It is said that in mid-November, Xiang Yu led his army to Hangu Pass, found that Hangu closed the door and closed it, and heard that Liu Bang had pacified Guanzhong. So Xiang Yu was furious and sent Yingbu to capture Hangu Pass.
Do you think this passage has credibility? In my opinion, this passage has no credibility at all.
In the past month or so, Xiang Yu has definitely not lived on Mars. How could Xiang Yu not know the news that Liu Bang had conquered Hangu Pass?
Three years ago, Chen Sheng led nine hundred people to shout with their arms raised. In a period of one or two months, most of the homeland of the Six Kingdoms had been restored, and the expeditionary army had even killed less than a hundred miles away from Xianyang City.
Three years later, the Qin Empire had officially collapsed in October, and Xiang Yu, as the commander of the 400,000-strong army, did not know about this matter for more than a month.
Chen Sheng only needed a month or two to spread the news of the uprising all over the world, and Liu Bang was able to block the news of the demise of the Qin state for more than a month.
Let's imagine: If Chen Sheng and Liu Bang play against each other, Chen Sheng passes on the news, and Liu Bang blocks the news, will this news be passed on in the end? Does this count as the late Qin version of "spear of the son, shield of the attacker"?
I think that Xiang Yu could never have reached the Hangu Pass to know that the Qin state had perished. On the contrary, they heard the news of the demise of the Qin state and hurried to Guanzhong.
It should be known that Liu Bang was pacifying the entire Guanzhong, not just occupying a Xianyang City. The arrival of the prince of Qin meant that the Qin state would inform the entire Guanzhong region (including, of course, some areas in the Kwantung) through official channels.
With the official communications capabilities at the time, this news should have spread throughout the Guanzhong region within ten days. More than a month is enough for the whole world to know.
Liu Bang was the commander of the Western Expedition of the Chu State, and he did not live in the Imperial Palace of the State of Qin, which proves that Liu Bang still regarded himself as the commander of the Western Expedition of the Chu State. Therefore, Liu Bang would definitely inform the King of Chu Huai of the news of the demise of the Qin state in the shortest possible time.
In this way, the news of the demise of the Qin state can never be a secret, but a fact known to the whole world.
The truth of this period of history should be that the combined forces of the princes represented by Xiang Yu have been standing still in the Hebei region, fighting for various issues, and have never been able to reach an agreement. After Zhang Handan surrendered in July, what should have been a direct expedition to Guanzhong was shelved indefinitely. But at the end of October, the news of the demise of the Qin state suddenly came, and everyone was anxious. This is probably the legendary "sandpiper clams fight each other, fishermen win", right?
Judging from the comparison of strength, the combined forces of the princes represented by Xiang Yu were already invincible in july (Zhang Handan surrendered). If they decide to join forces to attack Guanzhong, they can definitely drive all the way in. Even with such a powerful military force as the backing, as long as a 20,000 or 30,000-strong army is sent to punish them, they can also be invincible, because no one dares to stop them.
But Xiang Yu was overconfident, thinking that the Qin State was already the meat in their own bowl, and there was no difference between early and late clamps. So they fought for some meat that had not yet been put in the bowl. Let Liu Bang, who originally had no chance to "enter the fixed pass first", pick up such a ready-made bargain. Faced with this situation, the combined forces of the princes represented by Xiang Yu must have been dumbfounded.
An even more dangerous matter is still to come: if Xiang Yu and the others cannot yet agree and immediately march to Guanzhong, after Liu Bang has integrated the resources of Guanzhong, it will be equivalent to one Qin state falling and another Qin state standing up again. At that time, Liu Banghui could close the gate of Hangu and enter the homeland of the Six Kingdoms.
At present, Liu Bang is only just entering Guanzhong, and the resources of the Qin state's homeland have not yet been fully integrated. At this time, as long as he arrived at Guanzhong as soon as possible, with Liu Bang's existing strength, he would never dare to confront the coalition forces.
No time to hesitate! Xiang Yu could only harden his scalp and lead these ghostly princes to march towards Guanzhong one by one.
What was Xiang Yu and the princes of various countries fighting over? So that for three or four months in a row, they have no intention of moving west?
There is only one answer: interests.
To be more specific: the benefits that have not yet arrived but are about to arrive.
The divergence point is: the benefits that have not yet arrived but can always arrive.
The interest that has not yet arrived but is about to arrive is: Who will lead the army into Guanzhong and become the king of Hanzhong?
After Zhang Handan surrendered, the Qin Dynasty had long since ceased to exist in name only. The so-called who will lead the army into Guanzhong is who will pick peaches. The danger is not great, but the benefits are very rich, because the King of Chu Huai has long said: "The first to enter the fixed pass is the king.".
Who would most like to perform this task? I guess it was Zhang Handan. Because he was a general from the Qin Dynasty, it was natural to carry out this task with ease. When the anti-Qin coalition forces persuaded Zhang Handan to surrender, the words were to let Zhang Handan manage Guanzhong. (At least that's what Chen Yu said)
Moreover, after Zhang Handan surrendered to Xiang Yu, he was also made the King of Yong by Xiang Yu. This in itself also proves that Xiang Yu also approved Zhang Handan to claim the title of king in Guanzhong. More importantly, the locals should be allowed to manage their hometowns, because Chu, Zhao, Wei, Han, Yan, and Qi were all like this.
But when the real interests are in front of you, all the promises are a piece of waste paper.
So when Zhang Handan said this, I guess there must be a frying pan below. None of them admitted that they had promised Zhang Handan anything, that was what Chen Yu said, you go to Chen Yu. Chen Yu can also say: I did say such a thing, but now it is Xiang Yu who is in charge, I said it does not count, you find Xiang Yu to go. Xiang Yu also said smoothly: I just crowned you as the Yong King, but I didn't promise you anything, you don't add drama to yourself!
Xiang Yu also hoped to enter Guanzhong first, but Zhang Handan's 200,000 Qin troops were real. If they are not allowed to return to Guanzhong, where should they be placed?
If Xiang Yu nested in Guanzhong, sat and watched the 200,000 Qin troops and the combined forces of various countries fight and bleed, and then slowly and leisurely go out of the customs to clean up the mess, then the whole world would be Xiang Yu's bag.
The meaning of the princes of various countries is very simple: enter the Guanzhong first, Zhang Handan don't think about it, and you Xiang Yu don't think about it. The final solution can only be: everyone enters the customs together, and no one should think about eating alone.
The interest that has not yet arrived but always arrives is: how should the territory under the whole world be divided?
It's okay for everyone to enter the customs together. But if the territory is not clearly demarcated, why should everyone accompany Xiang Yu or Zhang Handan into the Guanzhong?
When it comes to Guanzhong to grab the land, most people are definitely not qualified, and at most they can take some belongings with them, so they can only go back to each house to find their mothers. But when it comes to the specific operation link, there will be countless trivial things to pull around.
Have you ever had a group meeting? Dividing the territory is much more difficult than that, and this is not something that can be done in a few days. Such meetings include not only intelligence warfare, but also psychological warfare. If it were not for the news of the demise of the Qin state, I reckon they would have continued to meet.
At this point, everyone felt that Xiang Yu was indecisive, as if xiang Yu could unify the world at that time as long as he was not indecisive.
This kind of statement obviously does not regard the princes of various countries as people. The decisions made by everyone are subject to objective conditions. Now it is a partnership to do business, Xiang Yu has the most capital, but there is no way to forcibly annex other shareholders. This is not Xiang Yu's indecisiveness, but his lack of capital.
If the objective conditions can be met, Xiang Yu naturally hopes to establish a unified government, and everyone will accompany me to live in Guanzhong from now on, and I will not treat you badly!
But the reality is so cruel: where does Xiang Yu have this kind of capital?
This is the most painful moment for the league, everyone wants to get more benefits, but everyone does not want the league to break. So you can't compromise and you can't turn your face. What to do? Meeting!
Just as everyone was enduring the torture of the endless meeting, a surprising news came: The Qin kingdom has perished!
If there was a narrator at the meeting, he would definitely look up at the sky and laugh: "Hahaha! I told you to have a meeting, I told you to calculate, this is all dumbfounded, right? ”
When everyone heard the news of Liu Bang's entry into the customs, they said that they could not continue the meeting. Because the most urgent task now is how to deal with Liu Bang!
First of all, Xiang Yu would definitely be in a hurry. If Liu Bang is allowed to monopolize Guanzhong, the name of the world's largest powerful faction will belong to Liu Bang. Because, if Liu Bang monopolized the Guanzhong region, it would mean that the old Qin state fell and the new Qin state stood up. In the context of the world's return to the Warring States pattern, what this means, I believe I do not need to analyze more.
Secondly, Zhang Handan was definitely in a hurry. If Liu Bang was allowed to monopolize Guanzhong, where would Zhang Handan and his 200,000 Qin troops be resettled? The Qin army could not even occupy the Qin state, so did they still want to grab a piece of land in the homeland of the Six Kingdoms?
Seeing that the two largest legions were serious and serious, everyone finally did not dare to play rogues anymore. So the coalition decided to enter Guanzhong and first meet Liu Bang to see how Liu Bang would respond.