Chapter 10 Chapter Nine Pulling the Banner as a Tiger Skin

Xu country is located in today's Xuchang area of ​​Henan Province. It is a standard small country. Not only is it small in size, but it also has a low title, the lowest baron.If such a small country dares not to listen to the big country, it will be in danger. Originally, Xu Guo also received Zheng Guo's crusade against Song Guo issued in the name of the emperor, but the king Xu Zhuanggong made up his mind that more things are worse than less things, so it is naturally impossible to send troops to fight with Zheng Guo.But this time Xu Zhuanggong's treasure was wrong. Under the attack of Zheng, Qi, and Lu, even a big country like Song could only accept the fate of failure.

In 712 BC, Zheng Zhuanggong joined forces with Qi and Lu to attack Xu State on the grounds that Xu State did not obey the king's order.On the first day of July, Zheng Jun launched an attack on the capital of Xu State.The battle was fierce.The soldiers of Zheng State kept climbing the city wall, and were repeatedly beaten down by the soldiers of Xu State.The bows, arrows and stones on the top of the city rained down on Zheng Jun, making people unable to lift their heads. At this time, Uncle Ying Kao, the doctor of the State of Zheng, grabbed the banner "蝥蝉" representing Zheng Zhuanggong, and faced the hail of bullets on the top of the city, he climbed up the city wall first.When Uncle Ying Kao was about to wave a banner to encourage the follow-up troops to go to the city, a cold arrow shot from nowhere and hit Uncle Ying Kao in the back of his heart.Uncle Ying Kao couldn't hold on anymore and fell off the wall.Xia Shuying, a doctor of the State of Zheng behind, hurriedly took over the banner of "蝥蝉" and climbed up the city wall, shouting: "The king has ascended the city!" So when Zheng Guo's army saw the big flag waving in the wind on the top of the city, their morale immediately rose, and they rushed to the top of the city in one go.On the other hand, this big flag also brought great psychological pressure to Xu Guo's army, and their will to resist was completely destroyed.

On the third day of the seventh month, Zheng Zhuanggong entered Xucheng, and Xu Zhuanggong fled to Weiguo in a hurry.Zheng Zhuanggong is of course in a good mood to occupy a new country, but Uncle Ying Kao was shot to death, which made Zheng Zhuanggong very annoyed.Uncle Ying Kao gave Zheng Zhuanggong the idea of ​​digging the ground to meet his mother, and he is a person that Zhuanggong trusts very much.Zhuang Gong was looking for the murderer of Uncle Ying Kao everywhere in Xucheng, but where could he find it? In fact, it was not Xu Guo's soldiers who killed Uncle Ying Kao, but Zheng Guo's grandson Du.The reason why the sons all attacked their own people is also very nonsensical.When the weapons were distributed before the war, Uncle Ying Kao and Zi both fought for a chariot, Zi had never fought Uncle Ying Kao, so he held a grudge, and used his killer move during the siege.It seems that supplies were really scarce at that time, and such a big incident could be caused by a carriage.

Since this incident has been recorded by the official historian, there is no reason for Zheng Zhuanggong not to know.However, Zhuang Gong did not punish Zidu, but made a big sacrifice, cursing the murderer who killed Uncle Ying Kao.Does Zheng Zhuanggong really don't know or fake? Even if Uncle Ying Kao won the trust of the monarch, he still has a foreign surname.Zidu is a child of the public office, and it is normal for Mr. Zheng Zhuang to want to protect his family.And it is said that this son is quite handsome. Mencius said he is a handsome man, and he is very popular with Duke Zhuang. It seems that the relationship between the two is unusual!Of course, there is also a very small possibility that Zheng Zhuanggong really doesn't know who the murderer is. In short, Zi was not punished for Uncle Ying Kao's death.However, according to unofficial history records, Zheng Zhuanggong's curse really came true, and he soon lost his braids.Unofficial records are naturally unreliable.

The monarchs of Qi and Lu also entered Xucheng, so Zheng Zhuanggong asked Qihou to deal with the aftermath of Xu.Because Xu State and Qi State are both countries with the Jiang surname, the meaning of this arrangement is to invite Qi Hou to handle their own family affairs.Qi Xigong saw that Zheng Guo was so humble, and it was not easy to take Xu State as his own, so he proposed to give Xu State to Lu State. Duke Yin of Lu didn't want to give any pretext of coveting land, so he said: "Since Xu State was brought down by Zheng State, let Zheng Bo deal with it." Although Zheng Zhuanggong felt itchy in his heart, he also knew that if he annexed the Xu country rashly, his reputation would be ruined.So I found Baili, a doctor of Xu State, and said earnestly: "I am not greedy for the land of Xu State. I can't even manage the affairs of my own country. How can I manage another Xu State? You can help me." The younger brother of Xu Nan (the title of Xu Guo is a baron, so he is called Xu Nan), manage Xu Guo, and I will ask Gongsun Huo to assist you. I let you stay here not only for Xu Guo, but also to consolidate our border. "

In this way, Dr. Baili assisted Xu Zhuanggong's younger brother to manage the eastern part of Xu State, while Gongsun Huo sent by Zheng Guo was stationed in the western part of Xu State, in a state of surveillance.Before leaving, Zheng Zhuanggong also told Gongsun Huo: "Be smart, kid. You are not here to enjoy the blessings. Don't bring all the valuables in your house to Xu Guolai. When I die in the future, you have to leave here quickly. We are The descendants of the Zhou royal family, but the descendants of the Zhou Dynasty are not as good as one. Xu Guo is after Siyue (the official position of Emperor Yao), which has a foundation. It seems that God doesn’t like the Great Zhou Dynasty very much. What are we, descendants of the royal family, so good at?"

Although Zheng Zhuanggong turned the state of Xu into his own protectorate, he still won the support of public opinion because he fully demonstrated his not greedy for land and his integrity.Everyone said that Zheng Bo was a kind man who did not seek personal gain.It can be described as both fame and fortune. As the saying goes, "become a bitch and set up a memorial archway" refers to people like Zheng Zhuanggong. Zheng Zhuanggong took care of so many countries in the name of the Son of Heaven, and the King of Zhou in Luoyi was already furious.Hey Zheng Wusheng, when did I say I was going to crusade against Song?Even if I want to crusade against the State of Song, I don't need you to do it.I don't see you paying attention to other things, but you are active enough in this matter. Do you still have me as the emperor in your eyes?

Had it not been for Zhou Gong Hei Jian's repeated persuasion, King Huan would have sent troops to attack Zheng Guo.Duke Zhou is still quite clear-headed. Although Zheng Bo's actions are infuriating, he is standing up for the emperor after all. He taught you the princes who couldn't come to court, but you still punish him. Doesn't that mean telling everyone in the world not to share the worries of the emperor?Who will stand up for the emperor in the future. King Huan had no choice but to give up, but he couldn't swallow his breath, so he came up with a trick to try Zheng Zhuanggong's attitude.He sent people to the state of Zheng to take over the good fields in Wu, Liu (both place names) and other places. Didn’t they all say, “Under the whole world, is it the land of the king”?Now the king wants some "soil", how dare you refuse to give it to a vassal state?Of course, the Son of Heaven is reasonable, wanting your land is not for nothing.Wen, Yuan and other places that originally belonged to Su Waisheng were given to you in Zheng State, so it can be regarded as an exchange.How about it, the Son of Heaven is worthy of you, right?

Su Waisheng was a minister during the time of King Wu of Zhou. At that time, he was given a lot of land because of his meritorious service. Later, the royal family declined, and Su Waisheng's descendants no longer regarded the emperor as an onion.In other words, the land exchanged to Zheng Guo was no longer owned by Zhou Tianzi.It's as if someone took an antique from you and offered to exchange it with you for a rare treasure.But this rare treasure was sold to a stall in the Panjiayuan Antique Market as early as his grandfather's generation.Isn't such a person a rogue? But King Huan of Zhou is the emperor, so Zheng Zhuanggong knew that he had done a loss-making business, and it was not easy to get angry.The good mood of defeating Song and Xu were all ruined.The more this time, the more people are going to make trouble.

Xiguo, a small country with the same surname as Ji, actually sent troops to attack Zheng because of a little quarrel with Zheng.The result of this kind of overreaching behavior is naturally a big defeat.Therefore, whether it is an individual or a group, self-knowledge is the most important thing. Come back and talk about King Huan of Zhou, Zheng Bo didn't react when he saw the land exchange, and he also felt that he was very powerful.As soon as he felt good about himself, his anger dissipated a little, and he acquiesced in Zheng Zhuanggong's self-proclaimed crusade against Song State.Now, Zheng Zhuanggong became even more unscrupulous when he played the banner of the emperor.

After all, Song Guo was still not convinced by Zheng Guo.Judging from the size of the country, Song State is indeed relatively powerful, and has a high title.However, Zheng Guo can be regarded as an emerging power, and it occupies a great reputation, and there are powerful countries such as Qilu as allies, so the overall advantage is still on Zheng Guo's side. In the winter of 712 BC, Zheng State attacked Song State again in the name of the Son of Heaven. This time Zheng Zhuanggong brought the Guo State's army.Since Guo Gongji's father and Zheng Zhuanggong were both Qingshi in the Zhou royal family, the significance of the Zheng-Guo Allied Forces is to tell the world that it is not my Zheng Guo's intention to beat you Song Guo, but our common boss - Zhou Tianzi's mean. The state of song was repaired by the state of Zheng last year. At this time, its vitality has not yet recovered, and of course it was a big defeat.After this battle, although Song Guo hadn't officially surrendered, at least he didn't dare to challenge Zheng Guo anymore.But if you want to completely subdue a big country like the Song Dynasty with a long history and tradition, fighting alone will definitely not work.Zheng Zhuanggong still has to wait for other opportunities. Zheng Zhuanggong used the banner of Emperor Zhou to teach a few countries that were at odds with him, which can be regarded as establishing his prestige.It's just that Zhou Tianzi is not a fool. Zheng Zhuanggong violated his will again and again, and bluffed and deceived under his banner everywhere, which made Zhou Huan Wang on the verge of going berserk from time to time.It can be seen from this that Zheng Zhuanggong's behavior of pulling a big banner as a tiger's skin has become more and more like walking a tightrope. I am afraid that it will not be long before this big banner can no longer be raised.However, Song Guo's heart disease still made Zheng Zhuanggong very worried.How can we clean up this old antique country that does not eat hard and soft? Although Zheng Zhuanggong was worried, compared with the monarchs of Lu and Song, he was quite happy.Two important emergencies are about to appear in Lu and Song.One of the unexpected incidents will give Zheng Zhuanggong unexpected help.