Some of the famous generals in ancient China "took the heads of generals in the ten thousand horse army, such as probing the bag to take things", and some could "strategize and win thousands of miles away".
However, it is rare that military discipline can be truly achieved and that "the orders of foreign kings will be spared" are rare. Zhou Yafu, a famous player in the Western Han Dynasty, has outstanding performances in these two aspects. To tell the truth, although Zhou Yafu had the military achievements in quelling the rebellion of the Seven Kingdoms, the so-called "Wu-Chu" coalition army was more like a large-scale rabble- and its command level and combat strength made people dare not compliment it. Otherwise, the "Wu-Chu Coalition Army", which had the advantage in military strength, would not have been dragged by the small Liang State for 3 months.
Therefore, Zhou Yafu can become a generation of famous generals, first of all, he is in the Xiaoliu camp, dare to block the Han Wendi car, do not let him easily enter the camp. Moreover, after the Han Wendi frame entered the Xiaoliu camp, they were not allowed to drive. What is even more unacceptable to many people is that Zhou Yafu gave a military salute to Emperor Wen of Han with his full body armor, but did not perform the so-called three prostrations and nine prayers. In the early years of the Western Han Dynasty, when the emperor was in a high position of power, zhou Yafu, who was only a small Hanoi defender at that time, could be regarded as a great rebellion. However, for the soldiers, this is a must, after all, at that time, the Xiaoliu Camp was an important fortress to guard Chang'an, and there must be no slightest paralysis, so Emperor Wen of Han did not blame Zhou Yafu, but regarded it as a military talent that the Western Han Dynasty could rely on in the future.
In addition to strict military discipline, Zhou Yafu resolutely implemented the principle of "not being subject to the orders of foreign kings" when fighting. During the Rebellion of the Seven Kingdoms, the "Wu-Chu Coalition" attacked the Liang State. Liu Wu, the king of Liang, could only hold the city in the unfavorable situation of the initial battle, and at the same time constantly sought rescue from the imperial court. However, when Emperor Jingdi of Han's will to urge Zhou Yafu to lead the troops to rescue arrived, Zhou Yafu knew that "the Chu soldiers were light and it was difficult to fight with the front", so he "did not follow the edicts, and the walls could not be out", adhering to the previously formulated combat strategy of "entrusting it with Liang, and eliminating its (Wu-Chu coalition) grain route, but it can be controlled". Although the final result was to break the Wu-Chu alliance in a battle and stabilize the rule of the Western Han Dynasty, it also made emperor Jingdi of Han suspicious of him.
Therefore, in 143 BC (the third year of Emperor Jingzhong), Emperor Jing of Han issued an edict and asked Zhou Yafu to enter the palace to have dinner with him. When Zhou Yafu came to the top of the main hall, he found that the dinner was only two of them. "Emperor Jing is in the middle of the ban", but on the case table, "alone with a large chest, no cut meat, and no place in the coffin". There is only one piece of meat, and there is no means of eating, so Zhou Ya "Gu said that Shang Xi took the widow". As a result, a normal move was only ridiculed by emperor Jingdi of Han, "This is not enough for the king? Zhou Yafu, who thought he had suffered great insults, had to take off his hat to apologize in order to be intimidated by the royal majesty. However, as soon as emperor Jingdi of Han told him to "flatten his body", he immediately left in anger.
This unpleasant dinner party laid the groundwork for Zhou Yafu's tragic end in the future. When Zhou Yafu's son purchased future funerary utensils for him, he was immediately exposed because he purchased "five hundred gongguan Shangfang jia". Emperor Jingdi of Han questioned Zhou Yafu face-to-face, and the court lieutenant in charge of the judicial adjudication body also asked him, "The prince (Zhou Yafu was made a marquis because of his merits) wanted to oppose evil"? Although Zhou Yafu said that these armors were only funerary utensils, the answer he received was that "the prince does not oppose the earth, that is, he wants to oppose the underground ears." It can be said that in order to punish Zhou Yafu, he actually made up all the excuses that he might rebel after his death. In the end, Emperor Jing of Han still put Zhou Yafu in prison. In order to prove his innocence, after unsuccessful suicide, Zhou Yafu "vomited blood and died" after five days of hunger strike.
Perhaps many people believe that the reason why Emperor Jing of Han was jealous of Zhou Yafu was because Liu Wu the Prince of Liang and Empress Dou constantly instigated and affected the relationship between them. In fact, even without their instigation, the contradiction between Emperor Jingdi of Han and Zhou Yafu would continue to intensify. Because, in the view of Emperor Jingdi of Han, the contradiction between him and Zhou Yafu was actually a contradiction between "imperial power" and "xiang power". The Western Han Dynasty was a centralized feudal dynasty, and after the Suppression of the Seven Kingdoms Rebellion, the power struggle between the local and central governments came to an end. However, above the court, the "imperial power" of the emperor was balanced by the civil and military officials headed by the chancellor. On the one hand, this is because the decentralization of the feudal economy has caused the dispersion of various powers, and on the other hand, it is also the result of the game of different classes and interest groups. At that time, the Western Han Dynasty was the stage when the imperial power was constantly strengthening and the power was gradually declining. But the appearance of Zhou Yafu broke this situation.
Because Zhou Yafu had served as a lieutenant, held the military power of the Western Han Dynasty, and had excellent military command ability, because the suppression of the Rebellion of the Seven Kings had a very high prestige in the army. At the same time, when Zhou Yafu was serving as the prime minister, both his personal qualities and his administrative strategies were impossible to pick. Therefore, in many court disputes, Emperor Jing of Han lost to Zhou Yafu, for example, on the issue of whether to make a foreign relative a marquis, Zhou Yafu moved out of the ancestral precept of "no merit can be a marquis", and snuffed out Emperor Jingdi's proposal. Similarly, in other respects, Zhou Yafu, because of his insistence on his own views, also contradicted the Han Jing Emperor. These behaviors had seriously affected the actions of the Han Jing Emperor to strengthen imperial power. Therefore, Zhou Yafu must be eliminated in order to continue to consolidate and strengthen the imperial power. That is to say, at the end of that dinner, Emperor Jingdi of Han looked at the back of Zhou Yafu's departure and said to his subordinates, "This person who is sorry for this is not a young lord and a subject" to get the real purpose.
Therefore, a pair of chopsticks was only the fuse for Emperor Jingdi of Han to remove Zhou Yafu, and the real reason was actually to clear the obstacles for him to strengthen his imperial power.
#Zhou Yafu#, #Imperial Power#, #相权 #