Zhang Er was a native of the Wei state of Daliang. Zhang Er was once stripped of his local name and fled to Wei. Waihuang has the daughter of a rich man, who is very beautiful, but marries a stupid and mediocre husband, and flees her husband to join her father's old guests. Her father's guest Ping Su knew Zhang Er, so he said to the beautiful woman, "If you want to marry a talented husband, marry Zhang Er." The beautiful woman listened to his advice, so she finally broke off her relationship with her husband and remarried to Zhang Er. Zhang Er was freed from embarrassment at this time, and traveled widely, and the female family provided Zhang Er with abundant supplies, so Zhang Er attracted guests thousands of miles away. So I made a county order in Waihuang. His reputation grew ever since.
Chen Yu, also a native of the Wei state of Daliang, loved Confucianism and traveled to the Zhao kingdom many times. A very wealthy gongcheng married his daughter to him, and he also knew that Chen Yu was not an ordinary mediocre person. Chen Yu was young, and he served Zhang Er like a father, and the two established a friendship of hardship without remorse.
When the Qin state fell to Daliang, Zhang Er's family lived in Waihuang, and when Han Gaozu was still an ordinary citizen, he followed Zhang Er many times, and lived in Zhang Er's house for several months. A few years after the fall of the State of Qin to the State of Wei, it had been heard that these two men were well-known figures of the State of Wei, so they offered a reward for arrest, and those who caught Zhang Er were rewarded with thousands of gold, and those who caught Chen Yu were rewarded with five hundred gold. Zhang Er and Chen Yu changed their names and surnames, and fled to Chen Di together to serve as Li Zhengwei to maintain their lives, and the two were opposite each other.
Chen Shi revolted in Puzhou, and when he reached ChenDi, his army had expanded to tens of thousands. Zhang Er and Chen Yu begged to see Chen Shi. Chen Shi and his cronies had heard many times that Zhang Er and Chen Yu had talent, but they had never met before, and they were very happy to see each other this time. However, Chen Shi did not listen to the opinions of the two of them and established himself as the King of Chen.
Chen Yu once again advised King Chen: "The Great King dispatched the armies of Liang and Chu to advance westward, and the most urgent task was to break through Hangu Pass and not to regain the area north of the Yellow River. Therefore, King Chen appointed his old friend, Chen Diren Wuchen as a general, Shao Sao as a protector, Zhang Er and Chen Yu as lieutenants, allocated an army of three thousand people, and went north to seize the land of the Zhao state. Wu Chen himself established himself as Wu Xinjun. Conquered the ten cities of the Zhao State, the rest of which were held firmly by the city, and no one was willing to surrender. Later, using scheming, more than thirty cities fell without a fight.
Arriving in Handan, Wuchen heeded the advice of Zhang Er and Chen Yu and established himself as the King of Zhao. Chen Yu was appointed as the Great General, Zhang Er as the Right Minister, and Shao Saul as the Left Minister. Han Guang was sent to seize Yandi, Li Liang to seize Changshan, and Zhang Di to seize Shangdang.
After Li Liang pacified Changshan, he returned to report that King Zhao had sent Li Liang to capture Taiyuan. Li Liang's troops arrived at Shiyi, and the Qin army had already sealed Jingxing tightly and could not advance forward. Li Liang mutinied, and Wu Chen and Shao Sao were killed. Many of the Zhao people were the eyes and ears of Zhang Er and Chen Yu, so they were able to escape. Collect the broken army of the warriors and get fifty thousand people. Some guests advised Zhang Er: "You are both foreigners, living here, it is very difficult to get the Zhao people to be attached; only the descendants of king Zhao when the Six Kingdoms were established, with the support of justice, can they achieve their deeds." So he visited Zhao Xie and proclaimed himself king of Zhao, allowing him to live in Xindu. Li Liang attacked Chen Yu, but Chen Yu instead defeated Li Liang, and Li Liang had to flee back to the Qin general Zhang Handan.
Zhang Handan led his troops to Handan, moved the people of the city to Hanoi, destroyed the city, and leveled all the buildings. Zhang Er and Zhao Wang Xie fled into Julu City and were surrounded by the Qin general Wang Qi. Chen Yu gathered tens of thousands of remnants of Changshan's troops in the north and stationed them north of Julu City. Zhang Handan's army was stationed in The Thorn Plains south of Julu City. The Yongdao was built to connect with the Yellow River, and Wang Li was transported military food. The king left his troops with enough food and attacked the deer. The grain in Julu City was exhausted, and the troops were very weak, Zhang Er repeatedly sent people to summon Chen Yu to come to the rescue, chen Yu considered that his troops were insufficient, the enemy could not defeat the Qin army, and did not dare to go. After holding each other for several months, zhang er was furious and resented Chen Yu, and sent Zhang Di and Chen Ze to rebuke Chen Yu, saying: "When I first formed a life-and-death friendship with you, now King Zhao and I will die sooner or later, and you have tens of thousands of troops and refuse to save each other, so where is the friendship of living and dying together?" If you want to keep your promise, why don't you fight the Qin army to the death? Not to mention that there is still a second in ten chance of winning. Chen Yu said: "I estimate that even if we march forward, in the end, not only will we not be able to save Zhao, but we will also be completely annihilated in vain." Moreover, I will not go to the end of the same death, but also to avenge the Qin state for King Zhao and Mr. Zhang. What good is it to have to go and die together now, like giving meat to a hungry tiger? Zhang Yi and Chen Ze said, "The matter is imminent, and it is necessary to establish integrity with the same end, where can we still take care of the future affairs!" Chen Yu said, "I don't care about dying, just dying is useless, but I will definitely do what the two say." He sent five thousand men and horses to let Zhang Di and Chen Ze lead the trial attack on the Qin army, and when they reached the front line, the entire army was destroyed.
Just at this moment, Yan, Qi, and Chu heard that Zhao Guo was in danger and all came to the rescue. Zhang Ao also gathered more than 10,000 troops from the dai dai land to the north, and all of them camped next to Chen Yu, but did not dare to attack the Qin army. Xiang Yu's army repeatedly cut off Zhang Handan's Yongdao, and Wang Li's army was short of food, so Xiang Yu led all his army across the Yellow River, thus defeating Zhang Handan. Zhang Handan led his troops to retreat, and the armies of the princes of various countries dared to attack the Qin army besieging Julu, so they captured Wang Li. Qin committed suicide. In the end, it was chu guo's strength that saved the deer.
At this time, Zhao Wang Xie and Zhang Er were able to leave Lucheng and thank the princes of various countries. When Zhang Er and Chen Yu met, because they blamed Chen Yu for refusing to save Zhao and asked about the whereabouts of Zhang Yi and Chen Ze, Chen Yu said angrily: "Zhang Yi and Chen Ze are responsible for preparing me with the same fate, and I sent them to lead five thousand men and horses to try to attack the Qin army first, and as a result, the whole army was destroyed, and no one was spared." Zhang Er didn't believe it, thinking that they had been killed, and repeatedly questioned Chen Yu. Chen Yu was furious and said, "I didn't expect that your resentment towards me was so deep!" Do you think I am reluctant to give up my position as general? "Then he untied the seal letter and pushed it to Zhang Er." Zhang Er was also shocked and refused to accept it. Chen Yu stood up and went to the toilet. Some guests advised Zhang Er: "I have heard that 'if you don't accept the gifts from heaven, you will suffer misfortunes.'" Now, General Chen has handed over the seal letter to you, which you do not accept, and it is not auspicious to go against the will of Heaven. Hurry up and receive it! Zhang Er wore Chen Yu's Great Seal and accepted his subordinates. When Chen Yu returned, he also resented zhang'er for confiscating the Great Seal without giving up, so he hurried out. Zhang Er took over his army. Chen Yu and hundreds of his men went fishing and hunting in the lakes by the Yellow River. Since then, Chen Yu and Zhang Er have created a rift in their feelings.
King Xie of Zhao returned to live in Xindu, and Zhang Er followed Xiang Yu and the other princes into Guanzhong. In February 206 BC (the first year of the Han Dynasty), Xiang Yu made the princes king, Zhang Er had always traveled widely, many people said good things for him, Xiang Yu usually heard that Zhang Er had talent, so he divided the land of the Zhao state and sealed Zhang Er as the king of Changshan, established xindu, and renamed the xindu to Xiangguo. Many of Chen Yu's former guests advised Xiang Yu, saying, "Chen Yu and Zhang Er are also meritorious to Zhao Guo. However, because Xiang Yu did not follow him into the pass, and heard that he was in Nanpi, he gave him the three counties around Nanpi, and moved the King of Zhao to the capital Dai County, changing his title to Dai Wang.
When Zhang Er went to his fiefdom, Chen Yu was even more annoyed, saying: "Zhang Er and I have equal merit, Zhang Er is crowned king, only I am crowned marquis, this is xiang Yu is unfair." When Tian Rong, the king of Qi, betrayed the Chu state, Chen Yu sent Xia Shuo to persuade Tian Rong: "Xiang Yu, as the lord of the world, is unfair, and divides the good places to the generals to claim the king, and moves all the original kings to bad places, and now, the king of Zhao is moved to Dai County!" I hope the king lends me an army to use Nanpi as a barrier to your defenses. Tian Rong intended to establish a henchman in the State of Zhao to oppose the State of Chu, so he sent an army to obey Chen Yu's command. Therefore, Chen Yu mobilized all the troops of the three counties to attack Zhang Er, the king of Changshan. Zhang Er fled in defeat, thinking that there was no one among the princes who could defect, and said: "Although the King of Han has an old friendship with me, Xiang Yu's power is strong, and it is he who has divided me, and I want to defect to the Chu State." Gan Gong said: "The King of Han entered the customs, and the five stars gathered in the Jingsu Heavenly Area." The Jingsu Tianqu district is a star of the Qin state. Those who arrive first will definitely achieve hegemony. Even if the Chu state is strong now, it will definitely belong to the Han in the future. So, Zhang Er decided to run Han. The King of Han also returned to his division to pacify the Three Qins, and was besieging Zhang Handan's army in the abandoned hill. Zhang Erjin saw the King of Han, and the King of Han received him with generous courtesy.
After Chen Yu defeated Zhang Er, he recovered all the lands of the Zhao State, took the King of Zhao back from Dai County, and became the monarch of the State of Zhao, and the King of Zhao was grateful to Chen Yu and named Chen Yu the Acting King. Because King Zhao was weak and the domestic situation had just stabilized, Chen Yu did not go to the feudal state, staying behind to assist King Zhao, while Pai Xia said to be stationed in the daiguo as the minister of state.
In 205 BC (the second year of the Han Dynasty), the King of Han attacked the State of Chu to the east and sent emissaries to inform the State of Zhao that he would jointly attack chu with the State of Zhao. Chen Yu said, "As long as the King of Han kills Zhang Er, Zhao Guo will obey his orders." So the King of Han found a person who looked like Zhang Er and beheaded him, and sent someone to give the head to Chen Yu. Chen Yucai sent troops to help Han. The King of Han lost the battle west of Pengcheng, and Chen Yu realized that Zhang Er was not dead, so he betrayed the King of Han.
In the third year of Han, soon after Han Xin pacified Wei, he sent Zhang Er and Han Xin to break the Well of the State of Zhao, kill Chen Yu on the banks of the Shuishui River, and hunt down and kill King Xie of Zhao in the Xiang State. Han feng Zhang Er was made the King of Zhao.
Tai Shi Gong said: Zhang Er and Chen Yu are both virtuous people in social legends; none of their guest slaves are not heroes of the world, Hao Jie, and there is no one in the country where they live that does not achieve the status of secretary of state. However, when Zhang Er and Chen Yu were poor and unworthy, did they trust each other and swear to live and die together. When they have territory and fight for power and profit, they will eventually kill each other, and hate is not to destroy each other. Why was it that we used to sincerely admire and trust each other, but then betrayed each other, and our attitude towards each other was so obedient and violent? Isn't it for the sake of power and interests? Although their reputations are high and they have many guests, their deeds are probably very different from those of Wu Taibo and Yanling Jizi.
This article is adapted from the translation of the history of Zhang Er Chen Yulie
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