Preface
In history, some stories are deeply engraved in people's hearts like imprints, and the legend of Chen Ping sacrificing 2,000 girls in exchange for Liu Bang's life is one of them.
Back then, in order to save Liu Bang's vitality, Chen Ping resolutely decided to sacrifice two thousand innocent girls. This earth-shattering transaction, although it was exchanged for Liu Bang's life, was also doomed to the tragic end of the Chen Ping family.
On his deathbed, Chen Ping sighed: "My home will be ruined." This sentence seems to be a satire of history, and it is also a true portrayal of the cruel reality of power politics. So, why did Chen Ping sigh so much? Let's walk into this history together and explore the deep meaning contained in it.
Rongyang crisis
In the midsummer of 205 BC, Liu Bang stood at the head of Rongyang City, overlooking the Chu army in the distance. His heart was full of mixed feelings, including despair about his current situation and confusion about his future fate. Just over a month ago, he was in the limelight. Uniting the princes of the Five Routes, they gathered an army of 560,000 and aimed to defeat Chu.
The situation at that time was extremely favorable to him: Tian Rong of Qi was dissatisfied with Xiang Yu's division of the feudal kingdom and rebelled against Chu, and Xiang Yu had to divide his troops to deal with it; on the other hand, Xiang Yu despised Liu Bang, thinking that he was only thinking about the old covenant of King Huai of Chu and would be satisfied if he obtained the land of Sanqin. So, Xiang Yu transferred the main force to Qi and relaxed his precautions against Liu Bang.
Liu Bang took advantage of the situation and soon captured Pengcheng, the capital of Chu. He thought that this battle had already decided the overall situation. As long as you wait for Xiang Yu and Tian Rong to consume each other in Pengcheng, and when the time is ripe, you can destroy Xiang Yu again, and you will be able to dominate the world.
However, Liu Bang underestimated Xiang Yu's strength. Just as he was feasting and drinking in Pengcheng, Xiang Yu led 30,000 elite cavalry to kill and returned, splitting Liu Bang's layers of defense like a sharp sword. In the face of Xiang Yu's ferocious attack, Liu Bang's hundreds of thousands of troops were defeated and retreated, losing their armor and failing to form an army.
What's even more terrifying is that Liu Bang's allies have defected at this critical juncture. Liu Bang was forced to flee in panic, and even kicked his children out of the carriage, just to reduce the weight and increase the speed of escape. Eventually, he took the remnants of his army into Rongyang City to rest at this logistics transit station.
However, Xiang Yu's army soon came to the border and camped outside Rongyang City. Liu Bang was completely in a desperate situation and retreated. At this critical moment, his advisor Chen Ping stood up and said that there was a plan to help him break through.
The beginning of the conspiracy
Chen Ping said to Liu Bang: "My lord, if you want to break through, you must first get rid of one person. Liu Bang was shocked and asked who that person was? Chen Ping replied, "Xiang Yu's chief strategist Fan Zeng." As long as he's there, any strategy will be recognized. "
It turned out that the last time at the Hongmen banquet, it was Fan Zeng's idea, if it wasn't for Xiang Bo to save him, Liu Bang would probably die in Huangquan. Chen Ping's words made Liu Bang suddenly realize that Fan Zeng was indeed his confidant, and he must get rid of it quickly.
So, Chen Ping received 40,000 catties of gold and began his conspiracy. A few days later, rumors circulated in the Chu military camp that Fan Zeng was dissatisfied with Xiang Yu and had secretly defected to Liu Bang. Although Xiang Yu trusted Fan Zeng, he listened to the rumors and began to take precautions.
Soon, Xiang Yu sent people to Liu Bang's camp to inquire about the news. After the envoy arrived, Chen Ping consciously or unintentionally showed contempt for the envoy, giving the envoy the illusion that "Fan Zeng had betrayed". After the envoy returned to the camp, Xiang Yu completely lost trust in Fan Zeng.
Since then, Xiang Yu's suggestions to Fan Zeng have fallen on deaf ears, and Fan Zeng has also realized that he has fallen out of favor. In the end, he asked to return to his hometown, but died of anger on the way. In this way, Xiang Yu lost his most powerful strategist.
The line between life and death
After Fan Zeng died, Liu Bang found Chen Ping and asked him to teach him how to break through. Chen Ping hesitated, saying that this strategy "harms yin morality". Liu Bang replied confidently: "Those who achieve great things are not informal, as long as your strategy works." "
So, Chen Ping opened his mouth and said his plan. A few days later, Xiang Yu suddenly received news that Liu Bang had requested surrender to the east of Rongyang City. Xiang Yu was overjoyed, and said to his subordinates: "Liu Bang, this is a poor donkey skill, I made him suffer a big loss in Pengcheng at the beginning, and I won't cheap him this time." "
Early the next morning, the east gate of Rongyang City was opened, and a group of "soldiers" wearing armor rushed out. Then, a gorgeous car drove out of the city gate, and it was "Liu Bang" himself who was sitting.
The area around the East Gate was immediately crowded, and all the Chu troops wanted to get a piece of the pie in this "surrender drama". The 2,000 "soldiers" were quickly killed, and the "Liu Bang" in the car was also surrounded.
Just when Xiang Yu stepped forward proudly, he found that he had fallen into Liu Bang's trap - the 2,000 "soldiers" were actually women wearing armor, and the "Liu Bang" in the car was just a pretending dead soldier.
The real Liu Bang had already broken out of the West Gate with Chen Ping and his men at this time, leaving only these baits to attract the attention of the Chu army. By the time Xiang Yu reacted and sent someone to pursue, it was too late, and Liu Bang's figure had already disappeared into the sky.
The Death of Conspiracy
After the establishment of the Han Dynasty, Chen Ping was awarded the title of Qu Rebel Marquis for his merits, and there was no one for a while. After Zhang Liang returned to the mountains and forests, he became the most important strategist around Liu Bang, and repeatedly gave advice to Liu Bang and was highly trusted.
However, in 179 BC, when Chen Ping was dying, he said something thought-provoking to his son: "I have used many conspiracies and tricks in my life, which has hurt the peace of heaven and violated taboos. After my death, sooner or later, the family will decay due to misfortune, so you can do it for yourselves. "
Sure enough, as soon as Chen Ping died, the Chen family began to decline. His son Chen Mai died mysteriously soon after inheriting the title; although his son Chen Hui lived to be 23 years old, he was only barely surviving; and in Chen He's generation, he was punished by the imperial court and the title was taken away. In just a few decades, the Chen family has gone from prominence to decline.
Later, the descendants of the Chen family wanted to revitalize the lintel by clinging to the Wei Zifu family, but unexpectedly, even the Wei family was uprooted by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. Everything fulfilled Chen Ping's last words - the glory and wealth he exchanged for conspiracy will eventually bring disaster to his children and grandchildren.
epilogue
Power is a double-edged sword, it can bring glory or depravity. In the pursuit of power, we have had to make some regrettable choices. However, the cost of these choices is often enormous, and they can hang over our descendants forever like a shadow.
Chen Ping's story reminds us that while pursuing goals, we must always maintain a rational and moral bottom line. Achieving great things requires informality, but that is only a helpless act in a specific situation, not an excuse to do whatever you want. We should use wisdom and courage to pursue the light, not fall into the quagmire of darkness.
Only by maintaining noble ethics and following moral laws can we truly win the respect of others and avoid bringing endless misfortune to future generations. Let's work together to be a pure force in this complex world.