Chapter 32 Chapter Thirty-One

Although the Qi and Chu countries were already at war, what really caused the two countries to meet each other was an unexpected incident that was not very eye-catching. Duke Huan of Qi has a shortcoming common to all emperors in ancient and modern times: he is lustful.Lust is also a man's nature, as long as it doesn't delay the business, it's not a big problem.Duke Huan of Qi's lust did not affect him as the overlord. Duke Huan of Qi was lustful, so he married many wives.Duke Huan of Qi liked one thing for a while, and another time for another, and he didn't know for sure.In recent years, his favorite concubine is Cai Guojun's younger sister, we call her Cai Ji.

Cai Ji is not very old, and relying on Duke Huan of Qi to pamper her, she often acts coquettishly, playing childish temper and so on.Duke Huan of Qi took it as a little girl messing around, so he didn't discipline Cai Ji much.One day, Duke Huan of Qi took Cai Ji to the garden to row a boat.Cai Ji and Duke Huan of Qi boarded a small boat. Cai Ji was very excited. She probably hadn't rowed a boat for a long time, so she jumped up and down on the boat, making the boat sway from side to side. Duke Huan of Qi was not young, so he cherished his life, and maybe his swimming skills were not good at all, so the swinging of the boat really scared him a lot.At that moment, Duke Huan of Qi even thought of King Zhou Zhao who was drowned in the Han River after "Never Returning from the Southern Expedition".

Duke Huan of Qi yelled loudly: "Don't shake!" Cai Ji may be used to acting coquettishly and coquettishly, she didn't notice Duke Huan of Qi's frightened expression, and thought this was another chance for her to play with her childish temper, so instead she jumped even harder. "Your Majesty, why are you so timid? Look at me, I still dare to dance." The boat was tossed so hard by her that it became a pirate ship in an amusement park. Duke Huan of Qi's face turned green. After finally waiting for Cai Ji to go crazy enough and landed on the shore, he was still terrified.As for Cai Ji, she didn't realize that Duke Huan of Qi was scared to death by herself, and was still talking about the ugly state of the monarch.

Duke Huan of Qi was furious, and immediately ordered Cai Ji to return to her natal home, Cai Guo, to reflect. Cai Ji didn't expect that she would cause such a disaster, so she went back to Cai Guo crying. What Duke Huan of Qi meant was to ask Cai Ji to go home and reflect for two days, and then bring her back when she realizes her mistake.But Cai Ji also has backbone, if you don't want me, I still don't want to marry you.After returning to China, Cai Ji asked to remarry. In that era, although the patriarchal society had entered, women, especially aristocratic women, were not completely reduced to their husbands' appendages like later generations.Cai Ji wanted to remarry, and Cai Guoguo agreed, so she passed Cai Ji to King Chu Cheng without going through the formal divorce procedures with Duke Huan of Qi.

Cai Guo was originally one of the first princes to support Duke Huan of Qi as the overlord, but now he is standing on the opposite side of Duke Huan of Qi after such a toss. Of course, let's think about it, and it makes sense to transfer Cai Ji to the state of Chu.The location of Cai State is in today's Shangcai County, Henan Province, which is very close to Chu State.Moreover, Duke Huan of Qi is the overlord of the Central Plains. If his woman wants to remarry, who would dare to want it from the princes of the Central Plains?You can only marry Chu State.Anyway, Cai Guo has already offended Duke Huan of Qi, so just offend him to the end and please Chu State directly.

This made Duke Huan of Qi angry: I returned Cai Ji to repair it, not to return it. How could you just marry her to someone else?Moreover, I married Chu State, the enemy of the princes of the Central Plains. Where will I put face as the overlord?If I can't deal with you, where is the prestige! Duke Huan of Qi was worried that he had no reason to attack Chu. Since Cai turned his back on Qi and surrendered to Chu, how long would it be if he didn't send troops at this time? In the spring of 656 BC, Duke Huan of Qi summoned the monarchs of Song, Lu, Chen, Wei, Zheng, Xu, and Cao to organize an eight-nation coalition to attack Cai.Of course, defeating Cai is not the main purpose. Duke Huan of Qi's real goal is Chu State, which stands behind Cai State.

A small country like Cai Guo, not to mention the Eight-Nation Allied Forces, even any of these eight countries, it may not be able to offend.Caihou can also think about it, anyway, since the day he offended Qihou, he has made up his mind to hug Chu's thick legs.Now that the Eight-Power Allied Forces are coming to attack me, Chu State will definitely come to rescue me. It's a pity that Cai Hou was captured by Duke Huan of Qi before the reinforcements from Chu State arrived.After Duke Huan of Qi defeated Cai Guo, he launched an attack on Chu State behind Cai Guo. Now, King Chu Cheng couldn't sit still.The armies of eight countries came together, this is no joke.On the one hand, King Cheng of Chu ordered the whole country to enter a state of emergency combat readiness to prepare for war; on the other hand, he sent envoys to the military camp of Duke Huan of Qi to negotiate.

There is a small problem here, that is, who is this messenger.In the more responsible history books, there is no record of the messenger's name.According to some sources, it is believed that this emissary is Qu Wan, the doctor of Chu State who will appear soon.Of course, no matter who it is, it has little influence on the progress of our story. The envoy arrived at the military camp of Duke Huan of Qi, conveyed the greetings of the King of Chu, and asked the Marquis of Qi why he came to fight in Chu.On Qi's side, it was Guan Zhong who answered.This question and answer created a famous political dialogue in Chinese history.

The state of Chu asked (this is the original text): "The king is in the North Sea, and the widow is in the South China Sea. It's just that the wind, the horse and the ox are not related. I don't think that the king will be involved in my land. Why?" Here I want to explain in detail that the "North Sea" and "South China Sea" in this passage refer to the north and the south, not the sea we are talking about today.As for the idiom "the wind, the horse, and the ox are irrelevant", it is even more well-known.The "wind" in this sentence refers to the cattle and horses chasing and playing with each other when they are in estrus.Then "the wind, the horse, and the ox are irrelevant" means that even if the ox and horse in estrus chase each other and run wildly, they can't run that far.Look, there is so much knowledge in a short sentence!

This is the envoy of the state of Chu asking the Marquis of Qi in the tone of the king of Chu: "You control your north, I control my south, even if your horses and cattle run away in heat, they will not reach our border. Why did you come to beat me?" Woolen cloth?" Guan Zhong replied on behalf of Duke Huan of Qi: "In the past, Duke Kang ordered our ancestors to say: 'Five marquises and nine uncles, you will conquer them to assist the Zhou family.' Give me the shoes of the ancestors. Mausoleum, as far as Wudi in the north. Ergong Baomao can't enter, the king's sacrifice is not shared, there is no way to shrink the wine, and the widow is a sign. The king Zhao went south and did not return, the widow is asking."

Didn't you say that you are far away from me, and I can't control you?At that time, Zhao Kanggong (that is, Zhao Gongshi) had already represented the royal family and entrusted the task of conquering the disobedient princes to our ancestor Taigong (Jiang Taigong). He also gave us a pair of straw sandals as a souvenir. Who said I can’t control it you?All the princes in the world are under my control! As for why we mobilize our teachers, I have two things to ask you: Your mission in the state of Chu is to pay tribute to the royal family. It is used to filter the dregs in the wine. Later, when the distillation method was invented, such a primitive method was no longer used), but you always don’t come to pay tribute, so that the royal family does not have clean wine for sacrificing ancestors, so I offered it By the order of the Son of Heaven, come and beat you.Another thing, when our King Zhou Zhao went south to conquer your country of Chu, why didn't he go back?You have to give me an explanation. Guan Zhong's words were so righteous that the envoys of the Chu State could not refute them. They could only admit their mistakes: "If the tribute is not paid, it is the crime of the widowed king. How dare you not give it together? When King Zhao is gone, the king will ask Zhu Shui coast!" That means that it was our fault that we did not pay tribute to the emperor. We admitted our mistake, and we will immediately load a few large carts for you to take away.As for the drowning of King Zhou Zhao, you should go to the Han River and inquire about it. It has nothing to do with our state of Chu. You see, the envoy of Chu's answer is also very artistic.It's a small mistake not to pay tribute, just admit it, the big deal is that I will get you a few carts of grass every year and send them over.But Zhou Zhaowang's drowning was a big mistake, and it would be troublesome if he admitted it.In fact, the seventeenth chapter of this book has already analyzed it. The drowning of King Zhou Zhao really has little to do with the state of Chu. Duke Huan of Qi saw that Chu State was still not completely subdued, so he ordered the Eight-Power Allied Forces to increase the pressure on Chu State, marching to Xing, Chu State's territory, which is generally believed to be in the south of Yancheng County, Henan Province today.But if we look at the map, we will find that Yancheng County is actually in Shangcai County, which is to the north of where Cai Guo is located.This is inconsistent with the route of Duke Huan of Qi's march to the south.Therefore, where Xingdi is is yet to be further researched), put on a posture to continue southward. King Cheng of Chu fought tit-for-tat, and sent a doctor, Qu Wan, to lead his troops to meet the overlord of the Central Plains. Chu State and Qi State were both first-class big countries at that time. This time, it was the first time for these two big countries to play against an opponent of the same weight, so no one dared to be careless. Although Qu Wan came with soldiers, he did not come to fight.He came to Duke Huan of Qi's barracks and proposed to Duke Huan of Qi that the coalition forces of the princes must retreat temporarily to clear a buffer zone before Chu can negotiate peace with Qi. Guan Zhong knew that for a big country like Chu, it is not a good thing for anyone to tear their face apart.So he ordered the army to temporarily retreat to Zhaoling (Zhaoling is said to be in the east of Yancheng County, Henan, but this is the same as the previous Xingdi, and there are unreasonable places. The real location of Zhaoling also needs further research), and prepare Negotiate with Chu. Qu Wan was authorized by King Chu to come to Zhaoling to negotiate with Duke Huan of Qi.Duke Huan of Qi ordered the armies of the eight countries to line up and inspect the troops with Qu Wan. During the military parade, Duke Huan of Qi said to Qu Wan: "I raised troops this time not for the benefit of our Qi State, but for the State of Chu. You Chu State cannot always be separated from the princes of the Central Plains. I think, from now on , we will become friendly allies, just like our ancestors, and support the royal family together, what do you think?" Qu Wan said respectfully: "If you don't dislike our country, then forming an alliance is exactly the wish of our king." Duke Huan of Qi was overjoyed, and Chu agreed to form an alliance, which meant that Duke Huan of Qi was recognized as the overlord.This great barbarian country that has harassed the Central Plains for decades, the biggest obstacle on the road to Duke Huan of Qi's dominance has been subdued. As soon as Duke Huan of Qi was happy, he wanted to show off again in front of Qu Wan.Pointing at the troops of the Eight Kingdoms, he said to Qu Wan arrogantly, "Look at our mighty army, who would dare to resist with such an army? If you use them to attack a city, what city can't be broken?" Qu Wan looked at the army of the princes, and it was indeed well-equipped and well-organized. The soldiers were full of energy and fighting spirit, and the scene was magnificent enough.But Qu Wan came here on behalf of the state of Chu, how could he lose face?So he said neither humble nor overbearing: "If the overlord uses virtue to appease the princes, who in the world would dare not accept it? But if you want to use force, then Chu State uses Fangcheng (the name of the mountain, within the territory of Chu State) as the city wall and the Han River as the moat , no matter how many troops you have, I’m afraid there’s no use for them.” Duke Huan of Qi thought to himself, this doctor of the Chu State is really sharp-tongued, and he will not suffer at all.Forget it, let's stop talking nonsense and make a covenant. Therefore, in the summer of 656 BC, Chu and the princes of the eight countries signed an alliance in Zhaoling.This incident marked that Chu State formally recognized the hegemony of Qi State.After signing the covenant, the Eight-Power Allied Forces left Chu, and their respective teams returned home. There was no battle, and some people felt that it was not very enjoyable.It took so much effort to attack Chu, so it's over if it doesn't hurt or itch?Bao Shuya was a little puzzled.Bao Shuya asked Guan Zhong: "Let's go back like this? The Chu State's aggravated crime of claiming the title of king should not be taken care of. No matter what, let them remove the title of king. This is a matter of principle." Guan Zhong said: "I also know that this is a matter of principle. The more it is a matter of principle, the less room for change. It is not a day or two for Chu to become king. If we force it to remove the title of king, it will definitely not accept it. But we And we can't be perfunctory on this issue, we have to ask for an explanation. In this way, the conflict between the two sides will intensify. If the war breaks out, not to mention the loss of life, our national power will definitely be wasted on this, which is very important Both Qi and Chu are of no benefit. Now that Chu has subdued, let us pretend we didn't see the matter of being king." Hearing this, Bao Shuya was deeply moved.No wonder I can't be the prime minister, the gap lies here!In the battle against Chu, Duke Huan of Qi was certainly the winner, but Chu was not considered a failure.The Eight-Nation Allied Forces organized by Duke Huan of Qi did not take advantage of Chu.Moreover, since the two sides did not really meet each other, Chu's national strength did not suffer any loss, but it was temporarily subdued. However, we must see that Duke Huan of Qi used military deterrence to achieve the goal of "surrendering the enemy without fighting", which in itself is a great success.After Duke Huan of Qi, there was no other prince of the Central Plains who could use this method to subdue Chu.Moreover, some small countries in the Han River basin, such as Jiang and Huang, which were originally under the sphere of influence of the Chu State, also broke away from the control of the Chu State at this time and fell into the embrace of the Qi State.This is also a setback that Chu has never suffered. After the death of Duke Huan of Qi, the history of the Spring and Autumn Period entered the era of Jin-chu struggle for hegemony.Although Chu State lost to Jin State several times, it has never surrendered to Jin State.Throughout the history of the Spring and Autumn Period, Duke Huan of Qi was indeed the only overlord recognized by Chu State.So we say that among the five overlords in the Spring and Autumn Period, Duke Huan of Qi is the most powerful. The influence of the Zhaoling League even spread to more than 100 years later.When Chu State was King Ling of Chu (reigned from 540 BC to 529 BC), he always recalled the shock brought by the Zhaoling Alliance to Chu State, and he wanted to learn from Duke Huan of Qi. From then on, until the death of Duke Huan of Qi, Chu's aggressive northward momentum was temporarily contained.Duke Huan of Qi's great cause of fighting off the barbarians once again achieved a major victory. As soon as Chu's threat was lifted, discordant voices appeared within the coalition forces.When Duke Huan of Qi sent troops to attack Chu, the supply of food and materials depended on Chen, Zheng and other countries.It's as if the United States is now fighting Iraq and Afghanistan, and Japan and the European Union are paying for the military expenses. When the state of Chu is a great threat to these countries, they are of course willing to let the state of Qi fight for them, no matter whether they contribute money or strength.But once the state of Chu is subdued, they feel that they are not worth it.This kind of thinking is represented by Yuan Taotu, the doctor of Chen Guo.This Yuantao Tu went to discuss with Shenhou, the official of the State of Zheng ("Shen" means that he was born in the State of Shen, and "Hou" is his name, which is not the same thing as the prince Shenhou we introduced earlier) : "If the return route of the allied forces of the princes passes through our Chen and Zheng countries, we will have to provide food and grass. How can a small country like ours afford it? Why don't we persuade the overlord to bring the army back to the country from the east, Along the way, you can also show off your force to the Dongyi countries, what do you think?" Marquis Shen said: "This is a good idea, go and talk to the Overlord." So Yuantao Tu suggested to Duke Huan of Qi: "Overlord, you should go back to the country with a victorious teacher. It is better to go to the east, so that you can promote your hegemony to the small Dongyi country." Duke Huan of Qi was very happy to hear that. In another day, Shenhou came to see Duke Huan of Qi.Duke Huan of Qi said to him, "Master Yuan Taotu of the State of Chen suggested that I return to the teacher via the east route. What do you think, Doctor?" Marquis Shen said: "Overlord, you were deceived by that boy Yuan Taotu. He was afraid that when the army passed through Chen State, their country would need food and grass. He didn't want to take responsibility. I think you should follow the original plan, Overlord. The route returns. You can also rest and reorganize the army and replenish supplies in Chen Guo and Zheng Guo." Only then did Duke Huan of Qi suddenly realize: "Well, you Yuantaotu, a doctor from the state of Chen, dare to play the role of your own overlord. See if I don't deal with you. Doctor Shen, you are an honest man. I will let Zheng Bo take care of you." Securely seal it to you." Marquis Shen benefited from the informant, but Yuan Taotu was out of luck.Duke Huan of Qi immediately arrested Yuantao Tu and brought the army to Chen Guo to ask Chen Guojun for an explanation.How could Chen Xuangong dare to fight against the overlord? He quickly sent someone to explain: the bad idea is all from Yuan Taotu, and it has nothing to do with us. You can deal with it according to your needs. Yuantao was so angry, he thought that Marquis Shen, you are too dishonest, I only discussed it with you because I trusted you, why did you turn your back on me and sell me out?But luckily, Duke Huan of Qi was quite magnanimous, and he didn't make things difficult for Yuan Taotu, asking him to write an inspection and let him go. Although this is an inconspicuous and trivial matter, it shows that after the common threat has been eliminated, the minds of the princes have become active.We will see later that this also had a certain impact on Duke Huan's hegemony. Now that the state of Chu has been subdued, according to the usual practice, Duke Huan of Qi wants to report victory to Emperor Zhou.The envoys of Chu State who transported tribute (that is, several carts of thatch) also had to meet the emperor. Duke Huan of Qi sent Xi Peng, a senior official, and envoys from the State of Chu to Luoyi to meet with him, but King Hui of Zhou was very happy.How many years has the state of Chu not come to court?This country of alienation regards itself as a barbarian, and never takes the Emperor Zhou seriously.It's all right now, being subdued by Marquis Qi, and coming to pay tribute to the royal family, congratulations! King Zhou Hui felt that Bel had face.As soon as he was happy, he asked his two sons, Prince Zheng and Wang Zidai, to come out together to receive Xi Peng and the envoys of Chu State.This simple action made the careful Xi Peng see something different. Xi Peng returned to Qi State and told Duke Huan of Qi, "I'm afraid the royal family of Zhou is going to make trouble again." Duke Huan of Qi was very puzzled. Now that the princes of the world are obedient, and even the state of Chu has resumed paying tribute, why does the royal family not stop? When Xi Peng told the whole story slowly, Duke Huan of Qi realized that Xi Peng was not alarmist.The chaos of the royal family may not be far away. What major discovery did Xi Peng make in Luoyi?