Xiang Yu's death is the end of one era, and it is also the rise of another era. As Xiang Yu killed himself on the Wu River, Liu Bang won the final victory in the Chu-Han struggle for hegemony. A new dynasty was established in the Central Plains and had a great impact on future generations.
And Xiang Yu was unable to cross the Wu River and regain strength, which also made many people strangled. If Xiang Yu can successfully cross the river and recruit troops to buy horses again, it is probably not yet known who will kill the deer.
But history does not give people the opportunity to start over, so we can only respect history, and Xiang Yu's death is its inevitable result. And his death not only brought great changes to Liu Bang's life, but also changed the lives of five other people. And these were the five generals who had their bodies dismembered.
Xiang Yu's ending
As a former king of Western Chu, Xiang Yu's story and image can be described as deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. Whether it was the boldness and resoluteness of the broken boat, or the hesitation at the Hongmen banquet, it showed Xiang Yu's extremely contradictory and complex personality. It was precisely because of this that Xiang Yu would eventually lose to Liu Bang.
When Xiang Yu was under siege, the once invincible fierce general finally realized that he was no longer capable of fighting Against Liu Bang. Thinking of the humiliation he was about to face, Xiang Yu chose to commit suicide. And this is perhaps the best ending for Xiang Yu.
Usually, as former leaders, especially leaders such as Xiang Yu, they are buried after death to show the generosity and benevolence of the victors. However, Liu Bang was an exception.
Because Liu Bang, before becoming the leader of the rebel army, had been making trouble in the streets for many years, acting like a rogue, there were many rogue qualities in his nature. Although there has been some convergence after the trace, just as the so-called "jiangshan is easy to change, the nature is difficult to move", in the handling of major events, Liu Bang is still the same as always.
So after Xiang Yu committed suicide, his corpse became an important prop for jiaguan jinjue. Not only was he not buried, but he was dismembered by five horses, and his dismembered body became the step of the person who seized it. Its popularity is no less than the obsession of the monsters with Tang monk meat.
Fellow countrymen meet fellow countrymen
According to the Records of Xiang Yu Benji, Xiang Yu met a deceased person before committing suicide. However, this deceased man did not come to help Xiang Yu get out of his predicament, but came to claim his life.
Xiang Yu's deceased name was Lü Ma Tong, and as early as when Xiang Liang and Xiang Yu were in Huiji County, Lü Ma Tong followed Xiang Yu. In the first battle, he took the lead in rushing into the enemy line and beheading twelve people, and his bravery surprised Xiang Yu. Since then, Xiang Yu has paid special attention to Lü Matong.
In the Battle of Dingtao, Xiang Yu's uncle Xiang Liang lost the battle against the Qin army, and not only was the entire army destroyed, but Xiang Liang was also defeated and killed. This greatly frustrated the morale of the rebel army. Therefore, Xiang Yu's army had a large number of soldiers fleeing, and the rebel army was in danger of disintegrating.
In a critical moment, Lü Matong, as a comrade-in-arms, understood the great righteousness of the fleeing soldiers, so that they could see the hope of defeating the Qin army again. It was precisely because of Lü Matong's analysis that Xiang Yu was able to continue the great cause of resisting Qin.
Afterwards, Xiang Yu said to Lu Matong, "You are my arm!" At this time, Xiang Yu could be said to be very dependent on this outstanding general. However, after Xiang Yu became the overlord of Western Chu, he was greatly rewarded to the princes. This move has caused many people to be dissatisfied.
Originally, Xiang Yu's strategy of dividing the seals was to crown the descendants of the nobles found as princes, rather than rewarding each person according to his merits. In this way, Lü Matong and other generals who were born of civilian origin naturally did not receive corresponding rewards.
Such a reward naturally caused dissatisfaction among the core members of the Xiangyu Group. These backbones, who were really born and died with him, were not treated fairly in Xiang Yu's camp. Discordant voices in Xiang Yu's army were increasing.
Later, as Liu Bang adopted Chen Ping's plan, he made a big counterattack in Xiang Yu's formation, causing Xiang Yu and the generals to deviate from each other, and the Generals of the Chu Army were all in danger. Lü Matong felt that there was no point in staying in Xiang Yu's army any longer, so he decided to join Liu Bang's army.
When Xiang Yu killed himself in Wujiang, after seeing Lü Matong, he decided to leave this credit to his deceased. However, after Xiang Yu killed himself, in order to snatch Xiang Yu's corpse, the Han army actually appeared to kill each other.
After some fighting, Wang Qi obtained Xiang Yu's head, and Langzhong rode the general Yang Xi, sima Lü Matong, and Langzhong Lüsheng and Yang Wu each won one of their limbs. Therefore, these five people were all enfeoffed, and with xiang Yu's corpse, they flew yellow and tengda.
Advantages of Liu Bang
The reason why Liu Bang was able to defeat Xiang Yu and win the Central Plains, in addition to receiving help from Han Xin in the military aspect, was more because he had many advantages in dealing with people than Xiang Yu. One of the most prominent points is that words must be done, and rewards and punishments are clear.
Compared with the benevolence of a woman who could care for the wounds of his generals, but refused to share the fruits of victory when he became famous, Liu Bang had already made a solemn promise to "take the first rank of Xiang Yu, reward thousands of pounds of gold, and seal the Marquis of Ten Thousand Households" in the course of his struggle with Xiang Yu.
When Lü Matong and five others presented Xiang Yu's corpse in front of Liu Bang, Liu Bang rewarded all five of them without discount. It's just that the promise that was once made by one person now needs to be shared by five people.
From this point, it can be seen that Xiang Yu's final failure is the inevitable result. As the saying goes, "Under the heavy reward, there will be brave men", but the generals who followed Xiang Yu in heroic battles did not receive a corresponding heavy reward after serving as brave men.
However, Liu Bang never spared money for the reward. Even when Han Xin used coercion as a means to win the title of King of Qi, Liu Bang, although dissatisfied, still met Han Xin's request very generously. Such boldness was something that Xiang Yu did not possess.
Because of this, those who followEd Liu Bang knew very well that their efforts would eventually be rewarded. It is precisely because of the confidence that Liu Bang brought to everyone that they still did not abandon Liu Bang when facing the powerful Xiang Yu, until they achieved the final victory.
Perhaps Xiang Yu still hadn't been able to figure out the reason for his failure before he died. Otherwise, he would not have exclamated before committing suicide: "Heaven has killed me, not a crime of war."
epilogue
Liu Bang and Xiang Yu, as leaders of the two anti-Qin groups, have the same goals, but have different starting points. And Xiang Yu had the advantage from the very beginning, but in the end he was completely defeated by Liu Bang and ended up with a self-inflicted fate, which was really regrettable.
Xiang Yu's actions made his followers unable to see the day of his head, which was the biggest crisis in Xiang Yu's camp. The goal of any migrant worker who follows the leader is to one day be able to exchange his years of efforts for a corresponding return. However, Xiang Yu never realized it.
On the other hand, Liu Bang was completely at a disadvantage at the beginning, but because he knew human nature very well, he could properly meet the demands of others in the handling of key issues, especially in terms of rewarding merit and deeds, so these more outstanding talents than Liu Bang would be willing to follow him.