If you want to rank the "Top Ten Famous Generals of the Western Han Dynasty", Zhou Yafu must be in the top five even if he is not in the top three. It took only three months to quell the "Rebellion of the Seven Kingdoms", and the "Xiaoliu Battalion" under his command became a symbol of strict military discipline in later generations.
The "Chronicle of History" records a story that during the reign of Emperor Wen of Han, the Xiongnu invaded the border on a large scale, so the imperial court sent generals to garrison themselves to prevent harassment by the Xiongnu. Among them, Zhou Yafu's army was stationed in Xiaoliu, so it was called "Xiaoliu Battalion" in later generations. Emperor Wen of Han personally went to comfort the army, and when he reached the other military camps, they could drive straight in, and the soldiers rode to greet them, but when they reached the Xiaoliu camp, they were stopped outside. The officers and men guarding were all wearing armor and armed with weapons, and were heavily guarded. The Emperor's retinue arrived first and was not allowed to enter, and the Emperor then arrived and was stopped at the door. The soldier who guarded the gate said that the army only obeyed the general's orders and did not obey the orders of the Son of Heaven. So the emperor sent envoys to inform Zhou Yafu that he could enter. After entering, you can't gallop on horseback, you can only pull the reins and move forward slowly. Emperor Wen of Han was shaken by the strict military discipline in the Xiaoliu camp, and lamented that this was the general who could really resist the invasion of the Xiongnu. Later generations passed down as beautiful talk.
From this story, we can see Zhou Yafu's personality characteristics: serious military management, majestic military orders, strict military discipline, scrupulously fulfilling one's duties, governing the army well, being upright and upright, dutiful and conscientious, and not afraid of power.
During the reign of Emperor Jing of Han, due to the radical policy of cutting the domain proposed by Chao, liu hao and seven other princes of Wu jointly rebelled, which was known in history as the "Rebellion of the Seven Kingdoms". Zhou Yafu led the Han army to suppress it, and in only three months, the rebellion was quelled, and the rebel leader Liu Hao was given the head of xiang. It can be said that in the pacification of the rebellion of the Seven Kingdoms, Zhou Yafu was the first to do so.
However, unlike Emperor Wen of Han, Zhou Yafu's "straightness" became a lifeline under the rule of Emperor Jingdi of Han. On the matter of deposing the crown prince, and the matter of the empress's brother and several Xiongnu generals being crowned marquises, Zhou Yafu insisted on following the clan system, and no one with a different surname could be crowned a king, and those without merit were not allowed to be crowned a marquis, and their opinions were contrary to that of Emperor Jing of Han, who did not like his "rebellion", so he forcibly made a marquis to the Xiongnu general and approved Zhou Yafu's resignation.
After that, Emperor Jing summoned him to the palace to set up a banquet, trying to test whether his temper had changed, so he did not put chopsticks in front of him. Zhou Yafu was unhappy to ask the steward for chopsticks, and Emperor Jing smiled and said to him, "Can't this make you happy?" Zhou Yafu was ashamed and indignant, and unwillingly knelt down to apologize to Emperor Jing. As soon as Emperor Jing said "get up", he immediately stood up, and without waiting for Emperor Jing to speak again, he left on his own. Emperor Jing therefore believed that he could not assist the Young Lord.
During the Han Dynasty, secretly hiding armor was a crime of rebellion, and according to the law, many generals would buy a little as a funeral. Zhou Yafu's son also privately purchased some armor for his elderly father, but he was accused. Lieutenant Ting scolded Zhou Yafu for plotting rebellion, and Zhou Yafu said that this was for funeral purposes, but Ting Wei sneered: "If you don't want to rebel against the ground, you want to rebel against the ground!" ”
Even if you don't rebel while you're alive, you're going to rebel when you're dead. Zhou Yafu, who had been straight all his life, understood that this was clearly the "desire and sin" of the Han Jing Emperor, so he went on hunger strike and died.