Wei has a good prime minister like Li Kui, and it also needs a good general like Wu Qi. Li Kui and Wu Qi studied under Zixia together, so they recommended this younger brother to Wei Wenhou.
"Wu Zi" is a military book handed down from ancient times by Wu Qi. It has always been known together with the thirteen chapters of "Sun Tzu". When later generations mentioned Sun Wu and Wu Qi, they always called them "Sun Wu" together. This shows Wu Qi's military skills. Talent and his status in the eyes of future generations.
"I would like to discuss the customs of the Six Kingdoms. Qi's formation is heavy but not strong, Qin's formation is scattered and fights among itself, Chu's formation is consolidated but not for a long time, Yan's formation is defended but not moved, and the three Jin's formation is established but not used."
This passage comes from "Wu Zi·Making Enemies". It talks about the characteristics of the armies of various countries and is generally consistent with the historical facts at that time. In ancient times, transportation and communication were not developed. Wu Qi was able to accurately describe the general profile and character of the armies of various countries (armies have characters and souls), which is enough to illustrate his extensive knowledge. In fact, Wu Qi has been traveling around to study since he was a child, and has traveled all over the country throughout his life. To a certain extent, he can be regarded as a "Xu Xiake" of the pre-Qin Dynasty.
At that time, transportation was extremely inconvenient, so Wu Qi worked tirelessly to travel all over the world with his own legs, because he cherished the dream of "standing above the court, serving generals and ministers, and stirring up the tide of the times." He wanted to turn this dream into reality, so he walked out of his house and traveled to the ends of the earth to look for it.
Wu Qi was born into a rich family, and his family had a lot of money. When it comes to struggle, children from rich families have more shortcuts than young people from poor families. The shortcut is money. Wu Qi went out to work, just to get an official position and then develop his ambitions. As a result, all his wealth was gone, and he still had no way to find an official career, so he had to return home in despair, and his first dream pursuit failed. In fact, this is nothing. Who can guarantee that he will never make a mistake in his life? A philosopher once said: "If you have to be absolutely sure before you do something, you will definitely accomplish nothing in the end - because there is no such thing as absolute certainty in the world!" These words are deafening, but some people still do it for One's own "security" hides in its own shell like a tortoise and cannot come out. Not only does it not come out, but it also tries its best to ridicule those who dare to break the rules and pursue their dreams. There are many turtles like this with sharp teeth and sharp mouths in Wu Qi's hometown.
Some unpleasant words about Wu Qi gradually spread, and it was naturally impossible for Wu Qi not to hear them. After hearing this, the mother at home felt depressed all day long. It was already uncomfortable enough to have a career that was not going well and lose all the family fortune, but who would have thought that after coming back, I would have to endure these rumors. At first, Wu Qi ignored it and did not argue for himself. But those people still refused to give up and made more and more sarcastic remarks. So Wu Qi had a plan. He drew out his weapon and killed more than 30 boring tongue-tied people in one go in one night. The weapons not only struck the bodies of these dead people, but also struck the hearts of all other villagers, so they no longer dared to say anything for fear of getting into trouble.
In the midst of the heavy siege of dozens of people, Wu Qi suddenly showed his power, drew out his sword, and killed these little guys like chopping melons and vegetables... There are no such martial arts masters in the real world. The real scene may be like this: Wu Qi listens I was very annoyed, so I decided to kill someone to stop the slander. Who should I kill? Wu Qi thought about the people pointing fingers at him under the bridge tree, so he walked out of the house and visited each house, killing them with a knife. Perhaps because Wu Qi had learned the art of fencing and moved quickly, no one could stop him during the whole process, allowing him to "complete the mission" smoothly.
If you think about it carefully, this is really scary. What makes him scared is not that Wu Qi killed more than thirty people, but that he was calm in planning before killing and resolute in executing the killing. This man must be a cold-blooded person who doesn't take human life seriously, otherwise how could he be so cold-blooded? However, we can also see his talent in the process. Although Sun Wu, the military sage, listed "benevolence" as an important criterion for selecting generals, this "benevolence" refers to being kind to one's own people and his soldiers. Otherwise, the soldiers will not be able to fight to the death, but it is okay to treat the enemy. Use every possible means to attack and persecute. As the saying goes, "One general can kill thousands of people." Is there any successful general who has not killed countless people and developed a heart of stone that does not care about human life in the process of going through hundreds of battles? Because on the battlefield, apart from victory, a general must put other things aside. Wu Qi succeeded in telling everyone to shut up. However, with his hands full of blood, he could not stay in his hometown any longer, so he said goodbye to his mother overnight and walked out of the house again.
"If I, Wu Qi, cannot become a minister, I will never return to the Kingdom of Wei!" Wu Qi knelt in front of his mother and swore, then bit his arm, blood dripping down his arm to the ground. A mother knows her son's stubborn temper best, so she remained silent and just looked at him silently. When his figure carrying the baggage gradually became blurred, he sighed and turned around to close the door.
Initially, Wu Qi worshiped Zeng Zi as his teacher and learned Confucianism from him. Just as he was pondering over his knowledge day and night, the news of his mother's death came, shocking him to the point of being stunned. Wu Qi wanted to go home for a visit, but his vow to become a general and prime minister had not yet been fulfilled, so he gritted his teeth and continued to immerse himself in his books instead of going home to mourn his mother. This is Wu Qi. Not only can he be cruel to others, he can also be cruel to himself. Zengzi was one of the disciples of Confucius who was more able to carry forward the Confucian principles of loyalty, forgiveness and filial piety. He himself was a famous filial son. When he found out that Wu Qi's mother was dead and saw that he still acted like a normal person, he couldn't help but get angry and punished Wu Qi. Expelled from the division.
"We have different ways, so we don't want to conspire against each other." Wu Qi made no excuses. He knew it was of no use, so he returned to his residence, packed his bags, and left coolly.
Probably already aware of his own strengths and weaknesses, Wu Qi knew that Zengzi's set of gentleman's benevolence, justice and etiquette were not suitable for him, so he instead came to the state of Lu to study the art of war. Whether he was fighting hand to hand with a sharp blade, or imagining millions of troops fighting furiously on the battlefield, Wu Qi's blood was more aroused. "Maybe this is my destination!" Wu Qi said to himself.
As the spring and autumn change, the sun and the moon rotate, Wu Qi already knows everything about marching formations and tent planning. What he needs is an opportunity to prove himself. I didn't expect this opportunity to come right away.
This year, Qi State raised troops to attack Lu State. The State of Lu was originally the fiefdom of Zhou Gong, and the State of Qi was originally the fiefdom of Jiang Taigong. The State of Qi had thousands of miles of fertile fields, and was also profitable for fishing and salt. After Guan Zhong's rectification and planning, it became increasingly powerful, while the State of Lu gradually declined. So when Qi came to attack, the kings and ministers of Lu were so frightened that they lost their minds. However, Wu Qi realized that this was a good opportunity for him to rise to the top, so he recommended himself, asked to be a general, and led his troops into battle. The civil and military officials in the Manchu Dynasty were as silent as a cicada. At this time, Wu Qi asked for a battle, which naturally made Lu Jun overjoyed. However, this joy did not last long, and was replaced by doubts, because Lu Jun heard that Wu Qi's wife was a daughter of Qi, so he suspected that Wu Qi was interested in Qi. If he worshiped him as a general this time, he would inevitably defect in battle. . When the time comes for the State of Lu to be attacked from both inside and outside, the country will be "in danger"! Lu Jun hesitated. Wu Qi was anxiously waiting at home, wondering what Lu Jun had in mind. "Are we going to watch this great opportunity slip by in vain?" Wu Qi frowned.
Later, I don't know who reported the news and told Wu Qi clearly what was on Lu Jun's mind. Wu Qi then faced a choice again: on the one hand, he had the great opportunity to become famous and achieve success, which he had been seeking for many years. In order to get ahead, he did not even return home after his mother died, and was expelled from the school by his teacher; In contrast, his wife, who cooks and mends clothes for him, devotes himself to the art of war and official career, and she takes care of everything at home. Many people may choose the latter, but there is another type of people who always look at their original choice. They are inevitably at the mercy of "fate", but this river of fate is just what they ride on. Hitchhiking - they are ready to go ashore at any time, and for that dream, they can give up what they have in hand without any reservation. Wu Qi was this kind of person, so he directed and performed the most cold-blooded and tragic scene in history: he killed his wife, cut off her head, and presented it to Lord Lu to show his loyalty to the state of Lu. .
Commenting in any language, whether praising him for his unwavering commitment to his dream or cursing him for being inhumane, seems a bit weak, because this is history that actually happened. Lu Jun, who accepted Wu Qi's wife's head, immediately appointed him as a general and issued a seal to general the three armies to fight against the enemy.
It seems that since the opening of Dajixia Academy for teaching, all the people in Qi have suddenly become those who have high ambitions but low abilities and are eager to show off their rhetoric. This time they made the mistake again. They thought it would be easy to attack the weak Lu State, but at this time the newly appointed coach Wu Qi sent an envoy to express his intention to negotiate peace with them. They had doubts when they first heard the other party's envoy petitioning for peace talks, but their doubts were soon dispelled because they saw that the Lu army who came out to patrol the camp were all old, weak, sick and disabled, and they looked as if they were about to be blown away by the wind. Seeing these vulnerable soldiers, Qi people were completely relieved, so they focused their attention on the food and wine brought by their own army. However, just as they were eating and drinking until the moon was high, they were suddenly awakened by the loud sound of killing outside the tent. When they opened the tent, they saw stinging beacon fire everywhere, and the army of the Lu State was coming from their camp. The two wings of the attack came, its movements were as fast as thunder, and its sweep was as clean as a hurricane. How could this be a rabble organized by the old, weak, sick, and disabled? This was clearly a fierce and brave army of tigers and wolves! Only then did the people of Qi realize that they had fallen into Wu Qi's trap.
It turns out that all of this was planned before Wu Qi took up the post of Palm Printer. Of course he knew that no matter in terms of national strength or military training, the Lu Army could not compare with the Qi Army. If they fought head-on on the battlefield and kept it for less than one round, the Lu Army would be completely annihilated. , so we must not send troops easily. "Sun Tzu's Art of War" says: "All warriors use the right combination to win by surprise." Judging from the preserved "Wu Zi's Art of War", it is obvious that Wu Qi was deeply influenced by Sun Tzu. Therefore, if you want to win, you can't fight with knife against knife or gun against gun, but you have to catch the enemy unawares and strike from behind. To do this, it was necessary to show weakness and paralyze the opponent's fighting spirit, so Wu Qi sent an envoy to sue for peace, and also selected the old and weak in the camp to form a patrol force, and barely raised a white flag to beg for mercy from the Qi army. The arrogant Qi Jun drank glass after glass of the ecstasy wine brought by Wu Qijing, and naturally became the soul under the wine.
Extraordinary people will do extraordinary things. Wu Qi defeated the Qi army in his first attack and won a lot of praise. However, Wu Qi's brilliance revealed the bleakness of others, and his achievements revealed the incompetence of others. So the slander came to Lu Jun: "Wu Qi is jealous and cruel..." He recounted the "bad things" Wu Qi had done in his life, and then said: "He didn't even care about his mother's death, and killed him with his own hands. My own wife, such a wolf-hearted person, only has herself in her heart, will she be loyal to anyone? Our country and the Kingdom of Wei have a brotherhood. Wu Qi killed people in the hometown of the Kingdom of Wei, but we gave him the seal of commander-in-chief and used it seriously. Isn’t it right? For the sake of Wu Qi, should we abandon the entire Weiguo? Moreover, in these troubled times, our country was originally a small country, but now it has defeated the arrogant Qi State. Isn't it shining in the dark night and attracting the attention of the princes?" Analyze it this way. , no matter how great Wu Qi’s contribution is, he can’t even think about staying in Lu State. When he left the country of Lu alone, he wondered if he would think of every detail of his life with his wife.
In fact, before the Jin Kingdom, there was another vassal state that also quietly came to an end with a sigh of history. This country is Jiang's Qi Kingdom. During the Warring States Period, the reason for the demise of a country was often that the powerful men in the vassal states relied on their status to threaten the power of the lord and legitimately replaced them. The replaced country perished. This was actually the case for Qi and Jin.
As early as the 5th century BC, the political power of Qi fell into the hands of the Tian nobles. After decades of painstaking efforts, Qi State has lived up to expectations and stood in the East with a new and powerful national image. The strength of Qi State is spread all over the world, and no one dares to underestimate it, but the king of Qi State is not satisfied with the simple status of a great power. He wants both profit and fame.
This trend was most evident in the mid-4th century BC. At that time, there were only eight important vassal states left on the traditional Chinese territory. The monarch of the Chu Kingdom has long been called king, but the monarchs of the other vassal states still use the title of duke or marquis, which represents their affiliation with the Zhou royal family. In theory, they were all still ministers of Emperor Zhou. This low status made the monarchs of the vassal states very unbalanced. Especially for a powerful country like Qi and the leader of Qi's great talent and strategy, his most urgent need is to have a king with a higher status than the princes.
In 389 BC, inspired by the Three Jin Dynasties, Tian He came to Luoyang with a cart full of bribes and met with Ji Jiao, the king of Zhou. Tian He successfully received an edict from King Ji Jiao of Zhou, conferring him the title of king of Qi. The fate of Jiang Dai, the original king of Qi, was determined by this paper edict. In the whole world, not even the Emperor Zhou could save him, who else could turn the tide? Jiang Dai spent the rest of his life in a lonely small town by the sea. Maybe he was lonely. He was a doomsday monarch and a man whose country was subjugated. It was really a blessing among misfortunes that his ending could be like this. But the entire early Warring States period was full of passion. Ten years later, Jiang Dai died, and the Jiang family of Qi was destroyed.
At this time, the last ruler of Qi State was not as lonely as when he was first exiled. Perhaps he saw that all this was not only due to his own inaction, but also in response to the general trend of the entire world.
The Tian family nobles in Qi are becoming more and more powerful, and it seems logical to replace them. Unlike Qi, Jin's split was sudden. Once upon a time, the Jin State was the largest and most powerful among the feudal states of the Zhou Dynasty. If there was a vassal state that was most qualified to unify the world, it must be the Jin State.
But in 376 BC, Ji Jujiu, the last monarch of the Jin Dynasty, was demoted to a commoner. From then on, he stayed away from the intrigues and ever-changing inner courtyards of the palace, and also stayed away from people's sight. The remnants of Jin's division by Han, Zhao, and Wei, namely the two last cities, were once again divided among the three vassal states.
The Jin Kingdom was declared completely destroyed.
The whole process is clean and tidy and never sloppy. The world is so big that no country is willing to come forward, or in their hearts, they would gain more from watching the fire from the other side. As soon as the Jin State is destroyed, the world will lose a country that can compete with or bully it. As a result, Jin State was like a dead leaf sinking in the rapids, without causing any ripples.
The happiest country in the world at that time was none other than Qin.
In the early days of the Qin State, due to the obstruction of the Jin and Chu states in the east, several rulers of the Qin State devoted all their efforts to developing the northwest region. In the eyes of the Central Plains people, the people in this area were all uncivilized barbarians, namely the Xirong, who later developed further into the Yiqu and Xiongnu. The struggle between Qin and Xirong mainly focused on military affairs. It seems that Qin, which has always been backward, also believed that the only way to deal with barbarians was barbaric methods. However, the fighting power of the barbarians was surprisingly strong, and even led to the demise of the Western Zhou Dynasty. In 822 BC, a ruler of Qin was also killed by the Rong tribe. Later, after Duke Mu, Qin continued to work hard to govern, and finally defeated the Rong one after another.
The power of Qin exceeded Rong's imagination. The rivals that were once on the same level as Rong suddenly grew to a height that Rong looked up to. The Rong gradually faded out of the historical stage. The last recorded history was in 430 BC. This was the last attack by the Rong tribe on the Qin State. After more than 100 years of changes, most people of the Rong tribe, who once made a living as nomads, began to settle down. In 315 BC, the Qin State took advantage of the situation and captured 25 of Rong's cities. This tribe was also dominated by the Qin State in terms of their way of life and production. Assimilated.
After the Qin State completely attacked the Rong tribe, it also shifted its strategic focus to the interior of the Eastern Xia. A historical drama about war and conspiracy was staged.
Under the political trap of Qin and Jin, Qin once lost its troops and territory. Even strategic places such as Xiaoshan and Hangu Pass were occupied by the Jin State. From then on, the east gate of the Qin State was opened by the Jin State. As long as the Jin State was willing, they could march straight in and take the Qin State's capital.
Not to mention seizing the hegemony of the Central Plains, it is not even enough to protect itself. The Qin State knows that Hangu Pass will never be allowed to be in the hands of other countries. No matter how high the price is, the Qin army will definitely recapture Hangu Pass.
It's a pity that Qin only knew that Jin was not easy to mess with. Unexpectedly, even Wei, which only had one-third of Jin's land area, was extremely powerful. Qin's army attacked many times, but Wei was unable to fight back. Although Qin's soldiers were determined and decisive in attacking, their overall strength was not as good as that of Wei's army. Therefore, Qin could only retreat and seek the next best thing, retracting its head to recharge its batteries.
What Qin didn't expect was that Wei was more warlike than Jin. To the east of Qin State, there was not much fertile land, but it was constantly harassed and attacked by Wei State. Seeing that Qin's situation was critical, the Qin army fought desperately, causing Wei to "kill one thousand enemies and lose eight hundred to itself", thus forming a short-term balance.
Marquis Wen of Wei's reputation for recruiting talented people had already spread throughout the world, so Wu Qi came to Wei to pursue his dream.
Zixia was from Wei State and a fellow countryman of Wu Qi. History books say that Wu Qi once worshiped Zi Xia as his disciple. This should be after he was expelled from his disciple by Zeng Zi. Wu Qi must have learned etiquette and filial piety from Zengzi, so what did he learn from Zixia? Judging from the students Zixia taught (for example, Li Kui), he probably learned the art of governing a country and strengthening its army.
"Of course I welcome talents as they come, but I wonder if this Wu Qi has real talent and learning?" Wei Wenhou asked Li Kui.
"Wu Qi loves fame, fortune, women, and is cruel and mean. But when it comes to arranging troops and winning battles, even if Sima Rangju comes in person, you may not be able to get benefits from him!" Li Kui bowed to the ground.
So Wenhou summoned Wu Qi, who had studied under two Confucian sages and had achieved brilliant victories in the state of Lu.
"Sir, do you know what I am thinking in my heart? Why did I summon you?" Marquis Wen asked.
"What your Majesty has in mind is the sky, the earth, the sun and the moon, the earth's fire, wind and thunder, the mountains, rivers, grass and trees, and the people. Your Majesty wants millions of people to aspire to be the best in the world!" Wu Qi replied enthusiastically.
"Why do you see it?" Marquis Wen smiled.
"The emperor is so rich that he has few rivals in the world. However, he still hunts animals everywhere and skins them to make chariots and armour. The smelting fires are not extinguished all year round, and the long halberd of 2 feet and 4 feet and the short halberd of 1 and 2 feet have long been They are piled up like a mountain. Are all these chariots, armor and weapons used for decoration?" Wu Qi raised his head and looked at Marquis Wen without avoiding it at all.
"My parents are the ones who gave birth to me, and my husband is the one who knows me..." Wei Wenhou immediately began to ask Wu Qi for advice on how to govern the country and use military force. Wu Qi was experiencing a long drought, so he dedicated everything he had learned to Marquis Wen. The more the two talked, the more congenial they became. Marquis Wen secretly praised Li Kui for seeing the right person, so he appointed Wu Qi as a general and ordered him to train soldiers.
Wei Wenhou knew very well that if Qin was left alone and the Wei army was allowed to march eastward and west in a arrogant manner, Qin was likely to inflict a fatal blow to Wei at a critical moment. This was a heavy responsibility that no one could bear.
By sending Wu Qi to Xihe, which borders Qin, he can first use Wu Qi's reputation to frighten Qin. At this time, Wu Qi was known to everyone. When he was in the State of Lu, he defeated the powerful Qi State army with only more than 20,000 old and weak soldiers. The Qin army naturally knew Wu Qi's reputation. Although they wanted to capture Hangu Pass, they remained stationary. Secondly, Wei Wenhou was worried and wary of Wu Qi from the bottom of his heart. Therefore, the great cause of conquering the world was not left in Wu Qi's hands. Placing Wu Qi behind him not only allows him to make the best use of his troops, but also effectively prevents him.
Wei Wenhou thought, since there is such a way to get the best of both worlds, why not do it? It's a pity that Wu Qi is not a person who is willing to take second place. At this time, the Qin State had temporarily made it clear that it would give up the conflict with the Wei State and instead devote itself to the vigorous annexation of the west. With this God-given opportunity, Wu Qi naturally would not wait for Qin to grow stronger.
However, Qin's military strength is obvious to all, and it is not something that can be casually started a war with. Wu Qi thought hard, how to make Wei stronger without affecting the general trend of the world? As a result, a powerful army appeared in history. Its emergence originated from a vast and magnificent reform.
