Chapter 5 Qin and Qi became emperors

In 289 BC, Su Qin led a huge mission of 150 horse-drawn carriages into Linzi, and was warmly welcomed by the state of Qi.King Qi Min sent his trusted minister Han Min out of Gaolu Gate (the name of the city gate), treated him with the courtesy of a prince, and drove in for him. Han Min is Korean, but he has a good relationship with King Qin Zhao. Under the situation of Qin and Qi alliance, he was reused by King Qi Min. Before paying a visit to King Qi Min, Su Qin and Han Min had a long talk. Han Min expressed his concerns about the situation to Su Qin, thinking that Zhao State is likely to become the enemy of Qi State in the future.

"Whoever hurts Qi will be Zhao." Standing on a pro-Qin standpoint, Han Min did not want Qi and Zhao to unite, so he naturally had such a judgment. Su Qin immediately replied, if Zhao Guo dares to be unfavorable to Qi, he should repair it!He said to Han Min: "As long as you find a way to make King Qi value me, I will definitely make Yan Guo obey the leadership of Qi State. Qi and Yan unite, Han and Wei must follow, and Zhao Guo will attack it if it makes irresponsible remarks." ,unambiguous." This statement made Han Min very pleased. The meeting between Su Qin and King Qi Min was held in the most luxurious Zhanghua Palace in the Qi State. Because of Han Min's foreshadowing, King Qi Min was very clear about Su Qin's intentions, and the meeting took place in a harmonious atmosphere.

When it came to the issue of Song State, Su Qin lost no time to add fire to King Qi Min. He said: "Attacking the State of Song is beneficial but harmless. The two countries of Song and Wei are closely related. Once the State of Song is occupied, the State of Wei has no choice but to obey. After seizing the land of Huaibei, the eastern part of the State of Chu will be exposed to the power of the State of Qi." Under the threat. Occupying the land of Jixi, the east of Zhao State can freely enter and exit. Occupying the land of Tao, Wei State has no choice but to close its doors. At that time, even Qin State will not be able to stand against Qi State, even Duke Huan of Qi His hegemony cannot be compared with that of the king."

King Qi Min's heart skipped a beat, but he was still hesitating.Among the three factors restricting him from attacking Song State, the problem of Yan State has been solved; the strength of Song State itself should not be underestimated, but it is not a problem; now there is only Zhao State as an obstacle, what will happen if Zhao State interferes? Soon this worry was also eliminated by Su Qin. Su Qin said: "I am sure that Zhao Guo will keep silent on this matter. First, I can go to Zhao Guo as a lobbyist for the king, explain the facts to Zhao Wang, and let him understand the current situation and not act rashly; Second, before coming this time, I have persuaded King Yan to send 20,000 troops to help Qi State attack Song State; moreover, if King Zhao is not aware of current affairs, King Yan is ready to send troops from the north to contain Zhao State.”

The so-called "door-to-door service, three guarantees for quality" is nothing more than that.King Qi Min expressed his gratitude to Su Qin sincerely, and soon issued an order to attack Song State. The Qi army, led by general Chuzi, set out from Linzi in mighty strength.King Yan Zhao also sent 20,000 horses to help.What made King Qi Min even more gratified was that the Yan army had prepared their own food for half a year, and they didn't even bother Qi State with logistical support. However, this large-scale crusade fell by the wayside due to an unexpected incident, which almost caused Su Qin's plan to die prematurely.

General Zhang Ku of the Yan Army, who joined Qi to help in the war, was a man with a strong personality. He felt very aggrieved to help the people of Qi in the war. Coupled with the fact that the general of the Qi Army was domineering and had opinions, he finally broke out one day and confronted the people of Qi.When the matter came to King Qi Min, King Qi Min was furious, arrested Zhang Ku and beheaded him. When the news reached Yan State, there was an uproar.Su Qin's death plan was originally known only to King Yanzhao and a few trusted ministers. Now that something like this happened, there was unavoidable excitement among the ruling and opposition parties, and the call for the use of troops by the Qi State was getting louder and louder.

King Yanzhao himself is almost losing his temper, the people of Qi are too bullying!After all, Zhang Ku is also a doctor of Yan State, and he went to help Qi State attack Song State. Why did King Qi cut off his head?Do you really regard Yan as your own country? Just when the monarch and ministers of Yan State were full of anger and were about to start a war against Qi State, Su Qin hurried back.He asked King Yanzhao to step back, and asked, "Does Your Majesty want to give up all your previous efforts?" King Yan Zhao said: "Scholars can be killed, but not humiliated. A widow would rather die than suffer this kind of cowardice."

Su Qin stomped his feet and said, "Has your majesty ever thought that this matter is likely to be a test of the king's sincerity by the king of Qi? If you can't even pass such a test, what kind of revenge plan is there?" King Yan Zhao suddenly came to his senses and asked Su Qin, "What should I do then?" This matter is related to the honor and disgrace of the country. If it is not handled well, it will not only affect morale, but also be ridiculed internationally. Su Qin said: "There is no other way. I made the plan. I will bear the shame and make amends to King Qi!"

Su Qin came to Qi State again. He originally thought that he would sit on the bench for a few days, finally see King Qi Min, and then spend a lot of talking to dispel King Qi Min's anger.Unexpectedly, King Qi Min soon met him at Zhanghua Palace, and personally came to greet him at the gate of the palace. The more King Qi Min was like this, the more uncertain Su Qin was. Could it be that he has seen through my scheme?He thought this way, pretending to be trembling and said: "This time, my servant is here to represent King Yan to make amends to His Majesty..." As soon as he got started, he was interrupted by King Qi Min: "I am also responsible for this matter, so there is no need to talk about it."

"What about the attack on the Song State? Would you like to ask the King of Yan to send another general to take orders from the King?" King Qi Min waved his hand: "There is no need, the widow has already ordered Chuzi to withdraw his troops and return to the country. Let's put aside the matter of attacking Song State for now." Su Qin thought to himself, what happened? It turned out that when the Qi army was about to attack the Song State, King Qin Zhao sent Wei Ya, the prime minister, to Linzi, and offered the honorary title of "Eastern Emperor" to King Min of Qi.

Before Qin Shihuang proclaimed himself emperor, "Di" in Chinese characters refers to the emperor of heaven, which has the same meaning as God in English.No matter how great the ruler of the world is, no matter how large the territory he owns, he can only be called king at most (except for the five emperors in the legend, because they are all half-human and half-god, or they are originally gods). Wei Ya thought that if the alliance between Qin and Qi was to be further strengthened, there had to be a breakthrough in form, and the best way was to give each other a noble title, shout a few long live to each other when they met, not to mention how affectionate they were.As for what title to give, "King" is definitely not good. At that time, all countries in the world had already claimed the title of king, and even the Song Dynasty had given itself a title of king, and the king was no longer worth much.It must be more honorable than the king.After much deliberation, Wei Ya finally decided that Qi and Qin should be called emperors together.Qin is called the Emperor of the West, and Qi is called the Emperor of the East. Wouldn’t it be great if the East achieves the West and governs the world together! For King Qi Min, he welcomes the alliance between Qi and Qin.But an alliance is not a marriage. Once he accepts the title of Eastern Emperor, Qi and Qin will be firmly tied to the same chariot, and they will grow old together and live and die together.This is something he cannot hastily agree to.What's more, Qin has an additional condition. After proclaiming the emperor, the two countries will promote the alliance of Qi, Qin, Han, Wei, and Yan to jointly attack Zhao and carve up its land, so it must be carefully considered. King Min of Qi was in trouble, and Su Qin came to Linzi.King Qi Min couldn't care less about listening to King Yan's apology, it was just a little friction between the two sides, how big could it be?Proclaiming the emperor is a big deal.He took Su Qin's hand and asked eagerly, "King Qin sent Wei Ya to ask me to become emperor, what do you think?" "So it is like this!" A stone in Su Qin's heart finally fell to the ground.This is a whole new intervention.While sorting out his thoughts, he said, "It's too sudden for you to raise this question. I'm totally unprepared...Professing the emperor is a big matter, and the pros and cons must be fully analyzed." King Qi Min: "Yes, you are right." "If you don't agree to Qin's request, you will have conflicts with Qin; if you agree to Qin's request, you will offend other princes." King Qi Min: "Ah, why?" "Think about it, even the emperor of Zhou is just a king, but you are called emperor. Isn't that comparing everyone else? It’s not impossible. Besides, your ancestor Chen was originally a descendant of Shun. His blood is noble, and he is not comparable to ordinary princes (King Qi Min laughed). The opinion of my subordinates is that you should agree to become emperor to deal with Qin, but The ceremony will not be held immediately, but after the king of Qin holds the ceremony, we will see the reaction of the princes. If the princes have no objection, then the king will also proclaim himself emperor; if the princes have strong opinions, the king will not proclaim the emperor. , then we will decide according to the situation, how about it?" King Min of Qi nodded his head again and again, thinking in his heart: As expected of Su Qin, he analyzed the problem so thoroughly in just a few words, and the solution he proposed can be advanced or retreated, and there is a lot of room for maneuver. At the end of the meeting, King Min of Qi suddenly proposed: "Lu Li, the Prime Minister of Qi State, is preparing to retire due to health reasons. If you don't dislike the weakness of Qi State, how about you also serve as the Prime Minister of Qi State?" This is exactly what Su Qin is looking forward to.He was humbled a few times and accepted King Qi Min's kindness.In the records of "Historical Records", Su Qin once admired the seal of the six countries, which is of course an exaggerated description.In fact, Su Qin did admire the seals of Qi and Yan, which is unambiguous. Wei Ya received an affirmative reply from King Qi Min, and returned to Xianyang excitedly to return to his command. In October 288 B.C., King Zhao of Qin came to Yiyang, where he proclaimed himself Emperor of the West, and invited princes from all over the world to watch the ceremony. As you can imagine, very few people responded. At that time, Lord Mengchang had already arrived in the state of Wei.King Wei Zhao received the invitation and once asked Mr. Mengchang for his opinion.Meng Changjun said coldly: "Have you forgotten what happened to King Huai of Chu?" He was so scared that he didn't dare to mention it again.Later, under the guidance of Lord Mengchang, King Wei Zhao actually went to Handan for a three-day state visit. During this visit, King Wei Zhao first donated two cities to King Zhao Huiwen as "raised towns", and then dedicated the two cities of Heyang and Gumi (both in Mengxian County, Henan Province) to Li Dui as his sons. the fiefdom. Heyang is the main ferry in the middle section of the Yellow River. It was once captured by the State of Qin, but it was returned to the State of Wei because it was inconvenient to hold on to it.The intention of Wei State to dedicate Heyang to Li Dui is obvious, which is to cause Qin State to be more dissatisfied with Zhao State, so as to completely push Zhao State to the opposite of Qin State. All kinds of information were fed back to Linzi. When King Qi Min came to consult Su Qin again, Su Qin gave three opinions. First, resolutely abandon the title of emperor, making "the world loves Qi and hates Qin" and occupies the moral high ground; Second, dissolve the alliance between Qi and Qin, quickly move closer to Zhao, and mobilize the princes to crusade against Qin; Third, judging from past experience, Qi State crusades against Qin State, the mountain is long and the river is far away, and nothing is gained every time.Therefore, crusade against Qin State is just an excuse, the purpose is to take the opportunity to send troops to attack Song State and annex Song State in one fell swoop. "If the Song Kingdom is annexed, the king's hegemony will be established. Even if he does not have the title of Eastern Emperor, he will actually be the Eastern Emperor." Su Qin went around, and finally returned to the topic of the Song Kingdom. As long as King Qi Min dared to bite the hook, even if he was a sea fish weighing 1,800 catties, Su Qin could still catch him. King Qi Min accepted Su Qin's suggestion without hesitation. For him, this is a stunning plan.From the very beginning, Qi State deceived Qin State, induced King Qin to proclaim himself emperor, and made him a public enemy of the whole people; then King Qi gave up the title of Emperor, pleased the princes of the world, and mobilized them to attack Qin; finally, the goal of Qi State was not Qin State, but Song State.The whole plan is interlocking, and won the essence of "taking detours as straightness" in "Sun Tzu's Art of War".However, if King Qi Min is wise enough, he should not be difficult to find that there is a fatal problem in this plan: if it is implemented, Qi State will lose its trust in the world. In November of the same year, King Qi Min invited King Zhao Huiwen to meet in Dong'e. The two sides agreed to "attack Qin and remove the emperor", with Su Qin as the liaison officer. King Zhao of Qin proclaimed himself emperor in Yiyang, and pointed his finger at Zhao Guo, who was very nervous for a time.King Qi Min's statement made King Zhao Huiwen feel a big stone fall to the ground. Fortunately, he couldn't help being extremely grateful to Su Qin, so he also gave Su Qin the title of Lord Wu'an. In December of the same year, King Min of Qi announced the abolition of the title of emperor and called on the princes of the world to "commit to punish the tyranny of Qin". In the summer of the second year (287 BC), the armies of Qi, Zhao, Han, Wei, and Yan began to join forces to attack Qin.As the general dispatcher of the coalition forces, Su Qin traveled between the courts of Yan, Wei, Zhao, and South Korea to urge them to advance quickly. The strange thing is that the more Su Qin urged, the slower the countries acted. The Han and Wei armies moved the fastest, but due to the continuous heavy rain, they failed to reach the designated location as scheduled.Zhao Guo promised to conscript the best men from all over the country, but Fengyang Lord Li Dui openly suspected that Qi State and Chu State were secretly colluding, and wanted to make peace with Qin State, so Qi State needed to show further sincerity (to put it bluntly, he just wanted Qi State to promise Allocate Tao land to him as a fief).Yan State sent another 20,000 troops to Qi State with their own dry food, but because of Zhang Ku's incident last time, both Qi and Yan felt a little uncomfortable, and they were not very clever in command. As the commander-in-chief of the coalition forces, King Qi Min didn't care about all this. Instead, he issued an order to Wei Guo to close the border between Wei and Song and cut off the communication between the two countries. When Wei Guo received this order, he immediately guessed Qi Guo's intentions - with Lord Mengchang around, how could such a small trick escape his eyes?King Wei Zhao clearly rejected King Qi Min, and fed back the news to Handan in time. Zhao Guo responded quickly and threatened Qi with war.The state of Wei is also on the border between Wei and Song, ready to fight for the state of Song at any time.Lord Mengchang seized this opportunity to go to Zhao State for activities, lobbying Zhao State to unite with Wei State and Yan State to attack Qi State together.All of a sudden, the internal situation of the alliance was turbulent, and all the spearheads were directed at King Qi Min. King Min of Qi had no choice but to turn to Su Qin, the chief designer of the five kingdoms' joint attack on Qin. Su Qin wrote a prescription: "If you want to win the Song Dynasty, you must first appease Zhao Xiangjun Fengyang and Wei Xiangjun Mengchangjun. It is better to make a deal, and privately promise the Tao land of the Song Dynasty to Fengyang Jun as a fief, and Pingling Promise to Lord Mengchang as a fief." The prescription itself is obviously not a problem, but the actual effect is very problematic. Li Dui, Lord of Fengyang, was overjoyed when he received the promise from King Min of Qi. He quickly agreed to Qi's request and even expressed his willingness to join forces with Qi to attack Song.Meng Changjun Tian Wen dismissed this, and sent away the envoy of Qi State with a few words. Lord Mengchang got the information about Li Dui's collusion with Qi State from nowhere, so he went to Zhao State himself, joined Han Xu, the general who had always advocated alliance with Qin and resisted Qi, and reminded Han Xu to pay attention to Li Dui's movements. As a result, there were two voices within Zhao.Han Xu advocated the alliance of Zhao State and Wei State to win over Yan State to attack Qi together; Li Dui advocated the alliance of Zhao State and Qi State to carve up Song State together.The strange thing is that Li Dui also got information about the conspiracy between Meng Changjun and Han Xu, and publicly exposed it in the court, thinking that Han Xu was picking on the inside and outside, and did not think about the problem from the standpoint of national interests.Both sides insisted on their own opinions and argued endlessly. They both said that the other party was a "traitor Zhao" and that they themselves were the true patriots. They also agreed to take a tough stance on the Song issue, so as to disregard their relationship with "foreign forces". . The final result was completely beyond Qi Minwang's expectation—Zhao Guo decided to join forces with Wei Guo to deal with Qi Guo.South Korea has always shared the same fate with the state of Wei, and it also turned its spearhead against the state of Qi. As a result, a situation of "all the soldiers in the world go to Qin and compete with Qi for the land of Song" appeared.Seeing that the situation was not good, King Min of Qi announced the disbandment of the Allied Forces of the Five Nations in August of that year, and withdrew the Qi army back to the country. The troubled Five Kingdoms defeated Qin, and they returned without success for no apparent reason.But it can't be said that it was completely in vain, at least Qin was taken aback.King Qin Zhao quickly canceled the title of emperor, and returned the previously plundered Wen (now Wen County, Henan Province), Zhi, Gaoping (both in present-day Jiyuan, Henan Province) and other places to Wei State, and returned the jing (jing) points to Zhao State. , Xianyu two cities. Only Qi State was still the same as before, not only got nothing, but also got into trouble.