Preface
The Warring States Period was an important era in Chinese history, and during those two hundred years, many talents and heroes emerged. Of course, it is also the Warring States period, and it is also a famous troubled time in history.
Troubled times are often associated with heroes, and the same is true in this period, and many heroes have emerged in the more than two hundred years of the Warring States period, and today I want to talk about four kings who almost ruled the world.
1. King Qin Zhaoxiang
The first thing to talk about is King Qin Zhaoxiang, it can be said that he is also the founder of Qin's unification of the world, his life is also very brilliant, as a political and military overlord, at the end of the reign of King Qin Zhaoxiang has laid the direction of the war between Qin and the Six Kingdoms.
As the longest-reigning monarch of the Qin Dynasty, who would have thought that the original King Qin Zhaoxiang had no chance of being on the throne, and had been a hostage in the Yan Kingdom when he was young, and it was such a bumpy first half of his life that forged his resolute character.
King Qin Zhaoxiang was the son of King Qin Huiwen and Empress Dowager Xuan, but at that time he was unlikely to inherit the throne, because King Qin Huiwen and the queen had a son-in-law - King Qin Wu, who was the king in history who died on the throne. After the death of King Wu of Qin, the entire Qin state was plunged into chaos.
Because King Qin Wu has no sons, but the throne always has to be inherited, and the throne can only be given to King Qin Wu's brothers. At this time, it became a top priority to appoint a son. At this time, under the intervention of King Zhao Wuling, King Qin Zhaoxiang successfully sat on the throne and began a new era.
However, at the beginning of King Qin Zhaoxiang's ascension to the throne, he still had no way to take power by himself, and in the feudal dynasty, only the crown ceremony was considered an adult, so at this time, King Qin Zhaoxiang was not yet an adult, and he could not govern himself, and the power was in the hands of his mother, that is, the Empress Dowager Xuan. It can be said that the Empress Dowager Xuan also created a precedent for the Empress Dowager to be in power, and it was also during the period of the Empress Dowager Xuan that her relatives began to interfere in politics.
However, King Qin Zhaoxiang was not an ordinary person, and when he grew up a little, he gathered all his power into his own hands. The selection of talents can worship Fan Ju as the prime minister, and with the help of Fan Ju, the correct policy was formulated - distant friendship and close attack. It can be said that it is with the blessing of this policy that the Qin State has become stronger step by step.
And during the reign of King Zhaoxiang of Qin, Qin had a famous general - Bai Qi, and it was because of Bai Qi's courage and good fighting that he helped Qin win victories in battles with Qi, Chu and other countries.
Especially the Battle of Changping, which shocked the entire Warring States, but with the continuous accumulation of results, King Qin Zhaoxiang inevitably took inappropriate measures in his later years, and the defeat of the Battle of Handan caused the Qin army to suffer heavy casualties. Wipe out all the gains you've accumulated before.
Second, King Zhao Wuling
The second one to talk about is King Wuling of Zhao, and it can be said that he is also the most brilliant hero of Zhao State. Later Liang Qichao called it "China's first male lord" after the Yellow Emperor.
It was in his hands that the State of Zhao began to prosper, at the beginning of King Wuling of Zhao, the situation of the State of Zhao was not very good, and it had been bullied by other countries, but there was no way, and if the strength was not enough, it could only be beaten.
King Wuling of Zhao was only fifteen years old when he ascended the throne, and there was no way to govern himself, but he had been studying modestly. At that time, Zhao was repeatedly defeated in the Central Plains hegemony, so when his father died, several countries sent tens of thousands of people to attend his funeral.
No matter how you look at it, if you attend the funeral, you can only send a messenger, not only with an army but also an elite soldier. Other countries want to take advantage of the turmoil of the change of imperial power in Zhao to get a piece of the pie. At this time, although King Zhao Wuling was young, he was very strategic, and in the end, the five kingdoms could only return in vain.
After King Wuling of Zhao could govern in person, the first thing was to strengthen the combat effectiveness of Zhao State, and even the surrounding nomads could bully Zhao State if they couldn't defeat other countries in the Central Plains hegemony. Therefore, King Wuling of Zhao advocated Hufu cavalry shooting in response to the situation at that time, so as to enhance the strength of Zhao.
King Zhao Wuling was also extremely far-sighted, and abolished his royal title at the beginning of his accession to the throne. What's the use of having this reputation, it's not at the mercy of others on the battlefield, and you can withdraw from a few countries where the fighting is fierce. Use this opportunity to rejuvenate your life.
Under the rule of King Zhao Wuling, the state of Zhao gradually became stronger, and similar to King Qin Zhaoxiang, King Zhao Wuling was also extremely concerned about expanding his territory, and he had been attacking other countries in the second half of his life.
It can be said that the only shortcoming of King Zhao Wuling's life is in the selection of the crown prince, it is precisely because of his hesitation that his vacillation not only caused internal turmoil in Zhao but also killed him.
3. King Qi
It can be said that the State of Qi has always occupied an important position in the history of the Warring States, and the reason for this is because his strength was the strongest at the beginning. At the beginning of his ascension to the throne, King Qi had the ambition to accomplish what his father had not done, and wanted to annex other countries, and of course the young and vigorous King Qi did the same.
When King Qi succeeded to the throne, the strength of Qi was relatively strong among the several countries at that time, and King Qi was lost to the destruction of Qin. In the third year of the reign of King Qi, that is, in 298 BC, King Qi joined forces with Han and Wei to attack Qin. Broke through the Hangu Pass in one fell swoop, and seeing that the Hangu Pass was lost, the King of Qin immediately said that he would cut the land to quell the war.
Here, the king of Qin not only ceded the land but also offered a princess, so the king of Qi gave up continuing to attack the Qin state, that is, this time he gave up, so that the Qi state would no longer have the ability to compete with the Qin state in the future.
But King Qi didn't have this feeling, he had already been carried away by the victory at this time, and he didn't know his strength. He then began a great campaign, and after defeating the Yan Kingdom, King Qi decided that there was no one to be his opponent anymore, so he began to dominate the world.
But what he didn't think about was that the Qi State at this time still had the strength to compete after many years of conquest? Soon the other five countries could not get used to seeing the Qi State unite to attack the Qi State, and the Qi State was defeated, and the King of Qi was also killed in this battle.
Fourth, King Yan Zhao
The last one to talk about is King Yan Zhao, in his hands, the Yan Kingdom ushered in its heyday, and unlike King Qi who only knew how to blindly fight, King Yan Zhao knew how to take advantage of other countries to improve his strength.
To put it simply, after King Yan Zhao ascended the throne, he did not show great ambitions, but focused all his attention on governing the country. But in that troubled world, no one would believe that there was no ambition.
Later, due to the benevolence and humility of Yan State, a group of capable people came to Yan State, and with these talents, Yan Kingdom's economy soon developed. At the same time, because Yan did not participate in the war for a long time, his economy and production gradually recovered.
At the same time, the situation in the Warring States was also changing, and King Yan Zhao and King Qi were two monarchs of the same era. When King Qi was fighting on a large scale here, Yan Guo was recuperating. The actions of the King of Qi soon caused public outrage.
At this time, King Yan Zhao also realized that his best opportunity had come, and he united with the other four countries to launch an attack on Qi State, and finally not only defeated Qi State, but also let King Qi Yu die in this war, so that Yan State ushered in a prosperous situation.
epilogue
These four heroes, they all did their best to push the country to a new height, but in the turmoil of the Warring States Period, one careless person may fall short.
It can only be said that if you want to realize the unification of the world, you must have the right time, place and people, and it is a pity that several countries have missed this opportunity, and the Qin State finally realized the desire of the unification of the world after the six emperors worked hard.