Zhongshan when war was declared, and was taken hostage. He was paraded before Yue Yang in order to weaken morale, but when this failed, they killed his son and made him into stew, before sending part of said stew to Yue Yang, which he drank in front of the Zhongshan messenger to show resolve. Shortly after, in 381, Zhongshan won its independence back. Zhongshan invaded Yan in 315, after Yan's king, Zi Kuai, abdicated his throne to his chancellor, Zi Zhi. Qi and Zhongshan both separately invaded Yan. Zhongshan seized copper mines in this war, which had previously belonged to the Donghu, but which had been taken by Yan in war. Zhongshan's troops were led by Sima Zhou. In 306, after the state of Zhao, under King Wuling of Zhao, finished a military reform, adopting the uniforms and tactics of the Hu nomads, they invaded Zhongshan. After ten years of war Zhao annexed them in 296. Foreign relations Zhongshan was unusual in that despite being such a small nation, it managed to survive for a long time, considering that many countries, large and small, of the Warring States period lived very short lifespans. Guo Songtao credits this to shrewd diplomacy, saying: "In the rises and falls of the Warring States, Zhongshan seems to be the unnoticed hub and lynchpin." Despite their small size, they demonstrated impressive resilience and strength; they are the only small nation to be given their own chapter in the Strategies of the Warring States. In 323BC, Zhongshan formed a vertical alliance, allying itself with Wei, Han, Zhao, and Yan, in order to defend themselves against larger states like Qin, Qi, and Chu. This alliance allowed the states in it to claim the title of wang (a title roughly equivalent to King). King Wei of Qi, who had 11 years earlier taken the title of wang for himself, objected to this, saying: "I am ashamed to be a king[,] if the ruler of Zhongshan can be one too". He later went on to say: "I am a state of ten thousand chariots and Zhongshan is one of a thousand chariots, how dare she [Zhongshan] assume a title the equal of mine?". An important part of this statement can be seen in his reason for denouncing them claiming kingship is not that they were non-Chinese (Huaxi), which would very likely have been mentioned in the insult if it