Wang Jian, a famous general and an outstanding military strategist of the Qin State during the Warring States Period, was also the latest among the four famous generals of the Warring States Period to die and the one with the greatest achievements. It took him less than ten years

Wang Jian, Warring States period Qin Famous general, an outstanding military strategist, was also the latest among the Warring States four famous generals who died the latest and made the greatest achievements. It took him less than ten years under the command of Qin Shihuang Yingzheng to destroy Zhao, Yan and Chu successively. It can be said that half of the princes in the world died in Jian.

Wang Jian's portrait (picture from the Internet, invaded and deleted)

What makes people puzzled is, in what year did such a famous general who made great contributions to Qin Shihuang die, and what was the cause of death? The history books unexpectedly missed it, you have to know, whether it is Bai Qi Lian Po or Li Mu , their apparent cause of death and year of death are clearly recorded, the reason for this makes people have to think deeply... .In this article, I will try to restore the mystery of Wang Jian’s death based on historical facts...

Wang Jian was born in a commoner’s family in Shaanxi. He is an authentic old Qin. He joined the army in his early years. In the Qin Zhaoxiang Wang period has emerged. When Yingzheng was 13 years old, he succeeded King Qin. Lu Buwei continued to control the government under the pretext of being "young". Yingzheng didn't take charge until he was 21 years old. The rights of Yingzheng were not returned to him willingly by Lu Buwei, but after a coup d'état, known in history as "the change of Qi Nian Palace" , through this coup, Yingzheng destroyed Lai Ai and imprisoned him Her biological mother, Zhao Ji , made her unable to intervene in the government as the queen mother, and took the opportunity to deprive Lu Buwei of the implicated one. Soon, Lu Buwei committed suicide (235 BC)... This coup has a The individual who won Ying Zheng's trust was Wang Jian. During the coup, Wang Jian personally led an army of 30,000 to guard Yingzheng. It can be said that Yingzheng entrusted his life and death to him, which shows that Yingzheng trusted him at that time.

After Yingzheng came to power, he actively promoted the great cause of unification. In 230 BC, he sent Nei Shi Teng to destroy Han. In 229 BC, he ordered Wang Jian to attack Zhao. Because Li Mu blocked him, he used countermeasures to get rid of Li Mu in the second year and then captured Handan, the capital of Zhao State , captured Zhao Wangqian , and in fact destroyed Zhao State (six years later, Zhao Jia, the son who fled to Daidi, was wiped out by Wang Jian, and Zhao State also perished in name). In 227 BC, the historically famous Jing Ke's assassination of the King of Qin occurred. Ying Zheng used this as an excuse to order Wang Jian to attack Yan again, and the Yan was destroyed the next year.

What I want to mention here is the battle of Wang Jian's extermination of Chu, because the battle of extermination of Chu is an important clue to reveal the mystery of Wang Jian's death. Before Yingzheng launched the battle to destroy Chu, he convened a group of ministers to discuss the plan to destroy Chu. Wang Jian thought that "600,000 people are necessary", while the young and energetic Li Xin thought that "no more than 200,000 people" can defeat Chu State , Yingzheng was overjoyed, at this time Yingzheng thought Wang Jian was old , I started to do things with all my heart for stability, but there is another most important reason, that is, the contribution of the Wang family and his son is too great. If the merit of destroying Chu is "robbed" by Wang Jian again, then the civil and military affairs of the Manchu Dynasty will never again There is no one who can compete with Wang Jian in the court, which is obviously very passive for Ying Zheng, who is only thinking about centralizing power.

As Li Xin is young, he has no foundation in the imperial court. If he wants to gain the right to speak, he can only rely on the power of the emperor (king). If Li Xin won the victory of destroying Chu, it would be logical for Yingzheng to promote him vigorously, making him a pawn to check and balance Wang Jian and other meritorious veterans. Another point is that after years of wars, the hearts of the people in the old lands of the occupied six countries have not been attached, and the source of troops to attack Chu has to be drawn from the old Qin people in Guanzhong old lands. Based on these considerations, Yingzheng sent Li Xin and Meng Tian with 200,000 troops to attack Chu in the south, and finally Li Xin was defeated. Wang Jian said that he returned to his hometown due to illness.

(There is a historical doubt here, that is, as Li Xin's deputy, whether it was Meng Wu or Meng Tian, ​​which is controversial in the history circles, but no matter what, Yingzheng promoted Li Xin and the Meng family to fight against Wang Jian It is an indisputable fact that father and son)

Yingzheng got the news of the disastrous defeat of Chu, the most important thing is who to ask for aftermath when he is furious.He personally rushed to Wang Jian's hometown, apologized to Wang Jian, and agreed to his request for an army of 600,000. Wang Jian is "a man who is old and mature", and knows the emperor's thoughts well. Before he went to the expedition, he "invited many beautiful fields and gardens" to Yingzheng, "to invite the fields and houses for the success of his descendants". Write a letter to Yingzheng asking for beauties and farm houses, and Yingzheng responds to them one by one. Wang Jian's subordinates began to worry whether it would be too much to persecute King Qin in this way. Wang Jian said: King Qin is suspicious by nature, and now all the soldiers of Qin State are in his hands. There is nothing else to ask for, so as to eliminate the doubts and fears of the King of Qin that he would support his troops and stand on his own... Wang Jian's words were said to the generals on the surface, but in fact he was speaking to Ying Zheng. You know, this The 600,000 army is the family property of Qin State, no matter how much Ying Zheng trusted Wang Jian, he would not dare to leave behind Wang Jian! By Wang Jian's side at this time, there must be Ying Zheng's eyeliner watching Wang Jian's actions and words and deeds. Of course, Wang Jian is well aware of this.

There is another important supporting evidence for the saying that Wang Jian has Yingzheng's eyeliner: when Wang Jian entered the territory of Chu State, he did not rush to fight the Chu army, but let the army camp and rest on the spot, and let the soldiers or throw stones every day Or wrestling for entertainment. At that time, the main force of the Chu army was 400,000, and the Qin army had 600,000. Wang Jian, who was superior in strength, was on vacation every day, while Ying Zheng, who was suspicious by nature, did not interfere too much in this matter. Isn't it strange? This may be because Wang Jian's previous "self-defilement" act of wanting beautiful women and farm houses successfully gained Ying Zheng's trust, but the more important reason may be that those eyeliners planted around Wang Jian made Ying Zheng's feelings towards Wang Jian Knowing every move well, this is the real reason why Ying Zheng didn't interfere too much with Wang Jian's "vacation"! ...One year later, Wang Jian finally got tired of his "vacation". When the Chu army was exhausted and slack, he led his troops to attack and smash the Chu army, killing Xiang Yan. Rubbing , Chu State perished.

After Chu was destroyed, historical books never left any record of Wang Jian. The mainstream opinion for more than two thousand years is that he retreated bravely and died well. After all, everyone yearns for beautiful things. However, after Yingzheng unified China It only existed for 14 short years until Qin II died , that is, from 221 BC to 207 BC. During these 14 years, what happened to make Wang Jian disappear from this place. Here, we have to analyze the character of Qin Shihuang Yingzheng.

Yingzheng is undoubtedly a suspicious person by nature. His desire for power can be said to have reached the point of "besottedness". According to historical records, " all things in the world, no matter how big or small, all depend on the above. From the top to the weighing stone The book of measurement , day and night, there is a promise, and if you don’t agree, you can’t rest." At this time, only the prime minister in the court can slightly restrict the imperial power, but unfortunately, the prime minister at this time Li Si is an out-and-out "selfish" He understands that only by being Yingzheng's answerer can he have no worries... At this time, the only real threats to Yingzheng's imperial power are those heroic generals who have pacified the world for him, and Wang Jian undoubtedly It is their "flag".

How Yingzheng treated Li Xin after the fall of Chu State, we can see some clues: After Li Xin defeated Chu State, according to Yingzheng's character, even if Li Xin's crime of defeating the army could not be punished, at least he would be idle After all, at that time, the Qin State was full of talents, and without Li Xin, there would be no one available. But Yingzheng still entrusted Li Xin with important tasks, for example, let Li Xin follow Wang Ben to attack Yan State , and then in the second year, let Li Xin and Wang Jian's son Wang Ben destroy Qi State . That is to say, after the destruction of Chu, Li Xin got the opportunity to lead troops to the expedition again, and all of them served as the deputy of the chief general. It is well known that Ying Zheng continued to cultivate Li Xin's heart.

We said earlier that the purpose of Yingzheng's promotion of Li Xin was to balance Wang Jian's influence in the court. Wang Ben also has the merit of destroying the country! The reason why Ying Zheng felt relieved about Li Xin was because Li Xin had a "tail" that Ying Zheng held in his hands, which made Li Xin dare not disobey. This tail was Li Xin's "defeat against Chu"! Yingzheng still has the account of defeating Chuzhi. If he really "settles accounts" with Li Xin, no one will speak for him even if Li Xin is wiped out. After all, Li Xin's defeat is too miserable.

Wang Jian also has a "little braid", and this little braid was put in Yingzheng's hands on his own initiative, which was an act of "self-pollution" when Chu was destroyed. But the problem is that Wang Jian's "self-pollution" not only failed to achieve the purpose of "self-pollution", but also achieved his reputation of retreating bravely. Whether this reputation is Wang Jian's "insurance" to save his life or his "death talisman" depends on What was Ying Zheng thinking?

After the unification of the world, in order to disintegrate the threat that the meritorious generals might pose to the imperial power, Yingzheng mainly did these two things. Let them stay away from the political center to guard the border, such as Meng Tian. In his later years, Yingzheng began to believe in the art of longevity. In order to find the elixir, he searched east all the year round. According to historical records, Qin Shihuang went to the eastern coast continuously from 28 to 31 years (219-215 BC), the Jianghuai River Basin In the first year of Dongxun, that is, in 219 BC, Wang Ben also followed Yingzheng to tour the east. After that, he "disappeared" in history like his father Wang Jian. Wang Jian's grandson, Wang Ben's son Wang Li has been sent to the northern grassland by Ying Zheng to keep him and Meng Tian as companions. This year is two years after Yingzheng unified the world...

Seeing this, for the mystery of the sudden disappearance of Wang Jian and his son, may have another answer, that is, being killed by Qin Shihuang! After meeting Xu Fu in 219 BC, Yingzheng already believed that he could live forever. What is Yingzheng most afraid of? What he fears most is losing his life and power. He asked Xu Fu to make alchemy for him. After taking the drug, Ying Zheng became nervous, his temperament became more unpredictable, and he always looked at people and things with suspicion. At this moment, the Wang family and his son became his heart disease. Physically and mentally, it even completely disappeared in history. At that time, only Qin Shihuang Yingzheng had this ability! ...

Ying Zheng passed away in the sand dunes (210 BC) nine years after he met Xu Fu. With his dream of eternal life completely shattered, he also built the Great Qin Empire. Three years later, the Great Qin Empire perished! On the eve of the demise of the anti-Qin forces represented by Liu Bang and Xiang Yu The Qin Empire , when the talent of the empire withered to the point where it had to rely on the previously unknown Zhang Han to lead the Lishan prisoners and Xiang Yu in Julu During the decisive battle, we had to think about a question, whether it was Yingzheng who fulfilled Wang Jian's name, or the meritorious generals represented by Wang Jian who made Yingzheng the eternal emperor. Perhaps, it was both! ... (End)

Note: How did Wang Jian die, whether he died a good death or was murdered? There is no conclusion in history. I just provide another hypothesis based on the historical public records...