In 158 BC, the Xiongnu in the north sent a large number of men and horses to invade the borders of the Western Han Dynasty, killing many ordinary people and looting many cattle, sheep and property. The Xiongnu's soldiers and horses were fierce, and even Chang'an, the kyoto of the Han Dynasty at that time, was alarmed.
The emperor of the Western Han Dynasty at that time was Emperor Wen of Han. In the face of the Xiongnu invasion, in order to protect the safety of the Western Han Dynasty and Chang'an, on the one hand, he sent three generals to lead three people and horses to resist the Xiongnu; on the other hand, he sent Zhou Yafu, Liu Li, and Xu Li as generals, and ordered them to lead three people and horses to be stationed in the area near Chang'an: Zhou Yafu's men and horses were stationed in Xiaoliu (southwest of Chang'an); Liu Li's men and horses were stationed on Bashang (thirty miles east of Chang'an); and Xu Li's men and horses were stationed at Zhimen (in the north of Chang'an).
In order to boost the morale of the troops against the Xiongnu, Emperor Wen of Han personally led the palace ministers to bring many cattle, sheep, wine, meat and other items to the military camp near Chang'an for comfort.
They first arrived at Bashang and Thorn Gate. The generals Liu Li and Xu Li, who were stationed there, heard that the emperor was coming, and hurriedly ordered the opening of the camp gate and led the soldiers to fall to the ground one by one to welcome the emperor's arrival. After Emperor Wen of Han and his ministers had finished their consolation in the barracks, Liu Li and Xu Li led their territorial troops to march and respectfully sent Emperor Wen of Han and his ministers out of the barracks.
Finally, it was The Turn of Camp Willow. Emperor Wendi's vanguard arrived outside the barracks, but the camp gate was quiet, only to see the generals holding knives and halberds one by one, vigilantly guarding the camp gate, and the archers buckled their arrows and pulled full bows and waited there, as if they were about to be fired. The commander of the front team felt very strange in his heart, thinking that Zhou Yafu had not received the notice from the emperor to come to the labor army, so he shouted loudly: "The emperor will arrive immediately, hurry up and prepare to meet!" ”
The officer guarding the camp gate replied, "The general has an order: the army only listens to the general's order." ”
The front team could not enter the barracks, so they had to wait on the side. After a while, Emperor Wendi's car arrived, and it was also blocked outside the gate of the barracks. Emperor Wen of Han had no choice but to send emissaries, holding the emperor's runes, and go ahead to inform Zhou Yafu that the emperor himself had come to comfort the army.
At this time, Zhou Yafu ordered the camp gate to be opened and let Emperor Wen of Han and his ministers' carriages and horses come in. But just as he entered the gate, the officer guarding the camp gate said to the driver: "The general has a rule: no horses are allowed in the barracks." Emperor Wen of Han listened and quickly asked the coachman to drive the carriage slowly. The ministers followed even more carefully, not even daring to come out of the atmosphere.
When Emperor Wendi of Han arrived at the barracks, he saw Zhou Yafu, dressed in full armor and holding weapons, standing there in a majestic manner. Zhou Yafu saw that Emperor Wen of Han was coming, so he stepped forward and gave him a military salute, saying, "I am wearing armor, and it is not good to kneel according to the regulations, please allow me to perform a military salute!" ” ．
Seeing the scene in front of him, Emperor Wen of Han was very touched, and he couldn't help but get serious, and respectfully leaned on the horizontal wood of the carriage to return a salute.
The ceremony to comfort the army began, and there was silence in the barracks, and there was a serious and tense atmosphere.
After the ceremony, Emperor Wen of Han led the ministers and left the Camp of Xiaoliu in an orderly manner. The ministers who followed Emperor Wen of Han were relieved at this moment, and they all talked about Zhou Yafu's treatment of the emperor in this way, which was a bit excessive. When Emperor Wen of Han heard this, he solemnly said to his ministers, "Zhou Yafu is the real general!" The army of Bashang and Thorn Gate just now is like a child making a game, there is no guard at all, what kind of army is that! If the enemy sneaks in to attack, it is strange that such an army does not take prisoners! Zhou Yafu's army was so heavily guarded, if the enemy came to attack, would he be able to move him in the slightest? ”
After returning to the palace, Emperor Wen of Han continued to praise Zhou Yafu. The three armies that fought against the Xiongnu fought less than a few months ago, and then they fought back the Xiongnu. The three armies also withdrew. At this time, Emperor Wen of Han promoted Zhou Yafu to lieutenant and put him in charge of the security affairs of Chang'an in Kyoto.
Later, Emperor Wen of Han fell ill, and before his death, he told the crown prince, later Emperor Jing of Han, that is, "Zhou Yafu was a general with great military talent. In the future, if the country has problems, Zhou Yafu can bear the heavy responsibility of commanding the army. ”
Later facts proved that Emperor Wendi of Han was not wrong. In the struggle to defend the imperial court, Zhou Yafu was loyal to his duties, resourceful and good at war, and led the soldiers to make many achievements in battle, and he really deserved to be a real general.
In 154 BC, Liu Tao, the King of Wu, provoked Liu Peng the King of Chu, Liu Jiao of Jiaoxi, Liu Xiongqu the King of Jiaodong, Liu Xian the King of Miaochuan, Liu Peiguang the King of Jinan, and Liu Sui the King of Zhao to jointly rebel against the central government of the Han Dynasty. This is the famous Rebellion of the Seven Kingdoms (Princely States) in history.
The armies of the State of Wu and the State of Chu surrounded the Liang capital, Suiyang (Shangqiu, Henan), and the situation was critical. The King of Liang quickly sent a letter to Emperor Jing of Han, requesting that troops be sent to the rescue as soon as possible. Faced with this situation, the Han Jing Emperor felt very embarrassed for a while. After being reminded by the ministers, he remembered the instructions of Emperor Wen of Han on his deathbed, so he hurried to pay Zhou Yafu as a lieutenant and asked him to lead a large group of men and horses to quell the Rebellion of the Seven Kingdoms.
Zhou Yafu suggested to Emperor Jingdi of Han: "The Chu soldiers moved briskly, it was difficult to win for a while, and they also ordered the King of Liang to hold on for a while, so we did not have to go directly to save Liang, as long as we cut off the enemy's rear supply line, we could subdue the enemy." After consideration, Emperor Jingdi of Han agreed with Zhou Yafu's opinion.
Zhou Yafu led his troops to Lüyi (Jinxiang, Shandong), and the armies of the State of Wu and chu heard that Zhou Yafu had led the troops to come, so they drew out the main force besieging Liangdu and rushed to Changyi. In view of the long-distance attack of the armies of Wu and Chu, although the situation was fierce, but the supply line was long, it was not suitable for protracted combat and other weaknesses, and adopted a strategy of not being able to stand out, ordering the generals to only defend and not attack. Secretly, however, Zhou Yafu selected hundreds of strong soldiers to form a fierce light cavalry, straight out of the Huai River (where the water flows south into the Huai River), rushed to the rear of the Wu and Chu armies, and cut off their rear supply lines.
Then, Zhou Yafu led his men and horses to Xiayi (Anhui Yanshan), and the armies of the Wu and Chu states were eager to fight, and they also came to Xiayi. The armies of the States of Wu and Chu repeatedly challenged Zhou Yafu's army every day, but Zhou Yafu ignored them. One night, there was a sudden disturbance in Zhou Yafu's camp, and the soldiers attacked each other until they were in front of Zhou Yafu's tent. What about Zhou Yafu? He slept peacefully on the bed, not even moving. After a while, Zhou Yafu's army settled down.
The armies of the State of Wu and the State of Chu became anxious and began to attack the city fiercely. On that day, the armies of Wu and Chu pretended to besiege the southeast corner of the city, and Zhou Yafu, after observation and judgment, led the main force to garrison the northwest corner of the city. After a while, the elite troops sent by the wu and Chu armies did indeed attack the northwest corner of the city, and just happened to hit the hard nail. Under the stubborn resistance of Zhou Yafu's main forces, the armies of the State of Wu and the State of Chu could not attack the city, killing and wounding countless people, and could only collect troops and return to the camp.
The armies of the States of Wu and Chu were unable to win the battle, and the supply of grain and grass encountered difficulties. Wu Guo's spies reported: "Zhou Yafu secretly sent a group of soldiers to copy our back road, and had already cut off our grain delivery road, and the grain and grass that had been transported a few days ago were also snatched away by them on the road." When King Wu heard this, he immediately sat there like a deflated leather ball and sighed and said, "We have hundreds of thousands of horses and horses, how can we do without grain and grass?" Liu Peng, the King of Chu, listened, rolled his eyes vigorously, helpless.
After a few more days, the armies of the State of Wu and the State of Chu began to riot. The soldiers were grumbling with hunger and running around, looking for food to fill their stomachs, where else could they think of fighting! King Wu saw that there was no hope of victory anymore and planned to lead his troops to retreat.
Zhou Yafu, who had long been waiting for the opportunity to counterattack, would easily let the tiger return to the mountain. As soon as he saw that the time had come, he immediately led his generals to launch an attack on the armies of the State of Wu and the State of Chu. Zhou Yafu's army was full of energy, like a fierce tiger descending the mountain, encountering the tired and hungry wu and chu army, it was almost like the autumn wind sweeping away the leaves and the flood swept the dust, and at once the soldiers and horses of the wu and chu countries were beaten to pieces, and even the life of the king of Wu could not be saved.
Zhou Yafu took advantage of the victory and led the soldiers to fight in bloody battles, and it took three months to finally quell the Rebellion of the Seven Kingdoms and defend and consolidate the rule of the central government of the Western Han Dynasty.