God of War through the ages: Han Xin

Chapter 3 Eternal Two Heroes——Xiang Yu and Liu Bang
The turmoil of wind, cloud and thunder, the changes of sea and mulberry fields, time is running forward quickly.

More than 2000 years have passed, and people no longer remember who Xiang Liang is, but they must remember who Xiang Yu is.On Chinese historical monuments, the name Xiang Yu is particularly dazzling. Even if we are tired of reading the legend of Xiang Yu’s life, we still cannot stop our ears from hearing this familiar name.

According to the records of "Historical Records", Xiang Yu's name, courtesy name Yu, was born in the fifth year of Xiong Han, King You of Chu (233 BC).Xiang Yu was born in Xiaxiang in the northeast of Chu State, which is now the suburb of Suqian, Jiangsu.History always has incredible coincidences in unexpected times. Xiang Yu didn't know when he was a child that there was a man named Liu Bang in Pei County, not far from the northwest of Xiaxiang; A man named Han Xin.And these three great men who changed history are all from Chu State, maintaining the same living habits and speaking the same language.

However, compared with Liu Bang, a "fake Chu person", Xiang Yu is a genuine Chu person. The Chu country complex is one of the feelings that are difficult to untie in Xiang Yu's heart, and another complex that is difficult to let go is his favorite woman, Yu Ji.Xiang Yu's life is closely linked with the rise and fall of Chu, and cannot be separated, because Xiang Yu's grandfather was Xiang Yan, a super general of Chu!
As the grandson of the famous general Xiang Yan, Xiang Yu's life is destined to be extraordinary.

However, in Sima Qian's "Historical Records" and Ban Gu's "Han Shu", neither Xiang Yu's father was explained.Since Xiang Yu is Xiang Yan's grandson and Xiang Liang is Xiang Yu's stepfather, the answer can only be found among Xiang Yan's other sons.According to "Xiang's Genealogy", Xiang Yan has three sons. The eldest son is Xiang Chao, the second is Xiang Liang, and the third is Xiang Xiang.

Since Xiang Liang is Xiang Yu's uncle, not uncle, the third eldest Xiang Xiang can be ruled out, and the seventh volume of "Zi Zhi Tong Jian" also clearly records: "Xiang Liang, the Chu general Xiang Yanzi also tried to kill people, and his brother and son To avoid enmity in Wuzhong." Therefore, it is basically certain that Xiang Yu's father is Xiang Chao.

When Xiang Yu was only nine years old, that is, in 224 BC, General Qin Wang Jian led an army of 60 to attack Chu, defeated the Chu army in Qinan (now south of Suzhou, Anhui), and killed Chu general Xiang Yan.In 223 BC, Wang Jian defeated Shouchun and captured the king of Chu, Xiong Lingchu.

Xiang Yu was brought up by Ji's father Xiang Liang, and Xiang Liang liked this nephew very much.After Xiang Yu became sensible, Xiang Liang began to consciously train Xiang Yu.Xiang Liang first taught Xiang Yu to read, but Xiang Yu was not born to read, and after a few days of learning, he refused to learn.Xiang Liang taught his nephew how to sword again. Xiang Yu tried to learn sword for a few days, but gave up again.

Xiang Liang was very annoyed that Xiang Yu could not achieve success in the east and west.But Xiang Yu said with pride: "It is enough to read and write, and to be able to practice signing well. Why do you have to be so serious? Learning swords, no matter how good you are, it is just for self-defense, and it is not what I need. Good man, be a good man. Enemy of all people!"

Xiang Liang looked at Xiang Yu in surprise. Unexpectedly, his nephew had such ambition. He treated Xiang Yu with admiration, so he taught Xiang Yu the art of war.Xiang Yu was overjoyed and began to study military art hard, but unfortunately Xiang Yu is a monkey character, after roughly knowing how to use military art, he started to play rogue again and stopped learning.Xiang Liang has nothing to do with him, so let him go.

Later, Xiang Liang killed someone because of an incident. Fearing revenge from his enemies, he took Xiang Yu and fled to Wuzhong to avoid disaster.Xiang Liang was a well-rounded character, he did well in Wuzhong, and became a prominent figure in the local area. When there were government corvee workers or someone's affair, Xiang Liang would preside over it.

At this time, Xiang Yu was already in his 20s and was eight feet two inches tall.According to the size standard of the Qin Dynasty, one foot equals 23.1 centimeters, a burly man of nearly 1.9 meters, and Xiang Yu is so powerful that he can lift a big tripod, his face is not more tolerant, and he is not out of breath. All young people in Wuzhong know this Xiang Yu The young master's ability is both fearful and submissive, and gradually formed a small circle around Xiang Yu, just like Liu Bang also formed a small circle of drinking and eating meat.

In November of the 37th year of Qin Shihuang (210 BC), Yingzheng toured the world and came to Kuaiji. After a tour, he prepared to return to Xianyang.When crossing Zhejiang, thousands of people gathered to watch, and Xiang Liang and Xiang Yu were fine, so they came to join in the fun, wanting to see what the mighty emperor looked like through the ages.Xiang Yu stood on tiptoe and stretched his head to look at it for a while, and said with disdain, "It's nothing unusual, you can replace it!"

It is unclear whether Xiang Liang knew the story that Qin Shihuang was almost smashed to death by a Korean noble descendant with a big iron pillar when he was in Bolangsha seven years ago. This "Korean" named Zhang Liang.What if Ying Zheng had a pair of ears and heard Xiang Yu's words?Xiang Liang hurriedly covered Xiang Yu's big mouth with his hand, and scolded his nephew softly: "You drank a few bowls of yellow soup last night, how dare you say such a thing? Be careful to exterminate the family!" But Xiang Yu's ambition is not comparable to that of ordinary people. I like this nephew more and more.

In fact, Xiang Liang is not a fuel-efficient lamp. As the son of Xiang Yan, his strong hatred for the subjugation of Qin almost made Xiang Liang unable to restrain himself. In his lifetime, he must fulfill the great prophecy that "although there are three families in Chu, the death of Qin will lead to Chu". .Xiang Liang is not as stupefied as Xiang Yu. He knows that although Ying Zheng is brutal, this is not the best time to oppose Qin. Xiang Liang knew that his chance had come.

In September of the first year of Emperor Qin II (209 BC), that is, two months after Chen Sheng's Zhanmu uprising, Yin Tong, then the prefect of Kuaiji, had already judged that the Qin Dynasty was about to die, so it was better to take the opportunity to take Chen Sheng's broken ship, By the way, grab a few handfuls of delicious fish and shrimp.

Yin Tong knew that if he wanted to achieve great things, he couldn't do without a few strong people around him, because Xiang Liang was a local boss who could handle both civil and martial arts, so Yin Tong wanted to recruit Xiang Liang into his group.Yin Tong told Xiang Liang: "The Qin Dynasty seems to be at the end of its strength, why should I wait for the second generation to sacrifice my life? It's better to turn against the mother, I plan to let you and Huan Chu be generals."

Xiang Liang had been waiting for this day for a long time, but wouldn't it be a joke to let Xiang Liang hang out with Yin Tong and other dubious characters?Yin Tong has land, food and soldiers, which are essential strategic resources for doing great things. Xiang Liang's attitude towards Yin Tong has always been "envy, jealousy and hatred", and he wants to kill Yin Tong and use Yin Tong's flour to make cakes.

Xiang Liang had a plan, and a weird smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.Xiang Liang told Yin Tong sincerely: "Huan Chu is a good general, but he is on the run now, and no one knows where he is. My nephew Xiang Ji knows Huan Chu's whereabouts."

The governor of Yin, who was full of foolishness, asked Xiang Liang to call Xiang Yu in for questioning. Xiang Liang stepped out, explained to Xiang Yu, and then brought Xiang Yu in.

Before Yin Tong could speak, Xiang Liang gave Xiang Yu a wink: "Now you can tell the sheriff where Huan Chu is!" Rolling around on the ground like a watermelon.

Blood splashed all over Xiang Yu's handsome face, and Xiang Yu stood expressionless.

Xiang Liang wore the seal ribbon on his body, held Yin Tong's bloody head in his hand, and told everyone present: Yin Tong is dead, Xiang Liang is still alive, and I will be your boss from now on!All the people in the mansion were horrified when they saw this, Xiang Yu couldn't stand them, jumped up and killed nearly a hundred people, blood flowed like a river, and the rest of the officials were afraid of being killed by Xiang Yu, so they bowed down one after another.Xiang Liang was the prefect of Kuaiji himself, and Xiang Yu was appointed as the general. He was going north to find Qin's enemies, and to end the hatred of subjugation.

Xiang Liang immediately raised his troops in Wujun, and recruited 8000 elite soldiers from Wujun. These are the 8000 Jiangdong disciples who followed Xiang Yu to the world and killed almost all the great gods. 60 troops were not considered a lot at the time. The Qin State could mobilize [-] troops in the first battle against Chu, but this was the iron-blooded army brought out by Xiang Yu. Inseparable.

This year, Xiang Yu was 24 years old.

Xiang Yu's family background is introduced here first, let's go back and learn about Liu Bang's life experience.

"Historical Records Gaozu Benji" records Liu Bang's origin: "Gaozu, a native of Zhongyangli, Peifeng City, surnamed Liu, styled Ji. His father is Taigong, and his mother is Liu Yu." In 256 BC, that is, King Jiyan of Zhou Nan In the last year of the [-]th century, Liu Bang was born in Fengyi (now Fengxian County, Jiangsu Province) and grew up in Peixian County (Peixian County, Jiangsu Province). Both belonged to the newly established Sishui County after the unification of Qin Shihuang.

Liu Bang is the third brother in the family, so the official history calls Liu Bang Liu Ji, and "Ji" actually means ranking third.However, Liu Bang's father did not leave a name. In "Historical Records", he was called "Liu Taigong", and his mother was called "Liu Nai", which means an old man in the country, and has no special meaning.However, Liu Bang's family background is not as poor as Zhu Yuanzhang's. There are at least a few acres of land in the family. If you work hard and work hard, even if you are not rich, you can have enough food.

If you want to name the most famous lazy man in history, it must be Liu Bang.Liu Bang is notoriously lazy, arrogant, lazy, and unwilling to participate in agricultural production.

Liu Bang's pride comes from his special appearance.Xiang Yu's appearance is also different. Xiang Yu has double pupils, that is, there are two eyes in his eyes, while Liu Bang has a high nose bridge and a beautiful beard. He was recognized as a handsome man in ten miles and eight villages at that time. .

Perhaps it is precisely because of this self-confidence in appearance that Liu Bang has a strong resistance to doing farm work, and hides whenever he can. Father Liu Taigong has nothing to do with this lazy son.In Liu Bang's subconscious mind, he didn't despise physical labor, but felt that he should not be tied to this one-third of an acre of land by nature.He has a wider world.

Liu Bang was relatively lazy, and rarely went to work in the fields after he became an adult. If he had this spare time, he might as well go to drink with his friends and talk about the mountains.There is a real problem in front of Liu Bang, there is no money in his pocket, what should he spend his money on?So Liu Bang didn't want to make a living on the land, so he had to find a job that could pay a salary.

I don't know how, Liu Bang got a job as the head of the pavilion in Surabaya, at least he got some income.The head of the pavilion is the most basic position in the government agencies of the Qin Dynasty. Every ten miles in the Qin system is a pavilion. The head of the pavilion is mainly responsible for local security, and is also responsible for entertaining officials from various places. The delivery of official mail is almost equivalent to today’s town police station.

As the head of the pavilion, you have to deal with people from all walks of life, welcome and send them off, you are required to be able to observe words and expressions, speak lotus flowers, and do things with charm.From the perspective of the anti-kings at the end of Qin Dynasty, there are only two people who are most suitable to be the pavilion chief, one is Xiang Liang and the other is Liu Bang.

The similarity between Liu Bang and Xiang Liang lies in that they are relatively smooth, exquisite and open-faced, which is a specialty that Xiang Yu and Han Xin do not possess.After Liu Bang became the head of the pavilion, he really showed his sociability, and got along very well with local officials at the grassroots level. "

The word "insulting" is used extremely well!Liu Bang's ruffian spirit was vividly displayed.Liu Bang has never been upright in his life, with dishonest clothes and sloppy clothes, flirting with this one today and that one tomorrow, and all the feathers are flying around in the courtroom.Among the county magistrates who were "insulted" by Liu Bang, there were two founding prime ministers of the Han Dynasty in the next 400 years: the first one, Xiao He!The latter one, Cao Shen!

In addition to Xiao Cao, there are many "social idlers" gathered around Liu Bang, such as Fan Kui who killed and sold dogs, Zhou Bo who played the trumpet, Xia Houying who raised horses in the county government, and Liu Bang's brothers Wang Ling and Lu Wan.Among these cronies, Liu Bang and Lu Wan have the best personal friendship.Liu and Lu are family friends. They were born in the same village in the same year, the same month and the same day. They grew up playing with mud with bare buttocks together since they were young, and studied together after growing up.

It is a good thing to have more friends. As the saying goes: "Multiple friends create multiple roads, and multiple enemies create multiple walls." , single, who will make friends with you?For example, Han Xin, a bachelor, has no friends at all.Liu Bang also encountered this serious and helpless problem. Although Liu Bang had a public meal, the salary of the pavilion chief was very low, and Liu Bang didn't have much money in his pocket. How could he make friends from all over the world?
Others have no money in their pockets, so they can only squat in a dilapidated house drinking the northwest wind, lamenting the injustice of fate.Liu Bang is different. Although Master Tingchang is also extremely poor, he still often invites cats and dogs to drink in nearby hotels. No matter whether he has money in his pocket or not, let's get rid of his mouth addiction first.

The two hotels that Liu Bang frequented most often were the two hotels owned by Mrs. Wang and Wu Cheng. Because he got to know each other well, Liu Bang often borrowed money on credit, filling a drawer with IOUs.Mrs. Wang and Wu Ling were willing to let Liu Bang pay on credit, probably not because the "Historical Records" said that they saw Liu Bang sleeping in the hotel and saw the dragon, but because Liu Bang, as the pavilion chief, still had some power in his hands.

If the two proprietresses dare to ask Liu Bang for wine money, be careful that Liu Bang will stab them in the back.However, the two aunts also felt that Liu Bang was not like ordinary people, which one was not shrewd in business?No matter how capable Liu Bang was, he couldn't make them poor, so he didn't care about the two wine money, and wrote off all the wine money owed by Liu Bang.

Liu Bang often ate free food like this. The most classic one was that after Lu Gong, a wealthy man in Shanfu County, moved to Pei County, he held a big banquet and invited the top figures in Pei County to be guests.Xiao He, the chief official of Pei County, presided over this meeting. Xiao He was very good at handling affairs. He stipulated that the number of red envelopes was determined by the number of red envelopes. Those who congratulated more than [-] yuan were seated, and those with less than [-] yuan were seated at the outermost corner. .

Liu Bang heard the wind from nowhere, drooling, humming a ditty, with his hands rolled up in his sleeves, he came to Lu's house empty-handed, and sang loudly: "Liu Ji congratulates Wanqian!" The wealthy man, and Liu Bang's handsome face, hurriedly invited Liu Bang to sit up.

Xiao He and Liu Bang have been friends for many years. He knew how much money Liu Bang could carry at most, and he knew that he was greedy again, so he came here for free.Xiao He smiled and told Lu Gong: "Liu San often runs donkey carts, don't listen to him, where did he get [-] yuan?" Lu Gong has been fascinated by Liu Bang's strange appearance, not only did not blame Liu Bang, but He promised his most beloved daughter to Liu Bang.This beautiful and beautiful daughter of the Taigong is the legendary tigress Lu Zhi who was later cruel and ruthless.

Although Liu Bang is only a small pavilion leader now, when Taigong Jiang was poor and destitute, he couldn't even eat, so didn't he become prosperous in the end?Don't underestimate the "grass roots". Dragons and tigers are hidden in the grass roots.Suppose, if Lu Gong was asked to choose a son-in-law between Liu Bang and Xiang Yu, Lu Gong would still like Liu Bang.There is no other reason: Liu Bang's personality and style of dealing with the world are more suitable for survival in officialdom.

Liu Bang and Xiang Yu, this pair of peerless twins in history, have almost completely opposite character traits, or they stand on the two poles of human nature, each proving the value of their own existence to history.On the land of the Central Plains for more than 200 years, this pair of peerless double jadeites appeared, together with a generation of war god Han Xin, which is the greatest luck in history.

Perhaps the high-spirited Emperor Yingzheng did not expect that when he swept Liuhe, the burial of the Great Qin Empire had already been born, and even Liu Bang and Xiang Yu had stood in front of him, but Emperor Shihuang did not care about these two inconspicuous people at that time. The little people don't even know the existence of these two people.

It is also a coincidence that both Xiang Yu and Liu Bang, who later worked together to destroy Qin, had the chance to meet the first emperor. They witnessed the supreme majesty of the first emperor, which greatly expanded their ambitions: Yingzheng is also a human being. If he can succeed, we Why not!
Unlike Xiang Yu admiring Yingzheng's ostentation at the door of his house, Liu Bang was on a business trip to Xianyang, just in time for the First Emperor to go on a tour, and Liu Bang also squeezed into the crowd to stare stupidly, and sighed after watching: "Oh, what a man should do! "

If both Xiang Yu and Liu Bang's emotions were heard by Emperor Qin Shihuang, then Ying Zheng would only punish Xiang Yu's crime and want to replace Zhen?Great rebellion, the clan will punish him!And if Liu Bang is lucky, he can still be summoned by the first emperor and encourage him: "Do it well for me, and your official job will be indispensable in the future."

Xiang Yu is going to replace Qin Shihuang, while Liu Bang is praising Qin Shihuang, so the difference in personality between the two can also be seen from their words.Xiang Yu likes to go to extremes, and he is absolute in everything he does.His worldview is black and white, with no gray transition zone.Liu Bang, on the other hand, has a pleasant smile, long sleeves, dances on eggs, and is sleek and sophisticated.Xiang Yu is like a rhombus with horns on all four sides. It is very aggressive, but it is too rigid and easy to break.And Liu Bang is more like a circle.

Xiang Yu's final failure has a lot to do with his personality. If it is small, it is a failure in life, and if it is large, it is a short-sighted strategy.But then again, the reason why Xiang Yu is Xiang Yu is because he failed in the end, and died extremely tragically: Xiang Yu's most beloved woman committed suicide in front of him, Xiang Yu sang the last song of life, and fell on the other side of his hometown.

Fate is unpredictable.

(End of this chapter)