Zhang Yi studied under Guiguzi and was proficient in vertical and horizontal arts! He twice tricked the king of Chu and severed the alliance between Qi and Chu; he helped the Qin state to expand its territory, but when the spring breeze was proud, he resigned from the position of Xiangguo and joined the Wei state.
His sharp mouth can retreat from millions of heroes, his three-inch tongue can stir up the world, he wanders among the nations, and he is also a rare longitudinal and horizontal family who has a good death.
In 334 BC, King Wei Hui and King Qi Wei met in Xuzhou and proclaimed each other kings. The three kingdoms of Han, Zhao, and Yan also followed, each claiming the throne. For a time, the situation in the world changed suddenly, and divisions and mergers were staged one after another among various vassal states.
In order to dominate the world, kings of all countries are eager to be virtuous. Soon after, Guiguzi's apprentice Zhang Yi Xuecheng went down the mountain and traveled around the world, disrupting the political arena of the Warring States.
He was well versed in the political situation, good at playing with power, and lobbied countries with a sharp mouth, whether he could seize a city or provoke a war at worst, and the world called him a lobbyist or a columnist.
The so-called famous teacher produces a high apprentice, Zhang Yi relied on a three-inch tongue to play with the princes of various countries, and made great contributions to the strength of the Qin State and the future unification.
However, when he was full of glory, Zhang Yi resigned from the position of prime minister of Qin and joined Wei. Then why did he choose to serve Qin in the first place? How did he help Qin embark on the road to unification? Why did he finally choose to leave Qin?
All of this has to start with Zhang Yi's lobbying in Chu.
01
Enter Qin to worship the prime minister
In 329 BC, King Chu Wei, the monarch of Chu State, died and was succeeded by his son Xiong Huai, known as King Huai of Chu in history. At this time, the state of Chu went through Wu Qi's changes, and its national strength became stronger and stronger, and it became the overlord of the south.
At that time, Zhang Yi, who had just come down from the Ghost Valley, took a fancy to the strength of the Chu State and decided to go to the Chu State to achieve a career. Zhang Yi wrote a policy on the situation and future development of the Chu State and wanted to present it to King Huai of Chu.
However, King Chu Huai was not a Ming monarch, he was greedy and lustful, ignored the government and politics, and sneered at unknown people like Zhang Yi. Zhang Yi's career was hindered before he could take the first step, and after returning home, he sighed all day long.
When his wife saw this, she comforted him and said, "How can the king of a kingdom listen to your tongue, and you need not be sorrowful, but you can live a peaceful life by plowing the fields and weaving cloth at home, and gathering mulberries and farming." ”
Although Zhang Yi knew that his wife was right, he apprenticed to Guiguzi and learned the art of lobbying hard, so that he could enter the phase and achieve a career. It's not started yet, so how can you give up?
However, as the days passed, Zhang Yikong had nowhere to show his skills, no source of income, and the days gradually fell up, even to the point where there was no rice to cook.
In order to supplement the family, Zhang Yi could only retreat and went to the mansion of Ling Yin of Chu State to act as a doorman.
One day, Ling Yin held a banquet in the mansion and entertained his guests. During the banquet, he took out a piece of jade that he had treasured for many years and gave it to everyone to admire. Who knows, there were many people at the banquet, and the jade disappeared after a while.
Seeing this, Ling Yin was furious and ordered a thorough investigation of all the guests. At this time, someone reported to Ling Yin and suspected that Zhang Yi was the thief who stole the jade.
Taste from Chu Xiang drink, and Chu Xiang is dead, the door means Zhang Yi, and said: "Yi is poor and has no line, and he will steal the king's bi." "A total of Zhang Yi, plundering hundreds, dissatisfied, drunk.
The guests felt that Zhang Yi's family was poor, and they must have bad intentions when they saw the priceless jade, so they stole the jade. When Ling Yin heard this, he directly tied up Zhang Yi and tortured him, but Zhang Yi swore to death, so Ling Yin had to let him go.
When she returned home, her wife was sad to see Zhang Yi scarred. But Zhang Yi didn't care, and asked his wife anxiously: "Madam, do you see if my tongue is still there?"
Seeing him ask like this, Zhang Yi's wife replied with a smile: "The tongue is naturally there, otherwise how can you ask such a thing?"
Zhang Yi listened, and then put her mind at ease. Under the careful care of his wife, Zhang Yi's injuries gradually improved. However, after experiencing this humiliation, he felt that instead of staying in the state of Chu and continuing to live humbly, it was better to find a new master.
Nowadays, there are constant wars between the vassal states, and no matter which country they turn to, their lives are at stake. Zhang Yi thought about it, and finally decided to defect to Qin.
After making up her mind, Zhang Yi and his wife packed their bags and set off for Qin. But Zhang Yi's wife was even more worried, the king of a country was in charge of life and death, she was afraid that Zhang Yi had just come out of the wolf's den and entered the tiger's den, but Zhang Yi had her own way.
According to the records of "Historical Records: Zhang Yilie's Biography" and "Warring States Policy", Zhang Yi entered Qin because his fellow disciple Su Qin used the method of agitation and fueled the trouble behind him to send him to Qin.
However, according to the records of the "Warring States Zongheng Family Book" unearthed in Changsha Mawangdui Hanji Silk Book unearthed in 1937, after Zhang Yi's death, Su Qin served as the state minister of Yan State.
Therefore, how Zhang Yi entered Qin has always been debated.
At this time, the Qin State, after the changes of Shang Ying, gradually became stronger and became the most powerful country among the Seven Heroes. After the death of Qin Xiaogong, the crown prince Yingsi succeeded to the throne and was known as King Qin Huiwen in history.
King Qin Huiwen cherished talents very much, and when he heard that an apprentice from Guiguzi had come to join him, he hurriedly invited people into the palace of King Qin. On the top of the main hall, King Qin Huiwen complimented Zhang Yi and said: "There is a genius in the Ghost Valley, and the name of Mr. has long been heard of. ”
Zhang Yi bowed and said without humility or arrogance: "It's a pity, I'm just a dying person." ”
After listening to Zhang Yi's words, King Qin was a little puzzled: "Why did Mr. say this?"
Zhang Yi saw that the King of Qin was interested, so he said: "Now, the Yan State and the Wei State have connected Jing Chu, consolidated the alliance with the Qi State, and formed a united front to confront the Qin State. However, don't look at the six countries now, but they are all rabble, looking at the world, only Qin is the strongest, and only Qin has the ability to unify the world. ”
At this time, Zhang Yi, in order to gain a firm foothold in the Qin State, tried his best to analyze the current situation for the King of Qin with his lobbying skills, pointed out the good opportunities that the Qin State had missed, and also planned a grand blueprint for the King of Qin.
However, King Qin still had concerns about Zhang Yi's lobbying. He was worried that if the other vassal states formed an alliance, the Qin state might not be their opponent.
At this time, Zhang Yi explained the plan he had already prepared: "King, we can first draw the vassal states closer to the Qin State, and then break them individually, which is called Lianheng." ”
In front of King Qin, Zhang Yi gushed about his strategy of connecting horizons, but he didn't expect that this coincided with King Qin's thoughts, which made King Qin excited.
He praised again and again: "Sir is really resourceful, if I have Mr.'s help, my Qin State will definitely be able to dominate the world." ”
In order to envelop Zhang Yi, the King of Qin made him a guest secretary and personally opened a mansion for him, which was unconditional support for Zhang Yi's plan. However, King Qin's favor to Zhang Yi made another person red-eyed with jealousy, and this person was Sun Yan, the great liang of the Qin State.
Da Liang Zao was the highest official position in the Qin State, holding military and political power, and since the death of Shang Ying, Gongsun Yan took over the position of Da Liang Zao. He has been in the Qin State immersion camp for many years, and he should have the upper hand, but he has repeatedly hit nails here with Zhang Yi, so he holds a grudge against Zhang Yi.
At this time, Zhang Yi also understood his situation, King Qin could lift him to a high position, or he could throw him into the abyss, not to mention that now Gongsun Yan was also eyeing him, and he had to prove himself as soon as possible in order to keep his hard-won position.
After carefully analyzing the current situation, Zhang Yi formulated a very careful plan for the King of Qin to help the King of Qin realize his ambition of dominating the world.
At that time, the biggest obstacle for Qin was Qi and Chu, and if they wanted to defeat them, they had to take Wei first. Wei is adjacent to Qin to the west, Qi to the east, and Chu to the southeast.
Therefore, Zhang Yi decided to persuade the king of Qin to take Wei first.
On this day, Zhang Yi offered advice to the King of Qin, hoping that the King of Qin would send troops to attack the Wei State. However, the king of Qin believed that although the Wei State was not as good as before, according to the current strength of the Qin State, it would not be easy to capture the Wei State.
Seeing that the King of Qin hesitated, Zhang Yi advised the King of Qin to send Gongzi to the Wei State as a proton. After listening to Zhang Yi's suggestion, Gongsun Yan on the side refused sharply: "How can the Qin State surrender to the Wei State, if the prince enters the Wei State as a hostage, the Qin State will definitely be restrained by the Wei State." ”
After hearing this, King Qin also felt that Gongsun Yan was reasonable, once Gongzi Yan arrived in the Wei State, not to mention that his status had changed. If the relationship between the two countries breaks and there are wars, Gongzi's life will be lost, and he can't risk his son.
However, Zhang Yi still refused to give up, and repeatedly persuaded King Qin that if he wanted to achieve hegemony, he must first give up. Zhang Yi's words made Gongsun Yan unable to sit still anymore, he pointed out that Zhang Yi was originally from Wei, and he must be a spy sent by Wei, with ill intentions.
Zhang Yi was not to be outdone, and satirized Gongsun Yan to sow discord, which is a villain's behavior. But at this time, King Qin was in a dilemma, on the one hand, he didn't want to sacrifice his son, and on the other hand, he didn't want to give up this great opportunity to dominate the Central Plains.
After weighing the pros and cons, the King of Qin finally agreed to Zhang Yi's "proton diplomacy" strategy. However, after receiving the support of the king of Qin, Zhang Yi did not immediately send Gongzi Miao into the Wei state, but asked the king of Qin to send an army to attack Puyang in the Wei state.
In the tenth year of King Qin Hui, Gongzi Hua and Zhang Yi surrounded Puyang and descended to it.
Unexpectedly, after the Qin army successfully captured Puyang, Zhang Yi ordered Puyang to be returned to Wei. It turned out that this was a dismount from Zhang Yi to the Wei State, using military deterrence to warn the Wei State not to act rashly against the Qin State.
In 327 BC, Zhang Yi personally escorted Gongzi into Wei.
Wei appointed Li Kui during the reign of Marquis Wen of Wei, and was the first vassal state among the nations to change its law to become strong, and thus became the most powerful state in the early Warring States period. However, after King Wei Hui succeeded to the throne, he was greedy for pleasure and did not want to forge ahead, which caused the strength of Wei to gradually decline.
At this time, the Qin State attacked Puyang on a large scale, and also sent Gongzi Miao to Wei State as a hostage, and King Wei Hui couldn't guess the intentions of Qin State for a while, so he had to meet the arrival of Zhang Yi and Gongzi Xuan.
On the main hall of the Wei Palace, Zhang Yi respectfully bowed to the King of Wei and said, "King, Zhang Yi came with the will of the King of Qin this time, hoping to reconcile with the Wei State. ”
King Wei Hui knew that the Qin State was not so kind, and asked rhetorically, "What if the widow is not allowed?"
Zhang Yi smiled and replied: "Please also ask the king to think twice, the Qin State has taken the initiative to return the land of the Wei State, which shows the sincerity of the friendship between the Prime Minister of the Qin State and the Wei State, and is not greedy for the cities of the Wei State, so please rest assured that the King is not assured." ”
At this time, King Wei Hui also knew that if Qin really wanted to make friends with Wei, he would not send troops to attack Puyang. But now that Wei is not what it used to be, it really can't have a hard time with Qin, and after thinking twice, he agreed to reconcile with Qin.
Zhang Yi saw that the attitude of the King of Wei had eased, so he proposed to exchange Gongzi Qian for the land west of the river, and then join forces to crusade against other vassal states after forming an alliance, so that the land of Wei would only go to more than the land west of the river.
Faced with the temptation of land resources, King Wei agreed after thinking for a while, and decided to dedicate the fifteen counties of Shangjun and Shaoliang, an important town in Hexi, to the Qin State.
Yi Yin said that the King of Wei said: "The King of Qin's encounter with Wei is very kind, and Wei cannot be rude." "Wei Yin entered Shangjun, Shaoliang, Xie Qin Hui Wang.
Zhang Yi exchanged Puyang for the fifteen counties of Shangjun and Shaoliang, an important town in Hexi, and helped Qin recapture the land of Hexi without blood, opening the first window for Qin to unify the six countries.
After Zhang Yi returned to Qin with the land west of the river, the king of Qin was overjoyed, and immediately promoted Zhang Yi to the minister of state, dividing most of the power of Sun Yan, the prince of Daliangzao, making Daliangzao a pure martial profession from then on.
Jing Chun, a student of Mencius, said in "Mencius Teng Wengong": "Aren't Gongsun Yan and Zhang Yi sincere husbands? When they are angry, the princes are afraid, and they live in peace and the world is extinguished."
It can be seen that Gongsun Yan is definitely a ruthless character, and his strength should not be underestimated. However, since Zhang Yi came to the Qin State, the King of Qin not only snubbed Gongsun Yan, but also divided the power in his hands, which made him very unwilling.
Therefore, he often opposed Zhang Yi and wanted to drive him out of Qin. However, when his duel with Zhang Yi reached a critical moment, he made a fatal mistake and became the target of the Qin State from then on.
At that time, King Wei Hui thought that after ceding the land west of the river to Qin, he would be able to live in peace, but who knows, after Zhang Yi returned to Qin, he turned his face and refused to recognize people, and continued to send troops to attack Wei, how could King Wei Hui swallow this breath.
In order to turn the situation around without bloodshed, he sent an envoy to find Gongsun Yan with a lot of money, wanting to entrap him and create civil strife in the Qin State, so that the war could take a turn.
At this time, Gongsun Yan was sleepless day and night about how to deal with Zhang Yi, and when he saw that the king of Wei threw an olive branch, he agreed without hesitation, and then entered the palace to persuade the king of Qin to take advantage of the friendship between the two countries not to attack Wei again, but to attack other vassal states.
However, Zhang Yi believes that now that Wei is under enemy on all sides, this is a good opportunity to attack Wei. Moreover, the Wei State has a deep foundation, and if it waits for it to regain its strength and then raises troops to attack it, the Qin State may not be able to please it.
The King of Qin was very satisfied with Zhang Yi's analysis and decided to continue the attack on Wei. Gongsun Yan saw that the King of Qin no longer trusted him, so he had a plan to find a new master, and finally quietly left Xianyang late one night.
After Gongsun Yan left the Qin State, Zhang Yi naturally took the place of Gongsun Yan, and jumped from a cloth cloth to a celebrity in front of the King of Qin, and officially entered the political center of the Qin State.
In 325 BC, King Huiwen of Qin followed the example of the Six Kingdoms of Shandong and held a ceremony to claim the throne in Xianyang, becoming the first king in the history of Qin. And Zhang Yi also relied on his talent to win the trust of King Huiwen of Qin and established his political position in the Qin State.
However, it was when the spring breeze was proud that Zhang Yi suddenly took the initiative to hand over the Xiangyin and resigned as the prime minister of Qin. What is even more puzzling is that King Qin Huiwen also wanted to retain Zhang Yi, but announced to the world that Zhang Yi was abolished as the prime minister.
And it all started with a secret conversation between King Qin Huiwen and Zhang Yi.
02
Into Wei is the phase
In the middle and late Warring States period, after a protracted battle for hegemony, the Zhou royal family was wiped out, and Qin was the strongest among the Seven Heroes of the Warring States.
In 322 BC, Zhang Yi, who had risen to prominence in the Qin State with his lobbying skills, suddenly resigned as the prime minister, moved back to Wei with his family, and invited the king of Wei for the first time.
In fact, when Zhang Yi came to Wei, it was when King Wei Hui was anxious.
A year ago, the five states of Wei, Han, Zhao, Yan, and Zhongshan formed a joint alliance, agreeing to jointly resist the great powers of Qin, Qi, and Chu. In the same year, the state of Chu led an army to attack the state of Wei, and the Wei army was defeated, which made the king of Wei question the strategy proposed by Gongsun Yan.
At this time, Zhang Yi saw the hesitation of King Wei, and offered a continuous horizontal strategy in a timely manner.
Zhang Yi believes that Wei is located in the hinterland of the Central Plains, close to a number of vassal states, and the terrain is flat, there is no reliance, and it has always been a battleground for soldiers. Instead of letting all countries get a piece of the pie, it is better to follow the powerful ones.
Now, Wei is adjacent to Qin in the west, and it has choked Qin's main road to the Central Plains, if it takes the initiative to make friends with Qin, Qin will definitely not take the initiative to attack, and other vassal states will also be afraid of Qin's strength and be afraid.
However, at this time, King Wei Hui was still suspicious of Zhang Yi's loyalty, so he did not adopt Zhang Yi's strategy of "doing Qin". However, in order to attract talents, King Wei still gave Zhang Yi the position of Xiangguo.
Three years later, the princes of Han and Wei came to the court. Zhang Yi Xiangwei.
However, as Zhang Yi expected, during this year, the Qin State continued to send troops to attack the Wei State and captured Quwo and other places. After this incident, the king of Wei slowly gained trust in Zhang Yi and began to follow Qin's strategy.
However, Zhang Yi's strategy was strongly opposed by Gongsun Yan. Gongsun Yan and Zhang Yi are the same as Zhang Yi, they are both very famous columnists in the Warring States Period, Gongsun Yan is good at co-vertical, Zhang Yi specializes in Lianheng, it can be said that the two are natural opponents.
After Zhang Yi came to the Wei State, he quickly confronted Gongsun Yan, and the first round of the contest was because of the Qi State.
Gongsun Yan believed that now that the alliance of the five kingdoms had been formed, he should take this opportunity to unite the forces of the vassal states and declare war on Qi to seize more land.
Zhang Yi resolutely opposed, he believes that twenty years ago, in the Battle of Maling, Wei sent the general Pang Juan to attack Qi with an elite division of the country, and Sun Bin set up an ambush in Maling to annihilate more than 100,000 Wei troops, and the general Pang Juan also committed suicide here.
Before the Battle of Maling, Qi and Wei were equal in strength, but they were still defeated. Now, the strength of the Qi State is getting stronger and stronger, while the Wei State is subject to the Qin State everywhere, and if it fights with the Qi State at this time, it is tantamount to playing with fire and self-immolation.
In the face of the dispute between Zhang Yi and Gongsun Yan, although the King of Wei agreed with Zhang Yi's views, the desire for revenge against Qi still prevailed. So, he adopted Gongsun Yan's suggestion and sent troops to attack Qi.
The rhino head fought with Liang as the battle, and Cheng Kuang was invincible. Zhang Yi said that the king of Liang did not need to endanger the country by his ministers. The king of Liang is because of the phase, and the instrument is Qin and Liang are all together with Qin.
Qi and Wei fought in Chengkuang, and Wei was defeated again, and the king of Wei at this time deeply regretted that he should not listen to Gongsun Yan's advice, but it was too late to regret it.
At this time, Zhang Yi also offered advice to the king of Wei, so that Wei could make friends with Qi and Qin, two powerful countries in the east and one in the west, so that Wei could take advantage of the situation. In order to appease the anger of Qi, the king of Wei adopted Zhang Yi's strategy and sent Zhang Yi as an envoy to Qi.
In fact, Zhang Yi urged Qi and Wei to make friends because he was afraid that after Qi attacked and destroyed Wei, without the buffer of Wei, Qi would directly confront Qin, and at that time, the situation in the entire Central Plains would be even more difficult to control.
Therefore, Zhang Yi's envoy to Qi was essentially to reduce the crisis for Qin. On the other hand, Gongsun Yan lost the trust of the King of Wei due to the defeat in the Battle of Chengkuang, and his power was slowly emptied, and in order to vent his anger, he was determined to take revenge on Zhang Yi when he sent an envoy to the State of Qi.
At that time, Zhang Yi's envoy to Qi must pass through Weiguo, so Gongsun Yan rushed to Weiguo in advance, set up a table of banquets to invite Zhang Yi, and pretended to apologize to Zhang Yi. During the banquet, the two drank and talked happily, and Zhang Yi saw that Gongsun Yan admitted his mistake and was sincere, so he forgave him.
After the two shook hands and made peace, Gongsun Yan did not return to Wei immediately, but still insisted on sending Zhang Yi to the border of the Qi State. At the time of parting. Gongsun Yan was reluctant to give up on Zhang Yi and greeted him for a long time before leaving.
And this picture of their deep brotherhood was seen by the ministers of Qi who came to greet them, and truthfully told King Qi Wei about the matter, which greatly reduced King Qi Wei's trust in Zhang Yi.
After Zhang Yi came to Linzi, the capital of Qi, he immediately invited the king of Qi to meet him. On the top of the main hall, Zhang Yi expressed to the King of Qi the desire of the King of Wei to connect with the State of Qi, hoping that the State of Qi could make friends with the State of Wei.
When the King of Qi heard this, he was furious, and asked sharply: "Do you know that Gongsun Yan lobbied various countries to form a joint alliance, and repeatedly instigated the King of Wei to attack the State of Qi, and you Zhang Yi and that Gongsun Yan have a deep brotherhood, and they are clearly a raccoon dog, what kind of kindness can you have when you come this time!"
Zhang Yi saw that King Qi was angry, and he tried again and again, wanting King Qi to listen to his explanation. But King Qi had long run out of patience and directly drove Zhang Yi out of the Qi Palace.
Zhang Yi has rarely failed since lobbying various countries, but this time he was defeated by Gongsun Yan. The moment he was kicked out of the palace of Qi, he woke up like a dream, this was a bureau set up by Gongsun Yan early in the morning.
However, the failure to lobby Qi did not affect Zhang Yi's position in Wei, and he still pursued the strategy of "doing things with Qin", so that Wei and Qin soon established good diplomatic relations.
In 318 BC, the Qin State wanted to attack the Qi State, and the King of Wei was happy to see it, so Zhang Yi took the opportunity to persuade the King of Wei to borrow the way to the Qin State, so that the Qin State could pass through the Wei State to attack the Qi State, which could not only avenge the revenge of the Qi State, but also consolidate the relationship with the Qin State, and the King of Wei readily agreed.
However, in this war, the Qin state was defeated, which made the king of Wei realize that the Qin state may not be as strong as he imagined. In addition, King Wei Hui had died of illness, and the new monarch King Wei Xiang, under the instigation of Gongsun Yan, no longer trusted Zhang Yi.
Zhang Yi saw that he could no longer perform in the Wei State, so he asked King Wei Xiang to resign, but King Wei Xiang did not stay. When he left Wei, Zhang Yi walked very gloomily, but when he arrived in Qin, King Qin Huiwen held a grand welcome ceremony for him.
It turned out that all this was just a conspiracy planned four years ago.
At that time, Zhang Yi believed that the military position of Wei was very important, and the king of Wei was the most easily shaken between the countries. If he can go to Wei to become the prime minister, he will definitely be able to persuade the king of Wei to deal with Qin, and when the time comes, after the king of Wei gets the benefits of Qin, all countries will definitely follow suit.
If you want to establish Wei and Qin, and the princes will follow suit.
However, Zhang Yi worked hard in the Wei State for four years, but he did not succeed, which made him a little frustrated. However, this did not affect King Qin Huiwen's trust in him, and he still made Zhang Yi the prime minister.
In the past few years when Zhang Yi has been firmly in the position of the prime minister of Qin, the Qin State has been thriving, although he was defeated in the hands of Gongsun Yan this time, but the battle between the vertical and the horizontal has not yet been distinguished.
03
Zhang Yi deceitful
In 313 BC, Qi helped Chu attack Qin and captured Quwo. The Qichu Alliance made King Qin Huiwen feel a huge crisis. So, he wanted to send troops to attack the State of Qi, but he was afraid that the State of Chu would send troops to aid Qi.
So, he summoned Zhang Yi to discuss countermeasures, and Zhang Yi took the initiative to ask the King of Qin for an order, and sent the State of Chu to lobby the King of Chu to break the alliance between Qi and Chu, and the King of Qin readily agreed.
After King Chu Huai learned the news that Zhang Yi, the minister of Qin, had come to the outskirts to greet him, and welcomed him into the palace of the king of Chu, his words were full of alienation and defense.
Seeing that King Chu Huai had such an attitude, Zhang Yi bluntly expressed his intentions, hoping that the state of Chu could form an alliance with the state of Qin, and in return, the state of Qin was willing to send beauties and merchants to six hundred miles of land.
King Chu Huai is known to be lustful, and Zhang Yi also likes it, but what really makes King Chu Huai's heart move is not the beautiful woman of Qin State, but the land of six hundred miles.
This land is located at the junction of Qin and Chu, which was originally the land of Chu State, and was later occupied by Qin State, which became a thorn in the heart of King Chu Huai, and it cannot be forgotten from time to time. Now, Zhang Yi actually offered to return the land, how could he not be moved.
However, this land is not taken for nothing, Zhang Yi's condition is that the state of Chu must break off diplomatic relations with the state of Qi.
At that time, Qi, Chu, and Qin were the three great powers, Qin was in the west, Qi was in the east, and Chu was in the south, and Qin and Qi had never dealt with each other, so Chu became the object of contention between the two countries, and Chu was afraid of the strength of Qin, so it formed an alliance with Qi.
However, the relationship between Qi and Chu was not stable, and Zhang Yi also saw this, so he used Shang Yu 600 li of land as bait to tempt King Huai of Chu to form an alliance with Qin.
King Chu Huai thought about it again and again, and felt that it would not be a loss to form an alliance with the Qin State, and it could also weaken the power of the Qi State, so he agreed to Zhang Yi's request. However, he also knew that there was no basis for his words, and he still had to wait until he got the land before he could break off diplomatic relations with the Qi State.
So, after the king of Chu Huai consulted with Zhang Yi, he sent an envoy to follow Zhang Yi back to Qin to get back the land. On the way back to Qin with Zhang Yi, Zhang Yi often drank with Fenghou Chou, called him a brother, and coaxed Fenghou Chou very happy.
However, when Zhang Yi's carriage just entered Xianyang, he accidentally fell off the carriage, and then said that he was ill and did not go to court for three months. Feng Hou Chou couldn't see Zhang Yi, so he could only go to King Qin to ask for land.
However, King Qin shirked and didn't know, and he wanted to wait for Zhang Yi to get better and say it in person. Seeing this, Feng Hou Chou had to repair a letter and truthfully report the situation to King Chu Huai. King Chu Huai thought that Qin had some scruples, so he sent an envoy to Qi to scold the king of Qi.
The king of Qi broke off diplomatic relations with the state of Chu on the spot, and immediately sent an envoy to the state of Qin to propose an alliance with the state of Qin. After Zhang Yi heard the news, the injuries on his body were immediately healed, and he took the initiative to find Fenghou Chou and gave him six miles of land to bring back to Chu State.
When Feng Hou Chou heard that it was six miles of land, he was very surprised, it was obviously six hundred miles, how could it be six miles. However, Zhang Yi insisted that what was set at the beginning was six miles of land, and he was just a courtier, how could he decide to stay on six hundred miles of land.
Only now, Fenghou Chou realized that this was a scam set up by Zhang Yi, and he did not get the land, so he could only leave the Qin State in a huff and report the matter to King Chu Huai.
King Chu Huai was furious when he saw Zhang Yi playing with himself, and in order to save face, he sent troops to attack Qin. The Qin army fought a decisive battle with the Chu army in Danyang, and in the end the Chu army was defeated, completely losing control of the Hanzhong region, and 80,000 soldiers were also killed.
Hanzhong was the western gateway of the Chu State, and its strategic position was very important. Since the Hanzhong region was seized by the Qin state, the state of Chu suffered heavy losses and its national strength gradually declined, so the king of Chu Huai regarded Zhang Yi as a thorn in the flesh and wanted to get rid of it quickly.
In 311 BC, the two countries of Qi and Chu, which had been designed by Zhang Yi to sever diplomatic relations, had a tendency to ease up and were ready to form an alliance again. At this time, the Qin State hoped to exchange a piece of land with the Chu State for the Qianzhong region, and the King of Chu Huai finally waited for the opportunity to take revenge.
He proposed to the King of Qin that as long as Zhang Yi was handed over to him, the Qianzhong region could be presented with both hands. After the king of Qin learned the news, he wanted Zhang Yi to send an envoy to the state of Chu, but he was also embarrassed to speak, and when he was hesitating, Zhang Yi offered to go to the state of Chu.
Zhang Yi once again embarked on the road to Chu, different from the courtesy he received before, King Chu Huai had already prepared this time, sharpened his knife, and imprisoned him as soon as Zhang Yi arrived.
He wanted to choose a good time to kill Zhang Yi in front of the Taimiao to pay tribute to the souls of the 80,000 soldiers of the Chu State.
Zhang Yi knew that this mission was in danger, and in order to save his life, he invited his friend Jin Shang, the doctor of Chu State, and wanted to send a message to Zheng Sleeve, the favorite concubine of King Chu Huai, through him, hoping that she could persuade King Chu Huai to let him go.
This Zheng Sleeve is a femme fatale, and her mind is very vicious.
According to historical records, King Chu Huai has a peculiar smell, so he cares a lot about other people's opinions. And Zheng Sleeve, in order to compete for favor, deceived King Chu Huai's new favorite Wei Nu to cover his nose and see King Chu Huai, King Chu Huai was furious and cut off Wei Nu's nose.
When a man sees a king, he covers his nose. The king said Zheng Sleeve said: 'When the husband and newcomer see the widow, they cover their noses, why not?' Zheng Sleeve said: "The concubine knows also." The king said, "Though evil is spoken." Zheng Sleeve said: "It seems to smell the stench of the king." The king said, "Fierce!"
This is the allusion of Wei Nu covering her nose, which is enough to show the viciousness of Zheng Sleeve.
And Zhang Yi and Zheng Sleeve's acquaintance is also a coincidence. Back then, Zhang Yi was still a fledgling nobody, and when he defected to the Chu State, he was framed for stealing jade, and was humiliated by the Chu State Ling Yin, and when he left, he went to see the King of Chu Huai.
King Chu Huai is lustful, and Zhang Yi has always done what he likes, telling him about the beauties of various countries. The two were chatting to Xingtou, Zheng Sleeve suddenly walked in, Zhang Yi saw that Zheng Sleeve was beautiful, and praised Zheng Sleeve as if there was nothing in the sky and no earth, which made King Chu Huai and Zheng Sleeve very happy.
Late that night, an uninvited guest came to Zheng Sleeve's dormitory, this person was Jin Shang, the doctor of Chu State, who came to speak for Zhang Yi. He told Zheng Sleeve that the Qin State would use six counties and beauties to redeem Zhang Yi, and once the beauties entered the palace, Zheng Sleeve would definitely fall out of favor.
Zheng Sleeve listened to Zhang Yi's words, and cried that night to go out of the palace to avoid trouble, King Chu Huai was very strange when he saw this, and asked the reason. Zheng Sleeve cried and said, "King, I heard that you are going to kill Zhang Yi of the Qin State. Now, before you handed over the central Qianzhong region to the Qin State, Zhang Yi came, which shows the sincerity of the Qin State, but if you kill Zhang Yi, the Qin State will not give up, so you still let me go out of the palace to avoid trouble. ”
King Chu Huai listened to Zheng Sleeve's words, and realized that he had almost made a big mistake on the spur of the moment, so he decided to let Zhang Yi go.
It can be seen from this incident that King Chu Huai is greedy for money and lustful, does not distinguish between loyalty and treachery, and is not a virtuous monarch, but his concern for the people is also from the heart.
One year, it snowed heavily in Chu and the weather was cold, King Huai of Chu sat in front of the stove in a leather jacket and felt unbearable, he remembered the people of Chu, so he ordered to send charcoal for the people to warm up, which is the origin of the idiom sending charcoal in the snow.
Originally, he wanted to kill Zhang Yi to vent his anger, but after Zheng Sleeve's reminder, he was worried that after killing Zhang Yi, he would lead the Qin army to attack and harm the people of Chu, so in a flash, he released Zhang Yi again.
However, Zhang Yi, who was released, did not leave Chu State immediately, but entered the palace again to lobby King Chu Huai.
He expressed his willingness to persuade the King of Qin to give up the central Qianzhong region, send the crown prince to the state of Chu as a hostage, and give the princess to the king of Chu Huai as a concubine. And the state of Chu only needs to send the crown prince to the state of Qin as a hostage, and the two countries have become fraternal neighbors and have been friends for generations.
Zhang Yi's lobbying, King Chu Huai once again believed it to be true. As a result, he once again turned his back on the alliance and chose to form an alliance with the Qin State in order to keep the central Guizhou region.
On the other side of the Qin State, King Qin Huiwen died of illness, and by the time Zhang Yi returned to the Qin State, King Qin Wu had already succeeded to the throne. King Wu of Qin has always disliked Zhang Yi, and after succeeding to the throne, he listened to the slanderous rumors of traitorous ministers and killed Zhang Yi.
Zhang Yi quickly sensed his situation and quickly planned a way out for himself.
He told King Wu of Qin that he had divided the Qi-Chu alliance several times, and the King of Qi must have hated him to the core, and the King of Qi would attack which country he went to, and he persuaded King Wu of Qin to send him to Wei and provoked King Qi to send troops to attack Wei.
When the two armies of Qi and Wei were inseparable, King Wu of Qin could take the opportunity to invade the land of Sanchuan in Korea, so that the Qin army could smoothly send a letter to Guguan, wave his army to the boundary of the two weeks, ask for the sacrifice of the Son of Heaven, and coerce the Son of Heaven to order the princes, so as to achieve the hegemony of the emperor.
King Wu of Qin followed Zhang Yi's advice and sent thirty military chariots to send him to the Wei state.
When the king of Qi heard that Zhang Yi had arrived in Wei, he really sent troops to attack Wei, and the king of Wei was deeply frightened and complained about Zhang Yi. So, Zhang Yi sent a guest to the state of Chu and asked the king of Chu to send an envoy to the state of Qi to make peace.
Zhang Yi used the mouth of the envoy of Chu to reveal to the King of Qi the reason why Zhang Yi went to Wei and the plan he had agreed with King Wu of Qin. After the king of Qi found out, in order to prevent the Qin State from taking the opportunity to blackmail the Son of Heaven to order the princes, he quickly retreated.
When the king of Wei saw that Zhang Yi was effortless, he asked Qi to withdraw his troops and admired Zhang Yi, so he worshiped Zhang Yi as the minister of state again. A year later, Zhang Yi died of illness.
In 299 BC, the state of Qin sent troops to attack the state of Chu on the grounds that Zhang Yi sent an envoy to the state of Chu, but the state of Chu did not hand over the central region of Guizhou to the state of Qin, and captured eight cities. King Chu Huai personally went to the Qin State to negotiate, and did not want to be detained in the Qin State until he died of illness.
04
At last
Zhang Yi was undoubtedly the most successful lobbyist during the Warring States period, and even though there were many disputes about his style of conduct, it is undeniable that he traveled across countries and rarely failed.
With a sharp mouth, he took back the land of Hexi without a single soldier, cut off the Qi-Chu Alliance, and deceived King Chu Huai twice, swaying the alliance between the countries.
He used his power and stratagem to help Qin achieve a diplomatic victory, expand the territory of Qin, and lay the foundation for future strength and unification, all of which were inseparable from the trust and support of King Qin Huiwen.
Just like back then, Qin Xiaogong and Shang Ying, the two admired each other and complemented each other. King Qin Huiwen and Zhang Yi also respect each other and achieve each other.
However, there are always similarities in history. After King Huiwen of Qin succeeded to the throne, he split Shang Yang for the benefit of Qin, and after King Wu of Qin succeeded to the throne, he also wanted to sacrifice Zhang Yi for the benefit of Qin.
The difference is that Shang Ying thought about escaping when the catastrophe came, while Zhang Yi had already taken precautions and made a plan for himself to get out, and spent a year in Wei State steadily, ending his life with a good ending.
Facts have proved that Zhang Yi's cleverness is rare in the world, he not only calculates opponents, but also calculates kings, and he plays with countries on applause, all because he sees through the selfishness between countries.
Angry and the princes are afraid, live in peace and the world is extinguished, this is Zhang Yi, the style of a generation of vertical and horizontal families!