Zheng Guo was discovered as a spy. The Qin State rulers dealt with it appropriately, but it still caused an uproar against outsiders.
The clan and ministers of the Qin State came to King Qin Ying Zheng one after another and said: "Most of the people from the vassal states lobby for their masters and act as spies. Please drive them all away." The King of Qin was shocked by what happened to Zheng Guo. Yu agreed with them. The tourists living in Xianyang packed their bags one after another, panicked, and prepared to leave Qin.
Among the people who were deported, there was a man named Li Si. ...However, he was not willing to be at the mercy of fate. He wanted to fight, so he carefully crafted an article that could impress King Qin Yingzheng. This is the "Book of Remonstrances and Guests" that has been passed down to later generations with excellent writing style.
In the "Book of Remonstrance and Expulsion", Li Si listed the contributions made by the travelers to the Qin State to the King of Qin, and explained the benefits and losses, which showed that he had a very deep understanding of the current situation and the status of the travelers as a class. . King Qin Yingzheng was so moved that he ordered his life to be withdrawn. The King of Qin's ability to follow his advice was indeed a wise move that affected whether Qin could complete its great cause of unification. Qin was able to continue its unification war to annex the princes with the support of talents gathered from various countries. The reason why King Qin Yingzheng listened to Li Si's advice was not only his magnanimity and the power of Li Si's articles, but also another reason. That was in King Qin's memory, this extremely talented man once proposed a very innovative spy strategy to him.
Li Si’s espionage strategy mainly includes the following contents:
1. Taking advantage of the fact that the Qin State was much stronger than the vassal states, they stepped up their actions to prevent them from forming a "coordinated" trend again. Otherwise, "Although there is Huangdi's sage, they cannot be united." This is the common goal of the military and espionage strategies proposed by Li Si.
2． The main targets of espionage strategy are ministers of various countries, interfering with the enemy's strategic decision-making.
3． The main method is to send spies to secretly enter the vassal states with gold and silver treasures to bribe, divide and disintegrate the powerful officials and celebrities of various countries. Those who did not obey the bribe were "stabbed with a sharp sword." To alienate the enemy's monarchs and ministers, causing internal chaos and disunity, in order to achieve Qin's strategic goals.
4． "Let good generals follow", espionage activities were combined with armed attacks, and military activities relied on the conditions created by espionage activities to deliver the final blow to the vassal states.
There is another record of the proposal and formulation of this espionage strategy. Wei people Wei Liao arrived in Qin and suggested to King Yingzheng of Qin: May the king not be stingy with money and bribe the ministers in power in various countries to disrupt their decision-making. This only requires 300,000 gold, "then the princes can do it all." Wei Liao was a famous military strategist during the Warring States Period. It is not surprising that he has this knowledge. But judging from the time, Li Si Jinyan was discovered before Zheng Guo was discovered, while Wei Liao arrived in Qin State after King Qin withdrew the expulsion order. In terms of content, the two are roughly the same, but Li Si's suggestions are more complete, and Wei Liao's suggestions are more specific. This also shows that this strategy was developed to meet the needs of Qin's war to unify China. This strategy was adopted by Qin Shihuang after some thinking and was determined due to the efforts of Li Si, Wei Liao and others. Li Si was in charge of the overall situation in Qin, and Wei Liao was also in the important position of the country's captain. The two actively promoted this strategy.
The strategy of espionage and espionage has been around since before. However, the espionage strategy was formulated and implemented as a long-term national policy. Qin's espionage strategy to unify China deserves special attention. This strategy embodies the characteristics of espionage activities in that period: the main components of spies are tourists; the main method of activity is that tourists lobby the monarchs of various countries to interfere with their strategic decisions; the main targets are enemy monarchs and ministers; and they alienate their monarchs and ministers. Relations, kill the loyal and intelligent people of the enemy country. The spy war in the late Warring States period mainly manifested itself as the competition between the Qin State and the " Shandong Six Kingdoms " on a secret front. Of course, this does not rule out intrigues among the "Shandong Six Kingdoms".
In order to complete a long-term political, military and even economic strategy, there must be a matching espionage strategy. In espionage warfare, for the sake of long-term goals, there must be plans, complete strategic goals, and strategic measures to carry out activities. The emergency and over-the-top espionage work style is not allowed from a strategic perspective and is ineffective. Only by having a coordinated espionage strategy can we improve the predictability in the implementation and formulation of other strategies and eliminate obstacles in a timely manner. The same is true from the strategic development of espionage work. Espionage work with a clear strategic direction is an art and an organic whole. From the perspective of system functions, various espionage activities can fully exert their effectiveness and cooperate with each other. Otherwise; it can only be messy and inefficient. From an operational and tactical perspective, the activities of espionage warfare may have the color of "temporary coping" in a low-level sense. But it should also be carried out in the context of espionage strategy and coordinated with espionage strategy and other strategies.
The timely cooperation of military, political, diplomatic, economic and other means is the external factor that enables espionage warfare to exert its power. Only when these external factors cooperate organically and consciously with espionage activities can the work done by spies inside the enemy's territory expand the results and transform them into favorable conditions in military, political, diplomatic, economic and other aspects. The strong and timely cooperation of external factors will also create more favorable conditions for espionage activities. In this sense, espionage strategy is naturally integrated into "grand strategy" and becomes an important part of "grand strategy".
In today's world, in order to formulate and implement "grand strategy", governments of various countries have established the highest-level strategic coordination agencies such as the "National Security Council", and the head of intelligence work is an indispensable figure among them. This not only shows the status of intelligence work in the "grand strategy", but also shows the reality that the strategic formulation and implementation of intelligence work are inseparable from the "grand strategy" and must be part of it in order to function better. Espionage strategy has become an indispensable and integral part of national policy. Its formulation and implementation must be decided and coordinated at the highest level.
is excerpted from Zhao Ying's "Intrigue and Fraud - Four Thousand Years of Spies in Ancient China"
In order to complete a long-term political, military and even economic strategy, there must be a matching espionage strategy. In espionage warfare, for the sake of long-term goals, there must be plans, complete strategic goals, and strategic measures to carry out activities. The emergency and over-the-top espionage work style is not allowed from a strategic perspective and is ineffective. Only by having a coordinated espionage strategy can we improve the predictability in the implementation and formulation of other strategies and eliminate obstacles in a timely manner. The same is true from the strategic development of espionage work. Espionage work with a clear strategic direction is an art and an organic whole. From the perspective of system functions, various espionage activities can fully exert their effectiveness and cooperate with each other. Otherwise; it can only be messy and inefficient. From an operational and tactical perspective, the activities of espionage warfare may have the color of "temporary coping" in a low-level sense. But it should also be carried out in the context of espionage strategy and coordinated with espionage strategy and other strategies.
The timely cooperation of military, political, diplomatic, economic and other means is the external factor that enables espionage warfare to exert its power. Only when these external factors cooperate organically and consciously with espionage activities can the work done by spies inside the enemy's territory expand the results and transform them into favorable conditions in military, political, diplomatic, economic and other aspects. The strong and timely cooperation of external factors will also create more favorable conditions for espionage activities. In this sense, espionage strategy is naturally integrated into "grand strategy" and becomes an important part of "grand strategy".
In today's world, in order to formulate and implement "grand strategy", governments of various countries have established the highest-level strategic coordination agencies such as the "National Security Council", and the head of intelligence work is an indispensable figure among them. This not only shows the status of intelligence work in the "grand strategy", but also shows the reality that the strategic formulation and implementation of intelligence work are inseparable from the "grand strategy" and must be part of it in order to function better. Espionage strategy has become an indispensable and integral part of national policy. Its formulation and implementation must be decided and coordinated at the highest level.
is excerpted from Zhao Ying's "Intrigue and Fraud - Four Thousand Years of Spies in Ancient China"
