Chapter 14 Chapter Fourteen: The Log at the South Gate of Yongcheng

——Apocalypse of the Rise of Great Qin Dynasty In 359 BC, a three-foot-high log was erected at the south gate of Yongcheng, the capital of the Qin State. At the moment when this log was erected, the foreshadowing of many events in Chinese history had been quietly buried in Yongcheng. In the fertile loess that has gone through wind and frost, solid and thick. In the early period of the Warring States period, among the Qixiong of Qi, Chu, Yan, Han, Zhao, Wei and Qin, the state of Qin located in Kansai lagged behind the countries in the Central Plains in terms of politics, economy, and culture.The adjacent Wei State is far stronger than Qin State, and has taken a large piece of land in Hexi from Qin State.

After Qin Xiaogong came to the throne, he was determined to strive for strength and catch up with the Kanto countries. He knew that the most important thing for the development and rise of the country was talents, so he issued an order, saying: "Whether it is a Qin person or a foreigner, whoever has talent If you find a way to make the state of Qin prosperous and strong, reward him with high officials and generous salary." Qin Xiaogong's call really attracted many talented people.There was a nobleman in the state of Wei named Gongsun Yang (later Shang Yang), who could not be reused in his own country, so he went to the state of Qin to see Qin Xiaogong.Shang Yang said to Qin Xiaogong: "If a country wants to be rich and strong, it must pay attention to agriculture and reward its soldiers; if it wants to rule the country well, it must have rewards and punishments. With rewards and punishments, the court has prestige, and all reforms can be carried out easily. "Qin Xiaogong fully agreed with Shang Yang's proposition, so he worshiped Shang Yang as Zuo Shuchang (equivalent to deputy prime minister), and let him take full charge of major reforms.

Shang Yang drafted a reform decree, but he was afraid that the people would not trust him and would not follow the new decree, so he first ordered someone to erect a three-foot-high log at the south gate of the capital, and ordered: "Who can put this If you carry a piece of wood to the north gate, you will be rewarded with ten taels of gold." At first, everyone talked about it, and then you looked at me, I looked at you, but no one went up to carry the wood. Knowing that the common people still didn't believe his order, Shang Yang raised the reward to fifty taels. Unexpectedly, the higher the reward, the more unreasonable the spectators felt, and still no one took it.At this time, a brave man (historical should remember this man's name) came out from the crowd and said, "Let me try it." He picked up the wood and left, moving all the way to the north gate.

Shang Yang immediately sent someone to reward the first person who dared to "eat crabs" with fifty taels of yellow gold, not a single cent was missing. The news immediately spread throughout the city, causing a sensation in Qin State, and the common people said: "Master Zuo Shu's order is really unambiguous!" Li Mu of Nanmen established Shang Yang's prestige among the people of Qin State, so he announced the drafted reform decree while the iron was hot.The new decree stipulates that military merit is the standard for the size of official positions and titles, and nobles without military merits will have no titles; those who produce more food and cloth are exempted from official posts; slaves.

In 350 BC, Shang Yang carried out the second reform. The main contents of the reform were: 1. Abolish the well fields and open rice paddies; 2. Establish the county system and strengthen the centralization of power; Shang Yang knew that only strong agriculture could support the ever-expanding war, so he emphasized agriculture and suppressed business, vigorously developed agriculture, implemented effective macro-management of agriculture through strict laws, and overhauled water conservancy projects to support the development of agriculture.When Qin destroyed Chu, it mobilized an army of 600,000 and fought for nearly two years. If Qin did not have developed agriculture, it would be absolutely impossible to carry out such a large-scale war.

Shang Yang also changed his teacher Li Kui's "Fa Jing" to "Qin Law" and implemented it throughout the country. This is a set of complicated, severe and harsh laws that no other country can bear.Since then, the entire Qin State has been operating successfully and effectively in strict accordance with this set of laws. It has influenced six generations of Qin people until Qin Shihuang, and finally enabled Qin State to complete the great and arduous task of destroying the six countries and unifying the world. historical mission. For example, Shang Yang stipulated that as long as the soldiers of Qin State captured the enemy's head, they could get one level of title, one field house and the number of servants.The more heads you kill, the higher the title you get.It can be said that the whole life is linked to the war. This is Shang Yang's famous military merit awarding system.

Shang Yang also proposed and implemented "one punishment without grades", that is, "from ministers to ministers, generals to officials, and common people, whoever disobeys the king's order, violates the state's ban, or violates the upper system will be punished with death." Everyone is equal before the law.Under the condition that aristocratic privileges still prevail, one can imagine the courage and courage to propose "a decree".Later, Qin Xiaogong passed away, and the old nobles took the opportunity to falsely accuse Shang Yang of "rebellion", killed him, and sentenced him to be torn apart.Although Shang Yang died, the new law was able to continue to be implemented because it had been promulgated for many years and was deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.If he knows it underground, while he is sad for himself, he will definitely be deeply pleased with the success of the reform.

Since Shang Yang's reform, Qin's agricultural production has increased year by year, and its military power has become stronger day by day, providing a strong economic and military foundation for territorial expansion and unification of the six countries.Soon, Qin State attacked the western part of Wei State, from Hexi to Hedong, and defeated the opponent's capital Anyi (now Xia County, Shanxi). Wei State had to cede the land in Hexi, and moved the capital to Daliang (now Kaifeng, Henan) ). As the state of Qin became more and more prosperous and powerful, the emperor of Zhou was deeply shocked, and sent envoys to bring sacrificial meat to Duke Xiao of Qin, and named him "Fang Bo" (the leader of one party's princes).

King Qin Hui, the son of Qin Xiaogong, first seized the Sanchuan area, then took Shangjun in the north, Hanzhong in the south, Jiuyi in the west, Chenggao in the east, and cut off large tracts of land from other vassal states. In 256 BC, King Qin Zhao destroyed the Zhou royal family that had long existed in name only, and the world fell into a state of leaderless dragons and melee among princes. The development of the Qin State caused panic among the six eastern countries, and they no longer dared to underestimate the Qin State, which was once regarded as a land of barbarians. Therefore, the strategists who fought and fought with each other stepped onto the stage of history.Su Qin advocated and practiced the strategy of jointly attacking Qin. He not only served as the commander of the vertical agreement, but also wore the seal of the six countries.Zhang Yi, who is as famous as Su Qin, put forward the idea of ​​Lianheng for Qin. In order to disintegrate the Qi-Chu alliance, Zhang Yi did not hesitate to use deception.

Fan Ju put forward the policy of "distance and close attack" for King Zhao of Qin, that is, attack near and make friends with those far away, just like silkworms eating mulberry leaves, first eat what is near your mouth, then eat from the side, and finally eat up the whole mulberry leaf.This strategic policy was used by successive monarchs of the Qin State.Qin Wangzheng adopted the opinions of Li Si and Wei Liao, and bribed the powerful officials of the six countries to disrupt their plans. At the same time, he appointed Yao Jia to alienate the relations of the six countries with money, and appointed Dunwei to recruit talents to drive apart the monarchs and ministers of other countries.

In 230 BC, Qin Shihuang's great and tragic war to unify the six countries and sweep the world began. The Qin army started from a weak country first, and was the first to lock South Korea next to the couch. Qin Shihuang sent Nei Shi Teng to lead the army straight in, captured Han Wangan, and set up Yingchuan County (the county is in Yuxian County, Henan Province) in the old place of South Korea. South Korea declared dead. After destroying Korea, the second goal is Zhao Guo.During the Battle of Changping, the Qin army used tricks to spread rumors, so that Zhao Kuo, who was talking on paper, replaced the veteran Lian Po. As a result, 400,000 Zhao troops were captured and then killed. The main force of Zhao State had been completely lost at that time.In 229 B.C., Zhao State was hit by a series of major earthquakes and famines. Qin Shihuang once again ordered Wang Jian and Yang Duan to launch a full-scale attack on Zhao State.Wang Jian implemented counterintuitive tactics, bought Zhao Wang's favorite minister Guo Kai with a lot of money, and slandered Li Mu and others, saying that they wanted to rebel. As a result, Li Mu was killed by Zhao Wang.In 228 BC, Wang Jian defeated the Zhao army, conquered Handan, captured Zhao Wangqian, and occupied the mainland of Zhao.Then he sent his troops to the north, stationed in Zhongshan (Ding County, Hebei Province), and approached the State of Yan. The Qin army approached Yan State, causing panic in Yan and Dai.Crown Prince Dan of Yan took in Fan Yuqi, a rebel general of Qin, and met the assassin Jing Ke through Tian Guang, a warrior of Yan, in an attempt to assassinate Qin Shihuang, but Jing Ke failed to kill Qin Shihuang, and instead aroused Qin Shihuang's anger towards Yan.In 226 BC, the Qin army captured Jicheng (now Beijing), the capital of Yan, and King Xi of Yan and Prince Dan fled to Liaodong. After the Qin army conquered Jicheng, the capital of Yan, they directed their strikes at the state of Wei.In 225 BC, Qin Shihuang sent Wang Ben, the son of Wang Jian, to lead an army of 100,000 to attack Wei.Wang Ben saw that the terrain of Daliang City was relatively low, and it was not far from the Yellow River and Honggou, so he ordered the Qin army to open canals to divert the water from the Yellow River and Honggou to Daliang City.Three months later, the city walls collapsed, the Qin army invaded Daliang, the king of Wei surrendered falsely, and the state of Wei perished. In 225 BC, Qin Shihuang sent Li Xin to lead an army to attack Chu.Li Xin underestimated the enemy and advanced aggressively, winning first and then losing.In 224 BC, Qin Shihuang personally invited veteran Wang Jian to lead an army of 600,000 to attack Chu.He defeated the Chu army in Qinan, killed the Chu general Xiang Yan, and occupied a large area of ​​Chu territory.In 223 BC, Wang Jian and Meng Wu jointly attacked Shouchun, the capital of Chu, and captured the king of Chu.In the following year, Wang Jian led his army across the Yangtze River, pacified the Jiangnan area of ​​Chu State, surrendered the king of Baiyue, and Chu State declared its demise. After the fall of Chu, Qin Shihuang sent Wang Ben to lead his army deep into the northeast to wipe out the remnants of Yan and Zhao.In 222 BC, Wang Ben captured Liaodong, killed Prince Dan, captured Yan Wangxi, then captured Daicheng, captured Dai Wang Jia, and the two countries of Yan and Zhao were completely destroyed.So far, only Qi remains among the six eastern countries.In 221 BC, Qin Shihuang ordered Wang Ben to lead the Qin army to attack Qi from the border of Yan State.With lightning speed and no resistance, Wang Ben suddenly invaded Linzi, the capital of Qi (Zibo, Shandong).Qi Wangjian entered Qin and surrendered, and Qi was also included in Qin's territory. In just ten years, Qin Shihuang wiped out the six kingdoms like the autumn wind sweeping away fallen leaves, and unified China. Li Bai wrote a poem praising: "The king of Qin sweeps Liuhe, and the tiger looks at He Xiongzai! Striking the sword to strike the floating clouds, all the princes come to the west." Shang Yang's reform changed the fate of Qin, and the rise of Qin changed the fate of thousands of people, including many outstanding figures such as the great poet Qu Yuan, the great thinker Han Feizi, and the great knight Jing Ke that we are very familiar with. After unifying the six countries, Qin Shihuang implemented the system of prefectures and counties throughout the country, dividing the world into thirty-six counties (later, with external expansion, it increased to more than forty counties).Unify characters, weights and measures, vehicle shapes and currencies, and "teach the law".At the same time, he sent Meng Tian to lead an army of 300,000 to attack the Huns in the north and build the Great Wall.Later, the Chi Road was overhauled.Then, the first emperor gave an order, and 500,000 Qin troops quickly advanced to the south and unified Lingnan.During the war, in order to transfer soldiers and rations, Qin Shihuang ordered people to dig Lingqu.Although these projects are a bit of a waste of money and people, they are all for the present and benefit the future. The Great Wall has become the most typical symbol of China. The Great Qin Empire stood proudly in the east, like a newborn sun, like a rising hill, with a grand scale and atmosphere. At that time, only ancient Rome in the Mediterranean and the Mauryan Dynasty on the South Asian subcontinent could be compared with the Qin Empire.However, such a glorious empire came to the end of its life early before it could radiate its dazzling glory around. In 206 BC, the violent peasant uprising finally completely overturned the Great Qin Empire created by the First Emperor Yingzheng, which existed for only fifteen years, but the story of the Qin Dynasty did not end here. Two thousand and two hundred years later, in the spring of 1974, in Xiyang Village, Yanzhai Commune, Lintong County, at the foot of Lishan Mountain, Shaanxi Province, a few farmers dug up an ancient building when they were digging wells to combat drought during the "Learning from Dazhai in Agriculture" campaign. And some pottery figurines, later authenticated by archaeological experts and further excavated by relevant departments, have been buried underground for more than 20 centuries. The Terracotta Warriors and Horses of Qin Shihuang, known as the "Eighth Wonder of the World", have finally been rediscovered...