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In other words, in history, I am afraid that only Sima Qian dared to record the merits and demerits of Emperor Wu of Han in the history books, and even the content of the Zizhi Tongjian did not dare to rebel against the emperors of the dynasty.
Therefore, although the historians of all generations have always recorded the history of the dynasty impartially and objectively, they cannot escape the law that history is written by the victors. In order to consolidate the rule of the authorities, the authorities used means to dilute the weight of the common people in their hearts over the former dynasty, and even did not hesitate to directly blacken it.
For example, after the Xuanwumen Rebellion, Li Shimin began to deliberately blacken his image in order to reduce the influence of Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji, reducing his influence on the common people.
However, there are exceptions, Liu Bang and Xiang Yu, who are also the enemies of life and death, have not had such a situation, and it can be seen from the poems of many poets in later generations that some of Xiang Yu's spirit has always been praised by posterity.
Therefore, Liu Bang, as the victor, did not deliberately blacken the objective facts of Xiang Yu in the history books, which seems to be somewhat abnormal for Liu Bang, the "leper".
With Liu Bang's mind, after winning the world, in order to stabilize himself, he eliminated many heroes, not to mention Xiang Yu, who had humiliated him to the extreme.
In order to show his thickness for the emperor, Liu Bang also deliberately gave the "national surname" to the descendants of the Xiang family, which shows that Liu Bang's favor for the Xiang family is not a star and a half.
In some historical materials, it is indeed recorded that after Xiang Yu killed Wujiang, Liu Bang personally buried his coffin, which can be said to be very different from many victorious rulers in history, and also proves that Liu Bang's mind is not ordinary.
Of course, this does not mean that Liu Bang is a saint, but it can be said that Liu Bang really admires Xiang Yu's heroism.
In Liu Bang's youth, he was a chivalrous guest, although in the historical documents Liu Bang was a person who "hid the bird with a bow", but this did not hinder Liu Bang's respect and admiration for heroic figures.
Just like when Liu Bang was still a nobody, when he met Qin Shi Huang on the street, he not only sighed: The big husband should be like this!
Moreover, Liu Bang was able to deliberately lower his status as a high-ranking person, which naturally won him the praise of the people of the world, and even won the admiration of a large number of descendants of the old Six Kingdoms.
It can be said that Liu Bang used his mind to accept and accommodate the people of the Six Kingdoms, and later, as the world has been set to be peaceful and prosperous, it is rare for anyone to mention the "Six Kingdoms", and the land of China is Han, realizing the first great integration of China.
The fundamental reason why the rulers of various dynasties deliberately blackened the former dynasty was because of the prestige accumulated by the previous generation in the people for many years and the support of many people.
Once someone deliberately incites the wind and ignition, it is very easy to cause turmoil, and the more typical one is to reverse the Qing Dynasty and restore the Light. Therefore, the authorities did their best to blacken the former dynasty in order to reduce its position in the hearts of the people.
But Xiang Yu was different, embattled, the battle under the siege, which had long been betrayed and unpopular, coupled with the deep homesickness of the soldiers who had followed Xiang Yu for many years, was even more eager to end this damn war as soon as possible.
Therefore, when Xiang Yu was forced by Liu Bang to face the great river, he was already alone, and there were no cronies around him.
At the same time, Liu Bang can be said to have won the hearts of the people, and at this time, there is no need for him to blacken Xiang Yu again, otherwise, it will inevitably backfire.
References for this article: "Chu Han Contend for Hegemony", "Liu Bang Biography", "History of Han Shu", "Baidu Encyclopedia Related Entries - Chu Han Contending For Hegemony, Liu Bang Biography, Xiang Yu Biography, etc."