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Zheng Guo is located in the heart of Henan, although it has the reputation of "the river and the mountain control and wear, and the shape is better than the armor in the world", but "Henan, the suburbs of the four links, the so-called Qudi in the art of war", "the land that must be fought for by the four sides". This geographical condition located at the throat of the Central Plains determined that the Zheng state was bound to become the focus of contention between the north and the south, and the number of disasters in the north and south was inevitable.
At the same time, because it is surrounded by culturally developed areas, the strength of the Song, Wei, Cao, and Chen States is not inferior to that of the Zheng State, so any military action of the Zheng State will inevitably receive a strong backlash. And this situation of internal warfare has also had a great impact on its own development.
For Zheng Guo, who has been repeatedly conquered by great powers, such a situation can be described as bitter. In the early days of the Jin-Chu struggle for hegemony, although Zheng Guo was a victim of the two strong powers, he was fortunate to be able to survive the crisis.
However, in the late period of the Jin-Chu struggle for hegemony, Zheng Guo could be said to have been exhausted in order to survive between jin and Chu. The tribute paid had overwhelmed Zheng Guo, and military conquest had threatened it.
1. Dr. Zheng Guo's choice - back to Chu Congjin
In June of the first year of the reign of King Ling of Zhou (571 BC), Zheng Chenggong, who was resolutely opposed to the Jin Dynasty, died, and the Duke of Jin took the opportunity to attack the State of Zheng with the divisions of the Song and Wei States. At that time, Zheng's internal part was pro-Chu and pro-Jin factions, but in power was the pro-Chu faction of Gongzi Si, who still insisted on attaching himself to Chu and resisting the combined forces of Jin, Song, and Wei.
The Duke of Jin then summoned the Great Masters of the States of Song, Lu, Wei, Cao, and Qi to ally with Qi in order to subdue Zheng Zhizhi. Meng Xianzi, the Grand Master of the State of Lu, suggested the construction of a tiger prison to subdue Zheng Guo, which was adopted by the Duke of Jin. In the winter of the same year, the Jin Dynasty, together with the states of Qi, Lu, Song, Wei, Cao, Yi, Teng, and Xue, occupied Tiger Prison. At this time, the State of Chu coincided with a civil unrest in which Gongzi Shen and Zi Zhong and Zi Xin were fighting for power, and they were unable to rescue Zheng Guo.
The construction of the Tiger Prison City by the Duke of Jin mourning to control Zheng was a very clever strategic measure. Tiger Prison is in the south of Wen County, the terrain is precipitous, the strategic position is very important, after the Jin army controls it, it can wait for work, posing a serious threat to Zheng Guo's flank, once it attacks Zheng, it can come at sunset, under such conditions, Zheng Guo only considers how to choose between the jin and Chu hegemons.
Dr. Zheng Guo really couldn't bear the pain of surviving between Jin and Chu, so the group of ministers jointly discussed the national plan
。
The doctors said:
"If you do not obey the Jin Dynasty, the country will almost perish." The State of Chu was weaker than the State of Jin, and the State of Jin was not in a hurry to compete for our country. If the Jin state was eager to compete for our country, the Chu state would avoid them. How can we let the Jin army attack us with death, the Chu state will not dare to resist, and then it can resolutely rely on the Jin state. ”
Zizhan said:
"If you provoke the Song Kingdom, the princes will inevitably come, and we will follow them to form an alliance." When the Chu army came, we followed the Chu state again, so that the Jin state would be even more angry. If the Jin state can continue to come, the chu state will not be able to resist, and we will resolutely rely on the Jin state. ”
In fact, Zi zhan's plan has five steps:
1. Provoke the Song Dynasty and attract the combined forces of the princes;
2. Ally with the princes to force the Chu state to attack;
3. Then ally with the State of Chu and anger the State of Jin;
4. Ally with the Jin state and use the Jin state's forces to resist the Chu state.
5. When allying with the Jin state, he won the trust of the Jin state in a heavy way.
These five steps are indirectly or directly related to the three wars, namely the famous Battle of the Three Wheels in the history of the Spring and Autumn Period. It can be said that the battle of the three drivers directed by Zheng Guo is really a dangerous step for Zheng Guojun, and if he is not careful, Zheng Guo may be instantly destroyed by the two hegemons of Jin and Chu.
2. The Battle of the Three Drivers
Through rectifying internal affairs, engaging in foreign military operations, and military, political, and diplomatic measures such as The Northern and Zhurong, the Jin Dynasty further developed its strength and laid a solid foundation for restoring hegemony.
In this context, he began to devote his main strength to fighting with Chu for hegemony in the Central Plains, the main symbol of which was to launch the "Battle of the Three Drivers", which was weak and weak, and won the long-term annexation of the Zheng State.
After the Meeting of Ji Ze in 570 BC, although Zheng Guo submitted to the Jin for a while, he soon turned his back on the Jin and annexed Chu.
After that, for a period of time, Zheng Guo still adopted a disobedient attitude toward Jin and Chu, wandering between the two great powers, and rebelling from time to time.
Of course, there are reasons for the division of Zheng Guo's domestic ruling clique into two major factions: "Zi Si, Zi Guo, and Zi Er want to follow Chu, and Zi Kong, Zi Jiao, and Zi Zhan want to wait for Jin."
However, the key reason is that Zheng is located in the heart of the Central Plains, sandwiched between the two major powers of Jin and Chu, bearing the brunt of it, becoming the main control target of the great power struggle for hegemony, and Zheng Guo itself has no strength to resist the attack of the big powers, so it has to be jinqiang and jin and Chuqiang, and does not say anything about the alliance oath to keep.
As Zi Si said:
"The people are anxious, and they follow Chu to relieve our people; when they are promoted, I follow them." Respect the common coin, to wait for the comers, the way of the small country also. Sacrifice the jade veil, stay in the second place, wait for the strong and shelter the people."
Therefore, in just two years from 565 BC to 564 BC, he changed the suzerainty three times, one moment attaching himself to Jin, and the next to Chu, playing a dangerous game of maneuvering between the two great powers.
At this time, the strength of the State of Chu was no longer as good as that of the State of Jin, but it was well aware of the serious harm of abandoning the State of Zheng to the north to fight for hegemony, so it decided to continue to compete with the State of Jin for the State of Zheng without a strategic decisive battle with the State of Jin.
The Duke of Jin was aware of the strategic intentions of the State of Chu, and he knew that it was not a wise choice to use troops for many years and the enemy and ourselves were tired, so he decided to consolidate the fundamentals and adopt a new strategy for the State of Chu to expand the advantages of the Jin side into a victorious situation.
Proceeding from this strategic guidance, he has taken three specific measures.
First, it is necessary to provide relief to the poor at home and mobilize the enthusiasm of all sectors to participate in the war.
Strictly practice economy, fully exploit the potential of war, and "seek to benefit the people." Wei Dai asked for alms, and accumulated to lend. From the public below, those who have accumulated, do their best. There is no stagnation in the country, no trapped people, no forbidden profits, and no greedy people. Pray for more coins, guests with special animals, instruments are not used, and cars obey to give."
Second, the princes held many alliances to create momentum and exert strong political, diplomatic, and military pressure on the Chu state, and in the eight years from 570 BC to 562 BC, the Duke of Jin mourned nine times to assemble the princes, and almost all the princes except Chu and Zheng were pulled to their side.
Some of these alliances also directly contributed to the military offensive against Chu. For example, in 563 BC, the Jin and Qi, Song, Lu, and Wu states met at (present-day eastern Pei County, Jiangsu) to strengthen ties with the state of Wu and make it attack Chu.
The third and most important point is that the "three divisions and four armies" are tired. That is, the upper, middle, and lower armies of the Jin Dynasty, the new army (three elements) and the armies of the princes were divided into three campaign groups, taking turns to fight in order to exhaust the Chu army and seize the initiative in the war.
After everything was in place, from 563 BC onwards, the Duke of Jin officially implemented the "Battle of Three Wheels" proposed by the Chinese marshal Xun Lei to divide the three armies and attack Chu in turn.
(1) The Battle of one ride
In September of the ninth year of King Ling of Zhou (563 BC), the Jin Mourning Guild gathered divisions from Lu, Song, Cao, Wei, Ju, Yi, Teng, Xue, Qi, and Xiao Yi to attack the State of Zheng. At that time, when civil unrest broke out in the Zheng kingdom, the Duke of Jin mourned that in order to show leniency, he did not take advantage of the chaos to attack, but ordered the divisions of the princes to build more tiger prisons and defend.
The Jin army was defended by Shi Qu (士鲂) and Zhuwu (荥陽, in modern Xingyang, Henan), and Wei Shuai (汜水關, in present-day Shuishui County, Henan) to directly threaten the State of Zheng. Zheng Guo then turned his back on Chu and attached himself to Jin. Chu ordered Yin to report that the Jin army had entered Zheng, that is, he led his troops north to rescue Zheng Guo.
In November, Xun Ying, the commander of the Jin Army, planned to retreat to Chu and then attack it, but because he was constrained by the general Luan Luan, he led the Jin army and the princes to the south to confront the Chu army. Zheng Guo saw that Chu reinforcements had arrived, and he made an alliance with Chu.
The Jin generals were indignant at Zheng's actions, and Luan Di advocated moving his division to attack Zheng, but xun ying stopped him. He believed that the purpose of the "three divisions and four armies" was to fatigue, "My three divisions and four armies, and the sharpness of the princes, to those who rebel, I am not sick, Chu can not be finished." It is more and more in battle".
Now that the purpose of exhaustion has been achieved, it is better to pay back than to return it. So Nai led his troops back to the north. The State of Chu saw that the State of Jin had retreated, and the division also returned to the south.
It was a battle for the Duke of Jin. The Jin army was free to move forward and backward in the service and basically grasped the initiative; while the Chu army was passive and ineffective.
(2) The Battle of the Second Wheel
In the tenth year of king Ling of Zhou (562 BC), zheng and song had armed conflict (zizhan plotted
The first step is to provoke the Song Dynasty).
Song was a staunch ally of Jin, so Jin was bound to react to this, so in April of the same year, xun Ying sent Xun Ying to lead the Jin new army and the armies of Qi, Song, and Wei to attack the state of Zheng, and the coalition army marched to Xiang (present-day southwest of Huanchuan, Henan) and Old Xu (present-day Xuchang, Henan), in an attempt to lure the Chu army out and make it tired.
The Chu army did not come out, so the coalition army returned to besiege Zheng. Zheng succumbed to Jin because he could not get aid from the State of Chu. In July, the two sides made an alliance, and the Jin army immediately withdrew (
The second step of Zi zhan's plan is to form an alliance with the princes
）。
It was the Battle of the Second Wheel for the Duke of Jin.
(3) The Battle of the Three Wheels
The State of Chu saw that the Jin State was strong and powerful, and the princes were dependent, and felt that they were unable to compete with the Jin Alone, so they asked the State of Qin for help. In the autumn of that year, he joined the Qin division to attack zhengguo.
What is surprising is that the armies of Chu and Qin encountered not the resistance of Zheng Guo, but the honor guard personally greeted by Zheng Jiangong, and allied with the Chu State, and then led the Chu and Qin allied forces to cut down the Song. This was the third step of Zi Zhan's plan, the purpose of which was to provoke the Jin state and the princes, and force the Jin state to attack the Chu and Qin allied forces with all its strength
Zheng Guo once again submitted to the State of Chu. However, at this time, the Jin army had already left Zhengjing, the Chu army pounced, and the long-distance journey made the soldiers tired, the national strength was depleted, and the strategy was passive. In September, the Duke of Jin raised the army of the princes to attack Zheng and watched at the east gate of Zheng.
On the one hand, Zheng Guo asked Jin for peace, and on the other hand, he asked Chu for help. However, the division of the princes led by Chu Saw Jin was strong, and knowing that he was no longer an opponent of Jin, he did not dare to send troops to fight a decisive battle with the Jin army.
Zheng Guo was very disappointed to see chu's weak attitude, and was also touched by the benevolent practice of the Duke of Jin in declaring military discipline and forgiving Zheng prisoners in the process of marching, so he made up his mind to sincerely attach himself to the Jin state and completely sided with the Jin state.
In December of the same year, Zheng and the princes of Jin, Lu, Wei, Qi, and Song allied with Xiaoyu in Zhengdi (present-day Yangdong, Henan) and formally concluded a covenant.
The alliance with the Jin State was the fourth step in Zi Zhan's plan. Before Zheng Guo allied with Xiao Yu, zheng guo had already sent emissaries to show off with the state of Chu— demanding that the state of Chu either negotiate peace with the state of Jin or intimidate the state of Jin by force, otherwise, Zheng would ally with the state of Jin.
After being placed by Zheng Guo, the State of Chu angrily imprisoned Zheng Guo's emissaries. Of course, this move also means that the Chu state does not agree to Zheng Guo's request. At this time, the war between Jin and Chu was already "on the string" of arrows.
On the other hand, Zheng Guo, while alliing with the Jin Dynasty, offered heavy bribes to the Jin State, including musicians, armor, weapons, military vehicles, musical instruments, and female music. Regardless of the significance of these weapons and musical instruments, whether they conform to the "etiquette law" or not, the result is that the Jin State has received them all according to the order.
The Xiaoyu Assembly, with the Duke of Jin as the ally, became another grand alliance meeting with Jin as the leader of the alliance since the Chengpu War.
Since then, Zheng Guo has been attached to the Jin Dynasty for more than 20 years and has not rebelled again, and the overall situation in the Central Plains has once again stabilized. It was the Battle of the Three Wheels for the Duke of Jin.
Zi Zhan's plan can be described as far-reaching, which can be regarded as bringing a relatively stable period of truce to Zheng Guo.
(End of text)
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