Chapter 65 64 Chao Cuo cuts the land

Emperor Han Jing, like Emperor Wen, adopted a policy of recuperation and was determined to govern the country well.When Emperor Jing was the crown prince, there was a housekeeper named Chao Cuo (pronounced chaoAcuo), who was very talented. Everyone called him a "brain tank". The Han Dynasty implemented the system of prefectures and counties, but at the same time there were 22 vassal states.These princes are all descendants of Han Gaozu, that is, the so-called kings with the same surname.At the time of Emperor Han Jing, the princes were very powerful and had a lot of land. For example, Qi State had more than 70 cities, Wu State had more than 50 cities, and Chu State had more than 40 cities.Some princes were not bound by the court, especially Wu Wang Liu Bi (sound bi), who was even more arrogant.His feudal state is close to the sea, and there are copper mines. He cooks salt and mines copper by himself, and is as rich as the Han emperor.He himself never came to Chang'an to meet the emperor, almost making Wu an independent kingdom.

Chao Cuo saw that going on like this would be detrimental to the consolidation of centralization, so he said to Emperor Han Jing: "King Wu has not come to court, and he should have been punished. The more arrogant and conceited he is. He also privately opened Tongshan to mint money, boiled sea water to produce salt, recruited soldiers, and prepared to rebel. It is better to reduce their fiefs as soon as possible." Emperor Han Jing was still a little hesitant, and said: "That's good, I'm afraid cutting the land will arouse them to rebel. Chao Cuo said: "If the princes intend to rebel, they will rebel if they cut down the land, and they will rebel if they don't cut down the land. If they rebel now, the disaster will be small; in the future, when their power is strong, if they rebel again, the disaster will be even greater."

Emperor Han Jing felt that Chao Cuo's words were very reasonable, and determined to reduce the princes' fiefdoms.Most of the princes are either licentious or lawless. It is not easy to catch their crimes as a reason to reduce the fief!After a while, some were cut off by one county, and some were cut off by several counties. When Chao Cuo's father heard the news, he drove him out of his hometown Yingchuan (now Yu County, Henan).He said to Chao Cuo: "You have become a doctor of imperial history, and your status is high enough. Why don't you keep your law and keep your own business? Think about it, the princes and kings are all close relatives of the royal family. You can control them? Your fief has been cut, which one of them doesn't blame you, hate you, why are you doing this?"

Chao Cuo said: "If you don't do this, the emperor will not be able to exercise his power, and the country will definitely be in chaos." His father sighed and said, "If you do this, the world of the Liu family will be stable, but our Chao family will be in danger. I'm old, and I don't want to see catastrophe approaching." Chao Cuo persuaded his father for a while.But the old man didn't consider Chao Cuo's intentions, returned to his hometown in Yingchuan, committed suicide by taking poison. Chao Cuo was negotiating with Emperor Han Jing to cut Wu Wangbi's fief, and Wu Wangbi rebelled first.He used the guise of "punishing the treacherous official Chao Cuo and saving the Liu family".Incite other princes to rebel together.

In 154 BC, seven princes and kings including Wu, Chu, Zhao, Jiaoxi, Jiaodong, Steroid (steroid zi), and Jinan launched a rebellion.Known as the "Seven Kingdoms Rebellion" in history. The rebel army was very powerful, and Emperor Han Jing was a little scared.He recalled Emperor Wenwen's deathbed instructions, worshiping Zhou Yafu, who was good at managing the army, as Taiwei, and commanded thirty-six generals to fight against the rebels. At that time, someone in the court who was jealous of Chao Cuo said that Chao Cuo was responsible for sending troops from the Seven Kingdoms.He persuaded Emperor Han Jing to say: "As long as you agree to the request of the Seven Kingdoms, kill Chao Cuo, save the princes from the crime of raising troops, and restore their original fiefs, they will withdraw their troops back."

Emperor Han Jing believed these words and said: "If they can really withdraw their troops, why should I be reluctant to leave Chao Cuo alone." Then, a group of ministers issued a memorial to impeach Chao Cuo, saying that he was treacherous and should be cut in half.In order to keep his throne, Emperor Han Jing approved this memorial against his conscience. One day, the lieutenant came to Chao Cuo's house and conveyed the emperor's order, asking him to go to court to discuss matters.Chao Cuo was still completely in the dark, so he immediately put on his court clothes, followed the lieutenant into the car and left.

As the chariots and horses passed by the east city of Chang'an, the lieutenant suddenly took out an imperial edict, asking Chao Cuo to get out of the car and listen to the imperial edict.The lieutenant announced Emperor Han Jing's order, and a group of warriors rushed forward and tied Chao Cuo up.This Chao Cuo, who wanted to protect the world of the Han family, was beheaded inexplicably. Emperor Jing of the Han Dynasty killed Chao Cuo and sent an edict ordering the Seven Kingdoms to withdraw their troops.At this time, King Bi of Wu had already won several battles and won many territories.When he heard that he was asked to accept the edict of Emperor Han Jing, he sneered and said, "Now I am also an emperor, why should I bow down?"

An official named Deng Gong in the Han army camp went to Chang'an to report the military situation to Emperor Jing.Emperor Han Jing asked him: "You came from the barracks, do you know that Chao Cuo is dead? Will Wu Chu retreat?" Deng Gong said: "The King of Wu has been preparing for decades to rebel. This time, he borrowed the land because he sent troops. How could it be for Chao Cuo? Your Majesty killed Chao Cuo by mistake. I am afraid that no one will dare to replace the court in the future." Got an idea." Only then did Emperor Han Jing realize that he had done something wrong, but it was too late to regret.Fortunately, Zhou Yafu is very good at using soldiers.Instead of fighting head-on with the rebels of Wu and Chu, he sent a group of light cavalry to copy their rear and cut off the rebels' food road.The armies of Wu and Chu had no food, so they got into chaos first.Only then did Zhou Yafu mobilize elite troops to attack, defeating the troops of Wu and Chu.

Wu and Chu took the lead in the rebellion. Once the two countries were defeated, the other five countries also collapsed quickly.In less than three months, the Han army put down the rebellion in the Seven Kingdoms. Emperor Jing of the Han quelled the rebellion. Although the descendants of the Seven Kingdoms were still sealed to inherit the throne, after that, the princes and kings could only collect taxes in their own kingdoms and were not allowed to interfere with local administration. The power was greatly weakened. The central government of the Han Dynasty Only then was it consolidated.