For the story of "TianJi Horse Racing", I think many people will not be too unfamiliar, and it often appears in primary and secondary school textbooks. This story is recorded in the "Records of History", and the protagonists of the story are Tian Ji, Sun Zhen and King Qi Wei.
The emissaries of the State of Qi came to Daliang, and Sun Zhen secretly met with them as a prisoner and persuaded the emissaries of the State of Qi. The emissaries of the State of Qi thought that this man was a strange person, so they secretly carried him back to the State of Qi. The Qi general Tian Ji appreciated him very much and treated him like a guest. Tian Ji often raced horses with the princes of the State of Qi and set heavy bets.
Once Tian Ji and King Qi Wei raced horses and bet thousands of gold. Although Tian Ji's horses were good, they were obviously weaker than King Qiwei's horses, so Sun Zhi offered Tian Ji a plan: "Use your inferior horses against their superior horses, use your superior horses against their middle horses, and use your middle horses against their inferior horses." After three games, Tian Ji won the game with one defeat and two wins.
In the last paragraph of the story, it is recorded: "So he avoided entering the grandson Yu Wei Wang." King Wei asked about the art of war, so he thought he was a teacher. This means that Tian Ji recommended Sun Zhi to the King of Qi Wei, who asked Sun Zhi for advice on the art of war and regarded him as his teacher. But what is the final outcome of Sun Bin and Tian Ji? But it didn't say. In fact, Sun Bing's strategy of horse racing was only the beginning of his entry into the State of Qi.
In 354 BC, the State of Zhao attacked Wei Guo's ally, Wei Guo, which attracted opposition and interference from the State of Wei, and the State of Wei sent troops to surround the capital of the State of Zhao, Handan, and the State of Zhao did not expect the State of Wei to be so fierce. So he sent emissaries to ask for help from Qi and Chu. After consulting with the generals and ministers, King Qi Wei ordered Sun Zhen and Tian Ji to lead troops to rescue zhao guo.
By the time Sun Zhi and Tian Ji arrived, the main force of the Wei army had already breached the capital of the Zhao state, Handan, And Pang Juan led an army of 80,000 to stubble hill, and then attacked the Wei state, and the Qi state of Tian Ji and Sun Ji led an army of 80,000 to the border area between Qi and Wei. Tian Ji wanted to engage the main force of the Wei army directly, but was stopped by Sun Zhen.
Sun Zhi believed that the State of Wei had been attacking the State of Zhao for a long time, and that it was already short of troops, and that it was necessary to adopt the tactic of attacking the West from the east and directly attacking the capital of the State of Wei to force the State of Wei to withdraw its troops, and Tian Ji did as Requested by Sun Zhi. The Wei general Pang Juan did indeed throw away his weight and marched back to Da Liang day and night with a lightly armed and hasty march. However, he did not expect to be ambushed by Sun Zhen and captured.
The strategy of "encircling Wei and saving Zhao" marked came from this battle. In 342 BC, the Wei general Huang Huang repelled the army of the Han general Kong Ye at Southern Liang, and Han Zhaohou sent emissaries to the State of Qi for help. Sun Bin once again adopted the tactic of encircling Wei and saving Zhao, and led an army to attack the Wei capital Daliang. When Pang Juan heard the news, he hurriedly withdrew his troops from Korea and returned to Wei.
Knowing that there was a pit ahead, he had to jump, because only this road could be walked, and there was no way to do it. Pang Juan was ambushed again, and the defeat of the State of Wei was decided. The Wei general Pang Juan killed himself and lost his position as overlord. At the same time, the State of Qi has also become a major power that dominates the side.
After the Battle of Maling, Tian Ji was naturally majestic as the commander. He even began to be self-conscious, no longer listening to Sun Ji's plans, and finally Tian Ji was counter-conspired by Zou Ji and fled to the Chu state. It was not until after King Xuan of Qi succeeded to the throne that he was recalled for reuse, and there is no record of Sun Zhen. Such a negative ending is naturally not recorded in the books.