Introduction: In-depth analysis of Su Xun's "Theory of the Six Kingdoms", is the cause of the destruction of the Six Kingdoms in bribes to Qin? The Five Kingdoms destroyed the non-bribed Qin, and the State of Qi bribed in different ways, and Su Xun alluded through the "Theory of the Six Kingdoms" that the Emperor of the Song Dynasty should not exchange land for peace
In Su Xun's "Theory of the Six Kingdoms," it is said: The Six Kingdoms are destroyed, the non-soldiers are not good at war, the disadvantages lie in the bribery of Qin, the loss of strength in Bribes to Qin, and the way to destruction; that is to say, the Six Kingdoms of Shandong are not without the strength to resist the Qin State, nor is it because the military strength of their own country is not outstanding; it is not because when fighting on the battlefield, the soldiers' combat ability is poor, still less because the conditions on the battlefield are not conducive to their own national operations, nor because the natural conditions in terms of natural conditions of nature, time, and geographical advantages are arbitrarily constrained.
It is because in their survival, they have put the foundation of survival on the Qin State, and they have not focused their energy on developing the country, but have focused their energy on bribing the Qin State, resulting in the country not only not developing, but also failing to stop the qin state from advancing eastward.
In the process of repeated confrontations with the Qin State, the strategy of combining vertical and horizontal forces was dissolved by the Qin State's continuous horizontal strategy, which not only enhanced the comprehensive strength of the Qin State but also dragged down the development of its own country, so in the end the Six Kingdoms of Shandong would end up with a doomed end; but was the real situation really like this?
Was the reason why the Six Kingdoms of Shandong were finally destroyed because they spared no effort to bribe the Qin State? Today, let's take a look at what kind of attitude the Six Kingdoms of Shandong have towards the Qin State. Is it really like what Su Xun said in the "Six Kingdoms"? If what Su Xun said was not correct, then why did he write the article "The Six Kingdoms" to discuss a point of view that did not stand up to scrutiny? In view of this problem, let's focus on the analysis.
The reason for the collapse of the Five Kingdoms was not to bribe the Qin State
First of all, the real reason for the collapse of the First Six Kingdoms was not because of bribery of the Qin State, as we analyzed the clues in the Six Kingdoms, we look at this problem from two aspects. First, look at what the "Treatise on the Six Kingdoms" says about the other five countries that spared no effort to bribe the Qin state except the State of Qi.
After the State of Wei became strong, it first attacked the State of Qin and drove the State of Qin out of Hangu Pass
First of all, looking at the State of Wei, the State of Wei implemented the Li Wu Transformation Method and the Wu Qi Transformation Law in the early days of the Warring States period, and the military strength of the Wu Qi Transformation Law was greatly improved, and after the country developed and flourished, the first object to be attacked was the Qin State, and the Qin State even retreated to the west step by step under the suppression and attack of the State of Wei, and after losing the Hangu Pass, the Qin State was on the verge of extinction.
Even when Qin was born, there was a voice in the court saying that it was recommended that the Qin state return to the Longxi region to become a half-peasant and half-pastoral agricultural tribe, if it were not for the tough policy implemented by Qin Xiangong, or the Shang martingale transformation method when Qin Xiaogong was not implemented, then the Qin state would most likely have been annexed by the Wei state in the early Warring States period.
After the Zhao state became strong, it became the main force against Qin, the Battle of Changping, the Battle of Handan, and consumed a large amount of the national strength of the Qin State
Secondly, let's look at the Zhao State, which was originally a powerful country advocating military strength, especially after the Zhao Wuling King Hufu rode and changed the law, its military strength increased rapidly, becoming the main anti-Qin force among the six kingdoms of Shandong, and this country did not have the slightest idea of surrendering to the Qin State.
In the Battle of Changping, which people talked about later, although the Zhao State lost 400,000 soldiers and horses, it still dared to fight a battle of Handan with the Qin State shortly after, consuming a large amount of the Qin State's national strength, which showed the country's tough attitude towards the Qin State.
The State of Chu was the main force in the joint anti-Qin forces
In fact, after Su Qin proposed the policy of combining and indulging, the State of Chu was also a main force in the joint column, and its natural conditions of great wealth and vast land would also make great contributions to resisting Qin.
In addition, Korea and the Yan kingdom did not have any relatively large head-on conflict with the Qin state because of their relatively weak comprehensive national strength, but it was definitely not like the "Six Kingdoms" that sought peace through land cutting and saved the country's Zongmiao Society by offering beautiful women.
In fact, in the chaotic world of the Warring States period, no country and any country are truly friends, just like today's society, there is no eternal alliance between countries, interests are the basis for the two countries to speak, and the most fundamental factor in the alliance or war between two countries.
The six kingdoms either jointly resisted Qin or alone, and did not spare no effort to bribe the Qin state
Therefore, we can see that in the first type of country that Su Xun argued, they were not willing to spare no effort to bribe the Qin state from the beginning, either choosing to resist Qin alone or jointly resisting Qin, but in the middle and late period of the Warring States, the Qin state had completely completed the Shang martingale transformation method, and its comprehensive national strength had advanced by leaps and bounds.
In this way, it also shows that the six kingdoms of Shandong cannot be completely united, so the State of Qin has the opportunity to attack, and the State of Qin, with its strong strength, has no advantage in the war with one enemy and many enemies, such as the Battle of Yique, Wu'an Junbai beheaded the Han Zhao-Wei Three-Kingdoms Alliance of 240,000, giving the Shandong Six-Kingdoms Alliance a blow, and for example, the Battle of Changping destroyed the Zhao army of 400,000 and crushed the main anti-Qin forces of the Six Kingdoms of Shandong, which was only in the middle and late stages of the Warring States.
After the Qin state had the power to unify the world, the six countries bribed in exchange for peace
By the late Warring States period, the Qin state already had the strength of one against six, thinking that a country can fight against six countries with the strength of one country, what does the six countries of Shandong rely on to fight against it? Therefore, in order to preserve its own country's Zongmiao Community, it could only choose the path of bribing the Qin State, and had no other choice.
Want to fight? You can't beat it. Don't fight? The State of Qin already has the momentum of unifying the world, and when a country becomes strong, the idea of expanding the territory will arise spontaneously, and no country can guarantee that the situation in the entire Central Plains region will be stable in the situation of the princes standing side by side, so it can only develop in an environment of peaceful environment that is dependent on each other, so it is not that the six countries of Shandong want to bribe the State of Qin.
The Six Kingdoms of Shandong wanted to exchange peace in this way, but at that time they could not completely unite, nor could they improve the scene of poverty and weakness in the country, nor did they have the iron heart of Qin Xiaogong to change the law, so they chose a path of bribing the Qin State.
Whether the reason for the demise of the State of Qi was because it did not bribe the State of Qin
The State of Qi did not border the territory of the State of Qin and could not bribe the State of Qin by cutting off land
Secondly, let's look at the second object of the "Six Kingdoms" discussion of the State of Qi, the "Six Kingdoms" said that the State of Qi is not bribed, because it did not bribe and died, that is to say, it is a country that will not bribe the State of Qin, but other countries will bribe the State of Qin, resulting in this country having no allies to rely on, so when it finally perishes, no one is willing to lend a helping hand, so the destruction of the State of Qi and other countries also bear certain responsibilities.
But is this really the case? Did the State of Qi really not bribe the State of Qin? Not really. The reason why the State of Qi has not shown the phenomenon of superficially bribing the State of Qin in the process of development all along is because most of the kind of bribes mentioned in the "Six Kingdoms Theory" stay on money and land, but the State of Qi and the State of Qin are very far apart, and the two countries do not have land directly connected.
The State of Qin has no way to obtain the actual control of these lands, so that some lands without actual control are not as beneficial as forming allies with the State of Qi, so we can see that in the policy that the State of Qin has always pursued, the State of Qi is in the position of an ally, whether it is Zhang Yi's policy of continuous horizontal or Fan Ju's policy of long-distance and close-range attack, the State of Qi is the most important.
The State of Qi bribed the State of Qin by forming an alliance with the State of Qin
Therefore, we can see that the way the State of Qi bribes the State of Qin is different from the other five countries, and the other five countries may stay at the level of using land in exchange for peace, but the bribery of the State of Qi is already a kind of bribery at the spiritual level, and it has formed an alliance with the State of Qin to ensure that the State of Qin will not catch fire in its backyard on the road to the east, and guarantee that it will not give assistance to other countries, so that other countries have no backup force to rely on when fighting against the State of Qin.
In fact, it is not a fact that the State of Qi perished without helpers because of bribes from other countries, the real fact is that when the other five countries spared no effort to oppose the State of Qin, the State of Qi chose to stand idly by, and the State of Qi chose to turn a blind eye, so that after the demise of the other five countries, the State of Qi became a lonely man, and when faced with the attack of the Qin Army, it had no meaning, and finally had to surrender without a fight, which is exactly the opposite of what is said in the "Six Kingdoms Theory".
We can see that Su Xun's view is not very correct, or it is not very able to withstand scrutiny, first of all, the other five countries except the Qin State are not without choosing the road of resisting qin, and the State of Qi is not a country that has not bribed the Qin State, let alone because the other five countries have stood by and watched it.
Therefore, when we face the "Theory of the Six Kingdoms", we still have a rational view of the views discussed in it, not only to absorb the correct part of its exposition, but also to combine it with the real historical development and have our own considerations.
Through the Theory of the Six Kingdoms, Su Xun euphemistically advised the Song emperor not to exchange land for peace
And then again, since this view does not stand up to scrutiny, then why did Su Xun write such an article? Is it really because he doesn't know much about real history? Not really. In fact, Su Xun's purpose in writing this article was not to really discuss how the Six Kingdoms of Shandong perished, but his real purpose was to advise his own monarch.
At that time, the Song Dynasty was very seriously influenced by the ethnic minorities in the north, but the Song Dynasty did not hesitate to bribe the ethnic minorities in the north with land for peace and for the sake of temporary tranquility, and Su Xun was very opposed to this practice, believing that the peace exchanged for land was not real peace, nor could it be maintained for a long time, and even made the local ethnic minorities inch forward and make their country more precarious.
However, Su Xun, as a literati and as a courtier, he could not directly point out the mistakes of the monarch, nor did he have the opportunity to directly advise the court, so he could only make euphemistic persuasion by writing articles, in fact, the Qin State mentioned in the "Six Kingdoms Theory" was the ethnic minority in the north, and the Six Kingdoms of Shandong referred to the Song Dynasty at that time.
Review
The author thinks
This kind of literary technique of Su Xun is not uncommon in the development of ancient literary history, except for Su Xun's "Theory of the Six Kingdoms", as well as Jia Yi's "Theory of Passing Qin" and Du Mu's "Afang Gongfu", these two articles and the "Six Kingdoms" technique are not much different.
Jia Yi class refers to the Han Dynasty, and Du Mu alludes to the Huaqing Palace
Jia Yi focused on the constraints of natural conditions in the article, because the attitude of the Han Dynasty to the Xiongnu at that time was directly related. And Du Mu in the "Afang Palace Endowment" is said to be the impact of the extreme luxury of national life on the development of the country, paying great attention to the writing of the luxury of the Afang Palace Endowment, according to Du Mu's era, it is implied that Tang Xuanzong built the Huaqing Palace to please Yang Guifei, so in Jia Yi's "On Passing the Qin", the class refers to the Han Dynasty at that time.
In Du Mu's "Afang Palace Endowment", the Afang Palace class refers to the Huaqing Palace built by the Tang Dynasty, and these people do not really want to discuss the reasons for the collapse of the Six Kingdoms of Shandong? Or is it the cause of the death of Qin Dynasty II? Instead, he wanted to use the experience of the rise and fall of his predecessors to persuade his monarch at that time so that his time and society could be more stable and harmonious.
Of course, we can say that some of their views cannot stand up to scrutiny, but their core ideas are correct, the development of a country must not be extremely extravagant, the ancients said that thrift and thrift are defeated by luxury, if it is really as extravagant as Du Mu's "Afang Palace Endowment" said, then the demise of this country is actually doomed.
The state must be bloody and must have a cultural spirit
And Mencius also said that the sky is not as good as the location, not as good as the people, like the "Theory of Passing the Qin" just to pay great attention to the geographical advantages can not last. At the same time, the existence of a country must have its own blood and its own cultural spirit, such as Su Xun's description in the "Six Kingdoms" to ensure the Zongmiao Community through bribery, and the act of exchanging land for peace, which is not long-lasting.
Just like in the last years of the Qing Dynasty, Empress Dowager Cixi took China's land in exchange for peace, and the material resources of China were all in harmony with the happiness of the country, and in the end it could only end up in a backward and beaten situation, which could only make society more and more chaotic and let the people live in deep water.
Although the real reason for the collapse of the Six Kingdoms is not as stated in the "Theory of the Six Kingdoms", the reason for the demise of the Qin Dynasty is not as stated in the "Theory of Passing the Qin", and the "Afang Gongfu" has not really been built, but the central idea mentioned by these people in the article is still worth thinking about and learning from our later generations.
This also tells us that when later generations think about the events of the previous generation, when analyzing the development process of history, they cannot only see the merits and wrongs of one thing alone, but must look at the development trend of the entire history to analyze and judge, many times history is carried out in a cycle, what has been done, what has been done, and what has been done must be done again, which is why later people advocate remembering history and remembering history.
As a descendant, as Wang Xizhi said, we look at the present and the present, and if we cannot learn some lessons from the experience of our predecessors, then the posterity behind us will judge us as we criticize the ancients now.
References: Warring States Policy, Zizhi Tongjian, Zuo Zhuan, Book of Han, Theory of Passing the Qin, Theory of the Six Kingdoms, etc