卷五十五·留侯世家第二十五
卷五十五·留侯世家第二十五
司马迁
留侯张良者，其先韩人也。大父开地，相韩昭侯、宣惠王、襄哀王。父平，相釐王、悼惠王。悼惠王二十三年，平卒。卒二十岁，秦灭韩。良年少，未宦事韩。韩破，良家僮三百人，弟死不葬，悉以家财求客刺秦王，为韩报仇，以大父、父五世相韩故。
良尝学礼淮阳。东见仓海君。得力士，为铁椎重百二十斤。秦皇帝东游，良与客狙击秦皇帝博浪沙中，误中副车。秦皇帝大怒，大索天下，求贼甚急，为张良故也。良乃更名姓，亡匿下邳。
良尝间从容步游下邳圯上，有一老父，衣褐，至良所，直堕其履圯下，顾谓良曰：“孺子，下取履！”良鄂然，欲殴之。为其老，强忍，下取履。父曰：“履我！”良业为取履，因长跪履之。父以足受，笑而去。良殊大惊，随目之。父去里所，复还，曰：“孺子可教矣。后五日平明，与我会此。”良因怪之，跪曰：“诺。”五日平明，良往。父已先在，怒曰：“与老人期，后，何也？”去，曰：“后五日早会。”五日鸡鸣，良往。父又先在，复怒曰：“后，何也？”去，曰：“后五日复早来。”五日，良夜未半往。有顷，父亦来，喜曰：“当如是。”出一编书，曰：“读此则为王者师矣。后十年兴。十三年孺子见我济北，谷城山下黄石即我矣。”遂去，无他言，不复见。旦日视其书，乃太公兵法也。良因异之，常习诵读之。
居下邳，为任侠。项伯常杀人，从良匿。
后十年，陈涉等起兵，良亦聚少年百余人。景驹自立为楚假王，在留。良欲往从之，道遇沛公。沛公将数千人，略地下邳西，遂属焉。沛公拜良为厩将。良数以太公兵法说沛公，沛公善之，常用其策。良为他人言，皆不省。良曰：“沛公殆天授。”故遂从之，不去见景驹。
及沛公之薛，见项梁。项梁立楚怀王。良乃说项梁曰：“君已立楚后，而韩诸公子横阳君成贤，可立为王，益树党。”项梁使良求韩成，立以为韩王。以良为韩申徒，与韩王将千余人西略韩地，得数城，秦辄复取之，往来为游兵颍川。
沛公之从雒阳南出轘辕，良引兵从沛公，下韩十余城，击破杨熊军。沛公乃令韩王成留守阳翟，与良俱南，攻下宛，西入武关。沛公欲以兵二万人击秦峣下军，良说曰：“秦兵尚强，未可轻。臣闻其将屠者子，贾竖易动以利。愿沛公且留壁，使人先行，为五万人具食，益为张旗帜诸山上，为疑兵，令郦食其持重宝啗秦将。”秦将果畔，欲连和俱西袭咸阳，沛公欲听之。良曰：“此独其将欲叛耳，恐士卒不从。不从必危，不如因其解击之。”沛公乃引兵击秦军，大破之。逐北至蓝田，再战，秦兵竟败。遂至咸阳，秦王子婴降沛公。
沛公入秦宫，宫室帷帐狗马重宝妇女以千数，意欲留居之。樊哙谏沛公出舍，沛公不听。良曰：“夫秦为无道，故沛公得至此。夫为天下除残贼，宜缟素为资。今始入秦，即安其乐，此所谓‘助桀为虐’。且‘忠言逆耳利于行，毒药苦口利于病’，愿沛公听樊哙言。”沛公乃还军霸上。
项羽至鸿门下，欲击沛公，项伯乃夜驰入沛公军，私见张良，欲与俱去。良曰：“臣为韩王送沛公，今事有急，亡去不义。”乃具以语沛公。沛公大惊，曰：“为将柰何？”良曰：“沛公诚欲倍项羽邪？”沛公曰：“鲰生教我距关无内诸侯，秦地可尽王，故听之。”良曰：“沛公自度能卻项羽乎？”沛公默然良久，曰：“固不能也。今为柰何？”良乃固要项伯。项伯见沛公。沛公与饮为寿，结宾婚。令项伯具言沛公不敢倍项羽，所以距关者，备他盗也。及见项羽后解，语在项羽事中。
汉元年正月，沛公为汉王，王巴蜀。汉王赐良金百溢，珠二斗，良具以献项伯。汉王亦因令良厚遗项伯，使请汉中地。项王乃许之，遂得汉中地。汉王之国，良送至襃中，遣良归韩。良因说汉王曰：“王何不烧绝所过栈道，示天下无还心，以固项王意。”乃使良还。行，烧绝栈道。
良至韩，韩王成以良从汉王故，项王不遣成之国，从与俱东。良说项王曰：“汉王烧绝栈道，无还心矣。”乃以齐王田荣反书告项王。项王以此无西忧汉心，而发兵北击齐。
项王竟不肯遣韩王，乃以为侯，又杀之彭城。良亡，间行归汉王，汉王亦已还定三秦矣。复以良为成信侯，从东击楚。至彭城，汉败而还。至下邑，汉王下马踞鞍而问曰：“吾欲捐关以东等弃之，谁可与共功者？”良进曰：“九江王黥布，楚枭将，与项王有郄；彭越与齐王田荣反梁地：此两人可急使。而汉王之将独韩信可属大事，当一面。即欲捐之，捐之此三人，则楚可破也。”汉王乃遣随何说九江王布，而使人连彭越。及魏王豹反，使韩信将兵击之，因举燕、代、齐、赵。然卒破楚者，此三人力也。
张良多病，未尝特将也，常为画策臣，时时从汉王。
汉三年，项羽急围汉王荥阳，汉王恐忧，与郦食其谋桡楚权。食其曰：“昔汤伐桀，封其后于杞。武王伐纣，封其后于宋。今秦失德弃义，侵伐诸侯社稷，灭六国之后，使无立锥之地。陛下诚能复立六国后世，毕已受印，此其君臣百姓必皆戴陛下之德，莫不乡风慕义，愿为臣妾。德义已行，陛下南乡称霸，楚必敛衽而朝。”汉王曰：“善。趣刻印，先生因行佩之矣。”
食其未行，张良从外来谒。汉王方食，曰：“子房前！客有为我计桡楚权者。”具以郦生语告，曰：“于子房何如？”良曰：“谁为陛下画此计者？陛下事去矣。”汉王曰：“何哉？”张良对曰：“臣请藉前箸为大王筹之。”曰：“昔者汤伐桀而封其后于杞者，度能制桀之死命也。今陛下能制项籍之死命乎？”曰：“未能也。”“其不可一也。武王伐纣封其后于宋者，度能得纣之头也。今陛下能得项籍之头乎？”曰：“未能也。”“其不可二也。武王入殷，表商容之闾，释箕子之拘，封比干之墓。今陛下能封圣人之墓，表贤者之闾，式智者之门乎？”曰：“未能也。”“其不可三也。发钜桥之粟，散鹿台之钱，以赐贫穷。今陛下能散府库以赐贫穷乎？”曰：“未能也。”“其不可四矣。殷事已毕，偃革为轩，倒置干戈，覆以虎皮，以示天下不复用兵。今陛下能偃武行文，不复用兵乎？”曰：“未能也。”“其不可五矣。休马华山之阳，示以无所为。今陛下能休马无所用乎？”曰：“未能也。”“其不可六矣。放牛桃林之阴，以示不复输积。今陛下能放牛不复输积乎？”曰：“未能也。”“其不可七矣。且天下游士离其亲戚，弃坟墓，去故旧，从陛下游者，徒欲日夜望咫尺之地。今复六国，立韩、魏、燕、赵、齐、楚之后，天下游士各归事其主，从其亲戚，反其故旧坟墓，陛下与谁取天下乎？其不可八矣。且夫楚唯无强，六国立者复桡而从之，陛下焉得而臣之？诚用客之谋，陛下事去矣。”汉王辍食吐哺，骂曰：“竖儒，几败而公事！”令趣销印。
汉四年，韩信破齐而欲自立为齐王，汉王怒。张良说汉王，汉王使良授齐王信印，语在淮阴事中。
其秋，汉王追楚至阳夏南，战不利而壁固陵，诸侯期不至。良说汉王，汉王用其计，诸侯皆至。语在项籍事中。
汉六年正月，封功臣。良未尝有战斗功，高帝曰：“运筹策帷帐中，决胜千里外，子房功也。自择齐三万户。”良曰：“始臣起下邳，与上会留，此天以臣授陛下。陛下用臣计，幸而时中，臣愿封留足矣，不敢当三万户。”乃封张良为留侯，与萧何等俱封。
上已封大功臣二十余人，其余日夜争功不决，未得行封。上在雒阳南宫，从复道望见诸将往往相与坐沙中语。上曰：“此何语？”留侯曰：“陛下不知乎？此谋反耳。”上曰：“天下属安定，何故反乎？”留侯曰：“陛下起布衣，以此属取天下，今陛下为天子，而所封皆萧、曹故人所亲爱，而所诛者皆生平所仇怨。今军吏计功，以天下不足遍封，此属畏陛下不能尽封，恐又见疑平生过失及诛，故即相聚谋反耳。”上乃忧曰：“为之柰何？”留侯曰：“上平生所憎，群臣所共知，谁最甚者？”上曰：“雍齿与我故，数尝窘辱我。我欲杀之，为其功多，故不忍。”留侯曰：“今急先封雍齿以示群臣，群臣见雍齿封，则人人自坚矣。”于是上乃置酒，封雍齿为什方侯，而急趣丞相、御史定功行封。群臣罢酒，皆喜曰：“雍齿尚为侯，我属无患矣。”
刘敬说高帝曰：“都关中。”上疑之。左右大臣皆山东人，多劝上都雒阳：“雒阳东有成皋，西有殽黾，倍河，向伊雒，其固亦足恃。”留侯曰：“雒阳虽有此固，其中小，不过数百里，田地薄，四面受敌，此非用武之国也。夫关中左殽函，右陇蜀，沃野千里，南有巴蜀之饶，北有胡苑之利，阻三面而守，独以一面东制诸侯。诸侯安定，河渭漕輓天下，西给京师；诸侯有变，顺流而下，足以委输。此所谓金城千里，天府之国也，刘敬说是也。”于是高帝即日驾，西都关中。
留侯从入关。留侯性多病，即道引不食谷，杜门不出岁余。
上欲废太子，立戚夫人子赵王如意。大臣多谏争，未能得坚决者也。吕后恐，不知所为。人或谓吕后曰：“留侯善画计筴，上信用之。”吕后乃使建成侯吕泽劫留侯，曰：“君常为上谋臣，今上欲易太子，君安得高枕而卧乎？”留侯曰：“始上数在困急之中，幸用臣筴。今天下安定，以爱欲易太子，骨肉之间，虽臣等百余人何益。”吕泽强要曰：“为我画计。”留侯曰：“此难以口舌争也。顾上有不能致者，天下有四人。四人者年老矣，皆以为上慢侮人，故逃匿山中，义不为汉臣。然上高此四人。今公诚能无爱金玉璧帛，令太子为书，卑辞安车，因使辩士固请，宜来。来，以为客，时时从入朝，令上见之，则必异而问之。问之，上知此四人贤，则一助也。”于是吕后令吕泽使人奉太子书，卑辞厚礼，迎此四人。四人至，客建成侯所。
汉十一年，黥布反，上病，欲使太子将，往击之。四人相谓曰：“凡来者，将以存太子。太子将兵，事危矣。”乃说建成侯曰：“太子将兵，有功则位不益太子；无功还，则从此受祸矣。且太子所与俱诸将，皆尝与上定天下枭将也，今使太子将之，此无异使羊将狼也，皆不肯为尽力，其无功必矣。臣闻‘母爱者子抱’，今戚夫人日夜待御，赵王如意常抱居前，上曰‘终不使不肖子居爱子之上’，明乎其代太子位必矣。君何不急请吕后承间为上泣言：‘黥布，天下猛将也，善用兵，今诸将皆陛下故等夷，乃令太子将此属，无异使羊将狼，莫肯为用，且使布闻之，则鼓行而西耳。上虽病，强载辎车，卧而护之，诸将不敢不尽力。上虽苦，为妻子自强。’”于是吕泽立夜见吕后，吕后承间为上泣涕而言，如四人意。上曰：“吾惟竖子固不足遣，而公自行耳。”于是上自将兵而东，群臣居守，皆送至灞上。留侯病，自强起，至曲邮，见上曰：“臣宜从，病甚。楚人剽疾，愿上无与楚人争锋。”因说上曰：“令太子为将军，监关中兵。”上曰：“子房虽病，强卧而傅太子。”是时叔孙通为太傅，留侯行少傅事。
汉十二年，上从击破布军归，疾益甚，愈欲易太子。留侯谏，不听，因疾不视事。叔孙太傅称说引古今，以死争太子。上详许之，犹欲易之。及燕，置酒，太子侍。四人从太子，年皆八十有余，须眉皓白，衣冠甚伟。上怪之，问曰：“彼何为者？”四人前对，各言名姓，曰东园公，角里先生，绮里季，夏黄公。上乃大惊，曰：“吾求公数岁，公辟逃我，今公何自从吾儿游乎？”四人皆曰：“陛下轻士善骂，臣等义不受辱，故恐而亡匿。窃闻太子为人仁孝，恭敬爱士，天下莫不延颈欲为太子死者，故臣等来耳。”上曰：“烦公幸卒调护太子。”
四人为寿已毕，趋去。上目送之，召戚夫人指示四人者曰：“我欲易之，彼四人辅之，羽翼已成，难动矣。吕后真而主矣。”戚夫人泣，上曰：“为我楚舞，吾为若楚歌。”歌曰：“鸿鹄高飞，一举千里。羽翮已就，横绝四海。横绝四海，当可柰何！虽有矰缴，尚安所施！”歌数阕，戚夫人嘘唏流涕，上起去，罢酒。竟不易太子者，留侯本招此四人之力也。
留侯从上击代，出奇计马邑下，及立萧何相国，所与上从容言天下事甚众，非天下所以存亡，故不著。留侯乃称曰：“家世相韩，及韩灭，不爱万金之资，为韩报雠强秦，天下振动。今以三寸舌为帝者师，封万户，位列侯，此布衣之极，于良足矣。愿弃人间事，欲从赤松子游耳。”乃学辟谷，道引轻身。会高帝崩，吕后德留侯，乃强食之，曰：“人生一世间，如白驹过隙，何至自苦如此乎！”留侯不得已，强听而食。
后八年卒，谥为文成侯。子不疑代侯。
子房始所见下邳圯上老父与太公书者，后十三年从高帝过济北，果见谷城山下黄石，取而葆祠之。留侯死，并葬黄石。每上冢伏腊，祠黄石。
留侯不疑，孝文帝五年坐不敬，国除。
太史公曰：学者多言无鬼神，然言有物。至如留侯所见老父予书，亦可怪矣。高祖离困者数矣，而留侯常有功力焉，岂可谓非天乎？上曰：“夫运筹筴帷帐之中，决胜千里外，吾不如子房。”余以为其人计魁梧奇伟，至见其图，状貌如妇人好女。盖孔子曰：“以貌取人，失之子羽。”留侯亦云。
Volume 55 · The Hereditary House of the Marquis of Liu, Twenty-fifth
司马迁
Zhang Liang, Marquis of Liu, had forefathers who were men of Han. His grandfather Kaidi was chancellor to Marquis Zhao of Han, to King Xuanhui and to King Xiang'ai. His father Ping was chancellor to King Xi and King Daohui. In King Daohui's twenty-third year Ping died. Twenty years after his death, Qin destroyed Han. Liang was young in years and had not yet held office in Han. When Han was broken Liang's household had three hundred servants; his younger brother died and he did not bury him, but with the whole of the family wealth he sought a bravo to stab the King of Qin and take revenge for Han, because his grandfather and his father had been chancellors of Han for five reigns.
Liang once studied the rites at Huaiyang. Eastward he saw the Lord of Canghai. He got a strong man for whom he had an iron mallet made weighing a hundred and twenty catties. When the August Emperor of Qin travelled east, Liang and his bravo waylaid the August Emperor of Qin in the Bolang sands, but struck the attendant carriage by mistake. The August Emperor of Qin was greatly enraged and made a great search of the empire, seeking the outlaw most urgently, and it was on Zhang Liang's account. Liang then changed his name and surname and fled into hiding at Xiapi.
Liang once, in a leisure hour, was strolling at ease on the bridge at Xiapi, when an old man in coarse cloth came where Liang was and dropped his shoe straight under the bridge; and he looked round and said to Liang: "Lad, go down and fetch the shoe!" Liang was startled and wanted to strike him; but because he was old he forced himself to bear it and went down and fetched the shoe. The old man said: "Shoe me!" Liang, having undertaken to fetch the shoe, accordingly knelt right down and put it on him. The old man received it with his foot and went off laughing. Liang was exceedingly astonished and followed him with his eyes. The old man, having gone about a mile, came back again and said: "Lad, you can be taught. In five days' time, at first light, meet me here." Liang, wondering at it, knelt and said: "As you say." In five days at first light Liang went. The old man was already there before him and said angrily: "You had an appointment with an old man, and you come late — how is that?" He went off, saying: "In five days' time, meet me early." In five days at cockcrow Liang went. The old man was again there before him and said angrily again: "Late — how is that?" He went off, saying: "In five days' time, come earlier again." In five days Liang went before the night was half over. After a while the old man came too, and said gladly: "It ought to be like this." He brought out one bundled book and said: "Read this and you will be teacher to a king. In ten years' time you will rise. In thirteen years, lad, you will see me north of the Ji: the yellow stone at the foot of Mount Gucheng — that is I." Then he went off, with no other word, and was not seen again. At daybreak Liang looked at his book, and it was the Grand Duke's Art of War. Liang, finding it extraordinary, constantly practised and recited it.
Living at Xiapi, he played the knight-errant. Xiang Bo once killed a man and went to Liang to hide.
Ten years afterwards, when Chen She and the rest raised troops, Liang too gathered a hundred and more young men. Jing Ju set himself up as provisional King of Chu and was at Liu. Liang wished to go and follow him, and on the road met the Duke of Pei. The Duke of Pei, leading several thousand men, was overrunning the country west of Xiapi, and so Liang attached himself to him. The Duke of Pei appointed Liang Master of the Stables. Liang several times expounded the Grand Duke's Art of War to the Duke of Pei, and the Duke of Pei thought well of it and constantly used his plans. When Liang spoke of it to other men, none of them took it in. Liang said: "The Duke of Pei is surely heaven-given." Therefore he followed him accordingly and did not go on to see Jing Ju.
When the Duke of Pei came to Xue, he saw Xiang Liang. Xiang Liang set up King Huai of Chu. Liang then said to Xiang Liang: "My lord has set up an heir of Chu; and among the several sons of the house of Han, Cheng, Lord of Hengyang, is worthy and might be set up as king, to plant your party the wider." Xiang Liang sent Liang to seek out Han Cheng, and set him up as King of Han. He made Liang Minister of the Masses of Han, and with the King of Han he led a thousand men and more westward to overrun the land of Han. They got several cities, and Qin at once took them again, and they came and went as a roving force in Yingchuan.
When the Duke of Pei went from Luoyang and came out southward at Huanyuan, Liang led troops to follow the Duke of Pei, took ten cities and more of Han, and struck and broke Yang Xiong's army. The Duke of Pei then ordered Cheng, King of Han, to stay and hold Yangzhai, while he himself went south together with Liang, attacked and took Wan, and entered the Wu Pass from the west. The Duke of Pei wished to strike with twenty thousand men at the Qin army below Yao, and Liang urged him: "The Qin troops are still strong and may not be made light of. I have heard that their general is a butcher's son, and hucksters are easily moved by gain. I would have the Duke of Pei stay behind his wall for the present, send men ahead to lay in food for fifty thousand, and further raise and spread flags and standards over all the hills as a feigned force, and have Li Yiji carry heavy treasures to bait the Qin general." The Qin general did indeed turn traitor and wished to join forces and go west together to fall upon Xianyang, and the Duke of Pei wished to consent. Liang said: "This is only their general wishing to revolt; I fear the officers and men will not follow him. If they do not follow, it is sure to be dangerous. Better to strike them while they are slack." The Duke of Pei then led troops and struck the Qin army, and greatly broke it. He pursued the rout as far as Lantian, fought again, and the Qin troops were in the end defeated. And so they reached Xianyang, and Ziying, King of Qin, surrendered to the Duke of Pei.
The Duke of Pei entered the palace of Qin, where chambers and curtains and dogs and horses and heavy treasures and women were counted in thousands, and his mind was to stay and dwell in it. Fan Kuai remonstrated with the Duke of Pei to come out and lodge elsewhere, and the Duke of Pei would not listen. Liang said: "It was because Qin acted without the Way that the Duke of Pei could come here. Now for one who would rid the empire of a cruel brigand, plain white mourning cloth is the proper outfit. To have just entered Qin and at once settle into its pleasures — this is what is called 'helping Jie to be a tyrant.' And moreover: 'Loyal words go against the ear but profit the conduct; poisonous drugs are bitter in the mouth but profit the illness.' I would have the Duke of Pei listen to Fan Kuai's words." The Duke of Pei then brought his army back to Bashang.
Xiang Yu came to Hongmen and wished to strike the Duke of Pei; and Xiang Bo then galloped by night into the Duke of Pei's camp and privately saw Zhang Liang, wishing him to go off with him. Liang said: "I was sent by the King of Han to escort the Duke of Pei; now that the case is urgent, to flee away would be unrighteous." Then he told the Duke of Pei the whole of it. The Duke of Pei was greatly astonished and said: "What is to be done?" Liang said: "Does the Duke of Pei truly mean to turn his back on Xiang Yu?" The Duke of Pei said: "That small-fry scholar taught me to bar the Pass and let none of the feudal lords in, and that the land of Qin could all be held as king; so I listened to him." Liang said: "Does the Duke of Pei reckon that he can beat Xiang Yu off?" The Duke of Pei was silent a good while and said: "Of course I cannot. What is to be done now?" Liang then pressed Xiang Bo hard. Xiang Bo saw the Duke of Pei. The Duke of Pei drank with him and pledged his health, and made a marriage-tie with him. He had Xiang Bo say fully that the Duke of Pei did not dare turn his back on Xiang Yu, and that the reason he had barred the Pass was to guard against other bandits. And the resolving of it when he had seen Xiang Yu afterwards is told in the matter of Xiang Yu.
In the first month of the first year of Han the Duke of Pei became King of Han and was king over Ba and Shu. The King of Han presented Liang with a hundred ingots of gold and two pecks of pearls, and Liang offered the whole of it to Xiang Bo. The King of Han also on that account had Liang make rich gifts to Xiang Bo and get him to ask for the land of Hanzhong. The King of Xiang then granted it, and so he got the land of Hanzhong. When the King of Han went to his state, Liang escorted him as far as Baozhong, and he sent Liang back to Han. Liang thereupon urged the King of Han: "Why does Your Majesty not burn and cut the plank roads he has passed along, to show the empire that he has no mind to return, and so make the King of Xiang's mind easy?" Then he sent Liang back; and as he went, he burnt and cut the plank roads.
Liang reached Han; and because Cheng, King of Han, had had Liang following the King of Han, the King of Xiang would not send Cheng to his state, but took him east along with himself. Liang urged the King of Xiang: "The King of Han has burnt and cut the plank roads; he has no mind to return." And he reported to the King of Xiang the despatch of Tian Rong, King of Qi, about his revolt. Because of this the King of Xiang had no mind to worry about Han in the west, and sent out troops northward to strike at Qi.
The King of Xiang in the end would not send the King of Han back, but made him a marquis, and then killed him at Pengcheng. Liang fled, made his way by byways back to the King of Han, and the King of Han had already settled the Three Qin again. He made Liang Marquis of Chengxin once more, and he followed him eastward to strike at Chu. They reached Pengcheng; Han was defeated and came back. Reaching Xiayi, the King of Han got down from his horse, crouched against the saddle and asked: "I wish to give up everything east of the Pass and cast it away: who can share the work with me?" Liang came forward and said: "Qing Bu, King of Jiujiang, is a fierce general of Chu and has a rift with the King of Xiang; Peng Yue with Tian Rong, King of Qi, has revolted in the land of Liang: these two men may be used at once. And of Your Majesty's generals, Han Xin alone may be entrusted with a great charge and given a front of his own. If you would give it up, give it up to these three men, and then Chu can be broken." The King of Han then sent Sui He to urge Bu, King of Jiujiang, and sent men to make common cause with Peng Yue. And when Bao, King of Wei, revolted, he sent Han Xin to lead troops and strike at him, and thereby took Yan, Dai, Qi and Zhao. And what in the end broke Chu was the strength of these three men.
Zhang Liang was much ill and never held a command of his own; he was always a minister who drew up plans, and from time to time went with the King of Han.
In Han's third year Xiang Yu pressed the King of Han hard, besieging him at Xingyang; the King of Han was afraid and troubled, and with Li Yiji laid plans to weaken Chu's power. Yiji said: "In old days Tang struck down Jie and enfeoffed his descendant at Qi. King Wu struck down Zhou and enfeoffed his descendant at Song. Now Qin has lost virtue and cast off righteousness, has invaded and struck down the feudal lords' altars of earth and grain, and destroyed the descendants of the Six States, leaving them not so much ground as would hold an awl. If Your Majesty could truly set up again the later generations of the Six States and have them all receive their seals, then their lords and ministers and their hundred families would surely all wear Your Majesty's virtue on their heads; not one would fail to turn like grass in the wind and long for righteousness, and wish to be your servants and handmaids. Virtue and righteousness once put into practice, Your Majesty may face south and be called overlord, and Chu will surely gather in its lapels and come to court." The King of Han said: "Good. Make haste and cut the seals; you, sir, may carry them with you as you go."
Before Yiji had gone, Zhang Liang came in from outside to pay his respects. The King of Han was just eating and said: "Zifang, come forward! A guest of mine has a plan for me to weaken Chu's power." He told him the whole of Master Li's words and said: "How does it seem to Zifang?" Liang said: "Who drew up this plan for Your Majesty? Your Majesty's cause is lost." The King of Han said: "How so?" Zhang Liang answered: "Let me borrow the chopsticks before you and reckon it out for Your Majesty." He said: "That in old days Tang struck down Jie and enfeoffed his descendant at Qi was because he judged that he could hold Jie's life and death in his hand. Now can Your Majesty hold Xiang Ji's life and death in his hand?" He said: "Not yet." "That is the first reason it will not do. That King Wu struck down Zhou and enfeoffed his descendant at Song was because he judged that he could get Zhou's head. Now can Your Majesty get Xiang Ji's head?" He said: "Not yet." "That is the second reason it will not do. When King Wu entered Yin, he set a mark on Shang Rong's gateway, released Jizi from his confinement, and raised a mound over Bigan's grave. Now can Your Majesty raise mounds over the graves of sages, set marks on worthy men's gateways, and bow at wise men's doors?" He said: "Not yet." "That is the third reason it will not do. He opened out the grain of Juqiao and scattered the money of Lutai to bestow on the poor and needy. Now can Your Majesty scatter the storehouses and treasuries to bestow on the poor and needy?" He said: "Not yet." "That is the fourth reason it will not do. The business of Yin being finished, he laid aside war-chariots for carriages, set spear and shield upside down and covered them with tiger skins, to show the empire that he would use arms no more. Now can Your Majesty lay aside the martial and practise the civil, and use arms no more?" He said: "Not yet." "That is the fifth reason it will not do. He rested the horses on the sunny side of Mount Hua, to show that there was nothing to be done with them. Now can Your Majesty rest the horses and have no use for them?" He said: "Not yet." "That is the sixth reason it will not do. He turned the oxen loose on the shady side of Peach Grove, to show that he would haul stores no more. Now can Your Majesty turn the oxen loose and haul stores no more?" He said: "Not yet." "That is the seventh reason it will not do. And moreover, the travelling men of the empire who have left their kin, forsaken their grave-mounds, gone from their old friends and followed Your Majesty in his travels, do so only wishing day and night for a span of ground. Now if the Six States are restored and the descendants of Han, Wei, Yan, Zhao, Qi and Chu set up, the travelling men of the empire will each go back to serve his own lord, follow his own kin and return to his old friends and grave-mounds; and with whom will Your Majesty take the empire? That is the eighth reason it will not do. And besides, only let Chu be without a strong rival, and those set up in the Six States will bend again and follow it; how then is Your Majesty to make them his servants? If you truly use your guest's plan, Your Majesty's cause is lost." The King of Han stopped eating and spat out his mouthful and cursed: "Pettifogging pedant! You nearly ruined your father's cause!" And he ordered the seals melted down with all speed.
In Han's fourth year Han Xin broke Qi and wished to set himself up as King of Qi, and the King of Han was angry. Zhang Liang urged the King of Han, and the King of Han sent Liang to confer the seal of King of Qi on Xin; the tale is in the matter of Huaiyin.
That autumn the King of Han pursued Chu as far as south of Yangxia; the fighting went against him and he walled himself in at Guling, and the feudal lords failed to come at the appointed time. Liang urged the King of Han, and the King of Han used his plan, and the feudal lords all came. The tale is in the matter of Xiang Ji.
In the first month of Han's sixth year the ministers of merit were enfeoffed. Liang had never had merit in battle, and Emperor Gao said: "To handle the counting-rods within the curtained tent and settle the victory a thousand miles away — that is Zifang's merit. Choose for yourself thirty thousand households in Qi." Liang said: "In the beginning your servant rose at Xiapi and met Your Majesty at Liu; this was heaven making your servant over to Your Majesty. Your Majesty used your servant's plans, and by good fortune they hit the mark at times. Your servant would be content to be enfeoffed at Liu; I dare not take thirty thousand households." So he enfeoffed Zhang Liang as Marquis of Liu, together with Xiao He and the rest.
His Majesty had enfeoffed the twenty and more ministers of great merit, and as for the rest, they strove over merit day and night without settling it, and the enfeoffing could not be carried out. His Majesty was in the southern palace at Luoyang, and from the covered way he saw the generals sitting here and there in the sand talking together. His Majesty said: "What are they talking of?" The Marquis of Liu said: "Does Your Majesty not know? This is plotting revolt." His Majesty said: "The empire is just now settled: what reason is there to revolt?" The Marquis of Liu said: "Your Majesty rose from common cloth and took the empire by means of this lot; now that Your Majesty is Son of Heaven, those he has enfeoffed are all old friends and dear ones of Xiao and Cao, and those he has put to death are all the men he has hated all his life. Now the army's officers reckon up merits, and the empire is not enough to enfeoff them all round; and this lot fear that Your Majesty cannot enfeoff them all, and fear too that their past faults will be suspected and they will be put to death; and so they gather together and plot revolt." His Majesty then said in distress: "What is to be done about it?" The Marquis of Liu said: "Of those whom Your Majesty has hated all his life, and all the officials know of it, who is the worst?" His Majesty said: "Yong Chi and I go back a long way, and he several times brought me to shame and disgrace. I wished to kill him, but because his merits are many I could not bring myself to it." The Marquis of Liu said: "Now enfeoff Yong Chi first, with all speed, to show the officials; and when the officials see Yong Chi enfeoffed, then every man will be firm of himself." Thereupon His Majesty set out wine and enfeoffed Yong Chi as Marquis of Shifang, and urgently pressed the Chancellor and the Imperial Secretary to fix the merits and carry out the enfeoffing. When the officials broke up from the wine they were all glad and said: "If even Yong Chi is made a marquis, we shall have nothing to worry about."
Liu Jing urged Emperor Gao: "Make the capital within the Pass." His Majesty had doubts of it. The great ministers about him were all men of east of the mountains and mostly urged His Majesty to make Luoyang the capital: "Luoyang has Chenggao to the east and Xiao and Mian to the west, with the He at its back and facing the Yi and the Luo; its strength too is enough to rely on." The Marquis of Liu said: "Though Luoyang has this strength, its interior is small, not more than a few hundred miles; the fields are thin and it takes the enemy on four sides; it is no country for the use of arms. Now within the Pass, with Xiao and Han on its left and Long and Shu on its right, there are a thousand miles of rich plain; to the south is the abundance of Ba and Shu, to the north the profit of the Hu pastures; it can hold three sides off and guard them, and with one side alone, the east, keep the feudal lords in check. If the feudal lords are settled, the He and the Wei will carry and haul the empire's goods to supply the capital in the west; if the feudal lords change, one may go down with the stream, which is enough to deliver the stores. This is what is called a wall of metal a thousand miles round, a country that is heaven's storehouse. Liu Jing's advice is right." Thereupon Emperor Gao took carriage that same day and went west to make his capital within the Pass.
The Marquis of Liu followed him in entering the Pass. The Marquis of Liu was by nature much ill, and accordingly practised breath-guiding and ate no grain, and shut his gate and did not come out for a year and more.
His Majesty wished to depose the heir apparent and set up Ruyi, King of Zhao, the son of the Lady Qi. Many of the great ministers remonstrated and contended, but none could get a firm decision. The Empress Lü was afraid and did not know what to do. Someone said to the Empress Lü: "The Marquis of Liu is good at drawing up plans and schemes, and His Majesty trusts and uses him." The Empress Lü then sent Lü Ze, Marquis of Jiancheng, to put pressure on the Marquis of Liu, saying: "You, sir, have always been His Majesty's counselling minister; now His Majesty wishes to change the heir apparent — how can you lie with your pillow high?" The Marquis of Liu said: "In the beginning His Majesty was several times in straits and urgencies, and was so good as to use your servant's schemes. Now the empire is settled, and out of love he wishes to change the heir apparent; this is between flesh and bone, and what use are a hundred and more of us, your servants?" Lü Ze insisted and pressed him: "Draw up a plan for me." The Marquis of Liu said: "This is a hard thing to contend over with tongue and lips. Consider: there are men whom His Majesty has not been able to bring to him, four men in the empire. These four men are old in years; they all hold that His Majesty is slighting and insulting to men, and so they have fled into hiding in the mountains, and in righteousness will not be Han's ministers. Yet His Majesty holds these four men high. Now if you, sir, can truly be unsparing of gold and jade and jade discs and silks, and have the heir apparent write a letter, with humble words and a comfortable carriage, and then send a man of persuasion to press them firmly, they ought to come. When they come, treat them as guests, and have them from time to time go in to court in his train, and let His Majesty see them; then he will surely think it strange and ask about them. Once he asks about them, and His Majesty knows these four men to be worthy, then that is one help." Thereupon the Empress Lü had Lü Ze send men bearing the heir apparent's letter, with humble words and rich gifts, to welcome these four men. The four men came, and were lodged as guests at the Marquis of Jiancheng's.
In Han's eleventh year Qing Bu revolted; His Majesty was ill and wished to send the heir apparent in command to go and strike at him. The four men said to one another: "We came in order to keep the heir apparent in being. If the heir apparent leads troops, the case is dangerous." So they urged the Marquis of Jiancheng: "If the heir apparent leads troops and has merit, his place is no better for it; and if he comes back without merit, then from this he will take harm. Moreover the generals who will go with the heir apparent are all fierce generals who once settled the empire with His Majesty; to have the heir apparent lead them now is no different from having a sheep lead wolves — none of them will be willing to give his full strength, and that he will have no merit is certain. Your servant has heard that 'the son of the loved mother is the one held in the arms'; now the Lady Qi waits on him day and night, and Ruyi, King of Zhao, is always held in his arms before him, and His Majesty has said, 'In the end I shall not have an unworthy son above a beloved son' — it is plain that he will certainly replace the heir apparent in his place. Why do you not urgently ask the Empress Lü to seize a moment and say to His Majesty in tears: 'Qing Bu is a fierce general of the empire and is good at using troops; now the generals are all Your Majesty's old equals, and to have the heir apparent lead this lot is no different from having a sheep lead wolves — none will be willing to be used; and if Bu hears of it, he will simply beat his drums and march west. Though Your Majesty is ill, let him make the effort to be carried in a covered cart and lie in it and oversee them, and the generals will not dare not to give their full strength. Though Your Majesty suffers, let him make the effort for his wife and children.'" Thereupon Lü Ze saw the Empress Lü that very night, and the Empress Lü seized a moment and spoke to His Majesty in tears, as the four men meant. His Majesty said: "I was thinking that the lad was indeed not fit to send, and that your father would go himself." Thereupon His Majesty led the troops himself and went east, and the officials stayed behind on guard and all escorted him as far as Bashang. The Marquis of Liu was ill, but made the effort to rise, and reaching Quyou saw His Majesty and said: "Your servant ought to follow, but is gravely ill. The men of Chu are swift and quick; I would have Your Majesty not strive with the men of Chu for the point of the blade." And he thereupon urged His Majesty: "Make the heir apparent a general and put him over the troops within the Pass." His Majesty said: "Though Zifang is ill, let him make the effort to lie down and yet be tutor to the heir apparent." At this time Shusun Tong was Grand Tutor, and the Marquis of Liu carried out the business of Junior Tutor.
In Han's twelfth year, when His Majesty came back from striking and breaking Bu's army, his sickness grew worse and he wished all the more to change the heir apparent. The Marquis of Liu remonstrated and was not listened to, and because of illness did not attend to business. Shusun the Grand Tutor set out arguments and drew on antiquity and the present, contending for the heir apparent even to the death. His Majesty pretended to grant it, but still wished to change him. And at a feast, when wine was set out and the heir apparent was in attendance, the four men followed the heir apparent; they were all over eighty years of age, their beards and eyebrows shining white, their robes and caps most imposing. His Majesty wondered at them and asked: "What men are those?" The four men came forward and answered, each telling his name and surname: the Lord of the Eastern Garden, Master Jueli, Qili Ji, and Xia Huanggong. His Majesty was then greatly astonished and said: "I sought you gentlemen for several years, and you gentlemen shunned and fled me; how is it that you gentlemen now of yourselves keep company with my son?" The four men all said: "Your Majesty makes light of gentlemen and is given to cursing, and we, your servants, in righteousness would not take insult, and so in fear we fled and hid. We have heard privately that the heir apparent is a man humane and filial, respectful and reverent and loving to gentlemen, and that there is none in the empire who would not stretch out his neck and wish to die for the heir apparent; and so we, your servants, have come." His Majesty said: "I trouble you gentlemen to be so good as to see the heir apparent through to the end, and keep him in your care."
The four men, having finished pledging his health, hurried away. His Majesty followed them with his eyes, and summoned the Lady Qi, and pointing out the four men to her said: "I wished to change him, but those four men support him; his wings are already grown and he is hard to move. The Empress Lü is your true mistress." The Lady Qi wept, and His Majesty said: "Dance a Chu dance for me, and I will sing a Chu song for you." He sang: "The great swan flies high, at one rise a thousand miles. Its pinions are already made, it cuts clean across the four seas. It cuts clean across the four seas — what indeed is to be done! Though there be arrow and cord, where are they to be used!" He sang it several times through, and the Lady Qi sobbed and shed tears; His Majesty rose and went, and the wine was broken up. That the heir apparent was in the end not changed was fundamentally by the strength of the Marquis of Liu in calling in these four men.
The Marquis of Liu followed His Majesty in striking at Dai, and brought out an extraordinary plan below Mayi; and he had a hand in setting up Xiao He as Chancellor of State; and the things he talked over at ease with His Majesty concerning the empire's affairs were very many, but they were not the empire's reasons for surviving or perishing, and therefore are not set down. The Marquis of Liu then declared: "My house for generations was chancellor to Han; and when Han was destroyed I did not grudge the wealth of ten thousand pieces of gold, but took revenge for Han on mighty Qin, and the empire shook. Now with a tongue three inches long I have been teacher to an emperor, am enfeoffed with ten thousand households and stand in the rank of marquis; this is the utmost for a man of common cloth, and for Liang it is enough. I would cast off the affairs of men and go travelling with Master Red Pine." So he studied the refusing of grain and the breath-guiding that lightens the body. It happened that Emperor Gao passed away, and the Empress Lü, grateful to the Marquis of Liu, pressed food on him, saying: "A man's life in the world is like a white colt passing a chink; why come to torment yourself like this!" The Marquis of Liu could not help it, and made the effort to listen and eat.
Eight years afterwards he died, with the posthumous title Marquis Wencheng. His son Buyi succeeded to the marquisate.
As for the old man whom Zifang first saw on the bridge at Xiapi, who gave him the Grand Duke's book: thirteen years afterwards he passed north of the Ji with Emperor Gao, and did indeed see the yellow stone at the foot of Mount Gucheng; and he took it and kept it and sacrificed to it. When the Marquis of Liu died, the yellow stone was buried along with him. At every visit to the tomb, at the summer and winter sacrifices, they sacrificed to the yellow stone.
Buyi, Marquis of Liu, in the Emperor Xiaowen's fifth year was charged with irreverence, and the state was abolished.
The Lord Grand Astrologer says: Scholars mostly say there are no ghosts and spirits, yet they speak of there being presences. As for what the Marquis of Liu saw, the old man who gave him the book — that too may be called strange. Emperor Gao was in straits several times, and the Marquis of Liu constantly had merit and strength therein: can one say that this was not heaven? His Majesty said: "As for handling the counting-rods within the curtained tent and settling the victory a thousand miles away, I am not the equal of Zifang." I supposed the man to be great and stalwart and extraordinary of frame; and when I came to see his likeness, his shape and looks were those of a woman, a comely girl. Confucius said: "To take a man by his looks — one went wrong over Ziyu." Of the Marquis of Liu it may be said likewise.