In the rebellion that began after the death of Qin Shi Huang, Xiang Yu remained until the end. And Liu Kun is.
Xiang Yu Is from a prestigious shogun who is the second largest after Qin, and if he fights with a young man who has a remarkable talent with a big body, he will win a series of battles. Anyway, he was the one who was seen by the people around him.
On the other hand, Liu Kun He was the third son of a farmer and couldn't read or write, and even after he was over 40 years old, he was still wandering around the town without helping his family business. There are only a few anecdotes, but it seems that he was loved by many people.
This time, we will investigate how these two contrasting people emerged.
Qin's confusion
Qin unified by Qin Shi Huang in 221 BC. Qin Shi Huang started the administration with a system in which one person holds tremendous power. Among them, it was his firstborn Fusu who was able to give up on the actions of Qin Shi Huang. is.
Qin attaches great importance to the law and adopts a strict rule of law, but since there were parts that were incompatible with Confucianism, he even performed "Burning Book" to burn the books of Confucianism and "Mine" to bury the Confucianism in the hole. .. Fusu has repeatedly urged Qin Shi Huang to rethink this extreme policy.
After this, Qin Shi Huang was angry and attacked Fusu at that time Meng Tian . I sent it to the north where there is a person named (Mouten). Actually, it seems that it was not only because it was "noisy" but also as a guardian of Meng Tian who led the large army. Although Qin Shi Huang was angry and sent Fusu to a remote remote area, he thought that he had bought his ability and that he would "take over Fusu."
Now, looking back at the center, there are people who pretended not to see this book burning and mine policy. Li Si , a legalist who held the position of Grand Chancellor as a leading figure in the rule of law. (Rishi), serving as a eunuch official on the side of Qin Shi Huang, Qin Er Shi Zhang Taka , his favorite who was the caretaker of (Kogai) is.
It is not certain that he emphasized Confucianism, but even though he was his father, he was so concerned about Burning Scripture and Confucianism that he repeatedly told the emperor Fusu . .. Li Si who is close to me but does not give up And Zhang Taka It was no wonder that Fusu wanted to smoke the two of them, and it was no wonder that Fusu was trying to make them a Confucian-focused country.
Considering the relationship between Fusu and Li Si / Zhang High, it seemed like a dark cloud was in the air.
Death of Qin Shi Huang
In the midst of such a stinking smell, Qin's Qin Shi Huang in 210 BC Will die. Naturally, the situation was as follows.
Zhang Taka Not only the danger of being erased, but also the caretaker " I want to make Qin Er Shi a successor The desire is Li Si " Dissatisfied with sudden changes may spurt out due to the death of Qin Shi Huang I was worried. Due to such speculation, it is said that the death of Qin Shi Huang did not occur for a while.
The death of Fusu and the rise of Zhang Taka
In the end, both sides squeezed the will of Qin Shi Huang, who gave Fusu a successor under a cooperative system.
I will send you a forged edict with the following contents. Meng Tian felt uncomfortable with the document and stopped Fusu's self-harm, but Fusu committed suicide.
Qin Er Shi To his puppet emperor, Zhang Taka Although he won the power struggle with Li Si and became the Grand Chancellor, the number of influential vassals decreased and he was forced to lay down bad politics because Meng Tian and Meng Tian's clan who had doubted the documents of Qin Shi Huang were erased. ..
As for Zhang Taka, did you want to create a country that inherited the will of Qin Shi Huang, not for personal gain? There is a theory, but it's too old to really understand. However, Zhang Taka is a person who is often treated like a last boss in many stories.
The breakthrough of the rebels
When the inside of Qin was confused ...
When some Qin soldiers were walking to the meeting place with the farmers who were semi-forced to guard the frontier, they were in trouble that the road was submerged due to heavy rain. In Qin, if you do not meet the deadline, you will be sentenced to death, but due to this trouble, you will obviously fall into a situation where you cannot make it in time. Then, "If you die anyway," the uprising was " Chen Sheng Wu Guang's Ran . "is. It is also the rebellion that triggered the collapse of Qin.
Chen Sheng Fusu whose mother is believed to be from Chu (← popular with the people), Wu Guang Is the general of Chu, Xiang Yan He became the king under the pretext of "Reconstructing Chu". As the uprising to the east and heading west, rumors of a rebellion were transmitted to those who had endured the oppression of Qin, and they began to respond all at once. Xiang Yu And Liu Kun Was also one of the rebels.
However, although he had won in a row at first, he lost momentum after being defeated by the general of Qin, and was overwhelmed in half a year. When it comes to such a pinch, Chen Sheng However, some people have come to question "being self-proclaimed as Chu, even though he has nothing to do with Chu" and "behavior after becoming a king."
Under such circumstances, Xiang Liang Fan Zeng who will later become a staff member Huai of Chu who is "the descendant of the real old royal family of Chu" after hearing the opinion given by We will succeed in rebuilding the forces that are about to collapse.
In this way, the new rebels (= Xiang Yu ) with King Huai at the top ) Is completed.
The end of Xiang Liang, the person who became the center of Nishiso
Xiang Yu's uncle, Xiang Liang, stood out in Xiang Yu. Xiang Liang and others fought in a series of battles around the current Shandong and Henan provinces to surely win. Meanwhile, Qin sends a considerable army.
It was Song Yi who was worried about this. It seems that even though he advised Xiang Liang that "it is dangerous because soldiers are emerging at such times", it was ignored. Song Yi, who left the army to take charge of negotiations with Qi, advised Qi's messenger on the way that "Xiang Liang's army will be defeated, so it is better to head a little slowly."
A few days later, as Song Yi said, Xiang Liang was killed in action. As a result of Song Yi's messenger, who was visiting the King Huai, telling the story and complimenting Song Yi, Song Yi was entrusted with a large army.
Xiang Yu's breakthrough
In the midst of frequent rebellions against Qin, Xiang Yu killed nearly 100 people alone in the first battle and buried the castle soldiers alive in the subsequent battles. Due to this, the old generals around the top of the rebels received a low evaluation of "brutality".
Perhaps because of this evaluation, Xiang Yu, who was the main army, was attacked by the Qin army and was forced to struggle Zhao . Huai of Chu is in the middle of attacking as a reinforcement.
"(Home of Qin) The person who enters Guanzhong first will be the king of the land"
I promised.
* Hanchu refers to the area west of Hangu Pass, which is the key to the defense of Qin. Hangu Pass is located 70 km south of the confluence of the curved part of the Yellow River and the water. Zhao is located in northern China, so the direction is quite different.
However, Song Yi, the superior of the army who had Xiang Yu, does not try to attack.
"Let's hit where Zhao and Qin are fighting and exhausted"
That was his claim. Song Yi's claim is not unclear because his troops are one tenth. Xiang Yu directly appeals to the march but is dismissed. But the situation was bad. While some of the inside of the army were hungry and frozen, Song Yi was holding a big banquet to send his son as Chancellor of Qi in the name of trying to get along with Qi.
Xiang Yu who boiled the work to this is
"Because of the rebellion against Qi, I received the order of King Huai"
And lied and killed Song Yi and his son. He took the lead in the main army and defeated the Qin army (Hata 500,000? Vs. 50,000-100,000), albeit inferior in number. Seeing the bravery and activity at this time, the princes of each country belonged to Xiang Yu and became the center of the rebels.
Feast at Swan Goose and Xiang Yu's Failure
On the other hand, Liu Kun manages to manage Guanzhong and surrender Qin Wang, despite being forced to struggle. Thus Qin was destroyed in 206 BC.
At that time, Liu Kun was blinded by the many beautiful women and treasures in the palace, but he was resigned by the people around him and did not touch it at all. This case will be a hint of the famous "Komon no Kai" that will remain in posterity, but I will explain this later.
* In addition, Qin Wang at this time is not Qin Er Shi. Qin Er Shi had already been assassinated by Grand Chancellor Zhang Taka, and even though Zhang Taka himself tried to reach the throne, he was turned away by his vassals, so he tried to insult Liu Kun, but failed. In the end, the promising Qin King was enthroned, but he probably saw this as the cause of the fall of Qin. I'm killing Zhang Taka.
If the capital and palace of a country with such power were taken by Liu Kun from the promise of "King of Guanzhong" that King Huai said ... A large army under overwhelmingly disadvantageous conditions It's not interesting from the perspective of Xiang Yu, who defeated his opponent and was late in attacking Guanzhong.
Meanwhile, a person close to Liu Kun heard that Xiang Yu was coming to Guanzhong.
"You entered Guanzhong first, but Xiang Yu steals your credit."
Liu Kun obediently listened to it and closed the relationship so that Xiang Yu could not enter. Xiang Yu was naturally furious. He breaks this barrier with all his might. In addition, a subordinate of Liu Kun who wants to be on the side of Xiang Yu makes an extra statement such as "(Liu Kun) is trying to make Qin King the presidency and monopolize the treasure of Guanzhong." Is stubborn.
Katsushika Hokusai – Shinban Ukiyo-e Hiiragi Feast at Swan Goose (from Hokusai II)
Liu Kun goes to the Xiang Yu camp to apologize for the fact that the relationship between Liu Kun and Xiang Yu has been broken, but when he saw that he did not touch the beauty or the treasure, he felt that "Liu Kun has ambitions". Chu's staff, Fan Zeng is
"It's better to erase it now"
Advised Xiang Yu. I will hold a banquet with that intention. This banquet is " Feast at Swan Goose It came to be called. However, Xiang Yu, who was completely detoxified by Liu Kun at this time, escaped Liu Kun without hearing Fan Zeng's suggestion.
In addition, despite the fact that King Huai tried to keep the promise that "the person who entered Guanzhong first became the king of the land", Xiang Yu broke it and sealed the soil with his own hands. Killed. In this way, the political legitimacy of Xiang Yu in Xiang Yu was lost, giving the princes who were dissatisfied with the feudalism the cause of avenging the rebels who rebelled against the king.
So, the mistake made by Xiang Yu at this time is
- I missed Liu Kun without listening to Fan Zeng, the staff member.
- Killed the top of Xiang Yu, King Huai
Is it around here? Xiang Yu couldn't hear Liu Kun who listened to the surrounding words. This will determine the outcome later.
* Very contrasting two people who finally outperform humanity Liu Kun It is an anecdote that is still talked about as a leader theory of business books because he won and established the country. (DIAMOND online) / What is "true leadership as human power" learned from Xiang Yu and Liu Kun? ① ~ Background of the times and the background of the two ~ [External site]
Chu-Han War
The seals made by Xiang Yu are determined based on the relationship with Xiang Yu, and the princes who feel unfair begin to move in the direction of defeating Xiang Yu with the cause of killing the king. It is the beginning of the Chu-Han War, which lasted from 206 BC to 202 BC.
Liu Kun also regained Guanzhong, who was originally supposed to get it, taking advantage of the confusion from the dissatisfaction that only Hanzhong, which was a remote area at that time, was sealed.
"I'm not going to be hostile if I can get even Guanzhong"
I am sending a letter to Xiang Yu. After seeing this, Xiang Yu decided to defeat him from another lord. But again, Xiang Yu buried the prisoners alive after the war. Not only did the relatives of the lords who were killed first choose to continue to oppose Xiang Yu, but the people of the attacked nation continue to witness the cruel side of Xiang Yu and continue to resist.
Seeing Xiang Yu struggling harder than expected, Liu Kun formed an alliance with other countries and attacked Xiang Yu's home base. At this time, Liu Kun got along with other lords and continued the banquet every day and night (← It seems that no one stopped at this time).
It is said that Liu Kun and others were a large army of 560,000, but because they were alert, they would be defeated by the Xiang Yu army of only 30,000 troops who returned after hearing that their home base had been dropped. / strong> ]. As a result of this great defeat, the lords were limited to seeing Han, and as a result, the policy will change significantly.
Internal work by Liu Kun side
The so-called "distance meter". It is a psychological operation that makes friends suspicious. In the case of Xiang Yu, he especially respected and valued Fan Zeng, his staff member. Xiang Yu is extremely strong in battle, but the Liu Kun camp realized that Xiang Yu's suspicious personality was the bottleneck. It moves in the direction of making Xiang Yu fall into suspicion, centered on Fan Zeng.
The Liu Kun camp continued to do this. Succeeded in isolating Xiang Yu as intended, and Fan Zeng leaves Xiang Yu, who not only stopped listening to suggestions but also deprived him of his authority. Fan Zeng, who was already old, died of illness shortly after leaving Xiang Yu. The Xiang Yu camp suddenly became rattling.
Xiang Yu becomes a four-sided song
The camp of Xiang Yu whose inside has become rattling. The Liu Kun camp has steadily gained a food base where the battle has an advantage.
Still, there is no sense about the battle of Xiang Yu. While the Xiang Yu camp is worried about food, the Liu Kun camp does not want to fight head-on if possible even if there is a difference in food reserves. Liu Kun was also injured in repeated battles. Therefore, both sides have succeeded in peace once with the idea of "Why don't you divide the world into two?"
However, the staff members of the Liu Kun camp are
"If the Chu army returns to its home base and cultivates its spirit, there is no chance of victory."
Because it says the same thing, Liu Kun changed his policy and attacked Xiang Yu from behind. However, even in this battle, Liu Kun will be defeated.
The Liu Kun camp, who cannot win the battle even if there is a chance, demands reinforcements from Peng Yue, who is good at the strong general Han Xin under Liu Kun and the backward disturbance, with a promise to "make him a king". As expected, it would be troublesome for Xiang Yu to deal with Han Xin and Peng Yue (they didn't provide reinforcements to Liu Kun who knew that and didn't promise a reward).
In particular, Han Xin had such power that it would not be strange even if he became an independent force, so Xiang Yu also preached the "total of the three-thirds of the world" and urged him to betray the Han ...
Actually, there was a time when Han Xin was under Xiang Yu. However, he was treated coldly anyway. So Han Xin chose Liu Kun. In this way, the Liu Kun camp hunts down Chu.
By the way, there is an anecdote that the Han army sang the song of Chu when surrounding the Chu army, and succeeded in giving up the victory by making Xiang Yu think that many of the Chu army had surrendered.> It is said to be the beginning of the word. It is said that Xiang Yu killed hundreds of Han soldiers when he escaped from this battlefield, but he probably realized the end without being injured. He found an old friend in his pursuit and said, "I'll give you a reward." He was 31 years old.
Thus Chu-Han War Ended and ended in the victory of Liu Kun.
The founding of Han
For four years, while licking spicy acid many times, Liu Kun unified China and took the throne of the emperor in 202 BC and founded the Han dynasty. He built the new city of Chang'an near Xianyang, the city of Qin, and inherited much of the system of the Qin dynasty.
On the other hand, from the lessons learned from the rebellion caused by the rapid centralization, the bureaucracy is kept around the city, and the local government is governed by leaving it to the senior vassals who have made achievements, and the power of the lords is gradually reduced. I am. Of course, there was resistance in cutting that power, but I wrote a rough story in the article "The Birth and Decline of the Han Dynasty", so please have a look.
In this way, Xiang Yu, who had a high reputation before having various things, was defeated, and Liu Kun, who started from a place with almost nothing, became the founder of the long-term administration.