Who was Qin Shi Huang's greatest contributor to the unification of the Six Kingdoms? This is a rather controversial topic. We usually think that the first emperor of the Qin Dynasty and Li Si were the most important figures in this historical process. But is that really the case? Maybe the answer isn't as simple as we think.
In 233 BC, in the face of growing military pressure from the Qin state, Han Wang'an finally chose to give in. He sent his son Han Fei as an envoy to Qin, and had to cede part of the country in order to gain Qin's tolerance. Soon, Han Fei became King Yingzheng's favorite guest secretary. Because Han Fei's theory of the supremacy of monarchy just caters to the *** form of government that Yingzheng wants to establish.
Han Fei was a thinker and politician who developed a complete theory of monarchy on the basis of his teacher Xunzi's thoughts. In his view, the monarch is like an all-pervading supreme god, controlling the power of life and death of his subjects.
No matter how good the subjects are, they cannot infringe on the status of the monarch, and the monarch is not subject to any restrictions and restrictions. This theory greatly satisfied Ying Zheng's desire for power, and could provide a theoretical basis for him to establish the rule of the Qin Dynasty in the future. Therefore, Ying Zheng admires Han Fei very much, and even wants to keep it for a long time.
However, Han Fei is the blood of the South Korean royal family after all, and he has never been able to forget the fundamental interests of South Korea. For the sake of South Korea, he repeatedly persuaded Ying Zheng to destroy Zhao first and then South Korea, wanting to preserve South Korea's last independence. These proposals were clearly at odds with Qin's basic state policy, so Li Si strongly opposed the retention of Han Fei.
At Li Si's suggestion, Ying Zheng imprisoned Han Fei and poisoned him. In this way, Korea lost the last politician who could compete with the Qin state. Han Wangan was frightened and had to go up to the table again to claim his ministership. Two years later, Korea was completely annexed by the Qin state.
After the fall of Korea, most of the Korean royal family and nobles became slaves of the Qin state. Some have even been sent to remote areas to serve as pawns. And those Korean craftsmen and craftsmen also moved to Xianyang in batches to serve the Qin State. It can be said that from 231 BC onwards, Korea and the Qin state were integrated and became part of the Qin dynasty's rule.
The fate of the Koreans was already closely linked to the Qin state, and the fall of Korea laid the foundation for the Qin state to unify the six kingdoms. So we have to admit that Han Fei is also one of the important contributors to Qin Shi Huang's unification of the world, but he paid for this "contribution" at the cost of his life.
At the same time, Zhao was also defeated under the military pressure of Qin. Between 232 and 230 BC, two large-scale wars broke out between Qin and Zhao. In these two wars, Li Mu, a famous general of Zhao State, strategized and waited for work, successfully repelled the Qin army twice, and preserved the last counterattack of Zhao State.
Li Mu can be said to be one of the most outstanding generals in the history of Zhao State. He was known for his bravery when he was young, and was later accepted as a protégé by the patriotic doctor Lian Po. Under Lian Po's careful teaching, Li Mu gained a high degree of military command ability.
In the two great wars of Qin and Zhao, Li Mu commanded Ruoding and won by surprise, fully showing the demeanor of an excellent commander. In the first fat battle, he used tactics to defeat the Qin general Bai Qi and break 100,000 Qin troops; In the second battle of Fanwu, he met with the Qin general Wang Jian on a narrow road, won more with less, and defeated the Qin army again.
However, the good times did not last long, and there were unforeseen circumstances, during the two years of 231-229 BC, there was a major and severe drought in the territory of Zhao, and the national strength plummeted, and it was no longer the opponent of Qin. It stands to reason that this natural and man-made disaster is a good time for the Qin State to destroy the Zhao State. However, Li Mu's existence made the Qin army still look at the city and sigh, and they couldn't attack it for a long time. At this time, the Qin State began a new round of anti-intermediary schemes.
This time, the targets of Qin's counter-plot were the Zhao royal family and the Handan aristocratic group. Under the operation of Guo Kai, the traitor of Zhao State, and others, who were bought with a lot of money, King Zhao finally had a misunderstanding and suspicion of Li Mu. At this moment, Li Muzheng led the main force to support on the front line, and he had no time to separate.
In the end, under the manipulation of Wang Qian, King Zhao issued a cruel order to kill Li Mu. Li Mu, who sacrificed half his life for the country, died in the palace like this. Li Mu's death once again shows that victory or defeat in a war often depends not only on armed confrontation, but also on psychological warfare that combines strategy and counter-terrorism.
In May 228 BC, Li Mu died in a conspiracy in the palace of King Zhao. From then on, Zhao Guo no longer had the strength to fight back. In August of the same year, under the leadership of Wang Qian, the Qin army easily defeated the army of the new Zhao general Zhao Cong and occupied Handan. The fall of the Zhao State, and the death of Li Mu was undoubtedly an important reason for this result.
If there was no traitor's counter-plot, Li Mu was still alive, maybe Zhao Guo could still support it for a longer time. Li Mu has the talent to win more with less, and has the strength to defeat Wang Qian. The new general, Zhao Cong, had neither strategy nor force, and was soon defeated under Wang Jian.
It can be said that Li Mu's death effectively weakened the combat effectiveness of Zhao's nearly 500,000 army, causing Zhao to collapse and easily collapse. Before and since, there are few people in history whose life and death are related to the fate of a country.
Of course, considering the overall national strength of Zhao at that time and the overwhelming superiority of Qin, the destruction of Zhao may only be a matter of time. But Li Mu's absence has undoubtedly accelerated the process.
Therefore, we have to admit that Li Mu's death played a very crucial role in the final completion of the reunification of the Qin State. Because of this, Li Mu can also be regarded as one of the important contributors to the unification of the world by the first emperor of the Qin Dynasty, but he was forced to do it.
From then on, the Yan State and the Dai State also soon perished under the iron heel of the Qin army. In 227 BC, after the failure of the assassination of the king of Qin by Prince Dan of Yan, the Qin army attacked Yan on a large scale and occupied the capital of Yan within a year. Prince Dan and King Yan were forced to flee to Liaodong. Four years later, under the leadership of Wang Ben, Liaodong was also occupied by the Qin army, and King Yan surrendered. In the same year, the Qin army destroyed the Dai Kingdom and captured the acting king Zhao Jia.
As the two most powerful countries at that time, the fall of Yan and Zhao undoubtedly completely killed the last hope of the princes of the world to fight against Qin. After the fall of Yan Zhao, it was not surprising that the Qi State would surrender easily. In the winter of 221 B.C., Tian Dan, the king of Qi, came to Jin to meet the king of Qin, Yingzheng, and presented the seal ribbon, and the world was decided.
In the first month of the second year, Ying Zheng proclaimed himself emperor in Xianyang Palace and established the Qin Dynasty. As the third king of the Qin State, he finally fulfilled the last wish of his ancestors and established the dominant position of the Central Plains Dynasty in the world. It can be said that Qin Shi Huang shouldered the trust of his ancestors and the mandate of heaven, and finally completed the great cause of unification. He played a crucial and decisive role in this historical process.
Among them, there are also confidant ministers like Li Si who give advice, as well as invincible generals like Wang Jian and Wang Ben. And celebrities like Han Fei and Li Mu, who were forced to work for them, also played a certain role. It can be said that the world is one, which is the work of everyone. But in the end, as the founder and leader of this regime, Qin Shi Huang remained the greatest contributor. There is no doubt about that.