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A spy refers to a person who is sent to other countries or regions and is mainly engaged in activities such as stealing, spying, transmitting confidential information, subversion and sabotage. In China's ancient book Zuo Zhuan, there is a record of the Xia Dynasty using spies to defeat the enemy, which shows that at least in summer, China had already produced spies. At the end of the Spring and Autumn Period, Sun Wu elaborated on spies in Sun Tzu's Art of War.
Because spies are engaged in stealing, spying, transmitting confidential information or subversive and destructive activities, their comprehensive ability is stronger. In the history of China, feudal emperors of all dynasties attached great importance to the use of spies. They invested a lot of money, selected all kinds of talents, expanded or consolidated their political power abroad through various means, and established special training and management institutions to serve them. Sun Wu, a famous strategist and politician at the end of the Spring and Autumn Period, expounded the function and classification of spies in Sun Tzu's Art of War. He believes that spies can be divided into five types: country, inner room, anti-room, dead room and living room. These five spy methods have their own miraculous effects, which are the magic weapon for the monarch to achieve his political goals. Sun Wu also suggested that spies should hire cronies with high IQ. If a wise monarch or wise general can do this, he will certainly succeed. He also stressed the need to use espionage in extreme secrecy, which can be said to be the most confidential thing. So when exactly did the spies in China originate?
According to the "Warring States Policy", Zheng Wugong used the spies sent by the enemy to paralyze the conference semifinals before his crusade against them, so that he captured them at one stroke. The story goes like this: Zheng Wugong intends to crusade against the conference semifinals, and let his son marry a conference semifinal woman first. And deliberately asked his courtiers in front of her that I was going to send troops. Who should we punish? Doctor Guan Siqi suggested a crusade against the conference semifinals. Wu Gong was furious after hearing this and ordered Guan Siqi to be put to death. He said that China and the Hu nationality are brotherly countries. Why did you say you wanted to crusade against them? When he heard about this incident, he thought that Zheng was a friendly country and did not take preventive measures, so that Zheng successfully attacked Hu.
It is said that Lv Wang, the squire of the Western Zhou Dynasty, used to be a spy for the Western Zhou Dynasty. According to Records of Historian Qi Taigong Family, Lv Wang read widely and remembered deeply, and served as an official in the Yin Dynasty. He knew many secrets of the Shang Dynasty, but he was a bad king and managed the country at will, so he lobbied the governors and led them to surrender to Zhou. After arriving in Xibo, he put forward all kinds of effective suggestions and made all kinds of correct decisions according to the situation of Shang Dynasty and the world, so that the governors and ministers of Shang Dynasty defected to Zhou Wang and went to Xibo, effectively disintegrating the cornerstone of the rule of Yin Dynasty. Therefore, in Sun Tzu's Art of War, Sun Tzu thinks that Lv Wang's espionage in the Yin Dynasty is the reason for the demise of the Shang Dynasty and the rise of the Western Zhou Dynasty.
In fact, there were earlier espionage activities before Lv Wang. Lu's "Shen Dalan's Spring and Autumn Annals" records that Shang sent a spy Yi Yin to spy on Xia Dynasty twice. Yi Yin turned out to be a courtier of the Xin family. As a slave, he took Xin's daughter to marry the Tang family as a cook. An accidental opportunity made him appreciated by Tang, so Tang sent Yi Yin to Xia Dynasty twice to learn about the situation and conduct espionage. In order to prevent Yi Yin from arousing suspicion, Tang fabricated some charges to frame Yi Yin, and personally shot Yi Yin, causing Yi Yin to abscond. Yi Yin realized that on the one hand, he actively promoted Tang Zhiren and eliminated the bad blood with Tang; On the other hand, he inspected the topography of the Central Plains, actively inquired about Xia's secrets, alienated Xia's monarch and subjects, made Xia's relations with various countries and tribes, and made some influential courtiers betray Xia's country and go to Shang's country under his espionage activities. These practices isolated Xia Wang, weakened Xia's strength and created favorable conditions for Shang to launch a war to overthrow Xia Guo.
Early records of spies can be found in Zuo Zhuan and Zhu Ji Shu's Year. According to records, during the period of Shao Kang in Xia Dynasty, in order to attack Colombia, understand the situation and find out the terrain, they sent Ruai and Ji Shu to spy in these two countries to buy etiquette and create favorable conditions for the destruction of Colombia.
All of the above can be regarded as the legend of China's early spy history. Although there are some records in ancient books, which one is the true historical fact? When was the originator of China using spies? This requires further research and verification to draw a conclusion.