Fortification is a long-planned grand strategy.

Many people think that Xiang Yu's enfeoffment is emotional or has no strategic consideration at all, and it is purely a return to the pattern before Qin Dynasty. This understanding undoubtedly made the mistake of "first identifying what kind of person Xiang Yu is, and then analyzing his behavior purpose". This view is undoubtedly subjective and accords with historical facts.

Xiang Yu's policy of enfeoffment was based on historical data at the latest during the confrontation with Zhang Han after the Battle of Julu, that is, from December to July in Qin Ershi. According to historical records, before surrendering to Xiang Yu, Chen Yu left a book saying, "Why don't the generals return to the army to follow the princes, attack Qin and divide the land of the king, which is called" South Loneliness "(1). From Chen Yu's confession, we can speculate that Xiang Yu had a strategic plan of enfeoffment when he led the allied governors in Zhang Han during the Battle of Julu. From the following materials, this possibility is completely confirmed: "(Xiang Yu and Zhang Han) have formed an alliance, and Zhang Han cried when he saw Xiang Yu, for the sake of Zhao Gao. Xiang Yu named Zhang Han King Yong and named him Chu Army. " (2) It is concluded that Xiang Yu not only has a strategic plan for enfeoffment, but also has a certain plan for how to enfeoffment.

Why did Xiang Yu do all the work at this time? Let's take a look at the background. After the Battle of Julu, Xiang Yu wiped out 200,000 kings who surrounded Julu, leaving an army to command the allied forces of Chu, Yan, Zhao, Dai and Qi in Zhangshui and confrontation. At that time, it was supposed to be January in Qin Ershi for three years, but from this time until June, it was basically an impasse. The Qin Jun is "(3), and the chronicle of Qin Shihuang has" Xia, Waiting for the Battle "(4) and other related records, from which it can be seen that Xiang Yu is eager to fight a decisive battle, but at this time, he is pressing hard, but he does not fight a decisive battle immediately, which has been delayed so far. Why? I think Xiang Yu has two considerations:

First, I want to win this battle without hurting my vitality.

Zhang Han has 200,000 regular troops at this time, and Xiang Yu has no absolute advantage in strength. There is no clear record in history of how many troops Xiang Yu led the vassal Coalition against Zhang Han, but it is speculated from later data that the strength of the vassal Coalition will not be higher than 200 thousand. "Qin Chu Yue Biao" records that "there will be more than 400,000 vassal soldiers in Xiang Yu" (5), including 200,000 in Zhang Han and Qin Jun, that is, there were 200,000 vassal troops in Xiang Yu at that time. Another biography of Wei Bao and Peng Yue "Xiang Yu has broken the Qin Dynasty and surrendered to Zhang Han. The leopard went to more than 20 cities in Wei State and became the leopard Wang Wei. The leopard led the elite soldiers into the customs from Xiang Yu. " (6) To be sure, Wei's troops were included in the 400,000 troops of Xiang Yu's allied governors in October. Therefore, when Xiang Yu and Zhang Han confronted each other, their strength was obviously below 200,000, slightly less than that of Zhang Han. In this case and Zhang Han decisive battle, even if the victory is also a disadvantage, because Xiang Yu refused to fight easily.

Second, seek the position among the princes.

In the Battle of Julu, Xiang Yu destroyed the King and left the Legion. His reputation is far-reaching, and he became a general above the vassal Coalition and commanded the vassal Coalition. However, the composition of the vassal Coalition forces is complex, and each has its own territory and army. I am afraid it is difficult to command easily. Xiang Yu's slow attack on Zhang Han here can take advantage of the great threat of Zhang Han and gradually subdue various governors for his own use.

From the above, we can draw the conclusion that in the confrontation with Zhang Han, Xiang Yu began to plan the next strategic plan, which was mainly to subdue various governors, including Qin Jun, for his own use. But it's hard to subdue an unfaithful prince! When there is a threat from Qin Jun, the vassals can still obey the command of Xiang Yu, but after losing the threat from Qin Jun? I'm afraid we're all going our separate ways! Therefore, if we want to subdue the vassals, we must show a certain weight, induce them to be tied to their own interests, and let them be firmly tied to their chariots when sharing weal and woe.

There is no doubt that the most important component is to destroy Qin and seal the world. Only by "dividing merits and dividing land into kings" can vassals submit to their feet and expel all obstacles that hinder their progress. It is precisely because of this that Chen Yu can induce Zhang Han to make up his mind to rebel and seal the king to destroy Qin.

Two: Bao is an expedient measure under the objective form.

In December of the first year of Han Dynasty, Xiang Yu led 400,000 vassal troops into Xianyang and enfeoffed the world. In this regard, the traditional view is that Xiang Yu can inherit the imperial industry of Qin Shihuang and dominate the world in Xianyang at that time. This view is undoubtedly one-sided and ignores the actual situation. Let's look at the shape of the world at that time:

1. There are many governors in Guanzhong area, each with its own forces and armies. Besides Xiang Yu and Liu Bang, there are Zhang Han, Sima Xin, Dong Kun, Wei, yang shen, Han Wangcheng, Zhang Er, Wu Rui, Zangcha, Tian Du, Mei Lian and Chen Wu. That is, most of Xiang Yu's 400,000 troops belong to these vassal armies.

Two: there are old princes and new forces in the land outside the customs. Some of them were monarchs established by aristocratic status during the uprising at the end of the Qin Dynasty, and some were territories seized by gathering troops during the chaos. They have Wang Huai, who controls the land of Chu with Pengcheng as the center; Tian Rong, Shi Tian; Zhao Wangxie who is entrenched in Zhao; Han Guang, who occupied Yan State; Chu, who occupies the south county, is * * * ao; Sima ang occupied Hanoi, Peng Yue's troops were in Dingtao, and Chen Yu's troops were in Nanpi.

As can be seen from the above, the territory of the world at that time was basically in the hands of the old aristocratic forces, and the territory controlled by Xiang Yu was only Guanzhong. But only in Guanzhong, a large number of heroes gathered. They not only made achievements, but more importantly, they all had their own independent forces and armies. Xiang Yu's name still belongs to Wang Huai's courtiers, and all his possessions are only tens of thousands of Chu troops. Wouldn't it be absurd to let the old forces and the new forces in Guanzhong ignore the capital of tens of thousands of Chu troops and be eager to claim the title of emperor and integrate the rights of the world?

"Yimen Reading Secretary" quoted Feng as saying that "Chu Bing was worried about the death of Qin at the beginning and established six countries to establish the party. Six countries, Qin has lost the world, only about the middle ear. Qin has been destroyed, and it suffers from princes. It's not a good idea to let the king do all the performances. There are people who have to, but I don't know what to do here! " (7) Feng is also a difficult place for Xiang Yu. But obviously, Feng only saw the checks and balances of the old forces on Xiang Yu, but did not see the checks and balances of the new forces on Xiang Yu. Xiang Yu took advantage of Qin Jun's threat in the Battle of Julu to take all the princes under his command. At the same time, the princes were lured to serve themselves by cutting land and sealing the king. The Qin dynasty has been destroyed, and the ministers gathered in Xianyang, waiting for it, all in order to fulfill the promise of cracking the soil and sealing the king. At this time, Xiang Yu had to give an account to the princes gathered in Xianyang anyway, but the six countries were all in the hands of the old princes, and Xiang Yu had no place to seal them. Xiang's only hope is his prestige of destroying Qin and his long-standing status as a vassal. Therefore, Xiang Yu's enfeoffment is not only an explanation for the emerging governors, but more importantly, he also wants to use these governors to seek the greatest benefits for himself, from the land of no size to Chu County in Wang Liang. Xiang Yu's enfeoffment was not only officially recognized by various forces, but also earned him a large territory until he ruled the world.

The author once analyzed in "The Historical Origin of Xiang Yu's Organizational System", at that time, the public opinion of the old nobles in the six countries and the scholars in the world all demanded enfeoffment. In this form, he neither claimed to be the emperor and monopolized the power, nor let go, but admitted the status quo. The only thing that can be implemented is undoubtedly to follow the trend and reshuffle the cards, that is, to seal the princes under certain principles.

Third, the strategic analysis of Pengcheng, the capital of Xiang Yu

Since Sima Qian said that Xiang Yu "cared about Chu" (8), Han Xin said that Xiang Yu "lived in Pengcheng instead of Guanzhong" (9). Throughout the ages, Xiang Yu has been regarded as a typical person with no ambition and short vision. And think that Xiang Yu is because "wealth does not return to his hometown, such as night embroidery, who knows!" (10) is the reason for such a serious strategic mistake.

In fact, people who hold this view are nothing more than "Guanzhong is blocked by mountains and rivers, and the land is rich and fertile, but they can all dominate." (1 1), there are two reasons. First, the geography of Guanzhong is steep, and Hanguguan and Wuguan are easy to defend but difficult to attack; Second, Guanzhong has good economic conditions. In addition, after Liu Bang established the Han Dynasty, he wanted to use Luoyang as the capital. After Lou Jing and Sean persuaded him, he changed it to Chang 'an. Later generations followed the old knowledge of success and failure, and all agreed that only Du Guanzhong was the right choice. In fact, this statement is not entirely correct. First of all, the geographical "history" has proved that the danger in Guanzhong is not impregnable. At the turn of Qin Chu, Qin Wuguan was conquered by Liu Bang. Hangu Pass was lost twice, once by Chen Sheng's Ministry of Zhou Wen, and once by Xiang Yu who breached the guards of Liu Bang's men before packet. Therefore, Xiang Yu is not worried about the land in Guanzhong or the prospect that it will no longer be controlled. "(12), that is, although geographical advantages are not absolute, if the overall strategic strength is blindly ignored because of geographical advantages, it will not be worth the candle. In addition, economically, later generations were preconceived by the one-sided words of the debaters at that time, thinking that Guanzhong was the richest place at that time. This is not objective enough. Scholar Ge made a detailed textual research and concluded: "We have to admit that the most developed areas at that time were in Kanto, that is, south of Yanshan Mountain, east of Taihang Mountain and Zhongtiao Mountain, west of Henan Province and north of Huaihe River. Take the late Western Han Dynasty as an example. This area accounts for 1 1.4% of the country's total area, and the population accounts for 60.0% of the total population. In the case of food self-sufficiency, at least 4 million stones are exported to Guanzhong every year, and there are a large number of handicraft products, which is undoubtedly more advantageous than Guanzhong. " ( 13)。 From the actual situation of Chu and Han dynasties, we can also find that Guanzhong's economy is not so ideal. In June of the second year of Emperor Han Chengdi, "Guanzhong was hungry, with millions of wealth, and the people ate each other. "Make people eat Shu Han" (14), although it was because of a large number of reclamation during the war, this situation only appeared in Guanzhong, which can also explain the economic shortage of Guanzhong who lost Shu Han. "In addition, Chen Ye, a scholar, analyzed that Liu Bang was not his best place, but a great failure in the history of social, political and economic construction in the Western Han Dynasty (15).

From the above, we can know that Du Guanzhong is not the best choice, so let's analyze Du Pengcheng's consideration of Xiang Yu.

First of all, we can't ignore the influence of Chu Huaiwang. Anyway, Xiang Yu is still a subordinate of Wang Huai's name. Therefore, before the enfeoffment of the vassal, Xiang Yu "made people fatally pregnant with the king" and wanted to put the enfeoffment on a legal coat and hold the emperor as a vassal. However, Wang Huai obviously wanted to fight to the end, which forced Xiang Yu to deal with Wang Huai himself. From a political point of view, Xiang Yu can't have a nominal boss to tell him what to do if he wants to dominate the world; If you want to control Chu, you can't let another regime give orders and split the forces of Chu. That is to say, Xiang Yu will unify his orders in Chu anyway. If Chu can't be unified, how can it dominate the world? Or some people think that Wang Huai is just a puppet, so there is no need to pay so much attention to it. Actually, it is not. This is a big problem related to birthright, and there is no room for carelessness. In addition, Wang has a certain influence and army, while Xiang Yu has only tens of thousands of Chu troops. The real foundation of Chu is Chu, and Xiang Yu is not only in Guanzhong, but also in Pengcheng. In fact, dealing with Wang Huai is not easy. According to the history book Qin Chu Yue Ji Table, in February of the first year of Han Dynasty, Xiang Yu moved to Chen County, Changsha, the provincial capital; In March of the first year of Han Dynasty, Wang Huai was still the capital of Pengcheng and Xiang Yu was the capital of Jiangdu (16). It is speculated that Wang Huai may have resisted, and Xiang Yu had to temporarily build his capital to deal with Wang Huai. In addition, Wang Huai was finally expelled because Wang Huai's vassals saw Xiang Yu's strength and fell in love with it, not because Wang Huai's strength was weak.

Thirdly, it is also an objective form for Xiang Yu to make Pengcheng his capital. Xiang Yu's soldiers are all Chu people, and they all have the desire to go home. Liu bang's men also have the same idea of returning to the east. "All the soldiers are from Shandong, and they are looking forward to returning" (17). There is a high mountain in the Eighteen Songs of the Rap of Emperor Gaozu, which describes the soldiers' feelings of homesickness for the East when Emperor Gaozu was in Nanzheng (18). Therefore, Xiang Yu obeyed the public opinion and issued "wealth does not return to his hometown, such as night embroidery, who knows!" Later generations don't understand this background and laugh at it. In fact, Liu Bang also said the same thing: "Destroying Qin is for Hanwang and Shu. Langzhong people have the kindness to repay, know that the emperor will be the world, say the emperor, raise money for the people, and fight to the death with Qin. Established the state of Qin, the title of Chang 'an Township Hou. The emperor will ask for a trip to Kanto, and everyone will be homesick; Emperor Jia's achievements were hard to hurt, so he listened to them and returned them. He said,' if you don't return to your hometown with wealth, it's like returning home with clothes on. Migrated to Langzhong Cixiang Hou. "( 19)。 Is the same behavior because Liu Bang is the winner, one is to save time and measure the situation, and the other is short-sighted?

Third, if Xiang Yu was in Guanzhong, what would Chu do?

In Qing Dynasty, Ji Jing once commented: "Wang Xiang listened to Han Sheng and said everything. Are Guanzhong people uneasy? " Commissioner, no objection? Will the nine counties in the reception room of Wang Xiang be divided into kings? Restrain yourself? Must be self-controlled. Self-made, and once there is a police, it will be in the cloud. Guan zhong fixed Hanwang's hand, sacrificed the hand of the ninth army and seized the hand of others; If we seize the Guanzhong set by others and carve up the nine counties set by ourselves, once we go east, will the people all over the world be uneasy? Therefore, Guanzhong is a must-have place for a king. The name is not smooth, the situation is inconvenient, take your time; The name is not smooth and the situation is inconvenient. Call the soldiers in the world and abandon them. " (20)。 In addition, the Guanzhong area has no foundation for Xiang Yu, and Liu Bangxian decided the Guanzhong area. The capture of Guanzhong area not only won the name of injustice, but also failed to fulfill the promise of Zhang Han and Wang Yong, and even more, it was in the name of bad faith. Change the dangerous Guanzhong with real base areas, bear the name of injustice and dishonesty, and cover Xiang Yu's refusal!

Fourthly, geographically, Pengcheng is also an excellent location.

From a political point of view, Pengcheng lives in "nine counties, which is the ridge of the north and south of the world, and the shape of the customs is also a place of victory." (2 1), another day, Longchuan's words are analyzed. Pengcheng is connected with Sanchuan, and Sanchuan is taking care of Sanqin. But near Sanchuan, Shenyang and Sima An, who were blocked, were vassals in harmony with Chu. Combined with the attachment of Sanqin to Chu, even if Xiang Yu did not sit in the town himself, the land in Guanzhong would not be out of control (22). In other words, Xiang still controls the whole country in Pengcheng.

From a military point of view, Su Shi in the Song Dynasty said in the Book of Xuzhou Emperor: "In the past, Xiang Yu entered the customs, destroyed Xianyang, and returned to the eastern capital, so all of them were Pengcheng, and her husband took Pengcheng instead of Xianyang, so the danger of Pengcheng was solid and convenient, which was well known to interested princes." I see the land, surrounded by mountains on three sides, hundreds of miles west of Pingchuan. Westbound to Liang and Song Dynasties, the Chu people switched on and off to delay the enemy, and the expected officials found out and rode on the clouds. It's really like building a bottle of water on a house. " (23)。 In the early period of Chu-Han War, Xiang Yu attacked Liu Bang with 30,000 fighters, bypassed southwest Pengcheng from Shandong, and defeated 50,000 to 60,000 Han troops.

From the economic point of view, "Pengcheng is located in the Huanghuai Plain, with rich products, and' rice and wheat can be used for several years when they are ripe'" (24). Xiang Yu, Wang Liang and Chu County were the richest areas in the world at that time. It should be noted that during the Chu-Han War, Xiang Yu's army was short of food, not because of the economic depression in the western Chu, but because Peng Yue lived in Liangdi, attacked the rear area of the western Chu, harassed Xiang Yu's traffic, and caused the consequences of food shortage. On the contrary, Liu Bangzhi's Guanzhong is at the end of his tether and has won the support of Shu Han. After the establishment of the Han Dynasty, Guanzhong was even more dilapidated, and Liu Bangtu's Kanto clan also slowly recovered.

From the above four points, we know that Pengcheng, the capital of Xiang Yu, has quite mature strategic considerations, and it is more in line with the actual situation at that time than Du Guanzhong. Similarly, Pengcheng, the capital of Xiang Yu, is also a prelude to the enfeoffment strategy and an indispensable part of the grand strategy. Around this link, Xiang Yu gradually began to control the world by enfeoffment of princes.

Fourthly, the strategy of Guanzhong enfeoffment is discussed.

The author once talked about the "first principle" of Xiang Yu's enfeoffment system in the article "Exploring the Historical Origin of Xiang Yu's Organizational System", denying the legitimacy of bloodline control. It can be seen from this that Xiang Yu's enfeoffment can neither be regarded as a simple recognition of separatist forces nor as a restoration of the old order in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. This move by Xiang Yu will undoubtedly break the political situation of the revival of the old aristocratic monarchy at that time and re-plan the political pattern dominated by himself.

Xiang Yu entered the customs, and his ministers gathered. The most powerful group outside Xiang Yu is undoubtedly Liu Bang Group, which makes Xiang Yu deeply afraid. "Wang Xiang, Fan Zeng doubt pei public all over the world, but it has been shown that promises. They are afraid that the princes will betray them. They conspired to say, "Ba and Shu are dangerous, and all the people who moved from Qin live in Shu." Nai said,' Ba and Shu are also in Guanzhong.' Therefore, Pei Gong was appointed as Hanwang. Shu and Hanzhong are all in Nanzheng. And three points in Guanzhong, Wang Qinjiang will leave Hanwang. "(25)。 Here, Xiang Yu misinterpreted Wang Huai's appointment and took this opportunity to block his most threatening political enemy in a remote place. As we all know, most of Liu Bang's men are Kanto people, and they are all looking forward to returning to Kanto. At this time, when they go to the place where prisoners are exiled, their hearts will naturally collapse. When I first arrived in Nanzheng, "dozens of people died in the street" (26). Even the generals have run away so much, let alone the soldiers. If Liu Bang stays in Bashu for a few years, it is conceivable that talents will wither and he will no longer be able to compete in the Central Plains.

In order to stop Liu Bang in Bashu, Xiang Yu gave Zhang Han the land in the middle of the city gate. "If Zhang Han is the king of Yong and Xi Xianyang is the king, it will be abandoned."

"Therefore, Sima Xin is the king of the game, and Wang Xianyang is east to the river, all of which are oak; Dong Yun was appointed King Zhai and Wang Shangjun, both of whom were high slaves. " (27)。 Mr. Zhou Cheng has a wonderful exposition on this: "In this way, while Liu Bang is not allowed to get his hands on the old Qin, Qin people can be used to rule Qin, Liu Bang can be prevented from entering eastern Sichuan, and the name of justice can be won for himself. More importantly, the attachment of Sanqin to Chu made this coveted land in Guanzhong actually become Xiang Yu's bag. You know, Zhang Han led the army to deal with the world rebels for three years, and Qin people died countless times. In the end, more than 200,000 soldiers were killed by the princes. These three men went to Qin alone with the princes, and the Qin people hated it. Thanks to the support of the Chu people, these three people were able to stand on their own feet. It is conceivable that their attachment to Xiang Yu is even worse than that of the old governors of Chu and the governors who left Chu to enter the customs. And their existence is like another Chu state, which can make the vassal States far away from the western Chu state more obedient to Xiang Yu. " (28)。

Mr. Zhou Cheng's insight can be described as insight into Xiang Yu's heart. In addition, one-third of Xiang Yu's land in the pass is undoubtedly a long-term plan for a rainy day. Guanzhong has always been a place where emperors have achieved their careers. If all the land in the pass is sealed to one person, it will inevitably become a future trouble. For this reason, Xiang Yu divided Xianyang, the richest place in the Qin Dynasty, into two parts, giving it to Sima Xin in the east and Zhang Han in the west. In addition, because of its high working ability, Zhang Han still has the ability to resist Liu Bang in Zhang Han's military capability, so it named Longxi County and Beidi County as Zhang Han, which governs more than 80 counties (29). In the Qin Dynasty, there was also a seal given by Shang Jun to Dong Kun, the king of Qin, as a check and balance to Zhang Han. In addition, "Liu Bangfeng's seal in Shu is not a restriction on the three generals of Qin, which makes him dare not rebel slightly." Because Liu Hexiang is the brother under the account after all, no matter how wronged Liu is, he is definitely inclined to the latter in his position on Sanqin and Xiang Yu. " (30)。 According to Xiang Yu's strategic conception, the land of Guanzhong was divided into four parts, which contained and restricted each other, that is to say, Xiang Yu indirectly controlled Guanzhong.

Finally, there is one more thing to explain. Xiang Yu entered Xianyang, "leading soldiers to slaughter Xianyang in the west, killing Qin, burning Qin Gong, and the fire will not go out in March;" The woman receiving the goods is in the East. "(3 1), can not be simply considered cruel or carried away by revenge. Xiang still cracked the soil and sealed the king when he treated the enemy who killed his uncle. How could he kill innocent Ziying because of hatred? This is also part of Xiang Yu's strategic consideration. First of all, the princes United in Xianyang to carve up Guanzhong and avenge their blood feud, but the princes were certainly unable to claim the throne in Guanzhong, so they were willing to destroy Xianyang. For public opinion (? For the sake of princes' public opinion, Xiang Yu could not stop this matter, but wanted to participate in it and share the wealth of Guanzhong.

Killing Ziying and destroying the Qin imperial clan is also Xiang Yu's strategy. First of all, Zi Ying is the representative of the remnants of the Qin Dynasty. As opponents of Qin Shihuang, no one will leave this representative. When Liu Bang wanted to buy off the hearts of Guanzhong and leave Zi Ying behind, his subordinate Cao said, "Pei Gong wants to be the king of Guanzhong, make Zi Ying his relative, and all the treasures are in his hands" (32). If Xiang Yu leaves Zi Ying, I'm afraid he will be resisted by the governors. At that time, the imperial clan had a strong prestige appeal, and the hearts of the six countries turned to the imperial clan, thinking that establishing the imperial clan as king was to restore the old country. Xiang Yu named Zhang Han as king and banned Liu Bang, which is bound to eliminate this hidden danger for Zhang Han and cut off the Qin people's thoughts of rejuvenating the country. Otherwise, there will be a resurgence of Qin people, which will inevitably affect Xiang Yu's strategic plan.

Verb (abbreviation of verb) on the strategy of six countries' enfeoffment

After dealing with the land in Guanzhong, Xiang Yu tried his best to deal with the six countries occupied by the old nobles. Facing the separatist forces of the old aristocracy and the new forces, Xiang Yu adopted different strategies. Xiang Yu took the powerful old aristocrats as his first goal, but took a conciliatory attitude towards the new forces. For example, Zhao, who is entrenched in Hanoi, named Sima Angwei and Wang Hanoi sang; Chu Zhu, who occupied Nanjun County, was named King Linjiang. However, the entrenched separatist forces of the old nobles adopted the strategy of driving the tiger away from the wolf, driving the old nobles out of their own territory and replacing them with new forces friendly to themselves. For example, Wang Huai, who was entrenched in Chu, found an excuse: "The son of heaven in ancient times must travel thousands of miles."