Why did Zhao Focus on Military Reform?
After hundreds of years of war for hegemony, the number of princely states in the Zhou Dynasty decreased sharply, and the three branches of the Jin Dynasty and the Tian Clan Daiqi marked the advent of the Warring States Era. With the development of the times, in the social and economic life of the early Warring States period, the feudal economy has replaced the slave economy and occupied a dominant position. Since the economic base of the early Warring States period has undergone profound changes, the superstructure will naturally change accordingly.
With the intensification of the intensity of the war, the remaining princely states changed their laws to survive, such as the Li Wu transformation method of the Wei state, the Shang martingale transformation method of the Qin state, and so on, and most of the changes in the Warring States period were almost the same. However, there is one princely state that has a different way of changing the law, paying special attention to the development of the military field and ignoring the economic and political changes, and this princely state is the Zhao state.
There were two changes in the Zhao state, the first of which was presided over by Gong Zhonglian during the Zhao Liehou period, and the main direction of its reforms was to educate the people, establish a system of electing officials, and improve the economy. It is better to say that gongzhonglian presided over the reform than that gongzhonglian presided over reform, and the reform of gongzhonglian was more like the rule of man than the rule of law.
As for the second change of law, it is much more famous, this is the "Hufu Riding Shooting" presided over by King Wuling of Zhao, through this reform of the change, the combat effectiveness of the Zhao army has been greatly enhanced, and after the State of Wei, it has become the number one power of the Three Jins, and can even compete with the Qin army after the Shang Martingale transformation. With this strong army, King Wuling of Zhao also annexed and destroyed the powerful Zhongshan Kingdom, and defeated the armies of Lin Hu and Lou Fu, merged thousands of miles of land of the two tribes into Zhao Territory, set up the three counties of Yunzhong, Yanmen, and Dai, and even included the Lou Fu army in the battle sequence of the Zhao army.
Don't look at the strength of the Zhao state after the reform of King Wuling of Zhao, but at the beginning of the reign of King Wuling of Zhao, the state of Zhao was almost in danger of being destroyed. After The Death of Marquis Su of Zhao after twenty-four years of rule, Zhao Yong, who was only fifteen years old, took the throne. At this time, King Hui of Wei saw that the State of Zhao was in a special period of doubt, so he united with the four kingdoms of Chu, Qin, Yan, and Qi in the name of a funeral, and each sent more than 10,000 elite soldiers to try to figure out Zhao. However, the wolf ambitions of these five princely states were all thwarted by King Wuling of Zhao, and king Wuling of Zhao withstood severe tests when he first ascended to the high position.
When this crisis was lifted, King Wuling of Zhao wanted to change the fa and become stronger. However, due to the serious threat of the Zhongshan Kingdom and the Northern Linhu and Loufu tribes in the deep hinterland of the Zhao State, king Wuling of Zhao believed that if the State of Zhao wanted to be strong, it was necessary to eliminate the State of Zhongshan and the Northern Rong Di, but the main force of the Zhao army at that time was still cavalry and infantry, which was very unfavorable when fighting with the State of Zhongshan and Rong Di, so King Wuling of Zhao could only choose to strengthen the military strength of the State of Zhao first, and then carry out economic and political reforms when the threat of the State of Zhongshan and Rong Di was eliminated.
King Wuling of Zhao was only fifteen years old when he ascended the throne, and he hardly knew how to govern the country, that is, the Intervention Army of the Five Kingdoms at the beginning of the reign was also successfully resolved with the help of the minister Fei Yi. After the Zhao state became the Jin Dynasty, when King Wuling of Zhao ascended the throne, except for Zhao Jianzi Zhao Martin, who underwent economic reforms, the rest of the Zhao ancestors almost did not carry out economic reforms, and even if they did, they also implemented commercial and monetary reforms.
There were land resources suitable for agricultural production, such as the Hetao Plain, the North China Plain, the Datong Plain, and the Taiyuan Basin, and it was reasonable to say that the Zhao State, which was thousands of miles away, should not have been short of grain, but because the Zhao State was flourishing in shangwu and heavy profits, it neglected the development and reform of agriculture and internal affairs for a long time, and it was precisely because the Zhao State was facing a shortage of grain and a lack of sustainable soldiers that it caused King Xiaocheng of Zhao to abandon his prudent strategy of holding firm, which eventually led to heavy losses in the Battle of Changping and the Battle of Handan.
In fact, the problems existing in the Zhao kingdom must have been perceived by the wise King Wuling of Zhao, especially when King Wuling of Zhao gave way to his son in order to concentrate on foreign attacks, and personally accompanied Lou To enter Qin on a secret visit. In the process, King Wuling of Zhao must have investigated the reasons why the State of Qin was so strong, and the wise King wuling of Zhao undoubtedly realized that the State of Qin was more enthusiastic about the State of Qin than the State of Zhao, and that the strategic material reserves of the State of Qin were better than those of the State of Zhao.
After returning from the Qin State, King Wuling of Zhao was in his prime, and when the State of Zhao became the most powerful princely state at that time due to the long period of no war, King Wuling of Zhao changed his mind and regained his throne, in order to continue to lead the State of Zhao on the road to a strong country, and by the way, improve the problems of the State of Zhao. But it was easy to send the throne out, but it was not easy to get it back, king Wuling of Zhao not only did not regain the throne, but eventually starved to death in the dune palace, and with the end of his life, the best opportunity to improve the Zhao kingdom also passed.
Due to the turmoil caused by the wrong move of King Wuling of Zhao, it should have been the best opportunity for the remaining princely states to plot again and merge with Zhao, but this did not happen. This was due to the fact that the various princely states at that time had more urgent problems to solve. At that time, the State of Yan was facing the chaos brought about by how to eliminate the rebellion of the Sons as soon as possible, the State of Wei and the State of Chu were more worried about the attack of the State of Qin, while the State of Korea was worried about the problem of self-preservation all year round, and the State of Qi was thinking about how to annex the small states of Huaisi, and as for the Monarch of the State of Qin at that time, although the monarch of Qin Zhaoxiang was the King of Qin Zhaoxiang, but its power was in the hands of the Empress Dowager and the Uncle of the State, they set their main sights on the State of Wei, the State of Chu, and the King of Qin Zhaoxiang, waiting for King Qin Zhaoxiang to regain the power of the State of Qin, and King Huiwen of Zhao also sat firmly on the throne of Zhao. The turmoil in the State of Zhao did not last long, and it ended with the victory of King Huiwen of Zhao, who was also a generation of male lords, and during his lifetime, the State of Qin did not get the slightest advantage from the State of Zhao.
During the reign of King Huiwen of Zhao, the national strength of the State of Zhao was still strong, and the military generals had Lian Po and Zhao Luxury, and the Wenchen had Lin Xiangru and Zhao Sheng, especially Le Yi, who later led the Yan State to fight Qi, who was still in the State of Zhao at this time. Officially, due to a large number of talented men who assisted King Huiwen of Zhao, they were able to make the Qin state return in sorrow, especially Zhao Hao's plot to destroy the Qin state to attack Zhao, defeat the Qin army in the Battle of Fuhe, break the myth of the invincibility of the Qin army, and cooperate with Lin Xiangru and Lian Po in the meeting of Rope Pond, and only then did he resolve the ruse of King Zhaoxiang of Qin.
However, during the reign of King Huiwen of Zhao, although all the monarchs and subjects were virtuous, no changes were made to improve the shortage of food and soldiers in the State of Zhao, as well as other problems in internal affairs, so after the death of King Huiwen of Zhao, even if the State of Zhao was still alive, even if the State of Zhao was similar to those who were still alive, lian po, etc., it could not change the increasingly powerful situation of the Qin State.
The State of Zhao has always had a tradition of paying attention to military generals and sophists, and there is a serious lack of transvestors who govern the country, and Le Yi (Le Yi, who was originally familiar with the law of change, good at governing the country and proficient in the art of war), also left with King Wuling of Zhao starving to death in the Dune Palace. As the intensity of the war continued to intensify, the Zhao state no longer had a stable environment for reforming the law.