"The Feast of the Hongmen Gate", excerpted from Sima Qian's "History of Xiang Yu Benji", is the beginning of the five-year-long "Chu-Han War" in which Xiang Yu and Liu Bang completely turned their faces in order to compete for the world after destroying Qin.
Xiang Yu and Liu Bang were originally the same rebel army under the banner of "anti-Qin", and brothers in the same trench. But they were brothers in the matter of only destroying Qin, and when they competed for the world, they became opponents.
Since the Qin Dynasty soon collapsed, neither Xiang Yu nor Liu Bang was ready to go to war directly, so Xiang Yu accepted Xiang Bo's suggestion and agreed that Liu Bang would come to dinner and talk about it.
But the heart was not at ease, the meal was not ready, and a thrilling battle between the open and the dark began...
In the first year of Qin II (209 BC), Xiang Yu followed his uncle Xiang Liang to raise a military meeting with The Governor (襄梁) in present-day Suzhou, Jiangsu in response to the rebellion of Chen Sheng and Wu Guang.
At this time, Liu Bang, the governor of Surabaya Pavilion in Pei County, had long been impatient, and gathered three thousand disciples to capture Pei County, claiming to be the Duke of Pei.
However, Liu Bang felt that his strength was insufficient and it was difficult to achieve great things, so he led the crowd to defect to Xiangliang and became an anti-Qin force under the leadership of Xiangliang.
After Chen Sheng was killed, Xiang Liang accepted Fan Zeng's suggestion, found Xiong Xin, the grandson of King Huai of Chu, and still made him the King of Chu Huai, and in the name of King Huai of Chu, ordered the princes of the world to join forces to fight against the brutal Qin Dynasty.
After Xiang Liang was killed by the Qin general Zhang Handan, Xiang Yu took over the army of his uncle Xiang Liang. At this time, Liu Bang began to mix with Xiang Yu.
After Zhang Handan killed Xiang Liang, he marched north to besiege the territory of the former Zhao state, and king Huai of Chu ordered Xiang Yu to lead an army to aid Zhao. Xiang Yu broke through the cauldron and completely single-handedly defeated the main force of the Qin Dynasty, and recruited the general Zhang Handan and others.
Just when Xiang Yu and the main force of the Qin army were fighting to the death, Liu Bang quietly entered Guanzhong and took advantage of the void to attack the Qin capital Xianyang.
After Xiang Yu destroyed the main force of the Qin army, he immediately led the princes' army to approach Guanzhong, and when he reached Hangu Pass, he found that there were soldiers guarding it, and when he inquired, he knew that Liu Bang had already attacked Xianyang.
Xiang Yu was furious and sent Dangyang Junyingbu (i.e., Tuobu) to attack Hangu Pass, and 400,000 troops were stationed at Xinfenghong Gate.
At this time, Liu Bang only had 100,000 troops, stationed in Bashang. The two sides were in a state of confrontation, and it was obvious that Liu Bang's power was much worse than Xiang Yu's.
At this time, Liu Bang's Zuo Sima Cao sent someone to tell Liu Bang that Liu Bang wanted to claim the title of king in Guanzhong and was preparing to use the third son of Qin as a baby in order to fool the people of the world, and also possessed all the treasures.
As soon as Xiang Yu heard this, he was furious and wanted to destroy Liu Bang immediately.
The strategist Fan Zeng added oil and vinegar, saying: Liu Bang was greedy for money and lustful when he was east of Kunshan Mountain, but after entering the customs, he did not take money and goods from women. I sent people to look at Liu Bang's luck, and found that they were all in the shape of dragons and tigers, showing colorful colors, which was the qi of the Son of Heaven. It is better to kill him as soon as possible to avoid trouble.
"Hongmen Feast" happened in this context, under the mixing of a group of churning sticks...
Xiang Yu's uncle, Zuo Yin Xiangbo of the Chu State, and Liu Bang's adviser Zhang Liang were good friends, and when he heard that Xiang Yu followed Fan Zeng's advice to run Liu Bang, it was estimated that Liu Bang was more fierce and less auspicious.
Under the nest, there are finished eggs. Therefore, Xiang Bo went to report to Zhang Liang all night, saying that you should still run away quickly, and don't follow Liu Bang to be a ghost of injustice.
Zhang Liang then fooled Xiang Bo and said, "I am the person sent by King Han to King Pei, and I have to tell him and go with you again." ”
Zhang Liang told Liu Bang about the situation, but Liu Bang was frightened and did not know what to do.
Zhang Liang said, "It is estimated that you can't handle Xiang Yu at present, so it is better to let Xiang Bo give you a word and say a good word for you in front of King Xiang, saying that you will never dare to betray King Xiang." ”
Liu Bang urgently summoned Xiang Bo, received him with the courtesy of treating his brother, and agreed to be his son's family, begging Xiang Bo to say a few kind words in front of Xiang Yu to relieve himself.
Xiang Bo saw that Liu Bang was so polite and it was not good to refuse directly, so he said: "There is no problem in saying a few good words, but you must have an attitude yourself." ”
Liu Bang also knew, "Don't go into the tiger's den, get the tiger." Therefore, he decided to personally go to Xiang Yu's camp to plead guilty.
After Xiang Bo returned, he said to Xiang Yu, "Liu Bang didn't mean to rebel, and if he didn't break through Guanzhong, how could you come in so easily?" If people have merit, you still have to beat people, which is not a battle of righteousness. It is better to invite him to a meal, drink and drink to ease the relationship and avoid hurting the peace. ”
Xiang Yu inexplicably agreed.
The next day, Liu Bang came to Hongmen with a hundred and ten people, asked Xiang Yu for his guilt, and said, "I joined forces with you to attack the Qin state, and I didn't pay attention to attack Xianyang before you did, so that I could wait for your arrival here." Now, some gossip from villains has caused our brothers to have a gap... ”
Without waiting for Liu Bang to finish speaking, Xiang Yu said, "This is all your Zuo Sima Cao said without injury, or else, why would I be suspicious?" ”
With a smile, this matter passed, Xiang Yu ordered people to drink, and the brothers drank.
The counselor Fan Zeng saw that the atmosphere was happy and harmonious, and felt that it was not ok, so he repeatedly gave Xiang Yu a look and asked Xiang Yu to do something, but Xiang Yu did not react.
Fan Zeng couldn't hold his breath, so he got up and went to find Xiang Zhuang and asked him to take advantage of the sword dance to get rid of Liu Bang.
"Xiangzhuang dancing sword, intended to be Pei Gong", this was seen by Xiang Bo, so he got up to dance the sword with Xiang Zhuang, intentionally or unintentionally protecting Liu Bang.
Zhang Liang saw that this was not right, so he came out to find Fan Duo and said, "This matter is troublesome, they want to do Pei Gong Oh, you hurry in to escort ah." ”
Fan Huan was anxious as soon as he heard it, staring at the bull's eye and angry with his hair erect, he broke in.
Xiang Yu asked about the situation, it was Liu Bang's attendant Fan Duo, who rewarded a pig leg, and Fan Duo was not polite, even the fur belt skin was cut with a knife on the shield and eaten.
Xiang Yu asked, "Can a strong man drink?" ”
Fan Huan said, "I am not afraid of death, am I still afraid of drinking?" King Huai of Chu once made a pact with his generals: 'He who enters Xianyang first will be crowned king.' Now Pei Gong took the lead in entering Xianyang, and he didn't dare to use anything, and women didn't dare to enjoy it, just waiting for you to come." But you are good, when you come, you listen to rumors and want to kill people who have merit, which is not righteous. ”
Xiang Yu was blushed and his neck was thickened by Fan Duo, and he said awkwardly: "Sit down and sit down, drink and drink." ”
Subsequently, Liu Bang made an excuse and said that he wanted to go to the toilet, and called Fan Huan out by the way.
Crouching on the pit, Liu Bang said: "Go back, I'm afraid there will be no good fruit to eat; don't go back, and you are afraid of losing your etiquette and making King Xiang question." ”
Fan Duo said: "Man is a knife trick, I am a fish meat." All knives are on the neck, and they also take care of the ball etiquette! ”
Therefore, Liu Bang left his vehicles and retinues behind, and rode away on his own. Fan Duo, Xiahou Bao, Jin Qiang, Ji Xin and four others protected Liu Bang on foot and escaped.
It is estimated that Liu Bang has gone far, and Zhang Liangcai went in to apologize for Liu Bang, saying: "Pei Gong's amount of alcohol is not good, he can't resign, and he went back in advance." ”
Zhang Liang presented the gifts prepared by Liu Bang, and Xiang Yu took a pair of white walls given to him and put them on the seat, and did not pursue Liu Bang's resignation.
Fan Zeng took a pair of jade buckets given to him, placed them on the ground, and smashed them on the spot with his sword, saying: "The shafts are not enough and plotting, and we people will soon be captured by him." ”
Liu Bang returned to the military camp and immediately killed Cao Wu.
The bridge section of "Hongmen Feast" is very well described, the climax is repeated, and the readers are pinching a handful of sweat for Liu Bang. But the ghost sent the gods, and Liu Bang actually escaped the disaster and returned to the Han camp safely.
As far as the military strength at that time was concerned, Xiang Yu occupied an absolute advantage. However, due to Xiang Yu's indecisiveness and the benevolence of a woman, he could not listen to the correct advice of his father Fan Zeng, and eventually led to the fiasco of self-destruction.
On the other hand, Liu Bang, under extremely unfavorable circumstances, was able to listen to Zhang Liang's ideas and use the friendly relationship between Xiang Bo and Zhang Liang to gradually resolve the crisis and win the opportunity to overturn.
At the same time, Liu Bang did things cleanly and neatly, without dragging mud and water, and killing Cao Without injury showed this.
This so-called "Heaven does not take what is given, but is to be blamed by it; when it is not possible, it suffers from it." ”
Heaven gave Xiang Yu a chance, but he didn't seize it, who could he blame?
In the past, I always thought that Liu Bang had won the world, which seemed to be a disgraceful thing. However, through the Hongmen Banquet, it is enough to show that Liu Bang was able to get the world, and there was a reason.
Nothing can be easily achieved, And Liu Bang was able to get the world by virtue of his own ability.
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