Most of the ancients were superstitious about the art of face-to-face divination, and there are also many successful cases in the history books that infer fate and avoid evil from this, such as Xu Negative, the "divine operator" in the early years of the Western Han Dynasty, when he met Zhou Yafu, who was then too conservative, he concluded that he would have the fate of worshiping the prince in the future, but in the end he would end up starving to death, and the final facts show that Xu Negative's prophecy was all true, which was really unbelievable. Today, we will talk about this anecdote.
Zhou Yafu was the second son of the founding father Zhou Bo, although he was not eligible to inherit his father's title, but fortunately, he was born noble and talented, and after entering the army with his father's shadow, he quickly opened the "fast lane" of career promotion, and within a few years he became an official in Hanoi Taishou. In the Western Han Dynasty, taishou rank of two thousand stones, the rank equivalent to today's provincial governor, Zhou Yafu climbed to such a high position at a young age, his heart was already very satisfied, until a few years later, he accepted the face of Xiang Shi Xu Negative, he had a higher pursuit.
Xu Fu was the most famous female xiangshi in the early Han Dynasty
Xu Fu was a female concubine of the Qin and Han dynasties, proficient in the art of face-to-face and divination, and was favored by the princes and ministers for her prophetic spiritual experience, so she was able to enter and leave the house of the nobles and become their guests. One year, Xu Wei met for the princes and ministers in Chang'an, and Zhou Yafu could not help but be swayed by his brothers and joined in. Xu Negative was amazed after carefully examining Zhou Yafu's face, and at first he was amazed, followed by a long sigh. Zhou Yafu did not know, so he asked her what was going on, and what Xu Negative said made him laugh a lot.
Originally, Xu Wei said to Zhou Yafu: "After three years, the prince of the house will be crowned as a marquis, and in another eight years he will be in and out of the country, and the prince will uphold the state administration and be a very popular subject." However, the prince's life will then take a sharp turn, and he will be starved to death in less than nine years. ("Tiao Hou Yafu was punctual in Hanoi since he was not hou, and Xu Negative Xiangzhi said: 'The queen is three years old and hou.'" Hou was eight years old as a general, holding the country's integrity, noble, and no different from others. He starved to death at the age of nine", see Records of history, vol. 57, Zhou Boshi of Daihou).
Zhou Yafu thought that Xu Negative's prophecy was absurd
After hearing this, Zhou Yafu laughed and said to Xu Negative: "Sir, this statement is very false! The younger brother (Zhou Shengzhi) has already inherited the title of his father, even if the brother dies, it should naturally be inherited by his heirs, where am I qualified to inherit the title? And according to sir, if the next general is a very popular subject, how can he be starved to death? Xu Negative smiled after hearing this, and then pointed to his mouth and said, "There are horizontal stripes next to Fu Jun's mouth, which is exactly the face that is about to be starved to death." After Zhou Yafu listened, he still felt absurd.
However, three years after this incident, Zhou Shengzhi was stripped of his title for murder, and the title of Marquis of Dai was abolished. Soon, Emperor Wen of Han, remembering Zhou Bo's merits, ordered That Zhou Yafu inherit Zhou Bo's title, but his title was changed from Marquis of Dai to Marquis of Tiao. The Zhou family's throne was lost and regained, and the time point was no different from Xu Negative's prediction, and Zhou Yafu only began to have some confidence in Xu Negative's prediction.
Emperor Wen of Han made Zhou Yafu the Marquis of Tiao and entrusted him with a heavy responsibility
Yafu smiled and said, "The brother of the subject has already acted as his father Hou Yi, and he is like a pawn, and the son is contemporary, so why does Yafu say Hou Hu?" But if it is as expensive as a negative word, why say that it starved to death? Instruct me. Xu Negative pointed to his mouth: "There is a rational entrance, and this method of starvation is also." "When ju was three years old, his brother Marquis Shengzhi was guilty, and Emperor Xiaowen chose the Marquis of Dai, and all of them pushed Yafu, and he made Yafu the Marquis of Tiao, and continued to be the Marquis of Dai. Ibid.
In the twenty-second year of Emperor Wen of Han (158 BC), the Xiongnu army invaded the northern border, and Zhou Yafu was ordered to garrison Tun at Theoliu Camp, which was deeply appreciated by Emperor Wen because of the strict management of the army, and after the Xiongnu retreated, he was promoted to lieutenant and responsible for the guarding of the Beijing Division. Before Emperor Wen of Han died, he solemnly recommended Zhou Yafu to the crown prince Liu Qi (Emperor Jing of Han) and was reused by the latter.
Emperor Jing of Han made Zhou Yafu his chancellor and made him an extremely popular subject
After Emperor Jing of Han ascended the throne, he adopted the advice of Yushi Dafu Chao to carry out the reduction of the domain, which triggered the "Rebellion of the Seven Kingdoms" led by Liu Hao, the King of Wu, and the situation was extremely tense for a time. In order to quickly put down the rebellion, Emperor Jing entered Zhou Yafu as a lieutenant and led a large army on the Eastern Expedition. Zhou Yafu really did not bear the heavy trust, and it took only 3 months to quell the rebellion, which made Jing Dilong feel very happy. Two years later (152 BC), the chancellor Tao Qing was spared from illness, and Zhou Yafu was appointed as the minister of state, and indeed became a very popular subject.
Zhou Yafu was a good hand in fighting, but unfortunately, like his father Zhou Bo, he was not the material for the chancellor, and after only 5 years, he was deposed from the post of chancellor because he repeatedly angered Emperor Jing in political affairs. After Zhou Yafu was dismissed, his influence was no longer as great as before, but even so, he was still regarded as a serious problem by Emperor Jing, who had little time. Emperor Jing, fearing that Zhou Yafu would rebel after his death, sought an opportunity to convict him of "conspiracy to rebel" and ordered Ting Wei to be tried severely.
Zhou Yafu was falsely accused of "plotting rebellion" and eventually died of hunger strike
Zhou Yafu was fierce in temperament, could not bear the humiliation of the prison guards, and in a fit of anger he protested with a hunger strike, so that after five days he vomited blood and died, in 143 BC, exactly nine years after he was deposed ("At the beginning, the officials arrested The Marquis of Tiaohou, the Marquis of Tiaohou wanted to commit suicide, and the wife stopped it, so that she could not die, so she entered the court. He died of vomiting blood for five days without eating. National division. Ibid.). Judging from the time when Zhou Yafu was enthroned, worshipped, and starved to death, Xu Negative's predictions of him were all hit, and he was indeed an immortal wizard.