King Huan of Zhou died in the twentieth year (700 BC).
At the south gate of the Hanging Kingdom, inside the Chu military camp tent, Xiong Tong, the king of Chu Wu, tossed and turned, and as soon as he closed his eyes, he thought of the past and future of the Chu Kingdom, and these thoughts were wrapped in anxious emotions in his mind, and he had not slept well for a long time.
Although you are a prince of the party, the current situation of King Wu of Chu is not stable.
The State of Chu dominated the southwest and had no place among the many princely states. First, Chu Jun was not a royal family member with the surname of Ji, and his title was only a viscount; in addition, the Chu State was located in the "land of barbarians", and there were many cultural differences with the Central Plains, so it was never respected by Zhou Tianzi and the princes of the Central Plains, and was often excluded.
The harsh external environment has stimulated the fighting spirit of the Chu people, and the "Zuo Zhuan" is based on "the blue wisps of the road to open up the mountains and forests." To describe the hardships of the pioneers' entrepreneurship, the idea of "making the Chu state strong" is deeply engraved in the genes of every Chu Jun.
Chu Kingdom Totem
After king Ping moved east, the Spring and Autumn Period began. The princes of all sides became the protagonists of the times, and the prestige of the Zhou royal family fell to the bottom after the Battle of Qiange, and it no longer had any dominance over the world. The chaotic world speaks with strength, and the opportunity for the Chu Kingdom has come!
Four years ago, Xiong Tong, who was still a viscount at the time, asked Zhou Tianzi for a knighthood through Suihou, hoping to intervene in the political situation in the Central Plains, but Tianzi still did not take the Chu state in his eyes.
Hearing that the rejected Xiong Tong stood up angrily, waving his sleeve and pointing north: "The king does not add the throne, I have self-esteem ears!" ”
In the sixteenth year of King Huan of Zhou (704 BC), King Xiongtong of Chu proclaimed himself King of Chu, and kai princes claimed to be the first kings.
At this point, the Chu state and the Zhou royal family completely broke with each other, and since the Zhou royal family did not give the Chu state the opportunity to participate in the politics of the Central Plains, then the Chu state became a part of the Central Plains!
The co-lord of the world, the Honorable Zhou Chamber, is the king. Chu Jun's arrogance was called the king, to some extent, he was an enemy of the princes of the world, and Xiong Tong's step was considered to be his own step into the depths of the water.
However, with the current situation of the Chu State, without taking this step, the situation of opening up the territory and expanding the territory could not be opened at all, and the only choice for the King of Chu Wu was to fight a battle against the water.
Subsequently, Shen Lu, the king of Chu Wu, met with an alliance to determine the hegemony of the Chu state in the Han River Valley. For the princes who did not attend the meeting, King Wu of Chu gave them another chance to choose by military means, and the strength proved that all the princes were "Junjie".
Once the alliance will be made, chaos will be settled, but the crisis has never been lifted. At this time, the relationship between the Chu state and the neighboring countries seems to be calm and calm, but in fact, it is surging undercurrents.
A year earlier, King Wu of Chu had ordered Mo Ao (an official) to form an alliance between the two countries in order to consolidate his power. The state of Yun, who was located between the two countries, feared that this alliance would endanger itself, so it gathered an army at Pusao and wanted to unite the four countries of Sui, Hang, Zhou, and Tatemu to attack the armies of the Chu state.
Fortunately, Qu Feng reacted in time, and while preparing for battle, he sent elite night attacks on Pusao. Before the eagerly awaited Yun army could see the allied flags, they disappeared into the night of Pusao.
The innings have not yet begun, and the people who set up the bureau have fallen first, and there is still a need to continue this innings. Once the Yun army was defeated, the remaining countries retreated without a fight, Qu Feng successfully completed the alliance, and the banshi returned to China.
The Battle of Pusao gave the State of Chu two gains: one was to defeat the State of Yun and let the alliance be successfully completed; the other was to see the position of the surrounding princes, and which would become a threat to the State of Chu in the future.
In terms of strength, none of the princes around the Chu State dared to contend with Chu, but when they united, these small states became the biggest obstacle for the Chu State to enter the Central Plains. If King Wu of Chu wanted to try zhongyuan out of the predicament, these obstacles had to be solved.
The Hanging Kingdom, a small country northwest of the Chu State. Although the territory is small, the city walls are strong, easy to defend and difficult to attack, and it is a hard bone.
The King of Chu first chose to cut the hanging.
As the Chu army moves eastward, the hanging country will be a hidden danger in the rear; if it goes north, the hanging country is also a throat place, so this hard bone must be gnawed down.
At present, the Chu army has been stationed at the south gate of the hanging country for more than a month, and if the Chu army uses any means, the hanged people will not leave the city.
Without fighting, the loss of personnel and equipment is limited, but the daily grain and grass of the soldiers are already stretched, and if they continue to stalemate, the Chu army will be dragged down by daily consumption.
Thinking of this, King Chu Wu completely lost his sleep, got up and dressed, and went to inspect the outside of the camp tent. Walking to his son's tent, he saw that the lights were not extinguished, so he picked a curtain and entered the tent.
After The victory of Pu Suo, Qu Feng became more and more liked by King Wu of Chu, and the King of Chu often consulted with him about the future development of the Chu State.
Qu Fengzi understood his father's worries, and the father and son sat cross-legged on both sides of the desk in the tent, discussing the current situation.
"In January, our life is difficult, and the hanging country may not be better. The city is small, the reserves of materials are limited, and this month has basically been exhausted, so we should give them some gifts. Qu Feng said what he thought.
King Chu Wu looked at him and motioned for him to continue.
"As for what the gift is, grain and grass are absolutely impossible. There are no mountains and forests in the city, and the trees are limited, and at present, in addition to food and clothing, what they lack most is firewood. ”
Qu Feng straightened up and continued, "The spies have come to report that there is now a shortage of firewood and grass in the city, and the people are breaking wood to make fires to cook rice, and firewood is far more scarce than grain." ”
King Chu Wu frowned slightly, "How do you send this firewood?" ”
Qu Feng dipped his fingers in some water, and while drawing on the desk, he said: "The hanging country is a small country, the country is frivolous, and the frivolity lacks ideas, we can send some soldiers to go to the mountains north of the city to cut firewood, and there is no need to send people to protect them." When returning to the city, go through the north gate, and the hanged people will naturally receive this gift. ”
The next afternoon, a bunch of Chu people carrying firewood came down from the hills north of the hanging city, which attracted the attention of the soldiers of the hanging country, and after confirming that the woodcutters were unprotected, the hanging army quickly plundered them into the city, with more than thirty people.
The people in the city are boiling! The Chu people were indeed barbarians, with developed limbs and simple minds, just thinking of letting people chop wood but not knowing how to protect them.
The next day, the hangers found that there were still Chu people in the north of the city who had entered the mountains to cut firewood, and the Chu army in the south seemed to have withdrawn a lot, and the defense of the south gate was much easier.
For the hanging army, such a perfect opportunity was fleeting, competing to get out of the north gate and chase the woodcutters of the Chu state in the mountains.
On the other side, the Chu army at the south gate quietly divided into two roads, one was ambushed at the foot of the mountain to encircle and suppress the hanging army out of the city; the other way from the south gate to the north gate, and the hanging army returned.
The hanging country that besieged the city for a month did not move, and now it only takes a few dozen woodcutters to open its city gates.
The stranded troops who left the city did not expect that they would get firewood, but they would lose the city defenses.
Seeing that the Chu army was holding a bunch of captured hanged people, the Hanging Marquis at the head of the city knew that the general situation was gone, and was powerless to return to heaven, so he had to make a pact with the Chu State and become a vassal of the Chu State. The current idiom "alliance under the city" comes from this.
After the Alliance of Chu Hang, King Wu of Chu stood with his sword on the wall of the Hanging Kingdom and looked southeast.
"Oh, Luo Guo."