Chapter 23 Chapter 23 The History of the Decline of Han, Zhao and Wei

A major feature of the Warring States period is the disintegration of the old forces. The old forces here include not only the slave-owner aristocratic class, but also the vassal states that flourished in the Spring and Autumn Period. In the struggle for hegemony in the Spring and Autumn Period, although there were five overlords, the real main line was the north-south hegemony between Jin and Chu. For the power order of the vassal states in the Spring and Autumn Period, Jin and Chu were this order. North ends the scales.The unification process of the Warring States Period was first of all the disintegration and decline of these two countries.

In contrast, the state of Jin disintegrated faster. In the early days of the Warring States Period, the division of Han, Zhao, and Wei was completed through the division of Jin into three families.After that, among the three countries, Wei State and Zhao State were all very prosperous in the struggle for hegemony among the princes of the Central Plains.Wei State was the first country in the Warring States Period to become stronger through reforms, and Zhao State's Hufu riding and shooting policy made them the second military power in the entire Warring States Period after Qin State.Among them, South Korea is the weakest and one of the Seven Heroes of the Warring States Period.However, the decline of these three countries is inevitable in the end. The methods are different, but the result is the same - to be destroyed by Qin.

Su Xun, a litterateur of the Song Dynasty, in his "On the Six Kingdoms", grieved over the decline and fall of the three countries of Han, Zhao and Wei. He believed that the existence and strength of these three countries were the key to preventing Qin from annexing the six countries. If the countries of the Central Plains in the east can concentrate their strength to rescue the three countries of Han, Zhao and Wei, and let them unite to resist Qin, then the six countries will be saved from the fate of being destroyed.It's easy for Su Zhe to say, but how difficult is this process to implement?Not to mention the six countries at this time, under the situation of being unable to fight against Qin, they think more about self-protection. Even the three countries themselves eventually become a dou that cannot be supported.

In the process of Qin's unification of the six countries, the three countries of Han, Zhao and Wei were the countries that suffered the most military disasters. They despised Qin in the early days, were beaten by Qin, and were feared by Qin in the end.Such a process is the process of their decline. The weakest of the three countries is South Korea.From beginning to end, it was hardly ever stronger. South Korea's territory, including today's southern Shanxi and northern Henan, was the weakest family in the "accounts" after the early partition of the Jin Kingdom. It could not compete with Zhao Wei in terms of land area or military strength. Compare.

After the three families divided up the state of Jin, the early South Korea was once bullish.In 375 BC, the then Han Aihou destroyed the state of Zheng and moved the capital to Xinzheng.Like Wei and Zhao in the early days, South Korea also carried out reforms in the early Warring States period. However, compared with other countries that adopted Legalism, South Korea's reforms were special.The reform in South Korea began during the reign of Han Zhaohou. He used Shen Buhui as the Prime Minister and started the reform process of "cultivating skills and practicing Taoism".Although Shen Buhai's reform thoughts also have positive content such as strengthening the centralization of power and strengthening the authority of the monarch, their main ideas are derived from Huang Lao's theory, and they focus on "skills", that is, the monarch needs to use various methods to control the ministers. , strengthen the authority, and improve the administrative efficiency of the country.Compared with Wei, Qi, and Qin, this kind of reform is quite incomplete. Shen Buhai has been tossing in South Korea for 15 years. During the period when the reform was most successful, South Korea was not a powerful country. On the contrary, after the death of Han Zhaohou, South Korea fell into civil strife, and the reform failed.However, Shen Buhai's reforms are also effective, and it is precisely these 15 years of reforms that have enabled South Korea to establish their status as a major country among the Seven Heroes of the Warring States Period.Of course, it is the weakest "big country".

There are three main problems in South Korea's development. First, the country's old aristocrats are powerful and reforms are not thorough; In the history of South Korea, there has not been such a powerful monarch as King Qi Wei, Qin Xiaogong, and Wei Wenhou. Such a South Korea, since the founding of the country, was destined to be a weakling in the history of the Warring States Period. In fact, South Korea also has relatively good conditions. For example, the crossbows of South Korea have the longest range among the princes of the Warring States Period. Their heavy crossbows could reach 800 meters at that time. When Qin State attacked South Korea, they also specially collected South Korean crossbows—— Take it back and study it yourself.After a brief heyday, South Korea soon fell into decline, especially after Wei and Qin rose one after another, and South Korea's life was getting worse day by day. It became the protectorate of South Korea, but when King Wei Hui was in power, the main target of the attack was South Korea.King Wei Hui hoped to get the land of South Korea, not only as a buffer zone against Qin's eastward advance, but also as a fertile land.However, during this period, Qi State, which was equally powerful, used the tactics of "attacking and saving" to severely injure Wei State in Maling, and finally saved South Korea's life.Before this war started, in order to weaken Wei State as much as possible, Qi State deliberately delayed saving South Korea, and waited for South Korea to run out of ammunition and food, and declared its allegiance to Qi State, and then sent troops with great fanfare. Wei Guo was defeated, but South Korea was also basically crippled.

But South Korea's hard life has just begun during this period, because the Qin State in the west has also risen.When Qin Xiaogong was in power, he launched a war against Wei and regained the lost land in Xihe, while also attacking South Korea vigorously.In 359 BC, the Qin State, which had just embarked on the road of reform, turned to South Korea for practice after failing to attack Wei State, and defeated South Korea many times. Those who are tough can't beat Qin, so they join forces with Zhao, Wei and other brother countries. Unfortunately, during this period, Wei can maintain its military advantage over Qin, but every time it joins forces with South Korea, it is defeated by Qin. The country was defeated and lost.For example, in 366 BC, Qin State, which had not yet reformed at that time, defeated the coalition forces of South Korea and Wei State in Luoyang. Soon after, Wei State fought against Qin State alone, and Qin State fled in embarrassment.With the strengthening of Qin's reform power, Wei State could no longer protect South Korea, and South Korea was bullied by Qin State more and more. The late period of Han Zhaohou's reign was the period of credit Shen Buhui's reform. He decisively participated in the "Cooperation" "Vertical" camp, intending to unite the princes of the Central Plains to deal with Qin, but the first time they lifted their legs and touched their feet with mud.In 318 BC, South Korea participated in the five-nation coalition composed of Wei, Chu, Zhao, and Yan in an attempt to attack Hangu Pass, but was beaten up in a hurry.The only victory of South Korea against Qin in history was in 294 BC when South Korea participated in Qi’s coalition against Qin. It didn't take long, and Qi State was attacked by the Five Routes soon after, and its power fell into a slump.Qin not only regained the territory returned to South Korea, but also occupied a large area incidentally.After the beginning of the Warring States Period, South Korea was the country that was bullied the most by Qin.It's useless to join forces, and it's useless to resist, so what should we do?

After many failures, South Korea simply thought about it. Isn't it just losing power and humiliating the country, and I will not be alone.In 275 BC, South Korea was defeated by Qin Baiqi. After 40,000 people were beheaded, South Korea stopped completely and adopted a policy of resignation to Qin.Qin State wanted to fight, and immediately asked for peace before the war. Qin State wanted money and land, and gave them all without saying a word, especially when Han Huanhui, the penultimate king of South Korea, reigned for 36 years, he was the most resigned to Qin State36 year.During this period, Qin sent troops to attack South Korea many times, and South Korea didn't even have the courage to fight back.Especially in 262 BC, Qin State attacked Shangdang, an important town in South Korea. King Huanhui of Han dared not resist, and even asked the Shangdang defenders to surrender to Qin State. After that, Feng Ting, the governor of Shangdang County in South Korea, surrendered to Zhao State. It detonated the fuse of the subsequent Battle of Changping.During the whole battle, South Korea didn't dare to intervene at all, and watched Zhao Guo and Qin Guo fight bloody battles, just for the sake of safety for a while.

During the reign of King Han Huanhui, he also had ideas. During his reign, he re-promoted the reform of Shen Buhai, but the effect was very little.At this time, South Korea is already in a situation where the country is severely shrinking and the government orders are blocked.Another stupid thing he did was to send craftsman Zheng Guo into Qin State in 244 BC, pretending to fool Qin State into repairing the Zheng Guo Canal, in an attempt to make Qin State spend all its huge military power on water conservancy projects.But things backfired. The completion of the Zhengguo Canal allowed Qin to reap a hundred years of benefits, irrigated tens of thousands of acres of fertile land, and greatly enhanced its military combat capabilities.In this way, he can only make wedding clothes for Qin.This monarch who had ideas but made no achievements in his life has an outstanding good son, Han Feizi, the most famous Legalist thinker in the Warring States Period.

After the death of King Han Huanhui in 238 BC, Han Wangan, who came to the throne, continued to implement the policy of "cutting meat and feeding tigers".Every time there was a slight disturbance in the state of Qin, the land was cut in a hurry. After more than ten years of cutting, it finally reached the point where there was no land to cut.In 231 BC, Shi Teng, the king of Qin, led an army of 100,000 to cross the Yellow River to the south, destroyed South Korea, and designated the territory of South Korea as Yingchuan County under the rule of Qin.South Korea, the weakest among the Seven Heroes of the Warring States Period, became the first country to die.

In the land of the Three Jins, the most violent resistance to the Qin State was the State of Zhao. After the Battle of Changping, the 400,000 elites of Zhao State were reimbursed. In the eyes of Qin State at that time, this was the best opportunity to destroy Zhao State.In 260 BC, with the aftermath of the Battle of Changping, Qin State initially proposed harsh conditions to Zhao State for cede territory.The impoverished state of Zhao is still stubborn. After discussing with the ministers, King Zhao Xiaocheng decided to reject Qin's unreasonable demands. He would rather die in battle than Qin's bandits.This matter aroused the fury of King Qin Zhaoxiang, who decided to take advantage of the victory to pursue and completely destroy the State of Zhao. This decision aroused opposition at the time, and the leader of the opposition was Bai Qi, the commander-in-chief of the Battle of Changping.Bai Qi knew very well that the Qin State only won the Changping War tragically. In a bloody battle in Changping, more than half of Qin's elite troops were killed and injured, and the country's food reserves were exhausted. In such a situation, it was really not the time to fight.As a result, King Qin Zhaoxiang was angered instead. A status like Bai Qi's outstanding military exploits is dangerous in itself. Later, Bai Qi was killed by King Qin Zhaoxiang, which meant that Qin State destroyed the Great Wall. In June 259 BC, the State of Qin mobilized 500,000 troops to launch the Battle of Handan aimed at destroying the State of Zhao. The army of Qin State dragged desperately under the city of Handan in Zhao State.For this battle, Zhao State fought hard. They rejected Qin State's request to cede land, but instead ceded 6 cities to Qi State, asked Qi State to provide food, prepared food reserves, and then gave up the field battle, and Qin State When the city's offensive and defensive battles were fought, the troops were insufficient, so men, women, and children all went to battle, and the blood of Qin had to be paid.The arrogant Qin army once again suffered from Zhao Guo. Lian Po once again gave full play to his advantage of being good at city defense and led 400,000 soldiers and civilians to resist to the death. Zhao Guo Pingyuan, who had evaded taxes and evaded taxes, dispersed his family's property and food Distributed to the army and the people, and incorporated his wives and concubines into the army, and fought to the death with the people of Qin.The fierce battle lasted for a whole year, and the Qin army suffered more than half of the casualties, but still could not rush into Handan City. At this time, Zhao Guo was also fighting to the point where it ran out of ammunition and food, but it was still struggling. At a critical moment, Mr. Xinling, the son of the state of Wei, staged the story of stealing amulets to save Zhao. He stole the tiger amulets used by the state of Wei to dispatch troops, and mobilized 80,000 troops to reinforce the state of Zhao. Reinforcements were brought in.Under the pincer attack of reinforcements from Wei and Chu, the exhausted Qin State finally collapsed.Zhao Guo, relying on his tenacious will and tenacious struggle, finally climbed up from the cliff of desperation in the Battle of Changping. The battle between Changping and Handan greatly weakened Zhao State. Zhao State lost a large number of people and elite troops, and its national strength plummeted.In 251 BC, even the weaker Yan State among the seven heroes of the Warring States Period took advantage of the fire to loot. At that time, Li Fu, the prime minister of Yan State, went to Zhao State to check the reality of Zhao State. He believed that most of the population of Zhao State had been lost in Changping. In the battle of Zhao State and the subsequent Battle of Handan, most of the remaining people in Zhao State are orphans and widows, and there are very few young and middle-aged people. Such a situation is a great opportunity to destroy Zhao State, and the overconfident King Yan is tempted.In 250 BC, Yan State launched a war of aggression against Zhao State. Who would have thought that they would be defeated as soon as the war started. Within the territory of Yan State, Yan State was almost destroyed.In the next 8 years, Zhao Guo broke out wars with Yan Guo three times, forcing Yan Guo to cede more than a dozen cities. In the battle of Zhao Yan in 243 BC, the young cavalry general Li Mu stood out.During the war in Yan State, Zhao State not only re-trained the army, revitalized its morale, but also made up for the losses inside and outside the embankment. It gained a large population and important towns in Yan State, and its strength began to recover. After the death of King Zhao Xiaocheng, King Zhao Mourning came to the throne. In the early days of his reign, Zhao's military strength recovered somewhat, especially the young generals represented by Li Mu began to grow up.In 244 BC, that is, the first year after King Zhao Yuxiang ascended the throne, Li Mu gave him a good start and defeated the Huns! The Warring States Period was not only a history of heroes fighting for hegemony among the princes of the Central Plains, but also a history of blood and tears for the people in northern China who were ravaged by the Huns.The princes of other countries fought happily on the battlefield in the Central Plains, but the riders of the Huns felt as if they were in an uninhabited territory on the thousands of miles of northern China.The majestic Great Wall is just a bunch of clumsy decorations in the eyes of the prairie pride. The solemn chariot infantry phalanx is turned into a chopping block under the saber of the barbarian riders. The hopeless pursuit of time has become a lingering nightmare in the hearts of generations of Chinese soldiers. Fortunately, Zhao Guo has Li Mu.From Zhao Wuling Wang Hufu riding and archery, the Han cavalry in their childhood and growing up used countless blood and sacrifices to irrigate the flower of victory over the nomadic cavalry. Until 244 BC, a general of the Zhao state named Li Mu personally defeated the Yanmen Pass. Pick off the brilliant blood-like fruit.Before that, he was the pillar of Zhao State to support the country's safety; before that, his Zhao State cavalry was the king's army who was in full swing and Qin State was afraid of three points; Like the tireless firefighters, they rushed to every inch of the war-burning land on the border of Zhao State.Going north to Yanmen is the heaviest challenge in the military career of this undefeated general. He will face a powerful enemy that the Central Plains cavalry has never defeated.The tens of years of fighting and killing in the Northland are destined to become the end of blood coagulation in his hands. It is a pity that the Central Plains cavalry at that time did not have the strength to compete with the horseback people on the prairie, and the result of taking the initiative to attack was bound to be a suicide attack.Li Mu unexpectedly chose silence and patience. He endured when the Huns ravaged and harassed him. He also endured when the whole country attacked him as timid and cowardly. He still endured when the soldiers were full of enthusiasm for war. Shame seemed to be a heavy stone, once pressing on his steel-like spine.Lu Xun said that a true warrior dares to face the bleak life and dripping blood. Li Mu is just such a mourner and a happy person. The long endurance is not a cowardly retreat, but an inherent prelude to an explosion in silence. The day of the counterattack finally came. In the spring of 244 BC, the Huns who went south in a large scale tasted for the first time the pain of the Han family's blade passing over their necks.Lured the enemy to go deep, exhausted the enemy, surrounded by heavy troops, Li Mu, who endured for too long in silence, completed the trilogy of Sun Tzu's Art of War like a computer program with precise calculations.The infantry group blocked in the middle, the chariot crossbowmen group shot from a long distance, and the cavalry corps encircled the two wings. The well-trained Zhao army seemed to be a well-operated machine, choking the fate of 100,000 Hun cavalry in an instant.The 13,000 Zhao Jun cavalry encircled by two routes seemed to be two sharp machetes that had been sharpened on the bluestone for too long, easily tearing apart the seemingly invincible cavalry formation of the Huns.The arrogant Xiongnu Shanyu experienced the pain of being mermaid for the first time, and the whole day's battle quickly turned into a desperate pursuit and massacre. The 100,000 Hun cavalry were wiped out, and the Hun Shanyu fled hastily with only a dozen entourages. "Hu people dare not go south to graze horses", the tragic victory of the unified Qin Dynasty in Jia Yi's works was achieved in the hands of Li Mu in a miraculous way. The victory of this battle temporarily relieved the threat of the Xiongnu to Zhao's northern territory.And this King Zhao Yuxiang was also the last promising monarch at the end of the Zhao Kingdom. He was determined to invigorate, rectify his military equipment, and unite all countries to fight against the strong Qin in an attempt to revive the prestige of the Zhao Kingdom.In the next 9 years, Zhao State defeated Yan State to the north, and took away the territory of Yan State to supplement it.In 238 BC, King Zhao Mourning also defeated the invasion of 100,000 people from the state of Qin Mengao. After that, under the operation of the minister Yao Jia, he successfully persuaded the three countries of Qi, Chu, and Yan, and the four countries formed an alliance. Alliance against Qin.The eastern countries ushered in the best situation of uniting against Qin after the Battle of Changping, but at this time, God did not bless Zhao, and King Zhao Mourning died in 234 BC, which can be described as unfulfilling ambition.This accomplished emperor also made several mistakes in his life.He favored the treacherous villain Guo Kai. Under Guo Kai's slander, King Zhao Mourning abolished the former prince, appointed his unworthy son Zhao Qian as his heir, and drove away the outstanding veteran Lian Po.All of this laid the groundwork for the demise of Zhao Guo later. After the death of King Zhao Mourning, King Zhao moved to the throne. This is King Zhao Youmiao who has been in power for 8 years.During his reign, he really pushed the tenacious state of Zhao into the abyss of extinction.In the first two years of his accession to the throne, Qin State launched several attacks. At this time, because of Guo Kai's monopoly, he killed Yao Jia, a capable minister who contributed to the unity of Qi, Chu, Yan, and Zhao. not there.Zhao Guo, who was fighting alone, was defeated and lost a large number of people and land. In the third year, the helpless King Youmiao of Zhao transferred Li Mu back from the northern border. .This war that took place in 232 BC was also the last heavy blow that Zhao State dealt to Qin State. Li Mu, who made great achievements in the Battle of Fei, suffered the tragedy of "self-destructing the Great Wall" after the war.It was that villain Guo Kai who instigated it.Guo Kai accepted Qin's bribe and framed Li Mu's rebellion against King Zhao Youmiao, and Zhao Youmiao King was really fooled.In 229 BC, Li Mu was killed by King Youmiao of Zhao. Only three months later, the State of Qin entered Handan like a broken bamboo.In 222 B.C., Zhao Jia descended to Qin State at the end of his life, and Zhao State, which had the strongest resistance in the three Jin lands, died like this. Among the three Jin countries, Wei State was the first to rise, and Wei State was the first to carry out reforms in the early Warring States period. Wei State was the one that bullied Qin State the most. In the Battle of Maling in 342 BC, Wei State completely lost its status as a powerful country.In 318 BC, King Wei Hui, who suffered many setbacks in his later years, passed away, ending his life of honor and disgrace.However, Wei's important position in the Central Plains was highlighted by another movement: Hezong. In the Hezong Movement initiated by Gongsun Yan, King Wei Xiang, who succeeded King Wei Hui to the throne, was one of the main participants.In 318 BC, King Xiang of Wei appointed Gongsun Yan as his chancellor and became the initiator of the "Hezong" movement.King Wei Xiang is still very ambitious and intends to restore Wei's hegemony.At this time, the national strength of Wei State was greatly damaged, and it was time to recuperate, but King Wei Xiang adopted a policy of mobilizing troops year after year.In the first year of his accession to the throne, he participated in the joint vertical alliance to attack Qin, but was severely injured by Qin instead.This person's position was not firm, and he immediately fell to Qin's side after being frustrated. In the second year, he simply acted as Qin's younger brother and launched an attack on Qi, but he was beaten badly again.In Wei State at that time, a single national power could not compete with any of the two great powers of Qi and Qin. King Wei Xiang's determination to forge ahead actually accelerated the decline of Wei State. After sending troops to the wall several times, King Wei Xiang finally made his position clear.Beginning in 311 BC, he officially fell to Qin State, and throughout his life, Wei State was basically devoted to Qin State.But at the same time, Wei State took advantage of the opportunity of helping Qin State conquer other countries, and began to bargain with Qin State. Agreed to return part of the territory occupied by Wei State.Wei Guo finally won a diplomatic victory after being attacked by Qin Guo for several years. After the death of King Wei Xiang, his son King Wei Zhao reigned for 19 years, which was a period of gradual weakening of the state of Wei.The early King Wei Zhao changed the national policy of King Wei Xiang to unite with the State of Qin, and turned to the State of Qi.In the second year of his accession to the throne, he took the initiative to launch a war against Qin, but was defeated again.In 293 BC, King Wei Zhao suffered a tragedy that was second only to the Battle of Changping in the history of the Warring States Period. He and South Korea jointly attacked the State of Qin, but was defeated by Qin general Bai Qi, and 240,000 people were beheaded in World War I. , the families of Han and Wei were almost wiped out by Bai Qi in the first battle.Three years later, King Wei Zhao made an unprecedented decision.Take the initiative to cede territory to Qin State for peace in exchange for temporary stability.Wei State also became the first country among the Seven Heroes of the Warring States Period to ask Qin State for peace by ceding land. Once this bad head started, all the princes from all walks of life would follow suit. Not only did Wei's cession of land not bring peace, but it brought even more tragic blows from Qin.In the second year after Wei State ceded the land, Qin State launched a large-scale attack and captured 61 cities in Wei State in one go.Since then, Wei State has been no longer a big country, and its territory has almost shrunk by more than half during the period of King Wei Zhao.Of course, during the reign of King Wei Zhao, it was not without "splendours". He once participated in the coalition against Qi State and defeated King Qi Min in Jishui. A big opponent can be said to make things worse for Wei's future fate. After the death of King Wei Zhao, the state of Wei was even more unable to challenge the state of Qin, and he lost the courage to join the alliance.King Wei Anao and King Wei Jingmin, who were behind King Wei Zhao, both regarded the "land for peace" towards Qin as a basic national policy. Like South Korea, they basically accepted it.But in this matter, the king of the state of Wei was frightened by the state of Qin. Not only did he not dare to rescue the state of Zhao, which was still fighting against Qin after the Battle of Changping, but he even turned his anger on Lord Xinling afterwards.In the following generations of kings, the land was reduced day by day in the exchange of land for peace. Until 225 BC, the state of Wei was completely destroyed by the state of Qin.Looking at the whole process, perhaps Su Xun's words can sum it up best: It's not good for soldiers, not good at war, and the disadvantage lies in bribing Qin.