In the first month of 201 BC, Liu Bang began to reward meritorious heroes.

Zhang Liang has always been a staff officer and has never made meritorious contributions to the front line. Liu Bang said: "The ovary has a lot of credit! In the midst of strategizing, the decisive victory is thousands of miles away. ”

The ovary is Zhang Liang's character. Liu Bang fully affirmed Zhang Liang's role and asked Zhang Liang to choose 30,000 households as fiefdoms. Ordinary people must have happily accepted the reward and received 30,000 households.

Zhang Liang is not an ordinary person, he excused himself and said: "When I started an incident in Xiapi and met with His Majesty in Liuxian County, this is God handed me over to Your Majesty!" It is enough to seal the county to me, and I dare not seal 30,000 households. ”

Liu Bang agreed, and Zhang Liang was appointed to stay.

Zhang Liang is revered as the "Wisdom Saint of the Ages", but it is not in vain. Stay sober in the face of the big interests, so as not to attract envy, and by the way, pat the leader's ass, so that the leader will always remember his goodness, but will not bring pressure to the leader.

Zhang Liang has never made a mistake in the major choices he has made in his life, and he can stand on the right team every time politically, and Liu Bang and Empress Lu trust him very much. Among the three heroes of the early Han Dynasty, Han Xin ended up the worst, Xiao He once lost Liu Bang's trust and was arrested and imprisoned, only Zhang Liangen survived. There are not many founders in the past dynasties who can die well, Zhang Liang is good at both seeking the country and seeking his life, and is praised by later generations as a model of success and retirement.

Liu Bang first rewarded Zhang Liang, Xiao He and more than 20 people, which was the first batch of great heroes. The rest of the ministers fought day and night, and could not decide on the rank for a while, so they temporarily stopped awarding rewards. In such a comparison, Zhang Liang's attitude towards the reward is so rare, and what happened below shows his wisdom even more.

Liu Bang was in the South Palace of Luoyang, looking from the overpass, and saw some generals often sitting on the ground and talking to each other.

Liu Bang felt strange and asked, "What are these people talking about?" ”

Zhang Liang replied, "Your Majesty doesn't know? This is a conspiracy to rebel. ”

Liu Bang was taken aback and asked, "The world has been settled, why do you want to rebel?" ”

Zhang Liang explained: "Your Majesty raised troops as civilians and won the world by relying on these people. Now that His Majesty is the emperor, the rewards are all Xiao He and Cao Shen, who are close and favored by His Majesty, and those who are killed are those who have hated in their lives. The officials counted the merits, thinking that the land in the world was not enough to reward one by one, and these people were afraid that His Majesty would not be able to seal it all, and they were afraid that they would be killed for making mistakes, so they gathered together to plot a rebellion. ”

At that time, the land was indeed not enough to reward all the heroes. First of all, Han Xin and several other kings with different surnames each occupied a large piece of land, and Liu Bang's brothers and nephews divided it again, and there was not much land left.

Liu Bang was worried, "What should I do?" ”

Zhang Liang already had an idea, and he asked: "Your Majesty hates all your life, and the ministers know it, who is there?" ”

Liu Bang gritted his teeth and replied: "Yongya has a vendetta with me, and I have always wanted to kill him, because he has a lot of credit, so I can't bear it." ”

Yongya played in front, he relied on the fact that he was a rich second generation, looked down on Liu Bang's background, betrayed Liu Bang, and later surrendered.

Zhang Liang said: "Now hurry up and reward Yongya first, and show it to the ministers, everyone will believe that they can definitely be rewarded when they see Yongya." ”

Liu Bang listened to Zhang Liang's suggestion, set up a banquet, sealed Yongya as the Marquis of Shifang, and urged the prime minister and the imperial history to speed up the progress to evaluate the merits of the ministers and implement the reward.

The ministers were full of wine and food, and they all said happily: "Yongya has still been made a marquis, and we don't have to worry about it!" ”

A potential crisis was easily defused by Zhang Liang. "Yongya Fenghou" has become an idiom, which refers to people who are tolerant and generous regardless of their previous suspicions.