Qin Shi Huang sent his younger brother Cheng Chan to conquer Zhao
It has always been a mystery why Cheng Chan, the younger brother of Qin Shi Huang and the monarch of Chang'an, led his army to attack Zhao when he led his army to attack Zhao. The Chronicles of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty says that Chengji was instigated by Fan Wei to raise troops against Qin, but it is not credible due to the lack of too many historical materials. After analysis, I believe that Cheng Chan's defection may be related to the political struggle of the Qin State at that time.
There are very few records of Cheng Jiao in the official history, and his defection was very sudden.
Qin Shi Huang's younger brother Cheng Chan is not recorded much in the official history of Qin Shi Huang. From historical sources, we only know that he was the son of King Xiang of Qin Zhuang and the half-brother of Qin Shi Huang. Information about his mother's identity and date of birth is unknown, but there is a theory that he was born in the fifty-first year of King Zhao of Qin (256 BC), but this cannot be confirmed.
Cheng Chan was Chang'an, the son of Qin, and was sent to Korea on the order of Qin Shi Huang to force King Han Hui to cede 100 miles of land to Qin. In the eighth year of Qin Shi Huang (239 BC), Cheng Chan was ordered to lead an army against Zhao, but he resisted Qin and surrendered to Zhao at Tunliu. After the Qin army captured Tunliu, all of Cheng's subordinates were beheaded and executed, and even the residents of Tunliu were expelled to Lintao, and Cheng Chan, who surrendered to Zhao, was called Rao by the king of Zhao.
According to historical records, Cheng Chan's defection was extremely sudden and without warning. Therefore, there are many theories about it, but the truth has long been lost in the long river of history.
There are two main theories on this issue.
There are two main popular explanations for this issue:
1.Qin Shi Huang usurped the throne and said. According to this theory, Cheng Chan was bent on usurping the throne, and Qin Shi Huang realized the threat of Cheng Chan and wanted to get rid of him as soon as possible. According to this view, Qin Shi Huang sent him to Korea to get rid of Cheng Chan and force the Han King to surrender the land, but Cheng Chan completed the task with his own skills. Qin Shi Huang sent him to attack Zhao and let him die on the battlefield. Cheng Chan saw Qin Shi Huang's intentions, as it is called"I can hide from the first day of junior high school, but I can't hide from the fifteenth", so he resolutely opposed Qin and surrendered Zhao to save his life. This claim seems plausible, but there is no evidence to support it.
2.During the Fan Ju Rebellion. This statement mainly comes from the 103 chapters of the "Chronicles of the Kingdoms of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty". "Li Guoyu fought for power to remove Huang Xie, and Fan Yu turned to slander and defend the king of Qin"The reason why it is written like this is because Qin Wangzheng is Lü Buwei's illegitimate son, therefore, Lü Buwei thinks that Cheng Chan, the son of King Zhuang Xiang, the biological son of King Qin (the highest peak in the book), is a big hidden danger, so Lü Buwei sent the young and disloyal Cheng Chan and Fan Yuzhi, who did not understand the art of war, to reinforce the assault troops of Meng Weijun and Zhang Tang, and served as the commander of the Zhao State Reinforcements (Zhao State Reinforcements). They were sent to reinforce the armies of Meng Weijun and Zhang Tang. Fan Yuzhi didn't like Lü Buwei's behavior. He told Zheng Yue about Qin Shi Huang's life experience, thinking that Zheng Yue should inherit the throne, so Zheng Yue rebelled in Tunliu. There are many loopholes in this theory. First of all, "The Chronicles of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty" is a historical **, the author Feng Menglong was a literati in the late Ming Dynasty, and its credibility is not high, and there has never been any discussion about the life of Qin Shi Huang before the Han Dynasty. Secondly, there is no record in the official history of Meng Fu organizing an attack on Zhao during this period; Cheng Chan descended to Zhao in 239 BC, and Meng Fu died in 240 BC. Fan Yuzhi did not participate in the attack on Zhao and remained in the Qin army until he fled to Yan after the defeat. If Cheng Chan is forced to rebel because of Fan Yuzhi, Fan Yuzhi will obviously not be unharmed.
Personally, I believe that this is related to the power struggle in the Qin State at that time.
Just around the time when Cheng Chan defected from Qin to Zhao, the power struggle in Qin was extremely fierce and the situation became extremely complicated, so I think Cheng Chan's defection may be related to this period. Let's unveil this history:
In 247 BC, after the death of King Xiang of Qin Zhuang, the 13-year-old Ying Zheng was made King of Qin. Due to Yingzheng's young age, ** was led by Prime Minister Lü Buwei, who was revered as the father of King Qin. Lü Buwei not only controlled the government, but also had an affair with the Empress Dowager Zhao Ji. Later, when he saw that Ying Zheng had grown up, he was afraid that Ying Zheng would find out and the Queen Mother would be angry, so he sent his henchman Chang Yu into the palace, and he himself retreated to the second line.
After Chang Yu entered the palace, with the help of the Queen Mother, he became the Marquis of Changxin and was sealed in Shanyang and Taiyuan. Fearing that the increasingly powerful Qin Shi Huang would find out about their relationship, Chang Yu and the Empress Dowager claimed that the Empress Dowager's room had bad feng shui and asked them to move out. Qin Shi Huang agreed, so they moved to a separate palace in Yongqu. Outside the palace, Chang Yu pretended to be his father, and the matter eventually reached the ears of Qin Shi Huang. When Qin Shi Huang heard the news, he panicked and united his henchmen to launch an uprising.
In 239 BC, at the age of 21, Qin Shi Huang was about to take power, and was preparing to be crowned at the Herb Palace in Yongcheng the following year, while Chang Yu, who had been active in Yongcheng for several years, was organizing his own rebellion. Judging from the subsequent developments, Qin Shi Huang must have known that Chang Yu wanted to launch a coup d'état, otherwise he would not have besieged Chang Yu with 3,000 soldiers when the palace was disbanded and a coup d'état occurred in advance, which is also the reason for Chang Yu's failure, and the author even suspects that Qin Shi Huang arranged a coronation ceremony in Yongcheng"。He deliberately stabilized Chang Yu for the time being, buying time for preparation"。
Is it a coincidence that in 239 BC, Cheng Chan was sent to Zhao to lead an army against Qin? Judging from the organizational structure of Qin Shi Huang, sending Cheng Chan to Zhao must have a deep meaning.
Just imagine, what would Chang Yu do if he succeeded in killing Yingzheng during the rebellion? It is impossible for him to become the king of Qin himself, and the whole Qin state will oppose him, so the wisest choice is to set up a puppet, and isn't the young Cheng Chan the best choice?
After Qin Shi Huang learned of the relationship between Chang Yu and the Queen Mother, he expected that the other party would want to climb over the wall. Therefore, on the one hand, he made it clear that he would hold a coronation ceremony in Yongcheng the following year to stabilize Chang Yu's henchmen and prevent him from rebelling immediately. On the other hand, he transferred all Cheng Chan and his subordinates, who had allied with Chang Yu, out of Yongcheng to prevent the rebellion from escalating into a military confrontation.
We don't know if Cheng Chan rebelled suddenly because he saw through Qin Shi Huang's plan, or because Qin Shi Huang had already set a trap to kill him. But judging from the fact that after the rebellion, Qin Shi Huang was able to quickly quell the rebellion and kill all the people who became the toad, Qin Shi Huang may have been prepared.
The above is purely personal speculation and has no historical evidence).