There is a sentence in "Caigen Tan": "Hiding cleverly in clumsy, using obscurity and clarity, clear in turbidity, bending for stretching, and really involving the world's one pot to hide in the three caves."
The highest state of being a man is to hide clumsy and humble things.
This kind of person is not public, not superior to others, and knows the essence of being a person.
In this article, let's take a look at Wang Qian's way of "guarding clumsiness".
(1) Original text
"Zizhi Tongjian" Qin Ji
The 21st year of the First Emperor (Yihai, 226 BC)
Wang Ben invaded Chu and took more than ten cities.
The king asked General Yu Li Xin, "I want to take Jing, and General Yu is enough to use geometric people?" ”
Li Xin said: "It's only 200,000." ”
Wang Yi asked Wang Qian, and Wang Jian said, "It must be 600,000 people." ”
Wang said: "General Wang is old, why is he cowardly! ”
Then Li Xin and Meng Tian sent 200,000 people to Chu.
Wang Jian returned to Pinyang due to illness. Li Xin attacked Pingyu, Meng Tian attacked the bed, and broke the Chu army. Xin attacked Yan Ying again, broke it, and then led his troops to the west and met the city father with Meng Tian.
Because of this, the Chu people did not give up for three days and three nights, defeated Li Xin, entered the two walls, and killed the seven captains. Li Xinben returned.
When Wang heard this, he was furious, and he went to Pinyang Xie Wang Jian and said: "The widow doesn't need the general's plan, Li Xinguo insulted the Qin army." Although the general is sick, he can't bear to abandon the widow! ”
Wang Jian Xie: "Illness can't be cured." ”
The king said, "It's over, don't say anything more!" ”
Wang Jian said: "You must use ministers as a last resort, and you must have 600,000 people!" ”
The king said, "To listen to the general's ears." ”
So Wang Jian sent 600,000 people to Chu. The king sent it to the tyrant.
Wang Jian invited Meitian to live in a large number of people. The king said: "The general is good, why worry about poverty!" ”
Wang Jian said: "For the king's general, meritorious, can not be crowned marquis, so the king's ministers, to invite the field house for the descendants of the ear." Wang laughed.
Wang Jian is not only good, but he is very close, and the envoy also invites the five generations of good fields.
Or say: "The general's begging loan is also very much!" ”
Wang Jian said: "No. Wang is in the middle and does not believe in people, and the armor in the empty country is specially entrusted to me, I don't ask Tian Zhai to be self-reliant for his descendants, and Gu Ling Wang sits and doubts me. ”
Wang Jian took Chen south to Pingyu.
When the Chu people heard that Wang Jianyi's army was coming, they learned that the soldiers in the country were in charge of it.
Wang Jian Jianqiang did not fight. The number of Chu people challenged, and it finally came out. Wang Jian took a break to wash and bathe, and was good at eating, following it, and eating with the soldiers.
After a long time, Wang Jian made people ask: "What is the drama in the army?" ”
Said to him: "Fang throws stones, over-distance." Wang Jian said: "It can be used!" ”
Chu did not fight, but led to the east. Wang Jian chased after him, ordered the strong man to attack, broke the Chu division, went to Qinan, killed his general Xiang Yan, and the Chu division was defeated.
Wang Jian took advantage of the victory to settle the city.
(2) Translation
Wang Ben attacked the state of Chu and occupied more than a dozen cities.
The king of Qin asked the general Li Xin, "I want to capture the state of Chu, according to your estimate, how many troops do you need to use?" ”
Li Xin replied: "200,000 people are enough." ”
The king of Qin asked Wang Jian this question again, and Wang Jian said, "It must be 600,000 people." ”
King Qin said: "General Wang is old, how can he be so cowardly! ”
Therefore, the king of Qin sent Li Xin and Meng Tian to lead an army of 200,000 to the south to attack the state of Chu.
Wang Jian was sick and returned to his hometown Pinyang to care for the elderly.
Li Xin attacked Pingyu, Meng Tian attacked the city, and defeated the Chu army.
Li Xin then attacked Yan Ying, took it again, and then led his troops to the west, to join Meng Tian's father in the city.
The Chu army followed behind, did not rest for three days and three nights, defeated Li Xin, attacked two military camps, killed seven captains, and Li Xin was defeated and fled.
When the king of Qin heard the news, he was furious, and personally took the express train to Pinyang, and when he saw Wang Jian apologized, he said:
"I didn't use your plan, Li Xin really brought shame on the Qin army. Now that the Chu army is advancing westward day by day, although the general is sick, can he bear to abandon the widow? ”
Wang Jian excused himself and said: "The old minister is sick, weak, tired, and incompetent, and hopes that the king will choose another virtuous one." ”
King Qin insisted: "I have decided, the general will not say it again!" ”
Wang Jian said: "The king must use me, and it must be 600,000 people." ”
King Qin promised: "Everything is subject to the general's plan." ”
So, Wang Jian led an army of 600,000 to the south to attack the state of Chu.
King Qin personally went to Bashang to see him off.
When Wang Jianlin set out, he asked for many fertile fields, beautiful houses, gardens and ponds.
King Qin said: "Although the general is on the road, why worry about the hard life at home? ”
Wang Jian said: "Leading troops for the king, even if you have merit, it will be difficult to get the title of marquis after all." Therefore, when the king is particularly important to me, I will promptly ask for a garden and pond to buy a share of the family property for future generations. ”
King Qin laughed when he heard this.
After Wang Jian set out, he arrived at Hangu Pass, and sent envoys back to the imperial court five times in a row to ask for good land.
The cronies on the left and right said: "The general's request for a family inheritance is a bit excessive? ”
Wang Jian said: "You have only looked at the surface. The king of Qin is suspicious of people, and now he has handed over all the soldiers of the whole country to me, and I don't show the appearance of asking for land and asking for help, and I have no ambition, and the king of Qin will inevitably be suspicious of me. ”
Wang Jian captured the land south of Chenqiu until Pingyu.
The king of Chu learned that Wang Jian had increased his troops and exhausted all the troops of the whole country to resist the Qin soldiers.
Wang Jian arrived at the battlefield, built a strong camp and took a defensive position, and refused to send troops to fight.
The Chu army has repeatedly challenged, but it has never been able to hold out.
Not only that, Wang Jian also let the soldiers rest well, and the daily food supply was very sufficient.
After some time, Wang Jian sent someone to ask, "What are the soldiers doing now?" ”
Came back and reported: "Every day the competition throws stones, long jumps. ”
Wang Jian said: "When the time comes, the soldiers are available." ”
The Chu army repeatedly asked for war, but the Qin army refused to fight, so the Chu army led its troops to the east.
Wang Jian took the opportunity to send troops to pursue them, and sent strong soldiers to carry out a strong attack, defeating the Chu army.
Chased to Qinan, killed the Chu general Xiang Yan, and the Chu army was defeated and fled.
The Qin army pursued the victory, occupied and pacified the cities of Chu, and captured the king of Chu.
The state of Chu was destroyed, and Chu County was established in its place.
(3) Analysis
1. Why did Li Xin's 200,000 people fail miserably, is it really not enough strength?
The description of Li Xin's achievements, Sima Guang wrote very simply, without details.
For the battle of Chu, Li Xin's only 200,000 people are indeed exaggerated, but to be honest, it is still a bit wrongful to let him take the blame.
Because the main reason for the defeat was the rebellion of Changping Jun, the prime minister of Qin.
Changpingjun's position was in the rear of Li Xin's army, and it stands to reason that there was no need to defend.
But who would have thought that he was rebelled against by the Chu people?
Li Xin didn't expect it, so he suffered a loss, resulting in Xiang Yan making dumplings and suffering heavy losses.
Speaking of which, this Changpingjun is also confused.
He is a native of Chu, but he has all sat as the prime minister of Qin, his daughter is Yingzheng's wife, and his grandson is the future emperor of Qin.
Why covet the power of the Chu State?
Changping Jun, the last king of the Chu State, enjoyed it for a few days, and the Chu State died completely.
2. Why did Wang Jian destroy Chu with 600,000 people?
The first reason is Wang Qian's combat style.
Looking at his previous examples, there is just one word, stability.
Without the certainty of victory, he will never go into battle, and once he does, he will destroy the enemy with the momentum of the wind and clouds.
Therefore, Wang Jian asked Ying Zheng for 600,000 people, which was almost all the soldiers who could go out of the Qin State at that time.
The second reason is to guard against the coup d'état.
In addition to being able to fight, Wang Jian also has an advantage: he understands politics.
The biggest problem of Vachu is not in the battlefield, but in the temple.
Bai Qi's tragedy was close at hand, and he didn't dare to forget it.
Back then, Bai Qi took a lot of effort to defeat the Zhao army, and he wanted to destroy the Zhao State in one go.
As a result, King Qin Zhaoxiang listened to Fan Ju's words and had to let Bai Qi withdraw his troops.
When King Qin Zhaoxiang came to his senses and wanted to destroy the Zhao State again, Bai Qi felt that the time had passed and it was impossible to win, so he pretended to be sick and couldn't go.
As a result, King Zhaoxiang was furious and directly gave him to death.
Now that Wang Jian wants to destroy the Chu State, will this kind of thing happen?
No one can say.
Moreover, the surname of Chu is very powerful in Qin, and King Qin's harem has always been the world of Chu women.
Even if Qin Shi Huang is not bewitched, who can guarantee that these Chu people will not unite and stage a Qin version of "stealing talismans to save Chu"?
Therefore, the scheming Wang Jian came up with this clever plan and asked the king of Qin for the army of the whole country.
If Yingzheng doesn't agree, then it's just right, he won't go, let others go, Wang Jian has no shortage of military exploits.
What if Yingzheng agreed?
said that the determination to destroy Chu could no longer be moved.
And even if there is a problem within the Qin State and wants to remove Wang Qian, there is no way to take him.
If someone takes the talisman to the front line to ask Wang Jian to withdraw the army, Wang Jian can suspect that the other party is falsely passing on the king's order, detain him in the army, and wait until after the destruction of Chu.
But if there were other armies in the Qin State, and this person came with troops, Wang Jian would have to obey his orders.
If you are not careful, Wang Jian may be dead.
If Bai Qi had known what was going on back then, he would definitely not accept King Qin's order to withdraw his troops, but would have directly destroyed the Zhao State.
At that time, Bai Qi also had almost the entire army, and if he didn't listen to the orders of the King of Qin, the King of Qin would have no choice.
After all, it will be outside, and the king's order will not be affected.
The third reason is that dealing with decentralized states requires a long-term expansion.
There is a conclusion in the "Treatise on the Monarchy": a centralized state is difficult to defeat, but once defeated, it is easy to be conquered. Decentralized states, on the other hand, are easy to defeat, but difficult to conquer completely.
The state of Chu is a typical country with a decentralized system.
The 600,000-strong army wiped out the Chu State, but it was still far from completely conquering the Chu State.
There are still a large number of land snakes on the territory of Chu State, which need to be cleaned up one by one.
To do this, you don't need particularly elite troops, but it certainly won't work if the number is small.
Therefore, the army of 600,000 is still not enough.
20 years later, Xiang Yu, a nobleman of the Chu State, made a comeback.
3. Wang Jian took away all the troops of Qin, why didn't Yingzheng worry about him rebelling?
Why did the subordinates rebel?
The answer is simple, because he is ambitious and wants more power.
So, just let the leader know that he is not ambitious.
Wang Qian's method is quite clever.
He said 1 sentence to Yingzheng and asked for a lot of land.
"For the king's general, there is merit, and he will not be able to be a marquis, so the king's ministers, in order to invite the field house for the descendants of the industry." Wang laughed.
Wang Qian's words sounded like a bargain with Yingzheng.
But if you think about it, you'll see the doorway behind it.
If Wang Jian was planning some big move and wanted to set up his own door after destroying Chu, would he still bargain with King Qin so blatantly?
I am afraid that he will choose to remain silent and quickly lead the army to the battle, rather than ask the king of Qin for the promise of a marquis or a good land and beautiful house.
After all, if he really had a different heart, after destroying the Chu State, he could obtain these things, so why bother asking the King of Qin for them in advance?
It's the same as when we buy something, and it's the one who really wants to buy it.
In the same way, Wang Jian bargained with the king of Qin before he set out on the expedition, which showed that he had nothing else to ask for other than to give the marquis land.
Although Ying Zheng may feel unhappy at first, after a little thought, he will understand Wang Qian's true intentions.
Therefore, after listening to Wang Qian's words, Ying Zheng's doubts suddenly disappeared, and he even laughed.
And afterwards, he did fulfill his promise to Wang Jian and his son.
Therefore, although outsiders see Wang Qian's greed, in Yingzheng's heart, they see Wang Qian's openness without political ambitions, so they can rest assured that he can lead the army to attack Chu.
To put it another way, Wang Jian's self-preservation family learning has also been passed on to his children and grandchildren.
Later, the Qin Dynasty fell, and Wang Yuan, Wang Qian's great-grandsons, separated from each other to ward off trouble.
After experiencing some hardships and dangers, Wang Yuan fled to Langya, Qi State, and later became the founder of the Langya Wang lineage.
Wang Wei chose to stay in Jinyang.
After the establishment of the Han Dynasty, Wang Wei embarked on a career in office, and finally became an official in Yangzhou.
Time passed, and in the generation of Wang Wei's ninth grandson, Wang Ba, the family moved back to Taiyuan, and Wang Ba was also known as the ancestor of the Taiyuan Wang family.
The descendants of these two Wang clans multiplied, continued to accumulate strength, and gradually grew.
Later, the Langya Wang family and the Taiyuan Wang family both became famous families that lasted for thousands of years.
Write at the end:
From the emperor's point of view, we will find an interesting phenomenon:
Whether the courtiers are greedy and love money or obsessed with beauty, it is a good thing.
What they are really wary of is only one kind of subordinate, ambitious and insatiable.
Because this type of person is very difficult to control.
Or rather, you can't give them what they want.
Su Shi said in "He Ouyang Xiu Zhi Shiqi": "If you are brave, you are cowardly, and you are wise if you are foolish." ”
It's actually a philosophy of life.
Those who are good at being humble and unobtrusive are never afraid to show their shortcomings.
This is because their self-confidence comes from within, not from the outside.
They always stand in a relatively low position, silently observing everything around them, knowing exactly when to keep a low profile and when to exit in style.
It is precisely for this reason that we often say that great wisdom and foolishness are a very high state of life.