《资治通鉴·周纪》61丨谁是历史上胆儿最肥的帝王？

Summary

This 芮淇讲透资治通鉴 episode covers 周赧王’s fourteenth through sixteenth years, 301-299 BCE, while moving the Qin-Chu and Zhao branches forward. Its central figure is 赵武灵王, who abdicates to ten-year-old 赵何, calls himself主父, and then personally enters 秦国 in disguise to inspect terrain and 秦昭襄王. The episode treats him as a daring strategic innovator whose plan to bypass 函谷关 through the northern route toward 咸阳 is inseparable from the succession risk created by favoring the younger son.

Key Claims

• In 301 BCE, the episode records a solar eclipse, Qin’s attack on 韩国, the execution of the Shu governor Ying Yun, Qin’s revenge against 楚国 after the 芈横 incident, Zhao’s campaign against 中山国, and 齐宣王’s death followed by 齐湣王’s accession.
• The Ying Yun notice is source-critical: the episode says 《资治通鉴》 can read like a rebellion case, while 《华阳国志》 makes it look more like a court-intrigue injustice.
• Qin joins Han, 魏国, and 齐国 against Chu at Chongqiu after Mi Heng kills a Qin official and flees; Chu commander Tang Mei is killed and Chu loses the battle.
• In 300 BCE, Qin’s Mi Rong attacks Chu, kills Jing Que, and takes Xiangcheng; frightened 楚怀王 sends crown prince Mi Heng to Qi as a hostage to seek repair.
• The episode says the Tongjian notice that 楼缓 immediately replaced 樗里疾 / 樗里子 as Qin chancellor is likely wrong. It follows 《史记》 in sequencing 魏冉, 孟尝君 / 田文, Lou Huan, and then Wei Ran again across 300-295 BCE.
• In 299 BCE, Zhao Wuling Wang transfers the throne to ten-year-old Zhao He, appoints 肥义 as chancellor, and keeps a military role for himself as主父.
• Zhao Wuling Wang disguises himself as a Zhao envoy to Qin so he can inspect Qin’s mountains and rivers and judge Qin Zhaoxiang Wang in person.
• Qin Zhaoxiang Wang senses the envoy is extraordinary only after the meeting; by the time Qin tries to detain him, Zhao Wuling Wang has crossed the border.
• Zhao Wuling Wang’s anti-Qin plan is to avoid the conventional Hangu Pass approach and instead move from Yunzhong and Jiuyuan south toward Xianyang.
• The episode’s central tension is that Zhao Wuling Wang’s bold strategic imagination and his succession decision are linked: leaving day-to-day rule lets him focus on war planning, but favoring Zhao He over the elder branch seeds the later Shaqiu disaster.

Key Quotes

“历史上第一个为王的间谍” - the episode’s label for Zhao Wuling Wang’s disguised Qin mission.

“谋事在人，成事在天” - the closing frame for the gap between ambitious planning and historical outcome.

Connections

• 芮淇讲透资治通鉴, 《资治通鉴》, 《史记》, 周赧王, and 战国时期 - show, texts, annalistic frame, and period setting.
• 秦国, 韩国, 魏国, 齐国, 楚国, 楚怀王, 芈横, and 质子外交破裂 - Qin-Chu conflict and repeated hostage diplomacy branch.
• 齐宣王, 齐湣王, 编年错位, and 齐威王编年争议 - death/accession correction after the earlier too-early notice.
• 樗里疾 / 樗里子, 魏冉, 孟尝君 / 田文, 楼缓, and 编年错位 - Qin chancellor-succession correction.
• 赵武灵王, 赵何, 肥义, 赵国, 宠爱驱动的立储风险, and 权力退场困境 - abdication, divided role, and succession-risk branch.
• 秦昭襄王, 函谷关, 咸阳, 战国军事形态转变, and 秦国东进压力 - disguised reconnaissance and northern-route anti-Qin strategy.

Contradictions

• Clarifies Zhouji 49 on 齐宣王’s death: Zhouji 49 already flagged its death/accession notice as too early; this episode places the death in 301 BCE and treats 齐湣王’s accession as belonging here.
• Contradicts the received Tongjian chancellor notice as presented by the episode: instead of 楼缓 immediately succeeding 樗里疾 / 樗里子 after Chulizi’s death, the episode follows 《史记》 and places 魏冉 first, then 孟尝君 / 田文, then Lou Huan, then Wei Ran again.