A landmark historical espionage novel that fully explores the intelligence war behind Qin’s conquest of the Six Kingdoms. Recommended by Liu Yunlong, director and star of Plot Against and Kite!
From Shang Yang’s reforms that strengthened Qin to the time Qin Shi Huang took power, six generations of rulers spent more than a century fighting, yet failed to conquer even one of the six eastern kingdoms. So how did Qin manage to destroy all six and unify the realm in just ten years?
The Art of War says, “To subdue the enemy without fighting is the acme of skill.” It also says, “Only an enlightened ruler and a worthy general who can use the wisest of men as spies are certain to achieve great things.”
Set against one of the most turbulent eras in Chinese history, the unification of the realm by Qin Shi Huang, the Seven Kingdoms Spy War series is the first to focus on the little-known intelligence battles fought during the ten years in which Qin destroyed the Six Kingdoms. It tells of the deadly struggle between the intelligence agencies of the seven kingdoms, including Qin’s Dingqin Commandant’s Office, Han’s Bureau of Surveillance, and Zhao’s Black-Clad Guard, as they fought to destroy their rivals or preserve their own states. It brings back to life an age of warring states, contending schools of thought, spies crisscrossing the realm, and schemes without end, restoring the treacherous and gripping espionage battles hidden behind the few words recorded in the history books. It also honors the unsung heroes of the shadow war, whose deaths saved their kingdoms and whose sacrifices rescued countless people from danger, only to vanish into the long river of history.
The Seven Kingdoms spy war is really a wonderful idea, but it is by no means a fiction by the author Jia Difei. There is a clear record in Sima Qian's "Historical Records": "Wei Liao came and said to the King of Qin: 'With the strength of Qin, the princes are like the kings of prefectures and counties. I am afraid that the princes will join forces... I hope that the king will not love wealth and bribe his powerful ministers to disrupt his plans, but he will lose three hundred thousand gold. Then the princes will be killed. 'The king of Qin followed his plan and sent counselors to bring gold and jade to persuade the princes. Those who were willing to give money to the nobles would be generous. If they refused, the king of Qin would use his good generals to follow him and conquer the world.
As a genre novel, the greatest success of "Spy in the Seven Kingdoms" is that it breaks the boundaries of genre literature. It is a spy novel, a historical novel, and a social novel. The discussions about "chess pieces and discarded pieces", "killing and universal love", and "troubled times and peace" give this book a philosophical level. The sentence Tian Mo said at the end of the first part, "In your eyes, there are mountains of corpses and seas of blood between troubled times and peace, but killing and building a country is ultimately a lie" can be regarded as the title of the whole book. This is the author's ultimate reflection on history, war, and human nature through the words of the ancients.
In "Silent Glory", General Wu Shi said, "If you go and never come back, you will never come back." This is the spirit of sacrifice that comes home sometimes. In the book, when Wei Wushang sneaks into Handan, he knows it is a trap but still jumps in; even knowing that he will be exposed, he still continues walking. A spy is truly a lone warrior. This power of faith without fear of life and death and the intellectual game of survival in desperate situations are more exciting than any action scene.
Zhang Liang's motivation for assassinating Qin is completed: his brother Zhang Wei died for the country. He went from hating Qin to understanding the world's peace, and the characters are more vivid. This book is really well written, and all these details are written out. 👍 👍 So attractive
This book turns the fragmentary records in history books into tens of thousands of wonderful trumpet spy war stories, allowing us to finally understand that the unification of Qin was never a unilateral victory by force, but the cooperation of espionage and military
When watching "Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty", the most shocking thing was the sentence "If the enemy can do it, I can do it too", which was the domineering power of Wei Qing and Huo Qubing who swept the Huns. When watching "Spy of the Seven Kingdoms", the most shocking thing was the sentence "If the enemy does not lose 300,000 gold, the princes will be wiped out", which is the confidence of the secret agent king of Qin. Han Wu relied on iron cavalry, while Qin Shihuang relied on spies. Their methods were different, but the pattern was the same. Both dared to think and act, and both believed that "I can't control my destiny."
What touches me most about this novel is its tribute to the "unknown people". Speaking of the thousand-year change that Qin unified the six kingdoms, history remembers Qin Shihuang, Li Si, and Wang Jian, but what about those spies who secretly changed the course of history? They didn't even leave their names, but they were solitary warriors in history. "Spy in the Seven Kingdoms" is a monument erected by the author for these unknown heroes. At the end of the second part, the protagonist returns to Xianyang. Not only does he not have the glory of success, but he is thrown directly into prison, silently waiting for the judgment of fate. This silence is more deafening than any cry.
The timeline of every historical event matches up, but the emotional entanglements and power struggles between the characters are all the author's reasonable imagination. This kind of writing method of "big things are true and small things are not unrestrained" makes history no longer a cold chronology, but a warm story.
The novel takes the stage of a chess game in the late Warring States period. The spy networks of Qin, Zhao, Yan, Qi, Chu, Wei, and Han are intertwined. The unknown people wander between the court and the battlefield, between loyalty and betrayal. The plot is very fascinating.
If you have finished following the drama "Silent Glory", let's read this book. The true story of General Wu Shi is very touching, and the story of the ancient spies in this book is equally touching. For the reunification of the motherland, and for the world to be free from war, heroes from different time and space did almost the same thing, and the ending was the same heartbreaking sacrifice.