Han Xin, a native of Huaiyin in the late Qin Dynasty, began as a low-ranking officer under Xiang Yu, the Hegemon-King of Chu, but later defected to Liu Bang, the King of Han. Through Prime Minister Xiao He's strong recommendation, he was appointed as a great general. During the Chu-Han conflict, he led the Han army on countless campaigns, earning immense merit and, along with Xiao He and Zhang Liang, was hailed as one of the "Three Heroes of the Early Han."
After Emperor Liu Bang ascended the throne, he enfeoffed Han Xin as the King of Chu, stripping him of military command, yet Han Xin remained the most powerful feudal lord. Soon, Liu Bang received a secret report that Han Xin had taken in Xiang Yu's former general Zhongli Mo and was plotting rebellion. Adopting his strategist Chen Ping's plan, Liu Bang feigned a tour of Yunmeng Marsh, summoning all lords to meet at Chen.
When Han Xin learned of this, he killed his friend Zhongli Mei and went to the Chen region to meet Liu Bang, who then ordered Han Xin's arrest and had him escorted back to Luoyang.
After returning to Luoyang, Liu Bang, realizing Han Xin had never plotted rebellion and recalling his past military achievements, demoted him to the Marquis of Huaiyin instead.
Han Xin felt deeply resentful but powerless to change his situation. Seeing that his former subordinates—Zhou Bo, Guan Ying, and Fan Kuai—now held the same rank as him, he was ashamed to stand among them and often feigned illness to avoid attending court.
Liu Bang knew what Han Xin was thinking. One day, he summoned Han Xin to the palace for a casual chat and asked him to comment on the abilities of the various generals at court. Han Xin listed them one by one, clearly unimpressed by any of them. Liu Bang smiled and asked, "In your opinion, how many troops could someone like me command?"
Emperor Gaozu of Han asked Han Xin, "How many troops could I command?" Han Xin replied, "Your Majesty could lead one hundred thousand." Liu Bang pressed, "And you?" "For me, the more the better!" Liu Bang laughed, "You say the more troops the better, yet how did I manage to capture you?" Realizing his slip, Han Xin quickly covered, "Though Your Majesty cannot lead many soldiers, you possess the ability to command generals!"
When Liu Bang saw that Han Xin, even after being demoted to the Marquis of Huaiyin, still carried himself with such arrogance, the emperor was deeply displeased. Later, as Liu Bang set out on another campaign, his wife, Empress Lü, finally devised a scheme to have Han Xin killed.
Later, the idiom "the more the merrier" came to describe that more is better.
Source: *Records of the Grand Historian*, "Biography of the Marquis of Huaiyin"
Meaning of the Idiom: Later, the Chinese idiom "多多益善" came to describe how more is better.