No matter how powerful, bullish, and domineering Xiang Yu Naxi Chu overlord is, his heroic story still ends by the Wujiang River. Then why did Xiang Yu, who led him lead the Jiangdong warriors, lose and collapse? Is it because Liu Bang is insidious, and Han Xin can't fight?
In fact, there are more than that, there are other problems.
In the "Historical Records" Xiang Yu Benji, Xiang Yu started from the anti-Qin, to the Qin annihilation, he basically did not lose any tough battles, he was brave and fearless, resourceful, and founded the legend of the overlord of Western Chu.
Even Zhang Han, who had dealt with Chen Sheng and Wu Guang before, was trampled under his feet. He entered Guanzhong step by step, and kicked Liu Bang to Sichuan, where transportation was inconvenient, and prepared to be the head of the princes.
At this time, Xiang Yu can be described as possessed by the god of war, much stronger than the soldiers and horses of the princes, and he can rule the world with this. Therefore, the ancients all felt that Xiang Yu was the number one person in the late Qin Dynasty, and this kind of character was reduced to suicide, which can only be said to be the destiny of heaven.
But on the other hand, Xiang Yu really failed because he didn't know how to scheming, he didn't have the right way to behave, he couldn't adapt to the situation, and the opportunity, environment, and people didn't do well, and all the mistakes added up made him a tragic hero by the Wujiang River.
Xiang Yu's first mistake: he didn't listen to Fan Zeng's advice
Liu Bang also criticized Xiang Yu:
"I don't know how to use Fan Zeng"
What is said is that Xiang Yu will not make reasonable use of talents, like the famous military teacher at the end of Qin, so he will throw it there and don't need it. Fan Zeng was a veteran who followed Xiang Liang's uprising, and he was also an important minister of Xiang Liang before his death, and most of the credit for the growth of the Xiang family's army was due to him.
Xiang Liang handed over Xiang Yu to Fan Zeng to take care of, and he became Xiang Yu's "godfather".
Fan Zeng had already seen that Liu Bang wanted to be the king after entering the pass, and he immediately proposed to Xiang Yu to set up a Hongmen banquet to deal with Liu Bang. But finally, Fan Zeng picked the child, but Xiang Yu felt very happy and not sad.
Maybe Xiang Yu didn't want to bear the charge of killing his friend, and his foundation was not stable at that time, if he was in a hurry to kill the princes, he would definitely not be able to get benefits, so he didn't dare to push Liu Bang too hard, and it can be seen from here that Xiang Yu did not have such a force to rule the whole world at that time.
Xiang Yu's second mistake: I can't get used to seeing others
Ouyang Xiu, a great Confucian in the Song Dynasty, commented on Xiang Yu and said:
"If you don't believe in Fan Zeng, you dare to throw your face at Chen Ping and Han Xin, but you were dumped by others, and there was only a little reckless courage left. "
That is to say, Xiang Yu is too self-righteous, afraid that others are better than him, and refuses to trust talents. Chen Ping and Han Xin, who helped Liu Bang establish the Han Dynasty, wanted to help Xiang Yu do things, but they ran into walls everywhere;
Just wait for the opportunity, and give Xiang Yu a look. In Xiang Yu's eyes, the two of them are just poor and sour literati, how can they be reliable as Jiangdong villagers?
Xiang Yu's third mistake: usurping power and seizing the throne to kill the righteous emperor, and the chicken thief lost his trust
The unlucky Xiang Yu originally followed Xiang Liang to support Emperor Yi, and used the identity of Emperor Yi to attract the common people to join the Chu army to deal with the Qin State and restore the country. This slogan is very easy to use and has attracted many people to join.
But after destroying the Qin State, Xiang Yu felt that Emperor Yi was in the way, so he killed him. Liu Bang, who told the world now, didn't do it, he hurriedly wrote an article to scold Xiang Yu for usurping the throne and cheating on food, and the whole world knew about it.
No matter how big the king or emperor is, he will be criticized for doing this kind of thing, and people will start to be afraid of Xiang Yu. Therefore, the subordinates who were afraid that he would attack couldn't hold back, and united to fight Xiang Yu with Liu Bang. Besides, how can people like a person who breaks his promise?
Xiang Yu's fourth mistake: dividing the countries
Since everyone said that it would be our turn to share the cake if we won the battle, you look at the chaotic rabble, although the number looks scary, but the only teams that can really fight.
Liu Bang, who entered the Guanzhong, was driven outside because he was too weak, and Xiang Yu, although he did not become the king of Guanzhong, he burned down the Afang Palace, and then arranged for someone to divide the land, and then returned to his hometown Chu to be the overlord.
The place where Xiang Yuguan is mainly in the current Hubei, which is an authentic feng shui treasure, from the Warring States period to the Qin Dynasty, is really too rich. However, this actually ignores the fact that during the chaos at the end of the Qin Dynasty, the population casualties fell by about 70%.
Other famous generals, such as Yingbu and Gongao, were named kings of Jiujiang and Linjiang respectively, and their territories were in the area of Jiangxi and Hunan in present-day Anhui.
In this way, Xiang Yu's base camp in the west can take care of each other and form a flank attack on other forces. The rest of the generals of the Chu army, such as Long Ji, Ji Bu, Zhong Liwei'er, etc., are not so lucky, and they can't even mix with a king.
Let's talk about the places that Xiang Yu gave to others, he gave the fragments of Qin's land to Wei Wangbao, Zhao Wangxie, Tian Du, and Tian An.
These guys used to be nobles of the country, but none of them were Xiang Yu's cronies. If they don't get the benefits, they will definitely mischievous, but instead divide them into several pieces, maybe they will kill each other.
Secondly, Xiang Yu didn't occupy such a good territory, so he had to go back to Xichu. He wanted to take advantage of the dense water network there to hide behind and use the southern mountains as a defensive line, so that he would not be afraid of people making trouble for him.
After all, he still has Yingbu and the co-sketo over there, and he feels that his safety is absolutely fine. As for the Wei Wangbao and Qi Wangtian families in the north, it will be enough for him to be busy for a while.
Xiang Yu's fifth mistake: the geography is good, but it does not occupy an advantageous area.
He set his territory in Hubei, Anhui, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang, although this place is really rich, but because of the chaos at the end of the Qin Dynasty, there were only more than 3,000 households left in the big cities with a population of more than 10,000, and they were actually disadvantaged.
Liu Bang was sealed to Sichuan, although you mentioned the war last time and thought that they would run away, Sichuan did not have much impact, and the population may have increased.
After dividing the land, Xiang Yu's total population in the country was actually not much more than that of other places. Moreover, Sichuan has a special geographical location and will not be easily invaded by foreign enemies, so that in all the territory, Liu Bang's security situation can be guaranteed.
The last mistake: too violent and cruel.
Xiang Yu is the overlord of Western Chu, how can anyone say that he is cruel?
"Historical Records-Xiang Yu Benji" clearly recorded the six super cruel things he did, all of which were said to have been done by himself!
First of all, in 207 BC, Xiang Yu led his troops to attack Xiangcheng, but the people who defended the city were very tough, and the people inside did not come forward to help him, which made him angry, and finally killed everyone in the city.
In the same year, he also killed many people and killed many children because the people in the city helped the Qin people beat him, and killed many children, and burned down all the houses in the city. After doing this twice, he has become synonymous with a bad guy, and no one dares to stand in his way wherever he goes.
Then, he went to Xin'an, Xianyang, and Waihuang to kill people and set fires, and also burned Afang Palace, almost destroying all the legal documents and historical records of the Qin State, and immediately made the old Qin people hate him fiercely, but helped Liu Bang establish his prestige, and he also built a bridge and paved the way for Liu Bang.
Later, when he attacked the State of Qi, he also killed Tian Rong's subordinates, robbed things and acted recklessly, and directly drove many Qi people to Liu Bang's side.
Then, Xiang Yu just couldn't hear what others were saying, whether it was Fan Zeng or Ji Bu persuading him, it didn't work. Killing him felt that it was a lesson to others, and it was also to establish prestige for himself, and only his bad reputation like a ghost could scare the enemy army and make them flee.
He did this, when he fought with Liu Bang earlier, his name alone could scare several of Liu Bang's generals into not daring to move, and even a sharpshooter named Lou Fu was so frightened that he ran away, it seems that his terrifying strategy is really effective. But the question is, he is so tough, what is the result?
All the vassal states were far away from him, and the people were afraid of his big sword, so they all turned to the gentle Liu Bang. So Qin lost the country, Xiang Yu lost the hearts of the people, of course he lost.
What's wrong with it, everyone is welcome to discuss.