During the Spring and Autumn Period, the Qin State was only a second-rate power, and it had been difficult to break through the Hangu Pass. In the Warring States period, the Qin state became stronger and stronger, and finally annexed the Six Kingdoms and the Zhou Dynasty to unify China. The reason for this, Qian Mu believes in the "History of the Qin and Han Dynasties", made Qin a powerful minister "a man of the eastern land".
The rulers of the Qin State have been trying to introduce and reuse foreign talents for a long time, which is an important factor for the Qin State to achieve the great cause of unification.
The reason why the Qin State attaches importance to foreign talents
During the Warring States period, all countries attached great importance to the introduction of foreign talents. However, the Qin State may attach the highest importance to foreign talents.
Objective environment
Talent is the first resource for all countries to compete for power, and it is the objective environment for Qin State to attach importance to foreign talents. King Yan Zhao's Juxin and Le Yi who relied on Sheng Qi were all Zhao people; Wu Qi, the Chu Xiang who made Chu Zhongxing, was a Weiren.
Le Yi commanded the Yan State and other five-nation coalition forces to attack the State of Qi, and took more than 70 cities, creating a famous example of defeating the strong with weakness in the history of ancient Chinese warfare
If talent is not put to good use, the country will decline. Therefore, the formation of talent advantages in quantity and quality became an important strategy for countries to chase the Central Plains at that time.
External pressure
The fierce competition for talents in the eastern countries is the external pressure of the Qin State to attach importance to foreign talents.
Countries are betting more on talent competition. King Yan Zhao set up a golden platform to Nash, the State of Qi set up a Jixia Xuegong Nashi , Xinling Jun and other four princes, and Qin Prime Minister Lü Buwei raised thousands of people, all of whom were recited through the ages.
Ruins of the Kinoshita School Palace
In order to find a stage to display their talents, there were also frequent movements of scholars, such as Wu Qi, who was a general in the State of Lu, the State of Wei, and the State of Chu, and Zhang Yi who went to Zhao before entering Qin.
Intrinsic motivation
The ambition to expand the territory and annex the world was the internal driving force for the Qin State to attach importance to the introduction of foreign talents.
In the early Western Zhou Dynasty, the first ancestor of the Qin state was given the title of Xizhu Dafu, with a lowly title, and the fief was mixed with Xirong, and the Shandong kingdoms looked at it as barbarians. By the time of Duke Mu of Qin, the state of Qin had become a great power.
In order to unite as many forces as possible to expand eastward, Duke Mu of Qin issued a "merit-seeking order" and recruited Sasuke Qin, a wise man from the East, to cultivate national strength and expand its territory. After that, the successive rulers of the Qin state remained unchanged until the end of the death of Qin II.
Subjective factors
The backwardness of culture and education and the lack of local talents are the subjective factors that the Qin State attaches importance to the introduction of foreign talents.
Before the Spring and Autumn Period, cultural education was monopolized by the aristocracy. It was not until the time when King Ping of Zhou moved to Luo that the State of Qin became an official vassal state, which objectively determined that the aristocratic class of the State of Qin was relatively weak, and the Qin people were less influenced by Zhou Li. In the Spring and Autumn Period, people still regarded Qin as the country of Yidi, indicating that the culture and education of the Qin State were still relatively backward at this time.
These factors determined that there was no large-scale class of soldiers in the Qin State during the Warring States period, and the problem of lack of talents must be solved by introducing talents.
Qin State's measures to attract foreign talent
In order to introduce and make good use of foreign talents, the Qin State adopted a series of measures in terms of system, treatment and organizational culture.
The system retains people
The state of Qin has "guest secretary" officials, which are specially used to settle people from other countries into Qin, and guest secretaries will attack and discuss national affairs, and through accumulating military merits, they can also be promoted to prime minister. Moreover, Shang Martingale abolished the system of Shiqing Shilu, and the aristocracy of the Qin State declined, which was in sharp contrast to the six countries where the aristocracy controlled the dynasty. The system design of the Qin State is easier for people from the cold to be reused.
Treatment to keep people
The Qin state treated the virtuous people very well, especially the policy of "honoring officials" and "dividing the land", giving food and officials to the virtuous, ensuring the material life and social status of the virtuous. The Prince of Qin also gave super-standard treatment to virtuous people on many occasions, such as waiting for the captain to give Yao Jia the gift of a king, and giving Yao Jia a crown and a sword.
Wei Yi
Houde Liuren
For foreign talents who are talented in governing the country and the army, the rulers of the Qin State treat them sincerely and specialized. Meng Mingzhi led his army to attack Jin, and once repeatedly lost battles, but Qin Mugong did not blame, but was greatly relieved.
Song Ren Hongmai's "Essays on Rong Zhai" said that the Qin state used people from other countries "to entrust the country and listen to them." On the other hand, the Six Kingdoms, Wei Zhixinling Jun, Zhao Zhi Li Mu, Lian Po, Chu Zhi Wu Qi, Chun Shen Jun, Qi Zhi Meng Weijun and others were all suspected by the monarch and could not be used. The State of Qin treated the warriors with great virtue and was superior to the Six Kingdoms.
The achievements of the Qin State in introducing foreign talents
The Qin State tried its best to introduce foreign talents, not without choice, but closely around the Qin State's hegemonic cause, so that the Qin State reached a very high level in the structure, quality and scale of talents, and achieved the optimal resource allocation effect with its strategic goal of unifying the great cause.
Talent structure
Most of the people of the six kingdoms accepted by the State of Qin were Legalists, Zongheng Families, and Soldiers, such as Wei Yi, Yao Jia, Li Si and others. In terms of class, the people accepted by the Qin State were not only the children of the Han family, but also the clan and nobles, such as Han Fei was a Korean nobleman, and Changping Jun was the son of Chu.
Quality of talent
The people of the six countries accepted by the Qin State are all people who have been used by the world. For example, Bailixi, Gongsun Martin, Zhang Yi, Gan Mao, Lü Buwei and others, without exception, were known for their military strategy, which played a major role in the development and growth of Qin.
Baili Xi statue
Talent scale
The Qin State accepted a large number of people from the Six Kingdoms. According to the statistics of Hong Liangji of the Qing Dynasty, the Qin State has introduced more than 60 famous men since Mu Gong, and the number of unknown warriors should be even more. In the late Warring States period, it was more common for Shiren to enter Qin. When Lü Buwei was in power, he was eclectic to the world's talents, and the number of warriors flocked to the country, reaching as many as 3,000.
The State of Qin reused the role of foreign talents
With the assistance of foreign talents, the Qin State vigorously expanded its territory, promoted the transformation of the national system, and finally realized the country's prosperity and unification of the Central Plains.
Assisted Qin Mugong in annexing Xirong and laid the spatial foundation for national development
In the early days of the Qin state, Rong Di was mixed in the west and Qiangjin in the east, and it was unable to develop to the east and chase the Central Plains. Duke Mu of Qin decided to first pacify Xirong and recruit the people of the East as ministers of the Gongqiu, and the people obtained were either from the small countries of the Central Plains (Yu Guoren Bailixi, Song Renji Uncle), or neighboring enemy countries (Xirong Zhiyu, Jin Ren Pi Bao, Gongsun Zhi).
Early Qin state
It was with the assistance of these five that Qin Mugong attacked and destroyed the Xirong states, established hegemony in the northwest region, and eliminated the worries of developing eastward.
Promote the transformation of the national system and build a solid institutional foundation for the country's prosperity and strength
After Wei Rengongsun entered Qin, with the support of Qin Xiaogong, he abandoned well fields, opened up the desert, persuaded farming, traveled to counties, and appreciated military merits, greatly opening up the territory of the Qin state. After Han Fei entered Qin, King Huanzheng of Qin took his ideas as a guideline, forming the prototype of a centralized state.
Speed up the expansion of the Qin State and build the foundation of national strength to unify the six countries
After the death of Shang Martin, King Huiwen of Qin paid homage to Zhang Yi of Wei, King Zhao of Qin reused Fan Yu of Wei, and King Huan of Qin reused Meng Tian of Qi, Li Si of Chu, and Wei Wei of Wei, and several generations of monarchs continued to expand, and finally were able to annex the world. Song Ren Hongmai also believed in "Essays on Rong Zhai" that foreign talents were the main force of the Qin State to annex the world, "those who are both under the world, the power of everyone".
To sum up, in order to enrich the country and strengthen the army and unify China, the Qin State vigorously introduced and reused foreign talents.
First of all, Qin State attaches great importance to the material and spiritual stimulation of foreign talents, and has built a good environment for foreign talents to make contributions in terms of system, treatment and organizational culture.
Secondly, the talents introduced by the Qin State were mainly Legalists, Zongheng Families, and Soldiers, and this talent structure was conducive to outward expansion.
Finally, the State of Qin boldly used foreign talents and fully empowered in specific matters. This objectively formed an effective national governance system, making the Qin state invincible in foreign attacks and eventually realizing the great cause of unification. (Yu Fuhai)
Source: Chinese Cai magazine