As mentioned above, in order to contain Qiang Qin's rapid advance, Su Qin envoys provoked his classmate Zhang Yi to enter Qin. After Zhang Yi entered the Qin Dynasty, Su Qin went to South Korea without stopping to lobby King Xuan of Han Dynasty.
South Korea is a small country, sandwiched between large countries such as Qin, Chu, Zheng and Wei. The reason why it did not perish is because it has a military advantage. South Korea has a small geographical area, not fertile soil, and a small population, but almost all the people are soldiers and are good at making weapons.
Almost all bows and arrows in the world are made in Korea. A strong crossbow made in Korea, with a range of more than 600 steps. Within 600 steps, the Korean army's arrows could penetrate the enemy's armor and shoot through the chest, because the Korean army used foot-operated crossbows to shoot arrows.
Those who have watched Zhang Yimou's "Hero" must remember that when the Qin army attacked Zhao, they first attacked with arrows. The Qin army's flying arrows were as dense as a plague of locusts in May. More importantly, they could penetrate clouds and crack rocks, and were very lethal.
The power of the Korean army's strong bows and crossbows is just like the power of the Qin army in the movie. Li Qiao of the Tang Dynasty wrote a five-rhymed poem called "Crossbow", describing Su Qin's use of the Korean army's advantage in crossbows to lobby South Korea:
The emperor is of great quality, and his power spreads far and wide.
The machine is frightened by pheasants, and the jade color shines like stars.
The high bird's flight should be completed, and the clear ape can only sit and see the injury.
Su Qin marched six hundred steps, and with this he spoke to the king of Han.
During the Warring States Period, South Korea was an arsenal in the Central Plains. It was famous for its strong bows and crossbows, and its forged swords were also famous for their sharpness. "Historical Records" records that the Korean army's sword "cut off cattle and horses on land, swans and wild geese on water, cut through armor and iron curtains when facing the enemy, cut leather and fur, and were all equipped with it."
This means that the Korean army's sword is very sharp, and it can easily cut down cattle and horses on land, and easily kill swans and wild geese on water. If you go into battle and face the enemy, you will cut off the enemy's armor and iron clothes like mud. They can be as large as shields and armbands, or as small as the wires tied to the shields. No Korean sword can cut them continuously. In a word, the Korean sword cuts iron like clay and is the sharpest in the world.
South Korea has the best bows and crossbows in the world, the sharpest swords in the world, and the soldiers are extremely brave. Su Qin felt sad that King Xuan of Han was willing to serve Qin.
Qin is very greedy. If South Korea serves Qin, Qin will definitely take Yiyang and Chenggao by force. And if South Korea cedes land, Qin will definitely not give up.
Year after year, South Korea's land became less and less, but Qin's greed became greater and greater. If South Korea cannot withstand the oppression of Qin and suddenly stops ceding land to Qin, South Korea will lose the benefits of ceding land to please Qin and suffer disaster.
Su Qin's analysis was reasonable, and King Han Xuan felt angry.
Land is limited, but greed is infinite. Using limited land to serve endless greed is called using money to buy resentment and entangle disaster. As the saying goes, "I would rather have a chicken head than a phoenix tail." Su Qin advised King Xuan of Han to think carefully about the future. Su Qin analyzed this and King Han Xuan regretted the decision he had made.
Although King Xuan of Han had no strategy, he was very brave. After being enlightened by Su Qin, his expression changed drastically. He rolled up his sleeves, pressed his sword with his right hand, and sighed. He vowed never to serve Qin. At the same time, he expressed his willingness to participate in the alliance and entrust the country to Su Qin.
After leaving South Korea, Su Qin came to Wei State, which was beaten to a mess by Qin State. Under the threat of force from the Qin army, the Wei state not only claimed to be a vassal of the Qin state, but also built a palace for the Qin state, accepted Qin's enfeoffment, adopted the Qin state's crown and uniform style, and paid tribute and sacrifices on time in the spring and autumn. Even the Emperor of Zhou had never enjoyed such service from Wei, which shows how tyrannical Qin is.
The State of Wei was indeed vulnerable to a blow from the State of Qin. Su Qin could not tell lies with his eyes open, but gave some examples to King Wei Xiang of defeating more with less and defeating violence with kindness.
King Gou Jian of Yue was so brave that he only needed 3,000 exhausted soldiers to capture the arrogant Wu King Fu Cha alive; King Wu of Zhou only had 3,000 soldiers and 300 broken chariots, and was able to subdue the tyrant Shang Zhou in Muye. What Su Qin means is that victory or defeat in war depends not only on strength, but also on leveraging strengths and avoiding weaknesses and giving full play to one's power.
He quoted a sentence in "Book of Zhou" that if the grass and trees have just grown buds, if they are not cut off in time, when the buds grow into thick branches, they must be chopped off with an axe. Su Qin advised the Wei State to consider the future as soon as possible instead of listening to the deception of the Lian Heng family and taking it one step at a time, because those who advocated Lian Heng would not hesitate to harm the national interest for their own personal gain.
After some thought, King Wei Xiang agreed to participate in the alliance.
Throughout the history of Wei, after losing Shang Yang, Wei was completely reduced to a second-rate country. The king of Wei vacillated between the threat of force from Qin and his own national interests. When the Qin State was forced and urgent, he participated in the alliance, and when the Qin State was lax, he joined the alliance, and he was inconsistent.
Starting from the state of Wei, Su Qin traveled eastward to the great eastern country of Qi. The State of Qi is far away from the State of Qin, and there are several countries in between. It has not been actually harmed or threatened by the State of Qin. Moreover, Qi State has a unique geographical location with Taishan Mountain in the south, Langye Mountain in the east, Qinghe River in the west, and Bohai Sea in the north. There were few wars, and the people of Qi were devoted to production, so they were rich in products and had enough food for their families.
In Linzi, the capital of the State of Qi, there was a large population, and the people raised their sleeves like clouds and sweated like rain. The State of Qi participated in several battles, but none of the national troops were mobilized for the war. For example, the people south of Mount Tai and in the Qinghe area had never heard of joining the army.
Despite its strong strength and superior geographical environment, Qi State also served Qin State, and Su Qin was ashamed of it.
Compare Han and Wei with Qi. Han and Wei serve Qin because they border on Qin. If Han and Wei are disobedient and the Qin army launches, even if Han and Wei win, they will have been damaged by the war and will be unable to resist the robbery of other countries. If Qin wins, Han and Wei will be in danger of subjugation. The possibility of this situation is extremely high, just because Qin is strong.
Compared with Han and Wei, Qi had a great advantage. First of all, Qi State is far away from Qin State, with several countries in between, so Qin State does not dare to attack rashly; secondly, even if Qin State attacks Qi State, Qin State may not win, because Qi State is not weak and is ready to work. ; Finally, even if Qin wins, it may not be able to occupy Qi's land because it is inconvenient to control Qi across other countries.
Su Qin believed that the reason why Qi State served Qin State was not because it was threatened by Qin State, nor because Qi State was incompetent, but because of lack of information and improper strategic methods. Hearing that the strategy was wrong, King Xuan of Qi agreed with Su Qin's point of view, saying that he lived in the east, was ignorant and ignorant of the current situation, and was willing to follow Su Qin's orders throughout the country.
After persuading the State of Qi, Su Qin's next target was the State of Chu. At this time, the king of the State of Chu was King Chu Wei.
The Chu State is a very strange country. If it meets a wise king, the Chu State will be very powerful and can even compete with the Qin State; if the king is incompetent, the Chu State will be a paper tiger, only superficial, strong on the outside but weak on the inside. There was a popular saying at that time that if you want to dominate the world, you must have Chu if you have Qin. This means that although there are many vassal states, there are only two countries that can dominate the world. If it is not Qin, it must be Chu. The Chu State is a powerful country. The key lies in whether the monarch can mobilize the country's combat effectiveness and stimulate the fighting spirit of the army.
Faced with such a country with great potential, Su Qinxian pointed out that Chu State has a vast territory, rich resources, and strong military strength. Except for Qin State, other countries only followed Chu State's lead. However, one mountain cannot accommodate two tigers, and one world cannot accommodate Qin and Chu at the same time. If Qin's power increases, Chu will inevitably be weakened; conversely, if Chu's power increases, Qin will inevitably be weakened.
The balance of power between Chu and Qin was very subtle. Su Qin suggested that King Chu Wei pay attention, plan things before they happen, and make decisions before disaster occurs. If he can't threaten, Su Qin will seduce him with benefits. He promised that if King Wei of Chu listened to his advice, other vassal states would pay tribute to Chu on time and the whole country would follow Chu's advice. Su Qin tempted him with interests, but King Chu Wei was unmoved because what he really cared about was the threat Qin posed to Chu.
Everyone knows that Qin has the ambition to annex the world. After capturing Ba and Shu, the Qin State has deeply threatened the safety of the Chu State. Small countries such as Han and Wei were often bullied by Qin and eventually became dependent on Qin. Chu could not discuss major matters with them because they might leak them to Qin. Once the plan is exposed, big things will not be accomplished, and you will suffer the consequences.
Thinking about it day and night, King Wei of Chu wanted to find a helper to advise him and jointly fight against Qin. Most of the courtiers believed that Lian Heng could not be trusted. For the sake of the national interests, King Chu Wei thought hard all day long and was not satisfied with his food.
After lobbying most of China, it was not until Chu that Su Qin met a country that was truly united, which was both gratifying and sad. It's gratifying because I have a career confidant in my life; it's sad because few countries that cooperate with each other are truly sincere.
The great cause of unification was Su Qin's main achievement. After leaving his hometown, he first went to the State of Zhao, but was rejected by the State of Zhao. The Yan State in the north was the starting point of Su and Qin's joint career. Immediately afterwards, Su Qin went south and passed through Zhao, Wei, and South Korea. Then it went eastward from South Korea, entered Qi State, and finally went south to Chu State.
After a lot of hard work, Su Qin finally wore the seal of the Six Kingdoms and became the "alliance leader" of the United Kingdom.
