King Wulin of Zhao Riding in Hu Clothing

Several ministers objected. King Wu Ling of Zhao discussed with another minister, Fei Yi, "I want to reform the customs of our country by riding and archery in Hu clothing, but everyone is against it, what should I do."

　　Fei Yi said, "You can't hesitate to do something big, but if you hesitate, you can't do anything big. If you think this is good for the country, why should you be afraid of ridicule?"

　　King Wu Ling of Zhao was pleased to hear this and said, "I see that those who laugh at me are fools, but those who are sensible will agree with me."

　　The next day when the court met, King Wu Ling of Zhao came out first in the costume of the Hu people. The ministers were shocked to see him dressed in short clothes with narrow sleeves. But the ministers felt that it was too humiliating and did not want to do it. King Wu Ling of Zhao had an uncle, Gong Zi Cheng, who was a very influential and stubborn old minister of Zhao. When he heard that King Wu Ling of Zhao wanted to change his costume, he simply pretended to be sick and did not attend the court.

　　King Wu Ling of Zhao made up his mind that he had to implement the reform. He knew that to implement this new method, he had to get through his old uncle's mind first, so he came to Gongzi Cheng personally and repeatedly told him the benefits of wearing Hu clothing and learning to ride and shoot. Finally, he was convinced. King Wu Ling of Zhao immediately rewarded Gong Zi Cheng with a set of Hu costumes.

　　When the ministers saw that Gong Zi Cheng also wore the costume, they had no choice but to follow suit.

　　When King Wu Ling of Zhao saw that the conditions were ripe, he gave a formal order to reform the costume. After a short period, all the people in the state of Zhao, regardless of their wealth, wore Hu clothing. Some of them felt a little uncomfortable at first, but later they found it much more convenient to wear the Hu clothing.　King Wu Ling of Zhao then ordered everyone to learn to ride horses and shoot arrows. In less than a year, he trained a strong cavalry. In 305 B.C., King Wu Ling of Zhao personally led the cavalry to defeat the neighboring Zhongshan and conquered the Eastern Hu and several neighboring tribes. By the seventh year of the implementation of the Hu service, Zhongshan, Linhu, and Loumu were all conquered, and many lands were expanded. King Wu Ling of Zhao wanted to compete with Qin.

　　King Wu Ling of Zhao often led his troops to war and left domestic affairs to his son. In 299 B.C., he formally passed the throne to his son, King Hui Wen of Zhao. King Wuling himself was renamed Lord Father (meaning father of the king).

　　After arranging the domestic affairs to defeat Qin, the Lord Father of Zhao decided to go to Qin to examine the terrain and observe the person of King Zhaoxiang in person.

　　He dressed up as an ambassador of Zhao and took some of his men with him to Qin.

　　When he arrived at Xianyang, the master of Zhao called on King Zhaoxiang as an ambassador and reported to him about the passing of the throne of King Wu Ling of Zhao.

　　After receiving the fake "envoy", King Zhaoxiang felt that the "envoy's" manner and demeanor were both generous and majestic, unlike an ordinary man, and was suspicious. After a few days, King Zhao Xiang sent someone to invite him again and found that the "ambassador" had left without saying goodbye. A man from the state of Zhao was left in the guest house. When he asked him, he found out that he had met the famous father Zhao. King Zhao Xiang was shocked and immediately asked his general Bai Qi to lead his elite troops to chase him through the night. When the pursuers arrived at the Hangu Pass, the master of Zhao had been out of the pass for three days.