Across the vast territory stretching five thousand li from Hangu Pass to the shores of the Eastern Sea, Zhao, Wei, Han, and Qi had confronted one another for years. Both sides felt that the moment of decisive battle seemed almost upon them.
This might be the highest-caliber war fought on the lands of All Xia in decades. Wei State was the established Hegemon of the Central Plains, still sustained by the fruits of its reforms.
Qi State was the rising power of reform and renewal, the eastern Hegemon that had seized Huai-Si, defeated Chu State, and annexed Wu State.
Han and Zhao both possessed powerful armies and formidable soldiers, and their strength could not be underestimated.
The three frontier states of Qin, Chu, and Yan were likewise watching this war. Qin State had previously joined Qi State in attacking Wei State's lands in Huai-Si, but after Qi turned south, Qin signed a Peace Treaty with Wei in Hexi.
The two sides agreed not to invade one another. The Count of Qin even sealed a blood oath with the Marquis of Wei, guaranteeing that he would never participate in the war between Wei and Qi. Qin State was now impoverished and depleted, and hoped only that Wei would leave it alone and allow it to recover.
Wei State had flourished in earlier years because so many worthy talents had flocked there, but after those men became the new nobility, they too began excluding the scholars newly entering Wei's ranks of nobles and officials.
Many scholars whose ambitions had languished in Wei went to serve as officials in Qin.
Wei Yang had leaped from an untitled commoner to the Left Chief Steward who controlled Qin's government, while an impoverished noble had risen in a single bound to command Qin's military. These were