“Ruthless efficiency, institutional strength, expansionist. Rewards military merit, punishes dissent. Centralized bureaucracy eliminates feudal aristocracy.”
Biography 傳
Zhang Yi was the chief diplomat of Qin during the height of the Warring States period and the leading advocate of the 'horizontal' (lianheng) alliance strategy — binding states to Qin through bilateral agreements rather than allowing them to unite against it. He is traditionally paired with Su Qin (vertical alliance advocate) as the two great strategists of the era. Zhang Yi served as Qin's prime minister from 328 BC onward, using a combination of persuasion, bribery, and intimidation to neutralize the anti-Qin coalitions. His diplomatic campaigns isolated rival states one by one, making Qin's eventual military conquests possible.