During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, due to frequent wars and internal turmoil, many people were forced to leave their own countries and become officials in foreign countries, and over time they were integrated into the new countries, and their descendants even confronted their home countries. For example, Wu Zixu in the late Spring and Autumn Period, because his father and brother were killed, fled the Chu State and came to the Wu Kingdom. At the same time as Wu Zixu, there was also a figure who fled abroad, and his descendants slaughtered hundreds of thousands of Chu troops, and beat the Chu state to a pulp!
This man's name was Bai Gongsheng, the grandson of King Chuping, and his father was the poor prince Jian! King Chuping listened to Fei Wuji's rumors and persecuted Crown Prince Jian and Wu Hao's family, resulting in Wu Zixu fleeing to the State of Wu, while Prince Jian first fled to the State of Song and then to the State of Zheng, where he was later killed by the State of Zheng, while Bai Gongsheng came to the State of Wu. After the end of the Wu-Chu War, the political situation in the Chu State gradually stabilized, and the Chu State ordered Yin Zixi to recall Bai Gongsheng to the Chu State despite the people's opposition.
After returning to the Chu Kingdom, Bai Gongsheng was appointed as the Grand Master of chao, "known as the White Duke", who trained the army while practicing the army and the corporal xian, preparing to avenge his father. Bai Gongsheng constantly asked Ling Yin Zixi to attack Zheng Guo, but was refused. Later, the State of Jin attacked the State of Zheng, and the State of Chu actually sent troops to rescue it, which completely angered Bai Gongsheng. At the same time, Bai Gongsheng was the eldest grandson of King Chuping, and it was reasonable to say that the throne should be his.
Therefore, in July 479 BC, when the State of Wu invaded the border of the State of Chu, Bai Gongsheng led an army to defeat the Wu army, and then he launched a military coup under the pretext of "preparing for war", "killing Zixi, Ziyu Dynasty, and robbing King Hui". Bai Gongsheng established himself as the King of Chu, but he did not expect that a month later, Ye Gong led an army to serve the king, "the disciples of King Hui of Chu attacked Bai Gong together and killed him." Although Bai Gongsheng was killed, his son ran away and ran to the Qin state.
According to the records, Bai Gongsheng had five sons, four of whom came to the Qin State and became the generals of the Qin State, and since then Bai Gongsheng's descendants have become generals of the Qin State for generations. In the middle and late period of the Warring States, there was a fierce man among the descendants of Bai Gongsheng, who was the "Warring States Killing God" Bai Qi! Bai Qi was one of the four famous generals of the Warring States and made great achievements for the Qin State's eastern expedition to the west. At that time, the national strength of the Chu state was very strong, but it was crushed by Bai Qi.
Cai Ze, the chancellor of the State of Qin, once said: "Thousands of miles in Chu province, holding millions of halberds, Bai Qi led tens of thousands of divisions to fight against Chu, in the first battle, Yan Yin was raised to burn Yiling, and then fought in the south and Shu Han." Bai Qi led the Qin army to attack the State of Chu, won the Victory in the Battle of Yan Yin, and attacked the capital of the State of Chu in one fell swoop, killing hundreds of thousands of Chu troops. Since then, the State of Qin has occupied a large area of land north of the Yangtze River in the western part of the State of Chu, and the State of Chu has been in a state of collapse.
When Bai Qi attacked the capital of Ying, he also deliberately went to Bai Gongsheng's tomb to worship, "Gong Ix's grandson rose up and worshiped his ancestors here." No one expected that the Chu kingdom would be crushed by its own royal descendants! More than a thousand years passed, and during the Tang Dynasty, Yuan Shu, who was then the envoy of Wuchang Jiedushi, wrote a letter to his good friend Bai Juyi, saying that he had discovered Bai Gongsheng's grave. Bai Juyi was very happy, and immediately held a family meeting, and decided to send Bai Minzhong and Bai Jingshou to worship and relocate Luoyang.
Afterwards, Bai Juyi deliberately wrote down this matter and carved it into a stone stele. However, there is another theory about Bai Qi's ancestors, saying that he is a descendant of the Qin general Bai Yibing. These are the two claims we have found so far. However, the descendants of the Bai clan, led by Bai Juyi, believe that their ancestors are Bai Gongsheng, and Bai Qi is the ninth grandson of Bai Gongsheng.
References: 1. "Zuo Zhuan"; 2. "History"; 3. "Monument to the Chu King Bai Shengqian"