The Rebellion of the Seven Kingdoms, also known as the Rebellion of the Seven Kings, was a rebellion of the princely states during the JingDi of the Western Han Dynasty.
This rebellion was the first rebellion from the founding of the Han Dynasty by Liu Bang of han Gaozu to the time of emperor Jingdi of Han, and was suppressed in only three months.
This rebellion was a general outbreak of local power and centralized despotism, and the reason for this was that Yushi Dafu Chao mistakenly presented the "Strategy of Cutting the Domain" to emperor Jingdi of Han, requesting that the fiefdoms of the princes be reduced.
Emperor Jingdi of Han took Chao's advice and reduced the fiefdoms and counties of Chu, Zhao, Jiaoxi, and Liu Hao, the King of Wu. Emperor Jingdi of Han's move to cut the domain aroused the concern of Liu Hao, the king of Wu, so Liu Hao conspired with Liu Peng, the king of Chu, to rebel, and then joined forces with the five kings of Zhao, Jinan, Zichuan, Jiaoxi, and Jiaodong to launch a rebellion
"Rebellion of the Seven Kingdoms"
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1. Wu Wang Liu Hao prepared before the war
1. Stage a coup d'état in the name of the Qing emperor
In the third year of Emperor Jing's reign, Chao que suggested to Emperor Jing to cut the domain, and the ministers of the Han Dynasty also discussed cutting back the land of Liu Hao, the king of Wu. Liu Hao was worried that the cutting of the domain would be endless, so he wanted to launch a rebellion.
But now the world is too peaceful, since Gao Zu has not happened to the past, if you rush to launch a coup d'état, you will be committed the following crimes and be spurned by the world. So I thought about it, Liu Hao decided to fight
"Qingjun Side"
The banner came to rebel.
When Liu Hao co-opted the King of Jiaoxi, in order not to fall into the truth, the doctor should give a high verbal notice, without a letter, and say to the King of Jiaoxi:
"Now His Majesty has been deceived by the villains, and it is not in accordance with heavenly reason to amend the decrees without authorization, to usurp the lands of the princes, and to kill the good people. We are also famous princes, and one day we will be targeted, and then there will be no peace. I am now cautious and afraid of making mistakes, and you have also been punished for selling your knighthood, and I think such a punishment is unreasonable. ”
Jiaoxi Wang listened, felt that it made sense, and was busy asking for a solution. Ying Gao said and persuaded the King of Jiaoxi that we are all in the same situation and should eliminate harm for the world. The King of Jiaoxi heard the implication and quickly refused, "How can such a rebellious thing be done?" ”。
Ying Gao said, "King Wu used the excuse of crusade against Chao," and as long as you follow the Great King, you will be able to annex the world, and then we will be able to divide the world." ”
The King of Jiaoxi agreed, so King Wu and King Jiaoxi made a pact and rebelled together.
King Wu made this excuse clever, he took advantage of the resentment of the stripped princes against Chao's mistakes, and used the excuse of "Qing Jun's side", claiming that there were villains around the emperor, and this time the army was not a rebellion, but a traitor to the emperor's side.
In this way, the world thought that Liu Hao's troops were not aimed at Emperor Jing, and the rebellion had a reasonable explanation, and it was no longer a crime.
Because of the punishment of reducing the land, the princes were very dissatisfied with Chao's mistakes, and they all colluded with King Wu to launch a rebellion.
2. National General Mobilization
2.1 National Conscription
When the Seven Kingdoms attacked, in order to recruit soldiers, King Wu ordered the whole country that he was sixty-two years old and personally led the army, while his youngest son, who was fourteen years old, was also a soldier.
As long as the older person is the same as himself, and the younger one is the same as his younger son, he must participate. In this way, King Wu recruited more than 200,000 soldiers.
2.2 Conscription of princely states
King Wu recruited troops throughout the country, from the age of fourteen to sixty-two men, only more than 200,000, so the king of Wu began to recruit troops from the princely states again, sending people to minyue and eastern Vietnam in the south, and eastern Vietnam also sent troops to follow king Wu.
2.3 Increase morale and falsely report the number of people
In the third year of Emperor Jing, King Wu sent an army from Guangling to cross the Huai River to join the Chu army. In the letter to the princes, it was exaggerated that although the land of the Wu kingdom was small, the elite soldiers could reach half a million. I have served South Vietnam for more than thirty years, and I have had more than thirty years of friendship with South Vietnam, and South Vietnam has also recruited more than 300,000 people to follow me.
Such a statement is undoubtedly a false report of the number of people, mainly to increase their morale. If according to King Wu, wu recruited 500,000 soldiers, plus 300,000 soldiers in South Vietnam, which reached more than 800,000 soldiers, but in fact, the number of soldiers of King Wu was far less than this number.
2.4 Adulterous courtiers do not investigate, and the emperor does not investigate
In his letters, King Wu not only exaggerated the number of troops, but also pointed the spearhead of this attack at Chao. In the letter, King Wu said that the Han Dynasty had traitors who did not do much good to the country, but had always encroached on the lands of the princes. We are all compatriots of the Liu clan, and instead of treating each other with courtesy, the traitors can specifically punish and insult us and cause chaos to the world. His Majesty is physically insecure, mentally disturbed, unable to distinguish between traitors, and we, as compatriots of the Liu clan, have the responsibility to crusade against traitors and stabilize the country.
King Wu extracted all the rebellious thoughts in his heart, and pointed the spearhead at the traitors, and accused the emperor of not being able to distinguish between loyal and adulterous, and described this rebellion as a great righteousness.
With this reasonable explanation, it can not only win over allies, but also blind the eyes of the people of the world, and it is also very "bothersome".
3. Formulate a combat strategy
King Wu commanded the State of Yue to follow king Changsha's son Pingding north of Changsha and then attack Shu Han to the west; and with him the king of Eastern Yue, the king of Chu, and the king of Huainan attacked westward; the kings of Qidi and the king of Zhao pacified the river and part of Hanoi into Linjin Pass, and part of them joined the king of Wu at Luoyang; the king of Yan pacified Dai Commandery and Yunzhong County in the north, and then led the Xiongnu army into Xiaoguan and took Chang'an directly;
Liu Hao fought well and prepared well in the early days of the Seven Kingdoms Rebellion, allowing the Seven Kingdoms army to progress smoothly at the beginning of the rebellion.
When Emperor Jing heard the news, he summoned Yuan Ang, the former chancellor of the State of Wu, to discuss the matter.
Yuan Ang believed that the Seven Kingdoms had launched a rebellion on the grounds that the emperor had traitors around him, and it was better to meet their demands of the "Qing Jun's side" to kill Chao Que in exchange for their retreat. Emperor Jing took Yuan Ang's advice and killed Chao in Dongshi. However, the rebels of the Seven Kingdoms did not back down, and King Wu even called himself the Eastern Emperor and fought against the Western Han regime.
4. Reward the brave man again
In order to boost the morale of the soldiers, King Wu also set a reward measure:
Those who are able to kill a great general are rewarded with 5,000 catties of gold and 10,000 households; those who can arrest and kill a general are rewarded with 3,000 catties of gold and 5,000 households; those who can arrest and kill a vice-admiral are rewarded with 2,000 catties of gold and 2,000 households; officials who can arrest and kill 2,000 stones of gold and 1,000 households; officials who arrest 1,000 stones of fenglu are rewarded with 500 catties of gold and 500 households; and those who have meritorious service above can be given the title of marquis.
Liu Tao, the king of Wu, attracted the world's warriors with thousands of gold wealth and gave the soldiers motivation in battle. Just as there must be brave men under the so-called heavy gold, King Wu used heavy gold to expand his power.
2. Emperor Jing suppressed it by force
1. Zhou Yafu resisted the Wu-Chu coalition forces
When Zhou Yafu was sent to clear the rebels, he believed that the Chu soldiers were fierce and unfit for head-to-head confrontation, so he wanted to cut off the grain route between Wu and Chu.
Zhou Yafu was stopped by a scholar Zhao Shi on the way to Xingyang, who persuaded Zhou Yafu that if he followed the original route, he would definitely be intercepted by the Wuchu assassins, and should change the route, go right through Lantian, leave Wuguan, and arrive at Luoyang.
Although walking around in this way is farther, it will directly enter the Luoyang arsenal and catch the enemy off guard.
Zhou Yafu followed his plan, and sure enough, he reached Luoyang safely, and captured the ambushed Wu soldiers in the original route. Not only that, Zhou Yafu was able to garrison Xingyang and keep the east of Xingyang.
When the State of Wu attacked the State of Liang, Emperor Jing ordered Zhou Yafu to rescue the State of Liang, but Zhou Yafu did not obey the order. However, he ordered people to lead light cavalry, cut off the rear roads of the Wu and Chu armies, and cut off their grain routes. The Wu army was defended to the west by the Liang army, unable to advance, so they turned around and attacked Zhou Yafu's army, and the two armies met in Xiayi.
Because the Wu army was in a hurry to succeed and the grain was cut off, the Wu soldiers could not attack. Zhou Yafu calmly responded to the battle, when the Wu army pretended to attack the southeast corner of the Han army, Zhou Yafu sent people to defend the northwest direction, and sure enough, after wu chu elite soldiers attacked the northwest direction of the Han army, but the Han army had long been prepared, the Wu chu soldiers failed many times, they turned their backs, plus a large number of soldiers starved to death, and the king of Wu had to retreat.
In February, Zhou Yafu sent elite troops to pursue and defeat the two armies of Wu and Chu, liu liu, the king of Wu, threw away his armor and fled in a hurry, and Liu Peng, the king of Chu, committed suicide. When King Wu escaped and crossed the Huai River, the Han Dynasty sent people to bribe the leader of Dongyue, who lured King Wu out and assassinated him.
2. Quell the rebellion
When the rebels of the three princes including the King of Jiaoxi besieged Linzi, the Han general Luan Bu led an army to approach, and the king of Jiaodong, jiaoxi, and Zichuan led the army back to the fiefdom. Liu De, the crown prince of the Jiaoxi King, said: "The Han army has begun to tire, and we can take the opportunity to attack them." Even if it fails, it can escape to the island and hide. King Jiaoxi refused.
At this time, The Marquis of Bow Gao sent a letter to the King of Jiaoxi, asking him to surrender.
The king of Jiaoxi came to the Han camp to plead guilty, saying that sending troops was a mistake in wanting to kill and encroach on the lands of the princes. Han Yandang reprimanded him for plotting rebellion, and the purpose of sending troops was actually to plot rebellion. The King of Jiaoxi committed suicide in shame, the empress dowager and crown prince of the Jiaoxi Kingdom all died, and the King of Jiaodong, the King of Zichuan, and the King of Jinan also committed suicide.
Marquis Li of Quzhou attacked the State of Zhao, and King Zhao led his troops back to the capital city of Handan. Li Ji attacked for seven months without breaking through the city of Handan, and the Xiongnu learned of the defeat of Wu Chu's army and refused to assist King Zhao.
After Luan Bu pacified the State of Qi, he joined the li army, flooded Handan with water, destroyed the city walls, and the King of Zhao also committed suicide in despair. The King of Jibei was forced to participate in the rebellion because of his abduction, so he was not killed and was crowned the King of Zichuan. Liu Lu, the King of Qi, was involved in the planning of the Rebellion of the Seven Kingdoms, conspired with the King of Jiaoxi, and was forced to commit suicide. The Rebellion of the Seven Kingdoms ended with the victory of the central government of the Western Han Dynasty and was put down in only three months.
summary
After the Rebellion of the Seven Kingdoms, the power of the princely states was greatly weakened, and the Han Jing Emperor further strengthened the centralization of power.
Because of this turmoil, the Western Han Dynasty learned from the experience, although the princely states still existed, but had lost their political rights, compared with the Chu-Han dispute between the princely states had their own independent armies, no different from the independent kingdoms, the current princely states no longer have the conditions to confront the centralized power.
The pacification of the Rebellion of the Seven Kingdoms greatly promoted the consolidation of the Western Han Dynasty and laid a solid foundation for the development of the later Han Wudi period.
References: "History", "Zizhi Tongjian"