Introduction: After the restoration of the Zhongshan Kingdom, why did the State of Wei not destroy it again, but cheapened the State of Zhao? From the perspective of the warring states pattern and national strength, the forces of all parties contain the results of checks and balances
During the Warring States period, the Zhongshan Kingdom, its national strength is second only to the Warring States Seven Xiong, and the Song Kingdom, Wei Guo and other princely states and known as the "Kingdom of a Thousand Multipliers", Zhongshan State belongs to the medium-sized princely states, from 414 BC by Zhongshan Wugong to 296 BC by the Zhao State overthrown, the country existed for only more than a hundred years, although the Zhongshan Kingdom is only a medium princely state, the founding time is not long, but it is a piece of fat that everyone covets during the Warring States period.
Zhongshan Kingdom has long survived in the cracks of the Seven Xiongs, its territory is embedded between the Yan State and the Zhao State, and has experienced the three stages of development of Rong Di, XianYu and Zhongshan, not only in terms of geographical location is very superior, in terms of national development resources are relatively competitive, and once fought with the Central Plains princely power Jin State for a long time, once regarded as a major problem for the central Plains countries, until after the three families were divided, Wei Wenhou sent the generals Le Yang and Wu Qi to lead the army to destroy the Zhongshan State. Only then did this country disappear into the sight of the major princely states of the Central Plains.
After the zhongshan state was destroyed by the State of Wei, it took only 27 years to successfully restore the country
However, what is unexpected is that in 380 BC, under the vigorous efforts of The Duke Huan of Zhongshan, the State of Zhongshan was successfully restored, and it developed peacefully for nearly a hundred years thereafter, until it was destroyed by the State of Zhao in 296 BC. This is a more dramatic scene, after all, the first time the State of Wei annexed the State of Zhongshan was in 407 BC, and after 27 years the State of Zhongshan was restored again, it is reasonable to say that more than twenty years is not enough time for a medium-sized princely state like the State of Zhongshan to catch up with the strength of the State of Wei.
Why didn't the State of Wei destroy the Zhongshan Kingdom again?
Then, why did the State of Wei not destroy the Zhongshan Kingdom again, but instead allowed it to develop, and watched as the land of the princes, which must be contested by soldiers, was taken into the arms of the State of Zhao? What's going on here? Today, we will focus on analyzing this problem and see what is the reason for the different attitudes of the Wei State to the Zhongshan Kingdom.
At different times, the wei state had different national strengths
In fact, the first major reason is because of the specific embodiment of national strength at different times, when the State of Wei first destroyed the State of Zhongshan, it was the most powerful princely state in the Central Plains, at that time, the State of Wei was the peak state of the Central Plains in terms of administrative ability, economic strength and military strength, and the generals Le Yang and Wu Qi who commanded the army were recognized as military geniuses, and the State of Wei at that time was the only superpower in the Central Plains, no matter which country it competed with, it occupied an absolute advantage.
At that time, the State of Wei actually had the strength to annex the State of Zhongshan, although the geographical location of the State of Zhongshan was relatively superior, and its development resources were relatively rich, but after all, it was only a medium-sized princely state, and the founding time was not long, although the major princely states were hungry for this land, they were not willing to fight against the State of Wei in order to fight for this country, so the State of Wei, which had reached its peak at that time, had the opportunity to easily annex the State of Zhongshan.
The Wei state declined in strength and lacked famous generals, making it difficult to annex zhongshan
But 27 years later, in 380 BC, the State of Wei had reached the end of the reign of Marquis Wu of Wei, when the strength of the State of Wei had declined, although the decline in national strength was not very obvious, and it had not yet been perceived by the monarchs and subjects of the State of Wei, on the surface, the State of Wei still occupied the position of a superpower in the Central Plains, but even so, its strength was not as strong as when Wei Wenhou was at its peak, and it lacked famous generals like Wu Qi in terms of military strength. Therefore, the annexation of zhongshan was much more difficult for the State of Wei than before.
After all, it is not very easy to annex a princely state, and small countries such as the Wei state and the Song state are not easy, not to mention a medium-sized princely state that has been working hard for twenty years, so the State of Wei did not choose to annex the Zhongshan State at that time.
The State of Wei needed the State of Zhongshan to balance the State of Yan
The second reason is that the State of Wei needs the State of Zhongshan to balance the State of Yan, in fact, although the State of Wei did not choose to annex the State of Zhongshan at that time, this does not mean that it did not have the strength to annex the State of Zhongshan, but if it really started a war, it may kill a thousand enemies and lose eight hundred, but if the war is really launched, the State of Wei still has an absolute advantage in victory, the reason why it did not blindly use troops was to consider its own national strength, and another reason was that it needed the State of Zhongshan as a chip to balance the State of Yan in the north.
The State of Yan was afraid that the State of Zhao would be able to take the lead and wanted to use the State of Wei to annex the State of Zhongshan.
At that time, the State of Wei was the most developed country in the Central Plains, with a rich economy and many fortunes, such a country would inevitably cause other countries to look at it, so the State of Wei needed allies and countries that could unite the front; and the State of Yan had coveted the State of Zhongshan for a long time, but the State of Yan was weak and weak, and it was unable to fight against such a medium-sized princely state as the State of Zhongshan, so he could only rely on the help of the State of Wei to annex the State of Zhongshan in the future.
At the same time, the State of Zhongshan was a country sandwiched between the State of Yan and the State of Zhao, not only the State of Yan wanted to have this piece of fat, the State of Zhao also looked at the State of Zhongshan, in order to avoid the State of Zhao annexing the State of Zhongshan before itself, the State of Yan had to find a strong reliance, with the help of this relying force to force the State of Zhao not to be able to take the lead in attacking the State of Zhongshan, so in order to be able to balance the State of Yan, in order to be able to unite the State of Yan with its own country, so as to restrain the State of Zhao, which originated from the same source as itself, the State of Wei gave up the opportunity to annex the State of Zhongshan.
After the restoration of the Zhongshan Kingdom, its national strength was not as great as before, and its value was greatly reduced
Moreover, at that time, the Zhongshan Kingdom was no longer the original Zhongshan Kingdom, after the Zhongshan Kingdom was first annexed by the State of Wei, its remnants of the force retreated into the Taihang Mountains, not only greatly discounted in the national territory, but also in terms of geographical superiority was not as important as before, so after the restoration of the Zhongshan Kingdom, its value was far less than that of the beginning, for the State of Wei, such a country into its own territory, it is better to make a weight, After all, it is still more cost-effective to contain a princely power through a medium-sized princely state with a greatly reduced value.
in a word
The reason why the State of Wei did not choose to annex the State of Zhongshan again was out of consideration for its own strength, and the other was also out of consideration for its own position at that time, after all, to preserve the status of the princely powers, to preserve the status of the hegemons of the Central Plains, to preserve the status of the sole superpower, it must need the support of other countries to counter those countries that oppose it, and the Zhongshan State in this process is a weight of the State of Wei, even if it can preserve its own strength. At the same time, it can also effectively contain other princely powers in the Central Plains, which is a better choice for it than to annex the Zhongshan State.
Due to the personal grudge between Pang Juan and Sun Zhen, the State of Wei and the State of Qi were at war, and the State of Wei lost its hegemonic position
Later, under the command of King Hui of Wei, the national strength of the state declined rapidly, and the general Pang Juan could not compare with the previous Leyang and Wu Qi in terms of military ability, and Pang Juan was a relatively narrow-minded person, in order not to let his disciple Sun Zhi surpass himself in front of him, he designed to frame Sun Zhen, resulting in Sun Zhen's disability, and finally because of the grudge between these two people, he caused a grudge between the two countries of Qi and Wei.
Pang Juan led the wei army to attack the state of Qi, but suffered huge losses in Guiling and Maling, and the state of Wei also fell from the position of superpower because of the failure of these two major wars, becoming a country with equal strength to other princely states in the Central Plains, and no longer had the overwhelming superiority of the past.
Therefore, at that time, the State of Wei actually no longer had the strength to annex the State of Zhongshan alone, after all, the State of Zhongshan was a piece of fat coveted by many countries; and after the strength of the State of Wei fell, it could no longer offend other countries and make strong enemies, so it did not have other thoughts about the State Security of Zhongshan, and the State of Zhongshan also existed peacefully.
After Zhao Guo hufu rode and changed the law, the military strength quickly became stronger, and he took the opportunity to swallow the Zhongshan Kingdom
After that, the State of Zhao carried out the Zhao Wuling King HuFu Riding And Shooting Method, the military strength of the entire country was rapidly improved, becoming the only country among the Seven Heroes of the Warring States that had the strength to compete with the Qin State, and also became the main anti-Qin force in the Six Kingdoms of Shandong, at this time, the State of Zhao finally had absolute strength to annex the State of Zhongshan, and no longer needed to consider the alliance between the State of Yan and the State of Wei and give up the opportunity; so the State of Zhao went down with the momentum of thunder, and quickly destroyed the State of Zhongshan and took it for itself. At that time, Yan Guo and Wei Guo could only watch from the sidelines, and there was no other way.
discuss
Zhongshan's national fortunes are closely related to the situation
The author thinks
The first overthrow of the Zhongshan State symbolizes the strength of the Wei State, and the second overthrow of the country is a symbol of the tilt of the balance of strength of the Six Kingdoms of Shandong to the Zhao State. Therefore, in the course of the Zhongshan Kingdom, we can see that some of the battles between the Seven Heroes of the Warring States are all based on strength, can they annex other princely states? When did the other vassal states be annexed? It's all about strength.
The State of Qin did not attack the State of Zhongshan because there was no direct benefit
Then, some people also asked, if this is the case, why did the Qin State, which was the most developed in the world at that time, not have a different mind for the Zhongshan Kingdom? Why has the State of Qin never participated in the ranks of the State of Zhongshan? That's because there is no direct interest relationship between the Qin state and the Zhongshan state, that is to say, the Zhongshan state cannot actually bring tangible benefits to the Qin state, and the Zhongshan state and the Qin state have no direct adjacent land, which means that if the Zhongshan state is annexed by the Qin state, it cannot be actually controlled by the Qin state.
In this way, what is the significance of the Qin State to annex the Zhongshan State? Not only is it time-consuming and laborious to cross other princely states to conquest, but after the conquest, it is not yet able to control the situation in the entire Zhongshan Kingdom; therefore, if the Qin State sends troops to cross other countries to occupy the Zhongshan Kingdom, then it is likely to be an act of making wedding clothes for others; therefore, in the competition of the entire Zhongshan Kingdom, the Qin State did not participate.
The different considerations of the Zhao, Wei, and Yan kingdoms towards the Zhongshan kingdom
The reason why the Zhao state will participate in it is because of the superior geographical conditions of the Zhongshan state, and the other is to open a gap with the enemy Yan state; the Wei state is also considered, in the very beginning, it needs to annex the Zhongshan state to expand its territory, it needs to accept the population of the Zhongshan state to increase the permanent population, and also uses sufficient population to support the domestic Li Wu transformation method and the Wu Qi change law, but in the later period, the Zhongshan state can only be a weight for the Wei state to contain other princely states, with the weakening of the national strength, The role of the Zhongshan State in the State of Wei was getting lower and lower, and for the Wei monarchs of the middle and late Warring States period, the attitude towards the State of Zhongshan was better than less.
The forces of the princely states contain checks and balances
If the State of Wei showed excessive desire, it would definitely attract the disgust of other countries, and even trigger a war between the two countries, and at the same time, the Zhongshan State at that time could not bring any practical benefits to the State of Wei, so Wei Guodao might as well choose not to pay any attention.
I would like to ask, if the State of Wei was still the hegemon of the Central Plains like the early Warring States period, could it give up the fat meat of the Zhongshan Kingdom? I think the answer must be no; therefore, in the process of contending for the Zhongshan Kingdom, national strength is the most important thing, whether it is to restore the country or destroy the country, if there is no strong national strength as a support, it must not be able to have its own country to control.
And for the Zhao State is also the truth, at the beginning of the Zhao State was jealous of the State of Wei behind the State of Yan, and did not dare to have a different mind about the State of Zhongshan, afraid of inviting the Attack of the State of Wei to cause losses to its own Temple Society, but in the middle and late period of the Warring States, because of the Zhao Wuling King HuFu riding and shooting the law, the national strength of the State of Zhao quickly became stronger, no longer afraid of the weakening State of Wei, so it occupied the State of Zhongshan with thunder; this also allowed us to see how important the changes in the pattern of the Warring States period had an important impact on the development of the country.
Review
Throughout the Warring States period, the pattern change was very chaotic and complex, and the conflicts of interest between the princely states revolved around the change of the pattern, which country was an ally with another country, and which country was an enemy of other countries, which was actually not fixed. Just like the State of Yan and the State of Wei, the State of Yan and the State of Zhao, the State of Yan was able to attach itself to the State of Wei in order to annex the State of Zhongshan, and it was also able to abandon the State of Wei when it could not bring it tangible benefits, while the State of Zhao was willing to give up the State of Zhongshan, which could bring great benefits to its national development, and at the same time despised everything to strengthen its own country's strength.
Therefore, interests are the main consideration of the princely states, and the dispute of interests is the core relationship between countries, and for the major princely states in the Central Plains, the interests they pursue between them are not eternal, resulting in the state relations between them can never be fixed.
And Zhongshan Kingdom, as a medium-sized princely state, in an era of great chaos in the world, in such a Warring States era where comprehensive strength was king, its national destiny was naturally incomparably bumpy, and when it had a leading role for other countries, it could develop peacefully, and once it lost such a role, or when such a role could not be played, it could only become the fish meat on the knife.
For such a situation, we cannot blame the cruelty of history, many times history also needs to choose, natural selection, survival of the fittest, only in this way can we choose the strongest, can we let the strongest people make the greatest contribution to the reproduction of history, for this, we have no way.
References: "History of the Warring States", "Warring States Policy", "Beidi And Zhongshan Kingdom", "Spring and Autumn Left Commentary", "Lü's Spring and Autumn", "History", etc