Among the 143 heroes who were made marquis after Liu Bang proclaimed himself emperor, Sean ranked 62nd, but Sima Qian listed him as a "family" in Historical Records. The so-called "family" is a family with a title and a territory that can be passed down from generation to generation. Only Xiao He, Cao Can, Sean, Chen Ping and Zhou Bo were lucky enough to be included in Liu Bang's "family". Sean's position among heroes is so low, but Sima Qian paid so much attention to Sean in Historical Records, ranking him ahead of Chen Ping and Zhou Bo, which reflects Sima Qian's special understanding and evaluation of Sean's role and his ideological personality. The trajectory of Sean's life activities and career can be said as follows: 1, helping Liu Bang fight Qin; 2 Help Liu Bang fight Xiang Yu; 3. Help Liu Bang to fight the hero; 4, but also to maintain a mentality of fighting with Liu Bang and Lu Hou. First, Sean's historical contribution. Sean contributed a lot, but unlike Xiao He and Han Xin, Xiao He and Han Xin contributed a lot, while Sean's contribution was mostly unknown. Because all his life, he has been giving advice to Liu Bang. That is, Sima Qian said "winning without arrogance, losing with grace" and "drawing is more difficult than details", so it is "reactive fame, no courage" For this kind of person, respectfully speaking, he is a "mastermind" and an "imperial minister"; To put it disrespectfully, he is plotting and playing tricks, and everyone's views will be very different, so Sean can't get up in the ranking. (1) A notable example of helping Liu Bang destroy Qin was the Battle of Guan Lantian: following Liu Bang all the way south from Luoyang, there were many tough battles in the middle, so I won't say much. The clever use of this strategy can be seen only from the battle between Guan and Lantian. First, he bluffed and scared the enemy; Then spend money to buy enemies; Finally, take advantage of the enemy's unprepared, and hit it with one blow. So World War I ended the Qin Dynasty, and the meritorious military service was indeed brilliant. When it comes to Sean's strategy, we must pay attention to a term: "Huang Lao's philosophy". "Huang Lao's philosophy" is a theory that applies Laozi's theory to politics and military affairs, and to governing the country and calming the world. Its main points are "paying attention to quietness", "doing nothing without doing anything", "combining rigidity with softness", "being late comes first" and "taking advantage of small losses". (2) The first notable example of Zhang Liangbang's struggle with Xiang Yu was the Hongmen Banquet. At the Hongmen banquet, everyone's words and deeds on Liu Bang's side were arranged by Sean in advance: for example, Liu Bang's humility and humility when he saw Xiang Yu; The justice that Fan Kuai said when he broke the account was awe-inspiring. The basic meaning of Fan Kuai's sentence is that Liu Bangxian told Xiang Bo the night before, and Xiang Bo told Xiang Yu when he went back. The next morning, Liu Bang came to Hongmen and expressed it again when he saw Xiang Yu. Then at the banquet, let Fan Kuai speak loudly in public. So Xiang Yu has been fighting for neutrality. The rest is to concentrate on dealing with Fan Zeng. The most important strategy for Liu Bang Group headed by Sean to deal with Xiang Yu Group is "combining rigidity with softness". The situation is unfavorable to me, so I have to forbear, save my strength as much as possible, and show my own justice in the process of forbearance, so as to gain the sympathy and support of famous soldiers and even some people in Xiang Yu's camp and accumulate strength for future counterattacks. Use today's "inaction" to realize the "all for" in the future. (3) The second important example of Zhang Liangbang's battle with Xiang Yu was Liu Bang's fiasco in Pengcheng. Sean recommended Han Xin, Peng Yue and Qing Bu to Liu Bang. Peng Yue was originally an independent brigade, not belonging to Liu Bang. His activity area is at the junction of Henan and Shandong. He and Tian Rong raised the banner against Xiang Yu for the first time, which helped Liu Bang to use Guanzhong. If we can unite closely and make use of Peng Yue, it will open up a new front behind Xiang Yu. In fact, Liu Bang did just that. He sent Liu Jia and others to lead troops into Peng Yue to launch mobile warfare and guerrilla warfare together, and beat Xiang Yu like a fire brigade, running at both ends of the east and west lines. Han Xin, the general that Liu Banggang got, played an important role in the decision-making and actual command of recovering Guanzhong. However, when attacking Pengcheng, Liu Bang did not appoint Han Xin, but left Han Xin in the rear, which was related to Liu Bang's concern for Han Xin and his principles of use. On the occasion of Cheng Peng's fiasco, Sean once again proposed Han Xin, which had an important influence on Liu Bang's strategic decision to send Han Xin to open up the northern battlefield. Since then, Han Xin has served Liu Bang with the efficiency of destroying two countries every year, and destroyed the Western Wei Dynasty and Dai in the first year; In the second year, Zhao and Yan were destroyed; In the third year, Qi perished, and the allied forces of Qi and Chu were defeated. Finally, he commanded Liu Bang's whole army to completely destroy Xiang Yu. Qing Bu, a valiant soldier under Xiang Yu, was named King of Jiujiang by Xiang Yu. In today's Jianghuai area of Anhui, Sean proposed to use the contradiction between him and Xiang Yu to intensify the contradiction and try to poach him. This first weakened Xiang Yu's strength, reduced the frontal battlefield and pressure, and then threatened Xiang Yu's left wing; Qing Bu rallied his staff there, rebelled against Xiang Yu's famous ministers and elite soldiers, and gradually formed Liu Bang's southern army, thus forming a strategic encirclement of Xiang Yu. Sean's thought guided Liu Bang's strategic stalemate from weakness to strength, paving the way for the final elimination of Xiang Yu. (4) Zhang Liang helped Liu Bang to be a hero 1, and Han Xin pacified Qi, claiming the king first, and then letting Liu Bang aim at him. When Liu Bang was angry, Sean stopped him in time and motioned for him to be patient, so as not to spoil the great event because of local interests. Persuading Liu Bang to agree to Han Xin's request is very timely, which conforms to Liu Bang's long-term interests and fundamental interests. 2. After the gap, Liu Bang agreed with Han Xin and Peng Yue to attack Xiang Yu in Guling, while Han Xin and Peng Yue breached the contract, and Liu Bang failed. It is intolerable that the emperor who succumbed to the minister in charge of Qiang Bing did not listen to the command and bargained with the emperor for personal interests. Liu bang's anger is of course justified. But the current situation does not allow him to get angry. Because once Han Xin and don't come, Xiang will not be defeated, and it will be a problem who will own the world in the future. Therefore, Sean persuaded Liu Bang that he must endure it now, and a little patience will lead to great disaster. Influenced by Sean for a long time, Liu Bang naturally got the message. So Liu Bang set aside territory for Han Xin, Peng Yue and Qing Bu to take office after the war. Han Xin and Peng Yue came to report: "Please join the army today." "So the battle of Gai won a decisive victory. Liu Bang said that Sean was famous for his strategy, but Sean's strategy was a mysterious figure with the wisdom of both military strategists and Taoists. Sean by Sima Qian has an important influence on the formation of the series of "images of military advisers" (Zhuge Liang, Wu Yong, Xu Maogong and Liu Bowen) in later novels and dramas. Second, Sean's magical strategy has been guided by experts. The initial anti-Qin action was a personal action, but it didn't stab Qin. "He changed his name and surname and went into hiding." An old man called "Huang Shigong" deliberately threw his shoes under the bridge for Sean to pick up, just to see if he had patience. "When he passed the exam, he gave Zhang a book called Sun Tzu's Art of War." Taigong "was Jiang Ziya, and it was Jiang Ziya's magic and strategy that made Zhou Wuwang overthrow the Yin Dynasty. Today's library has the book Sun Tzu's Art of War, which was compiled by people in the Warring States period as one of the basic teaching materials for military commanders in past dynasties. Huang Shigong predicted that in ten years, the war against Qin would intensify, and Sean would also take part in it. If Sean can master this book, he can become the emperor's strategist. It is also said that after the end of the anti-Qin war three years later, you passed by Gucheng Mountain in northern Hebei County. Then you will see a Huang Shitou at the foot of the mountain, and that is me. Of course, this story was fabricated after the development of Sean, with the aim of deifying Sean and his master Liu Bang. However, there is an important situation to be noted here: Sean was a reckless man full of blood and hatred for the Qin Dynasty at first, but later he became a man who was half man, half fairy, ingenious and unpredictable, and was bound to have opportunities and great changes. How did Sima Qian show the changing process of Sean? He skillfully borrowed vivid legends popular in the social market at that time. Third, Sean's self-protection strategy. Sean is the embodiment of Huang Lao's philosophy. An important feature of Huang Lao's philosophy is to pay attention to health preservation and how to protect oneself. How did Sean keep the mentality of fighting Liu Bang and Lv Hou? Its main manifestations are: giving in to power everywhere, often talking about "revenge for Korea", not fighting for power, not making profits, never causing Liu Bang's doubts and worries. He always kept a certain distance from Liu Bang, and maintained a state of "half friend, half guest and half minister". Liu Bang scolded everyone (including Lv Hou and Xiao He) all his life, and his mouth was full of "your dad" and "your dad"; But he never scolded Sean, and always called Sean "the ovary" and "Mr." politely. He also gave in before awarding the prize, which was in sharp contrast with the competition and comparison among other civilian military commanders. Sean's comments and suggestions on Liu Bang are mostly after the attack, so let others speak first, and then decide whether to supplement according to the situation; Even if you do, it's only a matter of time. Don't insist too much and don't annoy Liu Bang. When Liu Bangchu entered Xianyang, he was greedy for gold, silver and jewels and many women in Xianyang Palace, so he wanted to live in Xianyang Palace. At that time, Fan Kuai was the first to advise, and Sean followed suit. Liu Bang adopted it and returned to the barracks. Liu bang beat the generals and wanted to build Luoyang as the capital. Lou Jing came forward to dissuade him and proposed to build Guanzhong as the capital, so Sean followed suit and persuaded him, and Liu Bang immediately made a decision. When Liu Bang captured Cheng Peng and entered Xiang Yu's Palace, he said, "It's delicious to get the goods, and Kaya Hioki has a splendid banquet. "The scene and when we invaded Xianyang. At that time, Fan Kuai made suggestions first, followed by Sean, thus solving the crisis; Why didn't anyone persuade me this time? It is not clear whether Fan Kuai is present, but Sean is obviously on Liu Bang's side. He didn't convince? Or did you persuade Liu Bang not to listen? Both situations are serious. According to Sean's nature, he probably saw that he couldn't convince him, so he didn't convince him. Confucianism pays attention to "knowing everything and saying everything"; Pay attention to adhering to the principle and stick to it; Pay attention to "giving my life for justice" and so on. There were dragons in the Xia Dynasty, enemies in the Shang Dynasty, Wu Zixu in the Spring and Autumn Period, and so on, all of which advised you to die. Taoism is not like this. They value life. If there is no life, what can there be to talk about? There are two kinds of comments on Sean in the conclusion. One is that Sean is a schemer who is good at playing politics; Another way of saying it is that Sean is a noble saint who doesn't consider any personal interests, but he is not. Sean is the embodiment of "Huang Lao", and his ability to use "Huang Lao" to deal with all problems has reached perfection. Others believe that "first help Liu Bang fight Qin; And help Liu bang fight Xiang Yu; And help Liu Bang and Lv Hou fight side by side with the heroes; At the same time, I also want to keep an eye on it and fight with Liu Bang and Emperors Lu. "This life is too tired? Others feel tired, but Sean is comfortable to operate. As for lying in bed at night, do you sometimes feel guilty about something? Then only he knows. I think Sima Qian is more in awe of Sean than in emotional love.