This article covers Emperor Guangwu’s final campaigns to reunify China. He defeated warlords Wei Xiao of Longyou and Gongsun Shu of Shu, aided by defectors like Ma Yuan and allies such as Dou Rong. After conquering Long and Shu, Guangwu ended years of division and restored the Eastern Han dynasty.
This article narrates Emperor Guangwu’s rise to power. As the Gengshi Emperor collapsed and the Red Eyebrows rebels marched on Chang’an, Liu Xiu secured his rear with Kou Xun and Feng Yi. Urged by his generals, he claimed the Mandate of Heaven, founded the Eastern Han, and set his sights on unifying the empire.
In the chaotic aftermath of Dong Zhuo’s seizure of the Han capital in 190 AD, the anti-Dong Zhuo coalition, led nominally by Yuan Shao, struggled to maintain unity.
In Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Li Ru is portrayed as a central and sinister figure—Dong Zhuo’s son-in-law and chief strategist, to whom the warlord turned for counsel on every major decision. Though historically obscure, Li Ru is elevated in the novel to the role of Dong Zhuo’s intellectual architect, shaping his rise, reign,…