What is history: it is the echo of the past to the future, the reflection of the future on the past. - Hugo
Tian Ji horse racing is from the "History" volume 65: "Sun Tzu Wu Qi Lie Biography Fifth", the protagonists of the story are Tian Ji, Sun Zhi and Qi Wei Wang, is a famous example in Chinese history that reveals how to use their strengths to deal with the shortcomings of their opponents, so as to win in competition. For this story. During the Warring States period, Sun Bin came to the Wei state of Daliang, but Sun Bin was framed by his classmate Pang Juan and was tortured. During this period, the emissaries of the State of Qi came to Daliang, and Sun Bin secretly met with them as a prisoner to persuade the emissaries of the State of Qi. The emissaries of the State of Qi thought that this man was a strange person, so they secretly carried him back to the State of Qi.
After Sun Bin came to the State of Qi, Tian Ji appreciated him very much and treated him like a guest. Tian Ji often raced horses with the princes of the State of Qi, and Sun Zhen found that their horses were almost the same, and the horses were divided into upper, middle, and lower grades, so he said to Tian Ji: "I can let you win." As the race was about to begin, Sun Bin said, "Now use your inferior horses against their superior horses, your superior horses against their middle horses, and your middle horses against their inferior horses." After three games, Tian Ji lost one game and won two, and finally won the Qi King. Therefore, Tian Ji recommended Sun Zhi to the King of Qi Wei. King Qi Wei consulted him on the art of war and made him a military master. So, the question is, after Tian Ji raced horses, what was the final outcome of Tian Ji and Sun Zhen? The teacher didn't tell us!
Sun Bing
First of all, for the final outcome of Tian Ji and Sun Zhen, because of the complexity of factors, the teacher generally does not tell us. On the one hand, as far as Sun Bin is concerned. After the Tian Ji horse race, Sun Bin participated in the Battle of Guiling and the Battle of Maling. The Battle of Guiling was a famous interception battle in history, which took place in the northwest of Changyuan, Henan. In 354 BC (the fifteenth year of King Xian of Zhou), Wei besieged the Zhao capital Handan, and the following year Zhao asked Qi for help. King Qi ordered Tian Ji and Sun Zhen to lead an army to rescue them. Sun Bing believed that Wei had attacked Handan with elites and that the country was empty, so he led an army to besiege the Wei capital Daliang, causing the Wei general Pang Juan to rush to respond to the battle. However, Sun Bing ambushed Guiling (heze, Shandong, And Changyuan, Henan), defeated the Wei army, and captured Pang Juan. In this regard, in the view of many historians, Sun Bin evaded the real attack in this battle, attacked and saved, and created the "encircling Wei to save Zhao" tactic, which has become a common means of luring the enemy into submission in the history of ancient warfare.
The Battle of Maling was an example of an ambush and annihilation of the enemy in the history of Chinese warfare, in which Sun Bin took advantage of Pang Juan's weakness to create illusions and induce him to submit, so that the war situation always took the initiative. In 343 BC, in order to compensate for the losses at the Battle of Guiling, the State of Wei sent troops to attack Korea. After the King of Qi Wei waited for Wei Han to fight, Tian Pan was the main general, Tian Bao was the deputy general, and Sun Zhen was the military division to attack the State of Wei. The State of Wei sent Crown Prince Shen to resist, and the entire army was destroyed at Maling, and then Tian Pan lured the Wei state pang Juanzhong with the strategy of "reducing the stove" and chased him to the Maling Mountains to ambush him, and the Qi army took advantage of the victory to pursue, captured Prince Shen, and completely annihilated the Wei army. In this regard, in the view of many historians, after this battle, the Wei state was seriously injured and lost its position as the hegemon of the Central Plains. The Battle of Maling has also become a famous example in the history of ancient Chinese warfare. Therefore, it is very obvious that Sun Zhen, relying on the Battle of Guiling and the Battle of Maling, helped the King of Qi Wei to dominate the Central Plains, that is, he made great achievements for the State of Qi. After these two battles, Sun Bing suddenly disappeared in history, that is, there is no record of Sun Bing in the relevant historical materials.
In this regard, in the author's opinion, the wise Sun Zhen is likely to retreat after the Battle of Maling and chose to retire to the countryside. In ancient history, it is not necessarily a good thing that generals have made great achievements. Because once the merits are high, these generals are likely to be unable to die well. During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, Bai Qi, Shang Martingale, Li Mu, Xin Lingjun and other generals who had performed high feats of power did not achieve a good ending in the end. Therefore, Sun Bin's choice to retire is undoubtedly an understandable act. What is more crucial is that Sun Wu, the ancestor of Sun Bing, has already set a good example for Sun Bing. Sun Wu was active from the end of the sixth century BC to the beginning of the fifth century BC, from Qi to Wu, and was recommended by Wu Zixu (Wu Zixu), a major minister of the State of Wu, to present thirteen articles on the art of war to the king of Wu, lu Jin, and was highly valued as a general. At the Battle of Baiju, he led the Wu army to defeat the Chu army, occupied the capital of the Chu state, Yingcheng, and nearly destroyed the Chu state. However, after the Battle of Baiju, Sun Wu no longer contributed to the foreign wars of the State of Wu, and instead lived in seclusion in the countryside and revised his works on the art of war. On this basis, Sun Bing also left a theoretical work such as "Sun Bing's Art of War", that is, this should be a work completed after Sun Bing retired.
Tian Ji
On the other hand, Tian Ji, as the Emperor of Qi, would obviously not retire like Sun Zhen. Tian Ji (田忌), courtesy name Tian (妫), was a member of the Tian clan (田氏), courtesy name Ji (田氏), courtesy name Ji (田忌), courtesy name Jie (田忌), courtesy name Zi (字子 period), and was a native of Chen County (present-day Huaiyang County, Henan). During the Warring States period, he was a famous general of the State of Qi, with a fief in Xuzhou (present-day Tengzhou, Shandong), also known as the Sub-Period of Xuzhou. As far as Sun Bin is concerned, he can not have too much concern and restraint, so as to retire to the countryside. However, as the clan of the State of Qi, Tian Ji also had his own fiefdom, and obviously could not be said to retire from retirement. On this basis, after the Battle of Guiling and the Battle of Maling, although Tian Ji made great achievements, he also attracted the jealousy of his colleagues and the suspicion of the monarch.
In the Warring States Policy, Volume VIII, Qi Ce I, And Marquis Zou Ji as Qi Xiang, it is recorded that Zou Ji told Gongsun Yu (i.e., Gongsun Yue), and Gongsun Ji made people ten gold and went to the city, saying: My tian ji people also, I have won three battles and three victories, and I am prestigious in the world, and I want to do great things, and I want to do great things. "The prophet came out, for he was caught by the prophecy, and his words were tested before the king. Tian Ji left.
After the Battle of Maling, Zou Ji sent Gongsun Yue to carry heavy gold to the market, looking for someone to divinate, and introduced himself: "I am a subordinate of General Tian Ji, and now the general has won three battles and three victories, and his fame has shocked the world, and now he wants to try to do something big, please do you divination, see how ji ji is?" As soon as the prophecy had left, Gongsun Yue sent someone to arrest the divinator and verify this statement in front of King QiWei. Tian Ji panicked when he heard the news and was forced to run to the Chu kingdom. In this regard, Zou Ji was worried that Tian Ji would return to the State of Qi with the power of the State of Chu. The lobbyist Duhe said to Zou Ji, "I would like to leave Tian Ji in the Chu Kingdom for you." ”
After Du He came to the Chu state, he said to the king of Chu: "The reason why Zou Ji is not friendly with the Chu state is because he is worried that Tian Ji will return to the Chu state by virtue of the power of the Chu state. The king might as well give Tian Ji the southern part of chu to show that Tian Ji did not intend to return to the state of Qi. Zou Ji would definitely be very friendly with Chu Guo. Tian Ji was a fugitive, he got a fief, he will certainly be grateful to the king, if he can return to the State of Qi in the future, it will certainly make the State of Qi and the State of Chu very friendly. This is the way to take advantage of the contradiction between Tian Ji and Zou Ji to benefit the Chu state. In this context, the King of Chu listened to Du He's words and indeed gave Jiangnan to Tian Ji.
In the "Chronicle of History, Volume Seventy-Five, The Biography of Meng Yujun", it is recorded that The Prince of Huiwei, the Prince of Xuan, and the Marquis of Zhicheng sold Tian Ji, but he summoned Tian Ji as a general.
After the death of King Qi Wei, King Xuan of Qi succeeded to the throne, learned that Tian Ji had been framed, and recalled Tian Ji to the domestic official reinstatement. However, it should be noted that although Tian Ji returned to the State of Qi. However, Tian Ji did not get the opportunity to continue to make meritorious achievements in the State of Qi. That is to say, among the generals of the State of Qi at that time, there were already candidates to replace Sun Bing and Tian Ji, and this person was Kuang Zhang. For Kuang Zhang, he commanded the battles of the State of Qi and the princely states of Chu, Qin, and Yan, that is, he became a very trusted general of King Xuan of Qi and King Min of Qi. As far as Tian Ji is concerned, in the end, it is depressed and has not been able to make a comeback. What do you think about that?