What kind of man was Wei Qing, the general of the Han Dynasty?

Wang Wei, a great poet in the Tang Dynasty, wrote in The Old General: General Wei Qing's victory was accidental, and Li Guang could not seal it. Many scholars in later generations said that Wang Wei's allusion of "invincible in the sky" was wrongly used, which originally referred to Wei Qing's nephew Huo Qubing. However, Wei Qing's Xiongnu suffered a small setback, but it was a big victory every time. Compared with Li Guang's whole life, he was "lucky". Plus, as the emperor's big brother, he married Princess Pingyang, sealed Wan Huhou and worshipped the general, which was even more exciting. But Wei Qing is actually an unfortunate person. Wei Qing couldn't have been more humble. It turned out to be an illegitimate daughter who had an affair with Cao's maid Wei when she was working in the Hou family in Pingyang. At the age of seven or eight, Wei was unable to support himself, and Wei Qing returned to the Zheng family. Of course, the identity of an illegitimate child will not make the Zheng family feel good about him. Even his own father didn't feel sorry for him, let him go herding sheep, let alone others. His half-brother even treated him as a slave. So Wei Qing's childhood was probably very depressing. So a few years later, when Wei Qing was a little older, he returned to the Cao family and became a "family rider" with Princess Pingyang, the emperor's sister. Maybe it's a bodyguard, but it's more likely to be riding a slave. Anyway, it is right to be driven by people and have a low status. Once, he went to Ganquan Palace with others, and a prisoner saw him and interviewed him face to face, saying that you are a noble person and should be sealed. Wei Qing said with a smile: The son born to a handmaiden is not reprimanded, not beaten, but also sealed. Is that all right? This is a small detail that Sima Qian said in Biography of Wei Qing and Biography of Huo Qubing, but this detail can not be ignored. You should know the performance of Liu Bang and Xiang Yu when watching the ceremony of Qin Shihuang. Liu bang said: a gentleman should be like this; Xiang Yu said: He can take his place. In these two sentences, the two of them have deep and flamboyant personalities. Just because Wei Qing said, "No one is good at beating and cursing" seems very timid, you can't think that he is a man without ambition. Wei Qing said with a smile, this shows that he is very happy, and also implies that he may not have never thought about serving the country and sealing Hou, but the situation is far from ideal. Wei Qing has lived in an environment of discrimination and slavery since childhood. All he can do is be careful and careful. He is unlikely to be as arrogant as Xiang Yu, or even as arrogant as Chen Sheng, who dares to say that "the sparrow is small and has all its organs". His ambition is buried in his heart.

From riding a slave to a general, Wei Qing was not only the luck of the poor boy, but suddenly changed his fate in one year. His half-sister, Wei Zifu, entered the palace and was favored by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. As the saying goes, one person gets the word, and chickens and dogs ascend to heaven. Wei Qing and his brothers and sisters also developed. But Wei Zifu's favor and the sudden rise of the Wei family will certainly be envied by people, such as the Queen. Princess royal, the aunt of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty (also the mother of the Queen), picked a thorn in her side one day and arrested and killed Wei Qing. Just then, a group of friends from Wei Qing risked their lives to rush in and rob Wei Qing. When Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty learned about it, he not only didn't blame them, but also rewarded them. Wei Qing was promoted to "Shi Zhong". From then on, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty began to focus on cultivating him, and in 129 BC (the sixth year of Yuanguang), he and three generals, including Li Guang, were sent to attack the Xiongnu in four ways, and Wei Qing's lifelong achievement began. In BC 124, Wei Qing went out for the fourth time and went 700 miles into the desert. Xiongnu Right Wang Xian narrowly escaped, captured more than 10 people and gained more than 100,000 heads of livestock. The Han Dynasty won the first great victory against the Huns since the establishment of the dynasty. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was overjoyed and made Wei Qing a general, even his three infant sons were named Hou. Then Wei Qing was attracted by his original owner, Princess Pingyang, and became "Xu". For a time, power spread all over the world and grace was incomparable. The bastard and the slave rider reached the pinnacle of his life. At this moment, Wei Qing showed a cautious nature. Wei Qing attacked the Huns seven times, and made outstanding achievements, which has never been seen since the Han Dynasty. However, he was not proud, and insisted on giving rewards to his heroes. In the end, nine people followed him as lieutenant and captain. Men convicted, also dare not arbitrary, let the emperor decide; Li Guangzi Li Gan took it out on Wei Qing for his father's suicide and injured him, but Wei Qing concealed it (his nephew Huo Qubing found a chance to shoot Li Gan). However, up to now, I'm not sure whether this character comes from more natural elements or more psychology of "following the tiger". Emperor Wu's trust was uncertain, and later he tried his best to raise Huo Qubing's status to the level of Wei Qing. Wei Qing once had sex with Guo Jie, a great warrior, but Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty didn't give him face. At that time, Wei Qing estimated that he understood the meaning of "Gao Zhen's contribution is given priority to, which is taboo for the Lord". Sima Qian, also a courtier of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, couldn't understand these words, of course, but in the late biography of Taishigong Gong Yue, when it comes to such a thing, Su Jian advised Wei Qing to recruit people to consolidate his position. Wei Qing said, didn't Dou Ying Tianjun see the end? Recruiting people to form small groups is the emperor's most taboo. Rewards and punishments are decided by the emperor. We don't want to be involved. It's best to behave yourself and do your duty. Be careful, but a few years after Wei Qing's death, the titles of his sons, including those inherited from him, were revoked. Wei Qing was buried near Chang 'an after his death. It is said that the shape of the tomb is very similar to the Lushan Mountain he recovered, echoing the shape of the tomb of Qilian Mountain in Huo Qubing-the emperor praised their achievements. From then on, Wei Qing's soul will stay in a foreign land forever.

Looking for geography: Linfen history books didn't mention whether Wei Qing went back to his hometown later, but in folklore, Wei Qing at least had this plan. Wei Qing intends to build an ideal city in his hometown to protect his relatives. The name of this city is "Qingcheng". However, due to frequent wars and his cautious personality, he was afraid of causing the emperor's suspicion, so he never built the city. However, the name stayed, which is Qingcheng Village, Yaodu District, Linfen City today.

Qingcheng village is not far from Linfen city, and it is a very quiet small village. At the entrance of the village, there is an octagonal two-story gatehouse with four words written on it: Wei Qing's hometown. Looking closer, I saw four paintings on the four outer corners of the building: Wei Qing herding sheep, Princess Suntech, worshiping generals and going to Xiongnu. The painter is not excellent, but the lines are rough, especially the statue of Wei Qing, which is really imposing. Painters are also very knowledgeable. They chose several important periods in Wei Qing's life. Even if there is no gatehouse, as long as you walk into the villagers' house at will, they will tell you: This is true, this is Wei Qing's hometown, where he herded sheep when he was a child. There are nearly 1000 people in this village. "Wei" is the most popular name in the village, accounting for more than 70%. An old man surnamed Li in the village said that "Wei" was actually "Wei", because Wei Qing was a senior official in the imperial court and was afraid of an accident and committed a crime, so the whole family was killed by the emperor. So some people in the clan changed their surname to "Wei", so that the blood of the Wei family would not be cut off. I'd rather believe this story is true. This style of doing things is somewhat similar to Wei Qing's personality. But Wei Genshun, 86 years old in the village, said that this is not true. Their ancestor, whose surname is Wei, the * * * brothers moved here from another village not far from here, and have been multiplying until today. However, it is not accurate to say that it has nothing to do with this. It is precisely because Wei Qing wants to build a city that their ancestors moved here, where the geomantic omen is good. Maybe he borrowed Wei Qing's Ling Wei. For two thousand years, there have been many talented people here. Wei Genshun said that at the end of Qing Dynasty, there were seventeen or eighteen scholars in this village. When the Japanese devils came, more people went out to resist Japan. The old man himself used to be a captain and deputy battalion commander of Cui Jin Army. Wei Qing didn't have a good life in this village, but after he left, the village was honored because of him. Now, the wind and smoke have dispersed, and the hatred between the two peoples has long since disappeared. But Wei Qing's story will continue to be legendary-princes will return to the dust, which can't hide the achievements of the Millennium.