Xiao He's birth year is unknown, but when he was young, he served as the chief official of Pei County (now Pei County, Xuzhou City, Jiangsu Province). [1] He was usually diligent and studious, quick-witted, and had studied the laws and decrees of the past dynasties. Xiao He is diligent and thrifty by nature, and never extravagant and wasteful. He has an easy-going personality and is very good at reading people, and has made many friends, including Liu Bang, the head of the Surabaya Pavilion, Fan Xu, the butcher, Cao Shen, the chauffeur, Xiahou Ying, and the drummer Zhou Bo. He saw that Liu Bangqi was magnificent, extraordinary, and his conversation was different from everyone else, so he admired him very much, and used his power to secretly protect him many times. [2] [3]

Portrait of Xiao He

Once, Liu Bang was ordered to escort a group of prisoners to Lishan to repair the Mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang, but not far from the county, many people escaped. Liu Bang couldn't catch up, and he couldn't hold back. When he arrived at Daze, Fengxiang, Liu Bang simply untied all the prisoners and told them to escape, while he and more than 10 prisoners who were desperate to live and die with him fled to Mang, Dang and Dang Er Mountains for refuge. After the Peixian county order was learned, Liu Bang's wife Lu Pheasant was imprisoned, and Xiao He and Cao Shen were released from prison on bail. [3]

In July of the first year of Qin II (209 BC), Chen Sheng and Wu Guang rose up in Daze Township and raised the banner of anti-Qin. [4] At this time, Xiao He was still serving as a gongcao in Pei County, and he and Cao Shen, Fan Xu, Xiahou Ying, Zhou Bo and others often gathered, closely watched the development of the situation, and secretly maintained contact with Liu Bang in Mangdang Mountain. [3]

Pei County Uprising

Under the influence of the uprisings of Chen Sheng and Wu Guang, many local officials also felt that Qin's tyranny could not last long, so they also rebelled against the imperial court and joined the rebels to protect themselves. [7] Pei County, where Xiao He served, was close to Qizhou, and Pei County saw that the beacons were everywhere, so he found Xiao He, Cao Shen and others to secretly discuss the matter of raising troops. Xiao He suggested: "You are an official of the Qin Dynasty, and the people of Pei County may not be able to listen to you, and if you want to do great things, you must invite the fugitive heroes back." In this way, Pei County can be as safe as Mount Tai. [8] The county decree agreed, so he sent Liu Bang's wife's sister Lu Xu's husband Fan Hao to Mangdang Mountain to retrieve Liu Bang and revolt together. [9] Liu Bang readily agreed, and immediately led the crowd to Benpei County. Unexpectedly, the county order repented, turned Liu Bang out of the city, and wanted to kill Xiao He and others. [10] Under these circumstances, Xiao He and Cao Shen were very frightened and fled to Liu Bang across the city. [11] Subsequently, Liu Bang wrote a letter to the elders of Pei County on silk and shot an arrow into the city. The book said: "The people of the world have endured the hardships of Qin's harsh government for a long time, but now the fathers and brothers are guarding the city for the county order. The princes of the world rose together, and they were about to break through the city of Peixian. If the people of Peicheng rise up now to kill the county order and respond to the princes, the family can be saved. Otherwise, both father and son will be killed in vain. [12] When the people of Pei County read Liu Bang's letter, they gathered to kill the county commander and opened the city gate to welcome Liu Bang. [3] [13]

After Liu Bang entered the city, he summoned Peicheng's fathers and elders to discuss the plan. Everyone elected Liu Bang as the county commander and turned his back on Qin to stand on his own. [13] Liu Bang excused himself and said: "Now that there is turmoil and the princes are rising, Pei Ling should choose the most prestigious person in the county." If I miss the fathers and elders of the city, then I will not redeem myself, so I should quickly choose another merit to do great things. [14] Xiao He and Cao Shen were both scribes, and they were worried about their lives, fearing that they would not succeed and be exterminated by the Qin Dynasty, so they tried their best to promote Liu Bang. [15] The elders of Pei County also said that Liu Bang was the most auspicious after divination, and they all supported Liu Bang. [16] Liu Bang was rejected many times, and finally had to agree. [17] So, they held a ceremony in the county hall, swore to rise up, and according to the old system of the Warring States period, they called Liu Bang "Pei Gong". [17] [18] (One said, Xiao He has a "plan to ask questions" in it; [19] Later generations also performed the story of Xiao He letting Liu Bang have a lot [20-22])

Advance westward to destroy Qin

In September of the second year of Qin II (208 BC), Xiang Liang's uncle and nephew killed Huiji County Shou Yintong and raised the banner of rebellion. [23] Soon, he gathered more than 200,000 soldiers and horses to support Xiong Xin, the grandson of King Huai of Chu, as king,[24] and met with Liu Bang's troops in Xuecheng. The generals agreed: Xiang Yu went north to rescue Zhao, and after relieving the siege of Julu, he attacked Qin from the north road to the west, and Liu Bang marched west from the south road to Guanzhong. After the two groups defeated the Qin army, who entered the Qin capital Xianyang first, and who became the king of Guanzhong. [21] [25] [26]

Liu Bang led the army to move forward bravely, relying on the planning of Zhang Liang and others, avoiding the real and making the false, suppressing and appeasing at the same time, and winning the pass all the way to Guanzhong. Xiao He, as the governor, sat in the local area and supervised the logistics supply of the army. In October of the first year of Prince Qin (207 BC), Liu Bang led a large army to Xianyang City. Prince Ying of Qin designed to kill the traitorous minister Zhao Gao,[28] and offered the jade seal and surrendered to Liu Bang. [29] As a result, the rebel army marched into the city of Xianyang.

Xiao He collects books on the law

Foresight

When the soldiers saw the majestic palace of the Qin capital and the bustling market, they immediately got carried away, and looted gold and silver property one after another, and even Liu Bang couldn't help it, so he took advantage of his free time to run to the Qin Palace to look around. When he saw the gorgeous palace rooms, the strange furnishings, the piles of gold and silver jewelry, the hunting dogs and horses, the rare playthings, and the groups of beauties, he was dazzled and fluttering, and even coveted the wealth of the Qin Palace and couldn't bear to leave. [30-32] In a daze, he walked into Huhai's dormitory with the beautiful woman in his arms, lay down on the dragon bed, and entered the gentle country.

Suddenly, the general Fan Hao broke into the door and said loudly: "Does Pei Gong want to take the world, or do you want to be a rich man?" These luxurious things are the bane of Qin's demise. Don't get obsessed with it! [33] At the same time, Zhang Liang and others also came to state their interests,[34] and Liu Bang suddenly realized that he immediately ordered the soldiers to seize the palace treasury, and then led the soldiers back to Bashang. [30] [31]

Only Xiao He, after entering Xianyang, was not greedy for gold and silver property, and second, he was not obsessed with beautiful women, but he rushed to the Prime Minister of Qin's Imperial History Mansion in a hurry, and sent soldiers to quickly surround the Prime Minister's Imperial History Mansion and prevent anyone from entering or leaving. Then let the faithful and reliable people check the books and archives of the relevant countries of the Qin Dynasty one by one, classify them, register them, and collect them all for future reference. [21] [35] [36]

Because, according to the canonical system of the Qin Dynasty, the prime minister assisted the Son of Heaven to deal with national affairs; The Imperial Historian supervises the imperial history of each county externally, and accepts the affairs of the minister internally. In addition to military power, the prime minister and the imperial historian almost controlled all the government affairs. Xiao He has been an official for many years, so of course he knows this. In this regard, the whole army admired it, and Liu Bang was ashamed and said: "Xiao He is indeed a talent, and it is not in vain for me to promote him." Xiao He's collection of these Qin Dynasty law books and archives enabled Liu Bang to know the world's key points, the number of household registrations, the situation of strength and weakness, customs and people's feelings, etc., and found a reliable basis for formulating correct policies and laws and regulations, which played a huge role in the establishment and consolidation of the Western Han Dynasty regime in the future. This also shows Xiao He's foresight. [37] [38]

Bao Ju Han Shin

Soon after Liu Bang took the lead in attacking Xianyang, Xiang Yu also led his army into the pass, and in February of the same year, he proclaimed himself the overlord of Western Chu, occupied the land of 9 counties in the east of Liang and Chu, and built the capital Pengcheng (Xuzhou, Jiangsu). [39] He reneged on the original agreement and renamed Liu Bang as the king of Han, governing the remote and remote lands of Ba, Shu and Hanzhong, and building the capital Nanzheng. [40] [41] In order to prevent Liu Bang from advancing eastward, Xiang Yu divided the Guanzhong region into three and gave them to three Qin generals—Yongwang Zhanghan, Zhai Wang Dong Peng, and Saiwang Sima Xin. [42] Liu Bang was furious and had the intention to fight to the death with Xiang Yu, but because of his weak strength, he had to adopt the suggestions of Xiao He, Zhang Liang and others, endure and enter Shu, take a break from the army, recruit talents, and then compete with Xiang Yu for a high level. [38] [43]

In April, the various princes led their troops back to their fiefdoms. According to Zhang Liang's strategy, Liu Bang died down and hurriedly marched to Bashu. Along the way, many soldiers from the armies of other princes and kings voluntarily joined Liu Bang's banner, and it was at this time that Han Xin escaped from the Chu camp and defected to Liu Bang. [45] Han Xin was originally a subordinate of Xiang Yu, brave and resourceful, but could not be reused, so he joined Liu Bang's command. [46] At first, Liu Bang made him a petty official in charge of grain and grass, and Han Xin was greatly disappointed. By chance, Xiao He got acquainted with Han Xin. [47] In the process of contact, Xiao He found that Han Xin was courageous and knowledgeable, and was a rare talent, so he recommended it to Liu Bang many times, but it did not attract Liu Bang's attention. [48]

More than two months have passed in the blink of an eye. The soldiers of the Han army were reluctant to stay in Shu for a long time, missing their hometown, and fugitives appeared. [49] [50] One day, Han Xin saw that he was still not valued in the Han camp for a long time, and left the Han camp in a fit of rage. When Xiao He learned about it, he immediately put down the urgent official business that had not yet been dealt with, and personally rode his horse to chase after Han Xin. [51] The military official reported to Liu Bang: "Prime Minister Xiao Cheng has run away. Liu Bang was furious when he heard this, "If he lost his left and right hands", he immediately sent someone to find it. [38] [52]

A day or two later, Xiao He went to see Liu Bang, Liu Bang was shocked and angry when he saw Xiao He, and said, "Why do you want to run away too?" Xiao He said: "I don't dare to run away, I went to chase the escaper." Liu Bang asked him, "Who are you chasing?" Xiao He replied, "Han Xin." [38] After hearing this, Liu Bang said disapprovingly: "There are more than ten generals who have escaped, and I haven't heard who you have chased, why do you want to chase Han Xin?" This is clearly lying to me! [53] Xiao He said: "Those generals are easy to get, but Han Xin is one of the best outstanding talents today, and there will be no second one after he runs away." If the king only wants to be the king of Hanzhong, it will be okay if he doesn't have Han Xin; If you want to prepare to fight the world, you have to use Hanxin. How are you prepared? [54] Liu Bang said: "Of course I want to fight out, how can I be bored here?" Xiao He said: "If the king decides to go out of Hanzhong and can reuse Han Xin, he will naturally stay; If you don't reuse him, he'll leave eventually. [55] Liu Bang made up his mind and said: "How about relying on the prime minister and making him a general?" Xiao He said: "Call him a general, he still has to go." [55] "How about worshipping him as a great general?" Xiao He said: "Very good." [56] Liu Bang asked Xiao He to summon Han Xin at that time, and immediately worshiped him as a general. Xiao He said bluntly: "The king usually doesn't pay attention to etiquette. Worshipping the general is a big deal, not a child who asks him to come as if he was joking. If the king really wants to worship Han Xin as a general, he must first order people to build a platform to worship the generals, choose a good day, and the king must bathe and change clothes, fasting in person, and then hold a grand ceremony to worship the generals. In this way, all the soldiers can obey the command of the general, just like the command of the king. Liu Bang said: "Okay, I will listen to you, please do it." [57] This is the origin of the historical story of "Xiao He chased Han Xin under the moon". [48]

Xiao He chased Han Xin under the moon

A few days later, Xiao He ordered someone to build an altar to worship the generals. Liu Bang chose an auspicious day, led hundreds of civil and military officials, came to the altar, and worshiped Han Xin as a general. [48] Later, Han Xin made great contributions in the Chu-Han War and pacified the world for Liu Bang. [58] [59] Obviously, in the Chu-Han War, Han Xin's full play and use of military talents, and even the Han king Liu Bang's ability to finally seize the world, to a certain extent, were inseparable from Xiao He's insight and talent. [48]

Why does Xiao He recognize Han Xin? Why did Liu Bang dare to hand over the entire army to a man with no command experience?

Famous generals and heroes for two thousand years

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Did Xiao He catch up with Han Xin, or did Han Xin wait for Xiao He on the road?

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Stay in the rear

In August of the first year of the Han Dynasty (206 BC), Liu Bang led his army to quietly leave Nanzheng, and adopted the plan of "repairing the plank road in the Ming Dynasty and secretly crossing Chencang" offered by Zhang Liang and Han Xin, and marched eastward, leaving Xiao He to be responsible for collecting taxes from Bashu and supplying military rations. After the soldiers of the Han army entered Shu, they missed their hometown, and their hearts were very earnest, once they returned to the east, they all fought bravely to be the first [60], defeated the soldiers and horses of Yongwang Zhanghan, and all the way were like bamboos, and occupied the land of Sanqin in less than a month. [61] Liu Bang ordered Xiao He to sit in Guanzhong to pacify the people,[62] and at the same time to be responsible for the raising and supply of soldiers and salaries, while he himself led a large army of men and horses to Pengcheng. [63]

Xiao He

Due to several wars, Guanzhong at this time was already devastated and dilapidated, and the Qin capital Xianyang was set on fire by Xiang Yu for 3 months, and it has become a piece of rubble. [64] After Xiao He stayed in Guanzhong, he immediately appeased the people, resumed production, and made every effort to clean up the broken situation in Guanzhong. On the one hand, he re-established the already scattered ruling order, and on the other hand, he extended favors to the people to reassure the people. He not only promulgated and implemented new laws, re-established the ruling order and ruling institutions of the Han Dynasty, built palaces, county seats, and so on. In addition, the original royal garden of the Qin Dynasty was opened, allowing the people to farm, giving the people titles, reducing taxes and so on. He also asked the people to nominate people who were over 50 years old, virtuous, and able to set an example, and appointed them as the "three elders", one from each township; Then the three elders of each township were selected as the three elders of the county, assisted by the county order, educated the people, and at the same time exempted them from forced labor, and gave them wine and meat at the end of each year. In this way, because Xiao He was shrewd and well-governed, and promulgated decrees for the benefit of the people, agricultural production was quickly restored, a solid rear was established, and the needs of the front line were guaranteed. [63] [65]

In the second year of the Han Dynasty, Liu Bang took the opportunity of Xiang Yu's army to march eastward, took advantage of the situation, and captured Xiang Yu's capital Pengcheng (now Xuzhou, Jiangsu). [66] [67] After the Han army entered Pengcheng, they were carried away by the victory, plundered treasures and beauties, and held wine and high meetings every day[68], and soon Xiang Yu led 30,000 elite soldiers to make a detour and kill them, and besieged Liu Bangtuan in Lingbi of Pengcheng (now south of Suixi City, Anhui). Fortunately, thanks to Chen Pingxian's plan of "golden cicada shelling", he was able to flee back to Xingyang with dozens of remnants of cavalry. [69] At this time, most of the strong men in Guanzhong had been requisitioned, so Xiao He sent the old and weak and young men under the age of service to Xingyang for reinforcements, and Han Xin also collected troops to join Liu Bang, so that Liu Bang was able to regain his strength and hold on to Xiang Yu's army in the area of Xingyang and Chenggao.

(End of chapter)