The State of Chu was divided into territories around present-day Jingzhou, Hubei in the early years of the Zhou Dynasty, and was only a small state for viscounts. At the beginning of the Chu State, there was only a very small territory, called Zi Nan Fifty Li, but the Chu State's territory was fought by itself, and it had to be said that the military strength of the Chu State could not be underestimated.
In this way, through the continuous hard struggle of successive Chu kings, the State of Chu gradually increased its own strength, annexed and integrated other small countries, and in the Spring and Autumn Period, it became a big country occupying the Jianghan Plain, and regarded itself as a barbarian, did not worship Zhou Tianzi, claimed the title of king, and attacked the Central Plains many times.
In the early Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States period, the Chu State was dominated by Jiangnan and had many troops, and when King Chu Zhuang was eight years old, King Chu Zhuang personally led a large army and pushed the Chu army to the vicinity of Zhou Tianzi's capital for the first time in the name of "King Qin" and attacking "Lu Hun Zhirong", the so-called "watching the troops in Zhou Province".
After that, the State of Chu was even more exaggerated to the extreme, successively destroying the State of Shu and the State of Chen, and each war was fought with great momentum, even though there were many defeats against the State of Jin, but it did not shake the ambition of King Zhuang of Chu to dominate the Central Plains.
And the geographical location of the Zheng kingdom is too superior, in the "world", basically adjacent to most of the strongest old princely powers, that is to say, as long as the conquest of this Zheng kingdom, is to put one foot into the Central Plains, of course, the king of Chu Zhuang will not let go of this opportunity.
In the spring of the seventeenth year of King Zhuang of Chu, the Chu army invaded the State of Zheng again, and vowed to completely attack the capital of the State of Zheng. The Chu army besieged the capital of zheng for more than three months, and even Zheng Xianggong gradually lost the determination to fight, and even handed over his fate to the heavens.
At that time, in the face of the Chu army, what kind of tragic scene was Zheng Guo: all the people of Zheng Guo cried under the city wall, the generals cried on the city wall, and the princes and nobles cried in the courtyard of the deep palace, and the whole Zheng Kingdom could be said to be filled with a tragic and sad atmosphere, which also showed the majesty of the Chu state soldiers at that time.
During that period, the State of Chu actively developed into the Central Plains, and King Zhuang of Chu pushed the army of the State of Chu to the edge of the Yellow River. However, for a long time, the State of Chu could not fight the Three Jins, which had just separated, so it repeatedly went north to the Central Plains and was blocked.
Speaking of this, I have to compare the Chu people with the Qin people who finally ruled the world, the Chu people's ability is actually not bad compared with the Qin people, and the military strength of the two countries is comparable. During the Warring States period, the territory of the State of Chu was even more extensive, occupying almost half of China, and its strength was almost on par with that of the State of Qin.
But later, in terms of changing the law, the two became a watershed in the gap in strength, resulting in a completely different fate of the two countries! After the Wu Rebellion, the State of Chu was also powerful, attacking Baiyue to the south, extending the territory of the State of Chu to the area of Dongting Lake and Cangwu County.
However, the Chu people are slightly more romantic than the Qin people, and they show extreme discomfort with the constraints of the system, and the Chu people have a strong sense of resistance and a poor sense of obedience, which is extremely unfavorable for a team, let alone a huge country.
Although Wu Qi's change of law also showed signs of the rise of the Chu state for a while, it was unfortunately short-lived, and it eventually ended in failure. The Shang martingale transformation method of the Qin State can be said to be very successful, because the Qin people have a better sense of obedience, and the decision-makers are less likely to make big mistakes, and the national strength gradually becomes stronger.
The change of law has made a qualitative leap in the national strength of the Qin state and the combat strength of the Qin army. In the middle of the Warring States period, Qi Qin began to become the most powerful state, and the State of Chu was shaking between Qi and Qin, sometimes pro-Qi and sometimes pro-Qin, and the north was also invaded by Han wei, losing thousands of miles of land to Qin and Jin.
In addition, the State of Chu was also subject to more and more tiredness, coupled with the final failure of the Wu Qi Reform Law, the State of Chu began to be in a situation of political turmoil and weak troops. Chu and Qin are two countries of equal strength, but one is gradually becoming stronger, and one is constant or even gradually weakening, and the final competition for who is the winner is actually doomed.
In the later period of the Warring States period, the Chu state and the Qin state fell into a passive situation of being beaten when they were at war, and the once powerful Chu state was left to survive. However, "the skinny camel is bigger than the horse", the State of Chu also defeated the attacks of the State of Qin many times, and finally the State of Qin was personally led by the veteran general Wang Qi, and the strength of the whole country was exhausted for many years before it finally destroyed the State of Chu.
The last six generations of Chu kings of the Chu state experienced many turmoils and the land fell. Many people think that the reason why the Chu kingdom cannot dominate the world is that the kings of Chu have not had the same great talent as the King of Qin, and even unceremoniously said that the kings of the Chu kingdom except for the king of Chu Zhuang were almost all "nested and wasted"!