Prince Dan of Yan, surnamed Ji Dan, was the son of Ji Xi the Prince of Yan. As a prince, he was sent to the Zhao Kingdom as a proton since he was a child. And what is a proton? During the Warring States period, in order to gain mutual trust, the princely states often mortgaged a prince as a hostage to each other to ensure the implementation of the treaty between the two countries. The hostages live in the capitals of other countries and cannot easily leave, otherwise they will betray the covenant. If the attacked side is sent hostage to the capital of the country when the two sides are fighting, the first is to threaten, and the other is to remind the other side to abide by the covenant. Prince Dan undertook such a mission and became a proton. At the same time, Yingzheng was also such an identity, and Yingzheng was a proton of the Qin state in the Zhao state. The same identity, about the same age, makes two people feel sorry for each other and become friends. According to the "Records of History": "Prince Dan and Wang Shan", "Qin Wang and Dan Huan when he was young", a "good" word, a "huan" word, indicating that their relationship is quite good.
(Prince Dan)
However, later, the Prince of Qin Chu died, and Yin Zheng became the King of Qin as the heir, while the Yan king Ji Xi was still alive at the same time, and prince Dan did not inherit the throne after returning to the Yan kingdom, but was sent to the Qin state as a proton. However, Prince Dan did not receive good treatment from Yingzheng, but was humiliated. Someone said: "The qin king Yingzheng humiliated Prince Dan because the friendship between the two changed due to the disparity in status. "But not really. Through Prince Dan's various experiences, it can be inferred that Prince Dan is extremely similar to Yingzheng, if Prince Dan becomes the King of Yan, even if the Yan state is weak as a sheep, under the leadership of Prince Dan, although it will not kill the Qin state, it will at least cause great trouble to the unification of the Qin state. Therefore, in order to consider the great cause of reunification, Qin Wangzheng put forward the requirement of "making the sun again in the middle, the rain in the sky, the white head, the horse horn, and the kitchen door wood elephant raw meat foot, but to return." This sentence can be seen that Qin Wangzheng did not want Crown Prince Dan to return to the Yan kingdom at all. Because he knew that releasing Crown Prince Dan back to the Yan kingdom would be extremely detrimental to Qin's great cause of reunification. But knowing that these things really happened, the King of Qin had to let him go back. However, a trap was set halfway through, and Prince Dan successfully escaped back to the Yan Kingdom. Regarding the escape of Prince Dan back to the Yan kingdom, the ancient books record that "the king of Qin had no choice but to send him, as a bridge of opportunity, to trap Dan." Dan crossed, the bridge was not sent. Night to close, closed door not open. Dan was the chirping of the chickens, and all the chickens were chirping, so they had to flee. (This move is similar to Meng's taste of Junji singing dog theft)
Prince Dan, who returned to the Yan kingdom, did not have time to wait until he himself succeeded to the throne to resist the Qin state, because the Qin state had already destroyed the Three Jins (Han Zhao Wei) at this time, and the army was on the verge of Yishui. In addition to the fact that Fan Yu, who was wanted by the King of Qin, was taken in by Prince Dan, it was sooner or later that the State of Qin attacked the State of Yan. What's more, King Ji Xi of Yan was a timid and cowardly person who did whatever it took to survive for himself (this can be seen from the fact that he personally cut off the head of his son Ji Dan and sent it to Qin Wangzheng in order to save his own life). Jing Ke stabbed Qin Shi as a last resort. And the root cause of Jingke's failure also lies in Prince Dan. Here's why:
(1) The entrusted non-person
Let's take a look at the protagonists of Jing Ke's Thorn Qin, Jing Ke and Qin Wuyang. Jingke's thorn Qin is indeed very famous, but Jingke's skills are not refined. Jing Ke's swordplay was typically unattainable. When discussing the sword with the hero Gai Nie, he was "angry with Gai Nie because of his inferior skills and inferior moves." "When he tried the sword technique with Lu Gou of Handan, Jing Ke habitually used the next three indiscriminate yin moves, causing " Lu Sentence jian was angry and angry, and Jing Ke fled. "How could Prince Dan succeed in sending such goods to carry out the heavy task of assassinating Qin?" In addition, when Jing Ke had not yet skimmed the eight characters of the assassination task, he actually described the details of the assassination to Fan Yuqi: "The subject's left hand put his sleeve on it, and his right hand touched his chest. This fantasy detail is based entirely on the premise that the King of Qin is a clay sculpture of wood or is too frightened to move, typical of wishful thinking. Jing Ke had rehearsed this detail in his mind countless times, and it had reached the point of pure fire. Therefore, when he saw the Qin King's Tu poor dagger and saw the electric flint stone, Jing Ke reflexively "because his left hand took the sleeve of the Qin King, and the right hand held the dagger." Unfortunately, the King of Qin reacted quickly, and before the poisonous dagger "reached the body", he was shocked, and he rose up and sleeved up. Draw your sword. Because the sword scabbard was too long, he could not draw his sword and fight back in a hurry, so he had to "walk around the pillar" to avoid Jing Ke's attack. Jing Ke failed to hit a blow, and the cat chased after the King of Qin like a rat, seemingly gaining the upper hand. However, because its speed and strength were far inferior to those of the King of Qin, and he was stupid enough to be hit by the medicine box of the Tai Doctor, the King of Qin had the opportunity to draw his sword and fight back. Jing Ke, who was holding a dagger, was naturally not the opponent of the King of Qin who held the long sword, and his left thigh was cut off by the King of Qin. Jing Ke desperately threw a poisonous dagger as a hidden weapon to attack the King of Qin, "no, zhongtong pillar", and was stabbed seven times by the King of Qin, completely losing the ability to resist.
(JingKe)
Then look at the deputy Qin Wuyang, Qin Wuyang, this fierce character who said that he can "be thirteen years old and kill people", like a crab, crosses the street like a crab, and no one in the world dares to look up at him. Tian Guang concluded to him that "Qin Wuyang is a brave man, and his anger is white." But in fact, it is a lord who dares to lie in the nest (it may also be that the Yan people are too weak). When he entered the Qin Palace with a map containing a poisonous dagger in his hand and saw the King of Qin, he actually instigated the chaff in his legs to "change color and vibrate", and did not provide any help when Jing Ke chased the King of Qin.
(Qin Wuyang)
(2) Strategic errors
When receiving Jing Ke, Prince Dan envisioned this: "Jing Qing, I am by no means only thinking about the Yan kingdom, but completely seeking survival for the princes of the world without selfish thoughts. I ask you to take the 'heavy profits' and send an envoy to the Qin state for the Yan state, and approach the King of Qin to capture him. He then imitated Cao Mo to kidnap the Duke of Qi Huan and force him to return all the usurped princely lands. If he doesn't agree, you go in with a white knife and a red knife comes out – you stab him to death! As soon as the King of Qin died, the State of Qin would inevitably fall into civil strife, and the princes would have a good opportunity to break Qin. Jing Qing seeks the blessings of all the princes and peoples of the world, and will surely become a great hero of the eternal flow! ”
The strategic planning of Prince Dan's assassination operation fully exposed stupidity and superficiality. The background of Cao Mo's success in kidnapping the Duke of Qi Huan was that although the Spring and Autumn Period was already a collapse of ceremonies, the princely states were still faithful to varying degrees because they obeyed Zhou Tianzi at the same time. Pay attention to the key points, at this time it is the end of the Warring States period, and the soldiers are not tired of fighting wars, who still abides by the contract? The State of Qin is thriving, and the six kingdoms are useless. The State of Qin "has captured the King of Han and taken all his land." He also raised troops to conquer Chu in the south and Zhao in the north," and everyone in all countries was in danger of themselves and could not take care of themselves. In such a situation, Prince Dan actually tried to repeat Cao Mo's old drama of kidnapping Qi Huangong, which was tantamount to carving a boat and asking for a sword. Besides, just Jing Ke alone, the King of Qin, who was born and captured the people's style, how could he succeed? In other words, Qin Shi Huang was already Yu Lie of Fen VI, even if the King of Qin was successfully assassinated, it would be a big deal to have one more generation, and Yu Lie of Fen VII would also unify the world with another monarch. Therefore, Prince Dan was simply kicked in the head by a donkey, and only then did he whimsically formulate a strategy of hedgehog Qin.
After Jing Ke failed to stab Qin, The Qin King Yingzheng accelerated the speed of the destruction of the Yan state, and eventually Prince Dan was murdered by his fathers Yan Wang Xi and Dai Wang Jiahe, and his head was sent to Qin Wang Zheng. Prince Dan failed after all.
【References】
1. "History of assassins"
2. "Yan Danzi"
3. "On Balance"
4. "Warring States Policy, Yan Ce, Prince Dan Quality in Qin"