Liu Yu, the most powerful man in three hundred years: started his business by selling straw sandals, not inferior to Liu Bei

Liu Yu, courtesy name Deyu, was born in Suiyuli, Pengcheng County (twenty miles northeast of today's Xiaoxian County, Anhui Province). He was born in March of the first year of Xingning in Jin Dynasty (AD 363), a famous military officer in the Eastern Jin Dynasty. The important place was Jingkou (now Zhenjiang, Jiangsu).

It is said that his distant ancestor was Liu Jiao, King of Chu Yuan, the younger brother of Han Gao Emperor Liu Bang, but by his father Liu Qiao's generation, he had been reduced to the Han clan. Liu Qiao was originally a meritorious official in Dantu County. At that time, he was a low-level official, and his salary could only support his family's food and clothing. The mother died of dystocia when giving birth to Liu Yu. Liu Qiao is a big man, how can he know how to take care of children? Liu Yu had no choice but to be sent to his deceased wife's natal family to raise him.

Originally, when Liu Yu was born, Liu Qiao saw the auspicious spectacle of "manna falling on the tomb tree" and gave him the nickname "Qi Nu" because he was fostered in his grandmother's house. They all call him "a slave".

Once upon a time, the name "Jiu Nu" became a famous name in Shuoyu as Liu Yu's achievements continued to expand. Xin Qiji, a great poet of the bold and unrestrained style of the Southern Song Dynasty, included the name "Jinnu" in his poems. The poem goes: "Under the setting sun, grass and trees, ordinary alleys, humane slaves once lived."

Send away Liu Yu As a matter of fact, Liu Qiao married Xiao, a native of Lanling, and gave birth to two sons, Liu Daolian and Liu Daogui. Her life was beginning to move in a happy direction. Unexpectedly, Liu Qiao fell ill and died within a few years. Once Liu Qiao dies, the family will have no income. What should they do? Mrs. Xiao took her two sons, Dao Lian and Dao Gui, to death.

Fortunately, Liu Yu had grown into a half-grown calf and returned from his grandma's house. Of course, at this age, Liu Yu could not do anything big, but he learned a craft from his grandmother's family: weaving straw shoes. Back home, like the hero Liu Bei before him, he would go out early and come back late every day, working hard to knit and sell straw sandals, supporting the lives of four orphans and a widowed mother. This kind of life lasted almost twenty years. If Liu Yu had been selling straw sandals like this until he died of old age, there would be no subsequent story.

The key is that when he was in his thirties, he was really tired of the boring life of a small merchant and a small citizen, who worked at sunrise and rested at sunset, over and over again, so he chose another kind of life. Way of life: join the army.

As a result, his life trajectory has undergone a major change. Liu Yu was seven feet six inches tall, with a unique character and powerful arms. He also had a resolute temperament, bravery and intelligence, and was born to be a soldier. After joining the army, he soon became famous in the army and attracted the attention of the military and political circles.

He joined the world-famous "Beifu Army" in Jingkou, and followed former general Liu Laozhi to conquer Sun En in the winter of the third year of Long'an (AD 399). Sun En's Rebellion was almost a disaster for the small court of the Eastern Jin Dynasty. It is no exaggeration to say that the small court of the Eastern Jin Dynasty did not fall at the hands of Sun En because of the emergence of Liu Yu. To express this sentence in another way, it can also be said as follows: Sun En's rebellion was pacified by Liu Yu.

Liu Yuneng stood out in the army due to an encounter in the third year of Jin Long'an (AD 399). At that time, Liu Yu and dozens of people were on patrol in Wujun (now Suzhou, Jiangsu), and suddenly encountered Sun En's thousands of thieves in a narrow road. Liu Yu didn't know how to write the word "fear" at all. With such a disparity in military strength, he didn't even take the thieves seriously. He shouted wildly, summoned a dozen brothers around him and rushed forward with swords.

If we, thousands of people, are killed and dispersed by a dozen of you, wouldn’t we make the world laugh? The bandit army was angry that Liu Yu looked down on him, so he waved his sword to greet him without any courtesy. As the saying goes, two fists are no match for four. You only have a dozen people, and others have thousands, so why fight? Liu Yu and his group were quickly killed and dispersed, and Liu Yu himself was stabbed to the ground with a gun. But Liu Yushu was not afraid of death. He stood up, wielded a long knife, and slashed wildly, knocking several thieves to the ground in one fell swoop.

As the saying goes, if one man fights hard, ten thousand men cannot stop him. When all the thieves saw that he was covered in blood, had a terrifying face, and looked like he was desperate for his life, they screamed in fright, and no one dared to fight with him, so they turned around and left.

Good guy, Liu Yu was waving his long knife, howling wildly, and actually chased thousands of people and killed them all by himself. Liu Laozhi's son Liu Jingxuan led the light cavalry troops passing by and happened to witness this incredible scene. He was shocked. Liu Yu's reputation for daring to fight quickly spread throughout the army, and he became a minor leader in the army.

After that, Liu Yu led his small team to drive Sun En to the sea first in Shanyin, and then beat Sun En's tens of thousands of people to pieces in Juzhang (now south of Ningbo, Zhejiang). . In that battle, Sun En attacked Juzhang from Kuaiji (today's Shaoxing, Zhejiang). Juzhang was a small city and Liu Yu's soldiers numbered only a few hundred. However, Liu Yu refused to leave. He wore heavy armor and held a sharp knife in his hand. Zhandu rushed to the front line and killed Sun En, finally forcing Sun En to retreat to Beikou (now Zhenhaikou).

In the troubled times, both the Japanese army and Sun En's bandit army had broken military discipline, violently looting and plundering everywhere, and were deeply hated by the people. Only Liu Yu had an army with strict laws and regulations, and was praised by the people.

In March of the fifth year of Jin Long'an (AD 402), Sun En attacked Haiyan from the north. Liu Yu followed and pursued him, and built a city at the old site of Haiyan County to fight Sun En for a protracted battle.

In this small Haiyan City, Liu Yu also played an "empty city strategy", selecting hundreds of people to form a death squad, taking off their armor, hiding in the city, opening the city gates, and attracting the thieves. Enter the city. When the thieves came in, they rushed out, slashed with guns and knives, and killed the thieves until they cried for their fathers and mothers. After many battles with Liu Yu, Sun En became more and more afraid of Liu Yu's ruthless style. In order to avoid Liu Yu's attack, he had to go north to Wu County.

Sun En broke through the Hudu Barrier in May of the fifth year of Long'an (AD 401). He led an army of more than 100,000 people by sea, followed the river mouth westward, and attacked the capital Jiankang (today's Nanjing, Jiangsu Province). In that case, Jin Ting really narrowly escaped having his head shaved. When Sun En arrived at Dantu (today's Zhenjiang Dantu), most of the Jin court's elites followed Liu Laozhi to guard Shanyin, which was hundreds of miles away from the capital. The capital was empty and unable to resist Sun En. Sima Daozi and other princes and nobles were in a panic and could only cry every day.

When Liu Yu learned of the danger of the imperial court, he was really unambiguous. He led his troops to help, marched day and night, and attacked Dan Tu. When they arrived at Dantu, Liu Yu's army only had 2,000 soldiers, all of whom were infantry. They had just gone through a long and urgent march and were exhausted. Sun En's army numbered one hundred thousand, and they came by boat to take some time off. How to fight this battle?

A few days later, Sun En led tens of thousands of troops and beat drums to attack Garlic Mountain. Liu Yu did not frown and led his troops to fight back. Encouraged by Liu Yujun, the residents of Garlic Mountain also picked up poles and joined the battle. . Liu Yujun was both a soldier from Beifu, and he became more and more courageous as he fought. The rebels suffered numerous casualties, and many of them were chased to the edge of the cliff and drowned in the water. Sun En finally relied on Gupai to cross Si before he could return to the ship. He was forced to cancel his plan to attack the capital and attack Yuzhou instead. There is nothing better than running out of food when planning to be poor, and there is nothing more meritorious than rescuing a driver.

After this battle, Liu Yu, a feudal military general and the governor of Xiapi, successfully rose to the top of the Eastern Jin Dynasty military circles. After that, Liu Yu continued his efforts and defeated Sun En in Yuzhou, and drove him to Hudu and Haiyan. He fought and killed him all the way, fighting endlessly and captured tens of thousands of thieves.

As a result, Sun En's rebel army turned from prosperity to decline. In addition to being killed and captured by Liu Yu along the way, countless people died of hunger, disease, and plague. He had no choice but to escape from Jikou (now Zhenhaikou) to Linhai.

In March of the first year of Yuanxing in the Jin Dynasty (402), Sun En wanted to have the courage to come back, but he was unsuccessful when he attacked Linhai County.

In December of the second year of Jin Yuanxing (AD 403), Huan Xuan usurped the throne and proclaimed himself emperor, and Liu Yu entered the court to pay homage to the new emperor. Huan Xuan had heard of Liu Yu for a long time, but this was the first time he met him. Seeing Liu Yu's heroic appearance, he couldn't help but secretly cheer and said to Situ Wang Mi: "Liu Yu has extraordinary bearing. He is really a hero among men!"

In order to win over Liu Yu, Huan Xuan promoted him to be the governor of Xu and Yanzhou, and personally toasted to him after the court meeting.

Huanxuan's empress Liu saw Liu Yu behind the curtain, but she was secretly frightened. She advised Huanxuan: "Liu Yu is walking like a dragon and a tiger is walking like a tiger. His vision is extraordinary. He is not like a human being. I'm afraid he won't be his subordinate in the end. It's better to make plans early!" "

Huan Xuanda disagreed and said: "I am trying to pacify the Central Plains, and only Liu Yu's talents are available. I will wait until Guan and Luo are pacified before making any plans." He turned around and issued an edict: "Liu Yu. Using less to defeat more, Sun En's army was arrogantly defeated, and eight out of ten generals fought hard, and most of them were seriously injured. From the marshal down to the officers, they were rewarded for their merits.