In history, the era of famous generals not only included the Warring States and Three Kingdoms periods, but also included the period of the late Qin and the beginning of the Han Dynasty. Among them, as far as Yingbu is concerned, it is a famous general at that time. For example, Lü Hou once commented on Yingbu: "Tuobu, the fierce general of the world, makes good use of soldiers." Inbu (?) –196 BC), courtesy name Yan (偃), courtesy name Ying (英氏), was a native of Liu County, Jiujiang County (present-day Lu'an, Anhui). In his early years, Yingbu sat guilty and was subjected to appeasement, commonly known as Tuobu. When Chen Sheng rebelled, Yingbu went to see Wu Rui of Fan County, and together with his subordinates rebelled against the Qin Dynasty, gathering a procession of several thousand people.
In the revolt at the end of the Qin Dynasty, the Yingbu army belonged to Xiangliang. Yingbu xiao is brave and good at war, and is always at the top of the army. Xiang Liang was known as Wu Xin Jun, and Ying Bu was the Dangyang Jun. After Xiang Liang's death, Xiang Yu killed Song Yi, and king Huai of Chu made Xiang Yu a general, leaving Yingbu and other generals to belong to Xiang Yu. So, the question is, why did Yingbu betray Xiang Yu and turn to Liu Bang? Why was he hunted down and killed by Liu Bang later?
One
First of all, after following Xiang Yu, Yingbu was heavily valued by the latter. In many key actions, Xiang Yu often let Yingbu serve as the vanguard of the army, which is also an affirmation of Yingbu's bravery. After the King of Chuhuai made Xiang Yu a general, Xiang Yu sent Yingbu to take the lead in crossing the Yellow River to attack the Qin army, and Yingbu repeatedly gained the advantage in battle, so Xiang Yu led his army to fight with Yingbu, thus defeating the main force of the Qin army and forcing the Qin dynasty general Zhang Handan to surrender. After this, Xiang Yu sent Yingbu and others to lead troops to attack and bury more than 200,000 people under Zhang Handan alive at night.
Immediately afterward, Xiang Yu sent Yingbu to defeat the defenders around Hangu Pass in the Qin Dynasty, thus reaching Xianyang. In 206 BC, when Xiang Yu divided the world, Feng Yingbu was made the King of Jiujiang, with the capital at Liu, and his fiefs included the two counties of Jiujiang (郡治寿春, in present-day Shou County, Anhui) and Lujiang (郡治舒县, in present-day southwestern Lujiang, Anhui). In August of the same year, Yingbu sent generals to attack Emperor Yi and pursue him to Chenxian County to kill him.
Two
In this regard, in the author's opinion, Xiang Yu not only attaches great importance to Yingbu, but also regards it as a confidant, and even such a major matter as the removal of the Yidi Emperor is entrusted to Yingbu to deal with. However, during the Chu-Han struggle for hegemony, Yingbu betrayed Xiang Yu and defected to Liu Bang. In this regard, in the author's opinion, Yingbu betrayed Xiang Yu, although there was a lobbying role on Liu Bang's side, but, on the other hand, flies did not sting seamless eggs, before Liu Bang lobbied, Yingbu had already violated Xiang Yuyang, which showed that Yingbu either wanted to preserve his strength and sell between Liu Bang and Xiang Yu, or he was not optimistic about Xiang Yu.
In the Chronicle of History, Volume 91, The Thirty-first Biography of Tuobu Lie, it is recorded: "In the second year of the Han Dynasty, King Tian Rongpan Chu of Qi, King Xiang attacked Qi, recruited troops in Jiujiang, and King Bu of Jiujiang said that he was ill and sent thousands of people. In 205 BC, Tian Rong, the king of Qi, betrayed the state of Chu, and King Xiang went to attack the state of Qi and recruited an army from Yingbu, but Yingbu was too ill to go, and only sent generals with thousands of people to enlist. It was this act of Yingbu that not only caused a rift in the relationship between him and Xiang Yu, but also made Liu Bang think that Yingbu was an object that could be lobbied.
Three
On this basis, Liu Bang sent a subordinate named "Sui He" to woo Yingbu. Sui He Yingbu analyzed the situation in the world, and when the envoys of the Chu state came, they said that Yingbu had surrendered to Han and made Yingbu surrender. Sui He said to Yingbu: As long as you send troops to betray the Chu State, Xiang Yu will definitely be contained, as long as you hold it for a few months, Liu Bang can seize the world without fail. At that time, Liu Bang would definitely divide the land and give it to the king. In the end, Yingbu killed the emissaries of the Chu state and sent troops to attack Xiang Yu.
Therefore, in the author's opinion, the reason why Yingbu betrayed Xiang Yu and surrendered to Liu Bang should be to pursue greater interests, that is, in Yingbu's view, he helped Liu Bang defeat Xiang Yu and obtain a larger fiefdom. In 203 BC, Liu Bang made Yingbu the King of Huainan. In 202 BC, Yingbu not only betrayed Xiang Yu himself, but also plotted against Sima Zhou Yin of Chu. At the Battle of Xiaxia, Yingbu led an army and Han Xin and others to defeat Xiang Yu, who soon committed suicide at Wujiang (present-day Hexian County, Anhui).
Four
Finally, after Xiang Yu's death, Liu Bang declared himself emperor and officially established the Western Han Dynasty. As we all know, in the early western Han Dynasty, the system of parallel counties and states was implemented, and Yingbu, the king of Huainan, became one of the princes with different surnames. At that time, Yingbu's fief was capitalized in Liu (present-day Lu'an, Anhui), and the areas under its rule included Jiujiang, Lujiang, Hengshan, and Yuzhang. Judging from the area of the fiefdom, it is indeed larger than the period when Xiang Yu was crowned king. However, Liu Bang and Xiang Yu were different, and the former did not want to restore the Zhou Dynasty's sub-feudal system.
In 196 BC, Lü Hou killed Han Xin, the Marquis of Huaiyin. Also a fierce general who made a military contribution to the establishment of the Western Han Dynasty, Yingbu naturally sympathized with Han Xin's death, and even felt uneasy about it. Soon after, Han Gaozu's ancestor Liu Bang killed Peng Yue the Prince of Liang. As a result, Yingbu's fear expanded day by day, fearing that the next object to be removed was himself. On this basis, Yingbu found a way to overcome fear, that is, rebellion. In 196 AD, Yingbu rebelled and was immediately pursued and killed by Liu Bang himself. After being defeated by Liu Bang, Yingbu fled south of the Yangtze River and was eventually killed.