Su Dongpo, a great writer, once wrote an essay "Fan Zeng's Theory", in which the content of the discussion is the timing of Fan Zeng's departure, he believes that Fan Zeng should choose to leave earlier, we can take a look, reasonable or unreasonable?
First, the timing of Fan Zeng's departure
Let's first understand the timing of Fan Zeng's departure.
In 204 BC, halfway through the Chu-Han war (206 BC – 202 BC), Xiang Yu was still in the ascendancy, but the more delicate the situation became. Tian Hengtian Guang threatened the State of Chu at all times in the State of Qi, Peng Yue continued to harass liangdi, Han Xin had just taken Wei and Dai, in order to stabilize the situation in the hope of attacking Zhao, the King of Jiujiang, Yingbu, had also rebelled, and Xiang Yu firmly trapped Liu Bang at Xingyang and seized Liu Bang's grain routes several times.
In order to escape, Liu Bang proposed peace to Liu Bang; and Xiang Yu wanted to pacify several forces in the backyard, and he also had the heart to agree, at this time, Fan Zeng proposed that if he did not take Liu Bang, the king of Han now, he would regret it later, so Xiang Yu made up his mind to take Xingyang and kill Liu Bang.
Therefore, in order to understand Fan Zeng's eye nail, Liu Bang adopted Chen Ping's counter-plan, that is, when Xiang Yu's emissaries came, he gave him warm hospitality, and then pretended to be suddenly discovered and said: "It turned out to be Xiang Yu's emissaries, and we still thought they were the emissaries of Father Ya (Fan Zeng)." The emissary returned Xiang Yu, and Xiang Yu began to suspect Fan Zeng, so he began to cut Fan Zeng's power little by little, and Fan Zeng felt distrusted and asked Xiang Yu to resign.
After Xiang Yu agreed, Fan Zeng left, but before he reached Pengcheng, he fell ill and died.
Second, Su Shi's point of view
Su Shi believes in the "Fan Zeng":
After the Feast at the Hongmen Gate, although Fan Zeng persuaded Xiang Yu to kill Liu Bang without success, after all, this incident reflected Xiang Yu's measurements, and making suggestions was also Fan Zeng's own job, and Fan Zeng was unlikely to leave because of this matter.
The timing of Fan Zeng's departure should be after Xiang Yu killed Song Yi.
The reason is that the Xiang clan arose in xiongxin, the king of Lichu, and Xiang Yu's rebellion by the princes was due to his killing of Emperor Yi. The King of Chu Huai was only established by Xiang Liang at the suggestion of Fan Zeng, so Fan Zeng should have sided with Emperor Yi xiongxin. Xiang Yu's killing of Song Yi was a precursor to killing Emperor Yi, so when Xiang Yu killed Song Yi, Fan Zeng, who was also a courtier of Emperor Yi, should choose to either kill Xiang Yu or leave Xiang Yu, rather than continue to follow Xiang Yu.
Fang Yu killed the champion of Qingzi, increased and Yu was comparable to the Emperor of Righteousness, and the division of kings and subjects was undecided. For those who increase their calculations, if they can curse Yu, they will curse it, and if they can't, they will go to it, won't they resolutely have a big husband? ——Su Shi's "Fan Zeng's Theory"
Third, water talks
Shui Yibai's view of when Fan Zeng left Xiang Yu depended mainly on whether he was from the perspective of Xiang Shi or the perspective of Emperor Yi.
According to Su Shi's point of view, he believed that Fan Zeng was the one who "ascended to the throne" of Emperor Huiyi, so he should do his duty as a courtier, but Shui Yibai believed that the main reason why Fan Zeng recommended Xiong Xin to Xiang Liang was precisely so that Xiang Liang's power could become bigger and stronger, and Fan Zeng's heart was on the side of The Xiang clan, not the "cattle herding" Xiong Xin.
Song Yi received the order of Xiong Xin, the king of ChuHuai, to save Zhao, but he kept sitting idly by, wanting to wait for Qin Yue to divide the victory and defeat, and then share a piece of the pie, is this also against the will of the King of Chu Huai? Did Xiang Yu kill him as "assisting" King Huai of Chu in his execution? At this time, Fan Zeng could not want to leave.
Of course, when the Hongmen Feast was held, Fan Zeng would not choose to leave, and it was indeed impossible for the subordinates to adopt every suggestion they made to the superiors. However, after Xiang Yu killed Emperor Yi, it was indeed an opportunity for Fan Zeng to leave. It was not because Fan Zeng and Emperor Yi had one heart, but because they killed Emperor Yi, indicating that Xiang Yu's strategic direction had begun to change, which was contrary to Fan Zeng's original idea.
Therefore, if from this point of view, when Xiang Yu killed Emperor Yi, it was an opportunity for Fan Zeng to leave, but it did not hurt not to leave. The opportunity that really made Fan Zeng feel that he should leave was "Xiang Yu suspected that he had an affair with Han and slightly seized the power", that is to say, Xiang Yu did not trust him, and the performance of distrust was to slowly take away his power, which was the fundamental reason for Fan Zeng's departure.
Therefore, Fan Zeng's departure from Xiang Yu at this point in time is also a very normal choice, but it will feel strange to leave early.