This work is a contribution to the column of the Museum of History, representing only the personal views of the author; this work is not a rigorous historical academic research, for reference only; unauthorized, prohibited second transmission, violators will be investigated.
The author of this article: Wei Yan, the King of Hui of Great Wei
In 369 BC, the Wei state of Anyi, a big news came, yuyu twenty-six years of Wei Wuhou died. Since Marquis Wu of Wei did not have a crown prince during his lifetime, The two sons of Marquis Wu of Wei, Gongzi Yan and Gong Zhongwan, rubbed their fists together and prepared to compete for the throne. This is the best news for Zhao and Han. Because during the reign of Marquis Wu of Wei, Wugong Hehe, the eastern expedition to the State of Qi, the western invasion of the State of Qin, the southern conquest of the Great Liang in the State of Chu, and the northern salvation of the State of Wei in the State of Zhao. But at the same time, the State of Wei did not change its geographical disadvantages, and the State of Zhao began to grow stronger because of the reform of the Gongzhonglian, and the increasing coveting of the Central Plains, which can be seen from the fact that the State of Zhao repeatedly attacked the State of Wei and the State of Wei repeatedly rescued it. The State of Chu did not sink there, on the contrary, because of the reforms of Wu Qi during the reign of King Chu Mourning, the aristocratic power of the State of Chu was greatly reshuffled, and the territory was greatly expanded, and the southern part expanded all the way to today's Nanling area, and in 381 BC, the Northern Expedition hit Zhouyi (present-day Wuzhi, Henan) and Liangmen (near present-day Kaifeng, Henan), about to divide the State of Wei, fortunately, king of Chu mourning died; in the west, the Qin Xiangong of the Qin State began to change the law, and the political situation of the Qin State began to stabilize, and a number of subversive reform measures were introduced. A great storm was about to be set off in the western border of the Wei state. It can be said that the State of Wei was in the midst of four wars, and its geographical disadvantage was quite obvious.
Han Zhao took the opportunity to invade the State of Wei, but there was a disagreement between the two countries in the treatment of the State of Wei, and South Korea advocated dividing the State of Wei into two states, so that the State of Wei could be turned into a medium-sized vassal state in a fair and just way, and Korea could avoid geographical difficulties. The State of Zhao advocated the establishment of Gongzhong as king in exchange for the cession of land by the State of Wei. This gave Gongzi Yan time to react, and Gongzi Yan quickly repelled the invading forces of Zhao and Han, after which Gongzi Yan ascended the throne as Marquis and killed Gong Zhonghuan. This was the later King Hui of Wei.
[1] 369 BC
Faced with the mess of hegemony that Marquis Wu of Wei had left for him to waver, King Hui of Wei soon threw himself into the work of filling the gap. In the first 8 years of his succession, he adjusted the scope of land in the east to lay the foundation for the relocation of the capital Daliang, strengthened defenses on various borders, built the Great Wall to exchange land; strengthened the selection and training of martial pawns internally, and rewarded tianzhai, established a detachment army of the State of Wei, and built water conservancy such as the Gulf, developed Chuanze, and the unfavorable situation of the entire State of Wei since the time of Marquis Wu of Wei was alleviated to a certain extent, and the hegemonic power of the State of Wei was restored to a certain extent. Below I will talk about the content of the second transformation method during the wei huiwang period one by one.
The first is to move the capital to The Beam and strengthen the defense. This history has different accounts in different books, Sima Qian believes that after King Hui of Wei won the battle against Hexi, the State of Wei was afraid of the threat of the strong Qin, so it moved east to Daliang, but Yang Kuan believed that the State of Wei had moved its capital to Daliang as early as 362 BC. I tend to support the second theory: the first is that Da liang is located in the Central Plains, has developed transportation, and is close to Sishang, which can ensure finance and grain and feed more troops, which is also convenient for the development of Wei Huiwang's "Central Plains Hegemony" cause. At the same time, it was possible to face the challenge of Han and Zhao directly, and with the help of Wei's control over the area around Yuguan (present-day Zhongmu, Henan) and Yicheng (present-day Linzhang, Hebei), Han Zhao could follow Wei more obediently, and could also avoid Han Zhao's attack on the eastern wei region.
The second is the threat of the State of Qin in the west, just as King Hui of Wei was actively exchanging land in the east, the Duke of Qin in the west took advantage of the death of Marquis Wu of Wei, and King Hui of Wei was busy solving the threat to the east and had no time to take care of the West River region, constantly attacking the West River region of the State of Wei, and winning consecutive victories. The old capital Anyi was close to the Qin state, and the disadvantage of the Fenhe Valley not suitable for rioters was highlighted, and at the same time, in the later period of Wei Wuhou, the State of Wei was basically enemies of the surrounding countries, and the strength of the State of Wei was stretched thin, and it could only be barely maintained in the west, and the problem near the new capital Daliang did not exist.
In order to move the capital to Daliang, the State of Wei frequently attacked in the east. In 362 BC, Duke Xiang of Wei defeated han and Zhao forces on the north bank of the Shuishui River, took the skin prison of the State of Zhao, and opened up land in the Central Plains. King Hui of Wei met with Marquis Zhaohou of Han several times, exchanged some land in a semi-coercive manner, and took advantage of the victory to capture the Lieren and Fei of the Zhao state, and the following year exchanged Yuci and Yangyi with the Hui clan, while the Zhao state exchanged the old capital Zhongmu for Wei's Fanyang (present-day Northwest Huang, Henan) and the floating water area, and from 361 BC to 356 BC, he frequently met and exchanged land with Korea and some small countries, so that the eastern and western parts of the Wei state were connected. However, the State of Wei still firmly controlled the area around Yecheng and Yuguan.
As for the other measures, they were basically implemented in conjunction with the relocation of the capital. Relying on the abundant goods and grain production in eastern Wei, the State of Wei established an army of warriors to deal with the threat of various countries in the east, and at the same time the West River region was turned into a strategic defense, and the Wei general Long Jia built the Great Wall in Hexi to prevent the invasion of the Qin State; in the east, it developed the chasm water, Fengze and other rivers, and developed production and commerce and transportation. Correspondingly, the State of Wei set its sights on the Sishang region and met frequently with the monarchs of these small states to win alliances and support.
The situation during this period is as Mr. Yang Kuan said in the history of the Warring States:
Since the State of Wei moved its capital to Daliang, the situation in the Warring States has undergone major changes, and the activities of the countries to win over the country have become unprecedentedly active......... The fact that the monarchs of the major powers met so frequently shows the tension of the situation during this period. The purpose of meeting with the monarchs of the big countries is to win peace with the country; the purpose of the big countries forcing small countries to enter the DPRK is to expand their sphere of influence.
Although the State of Wei gained certain advantages during this period, the bad geography of the State of Wei still did not fundamentally change, let's first look at the map of the State of Wei.
[2] 361 BC
In the middle of the figure is the territorial distribution of the State of Wei. We can see that although the connection between the eastern and western sides of the Wei state seems to be very weak, due to the previous victory in the war against Korea and the approaching of the capital, Wei and Han are actually allies, but the Wei state is in the middle of the world, so although the economy is rich, the room for expansion is very small, and at the same time, the Wei Wuhou era concentrated on expanding in the east, defeating the Chu state and the Qi state, directly bordering the twelve princes of Sishang, leaving a lot of space for King Wei Hui in the Central Plains. The Wei ruling clique gained substantial benefits through eastward expansion, which made them more inclined to expand eastward rather than address the threat of the Qin state's repeated attacks on the Xihe region in the west.
At the same time, due to the relaxation of Wei Wuhou's control over the land of Zhongshan, the current State of Wei could no longer look fragmented like the time of Marquis Wen of Wei, but actually embedded itself in the land of the Three Jins to maintain control over the State of Zhao. What's more, after the reform of the State of Zhao during the Gongzhonglian period, it was no longer a weak Zhao, and often let the Wei State's Yicheng -------- which was very close to Handan, and was very jealous, hoping to pull out this nail. The State of Wei also hoped to use Yecheng as a base to squeeze the State of Zhao back to the north, making the State of Zhao weaker and at the same time withdrawing from the struggle for the Central Plains, so that he could basically swallow this rich land on Sishang alone. This is also the geopolitical dilemma of the Wei state-------- too many powerful neighbors and very little room for expansion.
[3] 358 BC
So, how will King Wei Hui solve this series of geopolitical problems? How would he handle the relationship between the eastern and western halves of the State of Wei?
King Hui of Wei sat in the middle of the palace of the great beam, quietly waiting for the storm to come.
Resources
[1] Yang Kuan' History of the Warring States, Chronicle of the Warring States Historical Materials
[2] Sima Qian (Han) "History of the Wei Dynasty"