"I was born as a hero, and died as a ghost. I still miss Xiang Yu and refuse to cross the Yangtze River." This is a masterpiece by the famous female poet Li Qingzhao. Xiang Yu was the leader of the peasant uprising army in the late Qin Dynasty. He was headstrong and arbitrary. As a result, he was defeated in the conflict between Chu and Han and ended up committing suicide in Wujiang River. Why didn't Xiang Yu cross the Wujiang River? For more than two thousand years, people have various theories. There is a view that the reason why the overlord of Western Chu could not reach Jiangdong was because Yu Ji was dead. Is there a necessary connection between Xiang Yu's death and Yu Ji's death? There is a connection between the two. Some scholars believe that Xiang Yu felt ashamed because "Yu Ji died and his descendants were scattered", so he refused to cross the river and drew his sword to commit suicide. This makes sense, but simply saying that Xiang Yu refused to cross Jiangdong because of the death of Yu Ji seems to be insufficient. And this is consistent with what is said in "Historical Records": "King Xiang laughed and said: 'If Heaven destroys me, how can I cross the river!' He and his son from Jiangdong were eight thousand people who crossed the river to the west. Today, only one person returned, and his father and brother from the east of the river were pitiful. My king, how can I see him with his own eyes? Even if he doesn't say anything, how can he be worthy of his conscience?'" This passage is consistent. "The disciples are scattered", on the one hand, it is in line with what he said, "Heaven will destroy me", on the other hand, it is also the reason why he "cannot see the elders in Jiangdong". Even if Xiang Yu crosses the river, his defeat is certain. Therefore, he chose not to cross the Wujiang River. However, some scholars suggest that after the defeat in Guling, Xiang Yu retreated to Gaixia, where he broke out and fled to the southeast, all the way to the Wujiang River. It can be seen from this that he had long planned to retreat to Jiangdong and fled all the way. If Xiang Yu felt ashamed of Jiangdong's elders because of his failure, which cost the lives of eight thousand of Jiangdong's descendants, then when Gaixia was surrounded, "Yu Ji died and his descendants dispersed", he should have committed suicide in shame. After crossing the Huaihe River, there were only about a hundred people on horseback. When we got to Yinling, we lost our way again. We asked a farmer, but we were deceived. We were trapped in Tianze and were overtaken by the Han army. In such an embarrassing situation, he was not ashamed to commit suicide! He fled to Dongcheng, where Han cavalry surrounded him several times. Although he "could not escape", he still organized the remaining twenty-eight riders to fight and "lost two of them". At this time, Xiang Yu still "wanted to cross the Wujiang River eastward". Therefore, it seems unreasonable to think that when he finally escaped to the shore of Wujiang River, he felt ashamed to see Jiangdong's elders and committed suicide. Xiang Yu's shame came too suddenly and unreasonably. It was probably a plot exaggerated by Sima Qian to make the plot complete. Some people think that Xiang Yu did not cross the Wujiang River because of his noble character and to eliminate the people's war suffering as soon as possible. It is believed that Xiang Yu realized that the long-term civil war had caused suffering to the people and hoped that this war would end as soon as possible. Xiang Yu did have a desire to end the war, and he also thought about ending the war through a personal duel with Liu Bang. He realized that "the state of Chu has been indecisive for a long time" and "the strong men are suffering in the army, and the old and weak are forced to leave the canal". So he said to Liu Bang: "The oldest Xiongnu in the world, just for the sake of my two ears, I am willing to challenge the king of Han to fight between male and female, without suffering the consequences of the people of the world, father and son." In the end, he even went against his own personality and wanted to sacrifice his own life. The interests were exchanged for Liu Bang's concessions through peace talks, and the gap was used as the dividing line. However, Liu Bang broke the contract and sent troops to pursue the Chu army. When Xiang Yu lost and realized that he could not immediately destroy Liu Bang and could not negotiate peace, Xiang Yu had no choice but to sacrifice himself to end several years of killing. It is said that Xiang Yu could still compete with Liu Bang at that time. One day, Xiang Yu went to the market with his uncle, and was having a good time. Suddenly, he heard "Martial Law" shouted in front of him. Hundreds of soldiers shouted in front of him, and the market was blocked. All the people going to the market were ordered to kneel down. The atmosphere on both sides of the street did not dare to rise. It turned out that Qin Shihuang's patrol motorcade was passing by here. The young Xiang Yu witnessed the extremely luxurious and majestic royal guard of honor, and could not suppress the dissatisfaction in his heart: It is ridiculous to be an emperor with such majesty! One day we will pull this old man down and let us sit on the throne of the emperor (he will take his place)! His uncle was so frightened that he hurriedly covered his mouth: My son, if the officials heard these words, they would destroy the nine tribes! Uncle Xiang Liang was also a soldier. Although he was worried about Xiang Yu's misfortune, he admired the young man's ambition. This is the story of Xiang Yu introduced at the beginning of "The Chronicles of Xiang Yu". Interestingly, "The Chronicles of the Great Ancestor" also records a section of Liu Bang's feelings after meeting Qin Shihuang. There is not much text, and there is only one sentence: A man should live like this (sigh, a man should be like this)! We are both young people, and we both sighed when we saw the royal majesty. When we taste it carefully, the meanings are different. Xiang Yu is a typical martial artist, and his thinking mode represents the psychology of a considerable number of middle- and lower-class people of that era: cynicism. Why did the emperor let him sit here and enjoy the glory and wealth? Why can't I enjoy this happiness? When I think of myself as "more than eight feet long, strong enough to carry a cauldron, and extremely talented", and a well-known figure in Wuzhong, but I am still in this situation, I can't help but feel evil, and I want to go and chop the emperor immediately. Then he would sit on the throne of the emperor, marry a lot of wives, and travel around in his warm car. In comparison, Liu Bang's ideas may be more "civilized". Liu Bang's status at that time was equivalent to that of a small township civil servant. Seeing the majesty of the royal family, his heart was naturally unbalanced, but the first thing he thought of was that life could exist in such a noble form. Damn, It would be great if we could get into this someday. Is it fate? After seeing this paragraph, I feel that the outcome of Liu Bang and Xiang Yu's battle for world supremacy was actually determined from the beginning. Xiang Yu's advocating violence did have a very good effect at the beginning of the war.
Killing the defenders of Kuaiji gained 8,000 elite soldiers and established himself; killing Song Yi established his position in the army; the battle of Julu established the situation where Xiang Yu "became the general of all princes, and all princes obeyed". What is this situation? According to the table in the book: "Xiang Yu summoned the princes and generals. When they entered the camp gate, they all walked forward on their knees and no one dared to look up." But further down the road, Xiang Yu's side that is not good at adapting to changes and is more courageous and less resourceful begins to appear. During a banquet at Hongmen, Liu Bang pretended to be a fool and confused Lao Xiang, so he easily let his biggest enemy go. He won most of the world, but he could never properly share the rewards with the people below. At the grassroots level, someone is unhappy today, and someone will rebel tomorrow. Xiang Yu never does in-depth and detailed ideological and political work. He is still the same, beheading if he disobeys. On the contrary, Liu Bang started from a weak position and blindly gave in when his own power was not reached, which greatly satisfied Xiang Yu's self-esteem. The most interesting thing is that Lao Xiang could not defeat Liu Bang and actually defeated Liu Bang. His father brought it up and threatened to kill the old man. Liu Bang said, we are brothers. My father is your father. If you want to kill him and eat him, then give me a bowl of soup! It made Xiang Yu breathless! In Liu Bang's mind, he was very clear about the world's gains and losses and personal family ties, the importance of familiarity and the importance of familiarity. The siege of Gaixia was the most tragic scene in Xiang Yu's life. He was surrounded by enemies on all sides. Xiang Yu knew that he would definitely lose, but he still didn't understand why God was so unwilling to favor him, a great hero. "It's not that I didn't fight well, it's just my destiny. Deplorable and ridiculous! Then again, can Xiang Yu have any other explanation? Why didn't Xiang Yu cross the Wujiang River? For more than two thousand years, both literati and historians have paid great attention to it, but it is still difficult to reach a conclusion.