About Chapter 23 Story Synopsis: After Shi Hu usurped the throne, he made his eldest son Shi Di the crown prince, but he favored other sons Shi Xuan and Shi Tao, which caused the dissatisfaction of the prince Shi Di, Shi Di had a small belly and chicken intestines, repeatedly contradicted Shi Hu, and was finally killed by Shi Hu, Shi Hu and Shi Xuan were dissatisfied with Shi Xuan, and Shi Tao was dissatisfied with Shi Xuan, and often insinuated to attack Shi Xuan, causing Shi Xuan to hold a grudge against him, Shi Xuan bought the dead soldiers, and secretly tortured and killed Shi Tao, but was detected by Shi Hu, Shi Hu was furious, and tortured Shi Xuan again, and exiled the guards of the East Palace, In the end, he appointed his youngest son Shi Shi, who was only ten years old, as the crown prince. The exiled Donggong guards could not bear the pain of migration, and under the leadership of Liang Li, they launched an uprising, and were finally defeated by the Qiang tribe of Shi Hu's adopted grandson Ran Min and joined Hou Zhao, but Shi Hu, the emperor of Later Zhao, also fell ill because of the loss of his beloved son one after another.

We said before that in the early stage of the reign of every feudal dynasty, there will be a struggle for imperial power among the royal clansmen, in fact, since Shi Hu usurped the throne in the Later Zhao Empire, several of his sons have been fighting over the position of the crown prince, even if the tyrannical Emperor Shi Hu of Later Zhao can settle this chaos one after another, but in the rule of the Later Zhao Empire has been detached, and the prince Shi Shi set up by Shi Hu is extremely young, then, after the death of the powerful emperor Shi Hu, The Later Zhao Empire is bound to fall back into a state of disintegration, in this story, Gao Li Governor Liang Li led the exiled Donggong guards to revolt, the momentum was huge, shaking the foundation of the Later Zhao Empire's rule, even if it was defeated by the Ran Min and the Qiang people who were attached to the Later Zhao Empire, but Ran Min's department and the Qiang tribe increased greatly by quelling the Liang Qian uprising, and the leaders of the Qiang tribe, Fu Hong and Yao Yizhong, also smelled the imminent demise of the Later Zhao Empire, The Qiang people with a relatively high degree of sinicization naturally saw that the Bayi tribe successfully established the Cheng Han regime, so the more powerful Fu Hong and Yao Yizhong and the tribes they led must also have the idea of building an independent country, and it was precisely the Liang Qian uprising that gave them this opportunity.

We also said before that the Later Zhao Empire was a transitional period of national integration, and the real protagonists in the national integration were actually the Qiang people with a relatively high degree of sinicization and the Xianbei people of the northern nomads who were eager to enter the Central Plains, and the Qian people were just a small tribe, under the favor of God, there were great heroes like Shi Le, and there were also tough Shi Hu. It ensured that the Later Zhao Empire had a short rule over the Central Plains.

However, with the outbreak of the Liangqian uprising, the strength of the Di people and the Qiang people increased greatly, and the leaders of the two tribes were naturally unwilling to bow down under the hands of the Qi people, so the rise of these two tribes was also an inevitable historical development.

As the emperor who usurped the throne and came to power, Shi Hu's record in the history books is very unbearable, and it is often said that he is brutal. However, through modern archaeological excavations, the Later Zhao Empire attached great importance to the development of agriculture during the reign of Shi Hu, so the records of Shi Hu in the history books may be more because he was born a nomadic people, and the punishment of the princes often had cruelty and killing, so that there are these prejudices. In my opinion, Shi Hu's tyrannical behavior is just an iron hand he uses against political opponents within the ruling class who threaten the imperial power, and it does not mean that he does not pay attention to the people under his rule. In fact, Shi Hu's approach is a bit like Wu Zetian of the Tang Dynasty, he is not merciless to the political enemies of the ruling class, but he spares no effort in the governance of the country, so I think Shi Hu should not be regarded as a tyrant, let alone a faint monarch, at least during his reign, he ensured the stability of the Central Plains for 15 years, Shi Hu can also be regarded as a king with some ability, and should be regarded as a king who keeps his success in troubled times.

And no matter how much Shi Hu attached importance to the agricultural development of the Later Zhao Empire, the Qiang and Di people in the Later Zhao Empire at this time were always ready to move, because they had a high degree of sinicization. Like the Han ancestors, they were eager to oppose the entry of nomads into the Central Plains. At this time, the Di and Qiang people were between nomadic and sedentary peoples, and their strength had been greatly developed for hundreds of years. It is fully capable of resisting the invasion of nomads together with the Han ancestors. Although it is said that the Qiang people established the Later Zhao regime, the Di and Qiang people, as well as the Han ancestors, were very eager to drive these Hulu away. It's a pity that they encountered the talented Shi Le and the tyrannical Shi Hu, but these three races did not have comparable leaders. But soon, Fu Hong, Ran Min, and Yao Yizhong appeared. These three races are fully capable of fighting against the dying Shi Hu and his Later Zhao Empire, and these three races are also wary of each other.

Because the sinicization of the Di people and the Qiang people is not thorough. There is no consensus among the tribes, and through hundreds of years of development, the two groups have developed great strength. However, the ancestors of the Han nationality favored the south of the Yangtze River with the Eastern Jin Dynasty. A large number of people have moved south. As a result, the population in the Central Plains region is relatively reduced, even if the overall population is more than that of the Di and Qiang people, but because of the influence of Confucian culture for hundreds of years, most people have the idea of going against the grain, so that it does not play much role in curbing the establishment of political power by nomads. Therefore, the expansion of the Qiang people and the building of the country is also a trend of national integration. We have already said some things about the Di people before, but this time we will mainly talk about some things about the Qiang people.

As we have said before, the ancients did not have a national concept, and the Qiang people are also not a single nation, they are also composed of many small tribes, and unlike other nomadic peoples in history, the Qiang people still exist today. But the population is extremely small. I think it is very likely that the Qiang people we have today are a very small tribe of the ancient Qiang people, or just a few Qiang families living in the remote mountains and old forests. Because it did not establish itself with the main body of the Qiang people, it was finally retained to this day, and the population is not large until now.

In fact, among the ethnic minorities in today's southern region, many of them are small tribes with remote residences, very small populations, and backward cultures among the various tribes in the southern barbarians in ancient times, because in history, the strength of these small tribes has always been very weak, and they have no opportunity and strength to participate in the great process of ethnic integration, and finally retained, such as our Tujia family, Qiang nationality and so on. Even in the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China, the lives of some ethnic minorities were still in a very primitive state, with obvious ethnic characteristics, but with the development of hundreds of thousands of years, some ethnic minorities have a large population, and their way of life is closer to that of our current Han people.

In ancient times, the activity areas of the various tribes of the Qiang nationality were basically the same as those of the Di tribes, and the way of life and customs between them were relatively close to each other. Therefore, in many of our historical records, there is no distinction between Qiang and Qi. It was not until after the Qin and Han dynasties that our Han ancestors' cognition of the Qiang and Di people began to become clear. Actually, I think it has a lot to do with the fact that these two nomads have started to settle down and that their various tribes have grown. Because the Qiang and Di people are next to each other, their degree of sinicization is also relatively high. The naming of the ancient Qiang people is also similar to that of the Di people, such as yak Qiang, Baima Qiang, Tsing Yi Qiang, etc., even today's Qiang people are the same. However, from the perspective of naming, the Qiang people do not seem to have a high degree of sinicization of the Di people, and the naming of their various tribes is closer to the totem worship in primitive society. However, because the various tribes of the Qiang nationality in ancient times lived in different regions. The degree of sinicization of the tribes is also different. Whether it is the Qiang people or other nomadic peoples, as long as their tribes have a large population and the poor countryside cannot support too many people, then these large tribes will inevitably enter the Central Plains with a better living environment, and they will collide with our Han ancestors, and they will inevitably move towards the road of ethnic integration. Only those tribes that live in remote areas and have small populations have a chance to survive. Also because the living environment in remote areas cannot support too many people, when a nomadic tribe is prosperous. They also inevitably moved to the areas where the Han ancestors lived in a better living environment. And then integrate with the ancestors of the Han people.

In the period of the Sixteen Kingdoms, the Qiang and Di people have gone through thousands of developments, and the Qiang tribes living near the Guanzhong area not only have a high degree of sinicization, but also live a relatively stable life, and the population is already very large, the Later Zhao Empire rose in the Kanto region, and the activity area of the Qiang people is also in the Guandong region, so the rulers of the Later Zhao Empire defeated the Han Zhao Empire and occupied the Guanzhong region, I am afraid that the powerful Qiang tribe launched a rebellion in the Guanzhong area where its ruling power is weak, and a large number of Qiang tribes were moved into the Kanto region. But after all, the Qiang people are far inferior to the Qiang people with a relatively high degree of sinicization in terms of population, even if the Later Zhao Empire remains stable, the Qiang people will only be assimilated by the Qiang tribe with a large population, and the Qiang tribe will be assimilated by the Han ancestors with a larger population, which is the general trend of ethnic integration, so no matter how the rulers of the Later Zhao Empire deal with the Qiang tribe, it is still difficult to ensure that the empire with the Qiang people as the main body can be long-term and stable, not to mention that the Later Zhao Empire can have a few emperors whose governing ability can be comparable to Shile Shihu. Therefore, the Later Zhao Empire can only be a transitional period of national integration, when Shi Hu died of illness, its young prince could not control this contradictory empire, and the Later Zhao Empire naturally entered the stage of decline after Shi Hu's death.

On the other hand, the Qiang tribe. Because the degree of sinicization is very high.。 Then Shi Hu, the powerful ruler of the Zhao Empire, entered the countdown of his life, leaving behind a young prince, so the leader of the Qiang tribe does not need too much wisdom and ability to lead a large number of tribes to embark on the road of independent statehood.