Since King Kang, the state of Chu has entered a period of rapid decline, and the key reason is the poor performance of the two monarchs, King Ling and King Ping. King Ping, in particular, whose cleverness was almost entirely devoted to conspiracies, was still a monarch who pursued only personal pleasures. King Ping's favorite was another conspirator, Fei Wuji, and the two cooperated with each other, one harming others and one acquiescing, and Chu's internal affairs were pitch black.
And the young King of Chu Zhao, who succeeded to the throne, can be described as a generation of bitter kings, the Ling King and the Ping King unscrupulously squandered the Chu State for decades, and the next evil consequences were swallowed by him alone. In the Battle of Baiju, the Chu state was almost destroyed, and King Zhao fled the capital of the country, escaped into Yunmengze, almost robbed by bandits, and later took refuge in Suiguo, and was almost sacrificed to the Wu army. After the war, the Chu state struggled for a long time between decline and embarrassment, but King Zhao struggled with his indomitable fighting spirit, and the country recovered little by little.
1. Rise up after the destruction of the country
In 523 BC, Fei Wuji instigated King Ping to forcibly seize the crown prince's bride. The following year, he framed Prince Jian for plotting against Wu Hao's father and son, and Prince Jian went into exile in the Song Dynasty; Wu Hao's family was killed, and Wu Hao's second son Wu Yuan went into exile in Wu Guo, determined to take revenge.
In 516 BC, King Ping died, King Zhao took the throne, King Zhao was young, the greedy and selfish son Chang (Nangwa) was Ling Yin, the domestic politics was even more corrupt, and the former King Zhao adopted a tough attitude towards the State of Wu, and the situation in the State of Chu became more dangerous. However, the State of Chu continued to train for itself a gravedigger, Bozhou Plough, the son of Bozong, the Grand Master of the State of Jin, who served as the Great Governor of the State of Chu after his exile in the State of Chu, and was a famous courtier, who was executed by King Ling of Chu in 541 BC, and the descendants of the Bo clan still served the State of Chu. In 515 BC, Ling Yinzi often listened to the rumors of the traitor Yu Fei Wuji and killed the xianchen Hao Wan, bo shi was implicated, the family fled from the chu state, and bo zhou's grandson Bo Zhao also came to the state of Wu as a great zai, and like wu yuan, always wanted to subvert the chu state to avenge the family.
In 506 BC, King Lu of Wu sent an army to attack Chu and conquered the capital of Yingdu, and King Zhao of Chu fled. It was not until October of the following year, after the withdrawal of the Wu army from the Chu state, that King Zhao was able to return to the capital. This time the Chu state was revived from the dead, thanks to the help of the old ally Qin people, at the same time, the Yue state finally formed a climate under the long-term cultivation of the Chu people, and this time from behind to invade Wudu, it also played a key role.
In the years that followed, Wu and Yue fought to the death, and the pressure on the Chu state weakened. After the war, The Xianchen Zixi served as the Lingyin of the Chu State, and in 504 BC moved the capital to Yan (鄀, in present-day southeastern Yicheng County, Hubei Province) to rectify the discipline and gradually improve the government.
The State of Dun (DunGuo), surnamed Ji ( 姬 ) , located in the west of present-day Xiangcheng County , Henan Province , was a typical pocket state that had long existed as a satellite state of the State of Chu and a vassal state of the State of Chen. Seeing that the Chu state was becoming increasingly unlucky, the monarch Ji Mu planned to change the court and attach himself to the Northern Jin State. In fact, the most difficult time for the Chu state has passed, the situation is getting better and better, and the Jin state has reached the brink of civil strife.
In February 496 BC, taking advantage of the outbreak of civil unrest in jin, Gongzi Jie of the State of Chu and Gongsun Tuo of the State of Chen jointly sent troops to attack the State of Dun, and Ji Mu was also taken back as a prisoner of war. Since then, the Chu state has begun to revitalize its pace.
The State of Hu (胡国), courtesy name, was in present-day Fuyang, Anhui Province, and was also a vassal state of the State of Chu. When the Wu army invaded the Chu capital, the Hu state king Gui Bao took advantage of the fire and looted and invaded the neighboring Chu state of Chengyi. After the State of Chu was settled, it still refused to be annexed. In February 495 BC, King Zhao of Chu personally led an army to destroy Hu and escorted Hu Jun back to China.
In the spring of 494 BC, King Zhao of Chu joined forces with the monarchs of Chen, Sui, and Xu to besiege the State of Cai in revenge for helping Wu into The Kingdom of Chu, and the Cai people went out of the city to ask for surrender, and the country was also moved by the State of Chu to the Yangtze River and Rushui. However, Marquis Cai Zhaohou had already hated the State of Chu, and in November 493 BC, with the help of wu troops, the State of Cai moved to Zhoulai (in present-day Fengtai County, Anhui Province) and recommitted to the State of Wu. In the spring of 491 BC, Cai Zhaohou seemed to want to move closer to the State of Wu, but was complained by his courtiers and he himself was stabbed to death.
At first, Wu Guofa Chu sent emissaries to summon Chen Huaigong to fight together, and Huaigong heeded the advice of the minister Feng Shui and refused to send troops. In 594 BC, Wu Wang Fuchai defeated the Yue state, avenged his father's killing, and sent an army to invade Chen in August, when Fuchai was in the limelight, and the Chu state did not dare to save Chen for a while.
2. The story of the father of the city
In the spring of 489 BC, Fu Cha again sent troops to attack Chen, nominally in retaliation for Chen Guo's refusal to help, but the main purpose was to win Chen Guo out of the Chu camp like Cai Guo and attach to himself, consolidating his own western front. At present, the whole state of Chu is still shrouded in the psychological shadow of "talking about Wu color change", but King Chu Zhao finally decided to send troops to save Chen: "Our current monarch has an alliance with Chen, and we can't help it!" Whether it is from the perspective of strategic interests or national dignity, he can no longer bear it.
So King Zhao of Chu personally commanded an army to rescue Chen, and the army was stationed at Chengfu (城父, in present-day baofeng County, Henan Province). Chengfu was still quite a distance away from Chen Guo, but until July of this year, the Chu army was still not out, after all, if it was really necessary to fight against the Wu army, it was really difficult for the Chu people to muster up enough courage. Probably when King Zhao hesitated at the father of the city, a meteorological spectacle appeared above the father of the city: people saw the clouds in the sky like a flock of red birds, flying with the sun in between, for three days in a row. It was not far from Zong Zhou, and King Zhao sent emissaries to Luoyang to consult with Zhou Taishi.
Zhou Taishi said, "I am afraid that this strangeness will be fulfilled in the Chu King, but if you sacrifice (祟), it can be transferred to Ling Yin and Sima Ling." After hearing this, King Zhao said, "What good is it to eliminate the disease of the heart and transfer it to the stub (the minister is likened to the stub) ?" There is no great fault in my life, I am afraid that God wants me to die, right? If it is guilty and punishable, how can it be transferred? "There was no festival.
King Zhao had to resort to the Mandate of Heaven through divination, but the results of divination were even more confusing: the battle was not auspicious, and the retreat was not auspicious! King Zhao finally threw Xinyi horizontally: "Then as long as you die: (after Bai Ju) it is better to let the Chu army be defeated again than to die; it is better to renege on the covenant and escape from the enemy than to die." Horizontal and vertical are all dead, simply die at the hands of the enemy! ”
King Zhao was determined to die, so he arranged a successor in advance before going to war, and his brothers Zi Xi (Gongzi Shen, Ren Lingyin), Zi Qi (Gongzi Jie, Ren Sima Qi), and Zi Lu (Gongzi Qi) were all around, but they were unwilling to accept the order, and finally after seeing that King Zhao was so resolute, Zi Lu had to make a temporary promise.
Everything was ready, but just before the battle, King Zhao fell ill. On 16 July (庚寅), King Zhao's Chu army attacked the Wu army stationed at Da mu (大濟, in present-day Xiangcheng County, Henan), but then became seriously ill and had to return to Chengfu, where he died on the same day. King Chu Zhao's original name was 壬, and he changed his name to 轸 after he ascended the throne - the king of Chu had the habit of changing his name after ascending the throne, and reigned for a total of 27 years.
After consulting with Zi Xi and Zi Qi, Zi Lu ordered a tight seal of King Zhao's death, sent someone to the country to pick up King Zhao's son Zhang, and in the army zhang was the King of Chu, the King of Chu Hui, and then the army returned to the country. The mother of this King Hui of Chu was the daughter of the current Yue King, Gu Jian.
3. The sigh of Confucius
King Chu Zhao, who ascended the throne at an early age, died in his 30s, typical of an early death. There is also a story about King Zhao's illness.
King Zhao was ill—perhaps this time when he had just sent an army from the father of the city—to divination, and the master said, "It was the god of the river (the Yellow River) who did it." However, King Zhao refused to order the sacrifice of the river god: "According to the sacrificial system for three generations, the object of sacrifice does not exceed the hope (mountains) of the country. Jiang, Han, Ju, Zhang, these are the hopes of Chu. Although I have no virtue, I will not sin against the river god. ”
These words reached Confucius, and Confucius sighed loudly: "King Chu Zhao really knows the Dao Very Well!" He didn't lose his country, Yi Ya! The Book of Xia says: "The ancient Saint Emperor Tao Tang, who followed the Heavenly Gangchang, owned the Jizhou side. Later generations acted arbitrarily and destroyed the original discipline, and the country was destroyed (but The Tao Tang, Shuai Pi Tianchang, had this side. Now if they lose their deeds, if they mess up their discipline, they will perish and perish).) And he said, 'Take out what you will get.' As a monarch, it is enough to let yourself follow the heavens! ”
King Zhao's affirmation was certainly due to his attitude in line with Confucius's proposition of staying away from the government and respecting ghosts and gods, and at the same time, a period of opportunity between him and Confucius also made Confucius full of good feelings for him.
Around 493 BC, Zhao Martin invited Confucius to go to the Jin Dynasty to show his grand plans, but it was a trap, thanks to Confucius's cleverness, the tiger escaped from danger and returned to weiguo. Soon, because it was difficult to speculate with Wei Linggong, he went south to chen guo to look for opportunities, and then went to cai in 491 BC, and encountered Wu and Chu vying for the annexation of Cai guo, the cai state was in turmoil, Confucius once went to the yedi of the chu state to seek opportunities, and soon returned.
In 489 BC, King Wu sent Chen, King Chu Zhao, to save Chen, stationed at Chengfu, and heard that Confucius was now wandering between Chen Cai, so he sent someone to hire. Confucius was naturally pleased and immediately prepared to go. To this end, the ministers Chen and Cai specially held an emergency seminar, and everyone generally believed: Kong Qiu is so capable, we have been so bad to him for three years, once he arrives in the Chu country, and then reused, we are in danger! - So the two countries joined forces to send troops to besiege Confucius in the deserted countryside halfway.
Confucius and his party were cut off from their way, the grain was eaten, and the followers were too hungry to get up. Confucius talked to his disciples individually, while sending Zigong to chengfu to seek help from King Chu Zhao. Finally, King Zhao sent troops to meet him, and the Chen and Cai armies did not dare to resist any longer, and Confucius and his party survived the crisis.
The current King Zhao, bent on reviving the Chu kingdom, immediately planned to give Confucius a fief of seven hundred miles and stay behind to entrust him with a heavy responsibility. Confucius came with a "mobile government" team, and the courtiers of the Chu state could not help but be jealous.
Ling Yin Zixi asked King Zhao, "Are there any emissaries under the Great King who are comparable to Zigong?" King Zhao: "No." "Is there a complement around the Great King comparable to Yan Hui?" No. "Is there a general of the Great King who is comparable to the Son's Road?" "Nothing." "Is the King's official Yin comparable to Zaiyu's?" "Nothing." "Then," ,—— Zixi continued to advise—"When I was originally crowned as a prince by the King of Zhou, my title was only a son, and the fief was only fifty miles. appear
After Confucius ancestral recounted the formation of the Three Kings and Five Emperors and preached the cause of the Duke of Zhou and the Summoning Of The Duke, if the Great King used him, he would inevitably ask the King of Chu to go to the king's trumpet, cut the land, and restore it to the state of the Western Zhou Period. Moreover, when King Wen of Zhou was in Feng and King Wu was in Ho, both of them were only a hundred miles of land, but they eventually became the kings of the people of the world. Now, if we give Kong Qiu another fiefdom, and Kong Qiu has such a large number of sage disciples around him, its development is unlimited, and I am afraid it is not a blessing for our Chu country. ”
Zixi's rhetoric is half ridiculous and half incisive. The irony is that Confucius recounted the Western Zhou Dynasty, and after taking power, it will not be pedantic to the extent that the Chu State will cut its own land, which is a complete distortion of Confucius. The best thing is that the reason why Confucius was a servant on the road and could not be reused by the princes was mostly because he did not dare to use it. Confucius was surrounded by a large group of capable disciples, and if Confucius used them, these disciples would naturally have to be reused, and once such a mobile government took root, it would not be difficult to empty the monarch of any country. In this way, not only will the courtiers of other countries lose their jobs, but the monarch will certainly not have a good end.
Even if King Zhao wanted to rejuvenate the country again, he still had the same feeling as the other princes at this point, plus Zixi was both the state Ling Yin and his own brother, and he explicitly opposed it, and Zhao Gong had to give up. In the year of King Zhao's death, Confucius left the Chu state with great enthusiasm and came to Wei again.
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