Chapter 14 Chu people plant trees, Jin people enjoy the shade

In the spring of 547 BC, Duke Jing of Qin sent his younger brother, Prince Zhen, as an envoy to the State of Jin.This is the second time that Gongzizhen has come to Xintian.As early as two years ago, that is, in May 549 BC, Qin and Jin had already negotiated to end the state of hostility. A verbal peace agreement.Therefore, the purpose of Gong Zizhen's mission to Jin this time is to turn the oral agreement into black and white and stamp it into effect. In order to welcome the arrival of Gong Zizhen, Shu Xiang, the minister in charge of foreign affairs of Jin State, urgently summoned the pedestrians.

The so-called "pedestrians" are diplomats who are responsible for welcoming and sending off.It just so happened that the son was on vacation in his hometown, and another pedestrian, Zi Zhu, was on duty.Zi Zhu took the initiative to stand up and said to Uncle Xiang: "It doesn't matter if the Zi members are not here, there is still Zi Zhu!" I said it three times, but Shu Xiang ignored him as if he didn't hear it.Zizhu became angry: "I and Ziyuan are both doctors, why do you deliberately not use me in front of everyone in the court?" He drew out his sword and pointed it at Shu Xiang.

Shu Xiang said: "Qin and Jin have been at odds for many years. Fortunately, what happened today will bring peace to Jin; Come on. The son communicates the relationship between the two countries without selfishness or other thoughts, but you often use your emotions to go against the wishes of the monarch. How can I be afraid of someone like you who uses evil to serve the monarch!" He also rolled up his sleeves, He drew his sword and prepared to face Zi Zhu.Everyone saw that this was really outrageous, so they quickly pulled the two of them apart. Duke Ping of Jin saw this scene in his eyes and sighed: "The state of Jin is almost approaching great rule! My subjects are all arguing about state affairs."

The same thing has different interpretations.Shi Kuang, the court musician of Jin Pinggong, did not take this seriously, saying: "I am afraid that the position of the public office has been shaken. There are conflicts among the courtiers. Instead of fighting secretly in their hearts, they openly fight with force, and stir up disputes without cultivating virtue. It's a manifestation of personal desire expansion! If you dare to draw your sword in front of the court, can the status of the office not be lowered?" Of course, Jin Pinggong did not hear these words. The Chinese of that era attached great importance to dignity, and the sword in their waists was never an ornament, but a weapon ready to defend their honor at any time.

In the summer of the same year, King Chukang and the people of Qin sent troops to invade Wu.When the army arrived at Yulou (place name), they found that the state of Wu had already prepared for it, so they gave up the idea of ​​attacking Wu and turned to attack the city of Zheng (jun, place name).Zheng Guo sent Huang Jie, a doctor, to fight, but was defeated by the allied forces of Qin and Chu. Huang Jie also became a prisoner of the Chu army. It was General Chu Chuanfengxu who captured Huangjie with his own hands—the magistrate of Chuanfeng County, named Xu, so he was called Chuanfengxu.But another Chu army general, Wang Ziwei, insisted that it was not Chuan Fengxu who captured Huang Jie, but himself.

Wang Ziwei is the son of King Chu Gong and the younger brother of King Chu Kang. He has a lot of background, but he doesn't buy Fengxu.The two couldn't argue, so they asked Dazai Bo Zhouli to come forward to uphold justice and judge right from wrong. As mentioned earlier, Bo Zhouli was the son of Bo Zong, a doctor of Jin State.In 576 BC, "Three Ques" instigated Duke Li of Jin to kill Bozong, and Bozhouli fled to Chu State. He was reused by the King of the Communist Party of Chu and served as the great minister of Chu State. It has been nearly 30 years since then. Bo Zhouli is a smart man—he is not smart, and it is impossible for him to get along well in Chu State as a foreigner, and he has been in charge of criminal cases for thirty years.As soon as he heard the two people's intentions, he immediately said: "I can't stop this matter. The best way is to call the prisoner himself and ask him clearly in front of the two of you."

Chuan Fengxu said: "Okay, face to face, I have no objection." Wang Ziwei gave Bo Zhouli a meaningful look, and said, "Just do as Dazai wants, and I believe Dazai will handle it impartially." So Huang Jie was escorted over and stood in front of Chuan Fengxu and Wang Ziwei. Bo Zhouli said to Huang Jie: "These two nobles are arguing endlessly because of you! I heard that you are a gentleman, you should understand the truth and don't talk nonsense, right?" Huangjie nodded, not knowing what kind of medicine he was selling in his gourd. "Let me introduce you." Bo Zhouli raised his hand high (on his hand), pointing at Wang Ziwei, "This one, Wang Ziwei, is the honorable younger brother of King Chu."

Wang Ziwei smiled reservedly, his face brightened. Bozhouli put down his hand (lowered his hand), pointed at Chuanfengxu, and said, "This one, Chuanfengxu, is the magistrate of Chuanfeng County. Have you heard of Chuanfeng? In Fangcheng Mountain of our Chu State In addition, a small county that is not very famous, most people don't know about it." By the way, the two movements of Bozhou plow are the origin of what we call "hands up and down".Of course Chuan Fengxu's face was livid with anger. Bozhouli pretended not to see it.Indeed, he didn't see it either, because his eyes kept falling on Wang Ziwei, and he didn't even glance at Feng Xu. "Now," he turned his face to Huangjie, "tell me the truth, which nobleman captured you?"

Huangjie is not stupid either, Bozhouli has long been aware of his actions like this. "No wonder I was captured!" He said seriously, "The prince is as powerful as a rainbow on the battlefield. Whenever I meet him, my hands and feet go weak, and I can't help surrendering!" Hearing such an answer, Bozhouli secretly gave Huangjie a wink, meaning that you are smart.Wang Ziwei gave Bo Zhouli an approving smile.At this time, an unexpected thing happened, Chuan Fengxu suddenly picked up a long spear and stabbed at the prince. Wang Ziwei quickly dodged and ran away.Chuan Fengxu chased after him all the way to Wang Ziwei's tent, only to be stopped by the guards.

If Chuanfengxu succeeds, the history of Chu may have to be rewritten.Of course, this is something to do later, so I won’t mention it here. During the Battle of the City, Father Yin Jin, a doctor of the State of Zheng, and Huang Jie defended the city together. Both were captured by the Chu army, and Father Yin Jin was given to the people of Qin as a gift. Yin Jin's father's family collected a sum of money and asked Zheng Guo's government to negotiate with Qin State to redeem Yin Jin's father.At that time, Uncle Zi served as Zheng Zheng of the State of Zheng, responsible for writing diplomatic documents, and then submitted them to Zichan for approval.After reading it, Zichan said, "If you write like this, you won't be able to redeem Father Yin Jin."

"Oh?" Uncle Zi has always held a respectful attitude towards Zichan, who is highly respected, but he looked left and right, and really couldn't find any faults with his documents. "This matter was a mistake from the very beginning." Zichan said, "Think about it, Qin State accepted the captive offered by Chu State, but released him because he was greedy for Zheng State's property. did that." "But……" "It should be written like this - I would like to thank the prince for helping the state of Zheng. If there is no favor from the prince, the Chu army may still be wandering in the state of Zheng." Zichan said, "Also, don't give too much money, otherwise it will be counterproductive. .” Uncle Zi thought to himself: That's not the case at all!He didn't accept Zichan's suggestion, and set off with several carts of gold and silver treasures.When he came to the state of Qin, the people of the state of Qin were very unhappy when they read the letter of credence. When Uncle Zi hit a wall, he remembered what Zichan had said to him. He quickly changed the letter of credence, and changed the property dedicated to the people of Qin into an ordinary meeting gift, and sent it over for the second time.At this time, a miraculous thing happened. The Qin people readily agreed to the request in the letter of credence, and handed over Yin Jin's father to him and brought him back to the state of Zheng. Don't say that many people are not surprised by courtesy. In many cases, "speed" is the most critical factor to do a thing well. After the Battle of Chengyu, the relationship between Jin and Chu has undergone subtle changes, from the original blind confrontation to mutual exploration and reconciliation.It was Zhao Wu, Marshal of the Central Army of the Jin State, and Qu Jian, Ling Yin of the Chu State, who brought about this change.As I said before, the two men had a deep personal relationship. A native of the Song Dynasty——Xiang Xu observed this subtle change, determined to learn from his predecessor Hua Yuan, and took the lead in wielding a shovel to fill the gap between Jin and Chu (in 579 BC, Hua Yuan contributed to the "Song Dynasty" between Jin and Chu). Alliance"). "Zuo Zhuan" records this matter, and believes that Xiang Xu "wanted to make up (mi) the soldiers of the princes for his name", which means that he was greedy for fame.This is a typical "motivation theory".The struggle for hegemony between Jin and Chu was a long process. The countries in the Central Plains were involved in the dispute between the two great powers and suffered from it for nearly a hundred years. No country wanted to quell the war and live a stable life for a few days.As a minister of the Song Dynasty, Xiang Xu has a good relationship with Zhao Wu and Qu Jian, and he is willing to use needles and needles to promote peace in the world, so he should not be blamed. Under Xiang Xu's advocacy, a group of insightful people of different nationalities traveled between countries, calling for peace. In the summer of 547 BC, Gongsun Guisheng of the state of Cai returned from his envoy to the state of Jin, and then visited the state of Chu non-stop.When passing through the state of Zheng, he happened to meet Wu Ju from the state of Chu. Gongsun Guisheng was the son of Gong Zichao, Master Cai Guo, and Wu Ju was the son of Wu Can.Gongzi Chao has a good relationship with Chu State, and Wu Ju and Gongsun Guisheng have been friends since childhood, and they are like brothers. Wu Ju married the daughter of Prince Mou, Duke of Shen County.Prince Mou committed a crime and escaped. Someone reported that Wu Ju contributed to this and personally escorted Prince Mou out of the country.Because of this matter, Wu Ju was forced to leave, via the state of Zheng, and prepared to defect to the state of Jin, but unexpectedly met an old friend.The so-called sweet rain comes after a long drought, and when you meet an old friend in a foreign land, the two of them didn't care about the details, pulled some grass and spread it on the ground as a mat, and drank it. When parting, Gongsun Guisheng gave Wu Ju a pair of white biscuits and said, "Take care of yourself, the spirits of our ancestors in heaven will protect you. With your talents, you can serve the Marquis of Jin and become the leader of the world." Wu Ju sighed and said, "That's not my wish! I only want Ye Luo to return to his roots, and if I can bury his body in Chu State, I will die willingly." "Then you have to take care of yourself even more." Gongsun Guisheng said, "You go, I will definitely let you return to Chu." Gongsun Guisheng came to Yingdu and met Lingyin Qujian.After Qu Jian asked him about the situation of Jin, he suddenly asked him a question: "Compared with the officials of Jin and the officials of Chu, which country is more virtuous and capable?" Gongsun Guisheng's answer was very ingenious: "The high officials of the state of Jin are not as good as the high officials of the state of Chu, but the officials of the state of Jin are wise, and they are all capable of being high officials." To say that Jin's ministers are not as good as Chu's ministers is to put a high hat on Qu Jian, because Qu Jian ranks in Lingyin, which is equivalent to the head of Chu's ministers.Judging from Qu Jian's actual performance, the high hat of Gongsun Guisheng is also appropriate, as evidenced by history: In 548 BC, the Shujiu tribe, an ethnic minority living in today's Anhui Province, rebelled against Chu under the instigation of Wu people.Qu Jian led an army to crusade against Shujiu, defeated the combined forces of Wu State and Shujiu in Licheng, and wiped out the Shujiu tribe. In December of the same year, Zhu Fan, king of Wu, attacked the state of Chu and besieged Chaocheng (the place name of the state of Chu).Niu Chen, the guard of Chaocheng, opened the city gate and lured Wu Jun to drive straight in. Niu Chen hid in the dark and shot cold arrows, shooting Zhu Fan to death. When the king of Chukang discussed the merits and rewards, Qu Jian insisted on not accepting them, saying: "The elimination of Shujiu is due to the contribution of the first doctor Xiezi Feng." The king of Chukang then gave the reward to the son of Xiezi Feng, who was Sima of Chu State at the time. Cover up. Qu Jian was not proud of his achievements, and it was a good story at that time. Wearing thousands of clothes, flattering but not wearing clothes, Qu Jian was very happy when he heard the young master Guisheng praised himself like this, and motioned him to continue. "However," Gongsun Guisheng changed the subject, "Although Chu has talents, they are often used by Jin. This is like Qi wood, catalpa and leather, which are special products of Chu. can be put to practical use.” "Oh?" Qu Jian felt that there was something in Gongsun Guisheng's words, and asked back, "Doesn't Jin have the same clan and relatives to use?" Gongsun Guisheng said: "Of course there are, but they still like to use the talents of the state of Chu. I heard people say that those who are good at governing the country should be rewarded appropriately and punished indiscriminately. If you go too far, you are afraid of wronging good people. If you really can't control the degree, you would rather reward excessively than abuse punishment. Rather than wronging good people, it is better to let villains benefit. Because if there are no good people, the country will suffer. "Poetry "It says, 'People's cloud perishes, and the country is exhausted', which means that there are no good people, and the country suffers disasters. "Xia Shu" says, 'It is better to lose than to kill the innocent', which is also for fear that good people will be wronged. " "Ode to Shang" said, "Don't be arrogant or indiscriminate, dare not neglect the emperor, order to go down to the country, feudalism will be blessed", and the rewards and punishments are appropriate, which is why Shang Tang was favored by heaven! The ancient sages ruled the world and were willing to reward and be careful Use punishments to worry about the people without getting tired. When the reward is about to be executed, the mood is happy, and a few more dishes are added to the meal, so that the dishes can be rewarded to the servants, so that everyone can share this happiness; when the execution is about to be executed, the mood Depressed, not thinking about food and drink, lowering the standard of food, and not listening to music, this is to let everyone know that he uses punishment carefully; he usually goes to bed early and gets up early, and is diligent in government affairs, so that everyone knows that he is worried about the people. These three things, It is the most basic element of 'ritual'." After reading the history so far, I sighed.The ancients used punishment cautiously, firstly, because they were afraid of wronging good people, and secondly, even if the punishment was appropriate, they would feel uneasy.Modern people obviously lack this kind of "sorrow" consciousness. Every "heinous" person is sentenced to death, and there is always a lot of gongs and drums. "If a country is polite, it will not be defeated." Gongsun Guisheng continued, "Chu's abuse of punishment is very serious now. Chu's doctors have fled to other countries to make suggestions for these countries to deal with Chu. The consequences of the abuse of punishment." Gongsun Guisheng gave a series of examples to illustrate the problem: First, when King Zhuang of Chu was young, son Xie and Dou Ke rebelled, and Xie Gong fled to Jin State. The people of Jin State made him sit in the back of the Marquis of Jin's car as the main counselor.In the battle around the horns in 585 BC, the people of Jin did not want to fight. Xi Gong said: "The Chu army is frivolous and easily frightened. If they beat multiple drums at the same time and attack at night, the Chu army will definitely retreat." Jin The people of the country followed Xi Gong's advice, and the Chu army was defeated.Jin State took advantage of the situation to attack Cai State, attacked Shen State, and conquered Zheng State.When Chu State lost its hegemony status, Xigong played a vital role. Second, Yong Zi, a doctor of the Chu State, was framed and fled to the Jin State. The people of the Jin State granted him land and let him serve as a counselor.In 573 BC, the Jin and Chu armies met in the Valley of Mijiao. Yongzi issued an order to the Jin army: "Both the old and the young go back, the orphans and the sick go back, and both brothers are in the army. Go back one, select the infantry, feed the horses, let the soldiers eat, set up the formation, burn the tents, and fight tomorrow!" The Chu army did not dare to compete with them, and fled overnight.The state of Jin regained Pengcheng for the state of Song, and the state of Chu lost the Dongyi tribe. These were all good deeds done by Yongzi. Third, Duke Shen and Wu Chen fled to Jin State in order to fight for Xia Ji. The people of Jin State adopted his strategy and made good friends with Wu State, teaching Wu State people to drive, archery and long-distance raids. Wu Chen's son Hu Yong also served as Wu State's pedestrian.The enlightened state of Wu attacked the nest, occupied the land of thorns, took down the land of thorns, and entered the state. The state of Chu was exhausted, and it is still not safe today. Fourth, during the reign of King Zhuang of Chu, Dou Yuejiao launched a rebellion and failed.Ben Huang, the son of Dou Yuejiao, fled to Jin State, and the people of Jin State gave him Miao land, so he was also called Miao Ben Huang.During the battle of Yanling, the Chu army approached the Jin army camp early in the morning. Miao Benhuang said: "The elite of the Chu army lies in the royal soldiers of the Chinese army. If you fill the well and flat the stove, set up a formation to resist them, and concentrate your strength to deal with the king's soldiers, you will surely succeed." Defeat them." The people of Jin obeyed, and the Chu army was defeated. The king of the Communist Party of Chu was shot and the army was devastated. Prince Fang committed suicide because of this. "The state of Zheng betrayed, the state of Wu rose, and the state of Chu lost its vassals. This was all done by the people of Chu." Gongsun Guisheng concluded in this way. "Indeed." Qu Jian was stunned for a long time, and finally spit out these words. "Today there is someone who is stronger than them!" Gongsun Guisheng said, "Wu Ju married Prince Mou's daughter. Prince Mou fled because of his crime. It is rumored that Wu Ju helped him escape. Wu Ju fled to Zheng Guo, craned his neck and looked south all day long, and said 'maybe you can forgive me'. But no one in Chu State took him seriously, so he fled to Jin State again. I heard that Jin State people take it seriously He intends to confer land to him, and he will be ranked with Uncle Xiang. Think about it, if someone like Wu Ju advises Jin to harm Chu, wouldn't it be a great disaster?" As if waking up from a dream, Qu Jian immediately reported to King Chukang, increased Wu Ju's salary, and asked Wu Ju's son Wu Ming to go to Jin to welcome Wu Ju back home. It is worth mentioning that Wu Ju also had a son named Wu She, and Wu She had a famous son named Wu Yuan, also known as Wu Zixu. Just when Jin and Chu were actively talking and preparing to seek peace, in July 547 BC, Xu Linggong came to Yingdu to pay homage to King Chukang and asked Chu to attack Zheng. Since the rise of Zheng Zhuanggong more than a hundred years ago, Zheng and Xu have been feuds.Although Zheng Guo has been bullied by Jin and Chu, it is more than enough to deal with Xu Guo.In 576 BC, Xu Linggong, who could not bear the intrusion of Zheng State, simply asked Chu State to move the subjects of Xu State to Yecheng of Chu State, and gave the old land of Xu State to Zheng State. Xu Linggong wanted to provoke a war at this time, which was obviously inappropriate, and of course he was rejected by King Chukang.Unexpectedly, Xu Linggong had a very tough attitude on this matter, and publicly declared: "If the Chu State does not send troops, I will not go back!" And he went to the palace every day to sit quietly, as long as Chukang King appeared, he would not say a word. follow behind.What kind of trick is this?Isn't he afraid that King Chu Kang will wring his head off when he gets angry? What happened later may explain why Xu Linggong was so arrogant-a month later, this humble monarch died of illness in Yingdu.According to the imperial doctor of Chu State, he knew that he had already suffered from an incurable disease, and he did not intend to go back alive.Even so, Xu Linggong's stalking spirit still moved King Chukang. He said: "If you don't attack Zheng, what face will Chu have to dominate the princes?" In October of the same year, King Chu Kang personally led the army to the north.Gongsun Shezhi got the information and called a meeting of civil and military officials to discuss countermeasures. At the meeting, most people's opinions were to send troops to resist and at the same time turn to the state of Jin for help.Only Zichan didn't say a word, and when everyone had finished speaking, he said slowly: "Jin and Chu are negotiating, and the feudal lords are going to live together peacefully. It is a bit presumptuous and unreasonable for Chu to attack us now. In my opinion, it's better to let him have a good time and return home proudly, so that peace can be made easier. Those who are eager to fight are just villains. The nature of villains, as long as there is an opportunity to exploit, they will show bloody courage. It is not in the interest of the country to like to pursue a false name in the midst of chaos to satisfy his nature, how can he disregard the safety of the country for the sake of the villain's momentary happiness?" The meeting debated for a while, and finally adopted Zichan's opinion, and stayed behind closed doors. At the beginning of December, the Chu army entered Nanli (place name) of Zheng State and demolished the city wall of Nanli.He crossed Jishui from Leshi Ferry and attacked Xinzheng's "Shizhiliang" (the name of the city gate).Because the people of Zheng State lowered the gate of the inner city, the people of Chu State were unable to attack, and finally captured nine Zheng Guoren who had no time to escape and returned home. King Chukang escorted the nine unlucky ones to Xu Linggong's tomb and displayed them. He paid homage to Xu Linggong, and then buried Xu Linggong.