In The Gao Tang Fu written by Song Yu, there is a matter of the goddess of Wushan voluntarily recommending a pillow for the king of Chu.
The original text is:
In the past, King ChuXiang and Song Yu swam on the platform of cloud dreams, looking up at the view of heights, and there were unique clouds on it, and they went straight up, suddenly changed their appearance, and between the whiskers, there were endless changes. Wang asked Yu Yue, "What is this qi?" Jade said, "The so-called cloud-going person also." Wang Yue: "What is Chaoyun?" Yu Yue: "The former king tasted the High Tang Dynasty, slept in the daytime, and dreamed of a woman who said: 'Concubine, the daughter of Wushan also.'" For the guests of Gao Tang. Wen Jun traveled to Gao Tang and was willing to recommend the pillow seat. 'The king is lucky.
King Xiang of Chu
Some people think that this event is a literary work, a fabrication.
In fact, there is really a basis for it.
So the question is, why did the goddess take the initiative to ask the King of Chu to push her?
What is her purpose?
Could it be that she also coveted the power of the King of Chu, or the face of the King of Chu?
In fact, the truth of this matter is related to the salt we eat every day.
Moreover, the Chu state also survived for decades because of this incident.
So what's going on?
Wushan goddess figure
In ancient times, salt was a very important strategic resource, especially in the Spring and Autumn period and the Warring States period, the land of Shenzhou was divided into many small countries, because of geographical reasons, the importance of salt as a strategic resource was more obvious.
At that time, the traffic was not developed, and the sea salt could not be far to the inland, so the inland has always eaten well salt.
The salt wells are mainly distributed in a few areas, such as the Qin and Chu states, which do not produce much salt in their own territory, and the salt they eat mainly comes from the territory of Bashu and Shu, especially in the Padang region, such as the Yushan Ancient Town in Pengshui, Chongqing, and the salt springs are still there.
This area is located between Qin and Chu, so it has become the focus of contention between Qin and Chu.
"Chao Qin Twilight Chu" refers to this matter, which means that those Salt Spring areas, which are still the land of the Qin State in the morning, become the Chu State at night, and then become the Qin State the next day.
In the early Spring and Autumn Period, The two countries were good friends, and the State of Pakistan provided salt for the State of Chu, so there was basically no war between the two countries, of course, there was also a reason that the State of Chu did not dare to easily fight with the State of Pakistan, and once it was at war, it would inevitably be sanctioned by the State of Pakistan and would not provide him with salt.
The aforementioned town of Yushan was also a small country at that time, called the State of Pu, and the State of Chu had always coveted it, because the State of Pu was in the territory of the State of Pakistan, and did not border the State of Chu until the end of the Spring and Autumn Period, when the State of Chu finally got the consent of the State of Pu, sent troops to destroy the State of Pu, occupied a salt land, and thus alleviated the threat of Salt Suppression.
Chu army
Later, the State of Chu took advantage of the fact that the State of Pakistan was not paying attention and seized the Salt Spring of Wushan mountain in the State of Pakistan, thus achieving self-sufficiency in salt.
Then, the State of Chu took advantage of the fact that the State of Qin attacked the military town of the State of Pakistan and seized all the Yanquan areas of the North and South of the Yangtze River below the State of Ba. The national strength of the Chu state thus reached its full heyday and became an ally against the Qin state.
Of course, this was hated by the Qin state.
The Qin did everything they could to compete for this salt-producing area.
There is a saying called "Chu desiring and the country dies", I believe everyone knows.
The citrus aura here refers to the Yanquan area of Padang.
In fact, chu was killed because the chu state obtained a large salt spring from the state of Ba, which was violently attacked by the state of Qin and finally destroyed the country.
At that time, the Qin general Bai Qi led an army out of Hanzhong and cut off the water transportation channel of Wu Yan, at this time, the Chu people were alarmed, and the army led by King Xiang of Chu collapsed on its own.
The Wushan area, a major salt town in Chu, fell into Qin's hands.
Qin will be white
However, the king of Chu was not willing to destroy the country, and later he gathered a large army of 100,000, and when the Qin army returned home, he fought all the way back and took back the land of Wushan.
It was at this time that Song Yu composed "Gao Tang Fu" to commend the merits of the King of Chu, and even the goddess of Wushan had to introduce herself to the pillow to comfort the King of Chuxiang.
So why is it that the Chu state also survived for decades because of its possession of the Badong Salt Spring?
That's because when the State of Chu controlled the Salt Springs of Padang, the residents of Shudi, who had just been occupied by the State of Qin, panicked, and Shu Shou Li Bing created a well salt to save himself.
It is precisely because of the well salt of Shu land that the Qin state will not rush to attack the Chu state, and the Chu state has the opportunity to survive.
(The data in this article is derived from the "General History of Sichuan", "General History of Chongqing", "New Exploration of Sichuan Ancient History" and other documents.) ）