Chapter 025: There is still a wise King Han in this era
It is very rare to find someone with all attributes fully qualified, and it is even rarer to find someone with a serious imbalance in one attribute fully qualified.
Han Xin was a person with serious bias in his military ability, but his other attributes were mediocre. To be honest, Liu Chang was also like this. In history, he had full personal martial arts ability, but his other attributes were negative. He once performed a tripod resistance in public, which made people doubt whether his surname was Liu or Xiang. He also killed Piyang Hou Shen Yiji with a large iron spike and asked his followers to cut off his head.
In the early Han Dynasty, the only one who developed in all aspects was probably Prime Minister Cao. He was "slightly knowledgeable" in military affairs, internal affairs, strategy, and personal bravery. He could be a general, a pioneer, or a prime minister. He was known as the first all-rounder of the Han Dynasty. He might not be as brave as Fan Kuai, not as good at fighting as Han Xin, not as good at strategy as Zhang Liang, and not as good at internal affairs as Xiao He, but he was already a genius.
When Liu Fei returned to Qi, Prime Minister Cao and the ministers of Qi came to greet him.
This Prime Minister Cao is not the same as the other Prime Minister Cao. He is tall and slender with fair skin, not much like a military commander. He was once a prison official in Pei County, a subordinate of Xiao He. He probably spent a lot of time with Liu Bang, and they became familiar with each other.
This person is not well-known in later generations, but his greatest reputation is "Xiao Gui Cao Sui". It is easy to be misunderstood as a scoundrel who only knows how to imitate Xiao He. In fact, after following Liu Bang to start an army, he fought countless battles. Han Xin is more famous, but Han Xin has not fought as many battles as Cao Shen.
After establishing the country, Liu Bang sent people to count the merits of the generals.
Cao Shen's merit book recorded that he had conquered two vassal states and 122 counties. He captured two vassal kings, three prime ministers, six generals, one county governor, one military officer, one military officer, and one censor.
After defeating Xiang Yu, the princes jointly submitted a "persuasion" to Liu Bang, recommending him as emperor. After Liu Bang became emperor, he held a banquet for his ministers in the Nangong Palace in Luoyang. During the banquet, the emperor and his ministers drank together.
Liu Bang was drinking happily, so he asked his ministers, "Tell me the truth, why was I able to conquer the world?"
When the ministers disagreed, Liu Bang began to boast, "In terms of planning in the tent and winning battles thousands of miles away, I am not as good as Zifang. In terms of stabilizing the country, comforting the people, providing military supplies, and providing food and wages, I am not as good as Xiao He. In terms of commanding a million troops, winning every battle and conquering every city, I am not as good as Han Xin. These three people are all heroes among men. I used them, so I was able to conquer the world."
His words determined the three heroes of the early Han Dynasty in history, but Cao Shen was not very happy, as he believed that his contributions were no less than those three.
Afterwards, Liu Bang rewarded the princes according to their merits. Xiao He was given the title of Marquis of Ling, with the largest fief. After the princes were divided, the next step was to rank them. Everyone advised Liu Bang: "Marquis of Pingyang Cao Shen followed Your Majesty in the battles of the south and the north, suffered more than 70 battle wounds, conquered cities and territories, and made the most contributions, so he should be ranked first!"
At this time, Guannei Hou E Jun said: "During the Chu-Han War, your Majesty's army was defeated several times and you escaped alone. It was all thanks to Xiao He who sent troops from Guanzhong to replenish your army. Sometimes, even without your Majesty's orders, Xiao He sent tens of thousands of people at a time, just to replenish your Majesty's urgent needs. Not only the soldiers, but also the military rations were all guaranteed by Xiao He's transportation of grain from Guanzhong."
"These are the great contributions to the founding of the Han Dynasty and passed down to future generations. How can people like Cao Shen, who only made temporary military achievements, be ranked ahead of the eternal achievements? In my opinion, Xiao He should be ranked first and Cao Shen second."
Liu Bang liked what the Lord of E said, so he took advantage of the situation and ranked Xiao He first, allowing him to wear shoes and a sword when he entered the palace. He also conferred titles on more than ten of Xiao He's father, sons, and brothers, and added an additional 2,000 households to Xiao He. In this way, Xiao He was ranked first among all the ministers, and was called "the first marquis of the founding country", with a fief of 10,000 households.
We don't know what Cao Shen was thinking when he said this, but we know that he probably felt uncomfortable. He had participated in countless wars over the years, conquering the south and the north, and had made great achievements. He was invincible and could conquer every battle. How could Xiao He, who was in the rear, surpass him and become the number one?
Why do later generations talk about "Xiao Gui Cao Sui" with great relish? Because when Cao Shen saw the policy made by his old friend who was somewhat "contradictory" to him, he decided to follow it and put aside his personal prejudices.
Liu Fei had great respect for Prime Minister Cao. When Liu Fei was in Qi, he basically delegated power to Cao Shen and stood behind him to support him. He would only stand up if he met someone that Cao Shen could not suppress. Prime Minister Cao also treated Liu Fei with great courtesy and did not look down on the young King of Qi because of his honorary status as the second founding hero.
The two complemented each other and managed Qi in an orderly manner. They reduced taxes and levies, encouraged agriculture and sericulture, and allowed the people to rest. With Cao Shen's combination of tactics, Qi's situation was thriving and gradually returned to its original wealthy state.
But this time, Liu Fei hurriedly pulled Cao Shen onto his carriage, not caring about the usual etiquette.
"Father said: There is a change in Daidi . Let us be prepared to meet the enemy!"
Liu Fei had experienced wars, but had never fought in a war, so he looked a little panicked. However, Cao Shen looked calm. Fighting a war? That was a common occurrence for him, and he was not panicked at all.
"What does the Prime Minister think?"
"Since there is a change, of course we have to suppress it."
"But how can we suppress it?"
"I will lead the troops to suppress it."
Liu Fei felt that this was really like listening to a word from the emperor. Of course, he knew that he had to lead troops to suppress the rebellion, but the problem was that Qi had just improved, and the soldiers in the country could at most summon 80,000 to 90,000. It was one thing to be able to summon them, but if so many soldiers were summoned to fight, then the current situation of Qi would be completely ruined.
As if he could see Liu Fei's worry, Cao Shen said calmly: "Don't worry, Your Majesty. There is no need to summon too many people to deal with Chen Xi. With me here, Your Majesty does not have to worry about anything."
Cao Shen's calmness gave Liu Fei great confidence. Liu Fei was of course also aware of his prime minister's past achievements. Chen Xi was also a fierce man, but he was definitely not as fierce as the one in front of him. Although he was not one of the Three Heroes of the Early Han Dynasty, nor was he one of the Three Great Generals of the Early Han Dynasty... but he was very good at fighting, and he even beat Ying Bu Tou, one of the Three Great Generals of the Early Han Dynasty, to pieces. Are you one of the Three Great Generals? ?
Liu Fei then handed over the matter of fighting to Cao Shen, who began to secretly gather troops in Qi and prepared for the expedition.
After Liu Jiao and Liu Jia returned, it was mostly the same. Liu Jiao did not have a strong man like Cao Shen, but Chu was vast and rich, and he could summon many soldiers. Liu Jia was more embarrassed. His country was newly established, and he had neither strong generals nor wealth, nor soldiers... But he was a prince with military merit, so he was not afraid, not to mention that Dai was so far away from him.
In Dai, Chen Xi, who was about to lead a new situation in the world, listened to Wang Huang talking in front of him with an expressionless face.
Wang Huang was originally a businessman, and later became a general under Han Xin. Oh, this Han Xin is not that Han Xin, but Han Wangxin. This Han Wangxin is a descendant of a mysterious King of Han, and perfectly inherited the Korean royal family's mysterious, intelligent and other excellent genes.
When the Xiongnu came to besiege Han Wangxin, Han Xin sent envoys to the Xiongnu many times to ask for peace. Liu Bang sent people with troops to rescue him, but he suspected that Han Xin had betrayed the Han Dynasty by sending envoys privately many times, so he sent people to blame Han Xin.
Han Xin was extremely frightened, so he agreed with the Xiongnu to jointly attack the Han Dynasty, started a rebellion, surrendered the capital Mayi to the Xiongnu, and led his army to attack Taiyuan...
Liu Bang led his army to defeat Han Wangxin's army, and Han Wangxin fled to the Xiongnu. Wang Huang and Manqiuchen established Zhao Li, a descendant of the Zhao royal family, as king. They once again gathered Han Wangxin's scattered soldiers and conspired with the Xiongnu to attack Han, but were defeated by Liu Bang.
Later, Han Wangxin was ready to make moves , hoping to "counterattack the mainland" one day, while his minister Wang Huang followed Chen Xi and together with his former master Han Wangxin, persuaded Chen Xi to rebel.
"My lord, the princes have suffered from the Han for a long time! If you can raise an army, Han Wangxin will definitely lead the Xiongnu troops to respond to your feat!"
"Liu Bang is now old, and he has taken the King of Chu to Chang'an. The Kings of Liang and Huainan have long been dissatisfied with Liu Bang in private. He no longer has any generals who can fight. If you send out your troops now, no one can defeat you."
