陳丞相世家

Chancellor Chen Ping was a man of Huyou village in Yangwu. In his youth the family was poor, but he loved reading. They owned thirty mu of land. He lived alone with his elder brother Bo. Bo always worked the fields and let Ping travel to study. Ping was tall and handsome. Someone said to him: "You are poor — what do you eat to be so well-fed?" His sister-in-law, resentful that Ping did nothing for the household, said: "He eats chaff and husks, that is all. Having a brother-in-law like this is worse than having none." When Bo heard this, he expelled his wife and divorced her.

When Ping came of age to marry, no wealthy family would give him a bride, and he was too proud to marry into a poor one. In time, a rich man of Huyou named Zhang Fu had a granddaughter who had been married five times, each husband dying in turn — no one dared marry her. Ping wanted her. There was a funeral in the village. Ping, though poor, attended as a helper, arriving first and leaving last. Zhang Fu observed him at the funeral and was struck by Ping's stature. Ping deliberately lingered. Fu followed Ping home. The house stood in a dead-end alley backed against the outer wall, with a worn mat for a door — yet outside it were many wheel-ruts left by distinguished visitors' carriages. Zhang Fu returned home and told his son Zhong: "I wish to give my granddaughter to Chen Ping." Zhong said: "Ping is poor and does nothing. The whole county laughs at him — why give him the girl?" Fu said: "Has there ever been a man as handsome as Chen Ping who remained poor and lowly forever?" He gave her in the end. Because Ping was poor, Fu borrowed money for the betrothal gifts and provided the funds for wine and meat to welcome the bride. Fu warned his granddaughter: "Do not be careless in serving others because of your poverty. Serve your brother-in-law Bo as you would a father, and his wife as you would a mother." After Ping married the Zhang girl, his resources grew more ample and his network of connections wider by the day.

At the village festival, Ping served as the meat-carver and divided the sacrificial portions with perfect fairness. The elders said: "Well done, young Chen, as carver!" Ping said: "Ah! If I could carve up all under Heaven, I would divide it just as evenly as this meat!"

Chen She rose in revolt and declared himself king at Chen. He sent Zhou Shi to conquer and pacify Wei territory, installing Wei Jiu as King of Wei. Wei fought the Qin armies at Linji. Chen Ping had already taken leave of his brother Bo and gone with a group of young men to serve King Jiu of Wei at Linji. The king appointed him Grand Coachman. Ping offered counsel, but the king would not listen. Others slandered him, and Ping fled.

Some time later, Xiang Yu swept through the region and reached the Yellow River. Ping went to join him, followed him in destroying Qin, and was given the rank of Senior Minister. When Xiang Yu went east to rule at Pengcheng and the King of Han returned to pacify the Three Qin and then marched east, the King of Yin rebelled against Chu. Xiang Yu made Ping the Lord of Xinwu and gave him command of the former retainers of King Jiu of Wei who were in Chu, sending him to attack and subdue the King of Yin. Upon his return, Xiang Yu had Xiang Han invest Ping as Commandant and rewarded him with twenty yi of gold. Shortly after, the King of Han attacked and took Yin. Xiang Yu was furious and intended to execute the officers who had pacified Yin. Ping, fearing execution, sealed up his gold and his seal of office, sent them back to Xiang Yu by messenger, and fled alone on foot with only his sword.

Crossing the Yellow River, the ferryman saw a tall, handsome man traveling alone and suspected he was a fugitive officer with gold, jade, and treasures hidden on his person. The ferryman eyed him and planned to kill him. Ping, alarmed, stripped off his clothes and helped pole the boat naked. The ferryman, seeing he had nothing, let him be.

Ping made his way to Xiuwu and surrendered to Han. Through Wei Wuzhi he obtained an audience with the King of Han. The king summoned him in. At that time Shi Fen, the future Marquis of Wanshi, was serving as the king's personal attendant and received Ping's petition, then brought him before the king. Ping and six others were presented together and given a meal. The king said: "That will do — go to your quarters." Ping said: "I have come on urgent business. What I have to say cannot wait past today." The King of Han conversed with him and was pleased. He asked: "What office did you hold in Chu?" Ping replied: "Commandant." That very day the king appointed Ping as Commandant, made him his chariot companion, and put him in charge of supervising the army. The generals were outraged: "His Majesty gets a deserter from Chu for one day, knows nothing of the man's quality, and immediately rides in the same chariot with him — even puts him in charge of overseeing the senior officers!"

The King of Han, hearing this, favored Ping all the more. He then marched east with Ping to attack Xiang Yu. They reached Pengcheng but were defeated by Chu. They withdrew, rallying scattered troops at Xingyang. Ping was made Vice-General under King Xin of Han and stationed at Guangwu.

The Marquis of Jiang, Guan Ying, and others slandered Chen Ping to the king: "Ping may be a handsome man, but he is like a jade cap-ornament — pretty on the outside, nothing inside. We hear that when he lived at home he seduced his sister-in-law. He served Wei and was forced out; he fled to Chu and did not fit in; now he has fled again to Han. Today Your Majesty honors him with high office and puts him in charge of the army. We hear Ping accepts bribes from the generals — those who pay more get good postings, those who pay less get bad ones. Ping is a turncoat and a troublemaker. We beg Your Majesty to look into this."

The King of Han grew suspicious and summoned Wei Wuzhi to reprimand him. Wei Wuzhi said: "What I recommended was the man's ability. What Your Majesty asks about is his personal conduct. Even if a man had the integrity of Wei Sheng and the filial virtue of Xiao Ji, if it does not help win battles, what use has Your Majesty for it? Chu and Han are locked in a struggle — I brought you a man of extraordinary stratagems. The only question is whether his plans can benefit the state. What does seducing a sister-in-law or taking bribes matter?"

The King of Han summoned Ping and rebuked him: "Sir, you did not last with Wei, then served Chu and left. Now you follow me. Is it in the nature of a trustworthy man to change allegiance so often?" Ping said: "I served the King of Wei. He could not use my counsel, so I left for Xiang Yu. Xiang Yu cannot trust anyone — the only men he appoints and favors are members of the Xiang clan or his wife's brothers. Even men of extraordinary talent cannot gain employment. So I left Chu. I heard the King of Han knows how to use people, and so I came to Your Majesty. I arrived with nothing but my naked body. Without taking payments I would have no means to live. If my plans are worth adopting, Your Majesty may use them. If they are worthless, the money is all still here — I will seal it up, return it to the treasury, and beg leave to retire." The King of Han apologized, rewarded him generously, and appointed him Protector-Commandant of the Army, with authority over all the generals. The generals dared not speak against him again.

Afterward, Chu pressed its attack, cut the Han supply corridor, and besieged the King of Han inside Xingyang. After a long siege the King of Han grew desperate and offered to cede everything west of Xingyang in exchange for peace. Xiang Yu refused.

The King of Han said to Chen Ping: "The realm is in chaos — when will it be settled?" Chen Ping said: "Xiang Yu is respectful and caring toward people. Officers of integrity and propriety flock to him. But when it comes to rewarding merit with titles and fiefs, he grudges them, and so officers also refuse to stay. Your Majesty is rude and lacking in courtesy — men of integrity will not come. But Your Majesty is generous with titles and fiefs, and so officers who are rough, dull, greedy, and shameless also flock to Han. If each side could shed its weaknesses and combine its strengths, the realm could be settled with a wave of the hand. But Your Majesty insults people too freely to attract men of integrity. On the other hand, Chu can be thrown into disarray. Xiang Yu's stalwart ministers — Fan Zeng, Zhong Limei, Long Ju, Zhou Yin — number no more than a handful. If Your Majesty will spend a few tens of thousands of catties of gold on a campaign of counter-intelligence to sow suspicion between Xiang Yu and his ministers, and since Xiang Yu is by nature jealous and credulous of slander, his own people will turn on each other. Then Han can raise its armies and attack — Chu will certainly be destroyed."

The King of Han agreed, gave Chen Ping forty thousand catties of gold, and let him spend it as he wished, asking no accounting.

Ping spread the gold lavishly to plant agents in the Chu army, spreading rumors that generals like Zhong Limei had rendered great service to Xiang Yu but had never been enfeoffed as kings, and that they wished to join with Han to destroy the Xiang clan and carve up his territory. Xiang Yu indeed grew suspicious of Zhong Limei and the others.

Once suspicious, Xiang Yu sent an envoy to Han. The King of Han had a grand feast of the Three Sacrificial Animals prepared and brought out. When the Chu envoy appeared, the king feigned surprise: "I thought this was the Elder Father's envoy — it turns out to be Xiang Yu's!" He had the feast taken away and replaced with coarse provisions for the Chu envoy. The envoy returned and reported everything. Xiang Yu now deeply suspected Fan Zeng. Fan Zeng urged an immediate assault on Xingyang, but Xiang Yu distrusted him and refused to listen. When Fan Zeng learned of Xiang Yu's suspicion, he said in fury: "The great affair of the realm is settled! Your Majesty may handle it yourself! I beg leave to return my old bones home!" On the road back, before reaching Pengcheng, a carbuncle erupted on his back and he died.

Chen Ping then sent two thousand women out through the east gate of Xingyang at night. The Chu troops rushed to attack them. While they were distracted, Chen Ping and the King of Han slipped out through the west gate under cover of darkness. They passed through the passes, rallied scattered forces, and marched east again.

The following year, the Marquis of Huaiyin destroyed Qi and proclaimed himself King of Qi, sending a messenger to inform the King of Han. The king flew into a rage and cursed. Chen Ping stepped on his foot. The king caught himself, and instead treated the Qi envoy generously, sending Zhang Liang to formally install Han Xin as King of Qi. Ping was enfeoffed with Huyou village. Through his extraordinary stratagems, Chu was ultimately destroyed. He regularly served as Protector-Commandant in the campaigns that pacified Zang Tu, the King of Yan.

In the sixth year of Han, someone submitted a memorial accusing Han Xin, King of Chu, of plotting rebellion. Emperor Gao consulted his generals. They all said: "Send troops at once and bury the wretch!" The Emperor was silent. He asked Chen Ping. Ping demurred, saying: "What did the generals advise?" The Emperor told him everything. Ping said: "The man who filed the accusation — does anyone else know about it?" "No one." "Does Han Xin know?" "He does not." Ping said: "Your Majesty's crack troops — are they better than Chu's?" "They cannot match them." "Your Majesty's generals — is there one who surpasses Han Xin?" "None comes close." Ping said: "Your troops are inferior to his, and your generals cannot match him. If you raise an army and attack, you are simply forcing him into battle. I fear for Your Majesty." The Emperor said: "Then what is to be done?" Ping said: "In antiquity the Son of Heaven would make a royal progress and convene the feudal lords. There is the Yunmeng marshlands in the south. Your Majesty need only pretend to tour Yunmeng and convene the lords at Chen. Chen is on the western border of Chu. When Han Xin hears the Son of Heaven is on a pleasure tour, he will feel obliged to come out and pay his respects in the suburbs. The moment he pays his respects, Your Majesty seizes him — it is merely a job for one strong man."

Emperor Gao agreed. He dispatched envoys summoning the lords to assemble at Chen: "I will tour Yunmeng in the south." The Emperor followed along. Before reaching Chen, the King of Chu, Han Xin, came out to pay his respects on the road as expected. The Emperor had warriors prepared in advance. The moment Han Xin appeared, they seized and bound him and loaded him onto a rear carriage. Han Xin cried out: "The realm is settled, and so of course the hound is to be boiled!" The Emperor turned and said: "Silence! Your rebellion is plain!" The warriors pinioned his arms behind his back. The Emperor convened the lords at Chen and settled all of Chu's territory. Returning to Luoyang, he pardoned Han Xin and demoted him to Marquis of Huaiyin, then divided tallies with his meritorious subjects to confirm their fiefs.

Ping received a split tally, heritable in perpetuity, as Marquis of Huyou. He declined, saying: "This is not my achievement." The Emperor said: "I used your stratagems to win battles and defeat enemies — if that is not merit, what is?" Ping said: "Without Wei Wuzhi, how would I have gained an audience?" The Emperor said: "A man like you truly never forgets his roots." He rewarded Wei Wuzhi again.

The following year, Ping served as Protector-Commandant in the campaign against the rebel Han Wang Xin in Dai. The army reached Pingcheng and was surrounded by the Xiongnu. For seven days they had no food. Emperor Gao employed one of Chen Ping's extraordinary stratagems, directed at the Chanyu's consort, and the encirclement was broken. After the Emperor escaped, this particular stratagem was kept secret, and the world never learned its details.

On his way south, the Emperor passed through Quni. He ascended the city walls and, gazing at the buildings, said: "What a magnificent city! In all my travels through the realm, I have seen only Luoyang and this place." He turned and asked the Imperial Secretary: "How many households does Quni have?" The reply: "In Qin times, over thirty thousand. Through the repeated wars, many have fled or gone into hiding. The current count is five thousand." The Emperor thereupon decreed that Chen Ping be made Marquis of Quni, with the revenues of the entire district, replacing his former fief of Huyou.

Afterward, Ping continued to serve as Protector-Commandant in the campaigns against Chen Xi and Qing Bu. In all, he devised six extraordinary stratagems, and each time his fief was increased — six increases in total. Some of the stratagems were deeply secret, and the world never learned them.

Emperor Gao returned from crushing Qing Bu's army, but he was wounded and ill, traveling slowly back to Chang'an. When Lu Wan, King of Yan, rebelled, the Emperor sent Fan Kuai as Chancellor-General to lead the attack. After Fan Kuai had departed, someone spoke ill of him. The Emperor said in a fury: "Fan Kuai sees that I am ill and hopes I will die!" Acting on Chen Ping's advice, the Emperor summoned the Marquis of Jiang, Zhou Bo, to receive a secret edict by his bedside: "Chen Ping is to ride post-haste to the army with Zhou Bo, relieve Fan Kuai of command, and behead Fan Kuai the moment he arrives!"

The two men received the edict and rode by relay, but before reaching the army they reconsidered: "Fan Kuai is the Emperor's oldest companion and a man of great merit. Moreover, he is the husband of Lü Xu, Empress Lü's sister — both a relative and a man of standing. The Emperor acts out of momentary anger and may later regret it. Better to arrest him and deliver him to the Emperor to deal with personally." Before reaching the army, they set up an altar, summoned Fan Kuai with the imperial tally, bound his arms behind his back, loaded him into a prisoner's cart, and sent him to Chang'an by relay. Zhou Bo took command of the army and pacified the rebellious Yan districts.

On the road, Ping heard that Emperor Gao had died. Fearing that Empress Lü and Lü Xu would turn their anger on him, he raced ahead by relay to the capital. On the way he encountered a messenger with an edict ordering him and Guan Ying to garrison Xingyang. Ping acknowledged the edict but immediately raced to the palace, wept with extreme grief, and presented his report before the coffin. Empress Lü was moved, saying: "You have worked hard — go out and rest." But Ping, fearing that slander would soon reach its mark, firmly requested to serve in the palace guard. The Empress made him Commandant of the Palace Gentlemen, saying: "Tutor and guide Emperor Hui." After this, Lü Xu's slanders could gain no traction. When Fan Kuai arrived, he was pardoned and his titles and fief restored.

In the sixth year of Emperor Hui, Chancellor Cao Can died. Wang Ling, Marquis of Anguo, was made Right Chancellor, and Chen Ping Left Chancellor.

Wang Ling was originally from Pei. He had been a local strongman, and when the High Ancestor was still a commoner, he treated Ling as an elder brother. Ling was unlettered, headstrong, and blunt-spoken. When the High Ancestor rose at Pei and entered Xianyang, Ling had independently gathered several thousand followers at Nanyang and refused to follow the Duke of Pei. Only when the King of Han returned to fight Xiang Ji did Ling bring his forces under Han command. Xiang Yu seized Ling's mother and placed her in his camp. When Ling's envoy arrived, Xiang Yu seated the mother in the place of honor, facing east, hoping to use her to lure Ling over. Ling's mother privately saw the envoy off, weeping: "Tell Ling from this old servant: serve the King of Han faithfully. The King of Han is a man of virtue. Do not waver because of an old woman. I will see the envoy off with my death." She threw herself on a sword and died. Xiang Yu, in a rage, boiled her body. Ling eventually followed the King of Han to settle the realm. Because he had been friends with Yong Chi — the High Ancestor's personal enemy — and had initially refused to follow him, Ling was enfeoffed late, as Marquis of Anguo.

After two years as Right Chancellor, Emperor Hui died. Empress Lü wished to make members of the Lü clan kings. She asked Wang Ling. Ling said: "It must not be done." She asked Chen Ping. Ping said: "It may be done." Empress Lü was furious at Ling. She made a show of promoting him to Grand Tutor of the Emperor, but in fact stripped him of power. Ling resigned in anger, pleading illness. He shut his gates and never again attended court, dying seven years later.

Once Ling was removed, Empress Lü transferred Ping to Right Chancellor and installed Shen Shiqi, Marquis of Piyang, as Left Chancellor. The Left Chancellor conducted no business — he stayed constantly at court attending the Empress.

Shen Shiqi was also from Pei. When the King of Han was defeated west of Pengcheng and Chu captured the Grand Supreme Emperor and Empress Lü as hostages, Shiqi attended Empress Lü as a household retainer. He later served in the campaign that destroyed Xiang Ji and was made a marquis. He was Empress Lü's favorite. Upon becoming chancellor, he resided within the palace, and all officials submitted their business through him.

Lü Xu constantly bore a grudge against Chen Ping for having plotted to arrest Fan Kuai, and repeatedly slandered him: "Chen Ping does nothing as chancellor — he just drinks fine wine and plays with women all day." When Ping heard this, he did it all the more. Empress Lü heard of it and was privately delighted. She confronted Lü Xu in Ping's presence: "The proverb says, 'Don't trust a daughter-in-law's gossip.' What matters is how you and I get along. Do not fear Lü Xu's slanders."

Empress Lü made the members of the Lü clan kings. Chen Ping pretended to go along. When Empress Lü died, Ping conspired with Grand Commandant Zhou Bo, and together they destroyed the entire Lü faction and enthroned Emperor Wen. The master plan was Chen Ping's. Shen Shiqi was removed from the chancellorship.

When Emperor Wen took the throne, he considered that Grand Commandant Bo had personally led troops to destroy the Lü clan and had the greater military credit. Chen Ping wished to yield the senior position to Bo and pleaded illness. Emperor Wen, newly enthroned, found Ping's illness suspicious and inquired. Ping said: "In the High Ancestor's time, Bo's merit did not match mine. But in the destruction of the Lü clan, my merit does not match Bo's. I wish to yield the Right Chancellorship to Bo." Emperor Wen therefore made the Marquis of Jiang, Zhou Bo, Right Chancellor, ranked first, and transferred Ping to Left Chancellor, ranked second. He gave Ping a thousand catties of gold and added three thousand households to his fief.

After some time, Emperor Wen grew increasingly familiar with affairs of state. At court he asked the Right Chancellor, Bo: "How many legal cases are decided in the realm each year?" Bo apologized: "I do not know." "How much revenue in cash and grain enters and leaves the treasury each year?" Bo again apologized that he did not know, sweating through his robes in embarrassment. The Emperor then asked the Left Chancellor, Ping. Ping said: "Each matter has its responsible official." "Who are they?" "If Your Majesty asks about legal cases, hold the Commandant of Justice accountable. If about revenue, hold the Grand Director of Grain accountable." The Emperor said: "If every matter has its responsible official, then what are you responsible for?" Ping replied: "Your servant! Your Majesty does not realize how mediocre I am, yet makes me serve at the risk of my life as chancellor. The chancellor's duty is: above, to assist the Son of Heaven in harmonizing yin and yang and following the four seasons; below, to nurture all things as is fitting; outward, to pacify the barbarians and the feudal lords; inward, to bind the people in affection — and to ensure that every minister and officer fulfills his own duties properly."

Emperor Wen praised him. The Right Chancellor, deeply mortified, went out and rebuked Chen Ping: "Why did you never teach me how to answer?" Ping laughed: "You hold the office — do you not know its duties? Besides, if the Emperor had asked how many bandits there are in Chang'an, would you have tried to force an answer to that too?" The Marquis of Jiang knew then that his ability fell far short of Ping's. Before long, he pleaded illness and resigned. Chen Ping became sole Chancellor.

In the second year of Emperor Wen, Chancellor Chen Ping died. He was given the posthumous title Marquis Xian ("the Devoted"). His son Gong, Marquis Gong, inherited. After two years he died, and his son Jian, Marquis Jian ("the Simple"), inherited. After twenty-three years he died, and his son He inherited. After twenty-three years, He was convicted of abducting another man's wife, executed in the marketplace, and the fief was abolished.

Earlier, Chen Ping had said: "I have employed too many covert schemes — this is what the Way of the Daoists forbids. My line will be cut off, and that will be that. It can never recover, for I have accumulated too much hidden karma." Later, his great-grandson Chen Zhang, through his connection to the Wei family as a relative, sought to have the Chen enfeoffment renewed, but it was never granted.

The Grand Historian says: Chancellor Chen Ping in his youth was devoted to the arts of the Yellow Emperor and Laozi. Already when he was carving meat on the chopping block, his ambitions reached far beyond. He was tossed about between Chu and Wei, yet in the end came to the High Ancestor. He constantly devised extraordinary stratagems, rescuing the state from tangled crises and relieving national emergencies. In the time of Empress Lü, affairs were dangerous beyond measure, yet Ping managed to extricate himself, secure the ancestral temples, and end his life with an honored name, acclaimed as a worthy chancellor. Is this not a life that began well and ended well? Who but a man of wisdom and resourcefulness could have achieved this?

In a dead-end alley of Quni, distinguished visitors left their wheel-ruts at his door. He carved the meat with perfect fairness; he came first to funerals and left last. Employed by Wei and Chu in turn, no one could fathom his innermost heart. He sealed his gold and returned his seal, poled the boat stripped bare. He slipped through the lines to Han and pledged himself beneath the banner. His stratagems saved Xingyang; his ruse broke the Pingcheng siege. He deferred to Ling and yielded to Bo — taking from what had too much and giving to what had too little. Adapting to change and wielding expedient power, he secured the dynastic altars.