What kind of person is Fan Ceng?

Fan Zeng should be the first, not Fan Ceng. Every political leader is surrounded by people who give advice, and Fan Zeng is the mastermind around Xiang Yu.

Fan Zeng, a native of Juchao (now southwest of Chao County, Anhui Province), is usually at home. What a surprise. He was seventy years old when the uprising in Daze Township, Chen Sheng. Soon, Xiang Liang led the troops across the river and became the main force in the anti-Qin struggle. Fan Zeng defected to the enemy, hoping to contribute his wisdom to the anti-Qin cause in his lifetime.

Fan Zeng and Xiang Liang met in the snow. At that time, Chen Sheng had been killed, the banner of Zhang Chu had been lowered, and the struggle against Qin was at a low ebb. Xiang Liang, Liu Bang and other rebel leaders met in Xue to discuss policies and strategies to save the current situation. Fan Zeng came at the right time.

When Fan Zeng met with Xiang Liang and other generals, he first analyzed the reasons for Chen Sheng's failure. He thinks that Chu people hate the Six Kingdoms most, but people still miss Chu Huaiwang who was unjustly killed by Qin people. Therefore, the prediction that "although Chu has three schools, Qin will die" is reasonable. The reason for Chen Sheng's failure is that the King of Chu did not stand on his own feet after the establishment, and he could not make full use of Chu's anti-Qin forces, which led to his short potential. Then Fan Zeng demonstrated and put forward the anti-Qin strategy. He thought that since Xiang Liang crossed the river, General Chu has been attached to it, because Xiang has been General Chu for generations, and people thought that he could rebuild Chu. He suggested that we should obey the wishes of the people and help the descendants of the king of Chu. Xiang Liang and others resolutely accepted Fan Zeng's suggestion, found Xiong Xin, the grandson of Chu Huaiwang Xionghuai, who was herding sheep for others among the people, re-established Chu Huaiwang and founded the Chu regime.

At the age of seventy, Fan Zeng devoted himself enthusiastically to the anti-Qin struggle, determined to devote the rest of his life to the anti-Qin cause, which is extremely valuable. He gave full play to his intelligence and gave advice to the rebel generals. Although the analysis of the reasons for Chen Sheng's failure was not correct and comprehensive, he put forward suggestions to help the descendants of the King of Chu, which made the anti-Qin struggle gain a new banner and was of positive significance for uniting and coordinating the anti-Qin forces in various places and promoting the resurgence of the anti-Qin struggle. In addition, most rebel generals come from all walks of life. Fan Zeng's participation not only increased the number of talents, but also improved the ability structure of the leading group, which was of great benefit to Chu's anti-Qin struggle. Because of his age, Xiang Yu later called him Yafu.

After Fan Zeng joined the rebel army, he experienced the establishment of Wang Huai and the death of Xiang Liang. When the Chu army rescued Zhao, he was appointed as the last general, followed by the general and the second general Xiang Yu. Naturally, it also experienced events such as the salt-free mutiny, the battle of the giant deer, and the killing of Qin soldiers, all the way into Guanzhong.

After entering Guanzhong, the Qin Dynasty had already perished. As the commander-in-chief of 400,000 troops, Xiang Yu heard that Liu Bang was going to be king in Guanzhong, and immediately ordered to attack Liu Bang's army the next day. Fan Zeng was very supportive of Xiang Yu's decision and said to him, "Liu Bang used to love money and sex. After he entered Guanzhong, he changed his past mistakes, which shows that he is ambitious. I'll show people the clouds over there, like dragons and tigers, colorful. This is the weather of the emperor. Please attack quickly and don't miss the opportunity. "

Fan Zeng may have his spies. When I arrived in Guanzhong, I had no contact with Liu Bang and had mastered the characteristics of his activities. He and Liu Bang met when they helped Xiong Xin become king. They had a lot of contacts and were familiar with each other. Before and after the comparison, I found the change of Liu Bang, from which I got a glimpse and realized his necessary ambition. Details of Yun Qi's statement are unknown, but it also reflects Fan Zeng's unusual concern for Liu Bang. In any case, Fan Zeng regarded Liu Bang as the real opponent who threatened Xiang Yu's hegemony after the Qin Dynasty was destroyed. With the death of the Qin Dynasty, the pattern of social interests will be greatly adjusted, and many people will find new owners. But Fan Zeng's unswerving loyalty to Xiang's family and accurate observation of the current situation are admirable.

Due to the collusion between Xiang Bo and Sean and Xiang Yu's ignorance, the battle of Reims the next day unexpectedly turned into a banquet at the Hongmen Gate. At the banquet, Liu Bang was cautious and modest, covering up the truth and trying to bridge the contradiction. Xiang Yu was confused and unprepared, and only cared about drinking. Fan Zeng sat on the throne as a father. He hoped that Xiang Yu would get rid of Liu Bang if he made up his mind at the banquet. He looked at Liu Bang several times and raised the jade Jue several times to indicate to Xiang Yu. Seeing that Xiang Yu was silent after all, Fan Zeng got up to leave, called Xiang Zhuang, Xiang Yu's cousin, outside and explained to him, "You can come to the table to make a toast, then ask for a sword dance and take advantage of the situation to assassinate Liu Bang and sit in your seat, so as not to take us as prisoners in the future." Xiang Zhuang was brought to the table and drew his sword and danced as commanded. Because Xiang Bo took the initiative to dance and sheltered Liu Bang, Xiang Zhuang failed to succeed. Later, Fan Kuai, a subordinate of Liu Bang, broke into the banquet with a sword and shield, and Xiang Yu gave him wine and meat, which disrupted Fan Zeng's arrangement. After Liu Bang escaped on the pretext of going to the toilet, Fan Zeng threw Bai Bi sent by Liu Bang on the ground, drew his sword and shattered it, giving a famous lament of disappointment.

Fan Zeng has always regarded Liu Bang as Xiang Yu's biggest rival in the world. He once encouraged the main force to attack Liu Bang's troops. When the weapon was used in the banquet, perhaps he thought it was the best chance to kill Liu Bang at a small cost, so he gave Xiang Yu a hint and called Xiang Zhuang to the table to dance with his sword. He is the promoter and manipulator of the war atmosphere at the Hongmen banquet. His above two plans failed because of Xiang Yu's non-cooperation, Xiang Bo's confrontation and Liu Bang's alertness, and the enemy born for the world slipped away under his nose, which made him extremely disappointed. He regards accepting gifts as a confused act of blurring the front line and distinguishing between the enemy and the enemy, because he can't return the gift, and he would rather destroy it. His exclamation of "standing upright" clearly refers to Xiang Zhuang, but actually refers to Xiang Yu. Afterwards, he told people more clearly: "The person who won the title of Xiang Wang must be Liu Bang, and all of us will be his prisoners." In the reorganization of world interests after Qin Dynasty, Fan Zeng stood firm and had a clear goal, but he could not fundamentally influence Xiang Yu's political behavior on some key issues. Xiang Yu enfeoffed the vassal, and Liu Bang deserved the land in Guanzhong as king, which was probably the result of Fan Zeng's stratagem. Xiang Yu put forward: "Ba and Shu are also places in Guanzhong." Therefore, Liu Bang was named Hanwang at the southern foot of Qinling Mountains in Guanzhong. This is the maximum that Fan Zeng can do for Liu Bang.

Xiang Yu established his country in Western Chu, and Fan Zeng was made a Hou, whose territory is in today's Anhui County. Later, the Chu-Han War lasted for a long time in Xingyang. In the first 204 years, Xiang Yu often invaded the grain transportation tunnel of the front-line Han army. Liu bang was short of food and could not support it. He took Xingyang as the boundary, and the two sides made peace and stopped fighting. Xiang Yu was prepared to promise. Fan Zeng insisted: "The Han army is easy to deal with now. If you give up and don't attack, you will regret it later. " Xiang Yu then sent more troops to surround Xingyang, determined to win. At the critical moment, Liu Bang skillfully made a fuss about the food quality of Xiang Yu's emissary by taking advantage of his subordinate Chen Ping's counter-measures. When he saw the emissary, he pretended to be surprised and said, "I thought it was an emissary sent by my father, but I didn't expect it to be an emissary of Wang Xiang." So I changed into poor food. When Xiang Yu heard the newspaper, he suspected that Fan Zeng was having an affair with Liu Bang and cut his rights. Fan Zeng said angrily, "Everything in the world is basically settled. Do it yourself." Offer to resign and be a civilian. After Xiang Yu promised, he left the front line and returned to Pengcheng, where he died of a poisonous sore on his back.

Fan Zeng is 75 years old and still in the front line of the army, which is not easy. He continued to adhere to the policy of resolutely cracking down on Liu Bang a few years ago. According to the battlefield situation at that time, he put forward the idea of refusing to make peace and panic in the storm. When the war went smoothly as he expected, he could not bear the unwarranted suspicion from the young master. With great disappointment to Xiang Yu and determination to be a civilian, he abandoned his official position and left angrily. The so-called "what's going on in the world is basically decided" parting message is either his misjudgment or intentional irony. In fact, behind Fan Zeng, although the Chu army won the battle in Xingyang and Gaodi, the strategic situation has begun to undergo a fundamental reversal, and the defeat of Gai Xia was only one year later.

It is worth mentioning that although Fan Zeng resigned angrily after suffering the unwarranted suspicion of Xiang Yu and was willing to be a civilian, he still regarded Pengcheng, the capital of Chu, as his final destination, which shows his confidence and unswerving loyalty to Chu. It's a pity that an old man who was loyal to his country finally fell to the point of being suspected, lost his job, and died on the road with evil spirits in his chest. Amin Wu Yun passed by the Yellow River and buried Fan Zeng's tomb in Shangqiu. Compared with the tombs of the Five Emperors in Han Dynasty, he wrote Father's Tomb with emotion:

After several changes, Shangqiu is unique.

King Wuling sells cigarettes and jade fights for thousands of years.

Wu Yun appreciated Fan Zeng's wisdom, recognized Liu Bang at the Hongmen banquet, and shattered Yudou. He probably thought that without the suspicion of Xiang Yu, with the wisdom of Fan Zeng, he should not lose to Liu Bang. Gao Qi, a contemporary of Wu Yun, compared Fan Zeng to the mother of the tomb, who gave her life to support her son to follow Liu Bang. She thinks it unwise to choose Xiang Yu as her assistant. His poem "Reading History" represents many people's views:

I don't know if the king is real, so I will show my concern first, and then respect him.

At that time, who was wiser than the old lady Wang?

It should be said that Fan Zeng should be regarded as a very effective counselor when Xiang Yu's army is short of talents. After he joined the army, he remonstrated with Chu Huaiwang, urged Liu to be killed, sealed Hanzhong and refused to make peace with Xingyang. These are all good plans. However, people should not exaggerate these plans too much. In addition to prompting Liu Bang to be killed at the Hongmen banquet, Xiang Yu's enemies of life and death may be removed, thus affecting the changes in the world political situation. The other three suggestions have been adopted, and the last two strategies have not seen the amazing effect of changing the pattern of Chu and Han. Fan Zeng's plans are mostly strategies to solve specific problems rather than strategies that can affect the overall situation. For Xiang Yu's mistakes in packet, strategy and employment, as well as the atrocities that are easy to cheat, he shows no signs of correcting and making up. He is a participant in Xiang Yu's enfeoffment plan, and should be jointly and severally liable for major mistakes. He followed Xiang Yu for about five years, met many things, but made few suggestions. If you don't stay out of Chu's official career and make things worse, then these performances are all manifestations of wrong identity and unclear mind. In the process of following Xiang Liang, Yi Song once found the signs of Xiang Liang's failure, but Fan Zeng failed to find the failure that is related to the overall situation and the coach's life, and corrected it to avoid failure. Therefore, when assisting Xiang Yu, he refused to listen to advice, not only because Xiang Yu refused to accept advice and suppressed opinions, but also because of his own many reasons. In a word, we can't overestimate Fan Zeng's knowledge. Xiang Yu's military camp is a desert of wisdom, and Fan Zeng is an old vine in the vast desert. According to the landlord, it can only be a patriot.