Preface
In the feudal society, the imperial power was the supreme existence, so the lives of the courtiers were also in the hands of the emperor.
Therefore, people in officialdom are also very shrewd, understand how to be sophisticated, and handle things tactfully, if they put their minds on their faces, or most of the people who speak out, their lives are in danger.
Especially in front of the emperor, and Zhou Yafu in the Han Dynasty was because the emperor invited him to dinner, he didn't have chopsticks, so he shouted loudly and asked people to send chopsticks, but he never wanted the emperor to catch the handle.
Zhou Yafu's behavior made the emperor dissatisfied, so he asked Zhou Yafu why he was like this, whether he was dissatisfied with the banquet, Zhou Yafu was full of complaints, but he didn't dare to show a little, and he had to accuse the emperor.
But after confessing the crime, he didn't wait for the emperor to speak, so he left the table angrily and walked to the door, so this also made the emperor look down on Zhou Yafu even more, thinking that he had no ability to assist the prince, and then laid a hidden danger for Zhou Yafu to be imprisoned.
First, after the famous family, it can be of great use
Zhou Yafu is actually a famous family, his father was Zhou Bo who fought the world with Liu Bang, and he was still very talented in military affairs, mainly inheriting his father's bravery.
But this person also has a big shortcoming, and it is also the most obvious shortcoming of the general, that is, his emotional intelligence is too low, not to mention any great wisdom, in this kind of officialdom that eats people and does not spit out bones, this is undoubtedly his biggest weakness.
After Zhou Bo's death, his eldest son Zhou Sheng inherited the title, but Zhou Sheng was not as good as Zhou Yafu, so he didn't sit in this position for long before he was dismissed for committing a crime.
Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty remembered Zhou Bo's exploits, so he named Zhou Yafu as a marquis, and Zhou Yafu is indeed much stronger than Zhou Sheng, whether it is his ability to command troops or his ability to use troops on the battlefield, it is very respectable.
Until the sixth year of Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty, the Xiongnu were still restless and began to invade the territory of the Han Dynasty to threshk grass, and for a time the border area was unpredictable, but Emperor Wen of Han was not the monarch who let others handle it.
Soon he counterattacked, and selected three valiant generals from the court and stationed them in the areas of Basang, Jianmun and Xiliu near Gyeonggi to form a triangular defense system.
Zhou Yafu was also praised as a "true general" by Emperor Wen of Han in this army, and "the general is outside, and the military life is not affected" also came from his mouth.
With the attack of Zhou Yafu and others on the Xiongnu, they were soon forced to retreat, and all walks of life also withdrew in turn, so Emperor Wen of Han appreciated Zhou Yafu more and regarded him as the pillar of the country.
Later, Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty was terminally ill because of his illness, so he instructed the then crown prince Liu Qi and said: "If you encounter key things in the future, you can use Zhou Yafu, he is a trustworthy general." ”
At this time, Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty undoubtedly regarded Zhou Yafu as one of the candidates to assist the prince, and after the death of Emperor Wen, Liu Qi let Zhou Yafu take the position of general of the chariot cavalry.
Later, when the Seven Kingdoms Rebellion occurred, Emperor Jing promoted Zhou Yafu to the rank of lieutenant and asked him to lead his troops to quell the rebellion.
2. Pacify the Rebellion of the Seven Kings
Zhou Yafu has his own plan for doing this, in his opinion, the combat effectiveness of the Chu army is very strong, and it is not an opponent at all in a head-to-head battle, so he will not fight with the Chu army.
But this does not mean that he doesn't care about this matter, but thinks that let Liang Guo attract the firepower of the Chu army in front, and Zhou Yafu will send someone to cut off the grain route of the Chu army from behind, and then wait for an opportunity to defeat the Chu army.
Emperor Jing was still in favor of Zhou Yafu's approach, and Zhou Yafu also made a detour to start an attack on the Chu army, and also met a scholar named Zhao She, who suggested that Zhou Yafu make a detour to the right to the Jin army, in order to avoid being attacked by the rebels halfway.
Zhou Yafu also followed Zhao She's advice, made a detour, and captured the ambush of the Chu army.
At this time, the Liang State was still facing the attack of the Chu army, and the King of Liang was also very anxious at this time, so he asked Zhou Yafu for help. was rejected by Zhou Yafu, but stuck to Dachangyi City.
King Liang really couldn't hold on anymore and sent troops to ask for help again, but Zhou Yafu was always indifferent. In the end, it was King Liang who wrote a letter to Emperor Jing asking for help, and Emperor Jing issued an edict asking Zhou Yafu to lead troops to reinforce him, but Zhou Yafu didn't even listen to the emperor's orders and still didn't go to war.
But secretly sent soldiers to cut off the rebels' grain routes, the rebels' grain looted, once the rebels ran out of grain and grass, they couldn't support it for long, so the rebels learned that the grain and grass were robbed, so they turned to attack Zhou Yafu.
The rebels came to challenge several times, but Zhou Yafu did not fight, and soon there was an unstable situation in the army, but Zhou Yafu did not care.
Later, there was turmoil in the army, but Zhou Yafu did not care until the chaos subsided, and later the rebels attacked the southeast of the barracks, and Zhou Yafu not only did not let people go to the southeast to defend the enemy, but sent people to defend the northwest.
The rebels' moves were all caused by the lack of food, and they wanted to fight, but they also had scruples because of the lack of food and grass, and finally they could only retreat when they saw the enemy, but Zhou Yafu sent elite soldiers to pursue at this time, and finally won the battlefield game.
And took the head of the rebel leader, after the war was pacified, no one admired Zhou Yafu's way of using troops, whether it was the attitude of being in danger or the superb use of soldiers, people were amazed by it, but only one person was dissatisfied with Zhou Yafu, and this person was King Liang.
After all, when King Liang asked Zhou Yafu for help many times, Zhou Yafu turned a blind eye and asked Liang to attract the fierce artillery fire of the rebels, causing Liang to pay a heavy price, so King Liang was resentful of him.
3. Humiliated and died on hunger strike
But to quell the rebellion of the Seven Kings, Zhou Yafu also made a great contribution, and Emperor Jing was dissatisfied with Zhou Yafu's actions because of the matter of King Liang, but he also had to give Zhou Yafu some rewards, so he promoted Zhou Yafu to prime minister.
Later, an incident directly touched Emperor Jing's scales, and he made up his mind to execute Zhou Yafu, that is, on the issue of establishing the prince, Zhou Yafu stood on the opposite side of the emperor.
Emperor Jing of the Han Dynasty wanted to abolish Liu Rong, who was born to Li and Li Ji, and make Liu Che the crown prince, but Zhou Yafu was very opposed to this matter, so it seems that Zhou Yafu is undoubtedly contradicting Emperor Jing, but if Zhou Yafu does not die, how can Liu Che be the emperor?
So since then, Emperor Jing has been very estranged from Zhou Yafu, and there is also a Liang King who resents him, every time he comes to the capital, he will say bad things about Zhou Yafu to the Queen Mother, so that even the Queen Mother and others have an opinion of Zhou Yafu.
However, what really made the royal family dislike it was because the queen's brother wanted to be a marquis, and at that time, the Empress Dowager Dou wanted Emperor Jing to give the queen's brother a marquis, but Emperor Jing was unwilling, but it was not easy to refuse.
So at this time, Zhou Yafu was the mouth substitute to help block the mouth of the Queen Mother and others, but it also made the Queen Mother and others complain about Zhou Yafu.
Another thing is to give the Xiongnu generals a marquis, at that time the Xiongnu had unknown generals to submit to the Han Dynasty, so that Emperor Jing of the Han Dynasty was very happy, so he wanted to make a marquis, so that more Huns could see the benevolence and righteousness of the Han Dynasty, and let more Huns submit to the Han Dynasty.
But Zhou Yafu insisted on objecting, saying: "If these Huns are given marquis, how should we deal with those unruly ministers in the future?"
Emperor Jing saw that Zhou Yafu was against him everywhere, so he thought that Zhou Yafu was pedantic and unusable, and Zhou Yafu was also disappointed at this time, so he resigned due to illness, and Emperor Jing also agreed.
But soon after, Emperor Jing thought that Zhou Yafu should still be given a chance, so there was the opening scene, banqueting Zhou Yafu, but Zhou Yafu saw meat in front of him, but he did not prepare chopsticks, thinking that this was the emperor's humiliation to him.
Very angry, so he shouted loudly to the servants on the utensils, Emperor Jing saw this and said: "What are you dissatisfied with?" Zhou Yafu was dissatisfied but did not dare to show it, so he could only confess, but he did not think that he was guilty in his heart, and before the emperor called him, he left the table angrily, and finally Emperor Jing just praised: "How can he assist the young master like this?"
Emperor Jing therefore wanted to find an opportunity to get rid of Zhou Yafu, thinking that if Zhou Yafu was there, Liu Che would not be able to be the emperor. Until one time, Zhou Yafu's son saw his old age and bought him 500 armor guilders as funeral goods, but he was considered to be suspected of rebellion.
Zhou Yafu couldn't bear this kind of grievance, he was about to commit suicide when he was edicted to enter the court, and he couldn't bear to face this humiliation, and finally died of hunger strike for five days.
epilogue
"Soldiers can be killed, not humiliated", it is no wonder that Zhou Yafu was finally forced to the point of hunger strike, although Zhou Yafu is upright, shows his heart, and is loyal, but he is too tough and not suitable for such an officialdom, and was finally pulled down by Emperor Jing of Han, and it is also because of Zhou Yafu's heart that the emperor is intolerable, let alone assisting the young master Liu Che.