Pei Gong raised troops

In 209 BC, the peasant uprising broke out in the late Qin Dynasty. After Chen Sheng and Wu Guang led the rebel army to capture Chen (now Huaiyang, Henan), Chen Sheng established "Zhang Chu" "The regime was in open conflict with the Qin Dynasty. At this time, the county magistrate of Peixian County also wanted to respond and continue to control the power of Peixian County. Xiao He and Cao Shen were the main officials under the county magistrate at the time. They persuaded the county magistrate to call back the exiled people in the county, so as to increase the number of people in exile. Strength can also prevent future troubles. The county magistrate thought it was reasonable, so he asked Liu Bang's brother-in-law Fan Kuai to find Liu Bang, and Liu Bang led his people back. The county magistrate here regretted it again, fearing that it would be difficult to control Liu Bang when he came back, and that he might be killed by Liu Bang, which was tantamount to luring a wolf into the house. Therefore, he ordered the city gate to be closed and prepared to arrest Xiao He and Cao Shen. Xiao He and Cao Shen heard the news and fled outside the city. Liu Bang shot the letter into the city, encouraging the people in the city to rise up and kill the renegade county magistrate, and everyone defended their hometown together. The people were very dissatisfied with the county magistrate who was usually not very considerate of them. After killing the magistrate, they opened the city gate to welcome Liu Bang and elected him as Pei Gong to lead everyone in the uprising. Liu Bang obeyed public opinion, set up an altar, claimed to be the son of the Red Emperor, and led the people to raise the banner of anti-Qin. This year is already September of the first year of Qin II, and Liu Bang is forty-eight years old.

2. Competition in the Central Plains and dominance

The demise of Qin

There was another powerful force in the peasant war at the end of Qin. This was the descendant of the original nobles of Chu. Xiang Yu and his uncle Xiang Liang raised an army in Wuzhong (now Wuxian County, Jiangsu), and their strength soon reached nearly 10,000. At the same time, the descendants of other nobles from the six countries who were destroyed by Qin also raised armies and joined the ranks of destroying Qin.

After Chen Sheng was killed by the coachman Zhuang Jia, Xiang Liang supported King Chu Huai's grandson Xin as King of Chu, and made the capital Xuyi (now Xuyi, Jiangsu). Later, he and the Qin army led by Zhang Han The army launched fierce battles and won the first few times. As a result, Xiang Liang became more arrogant and arrogant and could not listen to what others said. As a result, he was attacked by Zhang Han who had received reinforcements, and was defeated and killed. After Xiang Liang's death, Zhang Han felt that Chu would no longer pose a big threat, so he turned his main energy to Zhao. Zhao State was attacked and asked Chu State for help. After discussing with the generals, the King of Chu decided to divide his troops into two groups to reinforce Zhao State. One group was led by Song Yi and Xiang Yu to the north for direct rescue, while the other group was led by Liu Bang and headed west to Guanzhong to contain the Qin army and coordinate reinforcements from the north. The King of Chu and his generals made an agreement: Whoever enters Dingguan first will be the king of the world. But no one had much hope in becoming king, because the Qin army was still very powerful at that time, and the generals were unwilling to take the risk of marching westward to fight the Qin army. In order to avenge his uncle, Xiang Yu asked to go west to Guanzhong with Liu Bang, but everyone was unanimously opposed. Everyone felt that Xiang Yu was much crueler than Liu Bang, and he was young and inexperienced, while Liu Bang was an elder, generous, kind, and more prestigious. Therefore, it was finally decided to let Liu Bang lead the troops westward to Guanzhong.

In the beginning, Liu Bang did not go well, but after several battles, Liu Bang advanced westward step by step, and finally reached Bashang (now east of Xi'an) not far east of Xianyang. Prince Qin Seeing that the situation was over, Ying had no choice but to surrender the city and hand over the jade seal to Liu Bang. The Qin Dynasty was thus destroyed.

Based in Guanzhong

Liu Bang entered Xianyang City proudly and regarded himself as the "King of Guanzhong". Looking at the magnificent palace, Liu Bang became a little nostalgic and was ready to stay and enjoy it. His brother-in-law Fan Kuai advised him to pay attention to the fact that the world was not yet peaceful and not to forget Qin's mistakes. Liu Bang couldn't listen at all. It wasn't until Zhang Liang came to persuade him in person that he realized the seriousness of the problem. Therefore, Liu Bang retreated his army to Bashang.

After Liu Bang arrived in Bashang, he summoned local celebrities and made a three-part agreement with them: those who kill will die, and those who hurt others and steal will be punished. The harsh legal systems of other Qin dynasties were all abolished, which gave him popular support.

After Xiang Yu defeated Zhang Han and forced him to surrender, he also led his troops straight to Guanzhong to compete for the qualification to be the king of the world. When they arrived at Hangu Pass, they saw that Liu Bang had not only pacified Guanzhong, but also sent troops to guard Hangu Pass. He was furious and immediately ordered Yingbu to lead the troops to capture Hangu Pass. Then he led 400,000 troops straight to Xianyang and stationed them there. Xixia (now the west bank of the play water in the northeast of Lintong, Shaanxi Province). Liu Bang's subordinate Cao Wushang was very dissatisfied with Liu Bang. In order to get a bigger official position, he secretly sent someone to instigate Xiang Yu: "Pei Gong Liu Bang wants to be king in Guanzhong, and then let Ziying be the prime minister, and he will take all the property of Qin." Incorporated into private pockets.

Xiang Yu couldn't help but became furious after hearing this, and Fan Zeng also advised him to take the opportunity to get rid of Liu Bang's opponent. Xiang Yu ordered preparations to attack the next day. At this time, Liu Bang could not compete with the powerful Xiang Yu in terms of military strength. He only had an army of 100,000. , it was impossible to defeat Xiang Yu's 400,000 elite soldiers. In the end, Xiang Yu's uncle Xiang Bo "saved" Liu Bang: Xiang Bo was very close to Liu Bang's counselor Zhang Liang. Seeing that Xiang Yu was about to attack, he sneaked into the camp overnight to find Zhang Liang and asked him to do so. Leave quickly to avoid being killed. Zhang Liang said he could not leave Liu Bang behind, so he revealed the news to Liu Bang. In panic, Liu Bang hurriedly asked Zhang Liang for a plan. Zhang Liang asked Liu Bang to go see Xiang Bo quickly and explain that he had no ambition to compete with Xiang Yu.

So Liu Bang hosted a banquet for Xiang Bo and agreed to marry him. He said to Xiang Bo: "Since I entered the customs, I have not dared to take possession of any property or register the officials. , sealed up the treasury, just waiting for the general to come. The reason why I sent troops to guard Hangu Pass is not to prevent you, general, from entering the pass, but to better guard the Guanzhong area and prevent bandits from invading. The soldiers and I hope that you, general, will come soon day and night. How can we have any desire to rebel? Please be sure to explain this matter to General Xiang Yu when you return to eliminate any misunderstanding. "Xiang Bo agreed, and then said to Liu Bang: "General, you must go to our camp tomorrow to explain the situation to Xiang Yu in person, and apologize in person to get Xiang Yu's forgiveness. "Liu Bang agreed after hearing this.

Xiang Bo returned to the military camp that night. He said to Xiang Yu: "Because Pei Gong entered Guanzhong first and removed the obstacles for us to enter, we can smoothly enter the Pass. Passing Hangu Pass, Pei Gong is a meritorious person. We should not doubt him and treat him sincerely. "After hearing this, Xiang Yu decided not to attack Liu Bang.

The next day, Liu Bang came to Xiang Yu's military camp as promised, bringing only Fan Kuai, Zhang Liang and a hundred elite soldiers. When they arrived at Xiang Yu's tent, At Hongmen, he apologized to Xiang Yu who greeted him. Xiang Yu invited Liu Bang inside for a banquet. During the banquet, the two parties went back and forth. Xiang Yu secretly and openly attempted to assassinate Liu Bang in the name of sword dancing. , without success. This is the origin of the idiom "Xiang Zhuang dances with the intention of Pei Gong". Later Liu Bang left for an excuse and returned to the camp.

After the Hongmen Banquet, Xiang Yu led his troops to Xianyang City. Massacres were carried out, Prince Ying of Qin was also killed, and Qin's palace Afang Palace was set on fire by Xiang Yu. After burning Afang Palace, Xiang Yu made various generals kings, and he made nineteen princes and kings. , the territory is Ba, Shu and Hanzhong *** 41 counties, the capital is Nanzheng (now Nanzheng, Shaanxi). Xiang Yu himself is the overlord of Western Chu, holding the supreme command of the army, and the king of Chu is respected as the Righteous Emperor. /p>

After the enfeoffment, Xiang Yu asked everyone to take office in their respective vassal states, and Liu Bang had no choice but to go to Nanzheng. Xiang Yu only gave Liu Bang 30,000 troops. Later, some people followed him to Nanzheng. However, the total number of troops was less than 100,000. Liu Bang could not compete with Xiang Yu for the time being and could only wait for the opportunity. In order to eliminate Xiang Yu's suspicion of him and to prevent other princes from attacking from Hanzhong, Zhang Liang suggested that Liu Bang burn down the plank road leading to Hanzhong. .

Chu-Han War

Initially, Liu Bang had no intention of marching eastward to compete with Xiang Yu, but after he arrived in Nanzheng, the changes in the situation prompted him to make up his mind to march eastward and compete with Xiang Yu. Xiang Yu fought for the world. One reason was that the soldiers were dissatisfied with the soil and water of Nanzheng, and they missed their hometown day and night, and their morale was low. The second reason was that Tian Rong, who was entrusted to Qi by Xiang Yu, rebelled against Xiang Yu's enfeoffment, which gave Liu Bang a perfect opportunity to invade. Opportunity. It happened that Liu Bang got General Han Xin at this time. Xiao He told Liu Bang that if he wanted to dominate the world, he must reuse Han Xin. After Han Xin was made a general, he proposed to send troops eastward immediately: "Our soldiers are all from Shandong (referring to (area east of Hangu Pass), now it is time to take advantage of their strong desire to return home to boost their morale, and they will surely make achievements after marching eastward. Without further delay, troops should be launched immediately. ”

In 206 BC, that is, in May of the first year of the Han Dynasty, Liu Bang appointed Xiao He as prime minister to manage the Bashu area in the rear. He personally and Han Xin led troops to sneak across from Chencang (now east of Baoji, Shaanxi). Quickly occupying all of Guanzhong, the famous Chu-Han War officially broke out.

The Chu-Han War was divided into two stages. In the first stage, Liu Bang was at a disadvantage and was defeated by Xiang Yu many times. Later, Liu Bang alienated Xiang Yu and Fan Zeng, gradually gained the upper hand, and finally defeated Xiang Yu completely.

After Liu Bang advanced eastward, he took advantage of Xiang Yu's battle with Qi and Zhao to capture Henan and attack Luoyang. Then he marched eastward and captured Pengcheng. Originally, Xiang Yu planned to defeat Liu Bang after pacifying Qi and Zhao. Now that Liu Bang had captured Pengcheng, he led 30,000 elite troops on a rapid march back. Taking advantage of Liu Bang's banquet to celebrate his victory, he launched an attack in the early morning and defeated the Han in one day. The Han army was defeated. When the Han army retreated, Xiang Yu chased and killed hundreds of thousands of people. When they reached the Suishui River east of Lingbi (now northwest of Suxian County, Anhui Province), they were overtaken by Xiang Yu again, and he lost another hundreds of thousands of troops. The Suishui River was also blocked by corpses. Only Liu Bang and dozens of cavalry managed to escape, but his father and wife Empress Lu were captured by Xiang Yu. When the other princes and kings who originally followed Liu Bang saw Liu Bang's defeat, they abandoned him one after another.

After Liu Bang retreated to Xingyang, he received reinforcements sent by Xiao He from Guanzhong, and Han Xin also gathered the scattered troops to join him. The Han army regrouped and defeated Xiang Yu's army south of Xingyang. The two armies began to confront each other in the Xingyang area. Later, Liu Bang rebelled against Xiang Yu's general Ying Bu, divided Xiang Yu, and also weakened Xiang Yu's troops because he had to divide his forces to suppress them. But Xiang Yu was no ordinary person after all. He sent troops to invade the Han army's grain transportation channels, and eventually besieged the Han army in Xingyang. Liu Bang had no choice but to ask Xiang Yu for peace, proposing to use Xingyang as the dividing line and the west of Xingyang as the Han Dynasty. Xiang Yu wanted to agree to Liu Bang, but Fan Zeng disagreed, saying that now was a good time to destroy the Han army. If he missed this opportunity and let the tiger return to the mountain, he would be in trouble. The consequences are endless. Xiang Yu then began to attack Xingyang again. Liu Bang saw that Fan Zeng was obstructing him, so he adopted Chen Ping's alienation strategy: when Xiang Yu sent an envoy to persuade Liu Bang to surrender, Liu Bang had people show hospitality and send exquisite food. When he met the envoy, he deliberately They were surprised and said: "We heard that it was Yafu (referring to Fan Zeng)'s envoy who came. It turned out to be King Xiang's envoy." Then he took the exquisite food and exchanged it for bad food. As a result, the envoy was very angry and told Xiang Yu when he returned. Xiang Yu didn't know that there was a fraud, so he was easily fooled. From then on, he no longer listened to Fan Zeng's opinions. He suspected that he had betrayed him and secretly dated Liu Bang.

Fan Zeng learned the inside story and became furious. He said to Xiang Yu: "Now the situation in the world has been decided. Please take care of yourself, my king. I'd better go home and be a commoner!" Fan Zeng left in anger. Xiang Yu failed to reach Pengcheng and died of sores on his back on the way. Xiang Yu was headstrong and had no resourcefulness, which was the main reason for his final failure.

After Fan Zeng left, Xiang Yu stepped up his attack on Xingyang, and Liu Bang also managed to break out of Xingyang. General Ji Xin volunteered and pretended to surrender to Xiang Yu on Liu Bang's behalf, allowing Liu Bang to escape. Ji Xin rode Liu Bang's car out of the east gate and pretended to surrender, while Liu Bang left the city through the west gate to break out of the siege. Ji Xin indeed attracted most of Xiang Yu's troops, but Xiang Yu failed to capture Liu Bang and burned Ji Xin to death in anger.

After taking Xingyang, Xiang Yu occupied Chenggao (now Sishui Town, Xingyang, Henan). Liu Bang later concentrated his forces to take Chenggao back and then besieged Xingyang. Xiang Yu returned to rescue, and he and Liu Bang were locked in a stalemate in the Guangwu Mountain area in the northeast of Xingyang. The confrontation lasted for several months. Xiang Yu was eager to fight Liu Bang decisively, because a protracted war was not good for him: Liu Bang's supply of food and grass was smooth, but his supply of food and grass was often attacked by Peng Yue. In order to end the battle as soon as possible and force Liu Bang to surrender, Xiang Yu took Liu Bang's father, who had been captured, to the front of the two armies. He said to Liu Bang: "If you don't surrender, I will cook your father!"

Liu Bang knew that Xiang Yu was threatening him, so he simply acted like a rogue: "You and I were once 'brothers,' so my father is your father. If you must cook my father, then Please do it. But don't forget to leave a bowl of broth for me." Xiang Yu was so angry that he ordered Liu Bang's father to be killed on the spot. Xiang Bo next to him quickly advised: "General, it's hard to say who can win the world now. Besides, those who want to win the world don't care about the life and death of their families. Killing his relatives will not have any effect. On the contrary, it will increase the number of enemies on both sides." Hatred." After hearing this, Xiang Yu had no choice but to order people to take Liu Bang's father back.

Seeing that his plan failed, Xiang Yu came up with another plan. He asked Liu Bang to duel with him alone. Liu Bang did not fall for his trick, but said: "You and I only compete with each other in wits, not courage." Then he scolded Xiang Yu for ten crimes: "First, you broke your promise and did not let me become the king of the world, but the king of Shuhan." Second, you killed the leader Song Yi and replaced him. Third, after you rescued Zhao, you marched into Guanzhong. Fourth, you burned the Afang Palace and enriched your own pocket. Fifth, you killed Prince Qin.

Sixth, you trap and kill Qin’s 200,000 surrendered soldiers. Seventh, the enfeoffment of princes and kings was unfair. Eighth, drive Emperor Yi out of Pengcheng and occupy it as the capital. Ninth, you assassinated the Righteous Emperor. Tenth, not only do ministers kill their masters, but political affairs are also unfair. Now I am leading all the generals to kill you, this cruel traitor, why do I have to fight you alone! " Xiang Yu heard this and was so angry that he drew his bow and shot Liu Bang, which hit Liu Bang in the chest.

The Chu and Han sides fought for more than ten months. Because of the support from Zhonghu and Shu, Liu Bang gradually gained the upper hand, but Xiang Yu was short of troops and food, so it was difficult to compete with the Han army. With the help of Hou Gong, Xiang Yu and Liu Bang made an armistice agreement: Chu and Han used the chasm (now the line between Xingyang, Zhongmu and Kaifeng in Henan) as the starting point. After the agreement was reached, Xiang Yu returned Liu Bang's father and wife.

The decisive battle at Gaixia

Xiang Yu led his troops back east, and Liu Bang also planned to lead his troops back to Guanzhong. Zhang Liang and Chen Ping tried their best to persuade Liu Bang to take the opportunity to kill Xiang Yu, because at this time Xiang Yu's troops were not enough, and if he returned to Pengcheng, it would be like letting the tiger return to the mountain. Liu Bang also ordered Han Xin and Peng Yue to pursue him. Quickly gather together to attack Xiang Yu.

In October 202 BC, Liu Bang caught up with Xiang Yu, but when they arrived at Guling (now Taikangxi, Henan), Han Xin and Peng Yue's troops had not yet arrived. Xiang Yu counterattacked fiercely and defeated the Han army. Liu Bang had no choice but to hold on and asked Zhang Liang if he had any good ideas. Zhang Liang said that if he could give Han Xin the land of Qi and Peng Yue Liang, the two of them would do it quickly. Liu Bang immediately sent people to promise Han Xin and Peng Yue that they would be crowned King of Qi and King of Liang immediately after defeating Xiang Yu. Han Xin and Peng Yue also quickly received a response: At the same time, Zhou Yin, the great commander of Chu, was also sent by Liu Bang. To persuade Xiang to surrender, Wang Yingbu of Huainan also came to join forces. The Han army gathered 300,000 reinforcements from all walks of life and fought with Xiang Yu in Gaixia. At night, the Han army besieging Xiang Yu sang the desolate song of Chu, which made Xiang Yu think. The Han army had occupied all the Chu territory. Xiang Yu, who was desperate, was drinking with his beloved Yu Ji in the big tent. Taking advantage of the power of the wine, he sang: "Strengthen the mountains and the world is overwhelming, but the times are not good and the glory will not fade away." What can you do if your glory is not gone? What can you do if you are worried! "Yu Ji sang: "The Han soldiers have captured the territory, and the songs of Chu are everywhere. The king is exhausted, how can I survive as a lowly concubine? "

Yu Ji committed suicide in tears in front of Xiang Yu. Xiang Yu wiped away his tears and led 800 cavalry on horseback to break out of the encirclement at night. The next morning, the Han army discovered that Xiang Yu had broken through and Liu Bang Guan Ying was ordered to lead the cavalry in pursuit. After Xiang Yu crossed the Huaihe River, he had only a hundred men left. When he arrived at Yinling (now northwest of Dingyuan, Anhui), he got lost and walked into Daze. , Xiang Yu retreated eastward and was overtaken by Guan Ying's cavalry in Dongcheng (now southeast of Dingyuan, Anhui). Xiang Yu only had 28 followers. After three fierce battles with the Han army and killing hundreds of Han troops, Xiang Yu finally committed suicide with his sword. . At this point, the Chu-Han War ended with Xiang Yu's defeat. Although Xiang Yu failed, he left a wealth of literary material to future generations. The drama "Farewell My Concubine" makes people full of sympathy and respect for this failed hero. < /p>