In 202 BC, the old treacherous Liu Bang defeated the invincible King Xiang Yu of Chu and held a celebratory cocktail party at the Luoyang Southern Palace. When he was drunk, Liu Bang triumphantly asked the courtiers below why Lao Tzu was able to win the world, and why did Xiang Yu lose the world?
Wang Ling and other gengzhi ministers believed that the main reason why Liu Bang was able to win the world and why Xiang Yu lost the world was that Liu Bang was able to achieve the same benefit as the world and was willing to reward meritorious ministers, but Xiang Yu was jealous of his ability and was unwilling to be rewarded.
For this statement, Liu Bang said a very famous sentence in history. He said: "The public knows one, but the second is unknown." In the midst of the husband's planning, the decisive victory is thousands of miles away, I am not as good as the sub-house; fill the country, care for the people, give rewards, and do not stop grain, I am not as good as Xiao He; even a million people, the battle will be won, the attack will be won, I am not as good as Han Xin. All three are masterpieces, I can use them, so I take the world. Xiang Yu has a fan increase and can not be used, so this is for my birds also. ”
That is to say, on the question of why Liu Bang was able to defeat Xiang Yu and seize the world, most of Liu Bang's courtiers believed that it was because Liu Bang was willing to be rewarded, while Liu Bang himself believed that the main reason was not only that he was willing to be rewarded, but also because he would employ people.
Indeed, Liu Bang is more capable of employing people than Xiang Yu, which is an indisputable fact. However, I thought that Liu Bang's above words were half and half left - he only said that he would use people, but did not tell everyone that his greater ability was to know people.
In the autumn of the second year of han (205 BC), Wei Bao, seeing that the situation was unfavorable, returned to Wei on the pretext of visiting relatives and rebelled against Liu Bang. Liu Bang, after unsuccessfully lobbying for Li Shiqi, prepared to send an army to attack Wei. Before sending an army to attack Wei Bao, Liu Bang asked Li Shiqi, who had just returned from Wei, "Who is the General of Wei?" Li Shiqi replied, "Bai Zhi." Liu Bang said, "It's still a mouthful, An can be Han Xin!" Who will ride? Li Shiqi replied that it was Feng Jing. Liu Bang said: "Feng Jing is the Qin general Feng Wuziye, although xian, can not be an irrigation baby. Who will the foot soldiers be? "Eat its pair": "Xiang it." Liu Bang said, "You can't be Cao Ginseng." I'm fine! ”
This historical record can very well explain Liu Bang's ability to know people, he not only knows how many pounds and a few pounds his soldiers have, but also studies the talents of the other side's soldiers very thoroughly. The so-called "knowing oneself and knowing the other will not be lost in a hundred battles", sure enough, Han Xin, Cao Ginseng, Dou Bao, and others used wooden poppies as boats to smuggle across Xiayang and besiege Anyi, and it took less than a month to force Wei Bao to sacrifice the city and surrender to Han.
In 195 BC, liu Bang was critically ill, and Lü Hou (Lü Yan) asked Liu Bang: "After a hundred years of Your Majesty, if Xiao Xiangguo also dies, who will take over as Xiangguo for him?" Liu Bang, who had already stepped into the ghost gate with one foot, said, "Cao Can." Lü Hou asked Cao Shan about the future, and Liu Bang said, "Wang Ling can." However, he was slightly pedantic and straight, and Chen Ping could help him. Chen Ping had more than enough wisdom, but it was difficult to take on heavy responsibilities alone. Zhou Bo was deep and generous, and lacked literary talent, but it must be Zhou Bo who stabilized The Liu clan's world, and he could be made a lieutenant. When Lü Hou asked about the future, Liu Bang said, "What happens after that is not what you can know." ”
This dialogue between Liu Bang and Lü Yan is not so much Liu Bang's last words as Liu Bang's dying prophecies. What is impressive is that the development trend of the Western Han Dynasty in the later period was basically in accordance with Liu Bang's prediction.
Why did Liu Bang do this? In the final analysis, it is his unique ability to know people.
Knowing people is a necessary premise and important guarantee for being able to employ people, and the reason why Liu Bang can use people is because he has the ability to know people that others do not have. It can be said that Liu Bang's ability to recognize people, whether at that time or in later generations, is unparalleled in the world, and few people can surpass him.