Persuasion and Stratagem

Throughout Chinese history, there was once a group of penniless scholars who used their keen insight into the course of the world to advise powerful states, stirring up the tides of history. They were known in their own time as persuaders, and later generations called them the School of Diplomacy. They were the first, and the last, political "professional managers" in Chinese history. This novel begins in the era of King Huiwen of Qin and continues through the death of Xuan Taihou, the last great figure of that age. Gongsun Yan, known as Xishou; Zhang Yi; Su Qin; Chen Zhen; the tragic figures Qu Yuan and King Huai of Chu; the famous pair Lian Po and Lin Xiangru; the noble lord Mengchang, Tian Wen... Countless people rocked the world and maneuvered between the states in this age, making it a celebrated era of diplomatic strategists in Chinese history.