A few days later, the prime minister, lieutenant, and Tingwei and other high-ranking officials impeached Chao Cuo, saying that Chao Cuo's reduction of vassal status triggered Wu Chu's rebellion, and also asked Liu Qi to risk his life to lead the expedition in person, while Chao Cuo stayed in Chang'an. Chao Cuo was treasonous, disrespectful to his ministers, and unjust to others. He should be cut in half, his clan exterminated, and his body abandoned to cause trouble. The ministers impeached Chao Cuo, but Chao Cuo had no idea. This was a trial in the absence of the defendant, a trial in which the emperor was silent. The criminal Chao Cuo did not know that he was about to die.
In the third year of Emperor Jing's reign (154 BC), on the 29th of the first lunar month, the lieutenant summoned Chao Cuo to go to court to see Liu Qi.
Chao Cuo was wearing official uniform and was dressing himself in front of the mirror. He was still neatly dressed as usual. He was riding with the lieutenant and was about to go to court, thinking that Liu Qi would discuss important matters with him. As soon as he arrived in the bustling city of Chang'an, Chao Cuo was kicked out of the car, and the executioner chopped off his body with a machete. Chao Cuo's body was broken into two parts at the waist.
Ban Gu: "He is keen to think long-term for the country without seeing any harm to himself."
Su Shi's "Chao Cuo Lun": "Cuo does not sacrifice his life at this time to bear the brunt of the catastrophe for the world. Controlling the fate of Wu and Chu is a self-preservation strategy. He wants the emperor to make his own generals and stay there. And sell it. Who is responsible for the disaster in the Seven Kingdoms?"
Li Zhi: "If you are wrong, it can be said that you are not good at planning your career. It cannot be said that you are not good at planning the country." ("Collection of Books·Biography of Famous Officials·Strong Lords and Famous Officials·Chao Cuozhuan")
The arguments of Su Shi, Li Zhi and others have some truth, but they missed a key issue, which is the attitude of Emperor Jing of the Han Dynasty.
Su Shi and others may be limited by historical limitations and did not see the important role played by the monarch, or they saw it but were unable to comment on Emperor Jing of the Han Dynasty. After all, Emperor Jing of the Han Dynasty was an emperor. As a minister, even if he was not a minister of the Han Dynasty, he could not make arbitrary comments about the emperor.
Therefore, the reason why Chao Cuo was killed was attributed to: not seeking his own life. In fact, there was only one cause of Chao Cuo's death: Emperor Jing used his death to squeeze out his final use value.
After Chao Cuo was beheaded, Liu Qi made Yuan Ang Taichang and Dou Ying general. Yuan Ang and Dou Ying were very happy when their enemy was eliminated. The wise officials in Chang'an City rushed to follow Yuan Ang and Dou Ying, and hundreds of chariots and horses followed them every day. This is what people's faces look like, but it's a pity that Chao Cuo didn't see it.
Yuan Ang went to Wu as Taichang, and Dehou Liu Tong went to Wu as Zongzheng. The Wu-Chu coalition attacked Liang Guo fiercely and could not capture it for a long time. Not even a small Liang State can be captured. The Wu-Chu coalition is nothing more than that, with no momentum.
Liu Tong visited Liu Bi and asked Liu Bi to kneel down and accept the imperial edict. Liu Bi knew that Yuan An was accompanying him, so he laughed and asked, "I am already the emperor, who should I kneel down to?" Liu Bi wanted to let Yuan An lead his troops to the west. , Yuan Ang refused. Liu Bi sent a captain and five hundred soldiers to besiege Yuan Ang and attempt to kill him.
Among the five hundred people who besieged Yuan An, there was a captain, Sima, who had been Yuan An's servant and received Yuan An's kindness. When Yuan An was the Prime Minister of Wu, this official seduced Yuan An's maid. After Yuan Ang found out, he pretended to be confused and treated his subordinates as usual. The officials knew that Yuan Ang had found out, and ran away for fear of being executed. Yuan Ang rode back after the official and betrothed his maid to the official. Not only did Yuan An not punish his servants, but he also promised to marry a maid, which made his servants very grateful. Yuan An was trapped and was about to be beheaded. The officials wanted to repay the favor and bought two stones of fine wine for the soldiers to drink. It was very cold and the soldiers were hungry and thirsty. The officials made all the soldiers in the southwest corner drunk.
The officials got up in the middle of the night and went to call Yuan An, urging him to escape as soon as possible, otherwise he would be beheaded tomorrow. Yuan An didn't believe it and asked the official who he was. The official told Yuan An everything. Yuan An was even more frightened, not wanting to run away and harm the officials' relatives. The official said that he would take his relatives and escape.
Yuan An fled for more than 70 miles and did not see Liang's cavalry until dawn. After Yuan An returned to Chang'an, he told Liu Qi everything. When Liu Qiru woke up from the dream, he realized that killing Chao Cuo was the name and seizing the throne was the real purpose. There is no resurrection after death, so Liu Qi's sorrow is useless. Facing the enemies who are trying to seize the throne, Liu Qi can only fight a tough battle.
Zhou Yafu, who led the troops to set off, planned to pass through Hangu Pass and go straight to Xingyang to guard Chang'an. Zhao She told Zhou Yafu that Liu Bi was recruiting desperadoes, and they planned ambushes in dangerous places such as Xiaoshan and Mianchi (west of Mianchi County, Henan Province), which were the only places to pass through Hangu Pass. For safety reasons, it is better to take Lantian, pass Wuguan, and then go to Luoyang. After arriving in Luoyang, it would be better to beat the drums to create a great momentum. Zhao She's plan was to first ensure the safety of the army, and secondly, the Han army suddenly attacked like a heavenly army, and the rebels would be frightened. Zhou Yafu listened to the good advice and sent an army to search the mountains in dangerous areas such as Xiaoshan and Mianchi. As expected, many Wu soldiers were captured.
Zhou Yafu led thirty-six generals with about 300,000 troops, and was evenly matched with the Wu-Chu coalition. Zhou Yafu was careful and asked his father's retainer, Captain Deng, how to deal with the Wu-Chu coalition. Captain Deng said: "The Wu soldiers are elite and difficult to compete with. The Chu soldiers came from afar and were lightly armed and could not hold out for a long time. As for the current plan, you can lead troops to Changyi in the northeast and build a high wall to hold on, so that Liang will wear down the Wu soldiers and set back Their vigor. You lead the light cavalry around the Huaisikou behind the enemy and cut off their food routes. Once the Wu-Chu coalition forces run out of food, they will inevitably be in civil strife, and they will be self-defeating without attack."
This plan was reported to Liu Qi by Yafu, and Liu Qi agreed. Zhou Yafu led an army for the first time. He had no merit, was very humble, and respected Liu Qi.
The allied forces of Wu and Chu attacked the city fiercely, and Liang Guo defended it hard, unable to support it. Suiyang and Chang, the capitals of the Liang Kingdom, faced each other from a distance. Seeing Zhou Yafu's army approaching, the Liang Kingdom urgently asked Zhou Yafu for help, but Zhou Yafu refused to send troops. Liang Wang Liu Wu saw that Zhou Yafu did not send troops to relieve the siege, so he wrote a letter against Zhou Yafu. Liu Qi issued an edict to Zhou Yafu to relieve the siege and rescue Liang, but Zhou Yafu still stood firm and resisted the order without sending troops to rescue Liang. Instead, he personally led his cavalry to cut off the enemy's food routes.
The rebels attacked Liang with all their strength, and Liu Wu sent Han Anguo and Zhang Yu to hold on. Han Anguo was prudent by nature, and Zhang Yu was brave and good at fighting. The two of them led the troops to block the Wu-Chu coalition forces. The allied forces of Wu and Chu were attacking in a hurry, but suddenly it was reported that Zhou Yafu had cut off the food route. Seeing that Liang was difficult to capture, Liu Bi was very anxious.
Liu Bi ordered his troops to move directly to capture Zhou Yafu, thus avoiding the humiliation of running out of food. Liu Bi's army marched to Xiayi, but they ran into Zhou Yafu who was coming towards him. Wu Jun called for formation, but Zhou Yafu set up camp and could not hold out. Wu Jun kept calling for more than ten days, but Zhou Yafu just couldn't hold on. The army was short of food, so the Wu army did not dare to delay, so they immediately adopted the strategy of pretending to attack and attacking secretly.
At night, the Wu army launched a massive attack in the southeast, but Zhou Yafu deployed troops to defend the northwest. As expected, the main force of the Wu army was in the northwest. Zhou Yafu made arrangements in advance so that the Wu army could not attack. Wu's army was short of food and suffered from famine. Some of them starved to death, while others turned against him. Only a small half followed Liu Bi. Zhou Yafu led his army to attack Liu Bi. The two armies met and Liu Bi was defeated and fled. King Liu Wu of Chu was defeated and committed suicide.
Liu Bi fled for his life, crossed the Yangtze River, and fled to Dantu (now Dantu Town, Zhenjiang City, Jiangsu Province). However, the centipede insect remained dead but not stiff. Liu Bi gathered the remaining soldiers and defeated the generals along the way, and there were more than 10,000 people. Liu Bi raised an army and made an appointment with the South Vietnam Kingdom. However, after the army was defeated this time, he wanted to retreat to South Vietnam. Liu Bi was defeated and fled. Liu Qi immediately issued an edict to the world, saying that Liu Bi's rebellion was on his back and he had been defeated. Those who intercepted and killed Liu Bi would be heavily rewarded; those who harbored Liu Bi would not be spared. Liu Bi sent someone to bribe the King of South Vietnam with a large profit. King Luo Wang of South Vietnam replied to Liu Bi and said that he was willing to lend his army to Liu Bi. Liu Bi went out of the city to work for the army and was killed by the Nanyue King. Liu Bi's head was cut off and reported to Liu Qi.
The clouds and mist were cleared to see the blue sky. As soon as Liu Bi died, good news about Liu Qi came one after another. Luan Bu defeated the four kingdoms of Jiaodong, Jiaoxi, Jinan and Sichuan and rescued Qi; the king of Jiaodong, Jiaoxi, Jinan and Sichuan were defeated and executed, and the king of Qi drank medicine and committed suicide. Luan Bu moved his army north. The Xiongnu heard about it and retreated to Mobei. Li Jijiu failed to attack King Zhao Liu Sui for a long time. Luan Bu's troops arrived and diverted water to flood the city. Liu Sui committed suicide.
There was a chaos in the Seven Kingdoms, the seven kings died, and Emperor Jing's empire finally stabilized. However, Emperor Jing's good life could not be as stable as he thought. Regarding the issue of future heirs, another drama about women was about to unfold in front of him.
