The Spring and Autumn Chronicle in the eighteenth year of The Duke of Zhao (524 BC) has this record: "At noon in the summer month of May, Song, Wei, Chen, and Zheng disasters occurred. That is, Song, Wei, Chen, and Zheng all had fires on the day of May noon. Although natural disasters occurred in the Central Plains during that period, it was unusually rare for fires to break out on the territory of four countries on the same day.
fire
In the yin-yang doctrine, fire foreshadows the south, and because the ancestors of the Chu people once lived in huozheng, fire is often associated with the chu state. Dong Zhongshu believed that Song, Wei, Chen, and Zheng were attached to the Chu state and had long abandoned the Zhou royal family, leading to the rebellion of the sons after the death of King Jing of Zhou. Therefore, the fire that broke out on the same day as Song, Wei, Chen, and Zheng was a sin inflicted by heaven on these four countries.
Even more mysterious than the fire of the Four Kingdoms on the same day was a Zheng Guo astrologer named Pei Zao, who had predicted the occurrence of the fire a year in advance. The Zuo Zhuan records the prophecies of The Great, almost every time, and almost every time they are fulfilled in a god-like manner, except for the last time. Most of these prophecies are worn by later generations, but they add a lot of legendary color to the "Left Biography".
armillary sphere
<h1>The Meeting of the Soldiers</h1>
The debut of the stove also begins with the famous Meeting of soldiers.
In the middle of the Spring and Autumn Period, the two great powers of Jin and Chu attacked each other for more than half a century, and the small central plains states such as Song, Wei, Chen, Cai, and Zheng, which were sandwiched in the middle, were often reduced to cannon fodder for the Jin-Chu hegemony: if they attached themselves to the Chu state, they would be taught a lesson by the Jin state, and if they surrendered to the Jin state, they would be bullied by the Chu state. In 579 BC, at the instigation of Hua Yuan, the Grand Master of the Song Dynasty, the jin and Chu countries reached a reconciliation.
The good times did not last long, and the first alliance of soldiers collapsed with Chu Fa Zheng three years later (576 BC), and the Jin and Chu attacks continued.
The small countries sandwiched between Jin and Chu
In the Battle of Yanling in 575 BC, the State of Chu was defeated by the State of Jin, and the State of Wu suddenly came out of the rear of the State of Chu, and the State of Chu gradually lost its superiority over the State of Jin. However, the victorious state of Jin had successive civil unrest, and at the same time, it was slightly difficult to deal with the two major enemies of Qin and Chu.
This is still the case for large countries, and even more powerless for small countries to face internal and external troubles. Therefore, in 546 BC, under the multi-way travel of the Song Dynasty's doctor Xiang Shu, the princely states once again held a meeting of soldiers. This time, not only the Jin and Chu states, but also the Qi and Qin states also participated, with nearly 20 participating countries, which lasted for nearly a year before and after the meeting.
According to the agreement of the Huimeng (known in history as the "Alliance of Song"), the Jin and Chu armistices were to be annexed to the State of Chu at the same time, and the vassal states of the State of Chu were also required to submit to the State of Jin. In this way, the big countries could concentrate on dealing with the internal struggles of the secretaries of state, while the small countries paid tribute to both the Jin and Chu at the same time, greatly reducing unnecessary wars. This meeting of soldiers was also regarded as a sign of the spring and autumn period into the late period.
The Army will be allied
In order to fulfill the covenant, Zheng Guo sent the doctor You Ji (Zi Uncle) to the Chu state the following year (545 BC). However, King Chu Kang set up a shelf and sent someone to stop You Ji at Hanshui, hoping that Zheng Jian Gong would personally make a pilgrimage. However, because Zheng Guo was currently suffering from drought and famine, Zheng Jian had to sit in the capital. After You Ji returned, he angrily said to Gongsun Qiao (Zi Zi Chan): "The king of Chu will soon die. How can it be long if we do not cultivate political ethics and only care about prestige?! ”
The ancients often used the year star (Jupiter) to date, the year star orbit for about 12 years, each year has a relatively certain position. Seeing that the stars were not in the position where they should be in the same year, he ran to the position where he was the following year, and predicted: "Now the King of Zhou and the King of Chu are not far from the time of death. Thus, King Zhou Ling died in November and King Chu Kang died in December.
Jupiter
<h1>The battle of the good</h1>
Zheng Guo's grand master Liangxiao (Zi Boyou) was in power, arrogant and lascivious, self-absorbed, and made countless enemies at home and abroad. In 544 BC, Liangxiao sent Gongsun Hei (Zi Zi Chen) as an envoy to the Chu state. Gongsun Hei said, "Now that Chu and Zheng are fighting against each other, letting me send an envoy to the Chu Kingdom is tantamount to killing me." Liangxiao forced Gongsun Hei to go to the Chu State on the grounds that Gongsun Hei's Si family had served as envoys for generations. Gongsun Hei was furious and wanted to attack the Liang clan, but was dissuaded by Zheng Guo's other doctors.
Gongsun Waving and Qizao passed by the door of Liangxiao's house, and when they saw that there were weeds growing on the door, Gongsun Waving asked, "Can this weed continue to exist?" This means that the Liang clan should not last long. Seeing that Kui Su and Lou Su were not in the right place, He pointed to the weeds and said, "Even if you can live this year, you will not be able to live next year." ”
Twenty-eight nights
Liang Xiao was an alcoholic, and often delayed the government because of all-night drinking. One day in 543 BC, Liang xiao persuaded Duke Zheng Jian to let Gongsun Hei send an envoy to the Chu state, and after dispersing the dynasty, he went home to drink. On this night, Gongsun Hei sent troops to burn the Liangxiao family. When the Liang clan fled to Yongliang with Liangxiao, the drunken Liangxiao woke up and then fled to Xu Guo.
Later, with the help of the Han clan, Liangxiao entered Xinzheng from the city gate drainage cave and fought a decisive battle with Gongsun Hei. In the end, Liang Xiao unfortunately died in the Yang Market, and the civil unrest of the Zheng State ended in the defeat of the Liang clan, and the power of the Zheng State fell into the hands of Gongsun Qiao.
<h1>Chen Guo rises and falls</h1>
Abolishing the long and young and abolishing the concubine is often the beginning of the national disaster, but Chen Guo is "happy to be tireless" with this kind of disaster. Only this time, Chen Aigong got away with it, not only losing his life, but even the entire Chen Guo took it.
Duke Ai of Chen originally made his concubine Yan shi crown prince. After entering his old age, Duke Chen Ai, however, wanted to pass the throne to the prince born to his favorite concubine, so he privately entrusted the matter to his younger brother Gongzi Zhao and Gongzi, but did not clearly express the intention of deposing the prince Yanshi.
In the spring of 534 BC, when Duke Chen's old illness recurred, Gongzi Zhao and Gongzi Guo suddenly attacked, killed Prince Yanshi, and left Gongzi as crown prince. Unexpectedly, this move annoyed Chen Aigong, and Gongzi Zhao did not stop doing one or two, and sent troops to besiege Chen Aigong. In the end, Duke Ai of Chen was angry and hanged himself, and the prince stayed behind to become the new king of Chen Guo.
Chen Hougui inscription
After king Chu Ling heard about Chen's internal turmoil, he sent troops in the name of quelling the chaos and destroyed Chen Guo in one fell swoop. In the spring of the following year (533 BC), King Chu Ling personally went to Chen Di to appease the people. At this time, Lu, Zheng, Song, and Wei, who were subordinate to the Chu state, sent Shu Gong, You Ji, Hua Hai, and Zhao Di to Chen Di to receive the King of Chu Ling.
Ironically, there was a fire in Chen Di that summer. The cause of the fire is a mystery, some people say that Chen Guo's old ministers deliberately set fires in retaliation for the Chu state, and some people say that it was a natural disaster, but there is no accurate statement.
King Xiongwei of Chu Ling
According to the fact that the State of Chen belonged to the Water Elephant and the State of Chu belonged to the Fire Elephant, The State of Chen prophesied: "Within five years, the State of Chen will be restored, and after fifty-two years of the restoration, it will be completely destroyed." These prophecies were accurately fulfilled. In the fifth year of the fall of the State of Chen (529 BC), King Ping of Chu, who had usurped the throne by conspiracy and deception, restored the two kingdoms of Chen and Cai, which had been destroyed by King Chu Ling, in order to gain the trust of the princes. Wu, the son of the late Prince Yanshi, was made the new prince of Chen by King Ping of Chuping, in honor of Duke Hui of Chen, and the year was set as the fifth year of Duke Hui. In 478 BC, King Hui of Chu destroyed Chen, which coincided with the 52nd year of Chen's restoration.
What is even more bizarre is that in the first month of the second year (532 BC), there was a demon star out of the wunu (女宿). QiZao told Gongsun Qiao: "In July, Jin Jun will die. Such specific proverbs were also magically fulfilled, and Jin Pinggong died in July of that year.
<h1>Same day and fire</h1>
In the winter of 525 BC , a comet appeared in the position of Star Tatsumi ( Mercury ) . Qizao told Gongsun Qiao: "The four kingdoms of Song, Wei, Chen, and Zheng will suffer fire on the same day. If I were to give yu jue, jade jue, and jade spoon to do it, Zheng Guo could avoid this disaster. But Gongsun Qiao was not a superstitious person, and he believed that natural disasters could not be eliminated by human beings, so he did not agree to Pei's request.
comet
In May of the following year (524 BC), the northeast wind began to blow. According to the yin-yang family's doctrine, the five elements of the northeast wind belong to wood, and wood is on fire, so this is a harbinger of fire. Seven days later, the news of a fire broke out in the four kingdoms of Song, Wei, Chen, and Zheng on the same day.
QiZao said, "If you don't listen to me, Zheng Guo will have another fire." Gongsun Qiao said, "The Heavenly Dao is far away, and humanity is near, how can mortals know the Heavenly Dao?" In the end, Gongsun Qiao did not agree to let The Stove do it. This time, the prophecy of the stove was wrong, and the fire did not happen again.
Because of this only mistake, Pei Zao changed from the image of a mysterious prophet to a pretend god stick, but instead achieved the "people-oriented" Gongsun Qiao. Under the administration of Gongsun Qiao, Zheng Guo made certain achievements in politics, economy, and diplomacy. In 522 BC, Confucius burst into tears when he heard the news of Gongsun Qiao's death, praising Gongsun Qiao as "the legacy of the ancients".
Offspring (Gongsun Qiao)
Read for reference
[1] Kong Qiu (Chunqiu Lu) "Spring and Autumn Zhaogong Eighteenth Year"
[2] Zuo Qiuming (Chunqiu Lu) "Zuo Chuan, Chenggong 12th Year, Xianggong 27th Year, 29th Year, 30th Year, 6th Year of Zhaogong, 8th Year to 10th Year, Seventeenth Year to 20th Year"
[3] Sima Qian (Han) "History of Guan Cai Shijia, Chen Qi's Family, Wei Kang's Uncle's Family, Song Weizi's Family, Chu Shijia, Zheng Shijia"
[4] Ban Gu (Han) "Book of Han, Five Elements"
[5] Du Pre (Jin) "Spring and Autumn Left Transmission of Justice: Eight Years of Zhao Seven Years, Twelve Years of Zhao Ninth Year, Nineteen Years of Zhao Seventeen"