The State of Chu was an ancient great power in the south. During the Shang Dynasty, Chu was an ally of the Shang. At the time of the Shang Zhou Dynasty, Chu's ancestors had assisted King Wen of Zhou. When King Zhou became king, Xiong Xuan, the ancestor of the State of Chu, took the title of son and baron, and Xiong Xuan worked with the states of Lu, Wei, Jin, and Qi to serve as the King of Zhou. Therefore, the State of Chu was not a state divided into feudal states in the early years of the Western Zhou Dynasty, but an ancient southern state that the King of Zhou had drawn over through the method of sealing and rewarding him to submit to the rule of Zhou, and it was not related to the King of Zhou by blood or relatives. Until the Spring and Autumn Period, the princes of the Central Plains often regarded the State of Chu as the "state of barbarians", and the monarchs of the State of Chu also called themselves barbarians and Yi, and rarely interacted with the princely states of the Central Plains.
First, the economy and culture of the Chu state did surpass the Central Plains in some aspects
We know that barbarians, Yi, Rong, and Di were not divided by race at that time, but mainly by culture. All the culturally advanced residents who lived in the plains were often called Zhuxia, and the culturally backward residents who lived in the mountainous areas were called barbarians, Yi, Rong, and Di.
A large number of archaeological excavations after liberation have proved that the cultural development level of the archaeological sites in the Jianghan River Basin where the Chu State is located is not lagging behind the cultural development level of the archaeological sites in the Yellow River Basin at the same time. After the liberation, many of the iron, bronze, lacquerware, etc. excavated from the Spring and Autumn Warring States period are in the Jianghan River Valley, and there are also many records in the literature, such as the "Zuo Biography" that Zhong'er once said to King Chu Cheng when he was in the Chu State: "Feather tooth leather" and other products, all of which were produced in the Chu State, of which the Jin State was only a surplus part of the Chu State, which shows the richness of the Chu State's products.
In the Battle of Chengpu, the number and weapons of the Jin army were insufficient, and "cutting down its wood to benefit its soldiers" shows that the quantity and quality of the Jin weapons were inferior to those of the Chu state. Ten years before the Battle of Chengpu, once Zheng Guojun went to see King Cheng of Chu, "The gold (bronze) given by Chu Zi (king)", "Repentance, ally with it: there is no way to cast soldiers (weapons)." Therefore, it is based on casting three chungs. This also proves that the bronze of the Chu state's cast weapons is relatively sufficient, while the Zheng state still lacks bronze weapons. Zheng Guo was a country with developed industry and commerce in the Spring and Autumn Period, and the bronze casting industry of the Chu State was far superior to that of the Zheng Guo, which proved that the handicraft technology of the Chu State was better than that of the Central Plains. During the Warring States period, the State of Chu was famous for making sharp iron swords, which also shows that the economy and culture of the State of Chu during the Warring States Period did surpass the Central Plains in some aspects. Therefore, it is not appropriate to give the titles of Chu Guoman and Yi.
Second, the power of the Chu state developed rapidly
The Chu region is vast, rich in products, and has a warm climate, and its national strength developed rapidly in the early spring and autumn. The reason for the rapid development of the State of Chu, in addition to the vast land and wealth, but also because it was originally an ally of the Shang Dynasty, inherited a part of the culture of the Shang Dynasty, coupled with the fact that several generations of monarchs of the State of Chu in the early Spring and Autumn Period were more effective, and after the decline of the royal family after the King of Ping moved east, the suppression and threat of the King of Zhou to Chu no longer existed; the area around the State of Chu was mostly a number of barbarians and small states with the surname of Ji, which were not a threat to the State of Chu. These are all conditions for the development and growth of the Chu state.
The monarchs of the Chu state have long wanted to compete with the King of Zhou for the world. During the reign of King Yi of Western Zhou and King Li, Xiongqu, the monarch of the State of Chu, established his three sons as kings, and later Xiongqu was afraid of being attacked by King Li of Zhou and removed the title of king. In the early spring and autumn, the royal family declined, and the power of the Chu state developed rapidly, and many small countries around it were destroyed. The monarch Xiong Tong established himself as the King of Chu Wu, and his grandson King Chu Cheng, along with Qi Huan, Jin Wen, and Qin Mu, actively expanded northward. However, King Cheng of Chu's army north was first contained by Duke Huan of Qi, and then defeated by Duke Wen of Jin at Chengpu, without much success.
After King Zhuang of Chu ascended the throne, he really rectified his internal affairs, went north again, and finally dominated the Central Plains.
Third, the King of ChuZhuang, who soared into the sky
Before King Zhuang of Chu ascended the throne, the ruler of the State of Chu was King Mu of Chu, and the country was relatively powerful. When King Zhuang ascended the throne, the once weakened State of Jin took advantage of the death of King Chu Mu to reunite with the princes of the Central Plains and become the overlord. Even Chen and Cai, who often allied with Chu, also joined the Alliance of the Jin Dynasty.
In the first three years of his ascension to the throne, King Zhuang of Chu drank and played games in the palace day and night, ignoring the affairs of the state. The ministers of the State of Chu went to persuade him, but he ignored him, and then simply issued an order: "Anyone who dares to come to advise will be executed and will not be spared!" In this way, many ministers did not dare to speak.
One day, Shen Wuyu went in to advise, only to see King Zhuang holding a concubine married from Zheng Guo in his left hand and a palace maid from Yue Guo in his right hand, drunk to the sound of a piece of bells and drums. Shen Wuyu stepped forward and said, "I want to guess a riddle for the Great King." Then he said, "There is a big bird that sits high on a hill and does not fly or bark for three years. King Zhuang said: "Three years without flying, one soaring into the sky; three years without sound, one boom." This is not an ordinary bird! King Zhuang paused for a moment and then said, "I see what you mean!" Shen Wuyu withdrew.
After some time, King Zhuang's life was still as usual, and the doctor Su Cong consulted with Shen Wuyu and felt that it would no longer do much to enlighten King Zhuang by simply advising him or telling stories, so he boldly went to the official to ask for king Zhuang. King Zhuang said, "Do you still dare to come and advise?" Su Cong said, "I am not afraid of death." If the Great King kills me, and I die for the Chu Kingdom, I am a loyal vassal of the Chu State, and death is worth it. King Zhuang stood up violently and said, "Well, let's do a good job later!" From then on, he gave up his life of obscenity, listened to the government every day, appointed Shen Wuyu and Su Cong to manage state affairs, killed hundreds of officials of all sizes who were tyrannical, corrupt, incompetent, and harmful to the state of Chu, and selected hundreds of officials who were virtuous and talented, and the government and the public of the State of Chu were very happy. In that year, the State of Chu destroyed the State of Yong.
It turned out that King Chu Zhuang was not a mediocre wine-colored person. He really wanted to "make a splash" and make the Chu state the hegemon. However, at that time, the real power of the Chu state was in the hands of the patriarchal noble ruo ao clan, and many of the people under the king of Chu Zhuang were a party of the Ruo Ao clan.
At the beginning of king Zhuang's ascension to the throne, he deliberately drank wine and had fun every day, on the one hand, so that Ling Yin Douyue Pepper (Ling Yin was the prime minister, Dou Yue Pepper was the emperor of the Ruo Ao clan, who was the prime minister at the time) did not pay attention to himself, so that the people of the Ruo Ao clan were fully exposed, on the other hand, they could also understand which people in the imperial court were loyalists who really supported themselves. This is the intention of King Chu Zhuang to "not fly for three years, soar into the sky; three years without sound, one hit".
Fourth, the Ruo'ao clan was destroyed, and from then on, the power of the Chu state was concentrated in the hands of King Zhuang
In the ninth year of King Zhuang's ascension to the throne, Yin Douyue saw that King Zhuang's power was growing, and taking the opportunity of King Zhuang's northern expedition to Lu Hunrong, he rose up and rebelled, killing Sima Fangjia and garrisoning Yanye (Chu Yiming), wanting to attack King Zhuang. King Zhuang began by using the descendants of the royal family as collateral to make peace with Yue Pepper, but Yue Pepper was not allowed to attack King Zhuang. King Zhuang ordered a crusade, and the two armies fought fiercely at Gaohu. Yue Pepper was good at shooting, shooting two arrows in a row, and did not hit the king of Zhuang. King Zhuang ordered a drumbeat to march, defeated the Ruo Ao clan, killed Dou Yue Pepper, and eliminated the Ruo Ao clan, and from then on the power of the Chu state was concentrated in the hands of King Zhuang.
In the middle and late Spring and Autumn Period, the royal power of the Chu State was relatively strong, and there was no situation where local secretaries and doctors like qi and Jin were specialized in state affairs. This had a lot to do with the fact that King Zhuang of Chu quelled civil unrest, eliminated the Ruo Ao clan, and centralized the king's power.
King Zhuang promoted a group of low-born and talented people to run the state and reform politics, especially when he invited a hermit who was famous and talented but did not want to be an official, as Ling Yin. With the assistance of Sun Shu'ao, the Chu state reclaimed wasteland, divided land, built water conservancy, straightened out river channels, and developed agricultural production. In particular, he mobilized and organized hundreds of thousands of working people, and after a long period of labor, built a large-scale irrigation channel in the south of present-day Anshou County, Qianpi, which not only played a great role in preventing flooding disasters in the Huainan area at that time, but also irrigated more than one million mu of farmland and promoted the greater development of agricultural production. Sun Shu'ao also assisted King Zhuang in reforming internal affairs and training his army. The State of Chu was also richer and more powerful than in the past.