preface
On the eve of the fall of the Qin Dynasty, when Xiang Yu was still fighting the main force of the Qin army in Julu, Liu Bang attacked Xianyang through Wuguan, the Qin princes surrendered, and the Qin Dynasty perished, almost at the same time, Xiang Yu broke the main force of the Qin army at julu and annihilated the Qin Army Great Wall Army led by Wang Li, while the 200,000 prisoner legions of the Qin Army led by Zhang Handan surrendered to Xiang Yu.
Liu Bang entered Xianyang, under the persuasion of Fan Duo and Zhang Liang, sealed treasures, beautiful women, garrison hegemony, at the same time Liu Bang sent people to guard Hangu Pass, judging from the later developments, Liu Bang issued a death order to block Hangu Pass, not allow anyone to come in, when Xiang Yu led the combined forces of the princes of the world to Enter Hangu Pass, found that Hangu Pass was already guarded, so he ordered Yingbu and others to forcibly attack, Xiang Yu used force to enter Hangu Pass, and then entered Guanzhong, garrison Hongmen.
Xiang Yu
First, why did Liu Bang block Hanguguan?
The traditional saying is that Liu Bang listened to the rumors of the villain, and that someone advised Liu Bang to close the Hangu Gate, which is also recorded in the "Records of History":
"History of Gao Zu Benji": or Pei Gong Yue: Qin Fu ten times the world, the terrain is beautiful. Nowadays, Xiang Yu descended to Xiang Yu, and Xiang Yu was given the title of King of Yong and Wang Guanzhong. Now that he is coming, Pei Gong is afraid that he will not be able to do this. It is possible to urgently send troops to guard the Hangu Pass, and there is no internal princely army, and a little recruit the soldiers in the pass to benefit themselves.
This person does not record his name in the history books, and the reason he persuaded Liu Bang to seal The Valley Pass is that he heard that Xiang Yu had sealed Zhang Zhang handan as the King of Yong, and the fief was in Guanzhong, and if they came, you Liu Bang would not become the King of Hanzhong, so he had to send troops to guard Hangu Pass, and then use the land of Guanzhong as a base to resist the combined forces of the princes, Liu Bang accepted this man's suggestion, so he sent a large army to close Hangu Pass.
Since this person had heard that Xiang Yu had sealed Zhang Handan as the King of Yong, then they must have known that Xiang Yu was leading the combined forces of the princes to march toward Guanzhong, and since he had closed Hangu Pass and blocked the combined forces of the princes, then it must have included Xiang Yu, then Liu Bang must have also known that he was facing Xiang Yu, but Liu Bang still did this, Liu Bang's intention was actually very obvious, that is, he wanted to dominate Guanzhong and resist the combined forces of the princes with dangerous terrain, and Hangu Pass had always been the dangerous pass of the Qin Dynasty, and it was a barrier for the Qin state to resist the attack of the eastern princely states during the Warring States period. This Liu Bang is very clear.
Liu
Since Liu Bang knows it, he must know what the consequences of doing so are? Although Liu Bang has the legal principle of the covenant of the king, this practice of sealing the customs and blocking the troops will definitely trigger a strong backlash from the combined forces of the princes, and from the perspective of Liu Bang's series of behaviors, Liu Bang has long been prepared:
The first is to buy the hearts of the Qin people in Guanzhong and gain support through the three chapters of the Covenant; the second is to treat the qin princes and infants kindly and win the support of the old nobles of the Qin Dynasty; the third is to block Hangu Pass and prepare to use military force to oppose the combined forces of the princes; fourth, Liu Bang has the legal principle of the covenant of the king of Huai, and the advanced Guanzhong is the king, and Liu Bang wants to create a fait accompli and prevent Xiang Yu from entering the customs and dividing the seals
。
At the same time, Liu Bang's act of blocking Hanguguan must have been supported by his advisers and generals, because the history books do not record who opposed the blockade of Hanguguan, which was the first round of political contest between Liu Bang and Xiang Yu, and Liu Bang entered Guanzhong a month earlier than Xiang Yu, and in this month, Liu Bang did a lot of things, but Liu Bang's army had a traitor, and this person was Zuo Sima Cao.
Second, is Cao's harmless whistleblowing really a false accusation?
"History of Gao Zu Benji": Pei Gong Zuo Sima Cao heard the anger of King Xiang without harm, and wanted to attack Pei Gong, making people say xiang Yu: Pei Gong wanted Wang Guanzhong, so that the children and babies were in phase, and the treasures were all there.
The content of Cao Wuxian's informant to Xiang Yu was:
Liu Bang wanted to claim the title of king in Guanzhong, wanted to make his children and babies Xiangguo, and wanted to take all the treasures for himself
。 Cao Wuxian informed Xiang Yu that after Xiang Yu broke through Hangu Pass, he entered Lintong East, Shaanxi, which was very close to Xianyang, and people like Cao Wuxian saw that Xiang Yu was strong and Liu Bang was weak, so he dared to inform Xiang Yu, since it was a whistleblower, Did Cao Wu Hurt dare to make false accusations, or made up Liu Bang's story out of nothing?
Xiang Bo
From a common sense point of view, Cao Wuxian did not dare, unless Liu Bang really did this, false accusations are not afraid of losing his head, like this kind of whistle-blowing, if there is no basis for a little fact, it can not be made up, Cao Wuxian is just a left Sima and a middle-ranking and lower-ranking officer in Liu Bang's army, if there is no intelligence source, how dare Cao Wuxian inform? Looking at the content of Cao Wuxian's whistleblowing, Liu Bang wanted to claim the title of king in Guanzhong, this is certain, it is a fact, not a false accusation, and Liu Bang also made corresponding arrangements, but Xiang Yu was too powerful, broke through Hangu Pass, and let Liu Bang fail in the first round of the contest.
Cao Wuxian said that Liu Bang wanted to let the baby be xiangguo, this point is not empty, Liu Bang originally did not kill Qin Zibao, in order to win over the nobles of the Qin Dynasty, Liu Bang let the child be xiangguo is not impossible, Cao Wuxian must have heard the wind, Liu Bang did not have a deep hatred for the Qin Dynasty, he could treat the qin prince and baby kindly, and he could also treat the people of Qin with three chapters of the law, his only purpose was to be the king of Guanzhong first, and then to be the emperor, this point, Cao Wuxian did not say wrong, but the last point that Cao Wuxian said, wanting to take all the treasures for himself, This point may be an exaggeration, Liu Bang entered Guanzhong first, it is impossible to be stupid enough to not want all the treasures, all left to Xiang Yu? Saying that Liu Bang himself did not believe it, he must have accepted a part of it, left a part for Xiang Yu, and then exaggerated by Cao Wuxian.
So
The content of Cao Wuxian's whistleblower was basically real, which also triggered Xiang Yu's idea of attacking Liu Bang
Cao was unharmed
Third, why did Xiang Bo send a message to Zhang Liang, who had not yet received any suspicion from Xiang Yu?
The traditional saying is that Xiang Bo wanted to save Zhang Liang, but do you want to find out that Zhang Liang's life is more important than the lives of countless soldiers who fought between the two armies? Moreover, when he was in Pengcheng, Xiang Bo had already saved Zhang Liang once, when Xiang Yu killed Han Wangcheng, but he did not embarrass Zhang Liang, was this not Xiang Bo's role? Why did Xiang Bo risk leaking top military secrets, and also come to inform Zhang Liang of the situation, and not be suspected by Xiang Yu?
Didn't Xiang Bo know to tell Zhang Liang about the situation, and Zhang Liang wouldn't tell Liu Bang? Posterity always take Xiang Bo and Xiang Yu stupidity to explain this matter, do not think that the ancients are stupid than us, Xiang Yu can become the leader of the joint army of the princes of the world, although it relies on force, but Xiang Yu in all wars, all of them reveal the strategy of war, such as the Battle of the Giant Deer, the Battle of the Broken Cauldron, the Battle of Pengcheng, the cavalry detour, all of which are strategic strategies, this is definitely not a simple thing like a warrior, Xiang Yu has a military strategic mind, so Xiang Yu informed Zhang Liang, which is a strategy directed by Xiang Yu.
This also explains why Fan Zeng at the Hongmen banquet hinted that Xiang Yu killed Liu Bang, but Xiang Yu did not listen, and Xiang Bo was so obviously protecting Liu Bang, Xiang Yu did not blame Xiang Bo, Xiang Bo, such a person who ate inside and outside, let Xiang Yu have no doubts, is this Xiang Yu stupid? Not
The only possibility is that all this was directed by Xiang Yu, including Xiang Bo's message to Zhang Liang, including that the Hongmen banquet would not kill Liu Bang, because Xiang Yu had already decided that he did not want to kill Liu Bang, but directed such a play in front of the combined forces of the princes
Xiang Yu and Fan Zeng
Fourth, Xiang Yu directed a play?
Is there any evidence?
Yes
The first evidence is Xiang Yu's reputation
。 Xiang Yu was born into an aristocracy, and now he is the leader of the combined forces of the princes, Liu Bang is the first to enter Guanzhong, this is an undeniable fact, at the same time, the covenant of the King of Huai is who first entered guanzhong as the king, this is also an undeniable fact, now the King of Chu Huai is still alive, if Xiang Yu killed Liu Bang, it is not to give the people of the world a handle, where is Xiang Yu's reputation? At this time, King Huai of Chu was still Xiang Yu's nominal leader, and before he died, Xiang Yu could not give up his reputation.
The second reason is the distribution of forces under the heavens
。 Xiang Yu's division of the seal actually began to brew as early as the end of the Battle of Julu, for example, Zhang Handan was crowned king of Yong was determined when Zhang Handan surrendered, Yongdi is in Guanzhong, Guanzhong is the old land of the Qin Dynasty, in Xiang Yu's mind, the world's strongest and most capable forces, the first is Zhang Handan, the second is Yingbu, the third is Liu Bang, if you look back at Xiang Yu's division, you will understand that Zhang Handan is sealed in Guanzhong, Liu Bang is sealed in Hanzhong, the two major forces are separated by a Qinling, and they are mutually balanced, if there is one less, Another force will develop and grow, if you carefully analyze Xiang Yu's sub-sealing, the forces he seals are basically balanced against each other, for example:
The original Yan king of Yandi was divided into liaodong kings by Xiang Yu, and now there are 2 kings in Yandi, checking and balancing each other, can not be one family alone, and Qidi, the original Qidi was divided into three by Xiang Yu, divided into three Qi kings, checks and balances, can not be a single family, this is Xiang Yu's sub-sealing, in fact, all contain political significance, not a simple sub-sealing, and Xiang Yu's own Western Chu state forces are in the core of the whole of China and the richest position, in terms of geography can basically do a rapid crusade against a certain disobedient princely state.
Hongmen Feast
So Xiang Yu did not kill Liu Bang in the hope that Liu Bang could balance Zhang Handan, but Xiang Yu also had a purpose, that is, Zhang Handan was Xiang Yu's killing uncle enemy, you think Xiang Yu did not want to take revenge, no, he just wanted to find an opportunity, Xiang Yu is a person with a vendetta, temporarily accepting Zhang Handan's surrender does not mean that he will not kill Zhang Handan in the future, in Xiang Yu's overall plan, Zhang Handan and Liu Bang are both destroyed people, but now is not the time.
The third reason was that the combined forces of the princes under Xiang Yu were not monolithic.
Xiang Yu was actually not at ease with the combined forces of these princes, including the surrender forces of the Qin Dynasty represented by the King of the Three Qins, as well as the restored forces of the Zhao, Yan, Qi, Wei, And Korea, etc. These forces did not have a subordinate relationship with Xiang Yu, and Xiang Yu and Liu Bang went to war in Guanzhong, so who was the biggest beneficiary? Of course, these princes are the forces, they would like Xiang Yu to go to war, and even instigate Xiang Yu to go to war, and then when Xiang Yu and Liu Bang are both defeated and injured, they will insert a knife in the back, this outcome is actually the most unfavorable to Xiang Yu, Liu Bang is also concerned about the support of the people, But Xiang Yu can not get the support of the people of Chudi, and when the war starts in Guanzhong, Xiang Yu does not have much chance of winning.
Liu Bang and Xiang Yu
If Xiang Yu wants to move, it is also necessary to wait until after the division of the fiefdoms, the various princely states return to the fiefdom, can not be united together, Xiang Yu can break one by one, although Xiang Yu's forces are the most powerful, but not strong enough to easily swallow all the princes in the world, so can only use such a slowing strategy, from the first thing Xiang Yu did after the end of the division of the seal is to kill the King of Chu Huai can be seen that Xiang Yu began to annex the world's military and political actions, first take away the king of Chu Huai, and then look for opportunities to clean up the princes one by one, Finally complete the unification.
summary
It is precisely because of Xiang Yu's series of plans,
Therefore, the Hongmen Banquet is actually a play directed by Xiang Yu, which was played for the combined forces of the princes, and they hoped that Xiang Yu and Liu Bang would fight fiercely, lose both sides, and then try to be rich in guanzhong, Xiang Yu had already decided with Xiang Bo before the Hongmen Banquet that he would not kill Liu Bang
Otherwise, you can't understand That Fan did not hint at Xiang Yu more times, but he was not moved, and Xiang Bo protected Liu Bang so obviously at the banquet, But Xiang Yu did not pursue it at all, Xiang Yu was certainly not stupid, and he was quite smart, and there was no stupid person who could do Xiang Yu's position, and if you look at Xiang Yu's sub-sealing, all of them revealed political wisdom, and as for Xiang Yu's failure later, it was another story.