After Chao Cuo was executed, Emperor Jing of Han ordered the armies of the seven feudal states to cease their rebellion, but unexpectedly, Liu Pi, the King of Wu, openly declared his intention to become emperor, showing no regard for Emperor Jing. Yuan Ang, bearing the imperial edict, went to see Liu Pi to persuade him to withdraw his troops. Liu Pi proclaimed himself emperor, scoffed at Emperor Jing's decree, and even had a squad of soldiers place Yuan Ang under house arrest in the military camp, intending to kill him. Realizing the situation was dire, Yuan Ang seized the opportunity to slip away under the cover of night and rushed back to Chang'an without stopping, reporting the King of Wu's words verbatim to Emperor Jing. Only then did Emperor Jing realize he had been deceived by the King of Wu, but unfortunately, Chao Cuo had already been executed, and the grave mistake was made. The most urgent task now was to suppress the rebel forces.
Just then, Colonel Deng Gong, who had been engaging the allied feudal armies, returned to Chang'an to report on the military situation. Emperor Jing of Han quickly asked him how the battle was going. Deng Gong said, "The Prince of Wu was determined to rebel; he had been preparing for decades. Even if Your Majesty had not reduced his fiefdom, he would have rebelled anyway. Moreover, Chao Cuo has already been executed by waist-cutting. I fear that from now on, no advisor in the empire will dare to speak openly." Emperor Jing was puzzled, so Deng Gong continued, "Chao Cuo was originally concerned that the power of the feudal princes was growing day by day, eventually becoming a threat to the imperial court. That is why he suggested reducing their territories, which in fact strengthened the emperor's authority. Yet he was put to death by Your Majesty. After this, who would dare to speak bluntly?" Emperor Jing felt deeply ashamed and could not think of a way to respond. Suddenly, he recalled the dying words of Emperor Wen of Han, so he summoned Zhou Yafu, appointed him Grand Commandant, and ordered him to suppress the feudal armies.
In 154 BCE, Grand Commandant Zhou Yafu led the main army to engage the forces of Wu and Chu, while Li Ji attacked the Zhao army, Luan Bu attacked the Qi army, and Grand General Dou Ying stationed his troops at Xingyang to closely monitor the movements of the Qi and Zhao forces, ready to rush reinforcements if anything unusual occurred. Dou Ying initially tried to decline the appointment, but Emperor Jing, citing the safety of the state, forced him to accept the position of Grand General, leaving Dou Ying with no choice but to comply.
After Zhou Yafu led his troops out, he learned that the Wu and Chu armies were attacking the Liang Kingdom and immediately devised a plan. He said to Emperor Jing, "Now the Wu and Chu forces are besieging Liang. If we confront them head-on, we will inevitably suffer heavy losses. The Chu army has always been fierce and skilled in battle, each soldier exceptionally brutal. It would be better to use Liang as bait. While they are fully engaged in battle, we can first cut off the Wu and Chu armies' supply lines, and then engage the feudal lords' forces." Emperor Jing found this plan feasible and approved it.
Zhou Yafu led his army to Bashang, where he encountered a strategist who advised him not to rush directly to the State of Liang but instead to take a detour from the right, warning that the feudal lords' forces would surely set up an ambush along the way. Following this advice, Zhou Yafu took the route through Lantian, passed Wuguan, and arrived in Luoyang, where they indeed discovered enemy troops lying in wait.
At this moment, the State of Liang was completely surrounded by the allied feudal forces, urgently awaiting reinforcements. Upon hearing that Zhou Yafu had led his army out on campaign, the King of Liang immediately wrote to him for help. Zhou Yafu verbally promised to come soon, but in reality, he only observed from a distance and took no action. The King of Liang grew increasingly anxious and sent another letter to Zhou Yafu, yet still no reinforcements arrived. In desperation, the King of Liang wrote to Emperor Jing for assistance. The emperor ordered Zhou Yafu to attack the feudal forces besieging the two states, but Zhou Yafu remained inactive, only commanding his troops to seize the feudal forces' grain supplies and capture their supply convoy. The soldiers under Zhou Yafu's command, puzzled by his delay in engaging the enemy, began to suspect that he was actually aiding the feudal forces, causing their morale to waver. Zhou Yafu offered no explanation, allowing his soldiers to speculate wildly.
After King Liu Pi of Wu saw that his provisions had been intercepted by Zhou Yafu, he panicked, thinking how could his soldiers fight without food? Gritting his teeth, Liu Pi decided to eliminate Zhou Yafu first.
Liu Pi took advantage of the darkness of night to send a squad of soldiers sneaking into Zhou Yafu's camp to create chaos. At that time, Zhou Yafu was resting in his tent when he suddenly heard shouting and running outside. Knowing that these were enemy troops probing his camp, he did not go out to control the situation but allowed his soldiers to run about and shout wildly. This was a small trick of his—deliberately making the feudal lords' army believe that his troops were undisciplined and vulnerable, so they would become arrogant and launch a reckless attack. At that moment, they would reveal their weaknesses, making it easy to defeat them. Sure enough, before long, the noise outside gradually subsided, and the soldiers returned to their tents to rest. After learning from the returning soldiers about the situation in Zhou Yafu's camp, Liu Pi laughed heartily and proudly announced an attack for the next day.
The next day, the allied forces planned to attack Zhou Yafu's camp from the east, with a large number of soldiers surging toward the camp. After thinking it over carefully, Zhou Yafu concluded that Liu Bi intended to draw all attention to the east while the real attack would come from the west. So he ordered a small group of soldiers to feign a fierce resistance in the east while he led the main force to ambush the west. After a while, a large contingent of troops appeared in the distance, led by Wu King Liu Bi and Chu King Liu Wu. As the Wu-Chu forces drew near, Zhou Yafu led his soldiers to charge suddenly before them. The allied forces, caught off guard, hastily engaged in battle. Since their supplies had been cut off by Zhou Yafu, the Wu-Chu soldiers had not eaten a proper meal for days and were now terrified, lacking the strength to fight. One by one, they dropped their weapons and fled. Seeing this, the Wu King realized he was doomed to lose to Zhou Yafu. Abandoning the Chu King and the other soldiers, he fled with his close followers. Only then did the Chu King realize that Liu Bi was a coward who feared death. Regretting that he had trusted the Wu King's words and too ashamed to confess his guilt to Emperor Jing, he drew his sword and committed suicide. Meanwhile, after the Wu King and his followers fled back to Wu, some loyal ministers and commoners, who despised him, secretly plotted to kill him. Unaware of the danger closing in and still hoping to stage a comeback, the Wu King was seized by several ministers before he could react, pinned to the ground, and killed with a single sword stroke. The ministers then presented the head of Wu King Liu Bi to Emperor Jing of Han.
After the deaths of the King of Wu and the King of Chu, the other feudal princes surrendered their weapons one after another, and Emperor Jing of Han sentenced them all to death. Thus, within three months, Zhou Yafu suppressed the Rebellion of the Seven Kingdoms, preserving the Han dynasty's rule. Zhou Yafu was heavily rewarded, becoming the emperor's most trusted minister, and five years later, he was appointed as Chancellor.
Emperor Jing did not abolish the hereditary titles of the feudal princes' descendants, but he enacted many laws to restrict them. From then on, the feudal princes could only collect land taxes within their own fiefs and had no authority over the appointment of officials or government affairs within their territories. As a result, the power of the feudal princes was greatly weakened, and they no longer had the ability to challenge the imperial court.
In 141 BC, Emperor Jing of Han died, and the sixteen-year-old Crown Prince Liu Che ascended the throne, becoming Emperor Wu of Han.