Chapter 27 118 Shi Le Reading Han Shu

In the second year after Emperor Jin Yuan ascended the throne, Liu Cong, the ruler of the Han Kingdom of the Huns, died of illness.There were also divisions within Han.Liu Cong's nephew Liu Yao took over the position of king.He felt that using the name of the Han Dynasty could not deceive the people, so in 319 AD, he changed the name of the country to Zhao.Shi Le, a general of the Han Dynasty, expanded his military strength in the anti-Jin war, and he did not want to be ruled by Liu Yao anymore, so he also called himself King Zhao. Shi Le is a member of the Jie tribe, and his family has been the little leader of the Jie tribe for generations.When he was young, there was a famine in Bingzhou, and he was separated from the tribe. He used to be a slave and servant for others.Once, Shi Le was captured by rebels and locked in a prison cart.It happened that a herd of deer ran by beside his prison car.The rebels went after the deer one after another, and Shi Le took the opportunity to escape.

Shi Le suffered so much and had no way out, so he recruited a group of exiled peasants to form a strong team.After Liu Yuan raised an army, Shi Le surrendered to Han and became a general under Liu Yuan. The culture of the Jie people is lower than that of the Huns.Shi Le was not educated in Han culture like Liu Yuan was, and was illiterate.After he served as a general, he gradually realized that to achieve a great cause, force alone cannot be used. He relied on Zhang Bin, a Han scholar, and took many political measures.He also took in a group of poor scholars from the Han nationality in the north, and organized a "Gentlemen's Camp".

Because Shi Le was brave and good at fighting, and Zhang Bin had a group of counselors to help him make suggestions, Shi Le's power became stronger.In 328 AD, Liu Yao was finally eliminated.Two years later, Shi Le proclaimed himself emperor in the state of Xiang, and the name of the state was still Zhao.Historically, Liu's State of Zhao was called "Former Zhao", and the State of Zhao established by Shi Le was called "Later Zhao". Shi Le himself has no culture, but he attaches great importance to scholars.After he became Emperor Zhao, he ordered his subordinates not to kill any scholars who were caught, but to send them to Xiangguo for him to deal with.

He followed Zhang Bin's advice and set up a school, and asked the children of his generals to study in the school.He also established a system of recommendation and examination.All the people recommended from all over the country passed the evaluation and were selected as officials. Shi Le strictly forbids his subordinates to mention the characters "Hu" and "Jie".But in order to appease the Han scholars, sometimes the ban was not enforced. Once, Fan Tan, a Han official, was appointed as an official.When Fan Tan entered the palace for an audience, he was wearing tattered clothes.Shi Le asked him in surprise, "How come you are so poor?"

Fan Tan forgot about the prohibition, and replied, "I just met a group of Jie thieves who robbed me of all my belongings. I don't even have a decent piece of clothing at home." Shi Le knew that he had suffered a loss, so he comforted him and said, "It's not right for Jie thieves to rob things like this! I will compensate them for them!" Fan Tan suddenly remembered that he violated the prohibition order, and trembling with fright, he hurriedly asked Shi Le for his crime. Shi Le smiled and said, "My ban is for ordinary people. You old scholars, I don't blame you."

As he said, he really gave Fan Tan some clothes and money, and also rewarded him with a car and a horse. Shi Le likes reading very much.He was illiterate himself, so he asked some scholars to tell him the book, and while listening, he also expressed his opinions at any time. Once, he had someone read the "Book of Han" to him, and heard someone persuade Han Gaozu to enshrine the history of the descendants of the nobles of the old six countries.He said: "Ah! Liu Bang took such a wrong approach, how can he win the world?" The speaker immediately explained to him, but because of Zhang Liang's dissuasion, Han Gaozu did not do this.Shi Le nodded and said, "That's right."

Another time, Shi Le held a banquet for ministers. At the banquet, he asked a minister, "What kind of ancient emperors do you think I can compare with?" The minister boasted: "Your Majesty is wise and powerful, stronger than Han Gaozu, and no one else can compare." Shi Le smiled and said: "You are talking too much. If I meet Han Gaozu, I can only be his servant, probably similar to Han Xin and Peng Yue. If I was born at the time of Emperor Guangwu of the Han Dynasty, I could keep pace with him , It’s still not clear who wins and who loses.” Due to Shile's reuse of talents, he was relatively enlightened politically, and prosperity appeared in the early days of the Later Zhao Dynasty.