The story of Jing Ke's assassination of the King of Qin must be very familiar to everyone, but not many people know about this previous story.
It is said that when Prince Dan of Yan was a hostage in the Qin Kingdom, the King of Qin was very unfriendly to him, so he wanted revenge, so he told his teacher Ju Wu about this matter. Ju Wu asked him to make peace with the Xiongnu externally and ally himself with the princes internally, so that he could be sure to deal with the Qin state. However, Prince Dan felt that this plan was too long to wait, so he asked Ju Wu if there were any other shortcuts, so Ju Wu recommended a high man named Tian Guang.
However, when Prince Dan of Yan saw Tian Guang and told him that he planned to assassinate the King of Qin, Tian Guang said that Prince Dan only knew himself in his prime, and now that he was old, he was not suitable for this industry anymore, but then recommended his friend Jing Ke. In this way, there was the story of the later Jing Ke stabbing the King of Qin.
Then Prince Dan told Tian Guang that such a major matter must not be revealed, so Tian Guang chose to commit suicide after introducing Jing Ke to meet with him.
In order to keep secrets for them to commit suicide, the integrity and courage of the ancients, we can no longer find a second word except admiration. But is this really the reason for Tian Guang's suicide? Tell you, it's not. Why? Let's look at a few of the doubts in the incident.
First, in addition to Tian Guang, in fact, there is another person who knows about this matter, that is, Prince Dan's teacher Ju Wu, won't he leak secrets?
Second, when Tian Guang and Prince Dan met, Prince Dan was extremely honorable in the etiquette he adopted, which was a courtesy to His Holiness, but Tian Guang did not refuse, and if he accepted it, it was completely inconsistent with the status of the two.
Third, when Tian Guang left Prince Dan, he left quickly, but when he saw Jin Ke, he was "hunched over" and walked, completely looking like an old dragon clock.
With these three questions, we will answer them one by one, solve them, and the mystery will naturally come out.
The first question is actually quite easy to explain. Who is Ju Wu? Prince Dan's teacher, one of the few cores in the upper ruling clique of the Yan Kingdom, Prince Dan had no reason to suspect him. Not to mention that he did not stop the assassination of the King of Qin, and if he took ten thousand steps back, even if he stopped it, it would be the duty of a courtier, and he could not fight with his life.
The second question is actually simple to say, but also involves the identity of a person, who? It's Tian Guang.
At that time, People like Tian Guang, in a class called soldiers, needed to get the opportunity to be promoted through their own actions, and Mao Sui, who "introduced himself to himself", was such a type of person. However, Tian Guang was a little more advanced than him, and Tian Guang was a dead soldier. But this task was beyond his reach, so he only had two options: recommend Jing Ke and commit suicide.
It was precisely because of this mental preparation that when Prince Dan received him with extremely honorable etiquette, he accepted it. The same was true of Jing Ke, after he accepted the task, he gladly accepted any extraordinary courtesy given to him by Prince Dan, and what's more, when Prince Dan urged him to leave, he directly rebuked Prince Dan because he still had to wait for a person, which was obviously not in line with the normal status of a monarch.
Jing Ke was actually telling Prince Dan: I am dying for you, a dead person has nothing to fear.
So it is obvious that this is a mission that must die, and Prince Dan reminds Tian Guang on the grounds of secrecy, you already know about this matter, do you execute or not execute? There is only one ending, and that is death. The death that is executed has been handed over to Jing Ke, so you can choose a way of dying yourself.
For this result, people like Tian Guang actually knew it for a long time, but why did he do it? Because not in vain!
First, to be able to find a chance to make a name for themselves; second, to find money and status for the descendants of the family. Take the special zhuan zhu of one of the "four great assassins" in ancient times, Wu Zixu recommended him to Gongzi Guang, assassinated Wu Wangfu successfully, although he was killed on the spot, but after Gongzi Guang became the King of Wu, he immediately named his son Shangqing.
You must know that Sun Wu and Wu Zixu, the bull-coaxing masters, have never had such treatment, but Jing Ke is the same as the son of Zhuan Chu, and he does not know whether things will be successful or not, so he was made a shangqing by Prince Danzun.
Finally, according to Tian Guang's own words, as long as he is suspected, he cannot be a person with discipline and morality. If a person's inability to be trusted by others is a matter of discipline, then how do you judge whether this person is moralistic or not when things have not yet been leaked?
Therefore, the lecture here can only be said to be that this matter has exceeded my ability, I can't do it, I will repay you with death, can I? If it is death, why should we choose suicide? Because people like him, suicide can save their reputation, and they can only be destroyed if they are killed. What's more, after his death, the family will benefit.
So the reason behind Tian Guang's suicide, do you understand? Feel free to leave a comment in the comments section and share your views.