In fact, before the political reform, Qin was not a weak country. As far as national strength is concerned, the state of Qin has been very strong since long ago. At that time, the state of Qin continued to expand its territory and once defeated the powerful state of Jin. Qin Mugong was also one of the five tyrants in the Spring and Autumn Period. Later, at the end of the Spring and Autumn Period, Wu attacked Chu. Sun Wu, a soldier of the State of Wu, led the troops and destroyed the State of Chu with three strikes and five divisions. Who helped restore the state of Chu? It is also the state of Qin. It can be seen that Qin has always been a cow. In short, before the political reform, the strength of Qin was beyond doubt.
The first question is internal contradictions. During the Spring and Autumn Period, most countries were slaves. After Priscilla's reform, Qin quickly established a stable slavery system. But in the new era of Warring States, Qin couldn't keep pace with other countries, and its development was very slow. How slow is the development?
Politically, due to the backwardness of the political system, the monarch of Qin did not have much right to speak at home. The three generations, from the Qin Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty, were basically civil strife, with nobles fighting with each other and internal friction constantly. The same is true of economic development. The proportion of animal husbandry in Qin dynasty was originally greater than that of agriculture. During the Warring States period, the farming level of all countries was in a blowout state, but what about Qin? When Shang Yang entered Qin State, three-fifths of the land in Qin State was undeveloped. Not to mention the culture, the eastern region is a hundred schools of thought contend, but there is no movement in Qin, and the contention of a hundred schools of thought has little to do with Qin at this time. Therefore, when Shang Yang entered Qin, Qin was faced with internal contradictions such as aristocratic struggle and backward economy and culture.
The second question is about foreign wars. It is said that it is a foreign war, but in fact it is mainly a war with Wei. At that time, after Wei Wenhou's political reform, the strength of later generations multiplied, and the ambition began to expand, so he started from the neighboring State of Qin. In these wars with Wei, Qin was basically beaten and miserable. How bad is it? Wu Qi, a famous Wei soldier, guarded the Xihe River. During his twenty-seven years with Qin, he never lost a battle, and even had a feat of 50,000 troops bloodbath 500,000 troops of Qin. A lot of territory of Qin was taken away by Wei. Under such a trend, the demise of Qin seems to be a matter of time.
At this critical juncture, the Qin people thought of political reform, so Shang Yang appeared. Qin has great advantages in reform.
First of all, compared with the Central Plains, the aristocratic forces of Qin were very weak, so it was relatively easy to reform.
Secondly, the popularity of Ma Geng in Niu Geng is one of the main reasons why the strength of Central Plains countries has doubled. Because animal husbandry in Qin is developed, developing agriculture has greater advantages than other countries.
There is also the fierce folk customs of Qin, which is especially suitable for building a strong army and spares no effort to support Shang Yang's political reform. The right time, the right place and the right people are all here. So let's look at Shang Yang's political reform again, which is very smooth.
After Shang Yang's political reform, Qin concentrated almost all its strength, which made the country develop in the direction of prosperity and laid the foundation for Qin Shihuang to unify the six countries later. However, it is precisely because the power of reform is too concentrated that personal space and development are almost compressed, which led to the consequences of Qin's national subjugation two years ago.
Shang Yang (about 390-338 BC), a native of Weiguo (now Anyang City, Henan Province), was a statesman during the Warring States Period and a famous representative of Legalism. The descendant of the Duke of Wei was named Wei Yang, also known as Gongsun Yang, and was later named Shangyang (now Shangluo, Shaanxi). In the reign of 19, Qin ruled the country, which was known as Shang Yang's political reform in history. [2]
Folding experience
Shang Yang Shang Yang was good at learning the name of punishment when he was young, and served as an illegitimate child (or "imperial illegitimate child") under Wei Xianggong's uncle Cuo. Uncle Wrong recommended it to Wei Huiwang before his death, but King Hui could not use it.
After Shang Yang went to Qin State, Xiao Gong saw the meaning of applying for political reform and improvement, and Xiao Gong greatly appreciated it. However, his theory was opposed by Gan Long, Du Zhi and other powerful people, which created the public opinion that "the wise rule without changing the law" and "the legalist has no hesitation". However, Qin Xiaogong remained unmoved and ordered the reform with Shang Yang as the left patriarch.
After the promulgation of the law, Shang Yang put three-foot-long wood in the south gate of the capital, and was able to move the wood to the north gate to reward twelve ounces of gold, but no one responded. He also raised the reward to 50 gold, and one person subscribed for 50 gold to win the trust of the people. At that time, the prince broke the law, and Shang Yang punished his masters, Gongzi Qian and Gongsun Jia. The commentary of the Warring States Policy on this matter is: "Governing the Qin Dynasty, enforcing laws and regulations, being impartial, upright and powerful, and not appreciating privacy, is like a prince. After the end of the year, the road will not be answered, the people will not take it, and the soldiers will be strong and the princes will be afraid. " Shang Yang's courage to enforce the law did not avoid expensive situation, which caused great shock in Qin State. This is an important reason why everyone can abide by the law.
A few years after the implementation of the new law, Qin people had enough food and clothing, and their subjects dared to be public but not private, so the country flourished and filial piety took Shang Yang as a big tool. Two years later, Qin moved to Xianyang from Yong (now Fengxiang, Shaanxi Province) and changed the law for the second time.
In the twentieth year of filial piety (342 BC), the state of Qin became rich and powerful. Zhou He and other officials sent people to Qin Daoxi. The following year, Qin took advantage of Wei's defeat in the Battle of Maling and conquered Wei. Wei Gongzi Ang led the army to refuse, Shang Yang used deception to win Ang and Pojun, and Wei cut Hexi (now eastern Shaanxi) to make peace with Qin. Shang Yang was named 15 as the title of Shang Dynasty (now Shangxian County, Shaanxi Province, Xixia Region, Henan Province) and was called Shang Jun. ..
Fold and accept punishment
When Shang Yang and Qin Xiang were in power, Shang Yang's strict law enforcement aroused the resentment of Qin nobles. After filial piety, Prince Qin was named Li. In order to repay the debt, the pious son accused Shang Yang of trying to rebel and sent officials to arrest him. Shang Yang intended to escape to Wei, but Ren Wei refused to accept him because his son Ang was cheated. Shang Yang had no choice but to return to the State of Qin, but his followers sent troops to attack Zheng (now hua county, Shaanxi) and were defeated and killed. After Hui Wang was brought back to the capital, he crashed his car and destroyed his family. [3]
Folding evaluation
In order to meet the requirements of social, political and economic changes, Shang Yang emphasized education reform from his argument that "governing the world differently makes the country lawless". In his view, the foundation of governing the country is to emphasize the agricultural war. To make Qiang Bing rich, it is necessary to publicize the legal system and cultivate talents under the rule of law. Shang Yang criticized Confucianism, which took poetry, calligraphy, ceremony and music as its educational contents, and advocated "burning poetry to make the law clear" and replacing "the teaching of the former king" with the rule of law education with the content of encouraging farming. It is believed that the rule of law is the basis of the rule of virtue, and the law must be "easy to understand"; We should take judges as teachers, explain laws and regulations to the people, let "everyone know what they have done", and take education as a tool to publicize the legal system and cultivate talents under the rule of law. Shang Yang wrote the book Shang Jun, which was handed down from generation to generation.