Wang Zhao of Yan asked for talents

Enlightenment

This story tells us: to recruit talents, we must not only put down our airs, but also be sincere and take practical actions. In addition, outstanding leaders are good at identifying and utilizing talents. Only by being virtuous and using talents only can we achieve great things.

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In 314 BC, King Kuai of Yan abdicated the throne to the Prime Minister of Yan, Zi Zhi. Prince Ping of Yan competed with Zi Zhi for the throne, which led to civil strife in the Yan Kingdom. . King Xuan of Qi took advantage of the situation and used the pretext of quelling the civil strife in Yan to send troops to attack Yan. In just 50 days, he captured Jicheng, the capital of Yan (southwest of today's Beijing), killed King Kuai and his son, and attempted to destroy the Yan country. This not only aroused strong resistance from the people of Yan State, but also led to interference from various countries in the Central Plains. After that, the State of Qi was forced to withdraw its troops from the State of Yan, and King Zhao Wuling escorted Prince Yan, who had been a hostage in Korea, back to the country to succeed him as King Yan Zhao. After the new king succeeded to the throne, the country was in a desolate state: the fields were barren, the houses collapsed, and the people were hungry and cold on the ruins. King Zhao worked hard and was determined to revive the Yan State. He knew that the most important thing in governing a country was to recruit more talents. Only with talents can everything be prosperous. But how to find talented people, King Zhao thought hard, and he couldn't eat well and couldn't sleep well. For this reason, King Zhao was not ashamed to ask, and sincerely asked Guo Kui for advice, saying: "Sir, our country of Yan is now weak and weak, with the country broken and the people poor, and it is impossible to avenge our old enemy Qi. I would like to find a large number of people who are true. Talented people with practical knowledge can help me reform politics, revitalize the country, and then wash away our great shame. Please tell me where to start?" Guo Wei replied: "Any monarch who can become an emperor can always be himself. Those who are teachers are always together; a monarch who can practice the king's way is always with his ministers who are at ease with him; and those who are subjugated will be surrounded by mediocre servants. If the monarch can put down his arrogance and treat those who are virtuous. Scholars with both talent and talents are willing to be their students. Then, not only will they serve with sincerity, but they will also attract talented people ten times and a hundred times more powerful to join them. This is the law of governing the country and acquiring talents since ancient times. If you can ask for advice after recruiting talented people, and everyone sees that you are thirsty for talents, those talented people will definitely come to you like hundreds of rivers flowing into the sea." Guo Wei then told a story: In ancient times, At that time, a king wanted to buy a thousand-mile horse with a thousand catties, but he couldn't buy one for three years. One of the chamberlains recommended himself as the king to purchase. Three months later, I kept asking about the Chollima horse. Unfortunately, as soon as I arrived, the horse was already dead. The chamberlain bought the dead horse's bones for 500 gold. The king was furious and said: "I want a live thousand-mile horse. Who asked you to sell a dead horse's head for 500 gold?" The servant replied calmly: "A dead horse's head cost 500 gold, not to mention a live horse? The world knows it. This news will bring horses to your door." Sure enough, within a year, three horses were delivered. After telling this story, Guo Wei expressed his plan: "Your Majesty, if you really want to recruit talents, you might as well start with me and let everyone in the world see that a person as incompetent as me can still receive your talents." Such respect, not to mention those whose virtues and talents are much greater than mine. In this way, the talented people at home and abroad will travel thousands of miles to gather in our country." So King Yan Zhao built a magnificent palace according to Guo Wei's idea. An auspicious day was chosen, a grand ceremony was held, and Guo Wei was respectfully invited to live in the new palace. King Zhao visited him every day like a student asking for advice from his teacher. King Zhao also built a high platform on the bank of Yishui River to attract wise men from all over the world. Thousands of taels of gold were placed on the stage as a gift to the wise men. This high platform is the famous "Golden Platform". Talents gathered together, and the country became increasingly prosperous. King Zhao of Yan's reputation for loving and respecting the virtuous spread like wildfire and spread throughout the world. Talented people from all over the world rushed to the Kingdom of Yan. There are many celebrities among them: for example, the general Ju Xin came from the State of Zhao, the counselor Zou Yan came from the State of Qi, Qu Yong came from the State of Wei, and Le Yi came from the State of Wei... It was really a collection of talents. Zou Yan was a master of Yin and Yang, and he was already famous all over the world at that time. He was respected when he was in the state of Qi; when he traveled around the state of Wei, King Wei Hui personally ran to the outskirts to greet him; when he arrived in the state of Zhao, Lord Pingyuan walked sideways to greet him, and brushed the dust on his seat with his sleeves, showing respect.

King Min of Qi mobilized all his troops, crossed the Jishui River, and marched westward to resist the enemy. The morale of the Qi army was low due to continuous battles. In addition, soldiers whose popularity was not good for the war threatened them with cruel methods such as digging ancestral graves and beheading, which made the Qi army even more chilled. The coalition forces launched an attack, and the Qi army collapsed at the first touch, losing successively. After the main force of the Qi army was wiped out, King Qi Min led the remaining troops to flee in embarrassment and returned to Linzi, the capital. King Zhao was very happy after hearing the news. He went to the battlefield of Jixi to work for the army, and later rewarded the soldiers and named Leyi the king of Changguo. Le Yi rewarded the Qin and Han armies generously and sent them back home. He then ordered the Zhao army to attack Hejian, and the Wei army to turn southeast to take over the former Song Dynasty. He then led the Yan army directly to the capital of Qi. The Yan army marched straight in, with overwhelming momentum, and captured Linzi in one fell swoop. King Min of Qi was forced to flee and stayed in Ju (now Ju County, Shandong). He was later killed by Chu general Nao Chi. Le Yi was determined to destroy Qi, and after occupying Linzi, he took a series of measures to consolidate and expand the results. In order to appease the people of Qi, Le Yi worked hard to improve military discipline and strictly prohibited the Yan army from plundering the people after asking King Zhao for permission. In response to King Qi Min's violence, he was willing to announce a reduction in taxes for the people of Qi, abolished harsh laws, and restored some reasonable laws in the era of King Wei of Qi. They solemnly worshiped Qi Huangong and Guan Zhong on the outskirts of Linzi, awarded more than 100 titles of the Yan State to the surrendered Qi people, and enfeoffed more than 20 feudal lords who enjoyed the fiefdoms of the Yan State in the Qi State, winning over the ruling class of the Qi State. , the occupation of Qi State was basically stabilized, and everyone in Qi State was willing to submit to Yan State. Militarily, Le Yi divided his troops into five groups and continued to conquer all parts of the country. As a result, the Yan army took only half a year to capture more than 70 cities in Qi one after another and turned them into counties. Only two cities, Ju and Jimo (now Pingdu South, Shandong), were left uncaptured. The reason why Le Yi was able to give full play to his outstanding political and military talents was inseparable from King Zhao's absolute trust and firm support for him. When Le Yi was conquering cities and territories in Qi State, King Zhao did not interfere at all and allowed Le Yi to do whatever he wanted. When Leyi was unable to conquer Ju and Jimo for a long time, someone took the opportunity to slander him. While King Zhao scolded him, he sent envoys to comfort Le Yi. King Zhao had no doubts about his virtuous behavior, and his subordinates repaid him with sincerity. While winning the decisive victory in the war against Qi, King Zhao sent Yan general Qin Kai to attack Donghu, forcing Donghu to retreat more than a thousand miles from the northeast of Yan State, and Yan State's territory expanded northeastward to Liaodong. Yan also marched south and captured many places in Zhongshan Kingdom. King Zhao finally made the Yan country among the great powers and entered a golden age. In 279 BC, Ji Zhi died of illness. King Zhao of Yan grasped the key factor of revitalizing the Yan State, which is to recruit talents. He bowed to the courtesy and hired people without any doubts. Finally, his long-sought desire for revenge and humiliation was realized, and the Yan State developed to its peak period. He himself also ranked among other leaders in the Warring States Period. The ranks of seven important kings.

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After Lord Mengchang was removed from his position, King Min of Qi, together with Chu and Wei, destroyed the Song Dynasty and became even more arrogant. He only wanted to annex other countries and become emperor himself. As a result, the princes of all countries were dissatisfied with him; especially the Yan State to the north of Qi State, which was bullied by Qi State and wanted to find an opportunity to take revenge. Yan State was originally a big country. Later, it was passed into the hands of King Kuai of Yan. He listened to the bad guys' ideas and actually imitated the legendary method of Yao and Shun to give up the throne to the Prime Minister. The general and prince of Yan State attacked Zizhi in peace, and great chaos broke out in Yan State. In the name of quelling the civil strife in Yan, the State of Qi invaded the State of Yan, and the State of Yan was almost destroyed. Later, the soldiers and people of Yan State established the prince as king, rose up in resistance, and drove out the Qi army. In the eleventh year of King Huiwen's reign (314 BC), King Wuling of Zhao ushered in the title of Prince of Yan from South Korea after the rebellion of Yan State. The title of Prince was the later famous King Zhao of Yan. But at this time, the situation in the Yan Kingdom was in chaos. With the support of Queen Yi, Gongzi Zhi fought with Prince Ping, and Gongzi Zhi was unfavorable. The queen mother of Yan, Queen Yi, was the daughter of King Qin Huiwen, and King Yan Zhao was the son of Queen Yi. Queen Yi and King Yan Zhao hoped to get the support of Qin. In 311 BC, Qin and Wei formed an alliance to attack Prince Ping of Yan, killed him, established him as a prince, and formed an alliance between Qin and Yan. When the prince ascended the throne, he was King Zhao of Yan. He was determined to make the Yan State strong and determined to find talents to govern the country, but he could not find the right person. Someone reminded him that the veteran Guo Wei was quite knowledgeable, so he might as well go to him to discuss it.

After that, Le Yi served the Yan Kingdom even more wholeheartedly. In the history of China, there is no more high-profile recruitment effort than that of King Yan, Zhao and Zhao, who built a golden platform. Li Bai, the great poet of the Tang Dynasty, once wrote a five-character poem praising this eternal story: "Yan Zhao Yan and Guo Wei built a golden platform. According to the arrival of Zhao from Xin Fang, Zou Yan returned to Qi..."