Liu Bang is the youngest son of the Liu family, and it is estimated that Liu Taigong's cultural foundation is relatively general, so he will be given "Liu Ji", such a simple name as Liu Laoyuan. Liu Ji grew up, the level of contact was wide, and he felt that his name was as vulgar as nicknames such as "Dog Leftover" and "Dog Egg", so he changed his name to "Liu Bang".
Regarding Liu Bang's birth year, there are two theories in the history books: one is 247 AD, and the other is 256 AD. In short, he is not much different from Yingzheng's age. That is to say, when Liu Bang grew up, the Qin Dynasty was not yet unified, and the Fengyi where he was located still belonged to Chu. At that time, no one knew that this boy from the grassroots would one day subvert the wanli jiangshan created by Yingzheng and become the founder of the Han Dynasty.
Although Liu Bang and his father were honored by posterity as "Liu Taigong", according to historical records, the title of "Taigong" was added after Xiao Liu's traces, and Liu Zhijia in the early years was only a peasant with his back to the sky facing the loess soil, so his cultural base was very limited (otherwise he would not have given his son such a lame name). If there is anything outstanding about Liu Bang's family's background, it is that his father's component belongs to the "middle peasants", that is, he owns his own real estate, in addition to paying taxes to the state, there is no need to work for landlords, nothing more.
Liu Taigong, like other croppers, usually relies on pulling parents short with neighbors and drinking some wine to pass the time. I don't know if it was Shi Guan who revealed the short, Shi Guan used a few words to describe Liu Taigong's early experience: the little old man's favorite thing to do is to hold a big and look around for people to fight, or to play with some young people for fun.
Liu Bang's mother, Liu Mi, is an ordinary housewife, "mi" is not a name, but the meaning of women, it is estimated that in that era, this honest peasant woman, her name has long been impossible to verify, so the historian will call her "Liu Mi".
About the birth of Liu Bang, it is quite mysterious.
According to historical records, one year Liu Mi came to a barren mountain, just in time for lightning and thunder, so she took shelter from the rain next to a large rock, but she did not expect to fall asleep. Liu Taigong was worried about his daughter-in-law's shower, so he went to the mountain to look for it, and when he found the big stone, the scene in front of him stunned him: a large white snake coiled on Liu Mi's body. Liu Mi was pregnant with Liujia shortly after returning home, and Liu Bang died after she was pregnant in October.
The author believes that this is just a bridge section fabricated by the historian under Liu Bangyi,000, and from a genetic point of view, the possibility of this happening is infinitely close to zero. Some people say that in the early years, Liu Taigong saw Liu Mi secretly give birth to Liu Bang with someone, so he made up this absurd thing, and the author thinks that this is unlikely, after all, Liu Bang cannot use this kind of ugly book as direct evidence to prove that he is a "true dragon heavenly son".
There is also a possibility that when Liu Taigong was looking for Liu Mi, the old couple did some romantic things on the mountain, and Liu Mi became pregnant. After giving birth to three sons and a daughter to Liu Taigong, Liu Mi, who had completed the reproductive task, died of illness. The cropper Liu Taigong was not willing to be lonely, and found a little wife and gave birth to Liu Jiao, the fourth elder of the Liu family.
Liu Bo, the eldest brother of the Liu family, from this name we can see that Liu Taigong's ink is really not much, and Bo is the big meaning. Liu Bo was an honest and responsible farmer, who had no reputation all his life, and worked as a farmer step by step to marry and have children, leaving no story worth mentioning to posterity. Liu Bo was diligent and earnest all his life, but he became ill with overwork, and in his prime, he suffered from an incurable disease, leaving his wife and children to drive to the west.
Liu Bo's wife was a more conservative woman, and in that era when there was no restriction on remarriage, this woman was devoted to raising her young son. Honest and responsible Liu Dajie, the most unaccustomed to the usual is the little uncle Liu Bang, she feels that this boy is idle every day and does not do the right thing, which is very discriminatory.
Liu Zhong, the second brother of the Liu family, Zhong is the second meaning, from the death of Liu Bo, he shouldered the burden of the Liu family as a family, became the main labor of the Liu family, and raised the family by hard work and sweat. The Liu family only has a few acres of thin land, so his entrepreneurial path is very simple, that is, continuous cultivation and accumulation, so that the family foundation is more and more solid.
With the efforts of Liu Zhong, the living standards of the Liu family officially entered a well-off life, and Liu Zhong also became a "good son" praised by Liu Taigong.
The history books recorded that Liu Taigong praised his second brother in front of Liu Bang, saying how capable Liu Zhong was, and also made a personal attack on Liu Bang to spur him on. It is true that this kind of contrasting education is a cancer in the contemporary education cause, but who let Liu Taigong live in that era without the concept of "science education"?
Perhaps, because of this, until Liu Bang became emperor, he still had a lot of criticism of his second brother. Indeed, although the second elder of the Liu family was honest and responsible, he was by no means a "material for doing big things", and when Liu Bang left his family to go out to make a revolution, Liu Zhong honestly guarded his father at home and did not follow his brother out to make trouble.
The old fourth Liu Jiao, who was born to his stepmother, was deeply favored by Liu Bang, because this boy was the youngest son born to his little wife, so since he was born, he was more popular with Liu's father than the three brothers of the Liu family, which can be seen from the fact that he can study and receive education. Liu Jiao was a good seedling of reading, familiar with major classics since childhood, and was a well-deserved "intellectual" of the Liu family.
From the biography, we can see that Liu Jiao basically did not work for a few days of farm work, and was regarded by Liu Taigong as the greatest hope of Guangzong Yaozu, and he was cultivated as a prodigy. Liu Jiao once followed some famous students to study under The Xunzi disciple Fu Qiubo, which shows that his cultural level is not low. From the current point of view, Liu Jiao can at least mix with a higher diploma like a graduate student and engage in professional research in philosophy.
But unfortunately, when Liu Jiao was just about to make some achievements, he caught up with the emperor Banzai Grandpa, that is, Qin Shi Huang's book burning pit, and Liu Jiao had to move back to his hometown from Shandong, a holy place of learning. Perhaps because he was closer in age than the other brothers (Liu Jiao was twenty years younger than Liu Bang), Liu Bang preferred his younger brother, and the relationship between the brothers was always more harmonious.
Therefore, when Liu Bang raised the uprising banner in Pei County, Liu Jiao'er immediately came to the army without saying a word and became a "secret agent chief" by Liu Bang's side, responsible for confidential affairs. When Liu Bang entered Guanzhong, Liu Jiao was given the title of Wenxin Jun. It can be said that Liu Taigong's wish on Liu Jiao was realized in another way, but all this was based on Liu Bang's fight against the world.
Historical materials rarely record trivial matters, but they have successively included many trivial matters of Liu Bang's family.
It is said that after the death of Liu Bang's mother, Liu Taigong found a little wife, and after Liu Bang's stepmother gave birth to his fourth brother, Liu Bang's status in the family declined day by day. Young Liu Bang, his father did not hurt his mother and did not love, simply broke the jar and broke it, like a little wandering the streets, not doing the right thing. In the face of his son who was willing to degenerate, Liu Taigong naturally could not say anything good in his mouth, and Liu Taigong often reprimanded Liu Bang, saying that he said: "Even the little thumb of the second brother is not comparable, it is a pool of mud that cannot support the wall." ”
I have to say that Liu Bang this boy is quite careful. After he became the Ninth Five-Year Emperor, he still did not forget the plot of his father's sarcasm. When the Weiyang Palace was completed and the imperial court feasted on the courtiers, Liu Bang took the old father who had become the Emperor Taishang as the upper seat, personally poured a glass of wine for the old father, and said a word in front of the old man in front of the civil and military officials: "You always said that I was a little Liu Bang who did not do business, and I was not like the second brother who could earn the family business in a down-to-earth manner. ”
When the civil and military officials heard this, they laughed loudly and shouted long live one after another. I just don't know what Liu Taigong's face was like at that time, and we can guess a rough idea without the historian's recounting, and it is estimated that I have been ashamed to find a seam to drill into.
In addition to his father, the relationship between Liu Bang and his widow in his early years was not very harmonious.
We know that Liu Bang was just a small hooligan who was in the rivers and lakes, and there was a group of "dog slaughterers" around him. For the sake of this group of good brothers around him, Liu Bang is very generous, even if he borrows money, he must be treated. For a while, Liu Bang committed a crime outside and did not dare to appear in public, so he could only change the place of invitation to his own home. Therefore, during a certain period of time, a group of people from the Liu family often appeared, and they were all "guests" invited by Liu Bang.
The visitors are guests, the Liu family must prepare wine and dishes for hospitality, and the work of cooking and drinking naturally falls on the head of Liu Dajie. It is said that it is not easy for Liu Dajie to lead her son to widowhood, and now, not only does the little uncle come to mix rice and eat every day, but also often brings a group of little hooligans who hang er Lang Dang, which is really annoying. On this day, Liu Dajie saw a group of people coming to the house from a distance, needless to say that it was Liu Bang who brought people to mix rice, so she took out the pots and pans to brush the pots.
Liu Bang's brothers looked at it, the old sister-in-law had already begun to brush the bowls, and it seemed that the Liu family had no food to eat today, so they scattered as birds and beasts. As a result, Liu Bang returned to the sister-in-law's house to see that there was a hot meal on the table, and he knew that he had been treated harshly by the sister-in-law, and since then he has been grumpy. Therefore, when Liu Bang became emperor, it was natural to reward meritorious servants and relatives, however, I don't know if Liu Bang had the intention to leave the sister-in-law's family behind. To this end, Liu Taigong specifically went to Liu Bang and asked him if he had forgotten to give some preferential treatment to his sister-in-law's family.
At this time, Liu Bang slapped his head on the door and named his eldest nephew "Marquis of Tangjie". "Tang Jie", which is the meaning of brushing the pot, together with Liu Bang until many years later, did not forget this stubble, and found an opportunity to take revenge on the sister-in-law before giving up. However, in the final analysis, Liu Bang did not treat his sister-in-law's family badly. The first female marquis of the Han Dynasty, which is well documented, was Liu Da's sister-in-law Yin Anhou. Sister-in-law Liu was quite influential in the palace, and even made a certain contribution to the destruction of Zhu Lu, of course, this is all an afterthought.
Resources:
["Three Commentaries on the History of the Eight Volumes, Gao Zu Benji" quoted in the "Commentary on the Collection of Historical Records", "Notes on the Book of Han , Volume 1 , Gao Emperor's Chronicle" ]