--The third fifty years of spring and autumn
In 678 BC, Duke Wu of Jin became a prince; he died the following year. At this time, it was the third fifty years of spring and autumn. Duke Huan of Qi (reigned from 685 BC to 643 BC) held a princely alliance for the first time as a prince in the Northern Xinghui Alliance in 681 BC; the following year, the Song State betrayed the alliance, and the Duke of Qi Huan led the princes to cut down the Song and the Song State to seek peace. In 679 BC, duke Huan of Qi once again initiated the alliance of princes and formally dominated. However, in terms of timeline, King Cheng of Chu experienced the main time of Qi Huan's hegemony, which was later than the death of Duke Wen of Jin, and was more suitable as the main line of history in these fifty years.
The southern car battle was difficult to exert force, and King Cheng of Chu accompanied him to occupy Huaixi
After King Cheng of Chu succeeded to the throne and stabilized internal affairs, starting in 659 BC, he cut down Zheng for three consecutive years; the State of Chu was so adventurous that the State of Qi, as the lord of the Northern Alliance, not only helped the State of Zheng in defense, but also frequently carried out diplomacy, and would ally the small states of Huaixi such as the State of Jiang and the State of Huang. In 656 BC, in order to curb the northward advance of the State of Chu, the Duke of Qi Huan personally led the eight-nation alliance of Qi, Lu, Song, Chen, Wei, Zheng, Xu, and Cao to attack the Chu ally Cai Guo in the south, and the Cai army collapsed; the coalition army continued to attack the Chu state. Although the State of Chu was unable to rescue the State of Cai, the city defense system based on FangCheng had been established, and after inspection by the Duke of Qi Huan and other princes, they gave up the attack and made an alliance with the State of Chu.
After the strategic setback of directly attacking Zheng Guo's hegemony, King Cheng of Chu adjusted his strategy, mainly harassing zheng guo's direction, focusing on Huaixi, and successively destroying the xianguo, huangguo, and britain, and the rest of the Lai state (Li guo) and Jiang guo became the vassal states of the Chu state. In 645 BC, King Cheng of Chu sent an army to attack the state of Xu, an ally of the state of Qi, and the Duke of Qi Huan again organized a rescue. However, this time the army was divided into two ways, the State of Qi and the State of Cao attacked the State of Li in the east of the State of Cai (when it was near the original Xiang State, it was most likely that the State of Chu attacked and then divided into the vassal state of Lai); the state of Lu and the State of Song and other coalition forces directly rescued the State of Xu.
The result of this battle was that the Chu state defeated xu guo at Xu guo's Loulin and rescued the allies of Xu guo. As a result of this, on the one hand, because Duke Huan of Qi was too old and his prestige began to decline, the State of Song made small moves to attack the State of Cao; on the other hand, the expedition of the Labor Division of the State of Chu and the division of the combined forces of the State of Qi to attack the rear road of the State of Chu itself was a clever strategy, but the result was that the main force of the State of Qi attacked the rear road of the State of Chu but could not win quickly, and could not realize the encirclement of the troops of the State of Chu.
The expansion of King Chu Cheng could have a better possibility
Such a result is actually reasonable with the Chu state repeatedly going north but often losing battles. Because today's 800 mm precipitation line is just south of the Song Kingdom, Chen Guo, and Xu Guo, it was warmer than now, and the precipitation line will move north, that is, the southern princely states such as Chen Guo and Xu Guo are already not suitable for car warfare. If the State of Chu went north, compared with the Jin State, which also crossed mountains and rivers to the State of Zheng, the distance was much farther; compared with the State of Qi, which was similar in distance, in ancient times the State of Qi could use Jishui for logistics.
That is to say, in the era of car warfare, if the Northern Princes such as the State of Qi went deep into the south, it would be easy to fail to exert themselves, while the State of Chu would be subject to logistics if it wanted to go north, and it would not be easy to exert its normal national strength.
Later, in the Battle of Chengpu between the State of Chu and the Duke wen of Jin, the King of Chu Cheng originally had to be a master, but the general of the State of Chu, Zi Yu (the royal family of the State of Chu), insisted on fighting. However, King Cheng of Chu understood that the Chu army's attack on the Song State was already a labor expedition, because it had crossed all the water networks in the northern part of the upper reaches of the Huai River, and maintaining such a long logistics for a long time would be a disaster for the Chu State; therefore, the war in the Song Kingdom could only be won quickly, not a war. However, Jin Wengong was indomitable to become the king of the Jin state, and he absolutely had the patience to carry out a protracted war, so King Chu Cheng himself wanted to retreat strategically. The Battle of Chengpu was not a big blow to the Chu state.
Although they were aware of the logistical problems, the Chu people did not try to solve them fundamentally. As mentioned in my previous articles, the Chu people may fundamentally solve logistical problems; it is precisely the Chu people who lack the qin to take the Shu Road to annex Bashu, dig the Zhengguo Canal to improve water conservancy, and even develop canal transportation like wu guogou, so that it is big but not strong, and the descendants of Chu land are empty of regrets.
During the Che War era, Zheng Guo was the focus of the struggle for hegemony, and Zheng Wengong first followed Qi Huan and then Chu Cheng, the three dynasties of Jin Wen
Because of zheng guo's special position, Zheng Zhuanggong was full of spirits at that time; but after the State of Qi, Chu, and Jin began to compete for hegemony in the Central Plains, his descendant Zheng Wengong (673-628 BC) could live a very humiliating life. Zheng Wengong reigned quite close to that of King Cheng of Chu, but since Duke Huan of Qi began to dominate, he demanded tribute from the State of Zheng, and if he was sluggish, he was immediately attacked by the combined forces of the State of Qi; of course, if the State of Chu attacked Zheng, the Qi people would also rescue him.
Zheng Guo was the stage for Qi and Chu to fight for hegemony, although the Chu state was slightly weaker, but it was not something that Zheng Guo could resist; Zheng Wengong tried to be neutral and non-aligned, but immediately attracted an attack from the State of Qi, and the Spring and Autumn Period records that when the Qi people and other princes met the alliance, "Zheng Bo begged the alliance". The Duke of Qi Huan died and the State of Qi declined, and Zheng Wengong had to immediately ally with the State of Chu; the Battle of Chengpu and the rise of the Duke wen of Jin, Zheng Guo immediately honored the State of Jin as an ally, but even so, on the side of the Bedridden of the State of Jin, the State of Jin still tried to attack the State of Zheng.
In terms of reign time, Qin Mugong was not short, and the Qin state won the Battle of Qin, Jin, and Han, and was once able to interfere in the internal affairs of the Jin state. However, because the State of Qin entered the Central Plains, it would either occupy the Hedong and Hanoi of the Jin State, or take the international public channel of the Zhou Kingdom. Obviously, the Jin Dynasty was not so good to nibble down; but taking the Hangu Road, it was easy to be ambushed or interfered with the grain road. Therefore, even if Duke Mu of Qin tried to dominate the Central Plains after the death of Duke Wen of Jin, he was ambushed by the State of Jin in the Battle of Yi.
In summary, although King Chu Cheng accompanied him, he could often appear in the camera; Qin Mugong accompanied him, because the terrain was more unfavorable, he had to try to dominate Xi Rong. In short, in the third fifty years of the Spring and Autumn Period, Qi jin successfully won the name of the hegemony, but the expansion was limited; Qin Chu accompanied the run, but the expansion in the periphery could not be limited by reputation. It's really a fish and a bear's paw.