In the course of the historical development of the Qin State, during the thirty-nine years of the reign of Qin Mugong, although no substantial progress was made in expanding the territory to the east, it laid a solid foundation for the future development of the Qin State to the east. The acquisition of eight cities in Hexi from the hands of The Duke Hui of Jin was the first victory of the Qin state on its way eastward. From then on, Duke Mu of Qin hoped to get more land in the Jin Dynasty.
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The sixty-nine chapters of Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching say, "I don't dare to enter the inch, but retreat." "Meaning: don't dare to move forward an inch, but a foot back." It is intended to warn people not to be insatiable and to gain inches. Yet human desires are always endless.
The Qin and Jin dynasties made a pact, and the son of the Duke Hui of Jin came to the Qin state to become a proton, and the Duke of Qin Mu married the clan woman to Zi Yuan. Soon, the State of Qin sent troops to eliminate the Liang State of Ziyuan's grandfather,Corp., which made Ziyuan feel uneasy. Later, when he heard that his father Jin Huigong was ill, he was afraid that once his father died, the group of courtiers would support other sons as kings, and he felt embarrassed about this. In the end, it was decided to abandon his wife and flee back to the Jin Dynasty alone, and after the death of Duke Hui, ZiYuan took the throne.
Heavy ear exile
When Duke Mu of Qin learned of this, he was furious and wanted to attack the Jin state on the grounds that ZiYuan had left his wife behind, but he did not dare to send troops because of the threat of the Rong clan in the western part of the Qin state. Once the army was marched east, the backyard was afraid of fire. At that time, there was a good opportunity, the Prince of Jin was the brother of The Duke Hui of Jin, who had been in exile for more than ten years and came to the Qin Kingdom to ask for an escort back to China. Qin Mugong was overjoyed, so he married Zi Yuan's wife to Zhong'er. Because this woman was his nephew's wife, Zhong'er was embarrassed to accept it, and Qin Mugong said, "In the future, the throne of ziyuan is all yours, and there is nothing unacceptable about his wife." Heavy Ear readily agreed.
Mu Gong escorted Zhong'er back to China and helped him quell the rebellion in the country and ascend to the throne. In the 20th year of King Xiang of Zhou, in 632 BC, the Jin state defeated the State of Chu, which often went north to invade the Central Plains. In one fell swoop, Zhong'er became the second overlord of the Central Plains after the Duke of Qi Huan, the Duke wen of Jin. The purpose of Qin Mugong's escort back to China at that time was to hope that through this kindness, he would reduce obstacles on the way east. What Wan did not expect was that the ability of Jin Wengong was superior, and after several years of development, the national strength of the Jin state was stronger than before, which made the Qin state a headache.
So the State of Qin tried to attack the State of Zheng in the east, and Bai Lixi persuaded: "Attack people from thousands of miles in several countries, and those who hope to gain." Qin Mugong did not listen, and Uncle Jian said, "The laborer attacked far away, not unheard of." The teacher is exhausted, far away from the Master to prepare, nothing is indispensable? What the teacher does, Zheng must know. To be diligent and to do nothing is bound to be contrary to the heart. And travel thousands of miles, who does not know? ”
The two of them probably mean that when the army reaches thousands of miles away to attack other countries, when they go, the people will definitely know about it and will be on guard. Besides, how can our army defeat it? Qin Mugong not only did not listen to the advice, but angrily said, "Erhe know! Nakashou, the wooden arch of the tomb! "What do you know? If you die in middle age, the trees on the grave are as thick as two hands.
Uncle Crying Master
Without heeding the advice of Uncle Jian and Bai Lixi, Duke Mu of Qin sent his army to the east to reach the small vassal state of Shuiyi (滑邑) of the Jin Dynasty. It just happened to run into a merchant from Zheng Guo, Xiang Gao, driving twelve cows to Luoyang to sell. He was afraid that the Qin army would rob him of his cattle, so he said to the qin generals: "The monarch of the State of Zheng already knows that your country is coming to attack us, so he sent me to drive twelve cows to treat the army." Wait until your army is full before attacking us. When the generals heard this, they felt embarrassed, they had not yet come to Zheng Guo, they already knew, they must be deep ditches and high fortresses, it was difficult to attack. Originally planned to sneak attack Zheng Guo, there was no chance. After killing twelve cows and eating them, he planned to return to China. Afraid of returning to the monarch to punish the crime, he eliminated Shuiyi by the way, snatched a lot of property and returned to the Qin state.
String high to save the country
At that time, the Duke of Jin wen had died, and a funeral was being held in China. When his son Duke Xiang of Jin learned that the State of Qin had eliminated Shuiyi, he said angrily, "The State of Qin was rude and even bullied me as a child. "Ordered the army to dye the mourning clothes black and go to The KunShan to ambush them. When the Qin army passed down the mountain, the boulder rolled down and the whole army was destroyed. The three generals Meng Mingshi, Xi Qishu, and Bai Yibing were captured. One of Jin Wengong's wives was the daughter of Duke Mu of Qin, and he told Jin Xianggong: "My father hates these three people the most, and if he lets them go back, he will definitely die a miserable death." Jin Xiang believed that it was true, so he released the three generals of the Qin State. The minister said that the tiger should not be returned to the mountain, and Jin Xianggong suddenly realized that he had sent troops to pursue, and the three generals had already crossed the Yellow River.
This failure was a great blow to Qin Mugong. It can be seen from this that the strength of the Qin state is not enough to expand to the east. Only to put energy into the Rong people. The reason for the fall of Western Zhou was that Xi Rong invaded and occupied Hojing (present-day Xi'an), and the King of Zhou Ping moved the capital to Luoyi. Qin Xiang's public state of Guanzhong fought with the Rong clan, and until the time of the ninth monarch, Qin Mugong, the Rong clan had not been destroyed. In the thirty-fourth year of Mu Gong, in 626 BC, Qin Mu Gong detained Yu Yu, a strategist of the Rong clan, and used the beauty plan to consume the willpower of the Rong King, and finally destroyed the Rong clan in one fell swoop, Shi Zai: "Qin used Yu Yu to cut down the Rong King, Yi Guo XII, opened the land for thousands of miles, and then dominated the Western Rong." ”
Spring and Autumn Situation Map
Mu Gong 36 years, 624 BC. The State of Qin again sent an army across the Yellow River from Maojin and burned the warships to show the spirit of swearing to die, and the Jin army retreated when they saw this scene, and the Qin army occupied Wang Guancheng and repaid the revenge of the soldiers of Kunshan. Qin Mugong mourned the dead soldiers and warned the countrymen: "I did not listen to the good words of the elders Bai Lixi and Uncle Jian, which led to failure." I hope that the gentlemen of the future generations will not imitate me. ”
The victory of this great war only avenged the defeat of Kunshan, and the strength of the Qin state did not step out of Hangu Pass. The greatest contribution of Qin Mugong to the Qin state throughout his life was to eliminate the Rong clan that had plagued him for more than one hundred and forty years. On its way to the east, it only got eight cities in Hexi. For various reasons, the successive monarchs of the Qin Dynasty did not expand to the east at all, until 364 BC during the Qin Xiangong period, when the Wei state was defeated at Shimen (southwest of present-day Yuncheng, Shanxi), and 60,000 people were beheaded. After that, the strength of the Qin state gradually developed to the east.
For the State of Qin, the existence of the State of Jin was a mountain on the East Gate that was difficult to move. In 403 BC, the Jin state split into the three kingdoms of Han, Zhao, and Wei, and the power was dispersed, which gave the Qin state an opportunity to take advantage of it.