Zhu Chao accompanied me to watch short videos

[Read the Assassin Yu Rang in one go. Historical trivia: Spring and Autumn Period and Warring States Period]

He was one of the five great assassins in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. He was loyal and willing to die for his country. He was also a tragic figure in the land of Yan and Zhao. Chivalry was his most prominent character. He was remembered in history for his saying "A man will die for his friend". In this video, let's talk about the assassin Yu Rang.

Yu Rang was a native of Jin during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. He was one of the five great assassins during that period.

When talking about Yu Rang, we have to mention the Chinese people's spirit and poetic character he represents. Confucius once said: "If I hear the truth in the morning, I can die in the evening." Zengzi also said: "A scholar must be broad-minded and resolute, for the responsibility is heavy and the road is long."

The turbulent times of the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period were not only the peak of the culture of a hundred schools of thought, but also the outburst and embodiment of the character of Chinese poets. The spirit of the pre-Qin period is a unique spirit in Chinese culture. Everyone practices the morality in his heart and bears responsibilities and obligations.

After the pre-Qin period, the poets' character was gradually lost, and hypocrites and false moralists were prevalent in the world, which is a pity.

More than 2000 years ago, a retainer named Yu Rang, who failed in his attempt to avenge his confidant, committed suicide after leaving behind the famous saying, "A gentleman will die for his confidant, and a woman will dress up for the one who pleases her."

This is because he firmly believed that "If you treat me as a great man, I will repay you as a great man." Although Yu Rang died, his romantic charm has been passed down for more than 2000 years.

Yu Rang was originally a retainer of the Fan family, one of the six nobles of Jin State, and later became a retainer of the Zhonghang family. During this period, he remained unknown and was not taken seriously.

It was not until he became a retainer of Zhibo that Yu Rang began to be used. Zhibo treated him with great respect, as a stately man, and as a close friend.

Four years later, Jin was in civil strife. Zhi Bo, who had been kind to Yu Rang, was destroyed by Han, Zhao, and Wei. Among them, Zhao Xiangzi, who hated Zhi Bo the most, even made his skull into a wine vessel after killing him.

Missing the kindness of Zhibo and resenting the brutality of Zhao Xiangzi, Yu Rang vowed to avenge Zhibo and assassinate Zhao Xiangzi.

So he changed his name, disguised himself as a tortured man, and entered the palace of Zhao Xiangzi. He carried a dagger and planned to assassinate Zhao Xiangzi. However, when Zhao Xiangzi was about to go to the toilet, he felt uneasy, so he searched everywhere, found Yu Rang, and arrested him.

When being interrogated, Yu Rang said bluntly: "To avenge Zhi Bo." The guards originally wanted to kill him, but Zhao Xiangzi was moved by his behavior and finally let him go.

Soon after, Yu Rang, in order to achieve his revenge, did not hesitate to make his skin ulcerate, swallowed charcoal fire, made his voice hoarse, and shaved off his beard and eyebrows, so that when he disguised himself and begged on the street, even his wife did not recognize him. However, his friends still recognized him when they passed by.

Seeing his miserable state, his friend said with tears in his eyes: "With your talent, you can pretend to serve Zhao Xiangzi, so that you can get close to him. Then it will be easy to kill him, right?" Yu Rang said: "If you decide to pretend to serve and then have two hearts, it is the behavior of a villain.

I know that this is a very difficult approach, but I chose it so that those ministers who serve the monarch wholeheartedly in the future would know that this is against the principle of loyalty between monarch and minister. "This shows how persistent he was.

Finally, Yu Rang figured out the time and route that Zhao Xiangzi would go out, and ambushed him under the Red Bridge the day before he was going out. When Zhao Xiangzi was crossing the bridge, his horse was suddenly startled. He guessed that someone was trying to assassinate him, so he asked his men to investigate, and sure enough, it was Yu Rang again.

Zhao Xiangzi questioned Yu Rang: "You once served the Fan clan and the Zhonghang clan. Zhi Bo destroyed them all, but you did not avenge them. Instead, you became Zhi Bo's retainer. Zhi Bo is already dead, why are you so eager to avenge him alone?"

Yu Rang replied, "Fan and Zhonghang treated me like an ordinary person, so I repay them as an ordinary person; Zhi Bo treated me like a great man, so I repay him as a great man." This means, "Fan and Zhonghang treated me like an ordinary person, so I repay them like an ordinary person;

Zhi Bo treated me as a great man, so I will repay him like a great man." Zhao Xiangzi was deeply moved, but felt that he could not let Yu Rang go, so he ordered his soldiers to surround him.

Yu Rang had no hope of survival and could not fulfill his vow to assassinate Zhao Xiangzi, so he asked Zhao Xiangzi to take off a piece of clothing so that he could symbolically assassinate him.

Zhao Xiangzi met his request and sent someone to take his clothes to Yu Rang. Yu Rang drew his sword, stabbed his clothes several times, looked up to the sky and shouted: "I can go down to report to Zhi Bo!" In the end, Yu Rang committed suicide.

Since ancient times, there have been many generous and tragic poets in the land of Yan and Zhao, and Yu Rang is such a poet. His spirit of "a man dies for his confidant, and a woman dresses for the man who pleases her" will be remembered forever. He was fearless and brave for his personal integrity, which is admirable. However, are there still such people in today's society?

[Read all the historical facts about Sima Cuo, the most underestimated general of Qin State, in one go: Spring and Autumn Period and Warring States Period]

When it comes to the famous general Sima Cuo, he is often unknown, but his achievements are no less than those of Bai Qi and Wang Jian. He is a crucial figure in the unification of the Qin State, but why is he little known in history? In this video, let's talk about the famous Qin general Sima Cuo.

Sima Cuo was a famous general of the Qin State in the middle of the Warring States Period. He served in the reigns of King Huiwen of Qin, King Wu of Qin, and King Zhaoxiang of Qin.

Speaking of Sima Cuo, his popularity is not as prominent as other Qin generals, and perhaps many people have never heard of him. But if you look closely at history, you will find that Sima Cuo is definitely an underestimated general.

Looking back on Sima Cuo's life, he conquered Bashu, expanded territory, and made great military achievements.

Although his military achievements were not as brilliant as those of Bai Qi and Wang Jian, Sima Cuo, with his outstanding strategic vision, was no less important than Bai Qi and Wang Jian in the great cause of Qin's unification.

He lived in the same era as Bai Qi, the most powerful general of Qin State, and he also fought alongside Bai Qi to expand the territory of Qin State. Sima Cuo may not be the most famous general of Qin State, but he is the most strategically visionary among the famous generals of Qin State.

We have all heard the saying: "A hundred rivers bend in one direction, and a stream travels southward." Throughout the dynasties, victory and defeat are common in the military, but the key to victory or defeat lies in whether one can grasp the overall situation.

From ancient times to the present, only those who can focus on the entire battle situation and have a long-term strategic vision can become famous generals at that time. Sima Cuo was a strategic commander with innovative and pioneering ideas.

So, what exactly were Sima Cuo’s achievements?

After Shang Yang's reforms, Qin gradually became stronger. At that time, there were two powerful countries in the hinterland of the south of Qin: one was Shu, located in the present Sichuan area;

One is the State of Ba, located in the present Chongqing area. During the reign of King Huiwen of Qin, the two countries fought and attacked each other, and both countries sent envoys to Qin for help.

King Huiwen of Qin had long intended to annex Shu, but suffered from the difficult roads to Shu and the difficulty of attacking it. At the same time, Han, to the east, also sent troops to invade Qin, so King Huiwen of Qin was always hesitant, not knowing whether to destroy Shu first or attack Han first.

Prime Minister Zhang Yi advocated attacking Han first, while General Sima Cuo advocated destroying Shu first. Zhang Yi's conclusion was: occupy Sanchuan County, open up Yiyang Road, and hold the Zhou emperor hostage to complete the hegemony.

As for Shu, it was just a small country on the western edge. It was not worth the time and effort to attack, and it was of no help to Qin's hegemony.

Sima Cuo's conclusion is: If Qin wants to dominate, it must first make the country strong and the people rich, and must first expand its territory and increase its wealth, so it should destroy Shu first.

If they attacked Han and held the Zhou emperor hostage, not only would they fail to gain any strength, but they would also be branded as "unkind and unjust". Moreover, Zhou and Han would inevitably join forces with other countries to fight against Qin.

Therefore, attacking Han was a mistake, and attacking Shu was the long-term plan.

One point to note here is that during the Warring States Period, the Zhou emperor was basically in name only, and the wars between the various countries were basically the law of the jungle, and the national strength of Qin at that time was not very strong. Therefore, developing national strength was the first priority.

From this we can also see that although Sima Cuo's reputation is not as great as Zhang Yi's, his strategic vision is not inferior to Zhang Yi's.

After listening to Sima Cuo's proposal, King Huiwen of Qin agreed with it. So he appointed Sima Cuo as a general and led his troops to attack Shu. Under Sima Cuo's leadership, Qin destroyed Shu in one fell swoop, and then took advantage of the victory to destroy Ba, which expanded Qin's territory by nearly half and its population by one third.

In 310 BC, Chen Zhuang, the prime minister of Shu, rebelled, and Sima Cuo led his army to quell the rebellion and was ordered to guard Bashu. After that, under the comprehensive management of the floods in Bashu by water conservancy expert Li Bing, Qin established a real rear base for the Qin State.

During the process of Qin's unification of the six kingdoms, the Bashu region continuously provided Qin with military and financial resources, which was crucial to Qin's cause of unification.

From this point of view, the benefits Sima Cuo's strategic vision brought to Qin were no less than any famous general of Qin. His strategic proposition of "taking Shu means taking Chu" was also verified in the subsequent war against Chu.

In 280 BC, Sima Cuo bypassed the Chu army on the Qin-Chu border and attacked Qianzhong County of Chu directly from Shu, defeating the Chu army. King Qingxiang of Chu was forced to offer Qianzhong and the area north of the Han River to Qin for peace.

Sima Cuo's "roundabout route" was later perfectly replicated by Bai Qi in the Battle of Yan and Ying, which eventually defeated the Chu army and established an absolute advantage over the Chu State.

"Records of the Grand Historian" once said: "If Qin controls Shu, it will control Hanzhong. If it controls Qianzhong, it will cut off the right arm of the Chu people and leave them in a state of isolation." After Qin occupied Bashu, in the later period of King Zhao of Qin, with the completion of water conservancy projects such as the Dujiangyan Irrigation System, Qin's national strength basically formed an absolute advantage over the six states in Shandong, and the general trend of unifying the six states has gradually advanced.

Throughout history, it can be said that Sima Cuo's strategic vision was much higher than that of other Qin generals. It was precisely because of his proposition of "If you get Shu, you get the world" that he made a significant contribution to the later unification of the Qin State. In the years when Qin was not yet firmly established, he destroyed Shu and attacked Chu with judgment, which made him worthy of his status as a famous general and a strategic master among famous generals.

[Qin was a group of tigers and wolves. Shang Yang was the main force behind the Qin Reforms and it unified the world. Small historical knowledge]

The military merit system established by Shang Yang's reforms can be regarded as the magic weapon for Qin to unify the world. So, what is the military merit system? What did it bring to Qin? In this video, let's talk about Qin's magic weapon for victory - the military merit system.

When it comes to the reason why Qin was able to unify the world, its magic weapon lies in two words: agriculture and warfare. Shang Yang believed that the reason why a country prospers is because of agriculture and warfare. Therefore, Shang Yang's reforms also revolve around these two words. The reason why the Qin army was called the "Tiger and Wolf Division" was mainly due to its advanced management system - the 20-level military merit system with Qin characteristics. This system played a huge role in encouraging the morale of the Qin army and improving the combat effectiveness of the army.

The Origin and Development of the Military Merit System

The military merit system is a new system that emerged after the five-rank system of Duke, Marquis, Earl, Viscount and Baron in the Western Zhou Dynasty. It originated in the Spring and Autumn Period and was established in the Warring States Period. The Book of Lord Shang said: "The reward for military merit is based on the decision, so it is called Jun Jue." Its literal meaning is that the system of granting titles for military merit and enfeoffment of land and houses is called the military merit system. It can also be called the military merit system. If you look closely, "military merit system" is its original name, while "military merit system" is a more popular and appropriate name.

Most people know that there are 20 levels of military merit system, but it is important to understand that the 20-level system actually has a development process. The Book of Lord Shang records that the system of nobility established by Shang Yang originally had only 18 levels, from the 1st level of Gongshi to the 17th level of Da Liangzao, plus the 1st level of Xiaofu. Since there was no marquis in the early Qin Dynasty's system of nobility, Da Liangzao naturally became the highest nobility during the Shang Yang period. Compared with the later 20-level system of nobility, the titles of nobility during the Shang Yang period were basically the same before the 9th level, except for some individual levels. During the Qin Shihuang period, the nobility level was expanded to 20 levels. On the basis of the 18-level system of nobility, three levels of Liehou, Guanneihou, and Da Shuchang were added, and Xiaofu was removed, eventually forming a 3-level system of nobility.

Implementation and Rewards of the Military Merit System

Shang Yang's reform stipulated that the way to obtain a title was to cut off the enemy's head. As long as a Qin soldier cut off an enemy's head, he would get a level 1 title. The more heads he cut off, the higher the title he got. The enemy's head was the certificate for obtaining a title, which was the so-called "technical beast decision".

So, what are the benefits of having a title? According to records from the Han Dynasty, people's titles were one of the important contents of household registration. The household registration system of the Han Dynasty was inherited from the Qin Dynasty. Therefore, in the Qin Dynasty, filling in whether or not one had a title was as important as filling in one's political status today. In the household registration of the Qin Dynasty, whether or not one had a title and the level of the title were noted because people's social status and political treatment at that time were significantly different due to their titles.

Shang Yang established two principles during his reform: "Those who have made great contributions will receive generous salaries, those who have made great contributions will receive high titles, those who have made contributions will be rewarded even if they are humble, and those who have made no contributions will not be honored even if they are rich." These two principles ensured that those who had military merits and thus obtained titles would enjoy special respect and preferential treatment in society. Although there was a huge difference in the treatment of high and low titles, it was certain that those with titles had a better status than those without.