Disciplining Emperor Gaozu of Han

Hangu Pass.

Located west of the plateau, east of the precipitous ravine, south of the Qinling Mountains, and north of the Yellow River, the Hangu Pass is as deep and treacherous as a box, hence its name.

Because of its extremely treacherous terrain, ancient poets praised it in poems: "The heavens opened up Hangu Pass, making Guanzhong magnificent; ten thousand valleys startled the dust as it rose to the north" and "Twin peaks towered beside the great river; Hangu Pass has been a battlefield since ancient times." This shows how dangerous Hangu Pass was.

Xiahou Ying knelt on the carriage shaft, driving the carriage smoothly to Hangu Pass.

In ancient times, people considered standing to be high and kneeling to be safe when using vehicles.

When Liu Bang kicked Liu Ying and his siblings off the chariot, he was riding in a high chariot, because they were all standing on the chariot; this chariot was a low chariot, and Xiahou Ying had to kneel on the shaft to drive it.

Liu Bang rode in a carriage with Liu Le, but Liu Ying, unwilling to get close to Liu Bang, insisted on riding a horse.

Standing beside the carriage, he stared wide-eyed at Hangu Pass for a long time, exclaiming in astonishment, "Hangu Pass, it truly is a strategically important pass!"

"Hangu Pass is a natural barrier. Qin relied on it to resist the armies of the six states for a hundred years. The six states formed an alliance for a hundred years, but they could not defeat Qin." Liu Bang lifted the carriage curtain, leaned out, looked at Hangu Pass, and sighed with emotion.

"Such a perilous pass, and you failed to defend it?" Liu Ying looked at Liu Bang with utter contempt.

"Rebellion..." Liu Bang's expression changed. He wanted to rebuke him, but then he seemed to realize something. His face turned ashen, he gritted his teeth, and his eyes were filled with murderous intent.

After Liu Bang entered Guanzhong and destroyed the Qin Dynasty, someone told him that Guanzhong was a strategically important place where he could establish himself as king. Liu Bang believed this and sent men to guard Hangu Pass to resist the allied forces led by Xiang Yu. When Xiang Yu arrived, he ordered Ying Bu to attack, and they captured the pass in one fell swoop.

Enraged by this incident, Xiang Yu decided to attack and kill Liu Bang, which ultimately led to the "Feast at Hongmen".

This was undoubtedly the most heartbreaking thing in Liu Bang's life. Such a formidable and strategically important pass had failed to be defended. If he had held it, none of the subsequent troubles would have occurred.

"How does Wuguan compare to Hangu Pass?" Liu Ying asked.

Liu Bang gritted his teeth and remained silent.

Liu Ying looked at Xiahou Ying.

As Xiahou Ying drove the carriage, he said, "Wuguan Pass is certainly not as good as Hangu Pass, but it is still a strategically important place."

"How much more dangerous is Wuguan Pass than Hangu Pass?" Liu Ying felt that Xiahou Ying's answer was too general.

"About 70%," Xiahou Ying said after thinking for a moment.

"Hangu Pass is so strategically important, it's rare to find such a pass in the world. Wu Pass is seventy percent as strategically important as Hangu Pass, and it's easy to defend but difficult to attack. How did you manage to conquer Wu Pass?" Liu Ying asked Liu Bang with great curiosity.

When Liu Bang led his troops to destroy Qin, he did not attack Hangu Pass, but rather Wu Pass in the southeast.

The Guanzhong Plain is a strategically important region surrounded by four passes: Hangu Pass to the east, Wu Pass to the southeast, Dasan Pass to the south, and Xiao Pass to the west. If Liu Bang wanted to destroy the Qin Dynasty, he either had to attack Hangu Pass or Wu Pass.

Hangu Pass was too strategically important, easy to defend but difficult to attack, so Liu Bang couldn't possibly take it. Instead, he attacked Wuguan Pass in the southeast.

The problem is that Wuguan Pass is extremely dangerous, not as dangerous as Hangu Pass, and it is also difficult to conquer. Liu Ying really doesn't know how Liu Bang managed to conquer it.

"I am mighty and my army is invincible, so naturally we will conquer the Qin Dynasty in one fell swoop." Taking Wuguan Pass, entering Guanzhong, and destroying the Qin Dynasty were Liu Bang's proudest achievements, which he boasted about again.

"Speak like a human being." Liu Ying grinned, looking down on Liu Bang.

Liu Bang opened his mouth as if to speak, but then closed it again.

"Is there something you're hiding?" Knowing Liu Bang's nature, if he had something to brag about, he would have already done so. The fact that he was silent now meant there must be something wrong. Liu Ying's gossip-loving fire burned fiercely.

"You unfilial son, stop thinking such nonsense!" Liu Bang scolded.

"It seems to be true." Liu Ying became more certain of his guess and looked at Xiahou Ying, saying, "Uncle, what do you say?"

"You dare!" Liu Bang glared at Xiahou Ying.

"King of Han, Liu Ying will find out about these things sooner or later. Why don't we tell him?" Xiahou Ying turned to look at Liu Bang and said.

Liu Bang: "..."

This is tacit approval.

"Uncle, tell me quickly." Liu Ying's face was full of eager anticipation for gossip.

"It was only by sheer luck that the King of Han was able to capture Wuguan and enter Guanzhong," Xiahou Ying said, making a startling statement.

"A stroke of luck?" Liu Ying was very surprised, never expecting it to be those two words.

"It was truly a stroke of luck." Xiahou Ying recalled with a face full of recollection: "At that time, the King of Han only had tens of thousands of troops. How could he possibly take Wuguan Pass? Zhang Liang devised a plan. The King of Han made a great show of force, creating a spectacle that made the Qin army believe that the King of Han was leading hundreds of thousands of troops. He then sent Li Shiqi with valuable gifts to the Qin general at Wuguan Pass. The Qin general accepted the gifts and made a pact with the King of Han to jointly attack Xianyang and destroy Qin."

"It's possible that the Qin general accepted the treasure, but it's impossible that they agreed to attack Xianyang and destroy Qin," Liu Ying said, disbelieving.

"How do you know?" Liu Bang was surprised.

"Since the sixth Qin ruler, Duke Xiang of Qin, was enfeoffed by King Ping of Zhou for his meritorious service in protecting the Zhou king during the eastward relocation, more than five hundred years have passed. The Qin people have been rooted in Guanzhong for more than five hundred years, and you can imagine how great and profound their influence is." Liu Ying knew all too well how far-reaching the influence of the Qin people was on this land.

You won't know how much influence the Qin Dynasty had on this land until you go to Xi'an; once you arrive, you'll understand how profound it was.

Liu Ying once traveled to Xi'an, a place steeped in Qin culture, opera, and folk customs. This land is still known as "Eight Hundred Li Qin Chuan," and is associated with the character "Qin" everywhere.

Even in modern times, more than two thousand years later, the influence of the Qin people is still significant.

At the end of the Qin Dynasty, how profound was the influence of the Qin Dynasty on Guanzhong?

Would a Qin general really collude with Liu Bang to attack Xianyang?

"Uh..." Liu Bang made an incomprehensible sound as if someone was choking him.

"Liu Ying, you are this one." Xiahou Ying gave a thumbs up, praising him highly: "The Qin general is the son of a butcher. He is greedy for profit, so it is not surprising that he accepted the treasure. The reason he made an agreement with the King of Han to jointly attack Xianyang is because he is the son-in-law of a wealthy man in Shandong. He colluded with the wealthy men in Shandong and wanted to destroy the Qin state."

"What are the wealthy people of Shandong?" Liu Ying was completely baffled and had no idea.

"This story begins in the twenty-sixth year of Qin Shi Huang's reign." Liu Bang finally couldn't hold back and personally explained to Liu Ying: "In that year, Qin Shi Huang destroyed the State of Qi, thus ending the six states east of the mountains. Qin Shi Huang began to consolidate the empire, punish the powerful families of Shandong, and relocate 120,000 wealthy households from Shandong to Guanzhong."

"How many? 120,000 households?" Liu Ying was very surprised. "Assuming five people per household, 120,000 households would be 600,000 people! That's way too many!"

"Many? What's so special about that?" Liu Bang shook his head: "Since the beginning of time, the land of Shandong has been dominated by powerful and aristocratic families, and there are countless wealthy and powerful people."

"Good!" Liu Ying thought for a moment and had no choice but to agree.

"Xiang Pifu's Xiang clan was also among those to be relocated." Liu Bang's lips curled up in a mocking smile: "Qin Shi Huang decreed that if anyone failed to come or fled, their entire clan would be executed. Xiang Liang knew very well that if he reached Guanzhong, he would be finished and powerless, so he fled with his close relatives and nephews, Xiang Pifu, Xiang Zhuang, and Xiang Bo. Qin Shi Huang then killed all of Xiang Pifu's clan members."

"I see." Liu Ying knew that Xiang Yu and Qin Shi Huang had a blood feud, but he didn't know the specifics.

"The hundreds of thousands of wealthy people who were relocated to Guanzhong were naturally dissatisfied and hated Qin Shi Huang. If the world were at peace, they would be powerless, but unfortunately, the world was in chaos. When I led my army to attack Wuguan, they joined forces with me, wanting to attack Xianyang and destroy Qin in one fell swoop." Liu Bang kept grinding his teeth.

"Even if the Qin general wanted to join forces with you to attack Xianyang and destroy the Qin Dynasty, most of his soldiers were Qin people and wouldn't agree. How did you manage to succeed?" Liu Ying still didn't understand.

"You're not entirely stupid." Liu Bang glanced at Liu Ying and praised him, "Zifang saw the problem and told me to take advantage of the Qin generals' laxity to launch a surprise attack on Wuguan and capture it in one fell swoop."

"It really was a stroke of luck," Liu Ying agreed with Xiahou Ying's assessment.

"A win is a win; there's no room for luck," Liu Bang said proudly.

"With these wealthy and powerful men from Shandong responding and causing trouble, Ziying had no choice but to surrender, since he couldn't retreat to the ancestral lands of the Qin people, right?" Liu Ying understood why Ziying, who clearly had a way out, chose to surrender to Liu Bang.

The Qin people did not originate from Guanzhong, but rather from the Longxi River Valley. They established their state in Guanzhong, destroyed the Western Rong tribes, and grew in strength. After Shang Yang's reforms, they transformed from weak to strong, fighting against six other states single-handedly, ultimately destroying them, defeating the Xiongnu in the north, pacifying the Baiyue in the south, and completing the unification of the country.

If the situation were unfavorable, Ziying could have led the Qin people back to their ancestral homeland, waited for Xiang Yu and his ilk to retreat, and then led the Qin army from that ancestral homeland into Guanzhong to rebuild the Qin state.

At that time, the Qin state will remain just the Qin state, no longer the unified Qin Dynasty, but it will not perish.

With wealthy and powerful figures from the six states of Shandong causing trouble, Ziying was unable to retreat to the ancestral lands of the Qin people and had no choice but to surrender. Everything makes sense now.

Liu Bang nodded slightly.

"What about these wealthy Shandong men?" Liu Ying asked.

"Traitor! Rebel!" Liu Bang's eyes burned with such intense rage that they seemed to ignite the very air around him.

Note:

According to the Records of the Grand Historian: Annals of Qin Shi Huang, in the 26th year of Qin Shi Huang's reign, "120,000 wealthy households from all over the country were moved to Xianyang."