This war has always been dramatic because of the personal feud between the two protagonists, Pang Juan and Sun Bin. It is often portrayed in film and television works as a revenge war between the kind Sun Bin and the insidious Pang Juan, which is a war in which the just Qi defeated the evil Wei. However, the fact is that Qi skillfully exploited the contradiction between Wei, Zhao and Korea, weakened Wei, which dominated the whole country, and defeated Wei's main force in Maling in one fell swoop, which can be said to be beneficial to the fisherman. After Qi defeated Wei, this country became a big country in the East.
Under the rule of Qi Weiwang, the State of Qi flourished, while the State of Wei went downhill after Wuqi left Chu. The collision between the two great powers is inevitable, and judging from the development of the whole trend, it seems inevitable that Qi will prevail. Therefore, Wei's defeat was not Pang Juan's fault alone, and Qi's defeat was not Sun Bin's, which was the result of the overall situation.
But often the legendary revenge stories can attract people's attention most, especially when these stories are idioms and allusions, such as encircling Wei to save Zhao and reducing the kitchen, the real historical logic becomes dim. Perhaps, the so-called hero making history refers to such a situation.
Sun Bin and Pang Juan are classmates and have a good relationship, but they turned against each other as soon as they graduated. Pang Juan almost killed Sun Bin by cutting off his foot. There is no other reason, just because Sun Bin's talent is too high, Pang Juan is jealous. This is a rather bloody plot, just like the plot of a second-rate best-selling novel, but it is impressively written in our official history.
"History as a Mirror" is written like this:
Both Sun Bin and Pang Juan studied the art of war. Pang Juan took Wei as the general and thought he was inferior to Sun Bin, so he called him. In the end, if your feet are cut off by law, you will be abandoned for life.
According to historical records, Sun Bin is a descendant of Sun Wu, and both of them are Qi people. His name is Guo, because he was flogged in Wei and his legs were disabled. His real name is unknown. However, Historical Records as a Mirror records that his punishment was "cutting off his feet", that is, cutting off his feet and tattooing his face to indicate the identity of the criminal. Cutting off both feet should be called "flogging", and "flogging" means digging out the kneecaps. Should Sun Bin be called "Sun CuO"? As for whether Sun Bin has no feet or kneecaps, I won't continue to explore.
It is widely rumored that Sun Bin and Pang Juan learned the art of war from Guiguzi together, and later Pang Juanxian became a general in Wei. Guiguzi is a god-like figure, and history books only record that he was the teacher of Su Qin and Yi Chang. However, Su Qin and Zhang Yi were the most famous military strategists during the Warring States Period, so the knowledge of Guiguzi teaching should be vertical and horizontal. Then why did he teach Sun Bin and Pang Juan the art of war? There are many legends about Guiguzi, but it is difficult to find traces in the official history. My guess is that in order to make the story of Sun Bin and Pang Juan more dramatic, someone deliberately added characters like Guiguzi to the story. Otherwise, how could Sun Bin have such a high talent and how could Pang Juan be so afraid of him? As the saying goes, it is only natural to have a teacher like God as a guide, which makes the story more credible to read.
What was the state of Wei when Pang Juan became a general? At that time, the monarch of Wei was Wei Huiwang. Wei became the overlord of the Central Plains under the rule of Wei Wenhou, and its hegemony extended from Wei Wenhou and Wei Wuhou to Wei Huiwang. Wei's national strength is really in full swing. Even the State of Qin, which later unified the whole country, was annexed by the State of Wei, which took away the land of Xihe, and did not dare to fight head-on. As a general of Wei, Pang Juan is a powerful man, but he thinks that Sun Bin's ability is higher than his own. He is jealous, so he lures Sun Bin to Wei, then sets him up and cuts off his feet.
This is a very dramatic plot. It seems that the talented people in the world must belong to Pang Juan and Sun Bin, which is quite like the taste of "born in what, how to know what is not clear". . But thinking from common sense doesn't make sense. There are many talented people in the world. Why does Pang Juan stare at his fellow teacher younger brother? Unless there was a blood feud between them before. As a general in a superpower like Wei, Pang Juan will face many political enemies much more dangerous than Sun Bin, and Sun Bin is a fresh graduate. Our social reality tells us that in addition to talents, it is more important to have all kinds of contacts, relationships, emotional intelligence, etc., as well as background and opportunities. What is Pang Juan afraid of at the grassroots level like Sun Bin? In addition, if Pang Juan is really such a cunning and heartless person, why not just kill Sun Bin once and for all and leave him alive every day to test his guilt?
"Zi Tongzhi Jian" continues to record:
When the envoy of Qi arrived in Wei, Sun Bin called him a criminal. Qi emissary stole it. Tian Ji was kind and hospitable, and offered advice to Wang Wei. Wang Wei asked the art of war and thought he was a teacher.
The emissary of Qi visited Wei, secretly met the criminal Sun Bin, and then rescued him from Qi. Later, Sun Bin was introduced to Qi Weiwang by Tian Ji, and Qi Weiwang respected him as a teacher. The story of horse racing in Tian Ji happened when Sun Bin fled to Qi and lived in Tian Ji. So the question is, what can Sun Bin do? Qi risked a diplomatic dispute with the powerful Wei State and stole the prisoners of Wei State. You know, at that time, Qi was not strong enough to fight Wei unscrupulously. Just because the emissary of Qi secretly met Sun Bin, he was stunned by nature and let Qi take such a big diplomatic risk without permission? Think about Sun Bin's resume. Zero work experience, a disabled person, a criminal record, and restrictions on competition, what is the probability of his successful job-hopping?
So, I don't think this story is credible. It might be more logical for me to invent another plot. Sun Bin is from Qi. Why did he go to Wei to find a job? Because Sun Bin is a spy sent by Qi. Through the classmate relationship with Pang Juan, the general of Wei State, he successfully entered the political core of Wei State. Unexpectedly, he was caught by the news and was arrested and imprisoned. If Pang Juannian's classmates hadn't gone to North Korea to mediate, Sun Bin would have died. After the incident, Qi launched an active rescue, and finally successfully brought Sun Bin, who had become disabled, to Qi. Maybe Pang Juan also helped. Sun Bin was highly praised by Qi Weiwang for his contribution. ?
In any case, Sun Bin returned to his own country, helped Qi Weiwang fight two key anti-Wei battles, completely ended the hegemony of Wei, and forced Wei Huiwang to go to Xuzhou of Qi, honoring Qi Weiwang as king. This is the famous King Xiang of Xuzhou, which we will talk about in the next article.
Let's start with these two battles, the Battle of Guiling and the Battle of Maling.
In 354 BC, Wei Huiwang conquered Zhao and surrounded Handan, the capital of Zhao. Zhao, Wei and Han, as the three Jin dynasties, why should they split this alliance? Back in the heyday, Zhao and South Korea followed Wei. As their brothers, why did Sanjin fight? Speaking of Wei Huiwang's accession to the throne.
In 37 1 year BC, "Wei Wuhou failed to establish a prince, and the struggle between the son and the public was slow, causing domestic chaos." The son here is Wei Huiwang. The civil strife in Wei has not subsided for two years, and Zhao and Han took the opportunity to "attack Wei together, fight indiscriminately, break it and encircle it." Zhao proposed to kill the son, let the public make peace, and let Wei cede land. South Korea, on the other hand, proposed to divide Wei into two to weaken Wei. Either way, it will be a fatal blow to Wei, which will reduce Wei to the level of a second-rate country. Was destroyed by the younger brothers Zhao and Han, did you also feel the feelings of Zhi Bo? But it is ridiculous that the two countries did not reach an agreement and withdrew their troops one after another. Therefore, Gou killed Gong Zhong for the benefit of the king and stood up slowly.
In the second year, Wei Huiwang, who reorganized his national strength, defeated Han Ling and Huai, which fully demonstrated the strength of Wei, but it also meant the complete disintegration of the Sanjin Alliance. Since then, Zhao seems to be actively colluding with external forces to contain Wei's power. In 356 BC, Zhao, Qi and Song aroused Wei's vigilance, so Wei besieged Handan. According to the information on the internet, the trigger of this war was Zhao's attack on Wei's allies, but there is no record of this in Zi Jian. The only record is that in 372 BC, one year before Wei Wuhou's death, "Zhao cut Wei and took the capital as 73". It can be seen that the internal affairs of Wei were unstable at that time.
In order to solve the siege of Zhao, Qi Weiwang appointed Sun Bin as the general and led the army to war. But Sun Bin refused to be a general on the pretext that he was a criminal, so he made Tian Ji a general and Sun Bin a staff officer, similar to a military adviser. Tian Ji intended to lead an army to take Handan directly, but was stopped by Sun Bin, so he staged a classic story of besieging Wei to save Zhao. But in fact, although the Qi army attacked Wei, it did not take the lead in capturing Wei, nor did it prevent Wei Jun from seizing Handan, the capital of Zhao. After Wei Jun occupied Handan, the Qi army successfully blocked Wei Jun, defeated Wei Jun, and even captured general Pang Juan alive. However, Zi Tong Zhi Jian did not record the arrest of Pang Juan.
The main force of Wei was not destroyed, and the victory of Qi was only a partial victory. Handan, the capital of Zhao, is still in the hands of Wei. Two years later, Wei and Zhao formed an alliance in Zhangshui, and Wei returned Handan to Zhao. The battle of Maling, which gave Wei a fatal blow, will wait until 13 years later.
In 34 1 year BC, Wei started to attack South Korea this time, and South Korea urgently sent people to Qi for help. Regarding whether to help South Korea, there are differences of opinion in Qi and North Korea. One school, represented by Cheng Hou Zou Ji, advocates non-interference in other countries' wars; Another school, represented by Tian Ji, thinks that Wei's annexation of South Korea will pose a great threat to Qi and should be rescued as soon as possible. Sun Bin stood on Tian Ji's side, but advocated a little later, when Wei and Zhao were exhausted, and then took all the benefits. Sun Bin's strategy is full of modern geopolitics.
Therefore, Qi Weiwang promised the North Korean envoy, but he stayed where he was. Under the promise of Qi State, South Korea gave up the idea of reconciliation with Wei State, resisted to the end, and suffered repeated defeats. After all five wars were defeated, South Korea was on the verge of collapse, and the hope of saving the country was completely pinned on Qi. Up to now, the State of Qi, with Tian Ji as the general and Sun Bin as the teacher, has set out for the State of Wei and re-applied the strategy of besieging Wei to save Zhao. So Pang Juan gave up his attack on South Korea and returned home. With Prince Shen as the general, Wei reorganized a large number of troops and prepared to meet the troops of Qi.
At this time, Sun Bin gave Tian Ji a plan, which is the famous plan of reducing kitchen. Sun Bin asked Tian Ji to reduce the number of stoves for soldiers to eat every day by half and withdraw to the north. That is to say, there are 654.38 million stoves left on the first day, 50,000 stoves on the second day, 20,000 stoves on the third day, and so on. Pang Juan was overjoyed to see the stove left by the enemy, and thought that the Qi army had a large number of deserters and serious attrition. So I left the main infantry and chased it all the way with its lightness and sharpness. At this point, Sun Bin set an ambush on Maling Road early, waiting for Pang Juan to be trapped. This passage in "Purple Tongzhi Sword" is wonderful.
"Grandson, when to go to Ma Ling in the evening. Maling road is narrow and there are many obstacles beside it, so you can ambush it. It's a big tree. The book says, "Pang Juan died under this tree!" "So the archers who are good at shooting with the same division are crouching in the middle of the road, and the fire starts at dusk. Pang Juan went to the tree at night, saw the white book and lit it with fire. If you haven't finished reading it, there will be nothing, and Wei Normal University will have nothing. Pang Juan knew that he was defeated by the enemy, but he was self-defeating. He said, "So he became the name of an upright man!" " Qi defeated Wei and captured Prince Shen. "
This is more like a movie scene. Sun Bin wants to write "Pang Juan died under this tree!" , full of revenge pleasure, let the reader look at it and shout. But real events are often not so dramatic. In any case, after this war, Wei was weakened and Qi became the overlord of the East.
Why did Sun Bin say such a sentence before committing suicide? I've always wondered. Many people explained that this showed that Pang Juan was not convinced until he died. However, in the Battle of Guiling and the Battle of Maling, Pang Juan was completely defeated by Sun Bin in both wars, and he also admitted that he was not as good as Sun Bin at the earliest. Why is he still unconvinced? Pang Juan, in particular, as a person who is ashamed of Sun Bin, won't have any guilt and regret for Sun Bin before he dies? In any case, you shouldn't say such a thing as "I'm a vertical". This is obviously an abusive remark that is extremely contemptuous of Sun Bin. Pang Juan, as a fellow disciple and a powerful official of the two countries, can't feel contempt for Sun Bin's identity, which can only be an act against Sun Bin. What would that be?
Let's look at the following paragraph first:
On that day, Qi Huangong and Cao Gui sat in a chariot and fought with Qi Jun in Beidou. Zhuang Gongzheng wants to order drums. "Not now," said Cao Gui. "Wait until after Qi Jun drummed three times. Hey: "Yes! "Qi Jun was completely defeated. Their duke ordered the horse to chase the horse. " "Not now," Cao Gui said. Then he got out of the chariot, looked at the tracks of Qi Jun's wheels, climbed into the chariot, propped up the front railing of the chariot and looked at Qi Jun's formation, and said, "You can pursue." . "So the pursuit of Qi Jun was pursued. After winning, the king asked him why he won. He said: "It takes courage to fight. High spirits, then decline, three exhausted. I am tired, I am surplus, so I will overcome it. Great powers are unpredictable and frightening. I regard it as chaos and look at its flag, so I chase it.
Yes, this is the well-known debate about Cao Gui in Zuo Zhuan. This war between Lu and Qi in the Spring and Autumn Period is really childish and ridiculous compared with the battle between Guiling and Maling above. However, from here, we can clearly notice that great changes have taken place in the way of war during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. The war in the Spring and Autumn Period was a battle of etiquette and a war game between nobles. The troops "lined up to beat drums" and acted according to the rules. But in the Warring States period, the army changed from a noble warrior to a peasant infantry, and the war no longer paid attention to any etiquette rules, only looked at the outcome.
Sun Tzu said, "Soldiers are cunning." . As the grandson of Qi people, he didn't make great achievements in his own country, but he went to the barbarian country of Wu to be reused, perhaps because the nobles in China in the Spring and Autumn Period were very disdainful of such art of war. But by the Warring States period, everything had changed.
In the second year of the Battle of Maling, Shang Yang led an attack on Wei, and Wei Gongzi took the lead. Shang Yang tricked his son into conducting diplomatic negotiations. After deliberation, the Fu family really attacked the childe on the wine table, and then defeated Wei Jun to recapture the land of Xihe taken away by Wuqi. Shang Yang's behavior of ignoring the minimum diplomatic rules and completely breaking his promise can be said to have penetrated the moral bottom line. This also shows us that the struggle between countries in the Warring States period has been reduced to the jungle level of the jungle.
Perhaps Pang Juan was the last guardian of aristocratic spirit. Defending the war should be an open confrontation between the two armies, a war of courage, not a shameless conspiracy. So, for Sun Bin's "trick", Pang Juan disdain and defy spirit.
It became the name of the vertical shaft! Perhaps this sentence is the afterglow of aristocratic spirit in the Spring and Autumn Period.
This is my personal opinion.