Su Qin, a witty strategist, in order to live up to the kindness of the monarch of Yan State, did not hesitate to use his life to eradicate the traitors of Qi State. When he was dying, he made a seemingly absurd request - to divide his five horses and let the murderer appear naturally. What kind of thrilling story is hidden behind this absurd act?
1. Su Qin was forced to leave Yan and join Qi because of the slander of treacherous spies
King Yan succeeded to the throne, and gossip in the palace poured in. One of the rumors, alleging that Su Qin had an affair with the harem of Queen Xianyan, aroused the suspicion of the new King Yan. Although this statement may be unfounded, when the old and new dynasties change, King Yan will inevitably be wary.
First of all, there was a gap in greetings, and King Yan avoided Su Qin. Immediately, he issued an order to hunt down and kill Su Qin, and he wanted to kill this powerful minister. In the face of the sudden change, although Su Qin was puzzled, he also realized that it was difficult to regain the trust of the monarch for the time being if he stayed in the Yan Kingdom.
At this time, the State of Qi took the opportunity of the change of government of the Yan State and sent troops to capture the ten cities of the Yan State. In the face of the iron hooves of the strong enemy, the Yan Kingdom, which was suffering from internal and external troubles, was defeated and unable to fight back. Although Su Qin is in prison, he also has the ambition of repaying the country's shame.
So, Su Qin discussed with King Yan that he would leave Yan and take refuge in the Qi Kingdom. In this way, you can not only get rid of the crisis of being killed, but also go deep into the heart of the Qi country, spy on the truth and reality, and accumulate strength for future revenge.
Since then, King Yan has made things difficult in every possible way, trapping Su Qin in the predicament of King Yan sending people to chase and kill. And Su Qin took the opportunity to "flee" to Qi and became an "exiled minister".
Second, the careful layout encroaches on the national strength of the Qi country
After Su Qin disguised himself and fled to the Qi Kingdom, he immediately began to make a careful layout. He knew very well that in order to destroy the withered and decaying Qi Kingdom, it would be difficult to achieve it by himself, and he must first gain the trust of the King of Qi, and then infiltrate the upper echelons of the Qi Kingdom.
At that time, the internal fighting in the Qi Palace was fierce, and the government and opposition camps were divided. Su Qin took advantage of the situation, first flattered King Qi Xuan, and mixed into the ranks of eunuchs and magnates. Soon, he became a confidant of King Qi by virtue of his extraordinary resourcefulness, controlling the political and military power of the country.
With the power in hand, Su Qin secretly manipulated the national policy and made a great deal of iron horses. He induced King Qi Xuan to indulge in feasting and entertainment all day long, and wasted state affairs. On the occasion of the indulgent drinking carnival, Su Qin even advocated that King Xuan was luxurious and extravagant, like the emperor of the world.
King Qi Xuan was old and sickly, so Su Qin set his sights on King Min, the prince of the throne. He was clever and flattering, and soon captured the key of King Min. When King Xuan died, Su Qin even instigated King Min to build a magnificent mausoleum for his father, whitewashing his filial piety, but invisibly emptied the treasury of Qi.
War expenses, palace construction, government and opposition consumption...... The national strength of the Qi State was defeated and retreated under Su Qin's careful layout. He even took the opportunity to provoke, even though the ministers and parties fought for internal friction. As the Qi State becomes more and more empty and weak, Su Qin's purpose will gradually be realized.
3. The assassins attacked, and Su Qin was hit hard
Time was running out, and Su Qin's strategy to encroach on the Qi country gradually came to fruition. The treasury is empty, the government and opposition camps are chaotic, and the Qi country is declining. However, a sudden assassination puts Su Qin's actions in jeopardy.
The assassins of the Yan Kingdom, who were loyal to the old master, had already secretly spied on Su Qin's traces. They laid a net in the Qi Palace, waiting for an opportunity to move. One day, Su Qin returned drunk and was suddenly attacked by assassins, and he was covered with bruises. Under the heavy blow, Su Qin was difficult to protect himself, and he was even more powerless to implement the back hand. By the time someone else treated him, Su Qin was already seriously injured and dying.
Faced with the threat of death, most people are terrified and do their best to survive. But Su Qin was indifferent, and didn't seem to care about life and death. When he was dying, he actually made an unbelievable request to the king of Qi - to divide his five horses alive.
King Qi was very surprised when he saw Su Qin doing this, and hurriedly asked why. Su Qin told King Qi that he had been assassinated, and that only by performing such torture could the murderer appear. Only by capturing the Assassin with his own hands can he dispel the rumors that he was stabbed at his own expense.
Although Su Qin's words were astonishing, the King of Qi had no choice but to agree to his request. After all, Su Qin has always been his confidant and important minister, and he has also made great contributions to the Qi State. Right now, Su Qin is in prison, and if he doesn't follow his wishes, I'm afraid that it will be difficult to solve his doubts.
Fourth, the plan is thorough, and the trick works
Su Qin's request to "divide the corpses of five horses" seems absurd, but it is actually carefully calculated. He had expected that this move would lead to the appearance of the murderer who was secretly chasing him.
Seeing that Su Qin was seriously injured and facing death threats, the King of Qi still asked for this torture, and he couldn't help but have doubts. Who is Su Qin who would do this? Is it out of revenge, or is it something else?
Su Qin saw through King Qi's doubts, so he took the opportunity to explain his request. He said that he was assassinated this time because he had lived in Qi for a long time, and was regarded as "Yan Guo's fine work" by many unreasonable people. Only by arresting the murderer with his own hands can he return his innocence.
After hearing this, King Qi couldn't help but be a little moved. It stands to reason that Su Qin, as an important minister, should stay away from right and wrong. But now he is being hunted down, and if the murderer is not caught, he is afraid that the gossip will not stop.
So, the king of Qi complied with Su Qin's request and ordered his five horses to be divided. The punishment of great shame and humiliation immediately alarmed the whole country of Qi. The government and the opposition talked a lot, either blaming or sympathizing with Su Qin's actions.
Sure enough, all this was expected by Su Qin. The brutal punishment is like a wide net, waiting for the long-awaited assassins to take the bait. Sure enough, not long after, an assassin was greedy for merit and turned himself in, and was captured alive by Su Qin's well-arranged subordinates.
In this way, Su Qin skillfully avoided the truth of his assassination, and instead targeted the assassins of Yan Kingdom, taking the opportunity to smear them as "spies". At the same time, he also succeeded in recovering a city and established his legitimate image of serving the Qi country.
Fifth, Su Qin's ultimate goal was achieved
After some careful layout, Su Qin finally achieved his goal. On the one hand, he successfully reversed the situation of being framed as a "spy of the Yan Kingdom" and regained the trust of the King of Qi; On the other hand, he also took the opportunity to avenge Yan Guo and brought his assassin to justice.
More importantly, in the process of encroaching on the national strength of the Qi State, Su Qin gradually sowed discord, causing the Qi State to be full of people and the party to fight. As a result, the strength of the Qi State has gradually declined, and it is no longer as strong as it used to be. In contrast, although the Yan State was harassed by the Qi State, it also avoided the fatal blow under Su Qin's plan.
At this moment, an emerging force began to emerge on the land of China. That is the Qin State that has the Six Kingdoms in its body. The power of the sun made the Qin king arrogant and domineering, and the threat to other vassal states increased day by day.
In the face of this new crisis, Su Qin realized that it was difficult to fight against the Yan State alone, and he must rely on the strength of other countries to jointly contain the expansion of the Qin State. So, he began to plot against the king of Qi and persuade him to turn against him. With his previous difficult experience in the Qi Kingdom, Su Qin knew how to tame this lion.
Finally, under his repeated persuasion, the king of Qi agreed to the request for an alliance with the Yan State. At this time, the Qin State was suffering from years of war, and its national strength had begun to weaken. In the face of the alliance of Yan and Qi, the Qin State had to temporarily shrink its sharpness.
In this way, with his extraordinary resourcefulness, Su Qin not only avenged the Yan State, but also curbed the rising strength of the Qin State while weakening the national strength of the Qi State. All this is exactly what he hoped to achieve when he left Yantou Qi and went through all the hardships. Although he paid a great price, he finally overcame life and death and achieved his ambition to seek a country and a life.