Warlords: History & Biographies

The Kingdom of Dai

Location
The Kingdom of Dai existed at the far northern border of the Qin Empire, serving as a buffer between the richer southern lands and the Xiong Nu invaders, and roughly equating to the northern part of the modern province of Shanxi. During the Qin Empire, it served as the headquarters for General Meng Tian and his hundreds of thousands of soldiers and conscripted laborers during their construction of the Great Wall of China.

Pre-Qin Empire
Dai was conquered early in its existence by the Kingdom of Yan, and did not gain prominence again until after the Qin conquest of Yan and Meng Tian’s arrival.

Post-Qin Empire
During the rebellion against the Qin, the small kingdom of Dai was conquered again and again by generals who rose to power in the more populous Kingdoms of Yan to the east and Zhao to the south. First conquered by the Zhao King Wu Chen, it began to change hands with regularity. Upon Wu Chen’s death, Dai was claimed by the new King of Zhao, who later made his general Chen Yu its King. But Chen Yu died fighting in Zhao against Liu Bang, and the King of Yan, Zang Tu, conquered Dai for himself a year later. Liu Bang, who Zang Tu had already surrendered to sent armies to kill Zang Tu for his presumption. Zang Tu was killed and Liu Bang appointed his brother Liu Zhong as king of Dai. The unfortunate Liu Zhong was in Dai for only a few weeks before he was forced to flee by a rebellion by his neighbor the King of Taiyuan, invasions by the Xiong Nu, and an eventual revolt by the Prime Minister of Dai, Chen Xi. When Liu Zhong refused to return to his kingdom, Liu Bang angrily stripped him of his kingship and sent his general Fan Kuai to put down the revolts. But Fan Kuai proved incapable of doing so and it fell to Emperor Liu Bang himself to put the region to rest. In a series of three campaigns, Liu Bang settled the entire north and put Dai under the control of his son, Liu Heng, who held the Kingdom until his death.

Kings Wu Chen Zhao Xie Chen Yu Zang Tu Liu Zhong Liu Heng	Major Officers Chen Xi Fan Kuai Hann Xin Zhou Bo
Minor Officers Hou Chang Manqui Chen Wang Huang Zhao Li Zhang Chun

All information derived from the Burton Watson translation of Sima Qian's Records of the Grand Historian

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