Chapter 11 Vertical and Horizontal
After the Shang martingale changed the law, the national strength of the Qin state became stronger and stronger. This caused panic in the other six countries. Some people suggest that the six countries form an alliance to unite against the Qin, a strategy called "hezhong". Others advocate drawing countries closer to the Qin state and attacking other countries, a tactic called "lianheng."
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"Three Inches of Uncorrupted Tongue"
Among these people, the most famous Zongheng in Chinese history was born, the most famous of which were Zhang Yi, who advocated "Lianheng", and Su Qin, who advocated "hezhong".
Su Qin was born in Luoyang, the capital of the Zhou Dynasty at the time. He wanted to make a difference, and once asked to see Zhou Tianzi, but he did not introduce the way, and in a fit of anger, he sold his family property to find a way to other countries. But he ran around for several years and did not become an official.
Later, the money ran out, the clothes were torn, and I had to go home. When the family saw him wearing straw shoes, carrying a broken burden and a depressed look, they were very cold to him and looked down on him. He was determined to do something big, so he studied hard.
It is said that when he was studying at night, he tied his hair with a belt and tied it to the beam of the room, and as soon as he dozed off, planted his head downwards, and scratched his scalp, he woke up. This is what people later called "head overhang, cone thorn strand". After more than a year, his knowledge was much richer than before.
After the death of Duke Xiao of Qin, his son King Huiwen of Qin took power and continued to expand his power, causing panic in the Six Kingdoms. There are some politicians who help the Six Kingdoms come up with ideas, advocating that the Six Kingdoms form an alliance and unite against Qin, and Su Qin is one of them. In 334 BC, he began lobbying in the Six Kingdoms to propagate the idea of "unity", and he succeeded. The following year, the princes of the Six Kingdoms formed an alliance of "Unity and Vertical". Su Qin hung the seal of the Six Kingdoms and became a prominent figure.
Su Qin later moved to the Qin State, and with three inches of incorruptible tongue, he gained qin Huiwen's trust and became the Xiangguo of the Qin State. No wonder, Su Qin often boasted: "As long as the tongue, there is still a day to emerge." The Wei state of Zhang Yi's proposition was that "Lian Heng" bid farewell to his teacher after completing his studies and went to the princely states to lobby.
At this time, the six countries were organizing a "joint column". Among the six countries, Qi and The two countries were great powers, and Zhang Yi believed that in order to implement "continuous horizontalism", it was necessary to break up the alliance between the State of Qi and Chu. Therefore, he offered a plan to King Huiwen of Qin and was sent to Chu.
"Zhang Yi's Envoy to the Chu Kingdom"
Arriving in the Chu Kingdom, Zhang Yi first took a valuable gift and gave it to Jin Shang, a favorite of King Huai of Chu, to see King Huai of Chu. When King Huai of Chu heard that Zhang Yi was very famous, he received him seriously and asked him for advice. After seeing King Huai of Chu, Zhang Yi said, "The King of Qin sent me to make peace with your country. If the great king could break off diplomatic relations with the state of Qi, the king of Qin would not only be willing to reconcile with your country forever, but also willing to dedicate 600 miles of land around Shang and Yu (southwest of present-day Huaichuan County, Henan) to your country. King Huai of Chu was completely confused, and when Zhang Yi said this, he immediately agreed.
The chu chancellor Chen Yi knew that Zhang Yi was not at ease, so he said to king Huai of Chu: "Because the Chu state has the state of Qi as its ally, the state of Qin does not dare to bully. If the great king broke off relations with the State of Qi, it would be strange that the State of Qin did not come to bully the State of Chu. If the State of Qin is really willing to give up the land to us, the King can wait for the land to arrive, and then it is not too late to break off relations with the State of Qi. But where the King of Chu Huai could listen, just thinking that he would get the land, he simply followed Zhang Yi's advice and broke off relations with the State of Qi.
Will the Qin State give land to the Chu State? After the emissaries of the State of Chu arrived in the State of Qin, Zhang Yi turned his face and refused to admit it: "When did I say that I would give you 600 miles of land?" I'm talking about 6 miles.
If you want it, get it yourself. King Huai of Chu knew that he had been deceived and should not easily believe the Qin State. He finally couldn't bear it anymore and immediately sent 100,000 troops to attack the country. After King Huiwen of Qin received the news, he also prepared 100,000 elite soldiers to go to the battle, and returned the State of Qi to assist in the battle. Before this, King Xuan of Qi heard that the State of Chu had broken off relations with him, and immediately sent envoys to see King Huiwen of Qin and asked him to attack the State of Chu together. In this way, Chu Huai could bear it. As a result, the Chu state was defeated.
The army of 100,000 horses and horses was finally only 20,000 or 30,000, and even 600 miles of land was taken by the Qin state. King Huai of Chu had no choice but to swallow his anger and ask the State of Qin for peace, and the State of Chu declined from weakness. Zhang Yi used deceptive means to subdue the State of Chu, and then went to the State of Qi, the State of Guo, and the State of Yan successively, to persuade the princes to "lianheng" to be pro-Qin. In this way, the alliance of "hezhong" was finally broken up by Zhang Yi, laying the foundation for the unification of China by the Qin state.
Historical Archives
Warring States house
The Zonghengjia arose in the late Warring States period, and in addition to force, the masses needed to launch diplomatic and political offensives. The Zongheng masters do not specialize in one proposition or point of view, but determine its trade-offs according to actual needs, so they suddenly use Confucianism and suddenly use Tao, constituting the so-called one vertical and one horizontal. In the Western Han Dynasty, the theory of vertical and horizontal was called "long and short theory", and the long and short theories and the vertical and horizontal theories had the same meaning, which were all a way for the vertical and horizontal people to persuade each other from different angles with different viewpoints. In the late Warring States period, because qin was strong and the six countries were weak, some people called the strategy of proposing the six countries to jointly resist Qin as "joint vertical", and to win over various countries to cooperate with Qin and attack other countries was "lianheng".