Dou Rong, whose name is Zhou Gong, is a native of Fufeng Pingling, born in a family of relatives and bureaucrats, and is 9 years older than Liu Xiu.

His 7th ancestor, Dou Guangguo, was once named Marquis of Zhangwu by the former Han Dynasty.

What is even more remarkable is that Comrade Guangguo was the brother-in-law of the then emperor and Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty, that is, the younger brother of the Empress Dou.

This Empress Dou is not only the wife of Emperor Wen Liu Heng, but also the mother of Emperor Jing Liu Qi and the grandmother of Emperor Wu Liu Che.

She herself is very politically savvy and skillful, with a tough and decisive personality, and has been controlling the government for a long time.

The story about her pointing fingers in front of the Liu family and a group of emperors and princes may even be known to the people of the earth.

What we want to tell you here is that Comrade Dou Rong's ancestors were also brilliant because the daughter of the old Dou family married well.

Dou Rong's great-grandfather was in the former Han Dynasty when Emperor Xuan reached 2,000 stones, and moved his family from Changshan (now Hebei) to Pingling.

Dou Rong's father died when he was very young, and his mother took their brothers and sisters to live. However, due to the fact that the family background is too thick, there are too many nepotism, and the network is too wide, this has not affected the growth and development of their brothers and sisters.

Dou Rong in his youth, due to family background, had a very close relationship with the former Han Dynasty and Wang Mang's political forces.

When he was in his 20s, he became the Sima of the crossbow general Wang Jun, and his sister became Wang Mang's cousin and the concubine of Dasikong Wangyi.

As we mentioned earlier, in 7 AD, when Dongjun Taishou Zhai Yi supported the army to rebel against Wang Mang, the latter sent Wang Yi to lead troops to suppress it, and Dou Rong was the general accompanying Wang Yi.

In this war to suppress Zhai Yi and his responders and supporters, Dou Rong performed prominently, made military achievements, and was named Jianwu Nan by Wang Mang's forces.

At this time, Dou Rong settled down in Chang'an, the capital, went in and out of the imperial court and official offices, went back and forth to the homes of nobles and high-ranking cadres, and also made extensive friends with street heroes, and liked to act chivalrous when encountering things.

At the same time, in that era of indifference, Dou Rong paid great attention to filial piety, served his mother and brother with loyalty and sincerity, and raised his weak brother with careful care and meticulousness.

This is a close-up we gave to the young Dou Rong: a political genius in the new reckless period, a heroic man who can eat both black and white, and a filial son.

However, the bloody battle of Kunyang in June 23 AD dealt Dou Rong an extremely heavy blow.

At that time, the forces in Qingzhou and Xuzhou that raised troops against Mang were very happy, and he was personally named by Wang Mang's Taishi Wang Kuang as Wang Kuang's assistant to go east to crusade.

Not long after, the Mang army and the original army faced off in Kunyang. Dou Rong served as the escort of the Great Sikong Wang Yi and experienced the whole process of the fiasco of the Mang army. Among the few soldiers who followed Wang Yi to escape death and ran back to Chang'an, there was Dou Rong.

However, this did not affect Dou Rong's career in the slightest.

Because of the reasons we have analyzed, at that time, Wang Mang's force employment orientation had nothing to do with the cadre's personal integrity and work performance, but mainly to see whether the cadre was closer to him in nepotism and blood, whether he was more shameless and incompetent in life and work, and whether he was better at messing things up and stiffening the relationship between cadres and the masses in specific work.

Since Dou Rong's sister is his concubine, Wang Yi strongly recommended Dou Rong to take on more important positions.

Since Wang Yi is his cousin, Wang Mang's suggestions to Wang Yi are basically adopted.

Shortly after the defeat in Kunyang, Dou Rong was appointed by Wang Mang's forces as the general of Boshui, and led his army into Xinfeng (now northeast of Lintong, Shaanxi), becoming a military and political officer in charge of his own affairs.

At the same time, Dou Rong was also given a thousand catties of gold.

During this period, the society was changing drastically, the regime was changing, the rebel army was driven straight in, Dou Rong suffered defeats, and his position continued to rise.

I think his life ideals and political ideas also changed drastically at this time.

Surviving in troubled times is not only a test of strength, but also vision.

When Wang Mang failed, Dou Rong immediately led his troops to surrender. The object he chose to surrender was Zhao Meng, the military chief of the Genshi Dynasty and one of Liu Xuan's fathers-in-law, the Great Sima.

Zhao Meng was incompetent, but he was very powerful, and he was very important to Dou Rong, first letting him serve as the captain under him, and later letting him serve as the Taishou of Julu County.

Although the dynasty has been renewed, Dou Rong has just changed a little, and he is still a big man. But he wasn't satisfied.

Dou Rong soon discovered that the senior cadres of the First Dynasty were nothing more than a rabble. This dynasty was terminally ill soon after its opening, it was nominally a dynasty, but in fact it could control no more than a few counties, and there were endless wars everywhere, especially in the East. He felt very unsure.

In other words, it is difficult to say to what extent and when the world is chaotic; The dissolution of the First Dynasty is inevitable, but the date is difficult to determine.

The clever monkey must not wait until the tree has fallen to run!

Let's go back to Hexi!

After going through so much, Dou Rong finally decided that Hexi would be a reliable base where he could settle down and protect himself by retreating, and enter a reliable base where he could compete with others and bargain.

The main reasons for his consideration are:

First, the land in Hexi is fertile, the grain and grass are abundant, and the people are well-informed;

Second, it has a large population and simple folk customs, which is a good source of soldiers;

Third, the Yellow River has a natural barrier here, and in case of a sudden or emergency situation, it can be held by cutting off the ferry and controlling the key points;

Fourth, among the 12 counties in Liangzhou, the troops of the counties in Hexi are strong and strong, and they rarely participate in the military affairs of the Central Plains and the East, and they are complete, well-supplied, and very strong.

Fifth, and most importantly, his old Dou family has been an official in Hexi for generations, has been in business for a long time, has deep connections, and has a deep foundation.

Dou Rong's great-grandfather was the Zhangye Taishou, his great-grandfather was the captain of Huqiang, and his cousin was the Wuwei Taishou, making the old Dou family one of the best families in Hexi.

Yes, go back to Hexi!

Dou Rong took Zhao Meng's path, resigned from Julu County as the Taishou of Julu County, and was appointed as the governor of Zhangye's subordinate state.

Dou Rong was very happy and immediately took the whole family to take office.

Although Zhangye's vassal state in Liangzhou is not very large and the population is not very large, he is also very satisfied.

The world is too chaotic, everything is clueless, uncertain, the so-called official position is just a name for many people, and many taishou and county magistrates can actually only control one city; But for some people, such as me Dou Rong, the official position is just a platform, a platform that can be advanced and retreated.

It's just a platform, not a destination, of course, but a springboard and an opportunity.

Look, as far as the eye can see, on the stage of the social life drama, the storyline is twisty and twisty, and the actors' performances are wonderful, which is really itchy!

As soon as Dou Rong took office in Hexi, he immediately showed his strength.

As soon as he came up, he made friends with local tyrants, appeased the common people, and adopted friendly policies toward the Qiang and other ethnic minorities, and soon won the support of the cadres and masses in Hexi.

At this time, the heads of several counties, including Jiuquan County (now Jiuquan, Gansu), as well as the heroes and talents in the county, all received deep friendship and established close ties with Dou Rong.

Please pay attention to Liang Tong, although he does not appear much, he has a special identity, and later became a son and daughter with Liu Xiu.

Soon, the First Dynasty went bankrupt.

One day, Dou Rong and Liang Tong convened a meeting of the heads of several other counties to discuss countermeasures.

In addition to Dou Rong himself, the main responsible persons of the two counties, namely Jiuquan Taishou Liangtong and Jincheng Taishou Kujun, and the military and police heads of the three counties, namely Zhu Zeng, the governor of Jiuquan County, Shi Bao, the governor of Zhangye County, and Xin Tong, the governor of Dunhuang County.

At the meeting, everyone talked very speculatively, anyway, they were all buddies, they could say anything, and they could discuss anything.

Dou Rong said that now that the world is in turmoil, we don't know what to do. In the blink of an eye, these five counties in Hexi will be isolated from the Central Plains and isolated from the Qianghu and other ethnic minorities. If we don't work together, we won't be able to protect ourselves, and if we all have equal power, we will be leaderless. We should jointly nominate a person to serve as a general and preside over the overall situation of the five counties, and decide our actions in a timely manner according to changes in the situation.

Everyone agreed.

However, everyone is buddies, and they are embarrassed about who will be the general, so they push each other.

After being polite, everyone unanimously recommended Dou Rong.

Brother Dou Rong, your old Dou family has been an official in Hexi for generations, with rich connections and high prestige, and the vast number of cadres and masses trust you and admire you, it's you!

Dou Rong didn't make too much politeness and accepted.

For this very special political meeting, the Book of the Later Han Dynasty records as follows:

"The discussion is established, and each is humble, Xian takes Rongshi as an official in Hexi, and people respect him, which is to push the generals of the five counties of Hexi to serve the military."

Since Wu Wei Taishou Ma Period and Zhang Ye Tai Shou Ren Zhong did not attend the meeting, these two people are usually not very gregarious, and after the meeting, Dou Rong's brothers jointly wrote a letter to inform the two of the decision of the meeting.

Ma Qi and Ren Zhong knew that they couldn't play a few brothers Dou Rong, so they immediately handed over the seal ribbon of Taishou and ran away: Okay, okay, let's go, don't delay everyone's work!

As soon as Dou Rong was in power, he took the order. The first thing he did was to quickly establish a political system dominated by himself, appointing these five buddies as the taishou of the five counties.

Among them, one was reappointed, Liang Tong was reappointed as Wuwei Taishou, Wuwei's comrades did not come to the meeting, we are recovering this county, Lao Liang, you go; Leave one, that is, Jincheng Taishou Kujun; The other 3 buddies were promoted on the spot in this county, namely Zhu Zeng was the Taishou of Jiuquan, Shi Bao was the Taishou of Zhangye, and Xin Tong was the Taishou of Dunhuang.

As for Dou Rong himself, he still served as the lieutenant of Zhangye's subordinate state, directly in charge of tens of thousands of special forces, and established a new set of work teams, under his own leadership, responsible for the daily management and supervision of the work of the five counties.

(Settle in the subject country, lead the capital as before, and be engaged in supervising the five counties.) ）

In this way, Dou Rong did not use force or shed blood, and controlled the subject state of Zhangye and the above five counties.

It must be explained that Dou Rong is really a master of playing politics!

As for how he climbed the dragon and the phoenix in the past and rose higher step by step, let's not talk about it for the time being, but just saying that this time he established a political framework to control the counties and states of Hexi ideologically and organizationally, which shows his political ambitions, political courage, and political skills.

Originally, the Zhangye subject state where Dou Rong served was one of the 12 counties in Liangzhou, like Zhangye County and Jiuquan County.

However, by convening a meeting of the responsible persons of the other five counties, he was already exercising the authority of Liangzhou Mu, a provincial-level cadre.

He presided over the appointment and dismissal of the above-mentioned counties of the Taishou and Du Wei positions, all of which were appointed by the imperial court, and he promoted several of his buddies, wrote angry and left, scared away Ma Qi, Ren Zhong, and was doing the emperor's work.

However, anyway, the beginning is over, the candidates competing for the first brother have just entered the finals, the new dynasty has not yet officially opened, the central power is in a vacuum, and whoever wants to do it can do it.

Besides, this is an era when fists have the final say and thin-skinned people can't eat.

Others play military, Dou Rong plays politics; Others use knives and guns, and Dou Rong uses his brains and mouths.

To achieve the same goal, his old Dou should be more energy-efficient and environmentally friendly than others.

At a time when the powerful and powerful in various localities were using troops against each other, beating each other with blue noses and swollen faces, and vying to be in the center of the stage of the great drama of social life, he made full use of his personal connections, friendship with his brothers, and personal prestige, and on the basis of his daily work, through a meeting, he not only promoted himself to a cadre at the provincial level, but also quickly established his own work group and work mechanism.

Dou Rong worked diligently, was modest in government, not only developed production, improved people's livelihood, but also trained soldiers and practiced shooting, and strengthened Fengsui, the common people were satisfied, and the surrounding Qianghu was convinced, and the displaced people from other places flocked to it.

Hexi has become an oasis in the desert and chaotic times.

His work in Hexi revolves around promoting local reform, development, and stability. In the period of political vacuum of regime change, there is nothing wrong with him facing chaos, breaking the shackles, and establishing a set of highly efficient work systems and mechanisms.

Here, I would like to remind you to pay attention to two points about Dou Rong.

One is about whether he is fair.

When establishing this set of work systems and mechanisms in Hexi, he took into account the continuity of work, took care of the original cadres, and at the same time boldly hired new people, but did not use people from his old Dou family. His old Dou family is prosperous, and it is too easy to find a few to be officials. As for him being brothers and sisters with many officials and heroes, we would rather regard it as his means of work, because his buddies have not yet found any major bad deeds.

The second is about whether he is working effectively.

He adhered to the policy orientation of the former Han Dynasty since Cao Shen, gave more to the economy, society, and the common people than to take, and was stricter than lenient, and soon developed production, strengthened the army, and stabilized the society.

A prosperous and strong society is the goal of almost all moral governments.

In such a special social and political environment, a cadre who can not only use good people but also do a good job should be fully affirmed and vigorously praised at least in his work.

Later, Liu Xiu ascended the throne and became emperor, and Dou Rong immediately responded and planned to annex it, but Hexi Mountain is high and far away, so it is really not convenient. He then heard that the Kui Huan in Xizhou had submitted to Liu Xiu, so he first sent someone to express his attachment to the Kui Huan and accept the leadership of Liu Xiu's Han Dynasty.

Kui Huan had other plans in his heart, and while appointing Dou Rong as a general, he sent Zhang Xuan, a man of tongue debate, to Hexi to lobby.

Lao Kui knew that Dou Rong accepted him in order to submit to Liu Xiu, so he wanted to dispel Dou Rong's hopes for Liu Xiu and pull him to his side.

Therefore, according to Kui Huan's instructions, the propaganda and ideological work done by Zhang Xuan in Hexi is also very wordy and boring, and there are two main points: first, the emperor cannot always be the person with the same surname, and the country should take turns to sit; The second is to divide rather than reunify, everyone cuts the land and stands on their own, and they really can't be the co-masters of the world, so they do their own thing.

Although Zhang Xuan's words also had a little repercussion among the cadres in Hexi, they were not big, especially for Dou Rong, and they were useless at all.

Dou Rong resolutely believes that the old Dou family has a deep relationship with the Liu Han Dynasty for generations, and it is just a small episode that he has been playing with Wang Mang's brothers for a few years, and the purpose of playing with your Lao Kui is still to belong to the Liu Han Dynasty.

So, under Ban Biao's staff and planning, Dou Rong ignored the work of enveloping Kui Huan and concentrated on all preparations for returning to Liu Xiu.

Sincerely, the gold and stone are open.

After careful consideration, Dou Rong decided to bypass the hustle and bustle and contact Liu Xiu directly to express his sincerity in returning.

In April 29 AD, he sent his senior staff member Liu Jun to Luoyang, with a written application for attachment and a group of good horses dedicated to Liu Xiu.

It just so happened that Liu Xiu started from the strategic layout of taking Bashu and Xizhou, and was also about to contact Dou Rong, so he sent someone to send him a letter to discuss cooperation.

It was too coincidental that Liu Xiu's envoy and Liu Jun met again in the middle of the road. As soon as the two of them discussed, they simply went to Luoyang first and reported to the emperor.

So, the two went to Luoyang together.

Liu Xiu was very happy about Liu Jun's arrival and received him warmly.

After that, Liu Xiu arranged for Liu Jun to return to Hexi with his handwritten letter to Dou Rong.

In this letter stamped with his jade seal, Liu Xiu fully affirmed Dou Rong's achievements in governing Hexi, and expressed his appreciation for his letter to him and his dedication of horses.

Then, Liu Xiu carefully analyzed the situation in Bashu and Xizhou, and the strategic significance of Hexi.

In the letter, Liu Xiu analyzed the military situation in which he was using troops against Gongsun Shu and Kui, and said very interestingly, Lao Dou, you are strong and strong, no matter which side you help me and the enemy, the other side will definitely be defeated. You can not only help me achieve hegemony, but also take advantage of the situation to rise up and stand on your own, forming a situation where you can stand up to me. Where to go, please think long-term.

When Liu Jun returned to Hexi, he brought Dou Rong not only this letter, but also Liu Xiu's reward and appointment documents for Dou Rong: Comrade Dou Rong was appointed as the pastor of Liangzhou and rewarded with 200 catties of gold.

As soon as Liu Xiu's handwritten letter and appointment documents arrived, the cadres and masses in Hexi were very shocked, and they felt that Liu Xiu was really wise and far away in Luoyang, and he was able to gain insight into the changes in the situation inside and outside the country and observe the ideological dynamics of the cadres and the masses.

(Hexi was shocked, thinking that the Son of Heaven saw thousands of miles away.) ）

Liu Xiu's contact with Dou Rong is so smooth, which is in stark contrast to the difficult twists and turns of the connection with Kui Huan. And why this is, no one can say.

In order to further express his sincerity in submitting to Liu Xiu, Dou Rong sent Liu Jun on a business trip to Luoyang again to write to Liu Xiu.

In the above letter, Dou Rong expressed his loyalty, sincerity and determination to resolutely submit to Luoyang and obey all dispatches, and expressed his belief that he would let his younger brother serve the emperor in Luoyang.

At the same time, Lao Dou really sent his younger brother Dou You to accompany Liu Jun.

However, this time, just in time for the hustle and bustle of Kui's use of troops, when Liu Jun and Dou You walked to Gaoping (now Guyuan, Ningxia), the road traffic was cut off, and the brothers had to return.

Dou Rong did not give up, afraid that Liu Xiu would be suspicious, so he sent his military staff officer (Sima) Xi Feng to open up another path and send the letter to Luoyang.

Liu Xiu already knew Dou Rong's intentions very well, and immediately wrote a letter to Xi Feng to bring it back, expressing sincere and cordial condolences to the Dou brothers.

In this way, Hexi and Luoyang have established close communication and close contact.

I would also like to draw everyone's attention to the fact that the reason why Dou Rong expressed so eagerly, so sincerely, and so resolutely for Guishun Liu Xiu is of course due to complex reasons, but there are two main points:

First, submitting to the Liu Xiu dynasty is a strategic choice for him and the old Dou family.

The old Dou family has been an official in the Liu Han Dynasty for generations, and is a vested interest and staunch supporter of this dynasty. Lao Dou himself also believes that the establishment of the Liu Xiu Empire truly represents the revival of the Liu Han Dynasty. Therefore, the old Dou family must be submissive to Liu Xiu to have a way out, and it can't be too late.

Second, since submission is necessary, you should be more active, proactive, and honest than others.

Dou Rong knew that the power and influence of Liu Xiu's empire were as good as the sky, and Liu Xiu himself was also surrounded by civil servants and military generals, and most of these people were his apprentices and fans. Although there are some people who were attached to Liu Xiu after he ascended the throne, most of them are Huai Jin's talents, have the ambition to go through the heavens and the earth, and they have great respect for Liu Xiu himself and his career, and are willing to be driven by him under his command.

To put it bluntly, Liu Xiu does not lack him Dou Rong, and he Dou Rong needs Liu Xiu very much.

At the same time, Dou Rong believes that he and Liu Xiu have known each other for a long time, but they have little contact and do not have much deep personal origin. The only relationship is that the two are still in a hostile state, and they almost slashed each other in the bloody battle of Kunyang!

Liu Xiu, how big of a heart do you have to be able to forgive my past?

In fact, Liu Xiu had already forgiven him Dou Rong.

Whether out of political considerations or out of the principle of being a man, Liu Xiu doesn't want to take the initiative to be an enemy of others, and he doesn't want to ignore people. What's more, Liu Xiu currently believes that Dou Rong and Hexi are exactly what he needs.

Well, the current situation is: Dou Rongtie is determined to join and follow Liu Xiu, and is ready to obey Liu Xiu's call at any time.

At the same time, Dou Rong is also worried about who Liu Xiu is going to beat, don't forget to call yourself!

Well, with Dou Rong and Hexi, Liu Xiu has more confidence to win Kui Huan and Gongsun Shu.