First, the strategy of attacking from afar and attacking from close range
After Fan Ju served as the chancellor of the Qin state, he established a diplomatic strategy for King Zhaoxiang of Qin to "attack from afar and attack closely". From then on, the conquests of the Qin state were more targeted. The strategy of "long-distance friendship and close attack" also became the basic diplomatic strategy of the last generations of monarchs of the Qin State. The State of Qin concentrated its forces against the Three Jins and the State of Chu, and befriended the distant State of Qi.
In 230 BC, Qin Shi Huang launched the War to unify the Six Kingdoms.
The State of Qin destroyed Korea in 230 BC, the State of Zhao in 228 BC, the State of Wei in 225 BC, the State of Chu in 223 BC, and the State of Yan in 222 BC.
In 222 BC, only the Qin state and the state of Qi were left, and the state of Qi was surprised to find that there was no world except the state of Qin.
It took a lot of energy for the Qin state to destroy the five kingdoms of Shandong, but the time when qi was destroyed was the easiest. After the annihilation of Yan, the Qin army gathered on the border of the State of Qi. At this time, the State of Qi felt the arrival of danger, and the State of Qi needed to face the powerful State of Qin alone. There was no large-scale war between Qin and Qi, and the State of Qi surrendered.
The State of Qi was also the only princely state among the Six Kingdoms of Shandong that did not resist the State of Qin by force.
Tian Jian, who had been king for more than 40 years, finally chose to surrender. After Qi Wangjian surrendered, the end was not good, and he was exiled to the mountains and forests and starved to death.
Second, the mentality of collapse
Korea has always been a very weak vassal state, but when Korea fell, it resisted fiercely. At the time of the demise of South Korea, it was also considered to be magnificent, and it can be said that it was "honorable although it was dead".
After the State of Qi experienced the "Le Yi Fa Qi", although its national strength was greatly weakened, it was still stronger than that of Korea and the State of Yan. Both Korea and the Yan state can fight to the death, but the state of Qi surrenders without a fight, and in the final analysis, the mentality of the state of Qi has collapsed.
After the five kingdoms of Shandong had perished and the state of Qi's mentality collapsed, it naturally did not have the courage to continue fighting. The mentality has collapsed, as long as the Qin state launches a psychological offensive, the qi state will fall without a fight.
An important reason for the collapse of Qi Guo's mentality stemmed from despair.
South Korea and wei resisted desperately, not only because they had a desperate struggle, but also because they still had hope. South Korea hopes that its resistance will be supported by the other five countries. Korea has faced the situation of national subjugation many times in its history, and eventually the crisis has been turned around by the rescue of other princely states.
For example, the State of Qi rescued South Korea that year. While Korea and the State of Wei resisted Qin, they must also actively operate to resist Qin or jointly resist Qin. When the State of Qin attacked the State of Yan, the State of Yan also had hope, hoping that the State of Qi could abandon its previous suspicions and help.
By the time the Qin state was on the border with the State of Qi, the Five Kingdoms of Shandong had been completely destroyed. The State of Qi has become the meat on the table of the State of Qin, and the State of Qin can eat the State of Qi with one bite. At this time, even if the Qi State broke its throat, it was useless, and the more qi Guo called the Qin State, the more excited it was.
The State of Qi no longer had any foreign aid and could only face the State of Qin alone. With the comprehensive national strength of the State of Qi, it is absolutely impossible to compete with the State of Qin. The State of Qi was powerless to resist the State of Qin, nor did it have any foreign aid, so the State of Qi was desperate. Desperate Qi Guo, whose mentality will naturally collapse, finally chose the "policy of non-resistance".
Third, the sunken State of Qi
The greatest achievement of the Qin state's long-distance and close-range attack strategy was not to cripple the Three Jins and the Chu state, but to successfully stabilize the State of Qi. King Jian of Qi reigned for more than forty years and served the Qin state diligently. In the past forty years, many princely states have asked for help from the State of Qi. In the face of the five shandong countries' requests for help, the state of Qi ignored them all. The five kingdoms of Shandong attacked Qin, and the State of Qi basically did not participate.
King Jian of Qi reigned for forty years, and the State of Qi "enjoyed" forty years of peace. Because the State of Qi was deaf to foreign affairs, the five kingdoms of Shandong declined successively under the blows of the State of Qin. In 230 BC, when the State of Qin launched a unification war, the State of Qi still did not react at all. The State of Qi sat back and watched as the five kingdoms of Shandong perished one after another. It was not until after the fall of the Yan state that the State of Qi realized that there was no world outside the State of Qin.
Since the five kingdoms of Shandong had been defeated one after another, the State of Qi could only face the State of Qin alone. At this time, Qi Guo's heart must be full of regret, and he must have fiercely cursed Qin Guo's "long-distance and close attack". If Heaven gives Qi Guo another chance, Qi Guo will definitely say "no" to Qin Guo. If you had to add a deadline to the "no", the State of Qi would hope that it would be before the fall of the Five Kingdoms.
It reminds me of a poem by Martin Niemola, a Lutheran church priest in Germany and a survivor of nazi concentration camps, "I Didn't Speak."
"In Germany, at first they hunted down communists, and I didn't speak... because I wasn't communists; then they went after the Jews, and I didn't speak... because I wasn't Jewish; later, they went after the unionists, and I didn't speak... because I wasn't a union member; after that, they went after Catholics, and I didn't speak..., because I was Protestant; and finally they came to me, and no one stood up to speak for me anymore."
The reason why the State of Qi has such an end is the result of its own "doing". If Qi Wangjian did not "do things Qin Jing", perhaps the State of Qi would not become a lonely man in the end.