Preface
King Qin Zhaoxiang can be said to be a famous male lord in the Warring States and even the feudal dynasty, and laid the direction of the Qin Dynasty during his reign, but there is also one thing in the life of King Qin Zhaoxiang that has been criticized by later generations.
That is, he gave the great general Bai Qi to death, and Bai Qi was born and died for the country of Qin. But in the end, he could not escape death, and later generations have different opinions about the tragedy of Bai Qi.
1. Success is also Wei Ran, and defeat is also Wei Ran
As the saying goes, "success is also Xiao He, defeat Xiao He", this sentence also applies to Bai Qi's body. For Bai Qi, it should be "Wei Ran is successful, and Wei Ran is defeated". The original Bai Qi was just an ordinary civilian.
But at this time, the Qin State was in urgent need of talents to achieve a strong country, so King Qin Zhaoxiang, who was extremely eager for talents, handed over this matter to Wei Ran, who was the prime minister. And Bai Qi, who has always been known for his good use of soldiers, entered Wei Ran's sight in this way. If Bai Qi is a thousand miles, then Wei Ran is Bole.
I have to say that the luckiest thing in Bai Qi's life is that he met Wei Ran, who could appreciate him and push him to a high position. Wei Ran recognized Bai Qi's ability very much, that is, it was under Wei Ran's recommendation that Bai Qi was reused by King Qin Zhaoxiang. And Wei Ran also helped Bai Qi escort, so that he could maximize his ability.
There is no need to explain too much about Wei Ran, he is the uncle of King Qin Zhaoxiang and the elder brother of Empress Dowager Xuan. It can be said that this is also the earliest relative to take power, but although Wei Ran is a relative, his ability is needless to say, especially political means.
The early Qin State was able to develop rapidly, that is, it depended on Wei Ran. However, Bai Qi and Wei Ran are completely different, Bai Qi has extremely high military talent, it can be said that no one can stand out, but often military geniuses have a shortcoming, that is, lack of political acumen.
But the original Bai Qi didn't need to have a political acumen at all, because he had Wei Ran, and Wei Ran had already helped Bai Qi do everything he could. So that Bai Qi can focus all his attention on the military without distraction. To put it simply, if Bai Qi wants to succeed, he must need a talent who can help him deal with political matters.
In the Qin State at this time, who can compare to Wei Ran in terms of political means. And at this time, Wei Ran was in a high position, and it can be said that the power is tilted towards the government and the opposition. In the early days, Bai Qi never had to worry about the filthiness in the court, of course, it was precisely because of Wei Ran's protection that Bai Qi won one battle after another.
As we all know, King Qin Zhaoxiang has always been an ambitious monarch, so he will not tolerate himself being controlled by others, and he must get rid of Wei Ran. After the fall of the Wei Ran Group, the umbrella of Bai Qi also disappeared.
A general like Bai Qi, who has no political acumen, no means, no city government, and a straightforward personality, can imagine his future fate without Wei Ran's protection. It is worth mentioning that although Bai Qi is said to be a military general, he is also a member of Wei Ran's group, and this alone planted the seeds for Bai Qi's tragedy later.
There is no doubt who Bai Qi is truly loyal, but will King Qin Zhaoxiang believe that Bai Qi is loyal to him, and will others believe it?
Especially in the early years, when Wei Ran was in power in the court, he also had a lot of political enemies, and King Qin Zhaoxiang wanted to get rid of him. The ministers also quickly stood in line, and the wall fell and everyone pushed it.
Bai Qi's situation was precarious after the fall of Wei Ran, and just like the previous article, Bai Qi did not understand human feelings, and few people in the court could speak for him, of course, the most noteworthy thing is that he did not know how to regulate his relationship with King Qin Zhaoxiang.
When you disagree with the monarch, that is, when the monarch is dissatisfied with you. It's a pity that in Bai Qi's heart, there has always been nothing to say and not to say, and in front of King Qin Zhaoxiang, he has always known everything and said everything.
Second, the gap between monarchs and ministers
After Wei Ran stepped down, Fan Sui served as the prime minister, and it was also very capable to sit on the prime minister Fan Sui, and after he came to Qin, he presented his strategy to King Qin Zhaoxiang, that is, the strategy of the future Qin State, but it is worth saying that what the generals and Wenchen think is always different.
Qin launched an attack on Zhao in 259 BC, and in the end Qin won a complete victory. At this time, Bai Qi's meaning was to take advantage of the victory to pursue and capture Zhao State. But at this time, Fan Sui asked King Qin Zhaoxiang to stop attacking, and said that this was the best fighter for Bai Qi, but King Qin Zhaoxiang gave up, which made Bai Qi feel angry.
Bai Qi simply locked himself up at home, refusing to lead troops to fight again on the grounds of illness, which also had the element of Bai Qi attacking and gambling because King Qin Zhaoxiang did not listen to his advice. But he was angry, but he forgot that King Qin Zhaoxiang was a monarch no matter what he said, and it was not a rational thing to look at it with the monarch.
In Bai Qi's opinion, he was just expressing his dissatisfaction, but in the eyes of King Qin Zhaoxiang, this was not the case, this was pride. But the development of the situation always caught people off guard, and Zhao openly reversed himself, not only did not cede the city as promised, but also united with Qi to resist Qin.
How could King Qin Zhaoxiang tolerate this, and he was about to send troops to attack Zhao immediately. But at this time, Bai Qi was reluctant to lead his troops to the battle, after all, I was going to attack at that time, and you didn't let me fight, and now I was deceived and wanted to fight again?
Bai Qi immediately lay at home under the pretext of illness and refused the instructions of King Qin Zhaoxiang. Of course, King Qin Zhaoxiang also understood Bai Qi's careful thoughts, so he personally explained to Bai Qi why he didn't let him go on the expedition at that time. But for generals like Bai Qi, they often have to consider fighters when they send troops.
Another inappropriate thing about Bai Qi is that he regards the fighter plane as more important than the order of King Qin Zhaoxiang, and Bai Qi thinks that the best opportunity to send troops has been missed, so he refuses to send troops.
3. Causing tragedy
Although Bai Qi thought that this was not the best time to send troops, King Qin Zhaoxiang had made up his mind and immediately sent Wang Ling to lead his troops to the battle, but he encountered obstacles in Handan, resulting in heavy casualties for the Qin army.
It is worth mentioning that the Battle of Handan was also the only defeat in the life of King Qin Zhaoxiang, precisely because of the fiasco of Handan, which ruined the results accumulated in the previous decades. Seeing the defeat of the Qin army on the front line, King Zhaoxiang of Qin once again asked Bai Qi to send troops, and sent Prime Minister Fan Sui to persuade him personally.
Bai Qi always insisted on his own opinion, and at this time, he had missed the best time to send troops, and gave Zhao Guo time to recuperate, so he refused to send troops. Fan Sui could only return in vain, when he heard Fan Sui's words, King Qin Zhaoxiang was furious and immediately said: "Without Bai Qi, I can't destroy Zhao State!"
So he sent additional troops and horses to continue the attack on Zhao, but after a stalemate for many days, there was still no progress. When he heard about the results of the battle on the front line, Bai Qi just said eight words lightly: "If you don't listen to the ministers, what is the result today?" In the end, King Qin Zhaoxiang, who was forced to be helpless, could only come to Bai Qi's mansion in person and ask Bai Qi to send troops.
It can be said that King Qin Zhaoxiang has done it so far, even if he can't be defeated, Bai Qi should send troops, but Bai Qi still insists on his own opinion and even forces him with his life, and King Qin Zhaoxiang walks away.
The defeat in the Battle of Handan left the Qin State with heavy casualties, and King Zhaoxiang of Qin inevitably became angry with Bai Qi, and a generation of famous generals died from then on.
epilogue
Later generations regretted most of the tragedies of Bai Qi, Sima Qian once said that "death is not its sin", and Tang Taizong Li Shimin also said, "It is the fault of the king, not the crime of the minister." ”
But for King Qin Zhaoxiang, Bai Qi is certain to die, even if Bai Qi has made so many contributions to the Qin State, but it still can't avoid King Qin Zhaoxiang's jealousy and dissatisfaction with him, and it can't avoid the gap between the monarch and the ministers.