The Warring States Period was a period of great change in Chinese history after the Spring and Autumn Period. After the protracted war for hegemony in the Spring and Autumn Period, the number of vassal states in the territory of the Zhou Dynasty was greatly reduced, and in 453 BC, Han, Zhao, and Wei overthrew the Zhi clan, and the three families were divided into Jin, laying the pattern of the Seven Heroes of the Warring States. The main historical context of the Warring States period is how the Qin State unified the Six Kingdoms and the stubborn resistance of the Six Kingdoms, especially in the late Warring States period, the Qin State almost formed a huge advantage of one enemy and six countries, so that the six states of Shandong were powerless to resist.
Sengoku map. It is unimaginable that the Qin State, which was so powerful later, was actually very weak in the early Warring States period, and its comprehensive strength was far inferior to that of Zhao, Wei, Qichu, and as for Korea and Yan, although their military strength was slightly weaker, they did not put the Qin State in their eyes. However, with the Shang Dynasty reforming the law in Qin, and the emergence of seven successive generations of Ming monarchs in the country, the strength of the Qin State increased dramatically at a rate visible to the naked eye. This change did not escape the eyes of those veteran politicians, and the Six Kingdoms were united at the initiative of the famous ruler Su Qin, with the intention of jointly restricting the Qin state.
Su Qin wore the seal of the six countries, maneuvered between countries, and became the leader of the world's columnists for a while. After him, Zhang Yi, Gongsun Yan and other outstanding columnists emerged one after another, these people either pushed the vertical or advocated the horizontal, so that the princely states of the world had complex connections and contradictions, and the relationship between the countries was intertwined, intertwined, and restrained each other. In 323 BC, under the planning of Gongsun Yan, the five vassal states united with the king to form an alliance to express their determination to jointly resist Qin; In order to confront the states, Qin Prime Minister Wei Ran proposed that King Qin Zhao be called emperor, and at the same time suggested that Qin support King Qi Min to also be emperor at the same time, King Qin Zhao sent envoys to see King Qi Min and expressed his willingness to jointly claim the emperor, King Qi Min happily accepted this suggestion, so the two were called the two emperors of the east and west.
Legend has it that the art originated in Guiguzi.
Before King Qin Zhao and King Qi Min became emperors, the form of war between the world underwent further changes, from the war for hegemony in the Spring and Autumn Period, to the war of annihilation in the early Warring States period, and finally to the war of annihilation jointly launched by the princes in the middle of the Warring States period. For any vassal state, if you are not careful, you may become the target of several countries, be attacked on all sides, and the temple will be destroyed in an instant. This sense of crisis made the monarchs very worried, and they spent a lot of money to find talents from all over the world and provide themselves with excellent policies to defend the country.
The film and television image of King Qin Zhao.
The Zonghengjia group rose during this period, and the pioneer among them was Su Qin. Su Qin once went to Qin to seek a position but could not get it, so he turned around and went to Yan and Zhao to sell the threat theory of Qin, and finally persuaded the king of Yan to be willing to unite against Qin with his eloquence, and received a great reputation and a rich reward. Next, he traveled to the six countries of Shandong and the other five countries, and finally succeeded in merging and creating the Six Nations Anti-Qin Alliance, which involved the seven heroes of the Warring States and the seven heroes, and also brought the situation of the alliance to the peak. According to"Historical Records, Seventy Biography, Su Qin Biography".
"Su Qin made an appointment with the six countries to return to Zhao, and the Marquis of Zhao Su was named Wu Anjun, but he surrendered to Qin. The Qin soldiers did not dare to stay in Hangu Pass for fifteen years. "
King Qi Min's film and television image.
From the above historical materials, it can be seen that Su Qin was not loyal to a certain country, but traveled between countries, looking for a monarch who appreciated him, and seeking fame and wealth for himself by preaching the theory of great power threat and promising to forge allies for it. In fact, except for Su Qin, the survival of most of the Zongheng family is like this. There is an essential difference between the master and the master of strategy, that is, the master can only throw out opinions, but lack specific means of implementation; The master strategist, on the other hand, focuses on how to implement the plan after getting it. Therefore, this kind of behavior seems to change the situation in the world, but a closer analysis will reveal the loopholes.
The ancient city of Yanguo. Su Qin said to the King of Yan, although the Yan State is also known as the country of ten thousand times, with hundreds of thousands of armor, but these are imaginary numbers, and anyone with a discerning eye can see the huge difference in strength between the two countries, if the Qin State eliminates the Zhao State and then attacks the Yan State, it will be difficult for the Yan army to resist the Qin State, so the Yan State must obtain allies through his ability to obtain assistance at a critical time. However, these words are completely out of nowhere, and if Yan Country is replaced by other countries, it will be the same reason. At this time, Yan Guo actually didn't have to worry about the threat of Qin State at all.
The reformed state of Zhao after King Wuling of Zhao was the biggest obstacle to the unification of the world by Qin.
Since the establishment of the Zhao State, it has won three victories and two defeats in the battle with Qin, and it is not at all lost, and whether the Qin State can defeat Zhao is unknown. In addition to the strength of Zhao Shangwu itself, the situation in this region was very complicated, and Wei and Han always regarded Qin as a threat, and when Qin and Zhao fought each other, the two families were likely to benefit. Moreover, Zhao State bordered Qin Yan at the same time, and when the relationship between Qin and Zhao was very deteriorating, Zhao State did not have the ability to threaten Yan State. The only one who could threaten the Yan State was actually the Qi State, but at this time, Su Qin lacked the space to profit from the Qi State, so he kept silent about this matter.
Su Qin and King Yan.
However, it was a very lucky thing that Su Qin, who was able to speak well, met the unassertive Yan Wang, who was moved by his views and used his huge wealth to fund him to find allies for himself, so Su Qin entered Zhao with treasures, met the high-level officials of Zhao through bribery, threw out the concept of cooperation, and impressed Zhao Hou, who agreed to join forces to fight against Qin. After gaining the credibility endorsement of Zhao Hou, Su Qin successfully pulled the remaining four countries of the Six Kingdoms of Shandong into the Alliance, which made other columnists in the world see the opportunity and rushed to the court to sell their views, such as Zhang Yi, who proposed a strategy for Qin to disintegrate the alliance. The monarch's thirst for the vertical and horizontal family and the excellent political environment laid the foundation for the situation to reach its peak.
The film and television image of King Chu Huai.
The emergence of the situation of combining vertical and horizontal was originally to confront the Qin State, and as the targeted party, the Qin State also felt great pressure at the beginning of this situation. However, after calming down, the Qin people still found a way to deal with it, that is, to divide the alliance and find allies for themselves. For the Qin state, the biggest enemy was always the Sanjin, and the living space of the two sides was highly overlapping, and countless wars took place for land and resources; In addition to the Three Jin Dynasty, the Chu State has always taken the East as its strategic direction, the Qi State adheres to the balance of power in the Central Plains and is reluctant to take the initiative, and the Yan State has limited strength mainly to fight against Di Rong. These three families did not directly contradict the Qin state, and they were potential objects that could be united.
Su Qin's film and television image.
Although Chu and Qi are bordering, the relationship has always been good, and they have also signed an alliance to jointly resist foreign troubles, at this time, Qi will focus on political internal affairs and coordinate the relationship between princes, and Chu will focus on attacking Yue, so these two countries and Qin have not had much contradiction, and Qin has never hurt the interests of these two countries. According to"Historical Records, Twelve Books, Qin Benji".
"Ten years, Zhang Yi Xiangqin. Fifteen counties in Weina. Eleven years, county Yiqu. Return to Wei Jiao, Qu Wo. Yiqu Jun is a minister. Changed his name to Shao Liang and said Xia Yang. Twelve years, the beginning of wax. On the afternoon of April of the thirteenth year, Wei Jun was the king, and Han was also the king. Make Zhang Yi take Shaanxi and send his people and Wei. Fourteen years, more than the first year. In the second year, Zhang Yi and the ministers of Qi and Chu would bite the mulberry. "
The mighty Qin army.
Why wasn't Qi Chu worried about the threat of the Qin State? This is because Qi Chu did not take the Qin State in his eyes. The Qin State rose strongly after the Shang Dynasty changed the law, but this rise was a slow process, at this time the Qin State had just occupied Bashu, and had not yet enjoyed the demographic dividend of this land, and the famous general Bai Qi had not yet emerged. Qi and Chu, the two countries that were very strong in the Spring and Autumn Period, did not directly experience the horror of the Qin army like the Three Jins, they thought that the powerful Jin State in the past could suppress the Qin State with its own strength, and now the Three Jin Dynasty were divided, and the overall record was only slightly down, which fully showed that the combat effectiveness of the Qin Army was limited, so it would not pose a threat to themselves.
Zhang Yi's film and television image.
Looking at the current Qin State from this point of view can indeed be regarded as objective, but from a long-term strategic perspective, Qi Chu's approach is more stupid. After the Qin State obtained the land of Bashu, completely established its absolute rule, and now urgently needs time to digest this wealth, if it is successfully digested, then whether it is population resources or grain production will inevitably increase by several orders of magnitude, when the Qin army will advance eastward along the Yangtze River, take advantage of the terrain, and attack the western region where the defense of the Chu State is weak, then the Chu State with the eastward general force will inevitably suffer from it. As for Qi Guo, he was still immersed in the dream of being the first hegemon of Qi Huan back then, thinking that he was the defender of order in the world, and he missed the best opportunity to improve his strength.
Today's Hangu Pass.
This gave the Qin State sufficient time for development, the Qin State sat on the danger of the Weishui Mountain, and the Hangu Pass was a natural barrier, isolating foreign enemies, although there was a potential threat of being besieged by the Six Nations at the moment, but after he figured out the plans of the two countries of Qi and Chu, he clearly knew that the Hezong was just a talk on paper, and it was difficult to pose a real threat to himself, even if the Six Kingdoms really attacked Qin, I am afraid that when the two ** teams of Qi and Chu were still wandering on the road, the battle outside the Hangu Pass would have ended. This also laid the groundwork for the later Qin State to insist on maintaining relations with the Qi State.
Gongsun Yan's film and television image.
There are no eternal friends, only eternal interests, Qin Chu has maintained a marriage for many years, but with the improvement of his strength, Qin Guo set his sights on his old ally. In order to befriend the Qi State, the King of Qin sent Zhang Yi to persuade the King of Chu to break off diplomatic relations with Qi, so that he could take advantage of the weakness to enter. This task was a headache for Zhang Yi, he lacked a reasonable reason, and after thinking about it, he chose to deceive the king of Chu, which is famous"Zhang Yi deceitful"Event.
It was made to ***"Zhang Yi deceitful"
Zhang Yi said to the king of Chu that as long as Qi and Chu broke off diplomatic relations, the king of Qin was willing to cede 600 li of land to the state of Chu. After Zhang Yi returned to China, he pretended to have a car crash and did not go out for three months, the king of Chu thought that Zhang Yi suspected that he had not fulfilled his promise, so he sent soldiers to the border of Qi and Chu to scold the king of Qi, which led to a sharp deterioration in relations between the two countries. According to"Historical Records, Seventy Biography, Zhang Yi Biography".
"Zhang Yi is the court, and the envoy of Chu said:'The ministers have six miles of Fengyi, which was originally dedicated to the king. 'The envoy of Chu said:'The ministers were commanded to the king, to trade in the land for six hundred miles, and not to hear of six miles. 'also reported to the king of Chu, and the king of Chu was furious. "The nobility of the Spring and Autumn Period tended to focus on commitment and reputation.
The author believes that Zhang Yi's practice is not actually the original intention of the Qin king, in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the behavior of ceding land in exchange for other interests is very common, the aristocratic class of the Spring and Autumn Period pays more attention to credibility, and the promises made will basically be fulfilled, and this kind of behavior like Zhang Yi is also very rare in hundreds of years of history. However, at this time, the situation in the world has changed dramatically, and the King of Qin doesn't care that Zhang Yi's actions will bring harm to the Qin State.
The power map of the Qin state after annexing the western part of the Chu state.
The real cause of this incident was that the Qin State had achieved complete domination over the Bashu region, and then coveted the vast land of the Chu State, at this time, the military strength of the Chu army was concentrated in the east, and the defense in the western region was weak, which can also be seen that the Chu State trusted the Qin State more. However, the Qin State betrayed this trust, hoping to first break the alliance between the Chu State and the Qi State, cut off the support they could receive, and then attack the Chu State with confidence. Because Zhang Yi served as the ** of the Qin State, and had excellent diplomatic ability and eloquence, he became the first choice to break up the Qi-Chu Alliance.
The image of Zhang Yi in film and television dramas.
However, the help given by the King of Qin to Zhang Yi was indeed limited, and Zhang Yi also knew that he lacked a background in the court of the Qin State, and was not a very important figure. It stands to reason that this incident put the Qin State in a passive situation in the diplomatic field, and the Chu State finally raised troops against the Qin State because of this matter, but at this time, the Qin State was not afraid of the Chu State at all, and simply made the mistake wrong, admitted the established facts, tore the skin, and made enemies with Chu. However, King Qin was able to remain calm in the face of huge interests, realizing that his opponent had changed from the Three Jin to the Three Jin and the Four Chu Families, so he could only focus more on making friends with the Qi State while preparing for war, and avoid setting up more enemies, which also laid the groundwork for the subsequent joint emperor's behavior.
Qin Shi Huang, who invented the title of emperor.
Because of the distance between Qin and Qi, there was never much conflict of interest between the two, so Qin wanted to curry favor with each other, and the conditions offered were not attractive enough. The land controlled by Qin was far away from Qi, and even if it was ceded to Qi, the king of Qi would not be able to rule effectively over the Three Jins; Items such as jewelry and jade were not uncommon items for the wealthy Qi royal family. After thinking about it, only the help provided politically may be able to satisfy the Qi country.
Let's review the situation in the world at this time, at this time the world is still theoretically the world of the Zhou royal family, but the Zhou royal family has lost its actual rule, and can only live under the protection of Qin to survive, Zhao, Qi, Qin and other countries have the objective conditions and ability to unify the world, so they are not satisfied with the current identity, and have the heart of the Yue, and there have been Qi Wei Xuzhou Xiangwang, the Five Kingdoms Xiangwang incident. The Xiangwang incident marked the intention of the princes to completely break away from the rule of the Zhou royal family, seek political correctness, and take a political advantage before unifying the world by force.
King Qi Min with great ambitions.
King Min of Qi was a monarch with huge ambitions, who launched the Battle of Chuisha and defeated the state of Chu; defeated the Qin State at the Battle of Hangu Pass; Annexed the wealthy Song State, cut the Huaibei of Chu in the south, invaded the Three Jin Dynasty in the west, and wanted to merge the Zhou Dynasty. King Qin Zhao seized this opportunity and proposed to join forces with King Qi Min to claim the title of emperor in the east and west, a move that made King Qi Min very happy, and he thought that this was the best time to improve his status and surpass the other princes.
In ancient times, there were many titles for leaders, and there were"Emperor"、"Emperor"、"Son of Heaven"、"Wang"、"Male"、"Hou"The supreme leader of the Zhou Dynasty, Zhou Tianzi, called himself the Son of Heaven, and the king was generally the leader of a smaller tribe, such as the Wu Yue regime that was despised by the Central Plains power, and its leader was called Wu Wang and Yue Wang, and the prince was the title of the monarch of the princely states, which was more common in the Spring and Autumn Period, such as Jin Aigong, Zhao Jinghou and so on.
The legendary Three Emperors and Five Emperors.
Among these titles, the emperor generally refers to a person who has great merit to the people of the world, and the emperor has extremely high merit but cannot be compared with the emperor, and the emperor and the emperor have an additional layer of legitimacy of the mandate of heaven than the king. After getting the title of the Eastern Emperor, King Min of Qi was equivalent to drawing a clear line with other princes, artificially elevating his identity, and also showing his great merits, looking around the princes of the world, only King Qin Zhao can compare with himself, the two naturally became a class of people, and established a stable alliance relationship without the help of other means, and the diplomatic ability of Qin can also be seen.