One day in the twentieth year (295 BC), Zhao's minister held a court meeting. It was Zhao He who presided over the meeting. However, Zhao He, who sat in a dangerous position and accepted the worship of ministers, knew that there were sharp eyes staring at him behind him at this time, which made him feel at home all the time. This vision came from his father, Zhao Yong, King Wuling of Zhao, who made outstanding military achievements and enjoyed a high reputation.
Zhao Yong, who sits behind Zhao He, also has mixed feelings.
As early as four years ago, he passed on the position of monarch to Prince Zhao He and called himself "father". Unlike the other six countries, Zhao Jin entered the dual-track system of military and political affairs. In order to strengthen the legitimacy of Zhao He as a monarch, King Wuling of Zhao appointed his most trusted minister, Fei Yi, as Guo Xiang, to help Zhao He rule. The Zhao regime team with the new monarch Zhao Heye as the core officially began to operate.
Han Feizi said: "Everything is in the four directions, and it must be in the central government. The saints insist, and the four sides come to work. " (Han Feizi, Yang Quan) In the middle and late Warring States period, the war of annexation intensified. Under the background that all reforms and changes in other countries are aimed at strengthening the centralization of monarchy, why did King Wuling of Zhao do the opposite?
This should start with Zhao Wuling's development and international situation at the beginning of his accession to the throne.
In the early years of the Warring States, the Han, Zhao and Wei clans were divided into Jin and Zhao was divided into the north, which was remote and weak, and was repeatedly beaten passively. In the forty-fourth year of King Zhou Xian (3 18 BC), King Wuling of Zhao ascended the throne, but it did not reverse the situation for a long time. When King Wuling of Zhao acceded to the throne, the neighboring countries in the East took advantage of Zhao's suspicion and sent general Pan Tian to attack Zhao on a large scale, and defeated Zhao in Pingyi. In the third year of King Liang (3 18 BC), Zhao sent troops to participate in the joint attack on Qin organized by Gongsun Yan, which also ended in failure. In the second year, the armies of Korea, Zhao and Wei jointly attacked Qin again, and the allied forces of the three countries were defeated by the general of Qin in repairing fish (now southwest of Yuanyang, Henan Province), and Zhao suffered more than 80 thousand casualties. Later, in the successive wars with Chyi Chin, Zhao lost his troops, and the conference semifinals on the back and Zhongshan people inside also took the opportunity to invade Zhao's territory many times, plundering the land and people, and the situation was in jeopardy.
King Wuling of Zhao saw that if we did not take the road of fundamental self-improvement, it would not only be difficult to develop, but even the survival of the country could not be guaranteed. Therefore, King Wuling of Zhao learned from a painful experience, changed course, and implemented a military reform centered on "Khufu riding and shooting" to enhance national strength.
The so-called riding and shooting not only refers to drawing lessons from the dress of the Hu people's cavalry in military costumes, but also refers to introducing the Hu people's elements in strategy, tactics, command methods, weapons and equipment, so that the Zhao army can rebuild its structure and scale and glow with unprecedented mobility and combat effectiveness.
King Wuling of Zhao first won the full support of Fei Yi, Lou Man and other close ministers, and then pushed the son first, persuaded the conservative forces, announced the law of riding and shooting, and formed cavalry according to the method of conference semifinals. He also designated Yuanyang, which is very close to the Mongolian grassland, as riding a city, "ordered the official doctors to move to Jiuyuan, and ordered the generals, doctors, Di Zi and acting officials to wear mink clothes" (The Annals of Bamboo Books quoted in Shui Jing Zhu). After several years of hard work, a cavalry unit with huge scale and amazing combat power was finally established.
In the tenth year of Zhou Nanwang (305 BC), King Wuling of Zhao took advantage of Zhongshan's political corruption, intensified contradictions and diplomatic isolation to attack Zhongshan in two ways. After ten years of hard work, Zhongshan was finally completely destroyed. Since then, Zhao's land area has expanded to nearly four times that of the past. With its solid foundation in the north, the Central Plains in the south and the West, Zhao became a veritable leader of the Sanjin Dynasty.
Crack: a raging fire under the surface
However, things are changing.
In the long-term practice of war, King Wuling of Zhao, who has suffered from war and arrogance, was deeply overwhelmed, unable to reform the military system and fight the war well, but also to manage the country and improve people's livelihood.
In a word, King Wuling of Zhao is a standard military commander, but he is not a qualified king of a country.
From the beginning of his reign, King Wuling of Zhao devoted himself to arduous military conquest. From rushing left and right, confronting Chyi Chin, to patrolling the border and planning reforms; From advocating Khufu and recruiting soldiers, to building a new army and training riding and shooting; From the Northern Expedition to Zhongshan and Alakazam to the integration of various countries ... Every day when he was determined to be strong, King Wuling of Zhao devoted most of his energy to the military and diplomatic fields. Dai Di, Zhongshan, grassland and frontier are the stage for him to gallop in Wan Li, while the court in Handan is increasingly becoming a strange existence.
More importantly, the annexation of Zhongshan and thousands of miles is not the end of Zhao Wuling's struggle. In his mind, this is only the foundation and prelude to accomplish that great goal-this great goal is to bypass Hangu Pass and go south directly from Jiuyuan, the territory developed by Zhao, to attack and destroy Qin.
Relying on the plateau in the west, Juejian in the east, Qinling Mountain in the south and Hanguguan Pass in the Yellow River in the north, it has been a battleground for military strategists since ancient times. In the middle and late Warring States period, Qin successfully resisted the attacks of the six-nation allied forces in Hanguguan for many times. Jia Yi's famous political commentary "On Qin" in the Western Han Dynasty wrote: "... millions of people knocked on the customs and attacked Qin. Qin people switch to block the enemy, and the division of the nine countries dare not enter. " Among them, "Guan" refers to Hangu Pass, which shows its strategic significance.
As a military commander, King Wuling of Zhao participated in the crushing defeat of the five-nation allied forces in attacking Hanguguan, and naturally knew that Hanguguan was easy to defend but difficult to attack. Because of this, in the second year of Zhongshan's demise, King Wuling of Zhao formulated a strategic plan of "attacking Qin from Yunhe and Jiuyuan in the northwest".
In King Wuling of Zhao's vision, Zhao's main force will go south from the cloud and grassland Jiuyuan, which can not only avoid the deep ditch and high base of Hanguguan, but also take advantage of the new cavalry army established after Zhao's riding and shooting reform, and bring a heavy blow to Guanzhong and Xianyang Center of Qin State with lightning speed. If this plan can be implemented, it will not only change the power advantage of Qin over the six Shandong countries since Shang Yang's political reform, but also rewrite the future historical development trend of China.
As a result, King Wuling of Zhao, who had been in the throne for 27 years, finally decided to establish Prince Zhao as king and abdicate himself as the "father" who remotely controlled state affairs and mastered actual power.
But unconsciously, the disadvantages of the military-political dual-track system are gradually emerging.
At this time, Zhao Huiwen, King of Zhao Heguo, had a political team headed by Fei Yi, but he was just an out-and-out "king of the children". The core power of politics and military affairs is actually in the hands of his father, Zhao Haoqi Wuling. In order to strengthen his power, Zhao He began to contact Gong Zicheng, the imperial clan minister who was frightened by the power of King Wuling of Zhao and had reservations about the policy of "Khufu riding and shooting", and the general's letter, in order to cope with the unexpected.
In order to balance his power in Handan, King Wuling of Zhao began to cultivate the strength of his eldest son.
Bidajin 10 years old, is the son of Princess Han, the original match of King Wuling of Zhao. In all previous wars against Zhongshan, King Wuling of Zhao put China's army under the direct command of Zhao Zhang. With the death of Sun Yat-sen, Zhao Zhang naturally contributed a lot. King Wuling of Zhao conveniently named Zhang Zhao as the acting king and named him "Anyang Jun". King Wuling of Zhao and Zhao Zhang and his son took this as their base area and continued to plan their conquest.
Zhao Zhang got the news from his father's arrangement, and gradually began to envy the monarch's younger brother in Handan. King Wuling of Zhao not only allowed Zhao Zhang to disobey orders, but also appointed Minister Tian Buli as Prime Minister to assist Zhao Zhang. The political and military centrifugal force between Dai Di and Handan is becoming more and more obvious.
Not only that, King Wuling of Zhao also intends to aggravate the tension, intending to gain the benefit of the fisherman who remotely controls the state affairs-directly sealing the seal as the acting king and competing with King Huiwen of Handan.
However, the announcement of this decision caused an uproar in Zhao. In the middle and late Warring States period, the war of annexation by the great powers intensified, and the coexistence of the two kings was tantamount to splitting the country and destroying the Great Wall. Under the unanimous opposition of courtiers, King Wuling of Zhao had to give up. Whether it is Historical Records or History as a Mirror, the words "give up before deciding" are used in recording this period of history. This can be seen from the huge opposition between the ruling and opposition parties.
Marked by the failure of Zhao Wuling's eldest son, Zhao Zhang, to succeed to the throne, the internal political struggle of Zhao became increasingly fierce. Ministers Fei Yi, Li Dui, Qi Xin and others, as well as members of the imperial clan represented by their sons, began to move closer to Zhao Haoqi Huiwen. Dai Xiangtian and others also stepped up their contact with Anyang Jun. The coup was in full swing and infighting was inevitable.
Shortly after the meeting, King Wuling of Zhao took Zhao Huiwen, Wang He and Anyang Zhang to visit Dune Palace (now Xingtai City, Hebei Province). Zhao Zhang and Tian Li thought they had left Tang Chao, so they incited rebellion. As a result, Zhao Zhang Group was annihilated by courtiers such as Gongzi Cheng and Li Dui who had already prepared.
In order to prevent being "second guessed" by King Wuling of Zhao, Gongzi Cheng and Li Dui, who killed their eyes, surrounded the whole Dune Palace with the acquiescence of King Huiwen of Zhao. Poor Zhao Wuling, the hero of King I, is now told to quit every day, and the ground is not working. I can't even get the stutterer out, so I can only eat my own eggs. Three months later, I starved to death here.
King Wuling of Zhao's life came to an abrupt end. Accompanied by it, there is his grand strategy of "directly attacking Qin Yun Jiuyuan" and Zhao's last chance to reverse Gan Kun and make a comeback.
At this point, the general trend of Qin's reunification is irreversible.
Reflection: the ruthless trial of historical judges
When discussing the magnificent legendary life of King Wuling of Zhao, historians all lamented that he starved to death in the sand dunes and failed. Liang Qichao, a modern enlightenment thinker, once made a biography of Zhao Wuling, praising him as "the first great man after the Yellow Emperor". Qu Dajun, a poet in the Qing Dynasty, also lamented in the poem "The First Part of King Zhao Wuling": "There is a way to attack the south in the clouds, which makes Qin popular." Imagine that if King Wuling of Zhao did not die, he would surely achieve the great cause of "attacking the south" and breaking the Qin Dynasty.
In fact, this possibility is very small.
First of all, in the process of King Wuling of Zhao carrying out the reform of Khufu's riding and shooting, Qin was not idle.
At the beginning of Historical Records of Zhao Benji, it is clearly recorded that "Zhao is the ancestor of Qin". Both Qin and Zhao are from Rongdi in the northwest, and they are inextricably linked with the northern grassland nationalities. During the Spring and Autumn Period, with the assistance of Yu Yu, a famous minister, Qin Mugong wiped out more than 20 Rongdi tribal countries, and was able to expand thousands of miles and "dominate Xirong". During the reign of King Huiwen of Qin, Qin continued to manage the northwest, not only dividing the largest Rongdi tribe in the northwest into counties, but also occupying the twenty-five cities of Yiqu, further consolidating its sphere of influence in the northwest. At the beginning of King Xiang of Qin at the same time as King Wuling of Zhao, the actual ruler of Qin, Empress Xuan, tricked and killed Yu Ganquan, the king of Yiqu, "so he sent his troops to attack Yiqu and destroyed it" (Qin Benji), and set up Beidi County (now Qingyang, Gansu), officially declaring that Qin was the real master of the vast northwest region. It can be seen that Qin is not weaker than Zhao in strategy and conquest of nomadic people.
At the same time, Qin also stepped up its attack on Lu, especially Han Wei.
After Qin Xiaogong appointed Shang Yang to reform, the strength of Qin increased rapidly. In 340 BC, Wei lost his hegemony by defeating Maling. He appointed Shang Yang to lead an army to defeat Wei Jun in Hexi and captured Wei's son alive. In the second year, Qin Xiaogong led the army to defeat Wei Jun's main force on the lakeshore, and captured Wei Cuo, the leader of Wei. From 332 BC to 330 BC, after two years of fierce fighting, they carved Yin in (now Suide, Shaanxi Province) and adowa Wei Jun, captured Long Jia, commander of Wei Jun, and forced Wei to give up Hexi. Later, Qin fought Wei Jun many times in Hedong, forcing Wei to cede Shang Jun 15 county to Qin. At this point, all the land west of the Yellow River in Wei was occupied by Qin.
In addition, Qin made good use of immigrants. Once the city is conquered, the original residents will be expelled, and the criminals and people of Qin will also be moved here to quickly digest the newly conquered land. "Historical Records" contains Qin Huiwen for thirteen years, "making Zhang Yi conquer Shaanxi and make himself and Wei". In the 21st year of Qin Zhaoxiang, Sima Cuo attacked Wei Hanoi. Wei county Anyi, Qin is a man, raised funds to move to Hedong to give him a knighthood, and those who forgive sins will move. "Thirty-four years of the Qin Dynasty," with Wei, Hancheng County, Nanyang was exempted from ministers and moved ". Qin immigrants were familiar with Shang Yang's laws and longed for military achievements to get rid of crimes, so they actively participated in the agricultural war and quickly consolidated Qin's rule in the newly conquered land.
So by the time of King Wuling of Zhao, Qin had established a huge and stable ruling area from Beidi County in Longxi to the monk army in Hexi and around Xianyang in Qin Dou. Coupled with the conquest of the nomadic Yiqu, Qin was not inferior to King Wuling of Zhao in the construction of cavalry units. Therefore, if King Wuling of Zhao did not encounter the palace change of sand dunes, but led his troops south from Jiuyuan, Yunzhong, Yanmen and other counties as planned, he would encounter one hard bone after another. Troops and Yi Qu Rangers stationed in North County of Qin, Shang Jun County, Hexi and other places will intercept and attack Nanzhao troops in batches. Without attacking Hanguguan from the eastern border of Qin and containing Qin Jun's main force, Zhao's plan to bypass Hanguguan and surprise Xianyang would probably fail.
Secondly, Zhao Wuling's big detour strategy actually made a military taboo. At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Zhuge Liang presented the famous "Longzhong Dui" to Liu Bei, who lived in Jingzhou at that time, and laid the foundation for a three-point world. Among them, the strategy of crossing Jing Ke and opening up the Central Plains in two ways was praised by later generations. However, Chairman Mao sharply criticized this strategy. He pointed out: "(Liu Bei) mistakenly started in Longzhong, thousands of miles away, and split up. In the end, Guan Yu, Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang were invincible. " The three components made it impossible for the already weak Shu-Han regime to concentrate its forces and disperse the situation in the whole country, in vain and eventually perished.
Similarly, in contrast with the overall strength of Zhao Wei, it was thought that King Wuling of Zhao, who led the army in the base area, put all his eggs in one basket and attacked Qin in the south, which was bound to expose Zhao to the main forces and the eyeing Han and Wei countries and bear the brunt. By then, Zhao is likely to fall into the embarrassing situation that the main force is deeply involved in the northern part of Qin, and the capital has been jointly broken by Qin, Han and Wei.
Finally, and most importantly, Zhao Wuling and Wang's riding and shooting reform is incomparable to Qin's reform in content, coverage and effect.
During the Warring States period, in order to survive and develop in the brutal merger war, all countries carried out reforms in different degrees and contents, and the results were quite different. Among them, Shang Yang's political reform was undoubtedly the most successful one. The comprehensiveness and thoroughness of Shang Yang's political reform is undoubtedly one of the key factors.
In the long-term political observation, Shang Yang knows that the key to the success or failure of competition among countries lies in their agricultural war strength. Agriculture, that is, agricultural production, grain and other material reserves; War is the combat effectiveness of the army and the people. Therefore, the first batch of reform decrees promulgated by the State of Qin was based on the general policy of "enriching the country and strengthening the country, and fighting agricultural wars". It clearly stipulates: "Those who have military merits are proud of themselves." "Work hard in your own industry, and those who work hard will recover." (Biography of Historical Records of Shang Jun) At the same time, it was stipulated that although the children of imperial clan had no military merit, they were "not allowed to join the clan", which broke the social class barrier and made the Qin people "forget to die after seeing many wars", so they actively joined the army, charged and killed the enemy, and advocated martial arts, which greatly improved Qin Jun's morale.
At the same time, the state also exempted farmers who engaged in farming and weaving and exceeded the quota, which greatly improved the people's enthusiasm for production and doubled their national strength. In addition, Shang Yang also "let the people do whatever they want", strengthened control over the people and re-divided administrative divisions, "set small cities as counties, set orders and be sincere, and all 31 counties". Thoroughly reform the state administrative system. At the same time, "open the border for the field, and the tax is flat." The agricultural economic foundation, upper-level political power and fiscal and taxation structure have all been reshaped to adapt to the development of the times, thus releasing immeasurable productivity. So interlocking, step by step, the reform finally achieved great success. "Qin Min Guo Qinda said that there are no thieves in the mountains, and there are enough for others at home. People are brave in public war, afraid of private fighting, and township governance. "
Because of this, from King Huiwen of Qin to King Zhao Xiang of Zhao, the State of Qin seized large areas of land in Wei and Chu, and together with Guanzhong, the old place of the State of Qin, three agricultural production bases were formed, namely Guanzhong, Hanzhong and Zhongshu, which laid a solid foundation for the ultimate reunification of the State of Qin. It can be seen that what is called "the teacher of tigers and wolves" is only the appearance, but the real core is the great success of Qin's profound political reform, covering all walks of life and radiating every corner of society.
On the other hand, Zhao Wuling's reform lacks such depth, breadth and intensity.
From the content, Zhao Wuling's reform is only a simple military reform. No matter the introduction of Khufu, cavalry recruitment, weapons and equipment, and training tactics, they are only carried out in the military field. Other areas of social life, such as the reform of political organization structure, the reform of economic base, the progress of production methods, and the precise improvement of personnel management, have not been effectively solved. The results of its reform are naturally quite limited.
Even more deadly, King Wuling of Zhao not only failed to carry out centralized reform of the political structure, but strengthened the central dynasty's ability to absorb resources and mobilize the people. On the contrary, he tried to instigate the coexistence of the two kings out of his own selfish interests, so that the eldest son Zhao Zhang and King Zhao Huiwen formed checks and balances. If it succeeds, it will inevitably lead to the situation of a state within a state of Zhao, eventually destroying Zhongshan and realizing reunification. It can be said that it moves against the historical trend and will naturally be abandoned by Zhao and the historical trend in the ruling and opposition parties.
History is the ruthless judge of reform and reform in various countries.
More than 30 years after the death of King Wuling of Zhao, the largest, heaviest casualties and most far-reaching battle between Qin and Zhao Changping broke out in the history of the Warring States. After protracted confrontation and struggle between the Qin and Zhao armies, at the decisive moment, the Qin general "Indiana Jones 25 thousand, gave it to Zhao" broke Zhao's route for providing foodstuff in vain. After the siege of Zhao was formed, Leitian came up with the idea that "tapping Zhao is unfavorable to Zhao's war" ("Zi Tongzhi Jianzhou Wu Ji"), and Zhao lost the last chance to break through the siege and turn defeat into victory. The "raiders" and "light soldiers" mentioned here are undoubtedly based on cavalry.
In this way, the battle of Changping in Qin and Zhao won the key battle of Qin cavalry, and also declared the "Khufu riding and shooting" painstakingly managed by King Wuling of Zhao a complete defeat. In the end, Zhao's 400,000 main force was brutally killed, and Zhao completely declined, and it was inevitable that he would be destroyed by Qin.
King Wuling of Zhao is undoubtedly the creator of legends in the history of the Warring States. But after the legend, he ushered in the ultimate failure of his life and even the whole country. After a thousand years, it is still embarrassing.