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Tag: Jing Ke

  • Comprehensive Reflections to Aid in Governance(Part 56): General Wang Jian and the King

    Comprehensive Reflections to Aid in Governance

    By Sima Guang

    Translated By Yiming Yang

    Annals of Qin Book 2 Scroll 7

    Duration of 19 years

    The First Emperor of Qin

    The 20th year of the First Emperor(227 B.C.)

    Jing Ke arrived at the city of Xianyang. Through a favorite attendant of the king named Meng Jia, he delivered a humble plea to see the king. The king was pleased and arranged a formal reception with all the ministers attending. Dressed in a formal gown, the king granted an audience to Jing Ke. Jing Ke unfurled the map for the king, and as it uncoiled to the end, the hidden dagger appeared. Jing Ke grabbed the king’s sleeves and thrust the dagger toward him. The king jumped away and tore off his sleeves. Jing Ke chased the king around the pillars in the palace. The attendants and ministers were jolted by the surprise attack and stunned into a panic. 

    According to the law of Qin, no one except the king could approach the court with any weapon, so the attendants could only join the struggle with their bare hands. They reminded the king, “Move the sword to your back!” The king shifted the sword to his back, drew out the long blade, and hacked at Jing Ke, chopping off his left leg with a swing. Jing Ke, now incapacitated, threw the dagger at the king but only hit a bronze pillar. Realizing his failure, Jing Ke shouted, “I failed because I wanted to capture you alive! I wanted you to pledge to give back the land. I wanted to return the favor to the crown prince of Yan!” Jing Ke was then mutilated to death. 

    The king of Qin, furious, mobilized more troops to augment Wang Jian’s forces in the land of Zhao. Wang Jian trounced the troops of Yan and Dai in a battle west of the Yishui River.

    The 21st year of the First Emperor(226 B.C.)

    In October of that winter, General Wang Jian broke into the city of Ji. The king of Yan and the crown prince led their elite forces eastward, fleeing to protect their territory in Liaodong. General Li Xin of Qin led his troops in hot pursuit. The king of Dai, Zhao Jia wrote a letter to the king of Yan, urging him to submit the head of the crown prince to the king of Qin. At that time, the crown prince was hiding by the Yanshui River. The king of Yan sent an envoy to behead the crown prince and prepared to deliver the head to the king of Qin. However, the king of Qin sent more troops to pursue the king of Yan.

    General Wang Ben invaded the kingdom of Chu and captured more than ten cities. The king of Qin asked General Li Xin, “I want to seize the kingdom of Chu. How many soldiers do you think would be enough?” Li Xin replied, “Not more than two hundred thousand soldiers.” The king then posed the same question to General Wang Jian, who responded, “No less than six hundred thousand soldiers.” The king chuckled and said, “General Wang has become old. He is  now so timid!” Despite Wang Jian‘s advice, the king ordered General Li Xin and Meng Wu to lead two hundred thousand troops in a campaign against the kingdom of Chu. General Wang Jian then returned to his home in Pinyang on sick leave. 

    The 22nd year of the First Emperor(225 B.C.)

    General Wang Ben raided the kingdom of Wei, directing water from the Bian River into canals to flood Wei‘s capital, Daliang. In March, during the spring, the walls of Daliang collapsed. The king of Wei, Wei Jia, capitulated, was killed, and the kingdom of Wei came to an end.

    The king of Qin sent an envoy to speak to Lord Anling: “We want to exchange the state of Anling for five hundred miles of land in another area.” Lord Anling replied, “Your Majesty blesses me with grace, offering a larger piece of land in exchange for a smaller one. I feel so lucky. Even though it is a good deal, I would like to hold onto the land bestowed upon me by the late king of Wei. I would like to retain it for the rest of my life and dare not trade.” The king of Qin considered it a righteous plea and approved it.

    General Li Xin attacked Pingyu county while General Meng Wu raided Qin county. They both trounced the army of Chu. Li Xin then moved on to attack Yanying and barged into it. His troops then advanced westward and united with Meng Wu‘s forces at Chengfu county. The army of Chu tailed Li Xin’s troops for three days and three nights without respite. At last, they thrashed Li Xin and his cohorts, overran two barracks, and killed seven army commandants of Qin. Li Xin scurried back home.

    The king of Qin was enraged by the defeat. He personally drove to the village Pinyang to visit Wang Jian and apologized face-to-face: “We did not take your advice, and as a result, Li Xin humiliated the army of Qin. Even though you are sick, are you going to turn your back on me?” Wang Jian still declined the appointment, citing poor health. The king of Qin insisted, “That is enough, don’t say that anymore.” Wang Jian countered, “If you must insist, Your Majesty, I cannot do it without six hundred thousand troops.” The king approved: “I’ll listen to you this time.”

    Thus, General Wang Jian led a campaign against the kingdom of Chu with six hundred thousand soldiers. The king of Qin saw his troops off at a place named Bashang. Wang Jian pleaded for a lot of beautiful houses and good land. The king said, “General, you can surely go with peace of mind. Don’t worry about being poor anymore.” Wang Jian explained, “I have been your general and have won some battles. I would not become a nobleman in the end. I want some land and houses to pass down to my posterity while I am still in favor with Your Majesty.” The king laughed heartily.

    Wang Jian sent five more envoys back to the king to petition for good land after he went through the Wu Pass. Someone commented, “Don’t you think your solicitations are a little over the top?” Wang Jian replied, “No. The king is brutal and trusts nobody. Now he has put the armed forces of the entire kingdom under my command. If I don’t ask for properties for my descendants to pursue personal interest, it would make the king suspicious of me.”

    The 23rd year of the First Emperor(224 B.C.)

    Wang Jian went around the south of Chen county and reached the county of Pingyu. Learning that General Wang Jian came with strengthened forces, the whole kingdom of Chu mobilized to defend their homeland. Wang Jian ordered his troops to stay within their garrisons and forbade direct combat. Many times the soldiers of Chu came to challenge Wang Jian’s troops, but the soldiers of Qin would not engage. Wang Jian required his soldiers to rest and bathe daily, providing them with good food. He talked to them and had meals with them.

    After a long while, Wang Jian asked his officers, “What games are the soldiers playing?” The answer was, “They are throwing rocks and practicing long jumps.” Wang Jian said, “Now they are ready to fight.” The troops of Chu, unable to engage the troops of Qin, moved eastward. Wang Jian led his troops to go after them. He sent his commandos to attack the army of Chu and won a decisive battle. Then Wang Jian pursued the fleeing army of Chu to the south of Qi county and killed the commander of Chu, General Xiang Yan. The army of Chu collapsed. Wang Jian took the momentum, chased the troops of Chu out, and then stabilized the towns and cities on his path.

    The 24th year of the First Emperor(223 B.C.)

    General Wang Jian and Meng Wu captured the king of Chu, Fuchu. They established the Commandery of Chu in the former kingdom’s land.

  • Comprehensive Reflections to Aid in Governance(Part 55): Assassin Jing Ke

    Comprehensive Reflections to Aid in Governance

    By Sima Guang

    Translated By Yiming Yang

    Annals of Qin Book 1 Scroll 6 (continued)

    The Assassination of King of Qin depicted by a 3rd century artist

    The 18th year of the First Emperor(229 B.C.)

    General Wang Jian led troops from the Shangdi region, General Qiang Hui led troops from the Jingjing region, and General Yang Duanhe led troops from the Henei region. These three prongs made a coordinated attack on the kingdom of Zhao. General Li Mu and General Sima Shang led the defense of Zhao. However, Qin’s agents had bribed Guo Kai, a favorite toady of the King of Zhao, with gold. Guo Kai smeared the reputations of Li Mu and Sima Shang in front of the king, accusing them of plotting a mutiny. The King of Zhao replaced Li Mu and Sima Shang with Zhao Cong and Yan Ju, a general from Qi.

    Li Mu refused to relinquish his command and was arrested and killed by the king’s delegates. General Sima Shang was also dismissed. General Wang Jian then launched an attack, crushing the Zhao army and killing Zhao Cong. Yan Ju fled. Wang Jian laid siege to the city of Handan.

    The 19th year of the First Emperor(228 B.C.)

    In October of the winter, the capital city of Handan was breached. The King of Zhao, Zhao Qian, was captured, and all the land of Zhao was annexed by the kingdom of Qin. The King of Qin visited Handan, his birthplace, where he ordered the execution of anyone his mother’s family held a grudge against. He returned to the capital Xianyang via the cities of Taiyuan and Shangjun.

    The Empress Dowager, the King’s mother, passed away.

    General Wang Jian camped his troops in Zhongshan, overlooking the kingdom of Yan. A prince of Zhao, named Zhao Jia, led his clan of a few hundred people and fled to the commandery of Dai. He enthroned himself as King of Dai. More and more former officials of Zhao in exile joined Prince Zhao Jia, and they were reinforced by troops from the kingdom of Yan, eventually camping in Shanggu commandery.

    King You of Chu died, and his brother Mi Shi was installed as the new king. In March of spring, Hao’s half-brother Fu Chu killed him and claimed the throne for himself.

    King Jingmin of Wei died, and his son Wei Jia was installed as the new king.

    The Crown Prince of Yan, Ji Dan, harbored deep hatred for the King of Qin. Seeking advice on how to exact revenge, he consulted his tutor, Ju Wu. Ju Wu proposed allying with the three kingdoms that had split from Jin, bonding with the kingdoms of Qi and Chu in the south, and fostering good relations with the Xiongnu in the north to unite all forces against Qin. However, the prince was not satisfied, saying, “Professor’s proposal takes too much time to implement and makes my head spin. I am afraid that I cannot wait that long.”

    Soon after this conversation, a general named Fan Wuji fled from Qin to Yan to escape criminal charges. The Crown Prince Dan offered General Fan shelter. Ju Wu argued against it, saying, “As cruel and ruthless as the King of Qin is, being agitated by the kingdom of Yan is more than enough to send chills down our spines, let alone hosting General Fan. What we are doing is analogous to throwing meat on the trail of a hungry tiger. I beg Your Grace to send General Fan to Xiongnu immediately.”

    The Crown Prince replied, “General Fan had nowhere to go. He came to me at a time when I needed fighters. I wish you would think it through.”

    Ju Wu countered, “Taking risky actions to seek safety; getting into trouble to find happiness; plotting shallow gains in exchange for deep-rooted enmity; disregarding the harm to the state to earn a new personal friend—this is fanning hostility and inducing disasters.”

    The Crown Prince would not heed his advice.

    The Crown Prince of Yan learned that Jing Ke from the state of Wey was a mastermind. He sent lavish gifts and flattering letters to arrange a meeting with Jing Ke. When they met, the Crown Prince Ji Dan spoke: “Now the kingdom of Qin has already captured the King of Han. They have mobilized troops to attack the kingdom of Chu in the south and Zhao in the north. The turmoil will reach the kingdom of Yan once Zhao collapses. Yan is small and weak, and has been plagued by wars for years. How can we resist Qin‘s aggression? All the monarchs are submissive to Qin; no one dares to form a vertical alliance. I have a foolish idea. I think it would be best if we recruited a warrior to serve as an envoy to Qin and kidnap the King of Qin. The warrior would force the king to return the land he had annexed from the monarchs, as Cao Mo did to the Duke Huan of Qi in the past. Or he could assassinate the king if the first plan fails.”

    “The generals of Qin are leading troops in various areas outside the kingdom. If there were commotions back home, the leaders and rank and file would be thrown into confusion and suspicion. The monarchs could seize this opportunity to form a vertical alliance. Then we will defeat the kingdom of Qin. Please keep this in mind, Mr. Jing.”

    Jing Ke agreed. The prince invited Jing Ke to live in the best house and provided whatever he wanted. The prince paid daily visits to Jing Ke‘s house to satisfy his every desire.

    When the news arrived that Wang Jian had demolished the kingdom of Zhao, the Crown Prince of Yan was frightened and wanted to send Jing Ke on his mission. Jing Ke told him, “If I go empty-handed and no one trusts me, I won’t be able to get close to the King of Qin. I need to present the head of General Fan Wuji and the map of the Duhang region of Yan as tributes to the King of Qin. This would please him, and then I would have the chance to repay your kindness.”

    The Crown Prince of Yan hesitated, saying, “General Fan came to me when he was desperate. Dan cannot bear to harm him!”

    Jing Ke went to see Fan Wuji in private and said, “The kingdom of Qin has treated you with extreme cruelty. Your parents and families were all slaughtered or enslaved. Now, I have heard that a bounty for your head is worth a thousand caddies of gold and a fief of ten thousand families. What are you going to do?”

    Fan Wuji sobbed, “What should I do?”

    Jing Ke proposed, “If I could take your head and present it to the King of Qin, he would be happy to see me. I would grab his sleeve with my left hand and stab him in the chest with my right hand. Your revenge would be taken, and the disgrace of the assault on the kingdom of Yan would be eradicated!”

    Fan Wuji exclaimed, “That’s exactly what I have been grinding my teeth and breaking my heart over, day and night!”

    Fan Wuji then slit his throat. The Crown Prince of Yan heard the news and ran over to cry over Fan Wuji‘s body in vain. They put Fan‘s head in a case. The Crown Prince procured the sharpest dagger they could find and quenched it in a poisonous potion that would kill a man instantly if it contaminates his blood. He geared up for Jing Ke’s journey and provided him with an assistant, a warrior of Yan named Qin Wuyang. Jing Ke then went to the kingdom of Qin as an envoy from Yan.