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Chapter 253: Death of Shang Yang

Liu Cong was a second-generation official with no ideas, no strategy, and no strength. When instigated by his subordinates, he surrendered and offered Jingzhou, which his ancestors had managed for many years, to Cao Cao. Most importantly, he did not dare to tell Liu Bei about his surrender.

Therefore, when Cao Cao came near Xiangyang, Liu Bei realized that he had been "betrayed". At that time, he was guarding the gate of Fancheng for Liu Biao and Liu Cong, father and son. After learning the news of surrender, he quickly abandoned Fancheng and led his troops to flee.

During his escape, many people came to Liu Bei and wanted to go with him. Liu Bei accepted all of them. Some people said that Liu Bei's move was a woman's kindness, but in fact, his move proved one thing to the world: he, Liu Bei, won the hearts of the people in Jingzhou.

The news of Cao Cao's march south also made Sun Quan uneasy. At that time, Wu was almost dominated by the pro-surrender faction, but as a local lord, Sun Quan understood that Cao Cao intended to unify the world, and after he took Jingzhou, the next step was to seize Jiangdong.

Therefore, if he wanted to protect himself, he had no choice but to fight. And Lu Su's words strengthened his determination to go to war.

Lu Su once said that if a man like him surrendered, he could still get a small official position, but if Sun Quan, who had been in power in Jiangdong for three generations and was highly respected by the people, surrendered, it would be hard to say what his fate would be. If you want to start a war, you need an ally. Liu Bei, who has soldiers, the support of the people, and a grudge against Cao Cao, is a good candidate.

Under the planning of Cao, Liu, and Sun, a situation of Sun and Liu uniting to resist Cao had been formed. In December 208 AD, Zhou Yu led 12 troops and Liu Bei led 3 troops to fight Cao Cao at Chibi.

Faced with 20 Cao troops, the allied forces of Sun and Liu were certainly panicked, but Zhou Yu and Zhuge Liang, the backbones of the two armies, remained unmoved.

They seized the weakness of Cao's army: a navy would definitely be needed to fight at Chibi, but Cao Cao's direct troops had usually only fought on land in the north, and even after training, they were not as good as the coalition's navy.

What's more, the weather in the south is humid, and schistosomiasis is prevalent in the Chibi area.

Cao's troops from the north were not adapted to the climate and soon caught the plague. Cao Cao's navy was newly recruited. They were originally Liu Biao's subordinates. Compared with working for Cao Cao, self-preservation was obviously their first priority. With 5 troops against 20 troops, the coalition still had a chance of winning.

Faced with the problem that northern soldiers were not used to riding in ships, Cao Cao came up with a solution. He ordered the ships to be connected bow to stern, so that the men and horses could ride on the ships as if they were walking on flat ground.

However, this operation was extremely dangerous. Cao Cao also thought of this problem, but he was not worried. The reason was that it was the coldest time of the year, and the northwest wind blew almost every day in the Chibi area.

In this case, if a fire is set, the fire will be powered by the wind and will only burn the coalition ships, not Cao Cao's ships. Therefore, if you want to attack with fire, everything is ready, except for the east wind.

Fortunately, the east wind soon arrived. Weather forecast is a nice addition in modern times, but in the Battle of Chibi, it was an important link in determining the situation in the world. There should be such a capable person in the Sun-Liu coalition.

This man's name is still unknown, but it was his judgment of the wind direction that changed the whole world.

Before the southeast wind blew, Zhou Yu asked Huang Gai to send a "job-hopping application". Huang Gai claimed that he wanted to surrender to Cao. In the Wu Kingdom, where the court was full of people who advocated surrender, it was not a new thing for someone to surrender to Cao.

Cao Cao had no doubts. When Huang Gai led the boats loaded with firewood and kerosene to rush towards Cao's camp, the fate of the whole of China changed at this moment. The wind was blowing from the east, and Cao's warships quickly burned.

This fire destroyed Cao Cao's possibility of unifying the world, and also brought the dawn of victory to Liu Bei and Sun Quan.

The Battle of Red Cliffs is the heroic dream of many people. At that time, Kong Ming was still young, Gong Jin was elegant, wearing a feather fan and a scarf. Liu Bei was in charge of the strategy, Sun Quan was in control of Jiangdong, and Jiangbei had millions of people, like a tiger and a whale. The heroes of Jiangdong defended the dangerous place to the death. Without the Battle of Red Cliffs, how could there be a tripod of the Three Kingdoms?

After the fire attack, Cao's army was doomed to fail. In order to prevent his food and supplies from falling into the hands of the enemy, Cao Cao first ordered the burning of supplies, then withdrew his troops, took the Huarong Road, and fled back to the north. After that, Liu Bei and Sun Quan divided Jingzhou, and the situation of three divisions of the world was formed.

[Why did the great sage of the Legalists end up being torn apart by five horses? A little historical knowledge: Shang Yang's Reforms]

He is one of the greatest politicians in Chinese history and a pioneer of political reform, but at the same time he is regarded as an eternal sinner by historians.

His series of drastic reforms directly led to the rise of the Qin State. He built on the strength of six previous dynasties and destroyed the six kingdoms, unifying the world. His life's work is known as "the world's number one banned book."

Because of this, he rose rapidly to the highest position in the country, but because of this he was torn into pieces by five horses and his entire family was killed.

He is the saint of Legalism - Shang Yang.

Shang Yang was born in the State of Wei in 390 BC. At that time, his name was still Wei Yang. He was lucky because he was a descendant of the king of Wei, but unfortunately, Wei was "too shallow" to realize his ambitions.

The young Shang Yang liked to study law and admired the master of legalism Li Kui and the master of military strategy Wu Qi. He was ambitious and wanted to change the society by rule of law, so he traveled around and experienced life.

In order to better understand the essence of the law, he came to the State of Wei where the Legalist master Li Kui was carrying out reforms.

After Wei Yang arrived in Wei State, he worked as a tutor under the then Prime Minister Gongshu Zhuo and performed very well.

Gongshu Zao took a fancy to him. In 362 BC, Gongshu Zao died of illness. Before his death, Gongshu Zao recommended Wei Yang. He told King Hui of Wei that Wei Yang was "a rare talent in five hundred years" and that he must be used.

King Hui of Wei thought he had never heard of this person and didn't care. Gongshu Zhuo said again that if he didn't use Wei Yang, he should kill him. King Hui of Wei didn't express his opinion after hearing this, pretending to know and left.

After King Hui of Wei left, Gongshu Zhuo felt guilty and immediately called Wei Yang to his side, told him what had just happened, and asked Wei Yang to escape quickly.

However, Wei Yang said confidently: "The King of Wei will not kill me. Since he does not listen to your suggestion to employ me, he will not listen to your suggestion to kill me." Later history proved that Wei Yang was indeed talented.

After Gongshu Zhuo died, King Hui of Wei neither reused Wei Yang nor killed him. Facing the situation that he had great ambitions but could not realize them in Wei, Wei Yang resolutely left Wei and went to other countries to realize his ambitions.

At this time, Qin Xian Gong had just passed away and Qin Xiao Gong ascended the throne. Qin Xiao Gong had just ascended the throne and faced the invasion of foreign enemies and the unrest in the court and the country, so he issued a decree to seek talents, hoping that talented people could help him change the poverty and backwardness of Qin.

Regardless of whether one is a Qin citizen or not, as long as one is valued by Qin Xiaogong, he will be rewarded with land and official positions, thus attracting talents from all countries to Qin to seek fame.

Wei Yang saw the order issued by Qin Xiaogong to seek talents, hoping to meet a wise ruler to realize his ambitions, so he set out for Qin. When Wei Yang arrived in Qin, he was unfamiliar with the place, so he made friends with Jing Jian, a favorite minister of Qin Xiaogong, and asked him to help introduce him.

During the first interview, Wei Yang used the "Imperial Way" to lobby Qin Xiaogong. After listening to him, Qin Xiaogong fell asleep and cursed Wei Yang through Jing Jian, saying that Wei Yang was an arrogant person and should not be appointed.

After Wei Yang found out, he said to Jing Jian, "Give me another chance, I'm sure it will work this time." Five days later, Wei Yang took part in the interview again, this time using the "Kingly Way". After listening to him, King Xiaogong thought that this person could talk, but what he said did not impress him, so he did not intend to hire Wei Yang. Wei Yang then said to Jing Jian again, "I know how to convince the king, give me another chance."

So Wei Yang took part in the third interview and used the "hegemonic tactics" to persuade the Duke of Qin. This time, the Duke of Qin was fascinated by Wei Yang's talk about reforming the country and strengthening the army. The two talked about reform for several days and were still very interested. Finally, the Duke of Qin made up his mind to employ Wei Yang to implement reforms in Qin.

At first, Duke Xiao of Qin organized a meeting to discuss the reform, but the noble representatives Gan Long and Du Zhi stood up to oppose the reform.

This group of people believes that if there is no hundredfold benefit, the old rule of law should not be changed easily. The rules of our ancestors cannot be changed unless there is something wrong with them. If they are changed, problems will arise.

However, Wei Yang pointed out sharply that "there is not only one way to govern the world, and the country does not have to follow the ancient ways." Your thinking is too backward. It doesn't matter whether the cat is black or white, as long as it can catch mice, it is a good cat. There is not only one way to govern the country, and it is not necessary to stick to the ancient ways.

Wei Yang's remarks also prepared public opinion for the implementation of the reform. In the end, Qin Xiaogong rejected all objections and firmly supported the reform.

In the early days of Wei Yang's reform, the common people did not understand the newly appointed Zuo Shuchang, and the government departments at that time were not honest in their work and had no prestige among the common people.

In order to ensure the smooth implementation of the decree, Wei Yang set up a piece of wood at the south gate and offered a generous reward to anyone who could move the wood to the north gate. The people looked at each other in bewilderment, thinking that the newly appointed Zuo Shuzhang was joking with them, and no one believed it.

Everyone was talking about it, but no one was moving the wood. Later, Wei Yang increased the reward, so one man, half believing it, moved the wood from the South Gate to the North Gate. When he arrived at the North Gate, he really received a generous reward from Zuo Shuzhang.

This is the story of "moving the wood to establish trust". As a result, Wei Yang's prestige among the people gradually established, and the people took his decrees seriously.

At the beginning of the reform, the people felt that Qin law was inconvenient, and the prince of Qin also broke the law. So Wei Yang believed that the failure of the reform was caused by the upper class of dignitaries who knew the law but broke it.

The prince was originally to be punished, but considering his noble status, his teachers Gongzi Qian and Gongsun Jia were punished. Gongzi Qian's nose was cut off, and Gongsun Jia's face was tattooed as punishment. From then on, the reform was carried out smoothly, and the people strictly abided by Qin law.

The Qin State's reforms were mainly based on "farming" and "warfare". In terms of "farming", by rewarding farming and weaving and reclaiming wasteland, the cultivated land area was expanded and the grain reserves were increased;

The household registration system was reformed, and the system of collective responsibility of ten to five was implemented, whereby if one family committed a crime, ten families would suffer as well, thus stabilizing social order. Fathers, sons and brothers were prohibited from living in the same room, and the small family policy was implemented, which tied the people to the land and increased national tax revenue.

In terms of "war", the system of hereditary aristocracy was abolished, that is, the aristocratic privileges of the "second generation of military officers" and "second generation of officials" were abolished, and a 20-level nobility system based on military merit was promulgated. Regardless of one's status, one only needed to fight bravely on the battlefield to obtain a title with the enemy's head.

Therefore, the Qin army was extremely ferocious once it entered the battlefield and was called the "Tiger and Wolf Army" by the six states in Shandong.

After the reform, Qin's economy developed, the army's combat effectiveness continued to increase, and Wei Yang's power gradually reached its peak. In 341 BC, Qin joined forces with Qi and Zhao to attack Wei.

In September of the same year, Duke Xiao of Qin sent Wei Yang to lead the army, and the State of Wei sent Prince Ang to fight. When the two armies confronted each other, Wei Yang sent an envoy to send a letter to Prince Ang, saying: "I used to get along very well with you, but now you and I are the generals of two hostile countries, and I can't bear to attack each other.

I can meet you face to face, sign an alliance, have a few drinks, and then withdraw our troops, so that Qin and Wei can live in peace." Prince Ang thought that Wei Yang really missed their friendship, but he didn't know that it was actually a trap set by Wei Yang.

When Prince Ang was attending the meeting, he was captured by the army ambushed by Wei Yang. Wei Yang took the opportunity to attack the Wei army, which was defeated. King Hui of Wei was forced to cede part of Hexi in exchange for peace. At this time, King Hui of Wei said, "I really regret not listening to Gong Shucuo."

Wei Yang was granted the title of Shang Jun for his military exploits. Wei Yang also became Shang Yang. At this time, Shang Yang was at the peak of his career.

As the saying goes, "Everything that goes up in prosperity will decline." Although Shang Yang's reforms made Qin rich and powerful, many Qin nobles complained. A man named Zhao Liang saw through Shang Yang's dangerous situation and advised him to resign and retire.

But honest advice hurts, and Shang Yang was blinded by the glory before him and refused to listen.

In 338 BC, Duke Xiao of Qin died and Crown Prince Si succeeded him as King Huiwen of Qin. After the death of Duke Xiao of Qin, aristocratic forces such as Prince Qian fabricated charges and falsely accused Shang Yang of treason.

Although Shang Yang's reforms made Qin powerful, they also affected the interests of the nobles, especially the military merit system, which broke the hereditary privileges of the nobles. In order to consolidate his position, King Huiwen of Qin chose to sacrifice Shang Yang to appease the anger of the nobles.

When Shang Yang fled to the border, he wanted to stay in an inn. The owner of the inn didn't know he was Shang Jun, and when he saw that he had no ID, he told him Shang Jun's law that it was a crime to accommodate a guest without ID.

Shang Yang lamented that his legislation had only harmed himself, which was a case of "self-destruction". Shang Yang wanted to escape to the State of Wei, but the State of Wei refused him entry because he had tricked and captured Prince Ang.

Shang Yang was left with nowhere to go and was finally killed in Tongdi (now southwest of Huazhou, Shaanxi). His body was transported back to Xianyang, where he was torn apart in public and his entire family was executed.

Although Shang Yang died, the reform continued to be implemented. Qin gradually became the most powerful country among the seven major powers in the Warring States Period, laying a solid foundation for the later Qin Dynasty to unify the world.

Shang Yang's work "The Book of Lord Shang" was also listed as "the number one banned book in the world". The "art of hegemony" in it has become an important magic weapon for Chinese rulers for thousands of years, and his Legalist thought has also become the ideological cornerstone of "Confucianism on the outside and Legalism on the inside" in Chinese feudal society.

——"Tu Mu Li Xin, I have to admire his brain, he actually has a solution."

——"Thousands of years ago, people knew that if you wanted someone to work for you, you had to pay."

——"Shang Yang was an extraordinary person. With his own strength, he saved the Qin State from danger. Although he died, his laws did not perish. It is even possible that his death was intentional for the sake of his laws."

——"It's a pity that you didn't listen to my advice. Otherwise, you might still be alive."

——"It's not that he doesn't listen to advice. It's impossible for a man like him not to think about his own end."