Introduction: Warring States Seven Heroes, what is the special way to survive? The State of Wei relied on Li Wu and Wu Qi to change the law, the State of Qi relied on economic and trade advantages, the State of Zhao hufu rode and shot, the historical background of the State of Yan, the Korean Shen did not harm the law, and the Chu State was divided
The Warring States Era can be said to be the most chaotic era in the entire history of China, it has gone through the longest time, the largest number of princely powers participating in the struggle for hegemony, but also the occurrence of countless classic confrontations in the era of cold weapons, and that era until today is the historical time that everyone needs to analyze in depth, that is the origin of our Chinese civilization, is the ancient nation of China in the depths of the sea of a period of suffering in the history of struggle, it is precisely because of the existence of that era that there was a later imperial system. It was precisely because of the chaos of that time that there was later unification.
Therefore, the value of the Warring States era to the development of future generations is immeasurable, in that era, every country had its own way of survival, each country was doing its best to base itself on the Central Plains, and those ways of establishing a country are what we need to learn today. Then, at the time of the Warring States period, in that era of smoke and smoke, what kind of special methods did each country have? Today, we will analyze the unique survival methods of the Seven Heroes of the Warring States, and use this to experience the hardships of their survival and development at that time.
1. Wei Guo
First of all, let's talk about the State of Wei, after all, the State of Wei was the first country to become stronger in the Warring States Period, and its entire history had a certain guiding role in the Warring States Era. The most basic reason why the State of Wei was able to establish or develop was the Li Wu transformation method and the Wu Qi military transformation method. At that time, the State of Wei could be said to be a superpower with the common development of administrative economy and military.
The economic aspect is the most fundamental aspect of Li Wu's transformation law, from the economic policy of the state court to the exchange of commodity trade between the peasant masses Li Wu has formulated strict and detailed legal provisions, through those strict regulations to guide the economy of the whole country to a very correct path, so that the commodity trade exchange between the people has its own unique trajectory, so the State of Wei has a very strong economic strength as a support for launching a war, and it is precisely because of the country's super economic strength. Only then did it support this country to become the strongest hegemon in the early Warring States period, and this is why the State of Wei, although it suffered a huge defeat in the middle of the Warring States period, was still able to share the same with other countries.
Administratively, during the reign of Marquis Wenhou of Wei, the politics of the State of Wei was very clean, and Marquis Wenhou of Wei also left a skin for future generations, and Mao will attach such a historical allusion, which clarifies the political relationship between the monarch and the minister. Wei Wenhou was also a typical sage, and it was his actions that made the political environment of the State of Wei very healthy, cleared many obstacles to the development of the State of Wei, and further strengthened the development of the State of Wei.
And in terms of military, Wu Qi's training for the State of Wei can be said to be a hundred battles and victories, invincible, this army has also become the most powerful army in the history of the State of Wei, but also the state of Wei from the founding of the country to the destruction of the country in the past hundred years of all the military support, without Wei Wuzu, wei state must not be able to persist in the chaotic war, and in the middle and late period of the Warring States, Wei Wuzu almost became a barrier for the six kingdoms of Shandong to resist the Qin army.
This form of army training has become the tradition on which the Wei state relies for survival, and it is also the support and foundation for the Wei state to train the army, so Wu Qi's military transformation method in the Wei state is actually a long-term influence, and it is not only an army, but also the army's training method and the army's way of survival.
So in fact, the survival of the State of Wei in the Warring States Period almost depended on the economic wealth left over from the Li Wu reform law and the military strength left over from the Wu Qi military change, and the State of Wei basically became a country that sat on the mountain and ate the sky, which was also the fundamental reason for the demise of the country, if the State of Wei could still adhere to the vigorous development of the Wei Wenhou period, it might eventually become a powerful country that unified the world.
2. Chu Kingdom
Secondly, the State of Chu, although the Southern State of Chu did not have a positive impact on the Central Plains in the Warring States Period, but the strength of this country can not be ignored, and it can even be said that the Southern State of Chu is the biggest obstacle in the process of unifying the Central Plains of the State of Qin, and the way for the country to survive is left over from the Spring and Autumn Period, which is a kind of division of the family clan. That is to say, the whole country is divided into many parts, each led by a specific nobleman, who not only has a very high political status, but also has a very strong autonomy in the area under their jurisdiction, and this autonomy even extends to the possibility of building their own army.
In fact, these armies were nominally in charge of the monarch, but the nationalist army had no actual command over them, and these large nobles were basically equivalent to a small prince, and the royal family of the Chu state survived through the support of these nobles. There will be many constraints between the nobles because of the problem of interests, and these constraints are the basis for the monarch to rule over these nobles, and as long as the rights between these nobles are not too unbalanced, then a kind of involvement will be formed between them, which will prevent the further expansion of the power of the nobles and achieve a less stable equilibrium, as in the early Western Zhou Dynasty.
At that time, the power of the various princely states was relatively balanced, and the trespassing of one princely state would lead to the common crusade of other princely states, so nominally they would obey the constraints of Zhou Tianzi, although they competed with each other behind their backs, but no one could break this balance. Therefore, the Chu state has been maintained under this situation of the division of the family clan.
It is worth noting that the strength between these nobles cannot be ignored, such as the last war between the Qin state and the Chu state, when Li Xin led the Qin army of 200,000 to the south to destroy Chu, but was defeated by the army led by the noble Xiang clan of the Chu state, not only losing soldiers but also losing countless money and food, which can be seen in the horror of these nobles.
3. South Korea
Then let's look at South Korea, South Korea is the smallest country in the Three Jin Dynasties, and has a large border with the Qin State, so Korea in the middle and late Warring States period is facing a very serious problem of survival, but the Korean country is doing nothing, and this country is a country that was established later, it does not belong to the orthodox princely states of the Western Zhou, nor is it the founding princes of the Eastern Zhou Like the Qin State, this is just a country that developed after the new clan replaced the old clan. In this way, the foundation of the country was not very stable, especially after Shen Bu harmed the magic rule, the country's loyalty was completely tampered with, and it became a country that advocated conspiracy and power.
Therefore, this country has no longer had the possibility of competing for world domination since the Shen Non-Harmful Law, and the subsequent life and death of South Korea is completely resigned to fate, so that by the end of the Warring States period, the whole of Korea has become a web of many holes, except for the southern Nanyang region, which is still relatively rich, the only thing left is the capital city of Xinzheng.
So from the moment we look at the country to the fragmentation, we can almost know that there is actually no clear way to benefit the country in this country. Basically all the kings and ministers were obsessed with the operation of power, and they were more concerned about the power they actually held in their hands, which was quite a bit of a rat's eye. They could not clearly capture the direction of the times, could not perceive the imminent danger, in their minds, only the rights they had in Korea were the targets they wanted to pursue, so Korea became the first vassal state to perish in the Warring States period.
4. Qi Guo
Then there is the State of Qi on the coast of the East China Sea. The survival of the State of Qi in the early period relied on two points, one was the natural economic and trade advantage of being located on the coast of the East China Sea, and the second point was the clean and honest political system. The State of Qi is located on the coast of the East China Sea is a princely power, it is different from the inland South Korea, the State of Qin, these countries, it is more rich and diverse in the economic and trade situation, through the sea trade can increase a lot of fiscal revenue for the whole country, so the State of Qi in the Warring States era has always been an economic power, and the country's internal economic structure is also very healthy, so it laid a good foundation for the later hegemony of the State of Qi, but also provided a good support for the survival and development of the State of Qi.
And the political system of this country, because of the change of the law of the king of QiWei, has risen to a new height, so that the politics of the early stage of the State of Qi is very clear, the state appoints ministers who are really beneficial to the development of the country, and the monarchs can be said to be pro-xian and far lesser, so from this point of view, the initial political rule of the State of Qi is very much the meaning of the royal way that Mencius said, but it is essentially different from the king's way of Mencius.
Mencius's royal way is a political proposition that is too idealistic, but the administration of this country is very realistic, it focuses on the peace and contentment of the people, and it is the improvement of the relationship between the monarch and the subject, so in the beginning of the State of Qi, from the monarch to the courtiers to the subjects were very stable.
The survival of the late Qi state is somewhat embarrassing, simply and rudely speaking, it is to pretend to be deaf and dumb. First of all, it does not pay attention to the dangers faced by the other five countries of the six countries of Shandong, does not accept the help of any country, and does not participate in the military struggles of other countries, it is just a person enjoying his own life on the coast of the East China Sea, quite a feeling of not hearing about the world, and at the end of the Warring States period, the State of Qi has even played this kind of deafness and dumbness to the extreme, and even it is no longer ignoring the dangers of its companions, and it is also its enemy Qin State. As a result, the final result became the only country that perished without resistance, which really cast a shadow over the founding princes of the Western Zhou Dynasty.
5. Zhao Guo
The State of Zhao, which was part of the Jin State along with the State of Wei and Korea. The folk customs of the Zhao state are more fierce, and the Hu people in the north have a large border land, so the national development of the Zhao state is deeply influenced by the Northern Hu people, of which the biggest impact is the Zhao Wuling King's Hufu riding shooting method, and this Hufu riding shooting method is a fundamental absolute military change, so in the Warring States period, the Zhao State relied on military power for the survival and development of the country. In fact, this is a very strong support, let me ask, why was the State of Wei able to occupy the position of a super powerful country in the early warring states?
In fact, the most fundamental reason is Wu Qi's military achievements in nearly a hundred cities and pools in other countries! The status of this superpower is played out, and without these feats of Wu Qi, perhaps even ten Li Wu could not have allowed wei to sit in the superpower seat for decades. Therefore, the dependence of the Zhao State was actually very strong, and even the Qin State did not dare to easily confront it.
6. Yanguo
The Yan kingdom with the deepest historical background during the Warring States period. The State of Yan was one of the princely states that King Ji Fa of Zhou Wu had divided after the success of king Wu's cutting, and was also one of the fifty-three princes with the surname of Ji, and the founding monarch of this country, Zhao Gongyi, had a very high status in Western Zhou, so because of the influence of Zhao Gongyi, the entire Yan country had a strong wind of royal way, and with the change of time, this strong wind of royal road deeply affected the State of Yan, and even penetrated into the bones of the State of Yan, so that the country of Yan, a country with deep roots, could not stop the king's way.
And the Yan kingdom is different from other countries, this country and its difficult to be changed or self-change, so the entire Warring States era of the wind of the royal way is still spreading in the Yan kingdom, which is a kind of pride of the Yan royal family as a branch of the Western Zhou royal family, but also a kind of pride in the bloodline, even Tai Shi Gong in the "History" about the reason for the existence of the Yan kingdom is attributed to "the world of yin virtue", that is to say, the life and death of the Yan kingdom is completely resigned to fate, it can survive almost by relying on the Heavenly Dao, of course, this statement is more mysterious. However, in the later period of the Yan Dynasty, it was still insisting that the politics of the beginning had never changed.
7. The State of Qin
The last one is the victor of the Seven Heroes of the Warring States, the State of Qin, in the early years of the Warring States period, relied on the way of survival by raising war with war, that is, nourishing war through war, which is why the early Qin State was so poor and weak. In the later period, the foundation of the Qin state and its survival is the law, since the Shang martingale transformation law, everything in the Qin state has clear legal provisions to stipulate, and for the measures of the Shang martingale transformation law, I think everyone has been very clear, we will not do too much description.
Through our above analysis and enumeration, everyone should know what the way for each country to survive is, even if the choice of road is more important than the development of strength, if the initial choice is wrong, then no matter how hard you try, you are doing useless work. For example, the State of Yan, the State of Yan is not a country that does not work hard, but its efforts are trying to promote the royal way, in the implementation of a political proposition that is not in line with the Warring States era, which has actually planned the end for the State of Yan, and a concept that is inconsistent with the trend of history must not be able to sit on the carriage of history. Therefore, the different choices of the Warring States period are actually the root cause of various different endings.
References: "Historical Records", "Warring States Policy", "Zizhi Tongjian", "Zuo Zhuan", etc