542: Chapter 542 Xiang Yu: A Destined Loser

The Manchu Qing, in essence, was a highly utilitarian military group bound together by shared interests.

Within this group, they would stop at nothing to win over various factions.

Huang Taiji even reportedly did shocking things: as long as you sincerely joined the group and demonstrated sufficient value and loyalty, he was even willing to give his own wives and concubines to you.

Such a level of "generosity" was truly rare in the long river of history; perhaps only the legendary General Yuwen could "rival" him in that regard.

In stark contrast stood Xiang Yu.

Xiang Yu treated surrendered enemies with extreme cruelty; not only did he bury two hundred thousand surrendered soldiers alive, but he also frequently slaughtered their entire families.

Such atrocities instilled fear in people; who would dare to easily submit to him?

Naturally, his power base only dwindled.

Conversely, the Manchu Qing truly had a knack for winning people over.

In the late Ming Dynasty, when border soldiers saw that defecting to the Manchu Qing meant obtaining generous wealth, promotion, and the company of beautiful women, how could they not be tempted?

On the Ming Dynasty side, the Qi Family Army, which had once fought bloody battles to defend the country and repel the Japanese pirates, was not only denied their deserved military pay when they asked for it, but was instead deceived by the imperial court and ultimately ruthlessly shot down with arrows.

Such disheartening actions caused the Ming Dynasty border troops to lose all hope in the imperial court; it was no wonder they defected in organized units and threw themselves into the arms of the Manchu Qing.

The process of the Manchu Qing entering Inside the Pass was also quite unique.

If Kublai Khan led a group of Han Chinese troops to attack his own fellow countrymen on the grasslands, then the Manchu Qing successfully entered Inside the Pass with Dorgon surrounded by a group of Han Chinese troops.

Among them, Fan Wencheng played a crucial role.

Fan Wencheng deeply understood the habits of the Han Chinese and the situation in the Central Plains. He advised Dorgon not to harm the common people, to abandon the previous simple looting tactics, and instead to adopt the Ming Dynasty's official system and institutions, while also strongly urging Dorgon to seize the opportunity to enter Inside the Pass.

Dorgon adopted Fan Wencheng's suggestions. After entering the Central Plains, he primarily targeted the armies of the Chuang King.

Because the Manchu Qing largely followed the old systems of the Ming Dynasty, for the common people at the bottom, life did not undergo earth-shattering changes—it was merely a change of emperor—and thus it did not trigger significant resistance.

However, the shift in the situation often happens in an instant. What truly sparked large-scale resistance was the order to shave hair and change clothes, which Sun Zhixie advised Dorgon to issue.

This order required all civil and military officials and civilians to shave their hair in the Manchu style; those who did not comply would be dealt with according to military law.

This order instantly ignited the anger of the people in the Jiangnan region, and a large-scale wave of "Resist the Qing, Restore the Ming" erupted.

In this cruel conflict, countless common people were slaughtered, causing heavy casualties. This was the infamous "Three Massacres of Jiading" in history.

For the Manchu Qing, they did not distinguish between Manchu and Han.

In their eyes, only those useful to them were considered usable people; if one was harmful to them, even if one were a Banner person, one would be ruthlessly regarded as "Achina" or "Seshe".

This purely interest-oriented personnel strategy was one of the key factors that enabled the Manchu Qing to successfully seize the world.

As for Xiang Yu, not only did he bury two hundred thousand surrendered soldiers alive and lose the hearts of the people, but he also failed to make good use of people with great talent and strategy like Han Xin. His failure was long destined by these various actions.

Zhao Fusu did not dwell on it any longer.

In his view, Xiang Yu's failure was actually a good thing for him; otherwise, it would be like raising a fierce tiger by his side that could turn on him at any moment.

Letting Xiang Yu, this destined loser, clear the obstacles to unification on the land of the Mauryan Empire for their Huaxia Pioneer Group could be considered letting him exert his final value— "making the best use of everything."