Chapter 35 34 King Yanzhao seeks the virtuous

After King Mengchang was withdrawn from his position, King Qi Min and Chu and Wei defeated Song State again, and became even more arrogant.He wholeheartedly wanted to annex the nations and come to be the emperor himself.As a result, the princes of all countries were dissatisfied with him; especially the Yan State to the north of Qi State, who was bullied by Qi State, wanted to find an opportunity to take revenge. Yan State was originally a big country.Later, it was passed on to King Kuai of Yan (sound kuai). He believed the idea of ​​the bad guy, and he learned the legendary method of Yao and Shun abdicating the throne, and gave the throne to Xiang Guozizhi.The general of Yan State and the Crown Prince Ping attacked Zizhi, and great chaos broke out in Yan State.Qi State invaded Yan State in the name of quelling Yan's domestic turmoil, and Yan State was almost wiped out.Later, the army and people of Yan State made the crown prince the king, rose up to resist, and drove the Qi State army out.

Prince Ping came to the throne, that is, King Yan Zhao.He was determined to make the state of Yan stronger, and he was determined to look for talents to govern the country, but he couldn't find the right one.Someone reminded him that the old minister Guo Wei (sound wei) is quite knowledgeable, so he might as well go to him and discuss it. King Yan Zhao personally visited Guo Wei and said to Guo Wei: "Qi State invaded us while our country was in turmoil. I will never forget this shame. But now Yan State is weak and cannot avenge this. If a sage comes to help I will avenge my shame, and I would rather serve him. Can you recommend such a talent?"

Guo Wei stroked his beard, pondered for a while and said, "I can't recommend ready-made talents. Please allow me to tell a story first." Then he told a story: In ancient times, there was a king who loved the Chollima the most.He sent people to search everywhere, but he couldn't find it after three years of searching.A courtier found out that there was a famous and valuable Chollima somewhere in the distance, so he told the monarch that as long as he was given one thousand taels of gold, he would be able to buy it back.The monarch was very happy, so he sent his courtiers to buy it with a thousand taels of gold.Unexpectedly, when the courtiers arrived there, Maxima had already fallen ill and died.The courtier thought that it would be difficult to explain when he went back empty-handed, so he took out half of the gold he had brought and bought back the horse bone.

The courtier presented the horse bones to the monarch, and the monarch was furious and said, "What I want you to buy is a live horse. Who told you to spend money to buy back the useless horse bones?" If you say you are willing to spend money to buy a dead horse, why are you afraid that no one will bring up a live horse?" The monarch will be suspicious, and will no longer blame his courtiers.As soon as the news spread, everyone thought that the monarch really cared about Chollima.Within a year, as expected, several thousand-mile horses were sent from all directions. After Guo Kui finished telling the story, he said: "Your Majesty must seek talents, so you might as well try me as a horse bone."

King Yanzhao was greatly inspired by hearing this, and immediately sent someone to build a very exquisite house for Guo Wei to live in, and he even worshiped Guo Wei as his teacher.Talented people from all over the world rushed to the country of Yan when they heard that King Yan Zhao was sincerely recruiting talents.The most famous of them is Le Yi from Zhao Guo.King Yanzhao worshiped Leyi as Yaqing, and asked him to rectify the state affairs and train soldiers and horses. Sure enough, Yan State became stronger day by day. At this time, King Yan Zhao saw that King Min of Qi was arrogant and unpopular, so he said to Le Yi: "Now that King Qi has no way, it is time for us to avenge our shame. I plan to mobilize the whole country to attack Qi. What do you think? "

Le Yi said: "Qi has a vast territory and a large population. I'm afraid we won't be able to fight it alone. If your majesty wants to attack Qi, you must unite with other countries." King Yan Zhao sent Le Yi to Zhao Guo to connect with King Zhao Huiwen, and sent people to contact Han and Wei, and also asked Zhao Guo to contact Qin State.These countries can't understand Qi's domineering, and they are willing to send troops with Yan. In 284 B.C., King Yanzhao worshiped Leyi as his general, commanded the troops of the five countries, and rushed to Qi State in a mighty way.

When King Qi Min heard that the Allied Forces of the Five Nations were coming, he also panicked. He gathered all the soldiers and horses of the whole country to resist the Allied Forces, and fought a battle west of Jishui.Because Le Yi was good at commanding, the morale of the five countries was strong, and the Qi army was defeated. King Qi Min fled back to Linzi. The soldiers of Zhao, Han, Qin, and Wei fought victoriously, and each occupied several cities in Qi, and they did not want to fight any more.Only Le Yi refused to give up. He personally led the army of Yan State, drove straight in, and took Linzi, the capital of Qi State.King Qi Min had to leave and was finally killed in Jucheng.

King Yan Zhao believed that Le Yi had made great contributions, so he personally went to the edge of Jishui to work in the army, rewarded him for his merits, and named Le Yi the king of Chang.