Chapter 13 King Ping of Chu's lust caused great disaster

Now let’s talk about the state of Chu. With the gradual stabilization of Chu Ping Wang's regime, new contradictions are also arising.In September 528 BC, Ling Yin Dou Chengran was killed.Dou Chengran was a key figure who helped King Ping of Chu come to power. He was deeply trusted for a time, but he took credit for it and was arrogant.King Ping of Chu fought successfully and destroyed the whole family of the Yang family.Later, Dou Xin, the son of Dou Chengran, was made the Duke of Yun to show that he did not forget his past achievements. When King Ping of Chu was still the Duke of Cai, he married a wife in the state of Cai and gave birth to a son named Jian.After King Ping of Chu ascended the throne, he made Li Jian the eldest son, and ordered Wu Ju's son Wu She to be the master tutor, and the doctor Fei Wuji was the young master, who jointly took charge of educating the elder son Jian.

As mentioned earlier, Wu Ju's father, Wu Shen, was a good friend of Master Cai Guo, Gongzichao. Wu Ju and Gongsun Guisheng, son of Gongzichao, had known each other since childhood, and they were like brothers. The two families were family friends.Gongsun Guisheng's son, Chao Wu, was also a meritorious minister who supported King Ping of Chu. Coupled with the Wu family's relationship, King Chu Ping showed great favor to Chao Wu, allowing him to continue to live in Cai State, and to ask questions about anything.Therefore, although Chao Wu was only a doctor in Cai Guo, his status was very prominent.

There is nothing in the world, and there is a person who has his own affairs. This person is Fei Wuji. "Zuo Zhuan" records that Fei Wuji served as the eldest son Shao Fu, but was not treated by the eldest son Jian.This is related to his despicable character, and secondly, it is also related to Da Fu Wu She being too strong.Fei Wuji hated Da Zijian for looking down on him, and was jealous of Wu She's gaining power. Over time, his resentment turned into a devil. In 527 BC, Fei Wuji was ordered to go to Cai Guo and took the opportunity to visit Chao Wu. He said to Chao Wu: "Your Majesty's trust in you is known to everyone in the world, otherwise, he would not let you stay in Cai Guo with confidence."

Zhao Wu smiled without saying a word.What Fei Wuji said was the truth, with Chao Wu's talent and influence in Cai State, King Chu Ping let him stay in Cai State, which is undoubtedly a great trust. "However," Fei Wuji changed the subject, "what makes me feel deeply aggrieved is that a person like you, if in Chu State, is at least a minister, but in Cai State, you are only a doctor, which really insults your status. I I am willing to do work for you so that you can have a proper position in Cai Guo, how about it?" Chao Wu suddenly became vigilant.He is courteous for nothing, rapes or steals, Fei Wuji has always had nothing to lose, so why would he consider the issue of status for him for no reason?He immediately stood up, bowed to Fei Wuji, and said, "I appreciate your kindness. But I am living a very contented life now, and I don't worry about the so-called status issue at all. Please come back!"

Fei Wuji said with a sneer, "I'm just complaining about your grievances for you." After leaving, he went to the homes of several important ministers of Cai Guo. What he said to those others was another way: "The king of Chu favored Chao Wu, so he let him stay in Cai State. You guys are far less important than him in the heart of the king of Chu, but your title is higher than him. Don't you think it's dangerous?" Those few people had complicated hearts—overthrowing King Ling of Chu and restoring the independence of Cai State was undoubtedly the first achievement of Chao Wu.But in this process, Chaowu once joined forces with King Ping of Chu to fight, and became the confidant of King Ping of Chu, which made things a bit embarrassing.How can a Cai Guoren who occupies an important position maintain such a good relationship with the King of Chu?Isn't this a serious threat to Cai's national security?This close relationship made Chao Wu a guarded person in Cai Guo. He should have been supported like a hero, even if he became the master of Cai Guo (his grandfather once held this position). Don't mention this matter, just let him continue to be a doctor - After Fei Wuji's reminder, those few seemed to realize the seriousness of the problem and knew what to do.

In the summer of 527 BC, Cai Guo's crowd rose up to attack and drove Chaowu out of the country.Chao Wu was not angry, and went to Zheng Guo to live a leisurely life in exile.When King Ping of Chu heard about this, he was furious and asked Fei Wuji: "I trust Chao Wu, so I put him in Cai Guo, where he will be useful in the future. And if there is no Chao Wu, I will not be where I am today." .Why do you want to instigate Cai people to drive Chao Wu away?" Fei Wuji said: "Don't you want to serve Chu in the court of Wu? However, I already knew that this person only loves Cai and has no loyalty to Chu. As long as he is in Cai, Cai will be like a bird. Fly away from the embrace of Chu State. I used tricks to get rid of him, because I wanted to cut Cai Guo's wings so that he could not fly away!"

King Ping of Chu actually accepted such an explanation. In the spring of the same year, Wu Wangyi passed away.As mentioned earlier, Yi Mei's father, Shou Meng, has four sons, the eldest is Zhu Fan, the second is Yu Ji, Yi Mei is the third, and the fourth is the "amazing" Jizha.The will made by Shou Meng is that brother will end up with brother.Therefore, after Zhufan died, Yu Ji came to the throne; Yu Ji was killed, and Yi Mo came to power;But Ji Zha was determined not to be the king of Wu, and the officials insisted on him, so he repeated his old trick and went to the countryside to farm.In this case, the officials had no choice but to change Lishoumeng's eldest son, Liao, as the king, who was the historical King Liao of Wu.

Three years after King Liao of Wu ascended the throne, he led his troops to crusade against Chu.King Ping of Chu sent Yin Yanggai and Sima Gongzi bream to fight, and defeated the Wu army in Chang'an (in today's Anhui Province). Even King Wu's boat "Yu Huang" became a spoil of war for the Chu army. He Lu, the eldest son of Yi Mo, a general of the Wu army, saved some face for the state of Wu. He said to his subordinates: "The loss of the boat of the former king is not the fault of He Lu alone. You all have a share. Let us be united. Let's work together to get Emperor Yu back, so that he can avoid the death penalty!" All the subordinates said, "We listen to you." So three dead soldiers were selected, dressed in the clothes of the Chu army, mixed with the Chu army, and lurked near Yu Huang.He Lu also led his army to follow the Chu army, taking advantage of their unpreparedness to launch an attack, cooperating inside and outside, caught the Chu army by surprise, and successfully snatched Emperor Yu back.

Although the Battle of Chang'an ended with the victory of the Chu army, the fighting power of the Wu army also left a deep impression on King Ping of Chu.In the second year of the Battle of Chang'an, in the winter of 524 BC, King Ping of Chu adopted the suggestion of Prince Sheng of Zuoyin and moved Xu people who lived in Yecheng (in today's Henan Province) to Baiyu to the south, and sent heavy troops to guard Yecheng to prevent Jin invaded.In the spring of 523 BC, Yin Yanggai was sent to build Jiacheng (now in Henan Province).This is also the strategy that King Zhuang of Chu used to deal with the ethnic minority rebellion. He closed the northern gate first, and then freed up his hands to concentrate on dealing with the Wu people.At that time, someone commented: "The ambition of the king of Chu is not to compete with the state of Jin for princes, but to protect himself."

It is hard to say whether King Ping of Chu imitated King Zhuang of Chu to draw a gourd. After closing the northern gate, he immediately sent Fei Wuji to Qin State to ask Qin Aigong to marry Qin Aigong's daughter for his eldest son Jian. King Zhuang of Chu put down the chaos of Baipu and the mediocre, and he also took the initiative to get closer to the people of Qin, and it was successfully completed with the help of Qin's strength. So far, King Ping of Chu's performance as a monarch is remarkable.If one ignores the historical fact that he used conspiracies and tricks to induce Wang Zibi and Wang Zihei to commit suicide, he can even be called a wise king.However, when his charming daughter-in-law traveled all the way from Qin to Yingdu, there was a turning point in his life.

Fei Wuji did not send her directly to the East Palace built by the eldest son, but first placed her in a hotel, and then ran to King Chu Ping and said: "I have lived in vain for decades, and I have never seen such a graceful woman." .” King Ping of Chu was so excited that he took advantage of the night to disguise himself and followed Fei Wuji to the hotel to spy on his new wife.After returning, he stopped talking and stood in the courtyard of the palace, facing the bright moon in silence for half an hour. Fei Wuji saw it in his eyes and was delighted in his heart.When King Chu Ping walked back into the palace, he followed up cautiously, and asked tentatively, "Could it be that the king likes Princess Qin very much?" King Ping of Chu glanced at him sideways, hesitant to speak. Fei Wuji said: "If you like it, marry it." King Ping of Chu said, "Is this possible?" Fei Wuji said: "What's wrong? The whole Chu country belongs to the king, and he can do whatever he wants." King Ping of Chu said, "What about the eldest son?" Fei Wuji said: "The eldest son has never met the princess, so if you tell him about a marriage, it will be settled?" An imperceptible blush appeared on King Chu Ping's face. In Chinese history, King Ping of Chu was neither the first nor the last person who robbed his son's wife.Although it sounds outrageous now, it didn't cause much sensation at the time. In the summer of the same year, King Ping of Chu sent a navy to attack the Pu people living near Shishou, Hubei today.Fei Wuji suggested to King Ping of Chu: "The reason why Jin has dominated for many years is that it is close to the countries in the Central Plains, while Chu is far away, so it has not been able to compete with them. If you take advantage of this crusade to expand the The city wall, let the eldest son guard this place and strengthen the connection with the northern countries, while you concentrate on managing the south, and the world is at your fingertips." Anyone with a discerning eye can see that this is not normal.The eldest son is the future king, and he must live in the capital according to regulations, so how can he be sent to guard the border?However, King Ping of Chu readily accepted Fei Wuji's suggestion and ordered the eldest son Jian to move to live in Chengfu.The reason is simple. According to the news from the harem, Mrs. Ying, the Princess of Qin, is pregnant. In the winter of the same year, Xiong Zhen, the son of King Ping of Chu and the Ying family, was born. Fei Wuji was very considerate and timely sent a piece of information to King Ping of Chu: Da Zijian and Wu She supported themselves, conspired to rebel, and colluded with Qi and Jin to attack Chu! Without hesitation, King Ping of Chu immediately sent someone to the father of the city to ask Wu She if there was such a thing. Wu She replied: "Your Majesty has already gone too far by robbing the eldest son's wife. Isn't it ridiculous to listen to such greedy words now?" The envoy arrested Wu She on the spot and sent him to Yingdu. At the same time, Chengfu Sima (local military chief, equivalent to the current garrison commander) Fenyang received a secret edict from King Ping of Chu, which only wrote eight words: "The eldest son is treasonous, hold him and kill him!" Fen Yang sent someone to escort Da Zijian to Song State, then tied himself up and went to Yingdu to apologize. King Ping of Chu was very angry and said: "The order was written by the widow himself, and you saw it with your own eyes. Who leaked the news and let the eldest son escape?" Fen Yang replied truthfully: "It was the work of my subordinates. At the beginning, you ordered the eldest son to guard the city father, and told the subordinates that serving the eldest son is like serving the king. The IQ of the subordinates is limited, and they cannot be flexible. Order, I didn't know what to do with your order to kill the eldest son, so I had to let the eldest son go. Later, the subordinates also regretted it, but it was too late." King Ping of Chu sneered: "Then you still dare to come to see me?" Fen Yang said: "Your servant has not fulfilled your mission. If you don't come to plead guilty to you again, you will make mistakes again and again. There will be no place to hide wherever you go." King Ping of Chu pondered for a while, then said, "Go back and pretend this never happened." Liu Xiang in the Western Han Dynasty wrote "Shuo Yuan", in which there was an article "Li Jie", which included the matter of Fen Yang.King Ping of Chu's treatment of Fenyang shows the complexity of human nature: he listened to Fei Wuji's greedy words to kill the eldest son Jian (in fact, he also wanted to make Xiong Zhen the eldest son), so he was naturally stupid; To forgive his crimes is quite a wise king.If this matter stops here, it will not be a big mistake.However, King Ping of Chu did another thing immediately, which caused the turmoil in the Chu state for decades, and also laid the groundwork for him to be exhumed and flogged after his death. He followed Fei Wuji's suggestion and executed Wu She. The execution of Wu She is not a problem. The problem is that Wu She has two sons, one of whom is called Wu Yuan (yun), whose name is Zixu, and is generally called Wu Zixu (xu) in history. Before Wu She was executed, Fei Wuji also suggested to King Ping of Chu: "Wu She's two sons are very talented. If they escape to Wu State, they will be a disaster for Chu State. Please call them to come to Chu State in the name of pardoning Wu She." Come to Yingdu and catch everything in one go, otherwise there will be endless troubles." King Ping of Chu agreed, and sent an envoy to Wu She, asking him to write a letter to his two sons, saying: "Call them here, and you will let you live, or you will die!" Wu She smiled lightly and wrote a letter. He wrote a letter to the envoy, saying: "Your Majesty ordered me to write a letter, how can I not obey? Just please tell your Majesty, knowing a son is like a father. Wu Shang (the eldest son of Wu She) is a kind man. After seeing my letter He will definitely come; Wu Yuan is ruthless and forbearing, and if he can accomplish great things, he will not be easily fooled." King Ping of Chu refused to listen, but sent someone to send the letter to Tangdi (in present-day Henan Province) where Wu Shang was an official, and said : "Come, and your father will not die; if you don't come, execute him immediately." Wu Zixu was also in Tangdi at that time.After seeing Wu She's handwritten letter, Wu Shang packed his bags and prepared to leave.Wu Zixu said: "Your Majesty called my brother not because he really wanted to let my father live, but because he wanted to cut the weeds and eradicate the roots so that there would be no future troubles. Whether we go or not, my father will die. Why let us die in vain? If even we If they are all dead, who else can avenge their father? It is better to go to the state of Wu and use the strength of the state of Wu to come back to avenge your father." Wu Shang said: "Don't I know this is a trap? But the king threatened my father's life. If I don't go, wouldn't I be abandoning my old father? What will people in the world think of our Wu family?" "But..." Looking at Wu Shang's calm face, Wu Zixu was at a loss for words.Wu Shang smiled, patted Wu Zixu on the shoulder and said, "You go, I won't stop you. We two brothers, you can avenge your father, and I can accompany him to die. Isn't that great?" Wu Zixu wanted to persuade him again, but Wu Shang handed him a bow and a pot of arrows and said, "Go away!" Wu Shang followed the envoy back to Yingdu.King Ping of Chu heard that Wu Zixu hadn't come, so he sent more than ten palace guards to hunt Wu Zixu. Facts have proved that he completely underestimated Wu Zixu's ability. At one point, the guards caught up with Wu Zixu in a swamp.Seeing that there were only a dozen people and three or four cars, Wu Zixu unhurriedly raised his bow and set his arrows, and said, "Listen up, I'm going to shoot the driver in front now." The driver of the car screamed and fell to the ground to die. The rest of the people quickly lowered their heads in fright, not daring to chase after him.Wu Zixu hit another arrow: "Is there anyone else who is desperate?" Several military vehicles turned around together, leaving faster than coming.Wu Zixu laughed and said, "Go back and tell the King of Chu that if you want Chu to survive, then let my father and brother go. Otherwise, I will turn Chu into ruins!" After saying that, he put the arrow into the pot and left calmly. The guards went back to report to King Ping of Chu. King Ping of Chu regretted it a lot, and sent a troop of hundreds of people to hunt down Wu Zixu. They chased Wu Zixu all the way to the Yangtze River and returned without success. It is said that Wu Zixu met his friend Shen Baoxu on his way to escape.Shen Baoxu just came back from a visit to the Song Dynasty, and he didn't know such a big event happened in the country. He was surprised to see Wu Zixu walking alone with his bow on his back, with an abnormal expression of grief and indignation.After finding out what happened, Shen Baoxu also felt angry, but he couldn't say anything to comfort Wu Zixu, so he could only ask him what his plans were. Wu Zixu only said eight words: "If you don't destroy Chu, you will never be a human being." If someone else said such a thing, Shen Baoxu would think it was whimsical.After all, Chu State is not an ordinary country. Since King Wu of Chu dominated Jianghan, no country or alliance has dared to say that it wants to destroy Chu State, not even Duke Huan of Qi and Duke Wen of Jin, because it would make people laugh.However, when Wu Zixu gritted his teeth and said those eight words, Shen Baoxu couldn't help shivering. He knew that if this person wanted to do something, he would definitely be able to do it. "If you want to destroy the state of Chu, I can't cheer for you, because I am a native of Chu, and I can't betray my country; but you have the vengeance of killing your father, and I can't stop you, because I am your friend. I feel the same pain." Shen Baoxu said, "You go, I will not reveal your whereabouts, but please remember one sentence - if you can destroy Chu, I will definitely restore it." It is difficult for modern people to understand the calmness and calmness of the ancients, and it is even more difficult to understand their way of speaking with ease. "You want to destroy the state of Chu? Well, I will restore it." A light sentence, without preaching such as "Don't overestimate your strength" or "You have to focus on the overall situation", is like saying "You have to Overturning the table? Well, I'll pick it up" Simple as that. It was Wu She who said something cruel. According to "Zuo Zhuan", as soon as Wu Shang arrived in Yingdu, he was taken to be beheaded together with Wu She.Before he died, Wu She said: "Mr. Chu, doctor, do you want to eat your gan?" The Lord of Chu naturally refers to King Ping of Chu, and the doctor refers to Fei Wuji. Of course, it can also refer to the monarchs and ministers of Chu in general.Late food means late food, which means that you are waiting for Wu Yuan's revenge to come, and you will be exhausted by then, and it will be difficult to eat on time!