Chapter 25 1. The world has changed
The Three Families are destroyed, and the Warring States Period begins.
The Warring States Period is often regarded as the continuation of the Spring and Autumn Period, or the same era as the Spring and Autumn Period, called the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period.This is actually a huge misunderstanding.In fact, the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period are two eras, separated by several decades.However, due to the lack of historical data, we know very little about the situation in these decades.But it is certain that the difference between the Warring States Period and the Spring and Autumn Period will not be smaller than that of men and women, even though both men and women are human beings.
Like war.
Wars existed in both the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, but their nature and methods were completely different.The Spring and Autumn Wars were more like competitive sports, paying attention to diplomatic etiquette and rules of the game, including not beheading envoys, not drumming, not being seriously injured, not chasing north, and not capturing two hairs, etc. We talked about it in "Youth".The purpose of the princes declaring war is mainly to show off their force, intimidate each other, form cliques, and strive to be the hegemon.The most despicable motives are nothing more than plundering wealth and expanding power.Of course there are many such things.In the early Spring and Autumn Period, it is said that there were hundreds of states on the land of China, but in the late Spring and Autumn Period there were only a dozen or so, which is the proof.
The most despicable act in the Spring and Autumn War was done by King Wen of Chu.The incident happened between the tenth and fifteenth years of Duke Zhuang of Lu, and the states involved were Chen (now Huaiyang County, Henan Province), Cai (now Shangcai County, Henan Province), and Xi (now Xixian County, Henan Province).At that time, a princess from the state of Chen married to the state of Xi and passed by Cai.It just so happened that Cai Aihou's wife was also Princess Chen, so she naturally wanted to do her best as a landlord.But this Princess Chen or Mrs. Xi is really beautiful.When Cai Aihou saw it, he couldn't control himself at all, and his words and deeds were quite frivolous.Xihou was furious when he heard the news, and sued King Wen of Chu.King Wen of Chu accepted the case, and he really went to attack Cai Guo, and captured Cai Aihou.In order to retaliate, Cai Hou encouraged King Chu Wen to snatch his wife.After hearing Caihou's description, King Wen of Chu actually destroyed the country of Xi and took Mrs. Xi as his own.
This is really barbaric behavior.
Mrs. Xi, who became the wife of King Wen of Chu, was later called Mrs. Wen.She gave birth to two sons for King Chu Wen, one of whom was King Chu Cheng.However, for many years, this beauty never took the initiative to speak.King Wen of Chu asked her why, and Mrs. Xi replied: I am a little girl who has served two husbands. What else can I say?King Wen of Chu was speechless.The way he vented his anger was to beat Cai Guo again.
However, grabbing land, grabbing money, and grabbing women is often a way of stealing sheep.Therefore, there are also those who return the land and people that they have taken, and even those who use military parades instead of actual combat.For example, in the battle of Zhaoling, there was no real fight; the king of Chuzhuang attacked Chen, and the country of Chen was not destroyed.Of course, King Zhuang had already turned Chen into a county of Chu State.But after being persuaded by the minister, he returned it to Chen Ren.He didn't even bring Xia Ji into the palace, even though Xia Ji's sexiness might not be inferior to Mrs. Xi's.
At this time, Chu State had become Huaxia.
The purpose of soldiers and officials participating in the war was mainly for honor in the Spring and Autumn Period, including national and personal honor.Therefore, in the entire "Zuo Zhuan", there are endless books about killing but not humiliating, but there is not a single one who is greedy for life and afraid of death and flees.Of course, there were also two cowards in the late Spring and Autumn Period, one was Zhao Luo, the grandson of Zhao Wu, and the other was Kuaikui, the prince of Wei (ashamed to read).At that time, Zhao Yang sent troops to intercept Zheng Jun who was delivering food to Fan and Zhongxing, and both of them joined the battle with Yang Hu of Lu.Zhao Luo was alone in a chariot, while Kuai Kui was Zhao Yang's right chariot.Yang Hu fought bravely, but those two were scared to death, and Kuai Kui was so scared that he jumped out of the car.Zhao Luo's driver had no choice but to tie him to the car with a rope.Kuai Kui was dragged into the car by Zhao Yang's driver and criticized for looking like a woman.
However, after Kuai Kui got back into the car, he performed very well.He not only rescued the injured Zhao Yang, but also took over from Zhao Yang to command the battle, and captured a thousand carts of rations.Therefore, after the war, Kuai Kui claimed to be the one who contributed the most to Che Youzhong.Zhao Yang's driver said, "The horse's girth is about to break, but I can still control the chariot. I am the most credited among the drivers."To prove this, the driver loaded some small pieces of wood into the empty cart, and the horse's girth snapped instantly.
This is the Spring and Autumn War.
Indeed, in the Spring and Autumn period, war is a matter of honor, dignity, and a gentleman's business, so blood is not bloodthirsty, bloody but not bloody.Even for a big battle like Chengpu, the time is only one day.Once the winner is decided, they will withdraw their troops and never kill them all.Surrounding the capital of Wu for three years like Goujian, the king of Yue, is already a barbarian style and a Warring States style, which is not ashamed for a gentleman.
However, in the Warring States period, it was normal for a war to be fought for several months.It is not uncommon to kill tens of thousands of people.For example, in Qin State, from Xiangong to Yingzheng, there were 15 large-scale wars to wipe out the enemy, and the total number of enemy deaths was 1,028,000.Among them, the most tragic is that Qin general Bai Qi beheaded 240,000 enemies in the Battle of Yique, and buried 400,000 soldiers alive in the Battle of Changping.As for the barbaric act of massacring the city, of course it was also an invention of the Warring States period.
The world has changed.A new era has begun.
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