There are many versions of the "Spring and Autumn Five Powers" theory, and since ancient times, the most influential ones are: "Xunzi Wangba" said, "Hanshu Notes • Princes and Wang Table" said, "White Tiger Tongyi" said, "Shi Ji Suoyin" said, "Que qi Ting Collection Of External Editors" said, "Ci Tong" said. The members included in the "Five Powers" were: Duke Huan of Qi, Duke Wen of Jin, Duke Mu of Qin, King Zhuang of Chu, Duke Zhengzhuang, Duke Lu of Wu, King Gou of Yue, Prince Fuchai of Wu, Duke Xiang of Jin, Duke Jing of Jin, Duke of Mourning of Jin, and so on.
Needless to say, the Duke of Qi Huan was a prince of the Nine Kingdoms, and the Duke of Jin Wen practiced the Tuhui Alliance and was personally named "Hou Bo" by Zhou Tianzice. These two people are candidates who will not be absent no matter which version.
In addition to these two people, the most famous should be Qin Mugong and Chu Zhuang Wang.
Especially Qin Mugong.
Sima Zhen's "History of Suoyin" included Qin Mugong in the "Spring and Autumn Five Hegemons".
Jia Yi said in the "Treatise on Passing the Qin": "Since the Duke of Miao, as for the more than twenty kings of the Qin King, they are often princes. "That is, the strength of the Qin state began with Qin Mugong.
Duke Mu of Qin was somewhat lucky to succeed to the throne.
Duke Mugong of Qin's father was Duke Degong of Qin.
Duke De of Qin was the younger brother of Duke Wu of Qin, and was not originally eligible to inherit the throne of the state.
When Qin Wugong died of illness, he was only 35 years old, his sons were very young, and the eldest son, Gongzi Bai, was only ten years old. Therefore, the Qunchen did not support the son of Duke Wu of Qin as the king, and established the 33-year-old Duke of Qin De.
After Duke Degong of Qin succeeded to the throne, he sealed Gongzi Bai in Pingyang, a descendant of Gongzi Bai, who produced a very remarkable person: Bai Qi, the head of the four famous generals of the Warring States.
Qin Degong reigned for only two years before hanging.
The throne passed to the eldest son, Duke Xuan of Qin.
Duke Xuangong of Qin reigned for twelve years and gave birth to nine sons, but at a young age. The courtiers then embraced his younger brother Chenggong.
Qin Chenggong died after four years on the throne and gave birth to seven sons, but at too young age. The Qunchen then embraced his younger brother Ren hao, the Duke of Qin Mu.
Throughout his life, Qin Mugong was humble and thirsty, seeking wisdom and thirst, being kind as a stream, and treating others with generosity.
After succeeding to the throne, he reused Baili Xi, Uncle Jian, Gongsun Zhi and others, "three Jin Jun", and successively supported the Jin Huigong, the Jin Huaigong, and the Jin Wengong to ascend the throne.
Jin Huigong and Jin Huaigong are both unfamiliar white-eyed wolves.
Among them, before being escorted back to China by Duke Mu of Qin, the Duke hui of Jin vowed that if he succeeded in seizing the throne, he would give back the five cities of Qin.
But the promise was not fulfilled.
Qin Mugong hated it so much that his teeth itched.
In the next year, the Jin dynasty encountered drought, and the whole country was starved.
Jin Huigong cheekily sent someone to persuade Qin Mugong to donate.
The chancellor Pi Bao advised Qin Mugong not to donate grain to him, and suggested that now he should take advantage of the danger and send troops to teach him how to behave. Another minister, Gongsun Zhi, shook his head and said, "Hunger is more important, and it is imperative not to be with it." ”
Of course, it was Bai Lixi's words that carried the most weight, he said, "What is the sin of Yiwu's people if they sin against the king?" ”
Therefore, Qin Mugong put aside his personal prejudices about Jin Huigong, generously sent grain to receive aid, and "turned with a boat and a cart, and looked at each other from Yong to Dai."
However, Qin Mugong's kindness was exchanged for Jin Huigong's donkey liver and lungs.
The following year, the Qin state was in a famine, and Qin Mugong bought grain from Jin Huigong to tide over the difficulties, and Jin Huigong was happy and refused to sell a single grain.
This is not to mention, Jin Huigong also conspired with his subjects to calculate the Qin state.
The Minister of Jin, Yu Fei raised an eyebrow and said, "Because of its hunger, it can be a great achievement." ”
Jin Huigong laughed and followed suit, and raised troops to attack Qin.
Qin Mugong was so angry that he vomited blood, personally led Meng Mingshi and other generals to meet the battle, captured Jin Huigong, seized the five cities he had promised earlier, and extended his territory to the west bank of the Yellow River.
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Because the Jin State was an old power, Qin Mugong was limited by the background of the times, and second, he did not have such a big appetite to annex the Jin State, and third, his wife was the sister of the Jin Huigong, and looking at the face of the lady, he released the Jin Huigong.
As a sign of sincerity, Duke Hui of Jin allowed his son Crown Prince Huan to be held hostage in the Qin state.
In order for Qin and Jin to live in peace and friendship and develop together, Duke Mu of Qin gave his daughter Huai Wei Xu to Crown Prince Yuan.
Within two years, Jin Huigong hung up.
Crown Prince Huan sneaked back to China for the sake of Duke Huai of Jin.
Jin Huaigong turned his face and did not recognize anyone, and made enemies with qin, using his cold ass to meet Qin Mugong's hot face.
This little beast!
Qin Mugong was so angry that his whole body trembled, and he married five women, including his daughter Wen Wei, to the uncle of the Duke of Jin Huai, Zhong'er, and helped Zhong'er return to China to become the monarch, in order to serve the Duke Wen of Jin.
After Duke Wen of Jin became the monarch, it was like a hidden dragon ascending to heaven, and with the assistance of a number of able ministers such as Hu Yan, Xianxun, Zhao Wan, Jia Tuo, and Wei Xian, he traded with gentle farmers and straightened out the military, greatly increasing the strength of the Jin state, first uniting the Qin state and the State of Qi to attack and defend Cao, saving Song and Zheng, and quelling the rebellion of the Zhou Dynasty; later, in the Battle of Chengpu, he defeated the Chu army, summoned the Qi, Song and other states to the jiantu alliance, and the second overlord after the Duke of Qi Huan completely covered the limelight of Qin Mugong.
Fortunately, Duke Wen of Jin was already 61 years old when he ascended the throne, and had only been a monarch for 8 years, and died in 628 BC.
Coincidentally, Zheng Wengong of Zheng Guo also died in this year.
Qin Mugong was also very old at this time, and in order to achieve a hegemony in his lifetime, he sent Meng Mingshi, Xi Qishu, and Bai Yibing to attack Zheng Guo, hoping to enter the Central Plains.
However, when the Qin army attacked Zheng, it had to go from Qin Duyong (present-day Fengxiang County, Shaanxi) to Zheng Du (present-day Xinzheng County, Henan), a journey of more than 1,500 miles, through several dangerous passes such as Taolin, Qihan, Yuanyuan, and Tiger Prison in Jin and Zhou, and the so-called lone expedition had a very high risk coefficient.
Bai Lixi and Uncle Jian bitterly advised Qin Mugong to abandon this suicidal military action, and Uncle Jian said: "It is not unheard of for the laborers to attack far away. The teacher is exhausted, far away from the Master to prepare, nothing is indispensable? What the teacher does, Zheng will know, be diligent and do nothing, and there will be rebellion. And travel thousands of miles, who does not know? ”
However, Qin Mugong felt that the time was not waiting, and the alliance forged between Qin and Jin was still there, and it was unlikely that the Jin state would stab the knife from the side, so he insisted on going his own way, ordering Meng Mingshi, the son of Bai Lixi, Xi Qishu, the son of Uncle Jian, and Bai Yibing to lead the troops to the east.
The development of the matter, as Expected by Bai Lixi and Uncle Jian, when the Qin army arrived at the state of Shui (in present-day Yanshi County, Henan), the Zheng people who were doing business in the local area, Xiang Gao, sacrificed cattle in the name of Zheng Guojun to reward the Qin army, and at the same time sent people back to the country to report.
In this way, Baili Mengming, Xi Qishu, and Bai Yibing believed that the significance of the sneak attack had been lost, but they were not willing to return empty-handed, so they attacked and destroyed the slippery country with their hands, and returned it with full loot.
But this was not the final outcome of this labor expedition.
Where did the newly succeeded Duke Xiang of Jin allow others to share in the hegemony of the Jin state? In order to curb the momentum of the Qin people's eastward advance, he personally took the lead in ambushing The Qin army at Mount Kun (崤山, northwest of present-day Luoning County, Henan).
The Qin army was completely destroyed, and the three marshals Meng Mingshi, Xi Qishu, and Bai Yibing were captured.
However, although Duke Wen of Jin died, Duke Mu of Qin's daughter Wen Wei was still alive.
Wen Wei interceded with Jin Xianggong, and Meng Mingshi, Xi Qishu, and Bai Yibing were released.
Qin Mugong suffered this strange humiliation and humiliation, and twice cut down the Jin Dynasty, losing one defeat and winning one victory.
Defeat was an empty drain on the country's strength, and it cost the lives of soldiers in vain; victory was only a show of military might on the border of the Jin state, and it failed to annex a city and a place in the Jin state.
Facts have proved that with the existence of Qiangjin, Qin Mugong could not develop to the east.
There was no way, he heeded Bai Lixi's advice, turned around and developed westward, destroying the dozen or so countries established by the Rong people in the west, the twelve countries of Yiguo, and the opening of thousands of miles.
For the victory of Qin Mugong Xituo, Zhou Tianzi congratulated him and gave him a golden drum.
It can be said that Qin Mu publicly claimed to dominate Xi Rong, and his career reached its peak.
However, Rao was Qin Mugong's superior ability and excellent knowledge, and he was always firmly trapped by the Jin State to block the road to the east, and his hegemony was only limited to Xi Rong, which was a pity.
In 621 BC, Qin Mugong died and was buried in Yongcheng (雍城, in present-day southeast of Baoji, Shaanxi), and the number of martyrs reached 177, including the three good ministers of Xiangxi, Zhongxing, and Needle Tiger.
Sima Qian, in the "History of Qin Benji", borrowed the sighs of people of insight at that time, and believed that although Qin Mugong was "a broad land and beneficial country, the east served the Jin Dynasty, and the west was hegemonic", he was "not an ally of the princes", that is, he could not be an ally of the princes like the Duke of Qi Huan and the Duke wen of Jin, so he was not a "Hou Bo" and could not be called the overlord among the princes.