Chapter 13 5. Two extended questions
Based on the growth paths of Liu Bang and Xiang Yu, let's talk about the other two extended issues.
First, the power of the environment.
There are both subjective and objective factors in the formation of a person's personality. Subjectivity is innate, and objectiveness is the influence of the environment.Man does not live in a vacuum, so man cannot live without the environment.The influence of the environment is subtle, and people are always influenced by it unconsciously, and sometimes they are influenced by it.In some cases, it can even change people's innate personality.
When we watch TV dramas, there are often such plots, saying that two children were wrongly held in the hospital, the farmer’s child later became a rich second generation, and the other started a difficult life facing the loess and the sky after a few years. After being identified, they went back to each family to find their mothers for a reunion, but found that no one could adapt to the new life.That's what the environment does.
There is the same plot in the movie, Guo Jing and Yang Kang's fathers are both villagers of Niujia Village, Yang Kang later followed his mother to recognize Wanyan Honglie as his father, and became the prince of the Kingdom of Jin. Wealthy and nourishing, and then a farmer dad suddenly appeared. Yang Kang couldn't adapt to it at all. He also wanted to recognize his biological father, but don't mention how awkward it was when he put on those patched clothes.This is also the effect of the environment.If he has been wearing patched clothes since he was a child, he will get used to it.
People can also change the environment, relying on their own efforts and charm to infect their surroundings.But the environment is generally difficult to change, because a person's power is limited after all, so more often it is necessary to adapt to the environment.Only by adapting to the environment first, will it be possible to improve the environment in the future, otherwise you will always be rejected by the environment, and there will be no way to change the environment.
Xiang Yu and Liu Bang grew up in different environments, so they also formed different personalities, different preferences, and different styles of doing things.This has a great impact on their later life.
Xiang Yu's family conditions are better than Liu Bang's.He has been a general of the Chu State for generations, belongs to the bureaucratic class, and the real power faction. Although he has declined later, his family background is still strong, and his prestige and influence still exist.After the famous general, this is a fact that will never change.The ancients cared about this very much, and they paid attention to family status and background in everything, so this is an innate advantage. Otherwise, when Xiang Liang started an incident, there would not be so many people following him, and later he would not bring out a King Huai of Chu to do it. It's a pretense.
The influence of the environment is also subtle, and different environments create different lives.Xiang Yu spends every day under the shadow of his ancestors, and the influence is not insignificant.The past scenery will make him feel noble and proud, and it will also make him proud and upright.And the current decline will make him feel frustrated and helpless, and it will also make him restless and persistent.
Relatively speaking, except for being deprived of military power by King Huai of Chu, Xiang Yu's life has always been smooth, and his ideals were quickly realized without any setbacks.After Xiang Yu defeated Zhang Han, his power shook the world, and the princes "walked forward on their knees, and none dared to look up." The feeling of being worshiped by others made him extremely satisfied.And this kind of adversity also made his personality more flamboyant, which in turn made him do more flamboyant things.
Liu Bang has been struggling in adversity, worked as a petty official, worked as a errand, ate and drank, and worked as a robber. The tempering of life made him more sensitive in knowing people and more experienced in doing things.Practical experience taught him a truth: To be in society, one needs to be supported and supported.In the process of marching into Guanzhong, Liu Bang encountered a lot of resistance, but in the end it was resolved smoothly because someone advised him, which made him dependent on counselors and full of desire for talents, thus forming a relaxed environment for employing people , which benefited him a lot.
Second, the strength to carry a tripod and the strength to restrain a chicken.
In addition to differences in education, experience, and personality, there is another essential difference between Xiang Yu and Liu Bang, which is physical fitness.Xiang Yu is capable of carrying the tripod and pulling mountains, but Liu Bang "doesn't care about the family's production and homework", never helping the family with work, let alone getting up early to run, climb mountains, practice yoga, and drink for a long time. His physical fitness is not much better go.Liu Bang on the battlefield is more like a white-faced scholar with no strength to restrain a chicken, and he is not at the same level as Xiang Yu.This seemingly insignificant difference is actually crucial to the development of their lives.
People always try to avoid their shortcomings and highlight their strengths.It is precisely because Xiang Yu is infinitely powerful and capable of carrying a tripod that he believes in force, admires force, and likes to rely on force to solve everything, which gives him the illusion that he is omnipotent in his subconscious, and finally contributes to him being fearless character.Especially after using force to win a series of victories, Xiang Yu became more convinced of the role of force, and then evolved into a domineering arrogance.This kind of domineering will make him too conceited, making it difficult to listen to other people's opinions.
Liu Bang's body is weak and he has no strength to restrain a chicken. It is estimated that he was always beaten in fights when he was a child.If people's own conditions are not good, they will find ways to make up for it with other aspects.For example, if a skinny person is always bullied by a tall and strong person, after a few times his nose is bruised and his face is swollen, he will no longer confront him head-to-head in a foolish way, but will find ways to use dirty tricks, use black hands, swing bricks, and hit him. Sap, in this way, it is not just a contest of physical strength, but also an intellectual factor, after all, adapting to changes is also the performance of a wise man.That's what Liu Bang did.
During the tug-of-war in Xingyang, there was a dialogue that perfectly expressed the personalities of Liu and Xiang.The Chu and Han armies confronted each other in Guangwu for too long, and the soldiers were exhausted, so Xiang Yu said to Liu Bang: "The Huns and Huns who are a few years old in the world are only my ears. The people of the world are fathers and sons." Let's stop wasting so much, come out and do it one-on-one, and whoever wins will listen to whoever wins. Don't let the common people suffer because of us!Liu Bang replied: "I would rather fight wits than strength." He squinted his eyes and stroked his beard to say that the effect would be better. Liu Bang didn't accept Xiang Yu's move at all.
The two have different temperaments, and others have opinions.When he was in Pengcheng, King Huai of Chu decided to divide his troops into two groups, one led by Song Yi to go north to rescue Zhao, and the other led by Liu Bang to take Guanzhong from the west.At that time, Xiang Yu was not reused by King Huai, and was appointed as Song Yi's second general to attack Zhao together.Xiang Yu wanted to go west with Liu Bang, but some old officials of King Huai disagreed at that time. The reason was that "Xiang Yu is too aggressive and cannot be sent now."The evaluation of Liu Bang is, "Pei Gongsu is lenient to the elders and can be sent away", saying that he is generous, benevolent, and has the demeanor of an elder, and he is competent.This kind of evaluation is not based on imagination, nor is it unreasonable.
Xiang Yu advocated force, and Liu Bang won with wisdom.The two are destined to have different social effects when they go to society in different ways, and they are also destined to adopt different means and methods in the political game, which also determines the outcome of the game between the two to a certain extent.
In the learning stage, Xiang Yu had a bright spot in his thinking, that is, he wanted to learn the art of war of ten thousand enemies.This awareness is correct. On the battlefield, one is not fighting alone. A good man is hard to fight with four hands, and a hungry tiger cannot hold back a pack of wolves. What is needed is the strength of the team, which is the combined force formed by thousands of soldiers and horses. This is unmatched by any one person's strength.It's a pity that Xiang Yu didn't stick to his studies, which can't but be said to be a pity.
Xiang Yu had the opportunity to learn but did not learn the enemy of ten thousand people, but Liu Bang learned and practiced in practice prematurely.Liu Bang is not strong enough, so he will not advocate force, and will not confront others head-on.This subconscious will also be applied to his concept of war, and he wants to win with wisdom in everything.Because of his own weakness, he will also rely on others to play the role of teamwork. Three cobblers are better than one Zhuge Liang, and that Xiang Yu does not have Zhuge Liang's talent.What Liu Bang later applied in practice was actually the kung fu that Xiang Yu abandoned and did not learn.