Kings of the Han dynasty
The kings from other dynasties (, "yìxìng wáng") were mostly remnants of the rebellion against the Qin dynasty. Following the Dazexiang Uprising, many noblemen rose in rebellion. Heirs, pretenders, and warlords called themselves "kings" and claimed sovereignty as continuations of the six states previously suppressed by Qin. Among these, Chu was the most powerful. However, its rightful ruler Huai II was assassinated on the orders of the warlord Xiang Yu and the 18 Kingdoms Xiang had formed rose in rebellion against him. Liu Bang, king of Han, ultimately defeated Chu and established the new Han dynasty. The kings who had sided with him were then permitted to maintain their titles and lands. A few other kingdoms were also formed by Liu Bang for generals and favorites.
Han Zhangluan
Han Zhangluan was from Changli Commandery (昌黎, roughly modern Qinhuangdao, Hebei), probably of Xianbei ethnicity. His father Han Yongxing (韓永興) was a commandery governor. In his youth, he was said to have very strong arms and was good at archery and horseriding. After Gao Wei was created crown prince in 562, his father Emperor Wucheng set up a guard corps commanded by 20 officers. Han Zhangluan was one of the officers thus commissioned, and Gao Wei immediately took a liking to him. After Gao Wei became emperor in 565, he was constantly promoted, and eventually, he was created the Prince of Changli. Both his sons Han Baoxing (韓寶行) and Han Baoxin (韓寶信) married princesses. Han was particularly powerful after the general Hulü Guang was falsely accused of treason and executed in 572, and he, Mu, and Gao Anagong were referred to as the "Three Nobles," controlling the government together, and they were later blamed for the deterioration of Northern Qi. When Chen Dynasty attacked and captured the region between the Yangtze River and Huai River in 573, including the important city Shouyang (壽陽, in modern Lu'an, Anhui), Han and Mu were gambling when news of Shouyang's fall arrived and not willing to stop despite the bad news. Further, during the Chen campaign, when Cui and Zhang, along with several other officials, including Feng Xiaoyan (封孝琰), Liu Ti (劉逖), Pei Ze (裴澤), and Guo Zun (郭遵), submitted a joint petition trying to persuade Gao Wei not to visit the secondary capital Jinyang (晉陽, in modern Taiyuan, Shanxi), on account that such a visit might be misinterpreted by the people as flight, it was Han who suggested that those civilian officials were, in effect, committing treason, and should all be killed. Gao Wei agreed and had them executed. Han was also known for his disdain for civilian officials, but was known for his good treatment of military officers. He particularly despised ethnically Han Chinese officials, and is known for often stating, "Those Han dogs are difficult to endure; they should all be killed!"