What is history: it is the echo of the past to the future, the reflection of the future on the past. - Hugo
The Warring States (475 BC – 221 BC) was a period in Chinese history following the Spring and Autumn Period. After the protracted struggle for hegemony during the Spring and Autumn Period (770 BC - 476 BC), the number of princely states in the Territory of the Zhou Dynasty was greatly reduced. By the end of the Spring and Autumn Period, the three families of Wei, Zhao, and Han joined forces to eliminate the Zhi clan, and in the early Warring States period, they divided up the Jin state and became the three princely states of Wei, Korea, and Zhao. At the same time, the occurrence of the Tian Dynasty Qi led to the formation of the situation of the Seven Heroes of the Warring States, that is, the seven xiongs of the Qin State, the State of Qi, the Republic of Korea, the State of Wei, the State of Zhao, the State of Chu, and the State of Yan.
Among the Seven Heroes of the Warring States, although the State of Qin became the final big winner, it destroyed the Six Kingdoms of Shandong. However, the strength of the Qin state was not achieved overnight. In the process of the qin state becoming strong, it naturally encountered many powerful opponents. Among them, the State of Wei, the State of Qi, the State of Chu, and the State of Zhao are undoubtedly the four major powers that cannot be escaped on the road to the rise of the State of Qin. However, for these four great powers, they all eventually went into decline and were all annexed by the Qin state. In this regard, in the author's opinion, in the Warring States period, the decline of these four great powers was directly related to a monarch who had failed. In other words, in the history of the States of Wei, Qi, Chu, and Zhao, each had a monarch who turned from prosperity to decline.
State of Wei: King Hui of Wei
First of all, King Hui of Wei (400 BC – 319 BC), surnamed Ji (姬), of the Wei clan , was also known as King Hui of Liang ( yīng ) , also known as King Hui of Liang , " Liang / Wei Huicheng King " in the Bamboo Book Chronicle" ( " ) . Before King Hui of Wei, Marquis Wenhou of Wei promoted li wu's transformation of the law, which allowed the state of Wei to rise first in the Warring States of Qixiong. That is to say, among the Seven Heroes of the Warring States, the State of Wei was the first princely state to change the law and become stronger. After the death of Marquis Wenhou of Wei, Marquis Wu of Wei marched south to fight in the north, consolidating the hegemony of the State of Wei and laying the foundation for the leading position of the State of Wei among the Seven Heroes of the Warring States. However, King Hui of Wei, as the third monarch of the State of Wei, failed to maintain his hegemony. During the reign of King Hui of Wei, the State of Wei regarded the State of Qi as its main opponent, so it adopted a strategy of uniting Zhao and Han and easing the opposition with the State of Qin. However, in the confrontation with the State of Qi, the State of Wei was repeatedly hit hard. Especially in the Battle of Guiling and the Battle of Maling, the State of Wei lost a large number of elite Wei wu pawns, which became an important reason for the decline of the State of Wei.
At the same time, King Hui of Wei wanted to ease relations with the State of Qin. However, the State of Qin took advantage of the defeat of the State of Wei on the eastern front, so as to continuously attack the State of Wei and seize the land of Hexi of the State of Wei. As for Korea and the Zhao Kingdom, they also gradually became inseparable from the Wei State. Therefore, it is very obvious that during the reign of King Hui of Wei, the State of Wei not only suffered a loss in strength, but also faced the problem of being isolated. In general, the reign of The King of Wei Hui (魏惠王) was at the height of the State of Wei, and after King Hui of Wei moved the capital to Daliang (present-day northwestern Kaifeng) from AnYi, the State of Wei was also known as the State of Liang. However, in the following wars, "the east was defeated by Qi, the west lost more than 700 miles of Qin land, and the south was humiliated by Chu" and began to decline.
Chu Kingdom: King Huai of Chu
King Huai of Chu (c. 355 BC – 296 BC), courtesy name Xiong, son of King Wei of Chu, father of King Xiang of Chu, was the 37th monarch of the State of Chu during the Warring States period. In 328 BC, King Wei of Chu died and was succeeded by Qi Huai, known in history as "King Huai of Chu". Before King Huai of Chu, monarchs such as King Wei of Chu had already pushed the State of Chu to its peak. In other words, the Chu state that King Huai of Chu took over was also a powerful country among the Seven Heroes of the Warring States. In the early days of King Huai of Chu's reign, he appointed Qu Yuan and others to change the law, defeated the State of Wei, destroyed the State of Yue, and expanded his territory, which can be called a wise monarch. In this regard, Su Qin once said that "the king of Chu is in harmony, and the emperor of Qin is in hengcheng". However, like Emperor Xuanzong of Tang during the Tang Dynasty, the second half of the reign of King Huai of Chu was relatively faint. After being deceived by Zhang Yi, King Huai of Chu hastily launched the Battles of Danyang and Lantian, which resulted in the loss of a large number of soldiers, horses and territory for the Chu state.
After this, the King of Chu Huai was again oscillating between the State of Qin and the State of Qi, so he suffered a defeat at the Battle of Chuisha. Under successive defeats, the State of Chu completely lost its qualification to compete with the State of Qin for the world. In 299 BC, King Huai of Chu and King Zhaoxiang of Qin allied with Wuguan, and King Zhaoxiang of Qin detained him and coerced him into cutting off the land. The two countries did not cut each other apart, not to mention that the monarch of a country that would be discussed in the alliance was detained for three years, his son did not think of saving his father and established himself as king, and the princes thought that they were harmless to themselves and did not crusade. In 296 BC, King Huai of Chu died in Qin, and the coffin returned to Chu, "All the people of Chu have pity, like sad relatives." (History of the Chu Family)"
Qi Guo: King Min of Qi
Qi Min Wang Tiandi (?) –284 BC), courtesy name Tian (田氏), courtesy name Tian (田氏), was the sixth monarch of the State of Qi during the Warring States period and the son of King Xuan of Qi. In 300 BC, he officially ascended the throne and reigned for seventeen years. When King Min of Qi had just ascended the throne, the State of Qi was uniting with the princely states of Korea and Wei and launched the Battle of Chu sha. After the defeat of the Chu army at the Battle of Chuisha, the coalition forces took advantage of the victory to capture a large area of land north of Chuiqiu (present-day Qinyang County, Henan Province), Wan (present-day Nanyang County, Henan Province), and Ye (present-day Ye County, Henan Province). The land north of Chu Guowan and Ye was seized by Han and Wei. After the Battle of Chuisha, King Qi Min became more inflated, so he launched the Second Battle of Hangu Pass. In this battle, the State of Qi, together with Korea and the State of Wei, defeated the State of Qin. In 286 BC, the State of Qi annexed the wealthy State of Song, and King Min of Qi was once known as the Second Emperor of the East and West along with King Zhaoxiang of Qin, reflecting the peak of the State of Qi among the Seven Heroes of the Warring States at that time.
However, in the author's opinion, the behavior and ambition of King Qi Min in cutting off Chu's Huaibei in the south and invading the Three Jins in the west, wanting to merge with the Zhou Dynasty, and claiming to be the Son of Heaven undoubtedly made the State of Qi the target of everyone. In 284 BC, the Battle of the Five Kingdoms of Qi broke out, and Le Yi led a large army to capture more than 70 cities in the State of Qi, and King Min of Qi also lost his life after this battle. In this regard, in the author's opinion, before King Qi Min, the foundation laid by the kings of Qi Wei, Qi Xuan and other monarchs for many years was thus buried by King Qi Min.
Zhao Guo: Zhao Xiaocheng King
In the end, after the fall of the State of Wei, the State of Chu, and the State of Qi, the State of Zhao became the only hope of the Six Kingdoms of Shandong. That is, the situation at that time, only the State of Zhao could stop the State of Qin from unifying the Six Kingdoms. For this reason, the Battle of Changping broke out between the Qin and Zhao states. In this battle, King Xiaocheng of Zhao, due to successive defeats in the war, sought peace with the State of Qin, but was not to be teased, coupled with Lian Po's stubbornness in not fighting, which disgraced the State of Zhao. When Qin saw that the State of Zhao was stubbornly holding out no war, he sent people to spread rumors of Lianpo's surrender and threatened that Qin was not afraid of Lianpo, and that he was afraid of Zhao Kuo, the son of Zhao Hao (who had defeated the Qin state). Therefore, King Xiaocheng of Zhao did not listen to the advice of Yu Qing and Lin Xiangru, and insisted on replacing Lian Po with Zhao Kuo; Zhao Kuo followed King Zhao's intentions and changed Lian Po's defensive deployment and military rules, replaced the generals, and organized the attack.
The State of Qin secretly appointed the famous general Bai Qi as commander-in-chief, and in view of Zhao Kuo's weakness in his eagerness to win, Bai Qi adopted the operational policy of pretending to be defeated and retreating, luring the enemy out of the position, and then dividing the encirclement, cutting off the zhao army's grain route, and annihilating it, and finally winning the war. Therefore, for the defeat in the Battle of Changping, Zhao Kuo had to bear an unshirkable responsibility. However, for the monarch of Zhao Xiaocheng, it is obvious that he has also made a series of mistakes. As we all know, in the Battle of Changping, the Zhao State lost 450,000 elite soldiers, which means that the efforts of monarchs such as King Wuling of Zhao and King Huiwen of Zhao were all wasted by King Xiaocheng of Zhao. Therefore, as far as King Xiaocheng of Zhao is concerned, like King Qi Min, King Huai of Chu, and King Hui of Wei, he can be called the four monarchs of the most defeated in the Warring States, and the final result is that the Qin State benefits.