Chapter 13 1. The ultimate prisoner of war

In the second year after Xia Ji and Wu Chen defected to the state of Jin, Zhiyu (pronounced Ru Zhiying) was also released. Zhifu is a prisoner of war. The prisoner of war, Zhifu, was the son of Xunshou, a senior official in the state of Jin, so he was also called Xunfu.Xunshou's fief was called Zhi (also written as Zhi, which is the same word, both pronounced Zhi), so Xunshou was called Zhibo or Zhibo, and his posthumous title was Zhizhuangzi.His successor, of course, is called Zhibo from generation to generation, just as the king of Jin is called Marquis of Jin from generation to generation.Zhiyu later became Zhibo, posthumously known as Zhiwuzi.The Zhi Bo mentioned in the first chapter of this volume, the Zhi Bo who Yurang desperately wanted to avenge, was called Xun Yao, and his posthumous title was Zhixiangzi.

In the story of Xia Ji mentioned in the previous chapter, we know that there was a war between Chu State and Jin State, which is called "Battle of Bi" in history (Bi read Rubi).In the Battle of Bi, the Jin army was completely defeated, and Zhiyu was also captured by the Chu army.At this time, Xunshou was a senior officer of the Jin State.Xun Shou said: If you can't catch other people's sons, you will not return your own son.So on the way to retreat, he led his own soldiers and killed them. He shot Xia Ji's husband Xianglao to death with one arrow, and wounded the prince of Chu State with another arrow, and brought the dead and one wounded back to Jin State.

This incident gave Wu Chen a chance to successfully marry Xia Ji.At that time, Wuchen told King Zhuang of Chu that the state of Jin would definitely propose an exchange of prisoners of war.Sure enough, in the third year of Duke Cheng of Lu (588 BC), Jin and Chu reached an agreement: Jin would return the bodies of Prince Chu and the old man Xiang, and the people of Chu would let Zhifu go back to the country. At this time, Zhifu had been a prisoner of war for nine years. 1 So the king of Chu saw Zhifu off. Of course, the King of Chu at this time was no longer King Zhuang, but the young King Gong.

When seeing off, both parties were polite and courteous.King Gong called Zhiyu "Zi", that is, "Sir", or "You"; he called himself, sometimes called "I", sometimes called "Bu Gu" (pronounced Rugu), which means "I am a bad person" .This is the king's humility, because the king of Chu has already become the king.Strictly speaking, he should call himself "a widow", that is, "I am a man of few virtues".This is the humble name of the princes. Zhifu called himself "Chen", or "Leichen", that is, "the captured minister"; he called his father "waichen", that is, "the foreign minister", and called him by his first name.When referring to one's own monarch, it is called "the widowed monarch", that is, "the virtuous monarch of our country".These titles were all diplomatic etiquette at that time.

The conversation was gentle and full of tension. The king asked: "Do you hate me, sir?" Zhifu answered: No resentment.The two countries fought each other, and the subordinates were incompetent and became prisoners.Your law enforcement officials did not smear your army drums with the blood of your subordinates, 2 but let your ministers return to the country to accept the court-martial trial. This is the grace of your majesty.The servant himself is so incompetent, who dare to resent? The king asked again: "So, sir, do you thank me?" Zhifeng replied: No thanks.For the sake of the country and the people, the monarchs and ministers of the two countries restrained themselves, treated others leniently, released prisoners of war, and formed friendship forever.I have never heard of such a thing of immeasurable merit, so how can I express my gratitude?

The King of Gong asked again: After returning to the country, what will you give me in return? Zhifeng answered: I don’t know.There is no resentment in the heart of the subordinates, and the emperor will not take credit for himself.There is neither resentment nor merit, and the subordinates don't know how to repay. The king had no choice but to say: "Nevertheless, I beg you to tell the widow what you think." 3 Zhifu said: All right! So Zhifeng mentioned three possibilities. Zhifu said, first, if you are blessed by your lord, your subordinates can be taken as prisoners of war and return to the motherland with this rotten bone, and be punished by the military law of our country's widowed lord, so as to boost the army's prestige and serve as a warning. Xiaoyou, although I have no regrets in death, I will live forever.Second, if the widowed monarch grants kindness outside the law and gives the minister to your humble foreigner, Xunshou, and let him dispose of it, my father, with the approval of the widowed monarch, will practice the family law in the ancestral temple and kill the ministers of the ancestors and ancestors In the past, the minister also died without regret and was immortal.Third, if the widow does not approve my father's request, then the subordinates will assume the duties of our country according to law and lead a small army to guard the frontiers and defend the country.At that time, if you encounter your army unfortunately, your subordinates will fight bravely and fight to the death, never half-hearted, looking left and right.This piece of utter loyalty is what the subordinates can repay your majesty.

After hearing this, the King Gong was in awe, and sent Zhifu out of the country with the most solemn etiquette.King Gong even sighed and said: Jin has such fighters, we can't compete with them. 4 What a prisoner of war! In fact, such prisoners of war were not uncommon in the Spring and Autumn Period.In the seventeenth year of Duke Xiang of Lu (556 BC), a Lu warrior named Zang Jian was captured by the Qi army.Qi Linggong actually sent an eunuch to see him and said to him "you will not die".This is really unreliable.But since this duke is a faint king who was posthumously called "Linggong", it is not surprising that it is outrageous.

However, for Zang Jian, it is tantamount to shame and humiliation.Because according to the system and etiquette at that time, eunuchs were not allowed to give orders to nobles, let alone decide the life and death of nobles, even if they only conveyed the orders of the monarch.Doing so is not only a humiliation to the person receiving the order, but also an insult to the person who gave the order.So Zang Jian kowtowed in the direction of Duke Ling of Qi and said, "Thank you for taking care of me, I dare not take it!"But since your majesty bestowed immortality on his servants, why bother to send such a person to convey his love?

After speaking, Zang Jian dug his own wound with a sharp wooden stick and bled to death. 5 What kind of prisoner of war is this! Even if the prisoners of war are like this, one can imagine what kind of demeanor the soldiers should be. 1.Zhifu was captured in the summer of the twelfth year of Duke Xuan of Lu (597 BC); he was released in the summer of the third year of Duke Cheng of Lu (588 BC). 2.The system at that time was that before the soldiers went out to fight, they had to sacrifice to the gods of the shrine, which was called "sacrifice to the shrine".The meat and wine used for the sacrifice should be distributed to everyone, which is called "receiving relief".At the same time, the military drum should be painted with blood, which is called "shirt drum".The blood of the shirt drum is often used from prisoners of war, and it is best to be a high-ranking prisoner of war.Zhifu's so-called "deacons don't treat him with sympathy", actually means that the Chu people did not kill him.

3.The original text here is "not grain".However, for the sake of readers' understanding, the place where the king of Chu called himself "Bugu" was later changed to "widow". 4.See "Zuo Zhuan Three Years of Lu Chenggong". 5.See "Zuo Zhuan Seventeen Years of Duke Xiang of Lu".