乐毅 / Le Yi

乐毅 / Le Yi enters the wiki through 《资治通鉴·周纪》52丨 陈庄叛秦 端起碗吃饭放下碗骂娘 as one of the major talents who come to 燕国 after 燕昭王 honors 郭隗. The episode says Le Yi had been in 赵国 and connects him to 乐羊, who had earlier served 魏国 in the Zhongshan campaign.

Yan Zhaowang appoints Le Yi as yaqing and entrusts state affairs to him. The episode previews Le Yi’s later reputation: he will command the five-state attack that breaks 齐国 and lets Yan avenge Qi’s earlier attack.

In the source, Le Yi is less a complete biography than the strongest proof that Yan Zhaowang’s visible respect for talent works. His arrival makes Talent Attraction Through Respect / 礼贤下士式人才吸附 and Warring States Careerist Mobility / 乱世职业经理人式流动 concrete at state scale.

《资治通鉴·周纪》69丨必看！古代帝王奇葩死法大盘点 begins to cash out that preview. When 燕昭王 wants revenge against 齐湣王, Le Yi argues that 燕国 should not attack Qi alone because Qi is large and populous. He recommends bringing in Zhao, Chu, and Wei, making his first fully operational role in the wiki a coalition-design role rather than a battlefield scene.

《资治通鉴·周纪》70丨喜欢花样作死的齐国君主 turns that design into command. Le Yi receives the multi-state seals, defeats 齐国 west of the Ji River, and then separates allied interests: 秦国 and 韩国 can return because they cannot easily occupy Qi land, while 魏国 and 赵国 take nearer territory. Against 剧辛’s warning, Le Yi leads 燕国 deeper, betting that Qi Min Wang’s lost people-support will make the state collapse. His entry into 临淄 and reward as Changguo Jun make him more than a recruited talent: he becomes the agent of Yan’s long revenge.

《资治通鉴·周纪》72丨什么样的人 才是忠贞之士？ shifts Le Yi from coalition commander to occupation governor. The episode says Yan forces under this campaign discipline troops, forbid plunder, honor Qi recluses, lighten taxes, remove harsh laws, restore older good governance, and absorb Qi elites through titles and fiefs. It also records the failed recruitment of 王蠋, which exposes the darker side of honoring worthies after conquest: public respect can become coercion when refusal is answered with threats against a locality.

《资治通鉴·周纪》73丨历史上自由恋爱的开创者是谁？ reads Le Yi’s post-victory allocation as a cause of later imbalance. He sends distant 秦国 and 韩国 home with wealth, lets 魏国 and 赵国 take nearer gains, and keeps 燕国 deep in Qi. The episode uses Qin’s later attack on Wei to show that a commander can settle the immediate coalition but still leave a post-coalition spoils imbalance.

《资治通鉴·周纪》78丨齐国命运竟被城管给救了？ completes Le Yi’s conquered-Qi arc before the Tian Dan reversal. The episode says he does not rush to storm 莒城 and 即墨, but pulls the camp back, lets civilians move, aids the hungry, and tries to make captured Qi governable through occupation pacification. The same source also shows the political fragility of that strategy: 燕昭王 blocks slander and publicly trusts him, but 燕惠王 succeeds with old resentment, accepts 田单’s rumor wedge, replaces Le Yi, and forces him into flight to Zhao.

《资治通鉴·周纪》79丨史上用耕牛 打胜仗第一人 mostly shows Le Yi through absence. After he flees to 赵国, replacement commander 骑劫 reverses the occupation posture and Yan collapses under Tian Dan’s counterattack. The source says 燕惠王 later regrets the decision and worries that 赵惠文王赵何 may use Le Yi against Yan, setting up the next episode’s letter exchange.

《资治通鉴·周纪》80丨诸葛亮的偶像 到底有多厉害？ makes that letter exchange the center. 燕惠王 writes to shift blame and test whether Le Yi might become a Zhao weapon against Yan. Le Yi answers in 《报燕惠王书》 by citing 伍子胥 as a warning that a minister must distinguish a broad old patron from a suspicious successor. The episode reads his response as loyal exit ethics: he refuses to return to danger, refuses to denounce Yan Zhaowang’s favor, and refuses to use 赵惠文王赵何’s trust to attack 燕国.

The same source adds two biographical edges. It says Le Yi had once served 赵武灵王 and left Zhao after the Shaqiu crisis, making his later return to Zhao part of Warring States careerist mobility rather than a simple defection. It also records the post-letter settlement: 乐贤 inherits the Changguo Jun title in Yan, Le Yi is enfeoffed at Guanjin with the title Wangzhu Jun in Zhao, and he dies well after achievements that could have made him politically unusable.

Connections

• 燕昭王 and 燕国 - ruler and receiving state.
• 郭隗 - adviser whose treatment signals Yan’s seriousness.
• 剧辛 - fellow Zhao-origin talent entering Yan.
• 赵国 and 齐国 - origin context and later revenge target.
• 乐羊 and 魏国 - ancestral and earlier military-service frame.
• Talent Attraction Through Respect / 礼贤下士式人才吸附 and Warring States Careerist Mobility / 乱世职业经理人式流动 - recruitment and mobility concepts.
• 齐湣王, 共同敌人联盟, and 数胜必亡式胜利反噬 - Zhouji 69 anti-Qi coalition design.
• 剧辛, 临淄, 秦国, 韩国, 魏国, and 赵国 - Zhouji 70 coalition command, post-victory allocation, and deep-pursuit dispute.
• 王蠋, 礼贤下士式人才吸附, 孟子的民本合法性, and 忠义牵连困境 - Zhouji 72 occupation governance, honoring recluses, and coercive recruitment boundary.
• 联军战后利益失衡, 安城, and 大梁 - Zhouji 73 coalition payoff imbalance and Qin’s follow-on Wei attack.
• 田单, 燕惠王, 即墨, 占领区怀柔治理, 反间流言楔入, and 阵前换将风险 - Zhouji 78 final siege, slander, replacement, and Yan morale collapse branch.
• 骑劫, 火牛阵夜袭, and 赵惠文王赵何 - Zhouji 79 consequences of his removal and exile to Zhao.
• 《报燕惠王书》, 伍子胥, 乐贤, 忠臣去国的退场伦理, and 权力退场困境 - Zhouji 80 letter, warning analogy, family-title settlement, and successful high-merit exit.