Comrade | Guevara
Generally speaking, emperors lived a life of fine clothes and food, and they were the most people in the world who should not go hungry. However, in some extreme circumstances, most of them are due to their own fainting and nonsense, causing some emperors to lose power or perish the country, and they will inevitably fall into the dilemma of lack of clothes and clothing or even starvation. In Chinese history, there have been 5 emperors who were eventually starved to death, one of whom was King Wuling of Zhao who promoted "Hufu Riding and Shooting" to strengthen the national strength. So, what unforgivable mistakes did King Zhao Wuling make that ended up starving to death?
A hidden danger
After the "three families divided into Jin", the Zhao state, because it was located in the northern part of today's Shanxi and Hebei provinces, had long been invaded by nomadic peoples such as Xiongnu, Lin Hu, and Lou Fu, and had suffered repeated defeats in the battle against the Zhongshan state created by the Bai Di ethnic group, and the face of the great power was lost. Therefore, after the 6th monarch, Zhao Yong, the King of Wuling, ascended the throne, in order to get rid of the predicament, he implemented the policy of "Hufu Riding and Shooting" in 302 BC, ordering the military and people throughout the country to abandon the robes and wide sleeves, change to Hu costumes, and eliminate chariots, change to riding archery, and take the strengths of hu people to make up for the shortcomings of the Central Plains.
The "Hufu Riding and Shooting" greatly increased the military strength of the Zhao State
After the implementation of the policy of "Hufu Riding and Shooting", the results were immediate, enabling the Zhao State to establish the first independent and large cavalry unit in the history of the Han nationality. With the help of this fresh force, King Wuling of Zhao frequently went out on expeditions, successively defeating nomadic peoples such as Lin Hu and Lou Fu, expanding the land in the north for more than a thousand miles, and then attacking the Zhongshan State in the northeast, and crossing the Yellow River in the west to capture the Yuzhong region bordering the Qin State and Lin Hu. For a time, the military strength of the Zhao state was comparable to that of the Qin state, which made the princes of the world afraid.
After relieving the threat from the Zhongshan Kingdom and the northern nomads, King Wuling of Zhao did not stop the pace of external expansion, but turned the spearhead of the attack to the "brotherly country" Qin State with the same surname, with the intention of crushing or even destroying this powerful country that dominated the West (Note: The monarchs of Qin and Zhao were both surnamed Zhao, and the ancestors were Zhao Zao, the driving master of King Mu of Zhou). In order to get rid of the complicated chores and concentrate on war, King Wuling of Zhao ceded the throne to his son Zhao He (King Huiwen of Zhao) in 299 BC, and he himself was in charge of the military as the "main father".
Map of the situation in the middle and late Warring States period
Zhao He was the youngest son of King Wuling of Zhao, who was only 11 years old when he ascended the throne, and he became the son of the world because his mother Wu Wa was the most favored during her lifetime. However, his former son Zhao Zhang (Gongzi Zhang) was a heroic and strong figure with outstanding military achievements, and his prestige was extremely high in the minds of the military and civilians of the Zhao State, but because his mother Queen Han died early, he was taken away by his half-brother Zhao He. For the encounter of Gongzi Zhang, the military and civilians of the Zhao State were quite sympathetic, and the King of Zhao Wuling also felt guilty and always wanted to find an opportunity to make up for him, thus laying the groundwork for the turmoil of the situation in the future of the Zhao State.
Ii Conflict
According to king Wuling of Zhao's original vision, the young King Huiwen of Zhao had no experience in governing the country and could only be his "marionette" for a long time. However, to the surprise of King Wuling of Zhao, with the wholehearted assistance of the Minister of State Feiyi, the talented King Huiwen of Zhao made rapid progress, not only skillfully handling state affairs, but also gradually emptying his father's power. What worried King Wuling of Zhao even more was that a large group of nobles, including Wang's uncle Zhao Cheng (Gongzi Cheng), who had resolutely opposed "Hufu riding and shooting", gathered around King Zhao Huiwen, and its intentions were difficult to guess.
Statue of King Wuling of Zhao
The situation developed out of the orbit envisioned by King Wuling of Zhao, and in order to ensure that the grand plan of hegemony could be completed, he decided to form an alliance with Gongzi Zhang to regain the power he had once given up (Note; Gongzi Zhang had now been given the title of Anyang Jun). To this end, King Wuling of Zhao proposed in 295 BC that he intended to separate Dai Commandery from the State of Zhao and crown Gongzi Zhang as king. Dai Commandery was a key place on the northern border of the Zhao Kingdom, with tens of thousands of soldiers with extremely strong combat effectiveness, and once Gongzi Zhang could become king, King Wuling of Zhao could naturally use him to contain King Huiwen of Zhao and then regain power.
Although King Zhao Wuling's "wishful thinking" was well played, it could not deceive Feiyi's "fire-eyed golden eye", who knew that once the wish of the main father was realized, the Zhao state would inevitably fall into a large-scale civil war, and there would be a danger of national destruction. Therefore, Fei Yi rejected King Zhao Wuling's proposal on the grounds of "No Two Days in the Country" and "Fang Ning of the People", and suggested that the latter's idea of returning to power was too dangerous. King Zhao Wuling touched a nose of ash and went away in sorrow, but in his heart he did not intend to stop it.
Gongzi Zhang attempted to overthrow King Huiwen of Zhao and establish himself as king
Fei Yi's decision also caused resentment among Gongzi Zhang, and at the instigation of Anyang Guo Xiangtian's disrespect, he decided to take the risk and seize the throne of Zhao through a mutiny. King Wuling of Zhao saw Gongzi Zhang's plot very clearly, but he did not dissuade him, but instead formed an alliance with his eldest son to help him plan the military. At this time, Fei Yi was also aware of the plot of King Wuling of Zhao's father and son to prepare for rebellion, so he sent heavy troops to protect King Huiwen of Zhao, and asked the former minister of state Zhao Bao to sit outside the city of Handan, Gongzi Zhang, and the general Li Duitun to prepare to work together to quell the rebellion that might occur at any time.
Three Dead Ends
In the same year (295 BC), when the proposal to crown Gongzi Zhang as the acting king was rejected, King Wuling of Zhao sent Gongzi Zhang to accompany King Huiwen of Zhao in the name of choosing a cemetery in the sand dunes. Although King Zhao knew that this trip was very risky, he was hindered by his father's fate, so he had to accompany him accompanied by Fei Yi and others. After reaching the sand dunes, King Zhao lived alone in a palace, protected by heavy soldiers, while King Wuling of Zhao shared a palace with Gongzi Zhang. In such a situation, the discerning person quickly saw that a major change was about to happen.
Dune platform ruins
Sure enough, after King Zhao and his party arrived at the sand dunes, Gongzi Zhang borrowed the edict of King Wuling of Zhao and invited him to the main father's palace to "discuss". Sensing the danger, Fei Yi persuaded King Huiwen of Zhao not to leave the palace where he lived, but to attend the meeting instead of the monarch. Before leaving, Fei Yi told King Huiwen of Zhao that once he could not return on time, there must be a major change, and he must immediately notify Gongzi Cheng, Li Dui and others to come to Qin Wang. Sure enough, after Fei Yi arrived at the main father's palace, Gongzi Zhang and Tian Buli killed him and sent emissaries to urge King Zhao Huiwen to enter the palace.
King Huiwen of Zhao saw that Fei Yi had not returned for a long time, and the emissaries of the "Lord Father" rushed over to urge him, knowing that something must have changed. Sure enough, under the pressure of the minister's letter period, the emissary informed King Huiwen of Zhao of the news that Fei Yi had been killed. After learning the news of the country's encounter and harm, Fei Yi angrily beheaded the emissaries, and immediately led an army to surround the main father's palace, and engaged in a fierce battle with Gongzi Zhang, Tian Buli and their party members. Later, Gongzicheng and Li Dui also led an army to suppress the rebellion, and quickly controlled the situation. After the defeat of the rebels, Tian Buli fled to the Song dynasty, while Gongzi Zhang hid in the palace of his father and was taken in by his father.
King Wuling of Zhao sat trapped in the Dune Palace and was eventually starved to death
Although King Zhao Wuling's palace was sacred and inviolable, Gongzi Cheng, believing that he had the king's order, rushed into the residence of his father and hunted down Gongzi Zhang. Afterwards, fearing that King Wuling of Zhao would "settle accounts after the autumn", Gongzicheng besieged him in the palace and forbade anyone to bring water and food to him. At first, King Wuling of Zhao was able to feed on birds and beasts, but soon he had nothing to fill his stomach. Three months later, King Wuling of Zhao was starved to death in the Dune Palace at the age of 45. The result of a generation of heroic lords, King Zhao Wuling, was eventually starved to death because of his own misdeeds, which was really regrettable.
"The Lord Father and the King traveled to the sand dunes, the Palace, and the Gongzi Zhang, with his disciples and Tian Disrespect, deceived the Lord Father into summoning the king... The defeat of Gongzi Zhang, to the main father, the main father opened, cheng, and the main father's palace. When Gongzi Zhang died, Gongzi Cheng and Li Dui said: "Siege of the Lord's father with Zhang, that is, the dissolution of the army, I belong to Yiyi." 'And so he surrounded the Lord Father. Let the people in the palace 'come out of the back', and the people in the palace know about it. The Lord Father could not come out, and he could not eat, and he visited the lord and ate it, and starved to death in the Dune Palace for more than three months. See History of the Zhao Family.
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Sima Qian (Western Han Dynasty): Records of History, Zhonghua Bookstore, 1982.
Liu Xiang (Western Han Dynasty): Warring States Policy, Zhonghua Bookstore, 2006.
Sima Guang (Song): Zizhi Tongjian, Zhonghua Bookstore, 2015.