This is a continuation of the previous article.
We say that in 351 B.C., Shin Bu-chan became minister of state in Korea and began to preside over the change of law. The core of Shen's harmless reform is to strengthen the centralization of power and strengthen the authority of the monarch. Compared with the Shang Martingale Transformation Method, the Shen Non-Harmful Transformation Method is relatively rough, and the specific content that can be implemented is also less, and it does not shake the class foundation of Korea like the Shang Martingale Transformation Law, so its effect is also very limited. Therefore, after the death of Han Zhaohou, who supported The Transformation of the Law, the road to change the law in South Korea was also terminated.
In 350 BC, Shang Martin implemented the second change in the Qin state.
"The court of The Ji Que was in Xianyang and the capital was moved. It is forbidden for fathers, sons and brothers to rest indoors. And the small townships are gathered together into one county. Scrap the well field, open the strange. Flat bucket, barrel, power, balance, zhang, ruler".
We can see that Shang Martin's measures, for the Qin State, everything is naked and very profound, and it can be said that it has recreated a Qin State.
First, xianyang city was built and officially set at Xianyang. Second, change the previous family structure, prohibit fathers and sons and brothers from living in the same house, and forcibly separate the Qin people. Third, the establishment of counties became the prototype of the county system in the later Qin Kingdom. Fourth, completely abolish well fields, encourage private ownership of land, and develop productive forces. Fifth, unified weights and measures.
Shang Martin was indeed a great politician and reformer, and his reforms not only touched the class foundation of the Qin State, but also affected the state form and folk system of the Qin State.
In 348 BC, the Shang martingale once again implemented tax reform in the Qin state, pushing the vigorous Shang martingale transformation method to the climax.
There are only a few words about this in the Zizhi Tongjian, "Shang martingale is more tax law, practice it." The shang martingale's tax law mainly includes the following points, one is to calculate the land endowment according to the yield of the field, so that more production and more payment, less production and less payment, to avoid the occurrence of a one-size-fits-all situation, effectively stimulate the Qin people's enthusiasm for reclamation. The second is to levy heavy taxes on the aristocratic class, and Shang Martin believes that once a part of the people have a surplus life, they will inevitably no longer engage in productive labor, and the state political system will suffer losses; the government should impose heavy taxes on the rich and noble, forcing them to also engage in production, so as to enhance the productivity of the whole society while maintaining social fairness. The third is to impose heavy taxes on luxury goods such as alcohol, "the price of expensive wine and meat, heavy rent, so that ten times its simplicity ..."
The effect of the Shang martingale transformation method can be said to be unprecedented, and five years later, in 343 BC, "Wang Zhi bo to Qin, all princes he Qin." ”。 Zhou Tianzi recognized the State of Qin, and Duke Xiao of Qin also restored the hegemony of Qin Mugong, even going one step further.
That is, in the same year, the Qin state and the princes who had initially tasted the taste of raising their eyebrows and exhaling were assembled in Yu Fengze, "Qin Xiaogong's envoy, the young official Shuai Shihui princes, yu Fengze to be the king of the dynasty." This congress, also known as the Fengze Huimeng, is a high-end gathering between the princes. But it was also this alliance that led to our theme today, the Battle of Maling.
Regarding the Battle of Maling, there is a great controversy in history. Here, we will only show this story according to the narrative in the Zizhi Tongjian.
At the Fengze Alliance, the major princely states of the Central Plains sent representatives to participate. As the overlord of the Central Plains, the State of Wei naturally attached great importance to it, and King Hui of Wei personally participated in this alliance. Originally, there was a theme in this meeting, that is, King Hui of Wei intended to be the first among the princes to become kings, using the etiquette of the Son of Heaven. All this move of King Hui of Wei, on the one hand, is that the State of Wei has always been powerful and has a certain amount of capital; on the other hand, the State of Qin has taken the lead in instigating it. This move shocked all the countries in the Central Plains, and it was the two countries that clearly opposed it, South Korea and the State of Qi, and these two countries did not send emissaries to participate in the alliance.
Therefore, in order to reaffirm hegemony and recover the losses lost in the Battle of Guiling, the State of Wei launched a war against Korea in 341 BC.
Needless to say, the State of Qi was originally at odds with the State of Wei, and its strength was strong, and it was reasonable to disobey the State of Wei. Korea had the courage to oppose the State of Wei, mostly from the great talent of Shen Bu and Han Zhaohou.
Like the Battle of Guiling, at this time, king Qi Wei was also faced with the choice of whether to save Korea or not. Eventually, he took Sun's advice and sent emissaries to Korea, agreeing to South Korea's request for reinforcements. South Korea learned that the State of Qi would come to its aid in the future, so it fought to the death, but all ended in failure, "five battles without victory".
Therefore, the State of Qi sent Tian Ji and Tian Bao as generals, and Sun Zhi as the commander of the army to save him, "to save Han and go straight to the capital of Wei." Pang Juan learned the news, gave up continuing to attack South Korea, and returned to defend Daliang. At this time, Sun Zhi suggested to Tian Ji that the strategy of reducing the number of fire stoves in the Qi army should be gradually reduced, so as to give Pang Juan the impression that the Qi army was timid. Therefore, Pang Juan once again gave up his heavy pursuit of the Qi army, and as a result, he was ambushed by Sun Zhen at Maling, and committed suicide in a big defeat.
On the one hand, the battle is well known, coupled with the rendering of modern film and television programs, many people are deeply impressed; on the other hand, there are many doubts about this battle, and there are many debates about it in history.
Let's analyze the doubts of this battle. The Chronicle of History and the Zizhi Tongjian clearly record that when the State of Qi decided to rescue Korea, the State of Wei immediately retreated from Korea and returned to defend Daliang, and then "the Wei people sent troops, with Prince Shen as the general, and the Imperial Qi Division." From this, we can see that the Wei people marched towards the Qi people to resist the attack of the Qi army, and the State of Qi also entered the territory of the State of Wei at this moment. The course of the Battle of Maling was obviously that the Wei were pursuing the Qi people, so Sun Zhen laid down a plan to reduce the stove on the way back. According to common sense, the Wei people from Da liang to the east to resist the Qi attack, the Qi people also marched in the direction of Da Liang "Sun Tzu as a division, to save Han, go straight to the Wei capital", the two armies should be an encounter, how can there be a situation where the Qi people are in front and the Wei people are in the back. From this point of view, there is no objective condition for the implementation of the stove reduction plan.
This is the Battle of Guiling, for reference only
Some people may say that it was Prince Shen who resisted the Qi people, and Pang Juan was just "going to Han and returning", and it was impossible for him to pursue the Qi people on the way back?
This is even more unlikely, because Korea is in the west of the Wei state of Daliang, even if Pang Juan retreats and returns, it should be from the west to the eastern Liang, that is, Pang Juan and Prince Shen are completely along the way, also facing the Qi army.
Or some people may say that after the Qi army entered the State of Wei, it learned that the State of Wei was preparing to face the Qi army head-on, because it chose to retreat, and Pang Juan was eager to win, so he desperately pursued, so he would pursue the Qi army; moreover, the Qi army's march route was tortuous, and there may be a situation where the Qi army is in front and the Wei army is behind in a certain area. First, if the Qi army takes the initiative to choose to retreat, it is a major strategic decision, and we should not find a relevant record, and this is also very different from our impression of the Battle of Maling; second, if Sun Bin implements the strategy of reducing the stove at this time, then according to the description of the plan, there will be constantly soldiers of the State of Qi fleeing within the territory of the State of Wei, which is obviously not in line with common sense. You must know that the Qi army belongs to the invading side in the territory of the State of Wei, the formed army can still survive, so many deserters are scattered in the territory of the State of Wei, how can they escape the pursuit of the local garrison of the State of Wei and even the ordinary Wei people? Even if they escape the pursuit, the border between the two countries will never be easily crossed, otherwise what is the use of the border? Taking a step back, even if the reduction plan was really implemented in the territory of the State of Wei, just by checking the people in the nearby mountains, we would definitely be able to find clues, maybe we could still catch a few prisoners to inquire about the enemy's military situation, so that these deserters would not run faster than the main force of the Qi army, right? If that's the case, they don't have to be deserters, how good is it to flee directly with the brigade?
Therefore, the author boldly deduces that the Battle of Maling may not have occurred in the State of Wei, if this battle exists, it is also likely to occur in the territory of the State of Qi, only in the territory of the country, deserters may be reduced to zero, after all, the purpose of deserters to escape is to flee home, rather than hiding in the mountains as wildlings. Perhaps it was because wei was angry at the intervention of the state of Qi and gave up attacking Korea, and took the initiative to send troops to hit the state of Qi, while the Qi army adopted the strategy of luring the enemy to go deep, constantly attracting the Wei army to pursue, and only then did it have a strategy to reduce the stove and ambush Pang Juan successfully.
In fact, the existence of the Battle of Maling remains to be examined. Exactly where Maling is, there have been many debates in history. Moreover, as the manager, Pang Juan, facing the same opponent, twice gave up the main force and heavy weight, lightly loaded and light enemies, and made the same mistake, which is really puzzling.
Regardless of whether this battle existed or not, the fall of the State of Wei was a foregone conclusion, and in the second year of the Battle of Wei Qi, the State of Qin, who had also instigated the State of Wei to use the title of King, revealed his original face, and Shang Martin would return to the place where he had dreamed of starting, this time, the State of Wei and His Uncle Had given him the loss and waiting, and he would use iron and fire to repay.