Let’s talk about Zhao Kuo in history.
When it comes to Zhao Kuo, there are generally two views.
One kind of people think that Zhao Kuo is powerful. They usually say that Zhao Kuo led troops to fight for the first time. He could kill about half of the Qin army with fifty thousand casualties. This battle loss ratio was simply terrifying.
After that, he was able to last 46 days in Bai Qi's hands without food, which was already impressive.
The second type is those who think Zhao Kuo is not good. They usually say that his parents think he is not good. You know him better than their parents, and that he was beaten into a battle of annihilation with a force of 1:1.5. There is nothing to brag about. Yes, it is impossible for the group to be destroyed even if the pig is replaced.
When mentioning Zhao Kuo, one has to mention the Battle of Changping. No one knows the specific details of the Battle of Changping. Those TV series, movies, documentaries, public account articles, etc. are all speculation, that is, guesswork. This book This is pure nonsense, and it is impossible to restore the true appearance of history.
So I won’t mention the specific details, but let’s talk about the author’s personal views.
1. The author believes that this was not the first time that Zhao Kuo led troops to fight. Of course, there is no evidence and it is purely personal speculation.
There is no record of Zhao Kuo leading troops to fight in the history books, but based on Zhao She's age, Zhao Kuo should have been around thirty years old at the time.
In troubled times, the son of a general has never fought in a war at the age of thirty.
To be honest, the possibility is really slim.
Moreover, it is impossible for King Zhao to hand over an army of 450,000 to a man who has never led an army to fight. This kind of thing cannot be done without cerebral thrombosis for twenty years, not even for a day. (The book is suspected of smearing King Zhao. Of course, if you insist on saying that King Zhao has suffered from cerebral thrombosis for twenty years, then the author has nothing to say.)
On the other hand, it is even more impossible for the Qin State to praise such a person who has never led an army in a war. Zhao Kuo must have at least some achievements for the Qin State to praise him. This record may not be many, but it must be there.
2. "Breaking food" refers to the road of breaking food. Zhao Kuo did not persist for 46 days without food, but persisted for 46 days when the food route was cut off.
If there is no food at all, or if there is only two or three days of food for the urgent march, let alone Zhao Kuo, even if God comes, it is impossible to last 46 days.
It is impossible to kill people like Zhang Xun, because Zhang Xun is a soldier who kills the people, and the weak side has no ability to resist. Zhao Kuo is a soldier, who wants to be killed himself?
If Zhao Kuo was really outnumbered and could still control an army of 400,000, then Zhao Kuo's ability would have been sky-high. At another time, at least the ten philosophers of the Martial Temple would have started.
And if there is really no food, Zhao Kuo cannot stay where he is and wait for reinforcements. He knew how to fight when there was no food in the end. How could he not know that there was no food in the beginning?
3. Regarding the issue of battle loss ratio, the statement that Zhao Kuo killed half of the Qin army with 50,000 casualties came out of nowhere.
This statement mainly comes from the "Historical Records: Biography of Bai Qi" "400,000 soldiers died and surrendered to Lord Wu'an... 450,000 people were beheaded and captured before and after" and what Bai Qi said to the King of Qin: "Although Qin has defeated the Changping Army today, Qin More than half of them have died, and the country is empty."
Therefore, many people use this as a basis to say that the Qin army lost more than half of its troops in the Changping battle. In addition to the 400,000 surrendered by Zhao, only 50,000 died in the battle.
The question is, when did Bai Qi say this? Two years after the Battle of Changping, when Qin failed to attack Handan several times, Bai Qi said it when the King of Qin asked Bai Qi to lead the army to attack Handan.
Therefore, this "now" cannot refer to the simple Battle of Changping, but from the Battle of Changping to the time when Bai Qi said this sentence.
It is very likely that there are exaggerations.
If we simply refer to the Battle of Changping, where more than half of them were lost, what would the Qin State do to attack the Zhao State?
Therefore, those one-to-several battle damage ratios are not valid.
4. Zhao Kuo’s parents’ evaluation of him cannot withstand scrutiny.
It is recorded in the Historical Records that "... Extravagance is not difficult, but it is not good. Kuo's mother asked She why, and She said..." What could Sima Qian know about this kind of discussion between a husband and wife about their son? It is impossible to record the private history of Zhao State.
If it was said in public, it wouldn't mean anything. Who wouldn't be humble in front of outsiders? Why don't you curse a few words? You can't praise your son to the heavens.
Let’s look at what his mother said at the end, “When the king finally sends her away, it’s like she’s not called her, and she has no choice but to do whatever she wants.” What does it mean?
If Zhao Kuo is incompetent, can I avoid being punished?
This series of sittings is obviously not an ordinary series of sittings, otherwise Mother Zhao would not have said it specifically.
One thing to note here is that even if his mother thought that Zhao Kuo should not go, she only thought that he would lose the battle, not that 400,000 people would be buried alive. Otherwise, even if he carried a coffin and laid it in front of the palace, it would be impossible for Zhao Kuo to go.
But I also mentioned in the book that during the Warring States Period, there should not be too many generals who lost the battle. The robbery directly destroyed most of the country that was defeated during the Yanzhao period. Is the whole family being implicated?
This may not be recorded.
What about Lian Po?
Lian Po directly drove away Le Cheng who accepted military power, which was equivalent to rebellion.
King Zhao didn't even give a shit, and even wanted to call him back later, and Lian Po himself also wanted to come back.
If the young and old of the family were imprisoned together, would Lian Po still think about the State of Zhao working for the King of Zhao?
Later, Li Mu was killed on charges of treason. Did the whole family go down to accompany him?
Historical records also recorded a sentence: "The king of Zhao also used Kuo's mother to speak first, but he did not execute her."
It means that King Zhao did not implicate Zhao Kuo's mother because of his previous words.
The question is, if King Zhao really wants to implicate himself, will those previous words be useful? I promise not to implicate you, but I will kill your whole family and leave you alone, okay?
King Zhao couldn't think of it in his little head, and the ministers could think of it, but they didn't do it.
Obviously, if you lose the fight, your family will not be implicated.
Then it is inconsistent with what Sima Qian recorded.
Perhaps these are what Sima Qian himself said, "Collect the world and let go of the old news, and briefly examine his actions" and Kong Rong said, "It is taken for granted to judge it by the present."
5. The problem of food shortage. There is a clear record of Zhao's food shortage, "Historical Records: Tian Jingzhong Wanshi Family" "In the sixth year after the founding of the king, Qin attacked Zhao... Zhao had no food, and asked Qi to send grain, but Qi did not listen... Qin defeated Zhao in Changping with more than 400,000, Then they surrounded Handan."
There is a problem here. In the sixth year of the founding of King Qi, it was 259 BC. Logically speaking, the Battle of Changping was over. But Qin defeated Zhao and Yu Changping wrote later.
The author doesn't know what's going on.
But what is certain is that whether this borrowing of food occurred during the Battle of Changping or one year later, it could mean that Zhao State was out of food.
Needless to say, it goes without saying that the Battle of Changping took place.
If it happened one year after the Battle of Changping, Qin State would attack Zhao State in October. Zhao State should have one or two autumn harvests. As a result, there was not enough food to even defend Handan. It is conceivable that Changping What reached the point during the war.
The Qin State also has records of "the country was weak and the people were hungry." "Lu's Spring and Autumn Annals" also said that "Although Qin was victorious over Changping, it would be decisive after three years, and the soldiers and people were tired, and food..." was recorded.
But look at what Qin did:
In 264 BC, he attacked Xingcheng in South Korea.
In 263 BC, he attacked Nanyang, South Korea.
From 262 BC to 260 BC, the Battle of Changping.
In October of 260 BC, after the Battle of Changping, (in October of the 48th year, Qin restored Shangdang County. Wang Hao general attacked Zhao Wu'an and Pi Lao and captured them. Sima Geng settled in Taiyuan in the north, and all Han Shangdang was there)
In 261 BC, he took the time to capture Goushi and Lin in Korea.
From 259 BC to 257 BC, the defense of Handan. In the meantime, the Qin State also found time to attack the Wei State, and even Yecheng was defeated.
In December, Handan failed to be captured, so the Qin army withdrew its troops, and then defeated the Wei and Chu coalition forces along the Yellow River.
In 256 BC, Han, Zhao and Wei were beaten again, and the Western Zhou Dynasty was destroyed.
When they are either at war or on the road to war, how can these people be tireless? Can you not be hungry?
However, if you say that the Qin State is short of food, I don’t know if you believe it or not. Anyway, I don’t believe it. There is absolutely no way to fight so vigorously because of the lack of food, even if the people are squeezed dry and look hungry.
At least there is food to feed the army.
(I would like to mention here that according to scholars’ research, the Qin State switched to the Zhuanxu calendar in the 42nd year of King Zhao of Qin, with October as the beginning of the year. In the 49th year of King Zhao of Qin, it returned to using the first month as the beginning of the year, but still used the Zhuanxu calendar. Calendar. After Qin Shihuang ascended the throne, October was changed to the beginning of the year.
That's why it is recorded in "Historical Records: Biography of Bai Qi" that in September of the forty-seventh month of King Qin Zhao's reign, Bai Qi defeated Zhao Kuo. In October of the forty-eighth year, Qin restored Shangdang County. It seems that the difference is one year and one month, but in fact it is only one month. There is another sentence at the end of "Qin Benji": "In the tenth month, the five great ministers attacked Zhao Handan." (Bai Qi's biography says September.) As a result, there are two Octobers. Many people think that the biography is wrong. In fact, Qin There were two tenth months in the forty-eighth year of King Zhao, because the forty-ninth year was counted from the first lunar month. )
6. The problem of Zhao Kuo's 450,000 fighting against 600,000 and the final annihilation of his entire army. "Historical Records" clearly records that the Zhao army numbered 450,000, but the Qin army did not record it. Now it is generally believed that it was 600,000, so let's take it as 600,000.
Many people believe that any other person would not have been able to wipe out all 400,000 people. This is the only case in China for five thousand years.
Let me say here that Zhao Kuo died in battle and Zhao Jun surrendered.
Zhao Jun was buried alive by Bai Qi after surrendering.
There are not many examples of total annihilation in history, but there are too many examples of surrender. Not to mention the distance, even in the past hundred years, there are too many to count on both hands.
Are those who surrendered better than Zhao Kuo? Not really.
The only difference is that their opponents are not Bai Qi, and they did not choose to bury them alive.
As for why Bai Qi was buried alive, there are generally two explanations for him.
One is that Qin State is out of food. This is obviously not true. As mentioned above, Qin State is fighting so vigorously that it is absolutely impossible for Qin State to be out of food.
The second type is the military merit system of the Qin State. This is obviously not true. The military merit system normally counts beheading, but Bai Qi did not behead him, but buried him alive. In the battle of Huayang, he drowned.
Moreover, prisoners of war do not count as military merits. "Warring States Policy Han Ce" records: "The Qin people donated armor and disciples to the city to attack the enemy, grabbing heads on the left and prisoners on the right."
If taking prisoners does not count as military merit, then why did the Qin soldiers take prisoners? Can't we just kill him? This is not a surrendered prisoner, but a captured one. It is much harder to capture someone on the battlefield than to kill someone.
In addition, Sima Cuo Nanping Ba Shu, Wang Jian and his son destroyed the five kingdoms in the east, were all the captives killed?
Not really.
Maybe this is the winner and the loser. As long as you win, there will always be someone to defend you.
7. In the battle of Changping, Zhao will definitely lose, and it will be useless for anyone to come. Zhao Kuo has been scolded for thousands of years, which is very unfair.
The territory of Qin State is larger than that of Zhao State.
The population is larger than that of Zhao.
The system is more complete than that of Zhao State.
The equipment is better than that of Zhao.
There are more soldiers than Zhao soldiers.
Food is more abundant than that of Zhao.
The intelligence system is better than the Zhao State intelligence system.
Even the monarch is wiser than the monarch of Zhao.
There are only three ways for Zhao to make a comeback.
The first is to enhance one's own strength, that is, to join forces. Historically, King Zhao did not listen to Yu Qing and chose to listen to Lou Chang to seek peace, but was eventually destroyed by Qin.
The second one is like a meteorite falling from the sky, which is rare.
The third one is that the commander's strength far exceeds that of the commander of the Qin army. It is almost useless. He must be far superior to have any hope of winning, because Bai Qi is not only powerful, but also cunning, and the strength of the Qin State behind him is completely crushed. Zhao State.
Over the past five thousand years of China, famous generals have emerged in large numbers. There are no famous generals who can compare with Bai Qi, but there are no famous generals who can far surpass Bai Qi.
Therefore, whoever comes loses.
But having said that, as the coach, Zhao Kuo lost. No matter what, there is an unshirkable responsibility.
But this is not the reason why he has been scolded for thousands of years.
Because there are too many dishes compared to him.
The robber of Yan State sent away Qi State, which had defeated Le Yi single-handedly, causing Yan State's territory to shrink by more than half and wither away. How many people know his name?
Then half of the country of Chu was destroyed, the capital fell, and even the royal tombs were burned. How many people know the name of the king of Chu? What is the name of the coach of Chu State?
Then Han and Wei were often destroyed by the Bai Qi group. Which general has been infamy for thousands of years?
Zhao Kuo has been notorious for thousands of years for only two reasons. One is that the idiom "talking on paper" was placed on him.
There was no paper in the Warring States Period. The paper talk was not about Zhao Kuo at the beginning, but it was Zhao Kuo's fault at the end.
While increasing Zhao Kuo's popularity, it also caused him to be constantly scolded (however, it feels better to be infamy than to be unknown.)
The second is that the textbook records this matter. What level of existence is the textbook? It is countless times stronger than all the recommendation positions.
Whatever he says is what he says.
He is also a loser, but because he is described in a positive way, Jing Ke has become a symbol of not fearing power.
Zhao Kuo described it negatively and became a representative on paper.
Do you think it's unfair or not?
As for how capable Zhao Kuo is and whether he can become a famous general, we can only say:
The day when Han Xin was humiliated, the day when Tong Guan was crowned king due to his military exploits.
If he died at that time, who would know the authenticity of the famous general?
…
The author is not a history major, and the above content is pure nonsense.
