Stories about armchair armchair warfare 1

Source: "Biographies of Lian Po and Lin Xiangru".

Meaning: The metaphor can only talk high-spirited words without real ability, and cannot solve practical problems.

In the Spring and Autumn Period, one year the Qin army invaded the State of Zhao. The Zhao army, under the command of Lian Po, persisted in resisting in Changping (near today's Gaoping County, Shanxi). Seeing that the Qin army was too strong and could not force a quick attack, they adopted a long-term strategy in an attempt to bring down the Qin army. He was ordered to hold on to the camp and allow the Qin army to challenge him in every possible way, but ignored them all. The Qin army knew that the veteran general Lian Po was far-sighted and difficult to deal with. If this continued for a long time, it would be very detrimental to the Qin army, so they sent spies to spread rumors that the Qin army was most afraid of Zhao Kuo and that other generals were idiots. King Zhao was dissatisfied because Lian Po did not win a quick victory. He believed the rumors when he heard them, and quickly sent Zhao Kuo to replace Lian Po. Philosophical quotes.

Zhao Kuo is the son of General Zhao She. He read a lot of military books when he was young. He is smart and eloquent. His father Zhao She sometimes cannot refute him, so he thinks he is invincible. However, Zhao She was very worried about him, thinking that he was just "talking on paper" and said: "Zhao will not need him as a general in the future. If he is used, it will be him who will cause Zhao's army to be defeated!"

At that time, King Zhao sent Zhao Kuo to replace Lian Po. Lin Xiangru, who was ill, objected, saying: "Zhao Kuo only read some of his father's military books and did not know how to use them flexibly, such as 'Jiao Zhu Gu Xi' ', how can it be done!" (See "Jiaozhu, drums and harps")

King Zhao refused to listen and still asked Zhao Kuo to go to Changping to exchange for Lianpo.

When Zhao Kuo arrived at the front line, he completely changed Lian Po's long-lasting war plan, and a large number of officers were replaced. Qin general Bai Qi was very happy when he heard the news, so he used a plan to cut off the Zhao army's route of transporting grain, and then surrounded the Zhao army. After more than forty days, the Zhao army ran out of food. Zhao Kuo tried to break out, but was shot to death by the Qin army with an arrow. More than 400,000 Zhao soldiers were wiped out. A story about talking about war on paper 2

[Pinyin]zhǐ shàng tán bīng

[Explanation] Talking about war on paper. It is a metaphor that empty talk cannot solve practical problems. It also means that empty talk cannot become reality.

[Source] "Historical Records·Biography of Lian Po and Lin Xiangru" records: Zhao Kuo, the son of Zhao She, a famous general of Zhao State during the Warring States Period, studied the art of war when he was young, and his father could not trouble him when talking about military matters. Later he succeeded Lian Po as Zhao general during the Battle of Changping. They only knew how to follow the military instructions and did not know how to adapt. As a result, they were defeated by the Qin army.

Character introduction

Zhao Kuo, a native of Zhao during the Warring States Period, was the son of Zhao She, the famous general of Zhao. He learned the art of war when he was young, and his father could not trouble him when it came to military matters. Later he succeeded Lian Po as Zhao general during the Battle of Changping. He only knew how to follow the military instructions and did not know how to adapt. As a result, he was defeated by the Qin army due to command errors. He himself also rushed to the battle and died. All 400,000 Zhao soldiers were buried alive by Qin General Bai Qi.

Idiom Story

Zhao She is a famous general of Zhao State and has made many military exploits for Zhao State. But Zhao Kuo, Zhao She's son, was not like his father. Zhao Kuo had indeed read a lot of military books since he was a child, and he could talk endlessly about the use of troops. Even his father was not as good as him. Therefore, Zhao Kuo was self-righteous and thought that he was a great military strategist. He arrogantly believed that he was invincible militarily. However, Zhao She didn't think so. Not only did he never praise his son's rhetoric, but he often said worriedly: "In the future, Zhao Kuo will not let Zhao Kuo lead troops. If he is allowed to lead troops to fight, then Zhao Kuo will be ruined." There is no doubt that Zhao Kuo will have the future."

A few years later, Zhao She died.

This year, the State of Qin launched a large-scale attack on the State of Zhao, and the State of Zhao sent the very old general Lian Po to lead his army to meet the enemy. At the beginning, Zhao Jun suffered successive defeats. Under such circumstances, Lian Po changed his strategic policy. He ordered the army to hold on to the city and wait for work, instead of taking the initiative to attack, and to conserve its strength to hold the position and defeat the Qin army. As a result, the Qin army came all the way and could not withstand Lian Po's delay. The food and grass supplies gradually failed and they could no longer support the army. The Qin army was very panicked. So the Qin army also used their tactics and sent people to sneak into the Zhao Kingdom quietly to spread rumors: "The Qin army is not afraid of anyone, but they are afraid of Zhao Kuo becoming a general.

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King Zhao was depressed because of Lian Po’s lack of military progress. When he heard the rumors circulating outside, he dismissed Lian Po and sent Zhao Kuo as the general to command the army. Zhao Kuo’s The mother remembered her husband's instructions before his death, explained the situation to King Zhao again and again, and tried her best to persuade King Zhao to withdraw his decision, but King Zhao could not listen, and he really appointed Zhao Kuo as the general to replace Lian Po.

As soon as Zhao Kuo arrived at the front line, he began to command randomly. He completely changed Lian Po's strategy and replaced a large number of generals. For a time, the people of Qin were panicked and the army was distracted.

The Qin army learned about Zhao Jun's situation. , which was naturally what he wanted. Late one night, the Qin army sent a team to attack the Zhao camp. As soon as they fought, they pretended to be defeated. At the same time, the Qin army took the opportunity to cut off Zhao Kuo's food route. Not knowing the truth, he thought that the Qin army was really defeated. He thought proudly that victory was just around the corner, and this was the time to show off. As a result, Zhao Jun was chased by Qin for a while. The army ambushed the pursuers and cut them off, so that the Zhao army could not see each other. Then, the Qin army rushed out and defeated the Zhao army one by one.

The Zhao army was surrounded by the Qin army for more than 40 days. The food had been eaten up and there was no response. Zhao Kuo was at a loss for what to do, and he didn't know how to use his military skills. He was still starving to death, so he led his army to break out in a hurry, but the Qin army was surrounded by enemies. He had to get out. As a result, Zhao Kuo was shot to death by random arrows, and all 400,000 Zhao troops were wiped out. From then on, Zhao Kuo had no real talent, and King Zhao still treated him with contempt. It seems that the harm of dogmatism cannot be underestimated.

Historical evaluation

Lin Xiangru: "Kuo Tu." I can read his father's biography, but I don't know about the changes. "

Zhao's mother: "When I first became a concubine, I served my father, who was a general at that time. The number of people who ate food and drink was counted by ten, and the number of friends he had was counted by hundreds. All the rewards given by the king and the clan were counted. To the military officials, on the day of receiving orders, they will not care about family affairs; once Jinkuo becomes a general and faces eastward, no military officials dare to look up to him, so the gold and silk given by the king should be kept at home; and the land and house can be convenient for the day. The buyer buys it. Father and son have different aspirations, I hope the king will not send them away. "

Some scholars believe that talking about war on paper does not mean Zhao Kuo

There was no paper during the Warring States Period, and paper was not widely used when making historical records. This makes it obvious that this idiom cannot be from the Warring States Period. , and it cannot be written by Sima Qian.

The prototype of "war on paper" probably appeared in the Tang and Song Dynasties. It was officially used as an idiom in the Qing Dynasty, but it all refers to the use of soldiers by scholars and has nothing to do with Zhao Kuo. There is no such statement in the Chronicles of the States of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty.

The earliest record of the so-called Zhao Kuo's armchair talk should be "Zhao Kuo's talk on paper" in Section 40 of "Shang Xia Five Thousand Years". This is an evaluation of Zhao Kuo's talk on paper. , whether the evaluation is correct or not is not mentioned, but it obviously cannot be said that this idiom originated from Zhao Kuo.

As for the invention of this idea, it is probably the credit of "Modern Chinese Dictionary". This book clearly mentions this idiom. The origin of the idiom is defined in the Battle of Changping, and the basis may be "Up and Down Five Thousand Years"

"Historical Records: Biography of Lian Po and Lin Xiangru" records: Zhao Kuo, the son of Zhao She, a famous general of Zhao State during the Warring States Period. When he was young, he learned the art of war, and his father could not help him when it came to military matters. Later, he succeeded Lian Po as the general of Zhao. In the battle of Changping, he only followed the military instructions and did not know how to adapt, and was defeated by the Qin army. 4]

Later, the idiom "talking on paper" was used to describe empty talk that cannot solve practical problems.

However, the background of the story is the Warring States Period. Paper had not been invented in China at that time, so the so-called military documents should be recorded on bamboo slips, wooden slips or silk fabrics.