Comprehensive Reflections to Aid in Governance
By Sima Guang
Translated By Yiming Yang
Annals of Qin Book 1 Scroll 6 (continued)
The 1st year of the First Emperor(246 B.C.)
Meng Ao suppressed the riot in the city of Jinyang.
The king of Han wanted to deplete the resources of Qin to prevent them from attacking their neighbors in the east. He sent a hydrologist named Zheng Guo to the kingdom of Qin as an agent of Han. Zheng Guo oversaw a canal project that tunneled through Mount Zhong and the North Mountains, connecting the Jing River and Luo River to the east.
In the middle of the project, Zheng Guo’s identity was disclosed, and the king of Qin was about to execute him. Zheng Guo defended himself, saying, “I might have intended to extend the life of the Han by a few years, but the completion of the canal will benefit Qin for ten thousand generations.”
The king of Qin agreed and provided the resources to complete the project. The canal carried water with rich sediment into forty thousand acres of sodic soils, increasing crop yields significantly. The land to the west of Hangu Pass became more fertile and prosperous.
The 2nd year of the First Emperor(245 B.C.)
General Biao Gong of Qin led troops to raid the city of Juan, where they beheaded thirty thousand soldiers of Wei.
General Lian Po was appointed deputy prime minister of the kingdom of Zhao and led an attack on the kingdom of Wei, capturing the city of Fangyang. When King Xiaocheng of Zhao died, his son was installed as King Daoxiang of Zhao. The new king replaced General Lian Po with General Yue Sheng, enraging Lian Po, who subsequently attacked Yue Sheng. Yue Sheng fled, and Lian Po went into exile in the kingdom of Wei. Despite his talents and long stay there, Lian Po was not utilized by Wei.
Meanwhile, the kingdom of Zhao suffered several attacks from Qin. The king of Zhao yearned for Lian Po’s return, and Lian Po also longed to serve Zhao again. The kingdom of Zhao sent an envoy to assess whether Lian Po could still meet the demands of warfare. However, Lian Po‘s nemesis, Guo Kai, bribed the envoy with gold and instructed him to belittle Lian Po. When Lian Po met with the envoy, he ate a gallon of rice and ten pounds of meat for dinner, then mounted a horse in full armor to demonstrate his readiness for battle. Despite this display, the envoy reported back: “Although General Lian is old, he still has a good appetite. However, he went to the restroom three times in the hour he sat with me.” Consequently, the king of Zhao did not summon Lian Po, believing him too old.
In response, the king of Chu quietly welcomed Lian Po, who became a commander in the kingdom of Chu. Lian Po did not achieve much there. He often expressed his wish to lead the soldiers of Zhao once more. Lian Po died in the city of Shouchun.
The 3rd year of the First Emperor(244 B.C.)
A famine struck the kingdom of Qin.
General Meng Ao led a raid on the kingdom of Han, capturing twelve towns.
The king of Zhao appointed General Li Mu as the commander of the campaign against the kingdom of Yan. He successfully captured the cities of Wusui and Fangcheng. Known for his excellence in defending the northern border of Zhao, Li Mu had previously stationed in the regions of Dai and Yanmen to fend off the Xiongnu. He was granted the authority to appoint local officers and funnel the taxation from local markets into his coffers to fund provision for his soldiers. He ensured that several cows were slaughtered daily to feed his troops, and he instructed them to practice horse riding and archery, maintain vigilant bonfire communication, and conduct extensive reconnaissance.
Li Mu made his soldiers pledge: “When the Xiongnu come looting, hold back and consolidate inside the barracks immediately. Behead those who dare to be taken captive.” Whenever the Xiongnu approached, the soldiers of Zhao would watch the bonfire alarms and withdraw into bunkers to avoid combat. They maintained this strategy for several years, suffering few casualties. While the Xiongnu thought Li Mu was timorous, the soldiers of Zhao also began to believe their commander was a coward. Despite reprimands from the king of Zhao, Li Mu remained steadfast in his strategy, which displeased the king, leading him to replace Li Mu with another commander.
Over the next year or so, the new commander engaged in numerous battles with the Xiongnu, losing most of them, resulting in many soldiers being killed or defecting. Consequently, people near the borders could no longer farm and ranch as before. Realizing his mistake, the king of Zhao wanted Li Mu to return to defend the borders. Li Mu retreated home and feigned illness, but the king compelled him to come back. Li Mu demanded: “I will do the same as before if you must have me. Otherwise, I dare not obey.” The king of Zhao approved.
Li Mu returned to the frontier and maintained his previous strategy. For several years, the Xiongnu gained little and began to believe that Li Mu was weak. Meanwhile, Li Mu‘s troops were well rewarded and prepared for battle. He equipped his forces with 1,300 chariots and selected 13,000 cavalry, 50,000 distinguished warriors who had been awarded 100 catties of gold, and 100,000 archers for training. He also employed herdsmen to tend livestock across the land.
In a small skirmish with the Xiongnu, Li Mu staged a fake collapse, leaving behind tens of soldiers to be captured. When Chanyu, the chief of the Xiongnu, heard this report, he led a large multitude to invade. Li Mu then laid out multiple defensive formations and attacked the Xiongnu’ flanks from both sides. The army of Zhao routed the Xiongnu, killing hundreds of thousands of their cavalry. They annihilated the tribe of Chanlan, thrashed the tribe of Donghu, and conquered the tribe of Linhu. Chanyu of the Xiongnu fled and did not come near the border of Zhao for decades.
Before this era, there were seven civilized kingdoms, three of which had borders with barbarian tribes. The kingdom of Qin faced the tribes of Mianzhu, Kunrong, Di, and Huan to the west of the Long Mountains. It also faced the tribes of Yiqu, Dali, Wushi, and Quyan to the north, in regions such as the Qi Mountains, Liang Mountains, Jing River, and Qi River. The tribes of Linhu and Loufan bordered the northern frontier of Zhao, while the tribes of Donghu and Shanrong bordered the northern frontier of Yan. These tribes spread across valleys, each with its own chief, and up to one hundred tribes could come together at times, though they never settled on a common leader.
Later, the tribe of Yiqu built their own castles for protection, but the kingdom of Qin began to encroach on their land. By the time of King Hui of Qin, twenty-five Yiqu castles had been conquered. During the reign of King Zhaoxiang of Qin, Queen Dowager Xuan duped the chief of Yiqu and killed him in the city of Ganquan. She then ordered an attack on the Yiqu tribe, ultimately wiping it out. Qin started building the Great Wall to fend off the barbarians along the western Long Mountains, stretching from the regions of Beidi to Shangjun.
King Wuling of Zhao defeated the tribes of Linhu and Loufan to the north and directed the construction of the Great Wall from Dai commandery to the foot of the Yin Mountains, building a pass at Gaojue. Zhao established administrations in Yunzhong, Yanmen, and Dai commandery. Later, General Qin Kai of Yan, who had been held hostage by the Donghu tribe and gained their trust, returned to Yan and led a successful campaign against them, forcing the Donghu tribe to retreat thousands of miles north. Yan also built the Great Wall from the town of Zaoyang to Xiangping and established administrations in Shanggu, Yuyang, West Beiping, and Liaodong Prefecture to resist the barbarians. It was not until the end of the warring states period that Xiongnu became strong.
Reflection by Rio Grande 
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