Zhao Chongguo
Zhao Chongguo was a Chinese military commander and official during the Western Han dynasty. Born to a family of officials in what is now eastern Gansu, Zhao studied military science in his youth. Around 100BCE, he joined the Feathered Forest, a recently-created elite cavalry unit recruited from the northwestern districts. He joined General Li Guangli's campaign against the Xiongnu confederation the following year, and was severely wounded in combat. Emperor Wu, impressed by Zhao's service, promoted him. He served as chief of staff for the supreme head of cavalry units. In 80BCE, Zhao was appointed to manage the imperial parks, and also controlled the minting of cash coinage.
In 74BCE, Zhao collaborated with the political leader Huo Guang to depose the newly enthroned emperor Liu He in favor of Emperor Xuan. For this, he was appointed Marquis of Yingping and was promoted to General of the Rear. After participating in conflicts against the Xiongnu, he volunteered to lead a campaign against the Qiang people in 62BCE. Joined by his son, he succeeded in pushing deep into Qiang territory, and exploited tribal divisions by granting amnesty to the Qiang who defected to the Han forces. Zhao rejected proposals by his fellow generals and the emperor to continue offensive operations, believing that a protracted occupation would subdue the Qiang through attrition. He was able to implement his policy of , although the emperor simultaneously approved offensive operations by other generals. Zhao's garrison technique proved successful, gaining him acclaim and influence on later strategists. He retired in 60BCE after his son created a scandal and committed suicide. Zhao's life and career is known mainly through a biography in the Book of Han.
Early life and career
In 137BCE, Zhao Chongguo was born in Shanggui Prefecture in Longxi Commandery, located along the western periphery of the Western Han dynasty. A stele erected for a member of his family in 180CE claims the family originated as a branch of the ruling family of Zhao State during the Warring States period. His great-grandfather, Zhao Zhongkuang, was the privy treasurer under Emperor Wen and Emperor Jing. Zhongkuang's son, Zhao Sheng, served as an advisory counselor in the Imperial Court. Sheng's son Zhao Yu, Zhao Chongguo's father, served as a palace attendant, but committed some grave offense and was exiled to Shanggui.Little is known about Zhao's early life or military experience before he joined the Feathered Forest cavalry unit around 100 BCE. Posthumous histories report that he was ambitious as a youth and sought to become a general. The "Six Commanderies", including Longxi, had a regional tradition of cavalry service within the Han military. Zhao studied military science and the Four Barbarians. He likely began service as a cavalryman in a local defense unit and became known as a 'Son of the Respectable Families of the Six Commanderies', a group many noted Han generals originated in. He was granted the courtesy name Wengsun, 'the old man's grandson'; the meaning behind this is unknown. At some point, Zhao moved to Lingju County in Jincheng Commandery. His move was likely connected to his military service; Lingju had recently fallen under Han control during the campaigns against the Qiang people.
Military service
In 104, an elite cavalry unit named the Feathered Forest was created in the imperial capital of Chang'an, one of five units placed under the administration of the Minister of the Imperial Household and tasked with protecting the Emperor. The members of the unit, dubbed the "Gentlemen of the Feathered Forest", were mainly recruited from the northwest, with a particular emphasis on the descendants of men who died in military. Zhao joined the unit around 100. In 99, he joined a force of 30,000 cavalry in General Li Guangli's campaign against the Xiongnu to the north, receiving the rank of acting major. The Han army was forced to retreat and suffered heavy casualties. It eventually became trapped by the encroaching Xiongnu forces after several days of combat. Zhao led a group of around 100 men to breach the Xiongnu lines and allow for the rest of the Han army to retreat, suffering twenty sword cuts in the process. After General Li commended Zhao's service, Emperor Wu invited Zhao to a private meeting to see his battle wounds; he was so impressed that he promoted Wu to the rank of Gentleman of the Household.Zhao was soon promoted again, becoming chief of staff for the General of Chariots and Cavalry — and likely Grand General Huo Guang — and progressed rapidly during Huo's succeeding dictatorship. In 80, Zhao led an army against the Di people, who had rebelled in Wudu Commandery in what is now southeastern Gansu. During this campaign, he held the title of Army Protector Chief Commandant, probably an advisory position to the Grand General. He was then sent to command the garrisons of Shanggu Commandery, possibly only as a brief inspection.Later in 80, Zhao was appointed as the Chief Commandant of Waters and Parks, a position he held until 60BCE. As the chief commandant, he managed the Shanglin Park to the north of the capital. This position also allowed him to administrate the minting of cash coinage, as the central mint was located inside the park. By 74, Zhao was joined in this position by the General of the Van, Han Zeng. In August 74, Zhao collaborated with Huo to depose the newly enthroned emperor Liu He, who was seen as indulgent and unfit for the office by several officials. Zhao signed the deed of indictment against the emperor alongside the Imperial Counselor and Han Zeng, and Emperor Xuan was installed in his place. Around two hundred officials, charged with assisting with the excesses of Liu He's brief rule, were executed. Huo Guang's rule continued after the coup.
In reward for his service in the coup, Zhao was awarded the hereditary title of Marquis of Yingping. Around this time, he was promoted to General of the Rear, alongside his concurrent civil post as the chief commandant. From 72 to 71, Zhao was one of five Han generals who participated in a large cavalry campaign against the Xiongnu at the request of the Wusun people of the northwest. During the campaign, he was titled the General of Pulei. Following a massive raid into Shanxi in 70, a defected Xiongnu commander advised the Han army to place Zhao, who had reportedly become infamous among the Xiongnu, in command of the northern frontier commanderies. The Xiongnu forces retreated the following year. Huo Guang died two years later, and the Huo family was overthrown in favor of direct rule by Emperor Xuan. Zhao remained in the good graces of the imperial government.
Campaign against the Qiang
Preventing contact and alliances between the pastoralist Western Qiang people and the Xiongnu had been a geopolitical goal of the Han since the reign of Emperor Wu, and was a major motivator for the conquest of the Hexi Corridor. During the mid-60s, a chieftain of the Xianlian tribe of the Western Qiang requested permission to pasture their herds in the Huangshui Valley, from where they had previously been expelled. Zhao was angered after this proposal was relayed positively to the Han court by the emissary Yiqu Anguo, accusing the Qiang of merely seeking contact with the Xiongnu and recommending a preemptive attack. The Han government's official response to the proposal is unknown, but the local garrison was unable to prevent the Qiang resettlement in the region.In 63, the chief of the Xianlian joined a large group of Western Qiang chieftains in suspending local feuds and forming an alliance. Zhao counseled Emperor Xuan on the matter, describing a unified Qiang as a particular threat to the Han, and predicting that the Xiongnu would imminently seek to ally with them. He felt that such a unification could be prevented by Han influence, writing "It is relatively easy to bring the Qiang under control because they are divided into many warlike tribes and always attack each other. It is not in their nature to become unified."
In 62, the Han became aware that the Qiang lord Langhe had sent envoys to the Xiongnu, seeking to join in an alliance to attack the city of Dunhuang and the region of Shanshan in the western deserts. Sensing an imminent attack, Zhao advocated for the officer Xin Wuxian, the Grand Administrator of Jiuquan, to be sent into Qiang territory as part of a punitive expedition. Instead, the Chancellor and Imperial Secretary sent Yiqu Anguo into Qiang territory, ostensibly for diplomatic purposes. His brutal campaign caused widespread resentment, and more Qiang tribes rose up in revolt. He was forced to retreat back into Han territory.
Leading the campaign
Emperor Xuan sent Imperial Secretary Bing Ji to consult Zhao on the leadership of an ensuing relief expedition. Although now in his seventies, Zhao convinced the imperial leadership that his experience made him the most capable leader for the expedition. He joined a group of around 10,000 cavalry troops mobilized at Jincheng Commandery. The army departed west along the Yellow River in April or May 61, seeking to make a crossing to the northern bank east of the confluence with the Huangshui River. During the night, Zhao sent three regiments to cross and construct field fortifications along the northern bank to protect the rest of the army. This vanguard was attacked by a small group of Qiang horsemen shortly after. Suspecting a possible ambush, he withdrew his forces and sent a party to scout a highly defensible location along the river known as the Siwang Narrows. When no Qiang forces were found at the narrows, the army traveled along the Huangshui through Luodu and rested for several days at the fort of Longzhi, southeast of modern Xining.Shortly before Zhao's arrival at Longzhi, a Qiang emissary named Diaoku from the Kai tribe was detained at the fort. Zhao declared him innocent and sent him as a messenger to the Qiang, promising amnesty and large monetary rewards for Qiang who decapitate those in the rebellion. They would also be rewarded with ownership of the wives, children, and property of the decapitated. As Zhao advanced upriver, his son Zhao Ang, the leader of the Gentleman of the Household, led a hastily assembled relief column consisting of two regiments of standing forces from Chang'an. Bogged down by Qiang forces at Lianju and cut off from its supply lines, it was eventually reinforced by a group of around 5,000 cavalry. The Grand Administrator of Jincheng, who governed the commandery's force of 10,000 cavalry, was also sent to reinforce Zhao Ang. Units of convicts from the capital were sent to assist the Han forces, resulting in a total force of around 60,000 men.
Xin Wuxian wrote to Zhao Chongguo and advocated a strike on the Han and Kai tribes near Qinghai Lake, suggesting that the enslavement of their families and the seizure of their livestock would greatly weaken the Qiang. This would allow for their destruction by the main army in the winter. Zhao stated that the plan would leave the northern frontier undefended against a potential Xiongnu attack, and that the amount of supplies needed for such an expedition would unhelpfully encumber the horses. Although the Han and Kai tribes were seen as most responsible for the rebellion, he believed that subduing and gaining the allegiance of the nearby Xianlian would secure the frontier against the other Qiang tribes.
After deliberations, the Three Dukes and the Nine Ministers advised the emperor against Zhao's proposal. Yiqu Anguo was dispatched to deliver the emperor's response to Zhao, reprimanding him for not seeking to prevent Han and Kai raids into Gansu. The emperor also gave Xin Wuxian the title of 'General Who Smashes the Qiang'. Zhao rebuked this and responded with a further twelve-part outline of his plan in July or August of 61, stating that he still wished to attack the Xianlian, and only attack the Han and Kai if they continued their hostilities afterwards. He noted that a preemptive attack against the Han and Kai would guarantee their alliance with the Xianlian, while they could be otherwise convinced to turn against them. After a very brief period of deliberation, the emperor conceded and approved Zhao's plan.
Zhao advanced further into Qiang territory. The Xianlian troops scattered at their approach, leaving behind their livestock, carts, and wagons. The Chinese army proceeded into the territories of the Han sub-tribe, likely to the northeast of Qinghai Lake, but refrained from looting. This endeared the Han to the army. Around September, the Qiang chieftain Miwang sent an envoy to Zhao, asking for his people to be allowed to return to their original territory. Although most of his officers were opposed to pardoning Miwang for allying with the Xianlian, Zhao overruled them and granted clemency to him and the Han tribe.