As a member of the Lian Heng family, Zhang Yi's biggest advantage is that he can make the king listen to his words with his extraordinary eloquence. While Zhang Yi was busy among various countries, Su Qin also lobbied the princes and princes to unite and jointly resist the powerful Qin. Compared with Lianheng, Hezong has progressed more rapidly and achieved remarkable results.
Brothers from the same sect, one advocated alliance and the other advocated alliance. The two inevitably competed with each other. From a feasibility perspective, Zhang Yi's Lian Heng is relatively easy. Because the Qin State is powerful, both big and small countries want to rely on the powerful country. After all, it is easy to enjoy the shade under the big tree.
However, it is difficult to implement vertical integration. First of all, there is enmity between the cooperating countries. Enemies are extremely jealous when they meet each other. No one can guarantee that the other person will not do anything to hurt themselves, and they always have a strong sense of defensiveness psychologically. Cooperation is like military warfare. You need to trust the other party and even trust the other party with your own life and death. Not only do the cooperating countries not trust each other, they even guard against each other. They are basically in harmony with each other.
Secondly, for the sake of self-interest, some people often betray the alliance and secretly make friends with Qin Dynasty. Within a group, if there is no certain degree of trust as a link between each other, the group is a mob. From a long-term perspective, the alliance is just a ragtag group of people, because the kings of the countries trust only Su Qin, not the vassal states that cooperate with it.
It is no lie that one person can support a country. Su Qin supported the Hezong Alliance. Su Qin is like a thread that connects all the countries together, making them become grasshoppers on a thread. However, if the Su-Qin thread is broken, the unified countries will become a ball of scattered sand again.
Seizing the shortcomings of the United States' weak aspirations and lack of trust in each other, Zhang Yi concentrated his main efforts on attacking the most vulnerable country. Establishing a joint vertical alliance is like building an iron chain. Every link represented by each country must be strong.
If one link is not done properly, the chain will break. All Zhang Yi needs to do is to break one link in the Hezong iron chain. Therefore, his job is easier than Su Qin.
Looking at the world, Wei is the weakest link in the chain of alliances, so Zhang Yi decided to go to Wei as an envoy. Zhang Yi made this decision for three major reasons:
First, Wei is a declining big country. It has been repeatedly invaded by Qin and is unable to defend itself;
Second, when Wei was invaded by Qin, other cooperating countries did not send troops to rescue them. This made the isolated Wei feel deeply unfair;
Third, Zhang Yi treated Wei both softly and hard. He was familiar with the people of Wei and knew the king of Wei very well.
After resigning as the Prime Minister of Qin, Zhang Yi went to lobby the State of Wei, persuading it to break away from the alliance and join the Qin Dynasty. Zhang Yi thought it would be easy to convince Wei Guo, but it turned out not to be the case. Although Qin suffered many defeats and even faced the danger of national subjugation, Wei's attitude was still very tough.
The reason why Wei State can be so tough is firstly because of resentment, and secondly because it has a backer. The Wei State was repeatedly invaded by the Qin State, and its resentment was deep. In addition, King Wei has rejoined Hezong, and the current Hezong is no longer the former Hezong. The glory of Wei is gone, and its strength is far inferior to its former glory. King Wei Hui's hatred of Qin has not weakened as the country's power has weakened.
If the problem cannot be solved through peaceful negotiation, it will be solved by force. King Hui of Wei refused to drink Zhang Yi's toast, so King Hui of Qin sent him a fine wine and sent troops to attack Quwo (now northeast of Lingbao, Henan) and Heping Zhou (now west of Jiexiu, Shanxi).
As a result, the Wei state was still vulnerable, and the Qin army returned with a great victory. After the capture of Quwo and the Ping Zhou Dynasty, the King of Qin treated Zhang Yi extremely favorably.
If Zhang Yi had not sent Wei as an envoy to interfere with the Wei people's sight, Wei would not have been defeated so easily. Therefore, the King of Qin treated Zhang Yi favorably. The failure to lobby the King of Wei made the King of Qin furious and sent troops, consuming the country's savings and receiving salary for nothing. Zhang Yi felt guilty and embarrassed to return to Qin, so he continued to stay in Wei.
In a country with an imperfect system, if the old monarch dies suddenly, civil strife may occur. If King Hui of Wei dies and civil strife breaks out in Wei, Zhang Yi can be in the middle to plan Wei's attachment to Qin. Even if there is no civil strife in Wei, the person who succeeds will be a new king. Xinjun lacks social experience, so Zhang Yi can give full play to his advantages.
The old Wei King was stubborn and disobedient, so Zhang Yi had no choice but to take advantage of the new Wei King. Four years later, the old King Wei died as expected, and the new King Wei succeeded to the throne, known as King Ai of Wei. King Ai of Wei is not an economical person. Although King Ai of Wei was young and vigorous, he was not without any brains, so he was not deceived by Zhang Yi's plan.
Four years of precious time were gone forever, and the lobbying still yielded no results. Zhang Yi was furious. Since lobbying failed, he began to secretly plan Qin to attack Wei.
King Hui of Wei did not attack Qin when he was in power, and King Ai of Wei still could not defeat Qin. When the Qin and Wei armies met, the soldiers participating in the battle may not be the same, but the outcome of the war was the same, that is, Wei would only be beaten.
Since the death of Pang Juan, the state of Wei has been in decline and has been oppressed by Qin and Qi one after another. There is a strong Qi in the east and a fierce Qin in the west. The Wei state is suffering from both sides. Two powerful countries attacked Wei State, just like two mountains pressing down on Wei State. Wei State was unable to resist, and was beaten anyway. If you fall behind, you will be beaten. This is a wise saying. In the chaotic Warring States period, this sentence was even regarded as a golden rule.
One year after being defeated by Qin, Wei then suffered a major defeat at Guanjin (now Qingfengnan, Henan). The huge Wei State was in danger as its land was being cut off day by day.
Under Qin's successive blows, Wei's decline became faster and faster.
The state of Wei declined, and all countries, big and small, wanted to take advantage of it, and Qin even wanted to annex it. But South Korea, which borders Wei, began to worry about the problem of lips and teeth being cold. So when the powerful Qin forced Wei to a desperate end, South Korea stepped forward and tried its best to help Wei out of the siege. Qin wanted to send troops to attack Wei, but the small South Korea dared to jump out and interfere. The King of Qin was furious, so he sent troops to attack South Korea. As a result, the Qin and Korean armies met. The Korean army was weak and vulnerable, and more than 80,000 people were killed by the Qin army.
Qin killed more than 80,000 Korean troops in one fell swoop. The princes were very frightened and were even more afraid of Qin.
In ancient wars, manpower was very important, and it was rare to kill 80,000 enemies. Qin broke the old rules and went on a killing spree, and the kings of other countries began to be frightened.
The Qin army did not hesitate to kill the prisoners and put on a good show of killing chickens to scare the monkeys, in order to further strengthen their prestige. Zhang Yi seized the opportunity to lobby Wei King Ai again.
The land of Wei State is less than a thousand miles away, and its army is only 300,000. The terrain is flat and open, and it is sandwiched between other countries, like the center of an axle. If Wei, like Qin, is so powerful that it dares to fight anyone it wants, its geographical location will be very advantageous because it can expand its territory in all directions.
Wei has the powerful Chu State to the south, South Korea with ulterior motives to the west, the greedy Zhao State to the north, and the covetous Qi State to the east. Just guarding the border requires no less than 100,000 troops, which is hugely expensive and difficult for Wei to support. These big countries are like big feet. If one foot steps on the Wei State once, the Wei State will be seriously injured even if it is not dead.
What makes the people of Wei even more miserable is that there are no dangerous mountains and rivers around the capital of Wei as a barrier. It was only more than two hundred miles from Xinzheng, the capital of South Korea (today's Xinzheng, Henan Province) to Daliang. The road was very flat. The enemy's chariots suddenly arrived, which was very dangerous.
After analyzing the geographical location, Zhang Yi began to analyze Wei's interests and disadvantages. Zhang Yi said that Wei State is a battleground for military strategists and is a natural battlefield. When the Wei State interacts with neighboring countries, it is impossible to treat them equally for the sake of their own interests, and there will inevitably be a phenomenon of preferring one to the other.
If Wei State has good relations with Chu State in the south and ignores Qi State in the east, Qi State will inevitably invade the eastern part of Wei State without being angry; if Wei State tries its best to make friends with Qi State and gives all the benefits to Qi State, Zhao will be left out in the cold. If Wei sincerely makes good relations with Chu, Qi and Zhao and ignores South Korea in the west, South Korea will inevitably attack the west of Wei.
A country sandwiched between several countries is like sitting among thorns. If the state of Wei is still the state of Wei before, these thorns cannot hurt it. But now, Qin has torn Wei's armor to pieces, and Wei is now touching the thorns of the surrounding countries with its skin.
The state of Wei relied on the alliance, so Zhang Yi took action under the hood and analyzed the pros and cons of the alliance strategy. Zhang Yi said that all countries agreed to unite for only one purpose, which was to make the country peaceful, the people rich, the army strong, the monarch respected, and the reputation revealed. The countries united and made a blood oath, became like father, brother, and brother, and swore not to invade each other. These are just forms, all imaginary and unrealistic.
Hezong is only an ideal, but it cannot replace reality. Zhang Yi gave an example. Even if they were brothers born to the same parents, there were cases where they fought to death for money. What's more, all the countries in the alliance coveted other countries' lands and tried to dominate the world.
The kings who participated in the alliance had their own agendas, and the continuation of the alliance strategy was all due to Su Qin's mediation. Zhang Yi pointed out the pros and cons, and King Wei Ai was very frightened and didn't know what to do for a while. Seeing that King Ai of Wei was half afraid and half hesitant, Zhang Yi took a big step forward and tempted King Ai of Wei to serve Qin. The Qin State is the strongest, and all small and weak countries want to hide under this big tree to avoid rain and sun. However, in fact, Qin State's ambitions are even greater, and the princes are worried about attracting wolves into their homes.
In the whole world, Qin is the strongest, and no princes dare not listen to Qin's words. If the princes dare to go against Qin's will, Qin will use force to solve the problem.
If Wei did not serve Qin, Qin would immediately send its troops east across the Yellow River and occupy Wei's Juan (now northwest of Yuanyang, Henan), Yan (now north of Zhengzhou, Henan), Yan (now northeast of Yanjin, Henan), and Suizao (Northeast of today's Yanjin, Henan). Today's southwest of Yanjin, Henan) and other places, captured Wei's Yangjin (now west of Yu Township, Shanxi).
Once Yang Jin is controlled by Qin, Zhao's army will be cut off and will inevitably be unable to go south to rescue. At the same time, Wei will not be able to retreat north. The advantage of the alliance will be destroyed, and Wei will be immediately isolated by Qin. South Korea will be vulnerable and will inevitably surrender under the threat of Qin. Once South Korea surrenders to Qin, the Qin and Han armies jointly attack Wei, and Wei's demise is just around the corner.
Zhang Yi talked for a long time, and it turned out that Qin State was the greatest threat to Wei State, and King Ai of Wei was frightened out of his mind. In order to alleviate King Ai of Wei's fear, Zhang Yi said that although Qin posed a great threat to Wei, he did not want to harm Wei because his target was Chu.
Among the countries, only Wei is the most convenient to invade Chu, so Qin is very eager to make friends with Wei. The Chu State is a paper tiger. Its wealth and power are all false, and it is actually vulnerable because the Chu army is undisciplined and a mob.
The most powerful Qin State wanted to invade Chu State, while the deeply threatened Wei State was the most convenient to weaken Chu State. For its own safety, Wei should harm Chu for Qin and pass on the disaster. If Wei does not act immediately, once the Qin army advances eastward, what awaits Wei will be destruction.
Although the Qin State is powerful, since the Wei State participated in the alliance, the Qin State did not dare to attack the Wei State easily.
King Wei Ai believed in Su Qin's art of unification, so he would not easily accept Zhang Yi's point of view. Seeing this, in order to persuade King Ai of Wei, Zhang Yi had to harm the Hezong family.
