Chapter 2 2. First strong and then weak, Qin Mugong dominated Xirong

As a small vassal state in the remote west of Qin State, in the early spring and Autumn period, Qin Xianggong was granted the title of vassal because Duke Xiang of Qin helped King Ping of Zhou to move eastward. He also inherited the land west of Mount Qi from King Ping of Zhou. ).Through the efforts of generations of Qin Wengong, Qin Ninggong, Qin Wugong, Qin Degong, Qin Xuangong, etc., Qin's territory continued to expand eastward. When Mugong succeeded to the throne, it had already occupied more than half of Guanzhong. Compared with Qin, the country is still small and the people are weak.In the Spring and Autumn Period when all heroes came together, it seemed very inconspicuous.Therefore, Qin Mugong's primary task after his succession is still to expand the territory.In the year when Qin Mugong succeeded to the throne (659 BC), he personally led troops to crusade against the Rong people in Maojin (now east of Ruicheng, Shanxi), and started the cause of expanding the territory.

If Qin State wants to go further east, the first to bear the brunt is its eastern neighbor Jin State.However, the two confrontations between Duke Mu of Qin and the state of Jin ended in failure. Qin's way of advancing eastward was firmly blocked by the state of Jin, so he had to turn to develop westward. At that time, there were many Rong and Di tribes and small countries living in the west of Qin Dynasty. For example, there were Kunrong, Mianzhu, and Zhai in the west of Longshan Mountain, Yiqu, Wuzhi, and Quyan in the north of Jing, and Dali in Luochuan. , Weinan has the Rong of Lu Hun.These so-called small countries were still uncivilized tribes.They were backward in production and wore leaves and animal skins. They often raided Qin's frontiers, robbed food, livestock, and plundered women and children, causing great suffering to the Qin people.

Faced with such an opponent, Qin Mugong adopted a more cautious strategy, first strong and then weak, and conquered sequentially.At that time, among the tribes in Xirong, Mianzhu (in the east of today's Tianshui City in Gansu), Yiqu (in the north of Ningxian County in Gansu) and Dali (in the east of Dali in Shaanxi) were the most powerful and the most difficult to deal with. Mian Zhu.Mianzhu was the closest to Qin's homeland geographically, connected to Qin's territory, and was the greatest threat to Qin, so it became Qin Mugong's first target to deal with. With Qin's strength at the time, it was not an easy task to deal with an enemy like Mianzhu.When Qin Mugong was considering a strategy against the enemy, You Yu, the envoy of his opponent Mianzhu, came to the capital of Qin State to study sooner or later.Of course Qin Mugong understood what his old neighbor was thinking. At this time, he sent an envoy to Qin State to study. It seems that the Mian Zhu King is not idle.Qin Mugong, who understood the intention of this layer, did not want to receive the spies sent by his opponent, but after Neishi Liao heard about it, he rushed to see Qin Mugong overnight.

"I heard that the king is not going to receive Yu Yu. I don't know if this is true or not?" "Are you talking about the spy sent by King Mianzhu? Can't I treat each other like a distinguished guest?" "If the king can't treat each other like a distinguished guest, please kill him, and then immediately prepare to send troops to attack Mianzhu." "Don't you think it's too early to attack Mianzhu?" Qin Mugong's face became a little gloomy. "If Your Majesty is not sure how to deal with Mianzhu now, please welcome Yuyu as a distinguished guest!" Neishi Liao still insisted on his opinion, completely ignoring Qin Mugong's expression.

"Then you give me a reasonable explanation, otherwise you will be colluding with the enemy country!" Faced with Qin Mugong's fury and the crimes imposed on him, Neishi Liao remained unmoved at all, and still stated his reasons in a leisurely manner: "As far as I know, the Yuyu who came this time is the most capable minister of King Mianzhu. He is virtuous and upright. This is why King Mianzhu sent him to study. The king already knows the purpose of his coming to Qin, but I think that This is exactly the reason for receiving him grandly. We treat each other with honored guests, which will definitely dispel the doubts that King Mianzhu has about us. Keeping Yu Yu by your side will mean that King Mianzhu will lose a capable minister by his side. He showed me the wealth of Qin State, and I can also learn more about Mianzhu's situation from him. When Yu Yu was in Qin State, the king could give beautiful women and toys to King Mianzhu, so that after Yu Yu returned to the country, he could enjoy the things he was used to. King Mian will alienate him. When he can no longer be used by King Mian, the king will recruit him with courtesy. In this way, it will be effortless to destroy the generals of Mian."

Neishi Liao's words turned Qin Mugong's anger into joy. He hurried down the steps and grabbed his hand and said, "Thanks to Mr.'s words, I wake up like a dream. Tomorrow, please invite Mr. to join me in the VIP room." Come and welcome Yuyu with courtesy." On the second day, Neishi Liao and Qin Mugong held a very grand welcome ceremony for Yu Yu's arrival, using the etiquette standards for entertaining distinguished guests. Chariots and horses.Qin Mugong also called Yu Jingong to accompany him to drink with him from time to time, and took him to visit the palace of Qin State. I will also inadvertently ask him about the terrain and military situation of Xirong.

The relationship between Qin Mugong and Youyu is good here, and Neishi Liao is not idle there.While retaining Yu Yu, Qin Mugong took out a lot of treasures from the treasury, and took the time to train several beautiful singers.When Yu Yu was dealing with Duke Mu of Qin, these curios and beauties were quietly delivered to King Mian Zhu by Neishi Liao.The beautiful music and dance of the Qin State made the kings of Mian enjoy the blessing of eyes and ears.He drank and enjoyed himself all day long, ignoring political affairs, and a large number of cattle and horses died in the country without bothering.After a period of time like this, the political affairs in Mianzhu's country became a mess, and even Yu Yu, who was sent to Qin to study, was thrown out of the sky by King Mianzhu.

One day, Qin Mugong said to Yu Yu during a banquet: "Sir, you have been in Qin for a while, do you want to go back and have a look?" "Thanks to Your Majesty's kindness, Yu Zhen has benefited a lot these days, and I want to go back and have a look. If Your Majesty grants permission, I am ready to leave." These days, under Qin Mugong's "warm" hospitality, Youyu has been almost isolated from the world, and he doesn't know what is going on in the country. He has bid farewell to Qin Mugong several times, but Qin Mugong's enthusiasm for staying makes him unable to make the trip.This time Qin Mugong said so, Yu Yu was exactly what he wanted, and hurried back to Mianzhu the next day.

Back in Mianzhu, Yu Yu couldn't believe his eyes because of the depression and chaos in front of him, he went to see King Mianzhu directly without even caring about going home.He wanted to ask what happened, but the result made him even more disappointed.When he heard the news of Yu Yu's return, King Mianzhu was drinking wine and enjoying the singing and dancing of the singers of Qin.Drunk-eyed, he heard the report, and then remembered that he had sent Yu Yu to Qin to "study", but he didn't want to see Yu Yu now, and the singing and dancing in front of him attracted his attention even more.

"Let him go back and have a rest first. He has been away from home for a long time. Don't be in a hurry to see me. There will be plenty of time in the future." Yu Yu, who was waiting outside the door, was surprised to hear the reply from the servant. He had never been refused to see King Mianzhu before. Even if he had something to discuss in the middle of the night, King Mianzhu would get up to meet him.When he learned from his servant that King Mianzhu was enjoying the singing and dancing of Qin, he couldn't help feeling a little more angry. "Please inform me again, saying that I have something important to discuss, please be sure to receive it, Your Majesty."

This time King Mianzhu was a little unhappy, and he turned to his servant and said: "Forget it, let him come in. This Yuyu is good at everything, but he is too stubborn." When the servant led You Yu in, King Mian Zhu's eyes did not move away from the beautiful woman: "Sir, after a long journey, you should go home and rest for a while. What important things do you have to see me?" "My lord, on the way back I saw that the order in the country was not as good as before, and some dead horses and cows were not dealt with on the street. What's going on?" Yu Yu asked the question as soon as he met. "Mr. just came back. Let's talk about these troublesome things later. Mr. has lived in Qin State for such a long time, so he must know the singing and dancing of Qin State very well. Tell me about how well this beauty dances? Isn't that right?" Are all the people in Qin State so good at dancing?" "Your Majesty, you didn't send your ministers to Qin to learn about Qin's singing and dancing, and you can't be blinded by these things. If you are so addicted, you don't care about outside things. Do you want to follow the example of the one who ignited for a woman?" Someone from Fenghuo?" The upright Youyu committed his stubborn temper, and what he said made Mianzhu Wang angry.Fortunately, Yu Yu was the most important person of King Mianzhu before, so there was no danger.But since being kicked out by King Mianzhu this time, Yu Yu rarely had the chance to go in again.Without Youyu nagging around, King Mianzhu can also enjoy wine and beauties to his heart's content.Mianzhu's internal affairs are worsening day by day as Qin Mugong and Neishi Liao expected.Yu Yu, who was left out at home, watched his country decline day by day, and was so anxious that he didn't think about eating or drinking.He asked to see King Mianzhu several times, but was blocked outside the door, and all the papers he handed in were lost like mud cows into the sea.After a long time, Yu Yu's heart died, and he locked himself at home and didn't ask about political affairs. None of this escaped Qin Mugong's eyes. When Yu Yu completely gave up on King Mianzhu, he sent an eloquent person to sneak into Mianzhu quietly and invite this virtuous minister who originally belonged to King Mianzhu back. Qin State.Qin Mugong received Youyu as a guest, and discussed with him the strategy of unifying the Rong people in the west. In 623 BC, with the help of Yu Yu, Qin Mugong sent troops to attack Xirong, surrounded Mianzhu with lightning speed, and captured the king of Mianzhu alive under the wine bottle.Duke Mu of Qin took advantage of the victory and marched westward, and more than 20 small kingdoms of Rong and Di surrendered to Qin successively. This is the famous "Grand Mu of Qin dominates Xirong" in history.The reason why Qin Mugong was able to take down Mianzhu so easily and dominate Xirong was inseparable from the pre-war preparations.In terms of general policy, he can clearly see the situation and take the route of first being strong and then being weak, and in terms of specific strategies, he can listen to the suggestions of his subordinates and follow the plan. All these show the excellence of Qin Mugong.