King Chu Ling was the younger brother of King Chu Kang, Prince Wai. After the death of King Chu Kang, his son Ao Ao took the throne. At this time, the prince was appointed as the lingyin of the Chu state and ruled the state of Chu as an uncle.
So, how do the princely states view the current situation in the Chu state?
When Zi Yu, a zhengguo pedestrian, saw such a situation in the chu state, he likened the prince to a pine cypress, and Ao Ao was the grass under it. It can be seen that one is strong and one is weak, and one day the weak will be replaced by the strong.
The King of Chu sent Xue to the state of Lu to inquire, and Uncle Mu inquired about the prince's reign, but Xue shirked and did not talk about it. Uncle Mu's heart was like a mirror, and he told the doctor that Chu Guo ling Yin was about to launch a great rebellion. In the same year, the prince besieged and killed Sima Xue and took possession of his family's wealth.
Shen Wuyu, on the other hand, believed that Wang Ziwei would eventually fail for two reasons: first, Instead of cultivating sages, He abused good people; second, Wang Ziwei, who was surrounded by Ling Yin and killed sima of the Chu state, could not be spared from disaster.
Wei Hou was a guest in the Chu Kingdom, and when Beigong Wenzi saw what Prince Ling Yin had done, he told Wei Hou that Prince Wei was too much like the monarch, and he might succeed, but he could not die well.
It seems that the views of the sages of all countries are surprisingly unanimous.
The princes will ally
The following year, the prince was hired by Zheng Guo and married his uncle Duan's family. In March, he allied with the States of Lu, Jin, Qi, Song, Chen, Cai, Zheng, Xu, and Cao, and The Prince Wei was dressed in very ornate costumes, and the guards around him were paired, which actually used the etiquette of the king.
From the words of the princes in the alliance about Wang Ziwei, it can be seen that everyone believes that Wang Ziwei's pomp and circumstance is self-proclaimed, and Sima Zhao's heart is well known. Later, the prince set up a banquet to entertain Zhao Wenzi of the Jin State, and Zhao Wenzi also saw the intention of the prince Wei, and the uncle of the Jin State also explained to the prince that the practice of the prince Wei was not moral.
Sure enough, in the same year, Wang Ziwei began to take the opportunity to eliminate dissidents. In one fell swoop, he eliminated the Bozhou plough and Zixi. Bozhou Plough is a "meritorious man" for Wang Ziwei, he is the inventor of the idiom of "up and down his hand", he certainly did not expect that he would one day become the ghost of Wang Ziwei's sword. Zi Xi, on the other hand, is the younger brother of Wang Ziwei.
Prince Wei ordered the two men to build a city, causing panic in Zheng Guo, and Zheng Guo's ministers were worried that Chu Guo would use troops against him. Zi Chan believed that this move was not aimed at Zheng Guo, and that Wang Ziwei's purpose was to get rid of the two people who built the city, and there was no need for Zheng Guo to panic because of this.
"Eastern Zhou States, Spring and Autumn" Stills of the Chu State Chariot
Things turned out to be exactly as expected.
In the winter of that year, Prince Wai planned to go to the Jin State for employment, but before he could leave the border, the news came that the King of Chu, Yu Ao, had fallen ill, and Prince Wei resolutely returned to the State of Chu. When he arrived at the Chu Palace, by greeting the King of Chu's illness, Shunshi hanged the King of Chu to death, and in order to cut the grass and remove the roots, he also killed the two sons of Yu Ao.
The trees fell and scattered, and The right Yin Zigan of the Chu state fled to the Jin state, and Zi Xi fled to the zheng state. Prince Wai executed Dazai Bozhou Plough and ascended the throne as King of Chu Ling.
After King ChuLing succeeded to the throne, he appointed Xue Qi as Ling Yin and Xue Qiqiang as Dazai. At this time, Zheng Guo's You Ji went to the Chu State to ask for advice, on the one hand, to participate in the funeral of Yu Ao, and on the other hand, to participate in the ceremony of the new monarch. After he returned to Zhengguo, he described to Zichan what he had seen and heard, believing that king Chu Ling was too extravagant and proud of his ascension to the throne, and it seemed that he would soon convene the princes to make an alliance, while Zichan thought that king Chu Ling would definitely prepare extravagant things carefully, and when he was ready, he would summon the princes, which would take several years.
King Chu Ling's gaze had been swirling in the Central Plains, and his style of conduct was very arrogant. Sima Hou, the Grand Master of the Jin Dynasty, advised the Jin Emperor not to contend with the State of Chu and to avoid its sharp edge first, because the heavens would cause the King of Chu Ling to fall heavily. Sima Hou advised the Marquis of Jin to return to "virtue" and improve his self-cultivation. Zheng Guozi believed that the Doctor of jin guo was mostly greedy for his own selfish interests, and would not really kuang zheng Jin jun. The imbalance within the Jin state was the main reason why the Jin state could not compete with the Chu state.
"Eastern Zhou Kingdoms, Spring and Autumn Chapter" Jin Wengong stills
However, Jin Pinggong himself believed that the Jin state had three advantages: the terrain was dangerous, there were many horses, and the Chu state was troubled. From the point of view of Jin Pinggong, we can actually see that his moral work is insufficient, because the dangerous terrain is not entirely the territory of the Jin state, and he still has a lot of work to do to expand the territory; to succeed, it is necessary to cultivate political affairs instead of comparing horses, and no more horses are not as good as ruling the country with virtue; just like the example of Jin Wengong, other countries have difficulties, and as a monarch, they should not be schadenfreude, because this situation may make their country reborn, and its strength is not weak but strong.
The King of Chu Ling held a meeting in Shendi, and this meeting was held in the scale and manner of the Duke of Qi Huan. It can be seen that king Chu Ling wants to show his strength and might to the princes. Wu Ju gave advice to King Chu Ling, and he used the examples of Xia Jie, King Zhou You, and Rong Di who failed due to arrogance, and made it clear that King Chu Ling should behave in the alliance, but King Chu Ling did not listen to advice. Zheng Guozi also believed that the reign of King Chu Ling would not exceed ten years.
"Eastern Zhou Kingdoms, Spring and Autumn Chapter" Wu Wang Fucha stills
From this, it can be seen that King Chu Ling was a man who advocated luxury and was very happy, and he was eager to show off his deeds, so that the princes could not be convinced. He is the king who "seeks to be successful with others" and is not "in the same way as others". We all know that King Chu Kang was able to abstain from his own desires and cultivate political affairs; his son Yu Ao was an empty shelf without ability; and King Chu Ling's eradication of Chu Ao was only to harvest the hegemony laid by King Chu Kang.
King Chu Ling showed the wealth and strength of the Chu state in the "Shen Zhihui", just like King Wu Lu sent a messenger to fight the world for King Wu, and King Wu Fucha finally reaped the merits but could not keep it. It can be seen that even if a country's strength accumulates and grows from generation to generation, once it encounters the king of "non-monarchs", it will eventually decline.