Chapter 12 King Zhuang of Chu pretending to be a pig and eating a tiger

Now we can talk about King Zhuang of Chu. When King Zhuang of Chu inherited the throne, the state of Chu was in a state of instability.This unrest was not only caused by the death of King Chu Mu.As early as the year before the death of King Chu Mu, Chu State was in turmoil due to Ling Yin Cheng Daxin's death. At that time, Chu Mu King appointed Cheng Daxin's younger brother Cheng Jia (zi Kong) to succeed Ling Yin. Guo and its vassals Zong and Chao rebelled against Chu, so Cheng Jia led an army to attack Shu, captured the kings of Shu and Zong, and surrounded Chao. In the second year of King Chuzhuang's accession to the throne, that is, in 613 BC, Cheng Jia and Pan Chong were determined to wipe out the rebel forces, led the army to go out again, and sent sons Xie (xie) and Dou Ke to guard the capital.

Dou Ke was once a prisoner of the Qin army.In 635 BC, Duke Mu of Qin and Duke Wen of Jin jointly attacked Pang. King Cheng of Chu sent Dou Ke and Qu Yukou to help Pang, but both were captured by the Qin army.Later, Qin State lost to Jin State in the Battle of Confucianism, and was eager to establish a good diplomatic relationship with Chu State, so they released Dou Ke and others back to China.After returning to the country, Dou Ke has been depressed, but the young master Xie wanted to be Chu's Ling Yin, but he lost to Cheng Jia. The two got together, complained, and bragged, and over time they became rebellious.

In the autumn of 613 BC, son Xie and Dou Ke declared martial law in the capital, and sent assassins to attack and kill Ling Yin Chengjia, but failed.Cheng Jia and Pan Chong quickly returned to besiege Yingdu.In August, Prince Xie and Dou Ke hijacked King Zhuang of Chu to break out from Yingdu, planning to flee to Shangmi to set up another central government.When passing through Lu (a place name in Chu), the two were trapped and killed by Dr. Lu's Jian Liang, and King Zhuang of Chu was rescued. But the turmoil in Chu State did not end there.In 611 BC, Chu State experienced a once-in-a-century famine.The Shanrong people living in today's eastern Sichuan took the opportunity to harass the southwestern border of Chu State, all the way to Fushan (today's Fangxian County, Hubei).The people of Chu organized defenses and sent troops to defend the Dalin area.The tribes of Yi and Yue in the east also took the opportunity to rebel and sent troops to invade the southeastern border of Chu State, captured Yangqiu, and directly threatened Zi (zi) Zhi (the area of ​​Zhongxiang in Hubei today).The Yong State, which had always been subject to the Chu State, also mobilized various barbarian tribes to rebel, and the people of the Yi State, who had just been conquered by the Chu State not long ago, also led the Yi tribes to gather in the selected area (the place name of the Chu State) and prepared to attack Yingdu.All of a sudden, emergency documents from all over the country flew to Yingdu like a snowflake, and martial law was imposed in all cities and places, and there was a tense atmosphere in the air.

This is the most difficult moment since the rise of Chu State.When Duke Huan of Qi led the Eight-Power Allied Forces to suppress the border, the Chu people handled it with ease; Duke Wen of Jin defeated the Chu army in the Battle of Chengpu, and the strength of Chu was not weakened.But now, several years of domestic turmoil and famine have brought Chu almost to collapse.However, the inexperienced king of Chuzhuang, as always, hid in the deep palace, drinking for pleasure day and night, and issued an order to the people of the country, saying: "Whoever dares to persuade, kill without pardon !"

Hearing this order, the doctors all shook their heads and sighed.In the era of King Wen of Chu, Fengquan dared to threaten him with a knife in order to persuade King Wen of Chu. King Wen of Chu never punished Fendquan, but instead gave him extremely high treatment and honor.Dare to speak out directly has become a fine tradition of Chu officials, and it has played a very important role in correcting the monarch's mistakes in a timely manner and ensuring that government orders are correct.Now, the king of Chu Zhuang, who was taken out of Yingdu like a fool, threatens the officials with death, seals their mouths, and prevents them from expressing their opinions freely, which is really chilling.

The future of Chu State will probably be buried in the hands of this fool.Everyone thought to themselves like this. One day, the doctor Wu Ju had an audience with King Zhuang of Chu.It happened that King Zhuang of Chu was drinking and having fun, holding Zheng Ji on his left and Yue Nu on his right. He was wearing loose clothes and a hat askew. He was sitting between the bells and drums. "Wu Ju, didn't you hear my order? Anyone who dares to persuade me will die!" King Zhuang of Chu stared at him fiercely with bloodshot eyes. The musicians stopped playing, and they kept their heads down, not daring to breathe.

Wu Ju was stunned for a moment, and then said with a hearty smile: "I want to enjoy more happiness with my old bones, how dare I disobey the command of the lord? I am here today, first to have a drink with the king, to help the fun, and second I came here to tell the king about a strange thing that happened in Chu." "Oh?" King Zhuang of Chu became interested. "Three years ago, a big bird flew from the south. It was covered with five-colored feathers, and its eyes were bigger than copper bells. The bird perched on the high mountains southwest of Yingdu. For three years, it neither flew away nor Singing, the common people don't know what kind of bird it is, do you know, Your Majesty?"

"This bird...Of course I know." King Zhuang of Chu said lightly, "If you don't fly for three years, it will soar into the sky; if you don't sing for three years, you will make a blockbuster. You step back, I understand what you mean." When he said this, King Zhuang of Chu didn't even look at Wu Ju, his eyes were ecstatically looking at the sky outside the door.A group of wild geese are flying across the sky. It is late autumn. They are heading south all the way, and will soon arrive at their winter habitat. However, in the days that followed, the palace was still full of singing and dancing.The doctor Su Cong couldn't help but rushed straight into the palace, and said to King Zhuang of Chu, "Chu is about to perish. Is my lord just muddling along like this?"

"Hasn't the doctor heard my order?" King Zhuang of Chu asked back. "If I can make my lord understand the truth by dying, I am willing!" King Zhuang of Chu looked at him for a while, and said, "Stop talking, I know what to do." He ordered the musicians and dancers to retreat, the concubines returned to the harem, and ordered the servants to call the ministers for a meeting.The speed of action is like a film director changing a background curtain. As for why King Zhuang of Chu transformed from a naughty boy into a wise king overnight, there are few records in historical materials, and no one has studied it carefully.It is natural to say that the prodigal son turns back without changing money, but a more reasonable explanation is: his stubbornness is only a superficial phenomenon, used to paralyze those ambitious people and those who are not good enough to take up their jobs, so that they don't care about his existence, fully Expose your true colors.And he secretly kept in mind the actions of these people, and at the same time he also kept in mind the actions of virtuous and capable people.According to the records of "Historical Records", when King Zhuang of Chu was in charge for the first time, he took out a long list. Hundreds of people were punished in various ways, and hundreds of people were promoted at the same time. Pretending to be a pig and eating a tiger.

King Zhuang of Chu was dealing with foreign enemies while sorting out internal affairs.He issued an order in time to send people to strengthen the defenses of Shenxian and Xixian counties, and announced that the north gates of Shenxian and Xixian counties would be closed indefinitely until the central government deemed it possible to lift the alarm. The two counties of Shen and Xi are the gateways for Chu State to enter and exit the Central Plains.Strengthen the defense of the two counties and close the north gates of the two counties in order to prevent the Jin State from taking advantage of the fire and mobilize the troops of the Central Plains to attack the Chu State.

People without thought, he must worry about.The rebellion of the Yong, Yi, Man, and Barbarians has already made this country exhausted. If Zhao Dun gets wind of it, smells it, and leads his army southward, the people of Chu can only rely on the defenses of Shen and Xi counties to keep the enemy out of the country. outside.King Zhuang of Chu's move did not seem to have a direct effect on resolving the rebellion, but it played an important role in stabilizing the people of Chu and cutting off the desires of the countries in the Central Plains, and laid the foundation for Chu to solve the rebellion. At that time, there was a discussion among the court of Chu State that the situation was threatening, and in order to avoid the sharp edge of the rebels, it was best to move the capital to Banko. Bangao is a dangerous place in Chu State.The move of the capital to Ban Gao was naturally for the sake of the central government's own safety.However, the relocation of the capital will inevitably lead to the disintegration of the people's hearts, and Lin Jia immediately stood up to oppose it. He said: "Moving to Han Gao seems to be safe, but it is not. We can go, and bandits can also go, and a fierce fight is inevitable." In my opinion, it is better to attack the snake head first when fighting a snake. The people of Mo and Baipu dare to invade our country because of the famine in our country. If we send troops to attack the Yong country, they will You must think that you made a mistake in your judgment and retreated in fear. The Baipu clan has no fixed place and is not well-organized, and they will disperse when they see something bad, so why bother to attack us?" King Zhuang of Chu supported Luo Jia's opinion, so he organized a mobile force to set off from Yingdu to attack Yongguo.Sure enough, as Luo Jia expected, less than half a month after the Chu State sent troops, the people of Baipu scattered and went back to their settlements. Under the leadership of King Zhuang of Chu, the patriotic enthusiasm of Chu people was quickly aroused.The Chu army marched from Ludi to Yongguo, and the cities and towns along the way took the initiative to open granaries to supply the troops.And the camaraderie among the troops has also been raised to a new level: from the commander to the groom, the officers and soldiers eat the same food, regardless of each other. After arriving at Juxi (place name) on the western border, the Chu army set up camp here and established a base camp.Doctor Lu Ji Liang, who once made great contributions to trapping and killing sons Xie and Dou Ke, was ordered to lead his army out of the country, and as the vanguard of the invasion of Yong Kingdom, he arrived in Fangcheng. The people of Yongguo assembled a large force to deal with Jiliang, and the two sides had an encounter near Fangcheng. According to the original plan, Jiliang's troops collapsed at the first touch, and Yang Chuang, the general of Jiliang, also became a prisoner of Yongren. Three days later, Zi Yangchuang fled back to Juxi's base camp, taking advantage of the mediocrity's lack of supervision.He suggested: "There are many mediocre soldiers and they are supported by barbarians. It is better to attack with the whole army, and send elite soldiers (personal soldiers of the king of Chu) to participate and concentrate their forces to attack them." The uncle of the doctor objected: "There is no need. The best way is to send a small group of troops to fight a few battles with mediocre people, so that they will be more proud and underestimate the enemy. beat them." Ji Liang then led his troops out and fought seven battles with the Yong people, losing all seven battles.The Yong people relaxed their vigilance, thinking that the Chu people were vulnerable, so they only sent troops from the three tribes of Pi, Shu, and Yu to chase after the Chu army, and the defense of the main force also began to relax. "Chu is not enough to fight." The people of Yongguo said so.They did not realize that any behavior that underestimates Chu is extremely dangerous. When the people of Yongguo were still immersed in the joy of victory, King Zhuang of Chu led the main force of the Chu army and secretly gathered in Linpin (place name).In order not to let the enemy's spies notice, King Zhuang of Chu didn't even take the monarch's army chariot, but arrived at the battlefield in an ordinary chariot. After a short rest in Linpin, the Chu army was divided into two teams, one led by Dou Yuejiao and the other led by Zibei, and attacked Yongguo from Shixi and Rendi (place names) respectively.On the other hand, Chu State also invited reinforcements from Qin State and Ba State to implement a strategic encirclement of Yong State. For many years, Ba people and Chu people have been in a relationship of both cooperation and struggle.As soon as King Zhuang of Chu came to power, he used diplomatic channels to make Ba State an ally of Chu State, which was very helpful to solve the problem on the western border of Chu State.And Qin State tried to build a good relationship with Chu State after the war of self-confusion, so as to jointly deal with Jin State. When Chu State was in trouble, it was only natural for Qin State people to draw their swords to help. Under the military strikes of Chu, Qin, and Ba, the allies of the Yong state—the barbarians began to follow the wind, abandoned the mediocrity, and formed an alliance with Chu instead.The army was defeated like a mountain, and Yongguo couldn't support it for long, and soon perished. The Battle of Mieyong was the first time since King Zhuang of Chu came to power, everything was done cleanly and impeccably.The demise of the Yong State means the end of the civil strife in Chu and the stability of the Chuzhuang King's regime. For the Jin State, this incident also means that the Chu State has reappeared before its eyes as a powerful competitor. From King Wu of Chu to King Mu of Chu, the state of Chu has been causing all kinds of troubles to the countries of the Central Plains, and has brought tremors to the land of the Central Plains time and time again.If we look back at the history of Chu State’s invasion of the Central Plains, it is not difficult to find the subtle difference between King Zhuang of Chu and his predecessors: the successive monarchs of Chu State wanted to dominate the Central Plains, either by defeating Zheng, or by defeating Chen and Cai. As soon as King Zhuang of Chu came to power, he established an alliance with Qin and Ba, which was like a beautiful left uppercut in the back of Jin, forming a semi-encirclement situation for Jin and even Zhou, Zheng and other countries.Judging from this strategy alone, King Zhuang of Chu is clearly superior to his predecessors. In 610 BC, Duke Zheng Mu went to Jiangdu to pay homage to Duke Ling of Jin.Since the mediation by Duke Wen of Lu four years ago, the Kingdom of Zheng has returned to the sect of the Kingdom of Jin. Duke Mu of Zheng has been carefully serving this outdated overlord. Not only did he follow the Kingdom of Jin to participate in several alliances and expeditions, And from time to time, he went to Jiangdu to pay homage to Duke Ling of Jin to show his submission. Unexpectedly, Zheng Mugong was shut out this time, and was rejected by the people of Jin. The reason was that Zheng Guo had flirted with Chu State recently, and they were fighting secretly. For this reason, Guisheng, the official son of the State of Zheng, sent an "inspector" to Jiangdu with the letter of credence to ask Zhao Dun to see him, and responded positively to the doubts of the Jin people.The so-called "interrogation" literally refers to the interrogation officer, probably similar to today's crisis public relations. Zheng Guo's credential wrote: "In the third year of the widow's ascension to the throne, both Chen and Cai surrendered to the state of Chu. It was the widow who did the ideological work for Caihou and asked him to put down his burden and serve your country wholeheartedly. The widow came to Jiangdu together for pilgrimage. Unexpectedly, there was civil strife in our country, so the widow could not go with Caihou. In November, the domestic affairs were not completely resolved, and the widow followed in Caihou's footsteps to your country , obey orders. "In the twelfth year of the widow's accession to the throne, in order to make the Chen country break away from the Chu state and submit to your country, our country's senior official son Guisheng assisted the eldest son Yi to come to Jiangdu and have an audience with your country's monarch. "In the fourteenth year of the widow's accession to the throne, because he completed the work of persuading Chen Hou, he once again came to Jiangdu in person to make a pilgrimage to show that he did not disgrace his mission. As a result of this, in May of the second year, Chen Hou After passing through our country, I came to pay homage to the monarch of your country. "In the first month of last year, Zhu Zhiwu, a doctor of our country, assisted the elder son Yi to come to your country for pilgrimage. In August, the widow came to make a pilgrimage again. The two countries of Chen and Cai border on the state of Chu, but they dare not harbor dissatisfaction with your country. It is precisely because The reason why our country keeps mediating with it. Why is it that we are punished for serving your country with all our heart and soul? During these years of my widow’s reign, I first paid pilgrimage to your former monarch Xianggong, and then to the current monarch. The eldest son Yi and the other doctors have never stopped traveling between Jiangdu and Xinzheng. Although Zheng is weak, no other country can surpass it in serving a big country. "Now your country blames, 'You haven't done enough to satisfy us.' Even if our country is to perish, I'm afraid there is no way to do better. The ancients said that if only the body is left, you will not shrink back? He also said, when a deer dies, how can you control what kind of voice you make? A small country serves a big country. If the big country treats it with benevolence, the small country is a human being; if it does not treat it with benevolence, the small country is a deer. The reason for taking risks is because there is no choice. The big country Our demands are endless, and we also know that we are about to perish. Therefore, we have reorganized our armaments and waited for your army on the border between the two countries. In retrospect, in June of the second year after our country's first king Wengong came to the throne, he went to Qi Pilgrimage. Two years later, because Qi State attacked Cai State, our country had to negotiate peace with Chu State. Is it the fault of a small country that lives between big countries and obeys the orders of the powerful? If your country does not consider these, we will also Accept your fate and prepare to perish." During the Spring and Autumn Period, the exchange of documents among various countries was mainly based on bamboo slips.Zheng Guo's letter of credence is probably heavy in his hand.It is worth mentioning that at that time, rhetoric was highly valued in all countries.Zheng Zhuanggong, the first emperor of the state of Zheng, was a master at playing with words, and he was famous for his diplomatic rhetoric.In the era of Duke Zheng Mugong, the state of Zheng State was declining day by day, and it could only falter among the great powers of Qi, Chu, Jin, and Qin. It is a rare and good article that uses reason, moves it with emotion, and rejects it with righteousness. When Zhao Dun received this letter of credence, he smiled instead of anger, and sent Gong Shuo to return to Zheng.In order to strengthen the trust between the two countries, the state of Jin sent Zhao Chuan and his son-in-law Chi to the state of Zheng as hostages, and the state of Zheng also sent his eldest son Yi and doctor Shi Chu to the state of Jin as hostages.A tense diplomatic dispute has been resolved so far. On the issue of dealing with Zheng Guo, why is Jin State so condescending?Looking at the big picture, it is because King Zhuang of Chu has already made his mark on the international stage. The state of Jin really felt the pressure caused by the state of Chu. alliance.Otherwise, once Zheng Guo fell into the embrace of Chu State, King Zhuang of Chu would not only be able to hit Jin with a left uppercut through Qin, but also hit a right straight punch through Zheng, which would be very uncomfortable for Jin.Looking at it from a small perspective, Zhao Dun sent Zhao Chuan to Zheng Guo as a hostage, which was actually out of selfishness.In the Battle of Hequ in 615 BC, Zhao Chuan and Xu Jia leaked the military aircraft of the Jin State, causing the Qin army to escape safely. Zhao Dun has never been punished, which has become a heart disease.After Zhao Chuan was sent to the state of Zheng, Zhao Dun finally attacked Xu Jia and launched a rectification campaign in 608 BC to pursue the crimes of dereliction of duty by officials at all levels. Xu Jia was exiled to the state of Wei, and his son Xu Ke succeeded him The family business, while Xu Jia's retainer Xian Xin fled to Qi State.Although Zhao Chuan was guilty of the same crime as Xu Jia, he was "lucky" to escape because he was a hostage in Zheng. Zhao Dun hoped to strengthen the alliance with Zheng by exchanging hostages, but the actions of Jin over the years really made the people of Zheng feel unconvinced.In 610 BC, a regicide incident occurred in the Song State. Song Wengong came to power, and the Jin State gathered an army of princes to crusade against the Song State.After Duke Yi of Qi came to power, he invaded the State of Lu many times, and the State of Jin convened an alliance of princes twice to uphold justice for the State of Lu.Through the observation of these events, Zheng Mugong came to a conclusion: "Jin is not worth relying on." Therefore, in the third year of the exchange of hostages between Jin and Zheng, that is, in 608 BC, Zheng once again turned his back on Jin. , into the arms of Chu State. In the autumn of the same year, King Zhuang of Chu went northward with his whip and invaded the states of Chen and Song.Zhao Dun quickly led an army to rescue, and joined forces with the princes of Song, Chen, Wei, Cao and other countries in Qilin, preparing to crusade against Zheng, so as to attract the Chu army to come to the decisive battle. King Zhuang of Chu sent Luo Jia to lead troops to rescue Zheng State, and had an encounter with the allied forces of princes led by Zhao Dun in Beilin in the north of Zheng State.Zhao Dun hurried back to his homeland to avoid the sharp edge of the Chu army. The double failure of diplomacy and military made Jin have to reflect on its foreign policy again. The first reaction it made was to restore friendly relations with Qin, and to pull Qin away from Chu to Relieve the worries of the western border. It should be said that this strategic intention is very correct. If it is implemented properly, the Jin State can relieve the threat of King Chuzhuang's "Left Uppercut", and boldly fight Chu State in the Central Plains.However, the idea is good, but the actions are ridiculous. Zhao Chuan, who had just returned from the state of Zheng, was eager to make meritorious service, and gave Zhao Dun a bad idea: "If you want to restore friendship with Qin, you might as well attack Qin's vassal Chong. Selling a favor to Qin State, asking to eliminate old grievances and restore the old friendship, Qin will surely agree." According to Zhao Chuan's opinion, if A wants to please B, it is best to bully B's son first, and then negotiate with A on the condition that he no longer bullies B's son.This is similar to Zheng Zhuanggong's policy of "slap in the face and give another candy" to Emperor Zhou.However, he didn't understand that the reason why Zheng Zhuanggong could adopt such a policy was because the strength of the Zhou royal family was far inferior to Zheng Guo.However, the state of Qin cannot be compared with the emperor of Zhou. The strength of the state of Qin is enough to compete with the state of Jin, and the people of the state of Qin have experienced repeated defeats and indomitable spirits, which the people of the state of Jin have learned a long time ago. How can you expect the people of the state of Qin to slap you again and again Where is the poor candy? What's ridiculous is that Zhao Dun actually listened to Zhao Chuan's opinion and sent Zhao Chuan to lead troops to invade Chongguo in the winter of the same year, and then sent envoys to Qin to demand peace talks.It is conceivable that the people of the state of Qin gave Zhao Dun's emissary a cold bench, and asked the people of the state of Jin to be cold-hearted before thinking about the problem. "Zuo Zhuan" wrote about this period of history and commented that Jin Linggong was fatuous and immoral, Zhao Dun presided over the state affairs, and tried to persuade Jin Linggong several times but failed. Therefore, Jin State was weak and lost to Chu State in international competition. Judging from what happened in those years, I think that the real reason for the decline of Jin is the fault of Jin Linggong, who is inexperienced, and Zhao Dun, who likes to mess around.