"Combination", that is, "uniting weak countries to attack strong ones", is a strategy to unite many weak countries to resist a strong one in order to prevent the merger of strong countries. The purpose of Su Qin's vertical integration strategy is to curb the further expansion of Qin's power, so as not to further aggravate the imbalance of power. The corresponding countermeasure is to contain Qin through the six-nation alliance, so as to maintain the balance of power between the two strategic regions, which are bounded by Song and Han Dynasties and Hexi.
Su Qin's alliance theory is based on geopolitical analysis. He is familiar with the mountains and rivers in the world and the present situation of national strength. Every time he goes to a country, he first tells the authorities about the geographical environment of the country. Su Qin reminded the six Shandong countries that they should first understand their respective security situations. He has warned the six monarchs many times that they mainly understand this situation, that is, the danger they share comes from Qin in the west wing. Because Qin enjoys unique geographical advantages, geographical advantages and institutional advantages, it will certainly be a powerful force that can surpass the strength of the six countries in the future. Therefore, each of the six countries can't make peace with Qin alone for a while, let alone make an alliance with Qin, which is tantamount to getting the eggs from the tiger's skin. There is only one way before them: "the six countries follow their relatives" and strive to fight against Qin in the west.
Su Qin's alliance theory attaches great importance to the importance of geopolitical factors and fully demonstrates the internal relationship between the six-nation alliance and its geopolitical factors. Su Qin believes that the six Shandong countries are geographically interrelated, and they have external and internal interests, so they should be regarded as a strategic whole with the same interests. The six countries should make full use of this integrity in order to rely on each other strategically, cooperate with each other and disagree with each other, thus creating a favorable situation in the war against Qin. He has repeatedly stated this relationship to the politicians of the six countries.
Su Qin's combination theory is not only a cognitive system, but also a program of action. It put forward a set of methods to contain Qin State and maintain the balance of power, that is, to use the alliance strategy and rely on the joint efforts of the six Shandong countries to contain the expansion of Qin State's forces, so as to save and maintain the original balance of power. There are two action plans, one is attack and defense, and the six countries jointly take the initiative to break through the Hangu Pass and go deep into the hinterland of Qin; Secondly, when any of the six countries is attacked by Qin, the other five countries must not sit idly by and help each other. There is no doubt that this is an excellent plan of coordinated operations, which makes full use of the geographical relevance of the six Shandong countries, makes them coordinate their actions in organization and guidance, force distribution, strategic coordination, tactical response, etc., and makes Qin fall into the predicament of being attacked on all sides and fighting on multiple lines when attacking any country eastward, thus preventing it from gradually encroaching on the six countries and further strengthening itself.
Su Qin is very wise to see that if one country is attacked by Qin and other countries do nothing, the consequences will be extremely serious, just like dominoes, one falls and the others fall in turn! The historical development in the late Warring States period proved that Su Qin's analysis was prescient. Six countries in Shandong adopted the strategy of vertical integration for a period of time. Even if it was half-hearted, it did effectively curb the eastward expansion of Qin State, reaching 15. Later, although the six countries were annexed by Qin one by one, this not only can not be attributed to the integration strategy, but just shows that the six countries in Shandong did not consistently implement the integration strategy, the narrow, selfish and inferior strategic vision of the politicians of the six countries, and complicated interests disputes.
Union is a grand strategy around the geopolitical relations of the seven heroes in the Warring States period, and it is also the principle and method to deal with international political and military relations. The alliance aims at maintaining the balance of power, takes geopolitics as the cognitive basis, and takes alliance strategy as the coping means. Because of its thorough argumentation, broad vision, exquisite analysis and lofty will, it is not an exaggeration to call it a pioneer of geopolitics. Su Qin regards geopolitical factors as the main basis for judging the international situation and formulating coping strategies, which is undoubtedly of modern significance. Persuasion mode
Su Qin pursues the strategy of vertical integration and advocates "uniting the weak and attacking the strong" to build a transnational alliance. Therefore, Su Qin's lobbying is full of enthusiasm, rhetoric and extravagance, forming a unique lobbying model: "advantage guidance" (affirming advantages-pointing out crises-making suggestions-analyzing advantages and disadvantages, and advantage guidance), that is, vigorously analyzing, presenting advantages and pointing out hopes and bright prospects.
Firstly, it analyzes the objective advantages of the other side, such as geographical conditions, military strength, military supplies, national strength, peripheral relations and so on. , and combined with the monarch's talent, courage and other subjective factors, fully affirmed its advantages. Pay attention to the analysis of the specific situation of each vassal state and emphasize its characteristics in a targeted manner. In a word, no matter which country, it should first emphasize its advantages, so as to relieve their psychological pressure of being afraid of Qiang Qin.
Then point out the crisis, analyze the causes of the crisis, and pave the way for the integration strategy. Then plan for each other, give ideas, and design a plan to get rid of the crisis (vertical strategy). Finally, it further analyzes how to lure it with interests and guide it with reason.
Strategic approach
Because Su Qin has a thorough understanding of other countries' political situation and is far more familiar with the world political situation and its changing trend than other kings, he can skillfully choose all kinds of needed materials and arguments to deceive and convince the other side in lobbying. His lobbying activities have some basic strategies and methods: every time he lobbies for a country, he apparently starts from the interests of the other side, as if he put himself in the other side's shoes, and never talks about other countries and his own interests, so that the other side can easily accept it. When stating their own views, they are all based on the hostile relationship between this country and Qin, and on this premise, they talk about the conflict of interests between this country and Qin. In fact, the interests and constraints between countries are quite complex and changing rapidly. The key is to give up the remaining complex contradictions and emphasize one aspect, and make an implicit or hypothetical premise on this basis. In lobbying, Su Qin simply emphasized the contradiction between the six countries and Qin State and the interdependence between the six countries, and avoided talking about other contradictions. On this premise, he expounded his views on integration and integration, and deceived the king of the six countries. Presenting the consequences of the implementation and non-implementation of one's own ideas to the other side exaggerates the degree of benefit of the first behavior choice and the degree of harm of the second behavior choice, increases the contrast between the two, and urges the other side to make up its mind to adopt its own ideas. When necessary, strengthen persuasion with objective geographical conditions. When necessary, he gave the other party due praise, mixed with corresponding provocation.