Zhou Yafu was a famous general of the Western Han Dynasty and the second son of Zhou Bo, the founder of the Han Dynasty. Because after reviewing the three-way army, Emperor Wen of Han was amazed by Zhou Yafu, who was stationed in Xiliu, and from then on, he became the most famous general at that time. And after being praised by the emperor, Zhou Yafu is still as modest and self-prudent as before, and governs the army strictly, why is this? Listen to the breakdown below:
Portrait of Zhou Yafu
Zhou Yafu was praised after the emperor inspected the army, but why did he still govern the army harshly?
1. Emperor Wen Jing and Yafu jointly performed Yili
Zhou Yafu's above-mentioned performance not only won the praise of Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty, but also won the trust and reuse of Emperor Wen and Jing, and Zhou Yafu also lived up to expectations and made great contributions to consolidating the rule of the Western Han Dynasty. Their monarchs and ministers jointly performed the "Yi Li", especially the philosophy of the six lines on the I Ching's "Qian Hexagram".
"Humility Hexagram" on the six words "Ming Qian, use the teacher, conquer the country." The "Ming" in "Ming" refers to publicization, dissemination; "Yi country" refers to the fiefdom of the princes. The meaning of this proverb is that after being famous, he is still modest and cautious, and this kind of person is most suitable for leading troops to fight and crusade against other countries. The following is to tell the historical story of "Yafu Mingqian with a teacher", and interpret the six words on the "Qian Hexagram" with an image.
Second, Yafu Mingqian uses a teacher
In the early Western Han Dynasty, there were two great generals, father and son, both of whom made outstanding contributions to the political stability of the early years of the Western Han Dynasty. His father's name was Zhou Bo, who made decisive contributions to quelling the rebellion of the Lu clan and consolidating the Liu Han Dynasty.
Stills of Zhou Yafu's father Zhou Bo
After Zhou Bo died, his son Zhou Shengzhi replaced the position of Marquis of Jiang. But this Xinjiang was executed for committing homicide. Emperor Wen missed Zhou Bo's merits, so he chose the virtuous Zhou Yafu among Zhou Bo's sons to inherit the throne and worship him as a general.
In 158 BC (the twenty-second year of Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty), the Xiongnu invaded the northern border, and Emperor Wen hurriedly transferred the border to defend the town. In order to guard the Jingshi, Emperor Wen sent a three-way army to the vicinity of Chang'an to defend against the guards. Zong Zhengqing Liu Li was stationed in Bashang, Zhu Zihou Xu Li was stationed in Jianmen, and Hanoi Taishou Zhou Yafu was guarding Xiliu.
In order to boost morale, Emperor Wen personally went to the three-way army to offer condolences. He went to Bashang first, and then to Thorn Gate, both of which did not need to be reported, and when he saw the emperor's chariots and horses coming, the military camp took the initiative to let him go. Moreover, the main generals of the two places did not know the news until Emperor Wen arrived, and they panicked when they greeted him. When sending Emperor Wen away, he also personally led the whole army to the gate of the camp.
Zhou Yafu stills
When Emperor Wen arrived at Zhou Yafu's camp, it was completely different from the two places he went to first. After being told that the emperor was coming to offer condolences, the guard of the military gate said: "The general has orders, and the army only listens to the general's orders, not the emperor's edicts." When Emperor Wen arrived, he sent a messenger to report with his own talismans, and Zhou Yafu ordered to open the gate to greet him.
The soldiers guarding the camp also solemnly told Emperor Wen's entourage: "The general has an order: no chariots and horses are allowed to gallop in the barracks." The coachman had to control the reins and not let the horse go too fast. When he arrived at the big tent in the army, Zhou Yafu came out to greet him in a military uniform, and bowed to Emperor Wen with a weapon in his hand: "The people who are in the middle of the army do not worship, please allow your majesty to allow your subordinates to pay tribute to the army." When Emperor Wen heard this, he was very moved, and leaned over to hold the horizontal wood in front of the car and saluted the soldiers.
After Emperor Wen came out of Zhou Yafu's military camp, he exclaimed: "Zhou Yafu is really a general, the teams led by other generals are easy to defeat, and Zhou Yafu's army is highly disciplined and difficult to defeat." Emperor Wen praised him like this, and Zhou Yafu became the most famous general. But he remained as modest and self-disciplined as before, and governed the army harshly, making the army an invincible force.
Emperor Wangjing Image
Before Emperor Wen died, he said to Emperor Jing, who succeeded to the throne: "If you encounter an emergency in the future, you can appoint Zhou Yafu to command the army." Emperor Jing kept it firmly in mind. In the third year after Emperor Jing's accession to the throne, Liu Bi, King of Wu, Liu Wu, King of Chu, Liu Sui, King of Zhao, Liu Bi, King of Jiaoxi, King of Jiaodong, King of Jinan, and other kings of Qitong, launched a rebellion in the name of punishing Chao Wrong.
The confused Emperor Jing of Han killed the loyal minister Chao Cuo, who advocated weakening the vassal states, and the rebellion of the Seven Kingdoms did not stop, but became more and more powerful. Emperor Jing of the Han Dynasty encountered a great crisis, but fortunately, Emperor Jing remembered Emperor Wen's last words, so he appointed Zhou Yafu as a lieutenant to lead the army to the east to attack Wu and Chu, where the rebellion was the strongest.
Zhou Yafu's army came to the front line and faced Wu and Chu with the same army, and Zhou Yafu ordered the army to hold its position and not to attack. Secretly, Zhou Yafu sent an elite army to go around behind the Wu and Chu armies and cut off the food supply of the Wu and Chu armies. The armies of Wu and Chu had no food supply, a famine occurred, and the whole army was in chaos. In order to compete for food, the army was in chaos, so that they killed each other.
The image of Zhou Yafu in the game
Taking advantage of the turmoil of the armies of Wu and Chu, Zhou Yafu launched an attack and annihilated the main forces of the armies of Wu and Chu in one fell swoop. Wu and Chu were the leaders of the Qitong rebellion, and as soon as the armies of Wu and Chu were eliminated, the other rebellions were quickly suppressed. It took only three months.
3. The life inspiration brought by the story
The story of "Yafu Mingqian uses the teacher" and the six words on the "Hexagram of Humility" give us the following inspiration for our lives:
Lao Tzu once said: Soldiers are hoodoos; The destruction of families and the loss of people brought about by the war are extremely harmful; A commander is often related to the lives of thousands of people, and the author of the Book of Changes pays great attention to this, so the six lines of the "Hexagram of Humility" emphasize that the person who is "humble" is suitable for leading troops to fight and conquer other countries, in order to avoid the harm of war. And Zhou Yafu is such a talent, plus Emperor Wen and Emperor Jing knew Yi Li very well, and trusted and reused Zhou Yafu very much, so he was able to defeat the rebellion of the Seven Kingdoms at a very small price.
In short, Zhou Yafu, a famous general of the Western Han Dynasty, was praised after the emperor inspected the army, but the purpose of his still strict management of the army was that he was familiar with Yi Li, maintained the virtue of being modest and prudent after being commended, and strictly governed the army; Emperor Wen and Emperor Jing were able to identify talents and boldly reuse virtuous generals. As a result, the Han Dynasty was able to maintain peace and stability for a long time.
Interpretation of "Humility Hexagram".
This article was originally written by "Ruri Zhongtian 54", welcome to pay attention, learn together, and make progress together!