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With copper as a mirror, you can dress properly; With the ancient as a mirror, you can know the Xingtuo; With a human mirror, you can see the gains and losses.
——"The Old Book of Tang Wei Zheng Biography"
The Battle of Chengpu was the first major battle fought between Jin and Chu in the 20th year of King Xiang of Zhou (632 BC) for hegemony in the Central Plains in the area of Weiguo Chengpu (southwest of present-day Zhencheng, Shandong). Duke Wen of Jin fulfilled the promise of "retreating" made by the exiled Chu state, causing the Jin army to retreat and temporarily avoid the Chu army. Ignoring King Chu Cheng's admonition, Ziyu, the commander of the Chu army, led his army to advance and was annihilated by the Jin army. The Chu army was defeated. The battle ended with the defeat of Jin and Chu, and the State of Jin replaced the State of Qi and ascended to the position of hegemon in the Central Plains. The Jin state became famous in the first battle, becoming the second overlord of the Spring and Autumn Five Hegemons after Qi Huan Duke - Duke Wen of Jin.
Background of the Great War:
In 643 BC, the first of the Five Hegemons of Spring and Autumn, Duke Huan of Qi, died of illness, and the hegemony of the State of Qi declined.
At this time, the State of Chu, which lived in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, took the opportunity to rapidly expand to the Yellow River Valley, successively destroyed many weak and small countries, and leapt to become a power in the Central Plains, and its power has developed to the Yangtze River, Hanshui, Huaishui and the Yellow River, with a population of millions and thousands of troops, becoming the world's premier power at that time.
Just as the state of Chu was developing towards the Yellow River Valley, the state of Jin in the north also began to prosper.
In 636 BC, the Prince of Jin, who had been in exile for 19 years, returned to China to become a monarch, and was known as the Duke of Wen of Jin.
After Jin Wen Gong came to power, he carried out a series of internal affairs reforms and activities to win allies, and his national strength grew stronger day by day, and rapidly developed into the Central Plains, in an attempt to replace the Qi state and ascend to the hegemonic position. Therefore, there was a contradiction with the strategy of the Chu State to determine the Central Plains, and the struggle for hegemony between Jin and Chu was inevitable.
In 634 BC, the Song state, which had originally submitted to the state of Chu, saw that the state of Jin had become stronger and turned to the state of Jin. In order to maintain its position in the Central Plains, the State of Chu sent troops to attack the State of Song to prevent the State of Jin from advancing south. The State of Jin also sent troops to the Central Plains in the name of saving the Song Dynasty. Thus began the Battle of Chengpu.
Line-ups of both sides:
The lineups of the two sides during the battle between Chengpu and Pu wen gong reformed the military system, and the national army set up three armies: with Xianxuan as the marshal, commanding the Chinese army, and assisted by Hao Qin; Fox Mao commanded the army, assisted by Fox Wei; Luan Zhi commanded the army, assisted by Xu Chen. The State of Chu was also the third army, that is, Yin Ziyu commanded the Chinese army with Ruo Ao's sixth pawn. Zixi (Douyishen) commanded the left army. Zishang (Doobo) commanded the right army. Chu's servants Guo Zheng and Xu Jun were subordinate to the Chu Left Army, and Chen and Cai Jun were subordinate to the Chu Right Army.
The war went by:
First, the Jin state was cautious in the initial battle, choosing to fight the weak enemy first in order to win the initial battle.
The Jin army first took the weak enemy, Cao and Wei, allies of the Chu state, and mobilized the Chu army to go north to fight a decisive battle with it, in order to gain the initiative in the war. Both Cao and Wei were small states and vassals of the State of Chu. Duke Wen of Jin wanted to dominate the Central Plains, and decided to use these two small countries to practice first.
In the spring of 632 BC, Duke Wen of Jin attacked Wei Guo. In the first month, the Jin army occupied the Weiguo Wulu. In February, Duke Wen of Jin and Duke Zhao of Qi made a covenant in a place called Ao Lu in Wei Guo. Wei Hou, the sovereign of the Patriotic Kingdom, had no way to go to heaven, no door to enter the earth, and wanted to cry without tears, and finally escaped to the Kingdom of Lu by chance. Subsequently, the Jin state overwhelmed the border and besieged the state of Cao. On March 9, the Jin army invaded the Cao capital, and Cao Gonggong was captured.
Second, the commander of the Jin army first offered a clever plan, cleverly pulling the two great powers of Qi and Qin to his side, greatly enhancing the power of the Jin state to compete with Chu.
Prior to this, in order to punish the Song state for rebelling against Chu and surrendering to Jin, King Chu Cheng sent a large army to besiege the Song state. Song is a small country, unable to compete with the State of Chu alone, and is in danger. The State of Song hurriedly sent the doctor Menyin to the Jin army to urgently ask for help.
At this time, the question in front of Jin Wengong was: Do you want to send troops to save Song? If Song is not saved, Song is likely to break off friendship with Jin and return to the arms of the Chu state; If you send troops, you are not sure of victory. From the analysis of the entire situation, if Jin and Chu are at war, the best strategy is to unite with Qi and Qin to jointly send troops, in order to create a strategic situation favorable to themselves. So, how can Qi and Qin join the war? At that time, although Duke Qi Zhao and Duke Wen of Jin were in the Weiguo Alliance, they did not send troops; Although the State of Qin was friendly with the State of Jin, it took a wait-and-see attitude at this time. Just when the Duke of Jin Wen was undecided and hesitant, the marshal of the Jin State Central Army first proposed a clever plan of "killing three birds with one stone".
Xianxuan said: "Let the Song State not ask us, but give gifts to Qi and Qin, and ask the Chu State to withdraw its troops through Qi and Qin." At the same time, we detained the king of the state of Cao and divided the fields of the state of Cao and Wei to the state of Song, and the state of Chu could not bear Cao and Wei, and would definitely not agree to the request of the state of Qi and the state of Qin and retreat. The State of Qi and the State of Qin liked the gifts of the State of Song, and they must be angry at the State of Chu's stubbornness in not accepting mediation. In this way, can Qi and Qin help the mainland deal with the Chu State without participating in the war? Jin Wengong laughed and applauded, and ordered the immediate implementation of this countermeasure. King Cheng of Chu failed to see through the Jin state's scheme, and rudely refused the mediation of Qi and Qin. Qi and Qin felt that they had lost the face of a great power, so they turned their faces with the State of Chu. As a result, the joint front of Jin, Qi and Qin and the strategic pattern of "three to one" great powers were formed.
Third, the Jin state formed alliances with powerful countries and formed a strong coalition army; Retreat, reason and restraint; Preset the battlefield, lure the enemy deep, and win the battle.
Therefore, the Jin state united with Qi, Qin, Song and other states to fight a decisive battle against the Chu state in the northern Central Plains in 632 BC.
Before the decisive battle began, Duke Wen of Jin, in the name of repaying his exile in the state of Chu and receiving funding from the king of Chu, ordered the Jin army to "retreat to the three shes" (one is thirty li), cleverly avoiding the Chu army's front, and retreating to Chengpu (present-day Zhencheng Chengpuji, Shandong).
When the Jin army retreated, the commander of the Chu army, Ziyu, despised the Jin army very much, rashly advanced, ordered the army of the Chu state to pursue with all his might, and arrogantly shouted that "there will be no Jin today".
After the decisive battle began. The Jin army first attacked the Chu allies - the weak Chen and Cai Right Wing Army, and the Chen and Cai Right Wing Army collapsed (there is a strikingly similar scene in history, how similar the combat strength of the Chen and Cai armies is to the German allies Italian and Romanian armies in the Soviet-German War in the twentieth century, they are all proper pig teammates who pit friendly troops, hehe!) ）。 Subsequently, the Jin army retreated to lure the enemy. The Chu left wing army had no brains, blindly pursued, and was very lucky to fall into the encirclement preset by the Jin army with the elite main force, and was wrapped in dumplings and all were annihilated. The Battle of Chengpu ended with the defeat of the Jin army by the Chu army.
The significance of the Battle of Chengpu:
The Battle of Chengpu was a war related to the overall situation of the Central Plains in the Spring and Autumn Period, freeing the small Central Plains country that had fallen to the State of Chu from the control of the State of Chu and annexing it to the State of Jin. After the war, Yu Jiantu, a prince of the Duke of Jinwen (southwest of present-day Anyang, Henan), and Zhou Tianzi were also invited to participate, thus achieving the achievement of "taking the power and hegemony". In this way, the second hegemon of the Spring and Autumn Five Hegemons, Duke Wen of Jin, was born, and the struggle for hegemony was successful.
The following is the follow-up record of the "Battle of Chengpu" recorded in "Zuo Chuan" (the author has translated the literary language into the vernacular, and the text in parentheses is the author's short comment):
King Chu Cheng entered Shencheng and stayed, asked Uncle Shen to leave the valley, and let Ziyu leave the Song Kingdom, saying, "Don't go after the Jin State army!" Duke Wen of Jin was outside, for nineteen years, and the result was the Kingdom of Jin. Dangers and hardships, have tasted them all; The truth of the people's feelings is understood all over. Can Heaven give him life and remove his evils, can Heaven abolish what God has set? The "Military Record" said: 'Enough is enough'. He also said: 'Retreat in the face of difficulties'. He also said, 'The virtuous cannot be stopped.' Three records, applicable to the Jin state. (King Chu Cheng is also a very discerning and capable monarch after all, and his evaluation of Duke Wen of Jin is very accurate and in place)
Ziyu sent Bo Di to ask King Cheng for battle, saying, "I can't say that there must be merit, and I am willing to use this to plug the mouth of the evil villain." "King Chu Cheng was angry and gave him less troops, and only one hundred and eighty chariots from Xiguang, Donggong and Ruo Ao followed him (the monarch of Chu and the commander did not agree. Ziyu was stunned and did not have the support of the monarch. King Cheng was angry and sent troops. This laid a hidden danger for the defeat of the Chu army).
Ziyu, the commander of the Chu army
Ziyu sent Wanchun to the Jin army to report: "Please restore the throne of the Marquis of Wei, and at the same time return the land to the Cao state, and I will also lift the siege of the Song state." Zi Guo (Jin Wen's uncle) said: "Ziyu is unreasonable! What was given to the king of the mainland was only to lift the siege of the Song Kingdom, but what the king was asked to give was the restoration of the guard and the sealing of Cao. This opportunity to fight must not be lost. Xianxuan said: "The king promised him that it is called rites to stabilize others, and the kingdom of Chu will stabilize the three kingdoms with a word, and we will perish them with a word, we will be rude, what will we fight?" Not agreeing to the request of the State of Chu is abandoning the State of Song; Rescued and abandoned him, what will be said to the princes? The State of Chu has three favors, and we have three grudges. There are already many grudges, what are you going to fight? It is better to privately promise to restore the Cao State and the Wei State to separate them, and capture Wanchun to anger the Chu State, and wait for the war. "Duke Wen of Jin is very happy. (Duke Wen of Jin followed the advice of Ruliu, and the monarch and generals of the Jin state were united) so he imprisoned Wanchun in Wei Guo, while privately promising to restore Cao and Wei. Cao and Wei broke off diplomatic relations with the State of Chu.
Ziyu became angry and pursued the Jin army (angry and prosperous, this is a taboo for soldiers, can Yan be undefeated?) ）。 The Jin army retreated. The military officer said, "It is a shame to hide from your subordinates as a king; And the Chu army is already tired, why retreat? The offender said: "When you send troops to fight, you will be strong if you are reasonable, and you will be weak if you are unreasonable, where is the length of time outside?" Without the favor of the Chu State, we would not have been able to get here. Retreat is in return. Turning their backs on favors and talking does not count, to use this to resist their enemies, we are reasonable and the country of Chu is straight, plus their morale has always been full, and it cannot be considered fatigue. We retreat and the Chu army goes back, what else do we ask for? If they do not return, the monarch retreats, and his subordinates invade, they will be unreasonable. "The Jin army retreated. (The Jin army was reasonable, courteous, and courteous, and achieved a moral victory) The knights of the State of Chu wanted to stop, but Ziyu did not agree.
On the third day of the fourth month of the summer, Duke Wen of Jin, Duke Cheng of Song, Dafu of Qi Guoguo returned to his father, Cui Yao, and Xiaoziyi, the son of the Prince of Qin State, led the army to garrison Chengpu. The Chu army was camped against a dangerous hill named Hao, and Duke Wen of Jin was worried about this. He heard the soldiers singing the lyrics: "The grass is lush in the field, remove the old roots and sow new seeds." Jin Wen Gong had doubts in his heart. The fox said, "Fight! If you win the battle, you will definitely be supported by the princes. If you can't win, there is the Yellow River outside the Jin Dynasty and the Taihang inside, and there will definitely be no damage. Duke Wen of Jin said, "What should the Kingdom of Chu do with our favors in the past? Luan Zhi said: "Those princely states surnamed Ji in the north of Hanshui were all annexed by the Chu State. Thinking about the small favors and favors in the past, I will forget this strange shame and humiliation, not like the Chu State fighting a war. "Duke Wen of Jin dreamed of fighting with King Chu Cheng at night, and King Chu Cheng knocked him down and lay on him to suck his brain, so he was a little afraid. The fox said: "This is an auspicious omen. We have heaven's help, and the king of Chu faces the earth to sin and we will tame him. (The text here is mysterious, and future generations can refer to it)
Ziyu sent Doubo to challenge and said to Jin Wengong: "I ask to fight with your soldiers, you can hold the cross log in front of the car to watch, and I Ziyu will also accompany you to watch." (Diplomatic rhetoric of the Spring and Autumn period, full of the civilization and color of the upper aristocracy at that time) Duke Wen of Jin asked Luan Zhi to reply: "Our monarch has received the teaching. We dare not forget the favor of the king of Chu, so we retreated here, and we all have to give in to the great master Ziyu, how dare we resist the Chu jun? Since you have not received an order from your country to withdraw its troops, let you take the trouble to tell your generals: Prepare your chariots, take seriously the tasks entrusted by your lord, and we will see you on the battlefield tomorrow morning. (The Jin army's rhetoric is neither humble nor promiscuous, and the literary quality is polite)
The Jin army had seven hundred chariots, fully equipped with carriages and horses. Duke Wen of Jin climbed the ruins of the old city of Guxin to inspect the military appearance, saying: "The young and the old are very polite, we can use it for battle." So the Jin army cut down local trees as supplementary combat equipment.
On the fourth day of April, the Jin army set up a position in northern Xinbei, and Xu Chen, the deputy general of the lower army, led troops to resist the armies of Chen and Cai. The lord of the Chu State, Ziyu, used Ruo Ao's six hundred pawns as the main force and said, "The Jin Kingdom will definitely be wiped out today!" "(The main general is arrogant and underestimates the enemy, and will be defeated) Zixi leads the left army of the State of Chu, and Doubo leads the right army of the State of Chu. The Jin general Xu Chen covered his war horse with a tiger skin (the Jin army adopted a new method of warfare) and first attacked the combined forces of Chen and Cai. The combined forces of Chen and Cai fled, and the right army of the State of Chu was defeated. The main general of the upper army of the Jin state, Hu Maoshu, raised two large banners and pretended to retreat, and the main general of the Jin state, Luan Zhi, let the chariot drag the branch and pretend to escape (the Jin army lured the enemy deep, and the tactics were appropriate), the Chu army was deceived and pursued, and Yuan Yi and Hao Qin led the elite troops of the Jin army to block and kill the Chu army. Fox Mao and Hu Wei commanded the upper army to attack Zixi from both sides, and the left army of the State of Chu was also defeated. As a result, the Chu army was defeated. Ziyu collected his troops early, so his Chinese army did not rout.
The Jin army lived in the Chu army camp for three days, ate captured military food, and did not return to China until April 8. On 29 April, the Jin army arrived in Hengyong and built a marching official for King Xiang of Zhou in Jiantu.
Three months before the Battle of Chengpu, Zheng Wengong went to the State of Chu to hand over Zheng Guo's army to the command of the State of Chu, and Zheng Wengong was afraid that the Chu army had lost the battle, so he sent Zirenjiu to seek peace with the State of Jin. Luan Zhi of the Jin State went to Zheng Guo to discuss an alliance with Zheng Wen. On May 11, Duke Wen of Jin and Duke Wen of Zheng made a covenant in Hengyong.
On 12 May, Duke Wen of Jin offered the captives of the State of Chu to King Xiang of Zhou, with 100 chariots with four horses and armor, and 1,000 infantry. Duke Wen of Zheng presided over the ceremony for King Xiang of Zhou, and received Duke Wen of Jin with the same etiquette as King Ping of Zhou had received Marquis Wen of Jin. On May 14, King Xiang of Zhou entertained Duke Wen of Jin with sweet wine and persuaded Duke Wen of Jin to drink wine. King Xiang of Zhou ordered Yin, Prince Hu, and Neishi Shuxing's father to appoint Duke Wen of Jin as the chief of the princes by means of a letter of strategy, and gave him a chariot and a complete set of costumes and ceremonial guards, a large chariot and a complete set of costumes and ceremonial guards, a red bow, a hundred red arrows, ten black bows, a thousand black arrows, a spoon of fragrant wine made from black millet rice, and three hundred warriors, and said: "The king of Zhou said to his uncle: 'Respectfully obey the orders of the king of Zhou, pacify the princes of the four directions, and supervise and punish the bad guys. Duke Wen of Jin gave in three times before accepting the king's order, saying, "Bow down again and accept and carry forward the greatness, light, and goodness of the Son of Zhou." Duke Wen of Jin was late in accepting the letter of policy, and met with King Xiang of Zhou three times (Duke Wen of Jin honored Zhou Tianzi, "Fengtian Son to order not subjects", and achieved a political legitimacy initiative and a moral victory).
Wei Chenggong was frightened when he heard that the Chu army had been defeated by the Jin army, and fled to the state of Chu, and later to the state of Chen. Wei Guo sent Yuan Huo to assist Shuwu to accept the covenant between the Jin state and the princes. On May 28, Wang Zihu and the princes made a covenant in the hall of the King of Zhou, and made an oath: "All the princes must help the royal family and not kill each other." If anyone breaks his oath, the holy gods will punish him, so that his army will be destroyed and he will no longer be able to enjoy the state, until his descendants, young and old, will not escape punishment. The gentleman considered this covenant to be honest and said that the Jin kingdom had conducted its conquest in this battle based on virtue and righteousness.
At the beginning, Ziyu of the State of Chu made a set of horse crowns and horse straw decorated with beautiful jade, which had not yet been used. Before the battle, Ziyu dreamed that the river god said to himself: "Give them to me!" I reward you with the swamps of Mengzhu of the Song Kingdom. Ziyu refused to give it to the river god. Ziyu's son Daxin and Chu's great master Zixi asked Ronghuang to persuade Ziyu, but Ziyu did not listen. Rong Huang said: 'When a person dies, it can be beneficial to the country, and he must also die, not to mention Meiyu! They are nothing but dung, and if they can be used to help the army win, what is there to be sorry for? Ziyu still didn't listen. Rong Huang came out and told Daxin and Zixi: "It's not that the river god wants Ling Yin to defeat the battle, but that Ling Yin is unwilling to do his best for the people, which is really asking for his own defeat." After the defeat of the Chu army, King Chu Cheng sent someone to Ziyu and said, "If you return to the Chu Kingdom, how can you explain to the fathers and elders in Shen and Xi?" Zixi and Daxin said to the envoy, "Ziyu originally wanted to commit suicide, but we stopped him and said, 'The monarch will still punish you.'" Ziyu committed suicide when he arrived in Liangu.
King Chu Cheng
When Duke Wen of Jin heard the news of Ziyu's suicide, he was overjoyed and said, "No one will harm me in the future!" The Chu State was the commander of Lu Chen, and only knew to protect himself and would not think about the common people. (Ziyu was a fierce rival of the Jin state and was forced to commit suicide by King Chucheng.) To some extent, although King Chu Cheng removed a disobedient commander, he also self-destroyed the Great Wall and did a stupid thing that made his relatives hate and revenge, and it would be difficult for the Chu army to take revenge in the future. ）