Chapter 40: The Institutional Struggle at the Root of War
Han Xin's good news reached Xingyang, and Liu Bang was overjoyed.
Along with the good news, there is a merit book, as well as a document from Han Xin asking Zhang Er to be named the king of Zhao.
This letter of invitation seems reasonable, but in fact, it hides an unpleasant signal, which makes Liu Bang feel a little uncomfortable.
What kind of king is Zhang Erfeng, there are outnumbered people to decide, what are you Han Xin making a fuss about? Liu Bang thought to himself.
Although Liu Bang felt a little awkward in his heart, he still agreed, and there was no way if he didn't agree.
The relationship between Han Xin and Liu Bang began to undergo subtle changes.
A month later, there was good news, and the group lived up to expectations and was completed. You must know that the combat effectiveness of the British and Buenos troops is megatron, and his joining has raised the military strength of the Han army by a considerable level.
And Peng Yue had been eye-to-eye with Liu Bang earlier, so he happily attached himself to Liu Bang.
At this point, Zhang Liang's strategic concept of reusing the three heroes was completed.
Although the Xingyang front line was still very bitter, the Han army gradually improved in the overall situation.
The top brass of the Chu army was also aware of the subtle changes in the situation, so they accelerated the pace of the offensive and launched wave after wave of offensive frenzy.
As a result, Liu Bang's days in Xingyang were even more painful. The food routes were cut off from time to time, and the soldiers often went hungry.
Seeing this situation, Li Shiqi gave Liu Bang an idea, and this idea was concluded to be a bad idea before it could be put into practice, since it was a bad idea, and it was not implemented, it was almost like nonsense, and it was not even necessary to describe it, but the classic historical books are all in black and white to remember clearly, and a large comment is specially attached to the Zizhi Tongjian, so it can be concluded that this is not nonsense.
Li Shiqi suggested that Liu Bang restore the Six Kingdoms, seal the descendants of the Six Kingdoms, and unite the forces of the Six Kingdoms to attack the Chu State together.
Liu Bang agreed without thinking about it, and ordered the old man Li to hurry up and engrave the Great Seal of the Six Kingdoms and prepare to divide it.
Li Sheng had just left on his front foot, and Zhang Liang came in on his back foot, and he had just rushed back from running errands outside.
It's a good coincidence, and if you come one step late, you can make a big mistake.
Liu Bang is a good person, if there is a big decision, he basically does not monopolize the decision-making power, but can ask other people's opinions, especially Zhang Liang's opinions.
So, he conveyed Li Sheng's suggestion just now to Zhang Liang.
Unexpectedly, when Zhang Liang heard this, his face changed, and he said: This is definitely a bad idea!
Liu Bang is very confused!
He immediately picked up the chopsticks on the table and compared them to Liu Bang, and there were eight reasons why he said it was a bad idea. To sum it up, it means one thing: the strength of the Han army is weak, and the descendants of the six countries will weaken their own strength and establish new opponents, and the descendants of the six countries are very well-connected and have a wide range of origins, and many of the old and young people of the six countries still miss them, and when the time comes, even if Xiang Yu is defeated, if the six countries are disobedient, won't they have a headache? Times are changing, and what worked before doesn't work anymore.
After Liu Bang heard this, he immediately sprayed rice, thinking that this was a wonderful move, but he didn't expect it to be a loss-making deal, so he scolded Li Sheng behind his back and ordered the previous order to be cancelled.
At first glance, it is indeed a small thing, but the small thing implies a big truth.
The idea of the feudal system in Li Shiqi's head represented a trend of thought at that time, and the new thinker Zhang Liang once denied the county system and agreed with the feudal system because of the rapid defeat of the Qin Dynasty, but in the continuous disappointment and struggle, he finally understood: it was not feasible to return to the complete feudal system.
Therefore, the different opinions of Li Shiqi and Zhang Liang represent the struggle between two different currents of thought, and in the final analysis, they represent the struggle between the two systems.
As we all know, feudalism and feudalism mean fiefdom and statehood. Under the feudal system, the vassal states nominally belonged to the Son of Heaven, but the Son of Heaven and the vassal states were separate.
In the Western Zhou Dynasty, the Son of Heaven had the right to speak, and he could also command the princes, the vassal states out of morality or rules, the worship had to be worshipped, and the tribute was also paid, after the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, the vassal states became stronger and stronger, the Zhou room became weaker and weaker, and the son of Zhou Tianzi became a decoration and a tool!
The evil consequences of the Zhou Dynasty's feudal system finally sent the society into the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, which was constantly fighting.
In this era, there is still a Zhou Tianzi in name, but in fact, the Son of Heaven has been reduced to a dispensable role.
After Qin Shi Huang unified the six countries, he also held a large-scale seminar on whether to implement the sub-feudal system, and finally the first emperor tried his best to completely abolish the sub-feudal system and implement the county system.
After the fall of the Qin Dynasty, Xiang Yu returned to the sub-feudal system, and it didn't take long for the world to be in chaos again.
In a short period of time, the regime changed rapidly, and the system was changed from one place to another. On the surface, there are many factors in the great chaos in the world, but looking at the essence through the phenomenon, in essence, it is still rooted in the struggle between the two social systems, and to paraphrase a very political language, the old forces will not willingly withdraw from the stage of history voluntarily.
Since this article is not a political treatise, I will not analyze it too much here.
All in all, the ghost of the old forces will not dissipate for a while, and the institutional struggle will continue to haunt the Han Dynasty and stagger forward, in this struggle, countless people will shed blood and break their bones, and the Han Dynasty will also pay a great price for this.