In May of the third year of The reign of King Xiang of Qinzhuang (247 BC), King Xiang of Qinzhuang died at the age of Chinese New Year's Eve five. The 13-year-old Yin Zheng was made the King of Qin. At the beginning of the reign of Yingzheng, the power was controlled by the empress dowager and Lü Buwei. However, by eliminating the two powerful ministers, Yan Yi and Lü Buwei, the Qin king Yingzheng was able to regain power. On this basis, the elimination of the Six Kingdoms became an important goal of winning the government.
In 230 BC, The Qin Emperor Officially began the campaign to unify the Six Kingdoms. In this year, the Qin army eliminated Korea. At the end of the Warring States period, Korea's territory and military strength had been seriously reduced, so the qin state's elimination of Korea could be described as very smooth. In 229 BC, The Qin king Yingzheng sent Wang Qi to attack the State of Zhao. Although the State of Zhao possessed Li Mu, a famous general, after Li Mu was unjustly killed, Wang Qi still attacked the capital of the State of Zhao, Handan, in 228 BC.
By 225 BC, Wang Qi's son Wang Ben (王贲) led an army to destroy the State of Wei. After the fall of Korea, the State of Zhao, and the State of Wei, the State of Chu became the next target of the Qin Dynasty. It is true that at this time, the Chu State is no longer at its peak. However, the skinny camel was bigger than the horse, and the Chu state, with its vast territory, was still a very difficult opponent for the Qin state.
One
Specifically, before the official dispatch of troops, The Qin Emperor Yingzheng summoned the military generals of The Wenchen to discuss countermeasures to attack the Chu state. In this regard, the young Li Xin said that he only needed 200,000 troops to destroy the Chu state. After Li Xin replied, The Qin emperor Asked Wang Zhai, a veteran general, who said that if he wanted to annex the Chu state, he would need at least 600,000 troops. Between these two schemes, Qin Wang Yingzheng initially chose Li Xin.
Soon after, Li Xin led an army of 200,000 to attack the Chu state. Although good results were achieved in the early stages, under the counterattack of Xiang Yan, a famous general, Li Xin still suffered defeat and fled back to the Qin state. After learning the news of the defeat of the Qin army, The Qin King Yingzheng personally came to Wang Qi's home and not only expressed his apologies, but also handed over 600,000 troops to him. So, the question is, when King Yingzheng of Qin first sent troops to destroy the Chu state, why did he choose Li Xin instead of Wang Qi?
In this regard, in the author's opinion, the reasons are mainly divided into the following two points. On the one hand, Li Xin was a young general hand-picked by the King of Qin, and he could be said to be a confidant of the King of Qin. More crucially, before leading the army to attack the Chu state, Li Xin had already shown his talents. In 228 BC, when Wang Qi attacked the State of Zhao, Li Xin led an army to attack the northern part of the State of Zhao, and successfully besieged the capital of the State of Zhao, Handan, together with Wang Qi.
After the fall of the State of Zhao, Li Xin also led an army to defeat prince Dan of the State of Yan, causing heavy losses to the State of Yan, which also laid a good foundation for the complete elimination of the State of Yan later. In this context, when it was necessary to send troops to eliminate the State of Chu, The King of Qin, Yingzheng, naturally still hoped that Li Xin could continue to make military achievements, so as to avoid Wang Qi and Wang Ben from dominating the forces of the Qin generals.
Two
As mentioned earlier, in the process of Qin's destruction of the Six Kingdoms, not only did Wang Qi make great military achievements, but Wang Qi's son Wang Ben also led an army to capture the capital of the Wei state, Daliang. It is true that Wang Qi and Wang Ben's father and son were loyal to the Qin state, but Qin Shi Huang would not hand over all the soldiers and horses to them to take charge. Before Qin Shi Huang, Bai Qi also made great achievements for the Qin state, for example, in the Battle of Changping, Bai Qi eliminated more than 400,000 Zhao guo troops, prompting the six kingdoms of Shandong to lose their qualifications to compete with the Qin state for the world. However, due to the increasing prestige and military achievements, Bai Qi had already posed a threat to King Zhaoxiang of Qin, which became an important reason why Bai Qi was eventually forced to commit suicide.
To a certain extent, it was precisely because he realized Qin Shi Huang's intention to balance the military generals, and after the Qin state unified the six kingdoms, Wang Qi chose to retreat bravely and gave up the opportunity to continue to command the soldiers and horses. Otherwise, after the establishment of the Qin Dynasty, Wang Qi and Wang Ben's father and son, who continued to hold military power, would undoubtedly pose a certain threat to Qin Shi Huang.
On the other hand, before sending troops to destroy the Chu state for the first time, Li Xin proposed that only 200,000 troops were needed, while Wang Qi said that 600,000 troops were necessary. In this regard, in the author's view, compared with Wang Qi's plan, Li Xin's plan has a lower cost. In other words, The Qin king Yingzheng gave Li Xin an army of 200,000 to attack the Chu state, and if successful, it could be said that the goal of eliminating the Chu state was achieved at a small cost. If it fails, it will not hurt the Qin state, that is, with the strength of the Qin state, it will soon be able to make up for the loss of 200,000 troops. On the other hand, if 600,000 troops were to move, the Qin state would not be able to make up for this loss in a short period of time.
Four
Finally, for the 600,000 troops proposed by Wang Qi, it was undoubtedly necessary to mobilize all the main forces of the Qin State. Although Qin Wang Yingzheng was not a suspicious monarch, he would naturally face a huge risk by hastily handing over 600,000 troops to Wang Qi, that is, Qin Wang Yingzheng not only needed to bear the risk that Wang Qi might support his own army, but also had to accept the risk that 600,000 troops would be defeated by the Chu state. For the Qin King Yingzheng at that time, these two risks were unbearable.
Therefore, after weighing the pros and cons, The Qin king Yingzheng chose to give Li Xin an army of 200,000 and let him launch the first war to destroy Chu. Although Li Xin ended in failure, this did not seriously hurt the Qin state, and also exposed the true strength of the Chu state. Soon after, King Yingzheng of Qin asked Wang Qi to lead an army of 600,000 Qin states on a campaign. In this battle, Wang Qi did not rush to fight a decisive battle with Xiang Yan, but took the initiative to fight a war of attrition with the other side. Because of the strong logistical supply capabilities of the Qin state, the large army led by Xiang Yan could not stalemate with the other side for a long time.
In the end, Wang Qi seized the flaw on Xiang Yan's side and successfully destroyed the Chu army. After killing Xiang Yu's grandfather Xiang Yan, Wang Qi captured the Chu king and pacified the Chu state. Subsequently, Wang Qi marched south to Baiyue and won victory. This means that the vast territory of the Chu state is basically occupied by the Qin state. After this, Wang Qi retreated bravely, while his sons Wang Ben, Li Xin, Meng Tian and others continued to attack the princely states of Yan and Qi, thus helping Qin Shi Huang complete the great cause of unifying the world.