had been returned to Zhao. However, unwilling to execute a Zhao diplomat, he could do nothing but let Lin go. The incident made Lin famous throughout the Warring States as the man who had shamed the Qin king. His status rose and soon he was chief minister of Zhao. Carrying Thorned Grass and Pleading Guilt Many people were jealous of Lin's meteoric rise, most notably the old general Lian Po, one of the most experienced commanders during that time. Lian Po was so jealous that he swore enmity between the two of them. When Lin had caught wind of this, he decided that the best way to deal with the problem was to not confront Lian at all. In one incident, Lian's and Lin's carriage met on a narrow road. Lin, as the higher-ranking minister, normally had right of passage; however, he turned and backed out of the street in order to let Lian pass. Many saw it as a sign of weakness, not least Lian Po himself, who reckoned that Lin, an academic, was too scared to fight such a warrior as he. Lin's courtiers, too, grew dissatisfied by the subservient way Lin was behaving, and many left. But when Lin's chief courtier demanded to know why he was behaving in such a manner, Lin Xiangru replied: "The feud between me and Lian Po is a personal one; but I am in charge of the nation's government, and he the nation's security: I cannot let my personal life ruin that of the kingdom!" When Lian Po finally heard of this, all his jealousy turned into shame. Deciding to apologize to Lin, he strapped brambles to his bare back and walked from his house to that of Lin Xiangru's, begging for his forgiveness. Lin Xiangru forgave him, and from then on, they became good friends. The alliance between chief minister and general kept Zhao peaceful for years. Subsequent events When Lian Po was on the verge of being replaced as overall commander in the Battle of Changping by the much younger and much more inexperienced Zhao Kuo, Lin Xiangru, then already gravely ill, begged King Xiaocheng of Zhao to reconsider the decision. However, his advice was not heeded, and disaster followed. Lin Xiangru died probably around Zhao's final defeat at the Battle of Changping. Legacy Sima Xiangru, a poet during the western Han Dynasty, named himself after Lin Xiangru as