Liu Bang eliminated the vassals and became the founding emperor of the Han Dynasty thanks to the great merits of the “war god” Han Tin, but in the end, Han Cao To still decided to destroy Han Tin by all means.
Han Xin (229 BC – 196 BC) was famous as the “god of war” invincible in the Han Dynasty – Chu struggled after the death of Qin Shi Huang.
According to history books, Han Tin lost his parents at a young age. He lived a miserable life, there were days when he couldn’t fish and had nothing to eat.
Sketching the scene where Han Tin suffered the humiliation of having to hide in his groin.
When her mother died, because she wanted to build her mother’s grave in a beautiful place on the high mountain, she sold her house, carried swords, and wandered in the market.
Seeing that Han Tin was thin and weak, but carrying a sword like a martial general, there was a guy selling pork humiliating and forcing Tin to first use a sword to fight him, or to slip through his groin. Tin accepted the humiliation through his groin despite being ridiculed by everyone.
In 209 BC, an uprising against the Qin Dynasty broke out. Han Tin’s life turned to a new page when he joined the rebel army led by Xiang Liang and his nephew Xiang Yu.
Not being used by Xiang Yu, he transferred to the Han king Liu Bang, at that time competing fiercely for power with the King of King Xiang Yu. Thanks to his relationship with the general of the Han Dynasty, Tieu Ha, Han Tin was finally respected and was made a general by Liu Bang.
After Han Tin received the rank of general, he analyzed for the Han King about the strengths and weaknesses of Xiang Yu and how to defeat Chu, the biggest opponent of the Han Dynasty at that time. Since then, Luu Bang began to respect Han Tin.
Within 10 years of being trusted by Luu Bang, Han Tin personally brought his troops to battle, reaping success after success.
In 206 BC, he led an army to pacify Tam Tan, led by the vassal kings Zhang Han (Ung Vuong), Sima Han (Vuong Tac Vuong) and Dong E (Dich Vuong).
Han Tin is a person who knows how to bear humiliation but cherishes great will.
The army led by Han Tin fought and won there, he conquered Han, defeated Wei, took Zhao, conquered the state of Yan, occupied the state of Qi and moved to the biggest enemy, the West Chu Ba Vuong, Xiang Yu.
In 202 BC, Liu Bang, following Truong Luong’s plan, broke his promise to bring troops to defeat Xiang Yu but was defeated.
At this time, Luu Bang asked Han Tin and Banh Viet to bring reinforcements. Thanks to Han Tin’s hand, the Han army was able to besiege Tay So Ba Vuong Huong Vu in Cai Ha, China, ending the biggest rival of Liu Bang’s life.
Liu Bang became the second person to unify China after Qin Shi Huang, creating a dynasty that lasted more than 400 years. Han Tin as the public god of the Han Dynasty, was named King of Qi by Luu Bang and then Chu Vuong, taking over the hegemony of a region.
On the other hand, pushing Han Tin to leave the capital also helped Luu Bang reduce the influence of the “war god” in the court.
In the second year of Han Tin’s rise to the position of King of Chu, someone made a complaint accusing Tin of treason. Luu Bang himself also understood that it was a baseless slander, but still took this opportunity to bring down Han Tin.
When someone reported Han Tin’s treason, the court officials were extremely angry.
Luu Bang did not immediately express his attitude, discreetly asked Tran Binh’s opinion. Tran Binh asked: “Are Your Majesty’s army more elite than Han Tin’s army?” Luu Bang replied: “No match”.
Tran Binh asked again: “Is Your Majesty’s general stronger than Han Tin’s general” ? Liu Bang replied again: “Compared to”!
Han Xin’s image in Chinese TV series.
At this point, only Tran Binh said : “The army is not as good as his army, the general is not better than his general, but wanting to take the army to fight, is like trying to force him to rebel”. Liu Bang thought it was okay, so he planned to arrest Han Tin.
At that time, Liu Bang took the name of the Son of Heaven to patrol, down near the country of Chu in the south. Han Tin did not know how to respond, because he did not know if Liu Bang wanted to arrest him or not.
To show his loyalty, he took the head of his old friend Chung Ly Muoi and gave it to Luu Bang. Because Luu Bang in the past hated Chung Ly Muoi when he was still a general under Xiang Vu. But right after that, Han Tin was immediately arrested and brought back to the capital.
Han Tin because he did not submit, but could only lament: “If the rabbit dies, the dog will be killed, the bird will break the bow, after killing the enemy, the public god must die”.
But Luu Bang was not in a hurry to kill Han Tin right away, Han Cao To just took this opportunity to make Han Tin lose his reputation of “opening the country”.
Although released, Han Tin was demoted to the position of Marquis of Hoai Am. According to the title, under the king is the prince and then the servant. This made him like a “fish on a chopping board” , extremely indignant.
In 200 BC, the general Chen Xi was sent to defend Cu Loc in Hebei province, China. Before leaving, Tran Hy came to say goodbye to Han Tin.
Han Xin said: “If you go there, someone will accuse you of treason, and sooner or later you will be harmed.” It is not clear if this statement by Han Tin or not, Tran Hy really betrayed.
Han Tin was loyal to Liu Bang only to receive a tragic death.
Han Cao To personally led his army to quell the rebellion, leaving Prince Luu Doanh to stay and defend the capital.
In 196 BC, Liu Bang reigned on his own, Han Tin reported his illness and did not follow him, but also sent someone to bring letters to Tran Hy, promising to work internally in the capital, according to historical records.
The matter was revealed, Empress Lu and Tieu Ha used this excuse to eliminate Han Tin. La Hau spread the news that the border was won, Tran Hy was destroyed, and invited the courtiers to the palace to celebrate. Han Tin, because of his guilt, planned to report the disease, but could not get past the eyes of Empress Lu. Han Tin just entered the palace was captured alive and executed in Truong Lac palace.
Most Chinese historians today believe that Han Xin had no treason. If he wanted to rebel, Tin had many opportunities from the time he was Chu Vuong, until he killed Chung Ly Muoi to prove his loyalty. In the end, if Han Tin had any intention of treason, he would not have dared to follow Tieu Ha into the palace to let Empress La kill.
In fact, Han Tin is not the only victim of Liu Bang. A series of other pro-state founders, who were crowned kings, were also deposed to be replaced by princes of the Liu family.
Today, Han Xin is considered one of the most outstanding and rare heroes in Chinese history.