In the past few days, a news about spies has been on the hot search: "The landlord reports the weird green light and gets a major reward!."”。In today's society, the interests of various countries are complex, and all kinds of espionage activities are also **, and we all hate spies, so this article will give you a detailed introduction to some cases of ancient espionage and how to deal with these spies.
The word "spy" was first recorded in China's first military book "Liutao", in which the third volume wrote: Eight wanderers, the main service and treacherous change, open and close people's feelings, watch the enemy's intentions, think of spies. The gist of this passage is: before the start of the war. Eight travelers were sent to the enemy's country to reconnoitre, collect political information and public opinion, understand the enemy's true intentions, and carry out espionage activities. It can be seen that spies have appeared in China for a long time.
Ancient history espionage
The first recorded spy in history was in the Xia Dynasty more than 4,000 years ago, there was a beautiful woman named Nu Ai (also written as Ru Ai, Ji Zhu), who became the first female spy in recorded Chinese and even world history. Dayu's son Qi destroyed the Zen concession system and let China enter a slave society overnight, for the Xia Dynasty. But Xia Qi's country did not sit for long, "two generations died". Hou Yi of the poor clan (not the one who shot the sun) took the opportunity to take over the world and killed Taikang. The history is known as "Taikang lost the country". However, although this Hou Yi has taken the country, he will not govern the country. The rivers and mountains he seized from the Xia Dynasty were soon taken away by the minister Han Xun. And Qi's descendant Shaokang, who has the ambition to restore the country, secretly accumulates strength, and sends a beautiful woman named Nu Ai to spy on the inside of the Hanxun side, so as to know himself and the enemy, reviving the Xia Dynasty, known as "Shaokang Zhongxing" in history, and Nu Ai also became the first spy on record.
During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the great powers competed for hegemony, and during this period, there were many technologies and inventions. For example, the hidden language, "Historical Records" said: When King Qi Wei was in hiding. There is also a way to listen to the poppy, which is a way to find the enemy digging tunnels in advance in ancient times, from "Mozi - City Guard - Bei Cave Sixty-two", the original text is:"Zi Mozi said: Penetrate the well city, five steps and a well, Fu Chengzu, the high ground is one zhang and five feet, and the ground and the spring are three feet away. Let the potter be an poppy, accommodate more than 40 buckets, fix it with thin leather, put it in the well, make the deaf person listen to it, know the location of the acupoint, and dig the acupoint to welcome it"。It is to the effect that a well should be dug at the edge of the city, five steps at a glance, one foot and five feet on the high ground, and three feet of water in the low places. Let the potters make an opium (urn) that can hold forty buckets of water, cover the mouth of the urn with thin leather, and put it in the well, so that the person with good hearing can put his ear on the mouth of the urn to listen, discern the direction of the person digging the hole, and also dig a tunnel to meet the battle. This method is also called "ground listening".
By the end of the Warring States Period, the spy war was even more intense, and there was even an official position responsible for spy reconnaissance at that time - "Hou Zheng", also known as "Waiter" and "Yuan Hou". It is responsible for foreign espionage intelligence, but mainly serves military operations. At that time, the identity of a spy was still respected, and the famous Zongheng Su Qin was essentially a big spy, who carried out frequent diplomatic activities in order to cooperate with the Qin Dynasty, which greatly affected the vassal states at that time and made unremitting efforts to stabilize the princes. Later, in order to protect Yan and attack Qi, Su Qin was specially ordered by King Yan Zhao to enter Qi and engage in anti-intermediary activities, so that Qi was tired of foreign wars in order to attack Qi for revenge. Later Yan attacked Le Yi in a big way, Su Qin's anti-intermediary activities were exposed, and Su Qin, who had been appointed as Qi Xiang, was hated by the ministers of Qi and was killed by the car. Zigong, a student of Confucius, also invited himself to send envoys to divide the countries to achieve the goals of "chaotic qi", "strong promotion" and "hegemony".
Bai Qi of the Qin State was also killed because the Zhao State sent spies to the Qin State to provoke the relationship between the powerful minister Fan Ju and the famous general Bai Qi. After learning from the pain, the Qin State also formulated the strategy of "Cai Jian Bing", that is: "Yin sent strategists to hold gold and jade to lobby the princes, and the princes and celebrities could be given wealth, and those who refused to leave it would be stabbed with a sharp sword, and the plan of the monarch and ministers would be followed." During the Battle of Changping, the veteran Lian Po instinctively supported it, but the Qin spies spread everywhere that "the Qin army is most afraid of Zhao Kuo", and King Zhao was really fooled. Qin was very willing to spend money, and the spies of the Qin State gave a lot of money to various countries, prompting them to persuade their respective kings to keep their own hands and not meddle in the affairs of other countries, so that the Qin State could be defeated one by one. It can be said that the road to reunification has been completed by throwing money.
The operation has been upgraded, and the theory has been continuously improved, and "The Art of War: The Use of Intermediary" is "the earliest and most complete book on the theory of espionage in China and even in the world." Sun Wu proposed: "Ming Jun and virtuous generals, those who can use wisdom as a middle, will achieve great success." That is to say, to use the smartest person as a spy, but also to "kiss not to be close to the room, and reward not to be generous to the middle", the best treatment and affection.
By the Three Kingdoms period, Huang Chenger was a famous female spy in the late Eastern Han Dynasty. She was originally Dong Zhuo's adopted daughter, and later became Liu Bei's wife. When Liu Bei defected to Cao Cao, Huang Cheng'er was ordered to infiltrate Cao's camp to collect intelligence. She performed very well in Cao Ying, and succeeded in gaining Cao Cao's trust. In the end, Huang Cheng'er successfully helped Liu Bei escape Cao Cao's control, and made great achievements for Liu Bei's Shu Han career.
During the Northern and Southern Dynasties and the Sui Dynasty, there were even foreign spies who came to China to carry out activities. An international spy museum in the United States explained in its exhibition hall that China's silkworm raising, tea planting, and porcelain making technology were all "stolen" by European spies. It is recorded that in the 6th century AD, two ** monks brought silkworm cocoons to the Roman Empire hidden in hollow bamboo products. Of course, museums with the theme of espionage may deliberately highlight or even exaggerate the role of espionage in history, and the historical truth is often more complicated, and there are still many theories in the academic community about how China's silkworm and silk technology was introduced to Europe.
Ancient spy handling methods
Modern laws and regulations are relatively sound, usually the handling of spies is basically in accordance with the provisions of the law to go to prison, foreign spies are also attached to the deportation, relatively humane, but in ancient times, the punishment of spies was quite serious.
After the spy is first discovered, the government will immediately launch an investigation and conduct a strict review of the people involved, including but not limited to torture, torture and other means.
After the review is completed, once they are identified as spies, the people involved in the case are often sentenced to capital punishment, which includes very serious punishments such as beheading, Ling Chi, and car splitting, and even more serious punishments will be imposed on the three or even nine clans. However, in some special cases, spies will also be taken advantage of. For example, in war, ** will have spies infiltrate the enemy camp to gather intelligence, sabotage enemy plans, etc. This approach can both achieve its own goals and allow the spies to use it for themselves, achieving a win-win situation.
In conclusion, espionage in ancient times was a complex and dangerous activity that both embodied human courage and wisdom and revealed the dark side of human nature. And the way espionage is handled is also a reflection of the power and violence of ancient states. Although we are now living in an era of peace, we must not forget history, and understanding the handling methods of ancient espionage activities is still of great significance for us to understand history and raise awareness.