After the fall of the Qin Dynasty, the Chu and Han dynasties fought, and in the end, the winner was not Xiang Yu, who was from an aristocratic background, but a small Liu Bang, which made many people feel sorry for Xiang Yu. In the "Records of History", Sima Qian not only created a tragic hero Xiang Yu for us, but also exposed Liu Bang's rogue appearance. As far as personal force was concerned, Liu Bang was definitely not Xiang Yu's opponent, and Xiang Yu had asked to duel with Liu Bang, and Liu Bang did not dare to fight at all. In terms of military command ability, Liu Bang was definitely inferior to Xiang Yu, not to mention the outstanding merits established by Xiang Yu in the process of destroying Qin, it is said that in the process of the Chu-Han struggle, Liu Bang once led an army of 560,000 but was beaten by Xiang Yu's 30,000 people. But in the end, Liu Bang ascended the throne as emperor, and Xiang Yu killed himself in Wujiang. This cannot but make people feel sorry, a poem by Li Qingzhao: "Born as a master, death is also a ghost." Still thinking about Xiang Yu, he refused to cross Jiangdong. "It represents many people's feelings about the Chu-Han rivalry." People always can't help but imagine, if Xiang Yu crossed the Jiangdong, what would be the result?
Map of the situation of the Chu-Han rivalry
Here it is necessary for us to analyze why it was Liu Bang who won the chu-Han struggle in the end. After Liu Bang seized the world, Liu Bang once discussed everyone's military talents with Han Xin. Liu Bang asked Han Xin, how many soldiers can I bring? Han Xin said, Your Majesty can bring up to 100,000 people, more than 100,000 people, and you will not be able to command the light. Liu Bang asked, how much can you bring? Han Xin said: The more I am, the better! Liu Bang smiled and said, If this is the case, why am I the emperor and you are caught here by me? Han Xin replied: Your Majesty is not good at leading soldiers, but he is good at leading generals! This is very important, although Liu Bang himself has limited ability, Liu Bang's greatest advantage is to be good at taking advantage of the strengths of others. Liu Bang himself later summed up the reason why he seized the world was to be able to get Xiao He, Zhang Liang, and Han Xin, these three masters. Xiang Yu himself is very capable, but he is rigid and self-conscious, and he is not good at discovering and using talents. Many talents in Liu Bang's camp were separated from Xiang Yu's camp, such as Han Xin, Chen Ping, Shusun Tong and others. Being good at discovering and using talents is an important reason why Liu Bang can win. When Xiang Yu was besieged under the siege, he still did not wake up, he still tried to show his outstanding talents, "breaking the siege, cutting the generals, and slashing the flag" on the battlefield. From this point of view, even if Xiang Yu has passed Jiangdong, I am afraid that he still has to rely on his personal ability to confront Liu Bang, and he has not fully realized the importance of talent.
Images of Ying Kuni
Secondly, the reason why Liu Bang was able to win was not only because he could use talent, but also because Liu Bang was able to form a broad political alliance. From the beginning of the Chu-Han rivalry, Xiang Yu was always in a situation of fighting alone. On the contrary, Liu Bang is able to unite as many people as possible. Although Liu Bang may not trust these people, in the face of the great enemy, Liu Bang treats the powerful figures in various places with an open mind and unites them around him, for example, when Liu Bang first went out of the customs and went straight to Pengcheng, Xiang Yu's old lair, he brought the people and horses of the Five Roads Princes. During the siege, those who participated in Liu Bang's camp were Han Xin the King of Qi, Yingbu the King of Huainan, Peng Yue the King of Liang, Zhang Ao the King of Zhao, Wang Xin of Han, Zang Di the King of Yan, and so on. Even in Xiang Yu's base area, Xiang Yu might not be able to effectively organize a strong alliance. Therefore, when the embattled song sounded, Xiang Yu immediately lost all morale, and Xiang Yu's troops also quickly collapsed. After Xiang Yu completed the sealing, Xiang Yu was not able to settle down for a day at all! His so-called divisions have made too many enemies for him, and he has not many real allies. Before Xiang Yu died, he only realized that his own demise was a heavenly death, not a war crime. I am afraid that after Xiang Yu really crossed the river, he might not be able to organize an anti-Liu alliance, and his isolated and helpless situation would still be difficult to change.
Portrait of Han Xin
Again, more importantly, Xiang Yu's failure is not because Xiang Yu can't fight, but because Xiang Yu is using his personal strength to compete with the general trend of history! After the fall of the Qin state, Xiang Yu did not have the idea of becoming an emperor, and his highest ideal was to be a king of Western Chu. Not to mention that his overlord ordered the world to be unjust and unsmooth, and the division he carried out was even more contrary to the tide of history. The division of the seal is a very strong concept in people's minds since the Warring States, so after Qin Shi Huang seized the world, some people also suggested that Qin Shi Huang divide the seal. But Qin Shi Huang adopted Li Si's suggestion, believing that the county system was a more advanced system. Today, of course, we think that the advantages of the county system are more obvious, but the county system is an important factor for the short life of the Qin Dynasty. After all, people's ideologies and concepts still have great resistance to accepting the county system, and all localities also have a very strong idea of homeland. We recognize that reunification is the trend of the times. However, for the Qin Dynasty, there was the disadvantage of being too hasty. After the fall of the Qin Dynasty, Xiang Yu relied on his outstanding military achievements to gain the power to control the fate of the world. At this time, Xiang Yu completely obeyed people's old concepts and carried out large-scale division. Completely went to the other side of Qin Shi Huang! Not to mention, Xiang Yu's sub-sealing is not entirely reasonable, and as far as the sub-sealing itself is concerned, it also goes against the trend of historical development. Reunification has become an inevitable development trend of history, but Xiang Yu wants everyone to retreat to the Warring States era. On the contrary, at the beginning of Liu Bang's entry into the customs, his goal was to be the king of Guanzhong. However, Xiang Yu made him the King of Han and demoted him to Hanzhong. By the time Liu Bang set out from Hanzhong again, Liu Bang was no longer trying to capture Guanzhong, his goal was to seize the world. Liu Bang was forced by the situation and also divided the seals, such as sealing Zhang Er as the King of Zhao, Han Xin as the King of Qi, Peng Yue as the King of Liang, Yingbu as the King of Huainan, and so on. But Liu Bang was able to control these people first, such as Han Xin, who was always toyed with by Liu Bang. Moreover, Liu Bang's sub-sealing was only a stopgap measure, which was essentially different from Xiang Yu's sub-sealing. Failure to recognize the general trend of historical development is the most fundamental reason for Xiang Yu's failure. However, Xiang Yu did not realize that he was fighting against the general trend of the world with his own strength before Wujiang killed himself. If Xiang Yu crossed the river, all he could do was to divide and protect himself, just as The chief of Wujiang Pavilion said: "Although Jiangdong is small, the place is thousands of miles, and hundreds of thousands of people are also enough." "Xiang Yu is nothing more than to be a king of Jiangdong, and he has no ambition to make a comeback."
Xiang Yu was divided into eighteen princes
Fourth, although Liu Bang himself had a very heavy rogue atmosphere, Liu Bang was born a commoner, and he understood the suffering of the people. Liu Bang himself led the troops to fight and put the people in mind. Even Liu Bang himself, who first started an army, also had the nature of resisting tyranny. After Liu Bang entered the customs, he did not commit any crime against the people of Guanzhong, and there were three chapters of the law. Liu Bang had never killed a surrender, let alone slaughtered such a bloody atrocity! Later, Xiao He built the palace of Chang'an City, and after Liu Bang went out to fight and returned to Chang'an, when he saw that the palace was very magnificent, Liu Bang was furious and angrily rebuked Xiao He for not caring about the lives of the people. It can be seen that Liu Bang's heart is still more or less loaded with the people. Instead, let's look at Xiang Yu. Xiang Yu raised an army, but only to restore the social welfare of the Chu state and restore the glory of their family's past. Although Xiang Yu made great contributions in the anti-Qin struggle, Xiang Yu killed 200,000 Qin troops in Xin'an County, and after Xiang Yu entered the customs, he carried out large-scale destruction and burned for three months. The people of Guanzhong hated Xiang Yu to the bone. Therefore, when the Chu and Han dynasties fought at a critical moment later, the people of Guanzhong gave Liu Bang resolute support. Every time Liu Bang lost a battle, Xiao He would immediately organize a steady stream of soldiers to replenish. Xiang Yu not only offended the people of Guanzhong, but also had many disgraceful records of slaughtering the city in other regions. Xiang Yu did not realize until his death, "What the people desire, the heavens will obey." Even after crossing the river, Xiang Yu may not be able to get the support of the people.
Fifth, among the many north-south confrontations in Chinese history, the north often wins in the end. In the previous Warring States struggle for dominance, and finally the State of Qin eliminated the State of Chu, Xiang Yu's ancestor Xiang Yan could only commit suicide and martyrdom. Later, when the Three Kingdoms were at the height of the throne, the Western Jin Dynasty boat crossed the river, and Sun Hao was captured. Later, after a confrontation between the North and the South for one or two hundred years, the Sui Dynasty soldiers went south, and Chen Shubao could only hide in a well. In the early years of the Northern Song Dynasty, when Song Taizu decided to conquer the Southern Tang, Li Yu could only lament that "asking the king can have a few sorrows, just like a river of spring water flowing eastward." In the confrontation between Song, Liao, Jin, and Yuan, Wen Tianxiang and others fought bravely, and finally the Battle of Yashan was unable to return to heaven. After the Qing army entered the customs, the people of Jiangnan put up a singing and weeping resistance, and even the Qing emperor was moved by it. But there was still no way to reverse the decline. The Jiangnan region has superior economic conditions, but it is not a place to play. If Xiang Yu crosses the river, it will be difficult to escape this law of Chinese history in the end.
Therefore, in my opinion, even if Xiang Yu crossed the river to the south, I am afraid that he would just be surviving, and it would be difficult to escape the end of being destroyed by Liu Bang!