In 221 BC, the first emperor of Qin, the survivors of the sixth generation, vigorously pursued strategies to control the inner world, and finally unified the world. However, as Tai Shigong said: The reason why Qin strengthened the sixth generation and merged with the princes was because of Shang Yang. What's the plan?
However, many people’s understanding of Shang Yang’s reform is only limited to the series of decrees he promulgated in the book, but in fact, when Shang Yang presided over the Qin State’s reform process, he formulated for the Qin State After a series of decisions, it is not difficult to find that the "Shang Yang's conspiracy" mentioned by Tai Shigong is by no means limited to this. In summary, Shang Yang's plan is embodied in three aspects: strengthening the people, strengthening the country, and the specific implementation of foreign strategies. These three aspects are step by step and interlocking. Under the guidance of Shang Yang's great reform thought, they are gradually realized, and finally Shang Yang led the Qin State on the road to fundamental strength, so these three aspects can be summarized as the three steps that Shang Yang formulated for the Qin State to strengthen Qin. The first step is to strengthen the people
In 359 BC, Shang Yang implemented the "Grass Reclamation Order" and began to prepare for the first reform. The purpose of the first reform was to strengthen the people, which can be summarized as follows: Points: 1. Tighten people's grassroots organizations to achieve the effect of consolidating social stability. For example, the implementation of the "Wu Shi" system and the method of "simultaneous sitting" can strengthen the management and mutual supervision of the people and reduce the probability of crime. 2. Reward public wars and severely punish private wars, so as to cultivate the Qin people's consistent bellicose attitude towards foreign affairs and increase the Qin army's combat enthusiasm. For example, the establishment of the "military title" system and the abolition of the "Shilu" system, the implementation of the military title system has greatly increased the enthusiasm of the Qin people for war. Shang Yang stipulated that those who have meritorious service and title will enjoy rural residence according to their merit and title. Those who have no merit are not allowed to enjoy clothes, etc. This makes the Qin State form a very complete social hierarchy order, which can inspire people's morale. 3. Develop relevant systems for military service, training, recruitment, etc. For example, it is stipulated that men must perform military service when they reach a certain age, receive formal training, and return to their hometowns when the service period expires. If there is a war, they must be mobilized. This series of regulations will allow the Qin State to have sufficient reserve troops in the future. 4. Develop agriculture. For example, incentives should be given to active producers and severe punishment should be given to lazy producers. In addition, in view of the current situation of Qin State's vast territory and sparse population, Shang Yang also proposed "granting land and houses, exemption from taxes for three generations" and other rewards. This attracted the people of Han, Zhao, Wei and the three Jins to come and surrender, and developed unused land for the Qin State to increase the Qin State's grain production. This invisibly weakened the strength of the Three Jin Dynasties. This also shows Shang Yang's foresight. The people are the foundation of the country. To strengthen a country, you must first strengthen the people. Shang Yang believes that the way to strengthen the people is to use both kindness and power. This is not difficult to find through the implementation of the above four-point policies. Therefore, when Shang Yang formulated the three-step strategy of strengthening Qin , taking "strengthening the people" as the first step to strengthening Qin. However, the way to strengthen the people cannot be accomplished overnight. Because there are so many people, it is unrealistic to want all the people to give up all their previous behaviors and habits and completely follow the rules set by Shang Yang in one day. Moreover, strengthening the people is It is the foundation of a strong Qin Dynasty. If the foundation is not strong, the reform will be like a dream and a bubble that can be broken with a finger.
So, after promulgating the first reform decree, Shang Yang immediately stopped. He wanted to give the people of Qin Dynasty time to adapt, and this time was ten years. During these ten years, Shang Yang investigated the implementation of the reform in Qin and severely punished those who disobeyed in order to deepen the influence of the reform. Among them, the prince broke the law and punished his master. This incident made the people of Qin realize that the king Qin Xiaogong He was determined to implement the reform by Shang Yang, so all the people of Qin followed the new law. Qin successfully took the first step to strengthen Qin.
After taking the first step, Shang Yang began to implement the second reform, which was the second step in the three-step process of strengthening Qin? Strengthening the country. The second step is to strengthen the country
In 350 BC, Shang Yang implemented the second reform. Before the second reform officially began, Shang Yang had done three things. It can be said that these three things It is not only a verification of the effect of the first step of strengthening the Qin Dynasty, but also a foreshadowing for the successful implementation of the second and third steps of strengthening the Qin Dynasty. If we analyze these three things in depth, we can see Shang Yang's influence on the advancement of the reform. Sophisticated thinking and lofty strategic vision.
The first thing: In 358 BC, the Qin State attacked Korea and defeated the Korean army in Xishan.
This incident happened at the beginning of the first reform. At this time, the situation in the Central Plains region changed drastically. The previously unbreakable alliance of the Three Jins had cracks and might even collapse at any time, so it triggered the subsequent Wei Dynasty and Zhao Zhigui's invasion. The Battle of Ling and the Battle of Maling where Wei conquered Han, and Shang Yang chose to attack Han at this node is a glimpse into the fact that the Three Jin Alliance broke down, because if the Three Jin Alliance was still strong, even if the Qin State successfully implemented It is still difficult to carry out reforms in the east, so Shang Yang must understand the current specific situation of the Three Jin Alliance in order to implement later strategic decisions in a targeted manner. Moreover, he chose to attack Korea because Korea was the weakest country among the three Jin Dynasties. Even if the attack on Korea failed, Qin's losses would be minimized. Therefore, when Qin's first reform had not yet succeeded, Shang Yang decided to use The attack on Korea was a test of the Three Jin Alliance.
As it turned out, the success of the invasion of Korea made Shang Yang realize that there were indeed cracks in the alliance of the three Jins. Therefore, based on this fact, in the fifth year after the implementation of the first reform, that is, in 354 BC , Shang Yang then did the second thing.
The second thing: In 354 BC, Qin attacked Wei and took Shaoliang (now Hancheng, Shaanxi) from Wei.
Just like the attack on Korea, Shang Yang chose this year to attack the powerful Wei State after comprehensively considering all factors. At this time, Wei State was doing its best to attack Zhao State and was tired of dealing with Qi State. Reinforcements and no time to look west. Shang Yang's attack on Wei was only a tentative attack because he was not sure whether Wei would win the final victory in attacking Zhao. When news of the defeat of the Wei army reached Qin, Shang Yang began to prepare for the third thing.
The third thing: In 351 BC, Shang Yang attacked Wei again and took Guyang (now Mizhi, Shaanxi), Wei's most important strategic stronghold in Hexi.
This time's attack on Wei was Shang Yang's demonstration of the results achieved after the first reform. Its essence was also a tentative attack on Wei, because according to Shang Yang's previous plan, it was necessary to strengthen Qin. After taking three steps, we have only completed the first step, but facts have proved that the first reform was very successful, and Qin successfully captured Guyang. After capturing Guyang, Shang Yang decided to take the opportunity to build a military pass as Chu State was at war with Wei State and tried his best to interfere in the affairs of the Central Plains. Wuguan is the communication chokepoint between Qin and Chu. It is one of the four major passes of Qin. If Qin attacks Chu or resists the attack of Chu, Wuguan must pass through. Strengthening Wuguan can form a deterrent and oppression of Chu. With this situation, we can retreat to guard against Chu's invasion.
So let’s finally look at the three things Shang Yang did. He first tried to attack South Korea to verify the relationship between the Three Jin Alliance, and after confirming that the Three Jin Alliance was broken, he quickly captured Shaoliang and Guyang of Wei. This caused the Qin State to form an aggressive trend towards the old land in Hexi, and finally built Wuguan to form a defensive and oppressive trend against the Chu State. After doing these three things, we will find that Shang Yang's careful arrangements were all for the Qin State's eastward expansion. Be prepared.
However, what Shang Yang did not expect was that although the Wei army was defeated in the Battle of Guiling, the main force was not damaged. Therefore, soon after Shang Yang captured Guyang, Wei successively made peace with Zhao and Han. Then the main force was mobilized to counterattack Guyang. At this time, Shang Yang completed the first step to strengthen Qin. Qin's strength was not enough to resist Wei, so Qin returned Guyang and some other Hexi lands in exchange for Wei's withdrawal.
Although the capture of Guyang ended in failure, Qin did not suffer much loss, because Shang Yang’s two attacks on Wei were originally exploratory attacks, and these two exploratory attacks made the Qin people feel that Wei The country's strength is no longer what it used to be. Otherwise, with the decades of hatred accumulated between Qin and Wei, Wei would not have been able to agree to Qin's peace talks so easily.
So under this situation, Shang Yang started the second reform in full swing.
In 350 BC, Shang Yang began his second reform. The specific contents can be summarized as follows: 1. Implement county governance throughout the country. The country was divided into thirty-one counties, and the county magistrate was responsible for the administration of one county. This unified the political orders of the Qin State and strengthened the centralization of power. 2. Abandoned mine fields and open streets.
The Qin State took the lead in abolishing the well field system. The land no longer belonged to slave owners at all levels and was allowed to be bought and sold. The land was privatized, which greatly stimulated the people's enthusiasm for farming. Moreover, after the land was privatized, taxes would be collected centrally. In this way Once the people have land, the country has money and food, and ultimately the people and the country are rich. 3. Unify weights and measures. This will help unify the country's governance standards for agriculture and commerce, and strengthen the central government's control over local governments.
If the first reform was carried out by Shang Yang against the local people of Qin, then it is not difficult to see from the above three points that Shang Yang’s second reform was a thorough reform against the entire state machine. Reforms, especially the implementation of county governance and the opening of abandoned mine fields, were actually the first moves in the history of our country, and also had a profound impact on the feudal system of later generations.
Shang Yang’s two reforms were actually a bottom-up, inside-out transformation of the Qin State. Under Shang Yang’s planning, the once decadent old Qin State had completely disappeared. , replaced by a new Qin State full of vigor and high morale.
Qin’s internal reforms have been successful one after another. Next, Shang Yang began to prepare to lead Qin to take the third and final step to strengthen Qin. According to the previously planned external strategy, he regained the old land in Hexi and formally formed Qin's power to move out from the east. The third step, the implementation of the foreign strategy
In the second step of strengthening the Qin Dynasty described above, Shang Yang mentioned three things that Shang Yang did, namely conquering Korea, conquering Wei and building the chokepoint of Qin and Chu. ?Wuguan, it can be said that these three things were Shang Yang's preparation for the third step of strengthening Qin, and they were also part of Shang Yang's implementation of foreign strategy. Shang Yang's idea was to recapture Hexi and occupy Wuguan, so as to overlook the Three Jin and Chu Kingdoms from a commanding position, and ultimately form a strategic situation for Qin to invade the Central Plains and Jingchu. It's just that the reform was not completely successful at that time, and Qin's strength alone was not enough to match Wei, so the attacks on Han and Wei were just tentative attacks.
After the domestic reform was completely successful, the strength of Qin State had greatly increased. At this time, Shang Yang combined with the situation of Wei State at that time, decided to completely change the previous foreign strategy, and quickly turned the tentative attack into A decisive battle, and the purpose of the decisive battle is to regain Hexi first.
The land of Hexi was originally the old land of the Qin State. In the early Warring States Period, the Wei State took the lead in becoming a powerful country under the governance of Wei Wenhou. In 408 BC, Wei Wenhou used Wu Qi as his general to seize Hexi by force and incorporate it into the Wei State. territory.
Hexi is the gateway for the Qin State to go eastward. The Qin State has had the ambition to go eastward to fight for hegemony in the Central Plains since the Spring and Autumn Period. However, it was unable to do so due to the constraints of the Jin State, a large eastern country. Later, the three families were divided into Jin and Wei. Not only did he replace Jin and continue to suppress Qin in the west, he also seized the land in Hexi by force, causing Qin to completely lose hope of going east. Therefore, all the ambitious kings of the Qin Dynasty from then on made it their mission to recover Hexi. However, the Wei Kingdom was too powerful, and it took Qin more than forty years to regain Hexi. It was under this situation that Qin Xiaogong decided to use Shang Yang's reforms to strengthen Qin. , Therefore, the original purpose of Qin Xiaogong's decision to reform was actually to regain Hexi. Shang Yang felt the same way about this.
In 341 BC, the state of Wei was defeated in the Battle of Maling. Under this situation, Shang Yang decided to take the opportunity to launch a war against Wei. The Qin army was unstoppable along the way, defeated the Wei army, and captured its leader, the young master Yan. Seeing that the Qin State's reforms had been completed, the Wei State had no choice but to return to Hexi and seek peace with the Qin State. Sixty years after losing the land west of Hexi, Qin finally took it back, and what came back with it was the high-spirited Qin people who once went east.
Shang Yang finally led the Qin people to complete the three-step process of strengthening Qin. After that, the Qin State swept away the previous haze and continued to suppress the six Shandong kingdoms with absolute strength for more than a hundred years, until Qin Shihuang destroyed the six kingdoms. Conclusion
The strength of the Qin State depends on Shang Yang's three-step plan for strengthening the Qin State. During the specific implementation process, Shang Yang can make decisions at any time according to the internal and external environment of the Qin State at each stage. After making adjustments and decisions, Shang Yang finally used his wisdom and knowledge to complete the complete transformation of the Qin State, fundamentally establishing the foundation of the Qin State's prosperity and strength, and laying a solid foundation for the subsequent unification of the Qin State. Therefore, Shang Yang's achievements It is enough to stand proudly in history and be praised by future generations.