Fan Ju's arrival in the Qin State was exactly in line with the general trend of political and military development in the Warring States Period at that time, so he was at home in the Qin State like a fish in water. If the Qin State did not have Fan Ju, it might be a different story; or if Fan Ju was reused by other countries, such as Qi State, perhaps King Zhaoxiang of Qin would still be a weak and powerless king, let alone unable to unify the vassal states, and his power would be exhausted. Loss is unknown. Of course, history cannot be assumed. At this time, the focus of all questions is not whether Fan Ju created the Warring States at that time, or the Warring States at that time created Fan Ju, but that everything changed after Fan Ju arrived in the Qin State and was reused.
But before that, Fan Ju still needs to accept the assessment of King Qin. Just like his experience of coming to Qin State, it can be said that he was able to obtain the qualifications for the King of Qin's assessment with many twists and turns. The fundamental reason is that the King of Qin did not trust the so-called talented people. Gaining his trust is undoubtedly the most important thing for Fan Ju to do now.
It was the thirty-sixth year of King Qin Zhaoxiang, which meant that King Qin Zhaoxiang had been a king in name only for 36 years. Although he knew that he was the orthodox king, Empress Dowager Xuan was really not inferior to women. Under her leadership, the Qin State continued to grow stronger. Especially after Bai Qi led the army, the Qin army continued to attack Chu in the south, conquering the two important towns of Yan and Ying, and killed King Huai of Chu in Qin. Chu State's vitality was greatly damaged and it did not dare to fight against Qin; Although the Qi State was powerful, it was defeated steadily by the attacks of the Qin army. Even the troops of the "Three Jins" of Wei, Han, and Zhao, who once dominated the world and frightened the nine states, were defeated by the Qin army and were unable to fight back. The two kings of Wei and Han bowed their heads and obeyed the orders of Qin. The world is so big that only Zhao can barely oppose Qin militarily.
While all these signs showed the strength of the Qin State, they also indirectly proved the impregnable political power of the Queen Mother Xuan.
Although the Qin court was full of talents and enjoyed great success on the stage of the Warring States Period, the "Four Nobles", namely Jingyang Lord, Huayang Lord, Gaoling Lord and Wei Ran, were in power, and there was a lot of internal turmoil. In order to dominate the government and dominate the government, they repeatedly attacked those who disagreed with them. Even the cronies of King Qin Zhaoxiang were in danger.
In order to reduce friction with Empress Dowager Xuan and others and avoid political turmoil in the Qin State, King Qin Zhaoxiang decided to keep a low profile and accumulate power. Therefore, King Qin Zhaoxiang stayed in the palace all day long, "willingly" being surrounded by powerful ministers and nobles. Only when major national events require the king to appear, would he reluctantly go out to deal with them.
Looking back at the situation during the Warring States Period, there were as many advisers and lobbyists active on the political stage during the Warring States Period as there were crucian carp crossing the river. Some people are indeed talented and can make the country political and win every battle; some are just in name only, and even cheat money and food everywhere just to make ends meet. They all have one thing in common: they have a sharp tongue. Without this advantage, few people can accept them. Just like Bai Qi, he is not good at speaking and does not understand politics. Without Wei Ran's recommendation, no matter how talented he is, he will be ignored by everyone.
Therefore, for a while, not only the King of Qin, but also many important figures in the upper-level ruling group of the Qin State did not have a good impression of the guests and debaters from the princes and countries, thinking that most of them were unfaithful. It was for this reason that Wei Ran checked Wang Ji and others on the way, which made Fan Ju even more suspicious of him.
Fan Ju also knew the situation of Qin at this time, so he was mentally prepared for the difficulty of the future.
The future of Qin and the fate of King Qin are constantly ups and downs as they miss Fan Ju again and again.
Another reason why it was difficult for Fan Ju to be summoned by the King of Qin immediately and be reused was because of Wang Ji.
Because Wang Ji's status in Qin was insignificant compared to ordinary princes and ministers, sending him as an envoy to Wei showed how much Qin despised Wei. Wang Ji rarely had the opportunity to get close to King Qin.
Fan Ju also knew this situation, but he was too embarrassed to point it out. I thought to myself, as long as I find a way to get into King Qin's sight, and as long as King Qin can be kind to him, with his strategy and wisdom, he will definitely be able to impress King Qin.
Just when Fan Ju was about to take matters into his own hands and rely on his own efforts, King Qin issued an order to summon Wang Ji. Wang Ji then reported to the King of Qin about his mission to the State of Wei. After the mission was over, the King of Qin was surprised to see that Wang Ji still refused to leave. Wang Jisui said that although his diplomatic mission to Wei this time was mediocre, it was not without much gain. Because he met countless people along the way, he actually found a genius in the world named Zhang Lu. As long as he can be reused by Qin, Qin's national power will surely flourish.
There was nothing outstanding about this statement, so it did not arouse any interest in King Qin. In order not to lose Wang Ji's face, the King of Qin asked him to arrange a place for Fan Ju to live, and he would summon him when he had time.
Therefore, Fan Ju decided to wait with peace of mind. However, this waiting process lasted for more than a year in the blink of an eye.
Fan Ju felt that the King of Qin was just perfunctory at the beginning, and it would be in vain for him to wait like this. He could only make a desperate move and use words to provoke the King of Qin to see him. On this day, Fan Ju asked someone to report his family to King Zhaoxiang of Qin, saying: "Mr. Zhang Lu of Wei State, like a hidden dragon descending to the earth, came to the State of Qin. He is extremely talented, quick-thinking, and resourceful. He is a debater in the world. He came here specially to see the King of Qin. , assisting Qin to achieve its eternal hegemony."
In addition, Fan Ju further stated, which was full of alarmism: "The Qin State is like a fortress. If it loses Zhang Lu, it will be in danger, but if it gains Zhang Lu, it will be safe." However, the secret of heaven cannot be leaked, let alone outsiders. Therefore, Fan Ju wants to Most of the key points can only be said to the King of Qin in person, and cannot be conveyed to others on his behalf.
It's a pity that Fan Ju worked so hard, because King Qin Zhaoxiang's values have been formed. He doesn't have any trust in the world's strategists and debaters. He just thinks that they are all people who deceive the world and steal reputation. Therefore, no matter how many clever strategies you have, he will not listen to them. ask. In this way, Fan Ju's dedication was once again in vain. As in the past, Fan Ju continued to live in a low-class guest house, living on a simple diet, living in anxiety and irritability, and another year passed in the blink of an eye.
The forty-fifth year of King Nan of Zhou (270 BC) was the second year after Fan Ju arrived in Qin. Although Fan Ju spent the past two years in difficult waiting, his time was not in vain. He used his time to read the classics of the world; after Wang Ji's introduction and his own observation, he also had a good understanding of the world's situation; he often debated with Wang Ji, which made Wang Ji sigh every time. It's a pity that Wang Ji rarely saw King Qin in the past two years. No matter how much he wanted to recommend talents to the King of Qin, it would be of no use if the King of Qin did not give him a chance.
Seeing this, Fan Ju was a little discouraged at first, but over time, he got used to it. When Shang Yang came to Qin in the past, didn't he go through many twists and turns before finally meeting the King of Qin? But at that time, it was not the King of Qin who was inspecting Shang Yang, but Shang Yang who was considering the King of Qin's determination to reform and the sincerity of the courtesy corporal.
However, many things are like this: if you plant flowers intentionally, they will not bloom, but if you plant willows unintentionally, they will create shade. Just as Fan Ju was understanding the sentiments of the people on the streets of Xianyang, the capital of Qin, a piece of news came that provided Fan Ju with an opportunity to attack political opponents. It turned out that on this day, Qin State actually posted a notice saying that Qin State was about to attack Gang and Shou of Qi State in the east. This shocked Fan Ju. How could King Qin be so confused? The State of Qi is far to the east, with Wei and Zhao, the land of the Three Jins, in between. It is possible that we will be attacked from both sides. Even if we conquer the State of Qi, it will only be a wedding dress for others.
When he went back to ask Wang Ji, Fan Ju's doubts were suddenly solved. It turned out that the issuance of this edict was not the intention of the King of Qin, but Wei Ran's own initiative, because Taoshan was the fiefdom of Prime Minister Wei Ran, next to Gang and Shou of Qi State. Prime Minister Wei Ran's move was to expand his own power. of fiefdom.
The opportunity just fell to Fan Ju. After two years of investigation, Fan Ju basically understood King Qin's character traits, work style and innermost thoughts. This also made him secretly glad: he had not rashly pointed out the faults of Wei Ran, Empress Dowager Xuan and others. If he had shown his sharpness as soon as he arrived in Qin, not only the faction of Empress Dowager Xuan would not forgive him, but even King Qin Zhaoxiang might have sacrificed him. To show his loyalty to his mother and queen. However, after the changes in the past two years, Wei Ran and the other four nobles became more and more ignorant of the king's law. They did not see the King of Qin at all, and the King of Qin's dissatisfaction with them became more serious.
Therefore, Fan Ju made a decisive decision and wrote to King Zhaoxiang, clarifying his righteousness, directly attacking the current problems and firmly grasping King Zhao's heart. He said: "As we all know, when a wise monarch governs, he will reward those who have made contributions to the country, and will entrust those with talents and ambitions with important tasks; those with great achievements will be richly paid, and those with high talents will be honored. Therefore, those without talents will A talented person will not take up this position; a talented person will not hide it and not be used by the country. On the other hand, a mediocre monarch is just the opposite. He only uses rewards and punishments because of his own likes and dislikes. This kind of thing depends entirely on his own emotions. How can such behavior bring prosperity to the country?" It can be seen from this part that Fan Ju advocated the selection of talents, rewarded military merits and achievements, and opposed the behavior of appointing relatives because he believed that this was irresponsible to the country. action. This was undoubtedly a shining idea in the early feudal society where blood ties were extremely complex. It was this kind of thinking that created the germ for the rise of the scholar-bureaucrat class in the future.
In the second part of the letter, Fan Ju desperately criticized the phenomenon of exclusive power patents by powerful people. He regarded the king as the trunk of the big tree, while the Queen Mother Xuan, the Four Nobles and others were the branches and leaves of the big tree. Pointing out the widespread harm of weak branches and stems is undoubtedly very insightful for strengthening centralization and consolidating the king's dominance. Especially when he said: "The sage once said: 'Those who are good at making themselves rich take most of it from the country, and those who are good at making the country rich take most of it from the princes.' With a wise monarch in the world, the princes will not be greedy, pervert the law, and be arrogant. What is the crux of this? Because the Ming Lord is good at dividing the power of the princes and concentrating all the power into his own hands. A good doctor can predict the life and death of the patient, and the Ming Lord can predict the success or failure of the state. Benefit Do it if you do it, abandon it if it harms you, and taste it less if you doubt it. Even if Shun and Yu are reborn, they still need to follow this concept without any violation. There is no relationship between alienation and intimacy. This letter can only say this. , many things should not be said casually, but if you say it casually, I am afraid that it will not attract the attention of the king. The king is wise and must not affect the state affairs because of the greed for pleasure. The common people hope that you can spare time and allow me to see the dragon. Yan, it makes me feel relieved. What the common people say can be used for the King of Qin to govern the country, and it can also be used for Qin to rejuvenate the country. If there is even the slightest lie, any punishment can be imposed on the humble body of the common people."
Fan Ju's words directly hit King Qin Zhaoxiang's heart. King Qin Zhaoxiang was surrounded by his relatives and nobles, among whom the four nobles were the most obvious. They were powerful and privately wealthy, and could compete with the country. Therefore, the King of Qin had already felt like a thorn in his back, but there were many eyes and ears in the court, and most of them were loyal to Wei Ran and others. This time, Fan Ju can speak out about his hidden illness, which not only represents his excellent insight, but also represents his sufficient courage and useful loyalty. Fan Ju also put a lot of thought into this letter. He knew that it was not enough for King Qin to pay attention to this advice, and if he boldly put forward shocking words, he would not only be jealous of others, but also appear to have no authority. Therefore, Fan Ju said at the end of the letter, "I dare not carry the words to those who have spoken," pretending to be implicit and secretive. For a moment, King Qin Zhaoxiang thought that Fan Ju must have something more important to say to him, just because it was inconvenient for outsiders to send letters.
In order to completely capture the heart of the King of Qin, Fan Ju, after stating his views on the situation in Qin, also vowed to promote the wonderful effectiveness of his words, which was enough to shock the deaf and enlighten the mind. As long as the letter can reach the King of Qin smoothly, Fan Ju can sit back and relax and wait for the King of Qin to summon him. It can be seen that Fan Ju not only possesses the knowledge and strategies for governing the country, but also has a good understanding of human nature, which is as small as a hair and the ever-changing human nature. When such a person moves into Qin, it is foreseeable that a storm is brewing.
