Xiong Huai, the king of Chuhuai, was a famous monarch of the State of Chu during the Warring States period, and there were many allusions related to him, such as "Wushan Cloud Rain", "Xiangshan Meeting", "Zheng Sleeve Envy", and stories like Zhang Yi deceiving the Six Miles Land of Chu State all happened to him.
At the same time, his more than thirty years were also a period when the state of Chu went from strength to decline.
In 329 BC, King Huai of Chu just ascended the throne, and the strength of the state of Chu reached its peak, ranking as one of the three great powers together with the rising Qi and Qin, becoming the country with the largest territory among the princes at that time, and also the country with the richest property, the largest population and the strongest army at that time.
But at the same time, the world at that time was undergoing major changes unseen in a century, and the trend of strength and weakness had undergone earth-shaking changes.
King Huai of Chu
At this time, the Wei state experienced the Battle of Maling (342 BC), and 100,000 Wei warriors were completely annihilated by the Qi army, falling from the strongest of the world to the bottom of the abyss.
At this time, King Qi Wei built a palace in Linzi, and the State of Qi became the academic and cultural center of the world, allowing the State of Qi to return to the prosperous era of the Duke of Qi Huan's "one Kuang world".
At this time, it was less than ten years since the death of Shang Martin of the Qin State, but the Qin State had completely turned into a war machine, which made the world fearful.
At this time, King Zhao Wuling of the State of Zhao is about to ascend the throne, and the "Hufu Riding Shooting" will finally burst out the most brilliant fireworks of that era, making the whole world look at each other.
At the same time, the strategy of the United and the Heng was also born.
It's a troubled time, but also a wonderful drama.
Sengoku map
In 319 BC, Gongsun Yan, the founder of Hezheng, returned to the Wei state, and the following year, under the instigation of Gongsun Yan, King Huai of Chu was elected as the commander of Hezheng, and together with Wei, Zhao, Han, and Yan, the five kingdoms jointly sent troops to attack the state of Qin.
Unfortunately, the first five-kingdom foil ended in failure.
This small defeat did not extinguish King Chuhuai's ambition to dominate the world, and then King Chuhuai appointed Qu Yuan to change the law, but because the reform touched the interests of the old aristocracy and King Chuhuai's heart was not strong, in the end, this hasty reform ended hastily.
Qu yuan
But the general trend of the world has also undergone earth-shaking changes in an instant.
The strategy of the Qin state also changed, and King Hui of Qin adopted the famous general Sima Guo's suggestion: if Shu is obtained, Chu will be obtained, and Chu will be destroyed.
In 316 BC, the State of Qin sent Zhang Yi, Sima Guo and others to lead troops to destroy Shu and destroy Ba and Shu.
In this way, the Qin State occupied the country of Tianfu with fertile land and a high level of agricultural development, which provided more favorable conditions for the economic development and military warfare of the Qin State.
After occupying the Kingdom of Tianfu, the Qin people completely controlled the middle and upper reaches of the Yangtze River and the Yellow River. As if one was at the top of the mountain and the other was at the foot of the mountain, it formed a condescending oppressive situation against the six countries.
Qin Annihilation Bashu
The strength of the Qin State was even more expanded, and the Chu State, the first stop along the Yangtze River to the east, finally came to the first line to face the Qin people.
In the face of the coercion of the Qin state, the state of Chu could not sit idly by and decided to launch a counterattack, so King Huai of Chu turned around and allied with the state of Qi.
As soon as the alliance of the two superpowers was established, the world pattern changed in an instant.
In 313 BC , the State of Chu and the State of Qi captured Quwo ( southwest of present-day Shaanxi County , Henan ) in the Qin state , and besieged Shang Yu ( Shangluo , Shaanxi ) .
Shang Yu was once a contested place for the three kingdoms of Qin, Wei and Chu, and for this important region, King Huai of Chu was determined to win.
Where business is done
The State of Qin was afraid of the alliance of Chu and Qi and had to send Zhang Yi to seek peace.
Zhang Yi began to flicker. He said to King Huai of Chu: "The person that the King of Qin values most is the Great King, and the person that the King of Qin hates the most is the King of Qi, and if the Great King breaks off diplomatic relations with the State of Qi, the minister will ask the King of Qin to sacrifice the land between the six hundred li of Shang to your country." ”
King Huai of Chu was narcissistic, arrogant and selfish, and when he heard the great joy, he immediately sent people to break off diplomatic relations with the State of Qi, and happily announced in the court: "The widow obtained 600 li of land from the State of Qin without spending a single soldier!" ”
King Huai of Chu immediately broke off diplomatic relations with the State of Qi, and sent envoys to Xianyang to receive the land offered by the State of Qin.
However, Zhang Yi took the map and said to the envoy of the State of Chu: "Oh, come and see, the territory given to the State of Chu by the State of Qin is 6 miles from here to here. ”
Chu Envoy said angrily: "I heard that 600 li, not 6 li. ”
Zhang Yi said calmly: "You must have misheard, I, Zhang Yi, am just an insignificant little person in the Qin Kingdom, who is qualified to say what 600 li?" ”
Zhang Yi
King Huai of Chu was furious and devoted his troops to attack the state of Qin.
In 312 BC, the angry army of the State of Chu attacked Danyang (near present-day Weichuan County, Henan), and under the influence of Zhang Yi, the Wei state of Korea chose to side with the state of Qin and sent a large army to join the Qin state.
In the end, the coalition army defeated the Chu army in Danyang, annihilating 80,000 Chu troops, capturing more than 70 high-ranking generals of the Chu state, and the commander of the Chu army was also killed in battle.
This bad news spread back to the State of Chu, and the State of Chu was shocked.
Not finished, the Qin army took advantage of the victory to expand the victory, and took the Chu State Hanzhong with empty troops.
Seeing that the State of Chu was in danger, the State of Qi decided to abandon its past and send troops to rescue the State of Chu.
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In the end , the combined forces of the State of Chu and Qi broke through Wuguan , occupied the Shang territory of the State of Qin , and then crossed the Qin Mountains and fought the Qin State at Lantian ( in present-day Lantian County , Shaanxi Province ) .
The situation was instantly reversed, and the Qin State was forced to mobilize men, women, and children throughout the country to come to Lantian with weapons to resist the Chu army.
In the face of the fierce resistance of the Qin people, they could not go any further.
And at this time, the Yue State in the south of the rear of the State of Chu also attacked the State of Chu in a big way.
The state of Chu was forced to retreat , not only abandoning the Shang Yu that had just been occupied, but also being pursued and killed by the Qin people all the way, losing troops and generals, and having to cede the two cities to seek peace with the Qin state.
Guard the pass of the Qin Kingdom
Although the country of Yue was located in a corner, it was a major hidden danger for the state of Chu, and in the end, King Huai of Chu decided to eliminate the state of Yue.
In 306 BC, King Huai of Chu sent troops to attack the State of Yue, killing King Wujiang of Yue and bringing all the land from the original Wu State to Zhejiang under his rule.
The country of Vietnam fell apart and perished. The remnants fled to the homeland of the Yue Kingdom on the southern coast of the Yangtze River, and ruled separately, calling the monarch and king, and the history books also refer to this area as Baiyue (the name of Baiyue is quite controversial).
Although the State of Chu lost Hanzhong and the Central Plains, it gained a wider area of Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and was still the largest country in territory and population during the Warring States Period.
Map of the Warring States after the destruction of Chu and Vietnam
However, big is not necessarily powerful.
The State of Chu had millions of people with armor, although the quantity was large but the quality was poor, and the State of Chu also paid a heavy price in the battle of destroying Yue.
Not only that, after the destruction of the State of Chu and the State of Yue, it also made the surrounding neighbors feel cold and dangerous, and was immediately attacked by the State of Qi, Korea, Wei, and Qin.
Especially the State of Qi, seeing that the border of the State of Chu suddenly advanced to the south gate of its own house, it reacted even stronger.
At this time, the ruler in the State of Qi was Meng Weijun Tian Wen, one of the four famous sons of the Warring States in history. Meng Weijun once again carried the banner of "joint vertical" diplomatically, and united Zhao Wei and South Korea to form an alliance to jointly deal with the State of Chu.
Meng Weijun
The allied forces met at Chuisha (present-day Tanghe County, Henan), took advantage of the night, attacked the Chu army, killed more than 20,000 Chu troops, and captured large areas of Chuqiu (present-day Yuyangbei, Henan), Wan (present-day Nanyang, Henan), and Ye (present-day Ye County, Henan).
The State of Chu had to ask the State of Qi for peace and sent the crown prince Xiong Heng to the State of Qi as a hostage.
And the State of Qin was not willing to be lonely, and in 299 BC, it attacked the State of Chu again and occupied eight cities in the State of Chu.
King Qin Zhao asked people to bring a letter to King Huai of Chu, saying, "I am willing to meet with you in Wuguan, make a contract in person, and form an alliance and return." ”
King Huai of Chu saw King Qin Zhao's letter and decided to go to Wuguan in person to ally with Qin.
King Zhao of Qin
King Huai of Chu did not listen to the dissuasion of Qu Yuan and others, and at the instigation of his youngest son Zilan, Zilan, came to Wuguan, but was detained by the State of Qin.
The Qin state then kidnapped King Huai of Chu to Xianyang and forced him to cede land to save his life.
Only at this time did King Huai of Chu wake up like a dream, furious, regretting not falling, but no longer willing to agree to Qin's unreasonable demands.
And the Chu people are even more confused, and the king of Chu and the prince are trapped in the princes, which has never been the case since the founding of the state.
Therefore, the State of Chu fraudulently claimed that King Huai of Chu died, reported to the State of Qi, and welcomed the crown prince Xiong Heng back to the throne to succeed him, which was for the king of Chu Yuanxiang.
For a time, the State of Chu had two kings, which doomed King Huai of Chu, who was in the enemy territory, and was imprisoned for three years and finally died in the State of Qin.
The State of Qin returned the body of King Huai of Chu to the State of Chu, and the people of Chu all wept with grief and grief like dead relatives.
And the State of Qin actually ignored diplomatic etiquette and treated the head of state who met as a prisoner and confined him to his own home, and who would dare to risk meeting him again in the future?
This stupid pig-like approach not only made himself lose trust in the world, but also reduced the national trust of the Qin State to a minimum, so that everyone in the world knew that the Qin State had no faith and no righteousness, the "national product" was extremely poor, and the name of "Tiger and Wolf" was officially solid.
Not only that, but also let the people of Chu bury their sorrow and indignation for nearly a hundred years, and buried the bane of "although there are three families in Chu, the death of Qin will be Chu" for his descendants.
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