Chapter 31 Companion to a king is like a tiger: the ending of Bai Qi and Fan Ju

The Battle of Handan was undoubtedly the biggest military defeat Qin suffered since the Battle of Yan Yu. When the news of Wang Lu's defeat reached Xianyang, King Qin Zhao's first reaction was still—it must be Baiqi that can't deal with the mess.But this time he didn't go to Bai Qi's mansion to invite him, but sent someone to give Bai Qi a strong order: the king ordered Wu Anjun to be a general, with full authority to command the Qin army on the expedition to Zhao, and set off immediately, without any mistakes. The implication is that you have to go if you go, or you have to go if you don’t go, there is no need to discuss.

Bai Qi received the envoy lying on the couch, and said: "Please tell the king, it's not that Bai Qi doesn't accept the order, but that he is too sick to go so far!" King Qin Zhao sent Fan Ju to persuade him, but returned in vain. In a rage, King Qin Zhao removed Bai Qi's title of Lord Wu'an and ordered him to move out of Xianyang immediately.Bai Qi accepted the order.When he came to a small place called Duyou less than ten miles away from the west gate of Xianyang, Fan Ju suggested to King Qin Zhao: "Bai Qi is definitely not convinced by this exile. Once such a person is dissatisfied with the country If you keep it, it will be a disaster!" King Qin Zhao then sent someone to bring a sword to Bai Qi.

During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, when the monarch bestowed swords on his subjects, they usually had only one meaning: kill yourself! Holding the sword in his hand, Bai Qi muttered to himself: "During the Battle of Changping, hundreds of thousands of people in Zhao State surrendered to me, but I buried them alive. They really deserve to die." After saying this, he crossed his sword and committed suicide. According to the records of "Historical Records", people in the state of Qin generally held a sympathetic attitude towards Bai Qi's death, thinking that he died unjustly, and many people spontaneously rose up to worship him.

In Chinese history, it often happens that the death of a certain person arouses people's sympathy and mourning, and at the same time results in dissatisfaction and crusade against his political opponents. The death of Bai Qi pushed Fan Ju, who had always been trusted by King Qin Zhao, to the forefront. It is said that when Qin State besieged Handan, in order to support the front line, a logistics base was established in Fencheng (now Linfen, Shanxi Province) in Hedong. The governor of Hedong is none other than Fan Ju's benefactor Wang Ji. This arrangement obviously came from Fan Ju's idea.Wang Ji sat in Hedong to support Wang He, so he didn't have to go to the front line to take risks, but he could also reap the merits of breaking Handan.Taking a ten thousand step back, even if the battle ahead is defeated, it is Wang Lu who is on the board, and has nothing to do with Wang Ji who is in charge of logistics.

Another benefactor of Fan Ju, Zheng Anping, was placed in Wang Lu's army and served as a general commanding 20,000 horses. After Wang Lu was defeated, he was basically able to stay calm in the face of danger. While dispatching general Zhang Tang to lead his army to capture Wei's Xinzhong (now Anyang, Henan Province) to prevent the Wei army from outflanking the rear, he commanded the troops to retreat to Fencheng.Most of the Qin army finally arrived in Fencheng. Only the 20,000 people commanded by Zheng Anping were in chaos and surrendered to the Zhao army at the foot of Handan city. Zheng Anping himself was named Wuyang Lord by Zhao Guo.

The allied forces of Wei and Chu came in pursuit and besieged Fencheng.Wang Yan led his army out of the city to fight back, and once achieved a record of beheading 6,000 people, but later failed, and was beheaded 20,000 by the Wei army. In this battle situation, Wang Ji was afraid.The laws of the State of Qin are extremely strict. Once Fencheng falls, he will be severely punished as the governor of Hedong.At this time, Zheng Anping was ordered by King Zhao Xiaocheng to write a letter from Zhao to instigate Wang Ji.Wang Ji kept an eye out, neither responded immediately nor reported the matter, but paid close attention to the development of the battle situation and prepared to adapt accordingly.

Relying on Wang Lu's heroic fighting, the Qin army finally held the defense line of Fencheng, but lost most of Taiyuan, Shangdang and Hedong.The state of Wei also captured Taodi, the eastern territory of the state of Qin.Seeing this situation, South Korea also took the opportunity to raise troops to regain lost ground.Fan Ju's fief Yingcheng (now Baofeng, Henan Province, was south of Rushui at that time, so it was also called Runan) was originally Korean territory, and it was taken back by South Korea at this time. Handan was defeated, of course, the first person responsible was King Qin Zhao, and Fan Ju, as the prime minister, could hardly absolve himself of the blame.But the king cannot be blamed, and Zheng Anping recommended by Fan Ju was the only senior general who surrendered in this battle. Coupled with Bai Qi's death, people will inevitably point their finger at Fan Ju.

One day King Zhao of Qin asked Fan Ju, "Are you sad that your fief in Runan was occupied by South Korea?" Fan Ju replied: "I'm not sad." King Qin Zhao said, "Why?" Fan Ju told a story: "Once upon a time there was a man named Dongmen Wu in the state of Wei. His son died, but he was not sad at all. His steward said, 'You love your son like no one in the world. Now that he is dead, why are you not sad at all?" Dongmen Wu replied, "Before I didn't have a son, I didn't feel sad. Now that my son is gone, it's just going back to the past. What is there to be sad about?"

"Thinking of me, Fan Ju, I was just a commoner, and I never felt sad. Now that I have lost my fiefdom, but returned to my previous status, why should I be sad?" Fan Ju said. No distinction is made between high and low people, they all come naked and leave naked, and they have nothing in the first place, so where is the trouble? After hearing this, King Qin Zhao was skeptical, and told Shangqing Meng Ao about it.Meng Ao was a native of Qi State. He was an official in Qi State, but later defected to Qin State. Because he was good at using soldiers, he won the favor of King Qin Zhao.King Qin Zhao said to Meng Ao: "If one of my cities is besieged, I will not be able to eat well and sleep well. But now that Yinghou has lost his fief, he says he is not sad. Do you think this is reliable?"

Meng Ao said: "Let my servants go and find out the truth for the king." Meng Ao went to meet Fan Ju and said, "I want to die!" Fan Ju didn't know his way, and said, "Oh, what do you mean?" Meng Ao said: "Your Majesty respects you as a teacher, and everyone in the world knows it. Now, as a senior minister, I am leading troops to fight for Qin. Little South Korea dares to invade your territory blatantly. What else do I have?" Face to live in this world? Let me die!" Fan Ju understands that Dare is to show loyalty!This young man is not bad, he is smarter than Bai Qi and has a bright future.So he thanked and said: "In this way, the old man entrusts you with the recapture of Runan."

Meng Ao went back to report to King Qin Zhao.A few days later, Fan Ju mentioned the matter of South Korea in front of King Qin Zhao, but King Qin Zhao didn't listen to a word, thinking to himself: "This old man is beating around the bush and asking the widow to take Runan back!" After this incident, Fan Ju's status in King Qin Zhao's mind began to decline at an accelerated rate.Soon after, another incident completely pushed Fan Ju into the abyss. Some people reported that Wang Ji had cheated on the princes, and he had a rebellious heart. The whistleblower was none other than an officer under Wang Ji, and dozens of people jointly signed the report, all of whom had their bloody fingerprints.The content of the report is also clear and clear. On a certain day, a certain month, a certain time in a certain year, Wang Ji, the governor of Hedong, met with Zhao Guo's envoys in a certain place, and they all wrote clearly and unequivocally. According to the "Zuo Zhuan" records, there is only one reason why Wang Ji offended many officers under him--mean and ungrateful. During the defense of Fencheng, a school lieutenant surnamed Zhuang once reminded Wang Ji: "Everyone is under a lot of pressure now, you should reward the officers well. Otherwise, they will have opinions." Wang Ji replied: "I only listen to your majesty, not others." The surname Zhuang said: "You can't say it like this. A father can order his son to abandon his wife and sell his concubines, but he can't ask his son to 'not even think about them', because this is beyond his control. And the son will Think of ways to find other women, and secretly take women home. If the old lady at the door sees this kind of thing, she will definitely not be able to help telling it, right?" The words of the surname Zhuang are ambiguous, but the meaning is very clear: You can not give bonuses to everyone, but you can’t prevent them from having opinions in their hearts; you can secretly go to see Zhao Guo’s envoys, but you can’t be perfect and prevent others Say. Wang Ji's head was obviously not working well, so he said with a dark face, "What's the matter?" The man surnamed Zhuang said: "It is human nature to spread gossip. You are favored by the king, and will never surpass the love of father and son; although the status of military officers is not high, they are always lower than the old lady who guards the door. Besides, you have no Have you ever heard the story of three men becoming a tiger? I advise you to change your attitude quickly, treat the officers better and respect them more, so that they will not talk nonsense and your position will be stable." They have made it clear that they want you to spend money to keep your mouth shut, so that you can spend money to eliminate disasters.But Wang Ji was still obsessed with his obsession and remained indifferent.So, his officers rebelled collectively and sued him to King Qin Zhao. King Qin Zhao sent someone to investigate. The evidence was solid and the facts were clear, so Wang Ji was arrested and sentenced to death. According to the laws of the State of Qin, if a minister commits a felony, the recommender shall be jointly and severally liable.After Wang Ji's incident, King Qin Zhao wanted to punish Fan Ju's crime according to the regulations, but he couldn't bear it, so he sighed in the hall. Fan Ju heard it, and stepped forward and said: "I heard that the monarch is worried, and it is a shame for the courtiers. You are sighing so much now. As the Prime Minister, I should apologize." It means that you don't have to be embarrassed, just do it! King Qin Zhao thought for a long time before saying: "I heard that the iron swords cast by the people of Chu are very sharp, but the singers and dancers are very clumsy. If the iron swords are sharp, the troops will be stronger in combat, and if the artists are clumsy, the lord will not be addicted to them, and have time to think about them." National affairs. I am worried about Chu State’s idea of ​​attacking Qin State! Now that Lord Wu An is dead (Fan Ju hastily lowered his head), Zheng Anping has surrendered (Fan Ju didn’t even dare to breathe), there are no good generals in the country and the enemy is overwhelming, I sigh because of this." Although King Qin Zhao's words were not harsh, every sentence pointed to Fan Ju.Fan Ju broke out in a cold sweat, feeling that the opponent in front of him was formidable, so he straightened up his words and said: "I am a lowly person, and I defected to Qin because I offended Wei Qi. I don't have the backing of the princes, and I don't have any friends to support me, my lord." But he vigorously promoted me and put me in charge of the government affairs of Qin State. This is known to all the world. Now because of my ignorance and confusion, I recommended Wang Ji, a sinner. According to the laws of Qin State, I should accept punishment. What I have done The worry is that if the king publicly executes me, then people in the world will think that you are wrong, and if you are criticized by the princes, then I will add to the crime, and I will die a few times. I ask to commit suicide by taking poison. I hope that the king will En Zhun buried me with the etiquette of the prime minister. In this way, I will be punished, and the king will not be criticized." As Fan Ju said, he prostrated himself on the ground and refused to get up.King Qin Zhao thought to himself, okay!You're not pleading guilty, you're clearly putting the blame on me.He coughed twice, and said in an extremely indifferent tone: "The prime minister is worrying too much, I have no intention of punishing you, please step back first." Before Fan Ju could answer, King Qin Zhao had already got up and went back to the inner palace surrounded by his servants. At this time, what appeared in Fan Ju's mind was the scene when King Qin Zhao met him for the first time and knelt in front of him to ask questions. A few months later, Fan Ju resigned from the position of Prime Minister due to illness, and recommended Cai Ze, a politician from Yan State, to succeed him. In the winter of the same year, Fan Ju became seriously ill and died in Xianyang.