King Zhou Zhao was the fourth monarch of Western Zhou, during his reign "wang dao was slightly lacking", in order to revitalize the Zhou royal family, King Zhou Zhao continued to fight wars, first conquest of Dongyi, and then personally led the southern expedition. Although King Zhou Zhao won the victory, he did not return alive. Due to the lack of ancient literature, the military operations of King Zhou Zhao's southern expedition were full of doubts, so how did this Zhou Tianzi who came to the world die, and who killed him?
In 656 BC, that is, during the Spring and Autumn Period, after defeating the State of Cai, Duke Huan of Qi led the combined forces of the princely states to continue south, aiming their troops at the State of Chu. When King Cheng of Chu heard the news, he sent emissaries to inquire about the reason, and Guan Zhong replied: "Ergong Baomao does not enter, the king sacrifice is not shared, there is no way to shrink the wine, the widow is a sign; the king of Zhao's southern march is not resumed, and the widow is asking." Obviously, the State of Qi associated king Zhou Zhao's "southern expedition without recovery" with the state of Chu.
The emissary of the Chu kingdom replied: "The tribute is not entered, and the crime of the widow is also the same, dare not give it together?" King Zhao's death, Junqi asked the waterfront. "For the first crime, chu guo admitted it, and they really did not pay tribute to Zhou Tianzi; as for the death of King Zhou Zhao, Chu guo did not admit it, and said that you can go to the vicinity of Hanshui to inquire." Many people believe that the object of King Zhou Zhao's southern expedition is the State of Chu, so they think that the death of the State of Chu and King Zhao is actually not correct!
At that time, the state of Chu was weak and weak, and it did not have the strength to oppose Zhou Tianzi at all. According to records, the Chu state was very poor at that time, and actually stole cattle from neighboring countries to sacrifice, and in order to prevent being discovered, sacrifices could only be held at night. In addition, there is another point that is also very critical, during the reign of King Zhou Zhao, the vicinity of Hanshui was not the territory of the State of Chu, so when the emissaries of the State of Chu said this, The Duke of Qi Huan and Guan Zhong did not refute it, because they knew in their hearts that this was just a "crime of wanting to add".
"Sixteen years of King Zhao of Zhou, cut down Chu Jing", the "Chu Jing" here is not the Chu state, but the local tribes living in the Han River Valley, usually considered to be the Chu barbarians in the south. Because there were very rich copper and tin minerals in Chu Man, King Zhou Zhao would make a military conquest of it, on the one hand, he could improve the prestige of Zhou Tianzi, and on the other hand, he could obtain copper and tin to cast bronzes. According to the data, the military operations of King Zhou Zhaowang were victorious.
However, King Zhao of Zhou died suddenly when Banshi returned to the dynasty, and "King Zhao did not return to the south and died on the river." The "Shi Ji" is very vague, and the "Lü Shi Chunqiu", which was written earlier than the "Shi Ji", tells it more clearly, "also anti-Han, Liang defeated, Wang and Cai Gong fell in Hanzhong", that is to say, when crossing the Han River, the pontoon bridge was broken, resulting in the drowning of King Zhou Zhao in the Han River. It is reasonable to say that Zhou Tianzi crossed the river, and the pontoon bridge project must be very strict, how could this happen?
There is a saying that someone deliberately used a rubber boat to frame King Zhou Zhao, which I think is not credible. According to the records of the "Ancient Bamboo Book Chronicle", many strange things happened before King Zhou Zhao died in Hanshui, "the heavens are big, the pheasants and rabbits are all shocked", and "the five colors of light penetrate the purple micro". These situations are much like the scene before the earthquake, before the earthquake animals are usually very active, running around, and the phenomenon of "earth light" occurs.
In other words, King Zhou Zhao was most likely killed in an earthquake! While he was crossing the Han River, a sudden earthquake occurred, causing the pontoon bridge to be damaged, falling into the water, and drowning due to the chaos of the scene. In this earthquake, not only King Zhou Zhao was killed, but also the army of the Zhou Dynasty suffered heavy losses. The Zhou Dynasty believed in the Mandate of Heaven, and the earthquake meant "Heavenly Punishment", and king Zhou Zhao, who was the son of heaven, died in an earthquake, which was difficult to say, so the Zhou royal family could only avoid this sensitive issue.
References: 1. "Records of History"; 2. "Lü Shi Chunqiu"; 3. "Ancient Bamboo Book Chronicle"