How did the slave emperor Shi Lehe become the son of destiny? How did he struggle?

Speaking of the slave emperors in the history of our country, I believe many friends will think of Shi Le. Shi Le was still a hard worker before he started his career, so his starting point was more humble than those who started at the bottom of the civil society like Liu Bang or later Zhu Yuanzhang, but his way of starting up can be regarded as a grassroots start. In terms of tactics, Shi Le was very good at using guerrilla tactics, the essence of which was to avoid the real and attack the weak and wander around. The advantage of this tactic is that Shile has super flexibility, but the disadvantage is that Shile doesn't even have any territory when he fights back and forth. So how did Shi Le become the Son of Destiny? Let's take a look.

In the objective environment at the time, the shortcomings of guerrilla tactics were negligible. Because the world was in chaos at that time, there were several forces competing for any strategic location. If Shi Le dared to occupy a strategic location, he would be putting himself in a hostile position with surrounding forces.

Shile's choice was very realistic and correct. Guerrilla tactics helped Shile seize a large amount of supplies. Shile started his career through guerrilla tactics and gradually grew into a powerful warlord.

After encircling and annihilating Sima Yue, King of the East China Sea, Shi Le continued to use guerrilla tactics and began to look for suitable prey.

The first prey was the famous general Gou Xi. When the Western Jin Empire was strong, Gou Xi defeated Shi Le twice. Now that the Western Jin Empire was on the verge of collapse, Gou Xi also lost his strong support. Shi Le found the opportunity to decide the outcome in a battle, and directly captured Gou Xi.

He defeated the general Gou Xi in Mengcheng, held Xi, and was appointed Zuo Sima. ——"Book of Jin"·Volume 14·Record No. 4

The second prey is the rebel Wang Mi. Wang Mi is a powerful sect that can be compared with Shi Le, but he is in crisis at this time: after conquering Luoyang, most of Wang Mi's men became independent, which greatly reduced Wang Mi's strength. Liu Rui took advantage of the situation to attack Wang Mi, but Wang Mi couldn't handle it and could only ask Shi Le for help.

Zhang Bin, Shi Le's important counselor, suggested: annex Wang Mi immediately!

Zhang Binjin said, "Ming Gong is often afraid that he will not be able to take advantage of the prince, so he will give it to me today." Chen Wu Xiao "How can I be a bandit? Wang Mi, a great man, will harm me." - "Jin Shu" Volume 14, Record 4

Shi Le was a little hesitant, Wang Mi and Shi Le. They have the same status, and they are all ministers of Liu Cong, the emperor of the Huns and Han Dynasty. But Shi Le couldn't bear this temptation, and finally found an opportunity to assassinate Wang Mi.

After killing Wang Mi, Shi Le was at a loss.

Shi Le relied on guerrilla tactics to start his career. He was used to "shooting and changing places" and was also used to wandering around.

But after killing Wang Mi, Shi Le's power was greatly improved, and guerrilla tactics required high mobility of the troops. Now Shi Le can no longer play guerrilla tactics, and the conflicts between him and the major powerful factions can no longer be reconciled.

After thinking for a long time without a clue, Shi Le decided to continue playing guerrilla tactics. Zhang Bin advised him to find a base quickly, but Shi Le rejected this suggestion.

Establishing a base area has always been easier said than done. At least Shi Le did not have the relevant qualities to establish a base area at that time. Luoyang, Yecheng, Xiangguo... so many important military and political places were placed in front of Shi Le for him to choose, but he did not dare to choose any of them.

However, guerrilla tactics are not a cure-all for all diseases. As the size of the army expanded, Shile's guerrilla tactics became more and more rigid, so that Shile's living space was increasingly compressed. Small.

When Shile garrison in Hebei looked around at a loss, he found that he could no longer find space to implement guerrilla tactics.

In the north are Bingzhou and Youzhou. Behind Liu Kun in Bingzhou was the Tuoba clan of Xianbei, and behind Wang Jun in Youzhou was the Duan clan of Xianbei. Shi Le did not dare to mess with these two forces.

To the east is Qingzhou, and Cao Yi of Qingzhou is Wang Mi’s old subordinate. When Shi Le killed Wang Mi, Liu Cong was very unhappy. But Liu Cong did not have an attack, but hoped that Cao Yi could restrain Shi Le. If he rashly attacks Cao Yi, the conflict between Shi Le and Liu Cong will intensify at any time, which Shi Le cannot bear for the time being.

To the west is Guanzhong, which was the sphere of influence of the Huns and Han Emperor Liu Cong, and it was even more impossible for Shi Le to get involved.

If we continue to develop in Hebei, it will actually be full of risks. Even if Shile did not occupy strategic places like Xiangguo and Yecheng, Bingzhou Liu Kun and Youzhou Wang Jun would still be unable to sleep. Because Shi Le is too dangerous, leaving him at home will cause chaos sooner or later.

Bin replied to Yule and said: "Now that I am living here, Peng Zu and Yue Shi are deeply jealous. They are afraid that the city moat is not solidified and the capital reserves are not extensive, and the two bandits will come." - "Zi" "Zhi Tongjian"·Jin Ji 10

In desperation, Shi Le decided to go south into the Central Plains.

Zhang Bin, Shi Le's important counselor, expressed his opposition. However, although Zhang Bin was important at this time, he was not the person Shi Le valued most. At this time, the person who received the most attention from Shi Le was Diao Ying, and his official title was You Changshi.

But the road to the south was not smooth. Shi Le saw the difficulties in developing in other directions, but he somewhat underestimated the difficulties of developing in the south.

Just as Shi Le was actively building ships and preparing to attack Jianye, he encountered a long period of heavy rain.

In addition, most of Shile's troops were northerners and were not adapted to the rainy weather in the south. More than half of them died of hunger and plague.

Shile had no choice but to reconvene a military meeting to discuss the next step.

Some people advised Shi Le to surrender to Sima Rui, take advantage of the contradiction between the overseas Chinese in the north of the Yangtze River and the natives in the south of the Yangtze River, and look for opportunities to develop in the south of the Yangtze River.

Diao Ying, the commander-in-chief on the right, advised Jianle to send money to the emperor first, hoping to clear Heshuo. After the army retreated, Xu Geng planned. Le screamed in surprise. ——"Book of Jin"·Volume 14·Record 4

Some people advised Shi Le to overcome the difficulties and go deep into the south of the Yangtze River to destroy the Jiangnan gentry group and establish a new southern regime.

Kong Chang, Zhi Xiong and more than 30 generals came forward and said, "The Wu army has not gathered yet. Chang and others asked each general to have 300 infantry, take a boat for more than 30 miles, board the city at night, and kill the Wu general." If you want to win the city, you can eat the rice. This year, we will destroy Danyang and capture all the Sima family members. "Le laughed and said, "This is a plan for brave generals." Each of them will be given an armored horse. ——"Book of Jin"·Volume 14·Record 4

Some people advised Shi Le to break up his troops into pieces and resume guerrilla tactics. Hiding peacefully in the south of the Yangtze River, a better opportunity will surely appear.

Zhongjian Kui'an persuaded Le to stay high to avoid the water. Le said, "How cowardly is the general?" - "Book of Jin" Volume 14, Record No. 4

This It cannot be said that there is any fallacy in these opinions, but their starting point is based on continuing to develop southward. At this time, Shi Le was already considering the possibility of returning to the north. The south was not suitable for cavalry operations, and Shi Le was easily restrained in the south.

As soon as Shi Le's thoughts changed, Zhang Bin's opinions were taken seriously. Shi Le reviewed his past mistakes, dismissed Diao Ying, the Right Chief Shi, promoted Zhang Bin to You Chief Shi, and added the title of General Zhongba. This is how Shi Le called Zhang Bin "Youhou".

"You and I will help each other and plan for success, so we will persuade each other to surrender. This plan should be executed. However, I am clearly timid, so I forgive you." So he retired as a general and promoted his guest to the right. With a long history, he was added as a general in the middle and was named "Youhou". ——"Book of Jin"·Volume 14·Record 4

As the new plotter, Zhang Bin's first suggestion was to hope that Shi Le would return to the north. This was a major strategic turning point for Shi Le. . From then on, Shi Le completely gave up guerrilla tactics, captured Xiangguo, Hebei, and began to establish his first base area.

It is not easy to return to the north. Even if you occupy Xiangguo, it is only the first step towards success. Not only is it far away from success, but it is also very close to danger.

After learning that Shi Le had occupied Xiang State, Wang Jun of Youzhou immediately led his army to conquer, followed by the elite cavalry of the Xianbei Duan clan.

Dredging sent the governor Wang Chang and Xianbei Duan to bring more than 50,000 people from the Liujuan, Mozhe, and Pixi tribes to fight against the enemy. ——"Book of Jin"·Volume 14·Record 4

Wang Jun is not scary, what is scary is Duan's elite cavalry. It was Shi Le's first time to face off against such a powerful enemy, and he immediately felt an unprecedented pressure.

The battle situation was not ideal. Shi Le was defeated again and again, and almost died on the battlefield. In the end, the strong city defenses of Xiang State were used to deal with the enemy, preventing Duan's elite cavalry from exerting their power. Then he captured the cavalry general Duan Mobo through a sneak attack, and then managed to defeat the powerful enemy.

Ji Lu's family members stationed themselves in Zhuyang and sent all the generals to fight, but they were all defeated by Ji Lu's family members. Ji Lu's family members built a large number of attacking tools and were about to attack the city, which made the people very afraid. He summoned the general to assist him and said: "The city is not yet fortified, and there are not many grain reserves. We have few of them, and there is no outside rescuer. I want to know how to fight decisively with them. What will happen?" - "Zi Zhi Tong Jian"· Jin Ji 10

Although Shi Le won the victory, the whole war process was heart-wrenching. As long as one detail goes wrong or his luck is just a little bit worse, Shi Le can just pack up and continue to flee.

Seeing the big from the small, it is so difficult to defend the country of Xiang, which shows that Shi Le's original concerns were justified. The north is surrounded by powerful enemies, and it is very difficult to seek development here.

But in the opinion of Shi Le’s plan, Chang Bin, Shi Le should insist on developing in the north.

Although the north is beset with dangers, there is also no way out to the south. The lesser of two evils, it would be better to stay in the north.

Although Bingzhou Liu Kun and Youzhou Wang Jun are powerful, they have enmity and will never unite to attack Shile. If he only dealt with one of them, Shi Le still had a chance of winning.

Although Liu Kun and Wang Jun have the same name as the Jin vassal, they are actually enemies. If I write a note to Kun and send a pledge to ask for peace, Kun will be happy to win me and happy to destroy Jun. In the end, he will not save Jun and attack me. ——"Book of Jin"·Volume 14·Record No. 4

This time, he successfully defended Xiangguo and captured Duan Mochu, an important figure of the Duan family, which gave Shi Le a great initiative. right. Shi Le finally released Duan Mozhe, and Duan also appropriately released his friendship and promised not to take the initiative to attack Shi Le again.

Bingzhou Liu Kun saw Wang Jun's failure in Youzhou and would not embarrass Shi Le for a while. Liu Cong of Guanzhong in the west mainly developed westward, aiming to clean up the central government of the Western Jin Dynasty. Cao Yi of Qingzhou in the east would not have offended Shi Le rashly without Liu Cong's support.

Through such a tough battle to defend Xiangguo, Shi Le finally established a firm foothold in the north. But Shi Le still couldn't laugh, because after a long time of hard work, Shi Le could only barely gain a foothold. It was undoubtedly a fantasy to continue to develop.

Fate is really magical. Just when Shi Le couldn't find a way to break the situation, news came from Youzhou: the relationship between Wang Jun and the Duan family of Xianbei became worse and worse, and the two sides were about to fall out. .

After hearing the news, Shi Le almost laughed out loud: Here is the opportunity!

If Wang Jun was still sworn in with the Duan family, Shi Le would be too passive to defend and would not dare to take the initiative. attack. But now, the two sides are at loggerheads, and he has the opportunity to profit from it.

Wang Jun's power was greatly weakened after losing the support of the Duan family. Shi Le decided to attack Wang Jun immediately and seize the initiative.

Wang Jun is not difficult to deal with, but Duan's attitude must be taken into consideration. The Duans may have been fed up with Wang Jun, but that didn't mean they were willing to accept Shi Le.

Shi Le thought about it again and again, but still couldn't think of a complete method. His planner, the guest, took the trouble to persuade: How can there be a completely perfect way? Now is the time to take a big gamble!

In the end, in order to successfully kill Wang Jun, Shi Le repeatedly expressed friendship to Wang Jun. This was done to paralyze Wang Jun, and then find an opportunity to make a quick decision without giving Duan a chance to intervene in the war.

When Shi Le paralyzed Wang Jun, the history books exaggerated the details too much, giving the impression that Wang Jun was too stupid to make such a low-level mistake. But as long as we take a closer look at this period of history, we will find that Wang Jun was by no means stupid.

From Wang Jun's perspective: Shi Le was unable to occupy Youzhou because the Duan family had deep roots in Youzhou and was beyond Shi Le's reach. As long as Shi Le is unable to occupy Youzhou, he has no reason to eliminate himself.

If he can reach a tacit understanding with Shi Le, he will have the opportunity to check and balance the Duan family, and the three parties will once again form a balance.

Objectively speaking: neither Wang Jun nor Liu Kun are stupid people. Because when Shi Le expressed friendship to Liu Kun, Liu Kun also believed it.

He sent an envoy to deliver a pledge to Liu Kun, confessing his sins and asking for dredging for self-efficacy. Kun was overjoyed and moved to Xizhou County, saying, "I have discussed with Yilu Fang to punish him, and I have been forced to flee without any land. I want to evacuate Youdu to atone for my sins." - "Zizhi Tongjian"·Jin Ji 11

< p> Liu Kun believed in Shi Le and Wang Jun believed in Shi Le for the same reason: Shi Le was unable to occupy Bingzhou, because the Tuoba clan had deep roots in Bingzhou and was simply beyond Shi Le's reach. As long as Shi Le was unable to occupy Bingzhou, he had no reason to eliminate himself.

There is no essential difference between Liu Kun’s thinking and Wang Jun’s, but no one calls Liu Kun stupid. With this reasoning, how could it be foolish for Wang Jun to believe in Shi Le?

To put it more bluntly: Even if Wang Jun thinks Shi Le has bad intentions, he can't do anything about it.

Because at this time, Wang Jun was already at odds with the Duan family and lacked allies to face Shi Le. How could Wang Jun refuse if he took the initiative to make friends? I believe that the outcome of Shi Le's outcome is bleak, but the outcome of rejecting Shi Le is not optimistic.

And Shi Le has repeatedly hesitated to attack Wang Jun, which in itself is not good. Proof: Shi Le himself had not figured out whether he would gain or lose by attacking Wang Jun

After Shi Le successfully attacked Wang Jun, he was ultimately unable to occupy Youzhou, and was attacked on his way back to Xiangguo. He could only escape back to Xiangguo alone. From this perspective: Shi Le's sneak attack on Wang Jun was a bit thankless.

The reason why Shi Le was able to establish a country and become emperor was not because of his achievements on the battlefield. The dazzling achievements were due to the death of Liu Cong of the Xiongnu Han Dynasty, and his descendants also started internal strife like the Sima family. At about the same time, the Xianbei Tuoba family also started internal strife. Not long after, the Xianbei Duan family also started to fight. Internal strife.

The three powerful enemies were in internal strife at the same time. Shi Le broke the strategic deadlock with almost no effort and became the final winner.

When I read Shi Le’s relevant history books. After that, I always think of that famous joke:

"When I was a child, my family was very poor. In order to make a fortune, I used my pocket money to do business. After several years of hard work, I earned tens of thousands of yuan with a few hundred yuan of pocket money, and my life finally improved. "

"What happened later? Did you make millions with tens of thousands of yuan, and finally became a winner in life?"

"No, I didn't know until later that I was the richest man in the world. illegitimate son. After his death, I inherited his entire estate. ”

Shi Le’s history of struggle is so bizarre: he made various motivational efforts in the early stage, but always stayed in the same place. When he was almost resigned to his fate, a big pie suddenly fell from the world.