is talking about Dong Zhuo (above)

Before the beginning, I want to say that this article is not a reversal of Dong Zhuo's case, but in China's history books, there are often strong personal feelings and subjective processing of historians, and the compilation of history books will also meet the political needs of the time. In the Romance of the Three Kingdoms and Romance, Dong Zhuo was criticized by the world as a complete villain. So what kind of character is Dong Zhuo in history? As someone who has read history more than 1,800 years later, I should re-examine it without prejudice before commenting on this person.

Dong Zhuo's father's name is Dong Junya, and he is the county lieutenant of Yingchuan Lun. Dong Zhuo was born in the seventh year of Emperor Shun's Yongjian, that is, in 132 AD. There are three brothers, he is the second, the elder brother Dong Zhen died early, and the younger brother is named Dong Min. When Dong Zhuo was a teenager, he once left home and traveled in the Qiang gathering area for several years, during which he was known as a chivalrous man among the Qiang tribe, and made many friends of the Qiang tribe, and many Qiang heroes also had a good personal relationship with him.

After Dong Zhuo left the Qiang gathering area and returned home, he worked as a farmer at home. During this period, many of his Qiang friends came to him, and every time he came, Dong Zhuo was hospitable. Once, when several Qiang friends visited his house, because the food in the house was exhausted, Dong Zhuo killed his own ploughing cattle to entertain the guests. In the farming and pastoral society, I believe everyone knows what the cattle in the family mean to a farming family, and Dong Zhuo's family is not rich. Because of this incident, the leader of the Qiang tribe was very grateful to Dong Zhuo, and after he went back, in order to repay Dong Zhuo's friendship, he once sent a thousand cattle and sheep at one time.

Dong Zhuo's hometown, Lintao, is close to the border, and has been fighting continuously since ancient times, and the people are still martial. Dong Zhuo in this environment, according to the records of the Three Kingdoms, is "talented and martial, less brigade strength, double belt and two swords, left and right gallop shooting". In addition, Dong Zhuo is known for his chivalrous style, especially in the local Qiang station, Dong Zhuo's other name is 'Jianxia' (recorded in the Later Han Dynasty).

Because of Dong Zhuo's prestige among the local and Qiang people, when he was nearly thirty years old, he was recruited by the Liangzhou Assassin Shi as a soldier and horse Peng, and his main task was to fight horse thieves and rogues in the border area. In the Book of Wu of the Three Kingdoms, it is recorded that "the county summoned Zhuo as an official and made the prisoner lead the thief." Hu tasted the money, captured many people, and the achievements of Liangzhou Assassin History were engaged, so that the leading soldiers rode to arrest, broke it, and captured a thousand pieces".

In the fourth year of Emperor Huan's reign (161), the imperial court selected the children of good families to serve as Yulin soldiers in Hanyang, Longxi, Anding, Beidi, Shangjun, and Xihe. At this time, Dong Zhuo was recommended by Duan Jiong, the assassin of Bingzhou, because of his performance in the border area, and entered Beijing to become a Yulin Lang.

Soon after entering Beijing, the Qiang people rioted in Hanyang, Zhonglang led Zhang Huan to conquer the army, and Dong Zhuo was transferred to the army by Zhang Huan at this time as the marching Sima. In this war, Dong Zhuo and Sima Yinduan attacked the Qiang army together and broke it. Kill the leader of the Qiang tribe and behead more than 10,000 people. Quickly defeated the Dongqiang and Xianlingqiang tribes that had invaded the Guanzhong region. After the war, Dong Zhuo "worshiped Langzhong and gave 9,000 horses". And Dong Zhuo said after being rewarded, "Those who do it are themselves, and those who have are scholars." but they were divided among the soldiers, and there was nothing left. (Book of the Later Han Dynasty)

After experiencing this war, Dong Zhuo's career was smooth sailing, and he successively served as the commander of Guangwu and the northern part of Shu County, and then was promoted to the captain of Wuji in the Western Regions. During this period, Dong Zhuo's deeds were recorded in the "Heroic Chronicles" written by Wang Ji, a historian of Wei during the Three Kingdoms period, that is, "Zhuo fought against Qiang and Hu, and fought more than 100 battles before and after".

After the "Yellow Turban Uprising", Dong Zhuo, who had been dismissed and returned home because of Zhang Huan, was re-appointed by the imperial court as the general of Dongzhong Lang, replacing Lu Zhi, who was ineffective in suppressing the Yellow Turban Uprising. And Dong Zhuo's performance in this war was very mediocre, first he was unwilling to enter the army to fight, and then rashly launched a decisive battle under the urging of the imperial court, so that the army was defeated Quyang, and then he was dismissed for the second time.

Soon after Dong Zhuo was dismissed for the second time, Xian Lingqiang united with the Paohan and Heguan exiles to launch a rebellion in the north, and the leaders of the rebellion, Boyu and Li Wenhou, established themselves as generals. Han Sui captured Jincheng and killed Chen Yi, the county guard.

In the second year of Zhongping (185), Han Suijun coerced Guanzhong, and Gyeonggi was shocked. At this time, the imperial court rode the general Huangfu Song to lead his troops to meet the enemy. And Dong Zhuo was also used by the imperial court for the third time, serving as a Zhonglang general, and was controlled by Huangfu Song. Shortly after the start of the war, the imperial court was dissatisfied with the slow march of Huangfu Song and was deposed. In addition, Zhang Wen was sent to command the troops in Xiliang, and Dong Zhuo was promoted to the general of the captives, and he was recruited from the general Zhang Wen.

After that, the official army of the Han Dynasty marched vigorously, and Zhou Shen, who was in charge of the frontal attack, surrounded Han Sui in Yuzhong City, and Dong Zhuo made a detour to Tianshui, preparing to outflank Han Sui. But at this time, Zhou Shen began to be stubborn, refused to listen to the advice of Counselor Sun Jian, and pounced on Jincheng, thus defeating the army. Due to Zhou Shen's defeat, Dong Zhuo fell into the siege of the Qiang people. Dong Zhuo cut off the Wei River to store water, and then broke the embankment to release water, defeating the rebels. Therefore, he was named the Marquis of Tai Township, with thousands of households in the food district, and the soldiers were stationed in Xiliang. As a result, he became the leader of the Xiliang military system at the end of the Han Dynasty.

After the death of Emperor Ling, there was a sharp confrontation between the two interest groups of relatives and eunuchs. At this time, Liu Yu, the leader of the clan, was still in Youzhou and had not yet returned to the center of the struggle. The Shi clan led by Yuan Kui did not directly control the army at that time, and the powerful landlords they represented were not unified internally.

In 189, the great general He Jin recruited the former general Dong Zhuo into Beijing in the name of killing eunuchs. Then why did Dong Zhuo choose Dong Zhuo at this time, instead of Huang Pusong or other generals who also had strong soldiers? Neither of these men was a general of the group of relatives he represented. So the situation at that time was that only Dong Zhuo clearly stated that he wanted to kill the eunuchs, and once wrote to the imperial court, the original text was: "The ministers are only in the world, so there are those who are rebellious, and each is insulted by Zhang Rang, who is often served by the Yellow Gate, and is good at the king's order. The ministers were edicted to Fuluo, the soldiers were hungry and refused to cross the river, and they all said that they wanted to punish the Jingshi first to eliminate the people's harm, and begged for money from the Taiwan Pavilion. The ministers followed the comfort, and even Xin'an. When the minister heard that the soup stopped boiling, it was better to extinguish the fire and go to the salary, although the carbuncle was painful, it was better than raising meat, and drowning the boat, and regretting it. And after Dong Zhuo received He Jin's call, he wrote to the court for the second time, saying that he wanted to kill the eunuchs, the original text was: "Zhang Rang, the regular servant, and others steal luck and take advantage of favors, and turbid the sea." In the past, Zhao Yingxing Jinyang's armor was used to chase the evil of the king's side. Ministers ring bells and drums such as Luoyang, that is, to ask for concessions. So it can be seen from these two passages that Dong Zhuo's determination to kill the eunuch was very firm, and the other generals at that time, either because of their lack of strength or because of Mingzhe's self-preservation, did not clearly express their position at this time.

However, when Dong Zhuo's army marched to Henan, Dong Zhuo's grandson Chong Shao, the grandson of Chong Hui, stopped him in the Sunset Hall and said: The general He Jin is going to kill the eunuch in the near future, and I hope he will not enter Luoyang at this time and intensify the situation in Luoyang. So Dong Zhuojun was stationed in the Sunset Hall not far from Luoyang, and then wrote a letter to the general He Jin, saying that he was stationed here, if He Jin could kill the eunuchs, he would lead the army back to Xiliang, if He Jin still continued to hesitate, he would march to Luoyang and personally kill the eunuchs. (I forgot the original text, and I was not busy with work in a few days, so I went home and found the information and put the original text up)

On August 25 of that year, He Jin was deceived into Changle Palace by the eunuch in the name of the Empress Dowager He, and was killed by the eunuch in the Jiade Palace. After learning of He Jin's death, Wu Kuang and Zhang Zhang, his subordinate officers, united with Hu Ben Zhonglang to attack Yuan Shu in the palace, and at dusk, Yuan Shu set fire to the green lock door of the South Palace, and this riot began to spread to the entire Luoyang. Taifu Yuan Kui and his nephew Yuan Shao killed Fan Ling and Xu Xiang in Jiao Zhao, and then beheaded Zhao Zhong and others at the Zhuque Gate and He Jin's younger brother, He Miao, the chariot general. But Wu Kuang thought at this time that He Jin's death was caused by his younger brother He Miao and the eunuchs, so he united with Dong Zhuo's younger brother Fengche Governor Dong Min to kill He Miao. Then, Yuan Shao closed the gate of the North Palace, ordered the eunuchs to be killed, and began to storm the inner palace.

On August 27, Zhang Rang and Duan Jue took the young emperor and Liu Xie, the king of Chen Liu, and a dozen other people out of the valley gate on foot, and were caught up by Shangshu Lu Zhi and Peng Mingong in central Henan in Xiaopingjin that night, and Zhang Rang and Duan Jue committed suicide by throwing themselves into the river.

On the night of August 25, the news reached Dong Zhuo's military camp, Dong Zhuo led the army to Luoyang, arrived in Luoyang in the early morning of August 28, and saw the palace fire in Xianyang Yuan, but did not rush to the palace, but divided his troops to surround the residence of the minister, ending the riot. Then led the minister to the north slope to meet the emperor, and the entourage also had 500 light cavalry, at this time there were ministers to persuade him to greet the emperor, according to the system is not able to lead the army to go, Dong Zhuo reprimanded: "The public is the minister of the country, can not correct the royal family, to make the country spread, how can there be soldiers!" ”

At noon on August 28, Dong Zhuo greeted the young emperor and Liu Xie, the king of Chen Liu, at Beipipo. Nai even spoke with Chen Liuwang, asking the cause of the trouble, and the king replied, from the beginning to the end, nothing was lost. Zhuo Daxi, with the king as the virtuous, and raised by the Empress Dowager Dong, Zhuo and the Empress Dowager are of the same clan, so there is a meaning of abolition. "Then at this time, we have to consider a question: if Dong Zhuo wants to consider his own dictatorship, he should set up a relatively weak emperor, why does he want to set up a capable emperor? So is it possible to put it another way? As we all know, Dong Zhuo is a minister with very concentrated power, and Duke Zhou and Zhuge Liang are also powerful in one, Yin Yi, Huo Guang and the abolition of the emperor, later generations called them loyal ministers, so Dong Zhuo's actions at this time are similar to them, why will they be criticized by history for more than a thousand years? And when the princes later raised objections to the imperial system, Liu Yu, Cao Cao and others all clearly expressed their recognition of Emperor Xian's imperial system (Emperor Xian was still in Dong Zhuo's hands at that time). So can the crime of abolishing the imperial system be established? At that time, the famous so-called loyal minister Liu Bei, after learning that Emperor Xian was abolished, he set himself up as the emperor, it should be noted here that Emperor Xian was abolished, not that Emperor Xian died, "loyal man" Liu Bei did not expect to continue to support this real emperor of the Han Dynasty, but set himself up as the emperor, and no one has ever said it for more than a thousand years! Moreover, Dong Zhuo's abolition of the emperor was more legitimate than them, and Dong Zhuo's proposal, after discussion by the minister, was written by the emperor's concubine Yuan Kui himself, and the ceremony was also presided over by him. Then now it can be concluded that the real reason why Dong Zhuo has been scolded for more than a thousand years should be - he failed, while others succeeded!

Of course, Dong Zhuo is not completely selfless, why was the young emperor born to the Empress Dowager, Emperor Xian was born to Wang Meiren, raised by the Empress Dowager Dong, Dong Zhuo and the Empress Dowager Dong are distant relatives. Empress Dowager He's younger brother He Miao died in the hands of Dong Zhuo, and Dong Zhuo was like fire and water, and the Empress Dowager of the Eastern Han Dynasty had the right to regent. A big reason why Dong Zhuo abolished the Young Emperor and killed the Empress Dowager He was to protect himself.

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I really can't finish it, but it's late at night, and I have to work tomorrow. This paragraph has a serious personal tendency, and it cannot be said to be objective, so don't count it in the text.

What Dong Zhuo did in the back is very clear to everyone, and I will only talk about four points here:

First: Dong Zhuo's total strength into Luoyang was 5,000 people, and at that time, the Xiyuan Army and the Northern Army had a total of about 70,000 to 80,000 people, Dong Zhuo's strength was not strong, so with tens of thousands of Central Army, why did these old troops of He Jin take refuge in Dong Zhuo at that time, instead of Yuan Lord, who took refuge in the fourth and third dukes? If Dong Zhuo was really as angry and resentful as described in the history books at that time, these soldiers who had just taken refuge in Dong Zhuo followed him all the way from Luoyang to Chang'an? These soldiers were all from the vicinity of Gyeonggi, and if it was written in the history books, Dong Zhuo had brutalized their families. And they are still following Dong Zhuo, are they sick? Moreover, the general Huang Pusong, celebrities Cai Yong, Xun Shuang, Chen Ji, Han Rong, and Shen Tu Wan, until Dong Zhuo's death, continued to be loyal to Dong Zhuo, and then refused the call of other princes to them. Who are these people? Especially Chen Ji, interested friends can go to Zizhi Tongjian, which has a lot of space to introduce him and his father, who is recognized as a model for the world's corporals.

Second: Dong Zhuo indulged soldiers in burning, killing and looting. As we all know, Dong Zhuo used Lu Bu to kill Ding Yuan, but the relationship between the Bingzhou soldiers and the Liangzhou soldiers was very tense. The Liangzhou faction included Li Dao, Guo Yan, Hu Zhen, Fan Su, Zhang Ji and others, and the Bingzhou faction mainly included Lu Bu, Zhang Liao, Li Su, and Yang Feng. In addition, there is also a lonely famous general Liaodong Xu Rong. The annexation of the state army will not be completely willing, but it is in a suppressed position. And the Liangzhou army regarded itself as the victor and did not take the merge state army in his eyes, even to Lu Bu. Dong Zhuo once sent Hu Zhen as the main general and Lu Bu as the deputy general to attack Sun Jian. Hu Zhen threatened to kill Lü Bu in order to rectify military discipline. Now I won't say more, you can go and flip through the book to see who the famous commander who led the army and took the heads of the people to pretend to be the head of the rebels, and then go back to see when this commander joined Dong Zhuojun. Think about why Lu Bu killed Dong Zhuo later.

Third: Kill ministers, raid homes and plunder property. The Eastern Han Dynasty had a characteristic that the power of the powerful landlords was very strong. Liu Xiu's seizure of the world back then relied on these powerful landlords. Here's an example: Liu Xiu wanted to measure the land of the whole country, but gave up because of the opposition of the local tycoons, which shows the strength of the local power. In the late Eastern Han Dynasty, the central government declined and local power strengthened, and the central government gradually lost control over the localities. The officials of the Eastern Han Dynasty were elected from among the local celebrities, and the celebrities represented the local powerful forces, so the emperor was basically hollowed out by the bureaucracy. The emperor used eunuchs in order to maintain the central government's suppression of the bureaucracy. The "Rebellion of the Party" in the late Eastern Han Dynasty was ostensibly a struggle between celebrities and eunuchs. In fact, it is a struggle between the central government and the local powers. Dong Zhuo killed many ministers in Luoyang, but if you can carefully trace the roots of these ministers, you will find a problem, these ministers are either the former officials of Yuan Valve, or the children of powerful landlords near Luoyang. Before Dong Zhuo entered Beijing, he had to resolutely kill the eunuchs, but after entering Beijing, like the eunuchs, he had to resolutely kill these people, did these people have any problems with themselves? And what is the relationship between those princes whom he personally appointed and then jointly conquered him, and the Yuan clan lords and powerful landlords?

Fourth: Dong Zhuo is selfish by nature. Here is still because of the relationship of time, I only send out a few original words above the Zizhi Tongjian: "Dong Zhuo led the princes to write a letter, pursued Chen Fan, Dou Wu and the party members, restored his title, sent an envoy to the shrine, and promoted his descendants. "Zhuo is dear, and he is not in a prominent position, but he is just a school." Henan Yin Junjun is Zhuo Chen's military, Zhuo Zhejun said: "I have won a hundred battles, and I will decide in my heart, don't say anything, and dirty my knife!" Gai Xun said: "The wisdom of Xi Wuding, I still ask for advice, and I want to stop people's mouths!" "Zhuo Nai thanks."

If you want to defend Dong Zhuo, it's basically all over, this fat man from Liangzhou, after deciding to move the capital to Luoyang, was afraid that Luoyang would be used as a base for the princes' expeditionary forces to the west in the future, regardless of the complaints of the world, forcibly relocated more than one million people in Jinggi and burned Luoyang for 200 miles; excavation of Wenling; The calamity caused to the world by the bad five-baht money cannot be denied.

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"Dong Zhuo has been scolded countless times in the past 1,800 years, and I think it is not because of what he did, but mainly because he is a failure. Dong Zhuo was born in Liangzhou and grew up in Liangzhou, and he didn't read any books, although Dong Zhuo was a Han Chinese, he was more like a nomad in character and incompatible with the Central Plains culture. And Dong Zhuo, a "barbarian", dared to "coerce the Son of Heaven to order the princes", of course, those scholars hated him to the core, and history was written by those scholars. is also a deposed emperor, but Yin and Huo are admired. The number of cities destroyed by the Mongol iron hooves and the number of people killed was definitely more than that destroyed and killed by the Liangzhou army. But he was seldom scolded by Temujin. If Dong Zhuo had eliminated the Kwantung Army and unified the Central Plains, then history would have evaluated him differently. At that time, it is natural that a large number of scholars will sing praises for him. And Dong Zhuo's brutal behavior will not be cared for. It's a pity that Dong Zhuo is just a martial artist. He is much worse than the scholar in terms of political struggles and intrigues, so he will be eliminated by Wang Yun and Lu Bu. For a loser, he will be wiped out even if he has merit. (This paragraph is an excerpt)

The winner is a prince, and the loser is a coward.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- article "Talking about Dong Zhuo" was specially written for Mengzi's "Han Empire Record", Don't reprint it for others

[ This post was last edited by Hun Mustafa on 2006-8-4 02:54 AM ]