In 675 BC, King Wen of Chu died and his son Xiong Yan took the throne. Within a few years of Xiong Yan's ascension to the throne, he discovered that his younger brother Xiong Yun had a disobedient heart, so he decided to attack first and intended to kill Xiong Yun. Unexpectedly, Xiong Yun had already made preparations, received the news in advance, and fled to Suiguo.
Xiong Yun, who fled to Suiguo, knew that if he didn't fight again, he would never want to have a good life. Therefore, Xiong Yun successfully attacked and killed his brother Xiong Yan with the strength of suiguo, and seized the throne of Chu, known as King Cheng of Chu.
After King Cheng of Chu seized the throne, he immediately co-opted the nobles and showed favor to the princes in order to secure the throne. After that, he devoted himself to the cause of his father and grandfather, and struggled to annex small neighboring countries.
Sixteen years later, the expansion of the Chu state aroused the vigilance of the Central Plains overlord Qi Huangong. Therefore, the Duke of Qi Huan summoned the princes to the south to invade the frontier of the Chu state in the name of teaching cai guo.
Although King Cheng of Chu was not afraid of the invasion of the princes, he did not want to clash with them. It just so happened that the princes did not want to die with the Chu army after seeing the majesty of the Chu army. Therefore, the Chu state withdrew its troops after summoning the tomb and the princes to treat each other without aggression.
Within a few years, Duke Huan of Qi died, and the Central Plains kingdoms were suddenly leaderless. King Cheng of Chu took the opportunity to force the Central Plains states adjacent to the Chu state to submit to the Chu state.
At this time, the song ruler Song Xianggong was not happy, and he launched a princely alliance and asked King Cheng of Chu to order those Central Plains states that submitted to the State of Chu to submit to the State of Song. King Cheng of Chu was furious, but he was afraid that Song Xianggong would ambush Jia Shi by his side, so he agreed to Song Xianggong's request. However, another time and place was agreed, and neither side would bring a knight, and then make a covenant. Song Xianggong agreed.
When it came time to make a covenant, Song Xianggong went to the agreed place with only those who served. King Cheng of Chu was unconvinced and took jia shi to the alliance meeting.
At the alliance meeting, King Cheng of Chu reversed the quail pattern of the previous alliance meeting and ordered jia shi to arrest Song Xianggong and send troops to attack the Song state. However, the State of Song did not suffer losses under the defense of Gongzi Muyi, and coupled with the fact that the princes interceded for Song Xianggong, King Cheng of Chu released Song Xianggong back.
After that, Song Xianggong's still stubborn attack had submitted to the Zheng state of the Chu state and maintained the covenant of princes during the Qi Huan period. The Chu state reacted to this by attacking the Song state again. As a result, the Chu and Song armies fought a battle at the hongshui side, and in the end, the Song state was defeated, and Song Xianggong was seriously injured.
After the war, King Cheng of Chu could be said to be proud and triumphant, and repeatedly violated the Zhou rites at Zheng Guo's celebration banquet. Probably he felt that after the Chu state defeated the Song state, there would be no more countries among the kingdoms to talk about the behavior of the Chu state, right?
However, the opposite is true that there are countries that dare to say no to the State of Chu, not only that, but it also has to challenge the hegemony of the State of Chu, which is the State of Jin.
Since the Jin Dynasty took the throne, the internal political power has been stable, the external qinwang has achieved great righteousness, and the national strength has flourished. The State of Song, because Duke Xiang of Song had been the Duke of Wen of Jin, did not submit to the State of Chu after seeing that the State of Jin was strong, and the State of Chu attacked the State of Song. The State of Song asked the State of Jin for help, and the State of Jin also decided to rescue the State of Song.
After that, The Duke wen of Jin first settled the two states of Cao and Wei, who were inclined to the Chu state, and then co-opted the State of Qin and the State of Qi to put pressure on the State of Chu to withdraw from the Chu Army.
King Cheng of Chu immediately retreated to Chu territory when he saw this, and ordered the State of Chu, which was besieging the Song State, to order Yin Ziyu to retreat. However, Ziyu did not want to retreat, he asked the King of Chu Cheng to fight, and the King of Chu Cheng had no choice but to divide some troops to support Zi Yu. In the end, the Chu army and the Jin army fought a decisive battle at Chengpu, the Chu army was defeated, and the Jin Wengong thus dominated the princes.
Jin Wen was the hegemonic prince, and King Cheng of Chu no longer had the intention of challenging the hegemony of the Jin state, and his age was not small, and it was time to make plans for the matter of heir. At this time, the Prince shangchen of the Chu state had been the crown prince for many years, but the king of Chu Cheng planned to make his favorite prince the prince.
When the Crown Prince Shangchen heard the wind, he asked his teacher Pan Chong for advice on how to get the exact news. Pan Chong asked Shang Chen to invite King Cheng of Chu's close sister Jiang Mi to dinner, during which he would not treat her respectfully to see her reaction.
Shangchen did so, and Jiang Mi angrily rebuked Shangchen for his disrespect, saying that it was no wonder that the King of Chu wanted to kill Shangchen and make him crown prince. Shang Chen then went to consult Pan Chong, who said that it was true that the King of Chu had deposed the crown prince Shang Chen and established himself as a prince.
Then Pan Chong asked shangchen, "Can you serve your prince as the monarch?" Shangchen said no. Pan Chong asked again, "Can you escape from the Chu Kingdom to live a hard life?" Shangchen said no. Pan Chong then asked, "Can you kill the king and seize the throne?" ShangChen said yes this time.
Therefore, Shang Chen, with the help of the Eastern Palace guards mutiny, controlled the King of Chu Cheng, forced the King of Chu Cheng to commit suicide, and successfully seized the throne of the Chu State.
Throughout the life of King Cheng of Chu, his late arrival when he seized the throne by his brother, the trial and sizing of the situation during the alliance between Qi and Chu, the planning and then movement when Song and Chu were fighting for hegemony, and the rapids and courageous retreats when Jin and Chu were fighting for hegemony, all show that he was a stable person. Why was such a stable man forced to die by his son?
The reason lies in the other side of his personality.
His brother's seizure of the throne showed his unkindness and injustice. In the Song and Chu Leagues, he would show that his words were not trustworthy. As well as after the Battle of Hongshui, he showed his disrespect at Zheng Guoqing's feast. The Zhou Ritual is not only a superficial etiquette, but also an order contained in it. Disrespecting the Zhou Ceremony means not observing the prevailing order of the time.
The affection of father and son depends on benevolence, the harmony of kings and subjects depends on righteousness and faith, and the succession of fathers and sons depends on the mainstream order of society. Therefore, it is not surprising that King Chu Cheng, who was unkind, unrighteous, and did not abide by the mainstream order of society, ended up being forced to die by his son.