BSI Chapter 47, 6 Kings Bi, 4 Seas 1
Chapter 47, 6 Kings Bi, 4 Seas 1
In the seventh year of King Zheng of Qin (240 BC), shortly after the dust settled on the Zheng Guo Canal incident, the Qin army resumed its war. General Meng Ao led his army to attack Wei and captured Ji.
However, in that year, a comet appeared in the eastern and northern sky one after the other. According to the Yin-Yang school of thought at the time, this was regarded as an ominous sign of war and misfortune for the ruler.
Perhaps the celestial phenomena influenced human affairs, or perhaps the Wei people fought desperately like cornered beasts. Just as the battle was raging, bad news came from the Qin army: the veteran general Meng Ao had died of illness in the army.
The Qin state has lost a pillar of strength. King Zheng of Qin urgently summoned Lord Jingning, Zhang Ling, to the front lines to relieve the siege and take over military affairs.
Upon arriving at the front lines, Zhang Ling immediately steadied the situation, repelled the Wei army's counterattack, and ultimately took control of Jicheng. However, Qin failed to expand its gains in this battle and even lost a veteran general, leaving a gloomy atmosphere throughout the court and the country.
When Lü Buwei was in power, he ordered the mobilization of more laborers to speed up the Zheng Guo Canal project, as if he wanted to use manpower to counteract the warnings from the heavens.
Beneath the surface of calm in the imperial court, undercurrents were surging even more fiercely.
King Zheng of Qin was no longer the silent youth he once was. He had grown taller, his gaze had become increasingly sharp, and his inquiries and involvement in state affairs had become more frequent and in-depth.
Although Lü Buwei still held great power, he could feel the scrutinizing gaze from the throne as he bowed.
Some astute courtiers began to perceive the subtle, unspoken tension between the emperor and his minister.
Lü Buwei attempted to maintain his authority and balance through more diligent governance and more aggressive expansion.
In the eighth year of King Zheng of Qin (239 BC), Lord Chang'an Chengjiao was ordered to lead an army to attack the State of Zhao.
Cheng Jiao was the half-brother of King Zheng of Qin. This campaign not only expanded Qin's territory, but also served as a means for Lü Buwei to consolidate the support of the Qin royal family and to train the royal princes.
However, as the army marched to Tunliu, a shocking report suddenly arrived from the front: Chang'an Jun Chengjiao had rebelled! Soon after, news spread that Chengjiao had been killed in the chaos, his followers had been executed, and the local population had been forcibly relocated to Lintao.
In the ninth year of King Zheng of Qin's reign (238 BC), an even greater storm swept in.
Marquis Changxin, Lao Ai, a favorite who suddenly became wealthy and powerful thanks to the favor of Empress Dowager Zhao Ji, took advantage of King Zheng of Qin's trip to the old capital Yongcheng for his coming-of-age ceremony and his impending assumption of power to launch an armed rebellion in Xianyang.
He stole the Qin King's imperial seal and the Empress Dowager's seal, and mobilized his retainers, county soldiers, and cavalry to attack the Qinian Palace in Yongcheng, attempting to assassinate the emperor and seize the throne.
This time, King Zheng of Qin demonstrated the wisdom of a born king.
He discovered the plot in advance and secretly ordered Lord Changping and Lord Changwen to send troops to quell the rebellion. The two sides fought in Xianyang, the rebel army was routed, Lao Ai was torn apart by chariots, and his three clans were exterminated.
King Zhuanlun also contributed two firecrackers to King Zheng of Qin.
His cronies were either beheaded or imprisoned, while Empress Dowager Zhao Ji, with whom Lao Ai had an affair, was moved to Yong and imprisoned.
During the thorough investigation of this case and the purge of the remaining associates, countless clues and confessions vaguely and circuitously pointed to Marquis Wenxin, Lü Buwei.
It was he who introduced Lao Ai into the palace back then. Although there was no direct evidence to show that Lü Buwei participated in the rebellion, this alone was enough to plunge Lü Buwei into an abyss of no return.
After his coming-of-age ceremony, King Zheng of Qin officially assumed personal rule.
He kept quiet about Lü Buwei's involvement in the rebellion until the following year, the tenth year of King Zheng of Qin (237 BC), when he took advantage of the lingering repercussions of the Lao Ai affair and the uproar in the court and among the people to issue an edict to remove Lü Buwei from his position as prime minister and order him to leave Xianyang and go to his fiefdom in Henan.
Lu Xiang, who had been a powerful figure in the Qin court for over a decade, thus quietly withdrew from the Qin state's power center.
However, during the year or so that Lü Buwei was in Henan, his fiefdom was still bustling with carriages and horses, and envoys and scholars from the six states frequently came and went. This lively scene deeply stung the sensitive nerves of King Zheng of Qin.
In the twelfth year of King Zheng of Qin (235 BC), a pot of poisonous wine was sent to Henan by an envoy.
Lü Buwei committed suicide by drinking poison. The once powerful and influential merchant and imperial prime minister met his tragic end in this way.
The Zheng Guo Canal, which he oversaw and promoted, irrigated Guanzhong; many of the guest advisors he heavily relied on were still serving in the court; and his eastward expansion strategy continued. But he himself had become a thing of the past.
King Zheng of Qin used swift and decisive measures to completely eliminate the shadow of powerful ministers and firmly grasp the reins of state affairs in his own hands.
While dealing with Lü Buwei, King Zheng of Qin did not relent in his crackdown on the east.
At the beginning of his personal rule, he adopted the strategy of Zhang Ling and Wei Liao, sending strategists with large sums of money to sow discord between the rulers and ministers of the six states.
Militarily, he relied not only on Zhang Ling and Wang Jian, but also on generals such as Yang Duanhe and Huan Ba.
Meanwhile, Li Si, who had served as a retainer under Lü Buwei and was highly valued for submitting the "Memorial on Expelling Foreign Guests," also quickly entered the core of power due to his outstanding political skills and absolute loyalty to the royal authority.
In the eleventh year of King Zheng of Qin (236 BC), taking advantage of the war between the states of Zhao and Yan, Qin, under the pretext of rescuing Yan, dispatched Zhang Ling, Wang Jian, Huan Ba, and Yang Duanhe to lead separate armies to attack Zhao.
The Qin army captured nine cities in succession, including Eyu, Liaoyang, Anyang, and Yecheng. Large areas of Zhao's Shangdang Commandery and Hejian region fell to the Qin army. Although the main force of the Zhao army, led by Li Mu, fought hard, the country's strength had been severely damaged.
This battle marked a significant acceleration in the pace of Qin's unification war, transforming it from small-scale encroachment into a large-scale offensive aimed at dismembering and weakening its main rivals.
In the thirteenth year of King Zheng of Qin (234 BC), Zhang Ling attacked Pingyang and Wucheng of Zhao, killing Zhao general Hu Zhe and beheading 100,000 people.
The situation in the State of Zhao was critical. In the fourteenth year of King Zheng of Qin (233 BC), Zhang Ling continued his eastward advance and captured Yi'an, Pingyang, and Wucheng.
Zhao's renowned general Li Mu was reinstated and deployed troops at Feixia and Fanwu to resist the Qin army, temporarily halting the Qin army's fierce offensive and buying Zhao a last bit of time. However, this was already the last gasp of their strength.
During this period, Han could no longer withstand the continuous pressure from Qin. In the fourteenth year of King Zheng of Qin, King An of Han was forced to cede Nanyang to Qin.
The following year, Qin's Minister Teng led his army to take over Nanyang, and using it as a springboard, in the sixteenth year of King Zheng of Qin (231 BC), he invaded the heartland of Han, captured King An of Han, and took over all of its territory, establishing Yingchuan Commandery.
Thus, South Korea, the weakest of the six kingdoms, became the first to exit the stage of history.
The Qin war machine did not stop after conquering Han; on the contrary, it roared even louder. Zhao, a powerful northern state that had fought with Qin for a century and produced many great generals, became the next target.
In the eighteenth year of King Zheng of Qin (229 BC), the Qin state launched a major attack on Zhao. Zhang Ling led the troops from Shangdi and Wang Jian led the troops from Henan, advancing in separate routes and heading straight for Handan.
Zhao generals Li Mu and Sima Shang led the Zhao army in a fierce resistance, resulting in a stalemate between the two sides.
At a critical moment, Qin's counter-espionage scheme worked once again. Guo Kai, who had been heavily bribed by Qin, repeatedly slandered Li Mu and Sima Shang for plotting a rebellion in front of King Zhao Qian.
The incompetent King Qian of Zhao destroyed his own defenses by killing Li Mu and deposing Sima Shang. Three months later, Zhang Ling launched a fierce attack on Zhao, defeating the Zhao army, capturing Handan, and taking King Qian of Zhao prisoner. Prince Jia of Zhao fled to Dai and declared himself King of Dai, but it was too late to reverse the situation.
After conquering Zhao, Qin's military force turned its attention directly to Yan.
Prince Dan of Yan was terrified, which led to Jing Ke's assassination attempt on the King of Qin. When the map was unrolled and the dagger was revealed, the King of Qin huddled around a pillar, and the plot failed.
King Zheng of Qin was furious and sent more troops to attack Yan. In the 21st year of King Zheng of Qin's reign (226 BC), the Qin army captured Ji, the capital of Yan. King Xi of Yan and Crown Prince Dan fled to Liaodong. Qin general Li Xin pursued them, and Crown Prince Dan was beheaded by his father to sue for peace. The state of Yan existed in name only.
With the situation in the north settled, King Zheng of Qin turned his attention to the southern state of Chu, which had the largest territory and the greatest potential.
In the 22nd year of King Zheng of Qin (225 BC), Qin general Wang Ben led his army to attack Chu. He won the first battle and captured more than ten cities.
However, this did not shake the foundation of the Chu state. King Zheng of Qin was determined to win and consulted his generals. The young and ambitious Li Xin claimed that only 200,000 men were needed, while the mature and prudent Wang Jian insisted that 600,000 were necessary. Zhang Ling remained silent.
King Zheng of Qin believed that Wang Jian was old and timid, so he appointed Li Xin and Meng Tian as generals and led an army of 200,000 to attack Chu. In the beginning, the Qin army won a series of victories, but the Chu general Xiang Yan avoided the Qin army's sharp edge and waited for an opportunity to counterattack, inflicting a great defeat on Li Xin's army, and the Qin army retreated.
Upon hearing the news, King Zheng of Qin personally went to Pinyang to apologize to Wang Jian, who had retired to his hometown, and earnestly requested him to return to public service.
Wang Jian insisted on the demand for an army of 600,000. King Zheng of Qin mobilized all the elite troops in the country, gathering a total of 600,000, and handed them over to Wang Jian.
After Wang Jian led his army to the Chu territory, he dug deep trenches and built high walls, holding firm and refusing to fight. When the Chu army became complacent and moved eastward, Wang Jian launched a fierce attack, defeating the Chu army and killing its commander, Xiang Yan.
Subsequently, the Qin army pursued their victory, and in the 24th year of King Zheng of Qin's reign (223 BC), they captured Shouchun, the capital of Chu, and took King Fuchu of Chu prisoner. The state of Chu was destroyed.
In the same year that Chu was destroyed, Wang Ben led his army north to sweep away the remaining forces of Yan and Dai, capturing King Xi of Yan and King Jia of Dai, thus completely destroying Yan and Dai.
Now, of the six eastern states, only the easternmost state of Qi remains, which has long been isolated by Qin's strategy of befriending distant states while attacking nearby ones and has not experienced a major war for many years.
In the 26th year of King Zheng of Qin (221 BC), Wang Ben led his victorious army south from Yan and marched straight towards the State of Qi.
At the urging of his prime minister Hou Sheng (who had already been bribed by Qin with a large sum of money), King Jian of Qi surrendered without resistance, opening the gates of his city. Qi fell without a fight. From then on, King Zheng of Qin swept away the six states and unified the world!