266 BC was a turning point in the history of the Qin State. In this year, King Qin Zhaoxiang followed the advice of Fan Ju from Wei, kicked Empress Dowager Xuan, Wei Ran and others off the political stage of the Qin State, and worshiped Fan Ju as his prime minister. The switch to a strategy of distant diplomacy and close attack established Qin's successful strategy in the late Warring States period.
For more than 40 years, King Zhaoxiang of Qin Yingji has lived under the iron fist of Empress Dowager Xuan without real power. But he did not have the ability to rebel, so he had to hide his dissatisfaction deep inside.
Political ease made Empress Dowager Xuan's position in the Qin State as solid as an iron barrel. She integrated her private life with national affairs, rather than the so-called "separation of public and private affairs"; she was able to disregard other people's taboos and, in public, for the sake of She can speak frankly about her privacy in the interests of the country; she can be charming in all kinds of ways when facing her loved one, but if she threatens the interests of Qin, she will kill him without mercy. Therefore, King Qin Zhaoxiang's love for the Queen Mother Xuan, on the one hand, was the love of a son for his mother, and on the other hand, he was the respect of a subordinate for a superior.
After ascending the throne, King Qin Zhaoxiang has been waiting, because he clearly knew that in order to truly realize his own rule, he needed to meet three conditions: first, he had enough strength and determination; second, he had the assistance of wise men; third, , Wei Ran lost popular support. When these three conditions are mature, King Qin Zhaoxiang can overthrow the power of Queen Mother Xuan and take charge of power himself.
In 271 BC, a key figure who influenced Qin's diplomatic strategy in the late Warring States Period appeared. He was Fan Ju.
Han Yu's "Horse Theory" discussed: "There are Bole horses in the world, and then there are thousand-mile horses. Thousand-mile horses always exist, but Bole horses do not always exist. Therefore, although there are famous horses, they will only be humiliated in the hands of slaves and die in parallel in a stall. A thousand miles is called a thousand miles." Throughout the history of the Warring States Period, whichever country has talented people can dominate one side: Wei has Pang Juan, so it can be invincible in the war; Qi has Mengchang, so it can become a great eastern country in one fell swoop, and heroes from all over the world gather to respond. ; Zhao State has Lian Po and Lin Xiangru, so Qin State, which has always been eyeing him, dare not act rashly. However, none of these people started well and ended well. Pang Juan finally committed suicide in the boundless sea of blood at the Battle of Maling; Lord Mengchang left Qi because he was afraid of being killed by the king of Qi, and gave him a fatal blow; Lian Po eventually got old, and although he could Eating every day and fighting for rice is of no use in the eyes of others.
Only Qin, like Shang Yang, died, but his policies influenced Qin's continued progress and development. Therefore, everyone in the world seems to know that when a talented man is in trouble, only Qin is the best place to go; when a wise man is humiliated, only Qin is the Bole who can discover his peerless brilliance.
But no one in the world noticed that most of these talents during the Warring States Period seemed to come from one country, and that was Wei. Since Han, Zhao, and Wei were divided into Jin, the land of the three Jins has always been the place that Qin wanted to conquer most, but unfortunately it failed many times. Among the Three Jin Dynasties, Wei's geographical location is the most important. It is located in the Central Plains and is a key area for Qin to move beyond its own territory and achieve unification of the world. The state of Wei was rich in products and its education system was also very developed. Wu Qi, Shang Yang, Sun Bin, Fan Ju, Le Yi and others of the Wei State were mostly the most outstanding politicians, military strategists, and thinkers at that time. They were famous for a time and popular throughout the ages.
However, the ruling class of Wei State did not realize that they were in a treasure mountain. Instead of reusing these capable people and strangers, they listened to the villain's slander and humiliated and persecuted them. In desperation, those capable people and strangers who were full of strategies and ambitions had no choice but to defect to other countries and eventually became the enemies of Wei.
This time, the history of Wei's persecution of sages was repeated again, and Fan Ju chose Qin, which was the most powerful and energetic country in the Warring States Period at that time, but also the most difficult country for the six eastern countries.
In this year, Wei Ran led troops to attack Gang (now northeast of Ningyang County, Shandong Province) and Shou (now southeast of Dongping County, Shandong Province) of Qi State. Fan Ju felt that his opportunity had come. As long as he could meet King Qin Zhaoxiang and state his opinions to the king, he would soar into the sky and realize his ideals and ambitions. As Fan Ju expected, King Qin Zhaoxiang was extremely dissatisfied with Wei Ran's unauthorized use of weapons and disregard for the interests of the country for his own fiefdom; he had a desire for talents and the ability to recognize people; he was very interested in the future of Qin. According to his own plan, he is eager to take charge of the government and realize his grand goal of unifying the world.
Therefore, Fan Ju wrote to the King of Qin, briefly stating his views and solutions to all this. The King of Qin was naturally happy to see such a talented person. When Fan Ju arrived at the palace of the King of Qin, the King of Qin shouted back and started talking with Fan Ju for a long time, as if he was thirsty for the rain after a severe drought.
In "Historical Records: Biography of Fan Ju and Cai Ze", there are detailed records of the content of this meeting:
As soon as they met, Fan Ju compared himself and King Qin to Jiang Ziya and King Wen. He said: "Lu Shang met King Wen when he was fishing with a straight hook by the river. King Wen knew that he had talents, so he treated Lu Shang favorably and worshiped Lu Shang as prime minister. Lu Shang, who was 80 years old, was grateful for King Wen's kindness in knowing him. He stated his political views to King Wen, formulated the country's domestic and foreign policies, and finally helped King Wen destroy the unjust Shang Dynasty and conquer the world. Although Fan Ju was just a passer-by in the Qin State and did not have much friendship with the king, he What Fan Ju is going to say now involves your flesh-and-blood relationship and the love between mother and child, which seems a bit treasonous. But Fan Ju is loyal and wants to confess his thoughts to the king. Even if Fan Ju confesses to the king today, he will be exposed tomorrow. Fan Ju is not afraid of the traps he has set up. Everyone is destined to die, and it may be heavier than Mount Tai or lighter than a feather. If what Fan Ju says can be of some benefit to Qin, then he will die in his rightful place."
Fan Ju was indeed extraordinary. After a few words, he attracted the interest of King Qin Zhaoxiang. Fan Ju's words not only attracted King Qin Zhaoxiang's curiosity, but also completely moved him. Therefore, King Zhaoxiang of Qin said seriously: "I am lucky enough to meet you today. It is really a great blessing. No matter how big or small the matter is, from the queen mother to the ministers, I hope that you can speak frankly and don't doubt me. As long as it makes sense, , I will praise it, and if it is unreasonable, I will not blame it."
Fan Ju saw that King Qin Zhaoxiang was so courteous to the virtuous people, which was even worse than his usual observation. Then he launched into his long speech unscrupulously, and also proposed the latest combat plan, which is also the famous combat policy of "diplomating far away and attacking close": "It is better for a king to make friends far away and attack up close. If you gain an inch, you will be a king; if you gain a ruler, you will be a king." The ruler is also." The meaning is obvious: among the six eastern kingdoms, only Qi is powerful, and at the same time it is far away from Qin, so Qi is Qin's most ideal alliance partner. Just imagine, if Qin attacked Qi, its troops would have to pass through Han and Wei. If the number of troops is too small, it will be difficult to win for a while; if there are too many troops, even if the army is victorious, it will not be able to occupy the land of Qi. Rather than taking advantage of South Korea and Wei, it is better to attack South Korea and Wei, which are adjacent to Qin, and gradually advance. The current situation is very clear. In order to deal with Chu State in the south and Qin State in the west, Qi State is seeking an alliance with Han and Wei. Therefore, in order to make the situation more favorable to Qin, Qin needs to get ahead of South Korea and Wei and take the lead in sending envoys to proactively form an alliance with Qi.
This foreign policy is undoubtedly a nightmare for the six eastern countries.
The essence of "diplomacy far away and attack near" is to make all the countries that Qin wants to conquer fall into an isolated and helpless situation. In this way, Qin will be able to defeat all other countries one by one. Fan Ju's strategy for Qin's future development was so strategic that the King of Qin was convinced. However, if the King of Qin cannot personally preside over the country's affairs and still lets Queen Mother Xuan control the situation behind the scenes like a puppet, then all Fan Ju's ideas, no matter how beautiful they are, can only be empty talk.
By formulating policies for the future development of the Qin State, King Qin Zhaoxiang saw Fan Ju's intelligence and thought of using Fan Ju's ideas seriously. Fan Ju also knew it well, so he could go from public to private. Regarding the announcement of the Empress Dowager's coming to power, Fan Ju said: "In the past, when I was in Shandong, I heard people say that Qi State had Lord Mengchang, who was very talented. Ranghou Wei Ran, as well as the kings of Huayang, Gaoling, and Jingyang, have not heard of the King of Qin. The king is the leader of a country. He should decide all national affairs and have the authority of life and death. However, looking at the world of Qin, the Queen Mother can ignore the king. Doing things without permission, Ranghou can control the external power regardless of the country, Huayang, Gaoling, and Jingyang can make decisions on their own regardless of laws and regulations. These are the "four nobles" of Qin. When the power of the four nobles is strong, the country is in danger, and the king's How can power not be overthrown? Why does the king issue orders to Qin?"
"With the four nobles in charge of the Qin State, the king was ignored. As the saying goes, great achievements shake the master, but once they have power, many ministers put their masters in danger. Li Dui was once a minister of the Zhao State, and his father finally Trapped in the sand dunes, no one rescued him for a hundred days, and he eventually starved to death. Cui Zhu and Nao Chi were once ministers of Qi, and the king of Qi was eventually killed by them. Today, Queen Mother Xuan of Qin and Ranghou Wei Ran have exclusive power, and together with Gaoling and Hua Yang, Jing Yangjun and others are connected internally and externally, and Fan Ju is worried that one day things like Cui Zhu, Nao Chi, and Li Dui will happen again in the Qin State."
"The king knows very well that you are actually surrounded by Wei Ran's people, and many of the ministers in the court are Wei Ran's party members, which can be said to be powerful. The king is alone in the court, so how can he be a minister? Where is An Xin? If this situation is not stopped, Qin may fall into the hands of outsiders."
Fan Ju's words made King Qin Zhaoxiang look at him with admiration. He finally found this wise man who could not only consider the future of Qin, but also consider the status of King Qin. With the assistance of Fan Ju, King Qin finally made up his mind to take action against the so-called "Four Nobles".
In 266 BC, King Zhaoxiang of Qin removed the power of Empress Dowager Xuan. After that, he expelled Ranghou, Gaoling, Huayang, and Jingyang from Guanzhong. He also removed Ranghou from the position of phase, worshiped Fan Ju as prime minister, and granted the title of Yinghou. (Should be in the southwest of today's Baofeng County, Henan Province). Queen Mother Qin Xuan came to an end after 41 years of dominating the political arena of Qin State.
