Why did Liu Bang of the Han Dynasty get rid of the king with a different surname?Experts analyze the causes of another war of unification
Liu Bang, the ancestor of the Han Dynasty, left many positive influences on later generations. As the first civil emperor in history to ascend the throne, Liu Bang implemented"Recuperate"、"Lightly resigned"A series of national policies that benefit the country and the people have stimulated China's economy and people's livelihood. It should be said that Liu Bang is facing"The world is in danger"It was not easy to overthrow the Qin Dynasty and defeat the overlord of Western Chu, so Liu Bang's reign was the most difficult years for the dynasty. However, Liu Bang survived the difficult years and made great contributions to the integration of society, the stability of people's livelihood, and the consolidation of great unification.
Although the history books praise Liu Bang"There is a way to govern the country", but later generations have quite a lot of criticism about his political behavior. Liu Bang was a hero who forced many founding generals to rebel, such as Han Xin, Peng Yue, Yingbu, etc., who were executed for rebellion. However, why did Liu Bang kill these heroes after he ascended the throne?Some experts pointed out that from the analysis of the situation at that time, this was actually another war of reunification.
In the early years of the Western Han Dynasty, Liu Bang gave great preferential treatment to the founding heroes and awarded various titles according to their merits. Han Xin, Peng Yue, Yingbu, Zhang Er and other eight people were crowned kings, and their status was very noble. The title system of the Han Dynasty followed the military service system of the Qin Dynasty, and was divided into 20 levels, such as liehou, guannei marquis, and dasikong. The prince is the most honorable title of the dynasty and has a high status. After the founding of Liu Bang, only the children of the Liu royal family were generally given titles, which helped to consolidate the status of the ** dynasty in the feudal state, but due to political factors at the time, Han Xin and other titles were princes and kings, and they were princes with various surnames.
Most of these princes with different surnames sided with Liu Bang in the struggle between Chu and Han, and they had no real sense of belonging to the Han Dynasty. Not only that, but the princes and kings with different surnames in the fief are not"Abide by the Chinese law", making his own assertions, which made Liu Bang very annoyed. A few years after the establishment of the Han Dynasty, Liu Bang sharpened his sword and prepared to take action against the princes and kings with different surnames, hoping to break their bad influence on the Han Dynasty. Zang Di was the first king with a different surname. He was originally a general of Xiang Yu's subordinates and later became the king of Liaodong, but after Xiang Yu was assassinated, he surrendered to Liu Bang. In the early years of the Han Dynasty, Liu Bang began to kill Xiang Yu's elders. Zang Di was worried and decided to rebel against Liu Bang, and Liu Bang quickly recruited in person to appease Zang Di.
Han Xin, the king of Chu, was one of the three heroes of the early Han Dynasty and an important minister of Liu Bang. Unfortunately, his great achievements led to his demotion to the rank of Marquis of Huaiyin by Liu Bang. Han Xin was a thorn in Liu Bang's side, and many ministers persuaded him to resist, but he persisted until he was killed by Empress Lu and Xiao He. In the eleventh year of the Han Dynasty (196 BC), a famous general was assassinated in Changle Palace. Since the two powerful kings with different surnames had already been killed, Liu Bang turned his attention to the rest of the kings with different surnames. Peng Yue, the king of Liang, became a commoner shortly after Han Xin's death and was later executed by Liu Bang. After Peng Yue was killed, Wang Yingbu of Huainan was worried and raised an army against the Han, but was defeated. Han Wangxin was the grandson of King Han Xiang during the Warring States Period, but he was still named King of Han in the early years of the Han Dynasty. When Liu Bang eliminated the princes with different surnames, he was suspected and had to defect to the Xiongnu, and was finally killed by the Han Dynasty general Chai Wu.
In this way, the king with a different surname was wiped out and almost no longer posed a threat. However, there are also a few kings with different surnames that Liu Bang wanted to kill but didn't do. The first is Zhang Ao, the king of Zhao, who is the son of Zhang Er, the king of Zhao, and married Princess Lu Yuan, the daughter of Liu Bang. After Liu Bang arrived in Zhao State, his attitude was quite arrogant. Zhang Ao's subordinates were very unconvinced and wanted to plot against Liu Bang. Unfortunately, Liu Bang learned the news, and these people were all dead. Although Liu Bang knew that Zhang Ao had nothing to do with this matter, he still demoted him to Xuanping Hou. Because he is Liu Bang's"Younger brother", the two are not only brothers and sisters, born in the same year, the same month and the same day, but also support each other for many years. However, Lü Yao was frightened by Liu Bang's killing of a king with a different surname, fled and tried to surrender to the Xiongnu, and finally died in the territory of the Xiongnu.
In order to achieve the final victory in the battle between Chu and Han, Liu Bang gathered a large army and usurped the throne by using the ** policy. After Liu Bang ascended the throne, he also fulfilled his previous promise. Unfortunately, the king with the different surname annoyed Liu Bang, and he wanted to get rid of them altogether.
When Liu Bang established the Han Dynasty, he only controlled Guanzhong, Hanzhong, Bashu, Hebei, Huaibei, and Jianghan. Most of the power of the Han Dynasty was in the hands of these kings with different surnames, which was necessary to strengthen the centralization of power and establish a truly unified state.