At the end of Qin, the world was in turmoil, and Liu Bang, who had no background and no knowledge, how did he rise?
Although Chen Sheng and Wu Guang were the instigators of the anti-Qin rebellion at the end of the Qin Dynasty, the rebels from all walks of life in the world at that time were mainly descendants of the nobles of the Six Kingdoms. However, it was Liu Bang, the former head of the Surabaya Pavilion, who finally pacified the troubled times and seized the world. So, is Liu Bang really a farmer with no knowledge and experience? How did he get started?
Liu Bang is not simple, he is educated and has seen the world.
The last paragraph of the Book of Han - Gao Di Ji has a more detailed description of Liu Bang's family history. The book cites Cai Mu, a historian of the Spring and Autumn Jin Kingdom, and Fan Xuan, an important minister of the Jin State, as saying that Liu Bang was originally a descendant of the Tao Tang clan established by Tang Yao, and later a descendant of the Fan clan of the Spring and Autumn Jin Kingdom. Fan was a member of the Jin state and later fled to Qin during the reign of Duke Lu Wen (r. 627–609 BC), and some of his descendants returned to the Jin state, while others remained in the Qin region, from which Liu Bang came.
According to Liu Xiang, a member of the Western Han royal family, and Wen Ying, a scholar of the Eastern Han Dynasty, during the Warring States Period, the Liu family went on an expedition with the Qin army and was captured by the Wei state, and some of the clansmen stayed in the Wei state. In the twenty-ninth year of King Zhou (286), King Zhaoxiang of Qin attacked Wei and stayed in Anyi as the capital, and the Liu family moved to Daliang with his hometown. In the same year, the Song State was destroyed by the Qi State, and two years later, the Five Kingdoms invaded Qi, and the Wei State invaded the Song fiefdom and established the Great Song County there. Liu Bang's grandfather became the feudal prince of Wei, and Peixian, where Liu Bang was born, became part of the Chu state.
However, at the end of the Qin Dynasty, the world was in turmoil, and by the time of Liu Bang's father's generation, the Liu family had been reduced to ordinary peasants. Although Liu Bang came from a poor background, given that his grandfather was the Duke of Feng, it would be unrealistic to say that Liu Bang's family had no influence or prestige in the Fengpei region.
In addition, it is obviously not entirely correct to say that Liu Bang has no culture. Historical Records - The Biography of Han Xinlie said:"and Gao Zu and Lu Qiang, all of whom are good at learning books"。This shows that Liu Bang has obviously read books, and it also proves that Liu Bang's family is not simple. After all, at that time, families that could make their children literate obviously couldn't do it. Moreover, when most people were illiterate at that time, although Liu Bang could not be compared with a learned person, he was at least a literate person.
Maybe Liu Bang knew his grandfather's former glory, so he was unwilling to be mediocre and wanted to revive the family. So, the young Liu Bang ran away from home and went to Wei Wuji, the king of Xinling, whom he admired very much. However, at this time, Shinling-kun had already died. Liu Bang saw that Xin Lingjun's old **Zhang Er was recruiting**, so he went to visit Zhang Er again. Later, Liu Bang"Traveling with Zhang Ear for months"("Historical Records-The Biography of Chen Yu Zhang Erlie"), in that era when ordinary people almost never went far away, Liu Bang was obviously one of the few people who had seen the world, which made him have"Take it to the next level"of the capital.
In the Qin Dynasty,"Pavilion Chief"It is a petty official position, mostly held by people who have served in the military. However, since this position assists his superiors in administering the place, he usually has to be able to manage the people under his jurisdiction. As a result, Liu Bang was a cultured and sophisticated man, and his family still had a good reputation in the local area, and he was appointed chief of the Surabaya Pavilion after returning to his hometown.
At the end of Qin, the world was in turmoil. In order to support Liu Bang, the people of Pei County killed a county order.
Although Liu Bang does not do a good job in his spare time, he is very good at making friends, not only with brothers such as Lu Hou and Fan Xu, but also with Peixian nobles such as Xiao He, Cao Shen, and Wang Ling. As a result, Liu Bang's position as the head of the Surabaya Pavilion is not only thriving, but his influence in the local area is also increasing day by day.
So, Liu Feng was ordered to escort ** to Lishan, but many ** escaped on the way. Liu Bang thought that if he didn't wait for Lishan, the ** would run away, so he let them go, and he took a dozen strong men to prepare to flee to Mangdang Mountain.
The Dazexiang Uprising that broke out in the autumn of the first year of Qin II (209 BC) was the beginning of the great global turmoil at the end of Qin. At that time, the county commander of Pei County also wanted to join the rebel army, Xiao He and Cao Shen persuaded the county order to recall the displaced people in the county to strengthen their strength and prevent future troubles, so the county order sent Fan Hao to ask Liu Bang to return to Mangshan.
At this time, Liu Bang had gathered hundreds of people, and Pei County Ling was afraid of luring wolves into the house, so he closed the city gate to prevent Liu Bang from entering the city, and at the same time ordered the arrest of Xiao He and Cao Shen. Xiao He and Cao Shen jointly elected Liu Bang as the new county magistrate of Pei County and named him the Duke of Pei of Chu State. Liu Bang immediately set up an altar, raised the red flag, declared himself the son of the Red Emperor, and soon increased his army by 3,000.
In the last years of the Qin Dynasty, Liu Bang neither had the great charm of the nobles of the Six Kingdoms, nor did he have the ability to fight well and strategize, coupled with the betrayal of Yongya, Liu Bang's initial position was very unfavorable, so Liu Bang passed the throne to Xiang Liang, who was more powerful in Chu at that time. Xiang Liang died in Dingtao, and in order to get rid of the puppet status, Xiong Xin, the king of Chu Huai, began to suppress Xiang Yu and others, and reused Song Yi and others.
Battle of the Great Deer"On the eve, King Huai of Chu agreed to send troops westward to distract the Qin army, but as it was getting closer to the rear of the Qin army, not all of the generals were willing to move westward, and Liu Bang expressed his willingness to lead his army westward at the right time.
While the Qin army was blocked on the Julu battlefield, Liu Bang marched west with relative ease, and finally succeeded in entering Guanzhong, where the Qin prince surrendered and the Qin dynasty perished. By the time Xiang Yu entered Guanzhong, Liu Bang had become a powerful prince with an army of 100,000. Xiang Yu then made a big fanfare, Liu Bang was named the king of Han, and finally defeated Xiang Yu and won the world.