"Aren't Gongsun Yan and Zhang Yi not honest men? When they are angry, the princes will be afraid, and when they live in peace, the world will be destroyed." The Strategist family shined in the late Warring States period. During their activities, the situation in the Warring State

" Gongsun Yan and Zhang Yi are not honest men? When they are angry, the princes are afraid, and when they live in peace, the world is destroyed."

The strategist shined in the late Warring States period . During their activities, the situation in the Warring States period changed rapidly. , who were allies before, suddenly became enemies again. All of this is the work of the political strategists. So, how did they use their sharp tongue to make the vassal states conquer or form alliances with each other?

"East and west are horizontal, and north and south are vertical." During the Warring States Period, the alliance transformation between countries was called " combined vertically and horizontally".

Legend has it that Zhang Yi advocates horizontal , Su Qin advocates vertical integration. Both of them are disciples of Guiguzi. As rivals, the brothers are very dramatic, and because their levels are equal, the fight is quite interesting.

But there is another theory : According to the "Warring States Strategist's Letters from the Warring States" silk book unearthed from the Mawangdui Han Tomb , Su Qin died in 284 BC, Zhang Yi died in 310 BC, and Su Qin died 26 years later than Zhang Yi. . Based on the research of this book, some scholars believe that Zhang Yi was in the front and Su Qin was in the back. When Zhang Yi was the prime minister in the Qin Kingdom, he was the prime minister. Su Qin was still a young man who had not entered the political arena and had never interacted with Zhang Yi at all. Zhang Yi's real opponent is Gongsun Yan, and Gongsun Yan is the initiator of the synergistic strategy.

Let’s take a look first, the wonderful rivalry between Zhang Yi and Gongsun Yan, and appreciate the style of the strategists!

At first, Zhang Yi and Gongsun Yan were in the Qin State. They were colleagues. However, in terms of rank, Zhang Yi was just a guest minister, while Gongsun Yan had already reached Daliang Zao, which was the highest title in the Qin State. He had hoped to become the next successor of the Qin State. Xiangbang, in the end, Zhang Yi inserted a stick and grabbed it.

Gongsun Yan was born in the Kingdom of Wei , and later went to the Kingdom of Qin to join the army. Due to his outstanding military achievements, he was gradually promoted to a general, and participated in the Hexi battle between Qin and Wei. In 333 BC, Gongsun Yan led his army to attack the state of Wei. The state of Wei could not withstand the attack of the Qin army and had to cede territory and seek peace. After that, Gongsun Yan continued to attack the Hexi fortress, captured Wei's famous general Long Jia, and beheaded 80,000 people. The Qin army completely occupied the Hexi land, and Wei had no power to resist.

Gongsun Yan relied on his outstanding military exploits in the Battle of Diaoyin to obtain the highest title in the Qin State - Daliang Zao , reaching the peak of his military career.

At this time, King Huiwen of Wei sent a large sum of money to bribe Gongsun Yan, hoping that he could persuade King Huiwen of Qin to stop attacking Wei and get a chance to breathe. So Gongsun Yan proposed to take advantage of the reconciliation between Qin and Wei to attack other countries.

At this time, Zhang Yi jumped out to object and gave King Qin Huiwen a good analysis of the situation: Wei was surrounded by enemies on all sides, and it was a good opportunity to attack Wei. Gongsun Yan cared about personal gain and neglected justice, and allowed Qin to attack the nomadic people in the west, which was a mistake for the country. Wei has the foundation of being a hegemon. If it slows down and attacks Qin with all its strength, Qin will probably be difficult to deal with.

After weighing the different routes of Gongsun Yan and Zhang Yi, King Qin Huiwen appointed Zhang Yi as the new prime minister. Gongsun Yan left in frustration and defected to Wei.

King Hui of Wei Although he was beaten badly by Gongsun Yan, during the Warring States Period, talents were valued most and he welcomed Gongsun Yan's arrival. He immediately appointed Gongsun Yan as the chief rhinoceros of the Wei state and ordered him to command the Wei army.

At this time, Wei State had been riddled with holes and its national power was declining. Gongsun Yan then adopted a joint strategy. He first found Tian Jin, a famous general of the Qi State, and mobilized him to attack the Zhao State. He also said that as long as he sent 50,000 troops, he could quickly defeat the Zhao State. Tian Jin believed that Zhao Guo could be defeated quickly. The country is not that weak, and 50,000 people will definitely not be able to attack it. Gongsun Yan persuaded, if it is too difficult, the monarch of Qi will not agree. Let’s make it simple first. Once troops are sent, if there is danger, the monarchs of the two countries will definitely continue. Send troops to support. As expected, Zhao was defeated. Gongsun Yan made his first contribution to the Wei State, which proved his strength and proved that the joint strategy could be successful.

Qin and Zhang Yi felt threatened. Although Wei's target this time was not Qin, in order to prevent the Wei-Qi alliance from regaining its strength, they still had to destroy it in its infancy, so Zhang Yi used both soft and hard tactics to destroy the alliance between Wei, Qi and Chu. , by attacking the State of Wei and wooing the State of Qi and the State of Chu , the first vertical alliance was shattered.

Under this situation, Gongsun Yan and Wei Xiang Huishi began to win over the four kingdoms of Han, Zhao, Yan, Zhongshan , and initiated the famous "Five Kingdoms Prime Minister" event in history. Five Kingdoms Prime Minister , that is, the vassal states recognize each other's monarch's throne. Who knew that this move would arouse the dissatisfaction of Qi and Chu, and Wei would just call it Wei. If a small country like Yan and Zhongshan dared to call themselves king, then this king would be too worthless, and Qin would continue to be as destructive as ever. Therefore, this joint alliance has no practical significance other than marking the complete disappearance of the authority of the King of Zhou.

After the failure of this vertical alliance, Wei State completely fell to Qin State and joined the Lianheng Alliance. Wei Prime Minister Hui Shi, who advocated vertical alliance, was dismissed. Wei State invited Zhang Yi to serve as Wei Prime Minister.

After Zhang Yi became the prime minister of Wei, Qin used Wei and Korea to attack Qi. King Wei of Qi sent troops to fight, resisted tenaciously, and defeated the Qin army.

This defeat of Qin State caused a setback to Zhang Yi's strategy of connecting horizontal lines. The forces advocating pro-Qi in Wei State once again reared their head. Qi and Chu demanded Zhang Yi's expulsion, and Wei also sent envoys to Chu, Zhao, Yan and other countries to lobby for cooperation. As a result, Gongsun Yan, the rhinoceros leader who advocated the alliance, was welcomed as the prime minister, while Zhang Yi was expelled back to Qin .

After Gongsun Yan became the prime minister of Wei, he visited Zhao, South Korea, Yan, and Chu successively, lobbying these countries to unite with Wei to fight against Qin. After getting the approval of all the countries, the alliance was once again formed with the goal of resisting Qin and with King Huai of Chu as the chief. Gongsun Yan persuaded the princes to organize troops from the five countries of Wei, Zhao, Han, Yan, and Chu, and jointly sent troops to attack Qin.

This was a successful merger and the pinnacle of Gongsun Yan's personal prestige.

Unfortunately, due to the disparity in strength and the different interests of each country, the monarchs of each country had their own plans. Only Han, Zhao, and Wei actually sent troops to attack Qin. The allied forces arrived outside Hangu Pass with great momentum, but were defeated in one battle. , Wei, as the main force, once again suffered heavy losses and had no choice but to seek peace.

The alliance failed again, and Gongsun Yan also lost the trust of King Wei . Later, when he arrived in South Korea, he secretly organized the alliance again. As a result, the Qin army directly attacked South Korea. No one from the allies dared to support him. South Korea was defeated and Gongsun Yan escaped.

Zhang Yi and Gongsun Yan, as representatives of political strategists in the late Warring States Period, fell in love and killed each other for many years. I personally think that Gongsun Yan's diplomatic ability is not inferior to Zhang Yi's, and his military ability is far superior to Zhang Yi's. If he had not accepted the bribe from King Wei and stopped attacking Wei, thus losing the trust of King Qin, given his status and achievements, Zhang Yi might not have had anything to do.

Of course, history has no ifs. It is because of dramatic turns that history is so exciting.