As one of the three heroes of the early Han Dynasty, Han Xin had great talents and made great contributions to the founding of the country, but in the end he died at the hands of the woman Empress Lu . I believe everyone is very familiar with the story.
I will skip the conventional narrative today and just talk about why Han Xin must die.
I have three answers: stupid strategy, failure as a person, and bad luck.
1
The biggest point of controversy over Han Xin’s death has always been whether he really rebelled.
In my opinion, it doesn't matter.
Han Xin’s biggest problem is that he chose a completely different path from Liu Bang from the beginning. In hindsight, this path obviously ran counter to Liu Bang's design.
This is Han Xin’s strategic stupidity, or a lack of political structure.
What Liu Bang needed was a loyal minister under the imperial system. What Han Xin had always dreamed of was a knight in the Warring States era.
When Han Xin was born, King Qin Ying Zheng was 27 years old and was beginning his feat of unifying China.
Yingzheng succeeded and became the first emperor the first emperor through the ages. But Yingzheng also failed, because just 15 years later, the unification project that took the survivors of Fen VI to complete was wiped out.
At that time, all knowledgeable people were thinking: Is the emperor really suitable for this land?
Compared with the Zhou Dynasty, which lasted for 800 years, the 15-year Qin Dynasty seems so short-lived. Can it be indirectly proved that China only needs an emperor with a feudal system, and does not need an emperor with a system of prefectures and counties?
Obviously, Han Xin is a fan of the former, and Liu Bang is a believer in the latter.
In Han Xin’s eyes, is Qin Empire powerful? Really awesome. But after the unification, the people of the six countries were completely unable to adapt to this power, and they could not even maintain their living standards at the same level as the Warring States Period before unification. All the blame must be borne by the irrational state form of the "prefecture and county system". Han Xin probably believed that the only way to restore the world to the Zhou system - with the emperor as the core and princes and kings as the main local forces. , is how the world should be. A highly centralized government like Qin Dynasty is simply an evil beast that destroys the stable living environment of the people and breeds a lot of corruption in the ruling class!
Han Xin, is it wrong to think so?
is obviously wrong, but we can't be too demanding, because even Xiang Yu thinks so. Otherwise, he could have proclaimed himself the emperor of Western Chu. Why bother to lower his status and succumb to the overlord of Western Chu? In fact, this may not be the mainstream trend of thought after the fall of Qin.
But Liu Bang is not the mainstream. Liu Bang's core political thinking is also very simple. There is nothing wrong with the Qin Dynasty establishing a centralized imperial system. He must imitate the Qin system. It is absolutely impossible for him to let China under his rule return to states and countries. An era of endless war.
As for how to avoid repeating the mistakes of the Qin Dynasty, the answer given by Liu Bang in his later years was quite simple - people with different surnames should not be crowned kings, and the local leader must be one of his own.
So, once you understand this truth, it is easy to understand Han Xin's tragedy.
After Qi State , Han Xin thought that he could get the reward he deserved and become the king of Qi. There was nothing embarrassing about it. I originally won this land. Who would give it to me?
But he accurately stepped on Liu Bang's red line of "asking counties and counties not to enfeoff". As a minister, you have done well, and I will give you no less, but the emperor can give it, and the ministers cannot ask for it, let alone use it. Otherwise, it would be a wanton provocation to the supreme imperial power.
Although under the persuasion of Zhang Liang and Chen Ping, Liu Bang finally agreed to Han Xin's request, the shadow left by this "blackmail" on Liu Bang will directly affect his characterization of Han Xin. After this point, whether Han Xin was loyal and rebellious was actually no longer important in Liu Bang's mind. Liu Bang knew that Han Xin and himself could never pee in the same pot.
However, the strange thing is that Liu Bang's expedient compromise policy gave Han Xin a "feeling of confidant", thinking that "after working on it for a long time, Hanwang , like me, also felt that the enfeoffment system was right." All kinds of behaviors that seem to us to be of very low emotional intelligence.
2
Han Xin’s emotional intelligence is low, I believe anyone who has some experience in society can feel it.
was first reflected in his second "rip-off". He got it for a fake title of King of Qi before. Later, when Gaixia surrounded Xiang Yu, he stood still until Liu Bang, on the advice of Zhang Liang, promised " From Chen Yidong to Fu Hai, all with Han Xin", Han Xin then sent troops to help. But this time, Liu Bang didn't even bother to scold him. I guess Liu Bang's murderous intention originated from that moment.
But Liu Bang still loves talents. After defeating Xiang Yu, in order to warn Han Xin, Liu Bang very well-intentioned transferred him to the Chu land and named him King of Chu. Anyone with any brains would not understand this meaning—— If you want King Qi, I can give it to you. But I can also take it back and let you be the King of Chu again. Even if I am not happy tomorrow and let you be the King of Yan, if I feel better, I may make you the King of Qi again. In short, everything you have has the final say. No matter what king you are, it is just a gift that the emperor takes away at will. There is no natural justice, and there is no reward for good work. It is just my personal likes and dislikes, Liu Bang, understand?
God knows, our soldier didn't understand it.
Han Xin's emotional intelligence is so low that he still adheres to the style of princes and kings in the Warring States Period . As soon as he arrived in Chu, he took in Liu Bang's enemy, Xiang Yu's old minister Zhong Lijuan. Following the example of the gentlemen of the Warring States Period, it was not a big problem to have a doorman. But does Liu Bang allow it?
In fact, throughout Han Xin's life, it is difficult to label him as a "good man". From when he was young, he had nothing but wanted to show off his face with a sword hanging around, and then went to a friend's house to have dinner and meet him. He has a gray nose and stubbornly blocks people. When he gets a little credit, he hurriedly asks his immediate boss to ask for the title of King of Qi. After the boss is unhappy, he is afraid to death when he puts pressure and betrays his friends to lend him the title. One head is used.
The same thing is said. Putting aside military talents, people like Han Xin are actually quite unpopular in reality.
3
Let’s talk about Liu Bang’s personal enmity with Han Xin. To be more precise, it was the Peixian original group with Liu Bang as the core.
How do you say this?
Do you know and ?
Fellow Liu Bang can be said to be the first group of die-hard followers to follow Liu Bang, but when he was in Xingyang , he was surrounded by Xiang Yu. Liu Bang slipped out and ordered Zhou Yan to guard the city. He was captured without resistance. Xiang Yu said I would not kill him. You, I see you are quite capable of fighting, so be my general.
Zhou Yan was tied up and replied: Be your general? I advise you to quickly surrender to the King of Han, otherwise, like me, you will kneel on the ground and be a prisoner!
Xiang Yu heard that your mouth is so bad? So Zhou Ke was cooked on the spot.
This incident greatly touched Liu Bang. In order to commemorate Zhou Ke, Liu Bang named his younger brother Zhou Chang to succeed him as the imperial censor, and also named Zhou Ke's son as Gao Jinghou.
Then why didn’t Zhou Yan withstand Xiang Yu’s attack? Because Han Xin was sitting on the sidelines in Qi - if you don't give me the King of Qi, my reinforcements will not come.
Do you think the old people in Liu Bang Group hate Han Xin? At least, does Zhou Ke's younger brother, Zhou Chang, hate Han Xin?
Han Xin's rebellion, according to Liu Bang and Empress Lu, was colluding with Chen Xi to rebel. Do you know who Liu Bang took with him to quell Chen Xi's rebellion?
is Zhou Chang.
There is one more person who must be mentioned, that is, the extremely unjust Li Shiqi has already taken the 72 cities of Qi with just one mouth. As a result, Han Xin broke the promise and attacked without permission, causing Li Shiqi to be cooked by the angry King of Qi. .
Another blood debt. Do you think the Liu Bang Group hated Han Xin? At least, did Li Shiqi's younger brother, Li Shang, who later became Prime Minister You, hate Han Xin?
's two inexplicable operations each caused immeasurable losses to Liu Bang's original team. How could Qiu Xiangyu be spared while he was here? The world has been decided, how can we not liquidate it?
Since we are talking about Xiang Yu, let’s just take a look at the encirclement of Gaixia. Liu Bang has already forced Xiang Yu to Guling. Han Xin cannot move. Liu Bang and Xiang Yu are inextricable. Han Xin cannot move. Liu Bang is about to be pushed back by Xiang Yu. Han Xin. Still not moving.
Let’s ask ourselves, you were Liu Bang, were you disappointed at that time?
There is no need to ask Zhang Liang anymore. Who doesn’t know your little thoughts, Han Xin?
So I will give you whatever you want first, and we will settle the accounts later.
Then came the famous Ambush from Flying Daggers. You can read the original text of the history book: The Marquis of Huaiyin took the three hundred thousand as his own, with General Kong on the left. General Fei is on the right, the emperor is behind, and General Jianghou and Chai are behind the emperor.
No need to translate this, just draw a picture and you will understand everything.
Those who knew understood that they were surrounding Xiang Yu, but those who didn't knew thought they were surrounding Han Xin.
Why did Liu Bang do this?
Just because Han Xin always broke his promise, who can guarantee that he will make some mistakes before the battle, raise the price and ask for reward? Therefore, General Kong Kong and Fei Chen He from the Guanying headquarters were transferred to sandwich Han Xin on the left and right. Liu Bang himself, Zhou Bo and General Chai blocked Han Xin's retreat, forcing Han Xin to face him head-on. Against Xiang Yu, you have to fight whether you want to fight or not!
Then you have to say, maybe this is the formation.
My answer is, if this is the formation, Liu Bang should replace Han Xin's position with Yingbu . After all, Yingbu has already done this once in Julu, and Well done.
Therefore, for personal reasons, Liu Bang could not let Han Xin go, and at least he had to give an explanation to the gang of Peixian brothers he brought out.
4
Finally, let’s talk about Han Xin’s luck.
Han Xin's luck is indeed not very good, at least when it comes to rebellion.
Sima Qian Historical Records wrote that Han Xin took advantage of Liu Bang's outing to suppress the rebellion and planned to rebel in the capital, so Empress Lu and Xiao He worked together to trick Han Xin into the palace and kill him.
I personally think that Sima Qian did not lie. Han Xin did rebel. Not only did he have the intention to rebel, but he also took some actions.
Because Han Xin wants to live, he has, Han Xin has, and there is only one chance.
Liu Bang definitely wanted to kill Han Xin. There is no point in discussing this. Liu Bang’s best gift to Han Xin was that he felt that he was dying. When he came to his senses, he used his last breath to order Han Xin to be killed. This also means how long Han Xin’s life will be. , depends on how long Liu Bang can live.
In fact, Liu Bang was in very poor health at the time, and they died only one year apart.
Han Xin most likely understands Liu Bang's thoughts, so unless Han Xin doesn't really want to live and wants to be buried with Liu Bang, there is no reason not to rebel against him, and it is also meaningless to discuss this. The key to
is how he wants to build it?
Everyone may have imagined history too grandly. In a very long time span and narrative scale, people always think that rebellion should be a huge project with a sense of ritual and must be earth-shaking.
There were corpses all over the land, the land of China was empty of ten houses, and there were continuous wars and disasters. Finally, a new unified dynasty was established under the devastation. .
If this set of procedures is not followed completely, how dare you call it a rebellion? Are you afraid that they are not just rogue bandits who are trying to make ends meet?
But as everyone knows, for the parties involved, such as Han Xin, he actually doesn't care whether future generations' history books use a thousand words or ten words to describe his seizure of power. He only cares about his current moment. Can he succeed in ascending to the throne?
Han Xin always does things like this. Whether you say he has low emotional intelligence or that his military tactics do not follow routines, whether he is a person or a soldier, Han Xin's characteristics are very obvious - he only cares about the success rate.
And precisely because of this, people like Han Xin, who have extraordinary abilities but limited real power, can only use micro-management to rebel. If
is really successful, then Han Xin's method will be a standard template.
In fact, even if it doesn't succeed, I think Han Xin's method is correct, because the second method can't be found.
Han Xin took the route of precise court beheading on the smallest scale.
You can refer to Li Shimin , he is the successful Han Xin.
Xuanwumen, click, two swords, the sky changes.
Although it is not as small as Taizong himself said, but even with Captain Chi's 70 soldiers, and the wave of soldiers who scared off the King of Qi and the Prince's Mansion, the full force of 1,000 people would be enough to fill the sky. There is another relatively good imitation of
, which is Zhao Kuangyin .
walked around for a while, saw no blood, and went directly back to Beijing to force the palace to change. Why is it said to be relatively in place? Because Zhao Da used the army. If Zhao Da did not lead this army to sneak around Kaifeng City, but chose to follow dozens of soldiers, bypass Han Tong, and directly enter the palace with the cooperation of Shi Shouxin and Wang Shenqi, then it should be the same as Han Xin’s “blueprint” is exactly the same.
Yes, rebellion is a big adventure.
Moreover, failure in this kind of big adventure is a high probability result, and there is no low-risk method.
If you're afraid of death, don't rebel.
But Han Xin would die if he did not rebel, so he chose the one with the most guaranteed success rate among the big adventures - a palace beheading coup.
Many people think that the Northern Expedition or the King of Chu period had better conditions for success. I think Han Xin either had no intention of rebellion or had no ability to rebel at all.
Because Han Xin had no military power at all, or in other words, Han Xin had only limited military power that was not fully trusted from beginning to end. Look at who the so-called deputies who have been following him are, they are Guan Ying and Cao Shen. What is the relationship between
and Liu Bang? Han Xin wants to rebel? It is estimated that Han Xin himself was tied up before the instructions came to the soldiers.
On the contrary, it is the Huaiyin Hou period. There are no shackles and imprisonment around us. Everything has two sides. It depends on how you understand it.
But Han Xin was unlucky and was reported by others, otherwise it might have happened.
Just imagine, Empress Lu's party has been suppressed, and all the family members of the high officials have been captured. There is basically no role in the capital that can compete with Han Xin, because the all-star lineup has been dragged by Liu Bang to fuck Chen Xi, King Yan Lu Wanwan, You Prime Minister Li Shang, Taiwei Zhou Bo, Qi Xiangguo Cao Shen, Wuyang Hou Fan Kuai, Yingyin Hou Guanying, Qu Nihou Chen Ping, Taipu Xia Houying , Qi Xiangguo Fu Kuan , Chaqi General Jin She , General Guo Meng , General Liu Ze , Yu Shi Dafu Zhao Yao .
As long as there are more than two characters in the historical records, except for Xiao He and Zhang Liang, Liu Bang took them all with him. Do you think these people would still have the heart to interact with Chen Xi if they knew that there was a fire in the backyard?
Let me put it this way, if Han Xin really took action at that time and led hundreds of prisoners to engage in micro-management, I'm sorry, unless the sky in the capital quickly leveled Xiang Yu with a critical attack from the sword, otherwise everyone's efforts would be in vain. It can only be Xiang Yu. It would be too difficult to replace any of his contemporaries. Even Yingbu, Pengyue + chapter Han dragon and four of them may not be able to do it. Han Xin has a lot of clever ideas, and you definitely can't beat him if you play by the rules.
In fact, Chen Xi's rebellion was not a small event. After a full year and a half, he still faced an all-star lineup of Western Han Dynasty except Han Xin. Compared with the Yingbo rebellion, Liu Bang was almost dead but he was still alive. I didn’t bring any decent generals with me, so I was able to do it by myself in nine months.
Of course, history cannot be assumed. Han Xin's failure is a failure, but it does not hinder the review afterwards. The decision he made at that time was correct. Anyone with a brain can only do this. Give it a try and lose. That’s all.
The only unreliable thing about Han Xin is that he delayed it a little too much, and it was meaningless. Chen Xi rebelled in September of the first year, and Han Xin was killed in mid-February of the following year. There was a lot of time in between. There are more than 5 months.
In fact, during the period from November of the first year to early February of the next year when the war was relatively intense, with Han Xin's style, he should have taken action long ago.
So I don’t know what Han Xin was waiting for in these five months. No matter how prepared he was, he didn’t need to prepare for five months.
ended up dragging itself to death.
