The Seven Heroes of the Warring States, collectively known as the seven most powerful princely states in the Warring States period, were greatly reduced by the protracted wars of hegemony in the Spring and Autumn Period. The Zhou royal family is nominally the Son of Heaven, but it has died in name only. The princely states attacked each other, and the war continued. After the three families were divided into Jin, the Zhao kingdom, the Wei state, and the Korean kingdom became among the great powers, and there was the Tian dynasty Qi, and the pattern of the warring states of the seven xiong was formally formed, and the seven princely states were: the qin state, the chu state, the qi state, the yan state, the zhao state, the wei state, and the Korean kingdom.
For the Warring States Seven Heroes, the strength of many great powers often lasted for a long time. For example, the state of Wei, which took the lead in rising, was relatively powerful during the reign of the three monarchs of Wei Wenhou, Wei Wuhou, and Wei Huiwang. Another example is the State of Qi, which once sat on an equal footing with the State of Qin, and also rose continuously during the reign of the three monarchs of Qi Wei, Qi Xuan, and Qi Min. As for the great powers such as the State of Qin, the State of Chu, and the State of Zhao, they are not short-lived powers. However, as far as this article is concerned, the State of Yan, although it became stronger during the reign of King Yan Zhao, entered into decline after the death of King Yan Zhao. So, the question is, during the Warring States period, why was the strength of the Yan state "short-lived"? That is, why did he only maintain King Yan Zhao I?
One
First of all, Ji Zhi (?) –279 BC), surnamed Yan (燕氏), was the 39th monarch of the State of Yan (reigned 312 BC – 279 BC), son of King Huan of Yan. King Yan Zhao entered Korea as a hostage in his early years. After the rebellion of the sons was settled, king Wuling of Zhao sent troops back to the Yan kingdom and officially became the monarch of the Yan kingdom. After King Yan Zhao ascended the throne, he recruited talents and ordered Qin Kai to break through Donghu, and the general Le Yi united with the five kingdoms to attack the state of Qi and occupy more than seventy cities in the state of Qi, thus creating a prosperous state of Yan for a while. In the thirty-sixth year of the Reign of Zhou Zhao (279 BC), King Zhao of Yan, a wise monarch, died with the posthumous title of Zhao, and his son King Hui of Yan took the throne.
From this, it is very obvious that during the reign of King Yan Zhao, the monarch, the State of Yan could be described as a powerful country at that time. Especially after the Five Kingdoms conquered Qi, the State of Yan captured almost all the territory of the State of Qi, so the territory of the State of Yan at that time was second only to the State of Qin and the State of Chu, ranking third among the Seven Heroes of the Warring States. However, after the death of King Zhao of Yan, that is, during the reign of King Hui of Yan, he replaced Le Yi with a knight robber, and Le Yi fled to the Zhao state. In 279 BC, the Qi general Tian Dan defeated the Yan army with a fire bull array, and was killed in the battle, and the State of Qi regained all the lost land. Since then, the State of Yan, which withdrew from the State of Qi, has gone into decline.
Two
In this regard, in the author's opinion, the strength and prosperity of the Yan kingdom only maintained the first king of Yan Zhao, the reasons are divided into the following points. On the one hand, this is because the rise of the Yan state is mainly based on the personal ability of King Yan Zhao, not on the basis of the strength of the Yan state. Among the Seven Warring States, the Yan Kingdom and the Korean Kingdom were originally the weakest two vassal states. For South Korea, because it was located in the land of four wars, that is, it was surrounded by major powers such as the Qin, Wei, Zhao, and Chu, it could not obtain enough expansion space for a long time, but became the first princely state in the six kingdoms of Shandong to be eliminated by the Qin state. Correspondingly, the geographical location of the Yan kingdom is actually relatively poor.
For the Yan state, the territory included present-day Hebei, Beijing, Tianjin, Liaoning and other places. However, during the Warring States period, these territories were far away from the Central Plains, the population was relatively sparse, and they lagged behind the Central Plains in terms of culture and technology. Although the State of Yan wanted to expand into the Central Plains, under the obstruction of the State of Zhao and the State of Qi, the State of Yan was unable to penetrate into the Central Plains for a long time. Of course, for the monarch of Yan Zhao, it was still through the recruitment of talents and talents from the Central Plains that they helped the rise of the Yan kingdom.
Three
After King Yan Zhao ascended the throne, his reputation as a beloved sage and honored sage went away and became famous all over the world, and talents from all over the world rushed to the Yan kingdom. Among them, there are many famous scholars: such as the martial general Ju Xin from the Zhao kingdom, the strategist Zou Yan from the State of Qi, Qu Yong from the Wei state, and Le Yi from the Wei state. For Le Yi and other talents, he helped the Yan state train an elite division, so as to unite the qin state, korea, zhao state, and Wei state to fight against the state of Qi, and almost destroyed the state of Qi, which became the peak moment of the state of Yan. However, these talents were mainly from the Central Plains, and after the death of King Yan Zhao, King Hui of Yan did not have the same thirst for talents as his father, which led to the withering of talents in the Yan kingdom and thus to decline. On the other hand, as far as the monarch of YanHui was concerned, when he was crown prince, he was somewhat dissatisfied with the general Le Yi.
After King Hui of Yan ascended the throne, the general Tian Dan of the State of Qi learned of the contradiction between King Hui of Yan and Le Yi, so he implemented a counter-plan against the State of Yan, so after winning the counter-plan of the State of Qi, King Hui of Yan sent a robber to replace Le Yi as a general, and wanted to recall Le Yi. Le Yi knew in his heart that it was ill intentions for King Hui of Yan to send someone to replace him, and he was afraid that he would be killed after returning to China, so he could only choose to defect to the Zhao Kingdom. It is worth noting that as early as the reign of King Yan Zhao, some people rumored in front of King Yan Zhao that Le Yi wanted to stand on his own in the State of Qi, and as a result, King Yan Zhao's use of people was not doubtful and continued to trust Le Yi. However, as far as King Hui of Yan was concerned, he was narrow-minded, and in vain let the State of Yan lose the talent of Le Yi, and also led to the successful restoration of the State of Qi.
Four
Finally, after the successful restoration of the State of Qi, it meant that the territory of the State of Yan was almost reduced by half. For the Warring States Seven Heroes, the reason why they attacked each other was naturally to compete for territory. For the Yan State, the loss of about half of the territory was undoubtedly a heavy blow to the national strength. More crucially, because King Hui of Yan was jealous of talents, it not only caused Le Yi to defect to the Zhao Kingdom, but also made the talents in the Central Plains feel cold, so he was unwilling to defect to the Yan Kingdom. During the Warring States period, the flow of talents often had an important impact on the strength of various countries.
For example, the State of Wei gathered talents through the Xihe School, and the State of Qi gathered talents through the Jixia Xuegong, which made the State of Wei and the State of Qi rise one after another and become the hegemons of the early and middle Warring States. Of course, the Qin state after the Shang martingale transformation law, because of the clear distinction between rewards and punishments, was also able to attract talents in the Central Plains, and the assistance of these talents undoubtedly helped the Qin state to destroy the six kingdoms and unify the world. In general, for the State of Yan, after the death of King Yan Zhao, it immediately went into decline. For the Yan Hui Wang, Yan Wucheng Wang, Yan Xiao Wang, Yan Wang Xi, etc. after King Yan Zhao, they were basically idle monarchs, which to a certain extent aggravated the decline of the Yan State and prompted the Yan State to lose its sense of existence in the middle and late period of the Warring States. If it were not for Jing Ke's assassination of Qin, many people would even ignore the princely state of Yan in the late Warring States period. What do you think about that?