Introduction: In the Warring States era, the Zhao state has always been a military power, why was the Battle of Changping defeated miserably? Is it really because of Zhao Kuo? It is not entirely attributable to Zhao Kuo's words on paper
In the early period of the entire Warring States period, the only superpower among the major princely states in the Central Plains was the State of Wei, which was also the most powerful country in the entire Central Plains, and it can be said that it occupied the position of a military power, because there was a military change in the State of Wei, so that the army of the State of Wei was basically invincible, and Wu Qi himself was also a famous general on the battlefield, leading the army to fight without a defeat, which can be called invincible in the true sense.
In the middle and late period of the Warring States period, there were two major rising military powers in the Central Plains, one was the Qin state in the west that had undergone the Shang martingale transformation method, and the other was the Zhao state that had carried out the Zhao Wuling King Hufu Riding and Shooting Transformation Method. After the State of Qin carried out the Shang Martingale Transformation Method, because it was determined by military merit, and the titles inherited by soldiers could be passed on by their own descendants.
Therefore, the Qin state is still very eager for war, after all, at that time to join the country's army can obtain huge benefits, which to a certain extent to solve people's fear of war, to provide a steady stream of fresh blood to the country's army, which is an important reason for the rapid rise of the military strength of the Qin state, and because the Qin state itself is a semi-agricultural and half-pastoral tribe in the west, this nation itself is also a nation advocating force, so the Qin state at that time can be said to be one of the countries that dominate the Central Plains.
And the Zhao state is also a country with a relatively strong folk style, it has a connection with the Xiongnu in the north, and the perennial war with the Xiongnu has allowed the country to learn some of the characteristics of the Nomadic war of the Xiongnu, and integrated into its own army combat form, the country's military strength is also developing by leaps and bounds, becoming a very important weapon against the Qin state in the middle and late period of the Warring States.
Especially in the late Warring States period, the Qin state was the only one, and other countries were basically unwilling to go to war with the Qin state, and at this time, only the Zhao state had been walking on the front line of anti-Qin.
At the end of the Warring States period, the most powerful military strength in the entire Central Plains was the Qin State, and the dividing line between this historical period and the stage we mentioned above was the Battle of Changping, which occurred in the historical period when King Zhaoxiang of Qin ruled the Qin State, and at that time, the military strength of the Qin State and the Zhao State was basically equal.
However, the outcome of that war was unexpected: the two countries experienced a three-year confrontation, which ended with the Qin general Bai Qi pit killing zhao guo and 400,000 soldiers. Zhao Guo also lost almost all its military strength because of that war, and the whole country quickly fell into a trough, and until the final demise, it did not make any ripples. So what was the reason why Zhao Guo, a military power that had always been a military power, suffered such a huge defeat on the battlefield? I
Today, we will focus on analyzing the reasons behind this historical event.
The reason for zhao guo's defeat in the battle of Changping was that Zhao Kuo was a soldier on paper
Many people attribute the defeat of the Battle of Changping to Zhao Kuo alone, and Zhao Kuo, who is talking on paper, can be said to be a legacy because of the defeat of this war, but is the failure of this war really just a problem of Zhao Kuo alone?
Of course, this is impossible, and the confrontation between the two countries involves the intricate political relations between the two countries, as well as the conflicts of interest between countless ministers and nobles, and even the problems between the royal power. So many problems can never happen to only one person, or only one person to bear all the responsibilities.
However, the defeat of a war is not unrelated to its arrival, so the defeat of the Battle of Changping zhao Kuo must bear part of the responsibility, but this part of the responsibility is not the most important part.
As we all know, the original leader of the Zhao army against the Qin army was Lian Po, one of the four famous generals of the Warring States, who repeatedly studied the form of warfare between the Zhao state and the Qin state and the situation they faced, and adopted the method of defending against the qin army. Because the Qin state at that time was a long-distance attack, they did not fight within the territory of their own country, so it required a large amount of grain and grass support. Zhao Guo set up a defensive barrier at his doorstep, which can be said to be offensive and retreatable, and behind it is the large rear area set aside by Zhao Guo, so in the long-term confrontation situation, the dominant side will gradually lean towards Zhao Guo.
Zhao Kuo replaced Lian Po to reverse the military superiority of the Zhao state
After three years of confrontation, the comprehensive national strength of the Qin state developed very slowly, and even the wealth left over from the efforts of previous generations of monarchs to change the law was basically exhausted, and at this time, the King of Qin Zhaoxiang was also impatient, and the government and the public of the Qin State had to transport grain from the Bashu region in order to give them enough grain and grass support for their troops. However, the traffic between the Bashu region and the Qin state was blocked, and it was helpless to send a large number of manpower to build the boardwalk, which was what Li Bai said in "Shu Dao Difficulty": Then the heavenly ladder stone stacks are linked.
Originally, if such a confrontation really continued, the first to collapse was likely to be the State of Qin, but on the one hand, the State of Qin built a boardwalk between Shudi and the enemy to make a running channel for grain, and on the other hand, it spread rumors in the Country of Zhao, at that time, the monarch of the State of Zhao became suspicious of Lian Po after hearing these messages, and had the idea of replacing Lian Po with Zhao Kuo.
And Zhao Kuo was a person who could not accurately analyze his own strength, when the monarch found him, he said such a sentence to the monarch of the Zhao state, he said that as long as his opponent was not Wu Anjun Baiqi, then it would be able to defeat the Qin army like an autumn wind sweeping away the leaves, but after Zhao Kuo was a general in the army, he would only arrange troops according to the content of the book, ignoring all the unexpected situations that could occur on the battlefield, and finally let the advantageous situation established by Lianpo collapse.
Therefore, in the defeat of this war, Zhao Kuo had to bear certain responsibilities. However, as I said above, this part of the responsibility is not the whole responsibility. So, what was the main reason for the defeat in the Battle of Changping?
The State of Yan pursued the royal way, the State of Qi carried out the rule of officials, South Korea paid attention to the rule of art, the State of Chu was divided, and the State of Qin was ruled by law
In fact, the main reason why Zhao Guo failed in such a confrontation was not because of Zhao Kuo's paper talk but because of the chaotic political situation in Zhao Guo.
If we look at the entire history of the Warring States Period and make a careful comparison of the national history of the Seven Heroes of the Warring States, we will find that among the seven princely states of the Warring States Period, the most chaotic national political history is the State of Zhao, although other countries have not done much in politics, but they have always pursued and taken it as a state policy of faith.
For example, the State of Yan, although the state rule of the State of Yan is very pedantic, but it has always believed in the royal way, through the royal way to govern the entire country, the country's monarchs and courtiers have not departed from this scope.
The State of Qi has always pursued the rule of officials, paying attention to the prosperity of the country and the people, tai min'an, and the Republic of Korea has paid attention to the rule of law after shen bu harmful, although it is also an irregular political form, but it is a policy linked to the rule of law, the State of Wei has not changed the original administrative policy after Li Wu's change of law, the State of Chu has always adopted a system of division and rule, and the State of Qin has always believed in the rule of law after the Shang Martingale transformation law.
The main reason for Zhao Guo's defeat in the Battle of Changping was the chaos in the domestic situation
However, the Zhao State did not have a fixed policy to govern the entire country, so in the "Great Qin Empire" written by Mr. Sun Haohui, the political situation of the Zhao State was finally summarized in one word, and this word was "chaos". Why is it said that Zhao Guo's national policy is more chaotic?
King Wuling of Zhao rode and shot in order to ride and shoot in Hufu, and despite the danger, he went deep into the Xiongnu to investigate
First of all, the first point is that this country is a country that advocates force, it has invested a lot of energy in the development of military strength, and King Wuling of Zhao once disguised himself as a Hu person to go deep into the Xiongnu to inquire into their way of fighting before performing the Hu costume riding and shooting method, which is actually a very dangerous behavior, of course, we cannot deny the spirit of this behavior itself or the characteristics of the king embodied.
But if a monarch takes such a thing as his own serious business, then it must be very dangerous because at that time, the rule of a country was inseparable from the monarch, the country could not be without a monarch for a day, and if the monarch appeared in any sudden danger, it was easy to lead to chaos in the whole country.
However, King Wuling of Zhao did not consider this at all, he was a very maverick monarch, often despite the advice of his courtiers, not only once went to the Xiongnu to see the Hu people's way of fighting, but also once disguised as a commoner into the Qin Kingdom, and even met the King of Qin... All of this can show that this person does not attach importance to politics.
The State of Zhao was a state of controversy during the Pingyuan Jun period, providing an opportunity for the State of Qin to spread rumors
Moreover, during the lifetime of pingyuan jun in the late Zhao dynasty, Zhao guo became a very polemical country, and the country often held some meaningless debates, and the disciples under the pingyuan monarch took pleasure in it. The well-known story of the white horse and not the horse comes from the doorman of the Plain King.
They even went to debate whether a man has two ears or three ears, knowing that the former is correct, but the former cannot argue with the latter in any way... A country whose main affairs are based on this, and such a thing has also been supported and praised by the famous aristocratic plains monarchs and monarchs in the country, shows how chaotic the court of this country is.
And we can also see this characteristic of zhao guo from the Lin Xiangru incident, did Lin Xiangru really make great contributions in the meeting of Zhao and Shichi? In fact, if we look at the whole story, we can find that Lin Xiangru is arguing from beginning to end, if it were not for the greatness of King Zhaoxiang of Qin, Lin Xiangru might have really been in a different place, and if Lian Po did not have a military presence in Qin at that time, if the Zhao State was only a small country like the Song Kingdom, Lin Xiangru would be difficult to return to China.
In fact, such problems led to the administrative development of the Zhao state was very slow, and it did not have a set of definite political policies, no way to make plans for its subjects and subjects, and it could not guide the people in the country to embark on a correct path. In the later period, the country was very advocating debate, which provided an opportunity for the rumors of the Qin state to spread in the Zhao state, and why the Zhao state monarch quickly became suspicious when he heard such rumors.
The Battle of Changping was not the original intention of the State of Qin, and the State of Zhao was top-heavy and short-sighted
Finally, such political issues made Zhao Guo not have a clear plan for its next development, and it could only see immediate interests without considering long-term development. In fact, the occurrence of the Battle of Changping was not the original intention of the Qin State, and at that time, Korea wanted to dedicate seventeen cities and pools to the Qin State as a condition for the Qin State to retreat.
However, the State of Zhao privately accepted these seventeen cities, which was already a violation of the fundamental interests of the State of Qin, and the Battle of Changping, which shocked the world, occurred between the two countries. But then again, these seventeen cities were originally the spoils of war of the Qin State, and zhao Guo's actions had already violated the fundamental interests of the Qin State, which was equivalent to encroaching on its territory, so war would definitely break out between the two countries.
However, the zhao state did not take this into account, but only saw that if these cities were accepted, then the land area of the Zhao state would be further expanded, but it did not think of what kind of price would be paid behind such interests, which was actually a drawback brought about by the long-term unstable political state: there was no clear goal planning, there was no talent who could really serve the country, but the military strength was very important as the entire dependence of the entire country.
This would make the country a top-heavy country, unable to do so administratively and in terms of national development, which would lead to the failure of the entire country.
In summary, the author believes that
In fact, even without Zhao Kuo, the State of Zhao and the State of Qin had already experienced a confrontation for three years, and according to the political situation in the State of Zhao, the King of Zhao would definitely change other generals. If a country that can be broken by rumors, how long will its national fortunes be?
Therefore, the chaotic political state of the Zhao State is the root cause of its failure, which also makes the country the most regrettable country, even more worthy of regret than the Chu State. The State of Chu is because it was founded too early, and the political system pursued by the whole country is already deep in the marrow and does not allow people to change, so the State of Chu has not changed, although the State of Chu is a country with a large land area and strong military strength.
However, the Zhao state is different, its founding time is relatively short, and it has every opportunity and ability to find a path suitable for the development of its own country, but this country has chosen to continue for a long time, which has led to a huge country but does not have an independent system, so that the military strength that originally served the development of the country has become the most important development reliance of the entire country, and finally dragged down the entire country. If the State of Zhao can rectify the entire country from the beginning by changing laws and innovating like the State of Wei, or if it can develop in all aspects in a balanced way like the State of Qin, perhaps this country can become a powerful presence to defeat the State of Qin.
References: "History", "Warring States Policy", "Zuo Zhuan", "Zizhi Tongjian"