Han Fei died in 233 BC. Three years after his death, the Qin State captured Xinzheng, the capital of South Korea (today's Xinzheng, Henan Province). Han Wangan could only lead the remaining troops to surrender to the Qin army.
The demise of South Korea brought about a series of chain effects. Countries fell like dominoes one after another, and the princes of the world were frightened by this. Previously, the State of Zhao and the Army of Qin were in a stalemate. In the tense atmosphere, the State of Zhao easily jumped into the trap set by Qin's spies, forcing Li Mu, the only famous general who could temporarily save the country, to commit suicide. From then on, the Qin army no longer had any real opponent that could compete with it. Wang Jian, the famous general of the Qin State after Bai Qi, became the best general in the world. Under his leadership, the Qin army launched the final attack on Zhao, and Zhao Wangqian was defeated and surrendered. Zhao Wangqian's brother Zhao Jia fled north and gathered more than 100,000 remnant troops in Dai County, hoping to re-establish the Hezong Alliance and continue to resist Qin's invasion.
However, other countries did not recognize Zhao Jia's idea of a joint vertical alliance, believing that it was impossible to re-establish the joint vertical alliance, and even if it could be established, it would not be able to resist the Qin army's attack. Prince Dan of Yan State also had this idea. In a hurry, Prince Dan finally launched an assassination offensive against Qin State, which ended in failure.
In the land of the Three Jin Dynasties, Han and Zhao were destroyed one after another, leaving only the Wei State still lingering. In the second year of Prince Dan's death (225 BC), the Qin army quickly arrived with overwhelming momentum. The capital of Wei State was Daliang (now Kaifeng, Henan). However, this time the Qin army did not attack directly, but once again took advantage of the river water. The Qin army dug up the embankments of the Yellow River overnight, and almost destroyed the Wei state without a single blow. After King Wei was captured by the Qin army, he was executed on the spot.
In the end, there were two countries left, waiting for the Qin army to conquer, one was Chu and the other was Qi. After these years of recuperation and recuperation, the Chu State regained its strength and strength. Therefore, the war with Chu State was the key battle for the Qin army to wipe out the six kingdoms, and it was also called the difficult final battle.
At this time, the young general Li Xin had just returned from the victory at Xiangping, with all his glory and glory. At this time, the King of Qin began to think about the issue of attacking Chu. Attacking Chu was undoubtedly full of difficulties and challenges. A monarch had to weigh the major events in the world and internal and external affairs. On the one hand, he had to be prepared for a military defeat. On the other hand, he had to be prepared for ministers or generals to lose their tail. , the master is shocked by his great achievements.
Therefore, who to send to conquer Chu is the most puzzling question for Qin Wangzheng at present. Wang Jian had experienced hundreds of battles and had outstanding military exploits, and it was easy to capture the state of Chu. But precisely because of this, the King of Qin hesitated to treat him, because his achievements were already great, and the King of Qin understood the principle of his great achievements shocking the master. Li Xin had just experienced a war and was not as good as Wang Jian in terms of experience, strategy, and prestige, but he was the focus of Qin Wangzheng's training. He even wanted to let Li Xin compete with Wang Jian in the army.
In the process of Qin's annexation of the world and sweeping across all directions, without the support of the Wang and Meng families, it would be difficult for the Qin army to attack and destroy the six countries so quickly. The three generations of Meng Ao, Meng Tian, and Meng Wu each had great merits and great reputations; Wang Jian, Wang Ben and his son did not succumb to others, and there were only a handful of people from the ancients. Therefore, "Historical Records" commented: "In the twenty-sixth year of the First Emperor of Qin, he unified the world. The Wang family and the Meng family made the most contributions, and their names will be passed down to later generations." Among the six countries in Shandong, except South Korea, the other six countries were under the leadership of the king. The handsome banners of his father and son were attacked and destroyed one after another. Compared to Meng Tian, Meng Ao and others, it was Wang Jian that Qin Wangzheng needed to guard against more.
Wang Jian naturally knew what Qin Wangzheng was thinking, and Bai Qi's ending was still vivid in his mind, warning every Qin general: finishing the affairs of the king and the world may not necessarily win him a reputation during his lifetime.
Therefore, after Wang Jian's son Wang Ben conquered more than ten cities in Chu State, he handed over the command seal to Li Xin without any complaints, giving him the final credit and eliminating his own troubles in Li Xin's hands. among the achievements.
Before that, Qin Wangzheng also made a comparison between Wang Jian and Li Xin. He asked Wang Jian how many troops were needed to conquer Chu. Wang Jian said without hesitation that it would be 600,000. Qin Wangzheng took a deep breath secretly. The 600,000-strong army was the strongest strength of Qin State. So, King Qin asked Li Xin the same question again. Li Xin lived up to his name and confidently said that he only needed 200,000 troops.
Li Xin's talk of 200,000 troops may seem frivolous, but in fact it has some basis. When he attacked Yan State, Li Xin only led thousands of troops and destroyed Yan State's tens of thousands of troops.
King Qin finally chose Li Xin, but at the same time he was worried about whether Li Xin could really destroy Chu with an army of 200,000.
Wang Jian went to the countryside with a hoe and lived a pastoral life from then on. At that time, Wang Jian suddenly had a strange feeling. In fact, he had only done two things in his life: offense and defense. Bai Qi, Meng Ao, Wang Lu, and Fan Yuqi, the generals he once admired, worked with, and respected, all left Hexi; Lian Po, Le Yi, Tian Dan, and Li Mu, the most brilliant opponents on the battlefield , and the soul returns to the underworld. Life is so brilliant, blooming like summer flowers in every field, and falling gracefully in the cruel late autumn, without sentimentality, only persistence.
On the other side, Li Xin and Meng Tian's army had already launched a large-scale attack on Chu.
The Qin army sent two armies to set off at the same time, one led by Li Xin. Li Xin's troops soon marched eastward from Nanyang County. He adopted the Qin army's usual combat methods of dividing, surrounding, and then annihilating them. He did not directly attack Shouchun, the capital of Chu State. Li Xin's army was the main force of the Qin army and quickly captured Pingyu (today's Pingyu, Henan) and Chen (today's Huaiyang, Henan), the original capital of Chu. The other army was led by Meng Tian. They quickly captured Qiuqiu (now Linquan, Anhui) to cover the actions of the main army. The two sides eventually met in Chengfu (now Bozhou, Anhui). According to Li Xin's strategic intention, Chu's territory will be divided, and the Qin army can defeat them one by one. At the same time, it can occupy a condescending and favorable terrain, with a panoramic view of the entire Chu capital. This tactic has been tried and tested in previous battles.
Before the war, Li Xin made a thorough investigation of the local terrain and believed that if they entered the vast and open plains of Chu, Qin's large armies would be able to advance in waves like a tide, and the Chu army would be difficult to resist. .
It's a pity that Li Xin only knew one but not the other. Even if the Qin army could advance in steps, he didn't know that the Chu army could use those river networks and hills to hide unknowingly and then get close to the Qin army. Sure enough, the Chu army followed the Qin army for three days and three nights, and finally the Qin army was defeated across the board. Seven captains were killed, and Li Xin fled back to Qin in a panic.
Facts have proved that Li Xin is far inferior to Wang Jian in military strategy.
When the news of the Qin army's defeat reached Qin Wangzheng's ears, you can imagine how regretful and angry he was at that time. Even so, it could not change the fact that the Qin army was defeated. King Qin immediately drove his carriage to Pinyang, Wang Jian's hometown.
As soon as they met, King Qin opened the skylight and spoke frankly. First, he told Li Xin and his mistakes, and secondly, he asked Wang Jian to come out of the mountain. Wang Jian did not agree to the King of Qin immediately, but complained to the King of Qin that he was not in good health, his brain was not bright, and his hands and feet were inconvenient, and he asked the King of Qin to treat him better.
This King of Qin was also quick to speak. The Qin army had just experienced a huge defeat and he was in a state of distress. Only if Wang Jian helped him first could he help Wang Jian. I am sincere and personally come to invite Wang Jian to come out. I must not refuse.
At this moment, Wang Jian thought of the former King Qin Zhaoxiang and Bai Qi. King Qin Zhaoxiang was facing a key battle to conquer Handan. The Qin army was defeated in several battles, so King Qin Zhaoxiang could only bow down and come to ask Bai Qi to come out. It's a pity that Bai Qi was so aloof and arrogant that he didn't give King Qin Zhaoxiang any face. In the end, Fan Ju made repeated slanders and forced King Qin Zhaoxiang to kill Bai Qi.
Those who understand current affairs are heroes. Wang Jian stretched out six fingers and said: Without an army of 600,000, he would have returned in defeat. King Qin had no choice but to agree this time. However, in the heart of the King of Qin, he was still wary of Wang Jian. All the elites of the country were in the hands of Wang Jian. If he went east, he could bring peace to the world, and if he went west, he could destroy the Qin State. Wang Jian with such a powerful army was a great threat to the King of Qin. . So, King Qin thought of winning over Wang Jian. He told Wang Jian that as soon as the war was over, he would move here and live with Wang Jian.
So Wang Jian once again took command and went on an expedition, and the King of Qin came to Bashang in person to implement Wang Jian's instructions. The wine was drunk, the gods of heaven and earth paid their respects, and the toasts were recited, but Wang Jian did not move.
King Qin was very surprised, why didn't he leave?
Wang Jian understood King Qin's thoughts, but King Qin may not understand Wang Jian. Wang Jian's move was to make King Qin understand and understand him. Of course, the most direct and effective way is to say: "Your Majesty, I am old and I will probably be unable to move in a few years. If I want to make contributions to Qin and build a career for the king, I will be powerless. At the same time, I also discovered that, I already have a lot of worries. If I go to attack and destroy the Chu State this time, I will definitely retire with success, and then I will be lonely and helpless. I will not even have three meals a day, accommodation and travel. Therefore, I hope that your Majesty can I will reward you with more gold and silver, good land and a beautiful house. If I can satisfy my wish, I will feel at ease."
King Qin instantly understood that Wang Jian was asking for a reward on the surface, but in fact he was asking himself not to be suspicious. Therefore, the King of Qin promised: "General, you have made a lot of contributions to the Qin State. Naturally, I will not let you suffer poverty."
Wang Jian said: "I only want some fertile land, beautiful houses, gold and silver money, and the rest is useless to me. As long as I die, my descendants can have food and clothing, and I can die in peace."
The King of Qin laughed so much that he agreed to Wang Jian's offer, but Wang Jian still expressed his uneasiness, so he took the trouble to send five letters to the King of Qin asking for this or that. Wang Jian's move completely dispelled King Qin's doubts, but it aroused the curiosity of Wang Jian's deputy general Meng Wu. What the old general did was really puzzling. So Meng Wu asked Wang Jian for advice.
Wang Jian naturally said what he was thinking one by one. He said that this move could eliminate King Qin's doubts, and the reward could be distributed to the generals. Meng Wu suddenly realized it and praised it highly.
Wang Jian laughed loudly. To be a famous general, he must not only work hard on the battlefield to conquer all attacks, but also keep a low profile in politics, and be wise in both offensive and defensive advances and retreats.
In 232 BC, Wang Jian led an army of 600,000 to the territory of Chu State. All of a sudden, everyone in the Chu State was actively preparing for war, killing the enemy and trying to survive, and their morale was high. However, Wang Jian did not attack directly, because he knew that only by first destroying the enemy's spirit and then attacking with a mighty and majestic force could he achieve miraculous results.
So Wang Jian ordered the army to build high forts, as long as they guarded the army's food and food routes. No matter how much the Chu army insulted and challenged them, the Qin army just couldn't hold on. At this time, the Chu army thought that the main force of the Qin army had retreated, and turned to defend its own border. As a result, the Chu army hurriedly evacuated to the east. This is what Wang Jian was waiting for. The Qin army was waiting for work, and the Chu army was frightened. After a series of annihilation battles, the Chu king finally chose to surrender.
The world has been settled for the first time. At this moment, only the Qi State in the east is left standing side by side with the Qin State.
It has to be said that Wang Jian is very sophisticated in politics, so there is a saying-Wang Jian asks for land and protects himself wisely. Not only that, after Wang Jian conquered Chu, he also went south to conquer Baiyue, established counties and counties, and made great achievements. The King of Qin knew of his loyalty and named him Marquis of Wucheng.
Compared with Wang Jian, the person who is more far-sighted is Fan Ju.
At the beginning, Fan Ju established a strategy for the Qin State to establish distant relations and attack closely, which allowed the Qin State to sit back and watch the destruction of the Shandong princes within 50 years. Within 50 years, the diplomatic relations between Qi and Qin were extremely harmonious, and there was an endless flow of government envoys and private business travelers.
In 237 BC, King Tian Jian of Qi led a large delegation to visit Qin. King Qin received the King of Qi with grand ceremony in Xianyang Palace. Under the instruction of the King of Qin, everyone in the Qin State, whether they were senior officials or envoys from other countries, prostrated themselves at Tian Jian's feet one by one, fearful and afraid to raise their heads. Tian Jian's vanity greatly increased because of this, and he believed that the Qin Dynasty and the Qin State were worthy of Qi's deep friendship.
So Tian Jian and Qin Wangzheng set up an altar, burned incense and offered wine, and became brothers with different surnames. In this way, Qi naturally became a brotherly state of Qin. In order to completely win over Qi State and prevent it from becoming a stumbling block for Qin State to dominate the world, Qin State did not hesitate to spend a lot of money to allow the Qi State envoys who came to Xianyang to return home with a full load. Suddenly, the former country of tigers and wolves turned into Qi's most loyal ally.
It is not polite to come and go, so Qin State also continued to send various envoys carrying large amounts of gold and jewelry to Qi State. Among them are a large number of guest ministers with outstanding eloquence. While they lobby the ruling class not to change their foreign policy, they also induce them to fall into the trap of corruption. In addition to money, those envoys also carried swordsmen and sharp swords. As long as anyone was unwilling, they would assassinate them. This was a typical Li Si strategy.
As a result, Qi almost refused to participate in any joint operations. In order to show his loyalty to the alliance, the King of Qi would send envoys to Xianyang to congratulate Qin every time for its victory. When the Qin State swept through other countries and swallowed up the world, the Qi State always watched the fire from afar and stayed out of the incident, enjoying peace and prosperity for 50 years. However, under the appearance of prosperity, the hidden crisis in Qi was secretly growing, which eventually led to the destruction of the country and the family.
In 221 BC, the end finally came to Qi. It can be speculated that there must be many knowledgeable people in Qi who have noticed the changes in the situation, but it is a pity that they were not reused or were killed by Qin. At this time, even if a genius came to Qi, it would be difficult to save the overall situation.
The arrival of this day made Tian Jian deeply aware of the crisis facing Qi, and he discussed countermeasures with Prime Minister Hou Sheng. He didn't know that as early as 30 years ago, Tian Jian, the prime minister, had been bribed by Qin. However, Hou Sheng also seems to realize that his past glory will no longer exist. "When the birds are gone, the bows are hidden; when the cunning rabbits die, the lackeys are cooked." This truth can no longer be understood.
Unfortunately, it was too late for both of them to regret it. The Qin army marched south from the original territory of Zhao State and occupied Linzi, the capital of Qi State, without encountering any effective resistance. Qi State ended in such a chaotic process. The fate of the country.
Hou Sheng reaped countless benefits from the Qin State, but as he expected, he was eventually killed by King Qin Zheng. Tian Jian was exiled to Gongcheng (now Huixian County, Henan Province) and served as the Taiping King for 45 years. It is said that after the fall of the Qi State, many people still followed the King of Qi, but later found that there was no future, so they cut down the trees and dispersed, leaving only Tian Jian and his young son to depend on each other. The King of Qi, who was worried about his country, finally died of depression due to the huge gap between prosperity and wealth and the difficulty of ensuring three meals a day. The whereabouts of his son have never been known since.
When the survivors of Qi heard the news, they composed a mourning song for him:
Songye Boye?
Are those who live in the Communist Party of China a guest?
After more than 260 years of the Warring States Period, the Qin Dynasty finally succeeded the kings of the Qin Dynasty, especially Qin Xiaogong, Qin Zhaoxiang, and Qin Wangzheng; With the joint efforts of the people, it came to an end. The main vassal states of Han, Zhao, Wei, Chu, Yan and Qi perished one after another, and then all the six small states in Shandong also perished. Only the Wei state still existed until Qin II, probably because it was too small.
The era of vigorous unification has arrived.
Jia Yi's heroic and inspiring words began to fly: The remaining heroes of the sixth generation vigorously promoted the strategy to control the inner world, swallowed up the princes for two weeks, acted as the supreme and controlled the Liuhe, beat and beat the world, and shocked the world. Take the land of Baiyue in the south and call it Guilin and Xiangjun. The king of Baiyue bows his head and ties his neck, and orders his subordinates. He ordered Meng Tian to build the Great Wall to the north and guard the fence, but he defeated the Huns for more than 700 miles. The barbarians did not dare to go south to herd horses, and the soldiers did not dare to bend their bows and complain. ("On the Passage of Qin")
Li Bai's poems expressing gratitude and enmity began to appear: The king of Qin swept across Liuhe, how majestic the tiger looked; he wielded his sword to cut through the floating clouds, and all the princes came to the west.
Su Xun began to sigh long and short in the hometown of Qin State and the old site of Afang Palace: The six kingdoms were destroyed, not only because of the military disadvantages, but also because of bad fighting, and the disadvantage was bribing Qin. Bribing Qin and losing its strength is the way to destruction. ("Six Kingdoms")
