In ancient history, there have been many famous generals, but few can die well. Why is this happening? The main reason is that these people do not understand the psychology of the emperor. For example, Han Xin, since following Liu Bang, has made an immortal contribution for him in the southern conquest of the northern war, the east blocking the west, and the killing. However, Liu Bang claimed to be the empress, but he was reluctant to surrender his military power, and was eventually killed because of his high merits; for example, Yue Fei, among the four generals of the Southern Song Dynasty Zhongxing, his anti-Jin record was the most outstanding, but he did not understand Zhao Shuo's psychology, and insisted on "directly pounding the Yellow Dragon and welcoming back the Second Saint", and was finally killed by Qin Ju on the charge of "false accusations".
Compared with these famous generals with a sad ending, Wang Qi can be called the person who understands the emperor's mind the most. Wang Qi, Along with Bai Qi, Li Mu, and Lian Po, were known as the four famous generals of the Warring States, and among these four people, if they discussed their military merits alone, I am afraid that no one could compare with Bai Qi. Bai Qi fought in the south and the north in his lifetime, and captured more than 70 cities for the Qin state, without defeat. According to Liang Qichao's research, in the years of conquest of the Seven Heroes of the Warring States, a total of more than 2 million soldiers died, half of whom died at the hands of Bai Qi. The reason why Qin was able to destroy the Six Kingdoms was that Bai Qiju was the greatest.
Although Bai Qi was invincible on the battlefield, he did not understand the psychology of King Qin Zhao. Shortly after the end of the Battle of Changping, the State of Qin attacked Zhao again, but Wang Ling and Wang Gong were defeated by Lian Po one after another, and at this time the situation of the Qin army was already very critical, and King Qin Zhao personally went to ask Bai Qi to take command and let him save the crisis. But Bai Qi very willfully refused, and also told people everywhere: I have long advised the King of Qin not to attack Zhao, but he just does not listen, how about it? Now lose the battle! Bai Qi's move greatly hurt King Qin Zhao's self-esteem, and in the end he sent an emissary to kill Bai Qi.
Compared with Bai Qi, although Wang Qi's battle achievements were not so prominent, he was far superior to Bai Qi in terms of speculating on the emperor's psychology, and thus won a good death. In 224 BC, Qin Shi Huang summoned his ministers to discuss a plan to destroy Chu, and Wang Qi believed that if he wanted to destroy the Chu state, at least 600,000 troops would be needed; but Li Xin boasted that only 200,000 people would be enough. Qin Shi Huang thought that Wang Qi was too old to use, so he sent Li Xin and Meng Tian to lead 200,000 troops to the south to attack Chu, but they were unexpectedly defeated by Xiang Yan and suffered losses. After hearing the news, Qin Shi Huang personally rushed to Pinyang and promised him an army of 600,000 to lead an army to destroy Chu.
These 600,000 elites were almost all the family foundations of the Qin state at that time, and Qin Shi Huang handed over so many soldiers and horses to Wang Qi, and his heart was somewhat worried. If Wang Qi had some idea of self-reliance or some other thoughts, then the situation of the Qin state would be very bad. At this time, Wang Qi showed his superiority over Bai Qi, and in order to reassure Qin Shi Huang about himself, he asked Qin Shi Huang for a large amount of property six times on the way out of the army: "Please Mei Tian's garden pond is very crowded", the reason was actually "for the sake of his descendants"!
Wang Qi's actions seemed very absurd to his subordinates, and many people thought that he had gone too far, fearing that Qin Shi Huang would punish him. Unexpectedly, Qin Shi Huang fulfilled Wang Qi's request one by one, and also eliminated the doubts about his self-reliance, because these signals transmitted by Wang Zhai clearly showed that he only wanted to be a rich man and had no interest in Jiangshan. After the destruction of Chu, Wang Qibanshi returned to the dynasty, and in order to let Qin Shi Huang completely eliminate his guard against himself, he voluntarily surrendered his military power and resigned his official post and returned to his hometown, thus being able to die well. Judging from Wang Qi's deeds, it is no exaggeration to call him a famous general who understands the emperor's mind the most.
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