In 652 BC, duke Huan of Song fell seriously ill, and Crown Prince Zifu asked Song Huan to appoint his brother Muyi as his heir, because Muyi was benevolent. Mu Yi immediately refused, saying, "You are the great benevolent if you even give up the country to me, and according to the system, I should not inherit the throne." After that, Muyi actually went to Weiguo to avoid the humble act of Prince Zifu. Therefore, after the death of Duke Huan of Song, Prince Zifu became the new monarch of the Song State, known in history as the Duke of Song Xiang.
When Duke Xiang of Song succeeded to the throne, Duke Huan of Qi had already entered his old age and began to consider the matter of heirs. However, due to the large number of Duchess Qi Huan, there were also many sons who could inherit the throne. In order to allow his favorite Gongzi Zhao to be able to ascend the throne safely, he and Guan Zhong chose Song Xianggong, who had a reputation for benevolence, as Gongzi Zhao's foreign aid.
In 643 BC, Duke Huan of Qi died, and the domestic vassal Li Gongzi became the monarch without loss. Duke Xiang of Song summoned the princes to attack the State of Qi with the advice of Duke Huan of Qi to make Prince Zhao the prince of the state. However, due to the low prestige of Song Xianggong, only Cao Guo, Wei Guo, and Yi Guo responded to his call. Nevertheless, these princely armies were also the same as the Dinghai God Needle for the chaotic State of Qi. In this way, Gongzi Zhao, with the help of Duke Xiang of Song, took the throne of the State of Qi, and was known as the Duke of Qi.
After Song Xiang settled the rebellion of the State of Qi fairly, he probably wanted to emulate Duke Huan of Qi as the overlord of the princes, so he summoned the princes to an alliance in the name of pacifying Huaiyi. However, only three small states, the State of Cao, the State of Yi, and the State of Yan, responded to the call of Song Xianggong, of which the King of the State of Yan was still late.
After Summoning the princes, Song Xianggong did not discuss with them how to send troops to pacify Huaiyi, but used the tradition of the Shang Dynasty to ask the gods to make Huaiyi obey. The person who was used to sacrifice the gods was the late king of the kingdom of Yan, and the one who presided over the sacrifice was the king of the state of Yi.
Song Xianggong was so cruel that he frightened the king of Cao Guojun, and when he returned, he did not listen to Song Xianggong's words, and Song Xianggong sent troops to attack Cao Guo for this purpose.
Sima Ziyu of the State of Song, that is, Muyi, had persuaded Song Xianggong because of these two things, saying that doing such an unethical thing would not become a hegemon. But Song Xianggong just wouldn't listen.
When Song Xianggong ascended the throne, he showed the benevolence of the country, but in these two things he also showed inhumanity, was Song Xianggong a person with superficial benevolence?
It should not be superficial benevolence, because later he did a thing of benevolence that was famous in history, and he paid for it with his life.
That was two years after the Song state attacked the cao state. Song Xianggong also wanted to seek the position of overlord of the princes, but he did not win the support of the princes by acting as a prince, but directly asked King Cheng of Chu to order the central plains princes who were obedient to the Chu state to submit to him.
King Cheng of Chu was probably afraid that Song Xianggong would ambush jiashi, so he promised Song Xianggong and agreed not to lead the army at the next alliance meeting. Song Xianggong agreed.
Therefore, in the alliance of princes in the autumn of that year, Song Xianggong did not bring an army, but King Cheng of Chu brought an army and arrested Song Xianggong to attack the Song kingdom. Fortunately, the Song kingdom responded properly, and King Cheng of Chu released Song Xianggong back.
After Song Xianggong returned to China, he was very resentful of King Cheng's untrustworthiness, and at this time, Zheng Guojun went to the Chu State to meet King Chu Cheng, and Song Xianggong sent an army to attack Zheng Guo.
When King Cheng of Chu saw the State of Song attacking the State of Zheng, he sent troops to attack the State of Song in order to relieve the siege of the State of Zheng. When Song Xianggong received the news of the Chu attack, he led his army to meet the Chu army at the Hongshui River.
If the Chu army wanted to attack the Song army, it had to cross the river, but the Song army had already formed a position on the opposite side of the river, and it was dangerous to cross the river hastily. However, the Chu army still crossed the river, and it was not known whether the commander of the Chu army had another way to deal with the Song army's half-crossing or simply reckless.
When the Song army saw that the Chu army was crossing the river, of course, they did not want to miss a good opportunity, so they asked Song Xianggong to attack the Chu army, but Song Xianggong did not agree. After the Chu army crossed the river, the Song army requested to attack the Chu army, but Song Xianggong still did not agree.
In the end, the State of Chu defeated the Song army in one fell swoop, and even Song Xianggong was seriously wounded, and died soon after.
After the defeat of Hongshui, when someone asked Song Xianggong why he did not take advantage of the chaos of the Chu army to attack, his answer was that gentlemen did not take advantage of the danger of others, and the ancient noble battles were also carried out in an upright manner after both sides were prepared.
It can be seen that Song Xianggong believed that fighting should also pay attention to benevolence until his death. This shows that Song Xianggong's benevolence is not pretend, but real benevolence. It's just that his benevolence is only an act of copying the benevolence of his predecessors, which is not appropriate. Of course, he copied not only the act of benevolence, but also the cruel act of the Shang Dynasty in sacrificing people alive.
Copying the Custom of Using People to Sacrifice In the Shang Dynasty caused Song Xianggong to lose the possible support of the princes, and copying the benevolence of the ancient nobles in battle made him defeated and injured, and finally not only died because of it, but also left a bad reputation in history. It has to be said that dogmatism really kills people.