When it comes to the important ministers who helped Han Gaozu Liu Bang to lay down the world, it is inevitable to think of the Three Masters of the Western Han Dynasty, the story of Han Xin, Zhang Liang, and Xiao He can be said to be known to women and children, and Zhang Cang's contribution cannot be erased, Zhang Cang can be said to be the most knowledgeable person in front of Liu Bang, Confucianism, music law, arithmetic, calendar, science and technology are difficult for him, and his brain is like the most sophisticated computer at that time, supporting the entire dynasty's institutional system with one person's strength.
He is a living fossil for the political field of the Han Dynasty, from the end of the Qin Dynasty to the struggle between chu and Han to the flourishing of Wenjing. He is of great significance to the Great Han, he represents an era. He studied under Xunzi and was a brother to Han Fei Lisi. He was also the last person to meet Qin Shi Huang. His studies involved hundreds of sons and hundreds of families, and his academic achievements were immeasurable wealth for the Han Dynasty. The emperor was afraid that after his death, his academic research would be lost, and especially let the genius Jia Yi worship under his door. Zhang Cang poured out his studies and literature to Jia Yi, and as a result, jia Yi died young. When Zhang Cang fell, the world shook. The era represented by Zhang Cang has come to an end, and a brand-new era is coming.
Zhang Cang (256 BC - 152 BC), his talent is outstanding, he has never forgotten his reading, and the history books record that he read all the time, and he is a real bookish. 他的老师是战国末年的著名思想家-荀子，他的同门师兄弟是韩非子和李斯，不过没有他们出名，但是能力不下于李斯、韩非子，甚至强于李斯、韩非子，能从秦始皇活到汉景帝时代，都身居要职，可见其水平之高。 In his lifetime, he experienced the King of Zhou Zhao, King Zhaoxiang of Qin, King Xiaowen of Qin, King Xiang of Qinzhuang, King Qin of Qin, Qin II, Prince of Qin, Xiang Yu, Han Gaozu, Emperor Hui of Han, Emperor Lühou, Emperor Wen of Han, emperor Jing of Han, and was quite legendary. Qin Shi Huang era as the imperial history of the Qin Dynasty, after the establishment of the Han Dynasty to help the Han Dynasty emperor to revise the law (the fa family's own work), proficient in accounting, music, etiquette, calendar, arithmetic, Bu Gua (Confucianism, Taoism, Yin and Yang family skills), quite proficient in the art of health, lived for more than 100 years, Qin Shi Huang wanted to immortalize the art of not to find the Fa's Zhang Cang but to find what alchemist Xu Fu, is also unknown.
Zhang Cang became a royal historian during the Qin Dynasty, but when he saw the people everywhere rise up, he also had a reaction, and when Liu Bang passed through Yuanyang, Henan, he felt that Liu Bang could do things as a person, and instead tied his head on the belt of his pants and resolutely decided to start a conquest of the world with Liu Bang. Perhaps as a young man, After Zhang Cang had some authority, he led several soldiers to violate military regulations and were seriously dealt with by Liu Bang, who wanted to be beheaded. When the soldiers ripped off his clothes, Wang Ling felt that the man had fair skin and a handsome appearance, and thought that this person could not be killed, and under his persuasion, Liu Bang finally spared his life. The grace of dripping water, when the spring repaid, since then Zhang Cang regarded Wang Ling as his father, and every 5 days he had to bring gifts to see his benefactor, a habit that persisted for a lifetime.
After the founding of the Han Dynasty, he followed Xiao He to the xiangfu with the title of marquis, and was responsible for managing the accounting books handed over by the counties and states. After Liu Bang's death, Lü Hou gained power and Zhang Cangping was safe and sound. After Lü Hou's death, Zhou Bo'an liu annihilated Lü Zhangcang, and then he also established the acting king, that is, Emperor Wen of Han. Zhang Cang was promoted to chancellor at the age of eighty and retired at ninety-five, that is to say, Zhang Cang was a chancellor for fifteen years. Zhang Cang was appointed as a chancellor, the reasons are not stated in the history books, combined with Zhang Cang's resume and the politics of the early Han Dynasty, I think there are the following reasons:
The first is merit. During the anti-Qin War, Zhang Cang followed Pei Gong in attacking Nanyang as a guest. During the Chu-Han War, Zhang Cang successively served as the shou of Changshan County, the daixiang, and the zhao xiang. After Han dinged the world, he followed Gao Zu's rebellion against the Yan king Zang Di. More importantly, after destroying Zhu Lü, he, together with Chen Ping and Zhou Bo, welcomed Emperor Wen. In the fourth year of Emperor Wen's reign, most of the heroes who followed Liu Bang on his southern expedition to the north were dead, while zhang Cang, who lived a long life, was relatively senior and had rich military merits.
The second is the position. During the Gaozu period, Zhang Cang served as a planner, assisting Xiang Guo Xiao He in managing the county's assessment, auditing and other affairs. After Lü Hou's death, he served as the Imperial Grand Master and was ranked third duke. After Emperor Wen appointed Infant Irrigation as Chancellor, he no longer established a lieutenant, so Zhang Cang's position among the ministers was second only to that of Infant Irrigation. The promotion from Imperial Master Todaidai was a manifestation of political stability and institutionalization in the Chengping era.
The third is talent. In his early years, he studied under Xunzi and went out with Li Si, Han Fei and other teachers. He was originally very fond of reading, and during the Qin Dynasty, he served as a pillar history and imperial history, in charge of various documents and archives in the palace, which enabled him to read all kinds of books and improve his knowledge. He was well versed in scripture and was the main inheritor of the Zuo Shi Chunqiu; he was good at the calendar, in the early Han Dynasty; he was proficient in arithmetic, revising the Nine Chapters of Arithmetic; he was very accomplished in music, especially good at playing the flute, even exceeding the standards of court musicians. He served as the minister of planning and princely states of the Han Dynasty for more than twenty years, and he was also very mature in politics. Therefore, he can be very suitable for the position of prime minister.
The fourth is identity. Zhang Cang was a member of the Gongchen clique, and letting him be the minister was in line with the inheritance system of "non-meritorious and non-Hou, non-Hou non-xiang" in the early Han Dynasty, which soothed the Meritorious Group, which was still powerful at that time, and was conducive to political stability. However, Zhang Cang was different from Zhou Bo and other military generals who attacked the city and plundered the land, his influence in the army was very small, and he was in a high position as a chancellor, and he would not pose a great threat to the imperial power. He possessed the qualities of a scholar and a Confucian, and could reconcile the contradictions between the old group of meritorious men and the newly promoted elites.
Zhang Cang is most talked about by his unattainable life expectancy In the Han Dynasty, where the average life expectancy was less than 50 years old, he actually lived to the age of 104. During the reign of Emperor Wen of Han, he became the prime minister above ten thousand people under one person. Zhang Cang made systematic and pioneering contributions to the political and economic calendar arithmetic technology of the Han Dynasty throughout his life, but this person's private life was scornful. He said that the secret of his longevity is that after the age of eighty, he lived by drinking breast milk, and he married more than 100 concubines in succession, and after these concubines became pregnant and gave birth to children, Zhang Cang did not care whether the child was dead or alive, and let them let him take breast milk. Although the flaws are not hidden, Zhang Cang's indiscretions in his private life make his reputation not as loud as that of the Western Han Sanjie.