Misunderstood for a thousand years as a strategic spy, Su Qin

Su Qin used 16 years of time and life to repay King Yan Zhao's kindness. In addition, Su Qin also told us with actions that keeping promises, in addition to honesty, also requires bravery and dedication. As for King Yan Zhao, I don't know if he missed Su Qin's smile or tears when he celebrated the victory.

Su Qin

The author | Xiong Jianping

Su Qin(?) ~284 BC), courtesy name Jizi, was a native of Luoyang, Eastern Zhou, and was given the title of "Wu'an Jun", a famous strategic spy during the Warring States period. Su Qin was born ordinary, and later because of "lobbying the princes to make a name", he occupied an extremely important position in a series of historical events in the last years of the Warring States. In folklore, there are also many legends about him. Some of them even became the material for Sima Qian to write the "Biography of Su Qin". Subject to the serious inadequacy of the historical materials of the Six Kingdoms, Sima Qian could not distinguish well when faced with many materials with different accounts, which made Su Qin and his history confused.

Su Qin had worked hard to study the teachings of the Zongheng family, but he was depressed, "brothers, sisters- and sisters-in-law, wives and concubines all laughed." Su Qin also tried to persuade the King of Qin with the theory of "righteous soldiers" unifying the world, but it was useless. Later, Su Qin got the Zhou Shu "Yin Rune", such as obtaining the most precious treasure, so he read it with anger and hard, repeatedly pondered, and finally made great progress. Legend has it that he had the practice of "head overhanging beam cone thorn strands" when he was reading, which shows that his perseverance and determination are very comparable. For one year, Su Qin thought that he could "speak of the king of the world", so he tried to persuade King Zhou Xian. Unexpectedly, King Zhou Xian's cronies made trouble and persuaded King Zhou Xian not to trust Su Qin, and Su Qin once again failed.

Su Qin in the "Chronicle of History" is a great cross-country who wears the seal of the six kingdoms and travels around the world, is a legendary figure who turns his hand into a cloud and covers his hand for rain, and another great cross-countryr, Zhang Yi, is the so-called one vertical and one horizontal, and the appearance of ability. However, the newly excavated cultural relics confirm that many of these contents, as Qian Muyun said, "are all vain, and those who do good things after them will also be attached to it." In 1973, a number of important historical materials from the Warring States period were unearthed in the Mawangdui Han Tomb in Changsha - the "Zongheng Family Book". Some of them preserve Su Qin's true words and deeds, clarifying many fundamental errors about Su Qin and his related history. According to these excavated materials, we can clearly know that Su Qin was originally a spy sent by the State of Yan and had been helping King Zhaowang of Yan to engage in activities to subvert the State of Qi.

One

Su Qin once again embarked on the road of seeking fame, which began with the State of Yan. During the Warring States period, Yan and Qi were neighbors, and Yan was weak and Qi was strong. For a long time, Yan Guoshen was worried that the State of Qi would target its strategic spearhead at itself. In 314 BC, King Xuan of Qi launched a large-scale attack on yan's civil unrest, and the Yan army was almost destroyed. In 311 BC, King Yan Zhao ascended the throne. He was deliberately planning to repay this deep hatred, and Su Qin, who was full of ambition, came to the Yan Kingdom at this time. One has a national vendetta, the other has a grand ambition, and the two hit it off. What impressed King Yan Zhao was his strategy of "conspiring against Qi", while what impressed King Yan Zhao's king Su Qin was his kindness. Su Qin also volunteered to venture to the State of Qi, thus beginning his 16-year spy career.

At this time, the State of Qi, ruled by the King of Tang, was very powerful and maintained a close alliance with the State of Zhao. Therefore, the strategic principle that King Yan Zhao granted to Su Qin was "the great one makes Qi wu yan, and the second evil Qi Zhao's friendship", so that the state of Qi no longer points the strategic spearhead at the state of Yan. Therefore, su Qin's first move after arriving in the state of Qi was to destroy the relationship between Qi and Zhao, and the second step was to make the state of Qi "work in the west to the Song, and the south to tire in the chu", so that the state of Qi gradually weakened itself in the process of attacking the state of Chu, and in the process of attacking the state of Song, offended several other big countries that were looking at the state of Song, and made enemies on all sides, so that it (the state of Qi) fell into a dangerous defeat.

Su Qin first came to the State of Qi in 300 BC on the orders of King Yan Zhao. According to Tang Lan's speculation, Su Qin may have gone as a hostage this time. However, the preparation for this trip was obviously not very sufficient, and Su Qin's trip to Qi seemed to have failed to achieve any results and returned. Since he was a hostage, he might not be able to get the opportunity to face the King of Qi, so he had no way to speak his tongue, nor did he have the opportunity to fully display his inter-line strategy. This may be the main reason for Su Qin's failure during this trip.

In 296 BC, King Yan Zhao, due to his vengeful desire and miscalculation of the situation, could not wait to launch a war of alignment, and returned with a great defeat. Su Qin, however, was not dissuaded in time, and was forced to return to the Yan state in a hurry due to the situation of war between the two countries. After Su Qin returned to the Yan kingdom, he waited for the right time to rush to the state of Qi again to engage in espionage activities. I didn't expect this wait to be 8 years.

After the reign of King Qi Tang, the foreign policy of the State of Qi also underwent major changes. One of the major foreign policy changes was the severance of diplomatic relations with the Zhao state and the deterioration of relations with Han and Wei. The King of Yan felt that this was the time to defeat the State of Qi, so he immediately sent Su Qin to the State of Qi for the second time to carry out espionage activities again. The year was 289 BC. After the defeat in military operations in 296 BC, the King of Yan was finally able to learn his lesson, heed the advice of Su Qin and others well, and while making reparations to the State of Qi, he also maintained superficial friendly relations with him. Therefore, unlike Su Qin's last trip to the State of Qi, his visit to Qi this time has a public identity similar to that of a diplomat, and has a specific task of linking the diplomatic relations between the two countries. Su Qin thus gained the opportunity to face the King of Qi directly. As an emissary, he fought for the opportunity to face the King of Qi directly, which may be the experience that Su Qin gained after failing to achieve any results during the last sneaking trip.

Two

Facing the King of Qi, Su Qin could finally exert his outstanding eloquence to the fullest. Su Qin first told the King of Qi a shocking lie, saying that all three kingdoms of Han, Zhao, and Wei wanted to unite with the State of Yan against the State of Qi, but the State of Yan refused. Originally, the nations used each other to deceive each other, and it is not surprising that such a thing happened. Therefore, when King Qi heard this, he also believed it, and immediately looked at the emissary sent by the Yan Kingdom with a different eye. Su Qin saw that there was an opportunity to take advantage of it, so he immediately wasted no time in presenting 50 chariots to the King of Qi, who was of course even happier to receive the gift. In addition to being happy, the King of Qi even asked Su Qin for advice on the matter of the Qin State inviting him to jointly claim the title of emperor.

At that time, the situation of the struggle for hegemony among the nations was that Qi and Qin were the strongest, one in the east and one in the west, belonging to the first-class powers, while other countries such as Han Zhao Wei could only belong to the second-rate. Therefore, the meaning of the State of Qin is to make the State of Qi called "Eastern Emperor" and itself called "Western Emperor". This is, of course, a strategy of the Qin state. Qin's true intention was to take the opportunity to annex the remaining small states while not first offending the powerful State of Qi. For the State of Qi, this strategy of the State of Qin is actually very appetizing to itself. Su Qin did not want Qi Guo's life to be better. His task was to let the relations between the State of Qi and Han Zhao Wei continue to deteriorate, and it would be better if he could fight against the State of Qin again. Therefore, Su Qin said to the king of Qi, the king of Qin persuaded you to call the emperor in the hope of making you the target of everyone, and this idea of the Qin state was actually a huge conspiracy, so the king must not pay attention to them. King Qi thought it was very reasonable, but at the same time he felt that Su Qin had quite excellent strategic analysis ability, and he looked at him even more differently.

Su Qin managed to win the trust of king Qi. He told the King of Qi that the top priority of the State of Qi was to develop its own strength. He vigorously encouraged the King of Qi to attack the Song, and greatly boasted about the importance of the strategic position of the Song state. Of course, the King of Qi was very interested in expanding the land and fighting for profits, and finally su Qin said that he was moved, so he sent troops to attack the Song. Although the Song Dynasty was a third-rate small country, because it was located in the cracks between big countries, it inevitably affected the interests of all parties. The State of Qi wanted to attack the State of Song, but the State of Qin was the first to refuse and immediately sent people to dissuade it. However, at this time, the State of Qi was winning victories on the battlefield of attacking the Song Dynasty, and where to take care of these. Therefore, while Qi attacked the Song state, on the one hand, it was inevitable that the relationship with Qin, Chu and other countries was getting worse and worse. At this time, the King of Qi was led by the immediate interests, blocked by Su Qin's "good words", and went farther and farther on a road to the abyss.

Soon after, the State of Qi finally made a full-scale enemy with the State of Qin. Su Qin told the King of Qi that he should take advantage of the victory to take the Song Kingdom, and it was best to have an army to scare the Qin State and make him dare not send troops to save the Song, perhaps he could teach the Qin State a lesson by the way, if everyone was mobilized, it might be possible to destroy the Qin State. Su Qin also assured the King of Qi that the State of Yan was absolutely following the State of Qi, as long as Han Zhao Wei was clear. Seeing that the King of Qi had signs of heartbeat, Su Qin quickly said that if the King of Qi believed, I Su Qin could act as this messenger. The King of Qi immediately sent Su Qin as an envoy to the State of Yan and the Three Jins, persuading them to organize a five-nation alliance to jointly cut down Qin.

Su Qin first rushed to the Yan kingdom, and in addition to reporting on the progress of his work in the state of Qi, he also conspired with the Yan king to plan the next step. In the meantime, King Qi killed a general sent by the State of Yan to the State of Qi, which was enough to make the two countries turn against each other again, but King Zhao of Yan finally endured in order to destroy the great cause of Qi. Moreover, for long-term purposes, King Yan Zhao even took the initiative to apologize to King Qi and show goodwill. For this matter, Su Qin also expressed to the King of Yan that he did not want to return to the State of Qi, because since the King of Qi could kill the general of the State of Yan, he might not have suddenly killed Su Qin when his brain was feverish. However, after some hesitation, Su Qin finally decided to continue the destruction of the State of Qi.

After that, Su Qin quickly rushed to the State of Wei, and finally realized the plan of the Five-Nation Alliance to attack Qin. He seemed to be preparing for the Five Kingdoms to seek Qin, and secretly planning for the alliance with Zhao wei against Qi. Where was all this that King Qi could have predicted? Of course, the State of Qi not only sent a Su Qin to contact this matter, but other envoys also did a lot of work. When Su Qin arrived in the State of Wei, the Five-Nation Alliance Plan had even been partially implemented. The State of Qi first sent troops into the State of Wei, and the combined forces to attack Qin had already taken shape. The King of Qi then took the opportunity to intensify his attack on Song.

However, the Plan of the State of Qi to "attack Qin in the Ming Dynasty and actually to take the Song" was finally seen by Zhao Wei and other countries, and coupled with the fact that there were too many grudges and interests entangled between the various countries, the joint army's attack on Qin was naturally ineffective. At this time, Su Qin sent a letter to the King of Qi, hoping that he would properly take care of the emotions of the other princes and focus the main object of struggle on the Qin state, and not let go of this great opportunity for unity. Su Qin's move was of course to push the Relationship between Qi and Qin into the abyss of unrecoverable disasters, and the State of Yan would be able to reap the benefits.

King Yan Zhao, thinking that he had waited for the time to attack Qi, was ready to unite the forces of Han Zhao Wei and take advantage of the main force of the Qi army to attack song and make a surprise attack. Although the idea was good, the conspiratorial plan was accidentally leaked. The King of Qi was taken aback by the news, and immediately withdrew the soldiers and horses attacking Song, and informed Su Qin and Meng Tianjun of the situation. Su Qin then reported to King Zhao. It can be seen that Su Qin's true identity has not yet been detected by the King of Qi at this time.

The State of Qi "attacked Qin in the Ming Dynasty, but actually took the Song Dynasty", so while gaining real benefits, it directly undermined the unity of the five kingdoms. Han Zhao Wei was between the two great powers of Qi and Qin, and he had been uncomfortable for a long time. In their opinion, it would be better to weaken one of them in due course. Su Qin was keenly aware of these signs, and finally said that they would unite with the Yan state in order to achieve a weak Qi in the name of attacking Qin.

However, in Su Qin's view, the most ideal effect was to let the Three Jins act first, and Yan Guo did not have to be the vanguard of the anti-Qi. Therefore, he repeatedly dissuaded King Yan Zhao from postponing the plan to attack Qi, but unfortunately caused misunderstanding by King Yan. Su Qin therefore wrote to King Zhao of Yan to confess his heart, hoping that King Yan would "be cautious not to (non)order the courtiers to attack Qi", that is, not to openly discuss the attack on the State of Qi with the ministers. On the one hand, this was for the sake of secrecy; on the other hand, he knew that "the speaker was humble to the king", afraid that the King of Yan would shake the trust he deserved after being discussed by the ministers. Not knowing when, the King of Qi suddenly heard the news that the Three Jins would attack Qi with Yan and immediately became suspicious of the Yan kingdom. When Su Qin learned of this situation, he immediately wrote to the King of Qi and asked him to relax his mind about the Yan Kingdom in order to further hoodwink the King of Qi. Under Su Qin's careful planning, the plan of the Three Jins to launch the first attack on Qi was almost put into effect. In 286 BC, the State of Zhao first attacked Qi. The outcome of the war is not recorded, and it is possible that this operation was stillborn. However, from this we can also see that Su Qin's single move and one foot were enough to have a very significant impact on the relations between the princely states at that time. From this, we can also know that the praise of Su Qin and even the zongheng family's tongue in history is indeed not a lie.

However, there was no impermeable wall in the world, and Su Qin's suspicious shape was finally discovered.

Three

The first to suspect Su Qin's identity was Feng Yangjun, who had a close relationship with the King of Qi. When the prime minister of the Zhao state was making excuses for the previous attack on Qi, he immediately thought of using Su Qin as a scapegoat. He may not have found enough evidence, but he immediately reported something even purely conjectured to the King of Qi, and immediately restricted the activities of Su Qin, who happened to be in the Zhao state at this time. King Qi couldn't believe it, so he sent someone to confront Su Qin. Su Qin was of course able to respond skillfully and tell the emissaries of his loyalty to the State of Qi. On the other hand, Su Qin immediately reported the situation to King Zhao of Yan and asked Him to try to help him break away from the tiger mouth of the Zhao State. The King of Yan immediately sent two men to secretly mediate with Feng Yangjun, but Su Qin's situation did not improve substantially. It was not until King Yan issued a serious protest against Zhao Guo that Su Qin was finally released. The year was 286 BC.

In order to continue to destroy the relationship between Qi and Zhao, Su Qin rushed directly from the State of Zhao to the State of Qi. Su Qin's move was undoubtedly with great risk and too confident. He believes that king Qi has not discovered his true identity, and thinks that with his ability to speak and tongue, he can also make king Qi believe in his own "sincerity". The reason why Su Qin boldly went to Qi was probably more due to his sense of responsibility. He was deeply worried about the improvement of relations between Qi and Zhao, and spared no effort to make the Yan kingdom destroy Qi at an early date. And this time, he actually succeeded again.

Immediately after Su Qin arrived in the State of Qi, he wrote a letter to King Zhao, hoping that he would unite with the State of Qi. Its purpose was to dispel the suspicion brought to the King of Qi by Feng Yangjun in the previous section. Su Qin's more work was, of course, to continue to persuade the King of Qi to attack the Song Dynasty, and to help the King of Qi "come up with ideas and find a way". Since one of the missions given to Su Qin by King Yan Zhao was to make the State of Qi "work in the West to the Song", in the process of attacking the Song, Su Qin appeared to be more enthusiastic than anyone and cared more about the interests of the King of Qi than anyone. Therefore, the King of Qi no longer had any doubts about Su Qin.

The State of Song finally fell in the third attack of the State of Qi. The demise of the Song state caused panic among the princes, who agreed that the state of Qi posed the greatest threat to all countries. Therefore, the friendship between the State of Qi and the State of Qin did not last long. Soon after the State of Qi captured the State of Song, the Three Jins said that they would mobilize the State of Qin to join them in fighting qi. Of course, Yan Guo will actively participate in it. However, from beginning to end, the Yan state remained superficially silent under Su Qin's suggestion. Even within the Five Kingdoms Alliance, King Yan Zhao had to explain clearly: Vaqi was the common goal of everyone, and the Yan state would always participate in it, but the Yan state must maintain a friendly alignment on the surface. The Yan state's overtures to Qi were not only beneficial to Su Qin's survival in the State of Qi, but also left a hidden direction for the coalition forces to attack the State of Qi in the next step.

The official formation of the Five-Nation Alliance was in 284 BC, marked by the quiet arrival of King Yan Zhao in the State of Zhao to meet with King Zhao. The coalition army was led by the famous general Le Yi. Le Yi was a Yan general, but at this time his identity had also become a Zhao Guoren. Su Qin, as an internal response, of course, would report all the fortifications of the State of Qi to Le Yi, which may also be one of the key reasons why Le Yi was able to successfully take the State of Qi. Su Qin also persuaded the King of Qi that he could not fortify in the direction of the Yan State, in order to concentrate his forces on the enemy on the Western Front, because the Yan State would never oppose Qi. The King of Qi believed him and went to the defense according to his advice. In this way, the outcome of the war can be imagined.

In 284 BC, Le Yi led the five-nation alliance to launch a fierce attack on the State of Qi from the direction of the State of Yan, but did not encounter strong resistance everywhere it went. Le Yi's victory on the military front certainly showed his excellent military command ability, but it was also directly related to Su Qin's behavior, so Le Yi's victory on the battlefield also announced the complete exposure of Su Qin's spy identity. King Qi never dreamed that the person who had been around him for a long time who cared for and helped himself was the most dangerous enemy. Su Qin did not have a chance to escape, and the King of Qi had always been his right and left hands. Perhaps, at this time, Su Qin had already put life and death aside, and in his opinion, for the sake of the King of Yan Zhao, who he was loyal to, the destruction of the State of Qi was the most important. The angry King of Qi immediately inflicted a severe sentence on Su Qin. After 16 years of painstaking efforts, Su Qin finally looked forward to the demise of the State of Qi when he was more than 50 years old, and at the same time gave up everything he had.