Chapter 126: Lessons from the Wei State

King Hui of Wei, who suffered repeated military defeats, seems to have recognized the importance of talent, and began to recruit talents in the later part of his reign, and Mencius, Zou Yan, and Chun Yuji came to Wei during this period. But these people are not the same as King Wei Hui after all, so they don't play much of a role.

From King Hui of Wei to the fall of Wei, there were five monarchs of Wei, namely King Xiang of Wei, King Zhao of Wei, King Anli of Wei, King Jingmin of Wei and King Fake of Wei.

King Xiang of Wei used his ears to reject Cheng Lingjun, and was fooled by Su Dai, Zhang Yi and others; King Wei Zhao reused Mangmao, but Mangmao was only good at deceit, which was really embarrassing and useful, so we won't say more.

However, in 257 BC, in order to rescue Zhao, Xinling Jun stole talismans to save Zhao, and lived in Zhao for ten years, until 247 BC, he returned to Wei. When Xinlingjun returned to Wei, he immediately organized a five-nation alliance to attack Qin, and achieved good results. So the Qin State used a divisive strategy to sow discord between King Wei Anli and Xinlingjun, who was once again not reused, and finally gave up on himself and died of excessive wine. During the false period of King Wei Jingmin and King Wei, Wei was already like a fish on a chopping block or a patient with terminal cancer, who could only be slaughtered by others, and there was no cure.

When we sort out and review the process of Wei's demise, we only want to illustrate one issue, that is, the importance of talent to a country. Wei Wenhou was able to attach importance to talents, and the Wei State was developed; After Wei Wenhou, the successive monarchs of Wei neither paid enough attention to talents, nor could they treat talents well, resulting in the loss of talents or uselessness. As a result, there was only one way in front of Wei: perdition!

Born in sorrow, died in peace. After the three families were divided, the situation of Wei was really not optimistic, surrounded by strong enemies on all sides, and there was basically no danger to defend. Forced by the situation, Wei was the first to change the law and embarked on the road of becoming a strong country. Wei Wenhou appointed Li Kui as the prime minister, built water conservancy, rewarded farming and warfare, and greatly increased the national strength. When outstanding talents from all over the world heard that Wei Wenhou was virtuous, they came to vote one after another, especially the arrival of Wu Qi, to establish a highly professional army for Wei - Wei Wushu. At this time, the Qin State was in a period of decline for a hundred years, and had not yet obtained the complete Guanzhong Plain, and the Kunshan and Hangu Guantian were still in the hands of the Wei State, and the road to the east was completely blocked by the Three Jin Dynasty. During the first battle of Hexi, the Wei army went deeper and deeper westward in a step-by-step manner, and the Qin state was powerless to resist, and the Wei army did not stop until it went deep into the Jin Dynasty, and it was only 200 miles away from the Qin capital Liyang. The Qin army was defeated and retreated until it was along the Luo River before stabilizing its position. The state of Wei completely occupied Hexi.

After the Qin State lost Hexi, the Qin capital Liyang was no longer in danger to defend, as long as Wu Qi was willing, he could take Liyang in one fell swoop, and the Qin State would become the first country to be destroyed in the Warring States. In order to recapture the land of Hexi, Qin launched the Second Battle of Hexi, sending an army of 500,000 to attack Jin, intending to drive the Wei army out of Hexi. In the face of the powerful Qin army, Wu Qi, the chief general of the Wei army, inspired his soldiers and defeated the Qin army with only 50,000 Wei soldiers.

At this time, the Qin State was facing an unprecedented crisis, and the slightest carelessness would be the end of the country. At this time, the Marquis of Wei Wuhou made frequent moves, first bī) went to Xihe County to defend Wu Qi, and then turned against Zhao, Wei's strategic goal was moved from the western front to the eastern front, and the pressure on Qin was greatly reduced. The wrong strategic direction of Wei Wuhou pushed Wei to the abyss of no return. Wei was busy fighting for hegemony in the Central Plains, beating Yan Zhao and beating Chu Qi, which seemed to be infinitely beautiful, but in fact it was the end of the crossbow. Wei made enemies on all sides, and although there were many victories, there was no substantial strategic progress. In the Battle of Maling, 100,000 elite Wei troops were annihilated by the Qi army, and the main general Pang Juan killed himself, and the Wei State has been in a state of collapse since then.

Looking back at the decline of Wei, if Wei Wuhou and Wei Huiwang continued to implement Wei Wenhou's westward expansion strategy, befriended Han Zhao, eliminated Qin before it rose, occupied the Guanzhong region, and used Wei's original land as the road to the east, then it would not be Qin but Wei that unified the six countries. It's a pity that history has no ifs, and the father and son of Wei Wuhou personally buried the good foundation left by the previous king.

In the autumn period, Wei, as one of the six secretaries of the Jin Kingdom, seemed to be inconspicuous, but in fact, he had always been quite powerful. After the three families entered the Warring States period, the Wei clan divided the new and old capitals of the Jin State, Jiangdu and Quwo, which can be regarded as one of the largest gains. Wei slowly developed from a fragmented territory to a great power that dominated the princes, and then gradually weakened until it was destroyed by the Qin state, and in the whole process, the change in the territory of Wei was one of the most interesting of all the countries at that time. It is as unpredictable as a cloud in the sky: one moment it will form a concave shape to surround Korea, and the next it will become a ||The type was separated by Korea, and in the end it was swallowed up by the waves of the Qin State like a lonely boat. After the three families were destroyed, in order to facilitate the management of their own territory, each family constantly exchanged land, so that their respective territories could be connected as much as possible, so the prototype of the three kingdoms of Zhao, Wei, and Han was formed.

After the three families were divided, the first to become powerful was the Wei State, and Wei Wenhou took the lead in appointing Li Yan to change the law, making the Wei State the first overlord of the Warring States Period. What is even more commendable is that Wei Wenhou also united the Three Jin Dynasty to conquer the east and west, basically abusing all the surrounding countries, Wei not only captured the Hexi region of Qin State, destroyed Zhongshan State, but also invaded some cities of Chu State and Qi State, making Wei's territory reach the peak of history. At this time, the territory of Wei State included: the area of Zhongshan State that was conquered; the Hexi and Hedong regions between Korea and Qin; a small area between Korea and Cho; There is also a large area near the Central Plains Girder, which seems to surround Korea in a concave shape.

However, the good times don't last long, Sanjin is three countries after all, they will come together because of common interests, and they will also part ways because of their respective interests! Zhao and Korea followed Wei in the southern and northern wars, often most of the interests were occupied by Wei, and they received much less than they paid, and disagreements arose! After the centrifugation of the Three Jin Dynasty, Wei attacked Zhao and Korea respectively with its super strength, and was defeated by Qi in the Battle of Guiling and the Battle of Maling respectively. After the two wars, the Wei state gradually declined, and the successive rise of the Qi state and the Qin state posed a great threat to the Wei state. Wei was originally in the land of four wars, but during the reign of King Wei Hui, sometimes he joined forces with Qin, and sometimes with other countries, and the vacillation of policy directly led to the enemy of Wei on all sides! Soon the land west of the Wei River was conquered by the Qin Ruishi, and the land east of the river was also unsustainable, and the territory of Wei continued to shrink. After part of Hedong was captured, Wei chose to cede Shangjun to Qin in exchange for the occupied Hedong region and set up Hedong County, at which point Wei's territory was divided into two halves as if it had been cut by Korea.

Since the capture of Bashu and the destruction of Yiqu, the Qin State not only has a stable rear, but also a stable granary, and its strength is incomparable, and the trend of going east is unstoppable. After Wei was captured by Qin in the Hedong and Hexi regions, Wei basically withdrew from the front line of resistance against Qin, and Korea became the one standing at the forefront.

Korea was already a small country and weak, and since Yewang was captured by the Qin general Bai Qi, it was unable to control the Shangdang region. Shangdang County Shoufeng Ting and the people of Shangdang were unwilling to belong to Qin, so they dedicated the land of Shangdang to Zhao, which directly led to the Battle of Qin and Zhao Changping. After this battle, the nations could no longer compete with Qin, and after the fall of Korea and Zhao, Wei was like an isolated boat.

This time the Wei State had no chance to escape, and was soon wiped out by the Qin State, and its territory disappeared from the face of the earth forever.

In the early Warring States period, why didn't the powerful Wei State directly destroy the Qin State?

In the early Warring States period in history, Wei was the most powerful country in terms of comprehensive national strength at that time. However, they did not annihilate the Qin State in one fell swoop, which led to the situation of the Qin State unifying the six countries later. When it comes to the relationship between Qin and Wei, it is still a little complicated, and the various entanglements between them also continue the relationship between Qin and Jin during the autumn period. That is, the goodness of Qin and Jin that we often know in our lives. But if we look at the overall environment of the entire autumn period, the relationship between the Qin state and the Jin state can be said to be enemies. When the state of Zhao, Korea and Wei were divided into the Jin state, the core part of the Wei state, which is the southwest region of today's Jin, so the Jin state during the Warring States period also refers to the Wei state.

Since there is such a relationship between Qin and Wei, why didn't Wei, as the first to become a powerful country in the early Warring States period, dominate the Central Plains for 100 years, why didn't they directly annihilate Qin in one fell swoop?

First of all, Wei is in the heart of China, also known as the country of war, so they have no way to concentrate all their forces to attack Qin, for example, a very famous war in history, besieging Wei to save Zhao, is actually caused by the geopolitical environment of Wei, and Qin has nothing to worry about in this regard, and no vassal state can strategically realize the siege of Qin and Wei. Therefore, there is no way for Wei to attack Qin, and if they attack Qin, then it is very likely that other vassal states will take advantage of the situation at this time and stab them in the back. In the end, the result of Wei was also unimaginable, and after being attacked by the two major vassal states of the east and west, they would also completely lose their status as the overlord of the Central Plains.

Secondly, compared with the economically backward Qin State, the Wei State is more inclined to occupy the land in the east, so the country's strategic focus is on the plains in the east, just like now the country is faced with a choice, you want to attack a country, one is a poor country, the other is a rich country, which one will you choose to attack? Don't even think about it, it's definitely going to attack rich countries. At that time, the geographical location of the Qin State was relatively remote and isolated, compared with the eastern countries, the transportation was inconvenient, and the economic and cultural aspects of the country were relatively backward behind the eastern vassal states, so they were not willing to focus on expanding the territory here, but placed in the more extensive plain area of the east, where the land was very suitable for farming, the transportation was also very convenient, and the development of handicrafts and commerce was very rapid.

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