The Seven Heroes of the Warring States, after the decline of the Zhou royal family, after the protracted struggle for hegemony in the Spring and Autumn Period, distributed in the central plains of China, the pattern of seven major powers involving each other, the State of Qi, the State of Chu, the State of Yan, the State of Korea, the State of Zhao, the State of Wei, and the State of Qin were also involved.
Map of the Warring States Seven Heroes 260 BC
Although the Seven Heroes of the Warring States were powerful, these countries did not occupy the advantage of absolute strength, sometimes united, sometimes attacking, involving each other, and struggling to maintain a relative balance.
Among them, the Qin state and the Qi state are the most powerful, known as the "country of ten thousand multipliers". In 288 BC, he was also known as the Emperor of the East and the West.
During this period, the vitality of the means of production such as land under the county system made the two big countries of the East and the West, which occupied the water source, geographical advantage and land advantage, have the hidden tendency to annex the world.
But just as the general trend of all this is rolling forward, history has given way to the destruction of the great power of qi in the east.
Map of the Warring States situation
In 284 BC, King Zhao of Yan, with Le Yi as his general, attacked Qi with Yan, Zhao, Han, Qin, and Wei, and invaded Linzi, the capital of the State of Qi, with seventy-two cities, and only Ju and Jimo were the only ones who fell under the city of Qi. King Min fled into Ju and was killed.
This time, the war was only three years away from the five kingdoms jointly attacking Qin, and it was only two years before Qi destroyed the Song Dynasty.
It was also this time that the Song Dynasty was destroyed, creating a good excuse for several other princes to attack the State of Qi. And it was this kind of arrogance and complacency that made King Qi Min make a wrong strategic decision.
King Qi Min
At the beginning of his succession, he intervened in the abolition of the Korean prince. Even more in 296 BC, Su qin joined forces and forced King Zhaoxiang of Qin to "cut the river east and talk about peace", and the state of Qi was unprecedentedly strong. This also laid hidden worries for the decline of the State of Qi step by step. Not only will the proud soldiers be defeated, but so will the proud king.
After tasting the sweetness of being the boss, King Qi Min was naturally not willing to be in a corner of the situation, so he attracted the attention of the neighboring "Five Thousand Multiplied Song".
But all this naturally also requires the lobbying of "obedient subjects". Su Qin is this character.
Su Qin
As a famous politician in the Warring States period, Su Qin can be described as well known in the world. But it was not until 1973, when the Mawangdui Han Tomb in Changsha unearthed a batch of "Warring States Zongheng Family Letters" that people learned that Su Qin's true identity was actually a strategic spy.
It was also this spy who added a new hatred to the feud between the State of Qi and the State of Yan. In 314 BC, the State of Qi took advantage of the internal turmoil in Yan and sent troops to cut down Yan, and the two countries formed a feud. In 311 BC, King Yan Zhao took the throne. Su Qin was entrusted by him to send an envoy to the State of Qi.
"I am a great country, and I should look at the world." "What the king said is very true." In one shot, King Qi Min's Wenzhi martial arts did not get rid of the category of man, and the thoughts of the ear root and the heart were victorious over reason.
In 286 BC, after three raids against the Song Dynasty, King Qi Min finally destroyed the Song state at the suggestion of Su Qin. The territory has expanded by thousands of miles, and the State of Qi seems to be a sign of a faction of bosses. He overlooked the fact that he had the ability to upset this international equilibrium, but he was powerless to clean up this international mess. After becoming the head bird, he still fought with another big country, the Qin State.
The beginning of it all, like a script.
It was also with these backgrounds that in 284 BC, Le Yi Fa Qi.
Regarding the process of Le Yi Fa Qi, it can be said that it was a blow to the head of the King of Qi Min, and the King of Qi Min died at the hands of The Tooth. A Xiangguo who had no intention of saving Qi, but had the heart to divide the State of Qi with the State of Yan.
Le Yi
However, when Le Yi, the god of war, used an almost blitzkrieg method to fight 72 cities, he was unable to hold on to it and plundered on a large scale, and the same problem in front of the Yan state was that once the Qi was quickly destroyed, the Yan state would be the next Qi state.
Le Yi naturally understood the severity of this, planned to use righteous soldiers, intended to complete the annexation of the State of Qi from the foundation, both wanted qi land, but could not let other countries oppose the State of Yan, in five years, Le Yi had already won the victory, but a bad news came from YanDu, and King Yan Zhao, who had the grace of knowing him, died.
Le Yi Vaqi
The son of King Yan Zhao ascended the throne as King Hui of Yan.
After learning that the new King of Yan had a conflict with Le Yi, Tian Shan used a counter-plot. King Hui of Yan believed it to be true, so he sent a horse robber to replace Le Yi, and Le Yi saw such a situation and expected that if he returned to China, he would naturally be killed, so he defected to Zhao Guo. The robber fought with Tian Dan and achieved Tian Dan's prestige. Under the fire bull array, the Yan army was defeated, and the robbers were also killed.
Tian Dan
Subsequently, the 72 cities conquered by the Yan State were lost one after another. Five years of operation, ruined. Le Yi was heartbroken and wrote the famous article "The Book of the King of Yanhui", but it had long been useless.
The subjects could not obey the king's orders, and in order to obey the hearts of the left and right, for fear of resisting the crime of axe, to hurt the wisdom of the previous king, and to harm the righteousness of the foot, so they fled away from Zhao. Conceited for the sin of disrespect, so I dare not say anything. The present king has made a sin in his numbers,...... And the reason why Bai Chen had the heart of the king in advance was that he dared to use the book to correct it. ...... He who has done much is rewarded; he who does not follow his love with the official..., so he dares to report it with books, but the king's attention is taken care of.
Le Yi cut qi, which brought about the decline of the state of Qi, the increase of the state of Yan, and the enhancement of national strength; but because of the suspicion of King Hui of Yan, it was lost. The State of Qi is even more due to the joy of yi and qi, and its national strength is gradually declining, and it is no longer the grand scene of that year.
On the contrary, in these years, the Qin state has developed agriculture and stabilized its soldiers, and when the situation of the seven heroes is broken, it is only a matter of time before the world returns to Qin.
There may be some friends here, offering a rebuttal. The State of Qi was weakened, but the State of Zhao was strong. Why is it said that only the State of Qin has the strength to unify China?
After Le Yi returned to the Zhao Kingdom, the strength of the Zhao State did rise, but when we think about ancient history, the problem we must not fail to consider is the problem of food. In the era of cold weapons, whoever possessed the grain and the personnel under the grain occupied the decisive advantage.
From the geographical location of the Warring States Seven Heroes, the State of Qi and the State of Qin occupied the best farming area in China at that time, from water to soil, population, can ensure the continuous output of grain, but the State of Zhao did not have such conditions.
In addition, under the constraints of various systems and succession problems, the military strength of Hufu riding and shooting could not be maintained for a long time. As a spoiler, the State of Yan carried out the strategy of fatigue after losing the fertile Qi land, and it can be said that the balance of the Warring States was more and more tilted to the Qin State.