Xiang Ji, the Xiang clan!
Bang!
The eunuchs and palace maids in the hall were so frightened that they trembled all over their bodies. They saw the first emperor pour his bowl of xiguo rice onto the table in front of him.
A eunuch was about to step forward to clean up, but the First Emperor commanded, "Don't come over!"
He picked up the bowl turned upside down and used chopsticks to scoop the glutinous rice on the table into the bowl. "What a Xiang Ji, what a Xiang clan!" he exclaimed.
The anger in the heart of Emperor Qin could not be calmed. Although he was a king, he was also a man. How could he not be angry when he suddenly heard that his descendants had been massacred?
But how to put it, cause and effect, it's never unreasonable.
In history, Emperor Qin did not treat the royal families of the six countries well either. Of the six rulers, three were missing, and three were killed. Among them, Qijian, the King of Qi, was even starved to death alive.
Pity the old people of Xianyang who suffered misfortune.
Emperor Qin quickly calmed down and said, "Is Xiang Ji that Xiang Yu?"
When Li Nian first saw the name Xiang Ji, he thought it was like Xiang Liang and Xiang Bo, an ancestor of Xiang Yu. Little did he know that a quick search revealed that Xiang Ji was none other than Xiang Yu.
Li Nian said, "Xiang Yu, of the Ji surname, from the Xiang family, named Ji, styled Yu, from Xiashui Commandery, Xiaxiang County."
"Grandson of Xi Yan?"
Ying Zheng's eyes showed coldness. He knew who Xiang Yan was, a general of Chu who was killed by Wang Qian, a defeated general. He had not expected that the grandson of this man would become the pallbearer of the Qin Dynasty.
"Xiang Yu is a man of great bravery, with a double pupil in his eye, and bears the title of a tyrant. He is capable of contending with the strongest martial artists in the history of China."
"Maybe because of his exceptional bravery and his good birth, Xiang Yu had some character flaws. He was quite different from Puye. In many aspects, they were almost opposite."
The statement "Very different from Puye, almost completely opposite in many aspects" gave Emperor Qin a rough idea of what Xiang Yu was like.
Li Nian had little fondness for Xiang Yu, the tyrant, but he wouldn't go out of his way to defame him: "Xiang Yu began his rise at the age of twenty-four, with his younger uncle Xiang Liang and his grandfather Xiang Yan."
Emperor Qin furrowed his brow and asked, "What year did Xiang Yu begin his rise?"
Li Nian replied, "It is recorded in history as the first year of Emperor Qin Shi Huang's second son, which is also the year after Your Majesty's death."
He had only died a year ago, and Xiang Yu had already risen in rebellion. This was definitely an intention to rebel that he had beforehand, just waiting for an opportunity. And that opportunity was the rebellion by Chen Sheng and Wu Guang that Li Nian had mentioned.
Emperor Qin mentally calculated, if according to Li Nian's words, then Xiang Yu at this time should be around ten years old, a child still.
Li Nian continued, "When Xiang Yu was young, he failed in learning writing and left. He also failed in learning swordsmanship. Xiang Liang was angry at him. Xiang Yu said, 'Writing is enough to record names and surnames. Swords can only defeat one person, which is not worth learning; I want to learn how to defeat thousands of people.'" So Xiang Liang taught Xiang Yu military strategy, and he was delighted with it. However, he only understood its essence and refused to continue his studies."
Emperor Qin ate while giving a faceless assessment: "Such a lack of perseverance and willpower, even if he succeeds temporarily, he will eventually fail and perish."
Li Nian said, "What Your Majesty said is very true. In history, both Xiang Yu and Puye had met Your Majesty, but their performances were very different."
They had met me as well?
This aroused Emperor Qin's keen interest!
He originally thought that Puye and Xiang Yu had only rebelled after his death and had never met him. Both of them should have never seen him.
"What's the difference?"
Li Nian said, "Puye met Your Majesty when he came to Xianyang for the corvée labor. Upon seeing Your Majesty's imperial majesty, he sighed and said, 'Alas! A man should be like this!'"
This sentence is nothing wrong, and even praises Your Majesty.
Of course, if one insists on splitting hairs, there is indeed a problem with it: Based on your words, you also want to become "a great man"?
Emperor Qin listened with some pleasure. Puye was the founder of the Han Dynasty, and it seemed that his aspiration to be an emperor originated from him.
This is actually another kind of praise for him.
However, he soon felt that same strange discomfort in his heart.
The Han Dynasty followed the system of the Qin Dynasty, copying their dragon robes, laws, and even their founding emperor had his ambition to be an emperor inspired by him.
The feeling of being an unlikable victim once again rose in the heart of Emperor Qin, and it became even stronger.
He now wanted to grab the neck of the Han Emperor Puye and ask: Do you Han have any of your own things left? Without Qin, there would be no Han Dynasty, wouldn't there?
Upon cutting open the Han Dynasty, he found that there was not a single trace of Han inside; it was all filled with Qin!
Of course, this is just a joke, there are indeed significant differences between the Han Dynasty and the Qin Dynasty, but it does not prevent Emperor Qin from feeling that weird sense of discomfort at this moment: Your Han Dynasty is really "inheriting" from my Great Qin Dynasty!
After talking about Puye's reaction upon seeing Emperor Qin, Li Nian went on to describe Xiang Yu's reaction when he met Emperor Qin.
"When Xiang Yu met Your Majesty, it was during Your Majesty's tour of Yujiang Province and crossing the Yangtze River. Xiang Yu and his younger uncle Xiang Liang were there to watch. Seeing the majestic scene of Your Majesty's journey, Xiang Yu said, 'He can be replaced.'"
The joy that had just arisen from Puye's words "Ah, a man should be like this!" vanished immediately. Emperor Qin slammed the table in front of him: "What a arrogant fool!"
Xiang Yu's words were in itself a disrespect to him, and when compared with Puye's words, it becomes even more disrespectful.
Puye expressed admiration and yearning, hoping to become an emperor like Your Majesty. Xiang Yu's "He can be replaced" was different. It implied "I am stronger than him," "He is not that good, I can replace him."
There was a sense of disdain for Emperor Qin, coupled with arrogance: That old man Emperor Qin is nothing special; I Xiang Yu can take his place.
That's the art of speaking. Although Puye's words were also about becoming an emperor, they were polite and could still make people feel comfortable. However, Xiang Yu's words sounded unpleasant to others.
Xiang Yu would sometimes do things that seemed unthoughtful, such as killing Han King Cheng to drive Zhang Liang into a mortal enemy, or boiling King Wang Ling's mother to drive Wang Ling into a mortal enemy.
Wang Ling was the third Prime Minister of the Han Dynasty, a loyal member of the iron-fisted Puye party, and also a very filial son.
Since Wang Ling was serving under Puye, Xiang Yu tried to persuade Wang Ling by inviting his mother, but she refused and committed suicide with a sword.
Wang Ling's mother had already died. If Xiang Yu truly had the ambition of an emperor, the best thing he should do at this moment was to return Wang's mother's body intact to Wang, and actively send envoys to Wang to admit his guilt.
Although there would still be hatred between him and Wang Ling, it would at least not be as intense.
Another option is not to return the body, but to bury it with respect.
However, the tyrant is the tyrant, not a normal person, and he doesn't walk on the ordinary path. He boiled Wang Ling's mother's body.
To force someone's mother to commit suicide and then to cook her body, the enmity becomes... immense.
Wang Ling was the third Prime Minister of the Han Dynasty, succeeding both Xiao He and Cao Can. His ability was strong.
Xiang Yu had made a mortal enemy with him. Even if he surrendered at Gaizhou, he would still be killed, as there were too many people in the Han Dynasty who harbored enmity towards him.
Liu Taigong and Lü Zhi were once held captive by Xiang Yu, and he even threatened to cook Liu Taigong. How could Liu Bang and Liu Taigong not harbor resentment, or how could Lü Zhi not hold a grudge?
