Chapter 41 5. Set up a poisonous plan to kill the king of a different surname again

The death of Han Xin brought great shock to the courtiers and princes and kings with different surnames. They realized that this was just the beginning, not the end.Whose turn is it next?Everyone speculated in private, and they didn't dare to say a word when the court was discussing affairs. When the news came, they were shocked, and they didn't expect it to be——Peng Yue. We are not unfamiliar with Peng Yue. In the Chu-Han War, Peng Yue was the "guerrilla general" who made Xiang Yu sleepless and unable to eat. It can be said that without Peng Yue, the winner of the Chu-Han War may not necessarily be Liu Bang .Peng Yue and Liu Bang are about the same age, both came from poor and humble backgrounds, and have similar experiences. They both have a "rogue and robber" temperament, so the relationship between Liu Bang and Peng Yue is relatively close.Peng Yue changed from a bandit who occupied the mountain as king to a prince of a country, occupying the fertile land of the Central Plains-Liang State, and always had a heart of gratitude to Liu Bang.Liu Bang had an opinion on him, and he had to start with Chen Xi's rebellion.

When Chen Xi rebelled, Liu Bang personally quelled it and ordered the princes and kings to lead troops to fight together. However, except for his son Qi Wang Liu Fei who sent elite troops to support him, the other princes and kings responded extremely coldly.Han Xin said that the illness would not go away, which ignited Liu Bang's anger, to the point where he didn't like anyone.At this time, Peng Yue also claimed to be sick, and sent his generals to lead the troops to Handan to assist Liu Bang, and Liu Bang was furious. Han Xin was pretending to be sick, but Peng Yue was really sick. He was about the same age as Liu Bang, and he was in his fifties at this time. It was normal to have arm pain and leg pain.But at that time, the news was blocked, and Peng Yue didn't know the reactions of the princes and kings, let alone Han Xin's claim of illness.

At this time, Han Xin was punished for the incident, and Liu Bang sent an envoy to Liang Guo to blame Peng Yue.Peng Yue was frightened and wanted to apologize in person.His general Hu Zhe dissuaded him and said: "You couldn't go in person at the beginning because you were sick, but now you go in person after being blamed. Isn't it just showing people that you were pretending to be sick?" At the beginning, even if I threw my old life on the battlefield, I had to lead troops to assist the emperor.Hu Zhe went on to say: "I think you will be arrested if you go there. It's better to send troops to rebel." Peng Yue is not a courageous person. Everything today is hard-won. But there was nothing he could do, so he had to continue pretending to be sick.

Unexpectedly, their conversation was overheard by Liang Guo's eunuch. The eunuch judged the situation and felt that there would be no good end for Peng Yue if he did not rebel. He was afraid that he would be involved in political struggles in the future, so he might as well expose it to the emperor and be innocent.So the eunuch reported Peng Yue and Hu Zhe to the emperor. So Liu Bang immediately secretly sent someone to investigate Peng Yue.Peng Yue did not have any plans for rebellion, but Peng Yue did not take any measures against Hu Zhe's "instigating rebellion", which shows that Peng Yue was rebellious.Liu Bang missed his old love, pardoned his death crime, reduced him to a commoner, and exiled him to Qingyi County, Shu County.

Peng Yue was imprisoned in Sichuan, he was old, he lived and slept all the way, he was very sad, he became a prisoner overnight from the king of a country, and he didn't know who to tell his grievances.When I arrived in Zheng County, I happened to meet Empress Lu who was driving from Chang'an to Luoyang.Peng Yue has a sister-in-law relationship with Empress Lu, and he also knows that Empress Lu has become an important figure in the court. He suddenly feels that he has met a savior, and wants to grab this straw. Seeing Empress Lu, he cried and said: "Queen Mingjian, I really don't have the intention of rebelling - I'm an old bone now, and I can't afford it anymore. I just hope that I can go back to my hometown in peace and stability. I hope the queen will help me." Say something nice." Empress Lu said majestically and kindly: "King Liang doesn't have to be so sad, I have everything to do, you can go back to Luoyang with me now, and I will tell him clearly when I see the emperor..." Peng Yue was overjoyed and wept with gratitude.

After arriving in Luoyang, Empress Lu went to see Liu Bang and said, "The emperor exiled Peng Yue in Shu. I met him on the road and brought him back." When Liu Bang heard this, he became furious, "I think you are becoming more and more lawless. Take him back to Luoyang privately, don’t you make me laugh at people all over the world?” Empress Lu didn’t panic, and said, “Why should the emperor be so anxious, I haven’t finished my sentence yet—the emperor thinks that Peng Yue will grow old when he arrives in Shu. Do you want to be an obedient citizen?" Liu Bang snorted and said, "Forgive him, he doesn't dare to have any unreasonable thoughts!" Empress Lu said, "The emperor's words are correct, but just in case..." Liu Bang couldn't help it. Knowing what Empress Lu was going to say, she looked at her suspiciously.She went on to say: "Peng Yue was born in a reckless family. He is a good man. If he is exiled to Shu, he will undoubtedly be letting the tiger go back to the mountain and leaving troubles for himself. It is better to kill him." Liu Bang looked at his married wife and thought in his heart. Admiration: What a Lu Zhi, he has really grown a lot of skills now!He was silent for a while and said: "I have already been exiled in Shu, and if I kill him now, I will change the order every day. What prestige will I have in the future?" Empress Lu said confidently: "I don't need to worry about this matter!"

Liu Bangzheng was happy. He gradually discovered Empress Lu's political talent, and felt that he had a left and right hand, and he felt a lot more relaxed. He called Madam Qi to a banquet to enjoy singing and dancing. The rest will be left to Empress Lu.Empress Lu found her cronies and arranged for them one by one.It didn't take long for Peng Yue's retainers to accuse him of treason again.Then, at the behest of Empress Lu, Tingwei Wang Tian asked to kill the Pengyue family, and Liu Bang agreed without hesitation.Peng Yue waited in Luoyang for the imperial edict of Gaozu's pardon, but in the end he waited for the catastrophe of family annihilation, and died in a muddleheaded manner. He didn't know that Empress Lu had done it until he died.

In terms of military strategy and command ability, Peng Yue is not as good as Han Xin, but in terms of achievements, he is indeed better than him.In the Chu-Han War, it was precisely because he led his troops to carry out guerrilla warfare behind the Chu army that he gave the front-line Han army a chance not to be annihilated by Xiang Yu. On the basis of guerrilla warfare, it was only in the final battle of Gaixia that he had the opportunity to wipe out Xiang Yu's exhausted troops and won the final victory.Such a hero, with such an unclear ending, cannot escape the similar fate of the founding heroes of the past dynasties.

Peng Yue was brutally tortured with 醢 torture (an ancient torture, that is, chopped into meat sauce).Empress Lu also rewarded Peng Yue's meat sauce to the princes and kings one by one, and killed chickens to show to monkeys. Hanxin, Yingbu, and Pengyue, three outstanding military kings with different surnames in the Han Dynasty, had already died in the hands of Empress Lu. Empress Lu gradually established her majestic, cruel, and decisive political image, which even Liu Bang admired.All that Queen Lu did was of course for the Liu family, but furthermore, it was also for herself.After the old man left, can he control these important ministers who founded the country?Empress Lu didn't have that kind of confidence. Madam Qi squeezed her again and again when she gained power, which made her feel the urgency of seizing power. This may be her main motivation for getting rid of Han Xin and Peng Yue.

During the eight years since Liu Bang became emperor, Empress Lu assisted Liu Bang in suppressing rebellion and attacking separatist forces, which played an important role in consolidating the unified regime of the Han Dynasty and made full preparations for her future power.Soon after Peng Yue was killed, Liu Bang successively canonized the two princes as kings, replacing the kings with different surnames with the same surname.