Since the wei hegemony entered the decline, the banner of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty king has changed frequently, which can really be described as "chaotically coaxing you to sing and I appear", "each leading the way for decades".
In 354 BC, because of long-standing grievances, King Hui of Wei angrily sent an army and laid siege to the Zhao state of Handan. Unexpectedly, although the Wei people attacked Handan, they were ambushed by the Qi army at Guiling (桂陵, northwest of present-day Changyuan, Henan or northeast of Juye, Shandong), and suffered a crushing defeat! In 343 BC, King Hui of Wei sent a large army to attack Lianghe (梁赫, southwest of present-day Kaifeng, Henan), while King Wei of Qi again sent troops to support the Han army, defeating the Wei army at Maling (马陵, in present-day Malinggang, northeast of Changge, Henan), completely removing the Wei state from the throne. The two victories over the state of Wei and the prestige of the state of Qi were great, and the king of Qiwei even ignored the Zhou royal family in 334 BC and united with the Duke of Wei to become king; but the following year, the king of Chu wei defeated the Qi army in a battle at Xuzhou (in present-day southeast of Tengzhou, Shandong), and returned the state of Qi to its original form. The first victory over the Yue state and then the victory over the state of Qi made the king of Chu Wei suddenly ambitious, and in 329 BC he led an army to invade the state of Wei, but unexpectedly suffered a rout in the Battle of Mount Xian, and the king of Chu Wei himself unfortunately fell ill and died...
In 320 BC, King Qi Wei died; in 319 BC, King Hui of Wei died. The heroes of the early Warring States period have all passed away, marking the end of an era.
Looking back on the past, the six countries of Shandong were surprised to find that although the nations were busy competing for hegemony in the past thirty years or so, and they had their own scenery for several years, in the end it was still "a bamboo basket to hit the water". At a time when the great powers suffered heavy setbacks one after another, only the Qin state, which was originally hiding in Guanzhong, not only successfully implemented the Shang martingale transformation method, but also gradually broke through the natural danger of Kunhan after the new King Qin Huiwang ascended the throne, and even crossed the Yellow River and gained a firm foothold in Hedong!
The shandong countries have worked hard for decades, and they actually made wedding clothes for the qin state!
The Qin kingdom was thriving, and the six kingdoms of Shandong could not laugh no matter what.
At this delicate moment, a deceased man who became famous in the Eastern Zhou Dynasty more than a decade ago stepped forward and once again sold the art of connivance to the princes. This person was none other than Su Qin, the Cross-Sectional Warlock. Although Su Qin successfully implemented the alliance more than a decade ago, although the nations agreed to form an alliance at that time, the alliance was limited to the form and did not carry out substantive cooperation. Nowadays, the rise of the Qin state is rapid, but the six kingdoms of Shandong have suffered heavy setbacks, and it has become the common wish of the Shandong powers to jointly resist Qin.
However, Su Qin ran around, and the State of Yan was still not enthusiastic about the matter of jointly resisting Qin—after all, Qin and Yan did not border each other, and the Yan State itself was weak, so letting the Yan people send troops to attack the Qin State would take time and gain no benefits. In the end, Su Qin could only persuade Chu, Qi, and The Three Jins to participate in this qin campaign. The four kingdoms of Han, Wei, Zhao, and Chu bordered Qin, and directly faced the threat of the eastward expansion of the Qin state, and naturally had an urgent need for cooperation. Although the State of Qi did not border Qin, its ambition for hegemony had not diminished for a long time, and this time joining the United Kingdom was also to attack the State of Qin.
Among the five kingdoms that participated in the joint alliance, although the Chu state suffered the defeat of The Mountain of Xuanshan, it had successively won great victories over powerful countries such as Qi and Wei, and its territory was the largest. Therefore, this time to cut down Qin, King Huai of Chu was again promoted as "longitudinal".
Although nominally the "Five Kingdoms of Shandong" was united, the seeds that Gongsun Yan of Wei accidentally sowed once made this time an alliance of Qin.
Gongsun Yan was originally in the State of Qin, but was forced to return to the State of Wei because he could not fight Zhang Yi. Since then, Gongsun Yan has become a vendetta against Qin. Once, when Yiqu Jun came to visit the State of Wei, Gongsun Yan reminded him at that time: "If all the countries east of Mount Kun live in peace with the State of Qin, then the Qin people will destroy your country; if the countries east of Mount Kun meet with Qin Bingrong, then the Qin people will certainly give you heavy gifts to serve your country." ”
Later, as soon as Yiqu Jun heard that the Five Kingdoms of Shandong had cut down Qin, he disregarded qin's initiative to offer a goodwill act and sent all his strength to attack Qin, resulting in a major defeat of the Army of Li Bo of Qin.
Seeing that the Yiqu army had won a great victory behind the Qin state, the Shandong Five Kingdoms army on the frontal battlefield accidentally dropped the chain. The armies of the five countries marched forward to Hangu Pass with great momentum, but no one dared to take the initiative to attack. Seeing that the Qin soldiers came out, the armies of the five countries were afraid and did not dare to fight, and they retreated one after another. In the process of retreating, the Han army saw that the Qin army was too close, so it took the initiative to attack, and as a result, even the three Jins became the target of the Qin army. In the Battle of Xiuyu (southwest of present-day Yuanyang, Henan), the Qin army broke the Three Jin armies and beheaded 82,000! The Han army was also pursued by the Qin army to Guanze (present-day southwest of Qingfeng, Henan), and the main general and Shen Cha became Prisoners of Qin!
At this time, the Chu people led the other armies of the Five Kingdoms to retreat to Chenggao (present-day Xingyang, Henan), with no intention of sending troops to rescue.
Seeing that the situation was critical, but the allies had no one to come to the rescue, Han Gongzhong was extremely angry, and simply suggested to King Xuanhui of Han: "Allies cannot be relied upon, and now the State of Qin wants to cut down Chu, so the King might as well make peace with the State of Qin through Zhang Yi, bribe a large capital to the State of Qin, and then attack the State of Chu with Qin. ”
At this time, King Xuanhui of Han had no other choice but to ask Gong Zhongpeng to make peace with Qin.
Knowing that Korea would ask Qin for peace, King Huai of Chu was greatly anxious and immediately sought Chen Yi to seek countermeasures. Chen Yi thought for a moment and replied, "For a long time, the State of Qin has wanted to invade us. Now that the Qin people have obtained a large capital in Korea and then join forces with Han to attack the south, the Chu state will inevitably encounter a fierce battle. Ask the king to listen to his subordinates, immediately launch a comprehensive military preparation at home, select elite soldiers to claim to save Korea, and let chariots fill the roads. Sending his loyal envoys to carry valuables must convince Korea that the Chu State will send troops to the rescue. In this way, even if Korea cannot listen to us, it will be grateful for the kindness of the king and will not sincerely go along with the Qin state. Qin and Han were at odds, and even if the armies of the two countries came to the Chu State, the Chu State would not cause great harm. If Korea listens to us, it will inevitably refuse to ask Qin for peace, and the King of Qin will be angry and form a great vendetta with Korea! In this way, we can trouble the Qin and Han kingdoms, but save the Chu kingdom from the scourge! ”
Chen Yi calculated this, of course, the damage to the Chu State was the smallest. But the five countries have just formed an alliance, so they are playing with allies like this, is there any hope for the great plan of jointly resisting Qin?
King Huai of Chu listened, but he was very happy, and he could no longer take care of any "conspiracy" grand plan, and immediately acted according to the plan.
As soon as the emissaries of the Chu state arrived in Korea, they swore an oath to the king of Han: "Although our country is small, we have already raised troops to come to the rescue!" I hope that the big countries will be assured of confrontation with Qin, and we will use the whole country to help Korea! ”
Sure enough, King Xuanhui of Han believed the Chu people and immediately terminated the plan to ask For Peace with Qin. Gong Zhongpeng was horrified and immediately exposed the Chu people's conspiracy: "No. It is the State of Qin that plagues us with strength; it is the State of Chu that rescues us with empty words. Just by relying on a few empty words from the Chu people, they will sever their relations with the Qin state, and they will inevitably be ridiculed by the people of the world. Moreover, the great king has already sent someone to return to the Qin state, and now he is temporarily repenting, which is deceiving the Qin state. Contempt for the powerful Qin state, but credulously believe in the Chu state of plotters, the king will definitely regret it in the future! ”
King Xuanhui of Han did not listen, and as a result, the King of Qin was furious and once again sent troops to Shore Gate (岸門, in present-day Xuchangbei, Henan), once again defeating the Korean army!
The huge battle of the Five Kingdoms against Qin, but it ended up like this, can be described as a tiger's tail. The five kingdoms joined forces to cut down Qin, and the Qin state was not damaged in the slightest, but contradictions and troubles have emerged frequently within the five countries.
However, after the failure of the Hezhong Anti-Qin Resistance, the next development of events will only be more surprising.
At this point, the former "longitudinal chief" King Huai of Chu also knew that there was no hope of joining forces to resist Qin.
At this time, the King of Wei sent Xiang Guohuishi to the Chu state to discuss peace with Qin. King Huai of Chu listened, and did not think about it, he wanted to send Huishi directly to the Qin state and let him preside over this peace talk.
However, at this time, the strategist Du He said to Chu Xiang Zhaoyang: "At the beginning, the Qin rebellion was led by the State of Chu, and now Huishi came to the State of Chu in the name of the State of Wei, but you let him go directly to the State of Qin to negotiate peace, which shows that the State of Chu is the main war and the State of Wei is the lord of peace." You might as well not listen to Huishi's words, but secretly send another person to Qin to negotiate peace in order to improve relations with Qin! ”
Now that qin is not being cut down, everyone is afraid that the qin state will find trouble for themselves. Hearing Du He's words, Zhaoyang had no idea in his heart, so he first sent Huishi Zhi back to the State of Wei.
When King Wei heard of this, he was extremely unhappy.
At this time, Du He said to Zhaoyang again: "The State of Wei threw yourself into battle first, losing half of your troops. If Wei Guo turns his head and turns to Qi and Qin, what other way can you save it? If there is a tired State of Yue in the east, the turn of the Three Jins in the north, and the relationship between qin and Qin in the west is undecided, then the State of Chu is isolated. It is better to hurry up and negotiate peace with Qin! ”
Zhaoyang did not dare to hesitate at this time, and immediately sent someone to inform Wei Guo and directly make peace with Qin. However, the attack on Qin was fruitless, and the "longitudinal" Chu state repeatedly used the art of power change to plague its allies, and the "combination of vertical and vertical" could become "lianheng" at any time.
Zhaoyang saw that the situation was not good, and also said to The King of ChuHuai: "After the Five Kingdoms attack Qin, the nations will surely go south to plot against the Chu State." ”
King Huai of Chu knew this and hurriedly asked, "How can that be good?" ”
Zhao Yang is determined to find a breakthrough from South Korea: "South Korea is our neighbor, and we like to gain benefits but we hate danger. Bribe them with land to confuse the hearts of the Koreans; send troops from all over the country to oppress them so that the Koreans are afraid. Korea is afraid of us and confused by the benefits we give, so the attempts of the nations to plot the Chu state will be defeated. If things fail, it will be possible even if you don't give Land to Korea! ”
King Huai of Chu was overjoyed and immediately sent someone to Korea to meet Gongzhong, saying, "You saw with your own eyes the scourge of the Second World War between Niu Lan and Maling. If you do not cooperate with other countries, we will dedicate five cities to Korea, and the Chu army will also obey the command of South Korea to seek the state of Qi! ”
South Korea did listen to the Chu people and no longer participated in the affairs of chu. Seeing that the Three Jins were so changeable, the State of Qi also changed its mentality and no longer united with Zhao and Wei. After learning this news, the Chu people were reluctant to give korea any more land, and the matter of the nations cutting down Chu was also stranded.
The five kingdoms joined forces to cut down Qin, and there were also righteous canal people behind them to help, which seemed unstoppable. However, in the intrigue between the nations, it ended with a tiger's tail. In the end, the nations instead scrambled to make peace with Qin, and quickly fell from "hezhong" to "lianheng", which became a rather ironic joke.
Why can't the hedding succeed?
It is not that the time is not ripe for cooperation, nor is it that the interests of the nations are inconsistent, but that all the countries only want others to pay, and they only want to enjoy their success. Therefore, when the Five-Nation Alliance army arrived at the gate of Hangu Pass, no one dared to launch an attack first, but was instead rushed by the Qin army.
The ideal of the united vertical is that the six countries are united as one country and work together to defeat the Qin state; but in reality, the united vertical is that all the countries have selfish intentions and are unwilling to rush to the front line at a critical moment. Therefore, the ideal of unity is beautiful, but the reality is even more cruel - it is impossible for the nations to "force a hole" because of "a hole in profit".
Such a loose combination can defeat the Qin State, that is a strange thing!
——End——
The author | Desire Cloud: a science and engineering man who likes history and now lives in Shenzhen
Pictures | from the network,
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