Chapter 20 2. A small profit lures Chu, and Qi Chu plots against him

In the ninth year of King Qin Huiwen (329 BC), Zhang Yi entered Qin State from the west of Zhao State to plan a strategic attack.In the second year, Zhang Yi officially took the post of Prime Minister of Qin, becoming the first prime minister after the Qin State set up a prime minister, and began to implement the strategy of "Lianheng". Su Qin's method of combining vertical and Zhang Yi's method of connecting horizontally runs counter to Su Qin's idea of ​​uniting weak and small countries against Qin, while Zhang Yi advocates the method of connecting weak countries in favor of Qin.

After Zhang Yi persuaded King Wei to abandon the contract and form an alliance with Qin, he returned to Qin State and was rewarded by King Qin. The King of Qin said: "Now that Wei Guo has formed an alliance with our Great Qin, it can be regarded as breaking Su Qin's law of unification. The ants are powerful because of their large numbers. Now the other five countries without Wei Guo's joining are like missing an arm. One incomplete, unable to compete with my Daqin." Zhang Yi said: "Your Majesty is right. Wei Guo's pro-Qin relationship has indeed greatly reduced He Zong, but the strength of the current alliance between Qi and Chu cannot be ignored."

King Qin said, "What does Aiqing mean?" Zhang Yi said: "I want to go to Chu as an envoy, and find a way to break up the Qi-Chu alliance, so that the law of unity will be destroyed by itself." King Qin agreed to Zhang Yi's request, and Zhang Yi left for Chu State a few days later. After Zhang Yi came to the state of Chu, he asked Gongsun Li, a classmate who was an official in Chu, to introduce him to the king of Chu.Gongsun Cai came to see the king of Chu and told him, "Qin's chancellor, Zhang Yi, has something to ask." The king of Chu was very puzzled and thought: "What is Zhang Yi's purpose in coming to Chu? Is it to seek peace? It is unlikely. With the current strength of Qin, it is impossible to seek peace with other countries." The more he thought about it, the more confused he became.Finally, he couldn't bear it anymore and said to Gongsun Cai: "Bring Zhang Yi over here, I want to have a good talk with him."

When Zhang Yi saw the King of Chu, she said respectfully at first: "It is said that the king has an extraordinary appearance and a domineering king. I am lucky to meet you today, which is even more vivid than the rumors." One sentence made the king of Chu relax a lot of his guard against him, and put aside the airs he had just planned to put on.He said: "Xiangguo is eloquent, how can I be as expressive as you say, I am not worth mentioning compared to King Qin." After some politeness, the king of Chu asked first: "Xiangguo must have something to discuss with me when he came to Chu this time. If he just visited me, Xiangguo would not come to Chu in person."

Zhang Yi hurriedly said: "Yes, I came to Chu to discuss something with the king, but visiting the king is also one of the purposes of the minister's visit to Chu." "Oh? I don't know what is worth traveling all the way to Xiangguo?" King Chu asked, his tone quite cold. Zhang Yi saw that the King of Chu was no longer in the mood to tease her, so she cut to the chase and said, "The other purpose of my visit to Chu this time is to remind the King of Chu that the state of Chu is at stake!" The king of Chu was stunned by Zhang Yi's words, and it took him a long time to calm down and said: "Xiangguo is really arrogant, saying that he has something to discuss, but the first sentence is such a vicious curse, how do you let the widows think of you, don't you Qin Guo all Is it a brazen person like you!"

"Your Majesty is too impatient. I have just begun my words. If you listen to me patiently, you won't think so." Zhang Yi immediately added: "This matter is related to Chu and Qi, and now I Qin It is difficult for a country to choose.” "Difficult to choose? What do you mean?" King Chu was a little confused, but suddenly felt uneasy. Zhang Yi said: "Among the Seven Kingdoms today, Qin, Chu, and Qi are the most powerful, and among the three, Qin is the strongest. Pressure. This is certainly a good way, but the king did not think about it in the long run. Once Qi State turns its back on the alliance and joins the Qin alliance, then Qi State will be stronger than Chu State. If you think about it from another angle, Chu State and Qin State If there is an alliance between the two countries, Chu State will be stronger than Qi State. Therefore, the best way out for Chu State at present is to form an alliance with Qin State.”

"What if you are deceiving me?" King Chu said in a deep voice. Zhang Yi said: "I have thought about this a long time ago. It is really difficult to win the trust of the king with a single word, so I discussed it with the king of Qin. The king of Qin promised to return the land of Shang and Yu to the state of Chu for more than 600 miles. If you take this as a token, Your Majesty should feel at ease." The King of Chu's heart moved, and he weighed it carefully, thinking that the alliance with Qin, from which point of view, would be beneficial to Chu but not harmful.The king of Chu was moved by the interests in front of him. Regardless of the opposition of the ministers, he granted Zhang Yi the seal, broke off diplomatic relations with Qi, and sent a general Zhao Liang to accompany Zhang Yi back to Qin to take back the land of Shang and Yu.

Unexpectedly, after Zhang Yi returned to Qin, she pretended to hurt her foot and did not show up for three months.After the king of Chu learned about it, he thought it was because he had not cut off diplomatic relations with the state of Qi enough, so he sent someone to the state of Qi to scold the king of Qi. The king of Qi was furious and decided to form an alliance with Qin. Zhang Yi's foot injury suddenly healed at this time. He went to Zhao Liang and said, "I'm really unlucky. I've spent time these days. Fortunately, my foot injury recovered quickly. Let General Zhao wait in Qin State." It took so long, I am really sorry, now I will fulfill my promise and give my Fengyi Liuli to Chu State."

Zhao Liang suddenly became confused. He didn't know whether he heard it wrong or Zhang Yi said it wrong, so he asked, "What did Xiangguo just say?" "I said to give my Liuli of Fengyi to the King of Chu. Didn't General Zhao hear clearly?" Zhang Yi asked suspiciously. Zhao Liang understood this time, and thought that the king of Chu had fallen for Zhang Yi's scheme, but he was unwilling, and said, "Did Xiangguo make a mistake? He obviously returned the six hundred miles of Shang and Yu to the state of Chu. Why did he suddenly return to Chu?" Turned into Xiangguo's Fengyi Liuli? If you do this, it won't be easy for me to go back."

Zhang Yi said: "I'm afraid I can't make the decision. Although I am an official, I don't have the ability to move such a large area of ​​land. If General Zhao feels that it is really difficult to do business, he can ask the King of Qin." Having said that, Zhao Liang no longer asked Zhang Yi for a land of six hundred miles.It is very obvious that what Zhang Yi said about returning the six hundred miles of land was just a joke on his lips.Zhao Liang bid farewell and returned to Chu State. When King Huai of Chu heard Zhao Liang's report, he was so angry that he yelled at Zhang Yi for not being a thing, and threatened to tear Zhang Yi into pieces!Zhao Liang stood aside, not daring to say anything.

After venting verbally, the resentment in King Chu Huai's heart was still burning like dry wood and fire, and finally he gave the order: "Let one hundred thousand troops attack Qin!" Zhao Liang said: "Your Majesty must not do this. The Qin State seized this opportunity and set up a trap for you to fall into. You should calm down and think about it in the long run." "A long-term plan? I am a dignified Lord Chu, and I was so embarrassed by a lobbyist. It is rumored that my Chu country has no face to stand in the Six Kingdoms! Don't say anything, I have already decided, even if it is a trap, I will Drill it too!" Zhao Liang saw that his persuasion had no effect, so he discussed with the ministers of the DPRK and China, and they had an audience together to persuade King Huai of Chu to give up attacking Qin. This time, King Huai of Chu was determined to fight Qin. He said to his ministers: "If we pick out a soldier from Chu, we can compete with Qin's soldiers, and if we pick out a general, we can lead the battle." The soldiers destroyed Qin! Is this too much?" After he finished speaking, he looked at the ministers, and seeing that no one dared to speak, he went on to say: "Qin doesn't take me seriously, Chu is clearly Deliberately wanting to be an enemy of our Chu State. Should we sit and wait for death, or should we act first?" The words of King Huai of Chu made all the ministers feel unable to speak.They understood King Chu's temper. At this time, it is best to obey, otherwise their lives will be lost. "So I decided that it is imperative to attack Qin!" After finishing speaking, he slapped the table heavily. The next day, King Huai of Chu sent a general to lead an army of 100,000 to Qin State. As soon as the 100,000 troops of Chu State entered Qin State, they were defeated by the Qi and Qin coalition forces, losing 80,000 troops, and were taken away by Qin State in Danyang and Hanzhong.Unwilling to fail, the King of Chu mobilized the whole country to attack Qin, and was defeated again. In desperation, he had to cut two more cities to make peace with Qin.The King of Qin proposed to exchange the land of Shang and Yu for the land in central Guizhou of Chu State, but the King of Chu replied that he was willing to give away the land of Central Guizhou as long as he got Zhang Yi and punished him personally. As a lobbyist, Zhang Yi travels among countries, and her superb adaptability and persuasion ability can be seen.When he was envoy to the state of Chu, he had already done a full dialysis for King Huai of Chu in advance. King Huai of Chu was fond of fame and fortune, lustful, and had a bad temper. It can be said that Zhang Yi had already prepared to deal with it when he was studying King Huai of Chu. arrange.His eloquence and strategy are combined, eloquence is the foreshadowing before, and strategy will gradually unfold behind the foreshadowing.Zhang Yi's ingenuity and rhetoric disintegrated the alliance of the six kingdoms created by Su Qin during his lifetime. After his death, although there were occasional situations where the six kingdoms deviated from Lianheng and resumed the alliance, it could not last long.It can be said that Zhang Yi's technique of Lianheng became the basic strategy for Qin to destroy the six kingdoms and unify the world.