After the Qin Dynasty was destroyed, Xiang Yu, who considered himself the leader of the princes and was recognized by all the princes, naturally wanted to reward him based on his merits.
It seems like the emperor of Zhou divided the princes into feudal states.
At this time, Xiang Yu had three choices in front of him. One was to learn from Ji Fa of the Western Zhou Dynasty and become king and enfeoff the family's children; the other was to follow the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods and enfeoff various princes as kings and become the overlord himself; the third was to learn from Qin Shihuang and give up enfeoffment and dominate The world.
Qin Shihuang, Xiang Yu did not want to learn. People at that time believed that the harsh punishments were one reason why the empire established by Qin Shihuang was short-lived, and the lack of enfeoffment was another reason.
It is not possible to learn from King Wu of Zhou. When King Wu attacked Zhou, the main force was King Wu, while Xiang Yu's army was a coalition of princes. Xiang Yu was obviously not strong enough to be an enemy of the princes, so he had to consider the interests of the princes.
Because of the far-reaching influence of the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the heroes of the late Qin uprising all had the desire to tear apart the earth and become kings. For example, Chen Sheng proclaimed himself King of Chu as soon as he conquered Chen County, and either approved or acquiesced to his subordinates breaking the soil to become king and the restoration of the descendants of the Six Kingdoms. For most people, the goal of unifying the Central Plains and becoming the lord of the Nine Provinces is too far away. The ideal of occupying a territory and becoming a king is much easier and can satisfy heroes of all walks of life. Therefore, after Xiang Yu destroyed Qin, he complied with the wishes of most people, split the soil and sealed the king, restoring the political situation of the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods when all countries coexisted and alliance leaders dominated the world. He chose hegemony instead of inheriting the Qin Dynasty's imperial legacy.
Before the enfeoffment, Xiang Yu planned to give himself a title and send someone back to report to Xiong Xin, the Queen of Chu Huai, meaning that Xiong Xin would make Xiang Yu the king. King Chu's reply only had two words: As promised. However, this agreement is that "the one who defeats Qin first and enters Xianyang will be the king." Doesn't this mean that Liu Bang will be made the king of the world? Xiang Yu will have nothing to do without him.
Xiang Yu was so angry that he gritted his teeth and decided to ignore Xiong Xin. Therefore, in order to make King Huai's agreement an empty talk, Xiang Yu carefully pondered the map for several days and began to divide the world.
The first person to be sealed is Xiang Yu himself. Xiang Yu established himself as the overlord of Western Chu and made nine counties his fiefdom. What are the nine counties? There are different opinions since ancient times. According to research and analysis by Qing Dynasty scholar Yao Ding and others, these nine counties are two counties in Liangdi and seven counties in Chudi, that is, Dangjun, Dongjun, Chenjun, and Xuejun. , Sishui County, Donghai County, Dongyang County, Zhang County, and Kuaiji County, the scope is basically equivalent to today's eastern Henan Province, southwestern Shandong Province, Huaibei and Jiangnan parts of Anhui Province, all of Jiangsu Province, all of Shanghai City, and most of Zhejiang Province In some areas. Xiang Yu's territory was the largest at that time. Xiong Xin is the king of Chu, and Xiang Yu is also the king of Chu. A state of Chu had two kings. One can imagine the life of King Huai of Chu.
The second one is Liu Bang. Although Xiang Yu and Fan Zeng were very scrupulous about the strange things that happened to Liu Bang, everyone had reconciled in Hongmen, and Xiang Yu was too proud to blatantly abrogate the agreement with King Huai and chill the princes, so he had no choice but to make Liu Bang the King of Han. , the fiefdom was divided into three counties: Bajun, Shu and Hanzhong, and the capital was in Nanzheng (now Hanzhong, Shaanxi).
But Xiang Yu was still worried, so he divided the 800-mile Qinchuan River into three parts and made three generals of the Qin Dynasty kings. The purpose was to block Liu Bang in Bashu and prevent him from coming out:
Zhanghan was granted the title of King Yong, and his territory was west of Xianyang, close to Liu Bang, and his capital was Feiqiu (southeast of today's Xingping, Shaanxi Province);
Sima Xin was granted the title of King of Sai, with the fiefdom extending from the east of Xianyang to the Yellow River, and the capital being Yueyang (southeast of today's Fuping, Shaanxi Province);
Dong Yi was granted the title of King Zhai, and his fiefdom extended to the west to Zhengning in Gansu and the central Mu Us Sandy Land in Inner Mongolia, to the north of Ordos City in Inner Mongolia to the east, to the Yellow River in the east, and to the south to Wangyi District and Huanglong in Tongchuan, Shaanxi. The capital was Gaonu ( Now north of Yan'an, Shaanxi).
Other princes also have their own enfeoffments:
Wei King Ji Bao was renamed King of the Western Wei Dynasty, and the fiefdom was Hedong (today's Shanxi), and the capital was Pingyang (today's southwest of Linfen, Shanxi);
Xiaqiu Gong Shenyang was Zhang Er's male favorite. He once took the lead in conquering Henan County (south of the Yellow River in today's Henan Province, east of Lingbao, and west of Zhongmou), and assisted the Chu army to cross the Yellow River. He was named the King of Henan for his meritorious service, and his fiefdom was in Henan. The county's capital was Luoyang (now Luodong, Henan);
King Han Cheng of Han still ruled the land of Korea, and his capital was Yangzhai (now Yu County, Henan);
General Sima Yi of the State of Zhao (the ancestor of the Sima clan in Hanoi, the famous Sima Yi was a descendant of Sima Yi, and the Sima clan of Sima Qian was not the same as Sima Yi) pacified Hanoi and established military exploits. He was regarded as the King of Yin and ruled Hanoi. The capital was Chaoge, the former capital of the Shang Dynasty (now Qixian County, Henan);
King Xie of Zhao was renamed King Dai and ruled Daijun (now northwest Hebei and northeastern Shanxi), with the capital as Daixian (now northeastern Yuxian, Hebei);
Zhang Er had a reputation as a virtuous man, and he followed Xiang Yu all the way into the Pass. Therefore, he was named the King of Changshan and ruled the original Zhao State (today's northwestern Shanxi, western and southern Hebei), with the capital of Xiangguo (today's Xingtai, Hebei);
Dangyang Jun Yingbu bravely won the three armies and made great achievements in battle. He was named the King of Jiujiang, his fiefdom was Huainan (today's Huainan area in Anhui), and his capital was the six counties of Yingbu's hometown;
Fanjun Wu Rui, Yingbu's father-in-law, led the elite Baiyue soldiers to follow the princes into the pass, and was named the King of Hengshan, with the capital as Zhu County (today's north of Huanggang, Hubei);
Gong Ao, the Zhuguo of Yi Emperor Xiong Xin (a senior official after Ling Yin and Xiangguo, and the highest military attache in Chu State) led his troops to conquer Nanjun (today's Jingzhou area of Hubei Province). He had military exploits and was named the King of Linjiang and granted the land. It was Nanjun, and its capital was Jiangling (now Jiangling, Hubei);
King Han Guang of Yan was renamed King of Liaodong and ruled Liaodong (approximately today's Liaoning Province), with the capital at Wujing (now Jixian County, Hebei Province);
Zang Tu, the general of the Yan State, saved Zhao Yougong and followed Xiang Yu into the Pass. He was named King of Yan and ruled the Yan State (today's Beijing and central and northern Hebei). He established his capital in Jixian County (today's southwest of Beijing);
The current King of Qi's Tianshi was renamed King of Jiaodong. His fiefdom was Jiaodong (a peninsula area east of the Jiaolai Valley in Shandong and surrounded by sea on three sides in the east, south and north), and the capital was Jimo (southeast of today's Pingdu, Shandong);
Qi general Tiandu took the initiative to rescue Zhao, followed Xiang Yu into the Pass, and was named King of Qi. His fiefdom was Qi State (today's north and east of Shandong Province), and his capital was Linzi (today's east of Linzi, Shandong Province);
Tian An, the grandson of Tian Jian, the former King of Qi, once brought several cities in Jibei (the jurisdiction is equivalent to the east of Dezhou and Chiping in present-day Shandong, the north of Dongping, Tai'an and Laiwu, the west of Zouping and Xinyang, and the south of Cangzhou and Haixing in Hebei Province) to surrender to Xiang Yu. , was named the King of Jibei, ruled Jibei, and established his capital in Boyang (now southeast of Tai'an, Shandong);
Although Chen Yu, Lord of Cheng'an, abandoned his general's seal and did not follow Xiang Yu into the Pass, he still had a reputation as a virtuous man and had made great contributions to the State of Zhao. Xiang Yu heard that he was living in seclusion in Nanpi (now Nanpi, Hebei Province), so he sent Nanpi and three others The county capital granted him a seal;
Fan Jun Wu Rui's general Mei Yuan made great contributions and was granted the title of 100,000 marquises.
The Prime Minister of Qi, Guo Tian Rong, was also a figure, but because he was not interested in Xiang Liang, he did not send reinforcements and refused to lead troops into the pass with Xiang Yu, so he did not give any rewards. Even his nephew was transferred to Jiaodong.
Many things can be seen from this enfeoffment.
First, the enfeoffment of Liu Bang and the three surrendered generals was to solve the hidden danger of Liu Bang and firmly control Guanzhong. Liu Bang set out from Pengcheng. He himself was a southerner, and most of his subordinates were from Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Henan. It’s okay if you can’t go back to your hometown. Who wants to go to Bashu? If you die there, your soul will not be able to return to your hometown. Conferring Liu Bang to Bashu obviously had a huge impact on Liu Bang's military morale and morale.
Zhang Han, Sima Xin, and Dong Yi were all officials of the Qin State, and they were ruled by Qin people. No one can say that Xiang Yu is unfair when he uses Qin people to govern Qin in Guanzhong. But after all, these three people were one of the chief culprits who caused the death of two hundred thousand people and the destruction of Qin. Xiang Yu burned, killed and plundered Xianyang. The Qin people had long been resentful of the coalition of princes, and they hated the three traitors even more. In this way, if Zhang Han and the other three wanted to gain a foothold in Guanzhong, they had to rely on Xiang Yu's support and had to obey Xiang Yu and obey his orders. At the same time, the three-point barrier can prevent one person from becoming dominant and becoming a hidden danger. Therefore, although Xiang Yu did not occupy Guanzhong, he actually had it in his pocket.
Second, for the new and old aristocrats and separatist forces other than Liu Bang, Zhang Han and others, Xiang Yu used the method of suppressing the old aristocrats and appeasing the new forces. He transferred the deep-rooted old aristocratic separatist forces out of their respective territories and replaced them with emerging forces close to him. . This greatly reduced the power of the old aristocracy and lost the threat. It also allowed the forces close to them to taste the sweetness and become more obedient. It also created conflicts among the princes, making them attack and resent each other, and unable to pose a threat to Xiang Yu.
Third, the setting up of enfeoffed princes and fiefs was also based on the principle of mutual restraint to prevent the sudden rise of a certain prince.
Of course, this is all Xiang Yu and Fan Zeng's wishful thinking. The final result of this enfeoffment is: those who may cause harm to Xiang Yu will be suppressed, excluded, and thrown out a bone for them to chew; those who obey Xiang Yu's orders will have a mouth of broth to drink.
Xiang Yu's wishful thinking was very good. However, can his reward really satisfy the pro-Chu forces? Are the suppressed princes really willing to be bullied?
Xiang Yu had too many contradictions, but he had no ability to control them. The temporary alliance of the world's efforts to resist Qin has ended, and the prelude to the great melee among the princes has quietly begun.
It is again the struggle for hegemony among the countries in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period in the past.
It is sad that wherever the Qin and Han Dynasties traveled, thousands of palaces and palaces were turned into dirt. When it prospers, the people suffer; when it dies, the people suffer.
-------"Shanshan Sheep·Tong Caring about Ancient Times" by Zhang Yanghao of the Yuan Dynasty
