King Qi was a king of Qi during the Warring States period of China, and his reign witnessed the rise and fall of Qi. Although the annexation of the Song State allowed the Qi State to increase rapidly, it led to the fear of the surrounding countries.
Yan took the opportunity to unite with Qin, Wei, Zhao, Han, and Yan to attack Qi, and finally broke through Linzi, the capital of Qi, and occupied seventy-two cities. In this war, King Qi was held hostage by the Chu general Naoya and forced to cut the land.
However, he would rather die than obey, and eventually died in the war. Despite this, the ambition of King Qi was comparable to that of Qin Xiaogong, but due to his lack of talent, it led to the decline of the Qi state.
King Qi Wei and King Qi Xuan were two enlightened monarchs during the Warring States period of Qi, and they both made great contributions to the strength of Qi and the display of national prestige. King Qi Wei broke the monopoly of Wei in the early Warring States period and successfully showed the national strength of Qi in front of all countries.
He appointed Zou Ji to change the law, cook traitors with Ding, eliminate traitors in the country, and at the same time kill chickens and monkeys to set an example. He also appointed virtuous ministers, corporal Lixian, and selected talents from the people, making the officialdom order of Qi more enlightened.
King Qi Xuan won praise for his superb strategy. He successfully deceived Prince Yan and caused him to die in the war, and then ordered the Qi army to attack Yan, which can be said to kill two birds with one stone.
The turmoil between the sons of Yan and the royal family made the people of Yan unwilling to fight, and they opened the city gate to welcome the arrival of the Qi army, so that Yan was finally captured by Qi. Although Qi was forced to withdraw its troops in the end, the process of capturing Yan made all countries see the strong national strength of Qi.
In general, King Qi Wei and King Qi Xuan both used practical actions to make the countries dare not despise the Qi State. They proved the national strength of Qi with their strength and demonstrated the strength and national prestige of Qi.
Qi can be called a first-class country during the Warring States Period, known as "Eastern Qin". Its economic strength is strong, its geographical location is superior, and the fishing and salt industries have created the commercial prosperity of the country.
Qi also opened the Jixia School Palace, where freedom of speech and unrestrained action of the people created a rich and open atmosphere. Especially in the capital city of Linzi, there are many residents, entertainment facilities are readily available, and the population even exceeds that of Chang'an, the capital city of the Western Han Dynasty.
The population and economic prosperity of Linzi of Qi were unparalleled at that time, and it was known as "100,000 households in Linzi, with a thousand gold in the city, and a lot of people and shares, which is bigger than Chang'an".
When Su Qin explained to King Xuan of Qi the benefits of the strategy of joining forces, he mentioned that there were many vehicles in Linzi City, and the axles collided; People waved their arms like a drizzle; Every family is very wealthy; There are more than 200,000 men in Linzi City alone, and if all the soldiers are recruited, it will be 200,000 soldiers"There is no way in the world"It is a description of the strength of the Qi State at that time.
Although Su Qin's words may be exaggerated, they are generally true. If what he said was too outrageous, King Qi Xuan might think he was insincere and drive him away.
The military and economic strength of the Qi State was strong enough, which was also the main reason why the Qin State wanted to be the emperor together with the Qi State when it was called the emperor and was proud of the princes. "There are 70,000 households in Linzi, and I privately estimate that there are at least three men in each household, and three times seven equals 210,000, and there is no need to recruit distant counties, there are already 210,000 soldiers in Linzi City alone.
Linzi City is very rich and fulfilling, and there are no people who do not play the flute and drum, play the piano and build the building, fight cocks and lackeys, play six games of chess, and kick and bow. On the streets of Linzi, the wheels collided, the crowd rubbed shoulders one after another, the robes and dresses formed a curtain, the sleeves were like a curtain, sweating like rain, every household was rich, everyone was ambitious, and the spirit was high.
With the talent of the king and the strong strength of the Qi country, no one in the world is invincible. "- "Historical Records: The Biography of Su Qinlie".
The aristocracy controlled power, and the state of Qi implemented the five-capital system to maintain the operation of the country. King Qi Wei can abolish government affairs, and the country can still operate normally, relying on the stable operation of the five-capital system.
Whether it is an enemy in the west, an enemy in the east, or an enemy in the south, there is a corresponding capital city to defend. Even if the monarch does not handle government affairs, the secretary can take over and ensure the normal operation of the country.
This system made the state of Qi unique during the Warring States period, showing the power of the Tian nobles and the stability of the country.
Behind the prosperity lies a crisis: economic development is not always a good thing, and it can become a curse for the people of Qi. During the Warring States period, Qi avoided large-scale invasion due to its distance from Qin, and its commerce was unusually developed, while Qin's commerce lagged far behind.
But there is a danger lurking beneath this prosperity. The exploitation of merchants by the Qin State made it impossible for them to do business, so they could only join the army and pursue fame and fortune. For the people of Qin, they had no third way to choose from, only farming or going to the battlefield.
However, the development of GDP during the Warring States period does not mean that a country is necessarily strong, and what is truly strong is the sophistication of weapons and the courage of soldiers. As a result, an overdeveloped GDP can weaken a country, not make it strong.
In the early Warring States period, Qi's armies were greedy for life and fear of death on the battlefield, and only cared about their own lives, which made them often defeated and fled in the face of powerful enemy forces. This behavior of the Qi army caused ridicule from the nations, because their greed for life and fear of death became an open secret.
However, on the eve of the Battle of Maling, Sun Bin took advantage of the Qi army's greed for life and fear of death to set up a plan and successfully defeated the Wei army. This shows that as long as there is a person who is skilled in the art of war to command, the Qi army can defeat the powerful enemy army.
At the same time, there was also an open social atmosphere in the early Warring States period, which was very rare at the time. Qi Huan, the monarch of Qi State, openly set up a Jixia School Palace to recruit talents from all over the world and give them a good fortune, hoping that they can be used by Qi and bring benefits to Qi State.
However, this open social climate also had an impact on the king's orders. Many scholars are very arrogant, they dare to say anything and do anything.
King Qi's father, King Qi Xuan, once appointed seventy-six scholars as the top doctors, which led to the arrogance of the scholars becoming more serious. Although the Jixia School Palace had a great influence on the Qi Kingdom, it also brought some bad effects to the Qi Kingdom.
During the reign of King Qi Xuan, King Qi Xuan personally went to Jixia School Palace to inspect and invited Yan Xuan to come to his side. However, Yan Xuan asked King Qi Xuan to come to his side. In the face of other people's accusations, Yan Wei said that if he came to King Qi Xuan's side, it was because he was greedy for power; And King Qi Xuan came to him out of respect for the Magi.
King Qi Xuan understood this and tolerated Yan Xuan's request. The angry King of Qi Xuan asked Yan Xu: "Who is more honorable than the scholar or the monarch?" Yan Yu replied firmly: "Of course, the scholars are more noble, and the monarch is not noble." ”
Although King Qi Xuan was very angry, he did not execute him, but asked Yan Xuan why he said this. Yan Hu used the order issued by the Qin State when it attacked the Qi State as an example to show that the scholars were more noble than the living Qi kings.
This made King Qi Xuan furious, but he still chose to be patient. The scholars dared to say everything and do everything, and the people followed suit. They dare to comment, evaluate, and accuse the king's orders.
In this case, the order is often easily confused by people's hearts, resulting in the reluctance of the people to die for the monarch, which is also one of the reasons for the cowardice of the Qi army. If the people of a country criticize and talk about the monarch at will, then why does the country still need a monarch?
How could such a country gain a foothold in an era of turmoil like the Warring States? Therefore, Yan Wei's proposition is: scholars are more important than monarchs, and the country needs to respect and protect people.
Such a view was radical and challenging at the time, but it has profound practical significance today. Respect for talent and knowledge is the foundation of a country's prosperity.
King Qi was a determined reformer. Immediately after he succeeded to the throne, he dealt a severe blow to the nobles in order to eradicate their power in the court. The nobleman Chen Ju expressed doubts about the reforms of King Qi, who mercilessly beheaded him.
This move caused panic among the nobles. Tian Sui Tho, a minister who had made outstanding contributions to the military field, presided over the military and political work of King Qi. However, despite his enormous contributions, King Qi executed him for no reason.
Meng Weijun Tianwen, as a member of the Qi clan, had to flee the Qi State due to the arbitrariness and exclusion of the King of Qi. He was eventually received in the state of Wei and made prime minister.
King Qi obviously didn't realize the truth that "two fists are hard to beat four hands".
Yan joined forces with Qin, Han, Wei, and Zhao to attack Qi, and the rapid expansion of Qi's national strength caused dissatisfaction among other countries. Meng Weijun Tianwen is one of the matchmakers of the Five Kingdoms.
The Coalition of the Five Kingdoms defeated the main force of the Qi army west of Jishui, and then withdrew its troops and returned home, leaving Yan to attack Qi alone. The Yan army was unstoppable and captured Linzi, the capital of the Qi state, and seventy-two cities.
Qi was a big country in the east, but it was occupied by less than 300,000 Yan troops in a short period of time, and it was very incredible. After King Qi was killed by Chu's general Naoya, the Kingdom of Qi fell into chaos.
However, Tian Dan rose in this chaos, he led the Qi people to defend the two capitals of Jimo and Ju, relying on the long-term accumulation of soldiers, horses and grain, all the way to the Yan army, when attacking Jimo and Ju, as long as six years, it was impossible to attack.
In the end, Tian Dan returned to ** and occupied the lost territory of the previous Qi State. Pinglu, Gaotang and Linzi were all the capitals of Qi, but they were all quickly broken by the enemy. However, after the death of King Qi, Jimo and Ju miraculously guarded for six years.
This is obviously because King Qi has violated the interests of the nobles, and no nobles are willing to work for him, so they flee directly. It was not until after the death of King Qi that the nobles were full of energy and stuck to Jimo and Ju.
In general, the defeat of the Qi State in this war was mainly due to the fact that the King of Qi offended the interests of the nobles, causing the nobles to be unwilling to die for him. Tiandan, on the other hand, used the soldiers, horses, and grain accumulated for a long time to successfully defend Jimo and Ju, and finally succeeded in restoring the land of Qi.
Since its establishment, the Jixia School Palace of the State of Qi has had a profound influence on the State of Qi, and has had a certain influence among both the king and the people. Among the scholars of the Jixia School Palace, there were well-known figures such as Zou Ji, who changed the law, and Xunzi, who was as famous as Confucius and Mencius.
Although the political concept of Confucianism was not recognized in the era of the Warring States Period, the Jixia School Palace still existed and experienced the replacement of three generations of kings. The kings of Qi respected the scholars, and the status of the scholars in the Qi country increased day by day, and the scholars' outspoken comments also led to the open atmosphere of the Qi state.
The character of the Qi people who criticized the king was passed down until the era when the Qi State was destroyed and the Qin State was unified. Chun Yuyue was one of them, who angrily scolded Zhou Qingchen at the banquet and refuted Qin Shi Huang's "county system", which became the fuse for book burning.
Although Qin Shi Huang was highly accomplished, he still could not tolerate the Qi people's criticism of the king's character. The equally self-righteous King of Qi could not bear this character, which eventually led to the demise of the Qi Kingdom.
During the reign of King Qi, the value of the Jixia School Palace gradually weakened, and the scholars did not make substantial contributions to the construction of the country, but instead guided the disadvantage. After Qin and Qi jointly called "Emperor", Xunzi persuaded King Qi to remove the title of "Emperor", but King Qi refused.
Su Qin told him that the "emperor" would affect the annexation of the Song state, and the king of Qi removed the "emperor". However, King Qi's neglect of the scholars of the Jixia Academy caused the scholars to leave one after another.
Shen Dao, Xunzi and other famous scholars left the Jixia School Palace during the reign of King Qi and went to other countries. Despite the advice of the Confucians, King Qi was still stubborn. "On Salt and Iron: On Confucianism" records: "The Confucianism does not obey, and each is scattered.
Be cautious, Jiezi died, Tian Xiao was like Xue, and Xunzi was suitable. ”
In order to crack down on the scholars and the common people's behavior of criticizing the monarch at will, the king of Qi even killed the fox who had been famous in the country of Qi for a long time, as a warning to the people. However, this behavior of his is very out of place, because the state of Qi has had an open social atmosphere since ancient times.
In the Spring and Autumn Period, there were already a large number of merchants wandering in the streets of Qi, they were well-informed, understood nature, and often communicated with the people, resulting in a particularly open-minded Qi people.
This kind of openness is not something that can be changed by the kings of King Qi's generation, and being anxious will only pull him into the abyss.
In "Warring States Policy: Qi Ce VI", we can see that the reform during the reign of King Qi was full of challenges. The dissatisfaction of the people, the centrifugation of the clans, and the distrust of the ministers are all words that are extremely unfavorable to the king.
If the people of a country do not trust the king, the relatives are not loyal, and the ministers do not support it, then the country is like a plate of scattered sand, and it will be broken at the first attack. This is why the State of Qi did not make an effective counterattack after being defeated by the Five Nations Alliance.
The Yan army alone broke through Linzi and occupied seventy-two cities, resulting in only two cities left in the Qi State, Jimo and Ju. King Qi's ambition was manifested in his fight against the aristocracy, changing the social ethos, accepting the title of "Emperor" from King Zhaoxiang of Qin, and then abandoning the title of "Emperor" in order to annex the Song State.
His ambition is commendable, but he lacks the means and thoughtfulness needed to achieve it. When attacking the aristocracy and changing the social climate, he did not get the acquiescence of the princes, and directly annexed the wealthy Song state, which led to the invasion of the Five Kingdoms, and he himself died in the war.