Chapter 6 6. The agreement between true and false Wuguan

In 313 BC, Qin Prime Minister Zhang Yi deceived King Huai, asking him to sever the ties between Qi and Chu in exchange for the cession of six hundred miles of Shangyu by the Qin State.King Huai of Chu was caught in the trap, but after he broke off diplomatic relations with Qi, he only had six miles of land.King Huai was furious and sent troops to attack Qin, but was defeated by Wei Zhang in Danyang.After that, King Huai once again summoned troops from all over the country to launch an attack, but was defeated in Lantian again.In 311 BC, the State of Qin captured Zhaoling, and Chu was defeated in all three battles, leading to decline.

In 299 BC, King Qin Zhao attacked Chu and captured eight cities of Chu State one after another.But Qin State was not satisfied, how to destroy Chu was officially put on the agenda by Qin State's monarchs and ministers.There is a lot of discussion and opinions on this. Some people say that the state of Chu is now in chaos, the morale of the army is unstable, the morale of the people is unstable, and it is vulnerable to a single blow. Fight! Some people say that we have just fought a few wars, and now the soldiers and horses are exhausted, and the food and grass are insufficient, so we need to recuperate.

Another minister said that although the state of Chu has been defeated by our country eight cities in succession, looking around, it is our state of Qin and state of Chu that can be called the most powerful countries in the world today.If it is not so easy for us to eliminate Chu State in one fell swoop, I don't think they will be so easy to wait for death. Another minister said that if their monarchs and ministers rise up this time and unite with other countries to attack our country and turn defeat into victory, wouldn't it just give other countries a chance?At that time, the state of Chu will become stronger again. Isn't it worth the loss for us?

Some people also said that the state of Chu has been defeated by us, so there is no need to spend another soldier. We just need to trick King Huai of Chu into Qin and hold him as a hostage. Danger. Someone went on to say, this is indeed a good way, but we have used this trick against Chu several times and broke our promise to the other party. After a while, an old official said softly: "Isn't there still Shangguan Dafu and Gongzi Zilan in Chu State?" As the saying goes, one word can wake up a dreamer, and everyone nodded frequently after hearing it. On a dark night, a messenger from the state of Qin secretly met Zilan, the son of Chu, and Jin Shang, the doctor of Chu, and asked him to deliver a mysterious gift to Zheng Xiu, the concubine of King Huai of Chu.

Soon King Huai of Chu received a letter from King Qin.King Huai of Chu was agitated, and slowly unfolded the bamboo slips. He saw in the book: "The widow and the king are brothers, and the two countries are very happy. The prince's tomb killed the important minister of the widow, and fled back without apologizing. The widow is sincere. I was so angry that I sent soldiers to invade the king's border. Now I heard that the king ordered the prince to come to Qi. The widow borders on the border with Chu, and they have been dating for a long time. Now that Chu is not happy, there is no way to make the princes. The widow is willing to meet the king at Wuguan, make an alliance face to face, return the king's invasion of land, and restore the previous good, but the king promised it. If the king doesn't obey, it is clear that the widows are also, and the widows have no choice but to meet each other in arms. I hope you think twice."

After reading the letter in a hurry, King Huai of Chu felt breathless, so he hurriedly summoned his ministers to discuss.Everyone exploded when they heard it. The doctor Qu Yuan said: "The state of Qin has the heart of tigers and wolves, and our state of Chu has experienced it many times. If the king goes away, it will be a disaster." Xiangguo Zhaosui also said: "Doctor Qu is right. Your Majesty, you must not believe it. This must be a lie of the King of Qin. This Wuguan alliance may be a conspiracy. Your visit is like a sheep entering a tiger's mouth." , I’m afraid it’s hard to go back.”

More ministers expressed the same opinion. The King of Qin was as fierce and cunning as a tiger and wolf, and had always had the ambition to annex other countries.Your Majesty should conscript more soldiers and send them to the front line of the Qin-Chu border to prepare for the Qin invasion at any time. Jin Shang, a senior official of the Shangguan who has been silent all the time, said: "King Qin is a relative of our great king. Before we lost battles, killed soldiers, and lost land, the reason was that we regarded relatives as enemies and were not sincere; Goodwill, but we have to decline, if the King of Qin is angered, wouldn't it be worse for us to suffer damage on both sides?"

Zilan, the youngest son of King Huai of Chu, also said: "In the first place, my sister married the prince of Qin. We are already relatives. I married the daughter of King Qin. We should be even closer. , father can't refuse King Qin's kindness, it shows how stingy we are." King Huai of Chu heard that some of the ministers said to go, some said not to go, and they could not settle down with each other. He hesitated and became more worried. The worried King Huai of Chu left the hall amidst the quarrels among the ministers, and instead of going directly back to the harem as usual, he came to the study alone.He needs to be alone for a while, the quarrels of the ministers made his thinking more and more chaotic.

"Report to Your Majesty, Concubine Zheng asks to see you!" "No! I didn't see that I was bothered!" "Report to Your Majesty, Concubine Zheng asks to see you!" "Oh, this Concubine Zheng, what's the matter, let her come!" Concubine Zheng moved the lotus flower step and saw King Huai, she complained, "Your Majesty, what is it that makes you so angry, Your Majesty doesn't even want to see me anymore? Could it be that my concubine did something wrong?" "Why are you angry with my baby? I'm just worried about how to fulfill King Qin's agreement with Wuguan!"

"Then what does the king mean?" Zheng Xiu asked along the way. "I'm contradicting myself! I'm afraid it will be a trap if I go, and I'm afraid Qin will attack again if I don't go. We have already lost eight cities, and we can't bear to weather the storm again!" "Your Majesty Shengming, Qin has such a good terrain, covering all seas and annexing all wastelands, so many princes are flocking to him. Now he offers to live in peace with us and become friends. We are lucky. If we can get closer to him, the world Who would dare to underestimate us?" Zheng Xiu said.

King Huai of Chu was originally afraid that Qin would attack again, but now he heard the words of his favorite concubine Zheng Xiu and others, he really hit his heart, thinking that if I am a majestic king, if I dare not go to a small Wuguan agreement, wouldn't it make the people of the world feel inferior? Look at me and the country I lead?So he decided to go to Wuguan to meet the alliance. King Huai of Chu got into the car and was about to leave. All the civil and military officials came to see him off. Suddenly a man broke out from the crowd, stepped forward to support King Huai of Chu, and shouted, "Your Majesty listened to my minister's desperate words, I am afraid that you will never turn back after this trip!" This is the appeal of the doctor Qu Yuan. "Rebellious ministers and thieves, dare to curse my king like this, come here, hurry up and drag him down!" Shangguan official Jin Shang was furious. King Huai of Chu, who got into the car in front of all civil and military officials, could no longer get out of the car. This is where the eternal hatred begins. At this time, Wuguan had already been set up by the Qin State as a murderous trap.King Qin Zhao did not wait here for the arrival of King Huai of Chu as originally agreed, but arranged for his younger brother Jingyang Jun to bring his guards, get in his special car, put on his dragon robe and pretend to be the king of Qin. When he came to Wuguan, he arranged for the generals of the two routes to cooperate in the pass. When King Huai of Chu and his party came to the city of Wuguan, they saw the gates were wide open, but they were not greeted by the King of Qin. Only an envoy said, "Your Majesty, you have worked hard all the way! Our King is here to show our sincerity, and we are waiting for you three times, Your Majesty." It's been three nights, today is just an appointment with the two great kings, and everyone else is resting outside the pass for the time being." It was inconvenient for King Huai of Chu to say more, so he had to enter the customs alone.Unexpectedly, as soon as I entered and closed the door, I heard a rumbling cannon, and the door was closed tightly.King Huai was worried. "This is stipulated by the laws of the State of Qin, and we have to do so in this era of war. Please don't take offense, Your Majesty," said the envoy. "Where is King Qin?" King Chu was uneasy. "I've been waiting in the mansion for a long time." Following the direction the messenger pointed, King Huai of Chu saw some guards of King Qin standing neatly at the gate of the mansion.When I got to the door, I saw a man with a brocade robe and jade belt and a crown on his head, but he didn't act like the king of Qin.When he was hesitating, he saw that the man had come to salute and said: "I am the younger brother of King Qin, King Jingyang, please come to the hall to talk." King Huai had to follow him into the hall.Unexpectedly, before he sat down and spoke, he heard shouts outside, and the mansion was surrounded by Qin soldiers. King Huai suddenly felt timid: "I came to the appointment with the King of Qin, why are you surrounded by heavy troops now?" Jingyang Jun smiled and said: "Please don't think too much, it's just that my emperor's body is a little unwell and I can't go out, and I'm afraid of breaking your trust, so let me come to welcome you to Xianyang to meet my emperor's brother. These guards are just to ensure that Your security dispatcher, please don't take offense." As he spoke, King Huai of Chu was involuntarily escorted into the car by soldiers and headed for Xianyang.At this time, he was convinced that the big event was not good, but he couldn't help himself at this time, and he regretted it. To say that Qin State used this strategy against Chu State several times since Zhang Yi started, but each time it got what it wanted.There are nothing more than two reasons for this. One is to be good at observing the opponent's psychology, grasp the opponent's weakness, and hit it in one hit; the second is to understand the available people around the opponent, and to lay the groundwork before taking action. These people are often these people A few key words at the critical moment brought Qin's actions to a successful conclusion.Later, Qin State detained King Huai of Chu, but did not get the expected benefits, which is a fly in the ointment for Qin State.Needless to say, King Huai of Chu died in Xianyang as a guest, and his soul returned to his hometown, leaving a grudge stretching thousands of miles above Chu.King Huai of Chu was acting on his emotions, regardless of the bitter advice of his loyal ministers.Otherwise, the doctor Qu Yuan would not have thrown himself into the river and died.