Chapter 27 3. Sayings come out of the barrel of a gun

After the wedding, Ziwei went to a meeting. This Eleven-Nation Conference is a continuation of the "Song Alliance" five years ago.That alliance meeting is very famous in Chinese history, and it is even considered a dividing point between the upper and lower stages of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty. 6 The reason is that Xiang Rong, a doctor of the Song Dynasty, felt that the princes were fighting for hegemony and the wars were endless, so he launched a peace initiative.The superpowers at that time were mainly Jin, Chu, Qi, and Qin.Xiang Rong has a good personal relationship with Zhao Wu, the ruler of the Jin State, and Qu Jian, the ruler of the Chu State, and they can make sense with each other.Qi and Qin also expressed their support.The small countries are in the middle of the cracks, and they are already miserable, and they are even more optimistic about their success.

Therefore, in 546 BC, that is, the summer of the twenty-seventh year of Duke Xiang of Lu, with Song as the host country, representatives of Jin, Chu, Qi, Qin and their allies signed a peace treaty.Since then, the small country has enjoyed peace and tranquility for sixty-five years in Song Dynasty, forty-five years in Lu Dynasty, forty-seven years in Wei Dynasty, fifty-nine years in Cao Dynasty, and almost half a century.Therefore, in history, this alliance was called the "Meeting of Eliminating Soldiers".Mi (pronounced as rice), means to stop and eliminate; Bing, refers to war.The so-called "Meeting of Eliminating Soldiers" was actually the "World Peace Conference" at that time.

Unfortunately, the World Peace Conference is not peaceful at all. Before the alliance meeting started, the state of Chu put forward a proposal, requiring the allies of the major powers to meet each other.On the surface, this proposal is very reasonable.For example, when the big men of the rivers and lakes bowed to their masters, of course the younger brothers of their respective sects also had to meet, and then everyone in the world was brothers.But Chu State actually has ulterior motives.You must know that among the countries participating in the league, only the three small countries of Chen, Cai, and Xu are the younger brothers of Chu, and the remaining middle-level countries of Lu, Song, Wei, and Zheng are on the side of Jin.Moreover, when Lu and Song paid homage to the wharf of Chu State, Lu's younger brothers Zhu and Ju (read Ruju), and Song's younger brothers Teng and Xue would also follow.With the addition of Cao State, Chu State has taken advantage of it. 8

Of course Jin could not agree.So Zhao Wu asked the initiator and contact person of the meeting to tell Rong: Jin, Chu, Qi, and Qin are of equal status.Jin cannot command Qi, just as Chu cannot command Qin.If the state of Chu can let the king of Qin come to our country, how dare the ignorant king of our country not invite the king of Qi?The people from Chu pretended to say, then the younger brothers of our two families will meet each other.But the Chu people were playing tricks, saying that the younger brothers of our two families should meet each other. It can be seen that the Jin and Chu countries have been competing with each other from the very beginning.

Therefore, the delegations of the two countries also live on one side.The people of Jin lived in the north of the capital of Song, and the people of Chu lived in the south of the capital of Song.Chu people even "Zhongjia", that is, wearing a bulletproof vest under the dress.Such a hidden murderous intent as if facing a big enemy made the Jin delegation quite nervous.In the end, it was the deputy head of the regiment, Uncle Xiang, who comforted the head of the regiment Zhao Wu: Chu State should not be able to launch a war under the banner of seeking peace. However, the asking price is certain.

The requirement of the Chu people is to eat first.To drink (read like evil), is to drink blood.This was an important procedure during the alliance of princes at that time.The specific method is to bring a cow, cut off the left ear, and put it on a plate; the blood that flows out is placed in a food vessel called Dun (read it right).Then, the representatives participating in the alliance drink the blood with their mouths in turn, or dip their fingers in the blood and smear it around their mouths, which is called "drinking blood for alliance".This action is equivalent to signing a contract.

However, the signing can be at the same time, but the blood is first and last.The one ranked first is generally considered to be the leader, or the leader should die first.Therefore, Jin State expressed that it could not agree to Chu State's request.The Jin delegation said: We are the natural leaders, and no one can shed blood before Jin.The Chu delegation said, you claim that your country and our country are equal, so you should take turns to sit on the throne. Why does Jin take precedence every time? The result of the quarrels was that Jin made concessions.Inside the delegation, Shu Xiang, the deputy head of the delegation, persuaded Zhao Wu, the head of the delegation: It is the virtue of the princes to obey, not who is the host.All the alliances of princes have always been presided over by small countries.Let Chu be Jin's younger brother this time, so what's the problem?

So the people of Chu died first. 9 The unpeaceful world peace conference has finally come to an end.But what Uncle Xiang said was actually a self-deception.That's right, there are things for a small country to be the host of the alliance.But that refers to "leadership", not blood.Holding the head and sucking the blood are two links in a program.The first step is to cut off the cow's left ear and put it on a plate.This is called "holding the bull's ear".The person who does this is equivalent to the master of ceremonies, so it is mostly done by a doctor from a small country.The leader of the alliance does not do anything, but watches from the side, saying "the humble hold it, and the venerable come to it". 10 Then, the leader took the blood of Dunzhong to die first.After the leader drank blood, it was the turn of the others.

It can be seen from this that the status of the Allies is not determined by the leader in the game, but by the blood in Dunli.The one who drinks blood first is the boss.Therefore, in 502 BC, during the alliance between the Jin State and the Weiguo, Wei Linggong asked the Jin State doctor to be the leader, and he took the blood first, and as a result, a physical conflict occurred. 11 Hold the bull's ear, bull? It seems that Chu State has the upper hand in the meeting of the soldiers.The reason is also very simple. At this time, Chu State had become a powerful country in the south, while Jin State in the north began to decline.The strong military power supports Chu's tough stand and tough attitude.All kinds of diplomatic rhetoric are just a gorgeous veil.

Political power comes out of the barrel of a gun, and so do arguments, even fallacies. In fact, the so-called "World Peace Conference" (meeting to eliminate soldiers) is nothing but a club of great powers.Apart from obeying orders, the small country does not have much say.For their representatives, not to mention defending the sovereignty and dignity of the country, it is not easy to even save their own lives. For example, Uncle Sun Bao. 6.Mr. Fan Wenlan believes that, taking the meeting of eliminating soldiers in 546 BC as the boundary, the first half of the period was dominated by the annexation of princes, followed by the annexation of officials;Please see Fan Wenlan.

7.According to Yang Bojun's "Zuo Zhuan·Xianggong Twenty-seven Years" note. 8.For the analysis of this paragraph, please refer to Tong Shuye's "History of Spring and Autumn". 9.See "Zuo Zhuan·Xianggong Twenty-seven Years" for this section. 10.Please refer to Yang Bojun's annotation in "Zuo Zhuan Ding Gong Eight Years". 11.See "Zuo Zhuan Dinggong Eight Years".