Xiang Yu is the grandson of Xiang Yan, a former general of Chu State, and a descendant of Chu nobles. Shortly after Chen Sheng and Guangwu rose up, Xiang Yu killed the head of the Qin government in his hometown Huijijun (Suzhou, Jiangsu) and announced that he rose up and rebelled. Xiang Yu made the descendants of Lao Chu King the King of Chu and called on the adherents of Lao Chu King to rebel together.
Unlike Xiang Yu, Liu Bang has no connection with the six countries. He is the leader of the underworld gang in Pei County. With his position and appeal in the Jianghu, he pieced together thousands of people to take refuge in people's hearts. Mi Xin's new regime established its capital in Xuyi, and Mi Xin encouraged the generals who defected to him to attack Qin Dou directly. Mi Xin ordered that whoever attacked Xianyang first would be the king of Qin. Liu bang led his troops along Nanyang. Wuguan attacked all the way forward.
After the victory of the Battle of Julu, Xiang Yu established his position in the Mi Xin camp. He is one of the few generals in the army, but his weakness is that he doesn't understand politics at all, and he is a straw bag in politics. However, the crux of the problem is that Xiang Yu thinks he knows a lot about politics. Xiang Yu arrived in Xianyang after Liu Bang. He didn't call Liu Bang king according to the previous agreement, but after hearing that Liu Bang had robbed him of the first prize of destroying the State of Qin, he also robbed all the treasures of gold and silver in Xianyang. He went on the rampage and immediately lost his mind. Not only ordered the baby to be beheaded and set fire to Xianyang city, but also prepared to attack Liu Bang.
Because of his long-term underworld experience, Liu Bang has more political experience and superior political means than Xiang Yu. He immediately grovelled to Xiang Yu and admitted his mistake, and gave all the jewels stolen from Xianyang to Xiang Yu. Xiang Yu was so high that he didn't know who he was. So Xiang Yu immediately kicked the so-called king of Chu away and announced to the world that he was the overlord of the place of Chu, making Pengcheng (Xuzhou, Jiangsu) his capital. Then, he ordered the abolition of all emerging kingdoms and the establishment of the whole country under the rule of Xi Chu. However, Xiang Yu's short-lived political mind was shown at this time. Instead of establishing a centralized dynasty, he abruptly pushed back the wheel of history and pushed the whole world back to the Warring States period.
Xiang Yu enfeoffed nineteen kings in one breath, but his practice couldn't even catch up with the last Zhou Dynasty. The so-called enfeoffment system of the Zhou Dynasty put his kingdom above other kingdoms, while Xiang Yu's Xi Chu kingdom was equal to the 19 kingdoms he sealed in political status. He established an international league of equal status. He was not a king but a leader.
On the other hand, Xiang Yu acted like a savage with no political mind when dealing with the enfeoffment of kings, completely manipulated by his own preferences and third-rate political roles around him. Mi Fei, for example, was a small court with little power at that time, but Xiang Yu thought he was the biggest threat, so he sealed Mi Fei to a wild place and went obediently, but Xiang Yu was still not at ease, and finally sent someone to kill him to avoid future trouble. Like Liu Bang, Xiang Yu should also abide by the original agreement and let Liu Bang be the king of Qin. Even if he doesn't cheat, he can arrange Liu Bang closer to his hometown to satisfy the vanity of Liu Bang and his men, which is not a thing for Xiang Yu at all. Xiang Yu was always worried that Liu Bang would enter Xianyang first, so he sealed Liu Bang to Nanzheng (Hanzhong, Shaanxi), which was considered a wild place at that time. Later, South Korean King Han Cheng was arrested and put to death as a criminal, which led Sean, Han Cheng's brain trust, to go to Liu Bang and fight Xiang Yu to the end. According to the present statement, I can't stop myself from committing suicide for several days. This is a portrayal of what Xiang Yu did.
There is another little thing that can explain how retarded Xiang Yu is politically. Cai Sheng, a scholar at that time, suggested that Xiang Yu set the capital in Xianyang, because according to the geographical situation at that time, Xianyang's position was the most moderate and it was convenient to rule the whole country. But Xiang Yu said, "If you succeed, not going back to your hometown is like walking in the dark in beautiful clothes." Xiang Yu's purpose seems to be just to show off his wealth in front of his fellow villagers, so he insisted on returning to his hometown to build his capital. Cai Sheng talked about this matter with his friends helplessly, saying, "People say that Xiang Yu is like a monkey wearing clothes and a hat. I think it's really good. " With Xiang Yu's narrow-mindedness, someone dared to denigrate his heroic image. He immediately ordered Cai Sheng to be arrested and then cooked Cai Sheng in a cauldron.
Xiang Yu's curse buried in the small bag broke out two months later.
First, Tian Rong, the prime minister of Tian Fu, the old king of Qi, sent troops to attack his drinking friend Tian Du, the new king of Qi. Chen Yu, the prime minister of the old king of Zhao, attacked his old friend, Zhang Er, the new king of Changshan. In Xiang Yu's view, this kind of military action disturbing world peace is undoubtedly challenging his authority, because these new kings are appointed by him, and to dare to challenge these new kings is to break ground on his head. Although these new kings were born under his absurd policies, with his powerful power, no matter how absurd the policies are, they are all floating clouds. He decided to attack Tian Rong first and then Chen Yu. Tian Rong is really vulnerable in front of Xiang Yu, and defeat is a matter of life and death. Xiang Yu's soldiers massacred and robbed, and the people had to rally for armed resistance in order to protect their lives and property. The rebellion did not die out because of Xiang Yu's military victory, but it expanded even more. Xiang Yu and his troops fell into a quagmire of exhaustion. Often, the rebellion in the east subsided, and there was a new rebellion in the west. Tian Rong's younger brother, Tian Heng, gathered his forces, played hide-and-seek with Xiang Yu and shot at a place.
Hanwang Liu Bang, who was far away in the western mountains and forests, seized the opportunity to sneak into the position and toppled the kings sealed by Xiang Yu within the territory of Qin State. Then all the way to the east, he was declared as the righteous emperor, wailing and calling on people with a heart in the world to crusade against Xiang Yu's crime of regicide.
In April 205 BC, Liu Bang captured Pengcheng (Xuzhou, Jiangsu), the capital of Xiang Yu. The Chu-Han War officially started.
When Cheng Peng fell, Xiang Yu led the army in pursuit of Tian Heng. After he got the news, he immediately gave up Tian Heng, leaving 30,000 chosen men to fight back against Liu Bang. Liu bang was defeated. More than100000 soldiers drowned in Shui Gu and Surabaya, and they all fled to Lingbi (Suixi, Anhui). At this time, the large forces of the Western Chu Corps arrived and the two armies confronted each other. The Han army was defeated again, and hundreds of people were squeezed into muddy water. Two battles have proved that Xiang Yu is a talented general, and the flexibility and bravery of his army can be seen.
Liu bang fled all the way to Xingyang, and then the Xichu Corps arrived to clean up Xingyang. Liu bang panicked. He can't escape and can't stay. Finally, in despair, counselor Chen Ping saved Liu Bang's life. Liu Bang's subordinate Ji Xin looks like Liu Bang. Chen Ping asked Ji Xin to surrender at the East Gate disguised as Liu Bangkai, and then said that when Liu Bangkai's fake surrender relaxed the Chu army, he would take Liu Bang away from the West Gate.
The confrontation between Liu Bang and Xiang Yu was a fiasco, but Han Xin, Liu Bang's general, triumphed all the way. It took only a few months to wipe out all Wang Yiju who were sealed by Xiang Yu in the north of the Yellow River, including Tian Heng, who gave Xiang Yu a headache.
Han Xin, a general, was a meritorious figure established by the Western Han Dynasty. He was originally a tramp in the old Chu state, but later he defected to Xiang Yu's army and became a junior officer in Xiang Yu's guard army to stand guard for Xiang Yu. He contributed opinions to Xiang Yu several times, but Xiang Yu didn't listen to him at all, because Xiang Yu simply looked down on him. What qualifications do you have to express your opinion? Xiang Yu is just a brave general, and Han Xin has more political ambitions than Xiang Yu, so Xiang Yu doesn't know Han Xin at all, just like primary school students can't read college students' textbooks. Xiang Yu missed Han Xin. Besides Han Xin, Liu Bang was accompanied by Sean and Xiao He, one of whom was Liu Bang's brain trust and the other was Liu Bang's General Logistics Department. As mentioned earlier, Sean is a noble descendant of the ancient Korean kingdom. Because Xiang Yu killed Wang Han for no reason, he fought with Xiang Yu to the death, and Xiao He was a junior official in the former Qin Dynasty. Such people, assuming that they are not in troubled times, may only get lost in the vast sea of people. Their leader, Liu Bang, was born in the street. Although Liu Bang had no education and had a rogue spirit, he had talents that all uprising leaders didn't have at that time, that is, his high wisdom and magnanimity cultivated in his long-term life as a social rascal.
With his special temperament, Liu Bang constantly recruited talents and accumulated talents. Xiang Yu kept making low-level mistakes. Because of Chen Ping's deviant behavior, Xiang Yu drove away Fan Zeng, the only think tank of the Western Chu Army. At this point, Xiang is comparable to Liu Bangyi in military, but he is no match for Liu Bangyi in politics and diplomacy.
After the war in Xingyang, the situation changed dramatically. Xiang Yu attacked desperately, and Liu Bang failed desperately. But Liu Bang is like an immortal Xiao Qiang. Every time he failed, he turned around and made a comeback. Xiao He, the logistics minister, did a good job. In Liyang (Lintong, Shaanxi), he constantly organized fresh troops and food to be sent to the front to supplement Liu Bang's losses, so Liu Bang was able to make a comeback. Han Xin, who swept the north of the Yellow River clean, began to outflank Xiang Yu from behind after obtaining Liu Bang's promise to be king. Soon Xiang Yu was caught in an embarrassing situation that he could not fight or win.
In 203 BC, Xiang Yu reluctantly demanded reconciliation because only reconciliation could save him. The two sides agreed to divide the world by the dividing line (the Grand Canal dug by Qin Shihuang mentioned earlier), which belongs to Han in the west and Chu in the east.
This time, Xiang Yu's ignorance of politics killed himself. After signing the contract, Xiang Yu was filled with joy and naively thought that the Chu-Han war was over. He returned the detained Liu Bang's father to Liu Bang, and then he fell to the East. Xiang Yu didn't expect Liu Bang to be treacherous-in fact, this is not Liu Bang's business. As soon as Xiang Yu's army left, Liu Bang tore up the treaty and began to attack the Western Chu Army from behind.
Xiang Yu rushed up to fight, but Liu Bang was still no match. At this time, Han Xin, the nemesis of Xiang Yu, came at the right time, and the situation was extremely unfavorable to Xiang Yu. In 202 BC, the Han Corps besieged the Xichu Corps commanded by Han Xin. Xiang Yu discovered at this time that winning every battle does not guarantee the final victory. The story that happened after that is familiar to everyone, so I won't repeat it here.
The rise of the Western Chu Dynasty suddenly died, only five years.
Later, Hanwang and Liu Bang unified the whole country. He imitated Ying Zheng the Great, proclaimed himself emperor, established the Han Dynasty, and made Chang 'an (Xi 'an, Shaanxi) his capital. -Liu Bang made his capital in the west. From this point alone, he is much better than Xiang Yu.