Chapter 9 In the second quarter, Wu Qi with brilliant record and "Wu Zi"

Wu Qi was a famous military strategist and statesman in the early Warring States Period, and he wrote "Wu Zi", one of the military classics.Later generations called Sun Wu and Wu Qi together as "Sun Wu". Wu Qi was a native of the Zuo family in Weiguo (today's Dingtaoxi, Shandong, or the northwest of Cao County, Shandong).He was born in the first year of King Zhou Kao (440 BC) and died in the 21st year of King Zhou An (381 BC).He was determined to make a career, but because the state of Wei was weak, he couldn't make it work, so he went to study under Zeng Shen, the grandson of Zeng Zi of Lu State, and studied Confucian classics.Later, Zeng Shen severed the teacher-student relationship with Wu Qi's mother because he did not go to the funeral after her death.As a result, Wu Qi abandoned literature and martial arts and studied the art of war.Three years later, he became a doctor on the recommendation of Yixiu, the minister of Duke Mu of Lu.In the thirty-sixth year of King Weilie of Zhou (410 BC), Qi State attacked Lu State.Wu Qi killed his wife who was married to the state of Qi in order to dispel the suspicion of the monarch and ministers of the state of Lu, so he was appointed as a general.He lined up the old and weak soldiers in the formation, pretending to be cowardly and begging for peace to paralyze the Qi army, and then with the elite soldiers hidden on the two wings, he suddenly launched a fierce attack and defeated the Qi army.When Mu Gong heard that Wu Qi's mother died instead of going to the funeral and killed his wife to ask for the general, he relieved him of his military power, and Wu Qi went to Wei Wenhou, a corporal of Wei Guoneng.

Wei Guo was the strongest of the seven heroes in the early Warring States period. Wei Wenhou appointed Li Kui, Ximen Bao and others to carry out reforms and innovations, and the national power quickly became stronger.In the seventeenth year of King Zhou Wei (409 BC), Wu Qi was ordered to capture the land of Hexi in the Qin State, and then served as the prefect of Hexi until he left in the eighteenth year of King Zhou An (384 BC). The soldiers fought 76 times with the armies of the vassal states, of which 64 were victorious, 12 were tied, and there was no failure. They "opened up the land on all sides and expanded the land for thousands of miles" for the Wei state.At the same time, he was committed to military, political, and economic reforms, and created a strictly trained "army pawn".Later, he was falsely framed by the doctor Wang Cuo, and was forced to defect to Chu State in the nineteenth year of King Zhou An (383 BC).

King Mourning of Chu attached great importance to Wu Qi and used him as Ling Yin (equivalent to the position of Xiangguo).Although Wu Qi was old at this time, he tried his best to "clear the law and judge the decree", implement the political line of reform and innovation, enrich the country and strengthen the army, abolish hereditary enfeoffment, abolish the privileges of the nobility, reward those who cultivate and fight, and strictly prepare the army for war.In just over a year, the national strength of the Chu State increased, Nanping Baiyue (the general name for the ethnic minorities in the south at that time), destroying Chen (now southeast of Henan) and Cai (now northwest of Anhui) in the north, repelling the three kingdoms of Wei, Zhao, and Han. The invasion of the Qin Dynasty defeated the Qin army in the northwest and shocked the Quartet.In the 21st year of King Zhou An (381 BC), King Chu Mourning died, and the old nobles who opposed the reform took the opportunity to kill Wu Qi.As a political reformer, Wu Qi was named alongside Shang Yang.Wu Qi was able to conquer wars, shared joys and sorrows with soldiers, and won the hearts of his followers.The book "Wu Zi" has an important position in ancient Chinese military books.

"Wu Zi" was written before the middle of the Warring States Period. There are 48 records in "Hanshu Yiwenzhi".Existing "Xu Gu Yi Cong Shu" Ying Song version (see Figure 9) and the Ming and Qing editions, there are six chapters, divided into two volumes.There are translations in English, French, Japanese, Russian and other languages ​​abroad. Wu Qi's discussion of military issues revolves around the fundamental purpose of governing the country.He pointed out in the chapter "Tu Guo" that in order to make the country strong, it is necessary to "cultivate literature and virtue internally and govern military equipment externally".The "literature" he mentioned refers to "Tao, righteousness, propriety, and benevolence", which is the basic content covered by politics;If the culture and morality of the country is good, educate the people with benevolence and righteousness, educate the people with benevolence and virtue, and govern the country with virtuous and capable people, then the people will live and work in peace, the people will respect officials and support the monarch, and they will be able to defeat powerful enemies.The so-called well-prepared army means to recruit talented people and build a strong army to prevent sudden incidents.Wu Qi believed that culture, morality and military equipment should not be neglected. For example, the leader of the Chengsang tribe only talked about literature and virtue but neglected military equipment, and he was destroyed as a result; Sheji.It can be seen that the loss of culture and morality leads to wars, and the destruction of military equipment leads to the collapse of the country.Wu Qi regards politics and military affairs as the two fundamental conditions for consolidating the country and stabilizing the hearts of the people. This is the core content of "Wu Zi" and the foothold of his strategic thinking.

Wu Qi analyzed five causes of war in the chapter "Tu Guo": one is for fame and position, the other is for profit, the third is the long-term accumulation of mutual enmity, the fourth is internal turmoil, and the fifth is famine and hunger. force.Their natures are different: those who prohibit violence and eliminate cruelty and save the peril are called "righteous soldiers"; those who bully the weak and infringe on the interests of others are called "strong soldiers"; Those who forget righteousness and seek self-interest are called "violent soldiers"; those who revolt due to famine and cold are called "rebellious soldiers".For wars of different causes and nature, we must adopt a prudent attitude and use different methods to deal with them, and we must not resort to military action.Wu Qi's analysis of the different causes of war is a great progress in ancient military science, and his warning to the monarch not to be aggressive is his incisive insight into the disadvantages of war.

Wu Qi's strategy of "cultivating culture and morality internally, and governing military preparations externally" is reflected in his military thinking. There are three main aspects: one is to govern the army strictly, the other is to predict the enemy's use of troops, and the third is to fight because of the enemy. The exposition of Yan Ming's army management in "Wu Zi" is concentrated in the chapters "On Generals" and "Reaching Soldiers".Wu Qi believes that the key to governing an army lies in governing generals.Therefore, he pointed out in the chapter "On Generals" that it is necessary to select people who are both civil and military, strong and soft, as the generals who command the army, so that they can be ordered to lead the army, unify orders, strictly observe military discipline, be kind to soldiers, clearly reward and punish, and predict the enemy. Like a god, he has comprehensive planning, careful deployment, decisive decision-making, changeable tactics, and wins by surprise.With good generals, there must also be a well-governed and well-trained elite army (that is, as "Wu Zi" said, "Governance is the victory, and teaching and precepts are the first").This elite army obeys discipline when stationed in camp, is majestic and majestic when marching, is unstoppable when attacking, and cannot be pursued when retreating, so it can be invincible in the world. "Wu Zi" also pays special attention to strengthening the training of soldiers on the use of weapons.This is because Wu Qi's military career was mainly in the early Warring States period.At that time, due to the use of iron weapons and the increase in the power of crossbows, chariots with inconvenient mobility often became the most powerful ones. The role of chariot warfare gradually declined, while the role of cavalry warfare increased day by day, and water warfare also emerged.The ever-increasing types of weapons, the equipment of war horses, and the oars of warships also require professional training in different categories according to the specialties of soldiers.For this reason, "Wu Zi" proposes a teaching and training method of rolling, so that "one person who learns warfare can teach ten people; ten people who learn warfare can teach hundreds of people... ten thousand people learn warfare and teach three armies".A well-trained and elite army led by a good general will be invincible. This is the goal of Wu Qi's military thinking.

"Wu Zi"'s discussion on predicting the enemy's use of troops does not stop at the general theory, but in the chapter "Predicting the Enemy", according to the different national conditions of the six countries of Qi, Qin, Chu, Yan, Han, and Zhao, the Different combat strategies and tactics.For the Qi State, which is headstrong and rich, with arrogant and extravagant monarchs and ministers, lax government orders, and inconsistent military spirits, it can be divided into three groups, "hunt its left and right, and follow it under threat"; The Qin State, which is all aggressive, should first lure its soldiers with benefits, and then take the opportunity to attack its soldiers when they lose control; for the Chu State, which is weak, vast, chaotic, and exhausted, it can be used to harass its garrison first and bruise its troops. Morale, and then use light cavalry to attack, fast forward and fast retreat, and constantly consume and fatigue it, you can win.In addition, according to the national conditions of Yan, Han, and Zhao, the methods to win were proposed.

Wu Qi also proposed a variety of tactics of fighting against the enemy, the gist of which is to "examine the enemy's falsehood and reality and approach danger".He pointed out in the chapter "Expecting the Enemy" that when the enemy is in extreme difficulty in marching in severe cold and hot summer, running out of food, exhausted in supplies, insufficient in troops, and unable to rescue soldiers, he can attack immediately without asking good or bad luck; When the enemy is in 13 situations, such as coming from far and new, undecided ranks, unprepared food, running back and forth, unobtained land advantage, and turbulent flags, etc., they can take advantage of the gaps and avoid losing opportunities. A country that has six conditions, such as being rich, the people are rich, the superior loves its subordinates, the philanthropy and spreading, and the ability to appoint talents and enable them, should never be at war with it.In addition, Wu Qi also proposed various specific tactics such as attacking the strong, attacking the crowd, valley warfare, water warfare, and besieging the city in the chapter "Response".

"Wu Zi" inherited and developed "Sun Tzu's Art of War", summed up the war experience and characteristics of the early Warring States period, and was valued by military strategists of later generations.