In the twenty-fourth year of Zhao Suhou (326 BC), Zhao Suhou died, and the states of Wei, Chu, Qin, Yan, and Qi each sent tens of thousands of elite soldiers to mourn, saying that it was a condolence, but in fact, it was more appropriate to say that it was a conspiracy to plot against the Zhao state under the initiative of King Hui of Wei. In this case, in 325 BC, the twelve-year-old Zhao Yong ascended the throne, that is, the later King Wuling of Zhao, how to get rid of the threat of the countries in these four wars became the main problem facing the King of Zhao Wuling.
When King Wuling of Zhao ascended the throne, he was in the middle and late stages of the Warring States, with frequent wars among nations, the trend of annexation intensifying, the rapid development of national integration, and the extremely active academic thinking. In order to enrich the country and strengthen the army, in order to stand in an invincible position, all countries have introduced new ideas and carried out reforms.
Where will Zhao Guo go?
After the "three families were divided into Jin", the geographical location of the Zhao state was quite poor, and in the war of annexation of the nations, it was in the land of four wars, so at that time, it had the titles of "the country of the central government" and "the country of the four reaches", and the situation was very difficult.
northern
The Northern Hu people rose in the north and south of the desert, and in the Period of the Jin Dynasty, they were able to recuperate and develop by relying on the historical gap of "Wei Dai and Rong". Therefore, it gradually changed from "migrating by water and grass, and the industry of cultivating the land in the city and Guo often" to "shooting and hunting animals for a living, and people in a hurry to learn to attack and invade", and began to pose a threat to the three northern countries of Qin, Zhao and Yan in the adjacent agricultural areas, especially the Zhao state in the center, geographically bearing the brunt.
When Zhao Yong ascended the throne, the nomadic peoples such as Donghu, Linhu, and Lou Fu in the north had been harassing the Zhao state for many years, and their purpose was different from that of the Central Plains princely states, not to rob the land, but also to rob the property and population, so the Zhao state had to garrison a large number of troops on the northern border for a long time to guard against the invasion of the nomads, which consumed the strength of the Zhao state for a long time. Liang Qichao once said that "Zhao does not create Hu, Hu will weaken Zhao", which refers to the practical problems faced by the nomadic people in the north at that time.
western
The state of Qin in the west was the most threatening state to the State of Zhao. The two countries originally did not border each other, between which separated the territory of the State of Wei in a narrow corridor from the west of Huashan to the dingbian line in the south, and through successive years of war, the "Land of the West River" of the State of Wei was returned to the State of Qin, which laid the foundation for the State of Qin to cross the Yellow River to attack the State of Zhao, at that time the "Shang Martingale Transformation Method" of the State of Qin had been completed and greatly successful, and its strength gradually became the highest among the princes.
After the failure of the "Five Kingdoms To Attack Qin", in 317 BC, in order to solve the western problem, the Three Jins once again joined forces to cut down Qin, and as a result, they were beaten by the Qin State in the cultivation of fish, and the Zhao State lost as many as 80,000 troops. In 316 BC, the State of Qin easily captured the two cities of Zhongdu and Xiyang in the Zhao State. In 313 BC, the Qin general Chū (樗ū) attacked Lin Di and captured the general Zhao Zhuang. In the face of the continuous attack of the State of Qin, the State of Zhao was powerless to resist, and the defeats were repeated, and the loss of troops and land could be described as unbearable.
orient
The greatest threat to the east of the Zhao state was although the state of Qi and the state of Zhongshan. Since ancient times, the State of Qi has been culturally prosperous and powerful, since the "Battle of Maling" after the great destruction of the main force of the Wei army, the power of the State of Qi began to gradually penetrate into the land of the Three Jins, although the State of Qi was the greatest threat to the State of Zhao, but the substantial threat to the State of Zhao was another eastern country - the State of Zhongshan.
The geographical location of Zhongshan Kingdom is relatively special, its territory goes deep into the territory of Zhao Guo, dividing the Zhao State into two parts, so there is a saying that "the danger of controlling too much is the waist of Hebei". And because Zhongshan State is the founding of the "White Di" country, with the characteristics of nomadic plunder, although the territory is not large, only "five hundred miles square", its military strength can not be underestimated. The first reason is that because it was born in Rongdi and had the advantage of being tough and good at war, it was said that its army "fought with iron armor and iron staff, and all the blows were broken, and all the rushes were not trapped". Second, although zhongshan is small in land and has few people, its strategic position is superior. The third is to form an alliance with Qi, which is the so-called "Zhongshan Gong Qi Wei to light Zhao" is the truth.
Although zhongshan's invasion of the zhao state is not detailed in the history books, some of the words of King Wuling of Zhao can be seen. In the nineteenth year of King Wuling of Zhao (307 BC), he said: "First Zhongshan defeated the strong army of Qi, invaded our land, tired of our people, and diverted water to encircle Hào (hào), the first king was indignant, and his resentment could not be repaid." Therefore, at that time, there was a saying that "weak Zhao was strong in Zhongshan".
south
The southern part of the Zhao state was divided between Han and Wei in the Jin dynasty. The State of Wei was powerful and was a leading power in the early Warring States period. Just before Zhao Yong ascended the throne, the State of Wei, although it had declined at that time, could still launch an attack on Handan, which made the State of Zhao suffer a lot. Although South Korea was weak, the attack on The Shangdang Zhao Land also made the Zhao State often tired of coping.
But in general, although the wars between Han and Wei against the Zhao state often occurred, because of their common historical origins, they sometimes fought and sometimes cooperated, which became a special hostile relationship.
Obviously, before this grim situation, if there is no reform, the decline of the Zhao state has become a fixed trend. According to the strategy adopted before, it is better to resist the enemy than to strengthen itself, and it is king to re-seek a way out that is sufficient to fundamentally solve the problem, and "Hufu riding and shooting" has been put on the agenda.
1. The ideological basis of "Hufu riding and shooting"
The practice of "Hufu Riding and Shooting" was not achieved overnight, and King Wuling of Zhao, as a famous politician and reformer, was himself a typical representative figure of the Legalist. As early as the beginning of his reign, King Wuling of Zhao had a conversation with the heavy minister Fei Yi, which had actually set the tone for reform.
Imago wants to follow the traces of the Lord of Xiang and open up in the land of Hu and Zhai, and the death is not visible. For the enemy to be weak, with less force and more merit, you can not exhaust the labor of the people, and go to the ancient glory.
It was this kind of Legalist thinking that led him to abandon the joint strategy that Zhao Guo had always adhered to in the Central Plains hegemony, and instead developed into nomadic mountains and grasslands in the northwest, until there was a proposal of "Hufu Riding and Shooting".
Later, when discussing the reform of "Hufu Riding and Shooting" with the ministers, in the face of the opposition of the ministers, King Wuling of Zhao rebuked him even more:
The kings were not customary, what ancient law? Emperors do not attack each other, how to follow the rules? At any time, the law is made, the ceremony is made according to the situation, the law is made according to the order, and the clothes and equipment are used according to their own use. The old rites do not have to be together, and the country does not have to be ancient.
Although such a statement has the shadow of the Shang martingale theory, King Wuling of Zhao denies that all traditional concepts and rules and precepts that have lost practical value, and proceeds from the actual national conditions to bring the Thinking of the Fa to the fullest, so the author believes that the ideological basis of "Hufu Riding and Shooting" is the reform theory of the Fa.
2. The cultural origin of "Hufu Riding and Shooting".
(1) China has a long tradition of ethnic integration.
In the early days of the preparation of the "Hufu Riding Shooting", there was fierce opposition and resistance from the government and the public, but King Wuling of Zhao was not discouraged, and he said to the courtiers through the mouth of Fei Yi: "There are seedlings in the Xi Shun Dance, and Yu Yu enters the naked country, not to nourish desire but to enjoy Zhiye, to discuss virtue and to ask for merit." The meaning of this sentence shows that the best leaders since ancient times have all been models of abandoning national prejudices, absorbing excellent cultures and customs of foreign nationalities and foreign countries, and regarding the development of national integration and national development as their own responsibility, and King Wuling of Zhao is also such a leader. He placed the cultural practices of foreign races on an equal footing with his own cultural practices, and boldly learned the advantages of the cultural practices of the nomadic peoples of the north. This also fully shows that the tradition of national integration is also a culture, which should be appropriately inherited and developed moderately, so there will be a proposal of "Hufu Riding and Shooting".
(2) Necessary for the development of war culture.
In ancient Chinese warfare, limited to the level of development of productive forces, the infantry was the earliest and most numerous conventional army, but because of its low mobility, it was destined not to become the decisive army that dominated the war, so in the early days, the infantry was presented as a vassal of the military vehicle. However, with the development of history, the scale of the war and the change of the site made the "battle of the car array" more and more unsuitable for the needs of large-scale war, so the mobile and impact explosive arms of the nomadic cavalry entered the eyes of King Zhao Wuling.
In the course of the battle against the "Three Hus" in the north, King Wuling of Zhao deeply felt that "Hufu Riding and Shooting" was a meritorious deed, and King Wuling of Zhao decided to "master yi and master the skills to control Yi", drawing on the military advantages of the nomadic people, and decided to change the country into Hu costumes, learn to ride and shoot, and raise the cavalry to the main position of the army, and from then on, china entered the era of cavalry warfare from the era of vehicle warfare. It can be said that the "Hufu" in "Hufu Riding and Shooting" is the means and "riding and shooting" is the end, which is an interpretation of the development of war culture based on the basis of China's war history and culture by King Zhao Wuling, inheriting the national tradition.
In 306 BC, King Wuling of Zhao achieved valuable development opportunities after leveling the entanglement of various countries, and in this year he personally led an army to occupy the two cities of Yuanyang and Jiuyuan on the Mongolian steppe. He took Yuanyang as a "cavalry", formed and trained cavalry, changed heavy armor to light armor, changed shoes into boots, wore beards, wore beard hats, changed steps to horses, recruited Hu soldiers, and began to carry out small-scale military reforms with Yuanyang as a pilot.
Zhao Yong repeatedly stressed to the ministers of the State of Zhao: "The first king opened up the Land of Hu and failed in his deeds; the State of Zhongshan invaded the land and destroyed the people, and the revenge was not repaid." He gave reforms a political significance of inheriting the legacy of his ancestors and the revenge of the powerful, thus gaining the unanimous support of his ministers.
As a result of King Wuling of Zhao's implementation of the "Hufu Riding Shooting", for the first time in The land of China, there were cavalry units that fought independently in the true sense, and since then the cavalry has officially entered the historical stage of military struggle as a brand-new army, and the cavalry has completed its historical mission here.
King Wuling of Zhao summed up the ultimate goal of "Hufu Riding and Shooting" as follows: "You can go to the shape of the party in the near future, and you can repay the grievances of Zhongshan in the distance." "But in practice, the goal achieved is much more than that. At the same time of reform, he used the continuous military victories to prove to people the significance of "Hufu Riding and Shooting", he constantly recovered the nomadic Hu riding in the border areas for his own use, accelerated the integration of Han and Hu, and in the second year after the reform, the Zhao State not only defeated the old enemy Zhongshan State, but also captured Lou Fu, Lin Hu and other places, expanded thousands of miles to the north, and set up administrative districts such as Yunzhong, Yanmen, and Dai County, with jurisdiction reaching the Hetao area. In the following ten years, the State of Zhao continued to launch attacks on the State of Zhongshan, and finally destroyed the illustrious State of Zhongshan in one fell swoop in 296 BC, taking a large area of land in Hebei, and the North and South of the State of Zhao were completely connected, becoming one of the most powerful princely states in the Warring States period.
It can be said that the reform of "Hufu Riding and Shooting" launched by King Wuling of Zhao has a far-reaching impact on the Chinese nation and is manifested in several aspects. First, the "Hufu Riding Shooting" not only won the Zhao State great military achievements, but also had a major impact on the historical development and evolution of the army, creating a new era in China's cavalry history. Second, the clothing and equipment of ancient armies and the forms of civilian transportation have been improved. Third, the identity function of clothing has been weakened and the practicality has been strengthened.
In ancient times, there is a saying of "seeking change and survival", perhaps the purpose of "Hufu riding and shooting" at the beginning is only for survival, but the effect played in actual operation is probably far beyond expectations, the change of small clothes has played a diplomatic effect on the Hu people, and internally it has gathered the people's hearts with a series of victories, promoting the centripetal force of the people of the Zhao state and the cohesion of the people. More importantly, King Wuling of Zhao opened up a new means of communication with the nomadic peoples in the north for later dynasties and dynasties, laying the foundation for the integration of the Chinese nation, and this alone has covered thousands of years, so the learning attitude of "mastering yi and long skills to control Yi" is not outdated in any era, and King Wuling of Zhao is a typical example of success.
References: "History", "Bamboo Book Chronicle", "Warring States Policy", etc.
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