Never look at the behavior of the ancients with modern eyes, especially Xiang Yu, a successful young military genius.
Do you know how old Xiang Yu was when he died and became the leader of all the princes in the world?
Xiang Yu
Xiang Yu was only 27 years old when he destroyed Qin, and became the first vassal in the world. He is still in nominal age, that is, 206 BC. At that time, Liu Bang was 5 1 year old, almost twice as old as Xiang Yu.
At the age of 27, any young man who has made such great achievements through war will feel conceited. This is human nature, not only for Xiang Yu, but also for any young man, who thinks that there is no opponent in the world. If anyone refuses to accept my Xiang Yu, I will lead the troops to kill him.
Xiang Yu
This is the mentality of Xiang Yu at that time, not to mention Xiang Yu, even Liu Bang will be complacent. Liu Bang was also complacent when he won Cheng Peng, the capital of Xiang Yu, in the Chu-Han War. He thought Xiang Yu was so much. At that time, Liu Bang fought all the way from Hanzhong, Dingsanqin and Pingyuan. Except Qi and Jiangdong, the whole world basically surrendered to Liu Bang. At that time, Liu Bang was also complacent. As a result,
As a young man, Xiang Yu has his proud capital. In the face of a large group of princes in the world who were a big circle older than Xiang Yu, Xiang Yu's enfeoffment decided their fate. To put it mildly, Xiang Yu is actually the emperor of the world at this time, and he is also a young and invincible emperor militarily.
Xiang Yu and Liu Bang
Having said that, I just want to explain what kind of mentality Xiang Yu was after the demise of the Qin Dynasty. After the demise of the Qin Dynasty, Xiang Yu was enfeoffed with the mentality of being the master of the world. The reason why he wanted to enfeoffment, rather than immediately acceded to the throne, was out of practical needs. Although the princes of all walks of life surrendered to Xiang Yu in name, they were all independent forces. If they don't enfeoffment, the world will immediately fall into a chaotic territorial battle, and the power vacuum after the demise of the Qin Dynasty will be taken away.
Xiang Yu calls himself the overlord of the place of Chu, but in fact he intends to slow down and prepare for his next emperor. If the emperor wants to unify the world, he must make his capital in his own country. Xiang Yu chose Pengcheng, which was a military town and strategic place extending in all directions at that time. At the same time, the Western Chu State sealed by Xiang Yu occupied the richest areas in the world, including Huainan, Huaibei, Jiangdong, Shandong, Nanyang and Wei.
Peasant War in the Late Qin Dynasty
Why did Xiang Yu choose a strategic place extending in all directions as the capital?
The first reason is that Suqian, Xiang Yu's hometown, and Shouchun, the last capital before the demise of Chu State (now Shouxian County, Anhui Province) are not far from Pengcheng. Xiang Yu himself is a native of Chu, so living in his hometown is the best choice. At that time, people all had plots in their hometown, so it was convenient to go home.
The second and most important reason is that Xiang Yu was young at that time. With its powerful force, Pengcheng, with its capital extending in all directions, was conducive to attacking other countries in the future, which was more convenient, because Xiang Yu was supercilious, nobody cared, and did not need mountains and rivers to protect his capital.
Xiang Yu's package map
The third reason is that no country has established a capital in the capital of an enemy country. Guanzhong was the capital of Qin at that time. During the Anti-Qin War, Xiang Liang established the earliest capital of Chu Huaiwang in Xuyi. After Xiang Liang's death, in order to avoid Zhang Han's army, the capital moved to Pengcheng. Since then, Pengcheng has been the place where Chu Huaiwang lived and the capital of Chu. Xiang Yu borrowed the name of Chu in the whole anti-Qin war. Of course, his capital must be Pengcheng, the capital of Chu.
The fourth reason is that Xiang Yu had a grudge against Qin. Xiang Yu's grandfather was not killed by Qin, but most of his family were killed by Qin people. Whether it is national hatred or family hatred, Xiang Yu really has a deep hatred for Qin. Since he is regarded as an enemy, he naturally won't make Qin its capital in Guanzhong.
Power distribution diagram
The fifth reason is that after the Battle of Julu, Xiang Yu killed hundreds of thousands of Chi soldiers. Most of these chi soldiers are children of Guanzhong, and their parents and brothers basically live in Guanzhong. Xiang Yu doesn't want to live among a lot of Qin people who are also enemies. Of course, he won't regard Pengcheng as his capital.
Don't look at Xiang Yu with today's eyes. Although there are mountains and rivers in Guanzhong, it can be broken in the hands of Xiang Yu, isn't it? Although Qin was powerful, Xiang Yu's hand did not destroy Qin as before.
Don't talk about Xiang Yu. Even Liu Bang, who later unified the world, was not prepared to set the capital in Guanzhong at first, but wanted to set the capital in Luoyang, which had convenient transportation and developed economy. Later, on the advice of Lou Jing and Sean, the capital was set in Chang 'an of Guanzhong, so it is understandable that Xiang Yu didn't set the capital in Guanzhong.