In 354 BC, Pang Juan led Wei soldiers to attack Zhao. The situation in Zhao State was critical, so he asked Qi State for help. Although there had not been an alliance before, the Wei State had already vaguely assumed the status of hegemon. If Pang Juan was allowed to continue fighting like this, he would devour the Zhao State and then rectify his troops to conquer South Korea, repeating the grand occasion of the three Jins uniting. Then Qi State no longer needs to dream about unifying the world, and can just surrender to Wei State.
Therefore, Qi must send troops to rescue Zhao this time. The question is who should be chosen as the leader of this expedition. King Wei of Qi thought of Sun Bin, and he knew his talents from the small. What's more, he was a direct descendant of the military sage Sun Wuzi and had a long family history. He believed that if he went to war, he would definitely be able to teach the Wei people a lesson.
However, Sun Bin declined the post of general. He said: "I am a useless person who has been punished. How can I be the general?" His words were indifferent and heartbreaking to hear. King Wei had no choice but to order Tian Ji to lead the expedition, and Sun Bin became Tian Ji's military advisor. It seems that the image evoked by the word "strategist" in the minds of ordinary people, apart from Zhuge Wuhou, can actually be traced back to Sun Bin during the Warring States Period. Because his kneecaps were removed, Sun Bin could not stand on the chariot like other generals, let alone ride a horse, so he had to sit on the baggage cart. As you can imagine, everyone else was wearing armor, but Sun Bin was the only one wearing a long robe and long sleeves wearing a Confucian uniform, looking cool and comfortable. Su Shi's words of praise to Zhou Yu, "While talking and laughing, the oars and oars disappeared into ashes" are also suitable to be used to describe Sun Bin.
Commander Tian Ji wanted to drive his troops into Zhao, so he approached the main force of Wei soldiers led by Pang Juan for a showdown. But his idea was rejected by Sun Bin: "The silk thread is tangled up, and if you want to untie it, you can't tear it apart at the beginning and end; two groups are fighting, and if you want to stop the fight and persuade them to make peace, you can't jump. Going to the battlefield to fight in person will only make things more and more chaotic. If we can find the gist behind the chaos, and then understand and control the situation, we will naturally be able to resolve the contradictions and achieve our goal. Now Pang Juan is leading the elite of the Wei army If the battle is hard outside, then the people left to defend Daliang City in Wei State must be the old, weak, sick and disabled. We might as well criticize the arrogance and attack the weak, quickly advance into Daliang, and at the same time send people north to let Pang Juan hear the news that Daliang is besieged. Then He will definitely give up attacking Zhao and return to save himself. Doesn’t this relieve Zhao’s siege?”
In fact, Sun Bin's approach is very similar to the attack-for-attack approach in chess. It's just that when playing chess, "the first move is the strongest." You can take the initiative and checkmate the opponent with one quick move. However, the struggle between Qi and Wei was "later to come first" - compared with Wei's attack on Handan, the capital of Zhao, the Qi army's siege of Wei's capital Daliang was obviously behind the Wei army in action - the latecomers occupied Take the initiative, because Qi is a third country besides the two parties in the game (Zhao and Wei)!
Moreover, Sun Bin's approach was not only a smart approach, but also the only approach that could win. If Tian Ji followed what Tian Ji thought and drove his troops into Zhao, then the Qi army would have been exhausted after a long-distance attack and arrived outside Handan City, and the Zhao army would not be a strong force due to being trapped in the city for a long time. At this time, although Qi and Zhao were able to flank the Wei army under the city, they had to face Wei soldiers who had been trained by Wu Qi and had not been defeated for decades. At that time, it was difficult to know who would win.
This was not the case when marching into Daliang. "The offensive and defensive momentum was easy", so the Qi army was waiting for work, while the Wei army was busy on the expedition. If there is mental calculation but not care, if there is preparation or no preparation or little preparation, the Wei army will definitely suffer defeat.
Sure enough, Sun Bin figured it all out. The Wei army, which was rushing back in a hurry, was ambushed by the Qi army in Guiling, the only way to Daliang City. The entire army was wiped out. Only Pang Juan escaped, and he returned to Daliang City disheveled and as desolate as a bereaved dog.
The shadow of failure always hangs over General Pang Juan. No matter how many victories he achieves on the battlefield, people will only regard him as Sun Bin's defeated general. Therefore, his continuous military achievements are just to set off Sun Bin and add footnotes to Sun Bin's unpredictable resourcefulness and excellent command.
Pang Juan was waiting, waiting to meet Sun Bin on the battlefield again, and then defeat him, using his blood to wash away the word "defeat" engraved in his heart. It's a pity that Sun Bin is not Pang Juan. He will not go around fighting for his own interests or personal revenge, and let those young soldiers die for him on the empty and cold battlefield. In fact, even if Sun Bin has this idea, he may not be able to raise his troops to attack Wei in the end. His influence in Qi is far inferior to Pang Juan's influence in Wei, because the smart and decisive King Wei of Qi is not that fool. The confused and opinionated King Hui of Wei is comparable. So Pang Juan waited for 13 years. The mountains and rivers meet each other, and the temples of these brothers are gradually stained with wind and frost.
There are no permanent friends or permanent enemies in this world, only permanent interests. Therefore, Zhao and Wei, who were sworn enemies 13 years ago, have now reconciled and even joined forces to attack South Korea. The combined forces of Zhao and Wei were strong and strong, and they shouted in unison outside Xinzheng, the capital of South Korea.
At this time, the Qin State was at a historical juncture. Shang Yang was presiding over the reform in Qin and had no time to intervene in the internal struggles of the Three Jin Dynasties; the people of Chu State also had no time to care about the vicious fighting and killing among the Central Plains people who had always regarded them as barbarians; the Yan State It is a small country that has conflicts with the Three Jins and the powerful Qi State. It has been invaded by the other party many times and no one is willing to listen to him even if he wants to break up the fight. Needless to say, there is only one Qi State left. Sure enough, the Koreans took the same path that Zhao had taken 13 years ago: asking Qi for help.
Regarding the question of whether to save or not to save, the Qi court was divided into three opinions. One is represented by the Prime Minister Zou Ji. They are "old-fashioned in seeking the country" and believe that doing more is worse than doing less, and there is no need to wade through the muddy waters of the Three Jin Dynasties. The second group is represented by General Tian Ji, the political enemy of Prime Minister Zou Ji. This faction is mostly composed of passionate military officers who are eager to make meritorious deeds. They advocate sending troops to rescue Korea immediately to demonstrate the country's prestige. There is only one person who holds the third opinion, and that is "strategist" Sun Bin. Sun Bin neither agreed with Zou Ji and others' short-sighted behavior of not saving anyone, because doing so was tantamount to announcing to the world that Qi had "abandoned" the Three Jins, nor did he agree with Tian Ji and others' opinion of sending troops immediately. "Save is a must." The only thing we need to save is that we don’t need to rush, let them consume each other first, and it will definitely be us who take advantage in the end!" This was probably what Sun Bin was thinking at the time.
"I believe that it is imperative to save Han. Otherwise, without the restraint of South Korea, Wei will be even more arrogant and difficult to subjugate. However, Zhao has always been unstable in its internal affairs, so it has no ability to withstand Wei's iron armor. Lion. At that time, the nightmare of 13 years ago that was always worried about Wei's domination of the world will happen again. However, if troops are sent to rescue Han prematurely, then Qi's soldiers will have to be in the cruelest and easiest place to sacrifice in the war. It’s time to enter the battlefield.” If Sun Bin is Yu Boya, then King Wei of Qi is his close friend Zhong Ziqi. So when the Korean envoy waiting for news outside the Kuhou Palace came to see King Wei again, King Wei just hesitated and looked at the Korean envoy in a hurry.
In this way, after the Korean envoys traveled back and forth between Xinzheng and Linzi several times, Qi finally agreed to send troops, because the Korean monarch had already made a decision: after repelling the coalition forces of Zhao and Wei, South Korea would become a vassal state of Qi.
The State of Qi then sent out troops, with Tian Ji still in command and Sun Bin still serving as military advisor. This time, Sun Bin has made up his mind to completely resolve the grudge between him and Pang Juan.
Sun Bin's method was the same as 13 years ago, and he still took advantage of the situation when Wei's elite was entangled in South Korea to drive his troops "straight to the main beam". However, Pang Juan had learned the lesson from last time. He had been keeping an eye on the situation here, so as soon as the Qi army crossed the border of Wei State, he led the Wei soldiers who had been in charge for many years to march back in a hurry.
Everyone, including Tian Ji, had a question in their minds - would Pang Juan be fooled again this time? Sun Bin was full of confidence.
Pursuing all the way, Pang Juan discovered a strange phenomenon, that is, the number of burning earthen stoves left behind by the Qi army was getting fewer and fewer: on the first day, there were 100,000 earthen stoves, but by the second day, only 50,000 were left. On the third day, Pang Juan only found a pitiful 20,000 earthen stoves.
"Has the timid Qi army finally begun to flee? Qi people who can't bear the hardships. Sun Bin, you will be destroyed in the hands of your fellow countrymen this time!" So he abandoned the slow-moving heavy armored infantry and only brought A limited number of lightly-armed elites - certainly higher than the Qi army's "20,000" - continued to pursue them. But at dusk, when they walked to Maling Road, Pang Juan suddenly realized that something was wrong. Maling Road is a narrow valley with dangerous rocks and passes on both sides. "Could the Qi army ambush here?" While hesitating, a soldier reported that he found a giant tree on the road ahead, and it seemed that the bark had been peeled off. It was very strange. .
Pang Juan raised the torch and walked step by step to the huge tree. He vaguely felt that the area where the bark was peeled off seemed to be engraved with writing. He moved closer to the torch and took a photo: "Pang Juan died in this tree..." Not finished reading yet , the ears were filled with the sound of arrows breaking strings, and the soldiers who had followed him in the north and south fell one by one. Seeing that his defeat was certain, Pang Juan finally committed suicide in anger, and a generation of heroes died.
A famous military motto from Sun Bin has been handed down from the Battle of Maling:
"In the art of war, if you can make a profit within a hundred miles, you will overwhelm the general; if you can make a profit at fifty miles, your army will be halfway there." It seems that nothing can be done in a hurry. It is unknown whether Pang Juan, who is underground, can get rid of the tension and "excitement" and gain a true peace? Everything in the past ended with his sword, and Sun Bin was no longer the Sun Bin of the past. He was tired of it all. Later, because he no longer wanted to participate in the internal fighting between Tian Ji and Zou Ji, he retired from the world and wrote Military book.
Pang Juan died in battle, and few of the elite Wei soldiers who came with him were left. Wei, the only superpower in the early Warring States Period, declined, and Qi, which defeated Wei, could not maintain its hegemony for long. The light of Wei and Qi dimmed.
In 370 BC, King Hui of Wei succeeded to the throne. In order to compete for the position of king, King Hui of Wei started a thrilling competition with his brother.
One reason for the chaos in the Warring States Period was that various countries always took advantage of the civil strife in other countries to intervene in an attempt to completely destroy other countries' ability to compete for world supremacy. During the period when King Hui of Wei was competing for the throne, Han, Zhao and other countries tried to split Wei. However, the plan was shattered due to disagreements.
Before he became the king, the country encountered internal and external troubles. King Wei Hui gained experience in the battle. After taking the throne, he was able to gain a firm foothold in the complex international environment, find safety in danger, and win in defeat. This is not without reason. relation.
After taking control of the country, King Hui of Wei relied on the country's strength and military generals to defeat Qin many times. Duke Xiang of Qin persisted in fighting against Wei for the sake of his ancestors' heritage. Although he lost more than he won, he still won several beautiful battles. After the death of Duke Xiang of Qin, it was Duke Xiao of Qin who succeeded him in taking charge of Qin's affairs.
To the north and west of the Qin State were ethnic minority tribes, to the south were small countries such as Shu and Ba, and to the east was the powerful Wei State. The country that threatened Qin the most at that time was Wei. In the wars with Wei, Qin suffered the most defeats. In order to defeat Wei, Duke Xiao of Qin, who had gained power, issued an order to seek talents, and he did not hesitate to spend a lot of money and high positions to find capable people to help him to enhance the country's strength. At this time, Shang Yang came to Qin. After Qin's reforms, Qin became increasingly rich and powerful, and defeated Wei many times. Qin Xiaogong was very pleased.
After being defeated by Qin several times in succession, King Wei Hui knew that Wei's national power had gradually weakened, and other countries were getting stronger while Wei was weakening. The situation was not optimistic. Since Qin's national power has become stronger and stronger after the reform, Wei may as well follow this method, so King Hui of Wei actively issued an order to recruit talents with humble words and generous gifts.
When Wei was recruiting talented people, Qin Xiaogong was already dead. Without the protection of Duke Xiao of Qin, Shang Yang, who had repeatedly violated the interests of the nobility during the reform, immediately became the target of public criticism. The new king was the prince who was humiliated by Shang Yang at that time. He already hated Shang Yang deeply, so after he came to the throne, he immediately wanted to punish Shang Yang to avenge the previous humiliation. Shang Yang lost his support and had to flee to the state of Wei. However, the people of Wei refused to take him in because they resented Shang Yang's treachery.
The former King Hui of Wei was short-sighted, which resulted in the loss of a talent like Shang Yang who might have changed the fate of Wei. Several years later, King Hui of Wei still could not break the rules and once again missed Shang Yang. God gave Wei two opportunities, but King Wei Hui failed to seize them, which is really regrettable.
Because he did not dare to break the rules, King Wei Hui recruited talents who were deeply influenced by traditional thoughts, such as Zou Yan, Chunyu Kun, and Meng Ke. Meng Ke is a master of Confucianism. Confucianism emphasizes benevolent government and lacks offensive power. It can stabilize people's hearts in governing the world, but it cannot achieve great achievements in troubled times.
During the Warring States Period, various countries continued to annex and war, and the most effective thought at this time was Legalism. Qin Xiaogong reused the Legalist figure Shang Yang, and in just over ten years, he transformed the weak Qin state into a powerful and powerful country, making the kings of other countries the envy of them.
When summoning Meng Ke, King Hui of Wei first told a humiliating history, and then recalled the gap between the Wei State in the past and the present. What King Hui of Wei meant was that he was ungrateful and incompetent. In his later years, the army suffered repeated setbacks. As a result, the prince was captured, the general died in battle, and the country was in ruins.
King Hui then asked: "Old gentleman, I have come all the way. I wonder what benefits he can bring to my country?"
When Meng Ke heard what King Wei Hui said, he replied: "Why do you ask for benefits, Your Majesty? Isn't it enough to have enough benevolence and righteousness? If the monarch of a country only talks about seeking benefits for the country, and the scholar-bureaucrats only talk about seeking benefits for their own family, Seek profits, and what the scholars and people talk about is how to gain benefits for themselves. If people in a country pursue profits from top to bottom, the country will be in danger. People who know benevolence will not abandon their loved ones, and loyal people will naturally I will keep the king in my heart."
King Wei Hui nodded in agreement.
Meng Ke valued benevolence and emphasized justice. If he had not been in the chaotic Warring States Period, he would have been appreciated by the Ming Dynasty with his talents and would have shown his strategy. However, the Warring States Period at this time did not need such talents. Meng Ke was born at the wrong time and was in great difficulty. It is really sad!
The Warring States Period was an era that emphasized strength. If a country could not resist external threats and protect itself, no matter how well it practiced Confucianism, it would not achieve long-term development. After being rejected by many monarchs, Meng Ke no longer spoke aggressively, but left a little mercy for the monarchs. Meng Ke said that as a king, one should not blindly pursue interests, but should emphasize benevolence, righteousness and morality. Because the monarch is a role model for the people, if the monarch is a person who pursues fame and wealth, the scholar-officials must be; if the scholar-officials only pursue interests, the people will only focus on self-interest after learning from the scholar-officials. If everyone focuses on self-interest and only cares about himself, regardless of the life or death of others, social order will definitely be out of balance and the country will inevitably be in chaos. If there is a riot in the country, the position of the king cannot be preserved.
Meng Ke's words did not agree with King Hui of Wei, so King Wei Hui did not accept Meng Ke's suggestion.
In his early years, King Hui of Wei was wise and powerful, opening up new territories for the country, which was a great success. However, in his later years, he could no longer keep up with the pace of the times, and was overtaken by Shang Yang later. This was not so much a result of his character as it was a result of history.
