Sure enough, Liu Bang's act of burning the plank road made Xiang Yu laugh heartily: Liu Bang is really afraid of me. No matter you are pretending to please me or you are sincerely convinced, now that you have burned down the plank road, you will never think about it again in this life. Since you can be the king of Hanzhong with peace of mind, I, Lord Xiang Yu, have a lot of money and will not cause any trouble to you. I don't have the leisure either.
But Xiang Yu is not Liu Bang. He doesn't know how deep Liu Bang hates him, let alone how strong Liu Bang's desire is to return to his homeland. The truly dangerous man-eating beasts are always good at hiding their claws and figures, being careful and patient, and preparing for attacks. Liu Bang had the consciousness to be a ferocious beast, but Xiang Yu was not alert to being eaten. The most terrifying opponent in Xiang Yu's life grew up due to his carelessness.
Not long after Yi Di Xiong Xin left Pengcheng, Xiang Yu couldn't bear it anymore and was eager to return to his hometown to show off his power and achievements, to accept the cheers of the people and the worship of the ministers.
On the other side, during the short period of time when King Liu Bang of Han was busy building troops and accumulating strength in Guanzhong, he unexpectedly acquired a talent-Han Xin.
Han Xin, following Gou Jian, the Yue King who had the courage to taste dung, was famous for his ability to endure humiliation. When Han Xin stood on the altar of general worship and received the general seal from Liu Bang, the king of Han Dynasty, he had mixed feelings in his heart. This beautiful moment will become an indelible memory in Han Xin's mind. Whenever he thought of this moment, he felt regret, pride, sadness, and sweetness... His life in the first half of his life was really not easy.
Han Xin was from Huaiyin (now Huai'an, Jiangsu Province). According to the description in the history books, Han Xin was probably from a lower-class noble family, but his family was in decline. He had already completely declined and became a commoner. His parents died early and he had no brothers or sisters. As a teenager, Han Xin lived an extremely poor life.
Han Xin couldn't carry a hand on his shoulders, couldn't carry a basket, couldn't farm, and didn't know how to do business. Naturally, his livelihood was not secure. Although he was well-educated and knowledgeable, Han Xin's character was not very good, so no one was willing to recommend him to work in government agencies.
When it comes to Han Xin's bad character, it is mainly reflected in his thick skin. To put it nicely, he can be said to be able to endure humiliation and bear heavy burdens. To put it bluntly, there is no lower limit to morality.
Why is it said that Han Xin is thick-skinned? There are two things that can prove it, one is "begging for food and wandering the mother" and the other is "bearing humiliation under the crotch".
Because Han Xin was so poor that he had nothing, and he didn't know how to make money, he was tall and tall, but he was idle and eating everywhere. How could others not hate him?
Han Xin's favorite place to eat was at the home of the pavilion chief at Nanchang Pavilion in Xiangxian County (now Hancheng Village, Chengnan Township, Qingpu District, Huai'an, Jiangsu Province). After all, the pavilion chief was an official, and with a salary from the state, his living conditions were naturally better than those of ordinary people, and his food was more delicious, so Han Xin liked to eat more.
Folks in the countryside looked up and looked down, but the director of the Nanchang Pavilion did not dislike Han Xin and allowed him to eat at home for several months. Han Xin comes every day at meal time, wipes his mouth and says thank you before leaving. As time goes by, the pavilion chief can bear it, but his wife can't. How many people will she have to support in her family? She couldn't open her mouth to scold her, and couldn't push her away. She was really in a hurry. The old lady in the pavilion came up with a clever idea: she cooked the meal early and the whole family ate in advance.
On this day, Han Xin, who had no idea about it, came over again for lunch, but after waiting for a long time, he didn't see the pavilion chief's family cooking. Han Xin had received a lot of looks and ridicule in his career, but now he didn't even see a grain of rice. He naturally knew that he was being tricked by the pavilion chief's family, and the pavilion chief's wife didn't give him a good look. I couldn't stand it anymore and left angrily.
The days of having food to eat are over, but people have to eat to live, and the feeling of being hungry is too uncomfortable. He was really hungry, so he went to the river to fish. Fishing is also a skill. If you know how to fish, the fish will bite the hook one after another; if you don't know how to fish, you may not be able to catch one in a few hours. Unfortunately, Han Xin happens to be a person who doesn't know how to fish. After fishing for a whole day, the harvest was not enough to fill his stomach.
Not far from Han Xin's fishing spot, there was a group of women who came to rinse silk wadding, called Piao Mu at the time. These drifting mothers work all day by the river, so they all bring their own food. When everyone was eating at noon, Han Xin watched from the side, drooling. Unable to bear it anymore, Han Xin shamelessly walked up to the women and begged for food.
Silk bleaching is a job with tedious work procedures, heavy workload, difficult conditions and meager pay. No one with money would do this. Therefore, the living mothers are not well-off, and the food they bring is not enough for themselves. How can they be willing to give alms? There was only one Piao mother who was very soft-hearted. Seeing that Han Xin was so hungry and emaciated, she gave Han Xin her own meal. Han Xin hadn't had a decent meal in several days, so he wolfed it down like crazy. Piao Mu's eyes were red, she sighed, and told Han Xin to wait for her here if she hasn't eaten yet, and she will come back tomorrow. For dozens of days after that, this mother-in-law came here specially to rinse silk wadding, just to bring food to Han Xin.
With food to eat, Han Xin gained energy and strength. He had nothing to repay Piao's mother at the moment, so he patted his chest and said to Piao's mother: "I will never forget the kindness you did to me. When I become rich in the future, I will definitely I will repay you well." The kind-hearted Piao Mu became angry after hearing this: "You are a man, but you have no ability to earn a living, and yet you are still bragging to me! I brought you this gift because I felt sorry for you. Fan, do you think I want you to repay me in the future?"
It has to be said that Piao Mu's kindness and greatness are rare. She is also a poor person, but she brings food to Han Xin every day. And she didn't even think that the man in front of her who was so poor that he was about to starve to death would one day become successful. Therefore, Piao Mu’s charity is not expected in return.
Compared with Piao Mu, Han Xin is also an adult, and he has the same qualities as others. He is so poor that he has no food to eat, but he can't find a way to earn a living through labor. He can't help but say that he is indeed a bit too lazy to eat.
Tolerating humiliation in the crotch is another matter.
Because Han Xin was a descendant of a down-and-out noble family, he had a sword in his family. Although he was too poor to eat, he felt that his status was higher than that of ordinary people. In order to show his status as a nobleman, Han Xin hung his family sword on his waist and dangled it every day.
There is a group of butchers in Huaiyin. At that time, this line of work was considered a lowly profession, and the status was not as good as that of farmers. Good people did not take this line of work. Therefore, this group of butchers can be said to be rogues. Once, there was a butcher who drank a little wine and had nothing to do after eating. He happened to see Han Xin coming from a distance, so he said to the people next to him: "Look, that kid Han Xin is here again, and he is still hanging on his waist." Sword, what do you think he is doing with a sword?"
Someone said that this is called prestige. The scoundrel looked down upon him, knowing that Han Xin had always been timid and afraid of getting into trouble, and could not do anything, so he just wanted to play with him. So the butcher staggered out and stopped in front of Han Xin.
Han Xin was walking on the road but was blocked by someone. He was very puzzled. At this time, the scoundrel spoke: "Han Xin, you walk around with a sword all day long to show off. I have long disliked you. If you have the guts today, pull out your sword and kill me. Take it from my corpse." Step over. It’s okay if you admit that you don’t have the guts!” The scoundrel patted his thigh, “Crawl under my crotch and I’ll let you go. Otherwise, I’ll beat you every time I see you!”
When most people encounter this kind of thing, they either go forward to fight with the butcher, or they turn around and sneak back, and just hide away from now on. However, Han Xin lifted up his clothes, lay down and slipped under the rogue's crotch. This move made Han Xin famous. No matter where he went, people pointed out that he was a coward.
Why can Han Xin lower his face to eat rice and put down his pride to get into his crotch? After all, it is because Han Xin cherishes his life very much. He never thought that his life was over. Although no one would believe it, Han Xin felt that one day he would become rich and powerful.
In the second year of Qin II (208 BC), Xiang Liang went north to rescue Wei and passed through Huaiyin. Han Xin felt that his opportunity had come and immediately defected. However, how easy is it for an unknown poor boy to be appreciated and reused by Xiang Liang! Han Xin was unknown under Xiang Liang, and returned to Xiang Yu after Xiang Liang's death. Xiang Yu saw that Han Xin was tall and handsome, so he immediately appointed Han Xin as his doctor.
The official position of doctor began during the Warring States Period. Before the Jin Dynasty, he was mainly responsible for ensuring the safety of the emperor's portals, carriages and horses. He served as the emperor's bodyguard in peacetime and during wars, he served as the emperor's personal soldier and accompanied him on expeditions. Xiang Yu appointed Han Xin as his doctor. What he valued most was that Han Xin looked good and showed his authority at the door. This position was relatively close to the emperor, and Han Xin often used his position to offer advice and suggestions to Xiang Yu. However, Xiang Yu is a person who doesn't even listen to his godfather Fan Zeng, let alone Han Xin, a little doctor!
This was the case under Xiang Yu. Han Xin discovered that Xiang Yu had many weaknesses, especially that as a monarch, he did not have a far-reaching strategic vision. Therefore, Xiang Yu was definitely not a leader worthy of his service, so he immediately decided to choose another Ming leader.
At that time, Xiang Yu was the first in the world, followed by Liu Bang. Moreover, there are many mysterious rumors surrounding Liu Bang. Therefore, rumors of supernatural beings were very important in ancient times, just like the tricks Chen Sheng and Wu Guang did during the uprising.
Therefore, when Liu Bang rushed to the fiefdom, Han Xin quietly abandoned Xiang Yu and followed Liu Bang to Hanzhong.
Everything goes wrong, please wait and see what happens next time.
