If you ask which country was the most powerful during the Warring States period, I believe that most people will first think of big countries such as the Qin, Chu and Zhao states. Throughout the ages, wars and alliances, antagonisms and peace between these three countries have attracted the attention of countless literati and inkers.
However, when it comes to the State of Yan, people are not deeply impressed by it, and only remember the fact that Prince Dan bought Jing Ke to assassinate Qin Shi Huang. Apart from this incident, people hardly feel its presence. However, as one of the Seven Heroes of the Warring States, the strength of the Yan State was by no means as weak as people thought. On the contrary, it is actually a very powerful and special country, why do you say so?
Today, we will talk about the Yan kingdom in detail.
It can be said that in the early Spring and Autumn Period, the Yan Kingdom may have been a small nameless state, because at that time, it was surrounded by Rong Di and had less contact with the princely states of the Central Plains. In the middle and late Spring and Autumn Period, the State of Yan began to contact the State of Qi. However, at the time of the Warring States period, the relations between the two countries declined sharply, and they became enemies for a time.
So why did the two countries suddenly become a feud?
In our view, there are two reasons:
First, the geographical proximity, which makes the two countries feel very uneasy, afraid that the other side will come to a surprise attack.
Second, the king of Yan abdicated, and King Qi Yi believed that the change of lord of Yan was the weakest time for the yan state, so he had the idea of taking advantage of the void.
In 314 BC, infighting broke out among the ruling class of the Yan state. The State of Qi thought that this was a good opportunity to sneak up on the State of Yan, so it sent a large number of troops to attack the State of Yan and killed the King of Yan in the chaos. Later, because the Qi army burned and looted in the territory of the Yan Kingdom, many people were homeless and lost their families, so the people took up arms to resist.
At the same time, the major princely states were also discussing the matter of sending troops to assist the Yan state, and under the pressure of the situation, the state of Qi had to withdraw its troops. Soon after, Prince Ji of Yan succeeded to the throne as king, as King Zhao of Yan.
Because, when the State of Qi invaded the State of Yan before, he not only killed the King of Yan, but also committed various atrocities in the territory of the State of Yan, so King Yan Zhao, believing that he was carrying the hatred of the family and the country. In order to take revenge, King Yan Zhao painstakingly studied the major techniques, recruited talents, and implemented the law of change, hoping that he would make the country strong and prosperous in order to avenge the state of Qi. Fortunately, everything was as he wished, and the Yan Kingdom was slowly becoming stronger.
Le Yi was a famous general after Le Yang, he learned well, deeply understood the art of war, and was once recommended as an official of the Zhao State, but in order to avoid the internal turmoil in Zhao, he went to the State of Wei. Later, he heard that Corporal Li Xian, the King of Yan Zhao, longed for his life. Once, Le Yi sent an envoy to the Yan kingdom for Wei, and King Zhao treated him with great respect, which made Le Yi quite touched and decided to stay in the Yan kingdom. Subsequently, King Zhao made him Yaqing and entrusted him with state administration and military power.
In 288 BC, the State of Qin and the State of Qi were proclaimed emperors together, and at the same time, the two countries secretly allied in an attempt to unify the world through the alliance of the east and the west. When the rest of the countries learned of this news, they were very uneasy and tried to stop the conspiracy of Qin and Qi. Later, because they were outnumbered, the two countries gave up the idea of being emperors, but the vigilance of the major princely states against them did not diminish in the slightest.
After some time, the State of Qi continued to expand outwards and destroyed the State of Song. The countries were shocked to learn of this news, and at the same time, they began to discuss the establishment of an anti-Qi alliance, that is, to gather the forces of various countries to defeat the Qi state. Seeing this, King Yan Zhaowang thought that his opportunity had come. As a result, King Yan Zhao not only actively promoted the establishment of an anti-Qi alliance, but also took the initiative to propose that the Yan state could take the lead for the alliance.
Soon after, the anti-Qi alliance was formally established, and the six kingdoms of Yan, Qin, Zhao, Han, Wei, and Chu led by the famous Yan general Le Yi attacked the State of Qi. Under the guidance of Le Yi, the coalition forces not only killed the King of Qi, but also captured more than seventy cities in the State of Qi in only half a year. Later, the mighty State of Qi was left with only two cities that had not fallen, namely Jimo and Ju.
However, at this time, there were differences within the Yan state: it turned out that some ministers were jealous after seeing Le Yi's great achievements. At that time, although the coalition army captured many cities in the State of Qi, it did not win the hearts and minds of the people. Therefore, Le Yi decided to encircle the last two cities, and at the same time, to win the hearts and minds of the people. Seeing this, a traitorous minister of the Yan Kingdom believed that this was a good time to impeach Le Yi.
Therefore, he immediately ran to King Yan Zhao and said bad things about Le Yi: "At present, there are only two cities left in the State of Qi, and its strength is far inferior to that of the Six-Nation Alliance. However, Le Yi could not attack for a long time, why was this? I think he has a different heart and is trying to claim the title of king in the country of Qi, and the king should be careful that he cheats in secret! However, King Yan Zhao was not a fool and had his own judgment in his heart.
Therefore, he immediately killed the minister who provoked right and wrong, and warned the ministers not to say bad things about Le Yi again. Le Yi was very frightened when he learned that the Great King trusted him so much, and he took the initiative to show his sincerity to King Yan Zhao: "As long as I still have a breath, I will definitely fight for the Yan Kingdom to the end." "In 279 BC, King Zhao of Yan died, and his son succeeded to the throne as King Hui of Yan.
Soon after, King Hui of Yan removed Le Yi from his official position and replaced him with a knight robber as a general of the State of Yan. Not long after, Le Yi was expelled from the Yan Kingdom. After the robber took office, he no longer practiced Le Yi's previous encirclement tactics, but changed to the method of strong attack. However, not only did he not succeed in destroying the State of Qi, but he also missed the best opportunity to destroy Qi. Despite this, King Yan Zhao finally avenged the country and his father.
After this battle, the strength of the State of Qi was greatly reversed, and in the end, it was reduced to a second-rate power. After the State of Yan lost the wise King of Yan Zhao, and after driving away Le Yi of Xiao Zhan, it could not do any more great things, and in the end, it could only be annexed by the State of Qin.
Resources:
["Shi Ji Ji Volume 34 Yan Zhao Gong Shi Jia No. 4", "Shi Ji Le Yi Lie Biography 20", "Warring States Policy Yan Ce I"]