The Unknown Side of Emperor Gaozu Liu Bang

& gt I. Evaluation of Liu Bang's Combat Power Since the Anti-Qin War, Liu Bang has basically spent the rest of his life in the war. There seems to be no statement about his combat capability. Judging from his many battles and defeats with Xiang Yu, it is estimated that future generations will not think highly of this. After Liu Bang won the world, he discussed the reasons for Liu Sheng's defeat with his ministers, and put forward the theory of "Three Heroes of Han Dynasty", which was the first to promote Han Xin's combat power. When discussing the ability to lead troops with Liu Bang, Han Xin only said that Liu Bang could only lead 100,000 soldiers, and the more he had, the better. Judging from this record, Han Xin should be reserved, that is, in his real thoughts, Liu Bang may not even be able to take 100,000 people. The reason why this figure is said is nothing more than to save Liu Bang's face. Liu bang is not convinced. He said, "The more the better. What does my bird want?" Han Xin replied, "Your Majesty can't be a general, but a good general. So I believe this is for your majesty. Besides, your majesty's so-called gift is inhuman. " There is no record of Liu Bang's response to this, or he agrees with this evaluation, or he doesn't want to be serious about this issue. As a result, in the eyes of future generations, Liu Bang's strength is that he can control people, but his combat capability is not worth mentioning. But that's not true. The fact is that its actual combat capability may greatly exceed the estimation of future generations. In fact, there are quite a lot of records about Liu Bang's fighting, and the frequency of his fighting and the number of targets he hit are probably only a handful in history. But in people's impression, the easiest thing to remember is that he was often beaten by Xiang Yu and fled, even regardless of his own children and army, and only wanted to escape. Indeed, compared with Liu Bang's victory, these defeated scenes are both wonderful and vivid in Sima Qian's works, and people will remember them firmly once they have seen them. But in Qin Chu, Liu Bang was defeated by Xiang Yu, and everyone else was defeated by Liu Bang. For example, in the anti-Qin War, Liu Bang killed Surabaya Shou in the battle at the beginning of the uprising, which was the highest military commander killed by Qin Jun. At least one third of the 36 counties in the Qin Dynasty must have been conquered by Liu Bangbu. Before Liu Bang joined the Xiang Liang camp, Xiang Liang had no record of defeating Qin, and only Xiang Yu had a chance to conquer Xiangcheng. With the addition of Liu Bang, Xiang Liang defeated Qin one after another. Sean sued Liu Bang's Taigong Art of War, which was well used by Liu Bang, indicating that Liu Bang had a great talent for fighting. In the last battle to destroy Qin, Liu Bang completed a series of heavy tasks with less than 10,000 troops, such as assisting Zhao, defending the capital of Chu, and conquering Qin in the west. It is unthinkable to have no extraordinary military talent. Liu bang's fighting capacity may be reflected in several battles after pacifying the world. Before his death, Liu Bang attacked Yan Zang's tea, the rebellion, the rebellion of Chen and the rebellion. Liu Bang is in command every time, indicating that in the Han camp, other people's abilities (except Han Xin, who was deposed as a prince prematurely and was not reused) could not reassure Liu Bang. Gao Zuji recorded the analysis when attacking Chen: "If you don't take the south of Handan, you will stop getting water. I know there's nothing you can do. " The consequences are as they say. Qing Bu's anti-time mentality can also explain the problem. I think: "Shang (referring to Liu Bang) is old and tired of being a soldier. I'm not afraid that the generals will suffer from Huaiyin and Peng Yue alone, and now they are all dead. " In Qing Bu's view, except for Han Xin and Peng Yue, the generals of the Korean camp all fell from the sky. Only Liu Bang's skill is worth worrying about, but he is too old to lead troops to fight in person. So Qing Bu turned it over. To be sure, in the eyes of people at that time, Liu Bang's combat capability was highly respected. But why did you leave a record of fighting Xiang Yu? The reason can only be that Xiang Yu's combat capability is higher, and Liu Hexian is not at the same level. Therefore, Liu Bang has been in the shadow of Xiang Yu for a long time, and his combat capability cannot be shown at all. There is a disproof about Han Xin's statement that Liu Bang can't be a general. When Chen was attacked, Liu Bang arrived in Zhao before the national army arrived, and asked if there was anyone available. Zhou Chang elected four people. After the interview, Liu Bang scolded: "Can an upright person be a general?" Four people are ashamed. On the seals of thousands of families, it will be. The left and right remonstrated, saying, "I have not done enough to attack Chu. Why do you want to seal it now? " He said, "If you don't know! Chen Fan attacked Chen You in the north of Handan, and I used my feathers to recruit soldiers. What didn't arrive was only the soldiers in Handan today. I love four thousand households with four people, not to comfort Zhao's children! " It shows that Liu Bang can make full use of authoritative means to mobilize the enthusiasm of local soldiers when there are no soldiers available, which may also resist Chen's fierce offensive. Liu bang's continuous victory under the condition that his strength is not strong enough should be related to his good morale. This single evidence makes the story of a bad general unreliable. Second, Liu Bang's tendency to kill prisoners will not be forgotten. When summing up the success or failure of Chu and Han, cruelty is an important factor in Xiang Yu's failure. One of the important evidences of Xiang Yu's cruelty is killing and surrender. It killed Zi Ying, the king of Qin, the imperial clan of Qin, and lost people's hearts. However, Liu Bang's killing of prisoners is rarely raised as a problem. In fact, this problem not only exists, but also is quite serious to some extent. As early as the anti-Qin War, when Liu Bang and Xiang Yu fought side by side, there was a record of * * * following the massacre. Such as killing Chengyang. Because Xiang Yu was there at that time, otherwise the crime could be charged to Xiang Yu's account. However, when Liu Bang entered Qin, Tuwuguan (the biography of Qin Shihuang) was a danger that could not be shared. As we all know, the intensity of the war at that time made the winning party often make an extremely cruel move after the bitter battle, that is, killing the city. Biography of Xiang Yu in the fourth year of Han Dynasty left a record of this for later generations. It is estimated that during the Chu-Han War, Liu Bang's Tuwuguan and Fan Kuai's Tuzhuzao were similar in nature. But Liu Bang's problem is not a massacre, but a planned killing of the surrenders. During the whole Chu-Han War, many influential figures were captured by the Han army. For example, Wei Wangbao, Zhao Wangxie, Chen Yu, Xia Shuo, Zhang Han, Tian Guang, Sima Xin, Zheng Chang and Sima Wang Yin were all captured. However, except for Zheng Chang's final whereabouts, all the others left records of sudden death. & gt first recorded as a bird, and also recorded as beheading or death. For example, Xia said that he was captured (Biography of Huaiyin Hou and Biography of Li Sheng Lu Jia), and Cao Jia was recorded as beheading; Tian Guang, the king of Qi, was captured by Cao Can, the general of Han Dynasty. Tian Yunzhuan said that Tian Heng "heard that Tian Guang died and stood on his own feet as king". As for why he died, it is unknown. The similar situation is as follows: Zhang Han was obviously captured by Duchang Hou Zhu Xi (Chronology of Heroes of the Great Emperor), and Biography of the Great Emperor said that he committed suicide; Obviously, they were captured by Zhang Cang (Biography of Prime Minister Zhang) and Cao Yijia. Zhao Wang died as a bird (Biography of Huai Yin Hou), and Zhang Er Chen Yu Biography clearly recorded that "Zhao Wang died and Xie Xiang was killed". It is impossible to check the difference between the two records. But the author tends to think that these people were captured first and then killed. Because death is the final outcome that can't be changed, and capture may be a state before death, such as Zhang Han's capture, which is the archive material such as the hero list and should be the most reliable; Cao Jiashi records that he won two kings, that is, he captured Wei and Qi. Then, all the above personnel are suspected of being arrested first and then killed. These people are the leaders of one side, and killing them can reduce the cohesion of hostile forces. Secondly, those who were clearly captured and executed after a considerable period of time, or whose causes of death were unknown. For example, Wei Mingming was captured alive, but he didn't die immediately, just looking for a reason to kill him in the future. In the third year of the Han Dynasty, Chu surrounded Xingyang, and Liu Banghe abandoned the army and fled, leaving Wei's surrender and guarding the city. Zhou Ke killed him in the name of "the king against the country, it is difficult to defend the city". These methods are similar to Qin Ershi's killing of ministers while on patrol. Liu Bang didn't want this kind of killing and surrender to have anything to do with himself, so he killed Zhou Ke of Wei Bao or made meritorious service for him, and his son Zhou Cheng was also sealed by Zhou Ke. In addition, Zhou Ke did not make a commendable contribution. The so-called guarding city is captured and indomitable, and there may be more legends than facts. After all, Zhou Ke is not the highest or even the most important leader in the Han army guarding the city, and Xiang Yu may not be willing to leave. In Hero List, Sun Chi, the Hou of Tang Yang, was captured by Chu army in Xingyang and surrendered to Hui Hou, but it was not Zhou Ke's turn to be made a senior official by Chu. Similarly, the death of King Simaxin of Cyprus is also questionable. Historically, this is because the Korean war defeated Chu in elevation, and it drowned in Si Shui and Cao's responsibility. In fact, Cao Zhi did not commit suicide, but was beheaded. "The Great Emperor's Heroes" and being beheaded by Chen's Long Hou are Chen's credit records, even if Cao is really to blame. Therefore, it is not credible that Biography of Xiang Yu says that Cao Zhi and Sima Xin committed suicide. In the future, Hanwang was injured and entered the customs, and it was already a defeat for several months. It is hard to imagine that under the conditions at that time, the head or body of a deceased person could be well preserved. If it can't be preserved, or it can be preserved, what's the point of owl being the first in Liyang? It is more likely that King Simaxin of Cyprus has just been captured and then executed. Only by beheading in public can we show the martial arts of the Han Dynasty, calm the anger of the local people and conform to the local people's hearts. Although Sima Xin's death is hidden in historical records, it still belongs to people who can find clues. There is no trace of the death of Sima, the king of Yin. Since Sima fell to the Han Dynasty in the last two years (actually captured by Guan Ying), it has been lost in historical records. However, the history of Emperor Gaozu clearly records that he died in the second year of Han Dynasty, after Han was defeated from Pengcheng. This matter is not in the history books, and Ban Gu may have seen it differently. If what Ban Gu saw is true, then the death of Sima and the death of Sima Xin seem to have something in common, that is, they both died of mystery. Although Liu bang's murder and surrender are obscure, the facts are there, and there is no doubt. The question is, why were these people killed after giving up or losing their resistance? This question is really intriguing. The deaths of Han Xin and Peng Yue after the establishment of the Han Dynasty may help to understand this phenomenon. In other words, the reason for killing people is to avoid chaos. If this is not the whole reason, it is at least the reason why some people end up like this. Wei, Dai Wang, Zhao Wangxie, Tian Guang and Sima are all leaders, but they are not real power figures. In particular, the first two have certain pioneering ability and cohesion, and can reach the top and gather followers. The existence of such people always makes Liu Bang, who is interested in the world, feel taboo. Sima is not an ordinary person. After the defeat of Chen Wu in Wang Zhao, Sima's family once became an independent fighting force, and its fighting in the hinterland of Qin was not eliminated, but developed and expanded. What's more, he first rebelled against Xiang Yu, and later made peace with Chen Ping, who was sent by Xiang Yu to attack, because he could not be the enemy. This kind of flexible kung fu is very similar to Liu Bang, and it is reasonable for Liu Bang to let him go. As for Zhang Han and Sima Xin, they are both generals of Qin, and their hands are covered with the blood of anti-Qin armed forces. Liu bang is not only emotionally incompatible with them, but also intellectually unable to allow them to continue to exist. Therefore, they were executed shortly after being captured, which satisfied the emotional and rational needs of Liu Bang and his subordinates. The pacification of Zhao and Qi was not smooth sailing. If the prince of Zhao and the king of Qi are allowed to stay, it will be a spiritual pillar for the hostile forces in the two places. Therefore, the execution of two people may make the peace between the two places go smoothly. Therefore, Liu Bang's surrender has its political considerations. It can not be simply attributed to Liu Bang's brutal nature, but should be considered in connection with the general trend of the world in order to see its profound meaning. In view of the above considerations, Liu Bang's surrender may include a captain in Linjiang. According to "Jing Yan Shi Jia", "Hanwang attacked Linjiang King with Qiu Lu Wan in the southwest. * * * Wei is dead, and Linjiang is Nanjun. " "The Biography of Fujin Meeting" is not the case: "(The Golden Roll) is uncertain about Jiangling. Eight people below Jiangling, Zhu Guo and Fuma, were born in Luoyang and settled in Nanjun." King Jiangling, or King Linjiang, is the capital of Linjiang. The * * * commandant was not killed, but was taken alive. The Chronicle of the Emperor's Father clearly records that * * * Wei was "killed by Luoyang". In fact, it is unreasonable for Korea to beat * * * commandant. According to the Chronicle of Emperor Gaozu of Han Dynasty, Lu Wan and Liu Jia were ordered by the Han Dynasty to attack Wei * * * after the first month of the fifth year of Han Dynasty, on charges of "rebelling against the Han Dynasty because the Linjiang king was Xiang Yu". The Qin Chu and Yue Ji Table records the "Luhan" in December of the fifth year of the Han Dynasty, indicating that the attack of the Han Dynasty on Linjiang was carried out immediately after the death of Xiang Yu and the stability of Chu State. This is an example of the phenomenon that history books often record the final result with the time when the event begins. So Linjiang's decision or anything other than this time can be determined as this time. "Biography of Han Xin and Lu Wan" said: "In the winter of the fifth year of Han Dynasty, in order to break Ji Xiang, Lu Wan was sent to fight Liu Jia against the captain of Linjiang King and break it." In the early Han Dynasty, October was the first year, and December was before the first month. The inconsistent time of Korea's attack on Linjiang shows that this charge is not established. There is no data showing Linjiang's position in the Chu-Han War. Although Linjiang, like Han, Jiujiang and Hengshan, was crowned king of the old Chu generals, there was a certain basis for its failure to help Chu in the war. According to Biography of Qing Bu: "The north is worried about Qi Zhao, and the west is worried about Han. Being alone with the king of Jiujiang, I want to use it for personal gain, so I don't attack it. " Qing Bu was the only general of the old Chu army who made friends with Xiang Yu. The other three people, Hanwang and Liu Bang, rebelled. King * * * Aohe Hengshan of Linjiang didn't carry out the secret order of Xiang Yu to kill the righteous emperor, so it was estimated that he was alienated from Xiang Yu. After returning to the Han Dynasty, the in-laws with may also contribute to the anti-Han tendency. According to "The History of the Han Dynasty Emperor Wudi Gao Di Ji", in the first month of the fifth year of the Han Dynasty, Wu Rui, the king of Hengshan, was among the ministers who advised Liu Bang to be the emperor. Liu Bang said in a thank-you letter: "Therefore, Wu Rui, the king of Hengshan, has two sons and a younger brother. He helped the ministers to crusade against Qin and made great contributions. The bannerman proclaimed himself king. The land invaded by Xiang Yu is called Fan Jun "and then Wu Rui bears a grudge against Xiang Yu, at least in the later period of Chu-Han War, he definitely joined the Han camp. Linjiang state may be in a state of two sides in the whole Chu-Han war, and it is not credible that Gaozu chronicles said that it rebelled against the Han Dynasty. Besides, Linjiang has never helped Korea before, so there is no problem of rebellion. The fact may be that the attack on Linjiang was launched first, and then the charges were charged. Therefore, the nature of war is unity rather than suppression of rebellion. & gt Apart from Lu Wan, Liu Bang's deeds to Xia Houying and Zhou Wei are also inseparable from the traces of cronyism. It's just that these two men have some exploits, and they can't compare with Luwan. The relationship between Xia Houying and Liu Bang can be traced back to the end of Qin Dynasty. Liu Bang is a small official, and Xia Houying is also a local official. He always obeyed Liu Bang and was very respectful. Liu bang accidentally hit him once. He covered for Liu bang and went to jail for it. In the Chu-Han War, he also saved Liu Yuxin and Princess Luyuan. Therefore, although its contribution is not as good as that of Fan Kuai and Guan Ying, its number of households has greatly exceeded. According to records, Zhou Yi was closely related to Liu Bang, and his early contributions were not tested, but he also translated with Fu Kuan and Jin Wei, and his contributions were far less than the former two. However, when Liu Bang was fighting for hegemony, he was already in the rank. After that, the number of blocked households exceeded Fukuan. According to his biographical data, Liu Bang never left people's hearts, regardless of the merits and demerits of fighting. Therefore, Sima Qian commented: "Worry and integrity will make Hou Zhouyi, who has no doubt about his body and wants something from the world, but does not cry. If he is sad, then he can be described as a sincere gentleman. " Such deeds have to be interpreted by Fu and Jin, who have made outstanding military achievements and never lost. Sima Qian's intention may be quite helpless, or he may have ulterior motives, that is, people who risk their lives may not get more rewards than those who are passive in Nuo Nuo. Sima Qian's interpretation with Fan, Li and Guan is similar. Because Xia Houying never took the lead in the Chu-Han War like the other three, he was basically a person who made things happen. Other beneficiaries of Liu Bang's cronyism should include Ren Ao, Shen and Dai Hou Peng Zu. Ren Ao's situation is similar to that of Xia Houying. In his early years, he was also a small official in Pei County, and he was closely related to Liu Bang. After Liu Bang escaped, Lv Hou went to prison, and Ren Ao immediately wounded the law enforcement officers who disrespected Lv Hou. In the war against Qin, he defended Liu Bang. During the Chu-Han War, he defended the Party. Basically, they are far away from the battlefield and can't see the contribution to the front line. But it is such a resume that he was blocked 1800 households, which is beyond the reach of many people who risked their lives. Eating it is even less worth mentioning. He is basically Liu Bang's retainer, and all his resumes are only for serving Liu Bang's father and daughter in the war against Qin and Chu. There is only one difference, that is, he was a captive of Xiang Yu with Taigong and Lv Hou for several years. Peng Zu's contribution is similar to Shen Shi's, that is, in the war against Qin and Chu, he also took serving the squire as his main deed. But there is also a prominent feature, that is, when Liu Bangchu attacked Pei, he opened the city gate for the rebels, which may be an honor and worthy of praise. The seals of the above two people are enough to make the protagonist's teeth chills. However, at home and in the world, the owner has done this, and there is nothing others can do. As for the seal of the Lu brothers, because they may have a lot of meritorious military service, they should not be simply regarded as cronyism. And the seal of Hou Liuze can barely be regarded as this kind of behavior. Because Liu Ze and Liu Bangfei are close relatives, they should not be compared with Liu Bangzhi's brother. He joined Liu Bang's camp too late, three years in the Han Dynasty. Its contribution is not commendable, but its title is surprisingly high, with 12000 households, and the title among the best is only 16000, not to mention the achievements of Xiao He,, and Fan. It benefits the most, but its contribution can't be ranked when determining the job level. In the early Han Dynasty 18, there was suspicion of nepotism, or Xia Houying was the only one. After all, he made great contributions in the anti-Qin period. In fact, Chen He can also be regarded as Liu Bang's cronyism, because these two people are particularly congenial to Liu Bang. Chen and Liu Bang hit it off because of the same hobby-both of them are admirers of Wei Gongzi Xin, so after the world was settled, Chen was appointed as the commander-in-chief of the armed forces of Zhao. However, Sean didn't make much contribution in the war, and some people can't say for certain that he left Liu Bang for Pengcheng, the capital of Chu, and Xiang Yu, but Liu Bang chose 30,000 households when he was appointed. You know, after years of war, even a big county has only 50,000 to 30,000 households, which is almost a king. At the beginning, Xiang Yu made Wu Rui king of Hengshan Mountain, but it was only a land of six counties, and it was quite remote, probably far less than 30,000 households. As for Liu Bang's idea of strategizing and winning thousands of miles, historical data can't prove it, but Sean's contribution to Liu Bang is by no means irreplaceable. Xiang Yu packet, Sean scored a whole Hanzhong county for Liu Bang, with this one, it is enough to seal Wan Huhou. And Sean is more informed, only choose to keep the place where he met Liu Bang as a fief, and his land is certainly less than 10,000 households. However, these two men have certainly contributed more to Liu Bang's career than the above-mentioned people, so the traces of cronyism are not obvious. In short, it can basically be regarded as human nature, not just Xiang Yu's patent. On Liu Bang's side, it is impossible to quit. However, Liu Bang's cronyism did not affect the Liu Han camp's struggle against the enemy. On the battlefield, people basically made the best use of everything. For the people you like, you should not entrust them with heavy responsibilities, but reward them with heavy titles to implement this preference. Unlike Xiang Yu's various items, such as Xiang Yu's item (broken by Cao Can in two years and captured by Guan Ying in four years), Xiang Guan's item, Xiang Han's item (broken by Jin Hao in three years) and Xiang Sheng's item (broken by Peng Yue in three years and Guan Ying in four years), these are all failure records. Therefore, Liu Bang's cronyism has not reached the point where Xiang Yu is so emotional. This is another deep-seated reason for Liu Sheng's failure. & gt