Throughout the history of investment throughout the ages, the investment of Lü Buwei, a merchant in the late Warring States period, was undoubtedly the most successful. He scattered his family wealth to let a grandson of King Zhaoxiang of Qin, who was a hostage in the Zhao kingdom and a dispensable one, ascend to the throne and even the throne of the Qin state step by step. And because of this successful political investment, he himself sat on the throne of the Qin State from a "lowly businessman" who was despised by the nobility. Later, after the death of King Xiang of Qinzhuang, he and Empress Dowager Zhao Ji of the Jianguo State took charge of the government of the Qin Dynasty, and became one of the most powerful people in the whole world at that time as the "middle father" of the Qin Dynasty. Lü Buwei's story of "strange goods can be lived in" is also the most successful investment case in China for more than two thousand years, and there is no one.
However, just before Lü Buwei, another political investment was arguably the most unsuccessful investment in the history of the Warring States and even China, and he worked hard to help others ascend to the throne, but he took 450,000 troops. Since the Spring and Autumn Period, it has been normal to send troops to interfere in the succession of other countries. For example, the second overlord of the "Spring and Autumn Five Powers", Jin Wengong, was supported by the armed forces of Qin Mugong to successfully kill the throne ascended by the Duke of Jin Huai. But this rash interference in the internal affairs of other countries carries great risks and high rewards: if the heirs they support succeed in ascending to power, they are bound to enhance friendly relations between the two countries, and vice versa, they will invite retaliation from the country.
But the causal relationship is not fixed, at least the Zhao state in the Warring States period was "pitted". In 307 BC, King Wu of Qin, who was extremely powerful, accidentally smashed his leg bone and lost too much blood and died. At this time, King Wu of Qin had only been on the throne for 4 years, and at the age of 22, he had no heirs, so that the throne of Qin could only be handed over to his brothers of the same generation. King Huiwen of the Qin state had many sons, but only two of them had the most powerful competition for the throne: Gongzi Zhuang and Gongzi Ji. Among them, Gongzi Zhuang had the support of Queen Huiwen, and Gongzi Ji's mother was the famous Qi Bazi, whose uncle Wei Ran had greater power in the Qin state and used force to win the right to inherit the throne for Gongzi Ji.
At this time, Gongzi Ji was a hostage in the Yan kingdom and could not return to China to succeed to the throne for a while, after all, there was still a strong Zhao state between Qin and Yan. But fortunately, King Wuling of Zhao wanted to support a pro-Zhao King of Qin, and he felt that Gongzi Ji was a good candidate, so he intended to help him ascend to the throne of King Qin. Therefore, King Wuling of Zhao designed to first send the acting chancellor Zhao Gu to the State of Yan to bring Gongzi Ji to the State of Zhao, and then send the army of the State of Zhao to escort Gongzi Ji back to the State of Qin to succeed to the throne. It has to be said that Gongzi Ji was able to succeed to the throne smoothly, firstly thanks to the full support of his uncle Wei Ran, and secondly, with the intentional support of King Wuling of Zhao. It is said that Gongzi Ji, who only ascended the throne with the support of zhao guo, should have a good feeling for zhao guo during his reign.
However, later history tells us that in the hundreds of years of scuffle between the Spring and Autumn Warring States, the most tragic war occurred between the Qin state and the Zhao state, and it was during the reign of Gongzi Ji in that year. The time is 260 BC, the 47th year of the reign of King Ji of Qin, and the 6th year of the reign of King Dan of Zhao, the grandson of King Wuling of Zhao. Since the State of Zhao took over shangdang county in Korea, which should have been assigned to the state of Qin, Qin and Zhao, the two most powerful countries at that time, came to the brink of war. This war is not only about the respective national fortunes of the two countries, but also about the direction of history: if the Qin State wins, the Qin State will have no strong opponent in unifying the world; if the Zhao State wins, the qin unification hope will plummet by a few points.
As a result, in this five-month war, the Qin army annihilated 450,000 Zhao troops at a tragic cost of 200,000 casualties, and Zhao Guo was seriously injured since then. No matter how King Wuling of Ren Zhao predicted, he could not have imagined that Gongzi Ji, who had single-handedly helped ascend to the throne of the King of Qin, would turn around and kill his own 450,000 Zhao people decades later! Not only that, after the victory at changping, the State of Qin tried to take advantage of the victory to pursue and prepare to destroy the State of Zhao in one fell swoop. If it weren't for Wei Guo's Xin Lingjun stealing charms to save Zhao, Zhao Guo might not have been able to turn the crisis into safety. The State of Zhao helped Gongzi Ji become the King of Qin, and this King of Qin almost destroyed the State of Zhao, which was the most failed investment in the Warring States. But then again, since the xiaogong merchant martingale transformation law, the qin state has become stronger and stronger, and since the reign of King Huiwen, it still has the goal of competing for supremacy in the east out of Hangu.
After that, the State of Qin was already a war machine that established a country based on cultivation and war, and the candidates sitting on the throne, whether it was Gongzi Ji or Gongzi Zhuang or other princes, would continue to develop in the east. After all, the Qin army entered the knighthood with military merit, and the Qin people were happy when they heard the battle. From this point of view, although Gongzi Ji, who was supported by King Wuling of Zhao, inflicted heavy losses on the Zhao state decades later, at least in the short term, it did not endanger the interests of the Zhao state. After all, after Gongzi Ji succeeded to the throne, the power of the Qin state was all controlled by Empress Xuan and Wei Ran, so that the ambitions of the King of Qin could not be exerted. Throughout the Spring and Autumn Warring States period, political investment has brought bitter results to itself, and no one can be worse than Zhao Guo.