Chapter 45 4. The third massacre

Liu Bang's first massacre of the city was in Chengyang.This incident was recorded by Sima Qian in "Historical Records Gaozu Benji". Liu Bang's second massacre was in Yingchuan.This incident was also written by Sima Qian in "Historical Records Gaozu Benji". But when Liu Bang slaughtered the city for the third time, Sima Qian's hands were already trembling a little, and he didn't dare to write any more. If you continue to write, Sima Qian will be in danger. Liu Bang's descendants, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty at that time, will not end with Sima Qian.Because there are historical conclusions about how Liu Bang seized the world.This conclusion is called - the benevolent is invincible!But have you ever seen a benevolent man who is addicted to killing people and slaughtering cities?

For example, the book "Liu Bang and the Daye Foundation" written by Mr. Chen Longyu, a domestic historian, stated: "Because of the strict discipline of Liu Bang's army, he ordered the rebel army under him to 'do not plunder (same captivity)' when he passed by." Xiang Yu's army, which is "everything is destroyed", is in stark contrast. Therefore, it is deeply supported and welcomed by the people along the way. In August (207 BC, Liu Bang was fifty years old), Liu Bang conquered Wuguan in one fell swoop. , opened the southern gate leading to Guanzhong. At this time, Liu Bang's army had grown to tens of thousands."

Similar comments can be found everywhere in the related historical materials of Liu Bang's research.This is the firm belief of historians.The benevolent is invincible, and the unkind has enemies. You see, Xiang Yu slaughtered the city twice, so he became unkind. He has enemies, and he cannot be welcomed by the people.You see, Liu Bang...has just slaughtered two cities, Chengyang and Yingchuan. Although the number of cities slaughtered is equal to that of Xiang Yu, Liu Bang is a benevolent man, so he is invincible, so he owns the world. Historians came to this inexplicable conclusion because they only read "Historical Records: The Benji of Gaozu". Here is what Liu Bang said when he conquered Wuguan:

Attack Wuguan by attack and break it.He also fought with the Qin army in the south of Lantian, and raised the banner of suspicious soldiers, so that all who passed by would not be plundered.He fought to the north again and broke it.Take advantage of the victory and break it. Look, this record does not mention the massacre of the city, but instead it says, "Everything that passes by must not be plundered, and the people of Qin like it."Even the Qin people are happy, doesn't this prove that Liu Bang's army is a teacher of benevolence and righteousness? If historians are willing to spend more time in their brains, and then open the same "Historical Records" and read "The Chronicle of Qin Shihuang", they will be stunned and at a loss:

Gao Qian said "Kandong robbers can't do anything", and Xiang Yu captured Qin general Wang Li and other huge deer, and Zhang Han and other troops were defeated. They wrote to ask for help, and Yan, Zhao, Qi, Chu, Han, and Wei all stood up. As a king, from the east of Guanguan, the Qin officials should be the princes at the end of Dadi, and the princes Xian led all their people to the west.Pei Gong slaughtered tens of thousands of people at Wuguan, and made people private to Gao, fearing that the second generation would be angry and punish him, but thanked him for his illness and refused to see him. ("Historical Records: The Chronicle of Qin Shihuang")

Look, because Sima Qian was worried about being poisoned by Liu Bang's descendants, he even hid the record of Liu Bang's third city massacre in the "Benji of Qin Shihuang".Pei Gong has slaughtered tens of thousands of people at Wuguan, how cruel and terrifying this is! There is also the eighth volume, which also has the same record: "In August, Pei Gong attacked Wuguan with tens of thousands of people and slaughtered them. He was afraid that the second generation would be angry, and he would punish him. He was sick and would not see him." By this time, we finally understood that when Liu Bang marched into Guanzhong, the order issued by Liu Bang was not "do not plunder everything you pass", but the exact opposite order. Halo—that is, for the city that resists, all the people and officials will be killed.

The people were all killed, and only Liu Bang and his little brothers were left. The little brothers praised Liu Bang as a teacher of benevolence and righteousness, and they would not plunder what was done to them.Those who were looted have been completely silenced and slaughtered, and you will never hear a whine or a cry of resistance. that is it! Once massacred the city, we have already found a reason for Liu Bang, and blamed the people in the city for resisting too fiercely.In the two massacres of the city, we also succeeded in shifting the responsibility to the people, blaming the people for not opening the door quickly, and beating gongs and drums to welcome Liu Bang in.For the third time, if we continue to defend Liu Bang, it would be too insane.

Why is Liu Bang repeatedly slaughtered the city, but he is called a benevolent man?Why can't many historians notice or discover the records of Liu Bang's three massacres? This is because Liu Bang knew the secret cause of power, but historians do not know this. The reason why historians did not notice the record of Liu Bang’s three city massacres, and even described Liu Bang’s bloody massacre of Wuguan as a scene “deeply supported and welcomed by the people along the way”, is because the historian’s head was captured by Qin Shihuang, Liu Bang, etc. The power maniac was fooled by fools, and firmly believed that the benevolent is invincible-historians can only believe this, and if they don't believe this, can they still believe that the benevolent is invincible?

In fact, Liu Bang is one of the few people in history who has insight into the secrets of power.This secret may have been told to him by Zhang Liang, or it may have been realized by himself.He knew that the so-called invincibility of the benevolent is just to deceive the unscrupulous historians, and the real secret of power lies in its cause. What is the cause of power?It refers to the process of power formation. Liu Bang knows better than anyone that there are only three sources of power: one is through wisdom and thought.The second is to obtain through commercial wealth.The third is obtained through violent killing.

Let me talk about the first source of power, wisdom and thought.This is actually a deformed expression that the benevolent is invincible, benevolence is the greatest wisdom-but wisdom itself excludes power, and of course power also excludes wisdom.People who have mastered wisdom know that the enjoyment brought by power needs to be at the expense of the well-being of future generations.If Liu Bang is really a benevolent person, he will be three-pointed about power, and it is absolutely impossible for future generations to pay a tragic price for his own enjoyment. The second source of power is commercial wealth.Wealth has the power to turn black and white and influence people's hearts. This is the characteristic of power.Therefore, both Qin Shihuang and Liu Bang are full of vigilance against businessmen.Qin Shihuang classified the businessman as a criminal and directly arrested him for hard labor.Compared with Qin Shihuang, Liu Bang was indeed much kinder. He just didn't allow businessmen to wear silk clothes or ride horses to show humiliation, and he didn't add torture.

The third source of power is sheer violence.Whether it is the history of the Warring States period or the history of the Qin and Han Dynasties, it is a typical history of violence.Qin Shihuang can be said to be lonely because he controls the most terrifying violent machine at that time.Liu Bang, who has experienced the history of Qin Shihuang's destruction of the six kingdoms, can see all this clearly.He knew that if he wanted to replace Qin Shihuang and dominate the world, he would need a war machine that was more vicious and brutal than in Qin Shihuang's era. It is precisely because he knew the powerful power of the violent machine that Liu Bang went to Wuguan. Although Wuguan did not show the slightest sense of resistance, Liu Bang still ordered the massacre of the city. Massacre the city, kill every old man, every child and every woman in Wuguan City.Ignore their pain and wailing, kill them all. The bloody slaughter of Wuguan is only because Wuguan is the southern gate leading to the middle of the pass.When the wailing sounds of women, children and the elderly being slaughtered drifted into Xianyang, Liu Bang could imagine the trembling and fear of the local residents. Chinese people have a wrong concept that violence will not make people submit, this concept is very wrong and very wrong.In fact, violence is the most important force that makes people submit. Under the pressure of violence, people will feel extreme fear in their minds. The power of fear will crush, distort and deform the normal personality, and finally form a A hopelessly slavish personality.Since the beginning of Qin Shihuang, China has fallen into imperial autocracy and cannot extricate itself. The most important reason is the slavish personality formed by the people under the violent squeeze. A country composed of slaves has been multiplying the monster of power ever since. . This is the truth of history. It's just that all of this has nothing to do with Liu Bang. He is making great strides towards the peak of power, and no one can stop him. There is just one troublesome thing, he was massacring the city in Wuguan, isn't he afraid of arousing the resistance of the people of Xianyang? If anyone thinks this way, he would underestimate Liu Bang too much-"Pei Gong will slaughter tens of thousands of people at Wuguan, making people private to Gao".While Liu Bang was slaughtering the city at Wuguan, he sent envoys to secretly contact Zhao Gao. In Xianyang City, Zhao Gao would naturally destroy the power system for him. He wanted to create a huge power vacuum in Xianyang City.The people in Xianyang City have been deprived of their civil rights, and have lost the possibility of filling the power vacuum. So, how did Zhao Gao cooperate with Liu Bang?