Text: The Chronicles of Bamboo Cultivation
Edited by the Chronicles of Bamboo Cultivation
History is a confusing story, in which it is full of many mysteries, such as why the state of Zhao during the Warring States period killed Li Mu, the only one who could resist the strong Qin, when he was alive and dead.
Since 309 BC, when King Wuling of Zhao began to shoot at Hufu, Zhao's strength soared, and for a time it became a powerful country that could compete with Qin.
Because of this, Zhao Guo has always been a favorite place for talented people, whether it is Lian Po or Lin Xiangru, they are rare talents.
However, the "Battle of Changping" and the "Battle of Handan", Zhao was greatly damaged by Qin's national strength, Li Mu, as the last famous general after Lian Po and Pang Xuan, fought to the death and mediated with the Qin army, and his tactical use had already surpassed his ancestors, and he protected Zhao by himself.
However, just such a famous general was killed by the Qin State using a discordant strategy, and the monarch of the Zhao State has become a joke since then, but this matter seems to be pondered, why did the King of Zhao kill Li Mu at that time?
As a monarch, King Zhao must know the importance of Li Mu to the State of Zhao, and in the case of the Qin army's pressure, Li Mu is a wall, even ordinary people know that if the wall is demolished, it will be calm down, will King Zhao not know?
So why did King Zhao kill Li Mu at a critical juncture? What is the reason for this?
李牧
As the saying goes, "Li Mu died, Zhao died, Zhao died, the Six Kingdoms perished", this sentence has been deeply trusted by people since ancient times, no one thinks that the Zhao State without Li Mu can resist the Qin army, and no one will think that the five countries other than Zhao have the strength to resist the Qin army.
And it is true that a Li Mu can be worth thousands of troops and horses, and many people mention the four famous generals of the Warring States period "Qi Jian Pomu", all of whom think that the person with the highest military ability is the god of war Bai Qi, but in fact, Li Mu's ability is not weaker than Bai Qi.
Because of its proximity to the north, Zhao was often attacked by the Xiongnu, although the Xiongnu's combat effectiveness was not too strong at that time, but it still brought great trouble to Zhao.
The reason is that Zhao really can't catch the Huns, don't look at the Huns at that time, they can't fight, but they run fast, because of the unique living environment, the Huns are very good at riding horses, which leads to Zhao Guo can't catch the Huns at all.
Coupled with the unique background of the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, Zhao Guo was very helpless against the Huns, a fly, and he couldn't fight it, and he would be bitten from time to time, which was very uncomfortable.
At first, it was okay, most of the people suffered, and the high-level officials of Zhao State were able to eat and drink spicy food in a high hall, but as Zhao State continued to weaken, the Huns became more and more bold.
In the face of a situation, Li Mu was ordered to resist the Huns in the north, and in the face of the swiftness of the Huns, Li Mu adopted the tactics of showing the enemy weakness, they ate and drank spicy food every day, and the smoke was everywhere, and the happiness was extraordinary.
When the Xiongnu thought that Li Mu was a waste, Li Mu had already made a plan and surrounded 100,000 Hun cavalry, and in this battle, Li Mu achieved the first time in the Chinese military that multiple arms cooperated to fight and annihilated the cavalry with infantry.
With this battle, it can be seen how strong Li Mu's military ability is.
And after the Battle of Changping, Zhao State can be said to be beheaded in half, if the Qin army worked hard at that time, I am afraid that Bai Qi would be able to directly kill Zhao State.
But with such a disadvantage, in the next 40 years, the Qin army not only failed to take the Zhao state, but was even surrounded and killed by the Zhao army many times.
This is all because of Li Mu's appearance.
Li Mu's ability is undeniable, but he has committed a thing that all kings can't accept, that is, the merit is high!
This is also the fundamental reason why King Zhao wants to kill Li Mu.
Li Mu's ultra vires
In 233 BC, the Qin army attacked Zhao, and the troops were divided into two routes, one for Fan Yuzhi, and the other directly penetrated into the rear of Zhao, forming an encirclement situation.
The situation of Zhao State was critical, 100,000 troops were defeated, Li Mu was ordered to lead the defenders of Yanmen Pass to resist Qin, in this war, Li Mu fought a classic encirclement and annihilation battle, annihilating 100,000 Qin troops, and Qin was defeated.
After that, King Yingzheng of Qin was furious, personally led an army of 100,000 into the battlefield, and in 232 BC, Li Mu intercepted and killed the army of King Qin, and the army of King Qin was defeated.
In 229 BC, the Qin state increased its offensive against the Zhao state, more and more Qin troops joined the battlefield, and the two countries began to stud, and a war of annihilation began.
In the face of the powerful Qin army, if it were other countries, it would inevitably perish, but Li Mu did not retreat a step, and let the Qin army not take any advantage, and did not get an inch of land.
At those times, people only knew that there was Li Mu, but they didn't know that there was King Zhao.
In addition, Li Mu didn't know any flexibility at all, and when he confronted the Xiongnu, Li Mu used the tactics of showing weakness without consulting the monarch at all.
caused King Zhao to think that Li Mu didn't take him as a monarch in his eyes at all, I asked you to go to war, you went to the front line to eat and drink, you didn't fight at all, and you didn't give yourself any worries, so that the monarch was not angry.
But Li Mu did not feel inappropriate, when he was forced to return to Beijing by the monarch of the country, Li Mu was very angry, and then the front line continued to lose, and when King Zhao asked Li Mu to go out of the mountain again, Li Mu actually staged a "rather die than go".
At best, this matter is a complaint, but at worst, it is a threat to the monarch, and it is obvious that King Zhao has positioned this account to the latter.
In order to let Li Mu out of the mountain, King Zhao lowered his breath, and specially agreed to Li Mu, and did not interfere with any of his decisions after that, this matter alone has already decided Li Mu's ending.
Although there is no problem with Li Mu from a military point of view, from a political point of view, Li Mu is looking for death.
In the case of both of these things, the Qin State's discord plan can be implemented.
Moreover, there was indeed a contradiction between Li Mu and King Zhao at that time, which was only Li Mu's problem, but also King Zhao's problem.
King Zhao's stupidity
King Zhao is not without brains, on the contrary, he can be the king, he is smarter than anyone else, and he thinks more.
So in the face of Li Mu, King Zhao actually loved, feared and hated, in fact, at the very beginning, King Zhao recognized Li Mu very much, but King Zhao was not a broad-minded person, he couldn't control Li Mu.
Therefore, in King Zhao's view, although Li Mu has great ability, his ability is not what he needs, and a person who can't grasp it himself is a thorn in the face of all kings.
Later, after the crisis of Zhao State was resolved, King Zhao actually wanted to get rid of Li Mu, but Qin State called, so he could only continue to fight.
After Zhao resisted the Qin army and continued for decades, King Zhao actually underestimated the Qin army, because he felt that his country could compete with the Qin army, and the Qin state was not very strong.
But King Zhao did not attribute the strength of his country to Li Mu, but himself, which was not that King Zhao was stupid, but that the general environment at that time determined this.
It was not an opponent who framed him, but a colleague, and Li Mu's career was definitely something that the ministers of Zhao State did not want to see, so they belittled Li Mu among themselves.
And Guo Kai is a person who likes to pat on the back, and under his sycophancy, King Zhao naturally deserves all the credit on himself.
Therefore, in the eyes of King Zhao at that time, Li Mu was not important at all, and when the Qin State discordant plan arrived, King Zhao would call Li Mu back for questioning as soon as possible.
At this time, Li Mu actually made another wrong decision, he did not accept King Zhao's request to return to Beijing for the first time, but directly rejected King Zhao's order on the grounds that "the general will be outside, and the king's order is not affected".
It can be said that Li Mu's death was because he did not have insight into the intentions of the upper echelons, and at the same time, there were also reasons why King Zhao could not see the situation clearly, was blindly arrogant, jealous, and distrustful.
Epilogue:
Li Mu's death is undoubtedly the last straw that crushed the Zhao State.