Disciplining Emperor Gaozu of Han

Chapter 70 Cursing Zhang Han to Death

Liu Bang's decision to lead his troops eastward to contend with Xiang Yu for supremacy before even conquering the western regions was already met with disapproval from Liu Ying. Upon learning that Liu Bang had failed to even defeat Zhang Han, Liu Ying found it unbearable and launched into a tirade against Liu Bang.

The Qin people's success was within reach, yet Liu Bang didn't go there; instead, he was eager to compete with Xiang Yu for supremacy, which left Liu Ying speechless.

Fei Zi, the ancestor of the Qin people, shared the same profession as the Monkey King: Bi Ma Wen (弼马温).

Because Qin Feizi was good at raising horses, King Xiao of Zhou was very satisfied and enfeoffed him in the Longxi River Valley, with a fief of fifty li.

At that time, the emperor's territory was a thousand li, dukes and marquises a hundred li, earls a seventy li, and those with a territory of fifty li were not feudal lords and had no right to establish their own states; they could only be vassals.

Therefore, the Qin people during this period were called the "Qin tribe" rather than the Qin state.

King You of Zhou played a trick on the feudal lords by lighting the beacon fires, and the capital Haojing was captured and destroyed by the Western Rong. King Ping of Zhou decided to move the capital east to Luoyang. However, seeing King Ping in his current predicament, the feudal states ignored him and offered no escort.

Just then, the Qin people, led by their sixth ruler, Duke Xiang of Qin, arrived to protect and escort King Ping of Zhou to Luoyang, where he settled down.

This greatly moved King Ping of Zhou, who then enfeoffed Duke Xiang of Qin as a vassal, thus granting Qi the power to establish its own state and allowing it to pacify Qi with other vassal states like Qi and Jin.

Furthermore, the former territory of the Zhou dynasty was granted to the Qin people.

This was just an empty promise, because the former territory of the Zhou dynasty had been occupied by the Western Rong. If the Qin state wanted to possess these lands, it would have to fight the Western Rong to the death. Even so, Duke Xiang of Qin didn't say much, but instead led the Qin people into Guanzhong to establish the Qin state.

Then came the great war between the Qin state and the Western Rong, which lasted for over a hundred or two hundred years, during which several Qin rulers died. It wasn't until the reign of Duke Mu of Qin that the Western Rong were completely wiped out, and the Qin state became a major vassal state, possessing the entire Guanzhong Plain. Duke Mu of Qin naturally became one of the Five Hegemons of the Spring and Autumn Period.

After Duke Mu of Qin died, the Qin state declined again, growing weaker day by day. It wasn't until Duke Xian of Qin, father of Duke Xiao of Qin, ascended the throne that things began to improve. However, at this time, the Qin state encountered the state of Wei.

The State of Wei was the strongest state in the early Warring States period, a hegemon of the land, and extremely powerful. However, Wei was located in the Central Plains, a place of constant warfare, with no natural defenses and no stable strategic rear. Therefore, Wei set its sights on the State of Qin, intending to destroy Qin and occupy the Guanzhong Plain as its strategic rear.

The man who executed this strategy was the famously powerful Wu Qi.

Fortunately, Wu Qi fled to the State of Chu due to internal strife within Wei, giving Qin a glimmer of hope. Although Wu Qi left, Wei did not abandon this strategy and continued to attack Qin, driving Qin to the brink of collapse.

At this very moment, Duke Xiao of Qin ascended the throne and resolved to implement reforms as a final gamble: either become powerful through the reforms or die in them.

A decree seeking talented individuals attracted Shang Yang, initiating reforms that transformed the Qin state from weak to strong.

When King Huiwen of Qin ascended the throne, he rejected Zhang Yi's strategy of advancing eastward to contend for hegemony and adopted Sima Cuo's strategy of strengthening the country's power. He conquered Ba and Shu, seized Hanzhong, and destroyed the Yiqu, making Qin the strongest country in the world.

At the beginning of King Zhaoxiang of Qin's reign, the Qin state also conquered the Yunnan and Guizhou regions, bringing all the western areas under its control. With no more worries about its rear, it could now focus all its efforts on advancing eastward.

Thus, Bai Qi, the God of Slaughter, stepped onto the stage of history, beheading millions and forging a path to unification.

When Qin Shi Huang came to power, he destroyed all six states.

If Liu Bang had pacified the Three Qin regions and hadn't rushed eastward, but instead followed the example of King Huiwen of Qin to strengthen the nation and conquer the western regions, then he would have been the second Qin Shi Huang, simply leading a large army to push forward.

Could the strength of the eighteen warlords compare to that of the six states?

Qin Shi Huang conquered the six kingdoms by relying on the strength of the western regions; if Liu Bang had taken over the western regions, he would not have been able to destroy the dozen or so vassal states that Xiang Yu had enfeoffed.

Liu Bang turned a seemingly perfect situation into a disastrous one, which infuriated Liu Ying.

After the defeat at Pengcheng, Liu Bang reflected on his own actions. He listened to Liu Ying's words and found them reasonable. Therefore, he lowered his voice and asked in a low voice.

"What else can we do? It's come to this, of course we should eliminate Xiang Yu first, and then talk about other things." Liu Ying said irritably.

Given the current situation, we have no choice but to continue fighting.

Liu Bang was somewhat disappointed, thinking that Liu Ying still had a brilliant plan to turn the tide.

Liu Ying, seeing all this, really wanted to point his finger at Liu Bang and berate him. "You've made the situation so terrible! Who has a good solution?" he thought. Looking at Xiao He, he asked, "Uncle, you haven't objected?"

"Liu Ji is obsessed with revenge, and I will grant his wish," Xiao He said.

"I only know how to drive a carriage," Xiahou Ying said hastily when he saw Liu Ying looking at him.

"Where is Zhang Liang?" Liu Ying asked again.

"When Zhang Liang surrendered to Han again, the army was about to set out on a campaign," Xiao He explained.

After Xiang Yu divided the land among the feudal lords, Zhang Liang left with Han Wang Cheng. Before leaving, Zhang Liang instructed Liu Bang to burn the plank roads to show that he had no intention of returning and to reassure Xiang Yu. Upon arriving at Pengcheng, Xiang Yu detained Han Wang Cheng and prevented him from returning to Han territory. In the end, Xiang Yu even killed Han Wang Cheng. Zhang Liang then fled Pengcheng and traveled thousands of miles to Guanzhong to rejoin Liu Bang.

By this time, preparations for the eastern expedition had been completed, and it was no longer possible to stop.

As for Chen Ping, that's even more impossible. He joined Liu Bang in Xiuwu during the eastern expedition. In a short time, thanks to his extraordinary talent, he had already gained Liu Bang's deep trust.

"Not a single person objected?" Liu Ying was speechless.

"After the Three Qin regions were pacified, in order to reassure Xiang Yu, Zifang wrote a letter to him, saying that the King of Han only wanted to obtain Guanzhong and would not advance eastward. Xiang Yu was thus reassured and led his troops to attack Tian Rong," Xiao He added.

"Zifang, you have great insight." Liu Ying looked at Liu Bang. "It's a pity that if this letter were given to you, I wonder if you would have accepted it?"

Liu Bang respected Zhang Liang the most. If Zhang Liang had proposed this matter, perhaps Liu Bang would have listened, and so many things would not have happened later.

"I..." Liu Bang hesitated, unsure whether he should accept the suggestion.

"Only Han Xin strongly opposed it and was sent elsewhere by Liu Ji," Xiao He added.

"Han Xin was right, you actually exiled Han Xin." Liu Ying looked at Liu Bang, speechless once again.

Han Xin did not participate in the Battle of Pengcheng, but this angered Liu Bang, who ostensibly sent Han Xin away, but in reality exiled him.

"If Han Xin had participated in the Battle of Pengcheng, would Liu Bang still have lost?" Liu Ying pondered.

~~~~~~

In order to ensure the garrison obeyed orders, Liu Bang sent Xiahou Ying with Liu Ying.

Liu Ying led Xiahou Ying away from Liyang, crossed the Wei River, and headed straight southwest, arriving at Feiqiu in less than half a day.

Feiqiu, which is now Xingping City in Shaanxi Province, was originally called "Quanqiu" and was renamed Feiqiu by the Qin Dynasty. After Liu Bang destroyed Zhang Han, he renamed it Huaili.

Starting from Liyang, it only took half a day to reach Feiqiu; it was too close, right under Liu Bang's nose.

"If I could beat him, I would definitely kill him." Looking at the ruined city, Liu Ying was speechless again.

How can I allow others to sleep soundly beside my bed?

Zhang Han's capital was right under Liu Bang's nose, yet instead of conquering him before advancing eastward, Liu Bang rushed eastward to compete with Xiang Yu for supremacy.

Liu Bang failed to capture Feiqiu, but he did not abandon it. Instead, he built a city wall to completely surround Feiqiu.

Feiqiu was not large, about the size of a county town, with a circumference of about twenty li, so building a city around it would not have been difficult.

The Han army besieging Feiqiu was small, only about five thousand men, and their general was named Ji Ying, a middle-aged man in his forties. Upon hearing of Liu Ying's arrival, he hurriedly led his military officers to meet him.

After exchanging greetings, Ji Ying offered a plan: "Your Highness, if you wish to take Feiqiu, you can divert the Wei River to irrigate it. I have been besieging Zhang Han for a long time and have already surveyed the terrain. All Your Highness needs to do is give the order, and I can build a canal to divert the water."

Historically, Liu Bang conquered Feiqiu and defeated Zhang Han by diverting water to irrigate it.

"No need for that trouble." Liu Ying had his own plan: "Are there any loudmouths in the army? The louder the better."

"Loud voice?" Ji Ying was puzzled.

"Enough with the nonsense. Do whatever Liu Ying tells you to do," Xiahou Ying shouted.

"Yes, sir." Ji Ying hurriedly replied, "The army lacks many things, but it certainly doesn't lack loud voices; there are plenty of them."

At Ji Ying's command, the loudest voices in the army were summoned, and there were quite a few of them, more than a thousand.

Liu Ying was very satisfied and said, "Go up to the city wall and curse Zhang Han for me."

"Insult Zhang Han?" Xiahou Ying found it unbelievable: "Liu Ying, is that even possible?"

"Yes!" Liu Ying said confidently.

"Can you really kill Zhang Han by cursing him?" Ji Ying thought incredulously.

"That depends on how you curse," Liu Ying said confidently.

"How do you curse?" Xiahou Ying asked curiously.