Preface
A thousand troops are easy to obtain, but a general is hard to find, and a strong country is bound to have an excellent commander. According to the evaluation of military strategists in the Art of War, most of them say that they should have qualities such as faith, benevolence, and bravery, but they do not say one of the most important points - political wisdom.
Throughout the history of feudal dynasties, there have been countless generals who died because of their lack of political acumen. Of course, there are exceptions, what I want to talk about today is Wang Qian, who was able to die a good death, in addition to being an excellent military strategist, he was also a politician, as can be seen from his habits before going on the expedition.
1. Proficient in the heart of the king
It can be said that one of the most important reasons why Wang Jian was able to finally save himself was because he understood Qin Shi Huang's thoughts and was well aware of the emperor's suspicions.
It stands to reason that Qin Shi Huang should have a lot of trust in Wang Qian, because Wang Jian was not by Qin Shi Huang's side after he ascended the throne, but always followed Qin Shi Huang when he was young, and the two were childhood playmates. However, one is a monarch and the other is a minister, and the two of them are Wang Jian who is the companion of Qin Shi Huang in the words of later generations.
As we all know, Yingzheng did not have his own power in the early days, and the power was in the hands of Lü Buwei. Although later generations always understated how Qin Shi Huang used strategy to achieve pro-government. But the difficulties are also beyond our imagination in later generations. At that time, Kangxi finally got rid of Ao Bai with the support of Sony and others.
Qin Shi Huang, on the other hand, was not so lucky, because Lü Buwei was in charge alone. During this time, Wang Jian was also Qin Shi Huang's most trusted person as a playmate, and he also helped Qin Shi Huang do a lot. The two experienced that difficult time together, so Qin Shihuang also gave different trust to Wang Qian.
At the same time, he has been by Qin Shihuang's side for many years, and Wang Jian also knows this young emperor very well. One thing after that can be seen. In 239 BC, Qin Shi Huang sent his younger brothers Cheng Huan and Fan Yuqi to attack Zhao, but Qin Shi Huang's younger brother was a soft-eared man.
On the way, he was rebelled by Fan Yu, and then led a large army to attack Qin. Qin Shi Huang, who learned of this, was furious and immediately sent his favorite general Wang Jian to quell the rebellion. When Wang Jian left, Qin Shi Huang gave an order to Wang Jian that it didn't matter if he lived or died, if Wang Jian accidentally killed Cheng Huan on the battlefield, it didn't matter.
But Wang Qian, who had been with Qin Shi Huang for many years, clearly realized that although Qin Shi Huang said so, he still wanted to use Cheng Huan's matter to shock Qin and even the world. Since the monarch wanted to improve his prestige on his own, Cheng Huan had to be captured alive and then handed over to Qin Shi Huang to deal with.
It can be said that to do things for the boss, not only to be obedient, but also to be caring. In this way, he can be reused by the boss, and finally Wang Jian brought Cheng Huan back intact through persuasion and handed it over to Qin Shi Huang to deal with, and Qin Shi Huang also appreciated Wang Qian's approach to this matter.
2. The Battle of Chu
Coming to the twenty-first year of Qin Shi Huang, the situation of the entire Warring States period also underwent a major change. At this time, the Qin State had successfully destroyed the Korean and Zhao States. It can be said that there are not many threats to Qin at this time, and the strength of Yan has been weakened by more than half in the previous war.
In the face of the current situation, the ambitious Qin Shi Huang immediately wanted to expand the results of the war, and wanted to launch an attack on other countries when the morale of the victory was greatly boosted.
After all, the emaciated camel is bigger than the horse, and although the current national strength of the Chu State is far less than before, it is still prosperous after all. So Qin Shi Huang first sent Wang Ben, the son of Wang Qian, to test the water first, but what Qin Shi Huang and others did not expect was that Wang Ben achieved a huge victory and captured more than ten cities in Chu in a row.
Qin Shi Huang was overjoyed, and immediately called a meeting of the generals in the army, because the previous results of Wang Ben gave Qin Shi Huang a feeling that the Chu State was very weak. At the meeting, Qin Shi Huang asked how many troops would be needed to attack Chu. At this time, the young and vigorous Li Xin immediately said that 200,000 troops were enough.
After hearing his words, Qin Shi Huang smiled, and Qin Shi Huang was very satisfied with the 200,000 that Li Xin said. But as a veteran, Qin Shi Huang still has to listen to Wang Qian's opinion.
However, compared with Li Xin's self-confidence, Wang Jian seemed much more cautious, Wang Jian said that how to say that Chu is also a great power, if you want to take it, you need at least 600,000 troops. But after hearing Wang Qian's words, Qin Shi Huang frowned. In his opinion, attacking the state of Chu did not require such an army at all.
Qin Shi Huang said that Wang Jian was old, so he did not have the courage of the year, and he was afraid, and it would take 600,000 troops to attack a Chu State. So Qin Shi Huang decisively believed Li Xin, and in the second year gave Li Xin an army of 200,000 to go on the expedition with Meng Tian.
The final result was really as Wang Jian said, Li Xin's 200,000 army was defeated by the Chu State, and in the end he could only return to China in a hurry. It can be said that this is the first time that Qin Shi Huang has encountered such a big setback after ascending the throne, and which of the previous battles was not won by the Qin State.
At this time, Qin Shi Huang had to believe that all this was just like what Wang Jian said. At this time, Wang Jian also went home disappointed because of Qin Shi Huang's distrust of him at the last meeting. Qin Shi Huang now has to admit that if he wants to capture the Chu State, he can only rely on Wang Qian.
So Qin Shi Huang personally came to apologize to Wang Jian and wanted to ask him to lead troops to attack Chu. Of course, at the beginning, Wang Jian resolutely refused. But Qin Shi Huang was sincere, and said that if Wang Jian could go to the battlefield, he would listen to him how he wanted to fight and how many people he wanted.
Seeing that Qin Shi Huang had a good attitude, Wang Jian finally agreed to lead the troops. Qin Shi Huang was overjoyed and immediately began to prepare for Wang Qian's expedition. began to recruit troops in Qin, and no matter what, he had to gather enough for Wang Jian to have enough for the 600,000 troops.
It is worth mentioning here that through the means of Qin Shi Huang's conscription, it can be seen that the Qin State at this time has handed over all its troops to Wang Qian's hands, and if he takes 10,000 steps back and says that if Wang Jian rebels, it will be difficult for the Qin State to resist.
3. Political acumen
What we can think of today, Qin Shi Huang and Wang Jian can also think of. Wang Jian knew that Qin Shi Huang was suspicious, so he had a move before he set out on the expedition - to reward. When the reward is promised, when is the army sent.
This time it was even worse, after all, Qin Shi Huang was pouring the country's troops to attack the Chu State, and on the day of his departure, Wang Jian found Qin Shi Huang and handed Qin Shi Huang a list, so that Qin Shi Huang would reward himself according to the list. Above are the fields and shops near the capital of the Qin State.
For his actions, Qin Shi Huang laughed and said that if Wang Jian came back from victory, would there be a lack of rewards?
Wang Jian said that he could not be a marquis, but could only leave something for future generations in this regard, hoping that Qin Shi Huang would agree. Even if Qin Shi Huang had some pain, he couldn't refuse, saying that he would definitely prepare the reward when Wang Jian returned to the court.
After that, Wang Jian was afraid that Qin Shi Huang would forget, and sent five envoys back to the court to deliver letters to Qin Shi Huang when he was on the battlefield.
However, what the letter said was not a war report, it was all a reminder to Qin Shi Huang not to forget what he promised himself before he set out on the expedition.
The people around him don't understand what Wang Jian did, but Wang Jian has his own thoughts. He smiled and said that only by letting Qin Shi Huang know that he had other plans could he give him confidence.
epilogue
Having troops outside the country will indeed make the monarch suspicious, and there is also a saying that "the monarch will not be subject to the order of the outside", but the battlefield is changing rapidly, and it is impossible to wait for the monarch to give instructions. What is tested here is the degree of trust that the monarch has in the generals.
It is precisely because Wang Jian repeatedly asked Qin Shi Huang for things that Qin Shi Huang trusted him very much, and never interfered with Wang Qian's command in the battle of Chu, thus achieving victory.