In the history of the Warring States period, Zhao can definitely be called a very characteristic country. Zhao is one of the six secretaries of the Jin State Zhao established a vassal state, the Zhao family has had countless ups and downs along the way, first the Zhao orphan incident almost wiped out, and then fell behind in the battle of the six kings, and was besieged by the Zhi, Han, and Wei families; finally survived to the Warring States, and because he was in the land of four wars, he repeatedly had wars with traditional powers such as Qin, Qi, and Chu, and also grabbed resources with Wei, Han, and Yan, resulting in constant wars. However, these hardships sharpened the perseverance of the Zhao people, and also made them love their motherland very much.
Stills from the movie "Zhao's Orphan".
As the old saying goes, Yunyan Zhao Gudi is full of sad people, saying that there are many heroes who are not afraid of life and death and sacrifice their lives to serve the country in this land. Even though the Zhao State faced many threats, from the royal family to the common people, they never flinched, and many outstanding politicians and military strategists appeared, including outstanding military strategists such as Lian Po and Zhao Hao, as well as outstanding politicians such as Fei Yi and Zhao Sheng; Although the contributions of these people to the Zhao State were high and low, they all had one thing in common, that is, they were very loyal to the motherland. In fact, for hundreds of years, Zhao Guoguo has had many military generals and civil officials who chose to sacrifice their lives for the country, but the power class with the interests of the family is very rare.
Lou Xuan was a famous columnist in the middle and late Warring States period, and was also an important advisor of King Wuling and the main promoter of Hufu cavalry shooting. In the early days of King Wuling's succession to the throne, when facing huge internal pressure in the country, he always stood unswervingly by the side of King Wuling to escort his reforms; When Zhao was strong, he joined Qin as a guest minister to safeguard the interests of Zhao and obtain information about Qin. However, such a loyal minister who took the strengthening of the country as his own responsibility, became a political victim after the accidental death of King Wuling, and finally betrayed the Zhao State, which is embarrassing.
Statue of Zhao Jianzi, the founder of the Zhao State.
King Wuling was only fifteen years old when he succeeded to the throne, and at the funeral of his father, Marquis Zhao Su, the vassal states who participated in the mourning showed their ambition to carve up the Zhao state. In this case, the King of Wuling was very angry, and he took a tough attitude with the determination to break the net, and concentrated the elite troops in Zhao to the national capital, and finally resolved a crisis. After this incident, King Wuling realized that if he wanted to survive the encirclement of the foreign powers, he must build a strong military force, and finally, he decided to follow the Hu people's combat methods, implement the Hu Fu cavalry and archery reform, learn the Hu people's horse and long-range combat, and build a strong cavalry-based force for the Zhao State.
Hufu cavalry shooting. However, this reform plan was too radical, not only improving the status of the Hu people in Zhao, but also harming the interests of the vested interests of the old aristocracy, so it was implemented very slowly. King Wuling had consulted Lou Xuan on this matter, which showed that he trusted the latter very much. According to"Historical Records, Thirty Families, Zhao Family".
"Summoning the building and slowly planning said:'Due to the changes of the world, my first king took the land of Changnan Basket, which was the danger of blocking Zhang and Fu, and built the Great Wall, and took Lin and Guo Wolf, and defeated the forest people in Yi, and the success failed. Now Zhongshan is in my heart, there are Yan in the north, Hu in the east, Lin Hu, Lou Fu, Qin, Han in the west, and there is no rescue from the soldiers. The husband has the name of the high world, and he must be burdened by the world. I want to be obedient. 'Lou said slowly:'Good'。"
Statue of the King of Martial Spirits.
Why did King Wuling fail to implement the reform for the sake of a strong motherland? This starts with the ethnic composition of the Zhao State. Zhao has four major towns, namely the national capital Handan, the former national capital Jinyang, the military town of Shangdang and Dai County, among which due to geographical factors, Dai County and Jinyang in the north have integrated a large number of Dirong ethnic groups, forming a peculiar scene of Chinese and foreign ethnic groups living together. After more than 100 years, many foreign descendants have become important ministers of Zhao with their outstanding talents, and their base camp Daixian has also become the political center of foreign peoples; Handan was the territory of the old aristocracy of the Zhao State, firmly controlled by the Zhao clan, so Daixian and Handan gradually became the two major centers of the Zhao State's political situation in the north and south in the past 100 years.
Handan today. Because the two places are biased towards agrarian civilization and nomadic civilization respectively, the development direction gradually diverges, and the consequence is that people in both places think that each other and themselves are not the same kind of people, resulting in cultural estrangement and ideological differences. In order to resist the invasion of the Hu people, the Zhao people of Daixian advocated military autonomy and received excellent results, which is why the king of Wuling wanted to implement the reform of Hufu cavalry and archery; However, the Zhao nobles in Handan tended to associate with the Central Plains, and were very angry at Daixian's disobedience, believing that the Hufu cavalry reform would increase Daixian's power, so they expressed strong opposition to the reform.
The author believes that the confrontation between the north and the south has faintly caused the hidden danger of Zhao State, and the king of Wuling must make a choice between the two. Since ancient times, reform has inevitably upset the balance of interests that has been formed, so it will be resisted by vested interest groups, and many pioneers of reform have had to bow to strong pressure in the end, although they have the ambition to strengthen the country. At this time, King Wuling was also facing such pressure, but fortunately, the two important ministers of Feiyi and Lou Chuan have always unswervingly supported the reform of Hufu cavalry and archery, not only setting an example to change to Hufu, but also handing over high-quality articles, expounding the necessity of Hufu cavalry and archery from many aspects, laying an important foundation for the successful implementation of the reform by King Wuling.
The film and television images of King Wuling and Wu Wa.
With the successful reform of King Wuling, the strength of the Zhao State increased dramatically at a rate visible to the naked eye, and after the elimination of the Zhongshan Kingdom, the geographical isolation between the north and the south was eliminated, and the connection became closer and closer, and the whole country was finally built into a whole. Lou Xuan also became one of the closest ministers of King Wuling. At this time, King Wuling began to set his strategic eyes on the Qin State, due to the unexpected death of King Wu of Qin, the Qin State ** was in chaos, and the two forces of Empress Hui Wen and Empress Dowager Xuan launched a fierce confrontation for power; So King Wuling decided to send Lou Qian into Qin as a guest minister, not only to help Zhao fight for interests, but also to obtain information about Qin.
Dune ruins. After Lou Yan took office, he devoted himself to helping Qin Zhao establish friendship, and at the same time won the trust of King Qin Zhaoxiang and King Wuling, and his power was at its peak. But soon after, King Wuling made a big mistake in the matter of establishing a prince, and abolished Chang Liyu without authorization, causing an uproar in the country, and his two sons also carried out internal fighting with various tribes, and finally King Wuling starved to death in the Dune Palace, and King Zhao Huiwen succeeded to the throne. After King Huiwen ascended the throne, Lou Yan was snubbed. According to"Warring States Policy, Zhao Si, Lou Slow General Resignation".
"Lou slowed down the general, ambushed, resigned, said Zhao Wang said:'Although the minister tried his best to know, he died and never saw the king again. 'Wang said:'What is it? Solid and for the sake of the book. 'Lou Zi said:'Wang Buwen Gongzi Mu Yi is to Song Hu? Non-meat, no food. Wen Zhang Shansong, evil son Mu Yi, Yin Ran. Today's ministers are to the king, not the Song Dynasty to the son Mu Yi, and the evil ministers are over Wenzhang. Therefore, the death of the minister will not be seen again in the king'。"
The young King Zhao Huiwen.
The above historical data fully proves a truth, that is, once a son of heaven and a courtier. King Zhao Huiwen lacked the ambition of his father, and the strategic depth of the two was very different, and the direction was very different. Since he was not the eldest son, and he seized power through mutiny, including the scandal of starving his father, it was difficult for him to gain the support of all the forces in the country and the princes of the world, even if he inherited his father's inheritance. In order to consolidate his rule, he could only redivide power internally in exchange for the support of the court forces; Lowering his status externally, befriending the princes, and avoiding the war in the short term had a huge impact on the transition of power in Zhao, basically completely negating his father's efforts, which also led to Lou Xuan becoming a political victim.
Map of Zhao Kingdom. At that time, King Wuling always regarded Qin as a major trouble, and thought of a variety of ways to attack Qin, because Qin had the advantage of Weishui in the mountains and rivers, and the protection of Hangu Tianwei, so he decided to take advantage of the outside of the road to open up a new channel to the south from Yanmen County to attack Qin. This method is not impossible to achieve, but it requires a lot of pre-battle preparation work before making a final decision, especially to obtain information about the internal geographical structure, population distribution, and troop deployment of the Qin Land, which will have a huge impact on the battle situation if the Wuling King eventually goes south.
The image of King Zhao Wuling going on the expedition.
In order to obtain this information, King Wuling even disguised himself and went into danger to enter the Qin Land to observe the local mountains, rivers, landforms, customs and customs, and after returning to China, he arranged for Lou Zhu to continue to stay in the Qin State and continue to obtain information, which was not only an affirmation of Lou Zhuan's loyalty, but also a trust in his work ability. However, after the unexpected death of King Wuling, his ** person, King Zhao Huiwen, has changed the national strategic direction from expanding territory to seeking self-preservation, and he dare not imagine the attack on the Qin State, so it is reasonable for Lou Shu to be left out in the cold.
Zhao Xiaocheng Wang's film and television image.
In this way, Lou Chuan lost the meaning of staying in Qin, and Zhao also lost his position after the redistribution of power in the court, Zhao Xiang Li Dui thought that Lou Chuan needed a lot of financial support from Zhao State to serve as a guest minister in Qin, so he sent Qiu Shui into Qin to lobby and remove Lou Chuan from his position. Qiu Ye was after Di Rong, and he also supported the reform of Hufu cavalry and archery together with Fei Yi and Lou Huan; Seeing that the allies of the year forgot the friendship they had fought side by side in order to protect themselves, Lou Chuan was very angry and could only stay in the Qin State, and had a strong resentment towards the Zhao State.
Schematic diagram of the Battle of Changping.
In 259 B.C., the Zhao army was defeated by the Qin army in Changping, and the young and middle-aged people in the country were almost lost. Lou Shu thought that there was an opportunity at this time, so he entered Zhao from Qin and persuaded King Zhao to make the decision to cut the land, but was finally stopped by Yu Qing. According to"Historical Records, Seventy Biography, Biography of the Plains Jun Yuqing".
"Lou slowly said:'If the minister is new from Qin, he will not give it, and it will not be calculated; In other words, I am afraid that the king will regard the ministers as Qin and Yuqing: so I dare not be right. The envoy has to plan for the king, it is better to give it. 'Wang said:'Promise. 'When Yu Qing heard this, he went to see the king and said:'This ornament said also, Wang Fei should not give'！"
The bone pit of the Battle of Changping.
From the above historical data, it is not difficult to see that Lou Chuan hopes to persuade King Zhao to cede the land as his meritorious performance, which can not only take revenge on Zhao, but also return to Qin in exchange for his own return, which can be described as killing two birds with one stone. However, this kind of thinking is difficult to escape the eyes of those outstanding politicians, after the Battle of Changping, although the Zhao army suffered heavy losses, but the life of the Qin army was not easy, more than half of the more than 400,000 troops, the domestic grain and grass were basically exhausted, and they had not recovered within ten years, and had to temporarily rest and could not effectively manage the occupied land on the basis of military deterrence. Therefore, when Lou Chu returned to Zhao for the first time, when he talked about the issue of land cutting with King Zhao, he adopted an attitude of prevarication.
Although Lou Xuan refused to give an attitude on the surface, he told King Zhao Xiaocheng a story about the mother of Gongfu Wenbo, in this story, he skillfully blended righteousness and feelings, and explained that many people ignore righteousness because of their feelings, so they make wrong choices; Next, Lou Xuan proposed that Zhao State's current national strength was declining, and it should cede land for Qin State in exchange for space and time to recuperate, and if the national strength recovered, it could completely regain the lost territory. However, Lou Xuan finally sighed and said that he had an old relationship with Qin before, and it was easy to be mistaken for a lobbyist of Qin, and asked King Xiaocheng not to care about his opinion, after all, his opinion was to agree to cut the land, which would be detrimental to the interests of Zhao.
Shangdang County. After Yu Qing heard about this, he hurriedly entered the palace to meet King Xiaocheng, and he pointed out that although Lou Chu was ostensibly thinking about Zhao, he was actually a lobbyist for Qin, and the real purpose was to let the princes of the world see the weakness of Zhao, and take the opportunity to follow Qin's example and ask Zhao for land. If Lou Huan really considered Zhao State, even if he ceded the land, he should also cede it to Qi State, in exchange for the support of Qi State to jointly resist Qin, this is the way to maximize the interests of Zhao State. Because Yu Qing's advice was justified and always stood on the perspective of Zhao State, he was supported by King Zhao Xiaocheng, so Yu Qing personally sent Qi State to find support, Lou Shu heard about this incident, and immediately fled from Zhao State, and the fact that he betrayed the motherland was also exposed to the world.
Today's Zhongmu.
After failing to persuade Zhao Xiaocheng to become king, Lou Chuan fled to Zhongmu, the old capital of Zhao, and planned a small-scale rebellion, but it eventually ended due to a lack of support. For this rebellion, because it did not cause much shock, King Zhao Xiaocheng remembered his past exploits, and did not continue to ask, after which, Lou slowly disappeared, and the old minister, who had gone through three generations of monarchs, left in a sad way.
Like Feiyi, Lou Zhuan is also an outstanding talent cultivated by Zhao State, who was ordered to resist the ** and interference of the outside world, and was loyal and conscientious to the Zhao royal family, even at the expense of danger, entered Qin as a guest, fought for the interests of the motherland in the court of Qin, and collected intelligence for the attack on Qin. Objectively speaking, Lou Ease and King Wuling belong to mutual achievement, King Wuling regards him as an absolute minister who can be relied on, and has never suspected that he has two hearts; This kind of trust touched him very much, so on the premise that there was great uncertainty about the Martial Spirit King's southward attack on Qin, he also willingly carried out the Martial Spirit King's instructions.
Zhongmu can defend infinitely, but King Zhao Xiaocheng does not want to pursue Lou Zhuan.
It's a pity that King Wuling's life is just like his nickname, not only for the country's territory, but also for the ignorance of the people, because of his love for Wu Wa, which caused him to lose his principles, and abolished the elders and young at will, which caused chaos in the dynasty and caused a huge civil strife in the Zhao State. There were many political forces involved in this civil strife, but they had nothing to do with Lou Zhuan, who was far away in Qindi; However, what is surprising is that Lou Chuan has become one of the biggest victims of this incident.
After completely rejecting King Wuling's plan to attack Qin, Lou Xuan's role became less important. Because King Zhao Huiwen was still very young when he succeeded to the throne, the power of the court fell into the hands of Gongzi Cheng and Li Dui, who had been in business for many years, so he put most of his energy on stabilizing the court and power, in this process, the power of the Zhao court was inevitably redistributed, especially the power of the old courtiers was divided by the emerging forces. After the death of the patriarch of the Three Dynasties, Feiyi, if the important minister Lou Xuan returned to China to participate in the power struggle, then the situation in the court would become even more chaotic, so King Zhao Huiwen sacrificed Lou Xuan for the sake of the overall situation. For Lou Zhuan, this ending is very unacceptable, and it is reasonable to have resentment; After hibernation for many years, Lou Xuan, who lacked power, finally found an opportunity to take revenge on Zhao Guo, but unfortunately was finally destroyed by Yu Qing, and it also announced that he had completely withdrawn from the political stage.
References.