Dun Ruo

Dun Ruo was a strategist of the last years of the Warring States period, known only from the Intrigues of the Warring States (Zhanguo ce) and not mentioned in the Records of the Grand Historian. That text says that when King Zheng of Qin wished to see him, he first insisted that his principles did not let him bow, and entered only when the king agreed. He told the king that Qin held the substance of universal rule without the name, and rebuked him for the unfilial act of banishing his mother from Xianyang. He then asked for ten thousand pieces of gold, travelled east to Han and Wei to buy their generals and ministers, and went north to Yan and Zhao, where his work led to the killing of the Zhao general Li Mu. The same passage credits his missions with bringing the king of Qi to pay court to Qin, followed by the other four states.