Chapter 3 1. Hard-won victory

The course of history sometimes goes beyond people's imagination.In 221 BC, when the general Wang Ben led Qin's tiger and wolf army to the coast of the East China Sea, who would have thought that Qi Wang Tianjian, who owned 70 cities and thousands of miles of land and once "sent troops to guard its western border", would actually Will it open the door to steal and surrender without a fight? The last state in Chinese history has perished, and the long history of the empire has come to an end.The Qin Kingdom, which had been gearing up for a long time, finally annexed the world. From then on, "countries and counties in the sea were unified, and the laws and regulations were unified" ("Historical Records: The Book of Qin Shihuang"), and the unified empire of centralized power officially kicked off.

This has never happened before, and it happened suddenly. It is true that the Qin Kingdom's monarchs and ministers have made long-term preparations for this, and have also looked forward to it for a long time, but the speed of victory is still astounding.Please see the timetable - In 230 BC (the seventeenth year of Qin Shihuang) Qin destroyed Han; In 228 BC (the nineteenth year of Qin Shihuang) Qin destroyed Zhao; In 225 BC (the 22nd year of Qin Shihuang), Qin destroyed Wei; In 223 BC (the twenty-fourth year of Qin Shihuang), Qin destroyed Chu; In 222 BC (the twenty-fifth year of Qin Shihuang), Qin destroyed Yan;

In 221 BC (the twenty-sixth year of Qin Shihuang), Qin destroyed Qi. However, within nine years, the so-called six kingdoms were completely destroyed by Qin, and almost every one or two countries were wiped out.This is really a miracle in the cold weapon era more than 2,000 years ago; and behind this miracle is the first question we are interested in - why can they? Among the so-called "Seven Heroes of the Warring States Period" who fought endlessly to annex the world, Qin was originally the least "qualified" to rule the world.The most "qualified" is Qi.Qi, Yan, and Jin, the "mother state" of Zhao, Wei, and Han, were all the earliest feudal states.Especially Qi, who was conferred by King Wu, ranked first among the meritorious officials, and was known as the "first seal".Afterwards, Qi annexed many small countries and became the king and hegemony on the coast of the East China Sea.Qin finally destroyed Qi. In addition to geographical reasons, there were also political, economic, military and other reasons.

Chu is also qualified, at least he thinks he is.Chu's qualifications were originally poor. During the feudal period of the Western Zhou Dynasty, only a viscount was granted. The orthodox history books call the king of Chu Chuzi.So the Chu people "disobeyed Zhou" (not surrendered to the Zhou royal family).The upper and lower monarchs and ministers all call themselves barbarians, and they only fight against the Chinese princes.Not serving troops for five years would be considered a great shame, and one would not be able to see one's ancestors after one's death. To this day, "dissatisfied" is still called "dissatisfied with Zhou" in Hubei dialect.Around the Spring and Autumn Period, the vassal states annexed by Chu, ranging from forty to fifty large and small, finally emerged as a powerful force in the south.During the Warring States Period, the territory of Chu stretched from the coast in the east to the Central Plains in the north, central Guizhou in the west, and Cangwu in the south, accounting for almost half of the world at that time.Therefore, when Qin destroyed the six kingdoms, Chu was the most dissatisfied, so that there is a saying that "although Chu has three households, the death of Qin must be Chu".

Qin's qualifications are poor.According to "Historical Records Qin Benji", the Qin people were nomadic people who lived by herding horses. Because their ancestors were good at driving chariots (good at controlling) and raising horses (good horses and livestock, good at raising them), they were awarded by King Mu of Zhou and King Xiao of Zhou. However, he did not become a doctor until King Xuan of Zhou, and was not named a prince until King Ping of Zhou moved east.At this time, it was the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, and it had been 275 years since the enfeoffment of the Western Zhou Dynasty.And the reason for being banned was because of Xi Rong.Xirong is an ethnic minority in the west of Zhou State. It rose from the grasslands and later merged with Beidi to become the Xiongnu. It has always been the confidant of the Central Plains Dynasty.The Qishan and Fenghao conferred by King Ping to the Qin people were taken away by the Xirong from the Zhou people and then taken back by the Qin people.King Ping gave the titles to the Qin people. It was originally just a favor, but also to let them "reclamate and guard the border" on this disputed land. It was not only a shield, but also a grain depot. It was the earliest "production and construction corps".What qualifications does this kind of semi-civilized barbarian, a political upstart, have to compete with the Six Kingdoms for supremacy?

The political, economic, and military power of the six countries are also very strong, not only full of talents, but also ambitious.In this regard, Jia Yi's "On the Passing of the Qin Dynasty" has an extremely vivid and wonderful description, and it is still thrilling to read.Jia Yi said that there were many outstanding leaders in the six countries at that time. As the saying goes, "Qi had Mengchang, Zhao had Pingyuan, Chu had Chunshen, and Wei had Xinling".These four people are "wise and faithful, generous and loving, respecting the virtuous and respecting scholars".The six countries do not hesitate to treasure treasures and lands (do not love precious and fertile lands), recruit talents from all directions (even people from all over the world), and form the broadest united front (jointly establish diplomatic relations, and become one with each other).So politicians like Ning Yue, Xu Shang, and Su Qin planned it, diplomats like Qi Ming, Zhou Zui, and Chen Zhen communicated with them, and military strategists like Wu Qi, Sun Bin, and Lian Po commanded the army. "Ten times the land, millions of people", arrogantly "knock on the pass and attack Qin", determined to compete with the Qin people.Its menacing momentum, to paraphrase the words in the crusade against Wu Zetian written by King Luo Bin for Xu Jingye, it is really "the sound of the squad moves and the north wind rises, the sword energy rushes and the south fights flat, the silence makes the mountains collapse, and the sound changes the situation." , as the saying goes, "If you use this to control the enemy, how can the enemy be invincible; if you use this to make merit, how can you not overcome it"!

But what was the result? Qin Guoda opened and closed the door and faced the battle calmly (the Qin people opened and closed to extend the enemy), Qi, Chu, Yan, Zhao, Wei, Han, plus Song, Wei, Zhongshan, the division of the nine countries, Unexpectedly, they dispersed in a rush, and did not dare to attack at all (fleeing but not daring to enter).The Qin State did not spend a single shot or bullet (no cost of a dead arrow), and "the princes of the world are already trapped."So the treaty was torn up, the coalition forces were disbanded, and the princes from all walks of life rushed to cede land and pay compensation in order to please and bribe Qin.The Qin people took advantage of the profit and waited for work. They calmly cleaned up these guys, chased the fugitives, and drove out the defeated (chasing the dead and chasing the north), bleeding so much that even the shield floated (a million corpses, bleeding and brine).The victorious Qin people "drove the world and divided the rivers and mountains because of their advantages and convenience", while the defeated six countries were frightened and begged for mercy.In this way, the people of Qin easily turned the six kingdoms into their own meat on the plate.

How could it be like this? There have been many discussions on the previous people.The more famous ones include Jia Yi's "On Passing the Qin Dynasty", Du Mu's "A Fang Gong Fu", Liu Zongyuan's "On Feudalism" and Su Zhe's "Six Kingdoms".Jia Yi believes that there are actually certain objective reasons why the six countries could not defeat Qin, that is, Qin is a "country of four fortresses" that is "solidified by mountains and rivers".Jia Yi said, from the appointment of Duke Mu to the success of King Qin, there were more than twenty people before and after the king of Qin. Could it be that all of them are sages? Of course it is impossible.They are able to remain invincible (often princes and heroes), because the geographical conditions are so good (their situation is amazing).The armies of the six countries "attack Qin with one heart and one strength", each sending the best generals to lead the troops (the good generals lead the troops), and the best civil servants to strategize (the virtuous ones share their plans), are they all idiots? )? Of course not.The reason why they came aggressively and failed completely (a million people fled to the north and ruined it) is really because of "unfavorable shape and inconvenient situation".As for the later demise of Qin Dynasty, there were two reasons, one was "benevolence and righteousness were not applied", and the other was "different offensive and defensive forces".That is to say, when coveting the world, it is an offensive, so you might as well rely on the danger of the land and use fraudulent power (annexers, high fraudulent power); after unifying the world, you are on the defensive, so you should change your policy and be kind to others (those who stabilize, honor and follow power).You have seized the world, and you have not spread benevolence and righteousness, how can you not perish?

Du Mu's point of view is not the same. He believes that both the Six Kingdoms and Qin Dynasty perished because of "failure to perform benevolence and righteousness".Du Mu said that if the kings of the six countries know how to love their own people, they will be able to resist Qin (if each of the six countries loves their own people, it will be enough to resist Qin).Similarly, if the king of Qin knows how to love the people of the six kingdoms, he can be the king forever. How can he die in the second generation (Qin Fu loves the people of the six kingdoms, and he can be the king in the third generation if he loves the people of the six kingdoms, and whoever gets it will die)? Therefore, it was they themselves who destroyed the Six Kingdoms, not Qin (those who destroyed the Six Kingdoms were also the Six Kingdoms, not Qin).It was they themselves who destroyed the Qin Dynasty, not anyone else (those who belonged to Qin, Qin also, not the world).If future generations do not understand this principle, they will perish even more.Su Zhe's statement is different. He believes that the demise of the Six Kingdoms lies in greed (short-sightedness) and short-sightedness (lack of worry).Because of greed (greed for the benefits of the size of the battlefield), they cannot unite (break the alliance and lose the covenant), and even kill each other (kill each other).There is some truth to this statement.For example, King Huai of Chu and King Min of Qi signed a joint defense treaty, agreeing to resist Qin and rescue each other.However, Zhang Yi just shook his lips and promised Qin to return Shangyu (now Xichuan Neixiang, Henan) the territory of six hundred miles, King Huai broke his promise and broke off diplomatic relations with Qi.After breaking up the relationship, I found out that I was cheated.Zhang Yi lied to his face and cheated on the spot, claiming that the king of Qin only agreed to six miles of land, how could there be more than six hundred miles? King Huai was furious, and attacked Qin three times. He was repeatedly defeated and finally became a prisoner himself.Such greed and short-sightedness, if the country is not subjugated, that would be a strange thing.

Obviously, Su Zhe's "Six Kingdoms" mainly focused on policies and strategies. Although it was to the point, it failed to grasp the root of the matter.Jia Yi's "On the Passing of Qin" actually did not answer the reasons for the demise of the six kingdoms.It is true that the Six Kingdoms destroyed Qin because of "unfavorable situation and inconvenient situation"; could it be that Qin destroyed the Six Kingdoms because of "favorable situation and convenient situation"? Since everyone is inconvenient, why can't no one destroy anyone and live in peace? As for Du Mu's "Ode to Efang Palace", although it is reasonable, it also has problems.It is true that the Qin Dynasty was unpopular.There may also be evidence that the Six Nations do not love their people.But the death of the six countries was not caused by the people of the country, but by the people of Qin.Could it be that the King of Qin loved the people benevolently before he took over the world, and he stopped loving them after he became the emperor? In fact, as we will talk about later, Qin was a "violent Qin" long ago, but it only got worse after it became an empire. .However, Qin, who didn't love the people, defeated the six countries that also didn't love the people. There must be another reason.

The most insightful is Liu Zongyuan's "On Feudalism", because only this article talks about the most fundamental thing-system.Liu Zongyuan believed that the demise of Zhou was due to the system (the loss was in the system), not in the administration (not in the government).From the Western Zhou Dynasty to the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, the feudal lords were extravagant and licentious (arrogance), greedy for money and corrupt (arbitrary goods), and militaristic (military), there were many countries with political turmoil (many chaotic countries), few countries with clear politics (management and widowhood), and they cherished the land Those who love the people cannot be singled out in a hundred (there are not one in a hundred people who are private).This is determined by their system.On the contrary, Qin's demise was attributable to governance (lost in government), not in the system (not in the system).There is clearly a strategy for governing the country, but it is not implemented; there are people who govern the country, but they are not appointed; they only know how to torture and force hard labor, which makes thousands of people look at them, and the people are full of resentment. How can there be no reason for immortality? That makes sense.After all, policies and strategies are man-made, but institutions are more fundamental. No wonder Mao Zedong suggested that everyone "familiarly read the theory of feudalism in the Tang Dynasty" (that is, this article by Liu Zongyuan).According to this, Qin finally seized the world, and it can only be attributed to the fact that Qin had the most effective system at that time ("the most effective" does not mean "the best").Moreover, this "most effective system" should have been formed during its kingdom period.Only in this way, it became the founder of the empire. It is not surprising that Qin can become the creator of the new system.Whether in the "Spring and Autumn Five Hegemons" or in the "Warring States Seven Heroes", Qin is the one with the shortest history and the least culture.The most educated are probably Qi and Chu, and Lu, Song, Wu, and Yue are not bad.Qi has Shaoyue, Chu has rhetoric, Lu has Lu Jin, Wu has Wu Dao, all of these are amazing.Confucius listened to "Shao Le" in the state of Qi, didn't he say "I don't know the taste of meat in three months"? Didn't the saying "although Chu has talent" come from "Zuo Zhuan" and "Guo Yu"? In fact, pre-Qin cultural celebrities "Nationality" is either Qi, Lu (Guan, Yan, Kong, Meng), Chu, Song (Lao, Qu, Mo, Zhuang), or Zhao (Xun Kuang), Wei (Yang Zhu), Han ( Han Fei).Even Shang Yang and Lu Buwei, who had the deepest relationship with Qin and helped Qin people a lot, were also from Wei.Qin himself was lackluster, and not a single cultural celebrity had contributed.However, creating a new political system does not necessarily have to have a long historical tradition and profound cultural accumulation. It may be better without it, but it is more innovative and pragmatic (such as the United States).Qin did not have the burden of history and culture, so it came from behind. So, what kind of system did the Qin people create, and what is special about their system? In order to clarify these issues, we might as well go to Qin after the victory, to the beginning of the founding of the Great Qin Dynasty, and see See what's going on there.