With a sound of the horn, the people on the mountains of the two realms looked up.

It turned out to be His Majesty the Emperor, and the royal driver personally recruited him. Tang Emperor Li Wenjian, escorted by the people, personally came to the Two Realms Mountain. The army was in the air, exuding a strong aura and full of murderous aura.

In history, there are countless cases of emperors driving their own conquests, some of which were the founding emperors' personal conquests, and they themselves were immediately emperors; although they were not the founding emperors, in order to relieve border troubles or quell rebellions, they also followed the example of the previous emperors in their personal conquests, or to boost the morale of the army, or to establish their personal prestige as the Son of Heaven; the third reason for the imperial conquest was that "under the whole world, it is not the king's land" mentality, and the need to expand the territory.

The fourth reason for the royal driver's personal expedition is to take revenge for some reason, and if he doesn't go into battle in person, he won't understand his hatred. There are many reasons for the emperor's personal expedition, and the results are also different. As an emperor, being able to drive a personal expedition can indeed boost morale, but some imperial driving and personal expeditions can command indiscriminately, and some imperial driving personal expeditions are captured and killed, or the imperial driving personal expedition leads to the hatred of the country. Of course, there is no shortage of emperors who have achieved the purpose of the imperial conquest, expanded the territory, and completely unified the great cause or half of the hegemony.

After Liu Bang, Emperor Guangwu Liu Xiu, Zhaolie Liu Bei, Emperor Sun Quan of Wu, Emperor Cao Pi of Wei Wen, Emperor Cao Rong of Wei Ming, Cao Chao of Wei Gaoguixiang, Emperor Fu Jian of the former Qin Dynasty, Emperor Liu Yu of Song Wu, Emperor Liu Yilong of Song Wen, Emperor Taiwu of Northern Wei Dynasty Tuoba Tao, Emperor Xiaowen of Northern Wei Dynasty Tuoba Hong, Emperor Yang Guang of Sui Dynasty, and Li Shimin of Tang Taizong.

The founding emperors, most of whom drove the expedition in person to lay the grand plan for the country

Most of the rivers and mountains are typed. The rivers and mountains of the Western Han Dynasty were brought down by Liu Bang, the emperor of the Han Dynasty; the rivers and mountains of the Eastern Han Dynasty were personally conquered by Emperor Guangwu Liu Xiu; the rivers and mountains of the Three Kingdoms were defeated by Liu Bei, Sun Quan, and Cao Cao; the Northern and Southern Dynasties and the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms were famous in troubled times, and those founding emperors who divided one side were like Liu Yu, Emperor Wu of the Song Dynasty, Fu Jian of the former Qin, and Emperor Ran Min who issued the "order to kill Hu".

Emperor Taiwu of the Northern Wei Dynasty, Emperor Tuoba Tao of the Northern Wei Dynasty, Zhu Wen, Taizu of the Later Liang Dynasty, Li Cunxuan of the Later Tang Dynasty, and Chai Rong of the Later Zhou Shizong, etc., are all marshal-level figures who can conquer and fight habitually.

Of course, it is not easy to fight the country, and it will pay a heavy price. Liu Bang, the ancestor of the Han Dynasty, encountered the "siege of Baideng" and was almost captured and died, but he was spared by listening to Chen Ping's plan to bribe the king of the Xiongnu with a beautiful woman, and suffered the humiliation of the Xiongnu's "harmony" for a hundred years; Liu Bei led a large army to the east to avenge Guan Yu, not only did the Sun-Liu alliance break down, but also died of illness in the city of the White Emperor after the defeat; the former king of Qin did not listen to Wang Meng's advice, and insisted on the southern expedition to the Eastern Jin Dynasty.

Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty and Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty were not the founding emperors, but they were both sons of heaven who had great military merits to the Sui and Tang dynasties.

Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty became notorious in history, mainly because he worked hard and lost money, ransomed his army, and caused a peasant uprising and perished. In fact, Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty was the leading marshal when he pacified the Chen State in the south of the Yangtze River, and made great achievements in the unification of the whole country in the Sui Dynasty. It's just the winner

The prince is a loser and a thief, and he just didn't succeed.

Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty made three expeditions to Goguryeo, which is now the Liaodong region and the Korean region. Before the conquest of Goguryeo, the Sui Dynasty achieved a series of military victories, and the Turkic, Khitan, Tuyuhun, Linyi, Ryukyu, Chenla, Bori, and Wa kingdoms surrendered one after another under the military attack of the Sui Dynasty, and regarded the Great Sui as the suzerain, and the Great Sui Emperor as the "Heavenly Khan".

But unexpectedly, Goguryeo in the Liaodong region was not frightened by the Great Sui, not only did not accept it, but also disturbed the people, which aroused the anger of the Great Sui Emperor, who was determined to solve the Northeast problem once and for all, so the expedition to Goguryeo broke out. Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty gathered a million-strong army to march in person, but he did not expect that due to his command mistakes, the national policy of pacifying Goguryeo was also problematic, and he actually lost his troops and was defeated. Three expeditions to Goguryeo also failed to subdue this fierce nation.

When the baton arrived in the hands of Tang Taizong, Li Shimin was a man of great talent, with famous generals such as Li Ji, Li Daozong, and Xue Rengui.

Li Shimin personally went to comfort the sick soldiers, sucked blood for the wounded general Li Simo, and the people of the Tang Dynasty took the initiative to participate in the war, even to the point of "recruiting ten hundreds, raising hundreds and thousands, and some people who failed to follow the expedition were indignant and depressed". Finally defeated Goguryeo. After Tang Taizong died of illness, Tang Gaozong inherited his father's unfinished will, and finally swept Liaodong and set up the Andong Protectorate.

Why is the word "Imperial Expedition" known to women and children? In the streets and alleys of the market, ordinary people have great curiosity and rich imagination about the emperor and war, and the word "Imperial Expedition" is high-end and high-grade, which just caters to the psychology of the common people.

There is a question that you must be interested in: How did the emperor go to the battlefield? It is said that the army should ride a horse on a marching battle, but if the emperor's golden dragon body is broken by the horse, what should be done? If you don't pay attention to bumping into it, what should you do? If you don't sit down and fall on the ground and are trampled on by the horse a few times, what should you do?

The "Imperial Expedition" gives us an explanation: the emperor may have gone to the battlefield by car, and only rode on horseback if necessary. The original meaning of the word "driving" refers to a car. The five kinds of chariots that the emperor rode were called the five chariots, of which the leather chariots were specially used in military affairs, such as military parades, drills, etc., and of course the pro-conquest also belonged to this.

However, the chariot itself was slow and heavy, which was not conducive to marching at all, and should be mainly used in a series of ceremonies during expeditions and triumphs. After all, when it comes to the front of the two armies, no matter how cowardly the emperor is, he will not let go of the opportunity to play handsome.

The royal expedition will definitely not be a trip that is just a walk-and-go. "Zuo Chuan" has a saying: "The major affairs of the country are in the worship and Rong", that is, the biggest thing in the country is sacrifice and war. The "Zhou Li" divides the ancient etiquette system structure into "five rites", and the "military ceremony" ranks fourth. And the emperor's personal conquest, no matter from any of the above angles, is a major event.

Since it is a major event, it must not be simple, and if you want to drive the expedition in person, you must first get the ministers done. Although pro-recruitment can boost morale, after all, there are risks, and if something goes wrong, no

It's a joke, so the civil and military officials will definitely not let it go, so that the emperor can easily succeed in the expedition.

After getting the minister, you can choose a day to carry out the action of the royal driver's personal expedition. As a state of etiquette, the complicated expedition process must not be less, the specific operation method began in the Shang and Zhou dynasties, and the subsequent generations have continuously supplemented and improved, the main components are:

Preparations. Including martial law in the army, the preparation and placement of sacrificial supplies, the training of honor guards in place, and so on.

A large-scale festival for the heavens. The emperor is the Son of Heaven, and his personal expedition is to do the right thing for heaven, so he needs to sacrifice to Haotian God in order to be blessed. The emperor himself and the civil and military officials who participated in it had to fast in advance, and there were different links such as offering wine, sacrificing, offering coins and silks, blood, and burning firewood, and at the same time, the emperor changed into different dresses and rode in different vehicles.

Medium-sized festivals for ancestors and land gods, and small-scale festivals for mountain and river gods. The level of these activities is relatively low. In particular, the sacrifices to the mountains and rivers of the rivers were mainly done by the relevant officials, and the emperor generally did not participate. In addition, the worship of the rivers and mountains continued throughout the expedition, passing through one place, that is, worshipping the famous mountains and rivers of the local area, and the gods of the road.

The oath of general is done by the emperor himself or an official appointed by the emperor. Explain the reasons and goals of the expedition, clarify military discipline, and then cheer up.

Xuanlubu, in the post-Wei period, the emperor personally conquered every victory, in order to know the world, he hung the cloth with good news on the bamboo pole, called "Lubu", and let the soldiers hold it around to report. Since then, this activity has been carried out.

Triumphant, dedicated to the temple. Everyone knows, the emperor goes on an expedition, whether he fights the enemy or not, as long as the emperor himself comes back safely, it must be called triumphant. Therefore, ceremonies, sacrifices to prisoners, rewards for meritorious deeds, and ministers to celebrate must be the standard for the royal conquest.

Generally speaking, the emperor drove the expedition in person, with the respect of ten thousand times, and the division of millions, and naturally the hearts of the people were enthusiastic, striving for the death force, and should have the combat effectiveness of attacking and winning.

Paradoxically, what should have happened never happened.

Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty made three expeditions to Goryeo, not only losing his troops and losing his generals, but also eventually causing civil strife due to the recklessness of his troops, resulting in the change of ownership of the country; Tang Taizong conquered Goryeo with his prosperous army in the east, but he was trapped in the "Dongying Xiaoyi" and had no choice but to return from the class. Ironically, the mediocre Tang Gaozong Li Zhi actually succeeded in conquering Goryeo, and Li Zhi did not have a personal conquest.

Let us play back the plot of Emperor Yang of Sui and Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty to see what is worth playing with today's people.

Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty decided to prepare troops to fight against the king of Goryeo, turning the "hometown of barbarians" into the "realm of crown belts". The following year, the world's male soldiers assembled as scheduled, at this time, Emperor Yang of Sui asked the later official to Taishi Ling's opinion on the battle situation, Yu Zhi said that the war must be won, but there is only one, the emperor can not personally conquer. Emperor Yang of Sui was displeased when he heard this, and said stupidly, if you are afraid, you can stay here. So he decided to go to the army in person.

Yu Zhi is worried

Love, sure enough, happened. The army crossed Liaoshui and besieged Liaodong City. Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty issued two edicts before the battle, one was that "all military advances and stops must be reported to be heard, and there is no need to be specialized", which is equivalent to seizing the general's military power and violating the principle of "the general is outside, and the monarch's order is not subject to it";

The two edicts cast the talisman of the Goryeo: if the Sui army attacked the city in a hurry, the Goryeo people declared their surrender, and the generals stopped attacking, and galloped to Emperor Yang first, and when the edict came, the city defense was also rebuilt to resist the attack of the Sui army again. If the cycle continues, the Sui army will never be able to capture Liaodong City. As a result, when the Ninth Army first crossed Liao, there were 300,000 people, and only 2,700 people remained when the division returned to the dynasty.

Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty was defeated by his excessive intervention, he infiltrated his tentacles into every corner, the generals were silent, asking for instructions at every turn, and could not adapt to the situation and act decisively, how could they seize the fleeting fighter and adapt to the ever-changing situation?

Tang Taizong led a large army to conquer Goryeo, all the way like a bamboo, a long drive straight in, and it seemed that he was about to reach the city of Pyongyang, but the army was blocked in Anshi, and he could not move forward for a while. At this time, a Goryeo captive admonished that the people of Anshi took care of their family and were not easy to pull out suddenly, and the defenders of the Black Bone City would be old and could not hold on, so it was better to move troops to attack the Black Bone City. This was a clever plan, and the generals readily agreed.

Tang Taizong will follow it, and the eldest grandson Wuji said: "The Son of Heaven is different from the generals, so you can't take advantage of the danger." "You are the Son of Heaven and rich from all over the world, how can you do such a despicable thing as taking advantage of the danger of others? After some moral preaching, Tang Taizong gave up attacking the Black Bone City and attacked the city. As a result, Anshi could not be attacked for a long time, the troops were stationed for a long time, and the food was exhausted, and Liaozuo was cold early, the grass was dry and frozen, and many soldiers were not adaptable, so they had to return with feathers.

Tang Taizong was defeated by his moral purity: since it is the conquest of the Son of Heaven, he should have the bearing of the Son of Heaven and the royal demeanor. However, where are there so many upright and noble strategies, which is why Machiavelli said in a metaphor that a king should have both the ferocity of a lion and the cunning of a fox.

Fifty years after Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty and 20 years after Emperor Taizong's first expedition to the East, Tang Gaozong Li Zhi lived in the deep palace and set Goryeo. At that time, Tang Gaozong "wanted to be a general army", and Empress Wu Zetian resisted and admonished her to conquer Goryeo, and Tang Gaozong called off her own expedition.

Does the Imperial Expedition necessarily lead to failure? Judging from the historical data, there are indeed many such examples. Wang Fuzhi wrote in "Reading the Commentary": "If Fu Jian does not think that he will commit a crime, he will not be defeated and will rebel quickly; if Dou Jiande does not save Luo, he will not be captured and both will be defeated; Wan Yanliang will not be frustrated by quarrying if he does not think that he will be a thief, and the domestic monarch will be killed." Based on this, Wang Fuzhi came to a conclusion: "The Son of Heaven is not fighting." ”

Of course, there are many successful examples of the Imperial Driver's Campaign, and the failed examples are just like the development mechanism, showing some of the shortcomings of the Imperial Driver's Campaign

。 For the leader, if there is too much interference in the subordinates, or even a large package, the power is concentrated at the top, and the responsibility is dispersed from the bottom, the subordinates will be like the generals under Emperor Yang of Sui, everything is only at the top, and they lose their autonomy, and the result is inefficient.

"Fighting but not fighting" is a kind of mind, but also a kind of wisdom. Lao Tzu said, do nothing and do nothing, and the world can't compete with it if you don't fight. Who knows that sometimes, doing something is inactive, and doing nothing is doing something.

The emperor led the troops to go out to the expedition called the "Imperial Expedition", however, there are still very few things about the Imperial Expedition, if nothing else, the emperor's personal expedition is too loud.

Therefore, the emperor generally sits in the capital and commands remotely, and generally does not personally conquer unless it is a last resort, that is, it is not related to the life and death of the country.

However, in the second year of Liu Bei's reign as emperor, he personally led a large army to conquer Eastern Wu, and was defeated by Lu Xun of Eastern Wu. Liu Bei's personal expedition not only lost many soldiers and generals of Shu State, which greatly damaged Shu State, but also became ill because of this failure, which indirectly led to his death the following year. So, why did Liu Bei and Wu go to the expedition in person?

At the end of the Han Dynasty, because Dong Zhuo abolished the Han Shao Emperor Liu Wei and established another Liu Xie, it caused strong dissatisfaction among the Kwantung clan, so the Kwantung princes pulled up a team to jointly crusade against Dong Zhuo.

Because the Kwantung princes had their own thoughts, everyone wanted to expand their power and occupy the land as the king, resulting in the crusade dying halfway. At this time, the country was actually torn apart, and the era entered a period of mutual annexation.

During this period, if the princes wanted not to be eaten by others, they had to have their own army, and this army had to be in their own hands.

Armies are meant to be fought, and the easiest way to annex other princes is to defeat them, and only the princes who are in charge of their own armies and can win battles can go to the end. It can be said that this was the regular practice of that period, and he could prevent the generals from becoming independent after their ambitions were inflated. Cao Cao, Sun Ce, and Liu Bei themselves all came all the way like this.

Although Cao Cao did not become emperor, he became the queen of Wei and actually became an emperor. At this time, Cao Cao's army was basically in the hands of the Cao family and the Xiahou family, such as Zhang Liao, Le Jin, and Yu Ban, although these generals could also control a large army, but they were already difficult to achieve independently, so Cao Cao could sit in the capital in his later years and dispatch and command.

Still, for a self-contained region like Hanzhong, Cao Cao still had to conquer it himself. And by the time Liu Bei went east, Wei was already Cao Pi as the emperor, and Cao Pi didn't need to go east and west like his father.

Sun Quan inherited his father's and brother's inheritance, and these places were all fought down by Sun Jian and Sun Ce one place at a time, so it can be said that the entire Jiangnan region has already been surnamed Sun. In the same situation, after Zhou Yu's death, no one in Jiangnan's military generals was able to stand on their own. Even so, Sun Quan still has to go to the front line occasionally to show himself.

Liu Bei can also be regarded as an emperor immediately, and the earliest incident started by pulling a team to crusade against the Yellow Turban Army. Later, whether it was the Xuzhou Thorn History, the Yuzhou Thorn History or the Jingzhou Thorn History, it was because he had a team in his hand, and this team was personally commanded by him and followed him to fight.

It can be said that this was a customary practice at that time.

(End of chapter)