沛县 / Pei County
沛县 / Pei County enters the wiki in Qinji 128-6 as 刘邦’s local political base. The source places Liu Bang’s uprising in Pei County after the 大泽乡起义 opens the broader anti-秦国 crisis.
Before open rebellion, Pei County matters as a relationship field. Liu Bang’s Sishui亭长 period lets him move from marginal companions into contact with lower-level government officials such as 萧何. The episode argues that this network later becomes part of the first Western Han founding-merit circle.
Pei County is also the setting of 吕公’s banquet. Lu Gong relocates there through the county magistrate’s friendship, local notables gather, Xiao He manages the seating, and Liu Bang turns an uninvited visit into a public performance that leads to the 吕雉 marriage.
Qinji 128-7 turns Pei County from relationship setting into rebellion setting. Liu Bang leaves the county after releasing corvee laborers he was escorting, hides around 芒砀山, and returns only after the magistrate tries to recall him in response to the 大泽乡起义. The county then flips when the magistrate closes the gates, targets 萧何 and 曹参, and Liu Bang’s letter persuades local elders to kill him and admit Liu Bang.
The episode’s Pei County story is a case of 沛县起义动员. Local self-preservation, county-office relationships, and Liu Bang’s fugitive following together produce a three-thousand-person anti-Qin force and the title Pei Gong.
Hanji 188 returns Pei County at the other end of 刘邦’s career. After the defeat of 英布 / 黥布, Liu Bang comes home wounded, feasts with the local elders, sings the Great Wind Song, and declares Pei his 汤沐邑 while exempting its people forever from rent, taxes, and corvee. The source therefore turns Pei from uprising base into 帝王故乡免租徭役.
Hanji 1008 adds the late-Han “小沛” conflict setting before that flight. 袁术 sends 纪灵 against 刘备, 吕布 camps southwest of Pei, and the辕门射戟 settlement briefly prevents the attack from becoming a battle.
Hanji 1009 adds the next late-Han “小沛” use. After Liu Bei flees Lü Bu and submits to 曹操, Cao Cao sends him toward Xiaopei with troops and grain to gather scattered followers and continue pressure against Lü Bu. This source makes Pei a recovery point inside the 徐州 struggle rather than only Liu Bang’s home-county memory.
Hanji 999 adds the earlier Xiaopei assignment that makes Hanji 1008-1009 legible. After 吕布 takes 下邳 and 刘备 surrenders, Lü Bu appoints Liu Bei as Yuzhou inspector and stations him at Xiaopei while keeping 徐州 for himself.
Connections
- Hanji 188, 汤沐邑, 丰邑 / 丰县, and 帝王故乡免租徭役 - late-life homecoming and permanent tax/corvee exemption.
- Hanji 1008, 袁术, 纪灵, 刘备, and 吕布 - late-Han Xiaopei attack and mediation branch.
- Hanji 1009, 刘备, 曹操, 吕布, and 徐州 - late-Han Xiaopei regrouping branch.
- Hanji 999, 下邳, and 粮食诱导式同盟背叛 - earlier post-surrender stationing after Liu Bei loses Xuzhou.
- 刘邦, 萧何, 吕公, and 吕雉 - main source actors in the Pei County branch.
- 基层官吏网络政治资本 - concept built from the county-office network.
- 造势型政治表演 - banquet performance staged in Pei County.
- 大泽乡起义 and 秦国 - wider crisis that makes local networks politically consequential.
- 樊哙, 曹参, 芒砀山, and 沛县起义动员 - Qinji 128-7 local uprising branch.