1
淮南厲王長，高帝少子也，其母故趙王張敖美人。 高帝八年，從東垣過趙，趙王獻美人，厲王母也，幸，有身。 趙王不敢內宮，為築外宮捨之。 及貫高等謀反事覺，並逮治王，盡捕王母兄弟美人，系之河內。 厲王母亦系，告吏曰：「日得幸上，有子。」 吏以聞，上方怒趙，未及理厲王母。 厲王母弟趙兼因辟陽侯言呂後，呂後妒，不肯白，辟陽侯不強爭。 厲王母已生厲生，恚，即自殺。 吏奉厲王詣上，上悔，令呂後母之，而葬其母真定。 真定，厲王母家縣也。
Liu Chang, posthumously known as the Prince Li of Huainan, was one of the Gaozu Emperor's younger sons. His mother had been a concubine of Zhang Ao, the king of Zhao. In 199 BCE, while returning from Dongyuan through Zhao, the king of Zhao offered him a woman who became Prince Li's mother. She entered the emperor's favor and conceived. The king of Zhao dared not house her in his inner quarters, so he had a separate residence built outside the palace and kept her there. When Guan Gao's plot to assassinate the emperor came to light, the king of Zhao was arrested along with everyone connected to him—his mother, his brothers, his concubines—and they were all held in custody in Henei. Prince Li's mother was among the prisoners. She told the officials, "The emperor favored me once—I am carrying his child." They passed the word upward, but Gaozu was still furious with Zhao and had no attention to spare for her case. Her brother Zhao Jian appealed through the Marquis of Piyang to Empress Lü, but Lü was jealous and refused to put in a word for her. The marquis did not press the matter. Once she had delivered the child who would later be enfeoffed as Prince Li of Huainan, she killed herself in bitterness and despair. Officials brought the infant to the emperor, who was stricken with remorse. He had Empress Lü raise the child as her own and had the mother buried in Zhending. Zhending was her family's home county.
2
十一年，淮南王布反，上自將擊滅布，即立子長為淮南子。 王早失母，常附呂後，孝惠、呂後時以故得幸無患，然常心怨辟陽侯，不敢發。 及孝文初即位，自以為最親，驕蹇，數不奉法。 上寬赦之。 三年，入朝，甚橫。 從上入苑獵，與上同輦，常謂上「大兄」。 厲王有材力，力扛鼎，乃往請辟陽侯。 辟陽侯出見之，即自袖金椎椎之，命從者刑之。 馳詣闕下，肉袒而謝曰：「臣母不當坐趙時事，辟陽侯力能得之呂後，不爭，罪一也。 趙王如意子母無罪，呂後殺之，辟陽侯不爭，罪二也。 呂後王諸呂，欲以危劉氏，辟陽侯不爭，罪三也。 臣謹為天下誅賊，報母之仇，伏闕下請罪。」 文帝傷其志，為親故不治，赦之。
In 196 BCE, when Ying Bu, king of Huainan, rose in revolt, Gaozu led the army in person, crushed him, and enfeoffed his son Liu Chang as the new king of Huainan. Orphaned young, he had grown up under Empress Lü's wing and was spared during the reigns of Emperor Hui and the Lü empresses, but he never forgave the Marquis of Piyang—only he dared not show it. Once Emperor Wen took the throne, Liu Chang assumed that as the emperor's closest kinsman he could do as he pleased. He grew arrogant, flouted the law again and again, and treated the court with contempt. The emperor repeatedly overlooked his offenses. In the third year of Wen's reign he came to the capital and behaved with shocking arrogance. He rode beside the emperor in the imperial carriage when they hunted in the park and habitually addressed him as "big brother" instead of as his sovereign. Liu Chang was powerfully built—strong enough to lift a bronze cauldron—and he went to call on the Marquis of Piyang. When the marquis came out to greet him, Liu Chang produced a metal hammer from his sleeve, struck him down, and had his attendants finish the killing. He raced to the palace gate, stripped to the waist in token of submission, and said, "My mother should never have been punished for the Zhao affair. The Marquis of Piyang could have persuaded Empress Lü to spare her, but he would not speak up—that is his first offense against me. Prince Ruyi of Zhao and his mother were innocent, yet Empress Lü murdered them while the marquis stood silent—that is his second offense. When Empress Lü made her kinsmen kings and set out to destroy the Liu house, he raised no objection—that is his third offense. I have rid the empire of a traitor and avenged my mother. I throw myself on your mercy beneath the gate." Emperor Wen pitied the passion behind the act and, unwilling to punish his own brother, let him go.
3
當是時，自薄太后及太子諸大臣皆憚厲王，厲王以此歸國益恣，不用漢法，出入警蹕，稱制，自作法令，數上書不遜順。 文帝重自切責之。 時帝舅薄昭為將軍，尊重，上令昭予厲王書諫數之，曰：
From Empress Dowager Bo to the crown prince and the senior ministers, everyone walked in fear of him. Emboldened, he returned to Huainan more lawless than ever: he ignored Han statutes, cleared the roads as an emperor would, issued edicts in his own name, drafted his own laws, and sent memorial after memorial in a tone that brooked no obedience. The emperor admonished him sternly, again and again. The emperor turned to his uncle Bo Zhao, a respected general, and had him draft a letter of rebuke listing Liu Chang's transgressions. It read:
4
竊聞大王剛直而勇，慈惠而厚，貞信多斷，是天以聖人之資奉大王也甚盛，不可不察。 今大王所行，不稱天資。 皇帝初即位，易侯邑在淮南者，大王不肯。 皇帝卒易之，使大王得三縣之實，甚厚。 大王以未嘗與皇帝相見，求入朝見，未畢昆弟之歡，而殺列侯以自為名。 皇帝不使吏與其間，赦大王，甚厚。 漢法，二千石缺，輒言漢補，大王逐漢所置，而請自置相、二千石。 皇帝骫天下正法而許大王，甚厚。 大王欲屬國為布衣，守塚真定。 皇帝不許，使大王毋失南面之尊，甚厚。 大王宜日夜奉法度，修貢職，以稱皇帝之厚德，今乃輕言恣行，以負謗於天下，甚非計也。
I have heard that Your Highness combines courage with integrity, generosity with kindness, and sound judgment with steadfast honor—gifts Heaven has lavished on you as on a sage. You owe it to yourself to reflect on that. What you have been doing of late is unworthy of those gifts. When the emperor first came to the throne, he proposed moving certain marquises' fiefs out of Huainan, and you refused. In the end he went through with the transfer and let you keep the revenue of three counties instead—a remarkably generous settlement. You asked leave to visit the capital because you had never met your imperial brother face to face, yet before you could enjoy a true reunion you murdered a marquis of the first rank to win notoriety. The emperor declined to set the law on you and granted a full pardon—again, extraordinary indulgence. Statute requires that vacancies among the two-thousand-dan officials be filled from the center; you expelled the men the court had posted and demanded the right to name your own chancellor and senior officers. The emperor strained the law of the empire to grant even that—a depth of favor you can hardly repay. You asked to surrender your kingdom, live as a commoner, and tend your mother's grave in Zhending. He would not hear of it and insisted that you keep the dignity of a ruling prince—yet another mark of his kindness. You should be observing the statutes and sending tribute without fail, day and night, to show gratitude for such patience. Instead you speak rashly and act as you please, inviting the censure of the whole realm. That is no way to secure your position.
5
夫大王以千里為宅居，以萬民為臣妾，此高皇帝之厚德也。 高帝蒙霜露，沫風雨，赴矢石，野戰攻城，身被創痍，以為子孫成萬世之業，艱難危苦甚矣，大王不思先帝之艱苦，日夜怵惕，修身正行，養犧牲，豐潔粢盛，奉祭祀，以無忘先帝之功德，而欲屬國為布衣，甚過。 且夫貪讓國土之名，輕廢先帝之業，不可以言孝。 父為之基，而不能守，不賢。 不求守長陵，而求之真定，先母后父，不誼。 數逆天子之令，不順。 言節行以高兄，無禮。 幸臣有罪，大者立斷，小者肉刑，不仁。 貴布衣一劍之任，賤王侯之位，不知。 不好學問大道，觸情忘行，不祥。 此八者，危亡之路也，而大王行之，棄南面之位，奮諸、賁之勇，常出入危亡之路，臣之所見，高皇帝之神必不廟食於大王之手，明白。
You hold a thousand li as your demesne and count tens of thousands as your subjects—that is the legacy the Gaozu Emperor bequeathed you out of deep kindness. The Gaozu Emperor braved wind and weather, faced arrows and siege engines, and bore scars on his body to win an empire that would endure for your line. The cost was beyond measure. You ought to tremble day and night, mend your conduct, fatten the sacrificial beasts, prepare spotless offerings, and keep his shrines bright in memory of what he did. To throw away your throne for a commoner's life is to betray that sacrifice in the gravest way. To covet the reputation of humility while casting aside what your father built is not filial piety by any measure. Your father laid the foundation; you cannot hold it—that is not the conduct of a worthy man. You would not stay to guard your father's tomb at Changling but insist on Zhending for your mother's sake—putting mother before father is contrary to right principle. Time and again you have defied the emperor's orders—that is disobedience. You parade your moral outrage to shame your elder brother—that is rank discourtesy. When a favorite commits a crime, you execute him on the spot if the offense is grave or mutilate him if it is slight—such cruelty is the opposite of benevolence. You prize the bravado of a swordsman in plain cloth and scorn the station of a prince—that is folly, not wisdom. You spurn learning and the great principles, follow every impulse, and forget how a ruler should act—such conduct invites misfortune. These eight faults are the path to ruin, yet you pursue them: you abandon your throne to play the hero like Zhu Hai or Meng Ben, and you tread the brink of disaster at every turn. In my view the spirit of the Gaozu Emperor will never accept sacrifice from your house if you continue on this course—that much is plain.
6
昔者，周公誅管叔，放蔡叔，以安周； 齊桓殺其弟，以反國； 秦始皇殺兩弟，遷其母，以安秦； 頃王亡代，高帝奪之國，以便事； 濟北舉兵，皇帝誅之，以安漢。 故周、齊行之於古，秦、漢用之於今，大王不察古今之所以安國便事，而欲以親戚之意望於太上，不可得也。 亡之諸侯，游宦事人，及捨匿者，論皆有法。 其在王所，吏主者坐。 今諸侯子為吏者，御史主； 為軍吏者，中尉主； 客出入殿門者，衛尉大行主； 諸從蠻夷來歸誼及以亡名數自佔者，內史縣令主。 相欲委下吏，無與其禍，不可得也。 王若不改，漢系大王邸，論相以下，為之奈何？ 夫墮父大業，退為布衣所哀，幸臣皆伏法而誅，為天下笑，以羞先帝之德，甚為大王不取也。
In antiquity the Duke of Zhou executed his brother Guan Shu and banished Cai Shu to secure the Zhou house; Duke Huan of Qi put his brother to death in order to regain his throne; The First Emperor killed two rebellious brothers and removed his mother from court to stabilize Qin; When the king of Dai lost his realm, Gaozu annexed it for the good of the realm; When the king of Jinbei rose in arms, the emperor struck him down to restore peace to Han. Zhou and Qi did as much in the old days; Qin and Han do the same today. You ignore how rulers past and present secure their states, yet imagine that blood ties alone will move the sovereign to spare you—that is a vain hope. Deserted nobles, wandering retainers in others' service, and anyone who harbors them are all covered by explicit law. When such men turn up on a prince's lands, the officials in charge bear the penalty. Sons of nobles who take office as clerks answer to the imperial clerk; those who serve as military officers answer to the commandant of the capital; guests who pass the palace gates fall under the commandant of the guards and the grand messenger; tribesmen who come to offer allegiance and fugitives who surrender themselves are registered by the metropolitan governor and county magistrates. Your chancellor cannot shift the blame downward and hope to escape the consequences himself. If you do not mend your ways, the court will seal your residence in the capital and prosecute every official from your chancellor on down. What then? To squander your father's achievement, sink until commoners pity you, watch your favorites led off to execution, and become a laughingstock before the empire would disgrace the memory of Gaozu. Surely that is a course you cannot intend.
7
宜急改操易行，上書謝罪，曰：「臣不幸早失先帝，少孤，呂氏之世，未嘗忘死。 陛下即位，臣怙恩德驕盈，行多不軌。 追念罪過，恐懼，伏地待誅不敢起。」 皇帝聞之必喜。 大王昆弟歡欣於上，群臣皆得延壽於上； 上下得宜，海內常安。 願孰計而疾行之。 行之有疑，禍如發矢，不可追已。
You should change course at once and memorialize the throne in words such as these: "I was orphaned while still a boy and lived every day of the Lü regime expecting execution. Since Your Majesty took the throne I have presumed on your kindness, grown arrogant, and repeatedly overstepped what the law allows. Reflecting on crimes and faults, fearful, prostrate on the ground awaiting execution, not daring to rise." Such words would please the emperor. You and your brother would be reconciled in the Son of Heaven's sight, and every minister could look to a long career at court; high and low would be at ease, and the realm would know lasting calm. Weigh this carefully and act on it without delay. Hesitate, and disaster will fly like a loosed arrow—nothing can call it back.
8
王得書不說。 六年，令男子但等七十人與棘蒲侯柴武太子奇謀，以輦車四十乘反谷口，令人使閩越、匈奴。 事覺，治之，乃使使召淮南王。
The king read the letter and took no pleasure in it. In the sixth year of Wen's reign he had seventy men under a certain Dan join Qi, son of Marquis Chai Wu of Jipu, in a plot to seize Gukou with forty wagonloads of followers and to send envoys to Minyue and the Xiongnu. When the plot came to light and the principals were arrested, the court sent messengers to summon the king of Huainan to the capital.
9
王至長安，丞相張蒼，典客馮敬行御史大夫事，與宗正、廷尉雜奏：「長廢先帝法，不聽天子詔，居處無度，為黃屋蓋擬天子，擅為法令，不用法令。 及所置吏，以其郎中春為丞相，收聚漢諸侯人及有罪亡者，匿為居，為治家室，賜與財物、爵祿、田宅，爵或至關內侯，奉以二千石所當得。 大夫但、士伍開章等七十人與棘蒲侯太子奇謀反，欲以危宗廟社稷，謀使閩越及匈奴發其兵。 事覺，長安尉奇等往捕開章，長匿不予，與故中尉□忌謀，殺以閉口，為棺槨衣衾，葬之肥陵，謾吏曰『不知安在』。 又陽聚土，樹表其上曰『開章死，葬此下』。 及長身自賊殺無罪者一人； 令吏論殺無罪者六人； 為亡命棄市詐捕命者以除罪； 擅罪人，無告劾繫治城旦以上十四人； 赦免罪人死罪十八人，城旦春以下五十八人； 賜人爵關內侯以下九十四人。 前日長病，陛下心憂之，使使者賜棗脯，長不肯見拜使者。 南海民處廬江界中者反，淮南吏卒擊之。 陛下遣使者繼帛五千匹，以賜吏卒勞苦者。 長不欲受賜，謾曰『無勞苦者』。 南海王織上書獻璧帛皇帝，忌擅燔其書，不以聞。 吏請召治忌，長不遣，謾曰『忌病』。 長所犯不軌，當棄市，臣請論如法」。
When Liu Chang reached Chang'an, Chancellor Zhang Cang, Feng Jing of the office for guests (acting as imperial counselor), the director of the imperial clan, and the commandant of justice filed a joint indictment: "Liu Chang has spurned the laws left by the late emperor, defied imperial edicts, and lived without restraint. He has used the yellow imperial canopy, issued laws on his own authority, and set aside the statutes of Han. Among his appointees he made his retainer Chun chancellor, harbored runaways and criminals from other nobles' households, hid them in his domain, built them houses, and showered them with wealth, titles, fields, and stipends—some to the rank of marquis within the passes, all on the scale reserved for two-thousand-dan officials of the court. Grandee Dan, the discharged soldier Kaizhang, and some seventy confederates conspired with Qi, heir of Marquis Chai Wu of Jipu, to subvert the altars of state and to rouse Minyue and the Xiongnu to arms. When the plot was uncovered, the Chang'an commandant Qi went to seize Kaizhang, but the king hid him and refused to surrender him. He then plotted with his former commandant [name missing] Ji to murder Kaizhang and silence him, gave him a full burial at Feiling, and told the officials he had no idea where the man had gone. He then piled up a mound of earth and set a post on top falsely declaring, "Kaizhang is dead and lies buried beneath this spot." He personally murdered one innocent man with his own hands. He ordered his officials to condemn and execute six more innocents. For men facing execution as fugitives, he staged sham roundups of other wanted men so their capital crimes could be wiped away. Without indictment he jailed fourteen men and sentenced them to hard labor or worse. He pardoned eighteen men condemned to death and fifty-eight serving lesser hard-labor sentences. He ennobled ninety-four followers with ranks as high as marquis within the passes. When he fell ill not long ago Your Majesty sent him dates and dried meat by messenger, yet he refused to receive the envoys or acknowledge the gift. When Nanhai tribesmen living along the Lujiang frontier rose in revolt, he sent Huainan troops against them. Your Majesty then sent five thousand bolts of silk to reward the officers and men who had borne the brunt of the fighting. Liu Chang would not accept the bounty and lied that no one deserved a reward for hardship. When the king of Nanhai, Zhi, memorialized the throne offering jade and silk, a man named Ji seized the document and burned it without informing the court. When officials asked to arrest Ji for questioning, the king refused to hand him over and claimed he was too ill to travel. The offenses Liu Chang has committed lie outside the bounds of the law; he deserves execution in the public market. We ask that he be sentenced accordingly."
10
制曰：「朕不忍置法於王，其與列侯、吏二千石議。」 列侯、吏二千石臣嬰等四十三人議，皆曰：「宜論如法。」 制曰：「其赦長死罪，廢勿王。」 有司奏：「請處蜀嚴道邛郵，遣其子、子母從居，縣為築蓋家室，皆日三食，給薪菜鹽炊食器席蓐。」 制曰：食長，給肉日五斤，酒二斗。 令故美人、材人得幸者十人從居。 於是盡誅所與謀者。 乃遣長，載以輜車，令縣次傳。
The emperor replied, "I cannot bring myself to judge my brother by the full rigor of the law. Let the marquises and senior officials deliberate." Forty-three marquises and two-thousand-dan officials, led by Zhou Ying, deliberated and all said, "He should be sentenced according to law." The emperor decreed, "Spare Liu Chang execution, but strip him of his kingdom and his title." The responsible officials memorialized: "We request to place him at the Qiongyi post in Yandao, Shu, send his sons and the mothers of his sons to follow and dwell with him, have the county build houses and roofs for them, all three meals per day, and supply firewood, vegetables, salt, cooking gear, mats, and bedding." The edict added, "See that he is fed generously—five jin of meat and two dou of wine each day." Order ten former beauties and talented women who had received favor to follow residence. Every man implicated in the conspiracy was then put to death. Liu Chang was placed in a sealed prison wagon and sent west under escort, relayed from county to county along the route.
11
爰盎諫曰：「上素驕淮南王，不為置嚴相傅，以故至此。 且淮南王為人剛，今暴摧折之，臣恐其逢霧露病死，陛下有殺弟之名，奈何！」 上曰：「吾特苦之耳，令復之。」 淮南王謂侍者曰：「誰謂乃公勇者？ 吾以驕不聞過，故至此。」 乃不食而死。 縣傳者不敢發車封。 至雍，雍令發之，以死聞。 上悲哭，謂爰盎曰：「吾不從公言，卒亡淮南王。」 盎曰：「淮南王不可奈何，願陛下自寬。」 上曰：「為之奈何？」 曰：「獨斬丞相、御史以謝天下乃可。」 上即令丞相、御史逮諸縣傳淮南王不發封饋侍者，皆棄市，乃以列侯葬淮南王於雍，置守塚三十家。
Yuan Ang urged him: "You have always spoiled the king of Huainan and never gave him a stern chancellor or tutor. That is how things have come to this pass. Moreover he is a proud, unbending man. If you break him by force, I fear he will sicken and die on the road, and you will bear the stain of having murdered your own brother. What then?" The emperor said, "I only meant to humble him a little. Send orders to ease his treatment." In the cart Liu Chang said to his attendants, "Who ever called me a brave man? I grew arrogant and would hear no criticism of myself—that is how I have come to this." He refused all food and starved himself to death. At each relay station along the route the escorts dared not break the seals on his wagon. When the procession reached Yong, the local magistrate opened the wagon and reported that the prisoner was dead. The emperor wept and said to Yuan Ang, "I did not heed your warning, and now my brother of Huainan is gone." Ang replied, "Nothing can bring him back now, Your Majesty. You must forgive yourself." The emperor asked, "What am I to do?" Ang answered, "Only if you execute the chancellor and the imperial counselor and offer their heads to the empire can you appease the people." He ordered the arrest of every county officer who had relayed the king without breaking the wagon seals and of everyone who had slipped food to his attendants; all were executed in the marketplace. Liu Chang was then buried at Yong with the honors due a full marquis, and thirty families were assigned to tend his grave.
12
孝文八年，憐淮南王，王有子四人，年皆七八歲，乃封子安為阜陵侯，子勃為安陽侯，子賜為陽周侯，子良為東城侯。
In 172 BCE, moved by pity for the late king of Huainan, the emperor enfeoffed his four young sons—each seven or eight years old—as marquises: Liu An at Fuling, Liu Bo at Anyang, Liu Ci at Yangzhou, and Liu Liang at Dongcheng.
13
十二年，民有作歌歌淮南王曰：「一尺布，尚可縫； 一斗粟，尚可春。 兄弟二人，不相容！」 上聞之曰，昔堯、舜放逐骨肉，周公殺管、蔡，天下稱聖，不以私害公。 天下豈以為我貪淮南地邪！ 乃徙城陽王王淮南故地，而追尊謚淮南王為厲王，置園如諸侯儀。
In 168 BCE a ballad circulated about the king of Huainan: "A foot of cloth can still be stitched together; a peck of grain can still be ground in the mortar; yet two brothers under one roof cannot live in peace!" When the emperor heard the song he observed that Yao and Shun had banished their kin, and the Duke of Zhou had executed Guan and Cai, yet the world hailed them as sages because they put the common good above private feeling. Would all under Heaven think I covet the land of Huainan! He therefore transferred the king of Chengyang to the old Huainan domain, posthumously titled his late brother the Prince Li of Huainan, and laid out a memorial park for him with the ceremonies due a feudal lord.
14
十六年，上憐淮南王廢法不軌，自使失國早夭，乃徙淮南王喜復王故城陽，而立厲王三子王淮南故地，三分之：阜陵侯安為淮南王，安陽侯勃為衡山王，陽周侯賜為廬江王，東城侯良前薨，無後。
In 164 BCE the emperor grieved that his brother had lost his life through lawlessness and an early fall from power. He moved Liu Xi, the current king of Huainan, back to Chengyang and divided the old Huainan lands among Prince Li's three surviving sons: Liu An became king of Huainan, Liu Bo king of Hengshan, and Liu Ci king of Lujiang. The fourth son, Marquis Liu Liang of Dongcheng, had already died without issue.
15
淮南王安為人好書，鼓琴，不喜戈獵狗馬馳騁，亦欲以行陰德拊循百姓，流名譽。 招致賓客方術之士數千人，作為《內書》二十一篇，《外書》甚眾，又有《中篇》八卷，言神仙黃白之術，亦二十餘萬言。 時武帝方好藝文，以安屬為諸父，辯博善為文辭，甚尊重之。 每為報書及賜，常召司馬相如等視草乃遣。 初，安入朝，獻所作《內篇》，新出，上愛秘之。 使為《離騷傳》，旦受詔，日食時上。 又獻《頌德》及《長安都國頌》。 每宴見，談說得失及方技賦頌，昏莫然後罷。
Liu An, king of Huainan, loved learning and the zither, cared little for hunting or racing horses and hounds, and hoped to win the people's hearts by quiet acts of kindness and so build a name for benevolence. He gathered several thousand retainers and adepts of esoteric arts, produced twenty-one chapters of the Inner Writings and a vast body of Outer Writings, plus eight scrolls of the Middle Treatise on immortals and the alchemy of gold—all told, well over two hundred thousand characters. Emperor Wu was cultivating literature and the arts; Liu An, as an uncle on his father's side, was learned, eloquent, and a fine writer, and the emperor treated him with marked respect. Whenever he drafted replies to the throne or imperial gifts, the emperor would often call in Sima Xiangru and others to polish the text before it was sent. On Liu An's first visit to court he presented his newly finished Inner Chapters; the emperor prized them and had them locked away in the palace library. He commissioned a commentary on the Li sao; Liu An received the order at dawn and presented the finished work by breakfast. He also offered his Hymn in Praise of Virtue and his Ode to Chang'an and the Commanderies and Kingdoms. At each informal audience they would debate policy, literature, and occult lore until dusk before breaking off.
16
安初入朝，雅善太尉武安侯，武安侯迎之霸上，與語曰：「方今上無太子，王親高皇帝孫，行仁義，天下莫不聞。 宮車一日晏駕，非王尚誰立者！」 淮南王大喜，厚遺武安侯寶賂。 其群臣賓客，江淮間多輕薄，以厲王遷死感激安。 建元六年，彗星見，淮南王心怪之。 或說王曰：「先吳軍時，彗星出，長數尺，然尚流血千里。 今彗星竟天，天下兵當大起。」 王心以為上無太子，天下有變，諸侯並爭，愈益治攻戰具，積金錢賂遺郡國。 游士妄作妖言阿諛王，王喜，多賜予之。
On Liu An's first visit to the capital he struck up a friendship with Tian Fen, the Marquis of Wu'an, who met him at Bashang and said, "The emperor has no heir. You are a grandson of the Gaozu Emperor in the direct line, and your reputation for benevolence is known everywhere. When the imperial carriage one day makes its final journey, who else should succeed but you?" Liu An was overjoyed and showered the Marquis of Wu'an with rich gifts. Many of his retainers between the Yangzi and the Huai were reckless men who still burned with indignation over Prince Li's death on the road to exile and fed Liu An's ambitions. In 135 BCE a comet appeared, and the king of Huainan took it for an omen. A retainer told him, "Before the revolt of Wu, the comet was only a few feet long, yet still the fighting bloodied the empire for a thousand li. This one stretches across the whole sky—great war must be coming." Convinced that the lack of an heir would throw the realm into turmoil among the princes, he stepped up the manufacture of weapons, hoarded gold, and sent bribes to officials in commanderies and kingdoms across the empire. Itinerant scholars fed him wild prophecies and flattery; pleased, he rewarded them handsomely.
17
王有女陵，彗有口。 王愛陵，多予金錢，為中□長安，約結上左右。 元朔二年，上賜淮南王几杖，不朝。 後荼愛幸，生子遷為太子，取皇太后外孫修成君女為太子妃。 王謀為反具，畏太子妃知而內洩事，乃與太子謀，令詐不愛，三月不同席。 王陽怒太子，閉使與妃同內，終不近妃。 妃求去，王乃上書謝歸之。 後荼、太子遷及女陵擅國權，奪民田宅，妄致系人。
The king had a daughter named Ling who was clever and sharp-tongued. He doted on her, supplied her generously with cash, and stationed her in Chang'an to buy friends at court. In 127 BCE the emperor granted him a stool and staff of age, exempting him from the duty of attending court. His favored consort Tu bore a son, Liu Qian, whom he made crown prince. The prince took as his consort the daughter of Lady Xiucheng, a granddaughter of the empress dowager on the maternal side. Because he was preparing rebellion and feared the crown princess might learn of it and report to the palace, he plotted with the crown prince to feign estrangement: for three months the prince would not share his wife's bed. The king pretended to punish the prince by confining him with his wife, yet the prince never touched her. When she begged leave to return home, the king memorialized the throne with an apology and sent her back to the capital. Queen Tu, Crown Prince Qian, and Princess Ling abused their power at court, seized commoners' land and houses, and threw innocent men into prison on whim.
18
太子學用劍，自以為人莫及，聞郎中雷被巧，召與戲，被壹再辭讓，誤中太子。 太子怒，被恐。 此時有欲從軍者輒詣長安，被即願奮擊匈奴。 太子數惡被，王使郎中令斥免，欲以禁後。 元朔五年，被遂亡之長安，上書自明。 事下廷尉、河南。 河南治，逮淮南太子，王、王后計欲毋遣太子，遂發兵。 計未定，猶與十餘日。 會有詔即訊太子。 淮南相怒壽春丞留太子逮不遣，劾不敬。 王請相，相不聽。 王使人上書告相，事下廷尉治。 從跡連王，王使人候司。 漢公卿請逮捕治王，王恐，欲發兵。 太子遷謀曰：「漢使即逮王，令人衣衛士衣，持戟居王旁，有非是者，即刺殺之，臣亦使人刺殺淮南中尉，乃舉兵，未晚也。」 是時上不許公卿，而遣漢中尉宏即訊驗王。 王視漢中尉顏色和，問斥雷被事耳，自度無何，不發。 中尉還，以聞。 公卿治者曰：「淮南王安雍閼求奮擊匈奴者雷被等，格明詔，當棄市。」 詔不許。 請廢勿王，上不許。 請削五縣，可二縣。 使中尉宏赦其罪，罰以削地。 中尉入淮南界，宣言赦王。 王初聞公卿請誅之，未知得削地，聞漢使來，恐其捕之，乃與太子謀如前計。 中尉至，即賀王，王以故不發。 其後自傷曰：「吉行仁義見削地，寡人甚恥之。」 為反謀益甚。 諸使者道長安來，為妄言，言上無男，即喜：言漢廷治，有男，即怒，以為妄言，非也。
The crown prince had studied fencing and believed no one his equal. Hearing that the gentleman Lei Bei was a master of the blade, he summoned him to bout. Lei Bei declined again and again, but in the exchange he accidentally cut the prince. The prince flew into a rage, and Lei Bei was terrified. A general call had gone out for volunteers to report to Chang'an for service against the Xiongnu, and Lei Bei volunteered at once. The prince slandered Lei Bei repeatedly until the king had the supervisor of gentlemen dismiss him from office, hoping to deter him from leaving. In 124 BCE Lei Bei fled to Chang'an and memorialized the throne in his own defense. The case was referred to the commandant of justice and the Henan governor. When Henan ordered the crown prince brought in for questioning, the king and queen plotted to refuse and considered raising troops at once. They wavered for more than ten days without reaching a decision. Then an edict arrived ordering the crown prince to be examined on the spot. The chancellor of Huainan, furious that the assistant magistrate of Shouchun was holding the prince despite the writ of arrest, impeached him for disrespect. The king appealed to the chancellor, who refused to yield. The king retaliated with a memorial accusing the chancellor, and the matter went to the commandant of justice. The investigation soon pointed toward the king himself, who posted spies to watch for the next move from the capital. When the high ministers of Han demanded his arrest, panic seized him and he again thought of rising in arms. Crown Prince Qian proposed, "If Han envoys come to arrest you, Father, dress our men as palace guards and station them at your side with halberds. At the first wrong move, kill them. I will have our commandant of Huainan assassinated at the same moment, then we can rise—it will not be too late." The emperor rejected the ministers' demand for arrest and instead sent the commandant of the capital, Hong, to question the king on the spot. Liu An saw that the commandant's manner was mild and that he asked only about the Lei Bei affair; reassured that nothing worse was afoot, he dropped the plan to revolt. Hong returned to the capital and made his report. The ministers ruled, "King Liu An of Huainan obstructed volunteers such as Lei Bei who wished to fight the Xiongnu, defying an explicit imperial order—he ought to be executed in the market." The emperor refused approval. They asked that he be deposed entirely; again the emperor refused. They proposed stripping him of five counties; he allowed two to be taken. He sent Commandant Hong to announce a pardon and commute the sentence to loss of territory. Hong crossed into Huainan and publicly proclaimed the king's pardon. When Liu An first heard the ministers demand his death, before he learned that the sentence would be reduced to loss of fiefs, the approach of Han envoys convinced him he was to be arrested, and he revived the plot with his son. When Hong arrived he congratulated the king on his reprieve, and Liu An therefore did not rebel. Afterward he brooded, "I have walked the path of benevolence, yet I am punished with loss of land—this is a humiliation I cannot bear." His rebellious designs grew more desperate than ever. He coached envoys from the capital to bring him rumors: if they said the emperor had no son, he rejoiced; if they reported an orderly court and the birth of an heir, he flew into a rage and dismissed their words as lies.
19
日夜與左吳等按輿地圖，部署兵所從入。 王曰：「上無太子，宮車即晏駕，大臣必征膠東王，不即常山王，諸侯並爭，吾可以無備乎！ 且吾高帝孫，親行仁義，陛下遇我厚，吾能忍之； 萬世之後，吾寧能北面事豎子乎！」
Day and night he pored over maps with Zuo Wu and others, marking the routes by which his army would march. He declared, "The emperor has no heir. When the imperial carriage makes its final journey, the ministers will surely summon the king of Jiaodong or failing him the king of Changshan. The princes will tear one another apart—can I afford to be unprepared? I am a grandson of the Gaozu Emperor and have walked the path of benevolence. The Son of Heaven has treated me generously—so far I have borne it; after ten thousand generations, how could I face north and serve a stripling!"
20
王有孽子不害，最長，王不愛，後、太子皆不以為子兄數。 不害子建，材高有氣，常怨望太子不省其父。 時，諸侯皆得分子弟為侯，淮南王有兩子，一子為太子，而建父不得為侯。 陰結交，欲害太子，以其父代之。 太子知之，數捕系笞建。 建具知太子之欲謀殺漢中尉，即使所善壽春嚴正上書天子曰：「毒藥苦口利病，忠言逆耳利行。 今淮南王孫建材能高，淮南王后荼、荼子遷常疾害建。 建父不害無罪，擅數系，欲殺之。 今建在，可征問，具知淮南王陰事。」 書既聞，上以其事下廷尉、河南治。 是歲元朔六年也。 故辟陽侯孫審卿善丞相公孫弘，怨淮南厲王殺其大父，陰求淮南事而□之於弘。 弘乃疑淮南有畔逆計，深探其獄。 河南治建，辭引太子及黨與。
The king had an illegitimate eldest son named Liu Buhei, whom he did not favor; neither the queen nor the crown prince acknowledged him as brother or son in the proper order. Buhei's son Jian was proud and able; he bitterly resented the crown prince for slighting his father. Princes were then allowed to enfeoff younger sons as marquises, but though the king of Huainan had two grown sons—one the crown prince—Jian's father had received no such title. Jian formed a secret faction, hoping to destroy the crown prince and put his own father in his place. When the crown prince learned of it, he had Jian seized time and again and beaten with the bamboo. Jian knew the crown prince had plotted to murder the Han commandant. He had his friend Yan Zheng of Shouchun memorialize the throne: "Bitter medicine heals sickness; unwelcome counsel saves the state. The king of Huainan's grandson Jian is a man of outstanding ability, yet Queen Tu and her son Qian persecute him relentlessly. Jian's father Buhei is innocent, yet they have jailed him again and again and mean to put him to death. Jian is still at hand and can be examined under oath—he knows every secret of the king of Huainan's plotting." When the memorial reached him, the emperor referred the matter to the commandant of justice and the Henan authorities. This was the sixth year of Yuanshuo (123 BCE). Shen Qing, grandson of the Marquis of Piyang, was friendly with Chancellor Gongsun Hong. He nursed a grudge because Prince Li of Huainan had murdered his grandfather, and he quietly gathered evidence of Liu An's plotting to pass to Hong. Hong began to suspect a rebellion in Huainan and pushed the investigation to the bottom. Under interrogation in Henan, Jian's confession implicated the crown prince and his confederates.
21
初，王數以舉兵謀問伍被，被常諫之，以吳、楚七國為效。 王引陳勝、吳廣，被復言形勢不同，必敗亡。 及建見治，王恐國陰事洩，欲發，復問被，被為言發兵權變。 語在《被傳》。 於是王銳欲發，乃令官奴入宮中，作皇帝璽，丞相、御史大夫、將軍、吏中二千石、都官令、丞印，及旁近郡太守、都尉印，漢使節法冠。 欲如伍被計，使人為得罪而西，事大將軍、丞相； 一日發兵，即刺大將軍衛青，而說丞相弘下之，如發蒙耳。 欲發國中兵，恐相、二千石不聽，王乃與伍被謀，為失火宮中，相、二千石救火，因殺之。 又欲令人衣求盜衣，持羽檄從南方來，呼言曰「南越兵入」，欲因以發兵。 乃使人之廬江、會稽為求盜，未決。
At first Liu An often consulted Wu Bei about rebellion, but Wu Bei always dissuaded him, citing the fate of the seven kingdoms of Wu and Chu. The king countered with Chen Sheng and Wu Guang; Wu Bei replied that the times were not the same and such a rising would end in ruin. When Jian fell under investigation, Liu An feared exposure and again asked Wu Bei about revolt; this time Wu Bei outlined stratagems for raising troops. The details are recorded in Wu Bei's biography. Burning to act, he sent slaves into the palace to forge the imperial seal, seals for chancellor, imperial counselor, generals, mid-ranking officials, capital bureau directors and assistants, seals of neighboring governors and commandants, and Han credentials and court caps. Following Wu Bei's scheme, he planned to send agents westward under pretense of disgrace to attach themselves to the grand general and the chancellor; On the day of the uprising they would assassinate Grand General Wei Qing and win Chancellor Hong to their side—as easy as lifting a blindfold. He wished to mobilize the kingdom but feared his chancellor and senior officials would refuse. With Wu Bei he plotted to set a fire in the palace and cut down the chancellor and two-thousand-dan men when they rushed in to fight it. He also wished to order men to wear constable-seeking robes, hold feathered urgent summons coming from the south, crying out saying "Nanyue troops have entered," wishing thereby to raise troops. He had already sent agents to Lujiang and Kuaiji to play the part of constables when the plan was still undecided.
22
廷尉以建辭連太子遷聞，上遣廷尉監與淮南中尉逮捕太子。 至，淮南王聞，與太子謀召相、二千石，欲殺而發兵。 召相，相至； 內史以出為解。 中尉曰：「臣受詔使，不得見王。」 王念獨殺相而內史、中尉不來，無益也，即罷相。 計猶與未決。 太子念所坐者謀殺漢中尉，所與謀殺者已死，以為口絕，及謂王曰：「群臣可用者皆前系，今無足與舉事者。 王以非時發，恐無功，臣願會逮。」 王亦愈欲休，即許太子。 太子自刑，不殊。 伍被自詣吏，具告與淮南王謀反。 吏因捕太子、王后，圍王宮，盡捕王賓客在國中者，索得反具以聞。 上下公卿治，所連引與淮南王謀反列侯、二千石、豪桀數千人，皆以罪輕重受誅。
When the commandant of justice reported that Jian's confession implicated Crown Prince Qian, the emperor sent his inspector and the Huainan commandant to arrest the prince. When word reached Liu An, he and the crown prince plotted to summon the chancellor and senior officials to court and murder them before raising the standard of revolt. The chancellor answered the summons and came; the metropolitan governor excused himself on the ground that he was out on business. The commandant replied, "I am under imperial orders and may not enter audience with Your Highness." Liu An saw that killing the chancellor alone, while the metropolitan governor and commandant stayed away, would gain nothing, and he let the chancellor go. He still wavered and could not decide. The crown prince reflected that his only proven crime was plotting to murder the Han commandant and that his accomplices in that plot were already dead, so witnesses were silenced. He told his father, "Every minister we might have relied on is already in custody; there is no one left to strike with. If you rise out of season, Father, I fear we shall accomplish nothing. Let me go and answer the summons myself." The king himself was losing heart and consented. The crown prince attempted suicide but failed to finish the deed. Wu Bei surrendered to the authorities and confessed the whole conspiracy with Liu An. Officers then arrested the crown prince and queen, sealed the palace, rounded up every retainer of the king still in the kingdom, and turned up the forged seals and arms of rebellion. The case went to the high ministers. Several thousand marquises, two-thousand-dan officials, and local strongmen implicated in the plot were executed according to the gravity of their offenses.
23
衡山王賜，淮南王弟，當坐收。 有司請逮捕衡山王，上曰：「諸侯各以其國為本，不當相坐。 與諸侯王列侯議。」 趙王彭祖、列侯讓等四十三人皆曰：「淮南王安大逆無道，謀反明白，當伏誅。」 膠西王端議曰：「安廢法度，行邪辟，有詐偽心，以亂天下，營惑百姓，背畔宗廟，妄作妖言。 《春秋》曰『臣毋將，將而誅』。 安罪重於將，謀反形已定。 臣端所見其書印圖及它逆亡道事驗明白，當伏法。 論國吏二百石以上及比者，宗室近幸臣不在法中者，不能相教，皆當免，削爵為士伍，毋得官為吏。 其非吏，它贖死金二斤八兩，以章安之罪，使天下明知臣子之道，毋敢復有邪僻背畔之意。」 丞相弘、廷尉湯等以聞，上使宗正以符節治王。 未至，安自刑殺。 後、太子諸所與謀皆收夷。 國除為九江郡。
Liu Ci, king of Hengshan and the king of Huainan's brother, was liable to arrest as an accessory. When the ministry asked to arrest the king of Hengshan, the emperor replied, "Each prince stands or falls by his own domain; they must not be punished for one another's crimes. Lay the matter before the kings and marquises." Forty-three princes and marquises, including Liu Pengzu of Zhao and Marquis Rang, all said, "King Liu An of Huainan has committed the supreme crime and is without the Way; his plot to rebel is clear—he ought to suffer execution." Liu Duan of Jiaoxi argued: "Liu An has trampled the law, followed crooked ways, and harbored deceit to throw the realm into chaos. He has misled the people, betrayed his ancestors, and spread seditious talk. The Spring and Autumn Annals say, 'No minister may take command of troops against his lord; if he does, he dies. Liu An's offense is graver than mere mutiny; the shape of his rebellion is already plain. The documents, seals, and maps I have seen, together with his other lawless acts, prove the case beyond doubt. He must answer to the law. Every official of the kingdom from two hundred dan upward, together with imperial kinsmen and favored attendants who, though not themselves indictable under the statutes, failed to restrain him, should be dismissed, stripped of rank to commoner status, and barred forever from office. Those who were not officials may commute the death penalty with two jin eight liang of gold. Thus Liu An's guilt will be plain to the empire and every subject will know the duty owed a sovereign—none will dare harbor treason again." When Chancellor Gongsun Hong and Commandant Zhang Tang reported the verdict, the emperor sent the director of the imperial clan with full credentials to pass sentence on the king. Before the messenger reached him, Liu An took his own life. The queen, the crown prince, and every co-conspirator were arrested and executed to the last degree. The kingdom was abolished and reorganized as Jiujiang commandery.
24
衡山王賜後乘舒生子三人，長男爽為太子，次女無采，少男孝。 姬徐來生子男女四人，美人厥姬生子二人。 淮南、衡山相責望禮節，間不相能。 衡山王聞淮南王作為畔逆具，亦心結賓客以應之，恐為所並。 元光六年入朝，謁者衛慶有方術，欲上書事天子，王怒，故劾慶死罪，強榜服之。 內史以為非是，卻其獄。 王使人上書告內史，內史治，言王不直。 又數侵奪人田，壞人塚以為田。 有司請逮治衡山王，上不許，為置吏二百石以上。 衡山王以此恚，與奚慈、張廣昌謀，求能為兵法候星氣者，日夜縱臾王謀反事。
King Liu Ci of Hengshan and his queen Chengshu had three children: the eldest son Shuang, who was heir apparent; a daughter named Wucai; and a younger son named Xiao. A concubine named Xulai bore four children, and the beauty Jueji bore two sons. The courts of Huainan and Hengshan quarreled over etiquette and protocol until the two houses were barely on speaking terms. When Liu Ci learned that Liu An was forging the instruments of revolt, he began recruiting retainers of his own, fearing annexation if Huainan struck first. In 129 BCE, while attending court, an usher named Wei Qing who knew occult arts sought to memorialize the emperor directly. The king was furious, framed Wei Qing for a capital offense, and had him tortured until he confessed. The metropolitan governor saw the injustice and threw out the prosecution. The king retaliated with a memorial against the metropolitan governor, who in turn proved the king in the wrong. He repeatedly seized private land and plowed up graves to add to his estates. When the ministry asked permission to arrest him, the emperor refused but posted officials of two hundred dan rank or higher throughout his kingdom. Smarting under the humiliation, Liu Ci conspired with Xi Ci and Zhang Guangchang, sought out experts in strategy and astrology, and had them urge him toward rebellion day and night.
25
後乘舒死，立徐來為後，厥姬俱幸。 兩人相妒。 厥姬乃惡徐來於太子，曰：「徐來使婢蠱殺太子母。」 太子心怨徐來。 徐來兄至衡山，太子與飲，以刃刑傷之。 後以此怨太子，數惡之於王。 女弟無采嫁，棄歸，與客奸。 太子數以數讓之，無采怒，不與太子通。 後聞之，即善遇無采及孝。 孝少失母，附後，後以計愛之，與共毀太子，王以故數系笞太子。 元朔四年中，人有賊傷後假母者，王疑太子使人傷之，笞太子。 後王病，太子時稱病不侍。 孝、無采惡太子：「實不病，自言，有喜色。」 王於是大怒，欲廢太子而立弟孝。 後知王決廢太子，又欲並廢孝。 後有侍者善舞，王幸之，後欲令與孝亂以污之，欲並廢二子而以己子廣代之。 太子知之，念後數惡己無已時，欲與亂以止其口。 後飲太子，太子前為壽，因據後股求與臥。 後怒，以告王。 王乃召，欲縛笞之。 太子知王常欲廢己而立孝，乃謂王曰：「孝與王御者奸，無采與奴奸，王強食，請上書。」 即背王去。 王使人止之，莫能禁，王乃自追捕太子。 太子妄惡言，王械系宮中。
After Queen Chengshu died, Liu Ci made Xulai his new queen while continuing to favor Jueji as well. The two women hated each other. Jueji thereupon slandered Xulai to the heir apparent, saying, "Xulai ordered maids to witchcraft-kill the heir apparent's mother." The crown prince nursed a deep grudge against Xulai. When Xulai's brother visited Hengshan, the crown prince feasted him and then slashed him with a knife. The queen never forgave the prince and slandered him to the king at every turn. His sister Wucai had married, been divorced, and returned home, where she took lovers among the retainers. The crown prince scolded her repeatedly until she broke with him in fury and refused to speak to him. When the queen heard of the rift, she showered Wucai and Xiao with kindness. Xiao had lost his mother in childhood and clung to the queen, who feigned affection and joined him in blackening the crown prince until the king repeatedly had the prince bound and beaten. In 125 BCE someone attacked the queen's nurse. The king blamed the crown prince and had him flogged. Later, when the king fell ill, the crown prince often pleaded sickness and refused to attend him. Xiao and Wucai told the king, "He is not sick at all—he boasts of it and looks pleased with himself." The king flew into a rage and resolved to depose Shuang in favor of his younger brother Xiao. Learning that the king meant to remove the crown prince, the queen schemed to bring Xiao down as well. There was a dancing girl the king favored. The queen tried to force her into Xiao's bed to ruin his name, hoping to disinherit both princes and install her own son Guang as heir. The crown prince saw through the plot but reasoned that the queen would never stop slandering him unless he could silence her with a scandal of his own. At a banquet she gave for him, he came forward with a toast, seized her by the thigh, and demanded that she sleep with him. She burst out in rage and ran to the king with the story. The king called for the prince to be bound and flogged. Knowing his father meant to replace him with Xiao, the crown prince shouted back, "Xiao lies with one of your coachmen, and Wucai with a house slave. Swallow your meal if you can, Father—I am going to memorialize the throne!" He spun on his heel and fled. Servants tried to stop him but could not; the king chased him down in person. The prince hurled wild accusations until the king had him shackled in the inner palace.
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孝日益以親幸。 王奇孝材能，乃佩之王印，號曰將軍，令居外家，多給金錢； 招致賓客。 賓客來者，微知淮南、衡山有逆計，皆將養勸之。 王乃使孝客江都人枚赫、陳喜作輣車鍛矢，刻天子璽，將、相、軍吏印。 王日夜求壯士如周丘等，數稱引吳、楚反時計畫約束。 衡山王非敢效淮南王求即天子位，畏淮南起並其國，以為淮南已西，發兵定江淮間而有之，望如是。
Day by day Xiao grew closer to the king's favor. Impressed by Xiao's abilities, the king hung his own seal on the boy's belt, styled him "general," quartered him with his mother's kin, and poured money into his hands; and let him recruit retainers. Those who drifted in, catching wind of plots in Huainan and Hengshan, fed and flattered him toward rebellion. He set Xiao's retainers Mei He and Chen Xi of Jiangdu to building assault wagons and forging arrowheads, carving a counterfeit imperial seal and seals for generals, chancellors, and army officers. Night and day he sought bravoes like Zhou Qiu and endlessly reviewed the strategy of the old Wu-Chu revolt. Liu Ci never dreamed of seizing the throne like Liu An; he feared that if Huainan rose first his kingdom would be swallowed. His hope was that once Huainan marched west, he could raise troops, secure the land between the Yangzi and the Huai, and hold it for himself.
27
元朔五年秋，當朝，六年，過淮南。 淮南王乃昆弟語，除前隙，約束反具。 衡山王即上書謝病，上賜不朝。 乃使人上書請廢太子爽，立孝為太子。 爽聞，即使所善白嬴之長安上書，言衡山王與子謀逆，言孝作兵車鍛矢，與王御者奸。 至長安未及上書，即吏捕贏，以淮南事系。 王聞之，恐其言國陰事，即上書告太子，以為不道。 事下沛郡治。
In the autumn of 124 BCE he was due at court; the following year he traveled through Huainan on his way. The king of Huainan received him as a brother, buried old quarrels, and the two princes pledged each other to the conspiracy. Liu Ci memorialized illness, and the emperor excused him from court. He then had a memorial sent asking to depose Crown Prince Shuang and name Xiao heir instead. Shuang countered by sending his confidant Bai Ying to Chang'an with a memorial accusing his father and brother of treason—charging Xiao with building war wagons and forging arms and with adultery with one of the king's grooms. Bai Ying was seized in Chang'an before he could file the document, held on charges stemming from the Huainan case. Fearing Bai Ying would expose the kingdom's secrets, the king raced a counter-memorial to the throne denouncing the crown prince for depravity. The case was referred to Pei commandery for investigation.
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濟北貞王勃者，景帝四年徙。 徙二年，因前王衡山，凡十四年薨。 子式王胡嗣，五十四年薨。 子寬嗣。 十二年，寬坐與父式王后光、姬孝兒奸，悖人倫，又祠祭祝詛上，有司請誅。 上遣大鴻臚利召王，王以刃自剄死。 國除為北安縣，屬泰山郡。
Liu Bo, posthumously known as the Prince Zhen of Jibei, was transferred to that kingdom in the fourth year of Emperor Jing's reign (153 BCE). Two years after the move, reckoning his prior reign as king of Hengshan, he had held a throne fourteen years in all when he died. His son Liu Hu, posthumously Prince Shi of Jibei, inherited the title and ruled fifty-four years. His son Liu Kuan succeeded him. In the twelfth year of his reign Liu Kuan was convicted of incest with his late father's queen Guang and a concubine named Xiao'er, a violation of the most basic human ethics, and of cursing the emperor in his ancestral sacrifices. The ministry demanded his death. The emperor sent Grand Herald Li to summon him to the capital; Liu Kuan cut his own throat before he could be taken. The kingdom was abolished and reorganized as Bei'an county under Taishan commandery.
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贊曰：《詩》云「戎狄是膺，荊舒是懲」，信哉是言也！ 淮南、衡山親為骨肉，疆土千里，列在諸侯，不務遵蕃臣職，以丞輔天子，而剸懷邪辟之計，謀為畔逆，仍父子再亡國，各不終其身。 此非獨王也，亦其俗薄，臣下漸靡使然。 夫荊楚剽輕，好作亂，乃自古記之矣。
The historian's appraisal: The Classic of Poetry says, "Punish the Rong and Di, chastise Jing and Shu"—how true those words ring! Huainan and Hengshan were flesh and blood of the imperial house, each ruling a thousand li as a feudal prince, yet neither strove to keep the duty of a vassal who supports the Son of Heaven. Instead they clutched treason in their hearts—and twice, father and son, they lost their kingdoms, neither living out his natural span. The fault lay not in the kings alone: the moral climate had thinned and their ministers had dragged them by degrees to ruin. The men of Jing and Chu have ever been a restless, volatile people, prone to rebellion—the histories have said so since ancient times.