Since the anti-Qin period, Liu Bang has 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. " History has not recorded Liu Bang's response to this, or recognized this evaluation, or he didn't want to be serious about this issue. As a result, in the eyes of future generations, Liu Bang's strength lies in his ability to control people, but his fighting ability 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 arduous 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 Tea, Han Wangxin Rebellion, Chen Yi Rebellion and Qing Bu Rebellion. Every time Liu Bang is in command, it shows that in the Han camp, the ability of others (except Han Xin, who was deposed as king prematurely and was not reused) can't reassure Liu Bang. When Gao Zuji recorded the attack on Chen Yi, he said: "I know there is nothing I can do without taking Handan south and stopping Zhangshui." 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 soldier. When Chen Yi was attacked, Liu Bang rushed to Zhao before the arrival of the national army 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 Yi rebelled and Chen Yi was in the north of Handan. I brought feathers to recruit soldiers, but what I didn't arrive was the only soldier 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 Yi'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.
When summing up the success or failure of Chu and Han dynasties, future generations will always remember to say that cruelty is an important factor that caused 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 of Wang Han and Sima An of Wang Yin were all captured. However, except for Zheng Chang's final whereabouts, all the others left records of sudden death.
First clearly recorded as a bird, but 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 An, the king of Yin. Sima An has been lost in the historical records since he surrendered to the Han Dynasty in the last two years (actually captured by Guan Ying). 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 Sima An's death and Sima Xin's death 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 Yu, Zhao Wangxie, Qi Guang and Sima An are all leaders, although they are not the most powerful 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 An is not an ordinary person. After the defeat of Chen Wu of Zhao State, Sima An once became an independent fighting force, and its fighting in the hinterland of Qin State 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 crusade 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 were allowed to stay, it would be tantamount to leaving 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 killing and surrender has its political considerations, which cannot be simply attributed to Liu Bang's brutal nature. If we consider it in connection with the general trend of the world, we can see its profound meaning.
In view of the above considerations, Liu Bang's surrender may include a captain in Linjiang. According to Jingyan's family, "Hanwang is in the southwest, attacking Linjiang with Liu Jia and Qiu Liuwan. * * * 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 in the first month of the fifth year of Han Dynasty, and the charge was "Therefore, Linjiang King was Xiang Yu and rebelled against the Han Dynasty". However, the Moon Table on the occasion of the Qin and Chu Dynasties records that in December of the fifth year of the Han Dynasty, the "Lu Hanxiang" showed that the attack of the Han Dynasty on Linjiang was carried out immediately after the death of Xiang Yu and the pacification of the State of Chu. 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, and the other three people, Hanwang 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 mounted. Therefore, the nature of war is unity rather than suppression of rebellion.
According to * * * commandant hidden factors, or Zangcha rebellion, there are also problems. Chronicle of the Emperor Gaozu said: In October of the fifth year of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty (in fact, it should be July), the prince of Yan rebelled and captured his second son. Gaozu will strike it, and you will gather tea. That is, Qiu Luwan was made the prince of Yan. Fan Kuai, the Prime Minister, attacked the soldiers. ".Judging from this record, Tibetan tea is the other way around. However, there are not enough reasons to object. First of all, Zang Cha Zhi Yan helped Hanying in the Chu-Han War. In the first month of this year, Zangcha was also named among the princes who advised him to enter the DPRK. The year before, when Chu and Han were at loggerheads in Xingyang, Yan sent troops to help Han destroy the disaster of Chu. It is unreasonable to help Han when Liu Xiang wins or loses and betray Han when the world belongs to Han. We should consider the situation that Han wants to add more crimes. What was the situation in Dai Di at that time? Since the third year of the Han Dynasty, after Han Xin and other Han Dynasties defeated Xia Lun, Dai Di fell into the hands of the Han Dynasty. Zhang Cang is in charge, and his position is Dai Xiang, that is, when Dai Wang is away, Dai Han exercises power and acts as an agent for Dai Di affairs. During the Han Dynasty, Zhang Cang returned to the position of a generation from Zhao Xiang's seat, and when the Han Dynasty attacked Yan, Zhang Cang took "a generation of active attack on Zang tea". You can't see that Yan has captured the next generation. And judging from the deeds of Zhang Cang, this period of history is a bit chaotic. Biography of Prime Minister Zhang records that before Zhang Qian rebelled, Zhang Cang was king, but there was no king at that time. In the seventh year of Han Dynasty, Liu Bangxiong and Liu Zhongcai were kings. In addition, it is not clear whether Zhang Cang helped Chen Si when he was a guerrilla general in the war, or when Korea attacked Yan, or when he was acting on behalf of the land. "Biography of Fan Irrigation records that Fan Li hit Yan and failed to attack the generation, which is consistent with Zhang Cang's deeds. It may be wrong to record Fan Kuai's attack in the Chronicle of Emperor Tai, because in the seventh year of Han Dynasty, Liu Bang was defeated from Baicheng and Fan Kuai was allowed to settle down, which may confuse the two things. Therefore, on the issue of Tibetan tea, the possibility of fabricating charges is not ruled out. Why do you want to fabricate charges against Zangcha? This will be analyzed from the situation of the kings at the end of the Chu-Han War. Xiang Yu was divided into eighteen kings, three kings of Qin, three kings of Qi and Zhao Xie, the acting king, all died in the war. Wang Hanguang in Liaodong was killed by Zangcha, Wang Hanwang was killed by Xiang Yu, Wang Shenyang in Henan lost his land in the Han Dynasty, and Wang Zhengchang, the independent king of Xiang Yu, was also captured by the Han Dynasty. Wang Wei was killed by the Han Dynasty, and Wang Yin died in an unknown way. The rest of Hanwang proclaimed himself, and Qing Bu, the king of Jiujiang, was killed by Xiang Yu, who was dead set on Han. Zhang Er, the king of Changshan, was defeated, and his country lost to Han. He got Han's help and became the king of Zhao. Wu Rui, the king of Hengshan Mountain, was named four counties by the Han Dynasty. Although he actually took a county, it should be more than Xiang Yu. The rest of the Linjiang countries * * * AoChuanZi * * commandant, are guilty of being slain. The Yan State of Zangcha actually merged the land of Yan State and Liaodong when Xiang Yu was enfeoffed, which was equivalent to the whole territory of Yan State during the Warring States Period, and its territory was quite large. However, this swallow did not suffer any losses in the war, nor did it benefit Korea, so it was not easy to win it over. For such a big country, the relationship with Han is not close, which always makes people uneasy. Therefore, it is not ruled out that Han might charge Yan 'an in order to achieve long-term stability.
Judging from the events in Han Xin, South Korea is willing to pay a certain price for stability. For example, Luan, who denounced Han Xin's rebellion, and Qing Bu's rebellion were named Shenyang Hou and Hou respectively, each with 2000 seals. And many people who risked their lives and made great achievements in the war are far less sealed than these two people. Han Xin rebellion, there is always a problem that is not enough to win people's trust. So the Han Dynasty did not dissolve Han Xin's credit virtually, but said that part of his credit was not his. For example, Lv Ze, Chen Yi and others' contributions to Wei Dynasty and Qi Dynasty are basically classified as Han Xin. In this sense, in order to eliminate unstable factors, Liu Bang will adopt the method of fabricating charges. Linjiang and Yan should belong to this category.
In a word, Liu Bang's killing and surrender is more like a foresight of national stability, while Xiang Yu's killing and surrender is very violent. As a result, Liu Bang's killing and surrender often eliminated the future trouble, while Xiang Yu's killing and surrender aroused greater resistance.