During the Warring States period, the seven heroes competed for hegemony, and the strength of each country did not overwhelm the other six countries, so it was often an alliance between countries, such as the famous Three Jin Alliance, Qin-Chu Alliance, Qi-Chu Alliance, and so on. Of course, there are also examples of single-handed battles, such as one country crushing another country with its own strength, such as the Battle of Wei against Han and the Battle of Qi against Yan, but it is often hindered by other countries. The most extreme case is that several countries jointly cut down one country, such as the five kingdoms attacking Qin, and the five kingdoms cutting down Qi.
Among them, the greatest influence is the Five Kingdoms of Qi, which directly led to the prosperity and decline of the State of Qi. So, why did the State of Qin stand firmly after being cut down by many countries many times, while the State of Qi almost perished in a war?
First, the sensitive Warring States
Being able to stand out from the Spring and Autumn Period when the whole land was full of countries, and being able to survive hundreds of years of bloody rain and bloody wind, the Seven Heroes of the Warring States were not without a few brushes.
Therefore, before the Qin state dominated, the seven warring states almost had such a consensus: whoever is strong, everyone will suppress him together; who is weak, everyone will divide it up.
Let's look at the famous military operations of the Warring States period:
In the early days, the State of Wei was strong and attacked on all sides, in view of the Three Jin Alliance, everyone did not dare to move, once the Three Jin Alliance was loosened, the State of Qin was from the west, the State of Chu was from the south, and the State of Qi was from the east, and a few rounds would destroy the sharpness of the powerful State of Wei.
Almost at the same time, the State of Zhao was weak, Marquis Zhao Su died, Zhao Yong took the throne, and the Five Kingdoms of Wei Chu, Qin, Yan, and Qi wanted to divide the State of Zhao in the name of funerals, but fortunately Zhao Yong waited in a strict position to resolve the crisis.
Before the State of Qi was beaten by the group, there was another country that was beaten by the group, that is, the State of Qin. When King Huiwen of Qin was king, there was a great momentum of going east, and it was immediately detected by other princes, so the Five Kingdoms attacked Qin (actually the Three Jins), and later when King Hui of Qin and King Zhao of Qin, this happened several times, and Qin was forced to retreat back to Hangu Guannei many times. In fact, because the Qin state is strong, it has been besieged and beaten the most times, and the Qin state has repeatedly crossed the border, basically, it is to find an ally to prevent being surrounded and beaten.
Therefore, in the early and middle period of the Warring States period, the seven heroes all worked hard to change the law, rich countries and strong troops, basically, to prevent them from falling behind the large troops and being divided; and the powerful princes were trying to develop their strength as low as possible and not to appear on the surface, to prevent being surrounded and beaten.
Second, the country of Qi, which fell from the peak
At the same time that the Qin state changed the law, the king of Qi Wei used Zou Ji to govern in the east and open up the way of speech; externally, Sun Zhi and Tian Ji were the generals, and pulled the Wei state off the horse. Although the successor King Xuan of Qi was inferior to his father, he was also a wise lord, and the national strength of the State of Qi continued to rise steadily, and it was called the second strongest in the East and west along with the State of Qin.
At this time, the powerful state of Qi ushered in a new monarch, King Qi Tang.
After King Qi Tang ascended the throne, he first broke chu at the Battle of Chu sha, then went west to break through Qin, and then broke the Yan state, almost destroying the Yan state. Looking at this series of actions, is it a bit familiar?
At the beginning, the state of Wei was strong and fought together on all sides, and King Hui of Wei also took the throne in the midst of strength, and also almost destroyed Zhao and Han.
Yes, it is very similar to the situation in the early years of the third monarch of the State of Wei, King Hui of Wei, and it is interesting that King Qi Wei and King Xuan of Qi also had similar behaviors and defects with Marquis Wen of Wei and Marquis Wu of Wei, respectively.
Of course, it seems premature to judge this way at the beginning of King Qi's reign.
Next, the State of Qi and the State of Qin jointly claimed the title of Emperor, about the Eastern Emperor and the Western Emperor. King Qi Tang soon afterwards cancelled the imperial title and led a coalition army to attack the State of Qin. It's not a big deal either.
Crazyly, the King of Qi, at the instigation of Su Qin, annexed the Song kingdom alone. Originally, the destruction of a country was not a big deal, but King Qi Tang's move caused a great disaster.
First, although the Song Dynasty was a small country, it was located among all countries, with a large population, developed trade, and a rich economy. And now, the State of Qi had actually swallowed the State of Song alone, so a powerful State of Qi plus a rich State of Song, and the strength of the rest of the princes were suddenly widened into a huge gap, which could not but make the countries feel afraid.
Second, the neighbors of the Song state were the Zhao, Wei, Qi, and Chu states. The State of Song was originally under the contention of Zhao Wei Qi, and the State of Zhao and the State of Wei were allies of the State of Qi's westward advance, and they had been present in several military campaigns of the King of Qi. Now the State of Qi has not only offended all countries, but also lost the country of allies.
Third, as just mentioned, at this time, whoever is strong in the warring states at this time will jointly fight whomever is strong, and whoever is weak will jointly divide whom. And the Song Kingdom was the object of the joint division. The particularity of the Song kingdom lies in its wealth, and because of this, the countries dare not swallow the Song kingdom alone. Huge profits must have great risks, and the fact that the State of Qi had swallowed alone caused not only zhao Wei's dissatisfaction, but also Chu Hanyan's dissatisfaction, and the State of Qi had almost offended the six kingdoms.
Under such circumstances, the State of Qi satisfies the three conditions of being strong, having no allies, and causing public anger, and becomes the target of siege and beating.
Subsequently, the Five Kingdoms fought qi, and the state of Chu took advantage of the fire to loot, and the state of Qi, which was originally the head of the Seven Kingdoms, was instantly left with only the two cities of Ju and Jimo, and the king of Qi Xiang also died at the hands of the Chu general. King Qi Tang paid a huge price for his madness, not only dying himself, but also making it difficult for qi to turn over.
Although Tian Dan later restored the country and led a mere 5,000 Qi troops to recover the original land of the State of Qi all the way, the State of Qi, which had fallen from the peak, was in a mess, in ruins, and could no longer be proud of the crowd.
3. Why the State of Qi?
Although the demise of the Song state was the direct cause of the decline of the State of Qi, the fundamental cause of the decline of the State of Qi was not in the State of Song. In other words, the State of Qi, the State of Qin, and the State of Chu have all been jointly attacked by various countries, especially the State of Qin, which has been besieged and beaten many times by all countries. Why did the State of Qin not fall, but the State of Qi fell in the First World War?
The State of Qi has no geographical advantages and is easy to be driven straight in. This is the biggest gap between the State of Qi and the State of Qin. Every time, the State of Qin could rely on the geographical danger of Hangu Pass to keep the allied forces of the nations out of the pass, so that the hinterland of the country would not be affected. However, the State of Qi was almost flat on all sides, and the South was the Huaibei Wetland, which could be easily crossed; Mount Tai in the west could hardly bring any strategic barrier to the State of Qi; and the Jishui in the north was also a geographical obstacle, but in the Battle of the Five Kingdoms, it was easily spared by the King of Qi.
Therefore, the hinterland of the State of Qi is almost protected by Jishui, although the Guguo is not in the danger of mountains and rivers, but there is no danger of mountains and rivers in the country, there is no chance to breathe, in the hundreds of years of competition for dominance, which country can guarantee not to take a nap? The plan of human rule left by King Qi Wei could not establish institutional guarantees for the country to be strong.
For the Qin State, the danger of Hangu is important, but the institutional guarantee left by the Qin State's change of law is also an important aspect. And if the absence of the danger of mountains and rivers is a hard wound of the State of Qi, then the system of the State of Qi is another flaw. Although the King of Qi wei made the state of Qi strong through a series of measures such as the two wars of Maling and Guiling, the opening of the road of speech, and the rectification of the rule of officials, the king of Qi Wei left behind the rule of man, and there was no institutional guarantee.
That is to say, the strength of the State of Qi is entirely dependent on the ability and prestige of king Qi Wei himself, and once the king's ability is not outstanding enough, then the strength of the state of Qi lacks institutional guarantees. Although King Qi Tang was unshirkably responsible for the decline of the State of Qi, Tian Wen's dictatorship and Su Qin's deception were beyond the scope of King Qi's ability, and there was no one around King Qi Tang who could advise and remind him, nor did he have a system to restrict King Qi's misdeeds and the rapid rise of Tian Wen su Qin.
The foreign policy of the State of Qi during the reign of King Qi was too ostentatious. Although Hangu Pass is a natural danger, it is not absolute, there were about 2-3 times in the Warring States period, and the coalition forces all invaded Hangu Pass, but the Qin State was still not hit so hard by the State of Qi. This is because the State of Qin has been trying to adopt the strategy of pulling one and fighting two to ensure that it is not isolated as much as possible. However, the foreign policy of the State of Qi during the reign of King Qi Tang did not pay attention to this aspect, ignoring the fact that the Seven Kingdoms were competing for glory, thinking that it could crush the crowd just by relying on its own strength. Before attacking the Song Dynasty, the State of Qi had already offended the State of Chu, the State of Qin, and the State of Yan, and the State of Qi, which had made enemies on all sides, was able to conquer the State of Song, which was already a miracle, how could the nations allow the strength of the State of Qi to become stronger?
The reasons for these three aspects are the fundamental reasons for the fall of the Country of Qi from the peak. Although it dominated the East, although it was powerful in the military, in the Warring States era when nations competed for supremacy, internal affairs, diplomacy, and institutions were equally indispensable.
End
Although it is said that the King of Qi Tang led to the first decline of the State of Qi, in order not to let the State of Yan dominate, all the nations no longer fell into the well of the State of Qi, which was not a threat, and coldly watched the Hu Lai of the Yan Army and the accumulated strength of the Qi Army. Five years later, Tian Dan was restored. Although the land of the State of Qi has not decreased much, the land of the State of Qi is full of wolf smoke, and the wealth and population accumulated over the centuries have been almost plundered.
At this time, although the hope is dim, the state of Qi is not without the possibility of a comeback. However, the next two kings, King Qi Xiang and King Jian of Qi, were not the lords of Zhongxing, and King Qi Xiang was very jealous and did not trust his subordinates, and Tian Shan, the hero of the restoration of the country, soon left the State of Zhao; Qi Wangjian was a mediocre lord, who not only had no achievements internally, but also could not recognize the international situation at that time, and in the face of the countries being cut off by the Qin State one by one, he looked at it coldly.
The State of Qi, like the State of Yan in the Spring and Autumn Period, seemed to have disappeared into the bloody Warring States Era, until it became the last Warring States prince to be destroyed.