The Battle of Changping in 260 BC ended with a great victory for the Qin army and the massacre of 450,000 Zhao troops. Why Bai Qi wanted to slaughter the Zhao army has always been discussed a lot, and I will sort out my views here.
First of all, we must affirm the fact that although the Qin army has won, the casualties have exceeded half, otherwise King Zhaoxiang of Qin would not have issued a national general mobilization order to recruit men over the age of 15 in the country to participate in the battle. In order to boost morale, the conscript was also knighted first class.
Secondly, the 450,000 troops of the Zhao army included the total number of deaths in the battles before and after. The two armies are equal in strength, with 450,000 on one side and 600,000 on the other. In the case that the Qin army had already suffered more than half of the casualties, the Zhao army was not much better, it can be said that at least more than half. In other words, the white slaughter of up to 200,000 pawns. Even so, of course, this is still a staggering number.
Third, the slaughter of the Zhao army could never be just Bai Qi's meaning, the order should come from the highest level of the Qin State, and Bai Qi, as the frontline leading general, was responsible for directly organizing and implementing it, and he also bore this ancient insult.
Bai Qi slaughtered the Zhao army and surrendered, and its impact was far-reaching.
The first is cultural pressure. Not only was he called "human slaughter" and "god killer", but the people of Zhao Guo hated him to the bone. To this day, Gaoping's roasted tofu is still famous, formerly known as "white meat". The local people are eager to eat his brain pulp every day.
Second, the Lord of GongGao Zhen was killed. Bai Qi's merits were enormous, and he could not help but be proud, and later he was given death because of his disagreement with the political views of King Zhaoxiang of Qin. Before dying, he sighed and said, "I should die in Changping." Thus, there is also a famous allusion: killing is ominous.
The third is to sow the seeds of revenge. More than 50 years later, in the peasant revolt at the end of Qin, Xiang Yu defeated the Qin army at Julu, taking 200,000 prisoners, and killing all of them, which inevitably had elements of revenge.
However, based on the environment at that time, in the position of white rising, if you are the supreme commander of the Qin Army, you will also face a difficult choice problem, although you know that killing and descending is not appropriate, but you have no other better choice. There are four main reasons:
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="13" >, there is not enough food. </h1>
During the Warring States period, the level of productivity was relatively low, and food security was always a big problem. The State of Qin established a relatively sufficient material base through the Shang martingale transformation method, obtaining the rear of Bashu and establishing the Dujiangyan Project.
Even so, after two years of confrontation with the Zhao army, thousands of miles of grain transportation, there was also a serious shortage of grain and clothing. Self-preservation is still difficult, where is the surplus grain to feed the enemy prisoners?
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="30" > second, difficult to control</h1>
During the Warring States period, the total population of the Seven Kingdoms was about 20 million. The State of Qin owned three-tenths, or six million. Therefore, the Dispatch of 600,000 Troops by the State of Qin was already the limit. After the war, more than half of the losses were lost, and the remaining qin army was about 300,000. 300,000 troops to manage 200,000 pawns, in itself is very difficult. Slight changes, and there may even be a reversal.
The Zhao army was besieged for 46 days, and it was also able to organize a four-way breakthrough, which showed that the combat effectiveness was strong. Bai Qi was jealous of the Zhao Army's combat effectiveness, and he could not judge whether the Zhao Army had surrendered fraudulently, and not killing was not enough to calm the doubts.
Taking a step back, even if the Qin army can bring these 20 Zhao troops back to China, how to settle down is also a big problem. The 200,000 Zhao army is equivalent to one-thirtieth of the population of the Qin State, and it is a young and middle-aged labor force, and it is not safe to put it anywhere. Like a huge bomb, it can explode at any time. The peasant revolt at the end of the Qin Dynasty caused a rebellion by the nobles of the Six Kingdoms, and eventually buried the Qin Dynasty. Bai Qi believes that in history, the Zhao state has repeatedly broken the covenant and the Zhao people are capricious, and in the future, it may become a disaster, and the only solution is to kill.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="31" > third, deter enemy countries</h1>
The State of Zhao was the biggest obstacle to the eastward exit of the Qin State. In order to eliminate the living power of the Zhao kingdom, successive Qin kings have exhausted their strength. This time, the State of Qin won a narrow victory after using various means to pay a huge price under the condition of equal strength. If the captives are released and they have completed the rectification and will fight back, will they not abandon their previous achievements?
Facts have proved that after Changping's killing and surrender, Zhao Guo was discouraged and could no longer afford to march west. The other five countries were also terrified and always in a defensive position.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="32" >4. Reward soldiers</h1>
The most important content of the Shang martingale transformation method is to reward military cultivation. Bai Qi himself also stepped onto the stage of history through military merit. The most important way to accumulate military merit is to cut off people's heads. Kill one person and level up. The Qin army fought for two years, paid a heavy price, and finally won the final victory. Now that the Zhao army had surrendered and would not let people's heads be cut off, how could it satisfy the soldiers' strong desire for rewards?
Moreover, the Qin army implemented the "shi five-company sitting system", that is, if anyone in the Qin army suffered casualties, the same soldiers, including officers, would have to bear the guilt, and they must kill an equal number of enemies to be pardoned. The casualties of the Qin and Zhao armies were similar, and many people in the Qin army were wearing the body of sin, and it was difficult to atone for their sins without killing these Zhao army prisoners. As a general in charge of the army, if you cannot appease the soldiers and satisfy the psychology of the soldiers to cut off their heads and promote them to knighthood, it is not only impersonal, but also may affect morale, and then affect the management system.
Finally, it should be added that there is no psychological burden on baiqi.
During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the ceremonies collapsed and were destroyed, and there were endless cases of killing and surrendering. Bai Qi was a famous killing god in the Warring States period, with more than 70 battles in size, undefeated, promoted from the lowest-level officer to Wu Anjun, destroying no less than one million enemy troops, many of which were killed after capture.
Attacking Han and Wei Yuyi Que beheaded 240,000, attacking Chu Yu Yanshui Irrigation City drowned hundreds of thousands, attacking Wei Yu Huayang beheaded 130,000, fighting with the Zhao general Jia Yan 20,000, attacking Han yu Yu and beheading 50,000...
Now slaughtering 200,000 people at a time is excessive, but it is not too unusual. As wu anjun of the Qin state, Bai Qi considered the long-term view of the Qin state and took the unification of the world as his mission, and naturally could not leave 200,000 enemy young adults to add trouble to himself.