China knows everything for 5000 years

Chapter 16

Zhang Liang guessed that Liu Bang was about to go back, so he entered the banquet hall to present gifts, giving Xiang Yu a pair of white jade discs and Fan Zeng a jade bucket.Fan Zeng took the jade bucket and threw it on the ground, smashed it with his sword, and said, "The one who conquers the world must be Liu Bang."

Liu Bang returned to the army and immediately killed Cao Wushang. From then on, the prelude to the struggle between Chu and Han for the world began.

●Han Xin endured humiliation in the crotch
Han Xin is a native of Huaiyin (now part of Jiangsu). His parents died when he was young, and he doesn't know how to do business to make a living. He has no security in life, so he often goes to other people's homes to eat and drink. Everyone hates him.

One day, Han Xin was walking down the street with a sword in his hand, and met a local rogue.The rogue deliberately made trouble, and chased Han Xin sarcastically: "Although you are tall, you always carry a sword when you go out, but you are a coward. Everyone knows that. If you are not afraid of death, draw out your sword and stab me to death; If you don't dare, just crawl under my crotch!" He said and spread his legs apart.Seeing this guy insulting him so much, Han Xin was furious, but then he thought about it, a man can bend and stretch, why should he have the same knowledge as this rascal.So Han Xin slowly got under the man's crotch, stood up and left.People all over the street laughed at Han Xin, thinking that he was timid and timid.

A man does not flick his tears easily, because it is not yet the time to be sad.Han Xin was so humiliated, so he ran to his mother's grave, cried a lot, and made up his mind: one day, he must wash away the humiliation in his crotch.After crying for a long time, Han Xin returned home and did not leave the house for several days.He learned from the pain and thought: I want to vote for a wise monarch. Only in this way can I have the opportunity to display my talents.

Later, Han Xin defected to Xiang Liang's army, and after Xiang Liang died, he followed Xiang Yu, but he was never reused, so Han Xin had to defect to Liu Bang again.Under Xiao He's strong recommendation, Han Xin was worshiped as a general by Liu Bang, and made great contributions to Liu Bang's establishment of the Han Dynasty.

●Xiang Yu divided into eighteen kings
After the Hongmen Banquet, Xiang Yu led a mighty army straight into Xianyang.After entering Xianyang City, Xiang Yu's army killed Qin Prince Ying, destroyed many palaces, and robbed many treasures.Yafu Fan Zeng said to Xiang Yu: "The terrain in Guanzhong is dangerous and the soil is fertile. You can dominate here. Qin Shihuang took advantage of this favorable condition and won the world." Even though you won the world here, won’t you still be overthrown by me?” Fan Zeng said, “If you insist on going back to Jiangdong, you must first take care of the affairs here, and then it’s not too late to get up.” Xiang Yu said, “Yafu is right. It makes sense." So, Xiang Yu wanted to divide the world into feudal lords.Fan Zeng dissuaded him and said: "General Xiang, if you want to unify the world, you should not divide the princes into feudal lords, but set up prefectures and counties like Qin Shihuang did, and concentrate all the power in your hands." After hearing this, Xiang Yu was very unhappy and said: " Yafu, why do you want me to imitate the tyrant Qin Shihuang? Wouldn’t that be opposed by the people of the world? As an aristocrat of the Chu Kingdom, I should entrust the feudal lords of the world to win the hearts of the people.” Fan Zeng saw that Xiang Yu was so stubborn, so he didn’t say any more. what.

Xiang Yu thought, how to divide the seals?I can dominate the princes, and others are easy to arrange, but what about Liu Bang?Let him be the king of Guanzhong, and I feel unwilling; if I don't let him be, I am afraid that others will say that he is against the will of King Huai of Chu.Therefore, Xiang Yu asked King Huai of Chu to take back the promise at that time and change the original agreement.King Huai of Chu originally wanted to seize Xiang Yu's military power, but now Xiang Yu wanted him to change the agreement, so he immediately rejected Xiang Yu's request.

Xiang Yu was furious and thought, King Huai of Chu, you are too ignorant of flattery. Back then, my uncle found you and made you King of Chu, which gave you enough face; but now, you dare not treat me Put it in your eyes.Xiang Yu wanted to abolish King Huai of Chu, but Fan Zeng persuaded him: "General Xiang, absolutely not. You have just destroyed Qin, and you abolished the monarch. It will be unpopular, even though he is only the monarch in name. Today is still undecided, so don't act rashly." Ah! Why don't you take back the power to confer kings and take over King Huai of Chu!" Hearing this, Xiang Yu felt that it made sense, so he began to distribute the feudal titles among the kings.

Xiang Yu granted Liu Bang the title of King of Han, and went to remote Nanzheng (now Nanzheng City, Shaanxi Province) to establish his capital; he was still worried about Liu Bang, and divided three places near Liu Bang: Yong, Zhai, and Sai, and named them the generals of the Qin Dynasty. Zhang Han became King Yong, Dong Yi became King Zhai, and Sima Xin became King Sai to prevent Liu Bang from advancing eastward; he also made some other generals who had contributed to the uprising and the old nobles of the six countries as kings, making a total of eighteen kings.Xiang Yu established himself as the overlord of Western Chu, surpassing the eighteen kings, and established his capital in Pengcheng.

Then, Xiang Yu returned to Pengcheng with his army, and returned home in fine clothes.

●Xiao He chased Han Xin under the moon
After Xiang Yu became the eighteenth queen, Zhang Liang, who had helped a lot at the Hongmen Banquet, was going back to his hometown in South Korea. He advised Liu Bang to be patient, not to be impatient, to try to deceive Xiang Yu, and to prepare strength secretly so that he could win by surprise and defeat Xiang Yu in one fell swoop. , Seize the world.Because of Xiang Yu's power, Liu Bang had to lead his troops to Nanzheng, and accepted Zhang Liang's plan to burn down all the hundreds of miles of plank roads along the way. The plank roads were passages built with wood on steep cliffs.The purpose of burning down the plank road is to facilitate defense, and more importantly, to confuse Xiang Yu, making him think that Liu Bang is no longer fighting for the world, so he relaxes his guard against Liu Bang.Liu Bang's soldiers didn't understand this strategy. When they saw the plank road burnt down, they thought their way back was cut off, and they panicked.Some sang folk songs from their hometown all day long, expressing their nostalgia for their hometown; some simply left without saying goodbye and deserted.Han Xin also deserted and escaped secretly.

Han Xin defected from Xiang Yu to Liu Bang's sect after the Hongmen Banquet. Liu Bang didn't realize that Han Xin was a talent, but asked him to be a small official who governed Su Duwei, responsible for handling food and grass.Xiao He, Liu Bang's subordinate, is good at identifying talents. He once talked to Han Xin several times, found that Han Xin was a great general, and recommended him to Liu Bang several times, but Liu Bang didn't think Han Xin was a talent.

Xiao He heard that Han Xin had escaped, and before he could tell Liu Bang, he rode on a fast horse and chased Han Xin by himself under the moonlight.

Han Xin went out in a hurry, the road was unfamiliar, and he couldn't find anyone to ask the way, so he was wandering in the valley.Taking advantage of the moonlight, he saw a man chasing him on a fast horse from a distance, he was startled, and ran forward as fast as he could die.Xiao He saw clearly that the man running hard in front was Han Xin whom he wanted to chase, so he shouted loudly: "Strong man Han! Please stop!" Han Xin recognized Xiao He's voice and stopped.Xiao He got off his horse quickly, took Han Xin's hand, and said hurriedly: "Han Zhuangshi, you can't go! The King of Han values ​​talents, and he will definitely use you. Please don't be impatient, just wait a few more days!" Han Xin Seeing that Xiao He really wanted to recommend him, he gave up his plan to escape and followed Xiao He back.

When Xiao He was chasing Han Xin, the soldiers in the Han army said that Xiao He also deserted.Liu Bang was so anxious that he couldn't eat anymore.Two days later, Xiao He came back.Liu Bang asked him, "Why did you go? Why didn't you tell me?" Xiao He replied, "I went after the escaped man." Liu Bang asked, "Who are you going after?" Xiao He said, "I chased Han Xin." Liu Bang said disdainfully: "A lot of soldiers have fled, and you don't chase others. Why do you only go after Han Xin? Isn't he the guy who got into his trousers?" Xiao He said: "A man can bend and stretch, the king should not underestimate him. Other soldiers It's easy to get, but people like Han Xin can't find another one. If the king only wants to be king in Hanzhong, Han Xin is really useless; if he wants to fight for the world, people like Han Xin are absolutely indispensable." Liu Bang said "According to what you said, I'll use him as a general." Xiao He said, "It's too much for a talent like Han Xin to be a general." Liu Bang said, "Then, shall I worship him as a general?" Xiao He said: "That's great."

So Liu Bang sent someone to call Han Xin and said that he would worship him as a general.Xiao He stopped and said, "If you sincerely want to worship Han Xin as a general, you should choose a good day, eat vegetarian food for three days, and then build an altar to worship the general. Only in this way can you show your sincerity in loving talents." Liu Bang thought What Xiao He said was reasonable, so he really followed it, held a very grand ceremony, and worshiped Han Xin as a general.Since then, Han Xin has stepped onto the big stage of the struggle between Chu and Han.

●Han Liu Bang darkened Chen Cang
In the autumn of 206 BC, Liu Bang decided to march eastward and compete with Xiang Yu for the world.At this time, Zhang Liang had come to help Liu Bang again.Zhang Liang and Han Xin came up with a plan in unison. Liu Bang followed the plan and ordered generals Fan Kuai, Zhou Bo, and Xia Houying to lead more than 1 people to repair the plank road first, and there was a deadline of three months to repair it, pretending to attack from the plank road. .

Zhang Han's task was to block Hanzhong and prevent Liu Bang from advancing eastward. He learned that Liu Bang appointed Han Xin as a general and sent soldiers to repair the plank road. He thought Liu Bang was whimsical and didn't take it to heart.But Zhang Han never thought that repairing the plank road was just a trick for Liu Bang by Zhang Liang, and it was a blindfold.Liu Bang secretly asked Xiao He to be responsible for the supply of food and grass for the soldiers. Together with Han Xin, he led the main force of the Han army to leave Nanzheng, march northwest along an ancient mountain road, and cross the Wei River without anyone noticing. The momentum went straight to Chencang (now Baoji, Shaanxi).When Zhang Han received the report, he knew it was a trick. He personally led the army to Chencang to resist the Han army, but it was too late.

Zhang Han sent people to seek help from Sima Xin and Dong Yi, but neither of them dared to act rashly.Han Xin seized the opportunity to order Zhou Bo and Guan Ying to capture Xianyang, blocking Zhang Han's escape route to the east.Zhang Han knew that he could not escape, so he drew his sword and killed himself in despair.When Sima Xin and Dong Yi heard that Zhang Han was dead, they surrendered one after another.

Next, Liu Bang led his army to occupy the south of the Great Wall, the north of the Yellow River and most of Shandong, laying the foundation for Liu Bang to finally seize the world.

●Bravely defeat Zhao
After darkening Chen Cang, Liu Bang's base in Guanzhong had been consolidated, so he ordered Han Xin and Zhang Er to lead tens of thousands of Han troops to attack Zhao Guo.Zhao Wangxie and Cheng Anjun Chen Yu immediately mobilized nearly 20 soldiers and horses to station in Jingxingkou.

Zhao Wangxie is a fool, and the actual commander is Cheng Anjun Chen Yu, but Zhao Guo also has talents, and Guangwu Lord Li Zuoche is an outstanding one.Li Zuoche said to Chen Yu: "The Han army has come from a long distance, and they are already exhausted. The soldiers can hardly eat and sleep well. Coupled with the inconvenient transportation in Jingxing, it is difficult for the Han army to provide food and grass. Now it is possible to send [-] cavalry. Cut off Han Xin's food and grass supply line. General, as long as you fortify the walls and clear the fields, deep ponds and high walls, and stand firm without fighting, then Han Xin will be unable to advance or retreat, and the food and grass will run out, and we will definitely lose. Otherwise, we will be captured by Han Xin instead." However, Chen Yu He didn't listen at all, and said something like "the righteous soldiers don't need to cheat".When Han Xin heard the news, he boldly swung his troops to approach Zhao Jun, and stationed at a place less than [-] miles away from Jingxingkou, where Zhao Jun was stationed.

In the middle of the night, Han Xin selected 2000 light cavalry, each carrying a red flag, to lie in ambush in the mountains to monitor Zhao Jun's movement.Han Xin ordered the cavalry to say: "When the Zhao army sees that our army is defeated and retreats, they will definitely come out to pursue us. At that time, you will immediately raid the Zhao camp, pull out the Zhao army's flag, and plant all the Han army's flags." Han Xin mobilized 1 horses and set off until the riverside, and deployed with his back to the water.At dawn the next day, Han Xin led his troops out of Jingxingkou, and Zhao Jun immediately went out of the city to pursue them. After the two sides fought for a while, Han Xin pretended to be defeated and discarded the drum flag; Go back and fight Zhao Jun.Han Xin's army has all retreated to the riverside, which can be described as a desperate situation-nearly 20 Zhao troops are pressing in front, and the Yellow River is behind, and there are no boats.Everyone understands that retreating is a dead end, only if we bravely fight forward, there may be hope of survival.As a result, all the Han troops fought desperately, and all of them used one as a divination, and their morale was greatly boosted.At this time, the original two thousand cavalry had already planted the red flags of the Han army on the Zhao barracks.

Zhao Jun met the stubborn resistance of the Han army who was in a dead position, and was unable to win for a while. He was about to return to the army, but saw the red flags of the Han army on his barracks, thinking that King Zhao had been captured by the Han army's ambush. Fleeing away, General Zhao swung his sword repeatedly to kill the retreating soldiers, but he could not save the retreating situation at all.At this time, Zhao Jun had no fighting power.Han Xin immediately swung his troops in pursuit, attacking from both sides, defeated the Zhao army, beheaded Chen Yu, and captured Zhao Wangxie.After the news spread that Han Xin defeated the Zhao army in a last-ditch battle, the princes were all shocked.

●Chu and Han signed a boundary treaty
In 203 BC, Xiang Yu decided to lead troops to attack Pengyue himself, and asked Cao Jiu to stay and defend Chenggao. He repeatedly asked him to stick to the city and not to fight the Han army.

Liu Bang challenged Cao Jiu as soon as Xiang Yu left.In the beginning, Cao Jiu just guarded the city and did not fight the Han army.Liu Bang ordered the soldiers to insult and provoke the Chu army's camp across the Sishui (flowing through the west of Rongyang) all day long.The Han army scolded him for several days, Cao Jiu couldn't hold his breath anymore, so he decided to lead the defenders across the Si River and fight the Han army to the death.As a result, the Chu army was defeated. Cao Jiu felt ashamed to see Xiang Yu again, so he drew his sword and committed suicide.

Xiang Yu was winning a battle in the east, and when he heard that Cao Jiu had committed suicide, he hurriedly led his army to rescue him. In Guangwu (northeast of Rongyang, Henan today), the Chu and Han armies faced off again.After a long time, the food supplies of the Chu army could not meet.Xiang Yu ordered the soldiers to tie up Liu Bang's father and put it on the pig slaughtering case, and sent someone to yell at Liu Bang: "If Liu Bang doesn't surrender soon, you will kill your father." Liu Bang said shamelessly: " You and I were once brothers, and my father is also your father. If you kill your father and cook it into meat soup, please give me a bowl and let me taste it too." Xiang Yu gritted his teeth in hatred, really wanted to He killed Liu Bang's father, and Xiang Bo dissuaded him.

One day, the two armies of Chu and Han were facing each other in front of the battle, and the archers of the Chu army shot Liu Bang with an arrow.Liu Bang was seriously injured by an arrow in his chest, but he still pretended. He bowed his waist and touched his feet, saying, "It hit my toe." The guards guarding Liu Bang hurriedly helped him into the tent.The officers and soldiers of the Han army panicked when they heard that Liu Bang was seriously injured.Zhang Liang was afraid that the army's morale would be shaken and the overall situation would be affected, so he urged Liu Bang to get up reluctantly, and asked the medical officer to bandage the wound, and went to the military camps by car to inspect it, and everyone settled down.

Then, Han Xin defeated the Chu army in Qi, and Peng Yue cut off the Chu army's grain transportation route. The food and grass became less and less, and the Chu army was in trouble for a while.Liu Bang took advantage of Xiang Yu's embarrassment and sent someone to make peace with Xiang Yu, asking for his father and wife to be released, and suggested that Chu and Han should use the gap (in the southeast of Rongyang) as the boundary, with the east of the gap to Chu and the west of the gap. Return to Han.The two sides guard their territory, do not invade each other, and stop fighting.Xiang Yu was an honest gentleman. He thought that Liu Bang really wanted to make peace, so he agreed, and then released Liu Bang's father, wife and others, and then brought his men back to Pengcheng.

●Farewell My Concubine
Liu Bang is actually a sinister and cunning villain. After Chu and Han made the agreement on the gap, within two months, they organized Han Xin, Peng Yue, and Yingbo to join forces, led by Han Xin, to pursue Xiang Yu.

Han Xin divided the whole army into ten teams, arranged an ambush on all sides, and the four rings responded, besieging Xiang Yu in Gaixia (in today's Anhui).Xiang Yu's men and horses are few, and the food is almost gone.He wanted to lead an army to rush out and fight the Han army to the death, but Liu Bang and the princes' troops were as numerous as insects and ants, and the Chu army was surrounded tightly.Xiang Yu repelled one group, and another group came; killed one level, and another level; before killing here, Han soldiers surrounded there again.

Seeing that he could not break out, Xiang Yu had no choice but to lead his troops back to the Gaixia camp, ordering the soldiers to guard carefully and prepare to fight again when the opportunity arises.

That night, Xiang Yu entered the tent, worried and frowning.Xiang Yu's wife, Yu Ji, saw that he was gloomy and helpless, so she accompanied him to drink to relieve his boredom.

When it was three o'clock, I could only hear the whistling of the westerly wind, and the sound of the wind was accompanied by singing.Xiang Yu listened carefully. The singing came from the Han camp. All the songs were from Chu people, and there were many people singing.Xiang Yu was stunned when he heard Chu Ge everywhere in all directions.He thought: Has Liu Bang already captured Pengcheng?Why are there so many Chu people singing Chu songs in the Han camp?After hearing this, Xiang Yu drew out the sword he carried with him, plucked the blade lightly, and sang a sad song casually. Heroes, due to unfavorable luck, the black horse refused to run forward.What can I do if the horse refuses to run?Concubine Yu, Concubine Yu, what shall I do with you?

Xiang Yu sang it several times in a row, and Yu Ji sang along with her, with a bleak voice, like weeping and complaining.The servants beside him were too sad to lift their heads.At this time, in order not to hinder Xiang Yu's breakout, Yu Ji slayed herself and died.Xiang Yu was so sad and angry that he hugged Yu Ji's body and cried bitterly.

●The Overlord by the Wujiang River committed suicide
After Yu Ji committed suicide, Xiang Yu was determined to break through.So, Xiang Yu buried Yu Ji, stepped on the Wuzhui horse, and took his 800 soldiers to rush out of the encirclement of the Han army's ambush on all sides.Knowing that Xiang Yu had broken through, Liu Bang immediately sent 5000 cavalry to pursue and kill him.Xiang Yu and his 800 soldiers fought continuously with the pursuing Han army, crossed the Huai River, and there were only more than 100 people left around him.After a while of fighting and stopping, when they arrived in Dongcheng (in today's Anhui), only 100 of the original more than 28 people remained.Xiang Yu turned around and looked at the 28 loyal subordinates covered in blood. He couldn't help feeling sad. He held back his tears and said to them: "It has been eight years since I started the army, and I have experienced more than 70 battles. Only after one defeat did I become the Overlord of the World. The way I am today, it’s because the heavens are calling me to perish, it’s not that I can’t defeat them!”

(End of this chapter)