In the New Year of the Western Weekend, King You of Zhou smiled at Bo Bao, lit a beacon fire in Lishan, and played the princes fiercely. Standing on the beacon tower, Bao Xi looked at the thousands of soldiers and horses, came and went as soon as they were summoned, and finally showed a smile on her cold face.
However, Bao Xi's smile made King You of Zhou completely lose the trust of the princes, and also pushed the Western Zhou into the abyss of no return.
In 771 B.C., the Northwest Yi Dog Rong sent troops to attack the capital of the Western Zhou Dynasty, Haojing, and the panicked King You of Zhou lit a last beacon of help in Lishan, however, the princes did not take this request for help seriously.
In the end, King Zhou You died on Lishan Mountain, and his son Ji Yijiu ascended the throne and was known as King Zhou Ping in history. Since then, Zhou Tianzi's power has been weakening, and the Central Plains has since entered the Spring and Autumn Period of princes' struggle for hegemony.
In the eyes of most people, the Spring and Autumn Period is an era in which a hundred schools of thought contend, and the heroes rise together. There have been thinkers such as Confucius, Laozi, and Zhuangzi, as well as overlords such as the Spring and Autumn Five Hegemons.
When it comes to the Spring and Autumn Period, there is one person who cannot be ignored, he is Zheng Zhuanggong, the head of the three tyrants in the early Spring and Autumn Period. Although he did not have the prestige of the Spring and Autumn Five Hegemons, he was the first person who dared to challenge the royal power of Zhou Tianzi, and it was he who opened the situation of princes competing for hegemony.
So, what kind of person is Zheng Zhuanggong? Why did he dare to declare war on Zhou Tianzi? How exactly did he accomplish the overlord's destiny?
It all started with King Ping's eastward migration.
01
Huangquan sees his mother
In the second year of King Zhou Ping's accession to the throne, the dog Rong sent troops to attack again. Man-made disasters are accompanied by natural disasters, at this time, there is a depression in the capital of Hao, many years of drought, poor grain harvest, the Zhou royal treasury is empty, and there is nothing to be done about the pressure of the dog Rong.
In 770 B.C., King Ping of Zhou thought twice and decided to move the capital to Luoyi to avoid disaster. This move of the capital is known as King Ping's eastward migration, which also marked the beginning of the Spring and Autumn Period.
However, when King Zhou Ping moved eastward, he did not let the people of Hojing move eastward. Therefore, when a lot of manpower was required to rebuild Luoyi, King Zhou Ping had to rely on the strength of the local princes, which also led to Luoyi falling into the control of the princes.
The Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period for more than 500 years of hegemony and fighting began from this.
The first country to rise because of King Ping's eastward migration was Zheng Guo, and Zheng Wugong obtained a large number of fiefs because of his merit in escorting King Ping of Zhou, and Zheng Guo gradually became stronger.
In 743 BC, Zheng Wugong died of illness, and his son Kou Sheng ascended the throne, known as Zheng Zhuang Gong in history.
Zheng Zhuanggong is an ambitious person, and King Zhou Ping is no longer the son of Zhou Tianzi who commanded the world in Haojing, and now he is just relying on the princes to make a name for himself in Luoyi. As a result, he was no longer willing to pay an annual tribute of grain and jewels to the Zhou royal family.
However, the ministers of the court believed that Zheng Zhuang Gong had just ascended to the throne, and his younger brother Duan Zheng was eyeing the throne. If he rashly became an enemy of Zhou Tianzi, he would give Gongzi Duan an opportunity to take advantage of, and the gains outweighed the losses.
Gongzi Duan is the younger brother of the same father and mother of Kou Sheng, and later generations called him Gongshu Duan. He and Kou Sheng have been at odds since childhood, and they often have disputes. In Zheng Wugong's later years, Duan even tried to take the crown prince from Kou Sheng several times.
Originally, in the royal family, it was not uncommon for brothers to compete for the throne, but as the mother of Kou Sheng and Duan, Wu Jiang also participated in it, and stood firmly behind his youngest son to help him seize the throne together.
Wu Jiang was born noble and was the daughter of the monarch of Shen State. She only gave birth to two children in her life, Kou Sheng and Duan, but Wu Jiang has always been disgusted with her eldest son Kou Sheng, but she loves her younger son very much.
Especially when Zheng Wugong was seriously ill, she asked her husband more than once in front of his sickbed to pass the throne to her youngest son Duan.
The reason why Wu Jiang's attitude towards the two children is so contrasting is because she had a difficult birth when she was born, and the baby was born with the first foot to come out, which was called reverse birth, which was an ominous sign at the time.
In Wu Jiang's opinion, Kou Sheng will not only bring misfortune to himself, but also to the entire Zheng Kingdom. Therefore, she has always supported her youngest son, Duan. However, Zheng Wugong still insisted on passing the throne to Kou Sheng.
After Kou Sheng succeeded to the throne, he originally planned to give Duan Gongcheng, a small city far away from the national capital Xinzheng, as a fief. However, Duan was reluctant to go to the fiefdom on the grounds that he wanted to be filial in front of his mother, and it was useless to let Kou Sheng urge him many times.
Until one day, Wu Jiang took the initiative to call Kou Sheng. As soon as Wu Jiang saw Kou Sheng, he immediately asked: "You are already the king of a country, and the hundred miles of Zheng Guo's rivers and mountains are all yours, but you only give Duan such a small fief. ”
When Kou Sheng heard this, he respectfully asked, "Then what about according to my mother's wishes?" ”
Seeing this, Wu Jiang immediately said: "It's better to give the system as a fief to Duan, okay?" ”
Kou Sheng immediately refused: "The system is a dangerous place, my father has a life during his lifetime, and he will never allow a fief, except for the city, the rest of the places are left to my mother to choose." ”
Seeing that Kou Sheng rejected her directly, Wu Jiang felt angry in his heart, and said angrily: "I knew that you would use your father's will to gag me, that's it!" ”
Seeing this, Kou Sheng was also anxious, and said helplessly: "Mother, you can give Duan anywhere except for the city, and it is all up to your mother." ”
Seeing this, Wu Jiang no longer insisted, so he asked Kou Sheng to seal Jingyi to Duan. Although Kou Sheng was reluctant in his heart, he still gave Jingyi to Duan as a fief according to Wu Jiang's wishes. So, Duan quickly packed his luggage and set off for the fiefdom.
After the goal was achieved, Wu Jiang explained to Duan that he would expand the troops and horses as soon as possible in the fiefdom and make preparations as soon as possible. At every opportunity, she would send a letter to Duan so that he could take advantage of the opportunity to take the throne, and she always felt that Kou Shengsheng was ominous, and she was determined to let Duan take his place.
Before Duan left, Wu Jiang asked Kou Sheng for a batch of soldiers and horses for Duan to guard Jingyi. This time, Kou Sheng did not obstruct it anymore, but readily agreed.
Although Zheng Zhuanggong has been introverted since childhood, he is very shrewd. As early as when Zheng Wugong was seriously ill, he saw clearly his younger brother's ambition to usurp power and seize the throne, and in order not to startle the snake, he responded to his mother and younger brother's requests, so that they slowly relaxed their vigilance.
In fact, Kou Sheng deliberately indulged Duan very much, so that he could rebel. Because only in this way could he completely get rid of Duan in front of Wu Jiang, however, Duan and Wu Jiang didn't realize this.
After arriving in Jingyi, Duan began to recruit troops and horses, secretly developing his own power, in order to seize the throne as soon as possible. For several years, Duan and Kou Sheng seemed to be calm, but in fact, everything he did was under Kou Sheng's surveillance.
After everything was ready, Duan quietly sneaked back to Xinzheng and disguised himself into the palace to meet his mother Wu Jiang. Wu Jiang was very surprised to see Duan and asked, "Why did you come to Xinzheng?" ”
Duan replied anxiously: "Mother, I can't wait, I will be raising troops in the near future." ”
Wu Jiang was shocked when he heard this: "Don't start the army?" Are you ready? ”
Duan replied confidently: "I heard that Kou Sheng will go to Luoyi to meet Zhou Tianzi on the first day of the fifth month. When the time comes, he will take with him a large number of soldiers and horses. Mother, you help me keep an eye on Kou Sheng, as soon as he leaves, you plant a white flag at the head of the city, and I will immediately attack the city. ”
Jiang Wu listened and immediately agreed to Duan's request. However, she also hopes that she will not hurt her life. After Duan and Wu Jiang finished speaking, they left the palace in a hurry.
What they thought was a seamless and airtight plan to seize the throne had actually reached Kou Sheng's ears, because he had already planted eyeliner beside Wu Jiang.
At this time, Zheng Zhuanggong was already disappointed in his mother and younger brother, and he no longer had hope in the thin maternal love. As the saying goes, the fish are greedy, and the angler lures them. Since Duan was going to attack Xinzheng, he went to attack Jingyi and took his base camp.
According to the "Zuo Biography":
After the uncle is gathered, the armored soldiers, the pawns, will attack Zheng. Madame will enlighten it. When he heard about it, he said: "It's okay! "Ordered the son to seal the handsome car by two hundred times to the capital. Uncle Duan, the rebel uncle of Beijing, Duan entered Yan, and fought against Zhuyan. In May, the uncle went out to the commune.
In May, Zheng Zhuanggong pretended to leave the capital city of Xinzheng and went to Luoyi. Duan saw that the troops in Xinzheng City were weak, so he led the army to attack Xinzheng, and Wu Jiang also joined forces with the outside and ordered someone to open the city gate.
At this moment, Zheng Zhuanggong suddenly appeared, and the panicked Duan immediately led his army to turn around and wanted to flee back to Jingyi, but learned halfway that Zheng Zhuanggong had already ordered someone to capture Jingyi. Duan, who had no way to retreat, had to flee to the Communist Republic and finally committed suicide.
After quelling Duan's rebellion, Zheng Zhuanggong took advantage of the situation to sweep away the opposition forces within Zheng Guo, and truly achieved sole power. But his mother Jiang Wu became a knot in his heart, and the relationship between the two not only did not improve, because Duan's rebellion became worse.
Wu Jiang knew from the moment Kou Sheng appeared that the plan to seize the throne was doomed to failure, and she was immediately sent to the dormitory under house arrest. In the dormitory, she waited anxiously for more than half a month, but she didn't wait for a trace of news from Duan, and her heart was faintly uneasy.
In a hurry, she took the initiative to ask to see Kou Sheng, and as soon as they met, she asked sharply: "Did you kill Duan?" ”
In the face of his mother's questioning, Kou Sheng couldn't say half a word, so he had to let Wu Jiang vent his anger on him. But he was really unwilling.
He asked rhetorically, "You only care about Duan, do you know who killed him?" It's you! It was you who told him that the throne of the king was his, it was you who indulged his ambitions, it was you who told me to give him the capital and the soldiers and horses, if it weren't for you, he wouldn't have come this far! ”
Wu Jiang was shocked by Kou Sheng's words and retreated, she didn't want to admit that she was the culprit.
Seeing this, Kou Sheng continued: "Just because I am a rebel student, you named me Kou Sheng, you have hated me for many years, and think that I am an ominous person, do you really think that I don't know your plan? To tell you the truth, Duan has committed suicide. ”
Wu Jiang learned that her favorite youngest son had died, and she immediately regretted it, she wanted to admit her mistake to Kou Sheng, but Kou Sheng no longer hoped for the weak maternal love, he made up his mind and said: "How can there be a mother like you in the world, I don't want to see you again, you and I will never see you again in this life, until Huangquan!" ”
After that, Kou Sheng sent his mother Wu Jiang to Yingdi (Yingyang area, Henan), where he built a palace, imprisoned Wu Jiang, and sent someone to take care of him.
A year later, in the palace of King Zheng, Zheng Zhuang was just entertaining the ministers, in the center of the dance floor, the dancing queen danced, the music was tactful, Zheng Zhuang Gong was very happy, he glanced around, only to see a minister was putting the delicacies at the banquet into his own food box.
Seeing this, Zheng Zhuanggong was puzzled, so he asked out loud, "What are you doing?" ”
The minister replied: "Your Majesty, there is still an old mother in the minister's family, and she has never eaten such a good thing, I enjoy it here, but my mother can't eat a bite, and I feel guilty, so I want to bring some back to my mother to eat." ”
When Zheng Zhuanggong heard this, he couldn't help but feel a little lost in his heart, and he said lonely: "You have a mother to be honored, but the widow doesn't." ”
The minister replied: "How could the king not have it? The lady is alive, as long as the king is willing, he can still be filial. ”
Zheng Zhuanggong also said regretfully at this time: "Actually, sending my mother to Yingdi is also a widow's impulse, no matter what, she is my biological mother, how can you be unfilial to the monarch." However, the widow also made a heavy oath that he would never see each other until he arrived in Huangquan, and the widow could not break his oath! ”
After hearing this, the minister said: "Your Majesty, the minister has a method, as long as you order someone to dig a tunnel underground and bring in the spring water, it will be a yellow spring, and then your majesty will be able to meet your mother by the yellow spring." ”
After hearing this, Zheng Zhuang felt that this was a good way to fulfill filial piety without violating the oath. So he did according to the plan, and after repairing Huangquan, he ordered someone to take Wu Jiang over.
As soon as Wu Jiang saw Zheng Zhuanggong, he cried bitterly and apologized again and again. Zheng Zhuanggong finally accepted his mother's apology and took her back to Xinzheng. Kou Sheng finally released his suspicions with Wu Jiang Bing, which is also a story of filial piety that has been passed down to future generations and sung by others, Huangquan sees his mother.
After reconciling with his mother, Zheng Zhuanggong completely swept away all obstacles within Zheng Guo and took power alone, however, his ambitions did not stop there, what he wanted was to be above Zhou Tianzi and no longer under the control of the Zhou royal family.
In order to achieve this goal, Zheng Zhuanggong and Zhou Tianzi once again launched a fierce contest.
02
Fake life to cut Song
Under the governance of Zheng Zhuanggong, Zheng Guo's national strength became stronger and stronger, and he began to look at the world and coldly look at the famous Eastern Zhou Dynasty.
After the rebellion between the princes of King Zhou You and the dog Rong, the Zhou royal family is no longer the overlord of the Central Plains who can command the world, but is more like an old man who is dying and old, and has become the fish and meat of the princes.
In 720 B.C., King Ping of Zhou saw that the nearby Zheng State was gradually becoming stronger, coupled with his deep knowledge of Zheng Zhuanggong's endurance and humiliation, and his resolute and resolute character, the sense of crisis shrouded in his heart always lingered.
In order not to let the Zhou royal family be in danger of being swallowed up, King Zhou Ping tried every means to remove the power of Zheng Zhuang Gong in the court.
Zheng Zhuanggong was the secretary of the Zhou Dynasty and assisted Zhou Tianzi in managing the government. Therefore, King Ping of Zhou wanted to decentralize the power of the Duke of Zheng Zhuang in order to weaken his power.
Zheng Zhuanggong, who learned the news, was furious, so he immediately came to the priest to discuss the matter. Saizu is the strategist of Zheng Zhuang Gong, this person is resourceful, and he became the first powerful minister in the Spring and Autumn Period.
After learning what happened, he offered a plan to Zheng Zhuanggong, exchanging the prince of Zheng Guo for the crown prince of the Zhou Dynasty as a hostage, and used this move to threaten Zhou Tianzi. After hearing this, Zheng Zhuang Gong immediately went to Luoyi and met with King Zhou Ping.
King Zhou Ping knew that he had unjustifiably set aside the authority of Zheng Zhuang Gong's minister, so when he saw Zheng Zhuang Gong coming, he couldn't help but feel a little weak, so he asked: "What is the matter with Uncle Zheng coming this time?" ”
Zheng Zhuanggong did not go around the bush and asked: "I heard that the king wants to hand over the power of the minister's secretary to others, and the minister feels ridiculous when he hears this, so I have come to meet you, hoping that the king can remove the minister from his post as a secretary, so that the king will not be tainted by the message." ”
As soon as Zheng Zhuanggong said this, King Zhou Ping was overjoyed. However, King Ping of Zhou knew that the Zhou Dynasty at this time had declined, and if it was bullied by foreign tribes such as the dog Rong, it still needed all vassal states to maintain the royal power.
If the power of Zheng Zhuang Gong was cut at this time, perhaps, the princes of various countries would fall into the well when they saw this, and in order to protect the safety of the royal family, King Zhou Ping thought about it and chose to compromise.
So, King Zhou Ping replied: "Uncle Zheng, don't listen to slander, this matter is definitely not done by a widow. Zheng Bo and the ancestor Zheng Wugong have the grace of reinvention of the Zhou family, how can this king be so ruthless and unrighteous. ”
After hearing this, Zheng Zhuang replied modestly: "Although the ancestor has contributed to the Zhou family, he has little credit. Since the ministers inherited the position of the ancestors, they have never shared their worries with the king, and they cannot be in the position of the secretary. ”
King Zhou Ping saw that Zheng Zhuanggong had repeatedly asked for resignation, and knew that he was testing himself, so he said anxiously: "Why doesn't Uncle Zheng believe in this king, but listens to those slanderous rumors, how can you believe this king." ”
Seeing this, Gong Zheng Zhuang said: "King, why don't you let Gongzihu come to my Xinzheng as a guest, and also let my son come to Luoyi to listen to His Majesty's teachings, how about it?" ”
King Zhou Ping was shocked when he heard this, but because of the strength of Zheng Zhuanggong, he did not dare to refuse rashly, so he had to reluctantly agree.
Soon after, Gongzi Fox came to Xinzheng and became a hostage. At this time, Zheng Zhuanggong was already satisfied, not only kept his position as a secretary, but also got the talisman of Gongzi Fox, and his safety was finally guaranteed.
And King Zhou Ping, who was far away in Luoyi, was so angry that he not only failed to cut the position of Zheng Zhuanggong's secretary, but his son also became a hostage of Zheng Guo, and now he was helpless against Zheng Guo.
This exchange of power, known in history as "Zhou-Zheng Jiao", was the beginning of the collapse of the authority of the Zhou royal family, and it was also the first landmark event of the collapse of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty.
In fact, in the Spring and Autumn Period, in order to protect the tranquility of the border, the vassal states often used the exchange of hostages to restrain each other. However, Zheng Zhuanggong was the first person who dared to propose the conditions for exchanging hostages with the Zhou royal family.
To say why Zheng Zhuang dared to fight against the Zhou royal family, the main reason is that the Zhou royal family is missing two things, one is strength, and the other is justifiable.
Before, the Zhou royal family sat firmly in the capital city of Haojing, and its strength should not be underestimated, but as King Ping moved eastward, the Haojing area was occupied by the Dirong barbarians, and Zhou Tianzi lost control of Haojing, so he had no strength to fight against the indigenous princes.
On the other hand, King Zhou Ping was supported by his grandfather Shen Hou, who colluded with the dog Rong to break through Hojing and kill King Zhou You. King Zhou Ping was not properly enthroned, and he was even suspected of killing his father and seizing the throne, so he also lost the support and prestige of the people.
Therefore, Zheng Zhuang Gong dared to challenge the royal power and coerce the Son of Heaven.
In 720 BC, King Ping of Zhou died of illness, and Gongzi Hu, who was in Zheng State, prepared to return to Luoyi to inherit the throne. Who knows, on the way back to Luoyi, Gongzi Hu also died of illness due to excessive sadness.
Finally, he was succeeded by Ji Lin, the grandson of King Zhou Ping, and was known as King Huan of Zhou. After King Huan of Zhou succeeded to the throne, when he thought of the humiliation suffered by the Zhou royal family because of Zheng Guo, he was indignant in his heart, and his hatred for Zheng Zhuang Gong was incomprehensible.
King Zhou Huan had long been dissatisfied with the monopoly of Zheng Zhuanggong's power, and in order to vent his anger, he convened his ministers to discuss and wanted to cut Zheng Zhuanggong's position as a secretary.
On the top of the main hall, King Zhou Huan said worriedly: "Recently, the widow has been difficult to sleep and eat, Zheng Bo is the first king's important minister, he has done his best, and his hard work is high, but you are getting older, if you still let you work day and night, how can you bear it." But if you abdicate, I am afraid that everyone in the world will say that the widow is ungrateful, and the widow really does not know what to do. ”
Seeing this, Zheng Zhuanggong also said: "The minister has been in a high position for many years, and he is also thinking day and night. Therefore, when the former king was alive, the minister also asked for resignation many times, perhaps because the former king trusted the minister too much and did not allow the minister to leave. ”
After hearing this, King Zhou Huan continued: "In this case, seeing that Uncle Zheng has worked hard for the Zhou family for many years, the widow really can't bear to let you work so hard, so it's better to go back to Xinzheng to recuperate!" ”
Zheng Zhuang Gong saw that King Zhou Huan had made up his mind, and it was difficult to argue again, so he had to say: "The minister has thanked the king for his compassion, and he will go back to Xinzheng to recuperate." ”
In this contest with Xinjun, Zheng Zhuanggong unexpectedly lost the upper hand and was seized of power, so he had to return to Xinzheng in disgrace. But he was still unwilling, so he called the sacrificial foot again to discuss, wanting to frustrate the spirit of King Zhou Huan.
In the summer of 720 B.C., in Wenyi under the rule of King Huan of Zhou, the golden ears of wheat were swaying layer after layer like a wave under the blowing of the breeze, and the wheat farmers were also working in the fields, and their hearts were full of joy.
Suddenly, a group of Zheng soldiers with scythes in their hands rushed into the wheat field, violently drove away the wheat farmers, harvested the wheat in the field as fast as possible, and then drove away.
After a period of time, Zheng Zhuanggong found that King Zhou Huan did not react, so he simply did not do anything, and harvested the rice of the Zhou royal family.
The Eastern Zhou Dynasty followed the Western Zhou Dynasty's policy of "integration of soldiers and peasants", and its basic characteristics were that the service personnel were scattered in the village community as farmers in peacetime, and were temporarily recruited as soldiers in wartime.
After King Ping moved eastward, the Zhou royal family established four cities to use for tuntian, the most famous of which was Wenyi. And the Duke of Zheng Zhuang pocketed the harvest of the Zhou royal family for a year, which not only weakened its strength, but also reserved military rations for himself, and fed the war with war.
Wisdom will be the enemy's food. Eat the enemy for one minute, and be my twenty bells; One stone, when I have twenty stones.
Zheng Zhuanggong's act of stealing rice again made King Zhou Huan furious, he endured it the first time, and he would never endure it the second time. However, he would never rashly become an enemy of Zheng Zhuanggong, so he could only quietly wait for an opportunity.
The Song State was adjacent to the Zheng State, and disputes often broke out, and the Duke of Zheng Zhuang had already had the intention of annexing the Song State. So, he formed an alliance with Chen and Lu with both soft and hard methods, and prepared the three alliances to attack the Song state, but this plan was opposed by the sacrificial foot.
Saizu believed that attacking the Song Kingdom needed a good reason. Because the Song State was different from other countries, as a duke, his status was respected, and his influence among the princes was great, and if there was no good reason, it would inevitably cause dissatisfaction among the other princes.
And the most sufficient reason is to get the support of Zhou Tianzi and use the king's order to defeat the Song Dynasty.
For this reason, Zheng Zhuanggong is very embarrassed, he has been at odds with the Zhou royal family, although three years have passed, but he understands that Zhou Huangong will definitely not help him.
At this time, the sacrificial foot saw Zheng Zhuanggong's hesitation, so he persuaded him: "Your Excellency doesn't have to worry, you just need to ask Zhou Tianzi for the matter of grabbing grain with a generous gift, if he is willing to support it, it is naturally good, if not, I have other ways." ”
After hearing this, even if he didn't want to, he had to go to Luoyi with a generous gift to ask King Zhou Huan for his guilt. On the other hand, King Zhou Huan heard that Zheng Zhuanggong came to ask for guilt, and he felt a sense of accomplishment in his heart, so he met with Zheng Zhuanggong.
As soon as Gong Zheng Zhuang entered the main hall, King Zhou Huan said sarcastically: "Uncle Zheng has been in the future for three years since he left Luoyi last time!" ”
After hearing this, Zheng Zhuang Gong hurriedly saluted and said: "The ministers are busy with affairs, and they can't take a break for a while, so they have delayed the audience, and now as soon as they are free, they will come to ask the king for their guilt." ”
King Zhou Huan snorted coldly and said: "Fortunately, Uncle Zheng is busy with affairs, the last time Uncle Zheng came, he strengthened my food, if Uncle Zheng comes every year, I am afraid that the widow will starve to death." ”
In the face of King Zhou Huan's cynicism, Zheng Zhuanggong endured it, and did not mention the matter of the Song Dynasty, so he hurriedly left. And in order to slap Zheng Zhuanggong's face, King Zhou Huan also specially sent ten carts of chaff as a gift.
King Zhou Huan's move made Zheng Zhuanggong very dissatisfied, but this was a godsend for the sacrificial foot. He described these ten carts of chaff as Zhou Tianzi's reward for paying tribute to Zheng Zhuang Gong every year, so as to show Zhou Tianzi's trust in Zheng Zhuang Gong.
After that, Saizu also let out the wind to say that the Duke of Song was rude to Zhou Tianzi and did not go to Luoyi to worship the Son of Heaven for a long time, so Zhou Tianzi specially ordered Zheng Zhuang Gong to crusade against the Song State on behalf of the Son of Heaven.
In 713 B.C., Zheng Zhuang Gong united Qi and Lu to lead the allied army to attack the Song State and won the victory in the war, which is the famous fake life war in history.
After this incident, Zheng Zhuanggong was surprised to find that Zhou Tianzi did not punish him for falsely claiming the king's order. In fact, King Zhou Huan was very annoyed after learning that he was used as a gun by Zheng Zhuanggong, but he was afraid of Zheng Guo's strength and had to give up.
As a result, Zheng Guo and the Zhou royal family once again fell into a cold war.
In the autumn of 707 BC, King Huan of Zhou finally couldn't bear the disrespect of Duke Zheng Zhuang, and in order to maintain the majesty of the Zhou royal family, Prince Huan of Zhou led the alliance of Zhou, Chen, Cai, and Wei to attack Duke Zheng Zhuang.
King Zhou Huan, who had assembled the armies of the four countries, was full of confidence and went straight to Xinzheng with great momentum. This time, he wants to let Zheng Zhuang Gong see the majesty of the Son of Heaven, and he wants to snow the shame brought by Zheng Zhuang Gong.
After Zheng Zhuanggong got the news, he was not afraid of the four-nation alliance, quickly prepared soldiers and horses, led the army to meet the battle, and the two armies set up the battlefield in Xiangge. Zheng Zhuang ordered Zhu Dan to be the vanguard, and he sat in the Chinese army, waiting for the opportunity to move.
At that time, Chen Guo had no fighting spirit due to domestic turmoil, and the combat effectiveness of the Cai and Wei armies was not strong. Therefore, when the battle began, Zhu Dan took the lead in attacking the Chen army on the left flank of the coalition army, and the Chen army was immediately defeated and soon withdrew from the battlefield.
Then, Saizu led the army to attack the Cai and Wei coalition forces on the right flank, and the coalition forces were defeated and retreated, scattering in all directions, and King Zhou Huan was shocked when he saw this.
At this time, Zhu Dan in the array saw the panicked King Zhou Huan, so he took a bow and shot an arrow, this arrow shot at King Zhou Huan with lightning speed, King Zhou Huan couldn't dodge, and was hit by an arrow in the shoulder, and the entourage saw this and hurriedly helped him onto the frame and fled in a hurry.
Zhu Dan was overjoyed when he saw that King Zhou Huan was defeated, and then met with Zheng Zhuanggong, wanting to take advantage of the victory to pursue and capture King Zhou Huan alive. However, Zheng Zhuang Gong was still afraid of the prestige of the Zhou royal family, and was afraid that the fierce pursuit would cause hostility among the other vassal states, so he finally gave up.
03
At last
The battle of Xiangge ended with a complete victory for the Duke of Zheng Zhuang.
That night, Zheng Zhuang Gong sent a priest to the Zhou camp to comfort the seriously injured King Huan of Zhou and the generals of the Zhou Dynasty, as a sign of friendship with the Zhou royal family. And King Huan of Zhou was afraid that Zheng's army would attack again, so he returned to Luoyi.
Although Zheng Guo was victorious, Zheng Zhuanggong was afraid that he would be accused of killing the king, so he did not chase after him. After that, the status of Zhou Tianzi plummeted, and the Eastern Zhou Dynasty was in vain.
In the world of Zhou, the dog Rong Huanzhi, the first emperor died, and the first battle of the Emperor was abolished first.
Zheng Zhuang Gong was the first to lay down the royal power holder of the divine right of the monarchy, and since then the prestige of the Son of Heaven has been discredited, and Zheng Zhuang Gong has also become the first prince in Chinese history to dare to say no to the royal power, and the rise of Zheng Guo also opened a precedent for the Spring and Autumn Period hegemony.
Following the Zheng State, the vassal states of Qi, Jin, Chu, and Qin rose successively, followed by a new pattern in the Spring and Autumn Period, in which the princes competed for hegemony.
Therefore, Zheng Zhuanggong's experience perfectly interprets that strength is the last word. In the era of the heroes, if the fists are not hard, then there is only a beating!