Guo Kai's ending, how King Qin treated him
Although the military strength of the Qin State in the late Warring States period was unique in the world and made the princes of various countries daunted, in addition to the powerful force, the Qin State was also good at using diplomatic means.
As Zhang Yi during the reign of King Huiwen of Qin said, "Shangshan is good at fighting diplomatic relations" and is good at using diplomatic tactics to maintain and consolidate his position.
Although he was the prime minister of Qin, he spent most of his time running around the world for more than 20 years, lobbying all countries to get close to Qin. Fan Ju, the prime minister of King Zhaoxiang of Qin, when he met King Zhaoxiang of Qin in Qin, he proposed the strategy of "distant friendship and close attack", and he was also the first person to advocate this strategy in Qin.
This fully illustrates the importance of diplomacy for a country, which can not only enhance the status of Qin among the princes, but also lay the foundation for Qin's unification of the six countries through a good diplomatic environment and ensure the smooth progress of the unification process.
After King Yingzheng of Qin came to power, he still followed the strategy of "distant friendship and close attack", as well as the assistance of his ministers, and finally formulated a strategy to unify the six countries. Among them, diplomacy was also the first step of Qin's unification strategy before Qin started the War of Unification of the Six Kingdoms.
Guo Wei Yu proposed to the king of Qin the strategy of "bribing the nobles of the six countries, destroying their union, and only 300,000 gold to achieve the unification of the six countries", which was adopted and implemented.
In this way, the Qin State could defeat the princes one by one and complete the great cause of unification. The Qin State adopted the strategy of bribing the nobles and powerful ministers of the Six Kingdoms with money, and the most significant effect was the Zhao State and the Qi State.
King Zhao's favored vassals Guo Kai and Qi Xiangguo Housheng played an important role in Qin's unification of the Six Kingdoms, and the influence of the two of them was equivalent to hundreds of thousands of soldiers and horses.
The protagonist of this article is Guo Kai, a minister of the Zhao State, who has a close relationship with Lian Po and Li Mu, one of the four famous generals of the Warring States. Lian Po and Li Mu were the two most warlike generals in Zhao State, but they were indirectly killed by Guo Kai.
If they can always serve the Zhao State, then the Qin State will need to pay at least hundreds of thousands of ** to eliminate the Zhao State. Guo Kai served two generations of Zhao monarchs, King Zhao Mianxiang and King Zhao Youmiao, and he was bought off by Qin during the reign of King Zhaoxiang of Qin.
The Qin State successfully used the "anti-intermediary strategy" in the Battle of Changping, and in addition to the proposer Qin Xiang Fan Ju, Guo Kai made the greatest contribution. In addition, Lian Po wanted to return to Zhao to serve the country, but failed, which was also the result of Guo Kai's obstruction and destruction.
In addition to the Battle of Changping, during the reign of King Yingzheng of Qin, during the war of Qin's annihilation of Zhao, Guo Kai also slandered King Zhao, framing Li Mu for wanting to rebel, causing King Zhao to set up an ambush and kill the only good general who could support the crisis of Zhao.
It can be said that Guo Kai was also the first contributor in the battle of Qin and Zhao. So, how did Guo Kai drive away and falsely kill the two famous generals of Zhao State? How did King Yingzheng of Qin treat this meritorious hero who contributed to Qin?
And what is the final outcome of Guo Kai? All of this requires further understanding and research.
The Battle of Changping was a famous battle between Qin and Zhao during the Warring States Period, which took place between the 43rd and 45th years of the reign of King Zhaoxiang of Qin. During these three years, the Qin state continued to attack Korea, capturing more than 20 cities, cutting off Korea from the capital.
In desperation, Han dedicated Shangdang County to Qin, but Feng Ting, the Shangdang Shou who was unwilling to surrender, dedicated Shangdang to Zhao, hoping to use Zhao's strength to fight against Qin.
King Xiaocheng of Zhao accepted Feng Ting's offer of Xianjun, which angered the Qin state, and the king of Qin Zhaoxiang sent Wang Yi to lead an army to attack the Zhao state, and the Battle of Changping broke out. Although Wang Yu broke through the Zhao army's position, since Lian Po adopted a strategy of holding on, the Qin army's gains became less and less.
In desperation, Wang Ji sent people back to inform King Qin Zhaoxiang, and King Qin summoned Ying Hou Fan Ju to discuss the strategy.
Fan Ju said to King Qin Zhaoxiang: "Lian Po has been a general for a long time and has rich experience, and he understands the strength of our army, so he does not dare to fight a decisive battle easily. Although our army fought for thousands of miles, it could not last, and he wanted to take advantage of this to take advantage of the situation.
If Lian Po is used, it will be difficult for our army to enter the Zhao State. Therefore, we need to use anti-intermediary schemes, bribe King Zhao of Handan with a thousand gold, and spread rumors. After King Zhaoxiang adopted Fan Ju's suggestion, Zhao Capital Handan spread rumors everywhere: "Lian Po is old, and he has been defeated many times, resulting in tens of thousands of Zhao troops."
Under the offensive of the Qin army, he was soon to surrender. The most feared of Qin was the son of Ma Fujun Zhao Hao, who is said to have surpassed his father in bravery. After King Zhao Xiaocheng heard these rumors, he didn't believe them at first, but he still sent an envoy to Changping to investigate and found that the rumors were all true.
So he ordered Lian Po to counterattack the Qin army, but Lian Po still insisted on holding on and was unwilling to fight. King Zhao Xiaocheng began to suspect that Lian Po was cowardly, and the people around him slandered again, and finally believed it, so he summoned Ma Fujun's son Zhao Kuo to ask.
Zhao Kuo spoke boldly and said to King Zhao Xiaocheng: "If the Qin State sends Wu Anjun as a general, I may need to think about it. But a newcomer like Wang Ji is no threat to me.
If I engage him, like an autumn wind sweeping away leaves, he simply cannot resist me. ”
King Zhao Xiaocheng's confidence in Zhao Kuo doubled, and he immediately appointed him as a general, gave him a large number of ** and other gifts, and requisitioned 200,000 elite soldiers to accompany him to the Changping battlefield.
The Qin army secretly activated Wu Anjun, used a strategy to lure Zhao Kuo deep behind the enemy, and used two strange troops to divide and surround and cut off the grain and grass of the Zhao army**, and finally succeeded in annihilating almost all the 400,000 Zhao troops.
After this news was transmitted back to the Zhao capital Handan, the whole country was shocked, and this war also fundamentally weakened the strength of the Zhao State, causing it to be unable to compete with the Qin State for a long time.
The Qin State seized the opportunity to continuously encroach on the Zhao State, making it unable to recover its vitality, and finally destroyed the Zhao State. So in the Battle of Changping, what role did Guo Kai, the favorite of King Zhao Xiaocheng, play?
Although there is no clear record in the historical records of the specific bribes used by the Qin state in the battle of Changping, the key factor is that the person was able to be moved by money, used by the Qin state, or had a grudge against Lian Po.
So does Guo Kai meet any of these two points? According to the "Historical Records", "Lian Po's enmity Guo Kaiduo and the envoy Jin ordered it to be destroyed." Qin Duo and Guo Kaijin, the favored minister of King Zhao, were opposed, and Li Mu wanted to rebel. ”
According to historical records, there was a deep grudge between Guo Kai and Lian Po, and he even did not hesitate to spend a lot of money to let the envoy speak ill of Lian Po to King Zhao in order to prevent Lian Po from being reused by King Zhao again.
At the same time, Guo Kai also accepted heavy bribes in the final stage of Qin's war to destroy Zhao, implemented a counter-plot for Qin, and framed Li Mu for rebellion. This shows that Guo Kai can not only be bought by money to serve the Qin State, but also have a dislike for Lian Po.
Therefore, in the Battle of Changping, Guo Kai should have been one of the ministers of the Qin State to implement the counter-plot in the Zhao State, and may even be the main implementer. The enmity between him and Lian Po may be due to the implementation of a counter-plot for the Qin State in the Battle of Changping and a slanderous attack on Lian Po.
This is similar to the record in the "Historical Records", Qin Xiang Fan Ju was also persuaded by Zhao envoys after the Battle of Changping, and accepted bribes to advise the Qin king to withdraw his troops to recuperate, thus creating a gap with Wu Anjun, who advocated the destruction of Zhao in one fell swoop.
Later, Fan Ju slandered the King of Qin, causing a generation of famous generals Bai Qi to finally commit suicide by King Zhaoxiang of Qin.
Guo Kai, a notorious person in history, once again used his means after the Battle of Changping to drive away Lian Po, who had been reactivated. Lian Po, as the chief general of the Zhao army, broke the Yan army in the "Battle of the Yan Dynasty", and finally made the Yan State cut the city and sued for peace, so he was appointed as the first Xiangguo and was named Xinping Jun.
However, after the death of King Xiaocheng, his son Zhao Wangyan succeeded to the throne, but he removed Lian Po from his official position and sent Le Cheng, a general of the Yan State, to replace him. Angry at this, Lian Po led his private army to attack Lecheng, and was eventually forced to leave Zhao and go to the Wei capital of Daliang.
All of this is probably Guo Kai's conspiracy. Lian Po is a famous general of Zhao State, and if there are no special circumstances, there is no need for Zhao Wangyan to abandon him and switch to Lecheng. And this person is Guo Kai, who has a grudge against Lian.
On the question of whether Guo Kai will accept bribes from Qin again, we cannot ignore an important factor - Zhao has powerful generals who can deter enemy countries, which poses a threat to the great cause of Qin's unification.
At this time, Yingzheng and Lü Buwei, one had just succeeded to the throne, and the other became the Great Qin Xiangbang, and they had grudges with Zhao, and it is understandable that they would rebel against Zhao and get rid of the famous general Lian Po in order to attack Zhao in the future.
In addition, when the new monarch of Zhao ascended the throne, it was also a good opportunity, after all, King Zhao Xiaocheng reused Lian Po after the Battle of Changping, but Lian Po also made great contributions, so it was difficult to get rid of Lian Po during the reign of King Zhao Xiaocheng.
Guo Kai cut off the road for Lian Po to return to China, so that Lian Po could not be trusted and reused for a long time after defecting to Wei. However, Lian Po was eager to return to Zhao and get an appointment, and King Zhao considered reinsigning him.
However, Guo Kai slandered Lian Po by bribing the envoys of King Zhao, thwarting the wishes of the monarch and the minister. As mentioned above, "Although General Lian is old, he is still good at eating, but he sits with his ministers, and he is left behind." ”
This is exactly what is the case at this time.
Lian Po worked hard to "flex his muscles" in front of King Zhao's envoys, trying to show that he was still up to the task. However, the envoys who had visited the Wei capital Daliang had been bribed by Guo Kai with a lot of money, so how could they say good things about Lian Po?
They reported to King Zhao: "Although Lian Po is old, has a good amount of food, and can wear armor and get on the horse, when he met us, he went to the toilet three times just after a while. ”
After hearing this, King Zhao thought that Lian Po was no longer suitable for an important position, so he decided not to recruit him back to Zhao. Later, the king of Chu secretly sent an envoy to take Lian Po to the state of Chu and let him be a general there.
Lian Po eventually died of depression in Shouchun, the capital of Chu, and his wish was to return to Zhao, but this was never realized. After the battles of Changping and Handan, King Zhaoxiang of Qin also entered his old age and died soon after.
The next successors to the throne, King Qin Xiaowen and King Xiang of Qin Zhuang, both did not reign for a long time, and soon ushered in the period of King Yingzheng of Qin. After formally taking power, Ying Zheng actively pursued a strategy of unification, and after a period of preparation, he decided to unify the six kingdoms by force, and Zhao was his primary target.
At this time, although Zhao Guo lost Lian Po, he ushered in another famous general, Li Mu, compared to Lian Po's calmness, Li Mu is better at fighting, and he has performed well in both offense and defense.
He led his army to successfully stop the Qin army's attack and also made the Qin state pay a heavy price, of which the Battle of Yi'an (Battle of Fei) and the Battle of Fanwu are the best examples.
Li Mu was the general of the Zhao state, and he successfully thwarted two large-scale attacks by the Qin state in the two battles of Yi'an and Fanwu. As a result, Qin's three major attacks over a four-year period from 236 BC to 232 BC failed to defeat Zhao.
As a result, Li Mu was given the same title of "Wu'an" as the Qin general Bai Qi, which fully proved Li Mu's military talent and military exploits. He is another famous general of Zhao Guo after Lian Po, which is a kind of luck for Zhao Guo and a support for the crisis.
However, for the Qin State, the Zhao State with Li Mu in charge was their nightmare. Therefore, in 229 BC, the Qin launched a fourth large-scale attack on Zhao, and they took advantage of the counter-intrigue and sent Guo Kai to Zhao Wangqian to slander and frame Li Mu for colluding with the Qin army and betraying Zhao.
Zhao Wangqian was a faint monarch, and he did not send someone to verify it, so he directly ordered to replace Li Mu in charge of the army. However, Li Mu did not obey orders like Lian Po, and he chose to continue to fight against Qin for the sake of the military and civilian interests of the country and the Zhao state. "
Guo Kai: The key figures behind the fall of the Warring States Zhao Li Mu and Lian Po, two of the four famous generals of the Warring States, had their fate reversed because of Guo Kai's slander.
Li Mu was assassinated for refusing to accept orders, and Lian Po died of depression. All this is because of Guo Kai, the minister of the Zhao State. Guo Kai held an important position in the state of Zhao, and he once advised the king of Zhao to kill Li Mu.
King Zhao followed his advice, which led to the tragedy of Li Mu. At the same time, Guo Kai also framed Lian Po, forcing him to leave Zhao. The fall of Zhao was also because of Guo Kai's betrayal.
He advised the King of Qin to attack Zhao. The king of Qin followed his advice, and as a result, he easily conquered the Zhao capital Handan and established Handan County. However, when the state of Zhao fell, King Yingzheng of Qin's attitude towards Guo Kai changed.
Although Guo Kai was once an enemy of the Zhao State, his contribution to the Qin State cannot be ignored. The King of Qin had no reason to punish Guo Kai, and he could not punish him. Guo Kai, a former traitor of the Zhao State, became a hero of the Qin State.
His fate also reflects the uncertainty of the fate of the country and individuals during the Warring States period.
Although it would have been easy for the King of Qin to execute Guo Kai, he knew that there were still four countries that had not yet been conquered. In order to set an example for the remaining princes and ministers, reduce their resistance, and avoid more losses for the Qin army, the king of Qin decided to give Guo Kai a heavy reward and make him Shangqing, which is beyond reproach.
Previously, Mao Jiao of Qi was named Shangqing for persuading the King of Qin to welcome back his biological mother, the Empress Dowager, which showed the good reputation of the King of Qin for attaching importance to filial piety, convinced the people of the world, and reduced the resistance of the people of the Six Kingdoms.
Similarly, the main purpose of the Qin king's reward for Guo Kai was to set an example for the princes and ministers, to alleviate their resistance, and to accomplish the unification of the Qin ancestors and countless Qin people at the lowest cost.
Only by realizing the unification of the world and ending the troubled times can we completely avoid the disasters and hardships suffered by the people of the world due to the scourge of war. In contrast, the value of leaving Guo Kai is insignificant.
Ending: Guo Kai's final fate may not be too good, there have always been many people full of pride and ambition in the land of Yan Zhao, how could these brave and fearless people allow the ** thief who framed Lian Po and Li Mu, two loyal ministers and famous generals, to survive safely!
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