Zhu Chao accompanied me to watch short videos

Although the military merit system of the Qin Dynasty had changed, the boundaries between high and low ranks were basically the same. Those with titles not only enjoyed privileges such as being an official and raising disciples, but also enjoyed the privilege of redeeming sins and reducing sentences.

Level 7 and above are high nobility, which belong to the titles of middle and senior officials and nobles of Qin, and they enjoy privileges such as granted land and houses, concubines' sons, and fiefdoms; level 7 and below are low nobility, which, although without high risks, also enjoys preferential treatment such as being a subordinate official, being granted land and houses, being exempted from corvée, and having their sentences reduced.

Those with titles can enslave those without titles, but conversely, even if a person with a high title is dismissed from office, he cannot serve a person with a low title, let alone a person without a title. This is the embodiment of identity and status.

The power of military merit

Since the Xia and Shang dynasties, aristocratic status has been determined by blood inheritance, and under the constraints of Zhou rituals, the hierarchy is strict, which is what we call class solidification.

It is said that "people are divided into ten ranks, the kings, nobles and officials are created by etiquette, and the common people are below them". Below the nobles are the common people and slaves, and the common people have almost no way to rise. This is why "etiquette does not extend to the common people".

It should be pointed out that the military merit system was not originally created by Shang Yang, but was further standardized, formulated and promulgated by Shang Yang on the basis of the existing military merit system.

Those with military merits could be promoted, while those who engaged in private fighting would be punished according to the severity of their crimes. After the implementation of the military merit system, a person's political status was determined by his military merits.

From then on, those who had made contributions were honored, while those who had not made contributions, though rich, were not honored. This became the general principle of Qin people's political life. "The Book of Lord Shang" says: "The official titles of the Ministry of Personnel are exclusively from the military."

It also says: "The door to wealth and honor must come from the military." This reflects that at that time, if the Qin people wanted to obtain wealth and honor, there was no other way except to establish military merit.

It was precisely because of this policy that a channel for upward mobility was provided for the common people of Qin.

Ordinary people also had the opportunity and possibility to obtain titles. Some people could climb into the upper class through the military merit system, while most people could escape from their enslaved status and obtain a certain amount of land, or at least become self-employed farmers.

It can be said that Shang Yang was also a master of psychology, and he had a great understanding of human nature. It was extremely motivating for people to determine what kind of treatment they would enjoy if they met the conditions for each level of nobility.

From history, we can also see that the military merit system enabled the Qin State to repeatedly achieve hundreds of thousands of casualties in foreign wars. This is just like the membership system of various websites and apps in current games, which actually still uses this system - you can get corresponding rewards by completing a goal.

The military merit system not only stimulated Qin's war potential and tapped talents from all walks of life, but also helped Qin absorb talents from various countries, making Qin gradually stronger.

[Read all the historical facts about the longest-lived emperor in Chinese history, Emperor Wu of Nanyue, Zhao Tuo, in one go]

He was one of the longest-lived emperors in Chinese history, reigning for 69 years and dying at the age of 103. He was also one of the most legendary emperors in Chinese history, having lived through 9 emperors in his life, growing from a general of the Qin Dynasty to an emperor. He once fought against the Western Han Dynasty and was highly praised by Liu Bang. In this video, let's talk about Zhao Tuo, the Emperor Wu of Nanyue.

Speaking of Zhao Tuo, he was the King of Nanyue, a native of Zhengding, Hebei, and of the same clan as Zhao Yun. Zhao Tuo was originally a general of the Qin State. He experienced nine emperors in his life, including Qin Shihuang, Emperor Gaozu of Han, Emperor Hui of Han, Emperor Shao of Liang, Emperor Wen of Han, Emperor Jing of Han, and Emperor Wu of Han. This is unprecedented.

He single-handedly founded the Nanyue Kingdom, promoted the advanced culture and production technology of the Central Plains, promoted the development of Lingnan's economy and culture, and enhanced ethnic integration.

From ancient times to the pre-Qin period, the Lingnan region was relatively isolated and had a harsh natural environment, and was known as the "land of malaria." Zhao Tuo can be said to be the first person to develop the Lingnan region, and he started the Lingnan civilization. The Zhao Kingdom he established coexisted with the Western Han Dynasty and ruled Lingnan for nearly a century.

After Qin Shihuang unified the six kingdoms, he began to pacify the Baiyue area in the Lingnan region.

The Qin Dynasty launched a war to conquer Lingnan in 219 BC. After five years of fighting, in 5 BC, with Ren Xiong as the main general and Zhao Tuo as the deputy general, the Qin Dynasty finally completed the task of pacifying Lingnan.

At this point, the entire Lingnan region was included in the territory of the Qin Dynasty. Qin Shihuang then established three prefectures in Lingnan: Nanhai, Guilin, and Xiang. Ren Xiong was appointed as the prefect of Nanhai and Zhao Tuo as the magistrate of Longchuan, guarding strategic locations.

After the death of Qin Shi Huang, Qin Er Shi ascended to the throne, and his brutal rule caused dissatisfaction. In 209 BC, Chen Sheng and Wu Guang started an uprising, and the Central Plains fell into war.

In 208 BC, when the Central Plains was at war, Ren Xiong suddenly fell seriously ill. He asked Zhao Tuo to split Lingnan to avoid the war and served as the acting prefect of Nanhai County.

In 207 BC, the Qin Dynasty fell. Zhao Tuo proclaimed himself King Wu of Nanyue, established his capital in Panyu, and founded the Nanyue Kingdom, which stretched over miles from east to west. At its peak, the Nanyue Kingdom included Guangdong, Guangxi, Fujian, Hainan, and the central and northern regions of Vietnam. Zhao Tuo had hundreds of thousands of soldiers and was as powerful as the Xiongnu in the north.

What I want to say here is that people always ask why the Qin army that went south did not return to save the Qin Dynasty. In fact, Ren Xiong also saw that the Qin Dynasty was unjust and the world was in chaos and could not be saved, so when he was dying, he asked Zhao Tuo to lead the army and establish his own regime in Lingnan.

After years of fighting, Liu Bang finally defeated Xiang Yu and established the Western Han Dynasty, while the Nanyue Kingdom established by Zhao Tuo was a separatist state that competed with the Western Han Dynasty.

In 196 BC, Emperor Gaozu of Han, Liu Bang, sent his minister Lu Jia to Nanyue to persuade Zhao Tuo to accept the title of king from the Han Dynasty and submit to the central government.

Under Lu Jia's persuasion, Zhao Tuo accepted the seal of the King of Nanyue granted by Emperor Gaozu of Han Dynasty, submitted to the Han Dynasty, and made Nanyue a vassal state of the Han Dynasty. Emperor Gaozu of Han Dynasty Liu Bang also praised Zhao Tuo's achievements in governing Nanyue. From then on, Lingnan was officially included in the unified territory of China.

In 195 BC, after Emperor Gaozu of Han, Liu Bang, died, Empress Lü came to power and began to have a feud with Zhao Tuo, who declared his independence from the Han Dynasty and proclaimed himself Emperor Wu of Nanyue.

Empress Lü sent a large army to attack Zhao Tuo, but they returned without success due to unfamiliar climate and soil.

At this point, the Nanyue Kingdom and the Western Han Dynasty were in a state of confrontation. In 179 BC, after Empress Lü died, Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty succeeded to the throne. In order to regain Zhao Tuo, he sent Lu Jia to the Nanyue Kingdom again. Lu Jia persuaded Zhao Tuo with the interests involved, and Zhao Tuo once again submitted to the Han Dynasty.

Until the time of Emperor Jing of Han, Zhao Tuo remained a vassal of the Han Dynasty, sending envoys to Chang'an every spring and autumn to pay homage to the Han emperor and accepting his orders like other princes.

In 137 BC, Zhao Tuo died at the age of over 100 and was buried in Panyu. After Zhao Tuo's death, his descendants continued to serve as the king of Nanyue for four generations. In 4 BC, Nanyue was destroyed by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. It had five kings and lasted for 112 years.

Looking back on Zhao Tuo's life, although Sima Qian's overall evaluation of Zhao Tuo in "Biography of Nanyue" was not high, it was even slightly derogatory.

Sima Qian said that Zhao Tuo became the King of Nanyue because of others' promotion and persuasion. He was granted the title of a vassal when the Han Dynasty was initially stabilized. When Lu Jia led his troops to attack Nanyue, he encountered a hot and humid climate, and many people contracted diseases and could not march forward, which made Zhao Tuo even more arrogant.

The implication is that Zhao Tuo was originally a county magistrate of the Qin State, and became a local lord by luck, but he dared to be arrogant. I personally think this evaluation is biased.

Zhao Tuo governed Lingnan for decades. Like Liu Bang, he seized the opportunity in troubled times with his own ability and luck. As the saying goes, "Heroes are made by the times, and heroes are made by the times."

[Read all the historical facts about Maodun Chanyu, the great hero of the grassland, in one go]

He killed his father, seized the throne and unified the grasslands, and was a "grey wolf of the desert" who was comparable to Genghis Khan. He flirted with Empress Lü and defeated Liu Bang, and was the nightmare of the early Han Dynasty.

He overwhelmed the Han Dynasty and established the Xiongnu Empire for a century. In this video, let's talk about a great hero - Maodun Chanyu.

Speaking of the Xiongnu, they were actually the first powerful nomadic people in Chinese history. They had existed since the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, and gradually grew stronger during the Qin and Han Dynasties.

From the reign of Maodun Chanyu in the early second century BC to the westward migration of the Xiongnu in the northern desert in the first century AD, the Xiongnu regime existed in the north and south of the desert for a full 300 years.

According to historical records, the first Chanyu of the Xiongnu was Touman Chanyu. Under the leadership of Touman Chanyu, the Xiongnu could barely be called a country.

However, after his son Maodun Chanyu ascended the throne, he destroyed the Donghu in the east and swallowed up the Loufan in the south, completing the first unification of the grassland and establishing a vast and powerful Xiongnu Empire, making him a great hero.

His historical significance to the grassland people is no less than that of another grassland hero, Genghis Khan.

Before Emperor Wu of Han, the Western Han Dynasty had been suppressed by Maodun Chanyu. Emperor Gaozu of Han, Liu Bang, was trapped in the siege of Baideng and was first entangled in the fire by Maodun, which became the shame of his life.

Therefore, "History of Song Dynasty" once commented: "The Han heroes You Shuhuo and Maodun were called Chen Yu Khan in terms of their military strategies." During the reign of Emperor Hui of Han, facing Maodun Chanyu's open teasing of Empress Lü, the Western Han Dynasty could only swallow its anger and could do nothing.

In the early Western Han Dynasty, the powerful Xiongnu formed a sharp contrast with the weak Han Dynasty. The Han Dynasty could only exchange peace for marriage in order to buy time to recuperate and strengthen the national strength.

So, how did Maodun Chanyu become a great hero of the grassland?

Maodun was originally the crown prince of Touman Chanyu, but later Touman Chanyu fell in love with the younger son born to another concubine and wanted to depose Maodun and make the younger son the crown prince.

Therefore, Touman Chanyu sent Maodun to the Yuezhi as a hostage, hoping to kill someone with a borrowed knife. As soon as Maodun arrived in the Yuezhi, Touman Chanyu immediately attacked the Yuezhi, and the Yuezhi wanted to kill Maodun.

Maodun stole two good horses from the Yuezhi and fled back to the Xiongnu. Chanyu Touman thought that Maodun was brave and brave after escaping death, so he ordered him to lead 1 cavalry.

Afterwards, Maodun made a kind of whistling arrow and trained his subordinates. He ordered: "Whoever does not follow my full force and shoot at the target set by my whistling arrow will be beheaded."

Maodun first used whistling arrows to hunt birds and beasts. If someone did not shoot at the target set by the whistling arrows, Maodun would kill them. Soon after, Maodun used whistling arrows to shoot at his beloved horse. If someone around him did not dare to shoot, Maodun would kill them again.

Some time later, Maodun went out hunting and shot the Chanyu's favorite horse with a whistling arrow. From then on, everyone around him followed suit. Thus, Maodun successfully trained a group of subordinates who obeyed his orders.

Later, when Maodun was hunting with his father, Touman Chanyu, he shot Touman Chanyu with a whistling arrow. The people around him saw the whistling arrow and immediately shot, and Touman Chanyu died on the spot.

This is the famous story of "Ming Di killing his father" in history. Afterwards, Maodun killed his stepmother, younger brother, and all the ministers who disobeyed him, and established himself as Chanyu. This also shows his toughness.

Afterwards, Maodun drove the Yuezhi to the west, annexed the Loufan to the south, recovered the Xiongnu territory seized by Meng Tian of the Qin State, and occupied parts of the northern part of the Qin Dynasty.

After a series of great conquests, all tribes in the grasslands submitted to the Xiongnu. At this point, Maodun dominated the north and south of the desert, directly threatening the Central Plains. "Historical Records: Biography of the Xiongnu" records that the Xiongnu soldiers had more than 30 cavalry during their holidays, which shows how powerful they were.

When the Xiongnu tribes unified in the northern desert, the Western Han Dynasty also unified the Central Plains. From then on, the contest between the nomadic and agricultural empires officially began.

In 201 BC, Han Wangxin rebelled and surrendered to the Xiongnu, who then marched southward to plunder the border. In 200 BC, Liu Bang personally led his troops to fight the Xiongnu.

However, Maodun pretended to fail and fled to lure the Han army. Liu Bang underestimated the enemy and advanced rashly, and was surrounded by 40 elite cavalry commanded by Maodun, and was trapped on Mount Baideng for 7 days and 7 nights.

The Han army had no food or reinforcements, and Liu Bang failed to break out several times. He was in a very dangerous situation. Fortunately, Chen Ping suggested bribing the Xiongnu Yanshi (Modun's wife).

Under the persuasion of Yanshi, Maodun let Liu Bang break out of the siege. Faced with the disparity in strength, Liu Bang was forced to start the policy of marriage with the Xiongnu.

From Emperor Gaozu to Emperor Wu of Han, marriages with the Xiongnu were all humiliating, with the Xiongnu being forced to give money and women in exchange for peace. The essence of marriages at that time was the Xiongnu's extortion of the Han Empire without resorting to violence.

Whenever the Xiongnu needed the next tribute, the results of the marriage would immediately return to zero. This situation did not gradually change to the appeasement of the suzerain relationship and the marriage relationship based on the granted marriage model until the reign of Emperor Wu of Han.

In 195 BC, with the death of Liu Bang, Maodun openly wrote a letter to tease Empress Lu, saying that he had just become a widower and Empress Lu was also single, so it would be better for the two of them to live together and enjoy a happy life.

After reading the letter, Empress Lü felt that she had been greatly provoked and insulted, and prepared to kill the Hun envoy and send troops to attack the Huns.

But in the end, considering the huge disparity in power, Empress Lü accepted the opinions of her ministers and had to swallow her anger. She replied politely with a respectful letter and married her clan daughter to the Huns.

In 174 BC, Maodun, the great Xiongnu Khan, died, but his great talents and strategies will be recorded in history.

When we read history, we often fall into a misunderstanding, that is, we think that the Huns were the biggest enemy of the Han Dynasty.

Because they lived on grasslands, which was completely different from the farming-based lifestyle of the Central Plains, the Huns were often regarded as so-called "barbarians", as if they had nothing to do with the Chinese world.

However, in the "Historical Records: Biography of the Xiongnu", Sima Qian said in the first sentence: "The Xiongnu's ancestors are descendants of the Xia Dynasty", which means that the ancestors of the Xiongnu were people of the Xia Dynasty. Regardless of whether they are farming people or nomadic people, they are all descendants of Yan and Huang.