King Wei Hui, the third monarch of Wei during the Warring States Period, was born in Xia County, Shanxi Province (formerly known as Anyi). In the historical drama "The Great Qin Empire", the image of King Wei Hui is not so glorious, and he witnessed the process of Wei from the first power of the Warring States to the decline.
However, this is also a true portrayal of history, and the decisions of King Hui of Wei led to the decline of the Wei state.
King Hui of Wei, also known as King Hui of Liang, is best known for moving the capital of Wei from Anyi to Daliang (present-day Kaifeng, Henan) during his reign. The reason for moving the capital, according to the records of the "Historical Records" and the "Zizhi Tongjian", is because after the Battle of Guiling and the Battle of Maling, the strength of the Wei State was greatly reduced, and Anyi was close to the Qin State, in order to avoid the invasion of the strong Qin, the King of Wei Hui was forced to reluctantly move the capital to Daliang.
This history makes people feel that King Wei Hui's move to the capital was really forced to be helpless and quite aggrieved.
The Historical Records record that King Hui of Wei moved the capital to Daliang around 339 BC, but in the Historical Records: The Biography of Sun Bin and Pang Juan, in the Battle of Guiling, Sun Bin suggested that Daliang be besieged, and the urgency of Pang Juan's return to the army seems to contradict the fact that Daliang was only an ordinary city of Wei.
Historical sources such as the Year of the Bamboo Secretary, the Book of Han, the Notes on the Water Classic, and the Warring States Policy put forward a variety of different opinions on the time when King Wei Hui moved the capital to Daliang, one of which is that it was the sixth year of King Wei Hui, that is, in 364 BC.
At this time, King Hui of Wei had just succeeded to the throne, and after the governance of Marquis Wen of Wei and Marquis Wu of Wei, Wei was in the strongest period of national strength. So, why did King Wei Hui move the capital?
One explanation is that although the Qin state had not yet carried out the Shang Dynasty reform, the reforms of Qin Jiangong and Qin Xiangong made the strength of Qin not to be underestimated, and the frequent intrusions caused Wei to feel a headache, so the capital was moved to Daliang to better deal with the threat of Qin.
The state of Wei, the land of the four wars, was bordered by Qiang Qin to the west, the powerful Qi state to the east, the Zhao state to the north, and the Chu state to the south. In the early years of King Wei Hui, in order to better control the lands in the east and meet the challenges of the Qi state, he chose to move the capital to Daliang, which was a far-sighted decision.
King Wei Hui was a monarch with great talent and strategy in the early days, which is recorded in the "Year of the Bamboo Secretary" and the "Warring States Policy". In the fourteenth year, he succeeded in getting the vassal states of Lu, Song, Wei, and Zheng to come to the court, and succeeded in expelling twelve vassal states in Mengjin, so that the Son of Heaven could rule the world.
King Hui of Wei pushed Wei to the position of the overlord of the Central Plains with his outstanding talents, however, he relied on his strong military strength to fight everywhere, resulting in the defeat of the Battle of Guiling and the Battle of Maling, which caused the elite of Wei to lose all its elite and finally became a second-rate country.
It is deplorable that Shang Ying, the minister who helped the Qin State to change the law, once served under the uncle of Wei Xianggong. On his deathbed, Gong Shuzuo recommended Shang Ying to King Wei Hui, suggesting that King Wei Hui should kill Shang Ying regardless of whether he reused it or not, so as to prevent him from serving the enemy country.
Unfortunately, King Hui of Wei did not heed this advice and did not pay attention to Shang Ying, which eventually led Shang Ying to defect to Qin, laying the groundwork for the decline of Wei.