Presumably, many people have heard such a saying used to describe the princely states in the Spring and Autumn Period: "The Jin Dynasty has strong secretaries in the past, and the Chu State has famous kings in the past." Among them, the competition between the qiangqing in the past generations caused the consequences of the division of the three families, and among the famous kings of the Chu state, the king of Chu Zhuang in the "Spring and Autumn Five Hegemons" was the most.
During the Spring and Autumn Period, although the Chu State was located in a barbaric land and had not been taken seriously by the princely states of the Central Plains, it was undeniable that in the eight hundred years of the history of the Chu State, its ruling area had long been the largest of the princely states, and among the successive monarchs of the Chu State, King Chu Zhuang was undoubtedly the best of them.
At the beginning of the young King Zhuang's succession to the throne, it was during the turbulent period of the Spring and Autumn Period, when the entire Chu state could be said to be internal and external troubles: the rebellion of Gongzi Xie and Gongzi Yi broke out inside the country, while the external ones successively had powerful enemies such as the Yong state and the Jin state attacking. Even King Chu Zhuang himself had been wrapped up in the rebels, but fortunately, he was finally saved without danger. Although the domestic rebellion was finally put down, for a young lord like King Chuzhuang who had just succeeded to the throne and had no power, this incident was definitely a big blow. Under such a severe situation, the young King of Chu Zhuang did not prematurely reveal his intentions, but adopted the method of static braking. Therefore, the king of Chu Zhuang ordered people to put up a sign in front of the palace gate that read: "Those who enter the counselor, kill without forgiveness" to prevent the minister from entering the court, until wu Ju, a loyal and patriotic official of the Chu state, brought him the story that "if it is not loud, it has become a blockbuster".
Using three years of time, the King of Chuzhuang showed a dull and quiet appearance of a gentleman who did not care about political affairs, and through this method he not only succeeded in paralyzing his opponents, but also gained a basic understanding of the overall situation of the country and the ministers around him, and gained a group of loyal generals like Wu Ju and Su Cong. Therefore, King Zhuang of Chu changed his previous behavior, handled political affairs with his heart, and appointed Nengchen Liang to defeat the Yongguo that would soon be committed.
After that, King Zhuang of Chu contacted other princely states to unite against the Jin Dynasty, using enwei and means to win over some small princely states. At the same time, internally, we have also vigorously selected lower-level talents, attached importance to agricultural production to appease the people, and vigorously developed the Chu state. Among them, Sima Qian was listed as the "first person to follow the official" in the "Records of History", and later Sun Shu'ao, who was later worshipped by the official Chu Ling Yin (zai chancellor), was appreciated during this period. Sun Shu'ao did not live up to expectations, and through the construction of water conservancy, the training of the army, and the implementation of reforms in the Chu state, all of these laid a solid foundation for the future King of Chu zhuang to enter the Central Plains to achieve a hegemonic cause.
According to historical records, King Zhuang of Chu reigned for twenty-three years: "To merge the country twenty-six, to open up the land for three thousand miles" - "Han Feizi Youdu".
In 597 BC, the State of Chu and the State of Jin fought a decisive battle in a place called "Qiu". The result of this battle ended with a complete victory for the Chu army, and the king of Chu Zhuang also established the position of the overlord of the Spring and Autumn Period with this battle. After years of efforts by the king of Chu Zhuang and his subjects, as well as the military and people of the State of Chu, the State of Chu became increasingly powerful and finally realized its wish to win the Central Plains.