During the Warring States period, King Huai of Chu was a relatively famous monarch. Before King Huai of Chu, King Chu implemented the Wu Qi Reform Law, which laid a good foundation for the rise of the Chu state in the Warring States period. It is true that king Of Chu died of illness suddenly, and Wu Qi was killed by the Chu state, weakening the results of Wu Qi's transformation of the law, but this still brought about changes for the Chu state. After king mourning in Chu, King Su of Chu and King Xuan of Chu recuperated, prompting the state of Chu to continue to strengthen its national strength. After the King of Chu Wei ascended the throne, he even marched south to the north, pushing the strength of the Chu state to the peak. However, the state of Chu eventually declined at the hands of King Huai of Chu.
King Xiong Huai of Chu (?) –296 BC), courtesy name Xiong, son of King Wei of Chu, father of King Xiang of Chu, and 37th monarch of the State of Chu during the Warring States period. In the sixth year of King Huai of Chu (323 BC), he defeated the State of Wei and captured eight cities; in the eleventh year of King Huai of Chu (318 BC), he served as the commander of the Five Kingdoms Alliance and joined forces to conquer Qin; in the twenty-third year of King Huai of Chu (306 BC), he destroyed the State of Yue and expanded the border of Jiangdong. However, since the Battle of Weeping Sand, the Chu state has gone into decline, and there is not even a chance to make a comeback.
One
Specifically, in 301 BC, the four princely states of Qin, Qi, Korea, and Wei formed a coalition to attack the State of Chu. In this regard, in the author's opinion, the outbreak of the Battle of Chuisha is directly related to the wavering position of King Huai of Chu, that is, between the two great powers of the Qin state and the State of Qi, the Chu Huai Dynasty qin twilight Chu, prompting the Chu state to offend both big powers. Therefore, in the Battle of Chuisha, the Qin state and the state of Qi both sent the main force, such as King Xuan of Qi, who sent Kuang Zhang, a famous general.
Kuang Zhang first studied in the State of Wei and was a student of Mencius. In the last year of the reign of King Wei of Qi, Kuang Zhang became a general of the Qi army and led his army to repel the attack of the Qin state. In the sixth year of King Xuan of Qi (314 BC), Kuang Zhang took advantage of the rebellion of the Sons of Yan and led 100,000 troops to break through the Capital of Yan. Now, for Kuang Zhang, the Battle of Weeping Sand is also his classic battle.
Of course, the strength of the Chu state should not be underestimated. So, in this place of weeping sand, the two sides confronted each other for about six months. However, Kuang Zhang eventually found the weakness of the Chu army's defense, and thus launched a surprise attack on the Chu army, and thus won the victory. According to the Records of History and other historical records, at the Battle of Chu sha, the chu general Tang Ming was killed and lost 20,000 soldiers and horses. For a big country like the State of Chu, the direct losses of the Battle of Chushan obviously cannot be said to be very serious. For example, in the Battle of Changping, zhao lost more than 400,000 troops, which led to decline. For example, in the Battle of Handan, the Qin state lost 200,000 troops, thus delaying the historical process of unifying the world. Therefore, with its strong national strength, the Chu state can quickly make up for the loss of these 20,000 people.
Two
In this regard, in the author's opinion, the following reasons are the key to the decline of the Chu state. As far as the first point is concerned, the outbreak of the Battle of Weeping Sand directly triggered civil unrest. After Tang Xiao was killed, his subordinate General Zhuang Ji was very dissatisfied. Therefore, he led his soldiers to rebel, but instead began to attack the King of Chuhuai. Of course, this should be that after King Huai of Chu ascended the throne, the State of Chu lost more than one foreign war and won few victories, and now it is besieged by the four princely states of Qin, Korea, Wei, and Qi. All this made the soldiers on the front line reluctant to continue fighting. It's like a company that loses money in multiple business areas in a row, which will not only hit the morale of employees, but also bring about the result of employee job hopping.
In this context, these rebellious soldiers once captured the capital of the Chu state, and even divided the territory of the chu state into several parts, that is, it affected many cities and pools of the chu state. In the history of the State of Chu, the capital was breached by the Wu army in the Battle of Baiju in the late Spring and Autumn Period. Although the State of Chu succeeded in restoring the country later, however, because of the losses caused by the breach of the capital, it still caused the State of Chu to no longer be strong in the late Spring and Autumn period and the early Warring States period, which led to the result of the King of Chu Mourning's anger and efforts to be strong and implement the Wu Qi Reform Law. Of course, the difference is that the last time King Chu Zhao was able to win the support of the Chu generals, but now the King of Chu Huai was betrayed by his subordinates.
As far as the second point is concerned, after the Battle of Chuisha, the combined forces of these four princely states also captured the chu state of Chuqiu, Wancheng, Yecheng and other cities. Among them, Wancheng, occupied by Korea, is located in the area of present-day Nanyang City, Henan Province, which is the largest city outside the capital of the Chu State. During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, Wancheng was not only a famous metropolis, but also comparable to Linzi in the State of Qi, Dingtao in the Song Dynasty, Daliang in the State of Wei, and Handan in the State of Zhao, and was also a famous iron smelting center.
In this regard, in the author's opinion, after taking Wancheng, South Korea can build elite weapons, which is also the reason why South Korea's territory is not large, but it can persist until the end of the Warring States period. South Korea is feared by all countries for its famous weapon, the crossbow. The so-called "strong bow and crossbow in the world are all out of Korea", South Korea's crossbow can shoot 800 meters away, "the far one covers the chest, and the near one is dysprosium heart". In addition, Korean swords are also extremely sharp, all of which are "cut off by cattle and horses, and by water and goose", and "when the enemy is killed, the iron curtain is cut off".
As far as the third point is concerned, after the Battle of Chu sha, the State of Chu was isolated among the Seven Heroes of the Warring States, and the King of Chu Huai was toyed with by King Zhaoxiang of Qin. In 300 BC, King Huai of Chu sent the crown prince to the State of Qi as a hostage in order to repair the relationship between the State of Chu and the State of Qi. In this regard, King Zhaoxiang of Qin was not willing to show weakness and sent his younger brother as a hostage to the State of Qi. In 299 BC, after the State of Qin stabilized the State of Qi, it immediately adopted a strategy of soft and hard, hitting and pulling at the King of Chu Huai.
Four
Finally, on the one hand, King Zhaoxiang of Qin sent a large army to attack the State of Chu and captured eight cities of the State of Chu, which put King Huai of Chu under considerable pressure. On the other hand, King Zhaoxiang of Qin wrote another letter to King Huai of Chu, recalling the friendly relations between the State of Qin and the State of Chu, and then invited King Huai of Chu to Wuguan to meet the alliance. I have to say that King Qin Zhaoxiang's control of human nature has almost come to the extreme. After a dozen and one pull, King Huai of Chu not only did not hate the State of Qin, but instead had illusions about King Zhaoxiang of Qin, believing that he could repair the relationship between the State of Chu and the State of Qin.
In this year, after King Huai of Chu came to Wuguan, he was immediately detained by King Zhaoxiang of Qin. In the end, King Huai of Chu died of illness in the Qin Kingdom, which can be described as a foreign country. It is worth noting that when King Huai of Chu went to the Qin Capital League, Qu Yuan and other ministers had already expressed their opposition. However, the shadow brought about by the Battle of Chusha prompted King Huai of Chu not to dare to offend the State of Qin, that is, knowing that there was danger, King Huai of Chu could not escape. After king Huai of Chu was detained, although the state of Chu immediately supported the monarch of Xiang Wang of Chu, during the reign of King Xiang of Chu, the decline of the State of Chu was still difficult to stop.
In the nineteenth year of king Xiang of Chu (280 BC), the State of Qin attacked the State of Chu, and the Chu army was defeated, ceding the Shangyong and Northern Han regions of the State of Chu to the State of Qin. In the 20th year of the reign of King Xiang of Chu (279 BC), the Qin general Bai Qi led an army to attack the State of Chu and capture the Xiling (present-day Yichang, Hubei) of the State of Chu. In the twenty-first year of the reign of King Xiang of Chu (278 BC), the Qin general Bai Qi once again led an army to attack the State of Chu, capturing the capital of the State of Chu, The Capital, and burning yiling, the tomb of the former king of the State of Chu. King Xiang of Chu's army collapsed and could no longer fight, retreating northeast to hold the capital of Chen (present-day Huaiyang, Henan) and moving the capital to the capital of Chen.
In summary, the direct losses of the Battle of Chuisha were not large, but the indirect losses and far-reaching effects brought about by this battle undoubtedly made the Chu state go downhill. After the Chu state was seriously injured, the qin state targeted the zhao state, and thus broke out the Battle of Changping and other battles.