were well provided with the rich income of those lands. Yin was then elevated to the position of Empress, which she enjoyed for the rest of her life- her son would become the future Emperor Ming of Han- another great Han Emperor.
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