Hugging the head of the rat, it means to run away in panic like a mouse, describing the embarrassed appearance when fleeing in a hurry. The idiom comes from the "Hanshu Kuaitong Biography", "The beginning of the King of Changshan, Cheng Anjun's old appearance and for the neck of the friend, and the fight for Zhang Huang, Chen Shi, the King of Changshan Feng head rat scurry, in order to return to the King of Han." ”
Zhang Er was a native of Daliang of Wei at the end of the Warring States Period, and when he was young, he was a frequent visitor to Wei Wuji, the king of Xinling, and then lived in Waihuang, married a rich girl, and under the sponsorship of his father-in-law, Zhang Er recruited guests from all over the world, and later became the commander of Huang County outside Wei. In the early years, Liu Bang went to Waihuang many times to visit Zhang Er, often staying for several months, and Zhang Er never treated him as a guest, but as a friend.
Chen Yu and Zhang Er are both from Daliang, and they are very familiar with Zhang Er, Chen Yu is younger than Zhang Er, so he serves Zhang Er like a father, so the two have become friends.
After Qin conquered Wei, Qin Shi Huang heard that Zhang Er and Chen Yu were famous Wei scholars, and ordered a reward for their capture.
In the first year of Qin II (209 BC), Chen Sheng and Wu Guang rebelled in Daze Township, and when the rebel army entered Chen County, it had reached tens of thousands. Zhang Er and Chen Yu both defected to the rebel army, and later failed to dissuade Chen Sheng from becoming king, and the two asked Chen Sheng for troops to capture Zhao. In August of the same year, Chen Sheng sent Wuchen to lead troops to attack Zhaodi, and Zhang Er and Chen Yu accompanied them as captains.
After Wuchen led his troops to capture more than 30 cities, including Handan, under the persuasion of Zhang Er and Chen Yu, he established himself as the king of Zhao, with Zhang Er as the right prime minister, Shao Shao as the left prime minister, and Chen Yu as the general.
In November, King Wuchen of Zhao and Shao Shao, the prime minister of Zuo, were killed by the general Li Liang, and Zhang Er and Chen Yu, who had escaped, supported Zhao Xie, a descendant of Zhao, as the king of Zhao.
In October of the third year of Qin II (208 BC), Zhang Han, a general of the Qin Dynasty who led his troops to quell the rebellion, after breaking through the Zhang Chu regime, killing Wei Xiangzhou City and Qi Wang Tian Dan, forcing Wei King Wei to commit suicide, and killing Chu general Xiang Liang, thought that the rebellion south of the Yellow River was no longer a concern, so he led his troops to cross the Yellow River and go north to attack the Zhao rebels.
After Zhang Han broke through Handan, Zhang Er knew that his troops were insufficient and it was difficult for him to hold on to Xindu, so he fled east with Zhao Xie, but was besieged by the Qin army in Julu. Chen Yu collected tens of thousands of remnants of Changshan's troops and stationed them north of Julu.
Facing the main force of the Qin army led by Zhang Han and the Shangjun border army led by Wang Li, Zhang Er knew that Julu City, which only had little soldiers and little food, could not stop the Qin army at all, so he thought of Chen Yu, who was collecting soldiers and horses outside, and sent Zhang Huang and Chen Ze to ask Chen Yu for help.
Chen Yu knew that with only tens of thousands of new troops in his hands, he was no match for the 300,000 Qin army, and even if he led his troops back to help, it would only be "a meat commission for the tiger and a dead army in vain". But in the face of Zhang Er's request for help, Chen Yu couldn't ignore it, and finally reluctantly pulled out 5,000 reinforcements, led by Zhang Huang and Chen Ze to rescue Julu, and the whole army was wiped out.
In December of the same year, Xiang Yu led his troops north to break through Wang Li, and the siege of Julu was lifted. After the war, Zhang Er made an appointment with Chen Yu and asked him why he refused to return to help, and asked Zhang Huang and Chen Ze about their whereabouts, Chen Yu said that he ordered them to lead 5,000 troops back to the army to rescue, but the whole army was wiped out, but Zhang Er did not believe it, thinking that Chen Yu killed the two.
Chen Yu was furious when he heard this, and took off the seal and handed it to Zhang Er, Zhang Er, under the persuasion of his subordinates, took the opportunity to seize Chen Yu's army, and Chen Yu saw Zhang Er act like this, and he was also furious. Zhang Er and Chen Yu became enemies because of this.
In December of the first year of the Han Dynasty (207 years ago), after the destruction of the Qin State, Xiang Yu pretended to respect Xiong Xin, the king of Chu Huai, as the righteous emperor, and then sealed the princes of the eighteen roads in the world, which divided the Zhao country into two, and moved the king of Zhao to the north of Dai County, and changed the title of the king of Dai; Zhang Er was the king of Changshan, and built the capital of Xindu.
As for Chen Yu, although he restored the Zhao State, because he did not enter the customs with Xiang Yu, he only sealed the marquis in the three counties around Nanpi. Chen Yu was furious when he heard the news, thinking that Xiang Yu's division was unfair.
At that time, it happened that Qi Di Tian Rong also refused to accept Xiang Yu's separation, drove away Xiang Yu's division of Qi Wang Tiandu, killed Jiaodong Wangtian City and Jibei Wang Tian'an, occupied the land of Sanqi and established himself as the king of Qi, and openly confronted Xiang Yu. Chen Yu sent Xia Shuo to borrow troops from Tian Rong, and Tian Rong also wanted to establish an anti-Chu regime in Zhaodi, so he transferred part of his troops to Chen Yu, and Chen Yu led the troops of the three counties and Tian Rong's reinforcements to counterattack Zhaodi.
In September of the first year of the Han Dynasty (206 BC), Zhang Er's troops were defeated and fled. The following month, Chen Yu re-established Zhao Xie as King of Zhao. In the second month, Zhao Xie, who was grateful to Chen Yu, named Chen Yu as the acting king. After Zhang Er's army was defeated, he killed Xiang Ying, who was sent by Xiang Yu to spy on him, held Xiang Ying's head and fled in panic like a mouse, and fled all the way west to Liu Bang, who received him with generous courtesy.
In October of the third year of the Han Dynasty (205 years ago), Liu Bang ordered Han Xin to open up the northern front in the "Chu and Han Hegemony", Zhang Er and Han Xin commanded tens of thousands of troops from Jingcheng to attack Zhao State, Han Xin defeated the Zhao army in the "Battle of the Back Water", Chen Yu, the commander of the Zhao army, was beheaded on the water, and Zhao Xie was killed in Xindu. Later, at the request of Han Xin, Liu Bang named Zhang Er as the king of Zhao.
Later, Han Xin led his troops eastward to pacify the land of Qi, and the strategist Kuaitong persuaded him to cut the land and stand on his own, and divide the world with Liu Bang and Xiang Yu. Kuaitong persuaded Han Xin on the grounds that Zhang Er and Chen Yu had been friends, but later they resented each other and attacked each other, but Han Xin did not adopt his opinion in the end.