In 323 BC, when The Alexander Emperor of Ancient Greece in Europe returned to the west, the huge empire he single-handedly established collapsed, and at this time, the Chu state located in the far east became the world power at that time.
At this time, the State of Chu reached its peak in the Warring States period, and its territory, from Daba Mountain, Wushan Mountain and Wuling Mountain in the west, to the sea in the east, from Wuling in the south, to Ru, Ying, Yi and Si in the north, encompassing the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River and the Huai River Valley with many tributaries, occupying almost half of China's rivers and mountains at that time.
All this is the contribution of the father and son of King Xuan of Chu and King Wei of Chu.
The history books record that when Su Qin was envoy to Chu because of the strategy of combining the connivance, after witnessing the prosperity of the Chu state, he said to the king of Chu Wei with emotion: "Chu, the power of the world is also; King, the wise king of the world also. The place is more than 5,000 miles, with a million armor, a thousand cars, riding 10,000 horses, and ten years of millet. The assets of this overlord also".
There must be several prerequisites for the prosperity of a country: First, there must be a stable political foundation and a rational state policy, so as to form a cohesive people's will; second, there must be a wise and wise leading body that can have a far-sighted vision and lay out the world.
The Chu state has verified all this from the founding of Xiong Xuan's "blue wisps of the Road" to the king of Chu Zhuang drinking the Yellow River, advancing into the Central Plains countries, and achieving the status of the "Spring and Autumn Five Hegemons". However, for a period of time, the Chu state deviated, so that its national strength declined, and even almost destroyed the country.
With King Xuan of Chu peacefully taking over power from his elder brother King Chu Su, the State of Chu once again returned to the right track of rapid development.
When King Xuan of Chu ascended the throne, the internal reforms of various countries continued, the external annexation wars were fierce, and the situation was more complicated. In this case, King Xuan of Chu adopted the correct strategy.
Externally, he was extremely cautious, adopting a policy of truce and respite from the people, maintaining strength and not attacking easily; At the same time, he is also good at insight into the situation, seizing favorable opportunities, joining the ranks of the annexation war, attacking cities and strategically, and opening up territory.
Internally, it was to open up the way of speech, humbly accept advice, appoint sages, and restore the political clarity of the Chu state.
At that time, he had a counselor named Jiang Yi, who was a very trusted minister of King Xuan of Chu.
The allusion to the famous "fox fake tiger wei" in history comes from him.
At that time, the Chu state of Chu, who was guarding in the north, ordered Yin Zhaoxi to be sympathetic and had heavy troops in his hands, and the princes in the north were very afraid of him, and since ancient times, the courtiers of the "Gong Gao Zhen Lord" would cause the king's uneasiness.
King Xuan of Chu was no exception, and at a court meeting he asked his courtiers, "I heard that the princes of the north are all afraid of Making Yin Zhaoxi sympathetic, is this really the case?"
As soon as this question came out, the courtiers did not know how to answer it, but they all understood that this was the suspicion of King Xuan of Chu about Zhaoxi, and if he answered it carelessly, it would cause the chu court to shake.
Jiang Yi came out in a crowd and told a story.
It is said that a tiger went out to forage and caught a fox.
The fox said to the tiger, "You dare not eat me, the heavens have sent me to take charge of the beasts in the forest, and if you eat me, you will disobey the orders of the heavens." ‘
The tiger did not believe it, and the fox continued, "If you don't believe me, I will walk in front, and you will follow me, and see if the beasts see me, which one of them dares not run away?"
The tiger believed it to be true, so he walked with the fox, and when the beasts saw them, they all fled, and the tiger did not know that the beasts were afraid of themselves before they fled, thinking that they were afraid of the fox.
At the end of the story, Jiang Yi said to King Xuan of Chu: "Now the great king's land is five thousand miles in circumference, and the army is millions, but Zhao Xiyi monopolizes the power." Therefore, the northern princes were afraid of Zhao Xiyi, but they were actually afraid of the king's army, just like the beasts were afraid of tigers. ”
Jiang Yi used storytelling to successfully resolve the doubts of King Xuan of Chu.
It is precisely because there are many honest and virtuous ministers such as Jiang Yi, and King Xuan of Chu himself is also a king with both moral integrity and ability, so during the thirty years of his reign, the State of Chu has developed rapidly in terms of military and economic aspects, so that the State of Chu has a strong situation in the chaotic Warring States period, laying a solid foundation for future generations.
In 340 BC, King Xuan of Chu died, and his son Xiong Shang succeeded to the throne, that is, the King of Chu Wei in the "Biography of Mi Yue", he took over the great situation created by his father, taking the ancestor King Chu Zhuang as a model, he forged ahead, and under his leadership, the State of Chu appeared vigorously, and the strength of the State of Chu was growing.
At the same time, the State of Qi also grew stronger under the rule of King Qi Wei, defeating the State of Wei at the Battle of Maling. In 334 BC, King Wei of Qi and King Hui of Wei met in Xuzhou, recognized each other's throne, and fought against the State of Chu.
At this time, the State of Qi became the greatest enemy of the State of Chu in the Warring States Era.
In 333 BC, King Wei of Chu personally led a large army to cut down Qi under the name of Qi Guo's usurpation of Yue Yue and the fact that Tian Bao, the father of The State of Qi, deceived the State of Chu.
The two sides fought a great battle in Xuzhou, after which the State of Qi was defeated, and after this battle, the State of Chu reached its peak during the Warring States period.
In the later period of king Chu Wei's reign, he judged the hour and sized up the situation, accepted Su Qin's strategy of combining and indulging, and formed an alliance of six kingdoms to jointly curb the rise of the tiger and wolf division Qin State, so that the Qin State "did not dare to look east at HanguGuan for fifteen years", bringing rare peace to the Chu State.
Unfortunately, when his son Xiong Huai, the King of Chu Huai, ascended the throne, the fate of the Chu state changed dramatically.
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The continuous reign of The father and son of King Xuan of Chu and King Wei of Chu made the State of Chu in a stable state of development for a long time, which ensured the continuity of the country's major policies. And they adopt practical strategies, based on the interests of the Chu state itself, not good at lofty ambitions, cultivating internally, braking quietly externally, seizing opportunities, and attacking quickly. Under their rule, the Chu state became stronger and more extensive, becoming the world's premier country at that time.
To be continued, continue to pay attention to the history of the rise and fall of the Chu state
Wen Dao Mu Gong history everyone said
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Source: "History", "Warring States Policy"
Some of the pictures are from the Internet, which are deleted in infringement