#刘邦当上皇帝后 how he treated his old father Liu Taigong, who was still alive #
In 203 BC, the Chu-Han war was still raging: the Chu army led by Xiang Yu was besieged by Liu Bang's army, and seeing that the grain and grass were cut off, the situation of the Chu army was very critical.
Xiang Yu was anxious to get out of the siege, so he put Liu Bang's father, Liu Taigong, on a cutting board, and then shouted to Liu Bang from a distance: "Liu Ji, you come out to see who this is?" If you don't give me a retreat, I'll cook taigong!" ”
Xiang Yu thought that this trick could frighten Liu Bang, but he did not expect Liu Bang to put on the same rogue look as before, and replied without hurrying: "Xiang Yu, the two of us used to be subjects in front of the King of Chu Huai, and we were brothers to each other, so my father is also your father, and now you want to cook your own father, please remember to share a piece of my soup!" ”
Liu Bang's unscrupulous attitude made Xiang Yu very angry, and he immediately wanted to kill Liu Taigong, but was dissuaded by Xiang Bo, and Liu Taigong saved his life.
Did Liu Bang really care so much about his old father's life? What about the true relationship between father and son?
Liu Bang's film and television image
1. The old man who farms in Fengyi, Pei County
Liu Bang was born from a commoner, his father Liu Taigong and mother Liu Mi did not have names in the Zhengshi "History" and "Book of Han", "Taigong" and "Mi" were the names of people at that time for old men and old ladies, so "Liu Taigong" is equivalent to the current "Old Man Liu", "Liu Mi" is "Old Lady Liu", which is a very common title for ordinary people.
It is very common for Liu Taigong to have four sons, like the ordinary people at that time, Liu Taigong did not give these sons official names, but were called according to the ranking: Liu Bo, Liu Zhong, Liu Ji, Liu Jiao, Liu Ji is Liu Bang, according to the current name is "Liu Laosi". Before Liu Bang, there should have been an older brother named Liu Shu, but there is no relevant record in history.
Liu Taigong to cultivate land for a living, farmers generally pay more attention to the industrious, simple, gu family such a personality characteristics, but Liu Bang is partial to these things do not occupy, he does not like to participate in agricultural production, idle all day, often go out with friends to get drunk, and do not think about starting a family early, so Liu Taigong does not like this son very much, he prefers the second liu zhong, often let Liu Bang learn from the second brother, to buy more industries.
Liu Taigong's rebuke of Liu Bang is recorded in the "First Book of the Book of Han and the First Chronicle of Emperor Gao", that is, after Liu Bang ascended the throne, weiyang Palace had just been built, and Liu Bang set up a banquet in the palace, and the princes who came to the court would drink bitterly. At this time, Liu Taigong had already been honored by Liu Bang as the "Emperor Taishang", and Liu Bang congratulated him that of course he was also present.
"Shangfeng Yujie was the Emperor Taishang, saying: 'The first lord often depends on the death of his subjects, and he cannot govern the industry, so it is better than Zhongli.' What is the cause of this so-and-so and how much? The courtiers in the palace all said long live and laughed and laughed. ”
The general situation at the banquet was as follows: Liu Bang took up the wine to toast Liu Taigong, and then said: "You always thought that I was a scoundrel and could not buy an estate, and I was not as industrious and capable as my second brother (Liu Zhong), and now my industry is more than Liu Zhong's?" The ministers who attended the feast immediately shouted long live and laughed to make fun of it.
View of Xi'an
Of course, Liu Taigong understood who had more property, but he also remembered the painful experience of being held hostage by Xiang Yu because of this son.
2. Being taken hostage by Xiang Yu
After Liu Bang was crowned King of Han, considering the instability of his conquests, he still left his parents, wife Lü Yan and a pair of children in his hometown of Fengyi.
In 205 BC, Liu Bang and Xiang Yu were in the middle of a war, Liu Bang's hometown of Fengyi was under the control of the Chu army, Liu Bang went home to pick up the family, but only received his son Liu Ying and daughter Liu Le, Liu Taigong, Lü Yan and Liu Bang sent back to take care of their families, all of which fell into xiang Yu's hands and became Xiang Yu's hostages to blackmail Liu Bang.
Liu Taigong, Lü Yan, and Jing Shiqi were imprisoned by Xiang Yu for two years.
Liu Taigong's film and television image
When the Chu army was besieged by the Han army and the situation was extremely urgent, Xiang Yu escorted Liu Taigong to the front and threatened Liu Bang with his life.
Unfortunately, this trick did not work for Liu Bang, Liu Bang took out the strength of being a scoundrel in the past, and let Xiang Yu cook Liu Taigong, remember to give himself a cup of soup to drink.
So, did Liu Bang really disregard his father's life? Obviously this is not the case, although he does not love labor, does not love to buy property, but the most basic filial piety of his parents still understands and obeys, and the later Han Dynasty is a dynasty that attaches the most importance to filial piety, which is obviously inseparable from the physical practice of Liu Bang, the founding prince.
However, as the commander-in-chief of the whole army, Liu Bang could not only consider the lives of his relatives, but also consider the safety of the generals of the whole army. If he had not posed as a rogue, could not withstand the threat of Xiang Yu, commanded his generals to attack with all his might after angrily rushing to the crown, or heeded Xiang Yu's advice and led the men and horses to retreat in all directions, then the final victory or defeat of the Chu and Han armies would be difficult to predict, and if the defeat had been decided, it would not only be Liu Taigong, Lü Yan, and Zhen Zhiqi who would lose their lives, but also Liu Bang himself, as well as most of the generals of the Han army, and the consequences would be even more difficult to bear.
Therefore, as the commander of the whole army, Liu Bang's words and deeds at this time are beyond reproach.
Once the enemy's strategy is swayed by feelings, it will undoubtedly fail.
What Liu Bang is doing cannot tolerate failure, and once he fails, there will be no place for him in the world, let alone his whole family?
3. Unique
Fortunately, Xiang Yu did not really kill Liu Taigong and others, as the war situation changed, the situation was even more unfavorable to the Chu army, Xiang Yu had to negotiate with Liu Bang, the two sides agreed to take the gap as the boundary, Xiang Yu returned Liu Taigong and other hostages to Liu Bang.
In 202 BC, Liu Bang ascended the throne and set the name of the country as Han, which was for Han Gaozu.
Liu Taigong finally had a peaceful birthday. In the past, he was tortured because of Liu Bang, but now he can finally enjoy peace and happiness.
Although Liu Bang was the king of a country, he was very filial to his father, and he would visit his father once every few days, and the father and son were still as cordial and easy-going as before, and they were not bound by any royal etiquette.
Liu Taigong was an ordinary peasant in the countryside before, and he was neither familiar with nor cared about royal etiquette, so he did not feel anything wrong with Liu Bang and his ordinary father-son relationship, but liu Bang sent him to serve Liu Taigong's family orders felt inappropriate.
Finally, one day, the family order said to Liu Taigong: "As the saying goes, there is no two days in the sky, and there is no two kings in the earth." The present monarch is your son, but he is your lord; although you are his father, you are a courtier. How can you get people to worship people? If so, how can we get everyone to observe royal etiquette? ”
Although Liu Taigong was old, he was very able to listen to the opinions of others, and he quickly made a change.
When Liu Bang came to see Liu Taigong again, he saw Liu Taigong standing at the door holding a broom in the distance. Liu Bang was startled and hurriedly walked over to support his father. Liu Taigong said, "You are the king of a country, and you can't mess up the law of the world because of me!" ”
Of course, Liu Bang knew his current identity, but he couldn't bear to watch his father perform a great courtesy to himself, so he ordered liu Taigong to be honored as "Emperor Taishang", so that he could also visit his father with family etiquette and avoid his father's kneeling ceremony.
Liu Taigong was the only person in the history of the mainland who had not been a monarch but had been honored as the Emperor Taishang.
As for the family order that advised Liu Taigong, Liu Bang gave him five hundred gold to reward him for his courage.
4. Miscellaneous stories
In the Zhengshi Shi Shi Shi and the Book of Han, the record of how Liu Bang treated Liu Taigong is very brief, and there is another part of the historical note novel Xijing Miscellaneous Records.
Infographic
The "Miscellaneous Records of Xijing" records that although Liu Taigong was revered as the Emperor Taishang, his status was revered, and he enjoyed a magnificent royal life, but after a long time and fresh energy passed, Liu Taigong felt all kinds of discomfort, so he was sullen and unhappy every day.
Liu Bang was very filial and asked his father why he was unhappy. Liu Taigong told him: "The ones I used to love to deal with were the street vendors and the young people who fought cocks and bows. But now it was cold and cold in the deep palace, and the lively scenes I liked were not here at all, so I was very unhappy. ”
When Liu Bang heard that this was easy to do, he sent someone back to his hometown and moved the entire street of people into the palace on the street that Liu Taigong had often visited before. Liu Taigong saw the familiar scene and the familiar hometown characters again, and this made him happy.
Alas, Liu Taigong and his old man were happy, and I wondered if those who had been moved into the palace by Liu Bang were also like him, in a happy mood and free. Succumbing to imperial power and being forced to live in the deep palace, do they feel bound or do they feel very lucky?