Author: Our special guest author Nine Fish Pavilion
A soldier who does not want to be a general is not a good soldier, but what about the emperor? As the highest core of power in the feudal dynasty, it is natural that everyone yearns for it. People's hearts are selfish, and in feudal dynasties, the emperor can do almost anything he wants, so there are almost no people who don't want to be emperors.
After the fall of the Qin Dynasty, Xiang Yu, as the leader of the various princes, he had the ability to claim the title of emperor, but Xiang Yu did not do so, he burned the city of Xianyang and divided the princes of various roads, and he himself called himself the king of Western Chu.
So why didn't Xiang Yu choose to be emperor, but chose to be the king of Western Chu?
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="11" >, Xiang Yu's main purpose is revenge and restoration of the Chu state</h1>
In 223 BC, Wang Qi led an army to attack the State of Chu and conquered Shouchun in one fell swoop, and the State of Chu perished. In the eyes of later generations, Qin Shi Huang unified the whole country, and his merits flaunted in the annals of history, but for the royal family and nobles of the Chu State, it would be a disaster of annihilation, and the only thing they wanted to do was to restore their homeland and restore the Chu State.
In the Qin Dynasty, which had just left Ru Mao and drank blood, the people were called "Qianshou", which means small blackheads, in addition to the Qin Dynasty's laws were extremely strict, and the slightest violation would be punished with capital punishment, and the system of sitting together was implemented. At the same time, major projects such as the Lishan Mausoleum, the Great Wall, and the Afang Palace began to be built one after another, and when Hu Hai took over, it became even more intense, and the people were miserable, so the Chen Sheng Wuguang Uprising broke out.
Water can carry boats and boats, and unpopular regimes will be overthrown sooner or later, and in 209 BC, under the leadership of his uncle Xiang Liang, Xiang Yu also joined the anti-Qin army. At this time, Xiang Yu's purpose was also very clear, to overthrow the rule of the Qin Dynasty and restore the homeland of the Chu State.
Historical records record that "after a few days, Xiang Yu led troops to slaughter Xianyang in the west, killed the prince and baby of Qin, burned the Qin palace, and the fire was not extinguished for three months." ”
After Liu Bang captured Xianyang, he did not dare to monopolize xianyang and gave xianyang to Xiang Yu, Guanzhong was the best position to claim the title of emperor, and Xiang Yu did not stay long, but instead led troops to slaughter the city, and also burned the Qin Palace for three months, and then he returned to Chudi, declared himself the overlord, and built the capital Pengcheng.
It can be seen from this that xiang Yu's hatred for the Qin Dynasty is deep, and his purpose is also very clear, not to mention whether to claim the emperor or not, revenge and restoration of the homeland are more important.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="73" > Second, Xiang Yu did not want to be emperor, it may be that the time has not come</h1>
Throughout the dynasties, whether it was a palace coup or a rebellion by the king of the clan, the ultimate goal was imperial power, did Xiang Yu really not want to be an emperor? Presumably impossible.
Historical records record that "The first emperor of Qin, the first emperor of Qin, traveled to Zhejiang, and Liang and his origins were observed." "He may take his place." Liang covered his mouth and said, "No presumptuous words, clan!" Liang used this as a strange book. ”
When Qin Shi Huang was touring Hui county, Xiang Liang and Xiang Yu were watching from the sidelines, and Xiang Yu came and said, I can replace it. How glorious is that Qin Shi Huang to sweep away the Liuhe and unify the whole country, and does anyone not want to get the power of Qin Shi Huang? For the temptation of imperial power, presumably no one can bear it.
Historical records record that "chen sheng's first thing now, not standing up for chu and then standing on his own, is not long-term." ”
When Fan Zeng joined the company, he analyzed a problem for Xiang Liang, that is, whether to establish himself as king. Chen Sheng first raised the banner of anti-Qin, but Chen Sheng did not assist the chu descendants as kings, but instead claimed the title of king himself, and because of his unjust name, he was eventually suppressed.
Therefore, Fan Zeng suggested that Xiang Liang and establish the descendants of the Chu state as kings, so that they could be long-lasting. Fan Zeng was the best strategist in Xiang Yu's camp, and he saw the situation very clearly, and established the King of Chu Huai, not to really assist him, but to win people's hearts and grow stronger.
It can be seen that Xiang Liang already had the idea of being a king, but due to the situation, he had to establish the King of Chu Huai first, and Xiang Yu and Xiang Liang's ideas should be the same.
Although Xiang Yu was determined in the Battle of Julu, and the slaughter of the city of Xianyang shocked the princes, this world is not a world of one person and one surname, and the princes are still eager to compete for the supremacy of the Central Plains.
Perhaps in Xiang Yu's mind, it was relatively easy to divide the princes first and let them fight for themselves, so that they could be solved one by one, which was relatively easy.
However, soon some princes jumped out against Xiang Yu, Tian Rong believed that Xiang Yu's distribution was unfair, and repeatedly provoked disputes, Liu Bang pacified the Three Qins, becoming Xiang Yu's biggest threat, the State of Qi, the State of Zhao, and successively betrayed Xiang Yu, Xiang Yu borrowed troops from Yingbu, the king of Jiujiang, but Yingbu said that he was ill.
If Xiang Yu wanted to be emperor, he had to solve all these troubles, otherwise he would not be able to be emperor with peace of mind. In other words, the time had not yet come.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="74" > Third, Xiang Yu's own ideological shackles and political short-sightedness</h1>
In Xiang Yu's body, there are many fatal flaws, such as the benevolence of women, and then such as small belly chicken intestines, suspicion is too heavy, for power, Xiang Yu regards it more seriously, so he is not willing to give up power, and he also values property very seriously, and does not give corresponding rewards to his subordinates.
According to historical records, "Fan Zeng said that Xiang Yu said: "When Pei Gong lived in Shandong, he was greedy for goods and goods, and he was very beautiful. Now that we have entered the customs, we have nothing to gain from our belongings, and we have no luck for women. I am looking forward to it, all are dragons and tigers, into five cai, this Tianzi qi also. Don't lose it." ”
Fan Zeng gave a high evaluation to What Liu Bang did in Xianyang, Liu Bang was already greedy for money and lustful, but when he arrived in Xianyang, he did not take any favors, which shows that his ambition is not small. In Fan Zeng's view, if Liu Bang is not killed, Liu Bang will become the biggest competitor on Xiang Yu Road.
At the Hongmen banquet, Fan Zengzhong tried to kill Liu Bang several times, but Xiang Yu was silent and did not react, giving Liu Bang the opportunity to escape again and again. In Xiang Yu's view, Liu Bang admitted his mistake and took the initiative to come to the door to apologize, giving him enough face, so that he wanted to kill people again, which was too uninteresting.
In this way, Xiang Yu let Liu Bang go and gave Liu Bang time to grow. "Soldiers, devious ways", marching and fighting, power and tricks, the most taboo is the benevolence of women, those so-called morality, benevolence, morality, covenant oaths, most of them are tricks to trick children, a mature politician only looks at profit.
For Xiang Yu, he was too naïve in his political stance, too simple in his ideas, and his many flaws led to his final failure.
After the capture of Xianyang, some people advised Xiang Yu that there were mountains and rivers in Guanzhong, there were fortresses on all four sides, and the land was fertile, which was the only choice to dominate the Central Plains. However, Xiang Yu slaughtered Xianyang City and burned the palace of the Qin Dynasty, and the people's hearts and the hearts of the army were lost, and he completed his so-called purpose, and also came the sentence "The rich and noble do not return to their hometown, such as clothes embroidered at night, who knows!" ”
It turned out that Xiang Yu did this all for the sake of face, saying that he was polite, but he also said a sentence of "People say that people are monkeys and crown their ears, and sure enough." In the eyes of the lobbyist, Xiang Yu had neither little wisdom nor great wisdom, and there was only stupidity in him.
In fact, this lobbyist was quite right, Xiang Yu was not a qualified commander, nor was he a mature politician, because of that sentence, this politician also died a tragic death.
Xiang Yu must have wanted to be emperor, but his ideological shackles would not allow him to do so at all, and even if he really became emperor, he could only be fleeting, like a cloud of smoke in his eyes!
Reference: Historiography, The Seventh Chronicle