When it comes to Zhou Yafu, those who are familiar with the history of the Han Dynasty know that his significance to Emperor Jing of the Han Dynasty is like "supporting the building in the general's tilt", after the outbreak of the "Rebellion of the Seven Kingdoms", it was Zhou Yafu who led the troops to quell the rebellion, which allowed Emperor Jing of the Han Dynasty to continue to sit firmly on the throne.
And according to common sense, an important minister like Zhou Yafu with great merits should have a frank career and win the trust of the emperor, but in fact, just by asking Emperor Han Jing for a pair of chopsticks when eating meat, Emperor Han Jing had murderous intentions towards Zhou Yafu, and in the end, Zhou Yafu also died quite aggrieved.
Why is this so? Is it really because of a pair of chopsticks? Of course not, chopsticks are just an inducement, and what led to Zhou Yafu's tragic ending was his "ignorance of current affairs".
One
One day in 143 BC, Emperor Jing of the Han Dynasty issued an edict, and the content of the edict was very simple, that is, the prime minister Zhou Yafu entered the palace and had dinner with the emperor.
Since it was the emperor's banquet, it was naturally impossible for the courtiers to refuse, so Zhou Yafu packed up his clothes and entered the palace.
But after entering the palace, Zhou Yafu saw a strange scene, only to see that there was wine and meat on the table left for him, and there were also dining utensils, but there was only one thing missing, what? That's chopsticks.
Without chopsticks, how can you eat this rice?
At this time, Emperor Han Jing did not call the waiter on the side to bring chopsticks to Zhou Yafu, but was indifferent, which made Zhou Yafu a little angry in his heart, am I not worthy of using chopsticks?
Subsequently, Zhou Yafu made a move, he motioned to the waiter to get him a pair of chopsticks, but what he didn't know was that his seemingly normal behavior made Emperor Han Jing extremely dissatisfied.
Why was Emperor Jing of Han dissatisfied with Zhou Yafu because of a pair of small chopsticks? Speaking of which, we have to talk about the "stupid things" that Zhou Yafu did.
Zhou Yafu is the second son of Zhou Bo, a famous minister in the early Han Dynasty, and according to the ancient primogeniture inheritance system, Zhou Yafu was originally not eligible to inherit the title, so it was Zhou Yafu's brother Zhou Sheng who inherited Zhou Bo's title at the beginning.
But not long after Zhou Sheng inherited the title, the title was abolished because of the crime, and the person was also put in prison, in this case, Emperor Jing of Han's father was Emperor Wen of Han, considering that Zhou Bo was a hero of the Han Dynasty, so he issued an edict to select an outstanding young talent from the children of the Zhou family to inherit the title.
And Zhou Yafu was able to inherit his father's business in this way, and was finally named a candidate.
Of course, even if he was made a marquis, Zhou Yafu would not be reused by the imperial court, and what really brought him into the sight of Emperor Wen of Han was an incident that happened in 158 BC.
In that year, the Xiongnu army invaded the border, and Zhou Yafu served as the Taishou of Hanoi at that time, according to the imperial edict, he was sent to the border of Xiliu, and at the same time, there were two other armies, which were stationed at Jianmen and Ba not far from Xiliu.
After the Han army was stationed for a period of time, Emperor Wen of Han decided to boost the morale of the soldiers, so he went to the front line in person, planning to go to the barracks of the Three Route Army to offer condolences and rewards.
When he came to the two military camps of Jianmen and Bashang, Emperor Wen of Han was warmly welcomed, after all, he was the emperor, but when he came to the military camp of Xiliu, Emperor Wen of Han was unexpectedly closed.
According to historical records, even if Emperor Wen of Han showed his identity, the soldiers of the Xiliu Battalion resolutely refused to let Emperor Wen of Han come in on the grounds that "the army only heard the general's order and did not hear the edict of the Son of Heaven".
In the end, it was Zhou Yafu who issued a warrant to let Emperor Wen of Han pass, and after entering the barracks, the soldiers asked the carriage not to run too fast, as a last resort, Emperor Wen of Han's coachman had to slow down, this is not the end, when he finally saw Zhou Yafu, Zhou Yafu actually saluted Emperor Wen of Han on the grounds of "the people who are in charge do not worship", wearing a military uniform and holding a weapon.
When he arrived at the camp, General Yafu held the troops and said: The people who are in charge do not worship, please see them with military salutes.
This approach, if it were replaced by another emperor, I am afraid that it would break out on the spot, but Emperor Wen of Han, who has always been known for his generosity and benevolence, did not, but greatly praised Zhou Yafu for "governing the army in a good way".
Subsequently, after the Xiongnu were repulsed, Zhou Yafu was promoted to lieutenant by Emperor Wen of Han, in charge of the military power of the capital, fully responsible for the safety of the Beijing Division, and when Emperor Wen of Han was dying, he also deliberately explained to Emperor Jing of Han who succeeded to the throne, "That is, there is an emergency, Zhou Yafu can really be a general", which roughly means that if there is a critical moment, Zhou Yafu can be reused.
On the surface, Zhou Yafu has been reused, but in fact, Zhou Yafu's series of actions are "playing with fire".
Why did Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty greatly appreciate Zhou Yafu at that time, firstly, Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty was indeed a generous person, but this was not the core factor, and more importantly, it was related to the situation of the Xiongnu at that time.
It is precisely because the Xiongnu are committing crimes that Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty naturally needs a general like Zhou Yafu, so he will not care about Zhou Yafu's various behaviors.
But in any case, the army under Zhou Yafu is not surnamed Zhou but Liu, and he said that Potian is just a courtier, so saying that "the army only hears the general's order, but does not hear the edict of the Son of Heaven" is already an extremely serious rebellious offense in ancient times.
It's just that Emperor Wen of Han didn't settle accounts with him, and this gave Zhou Yafu a wrong impression, that is, the emperor will always let me and always give me face.
This kind of psychology has laid hidden dangers for his tragic ending in the future.
In 154 BC, due to the outbreak of the "Rebellion of the Seven Kingdoms", Zhou Yafu was appointed as a lieutenant by Emperor Jing of the Han Dynasty, and was fully responsible for leading the army to quell the rebellion.
The whole process of counterinsurgency was quite successful, and Zhou Yafu was indeed a talented military talent, he frequently used strategies and defeated the rebels in only three months.
But in the process of quelling the rebellion, Zhou Yafu offended the younger brother of Emperor Jing of Han, that is, Liu Wu, the king of Liang.
Liu Wu is the second son of Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty, and he is the brother of Emperor Jing of the Han Dynasty, and he is also deeply favored by the Empress Dowager Dou, who almost responds to his needs.
And the reason why Zhou Yafu offended him was because he deliberately did not rescue him during the counterinsurgency.
After the rebellion broke out, the first thing the rebels attacked was Liu Wu's fiefdom Liang State, which made Liu Wu anxious, and immediately asked the court for help, but in the face of his request for help, Zhou Yafu did not send troops immediately.
As for the reason, of course, it is not that Zhou Yafu has an opinion on Liu Wu, but that he is ready to let Liang Guo attract more firepower from the rebels, so that he can form a surprise blow to the rebels from behind.
Of course, Zhou Yafu's strategy is good, and it is precisely because of this strategy that he won the final victory, but it made Liu Wu miserable.
At that time, Liu Wu completely played the role of a meat shield, and was beaten by the rebels with heavy losses, and when he was in danger, he repeatedly asked for help from Zhou Yafu, but he was still refused.
Later, Liu Wu, who was almost desperate, wrote a letter to his brother Emperor Jing of Han, asking him to issue an edict for Zhou Yafu to come, but even Emperor Jing of Han's edict did not make Zhou Yafu change his mind.
Although the rebellion was put down in the end, Liu Wu completely hated Zhou Yafu, and Empress Dowager Dou, who had always loved Liu Wu, was also extremely dissatisfied with Zhou Yafu.
Of course, even Empress Dowager Dou and Liu Wu were dissatisfied with Zhou Yafu, but this alone would not make Emperor Han Jing murderous to Zhou Yafu, after all, the Rebellion of the Seven Kingdoms was a major event that endangered the throne, and if necessary, it was not impossible for Emperor Han Jing to sacrifice Liu Wu.
Therefore, relying only on the "Liangzi" formed during the Rebellion of the Seven Kingdoms was not enough for Liu Wu and Empress Dowager Dou to influence Emperor Han Jingdi's attitude towards Zhou Yafu, but Zhou Yafu did several things later, which made them see the opportunity, and completely pushed Zhou Yafu into the abyss.
Two
What did Zhou Yafu do? First of all, he resolutely disagreed on the matter of Emperor Jing of Han's eldest brother, that is, Empress Dowager Dou's elder brother Wang Xinhou.
At that time, Empress Dowager Dou deliberately wanted to seal the king's letter, and Emperor Han Jing himself also had this idea, but when Emperor Han Jing discussed with the minister, Zhou Yafu stood up and said no on the spot.
Why not? Zhou Yafu moved out of the ancestral precept left by Liu Bang, the ancestor of the Han Dynasty, that is, "If you are not Liu, you can't be a king, and you can't wait unless you have merit", and reiterated the principle that Liu Bang formulated that year if you don't abide by the principle of "the world fights together".
Since Zhou Yafu said so, Emperor Han Jing naturally couldn't insist, after all, there was indeed an ancestral training, so he would stop at this time.
But needless to say, Emperor Han Jing was definitely not happy in his heart.
And another thing, also about the marquis, at that time there was a Xiongnu leader with a few henchmen to submit to the Han Dynasty, Emperor Jing of the Han Dynasty was very happy about this, not only held a welcome ceremony, but also wanted to crown the Xiongnu leader as a marquis.
Emperor Jing of the Han Dynasty did this because he wanted to take this Xiongnu leader as an example and demonstration, so that more Huns would know that there was a future for following the Han Dynasty, so as to attract more Huns to submit and achieve the goal of "surrendering without a fight".
However, Zhou Yafu once again disagreed.
The reason for his disagreement was that if these surrendered Huns were made princes, then how should those ministers who did not abide by the courtiers be punished in the future?
"Prime Minister Yafu said: If he betrays his lord and descends to His Majesty, and His Majesty is the marquis, why should he blame his ministers for not keeping the festival?" --- "Historical Records"
In fact, Zhou Yafu's worry is really a bit redundant, after all, these are two different things, the seal that should be sealed, the punishment that should be punished, there is no conflict at all, but Zhou Yafu just can't figure it out, so he resolutely disagrees with Emperor Han Jing to do this.
But this time, Emperor Jing of Han didn't listen to him, and finally insisted on sealing the leader of the Huns.
After this incident, Emperor Han Jing was nothing, but Zhou Yafu felt very unhappy, he thought that he had made great contributions, and the emperor should listen to him, and since he didn't listen to it this time, he had to express his dissatisfaction in his heart.
As a result, Zhou Yafu submitted his resignation to Emperor Jing of Han.
In a sense, Zhou Yafu's resignation is already a certain threat, and he believes that Emperor Jing of Han will inevitably give himself face, so as to withdraw the edict of the marquis in order to keep himself.
But as a result, Emperor Jing of Han did not retain him at all, and directly agreed to Zhou Yafu's application.
At this time, Zhou Yafu was dumbfounded, he really didn't expect this, in fact, Emperor Jing of the Han Dynasty endured Zhou Yafu for a day or two, when he was in the matter of establishing the prince, Zhou Yafu openly disagreed with Emperor Jing of the Han Dynasty, and resolutely disagreed with the establishment of Liu Che (that is, the later Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty).
In ancient times, it was a very sensitive matter to establish a prince, and when Emperor Jing of the Han Dynasty had already made up his mind to establish Liu Che, Zhou Yafu relied on his high position and power to openly oppose it, which is not just a contradiction, it is no exaggeration to say that he is challenging the authority of Emperor Jing of the Han Dynasty.
Therefore, Emperor Jing of the Han Dynasty began to consciously alienate Zhou Yafu, and in this case, Liu Wu, who was guilty of Zhou Yafu, together with the Empress Dowager Dou, fanned the flames in front of Emperor Jing of the Han Dynasty, which naturally made Emperor Jing of the Han Dynasty have a worse impression of Zhou Yafu.
Of course, the impression is bad, and Emperor Han Jing is not the kind of tyrannical king, considering that Zhou Yafu does have merit, so he still wants to give Zhou Yafu a chance.
And this opportunity is the aforementioned banquet in the palace.
Emperor Han Jing wanted to use this banquet to test whether Zhou Yafu was aware of his problems, but Zhou Yafu's performance was quite bad.
Since it was a banquet given by Emperor Jing of the Han Dynasty, everyone knew that whether there were chopsticks or not must have been arranged by Emperor Jing of the Han Dynasty, so if Zhou Yafu was self-aware, then he should think about why the emperor arranged it this way.
But he didn't, not only did he not, but he also treated Emperor Han Jing as air, and actually beckoned his attendant to get him a pair of chopsticks.
And this is just the beginning, next, Emperor Han Jing pointed to a plate of meat in front of Zhou Yafu and said, "Isn't this inadequate?" ”。
What do you mean" that is, are you still not satisfied with all this in front of you?
Speaking of this, no matter how stupid a person is, he understands what it means, and Zhou Yafu is naturally the same, so he knelt down to apologize to Emperor Han Jing.
If the matter ended here, then Zhou Yafu could have escaped a catastrophe, but his next move completely angered Emperor Han Jing.
When Emperor Han Jing just said a "rise", Zhou Yafu got up quickly, and then, turned around and left.
Since the beginning of the day, the article has tended to come out. --- "Historical Records"
Zhou Yafu naturally felt uncomfortable in his heart when he did this, which is what we often call "playing temper", but he forgot that he was facing the emperor, not ordinary people.
So he left in a negative mood, not only to leave Emperor Han Jing behind, but also to make Emperor Han Jing completely lose all patience and hope for him, in the end, Emperor Han Jing sighed and said: "This person is not a young master?", which means that such a person, how can he assist the young master?
And this sentence announced Zhou Yafu's death sentence.
Soon after, Zhou Yafu was charged with "rebellion" because his son bought the funeral armor privately, of course, after being arrested and put in prison, Zhou Yafu also strongly pleaded that he had no idea of rebellion, but the jailer who interrogated him made him completely speechless.
Wei scolded and said: "The prince wants to rebel against evil? Yafu said: "The vessels bought by the ministers are burial vessels, what is the anti-evil?" The official said: "The prince does not oppose the earth, that is, he wants to turn the ear down." --- "Historical Records"
What does that mean? That is to say, even if you (referring to Zhou Yafu) never thought about rebelling when you were alive, you are afraid that you will rebel underground after death.
In short, you are going to rebel.
Zhou Yafu's words made Zhou Yafu feel humiliated, and he protested by going on a hunger strike, and after five days of hunger strike, he vomited blood and died.
A pair of small chopsticks caused Zhou Yafu to die miserably, and the chopsticks were just a temptation, what Emperor Han Jing wanted was Zhou Yafu's attitude, but unfortunately, Zhou Yafu gave the worst answer.