(King Xiong Huai of ChuHuai)
The five-thousand-year history of Chinese civilization from the time of the Yellow Emperor is wonderful and colorful. The author once wrote a clumsy manuscript in "Writing Hu" to tell the stories of two Han Xin, two Cai Jing and two Kong Ming.
This article talks about the happy tragedy of the two kings of Chu Huai.
(1) The King of Chu Huai in the Warring States period, who was born fiercely and prominently in the early stage, and later died in a foreign land
Xiong Huai ,355 BC – 296 BC), courtesy name Xiong Huai (熊槐), courtesy name Qi, was a monarch of the State of Chu during the Warring States period. After he succeeded to the throne at the age of 27, he was ambitious and full of spirit, reusing Qu Yuan and other magi to govern the country. Qu Yuan served as a leftist and in charge of internal and foreign affairs in the Chu state, and later became the Third Lu Doctor. The main policies implemented were: encouraging farming and military service, recommending meritocracy, communicating with the monarchs and subjects, prohibiting the formation of parties for personal gain, implementing a reward and punishment system, and breaking bad customs. Through unremitting efforts, the country reached the level of national strength and prosperity at that time.
The State of Chu successively fought with the states of Wei, Qi, Qin, Zhao, and Yan. The strong armed forces destroyed the thriving Yue state, defeated the Wei state, and greatly expanded its territory. Later, he took the lead in resisting the rising Qin state, and in 318 BC, he organized the "Seven-Nation Alliance" to fight against the strong Qin, becoming one of the recognized great powers in the world at that time.
(Qu Yuan in "Si Meiren")
While developing the economy, it successfully opened up the Maritime Silk Road and conducted commercial trade with some countries in West Asia and South Asia. In order to promote commercial activities, the state cast a gold festival for the caravan for tax exemption, and the inscription on the golden festival reads: "If you have its gold festival, you will not levy it, and if you do not have a gold festival, you will levy it." The implementation of the policy of tariff reduction and exemption has set a precedent for all countries in the world.
There is a story of "sending charcoal in the snow", which shows that King Huai of Chu is not only diligent in government and government, but also very courteous to corporals and close to the people.
It is said that at the end of a certain year, the severe winter, the goose feathers and heavy snow are blowing, the king of Chu Huai put on a thick leather jacket, still feel cold and uncomfortable, let people light the fire in the palace, he remembered his own people, do they have leather jackets to wear, do they have a fire roast? It must be colder than I am! So he ordered that fuel be sent to the poor people and wanderers throughout the country for heating. After receiving the fuel sent by the monarch, people were very happy and touched, and they all praised him as a good king.
Unfortunately, since 312 BC, the state of Chu has gradually weakened after the defeat of the two major battles of Danyang and Lantian. In 299 BC, the State of Qin captured eight cities in the State of Chu, and King Zhaoxiang of Qin met with King Huai of Chu at Wuguan for peace talks.
Zhao Sui, Qu Yuan, and other ministers believed that this was a conspiracy and trickery for the State of Qin, and advised King Huai of Chu not to go. King Huai of Chu did not listen to the advice and was detained by the State of Qin after he went. Because King Huai of Chu was unwilling to cut off the land, he was detained all the time. During this period, the crown prince of Chu was made king.
One day in 297 BC, King Huai of Chu fled in search of a gap, and the State of Qin immediately blocked the road to the State of Chu. King Huai of Chu had no choice but to flee to the State of Zhao, which did not dare to take him in. On the way to flee to the State of Wei, he was captured by the pursuing soldiers of the State of Qin. In 296 BC, King Huai of Chu died of illness in the State of Qin.
The State of Qin returned the body of King Huai of Chu to the State of Chu. The common people wept and knelt down to greet them as if the souls of their elders had returned to Sangzi. In 278 BC, the Qin general Bai Qi led an army south and attacked the capital of the Chu state, Yingdu. On May 5 of the same year, Qu Yuan committed suicide after writing the famous poem "Lamentations". Later generations set this day as the Dragon Boat Festival in honor of Qu Yuan, a great loyal minister and great poet.
(2) Xiong Xin counterattacked from a cattle herder to the king of Chu Huai at the end of Qin, but the times were not good, and he left a grudge
"History of Xiang Yu Benji" Yun: "Fu Qin destroyed the Six Kingdoms, and Chu was the most innocent." Since the king of Huai entered Qin, the Chu people have taken pity on him so far, so Chu Nan Gong said that 'although Chu has three households, qin will die in Chu' also. "In modern parlance: Of the six kingdoms destroyed by the Qin state, the Chu state is the most worthy of sympathy. King Huai of Chu personally went to the State of Qin to negotiate peace, and because he did not want to cut the land, he was detained for a long time and died of illness, and the people of the State of Chu still have pity on him. Therefore, Chu Nangong said that if there were only three families in the Chu state, these three families would continue to fight until the Qin state was destroyed.
There are two interpretations of the "three households of Chu": one refers to the three surnames of Zhao, Qu and Jing in the Chu state; the other refers to the fact that there are only three families left after the fall of Chu.
The Chu state is vast, the people are strong, and they are very sympathetic to King Huai of Chu, and the development of the situation in the future proves that the words of chu nan gong "although Chu has three households, the death of Qin will be Chu" is very predictable.
(Legend of Chu Han, King Xiongxin of Chuhuai)
There were three main branches of the late Qin rebel army: Chen Sheng Wuguang's Dazexiang peasant rebellion, which established a regime called Zhang Chu; Xiang Yan's son Xiang Liang and grandson Xiang Yu led eight thousand Jiangdong disciples, and the established regime was called Western Chu. They were all Chu people; Liu Bang's Peixian clique, whose subordinates and warriors, except for a few people such as Zhang Liang, were also Chu heroes.
After the failure of the peasant uprising in Dazexiang, Chen Sheng was killed, and the anti-Qin struggle in Chudi fell into a low ebb. In order to break the leaderless stalemate and cope with the unfavorable situation that emerged, in the "Xue Di Plot", Xiang Liang followed the advice of the counselor Fan Zeng and found Xiong Xin (?) the grandson of King Huai of Chu (another said to be Xuan Sun) from the countryside. –206 BC) to be king of Chu.
In order to arouse the Chu people's desire to avenge the country, Xiong Xin was honored as the King of Chu Huai, and the capital was set. After the Chu state was destroyed by the Qin state during the Warring States period, its royal descendants were exiled to the people and became ordinary people.
Bear Heart is a cowherd.
Due to the vicissitudes of the times, Xiong Xin counterattacked from a cowherd to the king of ChuHuai at the end of Qin. However, this King of Chuhuai is not the King of Chuhuai, to put it bluntly, it is a puppet pushed out to call on various rebel armies, and has no actual power. The actual leader of the Chu rebel army was Xiang Liang.
Later, the most powerful Xiang Yu army arrived in Xianyang and nominally honored King Huai of Chu as Emperor Yi, but Xiang Yu divided the world on his own, and Liu Bang was made the King of Han and sent to the distant Lands of Shu. Xiang Yu established himself as the Overlord of Western Chu and set the capital at Pengcheng.
Xiong Xin was not willing to be at the mercy of others, and after Xiang Liang's death, he seized the opportunity to plan to make a difference, which aroused Xiang Yu's jealousy. Soon after, Xiang Yu forcibly relocated Xiong Xin to Chenxian County, Changsha.
On the way, Xiang Yu secretly ordered Yingbu to kill him.
(Xiang Yu)
(3) A brief analysis of the reasons for the misfortune of the two kings of Chuhuai
The political struggles of the Warring States period were very devious, and the two strategies of combining vertical and horizontal were intertwined and intertwined. While doing a good job internally, the State of Qin tried every means to separate the relations between various countries, adopted various strategies to break through, and won the leading role in the struggle.
King Huai of Chu did not rationally deal with the achievements he had made in the early stages of his reign, and gradually became proud and complacent, self-conscious, unable to recognize zhang Yi's true face and the sinister intentions of the Qin state, and repeatedly deceived. Instead of participating in international political struggles with the national interest as the most important thing, we emotionally distinguish between friend and foe, so that when we encounter a crisis, not only do we have no one to help each other, but we have become a "street rat" that everyone shouts and beats. In addition, cracking down on the exclusion of Qu Yuan and other loyal subjects, and the increasing corruption of themselves and the contingent of cadres, are also important reasons for their gradual weakening.
History's evaluation of him is contrary to his own experience before his death, and before the 1980s, most of the literary and historical circles held a completely negative attitude towards him. He has been revisited in recent years, affirming his merits. In particular, he was loyal to the society, preferred to die rather than cut the land, and showed a noble late festival, believing that he deserved the respect of future generations.
(Si Meiren, Qu Yuan and King Huai of Chu)
In order to avoid conceptual confusion, the following article directly uses xiongxin to evaluate the king of Chuhuai at the end of Qin.
Historia. There is an intriguing passage in Xiang Yu Benji. It is said that after Xiang Liang's death in battle, Xiong Xin quickly came to Pengcheng and presided over the military deployment of the Chu state and internal political changes. Liu Bang, who was in the same army as Xiang Yu, was placed in garrison at Yan County.
The author speculates that in addition to the military deployment considerations for defending Pengcheng, Xiong Xin already understood that he was unable to control Xiang Yu, so Liu Bang was stationed in Yan County, setting up a potential opponent and counterbalance force for Xiang Yu.
(Liu Bang)
Thus it can be seen that the actual leadership power of the Chu State is gradually being controlled by Xiong Xin, which shows that Xiong Xin is not a puppet willing to be manipulated by others, and as long as he has the opportunity, he will also give a hand. At this time, Xiong Xin took over power and objectively united all the anti-Qin forces in Chu, and when the Qin general Zhang Handan led the army to encircle and suppress, the various rebel armies were not defeated and scattered, preserving the strength for the anti-Qin cause.
"Restoring the Six Kingdoms" was an important strategic decision against Qin at that time. After Zhao Guo was in distress, Xiong Xin decided to dispatch the main force to "go north to save Zhao", which was a big mistake for his own safety, but it was a correct decision for the entire anti-Qin cause. Xiang Yu used this to regain control of the Chu army and kill Xiong Xin, who hindered his claim to the throne.
Judging from the bear's long-term foresight and awareness of the overall situation, it is worth admiring. Compared with a generation of tyrants Xiang Yu and Liu Bang, Xiong Xin was indeed much more immature. He is a comet that flashes in the long river of history, and it is regrettable that luck does not help him succeed.
(Liu Bang and Xiang Yu)
【About the author】Zhao Xinfang, pen name Zhao Shi, is a member of the Chongqing Nan'an District Writers Association and a contracted writer of "Writing Hu".
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