We all know an allusion that "the king of Chu has a thin waist, and there are many hungry people in the country", and this king of Chu is the king of Chu Ling in this article. King Chu Ling should be said to be one of the most successful usurpers in Chinese history, not only did he become the monarch for 12 years after usurping the throne, but he was also recognized by the Zhengshi of Chu, which was much stronger than the King of Chu who was killed by him. What was even worse was that his prestige made the princes tremble and king Chu Ping took advantage of this to successfully seize the throne.
King Xiongwei of Chuling was the favorite brother of King Chu Kang, so he was appointed by the King of Chu as Ling Yin (令尹) and was in charge of military affairs, which accumulated military capital for his usurpation. Taking advantage of the opportunity to visit the Chu king Ao Ao who was ill, he strangled the Chu king Ao Ao to death and killed two of his sons, and Ao Ao did not even leave his title. When the emissaries went to the various princely states to report the funeral, the grand master Wu Ju (Wu Zixu's grandfather) determined the statement that "among the sons of the King of Chu, The Oldest is the Oldest" and assisted King Chu Ling in sitting on the throne. During this period, both Jin and Chu were very powerful, and king Chu Ling wanted to emulate The Duke of Qi Huan in his struggle for world domination, so he convened an alliance of princes, but the Jin, Song, Lu, and Wei kingdoms did not come. After the meeting, the King of Chu Ling began to scream, so that Wu Ju couldn't look at it and poured a basin of cold water on him.
With his back to the mighty Chu Kingdom, king Chu Ling's waist was not only very hard, but his mouth was also very hard. After capturing Zhu Fang of the State of Wu, the Chu army seized Quan Xiangqingfeng, who had fled from the State of Qi. King Chu Ling, thinking of occupying the moral high ground, not only destroyed his clan, but also dragged him to the public to execute him to warn others, "Do not imitate Qi Guoqing to kill the king, isolate the children of the monarch, and make an oath with the doctors." As a result, Qingfeng turned his lips to ridicule and loudly said, "It is not as good as king as King Chu Ling killing his brother's son", making King Chu Ling disgraced.
King Chu Ling sent troops to intimidate Wu Guo, and the army was stationed in Qianxi, and when he was idle, he asked his father to talk about the situation. When King Chu Ling said that the State of Qi, the State of Jin, and the State of Lu all had treasures given by the King of Zhou and the State of Chu did not, he asked whether the Zhou Dynasty would give Ding to the State of Chu, and Father Analytic said that now that the State of Chu was strong, the Zhou Dynasty did not dare not give it to the State of Chu; then asked the State of Chu whether he would give it to the State of Chu if he would ask zheng for the old land, and Father Yan said that the Zhou Dynasty did not dare not give Ding, and of course Zheng Guo also gave; finally asked the princes whether they were afraid of the State of Chu, and Father Zhen talked about being afraid. A short dialogue showed that King Chu Ling's ambitions were great, but he was so ambitious and far-reaching that he didn't even think so far without a Wu kingdom being subdued, which was simply unrealistic.
King Chu Ling's long-term stay in Qianxi caused the capital to be empty. Finally, King Chuling's younger brothers united in rebellion, seized the opportunity to capture the capital and kill the prince, and also preached to King Chuling's army that "there is a king in the country, first come back to restore Tian Zhaojulu, and exile without returning", resulting in the collapse of King Chuling's army. When King Chu Ling learned that the prince had died, he jumped out of the car and cried, and did not forget to ask the world whether the beloved son of the world was like him. In the end, the lonely King Chu Ling starved for three days, was found by Shen Hai, and then died in Shen Hai's home.
King Chu Ling's throne came from an improper source, but he always regarded himself as a hegemon, but he did not know that his behavior was seriously tolerated at that time. He sent troops everywhere, not only disobeying the princely states, but also causing domestic resentment. He didn't care about that at all, he only cared about his own reputation. He killed Qingfeng to warn others, but forgot that he had usurped the throne and stood on his own; he wanted to ask for Ding from the Zhou Dynasty and land from Zheng Guo, but only for comparison, not for the sake of competing for world domination like King Zhuang of Chu; in the end, even when his son died, he did not forget to show his father's love to others. However, the more he performed in this way, the more it showed the selfishness, arrogance and ruthlessness of King Chu Ling, and the more it showed that his death was more than worthy.