When passing through Xuzhou, Jiangsu, a man was shocked by the huge convoy, the car was beautifully decorated and the mighty and majestic escort troops in front of him, and couldn't help but sigh that this is the life that a real man should live.

In 221 BC, Qin unified the six kingdoms. Qin Shihuang I felt that I had established an immortal foundation forever, and I couldn't help but feel full of passion. He hopes that his imperial majesty can spread all over the world and strengthen the rule of Qin in various places. Therefore, he began to take the convoy to parade the world.

When passing through Xuzhou, Jiangsu, a man was shocked by the huge convoy, the car was beautifully decorated and the mighty and majestic escort troops in front of him, and couldn't help but sigh that this is the life that a real man should live.

The person who said this was Liu Bang . At that time, he was a pavilion leader, who was in charge of the population of several villages within a radius of ten miles.

Ambition

When Liu Bang was born, Qin Shihuang had not succeeded to the throne and the six kingdoms were still there. He was born in Pei County (Xuzhou, Jiangsu), and is a from Qi State. Born from an ordinary family, he doesn't like to cultivate land and is unwilling to go to business. In the eyes of elders, this is a manifestation of ignorance and a bad child.

Later, he heard that Wei State had an Xinlingjun that was very powerful. He once took risks alone, stealing military talismans to save Zhao State , and finally commanded the five-nation coalition forces to fight back to Hangu Pass . This courageous heroism and thrilling adventure story fascinated Liu Bang. He, like all teenagers, longed to be such a person.

However, not long after, Xinlingjun died. Liu Bang's dream also seemed to have ruptured with Xinlingjun's death. He lost his goal to be longed for.

Liu Bang is unwilling to give up. He is different from those who only know how to long for him. He is really willing to put his dreams into action. So he put down his farm work, set out on a journey west, and came to the Wei Kingdom where Xinling Jun once lived.

At this time, it happened that Xinlingjun’s former disciple Zhang Er was also recruiting disciples, so Liu Bang defected to Zhang Er.

Liu Bang is very familiar with everyone and is a brother to everyone. He soon became a good friend to Zhang Er. As a farmer, Liu Bang was not addicted to the bright lights and wine of big cities and was full of money, but was always worried about the "world" like his idol Xinlingjun.

Not long after, Qin destroyed the six kingdoms, Zhang Er became a wanted criminal, his disciples scattered, and Liu Bang returned to his hometown.

Liu Bang, who returned to his hometown, not only did not restrain himself, but instead became even worse. He completely gave up farm work and became a pavilion chief. He drank and bragged with others every day, called his brothers and made friends from all walks of life, including butchers, prisoners, and coachmen, all of whom were not conspicuous on weekdays. Moreover, he spent a lot of money, not just for himself, but for lending it to others without asking for repayment.

You should know that at this time, Liu Bang was nearly forty years old and had not even gotten married. A person who is 40 years old is still drinking and bragging as an ordinary civil servant. He has no skills and has not established a family. This is a very failure even from today's perspective.

Perhaps, Liu Bang's eyes have never been focused on living his life smoothly. He still wants to be a person like Xinlingjun. If it was a peaceful and prosperous era, he might have stopped dreaming. However, after traveling to the Central Plains, he knew that the society of the Qin Dynasty was not peaceful, and countless forces were ready to move in the dark. Perhaps this is his confidence.

Ordinary people hate troubled times, and what Liu Bang is most afraid of is troubled times.

Recruiting

In 209 BC, a peasant uprising led by Chen Sheng Wu Guang broke out.

Although the Qin Dynasty has established its achievements for generations and has a profound impact on our current geographical structure, the Qin Dynasty is actually not popular with the people. Although its reforms have been of great success, they completely ignore the emotions of the people.

Think about it, if you are from Qi, your ancestors have been from Qi for generations. Suddenly, your motherland was gone, and the officials of Qin came over and told you that you must give up your words, the currency in your hand, the model of your carriage, and the measurement tools you used were all replaced by the Qin standards. Everything you are familiar with collapses, what would you think?

Currencies of various countries

These policies certainly played a role in unifying the country, but the people at that time did not buy it.For them, Qin Shihuang was forcing them to give up their culture, beliefs, and even lifestyles. To them, Qin was not the ruler, but the invader.

Therefore, these policies implemented by Qin Shihuang have stimulated the rebellious mentality of the masses. As long as someone incites him, this emotion will sweep across the entire area like a prairie fire. Therefore, as soon as Chen Sheng and Wu Guang rose up, the Qin Dynasty immediately smoked wolf everywhere. The people wanted to resist "tyranny", and the old nobles wanted to restore , Warring States period, . Qin Chao faced the fate of falling down the wall and pushing everyone.

Liu Bang's opportunity finally came.

His seemingly inactive behavior made him immediately have his own capital in troubled times: those who are willing to follow him.

Just like that, Liu Bang rose up and soon had a troops of about 3,000 people. He doesn't know how to manage, Xiao He , Cao Shen can help him. He doesn't know how to manage the army and fight. He can fight weeks of bourgeois , Xiahouying , Fan Kuai . He doesn't have any special talents, but his team can always win. Maybe this is leadership.

Liu Bang's team is getting bigger and bigger, and this team that has emerged from the small Peixian has gradually become a separatist force with great influence, attracting many people to join us. However, it was hard to hear the sound of the lonely hand. Liu Bang realized that his strength was still insufficient, so he found the largest uprising forces at that time - Xiang Yu and Xiang Liang . So Liu Xiang joined forces and became a confidant of the Qin Dynasty.

split

When Xiang Yu collided head-on with the main force of the Qin Dynasty, Liu Bang drove straight in and actually rushed into Xianyang City and destroyed Qin. Now, he is no longer the gangster in the eyes of the elders, but the leader of the uprising army with 100,000 troops. He became arrogant and fantasized about the days when he was dominant.

Reality poured him a basin of cold water. Although Liu Bang had a lot of troops, Xiang Yu's strength was ten times that of his, and he was all elite soldiers and could not resist it at all. If Liu Bang was too high-profile, he would definitely be killed by Xiang Yu.

Liu Bang, who woke up, could only retreat outside the city of Xianyang , waiting for the angry Xiang Yu.

After Xiang Yu came to Shaanxi, he held the famous Hongmen Banquet for Liu Bang. At the banquet, Xiang Yu was worried about the revolutionary friendship and face of Liu Bang, and hesitated and did not kill Liu Bang. Liu Bang was calm and fled from danger with the help of his subordinates. Xiang Yu missed his last chance to kill Liu Bang.

Then, Xiang Yu enfeoffed and returned directly to Jiangdong. Liu Bang was sealed in Sichuan. When he entered Sichuan, he burned the plank road between the cliffs to show that he would never leave Sichuan.

However, Xiang Yu made a fatal mistake here: there was something wrong with his enfeoffment.

Xiang Yu enfeoffed eighteen princes, but basically according to his own subjective judgment, without taking into account the personal demands of various princes, he forcibly enfeoffed one after another, which made him not very happy when he got the fief, and even more unhappy when he didn't get the fief. Xiang Yu could not suppress the people's hearts that were ready to move.

Xiang Yu

So, in just half a year, Shandong was in civil strife, and several kings took the lead in opposing Xiang Yu. Xiang Yu naturally led a large army to conquer Qi. This gave Liu Bang an opportunity to take advantage of it.

When winter began, Liu Bang built a plank road openly under the suggestion of Han Xin and secretly traveled to Chen Cang, and gradually built the territory of Shaanxi within two years. At this time, Xiang Yu was still in Shandong.

In this way, Liu Bang took over Shanxi and fought to Henan, forming a trend of fighting for hegemony in Chu and Han. We also know the ending of

. After a brief ups and downs, Liu Bang won consecutive battles and completely defeated Xiang Yu's troops. Finally, he was ambushed on all sides, forcing Xiang Yu to commit suicide by slaughtering himself.

After just five years of war, Liu Bang became the lord of the world from Pean'an Sichuan, and held a throne ceremony in the New Year in 202 BC, and named the country Han, opening the four hundred years of imperial era.

Who would have thought that the young civil servant who was ridiculed by his neighbors and despised by his elders and was still tramping on his life at the age of 40 could actually become the supreme ruler of the empire in a short period of time.Even Zhu Yuanzhang had to go through twenty years of business and conquest before he finally became emperor, but it took Liu Bang less than eight years to go from the grassroots to the peak.

Conclusion

What is the biggest difference between Liu Bang and Xiang Yu?

is the gap in positioning itself.

As early as when Liu Bang was the head of Pei County, he would call him brothers when he saw anyone, and he would do the same to the intellectual Xiao He, and the butcher Xiahou Ying and the coachman Fan Kuai. He never looked down on the professions of people like Xiahou Ying and Fan Kuai.

In addition, although Liu Bang often makes mistakes and makes some mistakes, he admits his mistakes very simply and does not take offense. Therefore, his subordinates can speak out for advice without being striking around the bush, and are not afraid of angering Liu Bang.

What about Xiang Yu? He was a nobleman and a young talent, so there were naturally countless talents gathered around him, so he was very arrogant, stubborn, and could not bear the shame at all. The more others persuade him, the more he feels that others look down on him, the more he wants to do the opposite, and is very rebellious.

For example, why didn’t Xiang Yu kill Liu Bang at the Hongmen Banquet? First, because he had decided not to kill Liu Bang before and was unwilling to regret it. Another point is that his adviser Fan Zeng has been talking about this to him, which makes him feel disgusted. Because of this little emotion, I gave up the opportunity repeatedly, and I couldn't blame Fan Zeng for finally calling him a little kid who can't work with.

To a certain extent, Xiang Yu never thought that the awareness of being a leader could not tolerate others, and he also relied on his noble status and did not unite others. Before the uprising, Liu Bang dispersed money, opened his heart to everyone, never despised all religions and all the abilities of his subordinates, and was able to admit his mistakes in a timely manner. It can be said that Xiang Yu's pattern is much worse than Liu Bang.