Chapter 3 Chapter Two

In the fourteenth year of King Zhou Ping's accession to the throne, Zheng Wugong's first son was born. The most unusual thing about this child is that it was difficult to deliver when he was born.It is said that the feet came out first and the head came out, which frightened the mother.This way of giving birth should be very difficult for the mother, so it is called Wusheng. The original meaning of "寤" is to be awakened while sleeping, which means that Wu Jiang was frightened when giving birth.We can understand "寤生" as dystocia. It can be seen from this that the ancients were not so particular about naming.This is the name that the king of a country gave his child, just so casually.But no one, whether it was Zheng Wugong, the child's mother Wu Jiang, or Zhou Tianzi who was far away in Luoyi, would have thought that this child born backwards would become the first person to disrupt the authority of Zhou Tianzi.

Zheng Wugong's career of creating human beings did not stop because of the birth of his first son. After a few years, his wife Wu Jiang gave birth to another son for him, and this time it was right.The younger son was named "Duan", also known as "Uncle Duan". From the perspective of the mother, she must prefer the younger son, because the older son was born with dystocia, and almost fell into the danger of "the mother can only keep one child" (judging from the status of women at the time, if this situation happened, it would definitely to protect the child).Since Wu Jiang doted on his youngest son, Shu Duan, he planned to ask Zheng Wugong to pass on the position of monarch to his youngest son.

A mother likes her younger son, but it's hard to say that Zheng Wugong, a father, doesn't like it.But as a king, you can't just act according to your own likes and dislikes.No matter how good Uncle Duan is, he is also the second child. If the eldest son is not established, but the second son is established, this is against the etiquette and violates the value norms recognized by the international community at that time. , this risk cannot be taken.Zheng Wugong was not confused, so even though Wu Jiang was always nagging in his ears, the eldest son took over before "Journey to the West".

Dad has been the monarch for 27 years, and he has lost his braids, and Wu Sheng succeeded to the throne.This year was the twenty-seventh year of King Ping of Zhou, 744 BC.People will call him Zheng Zhuanggong in the future, but that will be after his death.However, for the convenience of narration, we directly call him "Zheng Zhuang Gong". As soon as Zheng Zhuanggong became the king, troubles came.Mother Wu Jiang never forgot to take care of her youngest son. When Zheng Wugong was alive, as a wife, she wanted to benefit her youngest son, but she had to look at her husband’s eyes, so it was not easy to give orders directly (Zheng Wugong was not a henpecked person) .The current Duke Zhuang, even though he is the king of the country, is his own son after all, so it is okay to boss him around a bit.

One day, Wu Jiang found Zheng Zhuanggong and said, "Now that you are the king, everything is safe, but you must not forget your brother." Zheng Zhuanggong thought to himself, if I forget him, he can't forget my seat either.He hurriedly said, "I dare not forget." Wu Jiang saw that the eldest son was still obedient, so he made a request: "You have to give your brother a piece of land, and you can't wrong him. I think this place is good, so let your brother go there." Where is the system?It was Hulaoguan later.Anyone who has read novels, TV dramas or even heard operas knows that Hulao Pass is dangerous, easy to defend and difficult to attack. It has always been a battleground for military strategists, and its importance is evident.How could Duke Zhuang agree?So I explained to my mother: "Zhi is a dangerous place, and my brother is still young, so it is not suitable to arrange it there. In case the enemy invades, uncle Duan will have troubles there, and I am sorry for the dead father. If you change the place, just Anywhere you want."

Wu Jiang said: "Okay, then seal the capital to Uncle Duan, is that all right?" The capital is in the southeast of what is now Xingyang, Henan, and it was a big city in Zheng State at that time.The "Beijing" does not mean the capital, but a place name.At that time, the capitals of the princes were called "countries", and the big cities outside the capitals were called "capitals".This capital city is a "capital" of Zheng State. Zheng Zhuanggong wanted to say, pull it down, you want to establish two monarchs in one country.But the words have already been spoken, it is not easy to refute Wu Jiang's face, so he has no choice but to admit it and say: "Okay, let's do it like this."

Uncle Duan went to the capital to take office.Before leaving, the mother gave instructions for a long time, and finally she still didn't forget to find a corner, and quietly told Uncle Duan: "You can use your brains, as long as there is a chance, I will be your internal response, and then your brother's seat will be yours." .” With ulterior ambitions, Shu Duan came to the capital.When he came to his own territory, he was in high spirits. At that time, when addressing a person, it was customary to add his fiefdom, so people called him "Jingcheng Taishu", also known as "Taishu Duan".We still call him Uncle Duan in our stories.

We now have more than two thousand years of knowledge than the ancients in the Spring and Autumn Period, so we all know that a role like Shu Duan is really subtle.If you don't pay attention, you will be suspected by the monarch, and if you don't do it well, your head will move.There are also some people who keep a low profile, develop their strength secretly, and eventually replace the monarch, which is smarter. But Grand Uncle Duan didn't have such an awareness. He had a territory and relied on Wu Jiang's favor, so he simply let go of his arms and went to work.If you want to expand your strength, you should recruit troops quietly, right?But this Uncle Duan didn't know how to restrain himself at all. He expanded the city wall and intervened in local government affairs, ordering officials from the western and northern border areas of Zheng State to report to him.It seems that children still can't be spoiled, and they will mess around regardless of being spoiled.

Uncle Duan is tossing around in his fief, Zheng Zhuanggong is not a fool, can you not know?Not to mention Zheng Zhuanggong, even his ministers have seen it. The minister Jizu felt that it was necessary to remind his monarch.He said to Zheng Zhuanggong: "There are regulations on how large a city can be built. Now the size of the capital and the thickness of the city wall exceed the national capital. Don't you think this is troublesome?" Zheng Zhuanggong sighed and said: "This is what my old lady meant, I can't be unfilial." Jizu was a little anxious, and said, "If you listen to your mother in everything, are you still called the king of a country? Your mother is holding back her strength and wants your brother to replace you. Why don't you hurry up and take precautions?" It will be difficult to deal with him when his power spreads, and weeds are hard to hoe if they spread, let alone your brother?"

Zheng Zhuanggong smiled and said: "You will die if you do many unrighteous actions. Just wait and see the good show." Jizu walked away suspiciously.But the other ministers couldn't see it, so they came to remind again.This time it is the son Lu. The son refers to the descendants of the public office, that is, the brothers or uncles of Duke Zheng Zhuang of the same clan.During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, generally speaking, the families of the monarchs of the vassal states were called "gongshi". Among the sons of the monarch, the eldest son who could inherit the throne was called the crown prince or the eldest son, and the other sons who could not inherit the throne were called the prince. The son, the son of the son, is called Gongsun.Of course, if you count down, it is outrageous to be called "Gong-great-grandson" or "Gong-great-great-great-grandson", and it only goes to Gongsun.

The Zhou Tianzi's family is called the "royal family". Among the sons of the emperor, the eldest son is also called the prince, the other sons are called the prince, and the prince's son is called the grandson.The so-called "eldest son", as explained earlier, refers to the first son born to his wife. This son Lu is not so polite: "I am here today, and I have nothing else to do, just want to ask, do you still want to take the seat of the monarch? Now there are two monarchs in one country, who should we listen to? If you want to give up your seat to your younger brother, just leave quickly, and we will join Uncle Duan immediately. If you don’t want to give up your seat, you can just get rid of Uncle Duan, so as to save both of us from being angry." Zheng Zhuanggong still looked unhurried, and put on a nonchalant smile: "There is no need for me to do it, that kid will kill himself." Seeing that his series of actions did not arouse Zheng Zhuanggong's reaction, Shuduan felt more at ease in developing his personal power.With regard to the western and northern borders of Zheng State, Shu Duan had only interfered in local government affairs, but this time he became bolder and simply declared these two areas to be his territory, and expanded eastward to Linyan.Linyan is close to the state of Wei, in the north of Yanjin County, Henan today.Uncle Duan did this, which means colluding with other countries' forces for foreign aid. Young Master Lu came to look for Duke Zhuang again: "Shouldn't we do it this time? Shuduan's territory is already so big that it can be regarded as openly splitting the country. It will be too late if we don't do it." The people spurn it, no matter how big the territory is, it is useless. Without my hands, it will fall apart by itself." This made young master Lu Gan stare, thinking that you are right in your head?When your younger brother takes over the entire country, he will no longer be a separatist force.But after thinking about it, the monarch is not a fool, how can he not know this?Or just wait and see. We know that Zheng Wugong inherited Zheng Huan's official position in the Zhou Dynasty Central Committee. After Zheng Wugong died, Zheng Zhuanggong would naturally continue to inherit.Zhou Tianzi appointed Zheng Zhuanggong as a Qingshi, with a high status.But the corresponding responsibility is that Zheng Zhuanggong can't always stay in his own capital, but also often goes to the emperor to be on duty. In the 22nd year of Duke Zhuang, that is, the 49th year of King Ping of Zhou, 722 BC.This year, Duke Zhuang went to be on duty with Emperor Zhou according to regulations.Before leaving, you must say hello to your family. For example, tell your mother Wu Jiang that your son is going on a long trip. Don’t worry about it. I’ll be back soon. I’ll bring you some specialties from Luoyi when the time comes. ,etc.Naturally, Wu Jiang also asked, don't lose your manners when you are in front of the emperor, come back after finishing the business, don't eat and drink with the buddies in the court, the emperor is tight at present, it is difficult to report the entertainment expenses, and so on. A happy scene, in fact, hidden murderous intentions. As soon as Zhuang Gong left, Wu Jiang sent a letter to Uncle Duan, telling him to lead the troops back to the capital quickly, and take the seat of Zhuang Gong, and Wu Jiang would be the internal response.After receiving the letter from his mother, Uncle Duan immediately gathered his troops and prepared to march to the capital. Zheng Zhuanggong is like a human spirit, can he guard against this move?Although he left the capital, Wu Jiang's eyeliner is indispensable around him.Knowing that Wu Jiang sent a letter to Uncle Duan, Zheng Zhuanggong knew what the letter contained without even thinking about it.Okay, finally I can't help but want to attack me! If the house is going to be chaotic, Zheng Zhuanggong is not in a hurry to go to Zhou Tianzi to be on duty.He called son Lu over and said: "The time has come, you have work to do this time. Take two hundred chariots and go to the capital to arrest my unworthy younger brother. Don't forget to search his residence by the way. See if there are any important letters or something." Young master Lu was overjoyed when he heard that, it should have been like this long ago.So he ordered two hundred chariots and rushed to the capital. In the Spring and Autumn Period, there was no cavalry, and chariots were the main force.The chariot has two wheels and is drawn by four horses. The carriage is rectangular.There are three people in the car, and the one in the middle is the driver, that is, the driver.The one on the left is called Chezuo. It is mainly responsible for shooting enemies with bows and arrows, and is also equipped with a short sword for fighting.The one on the right is called Chariot Right, who uses long weapons such as daggers and spears, and is responsible for fighting. When the chariot encounters obstacles, it is also responsible for pushing the chariot.Each chariot also has infantry that cooperates in combat, just like in the military exercises we saw today, all arms cooperate and infantry cooperates with tanks to fight.Each chariot, plus the infantry assigned to it, formed a combat unit known as a "one-carrying".The number of chariots became the yardstick for measuring a country's military strength at that time, so there were sayings such as "the country of a thousand vehicles" and "the king of ten thousand vehicles". The son Lu led his troops into the area controlled by Shu Duan, and along the way issued a call to action against Shu Duan for his rebellion and usurpation.At that time, people paid the most attention to the words "righteousness and integrity". If Shuduan wanted to seize the throne by illegal means, public opinion would not support him.When the common people saw that the government army was coming, they realized that Shu Duan, who had been aloof all these years, was actually an unkind separatist force and a bad person, so they abandoned Shu Duan one after another. Without the support of the common people, Shu Duan realized how weak his own power was.Facing the government army, he had no choice but to flee.First he fled to Yandi, and then Young Master Lu chased after him.Uncle Duan had no choice but to rush out of the border all the way, and hid in the Gongcheng of Weiguo, so the final name for Duan was "Uncle Gong".Regarding the final outcome of Shu Duan, some legends believe that he committed suicide, but there is no such record in the authoritative historical materials "Historical Records" and "Zuo Zhuan".Anyway, at least he didn't die directly at the hands of Zheng Zhuanggong. It's not easy for young master Lu to chase him now, and if he keeps chasing him, it will cause international disputes.So he withdrew his troops and returned.Zheng Zhuanggong saw that his disobedient younger brother had been driven abroad, and he could not pose a threat to his status for the time being, so he did not kill them all. Zheng Zhuanggong's move is called "playing hard to get". What the younger brother wants, just follow his temperament, and wait until he is spoiled and stupid, and then deal with him.Still the same sentence, children can't be spoiled. The younger brother's problem is solved, so is this story over?No, don't forget, there is still a mother in Zheng Zhuanggong's family. When the son Lu attacked the capital, he found a large pile of letters from Wu Jiang and Shu Duan conspiring against the government.Zheng Zhuanggong took these letters and thought of the things his mother had treated him since he was born, and he couldn't help feeling angry.Yes, he has endured too much for his mother and younger brother.If he hadn't been able to sit on the throne of the monarch in the end, he would really have to shout to the heavens and condemn the injustice of the heavens.He wants to ask his mother, why do you hate me so much because they are all your children?I have been in this world for decades, when did I feel maternal love? Zhuang Gong took the letters between his younger brother and Wu Jiang back to the capital, and put them with his mother. You can see for yourself, and see what you have done. Wu Jiang knew that his plan had failed, so what else could he say?He could only let his own son go down the drain. Zheng Zhuanggong didn't want to see Wu Jiang, so he asked someone to bring him a message: "You are a mother, and I can't say anything about you. You can leave the capital for me and live in Yingdi. Anyway, out of sight, out of mind. Annoyance, we won't see each other until Huangquan!" Our ancients believed that people would go to the underworld after death, and the water in the underworld was called the Yellow Spring.Therefore, when we describe a person's death, there is a saying of death.Zheng Zhuanggong said harsh words, meaning to tell my mother that our mother-child relationship will come to an end here. Zheng Zhuanggong said something angry at that time, but soon regretted it.After all, she is her own mother, so it would be a lie to say that she has no feelings at all.What's more, there is such a big hat of "unfilial piety" on the head, who can't weigh it in their hearts? But what he said, the water he poured out, and he is the king of a country, how can he go back on his word?Zheng Zhuanggong is also unable to get off the tiger.The ministers looked at the sad face of the monarch all day long, and knew what was going on, but no one had a good idea. In Yingdi, a man named Uncle Ying Kao asked to see Zheng Zhuanggong, saying that he wanted to offer some local products or something.Duke Zhuang thought he was bored now anyway, so he let him in to see if there was something new to relieve boredom. Uncle Ying Kao saluted Duke Zhuang with a few birds that Duke Zhuang had never seen before.Zhuang Gong asked: "What kind of bird are you holding? It looks very strange." Uncle Ying Kao said: "This kind of bird is called an owl. When they were young, they were raised by their parents hard. When they grow up, they eat their own parents and hang their parents' bones on the tree for display. It is a kind of unfilial piety." The bird. This bird is so disgusting, so we will catch it and eat it. I will catch a few for you, try something new." When Zheng Zhuanggong heard it, he obviously felt that Uncle Ying Kao had something to say, but it was not easy to get angry, so he said: "Thank you for your hard work. Come, let's have a banquet. I want to entertain Uncle Ying Kao." Uncle Ying Kao saluted again and said, "Thank you, Mr. Guo." At the banquet, Uncle Ying Kao put all the delicious meat together and specially ate vegetarian dishes. Zheng Zhuanggong was very surprised: "Why don't you eat meat? Isn't vegetarianism popular now?" Uncle Ying Kao said: "Mr. Hui, my mother hasn't eaten yet at home. She is hungry, and I don't like anything. I have to save some delicious food and take it away." Hearing this, Zheng Zhuanggong finally endured. Beating his chest and stamping his feet, he said, "Oh! You have a mother who can be filial, but I have no choice but to be filial!" Uncle Ying Kao was stuffing meat into the lunch box, while pretending to be surprised: "Where did the monarch say that?" Zheng Zhuanggong uttered all his troubles, and then asked, "What do you think I should do?" Uncle Ying Kao said with a smile: "My lord, you also accept death. Isn't Huangquan just underground water? You send someone to dig a tunnel, and the groundwater is deep enough. Then you meet your mother in the tunnel, isn't it that you have arrived in Huangquan?" See you again?" Zheng Zhuanggong suddenly realized: "Yes, you are really smart, just do it like this!" Therefore, Uncle Ying Kao used his wit to help Zheng Zhuanggong solve a big problem.Zheng Zhuanggong built a tunnel according to what Uncle Ying Kao said, and then the mother and son met in the tunnel.Zheng Zhuanggong wrote a poem: "In the big tunnel, the joy is also harmonious." Wu Jiang wrote a poem: "Outside the big tunnel, the joy is also released." Translated into vernacular, the two people are very happy about this situation.So the history books said: "Then mother and son are the same as before." The relationship between the two is the same as before. What was it like?We know that the relationship between Wu Jiang and Zheng Zhuanggong has never been good.Therefore, it is said that learning is everywhere in reading, and there is a lot of content behind this sentence "the mother and the child are as old as ever". Of course, anyway, this thing is still very beautiful.The good name of Uncle Ying Kao was handed down. "Zuo Zhuan" praised him: "Uncle Ying Kao, pure filial piety, loves his mother, and gives to Duke Zhuang." Translated into vernacular: Uncle Ying Kao can be called a model of filial sons. This kind of love extended to Zheng Zhuanggong. Of course, Uncle Ying Kao is also very smart. He actually came up with such a flexible method, which really makes people feel the profoundness of Chinese language and culture.This is probably the first of its kind for future generations of "brain teasers".The trick of digging tunnels also indirectly contributed to the Revolutionary War thousands of years later.It's just that those few innocent owls have suffered from the notoriety of "unfilial piety" for thousands of years.Now we know that owls will not do those immoral things, so please don't take what Uncle Ying Kao said seriously. After the domestic affairs were settled, Zheng Zhuanggong began to pay attention to foreign countries.It takes a lot of brainpower to resolve international disputes. No, there will be troubles on Weiguo's side.When Uncle Duan was preparing to start a rebellion, he sent his son Gongsun Hua to Weiguo to move reinforcements.Later, Shu Duan was defeated and fled to Weiguo.So some people in Weiguo wanted to use Uncle Duan to make a fuss and get some benefits from Zheng Guo. Can Zheng Zhuanggong be afraid of Weiguo?