Video Clip: Opening Inventory of the Ten Emperors

Chapter 178 An Amazing Life, Not a Perfect Ending
What are Wu Qi's proud achievements?Can he be called the No.1 player in the Spring and Autumn Period?

See the phrase "projection on the sky".

Everyone was stunned.

"Spring and Autumn?"

"Isn't Wu Qi from the Warring States period? How could he be from the Spring and Autumn Period?"

"Is there a mistake? Or am I remembering wrong?"

"No... Wu Qi seems to be from the Warring States Period."

"Warring States! It must be Warring States."

…………

First of all, the Spring and Autumn Period mentioned here began in 770 BC, the year when King Ping of Zhou moved eastward.

It ended in [-] B.C. when the three families were divided into Jin, that is, the period when King Weilie of Zhou named Han, Zhao, and Wei three vassals.

In the history of China, "Separation of Jin from the Three Families" is regarded as the watershed between the end of the Spring and Autumn Period and the beginning of the Warring States Period, so Sima Guang listed it as the opening chapter of "Zi Zhi Tong Jian".

The reason why Wu Qi is specifically marked as the No.1 general in the Spring and Autumn Period is because the war between the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period was vastly different in terms of the ultimate goal of the war, as well as in the scale and duration of the war.

This is because the war in the Spring and Autumn Period is to achieve the goal of dominating the princes by defeating the opponent, and the destruction of the country and the annexation are not the theme.

At the same time, in this process, Zhou Tianzi can still get the minimum respect in name and form.

But Warring States is different.

During the Warring States period, the purpose of war became to gain an overwhelming advantage in strength to seize the world and replace the Zhou royal family. Therefore, special emphasis was placed on killing and seizing land in battles, and state destruction and mergers became the norm.

Therefore, the statistical method of military generals in the Spring and Autumn Period is completely different from that in the Warring States Period, and the comparison is of little significance.

First of all, Sima Qian listed Wu Qi and Sun Wu together in "Historical Records", which shows that he is highly praised, so let's first see if Wu Qi's achievements are worthy of this praise.

In the first battle, help the State of Lu defeat the invading State of Qi.

The state of Lu is far inferior to the state of Qi in terms of population and territory. Naturally, it has few soldiers and is at a strategic disadvantage. After Wu Qi became a general, he not only defeated the state of Qi, but also "broke it". Obviously, it was a hearty battle. The victory of the army is evident in its ability to use troops.

In the second battle, he was the general of Wei, "strike Qin and pull out five cities".

Before the return cannon was introduced to China, it was the most difficult to attack the heavily fortified city. Basically, it could only rely on long-term siege and desperate use of human life. Therefore, "Sun Tzu's Art of War" has the saying "ten rounds of encirclement", and Wu Qi was able to defeat it consecutively. The five cities, obviously, are also handy in fighting fortified battles.

It was precisely because Wu Qi led the army to deal a heavy blow to the Qin army and forced it to retreat to the west of Luoshui. The stimulated and pressured Qin State learned from the painful experience and began to reform and strengthen itself.

In the third battle, Wu Qi served as Prime Minister of Chu.

"Ping Baiyue in the south, merge with Chen Cai in the north, but conquer the Jin Dynasty, and attack Qin in the west."

In the words of later generations, it is to conquer the south and fight the north, block the east and kill the west, and the result is also a series of victories, so that "the princes suffer from the strength of Chu.

The land of Baiyue is mostly mountains and dense forests, facing unfavorable terrain and climate, the two countries of Chen and Cai are small and weak, and annexation is not a big deal.

However, repelling the Jin army, which ranked first in strength in the Spring and Autumn Period, and actively attacking the Qin State, which was comparable to the Chu State, have extremely high gold content, which can be called "unworldly achievements".

The last battle, murder after death——"When mourning the death of the king, the clan ministers rebelled and attacked Wu Qi, and the corpse of the king who left Wu Qi fell down, and the attackers shot Wu Qi and killed the king. When the crown prince was established, he ordered Yin to punish those who shot Wu Qi and killed the king's corpse, and then shot more than [-] families who killed Yizong."

The sudden outbreak of the rebellion certainly did not leave much time for Wu Qi to react. When he was faced with unchangeable failure and death, he was able to immediately come up with a posthumous revenge plan, which shows that he thought quickly and deeply.

Wu Qi served successively as a general in the three kingdoms of Lu, Wei, and Chu. He faced completely different folk customs and dialects. The geographical range of his battles spanned thousands of miles, and he was a guest official from outside. It is absolutely impossible.

Secondly, as a famous general of a generation, Wu Qi led troops to fight almost every battle and won every battle. Knowing what happened and why, he put his own military thinking into writing and became the "Wu Zi's Art of War", which was passed down to later generations. , Advocating elite soldiers and other ideas still have practical significance in contemporary times.

In addition to leading troops to fight, Wu Qi also performed well in handling government affairs.

When he served as the guard of Xihe in the Wei State, he "governed the officials, loved the people, and served the treasury."

And in the position of Prime Minister of Chu State.

"Clear the law to judge the decree, donate the officials who are not in a hurry, and abolish those who are alienated from the public, so as to support the fighters. We must strengthen the army, break the words and follow the rules."

Wu Qi used a pragmatic attitude to help Chu achieve its goal of making the country rich and its army strong.

Judging from the actual situation, Wu Qi deserves his name as the No.1 general in the Spring and Autumn Period.

…………

"Well said."

"Judging from Wu Qi's record, he is fully worthy of being the No.1 general in the Spring and Autumn Period."

"The Wu Qi I know is a great military strategist and statesman."

"In the 26th year of Wei Dynasty, he helped Wei Wuhou train Wei Wuzu, a group of very powerful troops."

"I once fought 76 times with the princes, and won 64 times."

"I have repeatedly defeated the huge Qin army with a few soldiers, occupying the land seven hundred miles west of the Yellow River, making the original powerful Qin State in danger, and Wei State becoming the top power in the Warring States."

"Judging from all these performances, Wu Qi is very outstanding."

Emperor Yongle Zhu Di naturally admired such a strong man as Wu Qi.

Leaving aside some external factors, Wu Qi, in Zhu Di's opinion, is indeed a truly blessed general.

As soon as the topic changed, Zhu Di's tone changed.

"Wu Qi has lived in exile in several countries in his life, and sacrificed many times. What he got in return was revenge. However, he was a maverick, acted rashly, and wrote a legendary life. It has to be sighed."

"Wu Qi just doesn't have the right master. If he is under the ruler of Youwei, how can he achieve such an achievement? It's not a problem to be named king or minister."

"I can only say a lot of things, it's all due to the arrangement of fate!"

…………

"Wu Qi? This person has changed the affairs of the king and the world, and it is difficult to win the name of life and death."

In the imperial palace of the Qing Dynasty, Emperor Yongzheng couldn't help sighing.

"Some time ago, I had nothing to do. I read "Historical Records" and "Tongjian", and happened to find Wu Qi again. In fact, I have known these stories about Wu Qi for a long time, but after re-reading, I still linger on them for a long time."

"After Wu Qi's death, there are mixed praises and praises. There are admiration, sighs and regrets. I admire his achievements through the ages, lament his endless slander, and regret his dismal end."

As Yongzheng said.

Wu Qi lived in the turbulent Warring States era. The situation of various countries has begun to reshuffle. The scale of wars is getting bigger and bigger. Small countries basically can't even pay the entrance fee. The Warring States has gradually become a wrestling between several big countries. .

Heroes of the Warring States Period were born in large numbers, but also tragedies frequently occurred. Wu Qi's life was a tragic life. His tragedies are sad, and his achievements are fascinating.

In Wu Qi's world, making contributions and realizing one's political ambitions is always the number one priority.

His ambition is simple and direct, and it is not based on benevolence, righteousness and morality, but a brutal fight with real swords and guns.

In "Historical Records", Wu Qi was able to stand side by side with Sun Wu and Sun Bin, which shows that he used soldiers like a god. Therefore, most of his glorious memories in his life are on the battlefield when the two armies confront each other among thousands of troops. A stepping stone on his laurels.

When Wu Qi was chatting with Marquis Wu of Wei, he once said loudly, "There is no danger in morality", but throughout Wu Qi's life, the choices are the result of the most realistic calculation of interests, and basically have nothing to do with morality.

His purpose is to realize his wish, as long as the king trusts enough and provides a platform for realization.

In order to gain Lu Jun's trust, he could kill his wife without hesitation to beg the general. When he was studying abroad, he could turn a deaf ear to the news of his mother's death.

When he left home back then, he said he wouldn't come back if he didn't do well, so he never saw his mother before he was in the prime of life, even if it was parting life and death.

Such determination and perseverance are really admirable and at the same time feel unreasonable.

All of Wu Qi's achievements are basically stained with blood. He obviously has no patience to start with sincerity and righteousness. He wants to govern the country and the world in one step. It would be more fulfilling to help Wei State suppress Qin State in Xihe in stages.

When Wu Qi left Xihe back then, his eyes were full of tears, not only because he wanted to leave the place where he had fought, but also because he had a premonition that after he left, Qin would surely encroach on Xihe.

Wei State was surrounded by great powers, without the barrier of Xihe, the tiger and wolf army who directly faced Qin State would definitely take a turn for the worse. The later development of the situation also verified Wu Qi's judgment.

Wu Qi's almost paranoid pursuit of achievement is also realistically ruthless, which is not only reflected in his treatment of his mother and wife, but also in his free and easy attitude towards different countries.

After Qilu became famous in the First World War, he was slandered and went to Wei State. Under Wei Wenhou, Wu Qi's career reached its peak. Under the trust of Wu Qi, he launched Wu Qi's reform.

In fact, every time you leave, you have to give up your huge achievements and start again, how free and easy it is.

Wu Qi has always had a pure heart for his ambitions, but he doesn't care where to realize his ambitions.

It is impossible for us to expect Wu Qi to be a lone official like Qu Yuan. Those who are as cold-blooded and realistic as Wu Qi will not have such enthusiasm and romance.

Wu Qi's free and easy is unbelievable. Starting from scratch and then rebuilding his achievements, the only requirement is full trust and respect. From this perspective, Wu Qi is also a man of love.

Of course, although Wu Qi was able to settle the affairs of the king, he was powerless to win fame in life and after death.

When Wu Qi was alive, he was more slandered than praised. Although the orthodox Confucianism after him recognized his achievements, they had reservations about his character.

Orthodox Confucianism will not consider Wu Qi's temperament and character based on loyalty, filial piety, benevolence and righteousness. If Wu Qi can avoid being accused of infidelity in an era like the Warring States Period, then his disobedience to his mother and inhumanity to his wife are Confucian no matter what. Neither will be accepted.

Throughout Wu Qi's several times of changing platforms, the influence of slander is inevitable.After the State of Lu defeated the State of Qi, someone gave Lu Jun Wu Qi's eye drops, saying that Wu Qi was a person who guessed and tolerated. This has risen to malicious speculation on personality, but Lu Jun still believed it.

This shows that at least in Lu Jun's judgment, it is logical to evaluate Wu Qi like this. Looking at Wu Qi's attitude towards his mother and wife, even the closest relatives are like this, a guessing comment is probably not too much.

Before Wei Wenhou decided to use Wu Qi, Li Ke also told Wenhou that Wu Qi was greedy and lustful. Awareness is such a negative label.

As for the reform of the Chu State, Wu Qi was completely hostile to the clan and dignitaries, so that he died under random arrows in the end.

It can be said that Wu Qi's character has determined that he will inevitably provoke countless slanders, Mu Xiuyu will be destroyed by Lin Feng, if Wu Qi is mediocre, he may be able to spend his life in peace, but he can also make contributions and make achievements like a bag. His viciousness and brilliant career intensified the hostility of others towards him.

Fortunately, Wu Qi sees it openly, uses it when it fits, and abandons it if it doesn't fit it. Anyway, there are opportunities and platforms in the Warring States Period.

However, Wu Qi has been plotted against many times, and it is an extremely despicable and unskilled calculation. It can also be said that Wu Qi is an expert in foreign wars and internal wars. defeat.

Perhaps the only reasonable explanation is that his character is too proud, and he disdains to attack each other with domestic forces.

When Wu Qi made a strong political reform in Chu State, he had already expected that the clan and dignitaries hated him deeply, and even Wu Qi was used to it. Anyway, no matter where he wants to do something, there will be opposition forces, and even Wu Qi's existence itself makes him People are hostile.

Because he is a huge variable, a character who has the ability to break the existing pattern and reshuffle the cards.

For a character like Wu Qi, most of the dignitaries who were in a favorable position under the original situation must have attacked in groups.

But as long as the king trusts him, Wu Qi can continue to implement his own reforms to realize his ambitions.

After the death of King Chu Mourning, the clan fought directly with Wu Qi. When Wu Qi hid behind the corpse of King Chu Mourning, he would definitely recall his wonderful life, the years of Xihe, his mother and wife of Qi State, he might feel that His life is full of regrets, but he will not hesitate to realize his ambition, so he has regrets but no regrets.

When the random arrows flew like locusts, Wu Qi had already figured out how to avenge himself. Wu Qi guessed that those who endured jealousy must avenge their revenge, even if they died, they would die together.

Therefore, the corpse of King Chu Mourning became Wu Qi's bargaining chip for revenge. When the random arrows flew towards Wu Qi, they also shot King Chu Mourning.

Looking at Wu Qi in "Historical Records" and "Tong Jian", they are actually not particularly detailed, but they can still briefly outline his life.

At the end of "Historical Records Biography of Wu Qi", Sima Qian also sighed very much, feeling that since Wu Qi knew that "the situation is not as good as virtue", but he himself died in Chu because of "grave violence and little kindness".

…………

In the Taiji Palace, Li Shimin looked at the sky.

Just left a sentence silently:
"The vast river, a drop in the ocean, Wang Tu's hegemony vanished in smoke while talking and laughing. It really can't be solved. Greed, hatred and ignorance. For thousands of years, we have the same heart and mind."

(End of this chapter)