吴起
The reformer who died for his reforms.
A brilliant military reformer who created the first standing army and served three states, only to be assassinated by the nobles he dispossessed.
Wu Qi was one of the great military and political reformers of the Warring States. In Wei, he developed the first standing army and legal reforms. When the King of Wei grew suspicious, he fled to Chu and began reforms there—abolishing noble privileges, promoting merit, and strengthening the state. Chu rose quickly. But the displaced nobility conspired against him. On the night of the king's death, they attacked. Wu Qi was struck down at the altar, his body cut into pieces. The reforms died with him, proving that politics is more dangerous than any battlefield.