Liu Bangsheng is a scoundrel? Xiang Yu was defeated by blood? Is Xiang Yu's personality noble?
Under the influence of generations of writers and illustrators, Liu Bang, who won the Chu-Han dispute, did not have a good reputation, and the defeated Xiang Yu was often portrayed as a tragic hero. However, in real history, Liu Bang's final victory was not only the victory of a politician over a soldier, but Xiang Yu's personality was not nobler than Liu Bang's.
Liu Bang has both disadvantages and advantages.
Historically, Liu Bang has been criticized for his personal experience and style of acting, as well as for the treacherous behavior of Xiang Yu and the two founding heroes of the Western Han Dynasty.
Let me start with that. In 203 BCE, Liu Bang and Xiang Yu concluded a peace treaty at the chasm, and the two sides divided the world equally, with the chasm as the boundary. However, after Xiang Yu led his army eastward, Liu Bang, under the advice of Chen Ping and Zhang Liang, immediately broke the contract and led his army to pursue Xiang Yu, and finally defeated Xiang Yu in the Battle of Qixia.
As for the heroes, Liu Bang did appreciate Qin Shi Huang's centralized system very much, but after the establishment of the Western Han Dynasty, considering that the existing princes and kings were still very strong at that time, and the lessons of the rapid collapse of the Qin State, he had to retreat to the second best thing and chose a safer one"Annexation of the county system"。Later, due to the betrayal of Yan Zangdi, Han Wangxin and others, as well as the disputes of Peng Yue, Yingbu and other princes and kings, Liu Bang finally replaced the king with a different surname with Liu.
In addition to treachery and killing heroes, Liu Bang's process of seizing the world is also remarkable.
First, Liu Bang knows people well. As Liu Bang himself said:'Strategizing in the middle of the battle, winning thousands of miles away, I am not as good as Zhang Liang; Zhenguo soothes the people, gives Lu rank, I am not as good as Xiao He; The battle will be won, the attack must be won, I am not as good as Han Xin'。But Liu Bang's strength is that he knows people well, and talented people can do things under him, so he has gathered a large number of talents for himself. That's why he's able to gather a lot of talent.
Second, Liu Bang is good at adopting opinions. Liu Bang's personal ability is not outstanding, but he is very good at adopting other people's opinions, which has played an extremely important role in Liu Bang's process of fighting the world, such as Han Xin's proposal to open up the northern battlefield, Chen Ping's proposal to adopt a first-class strategy to alienate Xiang Yu's camp, Zhang Liang's proposal to return Yingbu, and so on.
Liu Bang has the ability to give and receive. This is probably one of the reasons why Liu Bang has been criticized, but I think this is one of Liu Bang's strengths. That's right"Those who achieve great things are not informal"。In history, all those who have achieved great things cannot bend and stretch. Liu Bang made full use of this in the process of conquering the world, and it can be said that he almost ruthlessly exhausted all means to escape and win.
Finally, Liu Bang's character is responsible. This is also extremely important, but it is easy to overlook. Before the Battle of Pengcheng, Liu Bang's performance was not bad, but since the fiasco in the Battle of Pengcheng, Liu Bang lost to Xiang Yu on the front line one after another, and was even defeated by the other party many times, but because of repeated defeats, he did not surrender, but regardless of his personal safety, he fled the battlefield many times and regrouped.
In short, Liu Bang is indeed an emperor with a very different personality. He may not be outstanding in personal ability and has all kinds of shortcomings, but he is undoubtedly an extremely successful politician who knows how to use his strengths and knows his weaknesses well, and has much to offer.
Although Xiang Yu is portrayed as a tragic hero, his personality flaws are also very obvious.
Although Xiang Yu was defeated in the Chu-Han dispute, he was highly praised in history and was portrayed as a tragic hero with a more positive image. However, Xiang Yu in history is indeed brave and good at war, and his military talent is outstanding, but his personal character is actually very flawed.
In the Battle of Xingyang, Liu Bang listed Xiang Yu's ten major crimes, which provided clues for us to reveal Xiang Yu's character flaws.
Crime 1: Breach of contract. Before the battle of Julu, King Chu Huai made an agreement with the generals"The first to enter the customs is king", but Liu Bang entered the customs first, Xiang Yu wanted King Huai to crown him king, and after being refused, Xiang Yu no longer obeyed King Huai's orders and respected King Huai"Emperor Yi", because King Huai has no military exploits. He honored the king"Emperor Yi", and at the same time divide the princes of the world. Xiang Yu was worried that Liu Bang would enter the customs first. Although he was revered as the king of Han, he established his own fief in Shu.
Crime 2: Intentionally killing Song Yi. At the end of Qin, Xiang Liang worshiped Xiong Xin, the king of Chu Huai, as his teacher, but Xiong Xin was just a puppet. After Xiang Liang's death, King Chu Huai wanted to develop his power and grasp real power, so he promoted Song Yi, the champion of Qingmiao. In the Battle of Julu, Xiong Xin appointed Song Yi as the general and Xiang Yu as the deputy general, and led the troops to save Zhao Wangxie.
Crime 3: Take the princes and kings to Guanzhong without authorization. After the Battle of Julu, Xiang Yu was supposed to lead his army back, but he let himself lead the princes' coalition army west into Guanzhong, which was an act of disobedience to orders.
Crime 4: Looting and burning the Qin Palace. Xiong Xin, the king of Chu Huai, agreed with the generals that he would not loot after the death of Qin, but after Xiang Yuxi entered Guanzhong, he not only wantonly **, but also burned the Qin city of Xianyang, excavated the mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang (part of it), and stole Qin Shi Huang's property.
Crime 5: Killing Prince Qin's baby. At that time, Qin Ziying had already surrendered, and Xiang Yu killed Xiang Liang because of his hatred for the Qin army, and immediately killed Qin Ziying after entering Guanzhong.
Crime 6: Kill 200,000 Qin soldiers. After the Battle of Julu, Zhang Han made 200,000 Qin troops surrender. Xiang Yu initially led the Qin army and the allied forces into Xianyang, but at Xin'an, on the grounds of the Qin army's resistance, he killed all 200,000 Qin troops.
Sin 7: Relocation of the princes and sparking an uprising. When Xiang Yu divided the world, in view of the fact that the military power was in the hands of the generals under the princes in principle, he migrated the descendants of the nobles of the original six countries, so that the generals of all walks of life were divided, Han Guang, the king of Yan, became the king of Liaodong, and Tianshi, the king of Qi, became the king of Jiaodong. Yan Wang Zang Di killed the former Yan King, Tian Rong killed Jiaodong Wang Tian Shi and Ji Wang Tian Shi, and drove away Qi Wang Tiandu.
The eighth sin: chasing the righteous emperor and killing the king of Han. When Xiang Yu divided the world, he called himself"Overlord of Western Chu", expelled Xiong Xin, the king of Chu Huai, who was originally in Pengcheng, and made Pengcheng the capital. At the same time, although Xiang Yu became the king of Han and became the king of Han, he to"Han Cheng has no military merits"、"Zhang Liang was the king of Han"For this reason, he was not allowed to return to the fiefdom, but brought him back to Pengcheng, deposed as a marquis, and then killed.
The ninth sin: Ordered the hunt and killing of Xiong Xin Zhenjun. After Xiang Yu moved Xiong Xin Zhenjun from Pengcheng to Chen County, Changsha, he ordered Wu Rui, the king of Hengshan, and Gongao, the king of Linjiang, to hunt down and kill Xiong Xin Zhenjun.
Article 10: Killing. In addition to killing the Qin soldiers and killing Xianyang, when suppressing the rebellion of the Qi State, he also killed the residents of the Qi State, and once the rebellion was suppressed, it aroused the hatred of the residents of the Qi State, and finally led to the rebellion of the Qi State that could not be suppressed for a long time.
Although Xiang Yu is invincible, brave and good at fighting, and good at planning, his shortcomings are also obvious, that is, he is stubborn, does not listen to advice, is cruel and violent, and is selfish.
In short, Liu Bang and Xiang Yu are like two extremes. Liu Bang is not talented, but he knows people well, is good like a stream, and knows how to win people's hearts; Xiang Yu is brave and invincible, but stubborn and hot-blooded, and loses people's hearts because of selfishness and cruelty. Therefore, Liu Bang's victory was not because he was a villain, and Xiang Yu's defeat was not regrettable.