Chapter 32 The most talented son of the Warring States Period: Lord Xinling

The defeat in the Battle of Handan was a major setback in the process of Qin's annexation of the world. It not only caused Qin to lose many territories that he had worked so hard to occupy in the past few years, but also indirectly caused Bai Qi's death and Fan Ju's sad exit.Within a few years, Qin State did not launch large-scale military operations, and the Shandong countries, especially the San Jin, got a short respite. The stars of this battle are undoubtedly Lord Xinling of Wei State and Lord Pingyuan of Zhao State.In addition, although Wang Yan of the Qin State was defeated, his performance was remarkable.Another important figure is Jingyang from the state of Chu. From the records in "Xunzi", "Huainanzi" and "Hanshu", it is not difficult for future generations to know that after this battle, Jingyang shocked the princes at that time.King Zhao Xiaocheng once personally asked Jingyang about the art of war, but Jingyang responded with the military thinking of Sun Wu, Wu Qi and others, which convinced Zhao Xiaocheng.As for why "Historical Records" and "Warring States Policy" did not describe Jingyang's achievements too much, the author thinks that it is because the halo over the heads of Lord Xinling and Lord Pingyuan is so dazzling that Jingyang is relatively eclipsed. Bend as a supporting role.

Interestingly, between Lord Xinling and Lord Yuan, there is also a discussion about who is more virtuous.As mentioned earlier, Lord Xinling is good at military affairs, and Lord Pingyuan is good at diplomacy, so it is difficult to compare in terms of talents, so it can only be compared with "virtue".But "morality" is very difficult to compare, especially for two equally important figures, if there are no quantitative indicators, it is difficult to distinguish between superior and inferior. Fortunately, they have a common hobby - foster care. People like "shi" are very difficult to raise. Unlike cats and dogs, they only need to eat and drink. They value the character of their masters more.The more noble a person's moral character is, the more he can attract scholars to join him; and when this person's character is stained, even the scholars who have already attached to him will leave resolutely.Mr. Pingyuan lost half of his followers because he looked down on a cripple, which is an excellent example.

Now the problem has become simpler. When Lord Xinling and Lord Yuan are in the same country, although they will not compete with each other, the scholars all have a steelyard in their hearts, and they will vote with both feet to choose their master—— It is clear at a glance who has better moral character. Such a story is recorded in "Historical Records". When Mr. Xinling first arrived in Zhao State, he heard that Mr. Mao, a man of great virtue and integrity, was hanging out in casinos, and Mr. Xue was hanging out in taverns, so he wanted to make friends with them and invite them to his house as guests. .Unexpectedly, these two guys didn't know how to flatter them, so they deliberately avoided seeing them.Lord Xinling was not angry either, he deliberately messed up his hair, hadn't shaved for a few days, changed into civilian clothes, and went to those sensual places to get close to them.

These two people have never met Mr. Xinling himself, they only know that this new guy is very bold, spends money like water, drinks alcohol like a bull, is proficient at throwing dice and playing with women, and as long as he talks, he knows that he is not an ordinary person.After a few days like this, Mr. Mao and Mr. Xue admired Mr. Xinling so much, but when Mr. Pingyuan heard about it, he said to his wife: "So I heard that your brother is in the world." Wushuang, now I know that he likes to hang out with some rotten people, it's ridiculous!" Mrs. Pingyuan met Lord Xinling and told him these words.The woman's original intention was to persuade Lord Xinling to check his behavior, pay attention to social influence, and not to be too unrestrained and embarrass Wei Guo.After hearing this, Lord Xinling bid farewell to his sister and said, "So I heard that Lord Pingyuan is a wise man, so I would rather betray King Wei and come to rescue Zhao. I am not here for anyone else, but for my sister and brother-in-law. Yes. But now it seems that people say that Mr. Pingyuan makes friends all over the world, but it is just a false name, and they don’t really want talents. When I was in Daliang, I heard the names of Mr. Mao and Xue. I didn’t see them, so I took the initiative to go to the place where they were staying to approach them. But Mr. Pingyuan thought this was absurd, and I don’t want to deal with him anymore.”

After Mr. Xinling finished speaking, he ordered the disciples to pack their luggage and prepare to leave.Mrs. Pingyuan rushed home to report to her husband.Lord Pingyuan became anxious when he heard this, and hurriedly took off his hat and went to the door to apologize, and finally managed to keep Lord Xinling behind. After hearing about this incident, almost half of the guests under Lord Pingyuan went to join Lord Xinling.And more and more heroes from all over the world defected to Lord Xinling, so that the number of followers of Lord Xinling soon greatly surpassed that of Lord Pingyuan.