The Xian clan is one of the eleven old clans of the Jin Dynasty, but whether it is an old gong clan with the surname Ji is controversial. Regardless of whether the Xian clan was a gong clan or not, the Xian clan had already become strong in the Jin state during the Jin Dynasty: when Prince Shensheng attacked the Dongshan Gaoluo clan, Xian Danmu served as the Che Right of the Commander of the Xia Army, Han Yi, and Xianyou served as the Che Right of Prince Shen Sheng.
However, the most glorious period of the Xianshi was in the Xianxun period.
The biggest misunderstanding of Xianxun was that he belonged to one of the sages who followed Duke Wen of Jin into exile. However, the Bamboo Book Chronicle records that when Duke Mu of Qin escorted Chong'er back to the Jin Dynasty, Fox Mao and Xianxun led an army to confront the Qin people, and finally reached a cooperation agreement with the Qin people. This meant that Xianxun was not a close confidant of Jin Wengong in exile, but was one of the first left-behind ministers to defect to Jin Wengong.
The ancestors were not part of the monarch's cronies and were generally less likely to be reused.
At the beginning of Jin Wengong's return to China, he knew that there were many political factions in the Jin Dynasty, and nepotism was bound to be difficult to rule for a long time. Therefore, after he sat on the throne of the state, he widely used the old clans of the Jin dynasty: "Xu, Yuan, Fox, Ji, Luan, Hao, Bai, Xian, Yang Tongue, Dong, and Han, who actually held the close official; Zhu Ji Zhiliang, in charge of the official; the ability of the different surnames, in charge of its distant officials." ”
Jin Wengong
On the contrary, most of the trusted ministers who followed Jin Wengong into exile only had rewards and were not reused. This can be seen from the appointment of the main generals of the three armies before the Battle of Chengpu: the main commander of the Chinese army will be Hao Xuan, and Hao Qin will be the zo; the fox hair will be the main general of the upper army, and the fox will be the zo; Luan Zhi will be the main general of the lower army, and the first will be the supporter.
Of the six secretaries, except for Fox Yan, the other five were not close associates who had followed Duke Wen of Jin into exile. Although there is a meritocracy factor, the most important thing is to appease the political forces in the Jin dynasty.
The reason why the Jin State wanted to establish three armies was because it received a request for help from the Song people to relieve the siege of the Song State. Although Xianxun was a secretary, his rank was at the end of the Six Secretaries, which showed that although he showed his ability before Jin Wengong returned to China, his ability was not fully recognized. This expedition of jinguo was a great opportunity for Xianxun to show his talents.
According to the strategy formulated by Hu Yan, the Jin army's journey to relieve the siege adopted the strategy of "encircling Wei and saving Zhao": the State of Cao had just returned to the State of Chu, and the State of Wei had married the State of Chu, and the two countries were far away from Chu and adjacent to the Jin; when the State of Jin went to fight against these two countries, the Chu people would definitely come to the rescue, so that the Jin people would be able to gain the upper hand with ease.
Fox
In the spring of the twentieth year of King Xiang of Zhou (632 BC), the Jin army claimed to cut down Cao and deliberately borrowed a road from Wei Guo to cross the river, and the Wei people of course could not agree. As a result, the Jin army retreated, crossed the Yellow River from the South River (南河, in present-day southern Qi County, Henan, and north of Yanjin), and then divided his troops into two routes to attack the Wei and Cao states respectively.
On January 9, the Jin army captured Wulu (五鹿; present-day southern Puyang, Henan). The process of the Battle of Wulu has been brushed over in the history books, but it is a key battle in which Xianxun showed his talent. It was precisely because of Xianxun's outstanding performance in the Battle of Wulu that Jin Wengong remembered him.
History always leaves opportunities to those who are prepared.
In February, the jin general Xian Yi unfortunately died in the army. For the Jin Army, it was a great misfortune to send out the army to lose the commander-in-chief. However, for Xianxun, this was a great blessing in misfortune: because of the outstanding performance of the Battle of Wulu, Jin Wengong directly promoted him from Xiajun Zuo to the main general of the Chinese army, and was fully responsible for directing this war of supremacy with the Chu state!
After Xianxun took over the command, the Jin army's war progressed smoothly: under the powerful offensive of the Jin people, the Wei people drove away Wei Chenggong and announced their defection to the Jin state; the Cao state was attacked by the Jin army, and its monarch was also captured by the Jin people! However, in addition to symbolically sending a partial division to the rescue when the Jin army attacked the Weiguo, the Chu army never lifted the siege of the Song State to come to the rescue!
Tactically, the Jin people won a big victory, but the strategic purpose was not achieved, that is, failure! What to do?
First
At this time, Xianxun made a crucial move and revitalized the entire chess game: he asked the Song people to ask the Qin and Qi kingdoms with heavy bribes, and let the two kingdoms intercede with the King of Chucheng on behalf of the Song kingdom. King Cheng of Chu did not know what the plan was, and categorically refused the intercession of Qin and Qi. Qin and Qi accepted bribes from the Song people, but they failed to do anything, and they were furious and immediately announced that they would join the Jin camp and confront the Chu state!
King Chu Cheng understood this, but it was too late. He knew that the State of Chu could never fight against three great powers at the same time on its own, so he panicked and left the Song front and returned to the Nanyang Basin, and strictly ordered Yin Ziyu to withdraw his troops quickly!
However, Ziyu, who was self-conscious, forcibly disobeyed and requested to stay and fight a decisive battle with the Jin people. King Cheng of Chu was furious and left only a small number of troops for Ziyu to assist in the battle.
Although Ziyu did not have the support of King Cheng of Chu, his strength could not be underestimated. Immediately, he gave the Jin people a problem: "Please restore hou and seal Cao, and the subjects will also release the siege of Song." ”
Ziyu
As soon as Fox Yan heard this suggestion, he was enraged: "Ziyu is rude. The king takes one, the subject takes two, and must not be lost. Fox Yan felt that it was too much of a loss to exchange the two kingdoms of Wei and Cao for the state of Song, so he wanted to go to war directly.
But Xianxun saw the trap astutely: "The son and the child." The predicate of the people is a ceremony, Chu one word determines the three kingdoms, and I die in one word. I was rude, why fight. Not allowing Chu to speak, it is to abandon Song Ye. To save and toss them is to be called a prince. Chu has three shi, I have three grievances, there are many grudges, how will there be war. It is better to privately promise to restore Cao and Wei to carry it, and to insist on Wanchun to be angry, and to fight and then try to do so. "If you can agree to Ziyu's request, the fruits of the Jin state's conquests over the past few months will all be lost, and the two kingdoms of Wei and Cao will return to the chu state, which is really unwilling!" What to do? Xianxun gave a solution: "We might as well privately agree to Cao and Wei Fuguo, but let them break off friendship with Chu, and at the same time detain the envoys of the Chu state to provoke Ziyu!" ”
Knowing that the Jin had detained the envoys of the State of Chu and instigated the two states of Wei and Cao to break off diplomatic relations with the State of Chu, Ziyu was completely enraged—he immediately withdrew the siege of the State of Song and led a large army to seek a decisive battle with the Jin. In the end, Xianxun successfully lured the Chu army to Chengpu and won the battle in one fell swoop, assisting Jin Wengong to become a new generation of overlords!
Xianxun first appeared in the Battle of Wulu, and the Battle of Chengpu was famous all over the world, which was called the god of war. However, as the god of war, the strategy of the first reincarnation is slightly inferior - this is concentrated in the Battle of Kun.
Schematic of the Battle of Kun
In the Battle of Kun, the tactical advance achieved a comprehensive victory. However, under the current situation in the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, the Jin state's choice to break with the Qin state was a major strategic mistake. Because of the Battle of Kun, the strategic allies of the Qin state and the Jin state turned against each other, and since then the Jin state has had a deadly enemy in the rear.
From the Duke of Xiang of Jin to the Duke of Jincheng, because the State of Qin constantly harassed the State of Jin in the rear, the Jin people could not devote themselves to the central plains to fight for hegemony, and finally lost their hegemony after the Battle of Wu.
The internal cause of the defeat of the Jin state in the Battle of Wu was that people were scattered, but the external cause was that Qin and Chu joined forces to resist the Jin. The reason why the State of Qin chose to join forces with the State of Chu was in the Battle of Kun. Therefore, at the tactical level, the first is called the god of war; but at the strategic and political level, the first is slightly less hot.
This is also the key factor that although he became the Zhengqing of the Jin Dynasty, his life expectancy was not long: he lacked the ability to comprehensively balance the interests and losses of all parties, and could only be forced to kill himself on his own impulse - because he was rude to the Jin Xianggong, he was forced to rush into the Di people's army under the pressure of public opinion and die.