From the above, Wei seems to have made some gains in the division of territory. After all, Wei occupied the richest Hedong County in the former Jin State and the most important place in Shangluo. It can be said that Wei occupies the hinterland of the Central Plains and is also the richest place. But if we carefully observe the status of Wei at the end of the Spring and Autumn Period, we will find that Wei's luck is not good. Because it is located in the hinterland of the Central Plains, it is destined to be surrounded by other vassal states. Actually, it's true. At that time, Qin was in the west, Qi and Song in the east, Chu in the south, South Korea in the southwest and Zhao in the north.
It can be said that Wei's position is "the land of four wars", as the saying goes, "the world is cold and often rushed by military strategists." In addition, the vassal States around Wei, such as Qin, Qi, Chu, Song and Zhao, are all world powers, and Wei will face the danger of national subjugation if he is not careful. That is, in this environment of internal troubles and foreign invasion, Wei Wenhou, the monarch of Wei, decided to adopt Li Kui's thought of political reform and began to carry out political reform throughout the country, which was called "Li Kui Political Reform" in history.
"Li Kui Reform" mainly includes four reforms. One is to abolish the hereditary system and use the ability of "applying only in quantity" The second is to abolish the well-field system and adopt the policy of "teaching excellence". The third is to implement the legal system and establish a complete "Fa Jing" of Wei Law. Fourth, reform the military system and establish a "military pawn system". With the successful implementation of the reform in Wei, Wei's national strength has become stronger and stronger. It successively conquered Zhao in the north, destroyed Zhongshan in the east, and even defeated Qin, Qi, Chu and other countries, thus expanding its territory and becoming the overlord of the Central Plains, dominating the world for more than 60 years.
The reason why the reform can make Wei achieve such a proud achievement in such a short time is undoubtedly the fourth content in the reform, that is, reforming the military system and establishing the "military pawn system." It can be said that Wei finally achieved the hegemony of the Central Plains because of a group of invincible Wei Wuzu trained by the "military pawn system".
The core of Li Kui's military reform of Wei was to "abolish the mobilization system of' being idle for civilian service and serving in wartime for military service' that had been prevailing in the Spring and Autumn Period, and adopt the' recruiting system' to establish a completely professional army." . The emergence of the "military pawn system" is based on the "recruitment system", and its core is the elite soldier strategy, that is, replacing a large number of mercenaries and mobilized soldiers in the original Wei army with professional soldiers in the true sense, thus forming an elite heavy infantry named "military pawn".
"Qizhi can't defeat the ranks of Wei Zhi" is the most terrible fighting power of the ranks, and it is with this powerful force that Guo Wei finally became the overlord of the Warring States Period. Of course, it should be noted that although the "ranks" system was put forward by Li Kui at that time, it was Wuqi who really trained Wei Wuzu. So why is the combat effectiveness of the "soldiers" so strong? What caused the "ranks of Wei" to be such a chilling force? How did Wuqi train such an army that frightened the enemy? In fact, the reasons are nothing more than the following.
First, the selection and distribution of "soldiers" is very strict. The core of this army established by Wuqi is "rule with few soldiers", so it adopts the policy of selecting and allocating good soldiers. According to "Xun Bing Pian", "Wei pawn is a member of the three genera, holding twelve crossbows and fifty negative arrows, placing them on it, winning the sword with the crown, winning three diets, and winning a hundred miles in the Asahi. The restoration of the pilot project is beneficial to Qitian Weiwu ancestral home. "That is to say, at that time, if you want to pass the test and become a member of the" army ",you must wear three layers of armor: upper body armor, thigh armor and trap armor, wear an iron helmet, hold a halberd, hang an iron sword around your waist, take a big paddle, 50 crossbows, strong crossbows, carry 50 arrows, carry dry food for three days, and then March quickly for about 40 kilometers for half a day.
In other words, a soldier can become a "soldier" only after completing the above tasks, but it is only qualified, not necessarily. But think about wearing triple armor, iron helmet, spear, sword and other heavy equipment, and then marching for about 40 kilometers in half a day. You said that only soldiers who have completed such a cruel examination are qualified, and you said how elite the real "ranks" should be.
Second, the training method of "Wu pawn" is very advanced. At that time, after completing the most basic exam, they also needed to carry out a series of military skills training, such as individual skills training, array training, formation training, contact sign training and so on. Only by completing these trainings can he truly become a qualified "soldier". Moreover, at that time, Wuqi also paid special attention to giving play to the vanguard and exemplary leading role of the backbone of the army. The training method he adopted was "one person to learn, ten people to teach; Ten people learn, teach hundreds of people ... ten thousand people learn and teach into the three armed forces. "
This training method can not only greatly improve the training speed, but also indirectly run in with everyone's tacit understanding and trust in the process of teaching soldiers. After all, these soldiers grew up learning from each other. Therefore, it can be said that they grew up together as "ranks", that is, in terms of trust and tacit understanding, the armies of other vassal States are obviously inferior to "ranks", and it is precisely because of their mutual trust and mutual understanding of each other's ideas on the battlefield that Wei Wuzu was finally invincible in the world.
Third, the "soldiers" are well paid. Of course, although the assessment of soldiers is extremely strict, once they become soldiers, they can enjoy very generous treatment. The whole family of soldiers elected as soldiers for the first time can be exempted from tax and get at least 100 acre of land. Of course, if you were a slave before, you can immediately cancel your slave status. If you have outstanding achievements, you can also get a title symbolizing aristocratic status and enjoy better treatment.
It can be said that it is precisely because of such generous treatment that Wei Wuzu's fighting capacity can become so strong. After all, no one wants to lose such generous treatment and no one wants to be a slave. And if they want to continue to have these benefits, they must work hard to win every war for Wei. Only in this way can they get more benefits.
Fourth, the "soldiers" are highly disciplined. Strict discipline is absolutely indispensable for a good army, and in fact it is also true here in Wei Wuzu. Wei Wuzu, founded by Wuqi, was instilled with the idea that "all actions must be resolutely obeyed, or go to hell" from the beginning. As long as you obey the command, win the battle, get a promotion and raise your salary, it's nothing, and even your family can get four rewards. But if you don't obey the command, you will be severely punished even if you have meritorious military service. For example, Wuqi led his troops against the Qin people, and a soldier rushed directly to the Qin people's camp without waiting for orders from his superiors. Finally, although he bravely killed two Chiyou soldiers, Wu Qi still beheaded them for disobeying orders.
That is, in the case of strict discipline in Wuqi, Wei Wuzu completely achieved the "prohibition" on the battlefield. At that time, in the war in which Wei Wuzu participated, the whole army could be unified as Ryutsuki, whether it was advancing or retreating. When the officer tells you to retreat, he will retreat, and when he tells you to enter, he will not move. Even if the enemy rushed into their own camp, they wouldn't move at all as long as the officers didn't order the attack. That is, Wei Wuzu, with such strict discipline, eventually became a nightmare for the whole Warring States period.
Fifth, the "soldiers" are very bold in preparation. Some people don't understand why the establishment of Wei Wuzu should have "courage". It's actually quite simple. We just need to know what arm it is made of. Anyone familiar with the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period should know that at that time, the strength of a country was measured by how many chariots there were in the vassal States. The stronger the country, the more chariots there are. It can be said that the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period were the times when chariots were kings. Almost all vassal States are mainly chariots, and no matter what army they form, they will join them.
But let's look at the establishment of Wei Wuzu. It has no shadow of chariots at all. This is a regiment composed entirely of infantry. At that time, except Wei, no country's army dared to do so. It is conceivable how bold Wuqi was at that time. Of course, Wuqi dared to do so for his own reasons. At that time, Wei Wuzu was not only bold in the composition of arms, but also very advanced in the composition of arms of the army. At that time, there were five ranks, including one commander, two commanders, one commander, five commanders, one hundred generals, five hundred men, one master, one thousand men and one master, that is, the basic combat unit of the ranks was one thousand men. Then, in the event of war, generals will be set up to lead thousands of teams of different numbers.
It can be said that this kind of establishment can almost guarantee Wei Wuzu's absolute flexibility in the course of combat, and basically the commander-in-chief can fight where Wei Wuzu wants to go. The commander-in-chief commands two or five hundred masters, and the two or five hundred masters command five hundred masters ... The command can reach anywhere in the army level by level, so it can be guaranteed that "the brain makes arms, the arms make hands, and the hands make fingers as flexible." At the same time, this establishment can also ensure that Wei Wuzu can quickly form an army formation under the command of officers at all levels even in the case of defeat, and prevent the enemy from pursuing further. As the saying goes, "Polite, powerful, unstoppable, unstoppable."
In addition, Wuqi will also group soldiers according to what they are good at, such as a team that is used to melee, a team that is good at archery, and a team that is good at climbing. In this way, whenever war breaks out, Wuqi will use these teams according to the situation on the battlefield. That is, under such a flexible establishment, Wei Wuzu can often beat his opponent by surprise.
Sixth, the equipment of "soldiers" is very advanced. As we all know, during the Warring States Period, the world metallurgical centers were in North Korea and Wei, and Wei's weapons production was the most developed, and it was known as "Wei Jun Jia Bing was sharp". It was with these excellent weapons that the soldiers gained the capital to dominate the Central Plains, and at that time Wei gradually added iron weapons to Wei Wuzu's equipment. This is why, with the support of Wei's powerful weapon manufacturing industry and iron weapons, a single soldier weapon of Wei Wuzu at that time was often able to "wear heavy armor, hold a sword, carry a crossbow on his back and cross the sagittal sac", that is, armed to the teeth. So you say that a soldier is so well equipped, then the Wei Wuzu Corps composed of tens of thousands of such soldiers is so powerful.
It can be said that under the influence of the above factors, Wei Wuzu eventually became the most powerful army in the early Warring States period. In 405 BC, Wei Wuzu defeated the Qi army in Long Ze, and the Qi army was killed by 30,000 people. In 389 BC, in the battle of Yin and Jin Dynasties, Wuqi defeated 500,000 Qin Jun with 50,000 Wei Wuzu, and the "ranks" became famous all over the world. From 354 BC to 350 BC, Wei Wuzu first attacked Handan, the capital of Zhao, then defeated Qi in Xiangling, and now defeated Qin. In the past 30 years, Wei Wuzu, under the leadership of Wu Qi and other Wei generals, created the feat of "seventy World Wars, sixty-four wins, and the rest tied". In its heyday, Wei Wuzu even captured the Hangu Pass of the State of Qin and seized more than 500 miles of land in the State of Qin, which made the State of Qin afraid to return to Hangu Pass for decades.
However, in the end, the once powerful Wei Wuzu did not escape the fate of "prosperity and decline". In 34 1 year BC, Wei Wuzu suffered heavy losses due to Pang Juan's strategic mistakes, and it declined completely from then on. In 293 BC, with the defeat of Wei by Qin in Yi Que, the last elite Wei Wuzu was completely lost. Since then, this elite army that has dominated the world for more than 60 years has completely disappeared in the long river of history. So many people here don't understand why Wei Wuzu disappeared completely in the Battle of Yi Que. Didn't Wei ever think about continuing to train Wei Wuzu? It's not that Wei doesn't want to. It's just that "the cost of training Wei Wuzu is too high and it takes too long".
As we said just now, Wei Wuzu's equipment is excellent, but the financial resources spent on building these excellent equipment are also huge. In addition, the treatment of each Wei Wuzu is extremely generous. Not only is the whole family tax-free, but you can even get 100 acres of land. It is conceivable how much financial resources a Wei Wuzu will spend. This is the case, even if Wei's financial heyday can barely support it, but Wei Wuzu's heyday was only "70,000 people", that is to say, Wei's heyday at that time could only maintain 70,000 Wei Wuzu's expenditure, and it is conceivable how much financial resources Wei Wuzu spent. Financial resources are obviously beyond Wei's ability to bear. After all, Wei not only lost six cities in Hexi and a large area of land at this time, but also was annexed by the nobles within Wei, which could not meet the needs of Wei Wuzu.
In addition, the most important thing is that Wei Wuzu's cultivation requires not only a lot of financial resources, but also a lot of time. In the final analysis, the reason why an army can win every battle is not only by weapons and equipment, but also by the veterans who have fought many battles in the army, and these veterans obviously need a lot of actual combat to be trained. But obviously, the countries around Wei will not give Wei Wuzu more time to cultivate. After all, Wei Wuzu has put them under pressure for more than 60 years. At this point, they wish Wei Wuzu would disappear as soon as possible. How is it possible to reproduce? That's it. In the end, Wei Wuzu completely withdrew from the historical stage.
Of course, in any case, we have to admit that the appearance of Wei Wuzu really made Wei prosper for some time. Wei Wuzu was absolutely responsible for becoming the most powerful country in the Warring States period. Without Wei Wuzu, I'm afraid it would have been annexed by other countries because of Wei's geographical environment, but it is precisely because of Wei Wuzu's strength that neighboring countries dare not covet Wei, and even Wei Wuzu helped Wei dominate the Warring States for more than 60 years.