Chapter 14 Wu Zixu's Magical Revenge

Wu Zixu's revenge is undoubtedly the most dramatic story in the history of Spring and Autumn and Warring States.As we all know, he later used the power of Wu State to achieve the goal of destroying Chu State.But regarding this period of history, the records in "Zuo Zhuan" are very concise.For example, how Wu Zixu came to Wu after leaving Chu, "Zuo Zhuan" only has three words "members like Wu", which is extremely concise.Sima Qian must have had a hard time watching it, so he added a long legend to the "Biography of Wu Zixu" in "Historical Records".And Zhao Ye of the Eastern Han Dynasty wrote "Wu Yue Chunqiu" in a serious manner, telling the story of Wu Zixu with gusto.In addition, there is another "Yue Jue Shu" whose author has not been found so far, which also has many descriptions of Wu Zixu.

Based on the opinions of various schools, Wu Zixu's road to revenge should be like this—— He first went to Song State and found Da Zijian who was in exile there.This decision shows that Wu Zixu is quite politically minded.If he wanted to seek revenge from King Chu Ping, he must have a trump card in his hand, and Da Zijian was undoubtedly the best trump card he could get.But his luck was obviously not very good. The Song Dynasty was in the period of Song Yuangong, and the Hua and Xiang Er clans were in chaos, and the political situation was turbulent.Wu Zixu and Da Zijian discussed that instead of wasting time in Song State, they should try their luck elsewhere, so the two came to Zheng State again.

Zheng Dinggong treated Da Zijian and Wu Zixu very courteously, and let them live in a hotel, and they were taken care of by special personnel for basic necessities of life.Perhaps in Zheng Dinggong's view, Da Zijian is the flesh and blood of King Chu Ping after all, maybe one day King Chu Ping changes his mind and wants Da Zijian to go back!Such a guest cannot be offended, and must be properly offered. But for Da Zijian, fine clothes and good food are not what he is looking for, the most urgent need is to recover his lost status.He lived in Xinzheng for a few months, couldn't hold back his loneliness, and secretly went to Jin State to meet Jin Qinggong.

At this time, the state of Jin was already in decline, and it had no intention of meddling in the internal affairs of the state of Chu.Jin Qinggong is a mud bodhisattva crossing the river, and he is in danger, but he still put on the airs of the head of a great country to meet Da Zijian.After listening to Da Zijian's cries, Duke Qing of Jin made a rather foolish suggestion: "Since Uncle Zheng trusts you so much, why don't you go back to Zheng to launch a coup? At that time, Jin will send troops to help you. Zheng Guo is destroyed, and you are the master of Zheng Guo." Da Zijian's heart skipped a beat.When he returned to the state of Zheng, he was intensively preparing for a coup d'état.Zheng Dinggong noticed that something was wrong, and sent someone to follow Da Zijian's whereabouts, and soon discovered that he was plotting wrongdoing.As a result, Da Zijian was arrested and beheaded. Wu Zixu escaped by chance, and secretly left Xinzheng with Da Zijian's son Xiong Sheng.

The above experience made Wu Zixu understand that if he wanted to avenge the murder of his father, Song, Zheng, and even Jin could not be trusted, so he had to go to Wu.But the road to Wu State is full of dangers, because from Henan to Jiangsu, you must pass through most of Anhui. This area was the territory of Chu State at that time.Moreover, Chu State learned that Wu Zixu had escaped from Zheng State, and stepped up the search to prevent him from escaping from under the nose. Many legendary stories happened during this adventurous journey. In Zhaoguan (now in Hanshan County, Anhui Province), Wu Zixu encountered the most stringent interrogation.The local guard hung his portrait in front of the customs, and passers-by had to stand in front of the portrait and be checked and questioned one by one.Wu Zixu hid in a nearby village for four or five days, but he couldn't think of a good way to get through the border. He was so anxious that his hair turned gray.At this moment, a kind old man called Donggao recognized him, took him and Xiong Sheng to his home, and called his good friend Huangfuna to meet Wu Zixu.

It turned out that Huangfu Na looked very similar to Wu Zixu, and Wu Zixu's hair turned white all night, which made Huangfu Na look more like the genuine Wu Zixu.After the three discussed it, Huang Funa went to Zhaoguan pretending to be Wu Zixu.Seeing Huang Funa's nervous expression, the soldiers guarding the gate immediately determined that he was Wu Zixu after comparing it with the portrait. Without any explanation, they arrested him and sent him to the officer.The real Wu Zixu took advantage of the chaos and followed the crowd through Zhaoguan. When Wu Zixu was far away, Duke Donggao came to the pass slowly on crutches to look for the guard, congratulated him, and asked to see Wu Zixu.Donggao is very popular in the local area, and the guard is also very familiar with him, so he proposed "Wu Zixu".Dong Gaogong smiled when he saw it: "Brother, you are mistaken. This is not Wu Zixu. His name is Huangfu Na. He is a bad old man. My good friend. I made an appointment to go on a picnic today. Why did you arrest me?"

The guard was taken aback, questioned Huangfu Na several questions, looked at the portrait several times, and finally admitted a fact that he didn't want to admit: this "Wu Zixu" was a counterfeit version.He had no choice but to let Huangfu go. Wu Zixu led Xiong Sheng to continue eastward, eating and sleeping all the way, and avoiding arrests. It was hard to say nothing.One day, they came to the bank of the Yangtze River. There were chasing soldiers behind them and a big river in front of them. The two could only hide in the reeds. The situation was very critical.At this moment, Wu Zixu saw a flat boat staggering down the river.A fisherman on the boat sang a local love song leisurely:

Lu Zhiyi is reeds.The main idea of ​​the lyrics is, brother love, don’t worry, wait until the sun goes down and the moon comes up, my sister will meet you in the reeds.Wu Zixu understood as soon as he heard it, so he hid in the reed marsh until the sun went down.The moon had just set the sky, and sure enough, I heard the fisherman coming back with his boat, this time singing: The sun is setting, and my heart is sad; the moon is high, why don't you cross the river?Wu Zixu led Xiong Sheng out and boarded the fisherman's boat.He bowed to the fisherman, and was about to speak, but the fisherman stopped him: "I know who you are, and I will help you for nothing but to sympathize with your experience." Then he asked: "Are you hungry?" Wu Zixu and Xiong Sheng nodded involuntarily.From noon to dusk, they haven't eaten a grain of rice, so they are more than just hungry?I'm just going to faint from hunger.The fisherman said: "Stay here and wait a little longer. I'll get you something to eat first."

The fisherman didn't come back more than half an hour after he left, and the more Wu Zixu thought about it, the more he felt that something was wrong. Could it be that the fisherman deliberately tricked them to come out and report to the authorities?He couldn't help shivering, and wanted to leave, but he was exhausted, and he probably couldn't go far, so he simply went back to the reeds to hide.After a while, I heard the fisherman's voice: "The man in the reed, the man in the reed, have you already left?" Wu Zixu didn't dare to say anything, and he didn't show up again until he was sure that there was no one else around.

The fisherman scolded: "I saw you were hungry, so I went back to get food for you, but you hid yourself. Could it be that you look down on me?" Wu Zixu hurriedly apologized: "My life belongs to God, now it depends on you to save me, how dare I look down upon it!" The fisherman smiled and served fish soup with rice.Wu Zixu and Xiong Sheng didn't care about elegance, so they sat on the bow of the boat and gorged themselves.The fisherman swung his oars, and the boat briskly cut through the waves and swam towards the other side of the river.When the boat docked, Wu Zixu and Xiong Sheng were also full.Wu Zixu took off the seven-star sword he was wearing and gave it to the fisherman, saying: "I am penniless now, and I have nothing to repay. I only have this ancestral sword, which is worth a hundred gold. Let me give it to you as a souvenir!"

The fisherman didn't even look at the sword, and said, "If I'm greedy for something in return, the king will offer a reward for arresting you. Anyone who captures you alive will be rewarded with 50,000 shi of grain and made a doctor. Isn't it worth more than a hundred gold?" Putting away the sword, he asked the fisherman his name.The fisherman said, "Call me Yuzhang!" Wu Zixu had no choice but to thank him again and again.The fisherman shook the boat to leave the shore, Wu Zixu waved goodbye, and told the fisherman: "Please be sure to hide the utensils we used so that no one will find them." The so-called used utensils are nothing more than a few pottery bowls, which can be washed and washed, so where is the need to hide them?The fisherman heard from Wu Zixu's words: He is still worried, afraid that I will reveal his whereabouts.The fisherman sighed and said: "I treat you like this, but you don't believe me, that's all, I will let you rest assured!" After saying that, he overturned the fishing boat and sank in the river. Wu Zixu's careful thinking and lack of trust in people can be seen from this.However, this story is likely to be fabricated by later generations. "Wu Yue Spring and Autumn" wrote here, and then wrote: Wu Zixu came to Wu State and was begging along the street in Liyang (now southern Jiangsu Province). A woman gave him and Xiong Sheng food. Said the same thing, "Please hide the tableware so that no one else can see it." The woman couldn't bear it either, and resolutely jumped into the river to commit suicide.What makes this story unreasonable is that it is justifiable for Wu Zixu to say such things in the state of Chu, but there is no reason for him to say such things in the state of Wu—there is no reward for his head in the state of Wu, so what are you afraid of? In any case, Wu Zixu went through untold hardships and finally arrived at the capital of Wu State, and soon met King Liao of Wu, there is no doubt about it. He stated to Wu Wangliao the many benefits of attacking Chu.Wu Wangliao had always been brooding about his defeat in the Battle of Chang'an, and had been looking for an opportunity to save face. After hearing Wu Zixu's analysis, he was moved.If it hadn't been for He Lu to intervene, Wu Zixu's revenge plan seems to have become a reality immediately. He Lu said to King Liao of Wu, "This man just wants to use the power of Wu to avenge himself. What good will it do us to attack Chu without any reason?" Wu Wangliao was doused with cold water and regained consciousness a lot.Wu Zixu couldn't help but looked at He Lu a few more times, and saw that this young man had a pampered face, fair and clean, with a well-groomed beard, and very gorgeous clothes. The hero of the Wu army who won the remaining emperor in the battle of Chang'an. "This person is not simple." Wu Zixu thought to himself.King Liao of Wu was indeed a figure worth relying on, but in comparison, He Lu seemed to make Wu Zixu fall in love at first sight.Moreover, from He Lu's eyes, Wu Zixu also read a kind of desire that is difficult for others to detect: He Lu is not willing to live under Wu Wangliao, he wants to be the master of Wu. It is not difficult to understand He Lu's desire.According to the tradition of "brothers end up with younger brothers" in the state of Wu, after Yi Mei's death, the throne should have been inherited by Ji Zha, but Ji Zha refused to accept it, so it should follow the principle of "father dies and son replaces" and Yi Mei's eldest son He Lu enthroned.Unexpectedly, Uncle Liao was the first to seize the throne as the concubine son of the former king Shoumeng. How could Helu swallow this breath? Without much thought, Wu Zixu made a major decision: he wanted to be He Lu's friend, not his enemy.So he changed the subject and said to King Liao of Wu, "Your Majesty is right. As a king, you really shouldn't raise troops for someone's selfish desire." Wu Wangliao was very displeased: "You told me a lot about the benefits of attacking Chu, isn't that just to encourage me to attack Chu?" Wu Zixu said: "The king is the king of the people of a country, and he should not be arrogant, especially in military affairs. If you raise troops for the sake of your subordinates, it is not the way to be a king. Please think twice." He Lu gave Wu Zixu a meaningful look, and as soon as Wu Zixu's eyes made contact with him, he quickly moved away, pretending to be nonchalant.After seeing this for a while, the two hooked up.Wu Wangliao didn't notice this scene, let alone thought that this meeting would bring him disaster. After Wu Zixu met King Liao of Wu, he retired voluntarily and led Xiong Shengguo to live a secluded life of farming in the wild.Of course, the so-called farming is probably just a deception. Every month, someone from Helu's mansion sends them food and supplies, and their lives are quite comfortable. Wu Zixu's reward for Helu was one person. The name of this person is Zhuan Zhu.According to the "Wu Yue Chun Qiu" records, Wu Zixu saw Zhuan Zhu arguing with others on the road while fleeing. You have to step back.However, at this moment, Zhuan Zhu's wife leaned against the door and called delicately: "Zhu, you still not going home for dinner?"Wu Zixu felt angry and funny, so he stopped him and asked, "You are a big man, you were still in a rage just now, why did your wife make you submissive with just one word?" Zhuan Zhu gave him a look: "Look at me , look carefully, do I look like a fool? No, then why do you speak so rudely? Tell you, I am inferior to one person and above ten thousand people, do you understand?" Wu Zixu's disdain immediately turned into With admiration, I immediately apologized to Zhuan Zhu.Seeing Wu Zixu's handsome appearance, Zhuan Zhu must not be an ordinary person, so he invited him to his home for a talk, and the two became close friends. Zhu Zhu is the first person who is afraid of his wife since ancient times.When Feng Menglong wrote this section, he might feel that being afraid of his wife is not a heroic act, so he changed the woman's identity to Zhuan Zhu's mother.In this way, all good filial piety comes first, and the halo on Zhuan Zhu's head will increase again. Wu Zixu introduced Zhuan Zhu to He Lu, and He Lu gave him good food and drink every day, served him carefully and was very humble.After a while, Zhuan Zhu finally said to He Lu: "If you want me to do anything, just ask! I'm a savage, and if I can receive such courtesy from my son, I will not hesitate to lose my life." What Helu waited for was the phrase "do not hesitate", and immediately stepped back and told Zhuanzhu directly: "The throne of King Wu should have been mine, but now it is taken by someone else. I would like you to kill him. Help me take back my throne." He Lu said it easily, but Zhuan Zhu knew that he really wanted to use his life to repay the pampering of these days - King Liao of Wu was surrounded by many guards and well-prepared, no matter whether the assassination was successful or not, the probability of the assassin coming back alive was basically zero.He pondered for a moment, and a bold plan appeared in his mind, and he asked, "What is King Wu's favorite food?" He Lu said, "Fish." Zhuan Zhu said: "Then please send me to Taihu Lake to learn cooking skills. Give me three months, and I will definitely cook the fish that King Wu loves most." He Lu said, "Okay." Since then, Zhuan Zhu has been studying cooking in Taihu Lake, while Wu Zixu is still pretending to be "farming". During this period, Wu State accelerated the pace of attacking Chu State. In 519 BC, King Liao of Wu personally led an army to attack the state of Chu.King Ping of Chu sent Yin Yanggai and Sima Yu (wei) to lead the allied forces of Chu, Dun, Hu, Shen, Cai, Chen, and Xu to rescue, and met Wu army in Zhongli (in today's Anhui Province).As the war was approaching, Yang Gai, the commander of the Chu army, suddenly fell ill and died, and the momentum of the coalition forces was set back.He Lu said to King Liao of Wu, "There are many princes from Chu, but they are all small countries. They are afraid that Chu will persecute them, so they have to come. Now our army is smaller than the enemy's army, but I heard that Hu and Shen are young. Frivolous, Dr. Chen Guo is young and powerful but stubborn. The two countries, Dun and Xu, have long been dissatisfied with Chu. The seven countries went to the same battle but each had their own minds. There is nothing to be afraid of. If we concentrate on attacking the armies of Hu, Shen and Chen first , They will definitely be defeated. If the three kingdoms are defeated first, the other countries will waver, and the Chu army will lose control. Please send someone to pretend to be ill-prepared to lure the enemy to attack, and leave the elite and strong generals behind to deal a severe blow." King Liao of Wu accepted He Lu's suggestion. In July of the same year, the two armies fought in Jifu (now in Henan Province).King Liao of Wu sent 3,000 prisoners from the country to serve as the vanguard to attack the three armies of Hu, Shen, and Chen. How can prisoners have any military discipline?Dressed in armor, they rushed over in a mess, and they were defeated as soon as they came into contact. Some knew how to run away, and some stood there stupidly waiting to die.The army of the Three Kingdoms saw that it was a soft persimmon, and they couldn't help being overjoyed, and ran out in a panic to capture the prisoners and fight for the spoils.At this time, the Wu army suddenly launched an attack, with King Liao of Wu as the central army, He Lu as the right army, and Prince Jianyu (also the son of Wu Wang Shoumeng) as the left army, they rushed towards the army of the Three Kingdoms.The armies of the three countries were caught off guard and were defeated. The Wu army was not in a hurry to capture the prisoners, and drove the defeated army to attack the positions of Xu, Cai, and Dun, and the armies of these three countries also quickly collapsed.The Chu people saw that the general situation was over, and it was the best plan to go, and "run away" before the Wu army attacked. This battle is known as the Battle of the Chicken Father in history.The state of Wu seized Zhoulai, an important military town, and since then "go to the river to block the Huaihe River for solidification, and choke the throat of Chu as a resource for advancing and retreating", and is strategically on the offensive against Chu. In addition, after Da Zijian was deposed by King Ping of Chu, his mother was also repatriated to live in 郹(ju) Yang (now near Xincai, Henan Province) in Cai State.In August of this year, this woman wrote a secret letter to King Liao of Wu, asking the people of Wu to attack Qiyang, and she was willing to open the gate of the city as the inner servant.So in October of the same year, Helu led his troops to attack Qiyang, swept away all the treasures stored there by the state of Chu, and welcomed Dazijian's mother back to the state of Wu. It is not difficult to see that after the Battle of Chicken Father, Wu Jun had the ability to fight deep into the hinterland of Chu State, and the security of Chu State was seriously threatened.Sima Yuyue led his men to pursue He Lu.Wu Jun came and went like the wind, and when he arrived at Xincai, He Lu had already returned to Wu safely. As a Sima, Qiao Yue was not well prepared and could not catch up with the enemy. According to the laws of Chu, he should be executed.His subordinates persuaded him to crusade against the state of Wu in order to win and avoid death, but Qiao Yue lost his courage and said: "The king and his wife have been snatched away, so I must die. If I go to the state of Wu to fight another defeat, it will be considered an extra death." One time is not enough to atone." So he hanged himself.If Sima is like this, it can be seen that after two consecutive major blows, Chu State is filled with a sense of failure and morale is sluggish. After Yang Gai died, Nang Wa took over as Ling Yin.Nang Wa is the grandson of Gong Zizhen (Gong Zizhen is the younger brother of King Gong of Chu, who served as Lingyin during the reign of King Gong of Chu and King Kang of Chu).It is said that during the reign of King Ling of Chu, Yan Ying visited the state of Chu. Nang Wa was the charioteer of King Ling of Chu at that time. Later generations. Don’t you feel ashamed that you are five feet long and unable to bind a chicken?” Yan Ying replied: “Back then, Qiao Ru was nine feet long and was killed by the State of Lu; You are so tall, can't you only serve as a horse for the king of Chu?" Nangwa blushed. The first thing Nangwa did when he came to power was to strengthen the city wall of Yingdu, which was also forced by the times-who knows if those desperate Wu people will suddenly come to Yingdu?However, Zuo Sima Shen Yinxu was critical of Nangwa's precautions: "Zichang (Nangwa Zichang) did this, not to protect Yingdu, but to destroy Yingdu. If people can't defend the country, no matter how high the city wall is It’s useless. The key task now is to boost morale and overcome the fear of Wu. At this time, building the city will aggravate everyone’s fear?” Nangwa was cautious, but King Chuping was too impulsive.In October 518 BC, King Ping of Chu personally led a water army to patrol the border between Wu and Chu, trying to save face for the two failures last year.Shen Yinxu made another criticism: "Chu State will definitely lose ground in this operation. It will not appease the people and abuse its power, and Wu State will act rashly without knowing the situation. If the Wu army launches a surprise attack and there is no contingency plan, how can it not suffer?" King Ping of Chu ignored these, and returned to Chu after accepting the reward from the Yue people in Yuzhang (in today's Jiangxi Province).Taking advantage of his unpreparedness, the Wu people suddenly attacked Zhongli and Juchao (in today's Anwei Province), and burned the two cities to ashes. This time, King Ping of Chu was also frightened, and immediately sent people to raise the city walls of Gaozhou Qu (in today's Anhui Province) and Qiuhuang (in today's Henan Province), and repair the outer cities of Juchao and Juandi (in today's Henan Province).All of a sudden, people in Chu State panicked, as if they were facing a big enemy.This country that has brought trembling to the Central Plains since ancient times, now tasted the taste of fear for the first time. In September 516 BC, King Ping of Chu died, and his son Xiong Zhen, born to Princess Qin, was eight years old at the time.Nangwa wanted to make Yishen, the concubine brother of King Ping of Chu, king, and said to the officials: "The eldest son is young, and his mother is not the first wife of the previous king. She was originally a woman built by the first eldest son. Elderly, and with high moral character, if you don’t establish him, who else will you choose?” Unexpectedly, Yishen himself was the first to oppose him, and he angrily scolded Nangwa: “You are acting recklessly! The eldest son was established by the previous king, how can you Abolish it? His mother is a majestic princess of Qin State, who can bring powerful foreign aid to Chu State, so what does it matter if she is not the first wife? You are not doing it for my own good, you are trying to push me into the fire pit If you continue to make irresponsible remarks on this matter, I will mobilize the people of Chu to rise up and kill you!" Nangwa was scolded so badly that he dared not refute, and finally decided to make Xiongzhen the king. That is, King Chu Zhao in history. As the saying goes, if there is a grievance, there is a debtor.After the death of King Ping of Chu, the resentment in Wu Zixu's heart should have dissipated, but according to the "Wu Yue Chunqiu", when Wu Zixu learned that King Ping of Chu had passed away, he laughed three times and cried three times, and said to Xiong Sheng: "I didn't expect him to die now." I’m dead, who should I seek revenge for? But it doesn’t matter, as long as the state of Chu is still there, I have nothing to worry about!” The implication is that it doesn’t matter if King Chu Ping is dead, he can be blamed on the state of Chu. Xiong Sheng listened and remained silent.