Chapter 9 cronyism or meritocracy

In the winter of 615 BC, less than two months after Xiqishu's visit to Lu, the western border of Jin State shook again.In order to avenge the battle of Linghu five years ago, Qin Kanggong personally led an army to crusade against the state of Jin, and captured Jima (the place name of the state of Jin) in one fell swoop. The Jin people rose up to resist and confronted the Qin army at Hequ.Zhao Dun served as the commander of the Jin army, Xun Lin's father was the deputy commander of the central army, but he lacked the commander-in-chief of the upper army, Yu Pian was the deputy commander of the upper army, Luan Dun was the commander of the lower army, Xu Jia was the deputy commander of the lower army, and Fan Wuxie served as the commander-in-chief of the upper army. As the driver of the military chariot, Han Jue served as Sima.

Han Jue is the grandson of veteran Han Jian, also known as Han Xianzi in history.In the eyes of people at the time, Han Jue was the one who was single-handedly promoted by Zhao Dun. As mentioned earlier, Sima is the judicial officer in the army, similar to the military police commander in Western countries.When the armies of Qin and Jin were confronting each other in Hequ, Zhao Dun deliberately sent his chariot to ram into the queue to interfere with the march of the troops.Han Jue arrested this man, interrogated him, and executed him according to regulations.Everyone commented, "Han Jue's game is over now. His master only appointed him as Sima in the morning, and he killed his master's driver at night. Who would dare to use such a person?"

Unexpectedly, Zhao Dun summoned Han Jue to the tent of the Chinese army. Instead of scolding him, he treated him with courtesy, saying: "I heard that those who serve the king should be more than party members. Promote benevolence and righteousness with loyalty and loyalty." The person who is the leader of the army is called "Bi"; the person who is elected out of selfishness is called "Party". No one can violate the laws of the army. Even if my subordinates violate the military laws, they will not cover up and conceal them. This is called "righteousness". I recommended you to the monarch, but I was afraid that you would not be qualified for this position. Because recommending a person to be an official, but this person is not qualified, this is the most obvious act of forming a party for personal gain. So I deliberately sent someone to test you, please continue to act according to yourself Don't be lenient when dealing with military affairs according to the principle. From the point of view of your handling of this matter, who else will be in charge of the military and political power of the Jin Kingdom in the future, except you?"

Many years later, this descendant of Han Xianzi participated in the "Separation of the Three Families" and established South Korea among the "Seven Heroes of the Warring States Period". Confucianism also had a similar statement about Zhao Dun's theory of "comparison without the party", that is: a gentleman should not compare himself, and a villain should not compare himself. "Comparing without the party" means putting the interests of the country first and the interests of the party.In any age, this is a commendable political attitude. Of course, what Zhao Dun did was somewhat of a show.After praising Han Jue, he publicly said to the officials of the Jin State: "Now you can congratulate me. This incident shows that I did the right thing in recommending Han Jue. I never form a party for personal gain."

The reason why Zhao Dun did this actually had a deeper purpose: to establish a meritocracy image for himself, and to prepare for the promotion of Yu Pian as the deputy commander of the upper army. In the bureaucratic system of the state of Jin, the commanders-in-chief and deputy commanders-in-chief of the three armed forces are called the "six ministers".Yu Pian was originally Zhao Dun's retainer. Regardless of his character and ability, he was suddenly promoted to be the deputy commander of the army.Zhao Dun hopes to silence everyone's mouths through Han Jue's incident, which can be described as well-intentioned.

However, judging from what happened later, it was not wrong for Zhao Dun to let Yu Pian take up this position. The main forces of the Qin and Jin armies confronted each other in Hequ.Yu Pian showed extraordinary military insight. He suggested: "The Qin army penetrated into our territory, and the logistical supplies were unsustainable. We could not fight a protracted war. We might as well dig deep trenches, build high fortifications, strengthen defenses, and wait for opportunities." Zhao Dun followed Yu Pian's suggestion, so he built a strong wall and put on a posture of fighting a protracted war.After a long time, the Qin people who came from afar couldn't sit still. Needless to say, the logistics supply was difficult, and the soldiers were not mentally prepared to fight a protracted sit-down war in a foreign country.After all, it's the end of the new year, and everyone remembers that the wives and children at home are hot on the kang.

Mastering the stick, but aiming for the yard.Among the Qin army, there is a genuine "Jin Guotong", that is, the Shihui who fled to Qin after the Battle of Linghu five years ago.The Qin army failed to challenge the Jin army several times, so Qin Kanggong called the soldiers and asked, "Based on the current situation, how can our army break the deadlock?" The soldiers groaned for a while, and said, "Zhao Dun recently promoted one of his subordinates, named Yu Pian. The Jin army can't hold out. It must be Yu Pian's trick to drain our army's energy and wait for our army to be exhausted Then strike back."

"En." Qin Kanggong nodded, motioning for him to continue. "Zhao Dun has a brother of the same clan, named Zhao Chuan, the son-in-law of the first emperor (Jin Xianggong). This man was young and ignorant, and had no military skills. However, he was deeply favored by Zhao Dun, so he was confident and never looked down on others. Zhao Chuan served in the Shangjun of the Jin State, and it is said that he complained about Yu Pian as the deputy commander of the Shangjun. He felt that he was Zhao Dun's brother, and Yu Pian was only Zhao Dun's retainer, but now he was subordinate to him. , I feel very unhappy. If you want the Jin army to fight, it's very simple, just send someone to tease Zhao Chuan."

After the scholar's meeting spoke, Qin Kanggong suddenly understood, and he patted the scholar's meeting on the shoulder to show his appreciation.The priests lowered their heads deeply. On December 4th, the Qin army suddenly made a move, and sent a force to go straight to the upper camp of the Jin State, but the Jin army could not hold on.The Qin army did not attack by force, but just waved flags and shouted outside the camp, mocking the Jin people in the Qin dialect, then shot a feint, and quickly retreated.According to Zhao Dun's order, the Jin army ignored the provocations of the Qin army, and hid behind the city wall and stood firm.However, the scolding by the people of Qin was too harsh. Zhao Chuan heard it and was annoyed in his heart. He complained to his subordinates, "We have enough food and grass, and we are ready to fight the enemy. Now the enemy is here." If you don’t attack, what are you waiting for?”

The subordinate said: "Then... probably waiting for a fighter opportunity." Zhao Chuan didn't listen to it, and when he heard it, he didn't hit one place, and said, "This is all a ghost idea that Yu Pian came up with. I don't care about any schemes. He doesn't dare to fight. Let's fight ourselves!" His subordinates went to the Qin Army camp to challenge. When Zhao Dun got the news, he was annoyed and helpless.He said to the generals: "If Zhao Chuan goes here, he will definitely humiliate himself and be captured by the Qin army. If the Qin army gets Zhao Chuan, he will be a person of the first level of Jin Guoqing. How can we go back to see our elders?" folks?"

Why did Zhao Dun say that Zhao Chuan was a Qing-level figure?Someone explained that Zhao Chuan was not originally Qing, but because he was the son-in-law of Duke Xiang of Jin and had a special status, he was equal to Qing.This explanation is too far-fetched.In fact, in the state of Jin at that time, there were Qings in the narrow sense and Qings in the broad sense.In the narrow sense, Qing refers to the chief and deputy commanders-in-chief of the three armed forces, who are powerful figures who combine military and political power; in the broad sense, Qing also includes officials such as Sikong and Dafu.What specific position Zhao Chuan held is not recorded in historical materials, but judging from Zhao Dun's sentence, he must not be an ordinary person. Zhao Dun's words were so ingenious that even Yu Pian couldn't express his objection.So the Jin army broke the silence, pulled out their camps and set up their camps, and the whole army went out to fight.It was winter, and it got dark early, and the two sides fired arrows at each other. Before they could engage in hand-to-hand combat, the sun went down. Qin Jun sent an envoy to Zhao Dun and said: "Today's battle, the warriors of the two countries are not satisfied. Please let go and fight tomorrow." The Qin people spoke very strongly, but Yu Pian saw the clues from it.He said to Zhao Dun: "The envoy of the Qin Army's eyes were wandering, and his voice was trembling when he spoke. This is a sign of lack of confidence and fear of our army. Judging from this, the Qin Army does not want to fight our army. It must be a bluff. It is very possible to flee overnight. Our army might as well attack in advance, catch him by surprise, and force the Qin army to retreat to the river, then we can win a big victory." Yu Pian's suggestion was naturally another good idea, but Zhao Chuan had no choice but to listen to it.He was determined to fight Yu Pian to the end, so he called his buddy, Xu Jia, the deputy commander of the lower army, and the two stood in front of the camp of the Chinese army and shouted: "The dead and wounded soldiers have not been settled, so they will be abandoned." To disregard is an act of injustice; to push the enemy into a dangerous situation before the agreed time for battle is a sign of lack of courage." Resolutely oppose the surprise attack on the Qin army. To say that Zhao Chuan's ability to raise the bar is basically proportional to the degree of his military ignorance.He knew that if he went to the tent to persuade Zhao Dun, he would definitely be scolded and his goal would not be achieved.So he took the method of drawing salary from the bottom of the pot and made the matter so big that Zhao Dun couldn't step down.And, more importantly, when he and Xu Jia had such a fight, Yu Pian's scheme became an open secret, and a sneak attack was impossible.In fact, Qin Jun quickly got the news through spies, and fled back home across the Yellow River overnight. Zhao Chuan repeatedly violated military discipline and made all the strategies of the Jin army come to nothing. He should have been severely punished.However, since he is a relative of Zhao Dun and is especially favored, Sima Hanjue, who is known for his strict law enforcement, turned a blind eye and pretended not to mind when Zhao Dun did not speak. . The Battle of Hequ ended with the Qin army's active retreat, which was not the ending Zhao Dun wanted.Because he knew that if the main force of the Qin army could not be completely defeated in a decisive battle, Jin would always be under the military threat of Qin. The state of Chu in the south also poses a serious threat to the state of Jin.But after all, Chu State is far away from Jin State. If there is a military conflict between Jin and Chu, the battlefield must be in a certain country in the Central Plains. For Jin State, it is a "decisive battle outside the country", which has a large strategic space and room for maneuver.The state of Qin is different. The state of Qin is next to the state of Jin and is only separated from the state of Jin by a river.Moreover, from the point of view of the terrain, Qin people entered Jin by following the trend, while Jin people entered Qin by going upstream. It was easy for Qin people to enter Jin, but it was even more difficult for Jin people to enter Qin.If we look back at the several wars between Qin and Jin, it is not difficult to find that although Jin has more victories and fewer losses, the place where the wars always took place is within the territory of Jin.Jin's tactical victories could not offset its geographical disadvantages. If Jin wants to maintain its dominance, it must face up to the threat of Qin. In the second year of the Battle of Hequ, that is, in the spring of 615 BC, the Jin State sent a doctor Zhan Jia as the lord of Xiadi, and led the army to guard the Taolin Fortress to prevent the Qin army from invading. The location of Taolin is roughly the area from Tongguan to Hanguguan in later generations, which has always been a battleground for military strategists.In the Spring and Autumn Period, Taolin was the only way for Qin to enter and exit the Central Plains and to establish relations with the Central Plains countries.In other words, if Qin State wants to conduct diplomatic exchanges with the Zhou royal family, Zheng, Wei, Lu, Song, Qi and other countries in the east, it must pass through the Taolin area.Jin strengthened the defense of Taolin, on the one hand, it was naturally out of military considerations, and on the other hand, it was out of diplomatic considerations - once the traffic in Taolin was cut off, the connection between Qin and the East would also be severed up. During the Battle of Hequ, Duke Kang of Qin used the Shihui as his staff, and Jin's military planes were all spotted by the Shihui, which greatly disturbed the people of Jin. As long as the scholar association, the master of Jin, stays in Qin, Zhao Dun will not be able to eat well or sleep well.In the summer of 615 BC, the Six Ministers of the Jin State (the chief and deputy commanders-in-chief of the three armies) headed by Zhao Dun held a secret meeting in Zhufu (the place name of the Jin State).Zhao Dun was the first to speak at the meeting: "The Shihui is in Qin State, and Hu Shegu is in Didi. These two people are the elites of our Jin State, but now they are used by the enemy. If they don't return to the country, the Jin State will die every day." Uneasy, what should I do?" Zhao Dun raised this question very well, but if you think about it carefully, the reason why Shihui and Hushegu defected to other countries was not all forced by you, Zhao Dun? Xun Lin's father followed Zhao Dun's words and said, "I suggest that Aunt Hushe be called back. On the one hand, he can be asked to deal with the affairs of Di, and on the other hand, the Hu family has made great contributions to the Jin Dynasty for generations, so they should be given special treatment." But Que held a different opinion on this. He said: "Hu Shegu back then advocated that the son Le be the king, but he was confused; sending someone to murder Yang Chufu was a heinous crime. Instead of calling Hu Shegu, it is better to call a scholar society. The scholar society is low-key. , Knows shame; has a gentle personality, but sticks to principles; is resourceful enough to take on great responsibilities, and has not made any principled mistakes." As mentioned earlier, Hu Shegu was Zhao Dun's political enemy. Although they lived in Di, they still respected each other and even helped the state of Jin handle affairs with Di.However, respect is respect, and political enemies are still political enemies. In Zhao Dun's heart, Hu Shegu is an enemy who can shake his own dominance, and he is an object of defense that "would not allow others to sleep peacefully on the side of the couch".How could it be possible for Zhao Dun to lure wolves into the house, open the door to thieves, and lift a stone to throw himself in the foot?Therefore, Zhao Dun proposed Hu Shegu and the Scholars Association together, just out of his consistent political tricks.The Council of the Six Ministers quickly made a decision to summon the scholars to return to the country as soon as possible; as for Aunt Hu She, it is better to stay honestly. Let us review two or three things about Mr. Zhao Dun: When Duke Xiang of Jin just died, he should have made his eldest son Yigao the king, but he let out smoke first, saying that the state of Jin was in danger, and Yigao was too young to take on the great responsibility, so he advocated making his son Yong the king.For this proposition, he did not hesitate to have a fierce conflict with Hu Shegu, pushing Jin to the brink of civil war.However, when he defeated Hu Shegu, he overthrew his original claim and did not hesitate to fight Qin, driving son Yong back to Qin, and making Yigao king instead.On the surface, he tossed a circle and returned to the starting point, but in essence, he defeated his biggest political opponent through this toss, and the gains were huge. During the Battle of Hequ, he wanted to promote his retainer Yu Pian to the core of the Jin regime, but he was worried that people would gossip, so at the same time he promoted Han Jue, who seemed to have nothing to do with him.In order to establish an image of meritocracy, he did not hesitate to make his coachman a victim, defying the law by himself, and was executed by Han Jue.But he himself put on an air of impartiality and praised Han Jue with great fanfare, and he also praised himself incidentally.However, people only need to look at his connivance to Zhao Chuan in every possible way, and it is not difficult to find whether he is meritocracy or nepotism. This time he wanted to summon the soldiers to return to the country, and he brought out Hu Shegu as a foil, also just to show people that he is loyal to the country and has no personal thoughts.Think about it, even a political opponent like Hu Shegu is on his list of considerations, isn't he just "selfless and broad-minded"? Reading history so far, it is inevitable to feel that the wisdom of the ancient Chinese is really bottomless.What is even more amazing is that this ancient wisdom has gone through thousands of years and is still not out of date.Don't you see, when a certain congress elects a certain leader, and a certain unit elects and promotes a certain cadre, it is inevitable to find a few people as a foil? Far away, back in 615 BC, the people of Jin State were going to recall the Shi Hui who had defected to Qin State for three years. But the question is, how to convey this message to the Scholars? A man named Shouyu took on the heavy responsibility. Shouyu is a descendant of Biwan.In the era of Duke Xian of Jin, Bi Wan, as Duke Xian of Jin's military chariot guard, participated in the war to eliminate Geng, Huo, and Wei.From then on, Bi Wan's people took Wei as their surname, Wei Ji, the tiger general under Duke Wen of Jin, was also Bi Wan's descendant, and Shouyu should be Wei Ji's close relative.Therefore, Shouyu was also called Wei Shouyu in history. Qin and Jin are at war, and it is not easy for Shouyu to see the Shihui.In order for Shouyu to meet the Scholars Association, the Jin people carefully designed a game. After the Battle of Hequ, in order to prevent the Qin people from invading, Zhao Dun implemented a new policy in the Jin State, requiring the lords in various places to organize clan soldiers to patrol the river on a voluntary basis.The clan soldiers are the lord's private armed forces. The clan soldiers are organized to patrol the river. They use the lord's people and eat the lord's food. The state does not have any financial subsidies.This was a deal with no return, and Shouyu, as the lord of Wei, was the first to stand up against it, but of course he was scolded bloody by Zhao Dun.That night, Shouyu was drinking at home, and when he was drunk, he told his wife that Zhao Dun was so rude, he couldn't bear it, and wanted to defect to Qin.Unfortunately, these words were overheard by his cook.The cook ran to Zhao Dun to complain, and Zhao Dun sent Han Jue to arrest Shouyu.Of course, Shouyu didn't catch him, only his wife and children.Shouyu fled to Qin State overnight, met Duke Kang of Qin, and offered to offer the land of Wei as a gift to join Qin State. Wei is a large city in the territory of Jin State, and it is close to Qin State. Once Wei is taken as his own, it is equivalent to having a bridgehead to attack Jin State.Of course Qin Kanggong would not refuse this piece of pie that fell from the sky. When people are happy, their guards will decrease.Duke Kang of Qin didn't notice that Shouyu pretended to be a member of the Shihui and stomped on his foot secretly. The scholar will naturally understand the meaning of stepping on this foot.In fact, ever since he met Shouyu, he knew something was going to happen.And his not showing his face is tantamount to telling Shouyu that he has decided to obey the call and return to China to serve. A few days later, Duke Qin Kang led an army to take over Weidi.Qin Jun camped in Hexi'an, across the river from Weidi.Shouyu said to Qin Kanggong: "Please send someone who is familiar with the situation of Jin to accompany me to Hedong, so that we can negotiate with the officials of Wei, avoid conflicts as much as possible, and take over Wei smoothly." The so-called people who are familiar with the situation of the Jin state, of course, refer to the Shihui.Speaking of this, even a little astute person would have doubts.However, Li Lingzhi fainted, Qin Kanggong ordered Shihui to go with Shouyu without even thinking about it. The scholars will pretend to be very nervous: "Jin people are as untrustworthy as tigers and wolves. If this is a trap, not only will I die without a place to die, but my wife and children will also suffer shame in Qin. You didn't do any good, and I can't regret it!" Judging from the situation at the time, the scholar's words may have two meanings: First, he wanted to see how much Qin Kanggong cared about him, and whether he would put him in danger because of his greed for Jin's land; Second, he was afraid that his wife and children would suffer in Qin after he returned to Jin, so he deliberately said this to show that he had no intention of going. It's a pity that Qin Kanggong didn't hear what the scholar said in the conversation. Instead, he comforted him and said: "Go to Weidi, if the matter is successful, you will be rewarded for your great contributions to Qin; If you embarrass your family members, they must be sent to Jin to reunite with you. If you violate this oath, please ask the river god to punish me." Duke Kang of Qin was fooled, but it does not mean that everyone in Qin State was fooled.According to "Zuo Zhuan", Shihui and Shouyu bid farewell to Qin Kanggong, and the officials of Qin State walked around the court to send them to the riverside ferry.When parting, he gave a horsewhip to the scholar association around the court, and said with a smile: "Don't think that no one in the Qin country can see through your schemes, but the lord is kind and trusts others too easily. Even if I say it bluntly, he may not Follow my advice, so don't say anything." The scholar meeting crossed the Yellow River, and the Jin army had already met him by the river, surrounded him happily and went straight to Jiangdu. In that era, no matter how cunning the Jin people were, the Qin people were as kind.Qin Kanggong knew that Shihui had lied to him, but he still kept his promise. He sent the family members and clan members of Shihui to Jin State as promised, and wrote to Shihui: "I cannot bear the oath of the Yellow River." According to legend, Shihui is the descendant of Emperor Yao in ancient times.Emperor Yao's surname was Qi, and Yao's descendants had many branches, and the Shihui belonged to the Liu family.Duke Kang of Qin sent his clansmen back to the State of Jin. Some of them were grateful for the kindness of the State of Qin and were unwilling to return to the State of Jin. These people became the Liu family of the State of Qin. By the way, about the person in the court, "Han Feizi" records that because he saw through Shouyu's conspiracy and did not report it, fulfilling the dream of returning to the country of the scholar association, Duke Kang of Qin was very dissatisfied with this and sentenced him to death.If the records in "Han Feizi" are reliable, Qin Kanggong was indeed very annoyed at the departure of the scholar association, otherwise he would not have vented his anger on the court. In fact, the return of the Shihui deprived Qin of a powerful helper against Jin.For decades, there have been no large-scale military conflicts between Qin and Jin. Jin can finally free up its hands and concentrate on dealing with Chu.