Battle of Maling,3 (3) king of Wei Hui

This work is a contribution to the column of the Museum of History, representing only the personal views of the author; this work is not a rigorous historical academic research, for reference only; unauthorized, prohibited second transmission, violators will be investigated.

The author of this article: Wei Yan, the King of Hui of Great Wei

Grape wine luminous glass, want to drink pipa immediately urge.

Drunkenly lying on the battlefield Jun Mo smiled, and Gu Lai conquered several people back.

——(Tang) Wang Han's "Liangzhou Words"

In the twenty-sixth year of King Hui of Wei (344 BC), King Hui of Wei convened an "international conference" that had a great influence on the fortunes of the State of Wei, the Meeting of Feng Ze, which can be said to have influenced the direction of the State of Wei for more than 100 years.

In 344 BC, considering the great losses at the Battle of Guiling, King Hui of Wei took advantage of this truce to restore his national strength, and at the same time wanted to meet the domestic demand for the East and the ownership of the lands in Sishang, so he "took the Summer Car and called the King of Xia", summoned the twelve princes of Sishang to the place of Fengzepi, and met with the King of Zhou, and The Duke of Qin Xiaogong and the Marquis of Han Zhaohou also sent people to participate and recognize the status of "overlord" of King Wei Hui. The reason why King Hui of Wei was called Wang was from this time.

In addition to Wei Yan's claim to the throne, another outcome of this meeting was to ease relations between the countries located in the north, west, and south. However, Qi Chu's anger at Wei's monopoly of Sishang was also revealed, because Sishang was right in the middle of the major trade routes, the economy was rich, and Qi Chu, who had acquiesced to Sishang as a buffer zone, could not sit back and watch Wei Guo show its ambition to dominate Sishang and then monopolize Sishang.

The so-called twelve small states in Sishang refer to the Song, Lu, Wei, Ju, Zou, Tan, Qi (yes, it is the Qiguo of the Qi people who are worried about the sky), Xue, Yi, Fei, Teng, And Qi, these countries have very small land and weak national strength, but at the same time these countries are located on the main road of transportation, very rich, especially the Song Kingdom's Taoyi and the Wei capital Puyang as the most, so they are coveted by the surrounding powers at all times. The capital of the Wei state, Puyang, had been targeted by the Zhao state several times before, and it was also repeatedly attacked by the Zhao army in the way of "ant Fu (ant attached)", until the seventeenth year of Zhao Suhou, after the Zhao state built the Great Wall in Zhangshui, Fushui, and temporarily abandoned the plan to advance south, the Wei state was calm for a while.

However, I think that Wei Yan at that time would be very conceited to think, since I have an alliance of Qin and Han, and the north is reconciled with the Zhao state, why am I afraid of you Qi Chu? The Qi army was "cowardly", and I was just defeating you again with the help of the next two countries, not to mention that at that time, the countries under the heavens called me "Jinguo".

Some people may ask, since the State of Wei is definitely going to threaten the two sub-powers of Qi and Chu, and to a certain extent, it has also limited the development of Korea, why not digest the State of Qin first, so that it can expand its own depth and wealth. This is to put aside geography and talk about military.

One. The State of Wei was in the midst of four wars, and it was not easy to expand in all directions except for the places bordering Sishang. I addressed the geopolitical issue in Chapter I, see Chapter I for details.

Two. In addition to the unknown action of the Yan Kingdom, the other six countries have basically begun or gone through the first and second rounds of transformation, and have already possessed a certain strength, setting off a war of annihilation is as unreliable as expecting Leshi to squeeze out the air inside the potato chip bag.

Three. It was not that the State of Wei had not considered attacking the State of Qin, but once the State of Wei attacked the State of Qin, it would invite "interference" from other countries, especially the State of Chu and the State of Zhao. Then the State of Wei would fall into the quagmire of war and even face greater losses. Moreover, the State of Qin was not a weak country before the Shang Martingale Transformation Law, and it fought back and forth with the State of Wei. Instead of fighting with the Qin state, it is better to make peace and alliance with the qin state, at least with less worries.

Combining the above factors, making Sishang his own sphere of influence was the best choice for the Wei state at that time.

A small thing happened during this time:

King Hui of Wei said to Han Zhaohou, "The Kingdom of Zheng was destroyed by Korea, and I hope that you can seal their descendants, this is the great righteousness that enables the perished country to exist and the monarch who has perished to inherit it. ”

Han Zhaohou was naturally reluctant, but his arm could not twist his thigh, and Gongzi Said, "The Great King let me go." ”

Gongzi ate in the State of Wei and said unhurriedly to King Hui of Wei: "If the State of Wei lets us be the monarch of the State of Zheng, our country may face your threat, after the Former Jin Dynasty became the Duke of Jin, he was imprisoned in Tongyun, and your country did not pity him, and then let us exist in the country of destruction, so that the monarch of the fallen country can inherit this kind of thing, our country really does not dare." ”

King Wei Hui immediately felt very embarrassed and quickly explained, "This was not originally a widow's idea, sir, don't say it again." ”

This is a short story recorded in the "Lü Shi Chunqiu Trial", and finally the author summarizes the whole thing as Korea defending wei for doing something unjust for itself, but in fact the two sides are fighting for land. It is written that King Wei Hui wanted to make Korea crown Zhengjun, and his intention was to split Korea, weaken Korea, and withdraw from the competition for Sishang, which was immediately seen by Korea. It can also be clearly seen that there was a rift in the relationship between Wei and Han because of the distribution of benefits in Sishang, and such a rift had too great an impact on the future of the Wei state.

Perhaps it was precisely because of this that the lord of the small state, such as the Duke of Wei at that time, demoted himself to the title of Marquis to avoid the Wei state's sharp edge. The States of Zhao, Qi, and Chu were dissatisfied, and the State of Zhao attacked the State of Wei's Shouyuan (present-day Changyuan County, Henan) the following year. The State of Qi was well aware of its own lack of strength, and sent envoys to the State of Qin in the same year as Feng Zezhi. We don't know what exactly the envoys talked about with Xiao Gong, but from the situation at that time, we can see that it should be talking about the joint attack of Qi and Qin on the State of Wei. Although Xiao Gong wanted to unite, he was hindered by the fact that his national strength was weaker than Wei He's last lesson, and he did not agree verbally, but he waited for the opportunity.

As Wei Han's conflict with Sishang intensified, King Hui of Wei finally made up his mind to attack Korea. In 342 BC, "Yong Fu led the division and Zheng Kongye to fight at Liang and He, and Zheng Shi was defeated", and soon reached the southern Liang city of Korea.

Although South Korea struggled to resist, it still showed fatigue in the face of the strong strength of the Wei state. At this moment, Korea thought of the State of Qi, which also had deep contradictions with the State of Wei, so it sent envoys to the State of Qi for help. When Qi Guo received a cry for help from South Korea, he was undecided, summoned his ministers to consult, and asked: "Is it better to save Korea early or to save Korea late?" "At this moment, the State of Qi is divided into two factions, one faction advocates immediate rescue, because if we save Korea in the evening, South Korea will submit to Wei, and the State of Wei and South Korea will take advantage of the victory to defeat the State of Qi, and we will be very dangerous." But Tian Ji put forward a different opinion. He believes that the State of Qi can weaken Wei and Han by saving Korea in the evening, first promising that South Korea will reinforce it, so that South Korea will have confidence, and then consume with Wei for a while under the southern Liang City, and then wait for the soldiers and horses of the two countries to be tired, and then we will send troops, and we can achieve the effect of "the clams compete with each other for fishing and gaining profits". Qi Hou was very happy, so he followed this idea, and then when Korea failed five times near Southern LiangCheng, he sent Tian Shu to lead troops to rescue Korea, and Tian Ji and Sun Zhen led troops to sneak into the Wei capital City of Daliang.

In the face of the state of Qi's attack on the state of Wei, King Hui of Wei "raised up the people in the territory and attacked The Crown Prince Shen with qi". Before Prince Shen left, someone suggested to him that he find an excuse not to fight, but because all the interest groups behind him wanted to use the prince's battle to make oil and water, especially another son, Wei Li, he wanted to take advantage of prince Shen's death to become the crown prince. Prince Shen really couldn't go back. I will not repeat the following plot, please read the following ancient text:

Sun Tzu said of Tian Jie: "The soldiers of the Three Jins are brave and light, and the Qi is timid, and the good warriors are guided by their strength." The art of war, a hundred miles and a good profiteer to the general, fifty miles and a fun profiteer half of the army. To make the Qi army enter Wei land is 100,000 stoves, tomorrow it is 50,000 stoves, and tomorrow it is 30,000 stoves. Pang Juan traveled for three days, and was very happy, saying: "I know that the Qi army is timid, and after three days of entering my land, more than half of the soldiers and soldiers have died." "Abandon its infantry, and chase them away in parallel with their light and sharp days." Sun Tzu spent his trip and went to Maling in the evening. Maling Road Shaanxi, and the side of the many obstacles, can ambush the soldiers, is the big tree white and the book is called "Pang Juan died under this tree". Therefore, the Qi army was good at shooting ten thousand crossbows, and ambushed in the middle of the road, expecting to "see the fire at dusk and raise it all.". Pang Juanguo went to the wood at night, and saw the white book, which was a candle of fire. Before reading his book, the Qi army was full of crossbows, and the Wei army was in chaos. Pang Juan knew that zhi was poor and defeated, but he killed himself, saying: "Then become the name of the shaft!" "Qi Yin took advantage of the victory to destroy his army, and the Prince of Wei returned, and Sun Bin made his name known to the world and passed on his art of war.

In addition, there is a "Sun Bing Art of War, Chen Ji Qinglei":

Tian Ji asked Sun Tzu, "My pawn... Can't help it, why bother? Sun Tzu said, "Ming will ask him also." This person is not in a hurry. The reason why this □ is sick: Shiya. Tian Ji said, "Can you smell it?" "Yes." Use this, so should be embarrassed in the middle of the dead ground also. It was I who took Pang □ and captured Prince Shenye. Tian Ji said, "Goodness." Things are gone and invisible. Sun Tzu said: "Tribulus terrestris, so when the ditch pond also." The car, so be the base [also]. □□ [who], so dang 堞也. Hair, so when the beggar also. The long soldiers are secondary, so save Sui also. Second, so for the long soldiers□ also. The short soldier is secondary, so it is difficult to return to it and regret its decline. The crossbow is secondary, so when speculating also. There is no one in the center, so the profit is: The pawn has been determined, but it is the law. Tsubasa: Use a crossbow to shoot a tribulus, and then shoot it with its method. Mount the crossbow points. Fa Yue: See the spy come and go: Go to the five miles to wait, so that we can see each other. The high is square, and the lower is round. At night, the drum is raised, and the flag is raised during the day. ”

The causes of this Battle of Maling were probably two. First, the Wei state's "Meeting of Fengze" claimed that wang caused the wrath of Qi, Chu, Han, Zhao, and the Qin state, and the diplomatic environment deteriorated rapidly. Second, Wei Wuzu's strength has not been fully restored, which has led to wei guo not being able to face the challenges of multiple countries alone like last time, and eventually being able to fight a draw. In this battle, the Wei state suffered heavy losses, and the Wei wu pawns accumulated by the previous second transformation were almost completely lost, and the Wei army suffered 100,000 casualties. Crown Prince Shen was also killed in this war, and the entire Wei state was in a state of mourning. Although King Hui of Wei was sad, he considered the state of Qin in the west to be a quasi-ally of the state of Wei, and although he was worried, he also hoped that the state of Qin would not engage in sneak attacks.

However, the State of Qin in the west, while allowing the Crown Prince To lead the Hu tribe to the Zhou Dynasty, was also paying attention to the situation of the State of Wei. After learning of the defeat of the Wei state of Maling, Qin Xiaogong felt that the time had come and prepared to attack the State of Wei. With the defeat of this battle, Qin Xiaogong and the then King of Qi Wei and the Marquis of Zhao Su stood together tacitly.

The roof leaked overnight, and wei was now like a ship in the waves, worried about the waves from all directions.

Resources

[1] Yang Kuan, History of the Warring States

[2] Yang Kuan, Chronicle of Warring States Historical Materials

[3] Lü Buwei (Warring States) · Lü Shi Chunqiu Trial

[4] Sima Qian (Western Han Dynasty), "History of Sun Tzu Wu Qilie"

[5] "Sun Bing's Art of War: Chen Ji Qinglei"

[6] Liu Xiang (Western Han Dynasty) · Warring States Policy Wei Ce II

[7] Xu Zhongshu , "The Struggle for Hegemony of Wei Qi in the Early Warring States Period and the Beginning of the Unity and Balance between The Nations"