An analysis of the causes of tragic death in prison after the Seven-State Rebellion in Zhou Yafu in the Western Han Dynasty

You must be familiar with Zhou Yafu. You didn't know the role of Zhou Yafu until you watched the TV series Beauty's Calculation. Do you know his real history? Let's take a look at Zhou Yafu in history.

Zhou Yafu stills

Zhou Yafu was born in 199 BC and died in 143 BC. He was a very famous general and strategist in the Western Han Dynasty. He is from Pei County, Jiangsu Province today. The son of zhou bo, the founding hero of the Western Han Dynasty. Seven countries rebelled, commanded the Han army, and put down the rebels in three months. He died in prison.

His story is also very interesting. He inherited his father's title and became a crimson prince during the reign of Emperor Wen of Han Dynasty. At the beginning, he was the chief of Hanoi, and Xu Fu told his fortune, saying that he would be prime minister in three years and prime minister in eight years. He had a high position and was second to none among ministers. He starved to death in nine years. He said with a smile that he would inherit my father's title. So is my brother. It can't be me. Sure enough, three years later, Zhou Yafu's younger brother, Jiang Hou, committed a crime, and Wendi chose a virtuous person as a candidate among his descendants. Everyone elected Zhou Yafu, so Zhou Yafu was listed as a candidate and inherited the title of Jiang Hou.

Zhou Yafu is very strict in running the army. On one occasion, Emperor Wendi inspected the military camp and went to other military camps. I saw that the emperor's guillotine had been dismantled, leaving only the gate of Liuxi where Zhou Yafu was stationed closed. The soldiers said that in the barracks, they only listened to the general's orders, not the emperor's, and the emperor's chariots and horses could not drive too fast. Later, the seven countries were in turmoil and the court was at a loss. At this time, Jingdi appointed Zhou Yafu, and Zhou Yafu led the army to quell the rebellion.

Although Zhou Yafu is very talented militarily, it seems to be lacking politically. Although he takes orders from the Prime Minister, because of his incorruptible temperament, he doesn't beat around the bush or talk about political wisdom. He humiliated Jing Di and his ministers many times. Many of Han Jing's suggestions were rejected by him, and Liang Wang was at odds with him. He always spoke ill of Zhou Yafu in front of the Queen Mother. All this led to the deepening contradiction between him and Emperor Han Jingdi, and later he died in prison.

Zhou Yafu's Seven Kingdoms Rebellion

In the third year of Emperor Jing of Han Dynasty, the governors of the seven countries, mainly King Liu Ying of Wu State and King Liu E of Chu State, were dissatisfied with Emperor Jing's policy of weakening the influence of the governors, so they joined forces in Chang 'an to fight against the central dynasty. Chao Cuo, the emperor of the Han Dynasty, made up his mind to fight and suppress after failing to quell the rebellion in the Seven Kingdoms. Zhou Yafu is the leader and general of the Han army.

Portrait of Zhou Yafu

Because the seven countries had an agreement long ago, the joint army was able to proceed smoothly in the early stage of the rebellion, and even pulled out several cities to the west. However, in the buffer zone between Chang 'an and the eastern princes, Nianliang met with stubborn resistance. After all, Liu Wu, the King of Liang, is Han Jing's younger brother. But Liang's city is impregnable, and the rebels will not be able to attack for a while, wasting a lot of time here.

However, Liu Wu, the king of Liang, was also very weak in the face of the huge seven-nation allied forces. He kept urging Zhou Yafu to send troops to rescue. Zhou Yafu, who knows the art of war, thinks it unwise to confront the aggressive rebels at this time, so he has been on hold, and it is impossible for Liang Wang to shout out his voice. However, Zhou Yafu did not wait for the rebels to get tired, but secretly sent troops to capture the rebel grain camp, which caused the allies to lose supplies, soldiers to lose combat effectiveness and the morale of the whole army to drop sharply.

Seeing the morale of the rebels decrease, Zhou Yafu and Liang's domestic forces jointly attacked the Seven-Power Allied Forces, and it was not long before the allied forces were torn apart. Liu Bi, the leader of Wu Wang, fled to East Vietnam with down archers, and was finally beheaded by the King of Yue and dedicated to the Han Dynasty. The other six C lords committed suicide before and after, and the rebellion of Saif.

As we all know, Zhou Yafu was a famous general in the Western Han Dynasty, Han nationality and a native of Pei County, Jiangsu Province. He is the second son of the famous Jiang Hou Zhou Bo and a very famous strategist in history. In the Seven Kingdoms Rebellion, he commanded the Han army and put down the rebels in just three months. Zhou Yafu finally went on a hunger strike and died in prison.

Like Zhou Yafu.

In BC 152, Prime Minister Tao Qing resigned due to illness, and Jingdi appointed Zhou Yafu as Prime Minister. Jingdi attached great importance to him, so the problem came. Since Zhou Yafu worshipped the Prime Minister and was highly valued by Jingdi, how did he die of hunger strike in prison?

The reason is that Zhou Yafu's temperament is honest and frank. Although he worshipped the Prime Minister, he could not speak political strategy, so he was gradually alienated by Emperor Jingdi and finally came to a tragic end. On one occasion, Emperor Jing wanted to abolish Prince Rong. Liu Rong was his son, so he was called Prince Li. But Zhou Yafu objected, and as a result, Jingdi began to alienate him. Liang Wang, who is at odds with him, speaks ill of Zhou Yafu in front of the Queen Mother every time he goes to Beijing, which is also very bad for him. Later, two events led to the tragedy of Zhou Yafu. One is that the queen's brother sealed Hou, and the other is that Attila sealed Hou. Dou Taihou wanted Wang xin, the younger brother of Queen Zhai Jingsheng, to be the queen, but Jing Di had no choice but to shirk and said that he would consult with the minister. When Jingdi discussed with Zhou Yafu, Zhou Yafu said that Liu Bang had said that those who were not surnamed Liu could not be crowned king, and those who had no credit could not be crowned Hou. If Wang xin is made a Hou, it will violate the oath of our ancestors, and Jingdi has nothing to say.

One more thing, Attila only let Xu Lu and other five people submit to the Han Dynasty. Jingdi was very happy and wanted to make them princes to encourage others to submit to the Han Dynasty. But Zhou Yafu objected: "If these traitors are made princes, how can we punish those dishonest ministers?" Jingdi is very unhappy.

After that, Emperor Jingdi became more and more dissatisfied with Zhou Yafu, and there was a contradiction between the emperor and the prime minister, so the tragedy was inevitable. Later, he was falsely accused of his son's rebellion and was implicated in prison. Jingdi acquiesced and wanted to punish Zhou Yafu. Later, unwilling to be humiliated, Zhou Yafu went on a hunger strike and died of vomiting blood. Thus, Zhou Yafu's death was partly due to his distrust of King Jing, and more because he didn't understand political strategy. He is a qualified military general, but he is short of money politically.

The Wind of Zhou Yafu

We all know that Zhou Yafu was a figure in the Western Han Dynasty, so after the Western Han Dynasty, some people said that so-and-so had the style of Zhou Yafu. What does this mean? For example, in The Calculation of Beauty, we see that Cao Cao said Huang Xu: "Gong Ming really has the demeanor of Zhou Yafu."

Of course, Gong Ming is General Huang Xu, and Gong Ming is his word. So, what does this mean for Huang Xu like Zhou Yafu? Let's see what the wind is like in Zhou Yafu.

Xu.

He is the son of zhou bo, the founder of Zhou Yafu in the Western Han Dynasty. His date of birth and death is unknown. He died in 147 BC and was born in Pei County, Jiangsu Province. Two years later, Emperor Wen of Han inherited his father's footsteps and became the Prince of Crimson. He was a famous general in the Western Han Dynasty and a very famous strategist in history. In the Seven Kingdoms Rebellion, he commanded the Han army and put down the rebels in just three months. Although he is an honest and frank person, he doesn't pay attention to euphemism and implication. During his tenure as prime minister, Emperor Han Jingdi was very dissatisfied with him many times, and finally died of unjust imprisonment and hunger strike, but all these could not conceal Zhou Yafu's military contribution and wisdom in running the army. Zhou Yafu was very strict in running the army, and Liu Xiying, where he was stationed, became a model of all previous dynasties, which was followed by military generals of all previous dynasties.

Once Emperor Wendi inspected the army and went to the camps of other generals unimpeded. The drivers drove directly to the barracks. But when we arrived at Liu Xi camp in Zhou Yafu, we were stopped by soldiers guarding the gate of the camp. The guard said, can't you see that this is the driver of the emperor's car? Dare to stop? But the soldier said, "Our general said that in the barracks, he only listened to the general, not to the emperor." After informing Zhou Yafu, Deng Wendi's driver finally went in, but the soldiers

Therefore, Zhou Yafu was strict in running the army. In ancient times, only strict generals could lead the army to victory. So Cao Cao praised Huang Xu, that is to say, he was strict in running the army, brave and resolute, much like Zhou Yafu in the Western Han Dynasty. Of course, this is a very high evaluation of military commanders, and we can also see Zhou Yafu's position in the minds of military commanders in past dynasties.