At the end of Huan Dynasty, Dong Zhuo regarded "the son of six counties" (The Biography of Dong Zhuo in the Later Han Dynasty). These six counties refer to Tianshui, Longxi, Anding, Beidi, Shang Jun and Xihe. These six counties belong to the border areas where nomadic people live together, and there are many brave people here. Good family refers to non-witch doctors, businessmen and skilled workers. So the emperor's guards. This experience is a major turning point in Dong Zhuo's life. Being chosen shows that Dong Zhuo's ability and reputation are valued by the central government. From then on, Dong Zhuo gradually became a senior military attache of the central government in the Eastern Han Dynasty, rather than a local grass-roots military attache. More importantly, he gradually mastered an elite Liangzhou soldier of his own.
Shortly after Dong Zhuo became a soldier, he was recommended by Zhang Huan, a corps commander in Luoyang, and returned to Liangzhou to join Zhang Huan in the war against Qiang people. Dong Zhuo and Sima Yinduan attacked the Qiang army and broke it. Kill the Qiang leader and behead more than ten thousand people. After the war, Dong Zhuo "worshiped the doctor and gave the horse 9000". Dong Zhuo said that although he had command ability, he still had to rely on foot soldiers to fight, so Dong Zhuo gave all 9,000 horses to the officials. This historical fact shows that Dong Zhuo is not only good at fighting, but also has the demeanor of a commander in chief. This is also an important reason why Dong Zhuo became the warlord leader of Xiliang in the future. Since then, Dong Zhuo has "discussed Hu Qiang several times, and fought hundreds of battles before and after". During this period, Dong Zhuo failed to win the Yellow Scarf Uprising and was dismissed. But Dong Zhuo was good at making profits and bribed ten constant attendants. The war in Liangzhou resumed and Dong Zhuo was used again. In order to consolidate the northwest frontier defense, the Eastern Han government needed people like Dong Zhuo. The existence of Dong Zhuo really consolidated Liangzhou's defense, but because Dong Zhuo fought in Liangzhou for a long time, his strength and reputation in Liangzhou surpassed that of the Eastern Han government, so he gradually broke away from the control of the Eastern Han government.
Dong Zhuo is armed to the teeth. Of course, the Eastern Han government was not at ease with him. Dong Zhuo came to Luoyang twice in order to seize the military power. Dong Zhuo threatened the Eastern Han government with Hu Qiang, refused to enter Beijing, and even refused to hand over the army. In this situation, the Eastern Han government wanted Huang Fusong to get rid of Dong Zhuo by force, and Dong Zhuo stationed troops in Hedong County to observe the changes of the Eastern Han government. Finally, the Eastern Han government did not dare to attack, which shows that Dong Zhuo's military situation at that time was still quite strong.
189, General He Jin summoned former General Dong Zhuo to Beijing as a eunuch. In order to correctly evaluate what Dong Zhuo did after he entered Beijing, we must first understand the situation in the last years of the Eastern Han Dynasty.
One of the characteristics of the Eastern Han Dynasty is that local strongmen have great influence. Because most of the people who helped Liu Xiu win the world were strongmen, their power was consolidated and strengthened after winning the world. As the founding emperor, Liu Xiu wanted to survey the land of the whole country, but he gave up because of the opposition of local tycoons, which showed the strength of local power. At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the central government declined, local forces strengthened, and the central government gradually lost control of the local government. The officials of the Eastern Han Dynasty were all selected from local celebrities, who represented local powerful forces, so the emperor was basically shelved by bureaucrats. The emperor used eunuchs to safeguard the central government's suppression of bureaucratic groups. The "party struggle" at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty was ostensibly a struggle between celebrities and eunuchs. In fact, it is the struggle between the central government and local strongmen.
General blades as consorts, of course, belongs to the emperor. He acted as a mediator between the emperor and celebrities. He wooed celebrities and killed eunuchs, hoping to maintain the government of the Eastern Han Dynasty. He also hoped to get the support of Dong Zhuo, the warlord of Xiliang, and Ding Yuan, the warlord of Bingzhou, so he called him into Beijing. Before Dong Zhuo arrived in Luoyang, something happened in Luoyang. Blades was killed by eunuchs, and eunuchs were wiped out by celebrities represented by Yuan Shao. At this point, the emperor completely failed in the struggle with celebrities, and all the forces he relied on were wiped out. It can be said that the government of the Eastern Han Dynasty has perished. It is unreasonable to say that the Eastern Han Dynasty perished because of the existence of Dong Zhuo. It's just that Dong Zhuo took over the Eastern Han government when there was only an empty shell left in the Eastern Han Dynasty, and Dong Zhuo didn't even crush the empty shell.
Just as the Eastern Han regime was crumbling, Dong Zhuo led the Xiliang cavalry to Luoyang, the capital. When Dong Zhuogang arrived in Luoyang, Luoyang's armed forces mainly included the troops recruited by the Yellow Scarf throughout the country, the troops of General He Miao (Dong Zhuogang's younger brother), the Bing Army led by Ding Yuan, the governor of Wu Meng, and the Liangzhou Army of Dong Zhuo. In the chaotic situation at that time, Dong Zhuo gathered Luoyang's armed forces with lightning speed. Dong Zhuo first sent his brother Dong Min to induce He Miao's subordinate Wu Kuang to kill He Miao, but blades and He Miao's troops were leaderless, only to be collected by Dong Zhuo. Then Dong Zhuo induced Lu Bu to kill Ding Yuan, and fostered Lu Bu as the new leader of the Bing warlord, so he basically surrendered to the Bing army. At this point, armed Dong Zhuo became the only person in Beijing who kept his word and naturally took over the Eastern Han government. Although Dong Zhuo's means are despicable, his actions show his political skill and courage to act. Celebrities were caught off guard by this change, and they obviously underestimated Dong Zhuo's ability. However, the position of celebrities is still very clear. They all opposed Dong Zhuo, and the younger generation represented Yuan Shao, Yuan Shu and Cao Cao to leave Luoyang and Kyoto for development.
After Dong Zhuo came to power, it was probably the main reason why he became infamous. In fact, no one who controlled the Eastern Han government at that time would take the emperor seriously. Because the eastern Han government is a rotten piece of wood, there is no possibility of rebirth. At that time, it was either a hypocrite or a bookworm, shouting to revitalize the Han Dynasty. Dong Zhuo abolished Shao Li for good reason. Why are young emperors born to the Empress Dowager? Di Xian was born in Wang Meiren and brought up by Dong Taihou. Dong Zhuo and Dong Taihou are distant relatives. He Taihou's younger brother, He Miao, died at the hands of Dong Zhuo, who was incompatible with fire and water. The Empress Dowager had the power of the Eastern Han Dynasty. On the one hand, Dong Zhuo killed He Taihou to protect himself; On the other hand, it makes sense to establish Xian Di as a spouse. It is understandable that Dong Zhuo abolished Shao and Li because of the situation.
After Dong Zhuo took charge of state affairs, one of the biggest problems was how to deal with the relationship with celebrities. His approach is similar to the blade, wooing celebrities. The people he promoted were similar to those promoted by Blade, but celebrities didn't buy it. Originally, they refused to accept the control of the central government. Now that Dong Zhuo controls the central government, they can stand on their own feet. It is those celebrities who were promoted by Dong Zhuo to local posts that formed the allied forces against Dong Zhuo. The war between the two sides did not win or lose, and the allies did not shake Dong Zhuo's rule. But Dong Zhuo thinks it is dangerous to put the government near the enemy, so he wants to move the capital to Chang 'an, which is within his sphere of influence. But if we leave like this, Luoyang may become the base for the anti-Dong forces to move westward, so he set fire to Luoyang. Although it is cruel to do so, it is normal to burn the city for strategic reasons in wartime.
After Dong Zhuo moved to Chang 'an, he held Tongguan and owned the territory west of Tongguan, which was strategically in a favorable position. In fact, in the conflict between Liangzhou Army and Kwantung Army, Liangzhou Army has always been in an advantage. But after Dong Zhuo accepted the luxurious life in Kyoto, he seemed to be corrupted. He is no longer a brave Liangzhou warrior, nor does he have the ambition and momentum of his youth. Even so, the kwantung army can't help him. Dong Zhuo's downfall was due to his failure to coordinate internal contradictions. Dong Zhuo's army is mainly divided into two factions: Liang and He. Liangzhou School includes Li Jue, Guo Si, Hu Zhen, Fan Li, Zhang Ji and others, while Bingzhou School mainly includes Lu Bu, Zhang Liao, Su Li, Yang Feng and others. Second, Dong Zhuo has a lone star named Liaodong Xu Rong.
As mentioned earlier, Dong Zhuo used Lu Bu to kill Ding Yuan and annexed the Bing army. After Ding Yuan's death, Lu Bu became the leader of the Bing army. Dong Zhuo trusted Lu Bu very much and swore to be his father and son, but the relationship between Bingzhou and Liangzhou soldiers was very tense. Bing army will not be completely willing to be merged, but it is in a suppressed position. Liangzhou Army claimed to win, and did not take Bing Army seriously at all, even for Lu Bu. Dong Zhuo sent Hu Zhen as the main general and Lu Bu as the lieutenant to attack Sun Jian. Hu Zhen threatened to kill Lu Bu to clean up the military discipline. No matter whether Hu Zhen really does it or not, his serious provocation will inevitably arouse the hatred of Lu Bu and even the entire Bing army. As a result, Sun Jian didn't fight, and Dong Zhuo's army collapsed because of infighting. Dong Zhuo will certainly know such a big thing, but he seems to have taken no measures to ease the contradiction between Liangzhou Army and Bingzhou Army. Maybe he can't find a good way. Perhaps for soldiers like them, arguing or even fighting is not a big deal. It used to be fine. However, Lu Bu's dissatisfaction with Liangzhou Army is increasing day by day. Dong Zhuo is a straightforward person. He won't hide his likes and dislikes. Once when Lu Bu dissatisfied Dong Zhuo, Dong Zhuo picked up a dagger and threw it at him. Although Lu Bu did not dare to attack, he held a grudge. Moreover, Lyu3 bu4 was having an affair with Dong Zhuo's concubine, and Lyu3 bu4 was even more uneasy.
In the Eastern Han Dynasty, the imperial court was in a high position, but it was dissatisfied with Dong Zhuo. For example, Si Tuleideng Wang Yun and others saw and took advantage of this contradiction. Wang Yun used his relationship with Lu Bu's fellow villagers to win over Lu Bu. The purpose is obvious, and he is hindered. The contradiction between Liangzhou Army and Bingzhou Army intensified, and Lu Bu was dissatisfied with Dong Zhuo and was uneasy. Coupled with Wang Yun's encouragement, Lu Bu finally made up his mind to kill Dong Zhuo and stand on his own feet. Wang Yun and Lu Bu took advantage of the opportunity of the main force of Liangzhou Army to crusade against Yuan Shao in Kanto and assassinated Dong Zhuo. After Dong Zhuo's death, Bingzhou Army was rushed to Kanto by Liangzhou Army. Lu Bu perished under the attack of Cao Cao, and Zhang Liao led a part of Bing Army to surrender to Cao Cao. After Dong Zhuo's death, there was no unified command of Liangzhou Army. Liangzhou Army in Guanzhong died out in constant internal friction, and Zhang Xiu Department of Wancheng also surrendered to Cao Cao.
Both history books and novels like to exaggerate Dong Zhuo's cruelty. Even if all the facts written in the history books are true, we can't simply deny Dong Zhuo. As mentioned earlier, Dong Zhuo abolished Shao Li and established Xian Di for political needs, and burned Luoyang for strategic needs. As for looting the people, either the Xiliang Army, the Kwantung Army or the Yellow Scarf Army will do it. From today's point of view, robbing people is inhuman, but it is very common in the war-torn era of the Three Kingdoms. In fact, Dong Zhuo was scolded for more than a thousand years, not because of what he did, but mainly because he was a loser. Dong Zhuo was born and raised in Liangzhou, and he didn't read any books. Although Dong Zhuo is a Han Chinese, his character is more like a nomadic people, which is incompatible with the culture of the Central Plains. But barbarians like Dong Zhuo dare to "hold the emperor to make princes". Of course, those literati hate him, and history is written by those literati. With the emperor waste, Yin Henry. The cities destroyed and people killed by Mongolian iron hoofs are definitely more than those destroyed and killed by Liangzhou Army. But it is rare to hear people scold Temujin. If Dong Zhuo wiped out the Kwantung Army and unified the Central Plains, then history will definitely have a different evaluation of him. At that time, there will naturally be a large number of scholars singing praises for him. And no one will care about Dong Zhuo's cruelty. Unfortunately, Dong Zhuo is just a warrior. He was much worse than a scholar in political struggle and intrigue, so he was removed by Wang Yun and Lu Bu. For a loser, even if he has achieved something, it will be erased.