In Sima Qian's "Records of History", there are four titles for Liu Bang, one is Liu Ji, which is Liu Bang's original name; one is Pei Gong, the title of Liu Bang at the time of Liu Bang's uprising; one is the King of Han, Xiang Yu is divided into eighteen road princes, and Liu Bang is crowned King of Han; and the last is Han Gaozu, the founding emperor of the Han Dynasty. So how did Liu Bang complete such a big change from Liu Ji to Pei Gong? This matter should also start from the uprising of Chen Sheng and Wu Guang.
First, the background of the military
In 209 BC, the first year of Qin II, Chen Sheng, Wu Guang, and other civilians were conscripted into yuyang. When I walked to Osawa Township, I suddenly encountered heavy rain and the road was impassable, and everyone could not move forward.
According to the regulations, if they cannot arrive at the agreed time, everyone will be asked to be beheaded. At this time, it was very close to the deadline agreed upon by the imperial court, and Chen Sheng wu guang thought that since it was all a death, it was better to rebel and still have a glimmer of hope.
So Chen Sheng, Wu Guang, and the conscripted people rose up in Daze Township, and the first peasant uprising in Chinese history broke out, which also symbolized the danger of Qin's rule.
Zizhi Tongjian: "Chen Sheng and Wu Guang complained about the world... Wang, Hou, General, Xiangning have a kind of hu! ”
At this time, Liu Bang was still on the run, and Liu Bang's reason for fleeing was similar to chen Sheng's uprising by Wu Guang. Liu Bang was an official of the Qin Dynasty, responsible for escorting the apprentices to Lishan, and as a result, Liu Bang's apprentices also fled halfway.
The distance to reach his destination was still very far, so Liu Bang let all these disciples go and fled himself. Some of these disciples did not go, and they thought that Liu Bang was a man of affection and righteousness, so they followed Liu Bang.
"History of Gao Zu Benji": "Gao Zu sent the apprentice Lishan to the county with the chief of the pavilion... There are more than ten brave men among the disciples who are willing to follow. ”
In order to escape, Liu Bang hid in Mang and Zhongshan Zezhong. Liu Bang was fortunate that he did not hide for long, and Chen Sheng and Wu Guang revolted, so Liu Bang was recalled by The Pei County Order.
2. Liu Bang, Duke of Pei
When Chen Sheng and Wu Guang revolted, many counties and counties killed their parents and officials in response to the uprising. In order to save his life, Peixian County Ling wanted to follow the people to oppose Qin, but Xiao He and Cao Shan said: "As an official of the Qin Dynasty, you want to betray the Qin Dynasty, and the people will not believe it.
Only by summoning the exiled people back can you gather hundreds of people and use them to coerce them, so that everyone will listen to you. Xiao He and Cao Shan, the "exiles", referred to Liu Bang, so the county order sent Fan Duo to get Liu Bang back.
After Fan Huan got Liu Bang back, the county order regretted it again, afraid that something would happen to Liu Bang, what if he didn't listen to himself and killed himself with the people? So the county ordered people to close the city gates, guard the city, not let Liu Bang in, and want to kill Xiao He and Cao San. Xiao He and Cao Shan listened and immediately went to Liu Bang.
After Liu Bang returned, he saw that the city gate was locked, so he wrote a letter and shot it at the city, declaring to the people: The people of the world have been harmed by the tyranny of the Qin Dynasty for a long time, and now all over the world are opposed to Qin, and soon they are approaching Pei County, if it is too late to kill the county order and choose a new leader. Therefore, the people of Pei County killed the county order together, opened the city gate to meet Liu Bang, and wanted to support Liu Bang as the new county order.
"History of Gaozu Benji": "Pei Ling is afraid, and wants to deal with Pei ... Open the city gate to welcome Liu Ji, wanting to think that Pei Ling. ”
Liu Bang naturally refused to face this situation, saying that this position was of great importance and needed more talented people. However, the people, as well as Xiao He and Cao Shan, vigorously promoted Liu Bang, and Liu Bang was made the Duke of Pei.
Subsequently, Liu Bang sacrificed the Yellow Emperor and Xuan You, smeared the blood of the animals on the flag drum, the flag was red, called himself the Red Emperor, recruited young people in Pei County, and the team soon expanded to three thousand people.
Third, why Liu Bang became the Duke of Pei
Liu Bang's transformation from a Surabaya pavilion chief to a Pei Gong is a big progress, which means a change in Liu Bang's identity. So among the many people, why was Liu Bang able to become the Duke of Pei and not someone else?
1. Liu Bang prides himself on being the Red Emperor.
After Liu Bang let go of the conscripted husband, he and his followers followed the path through the swamp, and the person who nodded found that there was a large snake in front of him in the middle, and rushed back to tell Liu Bang. Liu Bang was already drunk at this time, and when he raised his sword, he cut the snake into two pieces. The road opened, and Liu Bang was also drunk.
Later, in the place where Liu Bang cut the snake, a weeping old woman appeared, and everyone asked the woman why she was crying, and the woman said that her son was the White Emperor, who was killed here by the Red Emperor in the form of a snake.
"History of Gao Zu Benji": "Gao Zu was drunk, and he said: 'Strong men, what fear!' ’...... Now the Red Emperor beheaded him, so he wept. ”
After Liu Bang woke up, everyone told Liu Bang about this matter. After Liu Bang listened, his mental activity was five words: "The heart is happy, conceited", that is to say, Liu Bang is secretly happy in his heart and more conceited.
Everyone was afraid of Liu Bang because of this matter and followed Liu Bang. Liu Bang raised the red flag during the sacrifice because he was the Red Emperor, so he advocated red. The people of Pei County also said that only Liu Bang was the most auspicious result of divination, and combined with Liu Bang's strange deeds, Liu Bang was even more elected.
2. Liu Bang has soldiers, and there is no way back.
Let us not forget why Liu Bang fled, because he secretly released his husband, which was a matter that touched the laws of the Qin Dynasty, and Liu Bang fled, participated in the rebellion, and every article was a capital crime, and Liu Bang had no choice. Just like Chen Sheng Wu Guang said, up to now, the opposite is also death, not the opposite is also death, it is better to resist and die for the country.
Liu Bang's situation is also like this, Liu Bang has participated in the rebellion, there is no other way back, when this Pei Gong may die, improper Pei Gong will also die, so Liu Bang was pushed to this position by the times.
The most important thing is that Liu Bang has soldiers in his hands, and it is because Liu Bang has soldiers that the county order recalls Liu Bang. Looking at the whole Pei County, Liu Bang was forced to a dead end, and he still had troops in his hands and a very bold personality, so the people elected Liu Bang. Although Liu Bang is not necessarily the best candidate, he must be the most suitable candidate, so it is reasonable that Liu Bang was selected as Pei Gong.
3. Xiao He and Cao Shan's refusal.
It is said above that Liu Bang is not the best candidate, because compared with Liu Bang, Xiao He and Cao Shen are both more talented than Liu Bang.
Liu Bang was only a small pavilion chief, had not read any books, Xiao He had once been favored by the imperial history of the Qin Dynasty because of his outstanding talent, and wanted to promote Xiao He to Beijing. In terms of talent, Xiao He and Cao Shen were both taller than Liu Bang, but they refused.
One of the reasons for this is that they are afraid of failure. At that time, Chen Sheng and Wu Guang had just revolted for a long time, and the foundation of Great Qin had not been shaken, if this uprising did not succeed, then everyone would face the risk of being killed, and it would drag down their families.
Xiao He and Cao San, both civilian officials, were worried about their lives, and if they did not succeed, they would have to cut through the door, so they all vigorously elected Liu Bang. The success of such an uprising is also a part of itself, and if it is not successful, there is a head sheep in front of it, and it will kill two birds with one stone.
summary
Liu Bang was able to complete the transformation from the chief of the pavilion to the Pei Gong, not so much because of his good luck, but because of the choice of the times. If it were not for the fact that Liu Bang had soldiers in his hands and there was no way to retreat, then Liu Bang himself would not have become this Pei Gong, so it was the tide of history that pushed Liu Bang into this position.
Another powerful force in the rebel army was the Xiang clan of the Chu state, and Liu Bang also defected to Xiang Liang because of his rebellion, and finally entered Guanzhong.
References: "History", "Zizhi Tongjian"