Xiang Yu was arrogant and willful, but he was brave and good at fighting, and his reputation spread far and wide; Liu bang is cunning in character, but good at employing people. In the war against Qin, Xiang Yu and Liu Bang formed an alliance, helped each other and became more and more powerful. Xiang Yu and Liu Bang agreed that whoever first attacked Xianyang, the capital of Qin, would be king.
In 207 BC, Xiang Yu defeated Qin Jun's main force in Julu, while Liu Bang had led an army to attack Xianyang, Qin Dou. Liu bang listened to the adviser's advice and put the army on the tyrant near Xianyang, but did not enter Xianyang. He closed the palace of the king of Qin, Qian Ku and other important places to appease the people of Xianyang. The people were very happy to see Liu Bang's tolerance and serious military discipline, and they all hoped that Liu Bang would be the king of Qin.
Xiang Yu was very angry when he learned that Liu Bang had advanced to Xianyang. He led 400,000 troops to Hong Men, near Xianyang (now Lintong East, Shaanxi Province), to seize Xianyang. Fan Zeng, the strategist of Xiang Yu, advised Xiang Yu to destroy Liu Bang in one fell swoop. He said: "Liu Bang used to be a greedy and lecherous man. Now that he's in Xianyang, he doesn't want a penny or a beautiful woman.
It can be seen that there is a big plot. We should kill him before he develops. "
The news reached Liu Bang, and Sean, the counselor, thought that Liu Bang's army was only 100,000 at present, which was too weak to compete with Xiang Yu. Sean invited Xiang Yu's good friend and uncle Xiang Bo to intercede. Then, Liu personally took Sean and general Fan Kuai to Hong Men and told Xiang Yu that he was just guarding Xianyang and waiting for Xiang Yu to be king. Xiang Yu believed Liu Bang and gave a banquet to entertain him. Fan Zeng, sitting next to Xiang Yu, hinted several times that Xiang Yu wanted to kill Liu Bang, but Xiang Yu pretended not to see it. Fan Zeng asked General Xiang Zhuang to dance sword in front of the wine table, hoping to assassinate Liu Bang. Xiang Yu's uncle, Xiang Bo, quickly drew his sword to accompany the dance, blocked Liu Bang with his body and secretly protected him, but Xiang Zhuang never succeeded. With a genial smile, Sean rushed out to meet Liu Bang's general Fan Kuai. Fan Kuai immediately rushed into the tent with a shield and sword in his hand, reprimanding Xiang Yu and saying, "Liu Bang captured Xianyang, but did not occupy a region to be king.
Instead, he went back to the bully and waited for the arrival of the king. Such a meritorious person, not only didn't get a reward, but you also listened to the villain and wanted to kill your brother! "Xiang Yu listened to, in the heart ashamed. Liu bang took the opportunity to pretend to go to the toilet and ran back to the barracks with his entourage. Fan Zeng, the counselor, was very angry when he saw that Xiang Yu was indecisive and let Liu Bang go. He said: "Xiang Yu really can't be a big deal! Look, it must be Liu Bang who will seize the world in the future. "
This is the famous "Hongmen Banquet" in the history of China. At that time, Xiang Yu relied on his own strength and trusted Liu Bang so that Liu Bang could escape. Later, Xiang Yu established himself as the "overlord of the west Chu", equivalent to the emperor. He appointed Liu Bang as the "Hanwang" in remote areas, only equivalent to a vassal. Soon, Liu Bang captured Xianyang when Xiang Yu sent troops to attack other governors. As a result, Xiang Yu and Liu Bang launched a four-year "Chu-Han War". The Chu army has a great advantage in strength and has defeated the Han army many times. However, Xiang Yu was cruel, and his army killed and set fire to people, making people panic, and the Chu army gradually weakened from strong to weak. Liu Bang paid attention to win people's hearts, was good at employing people, gradually became stronger, and finally turned defeat into victory.
In 202 BC, Liu Bang led the Han army to surround the Chu army in a terrible situation (now south of Lingbi, Anhui). After Xiang Yu broke through, he was chased by the Han army and forced to commit suicide. So Liu Bang proclaimed himself emperor and established the second unified feudal dynasty in the history of China-the Han Dynasty.