In the struggle for hegemony, the big countries annex small countries and expand the land of small countries. However, the vassals of the great powers had to divide the newly acquired land among those who contributed, and they became stronger. There are also frequent struggles between them.
When the internal contradictions among the great powers intensified, they all wanted to temporarily stop the hegemonic war, so in 546 BC, the Song State Doctor operated between Jin and Chu as a mediator, and Jin Chu and several other countries held a "conference of soldiers" in the Song State. At this meeting, the Doctors of Jin and the Doctors of Chu reached peace and signed a treaty on behalf of the two groups. It stipulates that all small countries except the two great powers, Qi and Qin, should pay tribute to Jin and Chu. The two countries shared hegemony equally, and there were no major wars in the 50 years since King Ping, the grandson of King Zhuang of Chu, ascended the throne, and the kingdom gradually declined.
In 522 BC, King Chu of Ping wanted to abolish the original Prince Jian. At this time, Prince Jian and his teacher Wu Hao were guarding the father of the city (western Xiangcheng, Henan), and King Chuping was afraid that Wu Hao would not agree. He first called Wu Hao, falsely claiming that Prince Jian was plotting against Prince Jian and was immediately imprisoned; on the one hand, King Ping sent someone to kill Prince Jian, and on the other hand, he forced Wu Hao to write to his two sons, Wu Shang and Wu Zixu, asking them to come back and get rid of them together. The eldest son, Wu Shang, returned to Yingdu and his father Wu Hao, who was killed by King Ping and Prince Jian of Chu, got the wind in advance and took his son Gongzi Sheng to the Song Kingdom. Another son of Wu Zixu also fled Chu Prefecture, and he rushed to the Song Kingdom to find Crown Prince Jian. Unfortunately, civil unrest broke out in the Song Kingdom, and Wu Zixu and Crown Prince Jianhe and Gongzi Sheng fled to the State of Zheng, hoping to avenge the State of Zheng. But the monarch did not agree with his rush for revenge.
In collusion with some of Zheng Guo's ministers, he seized power from Zheng Dinggong, and was killed by Zheng Dinggong, who killed Wu Zixu, and had no choice but to flee zheng with Gongzi Sheng to the state of Wu (the capital was suzhou, Jiangsu) King ChuPing had already ordered a reward for the arrest of Wu Zixu, and asked people to paint portraits of Wu Zixu and hang them on the gates of various parts of the Chu Kingdom, instructing local officials to investigate after Wu Zixu and Gongzi Sheng escaped from zheng, they hid during the day and went to Zhaoguan on the border of Wu and Chu at night. The officials who closed the door were very careful. It is said that Wu Zixu was very worried, and he could not sleep for several nights, and even his hair was white.
Fortunately, they met a kind man, Donggao Gong, who sympathized with Wu Zixu and took him to his home Donggao Gong had a friend who looked a bit like Wu Zixu. Let him pass as Wu Zixu. The guards caught the fake Wu Zixu, but the real Wu Zixu walked out of the gate, because his hair was all white and his face changed.
When Wu Zixu came out of Zhaoguan, the guards did not recognize him, and he was afraid that there would be pursuers behind him, so he quickly ran forward. A great river ahead blocked the way, and an old fisherman hurried across the river, and he was so grateful that he took off his sword and handed it to the old fisherman, saying, "This sword was given to my grandfather by the king." It is worth 100 taels of gold. "Now is for you. The old fisherman said, "In order to hunt you down, the king rewarded you with fifty thousand stones and promised to be a whistleblower. ”。 I don't covet this reward and title. Do I want your sword? He soon apologized to the old fisherman, took his sword, and left the old fisherman. When the old fisherman came here, he wanted to inherit the throne. With the help of Wu Zixu, Gongzi Guang killed Wu Wangfu and became king. That was Wu Wang' Lu. After he ascended the throne, he named Wu Zixu the Doctor to help him handle the affairs of the state; he also used a general, a great strategist who was good at using the army.
In 506 BC, King Wu reorganized his army on the basis of Wu Zixu and Sun Wu, first annexing several small surrounding states, and making Sun Wu a general and Wu Zixu a deputy general. He personally led an army to attack the country and won a series of battles. He defeated the country's army until 16 years. At that time, King Ping was already dead, and his son King Chu Zhao fled, and he hated King Ping, dug up King Ping's grave, dug out King Ping's body, and beat him fiercely.
The Wu army occupied the King of Ping, fled to the King of Ping, asked him for help, the Duke of Wai did not agree to send troops, stayed outside the gate of the Kingdom of Ping, the Duke of Wai was finally moved, he said: "Although the kingdom is autocratic, but there are such good ministers, how can we watch them die!" "The Duke of Qin sent troops to save Chu and defeated the Wu army, and then the Wu king Yan Lu retreated back to the capital of the Wu kingdom, and Sun Wu made the first great contribution. He did not want to become an official and returned to his hometown to live in seclusion. The book he left behind is the earliest outstanding military work in China, Sun Tzu's Art of War.
Note: The content of the article is referenced from "Five Thousand Years of China"