Chapter 34 Inaccurate positioning, unstable position

In the first month of 202 BC, Liu Bang fulfilled his previous promise and named Han Xin the king of Chu and Peng Yue the king of Yue.Han Xin and Peng Yue, who were granted the title, together with the original King Zang Tu of Yan, Zhang Ao, King of Zhao, and Wu Rui, King of Changsha, jointly wrote a letter to Liu Bang, asking him to ascend the throne and proclaim himself emperor.Liu Bang began to pretend to decline, saying: "I heard that the emperor's title can only be possessed by virtuous people, empty words are not what I want, and I can't bear the emperor's title." He also mentioned that Emperor Yi did not offspring.

Han Xin and the others said: "Although your majesty was born in poverty, you can lead the people to wipe out the tyrant Qin, punish the injustice, and stabilize the world. Your credit exceeds that of other kings. You are expected to be the emperor." Liu Bang declined again and again, but he couldn't refuse, so he said: "Since you think this is appropriate, then I will do it for the convenience of the country." On the third day of February of this year, Liu Bang held a grand enthronement ceremony in Sishuizhiyang, Dingtao, Shandong, and named the country Han.At the same time, Lu's family was named queen and his son Liu Ying was crowned prince.Because Qi Wang Han Xin was familiar with the customs of Chu, he changed Han Xin to the title of Chu King and established his capital at Xiapi.Pengyue, the Marquis of Chengcheng, became King of Liang, and Dingtao was established as his capital.The original Han Wangxin was still the King of Han, with Yangdi as his capital.Wu Rui, the king of Hengshan, was changed to be the king of Changsha, and Linxiang was established as the capital.Fanjun's general Mei Yan had made great contributions and had entered Wuguan with the Han army, so the emperor was grateful to Fanjun.The titles of Huainan Wang Yingbu, Yan Wang Zang Tu, and Zhao Wang Zhang Ao did not change.

In May of the same year when he ascended the throne, Liu Bang held a celebration banquet in Nangong, Luoyang. At the banquet, he and everyone summed up the experience and lessons of the victory and defeat of the Chu-Han War.He said to the ministers: "We gather together happily today, and you don't have to be afraid of what you say. Tell me how I won the world, and how Xiang Yu lost the world." At this time Gao Qi and Wang Ling replied: "Your Majesty is arrogant and likes to insult others; Xiang Yu is kind and caring for others. However, Your Majesty sent people to attack the cities and seize the land, and the lands captured and surrendered were entrusted to the people and shared with the people of the world. But Xiang Yu is jealous of the virtuous, envious of those who are meritorious, suspicious of those who are talented, does not give credit to others when he wins battles, and does not give benefits to others when he wins a land. This is the reason why he lost the world.” The two men The kung fu of flattering horses is top-notch, and it belongs to the desire to promote before suppressing. An ordinary emperor must be extremely beautiful in his heart.

Liu Bang has his own statement—— "I am not as good as Zifang when I am strategizing and winning thousands of miles away." Zifang is Zhang Liang, a very wise man. The Hongmen Banquet was actually directed by Zhang Liang, and the plank road that was built in the open and the dark storehouse was Zhang Liang. good idea. "Suppressing the country, caring for the people, paying wages, and continuing to be good, I am not as good as Xiao He." In fact, fighting is about logistics, preparation of food and grass, and preparation of the reserve army. Such things are all done by Xiao He. The rear has never let Liu Bang cut off food and soldiers. This is Xiao He. Without Xiao He, it is impossible for Liu Bang to win.Xiao He is the head of Liu Bang's logistics department, and Zhang Liang is his head of the strategy department.

"With an army of millions, the battle must be won, and the merits must be obtained. I am not as good as Han Xin." How powerful is Han Xin?In the war, if he helps Xiang Yu, Xiang Yu will definitely become king; if he helps Liu Bang, Liu Bang can win the world.Such a powerful person.Han Xin's own equipment is not enough, not only can't sit in the world, but even his own ending is not good.But Liu Bang was able to bring down the country in the end, and Han Xin was the one who made great contributions. "These three are all outstanding people. I can use them, and this is why I take over the world. Xiang Yu only has one Fan Zeng and can't use it, so he failed."

Liu Bang's conclusion is indeed correct. The human factor is always the most important in the victory or defeat of a war.After hearing this, the officials all thought it was very incisive.Liu Bang's evaluation of Zhang Liang, Xiao He, and Han Xin was also recognized by later generations.Since then, these three people have been known as the "Three Heroes of the Early Han Dynasty". The victory of Liu Bang and the defeat of Xiang Yu lie first in the competition for talents. In this respect, Liu Bang wins completely. Xiang Yu ignored the role and influence of talents on warfare, while Liu Bang attached great importance to talents.In terms of personal background, prestige, talents, especially his role in the anti-Qin war, Liu Bang is far inferior to Xiang Yu.But Xiang Yu's biggest shortcoming is that he despises talents, is cronyistic, arbitrary, and self-willed.

Han Xin was the first-class military strategist at that time, and Chen Ping was a rare resourceful man. They both served under Xiang Yu's men.Fan Zeng, Xiang Yu's only confidant, is far inferior to Xiao He, Zhang Liang, Han Xin, and Chen Ping, but he is still a resourceful man, but he was driven away by Xiang Yu and died of anger.None of the generals that Xiang Yu used was capable of standing alone. The powerful Chu army could only win repeated battles under the personal leadership of Xiang Yu. Xiang Yu's subordinates are not without available generals. For example, Ji Bu, who is "famous in Chu" and "several embarrassing kings of Han", is a very good general, but he has never been reused by Xiang Yu.Xiang Yu despised talents and implemented a policy of solitude, which was one of the most important and direct reasons for his failure.

Liu Bang is different.Once he found talented people, such as Xiao He, Zhang Liang, Han Xin, Chen Ping, Peng Yue, Ying Bu, Li Shiqi, Lu Jia, and Cao Shen, Fan Kui, Guan Ying, etc. who were quite capable of commanding battles, he adopted various strategies to recruit them. Or win over one's own subordinates, and boldly promote and use them, so that people can make the best use of their talents.Therefore, selecting talents and appointing talents, accepting advice like a stream, is Liu Bang's greatest advantage, and this advantage makes up for his numerous personal shortcomings and deficiencies.

The whole process of the Chu-Han War is actually a process of talent flow and transfer, which fully reflects the truth of people's support and the principle that people survive and things prosper, and people die and things abolish. To sum up, there are many reasons why Liu Bang was able to defeat Xiang Yu.Liu Bang knows how to listen to other people's opinions.If he didn't listen to Wei Wuzhi, he might miss Chen Ping; if he didn't listen to Xiao He, he might miss Han Xin; if he didn't listen to Zhang Liang, he might miss Yingbu.It is impossible for a high-ranking ruler to contact so many people, and it is impossible to personally identify who is a talent every time. At this time, it is a good way to properly listen to the opinions of his subordinates.

He knows what to give to others.Attracting talents is the first step, how to retain talents is more important.Let’s take a look at what Liu Bang did: he gave Peng Yue an orthodox position, thus enticing Peng Yue; Knowing the kindness of encounter, he fought for himself; in addition, Liu Bang could give Chen Ping 40,000 catties of gold, and he didn't care about how he spent it.All these, looking at Chinese history, how many emperors can do it? At the beginning of Liu Bang and Xiang Yu's struggle for the world, Liu Bang was repeatedly defeated.But after each defeat, they can quickly gather strength again and rejoin the war.But Xiang Yu is different, although in the war with Liu Bang, he is almost never defeated.But Gaixia lost, and he killed himself in Wujiang, a complete failure.The reason is that it has not established its own rear base, resulting in the loss of soldiers and food cannot be replenished in a timely manner, and eventually a small failure becomes a big defeat.

More importantly, Liu Bang and Xiang Yu have different strategic positioning for themselves.Liu Bang has always positioned himself as the maker and defender of social order, adopting a kingly strategy. When Liu Bang first entered Guanzhong, he made three chapters with the Qin people, began to restore the order of the world, and issued an order: all Xiang Yu's subordinates, as long as they come to surrender, they will forget the past.Ji Bu, Xiang Yu's former subordinate, put Liu Bang in trouble many times, and Liu Bang vowed to kill Ji Bu for this.But at this time, when Ji Bu came to surrender, Liu Bang not only did not kill Ji Bu, but also rewarded him.But Jibu's half-brother, Ding Gong, had let Liu Bang live for his own sake during the struggle between Liu and Xiang for hegemony, so he also came to join Liu Bang, thinking that he would get a bigger reward, but was killed by Liu Bang instead.When Liu Bang stated the reason for rewarding Jibu, he said that it was to set an example for future generations who were courtiers.It can be seen that Liu Bang abandoned personal emotional factors and tried his best to maintain the order he established. On the issue of Liu Bang's handling of Han Xin, it can highlight Liu Bang's kingly strategy.After the world was initially settled, Han Xin still held a heavy army.Therefore, Liu Bang found a reason, saying that someone reported Han Xin for rebellion, and used this as an excuse to summon Han Xin and imprison him, strictly controlling the military power of the country, and fundamentally safeguarding the royal power.On the other hand, Xiang Yu's approach is completely different from Liu Bang's. Xiang Yu positioned himself as a destroyer of order, and adopted the strategy of the princes.After Xiang Yu completely defeated the Qin army, due to insufficient army food, he killed 300,000 Qin soldiers, thus losing the hearts of the people.After occupying Xianyang, the capital of the Qin Dynasty, Xiang Yu did not set out to stabilize the overall situation and establish a new ruling order as soon as possible, but adopted large-scale destructive actions such as abolishing Liu Bang's three chapters of the contract and burning the Afang Palace.He does not regard himself as the co-owner of the world at all, so the world will not regard him as the co-owner. Emperor Shi Le of the Later Han Dynasty in the Wuhu era admired Liu Bang very much. He once said to his subordinates: If Liu Bangsheng and I were in the same era, I could only submit to him, and I would be on the same level as Han Xin and Peng Yue.Shi Le is also a figure who was killed on the battlefield. He may not admire Liu Bang on the battlefield, but what he admires should be Liu Bang on the battlefield.Xiang Yu only saw the battlefield, unlike Liu Bang, who saw the situation in China as a whole.