Chapter 3 3. Meng Mingshi defeated the state of Jin with no doubts about employing people
In 628 BC, Jin Wengong, the overlord among the princes and kings at that time, died of illness.After the death of Duke Wen of Jin, Duke Mu of Qin was determined to succeed Jin as the overlord of the Central Plains. At the beginning, due to lack of experience, he lost several battles one after another.In the winter of 628 BC, Qin Mugong worshiped Meng Ming as a general, and Xiqishu and Bai Yibing as deputy generals attacked Jin.In the dangerous Xiaoshan area (to the east of Shanxian County, Henan Province today), the entire army was wiped out by the Jin army who had already ambushed there.Meng Mingshi, Xiqishu and Bai Yibing, two lieutenant generals, were taken captives, and after many negotiations, the three were able to return to the country.
About two years later, in 625 BC, Meng Mingshi asked Qin Mugong to send troops to avenge Xiaoshan.Qin Mugong immediately sent Meng Mingshi, Xiqishu, and Bai Yibing to lead 400 military vehicles to attack the state of Jin.Jin Xianggong sent the generals of the Chinese army to stay first to resist.Due to the Jin State's full preparations, the armies of the two countries confronted each other in Pengya, and the Qin army was defeated by the Jin State's army again.
Although the Qin army did not fail as badly as last time in Xiaoshan this time, the voices of domestic opposition are getting louder and louder.Some people advocated replacing the coach, and some even suggested to Qin Mugong that several of them should be punished, especially Meng Mingshi, who was the coach.Meng Mingshi himself felt very ashamed, he was ashamed.After the defeat, he got into the prison car by himself, and repeatedly expressed his heart to Qin Mugong, hoping that this time Qin Mugong would not forgive himself like the last time, which can be regarded as an explanation to the fallen soldiers.
However, before Meng Mingshi returned home, Qin Mugong had already made his own plans.He carefully analyzed the reasons for the previous two failures, and felt that Meng Mingshi was indeed a promising talent, but he was not yet very mature.Besides, the failure of the war was not entirely the responsibility of Meng Mingshi and the others.The timing of the first expedition to Jin was not ripe, and the responsibility was that I underestimated the enemy and rushed forward, and ignored the dissuasion of Bailixi and Uncle Jian.He believed that after two failures, Meng Mingshi would become more mature and stable than before, and if he chose a suitable time to send troops, Meng Mingshi would surely be able to avenge his shame.Knowing this, Qin Mugong knew that what he needed to do most now was to relieve the pressure on Meng Mingshi from the two failures and help him regain his fighting spirit.
After making up his mind, before Meng Mingshi came back, Duke Mu of Qin called everyone together and told them that the failure of the war against Jin was the failure of Qin as a whole, not the fault of any one person.Now that things have happened, what everyone needs to do is to do everything possible to seek the next victory, rather than hold anyone accountable.Whoever talks about replacing the coach will be punished first.After Qin Mugong relieved the pressure of domestic public opinion for Meng Mingshi and the others, he personally took his ministers to welcome Meng Mingshi back to the country, and comforted them with kind words.
After Meng Mingshi went back, Qin Mugong once again called everyone together to discuss the war against Jin.Since Qin Mugong had warned everyone not to mention the matter of punishing Meng Mingshi before this, everyone just discussed the matter this time, which prevented Meng Mingshi, who had a straight personality, from committing suicide on the spot.Next, Qin Mugong took the initiative to bear the responsibility for the defeat of the war, ordered to pay for the families of the fallen soldiers, and then immediately announced that Meng Mingshi was still the commander of the Qin army, and Qin's soldiers and horses were still under his command, and told everyone present People, Meng Mingshi is definitely a rare handsome talent, he believes that the only person who can defeat Jin is Meng Mingshi.
Meng Mingshi, who had loaded himself into the prison van a long time ago, never expected that such an ending would meet him.At the moment of failure, he made the worst plan. He led his troops twice and failed twice. Tens of thousands of soldiers died in vain.But now not only Qin Mugong did not pursue his own responsibility, but also his colleagues did not stand aside and make sarcastic remarks, and also heard a lot of useful suggestions for him. Although some people also pointed out what he did not do well, it was absolutely not Cynicism.
Everything Qin Mugong has done has made Meng Ming feel that he still needs to live. He wants to live to prove to everyone that he is a real handsome talent. He wants to let Qin Mugong know that he is right. He himself was not willing to admit his complete failure just like that.
After returning from failure, Meng Mingshi is still the commander-in-chief of the Qin army, but he is no longer the previous Meng Mingshi.He is no longer as conceited and self-willed as before, and he no longer dares to underestimate the enemy, but has become more mature and mature.He began to pay attention to national politics, cared about the lives of ordinary people, and valued the role of each soldier. He also gave all his property and salary to the families of the fallen soldiers.He ate coarse grains and gnawed grass roots with the soldiers; he personally trained soldiers and horses every day and worked hard.
In the winter of this year, Jin, which had won two battles, joined forces with Song, Chen, and Zheng to reach the border of Qin.Qin Mugong still sent Meng Mingshi to lead troops to defend against the enemy.Meng Mingshi, who had matured a lot this time, ordered the soldiers to only defend the city and not to attack.The Jin people challenged him again and again, but he ignored them; the Jin people took away the two cities of Qin, but he still trained soldiers and horses without saying a word.
As a result, those who originally advocated severely punishing Meng Mingshi brought up the old story again. They called Meng Mingshi a coward who had been frightened by the enemy and was timid towards the Jin army and asked Qin Mugong to choose another good general.However, Qin Mugong knew well, and still did not change the military commander who had lost three consecutive battles.He knew that his commander was not afraid, but more mature than before.Now is not the best time for the final decisive battle. He needs more time to enhance the combat effectiveness of Qin's army.
Until the third year after the failure of Xiaoshan, that is, in the summer of 624 BC, Meng Mingshi, who had been silent all the time, finally trained his soldiers into an army with extremely strong combat effectiveness after several years of painstaking efforts.In addition, he also carefully studied the geographical configuration of the Jin State and the combat characteristics of the Jin State Army. It can be said that he has completely known himself and the enemy, and he is already confident in this decisive battle with the Jin Army.At this time, Meng Mingshi asked Qin Mugong for instructions to send troops to attack Jin again.In order to boost morale, he also asked Qin Mugong to go with the army.Meng Mingshi's request was opposed by many people. Some people advised Qin Mugong:
"Meng Mingshi has been defeated by the Jin army several times in a row. This time, the king will go with him. What if he is captured by the Jin army again like the first time? If you have any accidents, the king, Qin's foundation But it's dangerous."
"If I didn't trust Meng Mingshi, I would have replaced him in the first defeat. Now is the time to see if I really trust him. If I don't go, it means that I don't believe he can beat Jin, and there is no need for him to send troops."
After hearing what Qin Mugong said, Meng Mingshi immediately expressed his opinion:
"If I can't win the battle this time, I will never come back alive!"
Qin Mugong not only went out with the army, but also spent a lot of money to appease the families of the soldiers.He also selected domestic elite soldiers with Meng Mingshi and prepared 500 military vehicles.This not only gave Meng Mingshi great trust, but also made the soldiers and people all over the country feel high and unanimously determined to win the war.Parents sent off their sons, and wives sent off their husbands. They all told: "This time even the king will go out with you. He wants to watch you defeat the enemy and avenge the dead soldiers. If you don't win the battle, don't come back!" "
Under the leadership of Meng Mingshi, the morale-high Qin army crossed the Yellow River eastward.After crossing the river, Meng Mingshi ordered the soldiers to burn all the boats crossing the river, saying: "Let's come out this time and fight with our backs. There will be no retreat!" The two cities that were taken away also took down several big cities in Jin State.Qin's army was invincible; the people of Jin were terrified and shrank in the city, not daring to come out to fight.
Meng Mingshi led the Qin army to defeat the Jin army this time.When Duke Mu of Qin saw that the state of Jin had surrendered, he led his army to Mount Xiaoshan, buried the bones of the soldiers who died there three years ago, and sacrificed for three days before returning home.Qin State defeated Jin State, the overlord of the Central Plains, and became a new overlord in the Spring and Autumn Period.
The victory of this war is not so much the victory of Meng Mingshi, but rather the victory of Qin Mugong; it is not so much the victory of Qin Mugong who is good at employing people; In the event of defeat, Qin Mugong can still give full support as always, and be able to ignore his own safety at critical times, which requires more tolerance and courage than ordinary people.Of course, these are all based on his own unique vision. Qin Mugong has perfectly interpreted these points, which is also the reason for his success.