Xiang Yu was defeated, and Liu Bang also divided the princes, so why was he able to unify the country in the end?
Xiang Yu and Liu Bang competed for the world, and finally the army was defeated by himself, and the posterity regretted xiang Yu and even unevenly, thinking that Liu Bang's seizure of the world was a fluke, in fact, it was not, Xiang Yu's failure was already doomed, and the root of his failure was that he obeyed the requirements of the world.
It is a fait accompli that those who have already been sealed, whether they are satisfied with the status quo or not, will not be willing to fight for Xiang Yu. But the war will continue. On the other hand, the continuation of the war is only between warlords and warlords, purely a contest of strength. Unlike the anti-Qin uprising, the rebellion against tyranny and the restoration of the Six Kingdoms, all shoulder the hope of the world. Since the war was going to continue, Chen Sheng's words, "Wang Hou Will Be a General, Ning has a kind of Hu", and how many cloth-clad people have pinned their hopes on the marquis to worship Xiang! Overthrowing the Qin Dynasty can be said to be a rebellion against tyranny, but it is also pushed by the wall. At that time, the princes of all walks of life were really powerful, in fact, only the Xiang and Liu families. Xiang Yu fought with the Qin army in the giant deer, and more than a dozen princes of the road were watching from the wall. Xiang Yu's army was ten, and the various princes' armies that had already watched from the sidelines were shocked.
After the victory, the princes of all walks of life met Xiang Yu and "walked forward on their knees, and did not dare to look up", which had a little heroic spirit. There were also a few Qin Dynasty generals, who were not only surrendering people, but they did not dare to say a word when they saw Xiang Yu pit killing 200,000 descendants, but they were walking dead, where there would be a little bit of arrogance. Therefore, there are very few princes who cannot be fished by others. After the outbreak of the anti-Qin uprising, many cloths placed their hopes of being a marquis and worshiping the chancellor in the restoration of the Six Kingdoms. And when Xiang Yu divided the princes, these original cloth clothes, for the title of marquis, and even called the king emperor, rose up to compete for the world.
In the Chu-Han War, Liu Bang also sealed several kings in order to seize the world.
Tuobu was originally a subordinate of Xiang Yu. Later, he decided to betray Xiang Yu, and the fundamental reason was because Liu Bang promised to split the land with him in the future. After defecting to Liu Bang, he was made the King of Huainan. Han Xin was originally in Xiang Yu's army, but he could not be reused, so he defected to Liu Bang. Liu Bang marched east, and Han Xin led an army to attack Zhao and Qi. After capturing Qidi, he asked for the title of "False King", but Liu Bang made him the "True King". There was also Peng Yue, who rose up in Wei at the end of Qin and fought with Liu Bang. Liu Bang moved west, but he remained in Wei and did not belong to Xiang Yu later. Liu Bang marched east, and Peng Yue was appointed As Minister of Wei. After Wei Bao's death, there were no descendants, and Peng Yue was looking forward to being crowned king in Wei, but Liu Bang did not fulfill his wish. Liu Bang broke the treaty, chased Xiang Yu poorly, and asked Han Xin and Peng Yue to join him, but they all stood still, so that Liu Bang lost the battle with Xiang Yu at Guling.
Han Xin knew that Liu Bang had made him the King of Qi, and he was unwilling in his heart, so he had always been suspicious. Peng Yue was also very dissatisfied with the fact that he had not been crowned king. Therefore, at Zhang Liang's suggestion, Liu Bang agreed with Han Xin and Peng Yue that after defeating Xiang Yu, they would each hold part of Chu and Wei, one as the King of Chu and the other as the King of Liang. With Liu Bang's promise, Han Xin and Peng Yue immediately led their troops to join Liu Bang, and Tuobu also sent troops from Jiujiang to rendezvous at this time, so he completely annihilated Xiang Yuhe.
In the Chu-Han War, Liu Bang won. During the war, Liu Bang accepted Zhang Liang's suggestion and did not adopt the method of restoring the Six Kingdoms to weaken Xiang Yu. He made Han Xin and Peng Yue kings out of necessity. Among his own generals, only Han Xin dared to ask Liu Bang to make him a "false king". This is very different from chen sheng's claim to the throne, his subordinates either claiming to be kings themselves, or restoring the Six Kingdoms, and the situation is very different. In the final analysis, Liu Bang's canonization was only a temporary measure, and after he sat firmly in the world, he killed all those kings with different surnames, and he knew from his heart that dividing the seals was not good for him, and he also followed his own ideas after that.
Liu Bang called himself empress, and the hero wanted to split the land and crown the king, and there were many people. They praised Liu Bang: Attacking the city strategically, whoever lays the foundation will belong to whom, "with the same benefit as the world"; unlike Xiang Yu, "victory without human merit, land without human benefit", only to lose the support of the world. Liu Bang ignored these praises, knowing that these people actually wanted to be crowned king. He told them that the reason why he won was because he used Zhang Liang, Xiao He and Han Xin. He made Xiao He the first of his exploits. It is said that Xiao He is a "meritorious man", and the generals are just "meritorious dogs". All of his one hundred and thirty-seven meritorious servants were all enfeoffed, but not feudal. After eliminating the king with different surnames, he even made an oath with the heroes: "The king who is not the Liu clan, the world will strike together!" ”
Xiang Yu obeyed the requirements of the world, in large part, also because of his aristocratic status, so that he always immersed himself in the yearning for the hegemon of the "feudal" era. Although he was envious of the supremely honorable appearance of the First Emperor when he was traveling, he blurted out, "He can take his place!" "But in the end, I still can't wait to divide the princes and be satisfied with being a hegemon." The world has the demand of division, but the division cannot make the world stable. However, Xiang Yu not only could not end the war, but also led to his own disadvantage in the next war, and eventually lost the war.
Unlike Xiang Yu, Liu Bang had ambitions to annex the world from the beginning. Liu Bang was the King of Han, and Xiao He recommended Han Xin to him, saying that if he only wanted to be king in Hanzhong, he would not be able to use such a figure; but if he wanted to seize the world, he would have no one to use except Han Xin. Liu Bang immediately accepted Xiao He's suggestion, "Choose a good day, fast, and set up an altar field", and worship Han Xin as a great general.
He used Xiao He as a picture, and he also favored Xiao He as soon as he entered the customs, and the generals robbed of gold and silver property, but Xiao He alone collected the Books of the Qin Dynasty on the dangerous terrain under the world, the number of hukou, the local rich and poor, and the people's sufferings; these were all valuable materials for governing the world in the future. Therefore, when Zhang Liang told him why he could not divide the Six Kingdoms, he understood it as soon as he heard it. Because of this, Liu Bang and I will not comply with the requirements of the world, we must fight with Xiang Yu, but also with the princes of the world, to win or lose. He later eliminated the kings of the Han Dynasty, but in fact it was still a continuation of this war.