The Battle of Yi, a key battle in the mid-Spring and Autumn period, had a profound impact on later history.
Let's take a look at the pre-war situation.
At the suggestion of Xianzhen, Xianggong of Jin ambushed and annihilated the Qin army in Kunshan, causing the short-lived Qin and Jin to become a bubble.
Liang Zi was thus formed, and several generations of Qin monarchs regarded Jin as their enemies, formed an alliance with Chu, and repeatedly disturbed the east until they defeated the army and joined the alliance.
The Jin State was caught in the middle of the attack of the two great powers, and every time it made a move with the Chu State, it was worried that the Qin State would take a knife from the side and grab the waist.
And after King Chuzhuang quelled the rebellion of the vassal states and completely eradicated the Ruoao family, he did not have any worries about sending troops.
What are the two sides fighting for hegemony?
It is the control of the small states in the Central Plains, in which the Zheng and Song states are relatively strong, and whoever they are attached to can get more practical interests and political influence in the Central Plains.
Since the Battle of Hongshui resulted in the wounding and death of Song Xianggong, the Song people refused to attach themselves to Chu, so the general strategy of Chu was to control the wavering Zheng State, and then attack the Song State with all its might, and forcibly conquer it by military means.
The Jin State resolutely did not allow Zheng Guo to become the younger brother of Chu State, and Zheng State became the focus, and the two great powers continued to use troops against the region.
From 608 BC to 598 BC, the Jin State attacked the Zheng State 4 times, and the Chu State attacked the Zheng State 7 times, and the wars were still frequent.
Zheng Guo was quite uncomfortable as a gas bag, he was beaten once a year on average, and he vomited blood just thinking about it! And they couldn't decide which side to stand on, because as long as they chose one side, the other side would send troops to ask for the guilt, and there was no solution.
Zheng Guo had no choice but to adopt the strategy of "living between the great powers and obeying the strong orders", Chu Qiang obeyed Chu, and Jin Qiang obeyed Jin.
The Jin army defeated the Chu army at the Battle of Liudi in 600 BC and the Battle of Yingbei in 599 BC, and the Zheng state was temporarily attached to the Jin state.
The king of Chu Zhuang was unwilling to lose, and in 597 BC he personally led his army to attack Zheng State, and the momentum was like a bamboo, reaching the capital Xinzheng.
It took nearly four months for the Chu division to break Xinzheng, and Zheng Xianggong led the sheep out of the city to surrender, asking the king of Chuzhuang to punish the crime.
It said that Zheng Guo was willing to attach to the State of Chu, and hoped that the King of Chu would not destroy his country and eliminate his ancestry.
Ying Qi, the prince of Chu State, suggested that the king of Chu Zhuang directly destroy the country and occupy Xinzheng, but the king of Chu Zhuang thought that the purpose of subjugation had been achieved and did not agree.
Obviously, King Chuzhuang is worthy of being the lord of the Ming Dynasty, and he sees the problem deeper and farther.
Defeating a country and occupying a country are two completely different concepts, not to mention that Zheng Guojun has already bent his knees to be punished on behalf of the people, and forcibly destroying the country will inevitably be unpopular.
If you are unpopular, you will not be able to actually control Zheng Guo, and the cost of governance will be more than ten times higher than the cost of war.
Moreover, the people of Chu are still "outsiders" in the eyes of the Central Plains countries after all, and Zheng Guo is a prince of the Son of Heaven clan, once Zheng Guo is destroyed, it will bring a strong stimulus to other princes, prompting them to join forces to attack Chu.
The final result was that the state of Chu made enemies on all sides, and the situation was extremely passive, and it was possible to withdraw from the Han River Plain, which was far less cost-effective than letting Zheng surrender to Nagong.
This is the same reason that the state of Chu has always been indestructible, and the state of Sui still existed during the Warring States period.
Because destroying the country's heirs is too "unreasonable" and hateful, it cannot be done lightly. Isn't it better that Suiguo provided copper ore for the state of Chu, which was a refuge for the king of Chu in times of crisis, and also reflected the "benevolence" of the king of Chu?
Map of the early Warring States period
Because the Yankees have a short history, they don't understand this truth at all, they like to fight for hegemony but can't play, and in the end the world is full of enemies, and the few remaining little brothers are also scolding their mothers in their hearts, and they are about to collapse.
The Chu army besieged Xinzheng for more than three months, and the Jin State was next to it but was slow to help, which shows that there was a problem within it, and there were at least two voices.
One kind of main battle, one kind of proposition, take a look at it, and consume the strength of the Chu army.
A few months later, the Jin State sent Xun Lin's father as the marshal of the Chinese army, leading 600 troops to rescue Zheng.
Zheng Guoren's scalp is numb again, in case Jin Guo wins, they are bound to come back to the field, Zheng Xianggong doesn't want to always lead the sheep bare-chested, he really has no face to enter the Taimiao!
So he sent the doctor Huang Rong to envoy Chu Ying, advocating a decisive battle between Chu and Jin, don't be endless.
The strength of the Chu State was too strong at that time, and after four months of fighting, there was no problem with the supply at all, and there was no mood in the country. In contrast, the national strength and internal situation of the Jin State were inferior to those of their opponents.
So King Chuzhuang wanted to fight a decisive battle, but the Jin Kingdom didn't want to. The decisive battle means betting on the fortune of the country, and there is no certainty of victory, and it is better not to bet.
Under Wu Shen's rhetoric, King Chu Zhuang strengthened his determination to win, and the Chu army, which had already withdrawn, turned around and went north.
In the middle and late Spring and Autumn Period, all kinds of tricks have been used more maturely during the war, and it is not like in the early days, I will fight a decisive battle with you, give you the next war letter, and we will fight in a grand place somewhere.
Jin and Chu confronted Yu Yi, and the king of Chu Zhuang first showed weakness, sued for peace twice, and paralyzed the commander of the Jin state.
The people of the Jin Kingdom didn't want to fight in the first place, so they agreed to negotiate peace.
The two sides were about to meet, the Chu army sent a team to attack the Jin division to lure the battle, the Jin generals Wei Jian and Zhao Zhan led the crowd to attack Chu, the Chu army had a reason to go out of the division, and counterattacked with all its might, and the Jin army was forced to rush to the battle.
The course of the war will not be repeated. Because the Jin army was not united, and there was no determination to fight to the death, and the Chu division was led by the king of Chu Zhuang, he was ready to play with his life from the beginning, and he calculated the Jin people, and it was self-evident who won and who lost.
The defeat of the Jin State led to its short-term inability to compete with the Chu State, and the Zheng State was firmly controlled by the Chu people. Two years later, Chu invaded the Song Dynasty, besieged the Song capital for nine months, the Song people changed their children and eaten, analyzed the bones to plan, the Jin State could not be saved, the Song State really could not withstand it, so it surrendered to Chu.
Next, Qi and Lu formed an alliance with Chu, and the king of Chu Zhuang swept the Central Plains and drank the Yellow River, becoming a veritable overlord of the Spring and Autumn Period.
No matter which five of the five hegemons of the Spring and Autumn Period were, there is no doubt about the three overlords of Duke Qi Huan, Duke Wen of Jin and King Chu Zhuang.
Of course, the Spring and Autumn War did not suffer much damage, and the Jin State could continue to pull with the Chu State after a few years of rest.
The Jin state realized that the threat of the Qin state made it always necessary to be wary of the flank, and that the state of Chu was too comfortable to be a dominant family in the south, and should cultivate a hostile force on his flank to restrain its wanton northward advance.
As a result, the neighbor of the Chu State, the Wu State, was soon supported by the Jin State, and the Chu State made the Yue State bigger to suppress the Wu State, and the Spring and Autumn Period was about to usher in the later stage of the Wu-Yue struggle for hegemony.