Full text translation of "Book of the Later Han Dynasty. Feng Yi Zhuan"

Translation of "Book of the Later Han Dynasty. Feng Yi's Biography":

Feng Yi's courtesy name was Gongsun, and he was a native of Fucheng County, Yingchuan County. Since Guangwu's brother Bo Sheng was killed, Guangwu did not dare to show his inner sadness on the surface. Whenever he was alone, he would not eat meat or wine, and there were signs of crying on the pillow mat. Feng Yi came alone to kowtow to relieve his grief. Guangwu stopped him and said: "Don't talk nonsense!" Feng Yi took the opportunity to say to Guangwu Jin privately: "The people of the world have suffered from Wang Mang and have missed the Han Dynasty for a long time. But now Liu Xuan's generals are acting rampantly. You are tyrannical and plundering everywhere, and the people are disappointed and have no support or support. Now you are responsible for the military and government affairs of one side, and you should extend your kindness. It is precisely because of the chaos of Xia Jie and Shang Zhou that the achievements of Shang Tang and Zhou Wu can be achieved. Just as people are more likely to be satisfied after being hungry and thirsty for a long time, officials should be dispatched to various counties as soon as possible to hear unjust cases and spread favors." Guangwu adopted his suggestion. When he arrived at Handan, he sent Feng Yi to patrol the counties under his control, examine the charges of prisoners, greet widows and widowers, and absolve those who had escaped from surrender. He secretly recorded one by one the two thousand officials who agreed with him and those who refused to join him. The list was given to Guangwu.

Feng Yi was a humble man and did not boast. When he met other generals when he was traveling, he would lead his carriage to give way. Whether he is walking or stopping, there are signs, and the army says he has rules. Every time they camped, all the generals sat down to evaluate their achievements. Feng Yi often hid under a tree alone, and the army called him "General Big Tree". After Handan was captured, the troops were reorganized and assigned to various generals. Each general had subordinates. The soldiers all said they were willing to follow General Dashu, and Guangwu praised him for this.

At this time, Chimei and Yancen were disrupting the three auxiliary forces. The wealthy families in the counties and counties each had their own armies. Chief Situ Deng Yu could not pacify them, so he sent Feng Yi to replace Deng Yu to attack them. Guangwu sent him to Henan and gave him a carriage and a seven-foot sword decorated with precious jade. Tell Feng Yi: "The Sanfu area was tortured by Wang Mang and the Gengshi regime, and then suffered the tyranny of Chimei and Yancen's troops. The people of Li were devastated and had no one to rely on and talk to. This expedition may not necessarily The key to occupying land and killing people is to calm down and appease the people. You generals are not good at fighting, but you like to rob people's property. You should consider reorganizing your troops and not causing pain to the people of the county." Feng Yi kowtows. He was ordered to lead the troops westward and established prestige wherever he went. Feng Yi and Chimei met in Huayin and fought for more than sixty days. They fought dozens of times and made more than 5,000 people including General Liu Shi and Wang Xuan of Chimei surrender.

In the summer, Guangwu sent his generals to Longdi, but was defeated by Kaixiao. Guangwu then issued an edict for Feng Yi to garrison in Quyi. Before Feng Yi could arrive, Kaixiao took advantage of the victory and sent his generals Wang Yuan and Xingxun to lead more than 20,000 people to Longdi, taking advantage of the opportunity to dispatch Xingxun to attack Quyi. Feng Yi immediately marched quickly, hoping to occupy Quyi first. The generals all said: "The enemy soldiers have strong morale and are coming to win. We cannot compete with them. We should station our troops in favorable terrain and slowly think of strategies."

Feng Yi said: "The enemy soldiers are pressing the border. They are used to fighting for small profits and want to take advantage of the situation. If they capture the city, they will shake the three auxiliaries. This is what I am worried about. The art of war says: "If you are not enough to attack, you will have enough to defend." It is not right to occupy the city first and wait for the work. Fight with him." So he led his troops quietly into the city, closed the city gates, silenced his troops, and went on patrol without knowing it, and went straight to Quyi. Feng Yi took advantage of his unpreparedness and suddenly beat the drum and raised the flag to go to war. The patrolling troops fled in panic. Feng Yi pursued them for dozens of miles and defeated the patrolling troops. At this time, all the powerful leaders in the north betrayed Wei Xiao and surrendered. Feng Yi wrote to report the situation and did not dare to boast.

Knowledge expansion:

The author of "Book of the Later Han. Feng Yi Zhuan" is Xin Yannian, born in 220 BC, a famous Qin and Han poet. This article mainly tells us to be humble and not to boast about ourselves.