Su Qin was a native of Luoyang, Eastern Zhou. The ancestors of the Su family are readers, and there are five brothers in the family, all of whom can speak eloquently.
Su Qin was influenced by his elder brother since childhood, loved to read, and had lofty ambitions. When he was young, he came to the country of Qi and studied under Mr. Oniguzi. After completing his studies, Su Qin went to various countries to lobby, wanting to seek an official and a half-job, to get ahead, perhaps because he was not good at learning, he suffered many difficulties and setbacks, and finally the money was used up, and he had to return home.
The family saw him wearing straw shoes, picking up a broken burden, looking embarrassed, and said angrily, "According to our customs, we will add governance to the industry, and make a little money. Su Qin was very sad to hear these sneers, such an old age could not make money for the family, and nothing could be achieved. He felt guilty, so he closed the door and studied hard. He read the "Yin Rune" warrior written by Jiang Shangshang, the founding monarch of the State of Qi, and after a period of careful study, he finally found a way to lobby the monarchs of various countries. It is said that in order to avoid dozing off while reading, he stabbed himself in the thigh with an awl
。 He hung his hair on the beams of the house during the Han Dynasty. Sun Jing, who read on the hanging beam, left a good story of "hanging beam thorn strands" together, and became a model for future generations of readers.
Through a whole year of unremitting efforts, Su Qin had a very thorough understanding of the political and economic situation of various countries, and he was more familiar with the art of war. After summing up the lessons of his previous failures, he embarked on the road of lobbying the princes to "join forces" this time.
The first person he asked to see was King Zhou Xian, and the ministers around him all looked down on Su Qin and said a lot of bad things about him, and King Zhou Xian had to reject Su Qin's proposal. Next, he went west to the Qin state, when Qin Xiaogong had died, and he lobbied King Hui of Qin to "play the country's geographical location, surrounded by mountains, sufficient water flow, east of the river, west of Hanzhong, south of Bashu, north of Daima, really a dangerous and fertile treasure land." With your governance and a powerful Qin army, it is enough to unify the Central Plains! ”
King Hui listened to Su Qin's words, and although he was moved, he knew that the time for the Qin state to dominate was not yet ripe, and moreover, Shang Martin had just been executed, and people's hearts were unstable and could not easily start a war, so he categorically rejected Su Qin, saying: "The feathers of the birds have not yet grown plump, and it is impossible to soar in the sky!" Su Qin had no choice but to leave.
He walked east to zhao guo. Zhao Suhou's younger brother Zhao Cheng (赵成) became minister of state and was given the title of Fengyang Jun. Feng Yangjun did not like Su Song, so the lobby failed again. After repeated misery, Su Qin was not discouraged. After much thought, he targeted the Yan state, which was located in the north and had a weak domestic strength.
Su Qin waited for more than a year before he got the opportunity to meet Marquis Wenhou of Yan, and he said to the King of Yan, "The land of the Yan kingdom is vast, the army is hundreds of thousands, the products in the south are very rich, and the north is a big granary. Does the king know why there is such a good situation? It is because there is a Zhao State blocking the Qin State for you in the south. There were five wars between the State of Qin and the State of Zhao, with the State of Qin winning twice and the State of Zhao winning three. Qin and Zhao weakened each other, while the State of Yan was not affected. Moreover, the Qin state attacked the Yan state and had to travel thousands of miles. Even if he could capture the city of Yan, he knew that there was no way to occupy it. If the Zhao State attacked the Yan State, the situation would be very different, as long as an order was issued, in a few days, hundreds of thousands of troops could hit the capital. Qin and Yan fought thousands of miles away, while Zhao Guo would only be a few hundred miles away if he attacked Yan. The great king is far-sighted and must be able to weigh the gains and losses, I hope that you can join forces with the Zhao kingdom and the princes of the world to resist Qin, then the Yan kingdom will have no worries. After hearing this, the King of Yan was very touched and accepted Su Qin's suggestion, "Our country is weak, the southwest is next to the Zhao state, the southeast is close to the qi state, and Qi and Zhao are both powerful countries." Now I am willing to hand over the country and follow your arrangement. He also prepared a carriage of belongings for him to persuade King Zhao.
When Su Qin came to the Zhao Kingdom again, Feng Yangjun had already died. Without obstacles, Su Qin could show his talents to the fullest and persuade Zhao Suhou to join forces against Qin. He said to King Zhao, "I think that in times of chaos, there is no more important thing than the peace of the people and the peace of the country, and the most hated thing in the qin state under the whole world is the powerful Zhao state." However, why didn't the Qin state dare to send troops to attack Zhao? Mainly afraid of the Secret Attack of Han Wei behind it. If the State of Qin attacked Han and Wei first, the defeat of the two countries would surely submit to Qin, and when the three kingdoms were united, the State of Zhao would be in danger! A wise monarch knows how to judge the hour and size up the situation. I have privately examined the map of the world, and the land of the princely states is five times that of the Qin state. It is estimated that the soldiers are more than ten times that of the Qin State, and if the Six Kingdoms form a whole and work together to attack the Qin State to the west, the Qin State will definitely be defeated. The State of Qin was destroyed, and dominating the world with the strength of the State of Zhao was just around the corner! King Zhao was convinced of Su Qin's words, and immediately worshipped him as Xiangguo, gave him a lot of treasures, and asked him to persuade the other princely states to conclude a covenant with the United States.
When Su Qin was in the State of Zhao, the State of Qin defeated the State of Wei and planned to march eastward with its division. Su Qin was afraid that the Qin army would attack the Zhao state, so he tried to delay the time, so he designed to provoke Zhang Yi into Qin and secretly sent someone to fund it.
Su Qin advised King Han: "Korea has hundreds of thousands of the best crossbows in the world. With the bravery of the Korean soldiers, clad in strong armor, pulling a strong crossbow, wearing a sharp sword, enough to defeat a hundred enemies, if the king submits to the Qin State, the Qin State will definitely ask you for Yiyang and Chenggao. If you give him the land this year, he will come back next year. Land is limited, and greedy demand is endless, there is a saying "rather than the head of the chicken, not the queen of the cow", with the wisdom of the king, and has a considerable army, but willing to do the ugly name of the queen of the cow, I think the king is ashamed! King Han listened to Su Qin's words, glared angrily, and sighed, "Although I have not appeared, I must not submit to the Qin Kingdom, and this king is willing to obey your arrangement!" ”
Su Qin went to lobby the King of Wei again: "Although the territory of the Great King is nominally small, the fields are full of houses, and there is no place to graze livestock, the population is dense, the carriages and horses are numerous, the flow is endless, the prosperity is rich, and the strength is comparable to that of the Chu State. King Wu of Zhou used only three 4 soldiers to subdue Shang Lu in Makino. The State of Wei had 200,000 elite troops, 200,000 troops wrapped in blue turbans, 200,000 troops who could charge into battle, 100,000 miscellaneous soldiers, 600 chariots, and 5,000 warhorses, which far exceeded the Yue King Gou Jian and the Zhou Wu King. However, now he listened to the advice of the Qunchen and wanted to serve the Qin state as a courtier, and if he served the Qin state, he would inevitably have to cede the land to show his loyalty, so he had not yet mobilized the army, and the country had already lost money. If you follow my advice and the six kingdoms jointly attack the Qin state, the Qin state will not be troubled! The King of Wei eventually adopted Su Qin's suggestion. Agree to "convergence".
Han and Wei had already decided, and Su Qin came to the state of Qi again, and he said to King Xuan of Qi, "The state of Qi is bordered by the sea and is remote, so it can be said that it is a very safe country." The country is rich and the army is strong, and the people are rich. Linzi alone has 70,000 residents, if each household is not less than three men 37.21 million, if you really want to fight, there is no need to recruit distant soldiers, just Linzi soldiers are enough. How could such a powerful and rich State of Qi serve the State of Qin? Han Xiao was afraid of Qin because he was next to the Qin state and really wanted to start a war, and within ten days the victory and defeat would be divided. If the State of Qin wants to fight the State of Qi, the situation is completely different. Qin Guo had his back to Han. The land of Wei had to pass through the main road of Wei Guo, Yang and Jin, and through the dangerous fortress of Qi Guo's father, and the chariots had to pass one by one, and the war horses had to be carried one by one. As long as there were a hundred people guarding the dangerous place, even a thousand people could not come over, and if the Qin army wanted to go deeper, it would also worry about the Han Wei sneak attack in the rear. The State of Qin could not easily attack the State of Qi, but the ministers advised you to submit to the State of Qin, which was a wrong decision, and I hoped that the king would think twice. So the King of Qi also agreed to "hezhong".
Su Qin finally persuaded the King of Chu wei, who said to the king of Chu Wei, "The state of Chu is the most powerful country in the world, with a vast land, a sophisticated army, and enough grain to store for ten years. This is the capital for the establishment of hegemony, in the heart of the King of Qin, the State of Chu is the biggest hidden danger, the State of Chu is strong, then the State of Qin is weak, the State of Qin is strong, the State of Chu will be weak, judging from this form, the two countries cannot exist at the same time, I advise the king not to join forces with several other countries, to isolate the State of Qin, the success of the unity, the State of Chu can be called king, even the success of the Qin State will be called emperor, and now you take the initiative to give up the merit of being a king and hegemony, this practice is really undesirable! King Chu nodded in agreement.
At this point, the "Combined Vertical Alliance" of the Six Kingdoms was formally formed, and Su Qin became the leader of the Alliance and served as the Minister of State of the Six Kingdoms. Su Qin successfully completed the task, and Marquis Zhao Su gave him the title of "Wu An Jun", which was the most proud period of his life. In the following fifteen years, the State of Qin never dared to peek into the Central Plains.
When the six kingdoms join forces, the Qin state will not sit and wait for death. King Huiwen of Qin took the advice of his ministers and used both soft and hard methods to arouse mutual suspicion among the six kingdoms and break up the alliance.
The State of Qin first sent people to the nearest State of Wei and returned several cities taken from the State of Wei, and then sent people to the farthest State of Yan to marry their daughter to the Prince of the State of Yan, so that the two countries of Wei and Yan were reconciled with the State of Qin. When Hou Zhao learned of this, he asked Su Qin why this situation occurred. Su Qin was very frightened and immediately set out to quell the "civil unrest" in this alliance.
Su Qin first came to the Yan Kingdom. At this time, Marquis Wen of Yan was dead, and the crown prince took the throne as King Yi of Yan.
King Yi said to Su Qin, "Once upon a time, when you went to the Yan Kingdom, the first king funded you to meet the King of Zhao, so there was the Six Kingdoms. Now the State of Qi first attacked the State of Zhao, and then hit the State of Yan, if you can recover the invaded land for the State of Yan, the State of Yan will break off diplomatic relations with the State of Qin! Su Qin was very ashamed to hear this, and promised the King of Yan to let the State of Qi return the land.
Su Qin saw the King of Qi, bent down to pay respects to the King of Qi for two times, and looked up to express his condolences to the King of Qi, and the King of Qi asked incomprehensibly: "Why should we celebrate first, and mourn?" Su Qin replied: "No matter how hungry people are, they will not eat this poisonous plant, because the more they eat, the faster they will die, and although the Yan Kingdom is weak now, the Yan King is the little son-in-law of the Qin King, and the Great King has taken advantage of his ten cities but has formed a long-term vendetta with Qiang Qin." It's like a hungry person eating aconitum! When King Qi heard this, his face suddenly changed dramatically. Seeing that lobbying had an effect, Su Qin continued, "I have heard that people who were good at handling things in ancient times were able to turn disasters into auspiciousness and failures into success, and the great king must immediately return the cities and pools of the Yan kingdom. Yan Guo must be very happy to take back the Ten Cities in vain. The King of Qin would also be particularly pleased. The chess king thought about it carefully. Feeling that it was also a very good thing to exchange land for Qin Yan's preferential treatment, he promised Su Qin and returned the city of Yan.
After returning to the Yan Kingdom, Su Qin was again rewarded by the King of Yan. This caused some jealous people to say a lot of bad things about him in front of King Yan. Su Qin saw that he was not safe in the Yan kingdom, so he pretended to offend the King of Yan and fled to the state of Qi.
At that time, King Xuan of Qi had died and King Xiang succeeded to the throne, and Su Qin persuaded King Min to make the funeral extravagant and solemn, and to build a large number of civil works to show his filial piety, in fact, Su Qin intended to make the State of Qi ruined, thus benefiting the State of Yan. King Yan Yi died. Yan Yu ascended the throne as the monarch. Many of the Qi masters competed with Su Qin for the favor of the monarch, so they sent someone to assassinate Su Qin, who did not die at that time, but fled with a fatal wound. King Qi sent men to arrest the murderer, but was not caught. Before Su Qin died, he said to the king, "After I die, please show me five horses in the street market where the population is concentrated, and declare that 'Su Qin is plotting rebellion in the country of Qi for the sake of the Yan kingdom', and by doing so, the murderer who assassinated me will definitely be caught!" King Qi did as he wished, and the murderer did appear. In this way, a generation of Zongheng family ended his legendary life in a tragic form.