It is well known that Liu Bang's initial team was very limited when he raised his army against the Qin Dynasty, consisting mainly of his countrymen and relatives and friends. And most of these people are ordinary people in Pei County, including grassroots officials, peddlers and pawns, and some idlers who have no regular livelihood.
Over time, Liu Bang's team gradually grew, and with his unique leadership skills in the fierce competition with Xiang Yu, he finally won the world and established the Han Dynasty, but at this time his group of "fox friends and dog friends" have become the pillars of the country.
Why is that? Today, let's talk about this topic.
Liu Bang and his brothers rose rapidly
In the last years of the Qin Dynasty, Liu Bang once became acquainted with the famous scholar Zhang Er because of his admiration for Xinling Jun of Wei.
After the fall of Wei, Zhang Er was wanted by Qin, and Liu Bang did not choose to return to his hometown Pei County. In 223 BC, the state of Chu established Surabaya County in Pei County with Liu Bang as the pavilion chief, and it was at this time that his career began.
In 210 BC, Duke Lü held a banquet and had a great impression of Liu Bang, predicting that he would achieve great things, and married his daughter Lü Pheasant, who was not yet 20 years old, to him.
In the same year, when Liu Bang was in charge of escorting prisoners to Lishan to repair the mausoleum, a prisoner escaped incident, and he decisively released the remaining prisoners and led a team to hide in Mangdang Mountain, always looking for opportunities to rise.
In 209 BC, Chen Sheng and Wu Guang rebelled against the tyranny of the Qin Dynasty in Daze Township, and the Peixian County Commander planned to respond to the uprising, but finally refused him to enter the city for fear that Liu Bang's influence would surpass his own.
The people of the city, however, had a different idea, so they rebelled and killed the county commander to welcome Liu Bang as the Duke of Pei and let him lead them against the Qin rebellion.
From then on, Liu Bang rapidly expanded his territory and captured several cities near Peixian, as a result, his troops rebelled against Yongchi and defected to Wei. Enraged, Liu Bang decided to attack Yongchi, seeking Xiang Liang's help when he couldn't conquer it, and finally regained the lost territory with 5,000 elite soldiers.
Shortly after being placed under Xiang Liang's command, Chen Sheng died in battle, and Xiang Liang established the grandson of King Huai of Chu as the king of Chu, proclaimed himself the Wuxin army and attacked in two directions: one under the personal command of Xiang Liang, and the other under the joint leadership of Liu Bang and Xiang Yu.
The two teams won successive battles, but Xiang Liang was too conceited and was finally defeated by Qin Jun Zhang Han in Dingtao.
In 207 BCE, King Huai of Chu regrouped his army to attack Qin in two ways: Song Yi and Xiang Yu went north to rescue Zhao, while Liu Bangxi attacked Qin, and it was agreed that whoever entered Qin first would be crowned King of Guanzhong.
Liu Bang took advantage of Xiang Yu's battle with the Qin army, coupled with the fact that his subordinates could speak well, broke through Wuguan and reached the Qin capital Xianyang, and the prince of Qin surrendered, and it was obvious that Liu Bang became the nominal king of Guanzhong.
However, the Battle of Julu made Xiang Yu famous and became the commander-in-chief of the coalition army, leading 400,000 troops to Xianyang, Liu Bang realized his disadvantage and quickly evacuated Xianyang and went to Hongmen to apologize to Xiang Yu.
During the Hongmen Banquet, Xiang Yu's henchman Fan Zeng persuaded Liu Bang to kill, but successfully escaped with the assistance of Zhang Liang. Subsequently, Xiang Yu abolished the prince of Qin, burned the palace, divided the 18 princes, and dominated Western Chu, and Liu Bang, who was supposed to be the king of Guanzhong, was named the king of Han and the territory of Bashu.
In 206 BC, Liu Bang appointed Han Xin as a general and began his expedition, and captured Guanzhong through the strategy of "repairing plank roads in the bright and Chen Cang in the dark". A year later, the Han army took advantage of Xiang Yu's attack on Qi and united all the princes to attack Pengcheng, but Xiang Yu's surprise attack caused Liu Bang to be defeated.
In the following years, Liu Bang and Xiang Yu fought a protracted battle in Xingyang, and Han Xin's Northern Expedition successfully pressed Xiang Yu's rear.
In 203 BC, Liu Bang, under the advice of Zhang Liang and Chen Ping, tore up the alliance and attacked Chu with all his might, and in order to finally defeat Xiang Yu, he also united with Han Xin, Peng Yue and Yingbu and other five-way armies to attack
They finally defeated Xiang Yu in the Battle of Qixia, and Xiang Yu, who had fled to Wujiang, killed himself, and soon Liu Bang established the Han Dynasty in Dingtao, Shandong, and proclaimed himself emperor.
A strange phenomenon
After Liu Bang ascended the throne and became emperor, he was awarded 147 marquis in recognition of the merits of meritorious heroes, and an interesting scene happened at this time.
Among the 147 princes and generals, 51 of them emerged in the abundant region, known as the "abundant soldiers", and the eighteen heroes led by Xiao He and Cao Shen had a lofty status and were known as the "eighteen meritorious ministers", of which 11 were born in abundance, and the remaining 7 people were also from similar places of origin.
These nobles formed a powerful group of rich heroes in the early Han dynasty, and although they did not have a clear organizational structure and unified political opinions, they became the dominant force in the early Han dynasty.
A small Pei County, even smaller, is abundant, and so many heroes have emerged in the land of projectiles, which makes people sigh that this land is full of outstanding people, is it really outstanding people?
Who are these friends of Liu Bang? Peng Xiaohe, the county magistrate, belongs to some prestigious grass-roots officials, and Xiahou Ying is a coachman who specializes in raising horses and driving chariots.
Fan Hao is a butcher who kills dogs and sells dog meat for a living, while Zhou Bo is a wanderer who blows the flute all day long, occasionally blowing at funerals to help others.
In peacetime, few of these people are regarded as characters who can achieve great things, and it is not an exaggeration to say that they are Liu Bang's "fox friends and dog friends".
It is said that "the country is easy to change, and the nature is difficult to change", why did such a group of "fox friends and dog friends" become the founding and governing talents of the Han Dynasty in the end.
First of all, in ancient times, transportation was inconvenient and information dissemination was limited, and now with the help of the Internet to widely distribute recruitment information to attract talents, but the influence of ancient times is mostly limited to the adjacent geographical range, and some people can not get out of their own counties for a lifetime.
When Liu Bang raised his army, he mainly relied on relatives, friends and confidants in his hometown Pei County, forming the earliest "child soldiers" team, about two or three thousand people, including Fan Xu, Xiao He, Cao Shen, Xiahou Ying, Xi Juan, Wang Ling, Wang Su and others.
They are loyal and senior, so they are naturally reused by Liu Bang, and they have also experienced battles and made great achievements under the leadership of Liu Bang.
As the saying goes, "it is better to travel thousands of miles than to read 10,000 books", working hard in society for a long time naturally forms a unique set of personal concepts.
Although Liu Bang is only a small pavilion chief, he was more or less a manager in ancient times, and this person has a vicious eye, is good at employing people, and gives friends full trust and space.
Xiao He was originally a county magistrate, familiar with local affairs, and was mainly responsible for managing logistics after becoming Liu Bang's chief strategist;
Xiahou Ying was originally a groom, and under Liu Bang, he was responsible for the transportation of baggage, and with his super high driving skills and wit, he repeatedly rescued Liu Bang's family and became his most trusted entourage;
Although Fan Hao is a person who kills dogs and sells meat, such a person has a brave and ruthless innovation, and once rushed into the account to save Liu Bang without fear at the Hongmen banquet, and can be called a pioneer who is not afraid of heaven and earth on the battlefield.
"There is Bole in the world and then there is a thousand miles", Xiao He, Cao Shen and Fan Xu were not the pillars of talent at the beginning, but they were used in the right position in the process of following Liu Bang, and gradually grew up through continuous practice and tempering.
After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Nippon once said, "I am not as good as... I'm better than... I'm not as good as...", but I know how to stimulate and use everyone's potential, train them to become outstanding pillars of governance in the war, and it is precisely because of this that this group of Peixian children, who are regarded as "fox friends and dog friends", finally won the world.
Talent is there, but there is a lack of a platform
As the saying goes, "times make heroes", more specifically the environment shapes their roles and abilities, which means the skills and experiences that will be gradually cultivated by living in a certain environment.
The Heroes may not have been proficient in military and political affairs at first, but under Liu Bang's leadership, they were gradually drawn into the intensifying struggle between the world, and were forced to adapt quickly and learn about military and political affairs, driven by the pressure of this struggle and their own ambitions.
This kind of adaptation and learning is not achieved overnight, but a gradual process, Liu Bang's power at the beginning of the army was limited, military and political affairs were relatively simple, and it was not difficult to deal with them, just Xiao He, Cao Shen and Fan Xu and others were enough.
But as the power gradually grew, the affairs faced by the Fengpei heroes became more and more complicated, and the ability of those people in Pei County could not keep up, so Han Xin would appear at this time.
Under the leadership of Han Xin, this group of Peixian children fought back and forth with Xiang Yu, constantly improving their abilities in a difficult environment, and finally grew into Liu Bang's right-hand man.
Of course, this kind of ordeal is far more brutal than we think, and the glory of Xiao He, Cao Shen, Fan Xu, Zhou Bo and others is built on countless corpses.
When Liu Bang raised his army, there were as many as two or three thousand Fengpei disciples, of which only a few really stood out and won the title of marquis, and most of the rest of the Fengpei disciples were wrapped in horse leather on the battlefield.
This situation not only happened in the early Han Dynasty, but even more so in the late Eastern Han Dynasty, for example, Liu Bei was just a weaver and a shoe seller, Guan Yu was a wanted murderer, and Zhang Fei was a pig killer.
But the troubled times provided a stage for the three of them, whether Liu Bei, Guan Yu or Zhang Fei all had a body of strength, these strengths may not be of much use in peacetime, but in times of war, they may become a military general on the battlefield.
They are not born heroes, but through the tempering of blood and fire, they stood out from the sea of corpses and blood on the battlefield, and finally achieved extraordinary achievements.
Therefore, the rise of Guan Yu, Zhang Fei and Liu Bei is due to their own efforts and sacrifices, but it is more social and environmental factors that have created them, as the saying now goes, "Pigs can fly when they stand on the tuyere".
In Liu Bang's group, Han Xin and Zhang Liang are a good contrast, Han Xin's identity as an ordinary person has always lacked a platform, and Zhang Liang relied on the shadow of his ancestors to be a top adviser from the beginning, but his real military strength is much worse than Han Xin.
From this point of view, Han Xin is not incompetent, but lacks a platform for self-achievement. By extension, Xiao He, Cao Shen Fan Xu and others are not incapable, but a platform that did not have the ability to display their ability at the beginning, and once the opportunity comes, they will carp and jump into the dragon gate.
In ancient times, the ability of people who could read and write was not low, so Xiao He and Cao Shen became an important political force in the early Han Dynasty; The manpower to raise horses and dare to kill dogs with bare hands will not be small, so Fan Xu and Xiahou Ying have become the armed representatives of Liu Bang Group.
Although those who later defected to Liu Bang were also appointed accordingly, because they were not directors during the entrepreneurial period, the resources were relatively less, so that after Liu Bang ruled the world, the original group of people were given high-ranking officials for their loyalty and military exploits.
In general, the reason why "fox friends and dog friends" will transform into the talent of governing the country is inseparable from the fact that this group of people themselves have some skills, but the biggest reason is that Liu Bang provides them with a proper platform.
It is also thanks to this "platform" that they stand on the shoulders of many latecomers, such as Li Shiqi, Chen Ping and Han Xin, etc., who have risen again and again to become an important force in promoting the development of the Han Dynasty.
If there is no such platform, it will be better than Han Xin to become a "crotch disciple" in history in the end, what are your different views on this matter?