Fan Ye, the author of the Book of the Later Han Dynasty, was a native of Shunyang (present-day Nanyang, Henan), an official of the Southern song dynasty of the Southern and Northern Dynasties, and a famous historian and writer.
Born into a family of scholars, his great-grandfather was the Anbei general Fan Wang, his grandfather was Yuzhang Taishou Fanning, and his father was Fan Tai.
In the second year of Yuan Xi (420 AD), the Jin dynasty minister Liu Yudai became emperor and established the Southern Song dynasty, and Fan Ye was called to serve as the champion general of the palace of Liu Yikang, the king of Pengcheng.
In the seventeenth year of Yuan Jia (440), Fan Ye served as the commander of the Hou Army under Liu Jun, the King of Sixing, and later successively held official positions such as Taishou (太守) of the Southern Xiaxia Dynasty, the general of the Left Guard, and the crown prince Zhan Shi. Liu Jun did not pay attention to government affairs, and the government affairs of the palace were fully managed by Fan Ye, which made him fully display his political talent.
Fan Ye was knowledgeable and talented, and in addition to being good at writing poetry, he was also proficient in music, good at calligraphy, and played the lute well.
In the seventeenth year of Yuan Jia (440), Liu Yikang, the king of Pengcheng, held a high position of power, which aroused the suspicion of Emperor Wen of Song, and soon stripped Liu Yikang of his military power on the charge of "joining the party and conspiring with the masses" and demoted him to the history of Jiangzhou.
Because Liu Yikang was kind to his father, Kong Xixian secretly contacted some ministers to plot a rebellion in an attempt to install Liu Yikang as emperor.
Fan Ye was in charge of the Forbidden Army, and had been an errand boy under Liu Yikang for many years, so he attracted the attention of Kong Xixian.
Kong Xixian first found Fan Ye's nephew Xie Zong, the two often gambled and had fun together, in order to repay Kong Xixian's kindness, Xie Zong introduced him to his uncle Fan Ye.
After Kong Xixian and Fan Ye met, they often invited Fan Ye to gamble and deliberately lost money to please Fan Ye.
Fan Ye was greedy for money, so he and Kong Xixian fought fiercely, and the two became friends who talked about everything. Kong Xixian felt that the time was ripe, so he began to encourage Fan Ye to join the "circle of friends" that supported Liu Yikang, but Fan Ye resolutely refused.
Kong Xixian was not dead-hearted, so he provoked the emperor's refusal to marry Fan Ye: "The emperor Yiye Qingtong, but not the imperial chamber, people meet with dogs, and the zhangren has not been ashamed, and it is not also confusing to want to die for it?" ”
——Your old man's roots are red, innocent, but you can't marry the royal family, people are treating you like a pig and a dog, don't you feel ashamed? Isn't it too confusing to dedicate oneself to such an emperor!
Fan Ye was silent, and after half a day he finally "made a decision against his intentions" and finally joined Liu Yikang's rebellion camp, and Liu Yikang's rebellion plan, requisitioning documents, and correspondence were all written by Fan Ye.
In November of the twenty-second year of Yuan Jia (445), Emperor Wen of Song Liu Yilong went to Wu tent gang (located in the city of Nanjing, modeled after the Xuanwu Field set up in Luoyang) for a banquet, and Xu Yao, a bodyguard who was preparing to assassinate the emperor, pulled out his sabre in his hand and stared at Fan Ye, waiting for him to give a signal.
Fan Ye was a thief with a weak heart, and hesitated not to give the guards a look, missing the best assassination opportunity. At the end of the banquet, Liu Yikang's henchman Xu Zhanzhi had a bad premonition, and he temporarily took the initiative to strike a blow and quietly reported to Emperor Wen of Song.
Emperor Wen of Song immediately issued an edict: "Arrest immediately and punish him according to law." In this way, Liu Yikang's party disciples Xie Zong, Kong Xixian, and others were all arrested.
After Fan Ye was arrested, at first he denied it out of fear, and Emperor Wen of Song took out the texts and letters that Fan Ye had written in his own handwriting, and Fan Ye had no choice but to bow his head and confess his guilt, claiming that "he has suffered a deep sin against the country and is willing to be executed." ”
In December, Fan Ye and the others were taken to the execution ground, and before they were executed, his mother rushed over, slammed his mouth and neck, and scolded him for being an unfilial son. His wife also rebuked him for being unfaithful and filial, leaving behind orphans and widows.
In the face of the scolding of his mother and wife, Fan Ye had no remorse, and when his sister led his concubine to send him off, Fan Ye actually cried loudly, and his nephew Xie Zong laughed at him and said: "Uncle Is different from Xiahou Xie! "Uncle, you are far worse than xiahou Xuan, a tough man!"
Fan Ye only then "stopped with tears", boy, let you see your uncle's temperament, and then went to death, when he was forty-eight years old. His sons Fan Qian, Fan Yao, and Fan Shu were executed, and only his grandson Fan Lulian escaped the disaster.