Xiang Yu did not kill Liu Bang at the Hongmen banquet, nor did he decide the capital of Guanzhong. What are the consequences?

Many people have always said that Xiang Yu made two mistakes in succession after the Qin dynasty was destroyed:

First, there is no capital in Guanzhong.

Second, Liu Bang was not killed at the Hongmen banquet.

But in fact, if we sort out the historical materials, we can find that these two mistakes are hardly real mistakes.

First let's look at the first one. It is indeed recorded in Historical Records that not only Xiang Yu was advised to make his capital in Guanzhong, but when Xiang Yu did not choose to make his capital in Guanzhong, the people in Guanzhong still felt very disappointed.

Some people say that Xiang Wang said, "Guanzhong is cut off by mountains and rivers, and the land is rich and fertile, but all of them can be tyrants." -"Historical Records of Xiang Yu"

A few days later, Nai led an army to kill Xianyang and Qin, surrendered to Xiang and burned Qin's palace. The fire did not go out in March. Take its goods, slightly female and east. Qin Min was disappointed. -"On the Similarities and Differences of Banma"

By the way, many people now regard the state of Qin described in the novel "The Empire of the Great Qin Dynasty" as the real state of Qin in history, but historical data show that the people in Guanzhong have no feelings for the Qin Dynasty. Xiang Yu, a man who burned and looted in Guanzhong, is still expecting his capital to be in Guanzhong.

When Xiang Yu left Guanzhong and returned to Pengcheng with the stolen wealth, the people in Guanzhong were not relieved, but a little disappointed.

Back to the topic, why didn't Xiang Yu want to make his capital in Guanzhong?

There are two main reasons.

The first reason is very direct, that is, after the looting and killing of the six vassal armies, Guanzhong has been quite broken, and it is no longer a suitable base.

This can be seen from the records of Historical Records.

King Xiang saw that Qin Gong was burned and broken, and wanted to return to the east. He said: "wealth does not return to my hometown, like clothes embroidered at night, who knows!" " -"Historical Records of Xiang Yu"

In fact, the key to this historical data lies in the front: "Wang Xiang saw Qin Gong and burned it to pieces." .

Chang 'an today

Xiang Yu is not ignorant of the superiority of Guanzhong's geographical location, but it can't be recovered in a day or two. If Xiang Yu makes Guanzhong his capital, then his first task is how to restore the economy and people's livelihood in Guanzhong, rather than striving for hegemony.

"Guanzhong hunger, welcome millions of money, people eat each other. Let the people eat Shu Han. " -"Purple Tongzhi Sword"

In fact, the description of the broken area in Guanzhong area in Hanshu is more specific. It can be said that from the relevant historical materials in Hanshu, it can be seen that the Guanzhong area after Xiang Yu destroyed Qin did not have the material conditions to be a base for a long time.

Han xing, Qin's disadvantages, governors and people lost their homework and were hungry. Five thousand stones per meter, people eat people, and more than half of the dead. Gaozu asked people to sell their children, so they ate Shu Han. -"Hanshu Shihuozhi"

The second reason is that Xiang Yu is a successor rather than a pioneer.

Although Xiang Yu secured the position of the leader of Xianggu with the meritorious military service, he was not the pioneer of Xianggu after all, nor did he have the prestige of his uncle Xiang Liang. If nothing else, Xiang Bo as his uncle, once posing as a "senior", Xiang Yu didn't also the way.

You know, Xiang Jia's foundation is in Pengcheng. Even if Xiang Yu wants to make his capital in Guanzhong, he should also consider the feelings of Xiang's family in the army.

Although Xiang Yu became Xiang Liang's political heir because of the slaying and elimination of Qin in World War I, it can be seen from Liu Bang in Xiang Bo that Xiang Gu was not so convinced of Xiang Yu.

In other words, for Xiang Yu, Guanzhong is good, but he has no energy to eat Guanzhong for the time being. He still needs time to integrate the Xiang family and straighten out the relationship with him.

What's more, the Guanzhong was not so good and broken at that time, and he had no reason to persuade other members of the Xiang family to move the base area from the rich Pengcheng to the broken customs.

Therefore, it is reasonable for Xiang Yu to choose Pengcheng instead of Guanzhong as his core area, and it is not a "brainless" choice.

Besides, why didn't Xiang Yu kill Liu Bang at the Hongmen banquet?

Judging from the historical trend of Xiang Yu's enfeoffment, Xiang Yu's wishful thinking is to integrate the Xiang family first, and then eat Qi and Zhao, so as to be invincible.

Terracotta army

The only variable in Xiang Yu's chess game is Liu Bang. Xiang Yu is not opposed to Liu Bang's claim to the throne, but he can't tolerate Liu Bang's "holding the emperor to make the vassal" and he is also worried that Chu Huaiwang "holding Pei Gong to control the overlord". At the same time, he could not allow Liu Bang to gain the strategic position of Guanzhong.

Although we said earlier that Guanzhong was broken, Xiang Yu was not an idiot. He clearly saw the geographical advantages of Guanzhong, and he certainly didn't want Liu Bang to occupy such an important area.

More importantly, Xiang Yu was able to control no more than100000 troops. Compared with the total strength of the vassal Coalition, he is not dominant.

His first task was not to kill Liu Bang, who was quite obedient, but to establish himself as the leader of the vassal between the vassal and Chu Huaiwang.

Therefore, in Xiang Yu's "big chess game", dealing with Liu Bang is not a top priority, as long as Liu Bang severs relations with Chu Huaiwang and abandons Guanzhong area.

In addition, in view of the broken situation in Guanzhong at that time, Xiang Yu named Liu Bang Hanwang, which was not a punishment, but a compromise and reward.

Do you know how Han Xin changed from Chu to Han?

In fact, in order to compensate Liu Bang for giving up Guanzhong, Xiang Yu specially added more than 30,000 people to Liu Bang, and Han Xin is probably the general who is responsible for bringing Liu Bang this population of more than 30,000 people.

To sum up, Xiang Yu didn't choose Guanzhong as the capital and didn't kill Liu Bang at the Hongmen banquet, which was not a mistake of Xiang Yu, but was determined by the political reality at that time.