Chapter 12 Yellowstone Biography

It is said that Zhang Liang has lived in seclusion in Xiapi for a long time. One day, Zhang Liang was wandering alone in the city. When he passed the Yishui Bridge in Xiapi City, an old man in common clothes walked towards him. The old man walked close to Zhang Liang and accidentally dropped his shoe under the bridge.The old man looked back at Zhang Liang and said, "Boy, go down and pick up the shoes for me." Zhang Liang is a descendant of the nobles of the Six Kingdoms, an imposing assassin who assassinated the emperor. Although he is on the run, he is also a young, energetic and heroic figure.Hearing what the old man said, Zhang Liang was of course a little annoyed, wishing he could punch him.Just looking at the other party's old age, he endured it, went down to the bridge, and picked up the shoes.The old man showed no gratitude, stretched out his foot and told Zhang Liang, "Put it on for me."

Zhang Liang became even angrier, but since he had picked up his shoes, let's put them on, so he knelt down and put the shoes on for the old man.The old man calmly asked Zhang Liang to put on his shoes, stood up, smiled and left without saying a word.Zhang Liang was shocked and watched the old man go away.The old man walked five hundred steps away, turned around and walked back, pointing at Zhang Liang and said, "Your boy is quite sensible. Wait for me here at dawn five days later." At this time, Zhang Liang knew that the old man was not an ordinary person, so he knelt down and respectfully saluted and replied, "I understand, I will follow my orders!"

Five days later, at Pingming time, Zhang Liang went as scheduled, but the old man was already waiting at the Yishui Bridge.The old man scolded Zhang Liang angrily and said, "I have an appointment with the old man, but I will arrive later. What's the reason?" After speaking, he turned and left, leaving only one sentence: "Come early in five days." Five days later, Zhang Liang was an hour early and arrived at the bridge when the rooster crowed. The old man had already arrived first, and again angrily reprimanded Zhang Liang, "Why are you still late? Come back in five days."

In this way, another five days passed.This time Zhang Liang didn't dare to be negligent, and set off for the bridge before midnight to wait.Soon, the old man also came.Seeing Zhang Liang, the old man said happily, "This time is right." He took out a silk bundle from his bosom and handed it to Zhang Liang, saying, "Here is a silk book. If you read it well, you can become a master who assists the king. Ten years In the future, I will make a fortune, and I will meet you in Jibei thirteen years later, and the Huangshi at the foot of Gucheng Mountain is me." As soon as he finished speaking, the old man turned around and left. He said nothing and never appeared again.After dawn, Zhang Liang opened the package, and inside was a military book written in ink on silk, titled "Taigong Art of War".Taigong, Jiang Ziya, the military and political mentor of King Wen of Zhou and King Wu of Zhou.Jiang Ziya was good at the art of war and strategy. He assisted King Wen to strengthen his army and King Wu to destroy Yin and Xingzhou. "Taigong Art of War", said to be the work of Jiang Taigong, is a summary of his life's political and military experience.From then on, Zhang Liang studied the art of war day and night, looked up to the world's major events, and finally became a "brain tank" with a deep understanding of strategy, both civil and military skills, and resourcefulness.

The old man who gave books to teach Zhang Liang was later called Huang Shigong.The name Huang Shigong comes from the words he left to Zhang Liang, "I will meet you in Jibei thirteen years later, and the Huangshi at the foot of Gucheng Mountain is me." It is said that thirteen years later, Zhang Liang followed Liu Bang through Jibei County, and he saw a yellow stone at the foot of Gucheng Mountain in Gucheng County.When Zhang Liang died, he buried this stone in his own coffin, and told the descendants that when sweeping the tomb and offering sacrifices, they must worship the Yellow Stone, just like he was alive.

The story of Huang Shigong and Zhang Liang is a legend collected by Sima Qian.Sima Qian is not a superstitious believer in ghosts and gods, but he believes that there are weird and magical things in the world.Zhang Liang himself is a miraculous figure. He assassinated Qin Shihuang in his early years, and later assisted Liu Bang to pacify the world. In his later years, he transcended the world and sought immortality.Sima Qian thought that Zhang Liang's encounter with Huang Shigong was weird and strange, and it was also part of the variation of human reason, so he recorded it in detail. The "Taigong Art of War" handed over to Zhang Liang by Huang Shigong is a series of ancient military books in the name of Jiang Taigong. It has been handed down to the world, including "Huang Shigong Three Strategies", "Yin Fu Jing" and "Six Secret Teachings".As long as you read through the three Taigong books, you will be amazed. Zhang Liang later assisted Liu Bang to conquer the world, strategizing, and winning thousands of miles away. His wisdom and strategy originated from "Taigong Art of War".

Zhang Liang, who was determined to resist Qin, also gathered more than a hundred people and raised the banner of opposing Qin.Later, because he felt alone and alone, it was difficult to gain a foothold, so he had to lead the crowd to cast Jingju (the leader of the peasant army who established himself as the false king of Chu). On the way, he happened to meet Liu Bang leading the rebel army to develop power in Xiapi area.The two fell in love at first sight. It is said that after Zhang Liangxiu obtained "The Grand Duke's Art of War", he told others to listen to it, but there was no reaction. When he told Liu Bang to listen to it, Liu Bang immediately felt good and implemented them one by one.Zhang Liang couldn't help but sigh with emotion: "Pei Gong is about to be granted by heaven." So Zhang Liang decisively changed his mind to join Jingju and decided to follow Liu Bang.Tianshou Tianshou, what is bestowed by heaven.Zhang Liang's intelligence and wisdom are bestowed by heaven; Liu Bang's heroism is also bestowed by heaven.God also faked Huang Shigong and "Taigong Art of War" to connect the two together, creating a match made in heaven between the monarch and the emperor's teacher, the coach and the adviser.As a scholar, it is important to have a deep understanding of strategy, but the prerequisite for using strategy is to have an enlightened master who is good at accepting advice.This unexpected encounter, Zhang Liang "turned the rudder" to Mingzhu, reflecting his sober mind and unique vision in the complicated situation.Since then, Zhang Liang has been highly valued and trusted by Liu Bang, and his ingenuity has the opportunity to be fully utilized.

When Liu Bang arrived in Xuedi, he met Xiang Liang.Xiang Liang supported King Huai of Chu.Zhang Liang then persuaded Xiang Liang: "You have supported the descendants of the king of Chu, and Han Chengxian, the king of Hengyang among the sons of South Korea, can be made king and increase the power of the allies." Xiang Liang sent Zhang Liang to look for them. When he arrived in Hancheng, he made him the king of Han, and appointed Zhang Liang as the situ of Han. Zhang Liang's goal of "recovering Korea" was finally achieved, and his long-cherished political wish of "recovering his family" was also realized. Therefore, he tried his best to support Han Wangcheng, commanded his troops to recover Han land (referring to the territory of South Korea during the Warring States period), and wandered around Yingchuan, sometimes attacking Several cities were recaptured by Qin soldiers from time to time, but it has not been able to create a big situation for a long time.

At the end of this year, King Huai of Chu ordered Liu Bang and Xiang Yu to divide their troops to attack Qin, and agreed: Whoever enters Xianyang first will be the king.Liu Bang planned to enter Guanzhong from Wuguan via Yingchuan and Nanyang. In July of the third year of Qin II (207 BC), Liu Bang led his troops to capture Yingchuan.Han Wang and Zhang Liang joined Liu Bang.Liu Bang asked Han Wang to stay at Yangdi (the ancient capital of Han, now Yuzhou City, Henan Province), and let Zhang Liang go south with the army.In September, the army arrived in Nanyang County (now Nanyang City, Henan).Qi, the governor of Nanyang County, retreated into Wancheng (Nanyang, Henan) to defend.

Liu Bang was eager to destroy Qin. Seeing that Wancheng was difficult to capture for a while, he planned to bypass Wancheng and continue westward.Zhang Liang thought it was inappropriate and persuaded: "Although you are eager to enter the pass, there are still many Qin soldiers along the way, and they are all occupying dangerous terrain. If you don't take Wancheng now, once the Qin soldiers from Wancheng chase you Come here, at that time, Qiang Qin is in the front and the pursuers are behind, so it will be very dangerous." Liu Bang adopted his suggestion, immediately changed the flag, and led his troops to take a small road at night and return quietly.At dawn, Liu Bang's army had surrounded Wancheng heavily.Then, Liu Bang adopted Chen Hui's opinion, recruited the prefect of Nanyang with the technique of attacking the heart, pardoned all the officials and people in the city, and captured Wancheng without bloodshed.The worries of Liu Bang's westward advance were relieved, Liu Bang's troops were greatly strengthened, and other cities in Nanyang County saw that the prefect had surrendered, and they followed suit one after another.

In December of the same year, Liu Bang led his army to Luoguan (now southeast of Lanyang, Shaanxi).Luoguan was an important communication pass between Nanyang and Guanzhong in ancient times. It was easy to defend and difficult to attack. It was the throat fortress leading to Xianyang, the capital of Qin Dynasty, and the last pass to defend Xianyang. Qin had heavy troops guarding this place.Liu Bang rushed to the front of the pass, intending to personally lead more than 20,000 troops to attack by force. Zhang Liang remonstrated: "At present, Qin's troops guarding the pass are still very strong, so don't act rashly." Liu Bang feared that Xiang Yu's army would enter the pass first, so he was very anxious, and asked Zhang Liang for advice.Zhang Liang presented Liu Bang with a clever trick.He said: "I heard that the guard at Luoguan is the son of a butcher. This kind of philistine can impress his heart with a little money. You can send troops in advance, prepare food and salaries for 50,000 people, and Add a large number of army banners in the surrounding mountains, bluff, and act as suspicious soldiers. Then send Li Shiqiduo to bring treasures and treasures to persuade Qin generals, and the matter may succeed." Liu Bang acted according to the plan, and the guard of Luoguan surrendered as expected, and expressed his willingness to jointly attack Xianyang with Liu Bang.Liu Bang was overjoyed, but Zhang Liang thought it was impossible.He calmly analyzed: "It's just that the guard at Luoguan wants to rebel against Qin, and his soldiers may not obey. If the soldiers don't obey, the consequences will be unimaginable. It's better to take advantage of Qin's slack and eliminate them." So, Liu Bang He led his troops to attack Luoguan suddenly. As a result, the Qin army was defeated and abandoned the pass to retreat to Lantian (now west of Lantian County, Shaanxi).Liu Bang took advantage of the victory to pursue, led his troops around Luo Pass, crossed Luoshan Mountain, and defeated the Qin army in Lantian.Then, the army continued to march westward and arrived at Bashang (25 miles east of today's Xi'an City) in January 206 BC. In 205 BC, when Xiang Yu was fighting fiercely with Qi and Zhao, Liu Bang led his troops out of the pass and marched towards the Central Plains.The Han army was mighty, with a total of 560,000 people, attacking Chu in the east, and captured Pengcheng in April of the following year. At this time, Qin II had been killed by Zhao Gao, and he had only lived for forty-six days. Seeing that the rebel army was approaching the city, the situation was over, so he tied his neck with a rope, rode a white horse in a plain chariot, and came out of the city with a jade seal talisman in his hand. .At this point, the Great Qin Empire, which ruled all directions and vibrated the sea, perished. It took Liu Bang only one year to go westward under the order of King Huai of Chu to enter Guanzhong and force Ziying to surrender. Because he adopted Zhang Liang's strategy and ensured the smooth progress of the military, he won time and finally surpassed Xiang Yu. Take the first step into Guanzhong. At the beginning, Xiang Yu and Song Yi went north to rescue Zhao. After Xiang Yu killed Song Yi and replaced him as the general, all the generals such as Ying Bu belonged to Xiang Yu; Xiang Yu defeated the Qin general Wang Li and surrendered Zhang Han. The princes all surrendered to him.After Zhao Gao killed Qin II, he sent someone to ask for an interview, and wanted to make an agreement with Liu Bang to divide the land in Guanzhong and become king. Pei Gong thought there was a fraud, so he used Zhang Liang's strategy to send Li Sheng and Lu Jia to lobby the Qin generals, and lured them with money, and took this opportunity to attack Wuguan and captured them.He fought against the Qin army in the south of Lantian.He set up a suspicious flag and ordered the whole army not to plunder wherever he passed. The people of Qin were very happy, and the Qin army collapsed, so the Qin army was defeated.Then he fought against the Qin army in the north of Lantian, and defeated the Qin army.So he took advantage of the victory and fought bravely, and finally completely defeated the Qin army. The Liu Bang Group's concept of "sharing the world" was put forward by Zhang Liang.In 202 BC, when Liu Bang and Xiang Yu fought Gaixia, Zhang Liang formally proposed to Liu Bang that only when the monarch can "share the world" with the princes and ministers, can the upper and lower sides work together to defeat Xiang Yu and win.Liu Bang accepted Zhang Liang's suggestion, and agreed with other countries to share the rights and interests of the world, and finally assembled the coalition forces of the vassal states to defeat Xiang Yu in one fell swoop. Having said that, in October of the first year of the Han Dynasty (206 BC), Liu Bang's army was the first to reach Bashang among the princes from all walks of life.Qin Ziying drove a white chariot and a white horse, tied a silk rope around his neck, sealed the emperor's jade seal and talisman, and surrendered beside Zhidao.Some of the generals said that King Qin should be killed.Liu Bang said: "King Huai sent me to attack key points, because he thought I could be tolerant; besides, it is unlucky to kill others after they have surrendered." So he handed over King Qin to the officials in charge, and went west into Xianyang .Liu Bang wanted to stay in the Qin palace to rest, but Fan Kuai and Zhang Liang dissuaded him, and then ordered the precious treasures and treasuries in the Qin palace to be sealed up, and then returned to camp in Bashang. When Liu Bang's army entered Xianyang, seeing the luxurious palace, beautiful maids and a large number of treasures and foreign objects, many people were carried away and dizzy, thinking that they could enjoy the world to the fullest.Even Liu Bang couldn't help himself, he was overwhelmed by everything in the Qin Palace, and wanted to stay in the palace and enjoy the wealth.Military general Fan Kuai risked his death to offend Yan Qiang and remonstrated with Liu Bang for "becoming a rich man".However, Liu Bang simply ignored it.Some sages under his command were very anxious about this. At this critical moment, Zhang Liang analyzed the interests and disadvantages to Liu Bang, and persuaded: "King Qin does more unrighteous things, so you can overthrow him and enter Xianyang. Since you have eradicated the evil for the people of the world, you should clothe yourself as a vegetarian to show Frugality. Now that the army has just entered Qin, you are indulging in pleasure. This is the so-called aiding the tyrant. As the saying goes, good medicine is good for the disease, and honest words are good for deeds. May you, Pei Gong, listen to the words of Fan Kuai and others." Zhang Liang's tone was calm, but there was some hardness in his softness, especially the revealing of the success and failure of the past and the present, as well as the harsh words such as "innocent Qin" and "helping the king to abuse" in his words, which faintly hurt Liu Bang's almost intoxicated heart.This technique of playing hard and singing slowly really worked.Liu Bang happily accepted this far-sighted persuasion, and ordered that the palace treasures, treasuries, and property of the Qin Dynasty be sealed up, and returned to the army to rectify the army, waiting for Xiang Yu and other rebels. During this period, Liu Bang also adopted Zhang Liang's suggestion, summoned the elders and heroes of the counties, and said to them: "The elders have suffered from the harsh laws and regulations of the Qin Dynasty for a long time. Those who criticize the government's gains and losses will be exterminated, and those who gather to talk will be sentenced to death. We I made an agreement with the princes that whoever enters Guanzhong first will be the king here, so I should be the king of Guanzhong. Now I have agreed with the elders that there are only three laws: murderers shall be punished by death, and those who injure and rob are punished according to law. All the laws of the DPRK are abolished. All the officials and the people live and work in peace and contentment as usual. In short, I came here to eliminate harm for the fathers and elders, and will not do any harm to you. Please don’t be afraid! Besides, I sent the army Withdrawing to Bashang is to wait for the arrival of the princes from all walks of life and jointly formulate a statute." Immediately, he sent people to inspect the counties, towns and villages together with the officials of the Qin Dynasty.Explain the situation to the people.The people of Qin were very happy, and they rushed to send cattle, sheep, wine and food to comfort the soldiers.Liu Bang refused to accept it, saying: "there is a lot of food in the warehouse, and there is no shortage. I don't want everyone to spend money." After hearing this, the people of Qin were more happy, lest Liu Bang would not be the king of Qin. Liu Bang adopted Zhang Liang's suggestion and adopted a series of measures to calm the people, which won the hearts of the people and laid a good political foundation for him to manage Guanzhong in the future and use it as a base to compete with Xiang Yu for supremacy in the world. Some people lobbied Liu Bang: "The wealth of Qin is ten times that of other regions, and the geographical situation is good. Now I heard that Zhang Han surrendered to Xiang Yu, and Xiang Yu gave him the title of King Yong, and he will be king in Guanzhong. If he comes now, Pei Gong I'm afraid you won't be able to own this place. You can quickly send troops to guard Hangu Pass, and don't let the armies of the princes come in. And gradually recruit soldiers in the pass to strengthen your own strength so that you can resist them." Pei Gong thought his words were reasonable and obeyed. out of his plan.In mid-November, Xiang Yu led the army of the princes to the west and wanted to enter Hangu Pass, but the gate was closed tightly.