The "Chu-Han War", which lasted for four years, ended with Xiang Yu's defeat and self-destruction, and Liu Bang finally became the supreme and noble emperor like Qin Shi Huang. Then there is the reward for merit.
One by one, the civilian generals opened their eyes wide and argued about how much they had done, and they made a lot of trouble. Liu Bang quickly slashed the chaos, and first sealed Xiao He as the Marquis of Feng, and ate eight thousand households. The eagerly awaited generals talked about it one after another, saying that this reward was too unfair, and finally went to the emperor to reason: "We are strong and sharp, many of us have experienced more than a hundred battles, and few have dozens of combinations, attacking the city strategically, and the size is different." Xiao He did not have the merit of sweating horses, stayed in Guanzhong, practiced literature and ink, and made arguments. Now he has sealed eight thousand households first, what is the reason?" Liu Bang sneered and asked, "Do you know about hunting?"
The multitude will be confused, you look at me, I look at him, and at the end, say, "Know." ”
"Do you know hounds?"
"Know!" The crowd shouted again.
"Hunting, chasing deer and catching rabbits is the hunting dog, and it is the hunter who directs the hunting dog." Liu Bang turned sharply and pointed at the generals, "You can only hunt rabbits after deer, a group of gong dogs." Xiao He, a strategist, is a meritorious person. Moreover, you are usually only one person following me, and there are only two or three of you. And Xiao He let dozens of people in his family die with me, and I will not forget this credit. "Although the generals were not convinced, they did not dare to say anything more.
Soon after, Liu Bang discussed the position of Xun Chen with the group of ministers, and all the generals said that Cao Sanyong had won the three armies, and there were more than seventy arrow wounds and knife scars on his body, and his battle achievements were the most prominent, and he should rank first. Cao Participated in the battle, Liu Bang knew it, but in his heart, he still wanted to take Xiao He as the first, but it was inconvenient to say it. At this time, there was a man named E Qianqiu, who was very clever, saw Liu Bang's thoughts, stood up for Xiao He's merits, and said that Cao Sanye was strategic, but it was only a temporary achievement, and a few figures like Cao Gan did not hinder the Han family's imperial cause; Xiao He sat in Guanzhong, collecting grain and grass, soldiers and horses, and supplying the front line, so that the emperor could let go and compete with Xiang Yu, which was the merit of the world, and Xiao He should be the first and Cao Shan second. The generals looked at each other, but Liu Bang was so happy that he took the opportunity to announce that Xiao He was the first in merit, and specially gave others the opportunity to go to the temple, the sword to the temple, and the praise and worship. This kind of honor, later Huo Guang, Wang Mang, Liang Ji, Cao Cao, Sima Yi, and so on, were also honored. However, they are already disobedient. Liu Bang was still unsatisfied, and he sealed Xiao He with two thousand households to repay Xiao He for sending him two hundred dollars to be entangled; He also sealed Xiao He's father, brothers, and sons more than ten people to eat and drink.
In September 197 BC, Chen Xi raised an army to rebel, Liu Bang personally marched, ordered Xiao He to assist Lü Yan to stay in Chang'an, and Han Xin, the Marquis of Huaiyin, tried to join forces with Chen Xili and raise an affair in Chang'an. In the first month of the following year, Xiao He helped Lü Yan to capture and kill Han Xin, and then sent people north to report to Liu Bang, who was far away on the front line in Handan, Liu Bang praised Xiao He, and then sent people back to Chang'an to announce his commendation order: promote Xiao He as Xiangguo; Yifeng 5,000 households; Five hundred additional guards, led by a lieutenant, were dispatched to strengthen the defense of Xiangguo. Compared with the Minister, the authority of the Xiang Kingdom has not changed, the difference is only that the seal is different, and the Minister is a golden seal and purple silk. Xiangguo is a golden seal green silk; In terms of name, Xiangguo is more honorable. Together with the newly sealed 5,000 households, the total number has reached 15,000. After a long period of war, the population of the early Han Dynasty was sharply reduced, and there were tens of thousands of households in Qu Rebellion (present-day Wanxian County, Hebei), but only 5,000 households in the rest of his life, and Liu Bang was amazed when he saw it, saying that in addition to Luoyang, he was rich in several reverses. Xiao He's food is at least in three or four counties. There were guards in xiangfu, the number of whom was unknown, and now an additional five hundred people were sent, which was an unimaginable honor for a courtier. When the news came out, officials large and small who remained in the capital came to congratulate them one after another.
Just when the Xiangfu was full of festivities, ZhaoPing came to mourn, this Junqin was the Marquis of Dongling, rich and noble, Qin died, his marquis was gone, to plant melons for a living, the melons planted are very famous, known as "Tanglin melons". Why did Xiao He live well, but why did he come to mourn? He explained: "The great calamity of Xiangguo is coming! If you think about it, the emperor is out on the battlefield, you stay in the capital, there are no guns and rain, but you are added to the guards, why is this? That's because the Marquis of Huaiyin plotted rebellion, and the emperor couldn't rest assured of you. Additional guards are not there to protect you, but to spy on you. If Xiang Guo wrote a letter thanking him for the reward and then donated all his family property to help the military, the emperor would turn his worries into joy. Xiao He did as he said, and indeed won the favor of Liu Bang.
However, only seven months later, Xiao He encountered another "crisis of trust". In July of that year, Yingbu, the king of Huainan, raised an army to rebel. The news reached Chang'an, Liu Bang was ill, at this time he was sixty-one years old, many years of military career, so that his health was damaged, this time he did not intend to drive the imperial conquest, ready to let the crown prince Liu Ying take command.
At this time, Liu Ying's position was unstable, and Liu Bang's favorite Lady Qi blew the pillow and asked Liu Bang to make his son Liu Ruyi the crown prince. Someone told Lü Yan that Liu Ying was on the battlefield, and once he lost, he would give Lady Qi an opportunity to take advantage of it. Lü Yan then ran to Liu Bang's sickbed and said that Na Ying Bu was a generation of tyrants, the crown prince was an opponent, and the emperor himself had to go out on the horse, and the emperor's dragon body was not safe, and he could lie on the car and command the battle. While pleading and complaining, she wept bitterly and upset Liu Bang, so she decided to drive the imperial conquest and let Xiao He and Lü Yan stay in Chang'an. Driving east, Liu Bang was more and more worried about Xiao He: This time he went out with an illness, and there was more evil and less ji, would he take the opportunity to make some small moves? If this is the case, Liu's Jiangshan is in danger. The more Liu Bang thought about it, the more he was afraid, so he had to constantly send people back to investigate Xiao He's movements.
Soon, Xiao He discovered that there were secret agents spying on him. In order to win the trust of the emperor, Xiao He had to be more careful, work hard, appease the people, and donate his family property to help the army like last time. "Xiangguo is not far from extinction." A Mu Zhi said to Xiao He, "You are in the Xiangguo and the first in the XunChen, can you still be promoted upwards?" Xiang Guo's one-man Guanzhong has won the hearts of the people, and it has been more than ten years now. The people support you, and you are still doing some work to win the hearts and minds of the people. The reason why the emperor has sent people to visit many times is that he is afraid of any action you have. Why don't you buy land, buy a house, lend money, and stink yourself? In this way, the emperor can rest assured. Indeed, the more Xiao He ke fulfilled his duties, the higher his reputation became, and the more uneasy Liu Bang became.
Xiao He adopted the high opinion of this staff member and forcibly bought tens of millions of acres of people's farmhouses at low prices, and the low price was like forcible robbery, and the people scolded "corrupt officials" and complained bitterly.
Liu Bang suppressed the rebellion of Yingbu and returned to his hometown after more than ten years of absence. As soon as his car passed through Tong pass, people kept stopping and complaining about how Xiao He had forcibly seized their mansion and pleading with the emperor to severely punish the big corrupt official. The more Liu Bang listened, the happier he became, and Xiao He came to greet him, and he laughed and said, "Xiang Guo is only beneficial to the people by doing this." After saying that, he handed over the large bundle of bamboo jian that the people accused Xiao He of, and let him handle it himself.
Xiao He "polluted himself", temporarily allowing Liu Bang to relax his heart, and the monarch and his subjects were at peace.
After two months, Xiao He saw that there were many people and little land in the area around Chang'an, and the people's livelihood was difficult, so he asked Liu Bang to distribute the idle land in the Shanglin Garden to the peasants who had no land and little land to cultivate, and exempted them from taxation. Originally, this was a proposal that was beneficial to both the poor people and the stabilization of the Liu Dynasty's imperial rule, and as the minister of state, Xiao He made such a proposal as a small matter within his authority. Who knows, Liu Bang was furious after hearing this, pointing at Xiao He and scolding: "You accepted bribes from businessmen, and even came to ask for my garden for them!" He immediately ordered the arrest of Xiao He. How did a small matter provoke Liu Bang to be so angry?
In this year, Liu Bang was sixty-two years old and his condition was getting worse and worse. Liu Bang, who has been through gunfire for a long time, is still quite open to life and death, and does not hide his illness and avoid medical treatment, and he does not dream of immortality like Qin Shi Huang. Why Liu Bang arrested Xiao He, the literature is not detailed, we speculate that Liu Bang intended to kill Xiao He. Xiao He De was highly respected, and the group of ministers only looked up to him, it is likely that Liu Bang was worried that he would breathe a sigh of relief, and his cowardly son would be difficult to shock everyone, if Xiao He had two hearts, Liu Shi's country would be difficult to protect. For the sake of his descendants, he naturally wanted to get rid of Xiao He.
For the first time in his life, Xiao He was imprisoned, and he entered the prison of the imperial dynasty where he was the first prince of the founding of the country. He didn't make any arguments, and he looked resigned.
None of the old courtiers of Xiao He's generation spoke for him.
Xiao He was difficult not to die, relying on a wei lieutenant surnamed Wang.
Wei Wei was one of the Nine Secretaries, commanding the guards and guarding the palace gates. What is the name of this Wang Weiwei, the literature is lost. From this point of view, he was not a founding father with outstanding military achievements. One day, he was on duty in the palace, and Liu Bang talked to him, and he carefully asked, "What crime did Xiang Guo commit, and His Majesty threw him into prison?"
"I heard that Li Sixiang Qin Shi Huang, good things belong to the emperor, and bad things are borne by one person." Liu Bang said, "Xiangguo took the gold of the merchant and came to ask for my garden to flatter the people, so he arrested him." ”
These words more or less revealed the reason why Liu Bang arrested Xiao He: Xiao He flattered the people and competed with him for the people's hearts. To put it bluntly, Liu Bang was still worried that Xiao He's prestige was too high and endangered Liu's Jiangshan. That's what he's wary of all the time. In his later years, he became more and more suspicious of Xiao He.
Wang Weiwei was not the kind of person who fell into a well, and although others spoke softly, he still distinguished a few words for Xiao He: "When there is a matter of convenience for the people, it is a matter within the authority of the prime minister, how can His Majesty suspect that Xiang guo has accepted gold from merchants!" These words poked at Liu Bang's sore spot. He said that Xiao He's bribery was purely "nonsense", but there was no charge, so how could he throw a prime minister into prison? Wang Weiwei unveiled his scars, and Liu Bang immediately pulled down his face. Wang Weiwei completely ignored it, and still said according to his own train of thought: "In those years, Your Majesty and Xiang Yu chased after the Central Plains, and Xiao He stayed in Guanzhong, if he had a half-heartedness, Guanzhong would not be His Majesty's." Chen Xi and Yingbu rebelled, His Majesty's imperial conquest, and Xiao He stayed behind, if he had the second heart, it would also be a great opportunity. At that time, Xiao He was loyal and did not seek selfish interests, so how could he now look up to a businessman with a little gold? Qin Shi Huang did not hear of his mistakes, which eventually led to the death of Qin Dynasty II, and Li Si divided it for the emperor, what is there to praise!" Liu Bang pondered for a long time, and finally ordered Xiao He's release. On the one hand, this is Liu Bang's "conscience" discovery, on the other hand, I am afraid that it is also considering the impact of this matter on the Minister of Public Secretary. Wang Weiwei still considered this matter in this way, those who were born and died with Xiao He would not only have the same thoughts, but also worry about following in Xiao He's footsteps, their silence was only a superficial phenomenon, and what was accumulated in their hearts was resentment and fear, and once it broke out, the consequences would be unimaginable. The reason why Liu Bang released Xiao He, this latter factor played a more important role.
The use of the term "mix of sorrow and joy" to describe Xiao He's feelings of release could not be more appropriate. He was barefoot, dressed as a criminal, and the human palace thanked the lord Long En—Xiao He was acting, acting for Liu Bang. Sure enough, looking at the white-haired old Xiangguo Cheng kneeling at his feet in fear, Liu Bang was quite remorseful and said, "Xiangguo rise up!" For the sake of the people, I am not allowed to do the same. Xiang Guo is a virtuous person, and I threw you into prison to let the people know that I am not a good emperor. The last few sentences are obviously excusatory and insincere. However, these few words also show that Liu Bang realized that even if he wanted to get rid of Xiao He, he could not do anything about it.
Five months later, in April 195 BC, Liu Bang fell ill and died. He was sixty-two years old.
Crown Prince Liu Ying inherited the throne as Emperor Hui. A generation of tyrants Liu Bang passed away, Xiao He was still his Xiangguo, he no longer had to worry about being jealous, the young emperor and The Lü Yan behind the scenes trusted him. However, his life path also came to an end, and he was seriously ill in the third year after Liu Bang's death, and he also died.
He left his descendants with the title of Marquis of Ten Thousand Households, as well as several thin fields. He once said to people, "If your children and grandchildren are virtuous, they will learn from my frugality; No, those few acres of thin fields and powerful people can't look up to it, and they won't be robbed by them. ”