Author: CHUNG Yoon Ngan
Date: 03-13-04 20:51
The First Emperor of China (1)
中國的始皇帝
It was during the period of Warring States (戰國時代 453BC to 221BC) of the
Zhou Dynasty (周朝 1134BC to 256BC), in 294BC, that Qin Zhao Wang Ying Ji (秦昭王嬴稷 306BC to 251BC), 34th ruler of the State of Qin (秦國), dispatched an army of 100,000 strong to attack the State of Zhao (趙國). The ruler of the State of Zhao was Zhao Hui Wang (趙惠王) who had ruled Zhao for five years already. The Qin army was under the command of General Wang He (王齕), General Wang Jian (王翦) and Yi Ren (異人) who was the grandson of Qin Zhao Wang. After a long march the Qin army camped in a place near the border of the State of Zhao.
Li Ji Shu (李繼叔), the commander of the Zhao's frontier town of Zhang He (漳河), sent messengers to Han Dan (邯鄲), the capital of Zhao, to report to Zhao Hui
Wang that the Qin forces were going to invade Zhao. On hearing of the news Zhao Hui Wang was terrified, but one of his officials named Lin Xiang Ru (藺相如) said that he had plans to defeat the Qin army. Lin Xiang Ru told Zhao Hui Wang to send forth 20,000 troops to ambush quietly near the Qin camps. These troops were under the command of General Zhao Qian (趙乾) and General Yi He (醫和). Zhao Hui Wang then ordered General Lian Po (廉頗) to lead an army of 50,000 to join forces with the troops of General Li Ji Shu in Zhang He.
Having settled his troops in Zhang He, the following day, General Lian Po marched his troops out of Zhang He to do battle with the Qin army. The Qin army came out in force to encounter the Zhao troops. There were only a few Qin soldiers left behind to guide their camps. Seeing the opportunity had arrived the Zhao troops, who had been laying ambushed near the Qin camps, sprang up and destroyed the Qin camps. They captured many heavy equipments. Yi Ren, the grandson of the ruler of Qin, was in his camp reading the maps when the Zhao soldiers entered his camp. Yi Ren was captured by the Zhao soldiers and became the prison of war.
Meanwhile, in the battlefield, the Zhao forces put the Qin army to rout. The Qin soldiers fled for their lives. The two generals of the Qin army General Wang He and General Wang Jian escaped unharmed.
The Zhao army returned in triumph to the capital, Han Dan. They displaced the war booties and the Qin prisoners of war with Yi Ren in the lead. Zhao Hui Wang wanted to execute Yi Ren, but he was advised by Lin Xiang Ru not to do so on the ground that Qin was a very powerful State and Qin Zhao Wang might attack Zhao again if his grandson was executed. It was better to use Yi Ren as a hostage to prevent further incursion by Qin.
A few days later, an official from Qin brought the message that Qin would live in peace with Zhao provided that no harm was being done unto Yi Ren. Zhao Hui Wang accepted the peaceful proposal and ordered General Zhao Qian to be the custodian of Yi Ren. The Zhao ruler also told the General to be kind, lenient and
not to harm Yi Ren.
There was a big crowd in the street watching General Zhao Qian taking the royal prison of war, Yi Ren, to his house. Among the crowd there was a man by the name of Lu Bu Wei (呂不韋) who was a smart and very talented businessman. Lu Bu Wei sighed as soon as he saw Yi Ren whom he regarded as a strange commodity.
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CHUNG Yoon-Ngan (鄭永元)
All rights reserved 14032004
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CHUNG Yoon
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