Chapter 16 Rush to the crown and become a beauty

It is said that in ancient times, Yao ruled the world.Yao obeyed the sky and responded to people, his benevolence was as vast as the sky, and the earth was covered by it; his wisdom was like a god, omniscient.The admiration of the people of the world for Yao is like the water of the Yangtze River, flowing endlessly.However, Yao was very old after all, and he really wanted to find a suitable successor to succeed him, so everyone recommended a man named Shun to him. From the genealogy, Yao's father, Gao Xin, was the great-grandson of the Yellow Emperor, and Shun's father, Gusou, was the seventh grandson of the Yellow Emperor. Although the two families branched from the generation of the Yellow Emperor's son, they were somewhat related by blood.Gusou was a blind old man. After Shun's mother died, he remarried and gave birth to another son, whom he named Xiang.Since ancient times, men love step-wives, and Gusou loves houses and crows, and he has given all his love to Xiang. He often even wants to kill Shun so that Xiang can inherit the family business.However, Shun is a super filial son, he doesn't mind his father's favoritism, and is even more kind to his parents and younger brother.

Yao was a very responsible ruler.In order to examine Shun's character, he married his two beautiful daughters to Shun, a foolish boy, to observe Shun's ability to run a family; he also sent his nine sons to associate with him, to observe his ability to handle affairs.Shun took his family to live at the corner of the Guishui River, so he took Gui as his surname according to local conditions.Because of his benevolence, people all came to him, became neighbors with him, and accepted his leadership, and that place became a big city in three years. Yao was very satisfied with Shun's performance.He rewarded Shun with a set of fine clothes and a guqin, and sent someone to build a granary for Shun, and gave him some cattle and sheep.Seeing that Shun suddenly became rich, Gusou thought of killing him again.He asked Shun to climb to the top of the barn to repair the roof, but he set fire underneath.Unexpectedly, Shun had a certain degree of research on aerodynamics, and with a straw hat in one hand, he flew down like a big kite without any damage.Unwilling to fail, Gusou asked Shun to dig a well. When the well was deep, Gusou and Xiang filled the well with earth and buried Shun alive at the bottom.The wicked father and son were very happy, so they started to divide Shun's property, including his wife.Gusou was allocated the barn, cattle and sheep, while Yao's two daughters and Qin were allocated to Xiang.Another surprise is that Shun also has a certain amount of research on tunnel engineering. He dug a secret passage on the wall of the well and escaped through this passage.After Xiang lived in Shun's house, he sat inside and played the qin for fun. Before he had time to enjoy Shun's wives, Shun came back. "I was thinking about you very sadly, so I played the piano to relieve my boredom!" Xiang said quickly. "Yes." Shun said, "The relationship between us brothers is really good!" After this, he was still filial to his father and friendly to his brothers.His obedience has been set up by the Chinese as a model of filial piety.

In this way, Shun passed Yao's inspection and became the ruler of the world.Shun held this position for many years, and passed it to Yu, but his descendants gradually declined in the long river of history, and it was lost in the Shang Dynasty. After King Wu of Zhou destroyed the Shang Dynasty, he distributed feudalism and established the country on a large scale. He sent people to search for the descendants of Shun among the people. He actually found a man named Guiman, so he was entrusted to Chendi and asked him to serve as a vassal. He sacrificed to Shun for generations, and married his eldest daughter Taiji as his wife to show his favor.This is the history of Chen Guo in the Spring and Autumn Period.Of course, there are many doubts in this story, but at that time, people had no doubts: the king of Chen State was the descendant of Shun.

Wu Feitu left, and the stars moved. By 600 BC, Chen Linggong, the nineteenth monarch of the Chen Kingdom, had been in power for fourteen years.In the troubled times where the weak preyed on the strong, the once prominent status of Shun's descendants did not bring Chen Guo any protection.In order to compete for the hegemony of the Central Plains, the two great powers of Jin and Chu were like two hurricanes visiting from time to time, blowing Chen, Zheng, Song, Cai and other second world countries tottering and at a loss.The history of Chen Linggong's reign is a history of a weak country without diplomacy.The Chen State was either attacked, or formed an alliance, threatened by the Jin State, or manipulated by the Chu State, just like a mouse in a bellows, two sides are not human.

Perhaps it is the excessive sense of insecurity that distorts human nature, or the loss of the most basic sense of shame. In Chen Linggong, all the virtues of the ancestors have been wiped out, replaced by an unreasonable debauchery. He fell in love with a woman named Xia Ji.Xia Ji is the daughter of Zheng Mugong, who married Yushu, the doctor of Chen Guo.On Uncle Yu's ancestor, there used to be a man named Shaoxi, named Zixia.Therefore, Uncle Yu took Xia as his family, sometimes called Shaoxi family, and Xia Ji's "Xia" was named after this.Uncle Yu died early, leaving behind a son named Xia Zhengshu. Xia Zhengshu inherited his father's business and also served as a doctor in Chen Linggong's court.

"That Xia Ji was born with crescent eyebrows and phoenix eyes, an apricot face and peach cheeks. She has the appearance of Li Ji and Xi Gui, and also the lewdness of Daji and Wen Jiang. Everyone who sees it is shocked and turned upside down." , the author Feng Menglong described it so vividly, and then wrote, "There is another strange thing. When I was fifteen years old, I dreamed of a great husband, wearing a star crown and feather clothes. Law." The natural beauty and the method of absorbing essence and guiding qi made this Xia Ji an out-and-out beauty in bed. In addition, there were many gossips in front of the widow's door, which made all the disciples flock to her and scramble to flatter her.This Xia Ji did not refuse all comers. Among the many suitors, she only chose three to be her lovers, namely the current monarch Chen Linggong, doctor Kong Ning and Yi Xingfu.

Chen Linggong, Kong Ning, and Yi Xingfu communicate with Xia Ji, which is a reverse four-corner relationship in a patriarchal society.A widow has three lovers at the same time, one of them is the king, two of them are doctors, and her son is also an official in the court. Everyone has to meet every day. It is inevitable to worry about her. This kind of relationship is difficult to deal with. . Worrying is unnecessary.Chen Linggong had an affair with Xia Ji and did not avoid her other two lovers at all.In fact, this four-corner relationship is not an open secret in Chen Guo, but a gossip topic on the headlines.In order to show off Xia Ji's love for them, the three lovers even openly wore Xia Ji's sweatshirt above the court hall, playing with each other with playful smiles.

The doctor Xie Ye couldn't stand it any longer, and he advised Chen Linggong: "The king and the doctor Qing openly advocate fornication, how can the people follow suit? And the reputation is not good. You really like to wear it, so you should wear sweat clothes inside anyway. Take it out and show it off!" Chen Linggong said on the spot: "I know I made a mistake, and I must correct it." As soon as he turned around, he told Kong Ning and Yi Xingfu the matter as a joke. After hearing this, Kong Ning and Yi Xingfu became murderous towards Xieye.They told Chen Linggong, don't underestimate the harm of Xieye, the old man's mouth is hard to control, if he is allowed to talk nonsense, one day it will spoil our good deeds.

Chen Linggong was stunned for a long time, and asked: "Then what should we do?" Kong Ning made a "kill" gesture.Chen Linggong nodded, expressing his acquiescence.A few days later, Xie Ye's body was left outside the palace. Concerning the tragedy of Xieye, Confucius expressed his opinion with a poem like "there are many people, but there is no one to support ourselves". "There are many people, but there is no self-reliance" found in Daya, which means: since the people of the country do evil a lot, don't act independently and express opinions indiscriminately.Since ancient times, people who are drunk while everyone is sober always end badly.This is also a concrete manifestation of Confucius' doctrine of the mean that "a country has no way, but its silence is enough to tolerate".

Chen Linggong's promiscuity is not only well-known in China, but even King Ding of Zhou who is far away in Luoyi has heard of it. In 600 BC, King Ding of Zhou sent Shan Xianggong to visit Song and Chu, passing through Chen.It was October, and what Shan Xianggong saw was a depressing scene: the road was overgrown with weeds, there was no greenery on the roadside, the officials in charge of picking up and sending guests to the border disappeared, Sikong in charge of construction did not patrol the road, and there were no water conservancy facilities on the pond. , There is no bridge over the river, the grain in the fields has not been harvested, and the crops grow like weeds.The state guesthouse in the capital has been deserted, and there are no decent hotels in ordinary cities. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is indifferent to the emperor's envoys, and cannot even arrange the most basic meals.If you want to ask, where have all the people of Chen Guo gone?The answer is yes, to build pavilions and pavilions for Xia Ji's family.Xia Ji's house is full of distinguished guests. Chen Linggong, Kong Ning, and Yi Xingfu, wearing Chu's fashionable hats, meet at Xia Ji's house for a party, so they don't see any guests.

After Shan Xianggong came back, he said to King Ding of Zhou, "Maybe the Kingdom of Chen is about to perish." He went on to say that according to the teachings of the previous kings, if the rain is scarce, the roads should be repaired; if the river is dry, it is time to build bridges; .In the current state of Chen, October has passed, and the roads are still unfinished, the crops in the fields are unharvested, and there are neither water conservancy projects nor bridges on the water. This is contrary to the teachings of the former kings!According to the official system regulations of the Zhou Dynasty, when foreign envoys came, the frontier officials should report to the monarch immediately, and send special personnel to welcome, guide, and comfort the guests, and accompany the guests to the ancestral temple to present flowers to the ancestors.The Ministry of Foreign Affairs should arrange the hotel, Situ will send people to serve, Sikong will patrol the roads, Sikou will arrange security, catering staff, grooms, craftsmen and other personnel are all in place, so that they are full of enthusiasm and feel at home.If envoys from major countries arrive, the level of reception will be improved.The emperor's envoy has arrived, and the grade is higher.If it is the emperor himself who inspects, the monarch must personally supervise the reception work.Now, although I am not talented, I am still a relative of the emperor. I was ordered by the emperor to pass through Chen Guo, but no one paid any attention. This is a blatant contempt for the royal family!What's even more outrageous is that Chen Hou violated human ethics, ignored his wife and concubines, and took his officials to Xia's house to hold a promiscuous party. Isn't this an insult to the noble surname '妫'?After becoming a concubine, instead of wearing the dress and hat of my Zhou Dynasty, but wearing the hat of Chu State, isn’t it too casual? In the summer of 599 BC, the pavilions and pavilions of the Xia family were completed, and Chen Linggong took Kong Ning and Yi Xingfu to the Xia family to drink and enjoy themselves. According to the regulations of Zhou Li, if the princes did not go to the doctor's house to ask about illness or pay tribute to mourning, it was called "the emperor and his ministers are joking", which was very rude at the time.Chen Guoren talked about it a lot, and there are poems to prove it: "Why do you care about Zhulin? From Xia Nan. The bandit is suitable for Zhulin, from Xia Nan." Xia Nan is Xia Zhengshu. The people of Chen State satirized Chen Linggong and Xia Ji for their promiscuity, and they drove to Xia's house without hesitation, without rest day and night. Xia Zhengshu felt the most embarrassing.He was not only angry at the shamelessness of the monarch, but also ashamed of his mother's licentiousness, but apart from anger and shame, he felt more helpless.Although it is said that a scholar can be killed and cannot be humiliated, in that era when the etiquette collapsed and music was broken, to maintain the dignity of a scholar required not only courage, but also wisdom, and even cunning, which Xia Zhengshu did not possess. Chen Linggong and others spent several days drinking and having fun at Xia's house, guessing boxing games, and of course doing worse things.Half drunk, Chen Linggong suddenly said to Yi Xingfu: "The more I look at it, the more I feel that Zheng Shu looks like you?" "Really?" Father Yi Xing pretended to look at Chen Linggong for a long time, and said, "I think he looks very much like you, my lord!" A group of people were laughing, Xia Ji's face was flushed, and she was even more charming. This obscene joke reached Xia Zhengshu's ears through his servants, and this young man who had been suffering all this time finally made up his mind.He held a pair of bows and arrows in ambush in his stable, and when Chen Linggong came out contentedly, he shot Chen Linggong's throat with an arrow. The sudden change stunned the people around. Xia Ji looked at Chen Linggong who was lying on the ground, and then at her son who was slowly walking out of the stable, her face turned pale. At this time, Kong Ning and Yi Xingfu sneaked out of Xia's garden through the side door while everyone was not paying attention. They got into the carriage and ran wildly all the way, ran out of the gate of Shangcai (the capital of Chen State), ran out of the border of Chen State, then turned south, and ran all the way to the territory of Chu State. When King Zhuang of Chu saw Kong Ning and Yi Xingfu, he immediately realized that they were here to deliver pillows—the greatest happiness in life is to have someone give you pillows when you want to sleep. Since Jin Chenggong came to the throne, the struggle for hegemony between Jin and Chu has entered a period of tug-of-war.The strategic focus of the two sides' competition is still the heartland of the Central Plains, that is, the countries of Zheng, Chen, Cai, and Song.Zheng Guo, which is in the heart of China, bears the brunt, and the three countries of Chen, Cai, and Song are not spared.At the same time, Jin and Chu both began to consolidate their respective rears and strive for greater strategic space. In 601 BC, in order to solve the worries of the future, the state of Jin joined forces with the Baidi tribe to launch an attack on the state of Qin.There are rumors that the Jin people captured the spies of the Qin army and dragged them to the downtown area of ​​Jiangdu to be executed.Six days later, the spy came back from the dead.This is of course a fantasy.However, some people believe that since the death of Duke Wen of Jin, the Qin and Jin countries have always met each other with swords and soldiers. In the same year, Shu State, a vassal of Chu State located in present-day Anhui Province, rebelled against Chu State.King Zhuang of Chu personally led an army to crusade, annihilating Shu State in one fell swoop and incorporating it into the territory of Chu State.Since then, the border of Chu State has bordered with the Jiangnan states of Wu and Yue.King Zhuang of Chu held an alliance with the monarchs of Wu and Yue, and the three parties established diplomatic relations. Looking back on King Zhuang of Chu's struggle for hegemony, he first destroyed the Yong State and stabilized the border defense in the northwest of Chu State; established an alliance with Qin State, making Qin State a "left hook" to attack Jin State; When Vietnam and Vietnam are included in the alliance, there will be no worries in the southeast, and the strategic layout will basically take shape. In September 600 BC, the princes of Jin, Song, Wei, Zheng, Cao, etc. met again in Hudi, and Chen Linggong was absent.The reason for his absence is said to be because he had reached a secret alliance with the Chu State, so he was too lazy to talk to the Jin State.But it is also possible that Chen Linggong is indulging in adultery with Xia Ji at this time and does not want to participate in any international affairs.As a direct result of this alliance, the state of Jin sent Xun Linfu as a general to lead the allied forces of the princes to crusade against the state of Chen.However, due to the sudden death of Jin Chenggong in Hudi, the army hastily withdrew before arriving in Chen State, and returned without success. Jin Chenggong's son was supposed to ascend the throne, that is, Jin Jinggong in history.About shortly after Jin Jinggong came to the throne, Zhao Dun passed away, and was replaced by Que Que, whom he single-handedly raised. Soon after, King Zhuang of Chu went north again with his whip to crusade against Zheng Guo in order to punish him for his betrayal of participating in the Hudi League.But Que led his army to rescue Zheng Guo.Unexpectedly, the Jin and Chu countries had not yet confronted each other, but the people of Zheng Guo took the initiative to attack and defeated the troops of Chu State in Liufen (the place name of Zheng State). Because of this victory, the whole country of Zheng State rejoiced, only Zheng Xianggong's elder brother, Qu Ji, expressed concern about it.He believes that the strengths of Zheng and Chu are very different. Zheng Guo was strong for a while and occasionally defeated Chu, but in the long run, he was still weak. Therefore, winning a battle is not a blessing for the country, but a disaster for the country. Based on this concern, after winning the battle, Zheng Guoren took the initiative to negotiate peace with Chu State and asked Chu State for forgiveness.This move annoyed the Jin people.In the summer of 599 BC, the state of Jin took the lead in mobilizing the allied forces of the princes to crusade against the state of Zheng.It is really not easy to survive in the cracks. The people of Zheng Guo once again compromised and signed a peace agreement with Jin Guo instead.King Zhuang of Chu quit, so he sent troops to attack Zheng Guo (poor Zheng Guo) again.This time, Jin Jinggong sent veteran officials and scholars to lead the princes' coalition forces to defend the state of Zheng, drove away the Chu people on the north bank of Yingshui, and stationed troops in the state of Zheng to prevent another invasion of the state of Chu. When King Zhuang of Chu was secretly anxious about the stalemate in the war, Kong Ning and Yi Xingfu stood in front of him in a daze, and reported to him the news that Chen Linggong was killed by Xia Zhengshu. Among the ministers of Chu State, there is a public official who is the magistrate of Shen County, named Wu Chen. He has been sent to Chen State several times. For his own sake, over time, it became a heart disease, so he urged King Zhuang of Chu to crusade against Chen Guo, trying to take the opportunity to capture Xia Ji. Even without the instigation of the witch ministers, King Zhuang of Chu planned to make good use of the theme of Chen Linggong's murder, and legitimately interfere in Chen's internal affairs in order to gain absolute control over Chen.He comforted Kong Ning and Yi Xingfu a few words, and then said: "This matter is no small matter, I have absolutely no reason to sit idly by!" In the spring of 598 BC, the Central Plains once again fell into war.King Zhuang of Chu personally led an army to crusade against the state of Zheng, all the way to Licheng.At this time, the allied forces of the princes led by the Shihui had already withdrawn, and the people of Zheng State, who were not thankful on both sides, were desperate. We just listen to anyone. They have no faith at all, why should we keep our promises?" So Zheng Guo once again surrendered to Chu State. In the summer of the same year, King Zhuang of Chu, Duke Zheng Xiang and Da Ziwu of Chen State held a meeting in Chenling. Da Ziwu is the eldest son of Chen Linggong. After Chen Linggong was killed by Xia Zhengshu, Da Ziwu fled quickly and went into exile abroad. The Chenling League is regarded as a symbolic event of the beginning of Chuzhuang king's hegemony.Soon thereafter, King Zhuang of Chu sent his younger brother Yingqi, son of Zuo Yin at that time, to lead an army to invade the State of Song.In winter, the army of King Zhuang of Chu suddenly set off from the city of Qi and headed straight for the state of Chen. Before the Chu army entered the state of Chen, King Zhuang of Chu issued the "Letter to the Compatriots of the State of Chen". , The Chu army came to attack the Shaoxi clan (referring to Xia Zhengshu), and had nothing to do with others. The people of Chen State, who suffered from the war, had no fighting spirit. When they saw the eight-character proclamation, they felt that this matter had nothing to do with them, so they sang and danced, and let the army of Chu enter Chen State without bloodshed. The capital Shangcai.Xia Zhengshu was caught by the people of Chu State and sentenced to be cracked by a chariot. The punishment of car splitting is also known as five cows divided into corpses.To be precise, it is not cutting up the dead body, but the living person, the cruelty can be imagined.In the records of "Zuo Zhuan", only Duke Xiang of Qi used this kind of torture on Gao Qumi of Zheng State, mainly to impress the princes, and at the same time establish a glorious image of himself as jealous of evil.The starting point of King Zhuang of Chu's move is the same as Duke Xiang of Qi's. After Xia Zhengshu was executed, the King of Chu Zhuang himself was fascinated by Xia Zhengshu's mother, Xia Ji, and wanted to accept her as a concubine.No wonder, according to Feng Menglong's description, no man would be indifferent to Xia Ji when he met Xia Ji, and King Chu Zhuang was no exception. This was strongly opposed by Wuchen.The sorcerer said: "The king summoned the princes to punish the guilty. Now that Xia Ji is a concubine, he is greedy for her beauty. Greed for beauty is adultery, and all evils are headed by adultery. "Shangshu" said, "Ming De Shen "Punishment", King Wen of Zhou established the Zhou Dynasty based on this. Mingde means admiring good morals; prudent punishment means that evil must be eliminated. Wouldn't it be too imprudent to mobilize princes to crusade against guilty people and fall into sin? Already? Please think twice!" King Zhuang of Chu didn't know what the Wuchen was thinking, but felt that what he said was very reasonable, so he followed the Wuchen's advice.Seeing him, the adrenaline surged, and he immediately stood up and said, "Since your Majesty doesn't want that woman, then give it to me as a reward." Wu Chen sighed: "This is an ominous woman. If she married Uncle Yu, Uncle Yu died early; she had an affair with Duke Chen Ling, and Duke Ling Chen died unexpectedly; her son Xia Zhengshu died because of her; Kong Ning and Yixing My father went into exile because of her; Chen Guo was also occupied by our Chu army because of her. Is there anything more ominous than her in the world? Care about this one?" After being poured with this ladle of cold water, the young master also calmed down and expressed his abandonment.However, if no one wanted such a beautiful woman, it would be a waste of resources. King Zhuang of Chu thought for a long time and decided to reward her to Elder Lian Yin (the official name of Chu). Unfortunately, he was told by Wuchen's crow's mouth that Mr. Xiang got this treasure and didn't enjoy it for long, so he was shot to death in the Jin-Chu war the next year, and even his body was snatched by the Jin people.This is something for later, let's not mention it for now. King Zhuang of Chu entered the Kingdom of Chen under the banner of acting on behalf of the heavens and crusading rebellious ministers. After dealing with the affairs of Xia Ji's mother and son, his true face was revealed.He announced: From then on, Chen State ceased to exist, and it was changed to Chen County of Chu State. As mentioned earlier, since the rise of King Wu of Chu, every time Chu State annexes a country, it has become a practice to change the country into a county of Chu State.Since the king of Chu is called the king, the magistrate of the county is also called the county magistrate.With the expansion of the state of Chu, there were as many as seventeen county magistrates in the state of Chu, which can be said to be spectacular. Da Ziwu originally hoped to regain the throne with the power of Chu State, but after King Zhuang of Chu made such an announcement, he immediately fled to Jin State to seek political asylum. At that time, Uncle Shen, a doctor of the state of Chu, was ordered to visit the state of Qi. After returning to the state of Chu, he reported the situation of the visit to the king of Chu Zhuang, and then prepared to resign. King Zhuang of Chu couldn't get used to it for a while, and said: "Xia Zhengshu was a big rebel, and he committed crimes against his superiors and killed his own monarch. The widow acted on behalf of the heavens, led the princes to attack him, and killed him. The princes and county magistrates all came to sing praises. Only you act as if you don’t know, and you don’t even have a word of congratulations, why is that?” Uncle Shen was unambiguous and asked, "Can I still defend myself?" "Can." "Xia Zhengshu committed a heinous crime of killing the king. It is the king's responsibility and obligation to attack him and punish him. However, there is a saying in our countryside, 'The cow trampled on someone's field, and the landlord took his Cattle.’ Of course it’s a crime to lead a cow to trample on a field, but the punishment is too heavy if his cattle are confiscated. The princes follow you because you act on behalf of the heavens and crusade against the guilty. Now you change Chen Guo to Chen County , is greedy for the wealth of Chen State, so it is your own. You called on the princes to punish the crimes, but in the end you ended up satisfying your greed, okay?" King Zhuang of Chu patted his thigh and said, "That makes sense! Why didn't I think of this level? Then how about I restore the Chen Kingdom?" Uncle Shen showed joy and said: "This is what we country people often say, stealing something from someone's arms, and then giving it back to him!" King Zhuang of Chu then ordered people to welcome Da Ziwu back from the state of Jin, made him the monarch of the state of Chen, revoked the county of Chen and restored the state of Chen.Daziwu is also Chen Chenggong in history. King Zhuang of Chu also ordered that one person be removed from every township in Chen State and brought to Chu State, and set aside a place for these people to live together, and named this place "Xiazhou" to commemorate the achievements of the crusade against Xia Zhengshu. .According to the research of later generations, Xiazhou should be located in Hanyang District, Wuhan City, Hubei Province today.