What is history: it is the echo of the past to the future, the reflection of the future on the past. - Hugo
One
Liu Bang once summed up the reason for his victory over Xiang Yu: "In the midst of the husband's planning and planning, the decisive victory is thousands of miles away, and I am not as good as the sub-room." Town and country, care for the people, give feedback, endless grain road, I am not as good as Xiao He. Even with an army of millions, the battle will be won, the attack will be won, and I am not as good as Han Xin. These three are all masters, I can use them, so I take the world. Xiang Yu has a fan increase and cannot be used, which is thought to be my capture. If the above is the reason for Liu Bang's victory over Xiang Yu, it is indeed so. But if the above is the whole reason for Liu Bang's victory over Xiang Yu, it is not completely so. Because there is another very important reason why Liu Bang can defeat Xiang Yu, that is, Xiang Bo helped Liu Bang dig a pit for Xiang Yu. Without the assistance of Xiang Bo, the above reasons are all natural and eggy.
Who is Xiang Bo? The "History of Xiang Yu Benji" writes: "Chu Zuo Yin Xiang Bo, Xiang Yu Ji father also." It turned out that Xiang Bo was also the son of the famous Chu general Xiang Yan, the younger brother of Xiang Liang, and the youngest uncle of Xiang Yu. Since Xiang Bo and Xiang Yu were immediate relatives who broke bones and were still connected to tendons, why did Xiang Bo help Liu Bang to harm his own nephews? The reasons we will analyze later, we first come to understand the specific incident of Xiang Bo pit harming Xiang Yu.
First, Xiang Bo leaked Xiang Yu's military secrets. When both Liu Xiang and Liu Xiang were in Guanzhong, Xiang Yu had already decided under the advice of Fan Zeng, "Dan Ri Fei Shi Shi, in order to break the Pei Gong Army!" If this plan was really implemented, Chinese history would be rewritten, but unfortunately Xiang Bo ran to Zhang Liang to leak Xiang Yu's military plan. Because Xiang Bo and Zhang Liang had a very good personal relationship, they did not want to let the good friends who followed Liu Bang suffer from innocence. If you start from the point of "righteousness", Xiang Bo is a man with feelings and righteousness. However, from the point of "loyalty", Xiang Bo betrayed Xiang Yu and the Xiang family. When "loyalty and righteousness" could not be combined, Xiang Bo chose the word righteousness as the head. While this choice is not necessarily reasonable, it makes sense and we can understand it. However, when Xiang Bo first came into contact with Liu Bang, he married Liu Bang as a son and daughter. Tying himself and Liu Bang together with an in-law relationship before the enemy and the enemy were clear, this behavior was somewhat head-headed and sinister.
Second, Xiang Bo violated the deliberative process. We all know that the decision-making center of the Chu army is Xiang Yu and Fan Zeng, although Xiang Yu is the main one, but at this time Fan Zeng's role and status cannot be underestimated. Since the military plan to eliminate Liu Bang was a decision reached by Xiang Yu and Fan Zeng, shouldn't all the situations and related actions concerning Liu Bang be involved and known to Fan Zeng? But Xiang Bo returned to report such a major message, and instead of suggesting that Xiang Yu initiate a formal deliberative meeting, he made a small report to Xiang Yu alone and privately, conveying his own subjective judgment and suggestions on how to handle the matter, and using his status as a personal uncle to make Xiang Yu give a promise of kindness to Liu Bang. Xiang Bo's behavior at this time was no longer to protect Zhang Liang, but completely stood in the interests of Liu Bang and deliberately interfered with Xiang Yu's judgment, so that Xiang Yu made the biggest wrong decision in his life. Xiang Bo's use of kinship to violate the deliberative process also laid the groundwork for Xiang Yu and Fan Zeng's final breakup. You can think about how rude Chen Ping's plan against Xiang Yu and Fan Zeng was later. If it weren't for the rift between Xiang Fan and Xiang Fan long ago, if it weren't for Xiang Bo and other unfaithful people taking advantage of the situation around Xiang Yu, Chen Ping's plan alone would have been able to get rid of Fan Zeng, and it would have been inevitable that Xiang Yu would have become mentally retarded. In fact, in addition to fan zeng's process, Xiang Bo's role is estimated to be far greater than Chen Ping.com.
Third, Xiang Bo openly split the Western Chu clique. Xiangzhuang's sword dance was intended to be Pei Gong, and Xiang Zhuang's intention to assassinate Liu Bang was obvious, but Xiang Yu did not stop it. It shows that although Xiang Yu did not think clearly whether to kill Liu Bang, he at least respected The meaning of Ya Father and would not easily stop. At this time, the top level of Western Chu was very united, with Xiang Yu and Fan Zeng as the core. But at this moment, Xiang Bo stood up and danced with Xiang Zhuang, and the meaning was also obvious, that is, to protect Liu Bang. At this time, Xiang Yu did not take a position, because he could not take a position. On the one hand, his own uncle, and his uncle's opinion has long been preconceived, and he also gave a promise when the two held a small meeting; on the other hand, his own sub-father and military master, Xiang Zhuang also implemented the decisions he and his sub-father jointly made at the council meeting. At this time when Xiang Yu was hesitating, the split at the top of the Western Chu Clique had become public. On the one hand, the "Uncle" faction with Xiang Bo as the core, and the "Gan Dad" faction with Fan Zeng as the core on the other. This overt split has already sent an early signal that "the fortress is the easiest to breach from within." The people's hearts are united, Taishan moves, so Xiang Yu breaks the cauldron and sinks the boat, and the hundred and two Qin Passes eventually belong to Chu; the people's hearts are separated, and the heavens are abandoned, so Xiang Yu Wujiang kills himself, and the time is not good!
Two
The above three events are the more obvious things recorded in the history books on Xiang Bo's digging of pits. But I think Xiang Bo also had two pit-digging incidents, but the history books recorded it more obscurely.
First, Xiang Bo persuaded Xiang Yu to release Lü Hou and Taigong, so that Xiang Yu lost the last chip to deter Liu Bang. Although the "History of Xiang Yu Benji" records that Liu Bang sent Hou Gong to successfully lobby Xiang Yu, the real situation should not be. The original text of the "History of Xiang Yu Benji" reads: "The King of Han fu sent Hou Gong to say xiang wang, xiang wang is with the Han covenant, the middle divides the world, and the one who cuts the gap to the west is Han, and the one who divides the gap to the west is Han, and the one who is in the east is Chu." Xiang Wang Xuzhi, that is, the wife of the parents of the King of Han. Long live the army. The King of Han was enfeoffed as the Prince of Ping. See you again. He said: "The debater of this world, who lives in the country, is called the King of Pingguo." Hou Gong successfully lobbied Xiang Yu Marquis, and Liu Bang wanted to crown him as the Prince of Pingguo, but Hou Gong hid and no longer saw Liu Bang. Hou Gong was a debater rather than a hermit, and he would not have merit and would not be subject to it. There was only one situation that would make him ashamed to be humiliated and disdainful of seeing Liu Bang again, and that was that he felt humiliated and played by Liu Bang. Because Hou Gong had already discovered when lobbying Xiang Yu that it was Xiang Bo who finally persuaded Xiang Yu instead of himself, he was just a vest and a string, in order to better cover Xiang Bo to do the work. After all, Xiang Bo couldn't wait for Liu Bang's emissaries to come and jump out on his own to persuade him. Liu Bang had also sent Lu Jia to lobby before, although Lu Jia did not successfully lobby, that is, Xiang Bo's work had not yet reached home, and the fire had not yet arrived. This time, the fire arrived, but it was spread on Hou Gong.s body. Xiang Bo's rush to rescue Liu Bang's family was not a matter of a day or two. Before Xiang Yu wanted to cook and kill Taigong in front of the two armies to deter Liu Bang, Xiang Bo hurried out and persuaded: "The world's affairs are unknown, and those who are under the world do not care about their families, although it is useless to kill, it is only beneficial to the ears." A good sentence of "the world's affairs are not known" is enough to see the psychological habits of Xiang Bo's cunning rabbit three caves.
Secondly, after Xiang Bo was persuaded by Liu Bang to rebel, instead of actively helping Xiang Yu figure out how to recall Yingbu, Xiang Bo was anxious to kill Yingbu's wife and children, completely making Yingbu follow Liu Bang with an iron heart. Did Yingbu immediately harden his heart after he surrendered to Liu Bang? Apparently not, the historical record records that "the king of Huainan, who was above the bed to wash, summoned the cloth into the meeting, and the cloth was angry, repented, and wanted to commit suicide." However, Xiang Bo was anxious to kill the killer, and the historical record records that "Chu has made Xiang Bo collect jiujiang soldiers and kill his wife." The sentence is written subtly, with pauses in between. The meaning can be understood that the Chu state only asked Xiang Bo to collect Yingbu's army in Jiujiang, but the killing of Yingbu's wife and children was done by Xiang Bo himself. In addition, this sentence does not use the titles commonly used throughout the text, such as "Xiang Wang" and "Chu Wang", but only uses a very vague "Chu has made", which shows that killing Yingbu's wife and children is not necessarily Xiang Yu's order, and Sima Qian uses the Spring and Autumn brushwork here. Why didn't Sima Qian dare to openly question Xiang Bo's behavior in the "Records of History"? We must know that after Xiang Bo defected to Liu Bang, he was made the Marquis of Sheyang by Liu Bang and given the surname Liu. Although his son was later removed from the country for breaking the law, Xiang Bo had a great credit to Liu Bang. Sima Qian could not casually question the behavior of this "Liu family" without sufficient evidence. However, judging from the fact that Xiang Bo could not even use the ancestral surname at the end, his relationship with Xiang Yu's uncle and nephew was not nothing.
Three
Why did Xiang Bo pit Xiang Yu? The reason is very simple, that is, his character is low, his temperament is narrow, and he secretly disobeys Xiang Yu to become the leader of the Xiang family, and he is bent on suppressing Xiang Yu to elevate himself. There are five things we have to know about this. First, when Xiang Bo began to appear on the scene to make trouble, it was after the death of his brother Xiang Liang. Second, after Xiang Liang's death, Xiang Bo was the highest-ranking elder in the Xiang family. Whether it was Xiang Zhuang who danced swords at the Hongmen Feast, or Xiang Sheng, who was defeated by the irrigation baby, and Xiang Tuo, who was captured by the irrigation baby, the status in the family was not as good as that of Xiang Bo. Third, Fan Zeng was Xiang Yu's foreign elder, but his status in the entire Western Chu clique was higher than that of Xiang Bo. Fourth, Xiang Bo's own martial arts are not weak and have courage. The "History of the Liuhou Family" records: "Xiang Bo often kills people and hides from Liang. "Fifth, Xiang Bo has a friend who is highly resourceful and wise enough to dump him dozens of streets away, Zhang Liang.
The answer to stringing together the above points is: Xiang Bo Nai will be behind the door, his courage is commendable, but he lacks wisdom. He had always been unclear about his abilities and strengths. In the Western Chu clique, he only served his brother Xiang Liang and not his nephew Xiang Yu, and he believed that after Xiang Liang's death, he should naturally become the leader of the Western Chu clique. Who knew that Xiang Yu had arbitrarily beheaded Song Yi to seize the power of the Chu army, defeated the Qin army in the giant deer, and became the leading big brother of various princes in one fell swoop, and became the hero and actual ruler of the Xiang family. At this time, Xiang Bo had already suppressed Xiang Yu's nameless fire, and saw that Fan Zeng, who had a foreign surname in the group, was actually more valued than himself, and his status was even higher than his own, and his mood to sing with Fan Zeng on stage was also spontaneous. Later, because of the accidental contact with Liu Bang due to the Hongmen Banquet whistleblowing incident, Liu Bang had great respect for Xiang Bo, and the history wrote that "I have brotherly affairs". Xiang Bo was not satisfied with the Western Chu Group, and had a relationship with Xiang Yu's uncle, but in the Liu Bang Group, he was treated as a guest and found that he was important, so he immediately developed a sense of closeness to Liu Bang. Coupled with the fact that a highly intelligent Zhang Liang was constantly fooling around, Xiang Bo has since embarked on the path of rebellion to dig a pit for Xiang Yu. In fact, Xiang Bo was not stupid, although he enjoyed the sense of existence given to him by Liu Bang, he knew the importance of Western Chu to him. He just wanted to use Liu Bang to suppress Xiang Yu's authority in Western Chu and elevate his position in Western Chu, but it did not mean that he hoped that the Xiang family would be destroyed and Western Chu would perish. However, with his intelligence and ability, how can he scare this game of hegemony, his series of small actions make the whole situation produce subtle chemical changes. What made him even more uncontrollable was the birth of Han Xin, knowing that in the battle of Xiaxia, it was Han Xin's army that really defeated Xiang Yu, not Liu Bang. Therefore, Xiang Bo is also an incompetent and virtuous villain. Xiang Yu had such an uncle on the stall, and he could only look up to the sky and sigh!