Chapter 20 19 Jin Wengong retreated three houses

After Jin Wengong came to the throne, he rectified the internal affairs, developed production, and governed the state of Jin gradually.He also wanted to be the overlord of the Central Plains like Duke Huan of Qi. At this time, it happened that King Zhou Xiang, the emperor of the Zhou Dynasty, sent people to ask for help.King Xiang of Zhou had a half-brother named Tai Shu Dai, who united with some ministers, borrowed troops from the state of Di, and seized the throne.King Zhou Xiang fled to Zheng State with dozens of followers.He issued an order asking the princes of various countries to escort him back to Luoyi.The princes of various countries sent people to comfort the emperor, and some sent food, but no one was willing to send troops to fight Di people.

Someone said to King Xiang of Zhou: "Among the princes, only Qin and Jin have the power to repel the Di people, and others may not be useful." Then King Xiang sent an envoy to ask Jin Wengong to escort him back to the court. Jin Wengong immediately sent troops to fight eastward, defeated the Di people, killed Tai Shudai and his group, and escorted the emperor back to the capital. Two years later, Song Chenggong, the son of Song Xianggong, came to ask for help, saying that the Chu State sent a general Cheng Dechen to lead the troops of Chu, Chen, Cai, Zheng, and Xu to attack Song State.The ministers all said: "Chu State always bullies the princes of the Central Plains. My lord wants to help countries in need and establish hegemony. This is the time."

Jin Wengong has long seen that to become the overlord of the Central Plains, he must defeat Chu.He expanded his team, established three armies, and went to save Song State in a mighty way. In 632 BC, the Jin army conquered two small states that were subordinate to Chu State——Cao State and Wei State, and captured the kings of the two countries. King Cheng of Chu didn't want to fight Jin Wengong, but when he heard that Jin sent troops, he immediately sent someone to order Cheng Dechen to retreat.But Cheng Dechen thought that the Song Kingdom would be taken down sooner or later, and he refused to give up halfway.He sent his generals to say to King Cheng of Chu, "Although I dare not say that I will win the battle, I will fight to the death."

King Cheng of Chu was very unhappy, and only sent a small amount of troops under the command of Cheng Dechen. Cheng Dechen first sent someone to notify the Jin army, asking them to release the monarchs of Wei and Cao.Jin Wengong secretly notified the monarchs of the two countries and promised to restore their thrones, but asked them to break off diplomatic relations with Chu first.Cao and Wei really followed Jin Wengong's wishes. Cheng Dechen originally wanted to save these two countries, but unexpectedly they came to break diplomatic relations with Chu State first.As a result, he was so angry that he jumped on his feet.He yelled: "This old thief Chong'er forced them to do this." He immediately ordered the whole army to rush to the place where the Jin army was stationed.

As soon as the Chu army advanced, Jin Wengong immediately ordered to retreat.Some soldiers in the Jin army couldn't think about it, and said: "Our commander is the king, and the opponent's troops are the ministers. How can the king let the ministers reason?" Hu Yan explained: "In war, you must first rely on reason, and you must be strong when you are upright. At the beginning, the king of Chu helped the lord, and the lord promised in front of the king of Chu: If the two countries go to war, Jin is willing to retreat. If we retreat today, it will be In order to fulfill this promise. If we lose our faith in Chu State, then we will be wronged. If we retreat, if they don’t give up and press forward step by step, it will be their loss, and we will fight them again. Not too late."

The Jin army retreated ninety miles in one breath, and stopped when they reached Chengpu (southwest of today's Juancheng, Shandong), and set up their formation. Some generals of the Chu State saw that the Jin army was retreating and wanted to stop the attack.But Cheng Dechen didn't agree, and chased him step by step to Chengpu, facing the Jin army far away. Cheng Dechen also sent someone to send a letter to Duke Wen of Jin, which was very arrogant.Duke Wen of Jin also sent someone to reply: "We never dare to forget the favor of your country, so we backed down here. Since you are not willing to forgive, then we have no choice but to compete on the battlefield."

The battle was on.As soon as they fought, the general of the Jin State used two large banners to command the army to retreat.They were still dragging the felled branches behind the chariot. When the chariot retreated, waves of dust rose from the ground, showing a very panicked look. Cheng Dechen has always been arrogant and conceited, and doesn't take Jin people seriously.He chased forward regardless of the front and back, and fell into the ambush of the Jin army.The elite central army of the Jin army rushed over and cut off Cheng Dechen's army.The Jin army, who had pretended to be retreating, turned around and attacked back and forth, killing the Chu army to pieces.

Duke Wen of Jin quickly issued an order, instructing the soldiers to just drive away the Chu army and stop chasing and killing them.Cheng Dechen took the defeated soldiers and remnants back halfway. He felt that he could not explain to King Cheng of Chu, so he committed suicide. The Jin army occupied the Chu camp.After eating the grain abandoned by the Chu army for three days, he returned home triumphantly. The news of Jin State's defeat of Chu State spread to Luoyi, the capital of Zhou. King Xiang of Zhou and his ministers believed that Duke Wen of Jin had made great contributions.King Zhou Xiang also personally went to Jiantu (now southwest of Yuanyang, Henan, Jianyin jian) to comfort the Jin army.Jin Wengong took this opportunity to build a new palace for the emperor in Jiantu, and also invited the princes of various countries to hold a meeting and sign a covenant.In this way, Jin Wengong became the overlord of the Central Plains.