In the last year of the Qin Dynasty, from the beginning of Chen Sheng's uprising in Dazexiang in July of the first year of Qin II to the surrender of the Prince of Qin in October of the First Year of the Han Dynasty, a total of two years and three months.
During this period, countless wars occurred on the land of China, giving rise to one local government after another, so various localities also encountered massacres of varying degrees. But to say that one of the most eye-catching ones is the Xin'an massacre that caused the complete overthrow of the main force of the Qin army.
Although there are historical records to prove it, there are many doubts in it. Therefore, this article intends to reconstruct the experience before and after the Xin'an Massacre with reference to the historical records, so as to make a relatively objective explanation of the historical truth of the Xin'an Massacre.
Regarding the beginning of the Xin'an massacre, we must start from the confrontation between the main force of the Qin army and the Xiang Yu army:
In January of the third year of Qin II, the Battle of Julu ended, and the combined forces of princes led by the Chu general Xiang Yu defeated a part of the Qin army led by Wang Li.
Then in February, as the general Xiang Yu integrated the army of the princes, he confronted the main force of the Qin army, Zhang Handan.
Zhang Handan's army, Zhiyuan, and Xiang Yu's army Zhangnan, fought without a fight. "History of Xiang Yu Benji"
The picture above shows the basic situation of the confrontation between the Qin army and the combined forces of the princes after the Battle of Julu at that time.
At that time, Zhang Handan's army totaled more than 200,000 troops, stationed in Thorn Plains. The combined forces of the princes led by Xiang Yu, after assembling the armies of the various princes who came to participate in the war at that time, had reached a scale of about 150,000 and were stationed in the Zhangnan area.
In terms of scale alone, the Qin army at this time did not have much advantage to speak of. But if you look at it from another angle, the Qin army at this time does not need to be afraid of the combined forces of the princes, so by this time the two sides are still in the stage of strategic stalemate.
Then look at the chronological order marked in the Book of Han and the Chronicle of Emperor Gao:
It was the month (July), Zhang Handan raised an army to lower Xiang Yu, and Yu thought that he was the King of Yong. Book of Han and The Chronicle of Emperor Gao
At that time, in July of the third year of Qin II, Liu Bang led his troops to capture Nanyang County, and another important thing that happened this month was that Zhang Handan led the main force of the Qin army to surrender to Xiang Yu.
Therefore, it can be said that the combined forces of zhang handan and the princes led by Xiang Yu fought each other for nearly six months from February to July, almost half a year.
It can be seen that at that time, Xiang Yu was able to force the landing of Zhang Handan's army, which was by no means an easy task.
Then look at the way Xiang Yu made Zhang Handan surrender at that time.
The first was several major victories against The Zhang Handan Army:
The Qin army was counted, and the second made people let Zhang Handan. Zhang Handan was afraid, so chang Shi Xin asked for help. "History of Xiang Yu Benji"
It should be said that although the scale of The Zhang Handan Army is not small, in several local battles, the Zhang Handan Army has almost all suffered defeats. As a result, it also provoked punishment from Qin II, so much so that Zhang Handan was so frightened that he had to send Sima Xin, the chief of the Qin army, who held a position second only to Zhang Handan, to Xianyang to report on the battle.
When he went to Xianyang and stayed at Sima Men for three days, Zhao Gao did not see him and had a heart of disbelief. Chang Shi was terrified and went to his army. "History of Xiang Yu Benji"
After sima Xin arrived in Xianyang, he was given a cold reception. Zhao Gao, the chancellor who was in charge of the imperial government at that time, did not see Sima Xin for three days, so Sima Xin had to leave first.
Although later generations have many explanations for this record, it is an ironclad fact that the Qin court, headed by Zhao Gao at that time, was indeed very disappointed in Zhang Handan and others. At the same time, it was precisely because of Qin Ting's consistent cold attitude that Zhang Handan, the generals who went on expeditions, had to have a bad heart.
Here we need to talk about a general Yang Xiong, who was just executed by Qin Ting a few months ago. At that time, Yang Xiong fled to Xingyang after his defeat, so he was quickly executed by Qin Ting on the grounds of ineffective combat. Moreover, the person who ordered the killing of Yang Xiong, as clearly recorded in the history books, was Qin II:
Yang Xiong walked to Xingyang, and the second envoy made him cut it off. Book of Han and The Chronicle of Emperor Gao
As recorded above, at that time, Yang Xiong had just defeated Xingyang, and Qin II sent emissaries to behead him for public display.
Therefore, Qin Ting's style of not being able to fail was always a sharp sword hanging over the head of the generals on the front line of the Qin Army.
Therefore, in the face of the silent return of Sima Xin, Zhang Handan at this time began to have other ideas.
Then Chen Yu, the general of the Zhao state in the combined forces of the princes, sent an emissary to send a message to Zhang Handan, which also said the following passage:
Now the general cannot directly advise inside, but the outside is a general who has perished, and he wants to survive forever, so why not mourn! Why didn't the general return the army and follow the princes, and attack Qin together, divide the king's land, and call it lonely in the south; this one is the hostage of the body, and the wife is a puppet? "History of Xiang Yu Benji"
This passage probably means that Zhang Handan at that time could no longer contact Qin II because he had been in the army for a long time. At the same time, because of the total failure of the Qin Empire, Zhang Handan was actually already a general of the subjugated country. Therefore, why didn't Zhang Handan strike back and attack the Qin state with the combined forces of the princes, and then it would be easy to split the land and seal the king. Wouldn't this be a better outcome than the murder of a wife and children after a complete failure?
In fact, as soon as this letter arrived, Zhang Handan understood what his last retreat was, that is, to join the combined forces of the princes as Chen Yu said.
But joining is joining, and it also depends on how to join.
Zhang Handan was suspicious, and Yin made Xiang Yu and wanted to make a covenant. "History of Xiang Yu Benji"
Soon, Zhang Handan sent Jun Houcheng as his emissary to Xiang Yu's army to prepare for negotiations.
But at this time, Xiang Yu may have arrived with a new batch of reinforcements, so he wanted to try to see if he could defeat Zhang Handan's army in one fell swoop:
Before it was completed, Xiang Yu made General Pu lead his troops to three households day and night, and the army of Zhangnan fought against Qin and then broke it. Xiang Yuxi led his troops to attack the Qin army on the water and broke it. "History of Xiang Yu Benji"
Although the history books record that Xiang Yu lost the Qin army in two consecutive battles after that, it is a pity that according to Xiang Yu's subsequent behavior, I am afraid that the effect of these two victories should not be great. On the contrary, the combined forces of the princes caused logistical problems because of these two major battles:
Zhang Handan made people see Xiang Yu and wanted to make an appointment. Xiang Yu summoned the military officials to plot: "There is little grain, and I want to listen to his promise." The military officials all knew: "Good." "History of Xiang Yu Benji"
As mentioned above, at that time, Zhang Handan's emissaries arrived at Xiang Yu's account. Then Xiang Yu made it very clear to his confidants here, that is, there was not enough food for the combined forces of the princes, that is, there was a serious logistical problem, so they had to start negotiations with Zhang Handan's emissaries.
Therefore, from this point of view, Zhang Handan's surrender was actually not forced, but on his own initiative. And it was only when Zhang Handan beat the combined forces of the princes to a certain extent that he finally forced the allied forces of the princes to return to the negotiating table.
It may be that the negotiation conditions proposed by Zhang Handan are more favorable, so Xiang Yu agreed to meet with Zhang Handan and start further negotiations:
Xiang Yu is with The Period Huan Shui Nan Yin Void. "History of Xiang Yu Benji"
At that time, the two sides met in the area of Chaoge, the old capital of the Shang Dynasty.
What exactly they agreed upon when they met could not be fully explored. However, judging from some of the treatment of Zhang Handan and the Qin army later, it is still possible to deduce the general content:
First of all, the combined forces of the princes must ensure the safety and status of Zhang Handan and other Qin military commanders. Second, the Qin army that joined the combined forces of the princes still maintained a relatively high degree of independence. Finally, the Qin army was also responsible for the task of opening up the allied army channel.
So then, with the conclusion of the two-man covenant, the only remaining main army of the Qin Empire at that time officially defected, and it was transformed from a defender of the Qin Empire into a vanguard to destroy Qin.
Xiang Yu made Zhang Handan the King of Yong and placed him in the Chu army. Make Chang Shi Xin a general and the Qin army as a forward move. "History of Xiang Yu Benji"
As recorded above, Xiang Yu first made Zhang Handan the King of Yong, protecting the fundamental interests of Zhang Handan, the supreme commander of the main force of the Qin army; then, with Sima Xin as the general of the Qin army, he led the Qin army as the vanguard of the combined forces of the princes to march westward.
So at least at this time, the Qin army could not be counted as a prisoner, and it also had a certain degree of autonomy.
Soon after, the army arrived in Xin'an.
As shown above, the army should have set out from The Thorn Plains, then passed through Yangwu, Xingyang, Luoyang, and finally arrived at Xin'an.
In terms of distance, the combined forces of the princes were almost approaching Hangu Pass.
In addition, according to the records in the "Gao Zu Benji", the Zhao Benbu of the Qin army that had previously been defended in Kaifeng was not completely defeated, so it should be at this time that zhang Handan's orders led the troops to join the defective Qin army. Because later Zhao Ben was also a subordinate of Zhang Handan, participating in the later Battle of The Three Qins.
By this time, the coalition forces were still relatively normal on the surface, but unfortunately it was only normal on the surface, but in fact, it had already been undercurrents.
Just after Xiang Yu led his army to Xin'an, the princes began to report to Xiang Yu on the situation of the Qin army:
When the princes and pawns were different, they made Tun Shu pass through Qin Zhong, and the Qin officials encountered many formless, and the Qin army surrendered to the princes, and the princes and pawns took advantage of the victory over the slaves and made them, and lightly insulted the Qin officials. Qin officials whispered, "General Zhang and other deceitful princes who have surrendered to me can now enter the pass to break Qin and be of great good; that is, they cannot, the princes belong to me and the east, and Qin will do everything in his power to curse my parents and wives." The princes heard his plan slightly, in order to sue Xiang Yu. "Xiang Yu Benji"
The above passage probably means that the Qin army was oppressed by the combined forces of the princes, and then the Qin soldiers and soldiers had begun to prepare for the riot.
In fact, it is inevitable that such a thing will happen in the coalition forces. When the Qin army swept the world, it did not pay attention to the people of the Six Kingdoms at all, plus they were conquerors, and it is conceivable that the Qin Army at that time carried out a kind of oppression of the people of the Six Kingdoms. Then, although the current Qin army is already a friendly army of the princes, this kind of friendly relationship naturally cannot be too good, and the grain and grass of the various departments of the coalition army must be the unified responsibility of the princes of the coalition army, so the princes have the opportunity to bully the Qin soldiers.
As for how it was bullied, although the history records lightly described a sentence of "lightly torturing and insulting Qin officials", the lower-level soldiers of the Qin army who could force the qin army who had originally turned against each other did not hesitate to have the heart to riot, which shows how serious the humiliation of the qin army by the princes' army at that time was.
Even to put it bluntly, the small-scale massacre of the Qin army by the princely army should have already begun.
Otherwise, if it was only verbal humiliation, how could it make the lower-level soldiers of the Qin Army seriously dissatisfied? Hundreds of thousands of troops, the two sides do not see each other every day, simple humiliation is meaningless, only because some Qin pawns were inexplicably killed, it will cause fear and anger among all Qin soldiers.
In fact, no matter what era it is, hatred can always be remembered for a long time, not to mention the kind of revenge that destroys the country. Although the upper echelons of the coalition army, such as Xiang Yu, let go of Zhang Handan's hatred for killing Xiang Liang, the people below could manage so much. Coupled with the extremely complex military factions within the coalition army, Xiang Yu could only control tens of thousands of Chu troops at most, and for more princely armies, he was actually powerless.
After all, Xiang Yu was only a leader pushed out by the coalition forces, and the reason why the coalition forces were called the coalition forces was because it was composed of many armies. Although those armies recognized Xiang Yu's status, it did not mean that Xiang Yu could easily interfere in their internal military affairs. Therefore, as soon as this came and went, the contradiction between the princely army and the Qin army became more and more serious.
At the same time, the princes' armies also maintained great vigilance against this Qin army, which reached a scale of more than 200,000, so after Xiang Yu launched a military conference, everyone unanimously came to this conclusion:
Xiang Yu nai summoned the generals Tuobu and Pu to ji yue: "The Qin officials are still in the crowd, and their hearts are not convinced, and if they do not listen to Guanzhong, things will be dangerous, it is better to kill them, and Du and Zhang Handan, Chang Shixin, and Du Wei will enter Qin." "History of Xiang Yu Benji"
As mentioned above, Xiang Yu and others had always had a clear understanding of the threat of this Qin army, but they were forced by the agreement with Zhang Handan at that time, so they did not directly act.
At this time, Xiang Yu alone brought out the three top generals of the Qin army, Zhang Handan, Sima Xin and Dong Feng, which undoubtedly showed that he had already won the support of these three Qin generals. Coupled with the fact that Qin Pawn did have a riot, the Xin'an Massacre occurred like this:
So the Chu army attacked qin at night with more than 200,000 people in the south of Xin'an City. "History of Xiang Yu Benji"
Did the combined forces of the princes really slaughter more than 200,000 Qin troops overnight? From the practical point of view at that time, it was certainly impossible and unrealistic.
Moreover, as I said before, didn't Zhao Ben later become a subordinate of the Yong King Zhang Handan and participate in the Battle of the Three Qins?
(Cao Shan) Fu Wei Zhang Ping, Zhang Ping out of the good qi away. Because of the attack on Zhao Ben and the Neishi Baojun, it was broken. History of Cao Xiangguo's Family
As recorded above, if Zhao Ben really died in Xin'an, why would he be able to lead his troops to fight Cao Shen in Guanzhong in the future?
Therefore, the Xin'an massacre is not as exaggerated as recorded in the history books. But one thing is certain, that is, from now on, the main force of the Qin army has no possibility of threatening the combined forces of the princes.
Coupled with the previous analysis, as early as before arriving in Xin'an, according to the situation of the princes' armies bullying the Qin army, I am afraid that the small-scale massacre has already begun. Therefore, after the Qin army arrived in Xin'an, it could no longer bear it, so Xiang Yu completely put the originally hidden massacre on the table in the name of the supreme commander of the coalition army.
Of course, Xiang Yu would definitely not say that he had openly killed the Qin army, after all, Zhang Handan was still inside. Therefore, Xiang Yu should have used the suppression of the rebellion as a reason to solve the last die-hard elements in the main force of the Qin army. As for the concubines of those three Qin generals, they must still retain a lot.
Therefore, the Xin'an Massacre was essentially an incident in which the princes were moved, qin pawns were forced to resist, and finally by Xiang Yu.
Xiang Yu was at best the one who gave the order, but as far as the actual situation at that time was concerned, no matter whether Xiang Yu gave the order or not, the Qin pawn rebellion was an inevitable thing. And Xiang Yu himself was a member of the princely army, so how could he possibly side with the Qin army? Therefore, Xiang Yu could only issue an order to kill in the end, so the princes could not wait to rush into the Qin army camp, as to whether it was for suppression or revenge, it was not clear.
In addition, some people had to say that Xiang Yu slaughtered for revenge, and asked Xiang Yu that even Zhang Handan, who personally killed his uncle Xiang Liang, could be honored as the King of Yong, and xiang Yu, who was so close to the blood sea, could endure the deep hatred of Xiang Yu, not to mention the revenge of destroying the country more than ten years ago?
Therefore, as the supreme commander of the coalition army, xiang Yu had no reason to kill Qin Zhao from the position he was in at that time. It was only in the end, under the pressure of the princes' armies, that Xiang Yu had to give that order.
Although Xiang Yu was young, he was not stupid, and he still wanted to seize Liu Bang's qualification as the King of Guanzhong, so it was not interesting to start slaughtering Qin Pawns now?
But then again, it was precisely because Xiang Yu was going to seize Liu Bang's qualification as king of Guanzhong, so he could only do so, because he had to rely on the support of the princes. The reason why the princes were willing to recognize Xiang Yu's status was because of Xiang Yu's strong suppression of the Qin army. Therefore, assuming that Xiang Yu had a conflict with the princes' army for the sake of the Qin army, then I am afraid that in the end they would not be able to reach Hangu Pass, and the combined forces of the princes would be disbanded by themselves, so could the tens of thousands of Chu troops of Xiang Yu's concubine be able to suppress Liu Bang's 100,000 troops?
It can only be said that Xiang Yu had indeed made the right choice at that time, slaughtering the Qin army, thus gaining the support of the princes' armies and laying the foundation for becoming a hegemon later.
But many of the problems left over were not something that Xiang Yu could consider, after all, he was only a young man who was only twenty-six years old at that time.
Of course, because Xiang Yu was a general of the combined forces of the princes, the pot that ultimately slaughtered the Qin army had to be carried by Xiang Yu, which is not to be said. After all, after slaughtering the Qin army, Xiang Yu did grab the most abundant gift in the world at that time, that is, the Nine Counties of Western Chu, which was enough to dominate the world.
Of the more than 200,000 Qin troops, except for a small part that belonged to the concubines of the three major generals of the Qin Army, the rest were all slaughtered by the princely armies.
However, it should be emphasized here that although it was Xiang Yu's final order, the process of slaughter and the slaughter of personnel were actually borne by all the princes' armies present at that time.
In summary, the Xin'an Massacre was not actually the beginning of the massacre, but the end of the massacre. From the time the main force of the Qin army joined the combined forces of the princes, to the time of arrival in Xin'an, the massacre activities already existed. Then, after arriving in Xin'an, the lower-level soldiers of the Qin army could no longer tolerate it, so they launched a riot. In the end, it was ordered by Xiang Yu to carry out a final massacre of the remaining diehards in the main force of the Qin army.
Therefore, it can be clearly said that the Xin'an Massacre was only the last place to slaughter the main force of the Qin army, not the only place.
As for the culprit of this massacre, Xiang Yu, as the supreme commander, certainly had to bear the fault of management dereliction of duty. However, more sins still needed to be borne by all the princes and generals who followed Xiang Yu at that time, even including the three major generals of the main force of the Qin Army, who objectively speaking were the murderers of this massacre.
The reason why the Qin pawns said in their most desperate times, "General Zhang and others have deceived the princes of my subordinates", is because it was not until they arrived in Xin'an that they really understood who the person who wanted them to die was. Of course, the princes were for revenge, but what about the three top generals of the Qin Army? Why did the princes slaughter Qin pawns for so long and not see them say a word? On the contrary, after entering hangu pass, the three of them split the earth and became kings, could it be that they could really be crowned king only because of their surrender?
There is a head for wrongs, and there is a master for debts.
In the Battle of the Three Qins, the Three Qin Kingdoms were strong and strong, but they were completely defeated by the Han army with fewer blows and more blows, and it was really that the Qin people in Guanzhong would not fight? From the subsequent Battle of Xingyang, Li Bi and others from the Qin dynasty assisted the Han army in reforming the cavalry and breaking the Western Chu, which can show that the Qin people are not really incompetent, but only the leaders they met are really incompetent.
The Qin were destroyed at the hands of the Qin themselves, but the Qin also re-created a new empire with their hands. They were dead, but they were also born again.
Although the Xin'an massacre has become an unconcealable wound in the hearts of the Qin people, compared with the army of the princes who were slaughtered by the Qin people, it can also be regarded as a report and a report.
However, the main army of the Qin Empire was truly completely extinct because of this massacre, so that there was no possibility of recovery.
Although a large part of the main force of the Later Han Army was still composed of Qin, in the end they would no longer be called "Qin", because "Qin" brought them only endless shame and betrayal.
Han, on the other hand, is the real hope of ordinary Qin people.