During the Chu-Han War, Xiang Yu produced many famous "traitors", such as Han Xin, who was a traitor to Xiang Yu.
However, Han Xin's betrayal of Xiang Yu was really excusable. Han Xin was full of strategy and used soldiers like gods, but Xiang Yu did not listen to him and only let him be a stubborn lang, which was not a naked humiliation for Han Xin? Whether it was out of defense of dignity or the pursuit of the future, Han Xin had to break away from Xiang Yu.
However, the betrayal of Wang Yingbu of Jiujiang was very puzzling.
Xiang Yu can be said to have a deep affection for Yingbu, appreciation is added, reuse is added, after invading Guanzhong, he also crowned Yingbu as the King of Jiujiang, it can be said that Yingbu has no reason to betray Xiang Yu.
Some people say that Xiang Yu's sealing of Yingbu as the King of Jiujiang is all that Yingbu deserves, which is not Xiang Yu's kindness to Yingbu, and Yingbu can't be grateful to Xiang Yu.
Is this really the case?
Yingbu came from a low-level background, and was later escorted to Lishan for hard labor for crimes, after Chen Sheng's uprising, he used his influence among Lishan prisoners to pull up a team of several thousand people, because he saw xiangliang Xiangyu's nephew strong and strong, and had great potential, so he led the team to Xiangliang.
Since then, Yingbu has become a member of the Western Chu regime. In the War of Annihilation of Qin, Yingbu Xiao was brave and good at war, and he made great contributions to the three armies, and he also made great achievements in the Battle of Julu, and was deeply valued by Xiang Yu.
However, after all, Yingbu was only a general of Xiang Yu, and he was not a descendant of the Six Kingdoms, so why should he be compared with the leaders of the rebel army and the descendants of the Six Kingdoms? Therefore, after Xiang Yu invaded Guanzhong, he divided the princes and completely did not seal Yingbu as king. However, Xiang Yu weighed Yingbu heavily, and yingbu was his own concubine, or he was eccentric and made him king.
Xiang Yu's preference for Yingbu can also be seen from his treatment of other generals under his command.
Long Ji and Zhong Lixiao were both famous generals under Xiang Yu,but when they were divided into princes, they didn't even catch a single hair, not only were they not crowned kings by Xiang Yu, but even the marquises were not obtained.
General Pu, who led an army to Xiang Yu with Yingbu, fought alongside Yingbu in the Battle of Julu, and also achieved great success, and even the marquis was not obtained.
However, Long Ji, who had not even been knighted as a marquis, and the generals Zhong Lixuan and Pu were always loyal to Xiang Yu, so what reason did Yingbu have to betray Xiang Yu?
In fact, Yingbu did not think of betraying Xiang Yu at first. In the third year of the Han Dynasty (204 BC), Liu Bang sent He to persuade Yingbu to rebel against Chu and surrender to Han, and Yingbu did not even want to see Suihe and directly left him in the pavilion for three days. So why did Inbe finally change his mind?
It all started two years ago. In 206 BC, Xiang Yu honored King Huai as emperor of righteousness and moved the capital to Changsha, but sent Yingbu to assassinate him secretly.
This incident plunged Xiang Yu into the scandal of infidelity and injustice. As the murderer of King Huai, Yingbu also carried many insults. This inevitably made Yingbu dissatisfied with Xiang Yu.
More importantly, the assassination of King Huai could be handled by an assassin or a subordinate general, but Xiang Yu let Yingbu do it himself, what does this mean? Although Xiang Yu made Yingbu king, he still regarded him as his thug and little brother, if you were Yingbu, what would you think? Moreover, if Yingbu was able to become the eldest brother of the Lishan prisoners as a civilian, he must be a very strong and strong person.
From this point on, Yingbu had begun to deliberately keep a distance from Xiang Yu, who was the King of Jiujiang, not Xiang Yu's subordinate. Even if he was Xiang Yu's subordinate, Xiang Yu couldn't use him as a horse boy and summon him at will.
Because of this, later Xiang Yu attacked the State of Qi and let Yingbu lead the troops out on the expedition, Yingbu showed great resistance, I Yingbu is also a prince, can you Xiang Yu not treat me like a little brother? Can you give me a little bit of the dignity of the princes?
But at this time, Yingbu did not want to betray Xiang Yu, and the dignity of the princes must also be preserved, so Yingbu came up with a way to have the best of both worlds, that is, to entrust himself with illness and send troops to follow Xiang Yu on the expedition.
But Ying Buwan did not expect that this best of both worlds method was an important reason for his break with Xiang Yu.
Sui He finally met Yingbu through the Jiujiang State Dazai, and Yingbu told him that he was now serving Xiang Yu as a courtier and would not defect to Liu Bang. He took the opportunity to say, "But what you do is like a courtier?" Xiang Yu asked you to lead the troops out on the expedition, you actually did not go to the sick, only let the general go, you are clearly trying to sit on an equal footing with Xiang Yu. What kind of character Xiang Yu is, you treat him like this, do you guess Xiang Yu will kill you? ”
Hearing this, Yingbu's face went black.
Sui He also said, "You don't want to defect to the King of Han, but you just think that the King of Han is weak and weak, not Xiang Yu's opponent." But why don't you take a look at how many allies the King of Han has? And Xiang Yu, assassinating the Yi Emperor, has long been rebellious and separated, you follow him, what future can you have? ”
With these words, Yingbu's will was suddenly shaken, and he had the idea of defecting to Liu Bang. However, due to various reasons, such as Xiang Yu is still very strong after all, and he is still quite affectionate and righteous after all, Yingbu cannot make up his mind.
However, a bold move by He Made Yingbu's determination immediately strengthen.
At that time, Xiang Yu's emissaries were also in the Jiujiang Kingdom, prompting Yingbu to send troops. Sui He ran over and said to Xiang Yu's emissaries, "The King of Jiujiang has already defected to the King of Han, so why did Xiang Yu let him send troops?" ”
Inbe was horrified. Sui He took the opportunity to say to Yingbu, "Having said all this, you should kill Xiang Yu's emissaries and immediately announce your defection to the King of Han." ”
At this time, Yingbu was already riding a tiger, and he could not kill Xiang Yu's emissaries, what else could he do? If the emissary was released, he was bound to tell Xiang Yu what he had seen and heard in the Jiujiang Kingdom, and with Xiang Yu's personality, he would certainly not be able to spare Yingbu. In the end, Yingbu followed Sui He's advice and finally betrayed Xiang Yu.
Yingbu betrayed Xiang Yu, and it should be said that Xiang Yu still had a certain responsibility. He should take into account Yingbu's face, and should not treat Yingbu as a general, or even a horse boy, after making Yingbu queen.
Of course, Yingbu himself was more problematic, as soon as he heard Sui He say that Xiang Yu would not let him go, he immediately believed it and made the decision to betray Xiang Yu, rather than trying his best to bridge his relationship with Xiang Yu, which showed that this person was a person who saw profit and forgot righteousness.
Xiahou Bao's protégé Xue Gong once commented on Yingbu, "The disciple of The Ancient Lishan of the Cloth Is also the Lord of the Ten Thousand Multipliers, all of which are for the body, regardless of the worriers of the people (Yingbu was originally a prisoner of Lishan Mountain, and he himself strived to become the Lord of the Ten Thousand Multipliers, all for his own wealth, he is not a person who takes care of the people today and thinks about future generations)", such a person will naturally not be loyal to the Old Lord.