Duke Wen of Song (?– 589 BC), courtesy name Song (宋氏), courtesy name Bao (一作鲍革), son of Duke Chenggong of Song and brother of Duke Zhao of Song, was the twenty-fourth monarch of the State of Song during the Spring and Autumn Period, reigning from 610 BC to 589 BC.
Song Wengong was a wise man, treated the people of the country with courtesy, and gave alms well. Because of his handsome appearance, the wife of his grandfather Song Xianggong wanted to have an affair with him, but Song Wengong refused, so The wife of Xianggong helped him to extend favors among the people, so he was supported by the people.
In 611 BC, Lady Xiang sent someone to kill Song Zhaogong and establish Song Wengong as king. The following year, the Duke of Jinling sent the general Xun Linfu and the princes to attack the Song Dynasty and pursue the matter. However, because Song Wengong won the hearts and minds of the people and bribed the princes, the princes recognized their status as legitimate, so they withdrew their troops.
In 609 BC, Song Wenzheng fixed the rebellion of Song Wugong and other clansmen, as well as the son of Song Zhaogong and the half-brother of Song Wengong. In 606 BC, Prince Guisheng of the State of Zheng accepted orders from the State of Chu to attack the State of Song. Duke Wen of Song sent Hua Yuan and other troops to resist, and the two sides fought at Dazhi, the Song army was defeated, Hua Yuan was captured, and soon Hua Yuan fled back to the Song state.
Later, Duke Wen of Song sent troops to besiege the State of Cao and attack the State of Teng. After falling into a war with the State of Chu and besieged by the State of Chu for five months, Song Wengong sent Hua Yuan to the State of Chu to seek peace. King Zhuang of Chu, because of Hua Yuan's honesty, finally called off the siege and left. In 589 BC, Duke Wen of Song died and was succeeded by his son Gonggong of Song.
Gongzi Bao was a wise man and treated the people of the country with courtesy, and when there was a famine in the Song Dynasty, Gongzi Bao took out all the grain and gave it away. For those over the age of seventy, there is no one who does not send anything, and precious food is also sent according to the season. There wasn't a day that didn't go in and out of Liu Qing's gate. There is no unserved service to talented people in the country; Among the relatives, there is no descendant from the Duke of Song Huan who does not pay any attention to it. Gongzi Bao was beautiful and gorgeous, and gongzi Bao's grandfather, Song Xianggong's wife (the sister of King Xiang of Zhou), wanted to have an affair with him, but Gongzi Bao refused, and Lady Xianggong helped him to extend favors among the people of the country. Song Zhaogong had no way, the Song people did not personally attach themselves to Song Zhaogong, and the Song people supported Gongzi Bao because of the relationship between Xianggong's wife.
In the ninth year of the Reign of Song Zhao (611 BC), Hua Yuan served as the Right Division, GongziYou as the Left Division, Hua Couple as Sima and Ling Yu as Situ, Dang Yizhu as Sicheng, and Gongzi Dynasty as Sikou. At the beginning, Si Chengdang died, and Gongzi Shou resigned from Si Cheng's official position and requested that Lang Yizhu be allowed to take up his position. Later, he told others: "The monarch has no way, my official position is close to the monarch, and I am very afraid that disasters will lead me." If you lose your official position and don't do it, the family will have no protection. Son, my representative, let me die later. In this way, although the loss of sons is not possible, it will not lead to the loss of the family. Soon after, Lady Xiang took the opportunity to kill Song Zhaogong as she prepared to have Song Zhaogong hunt in Mengzhu (孟朱, northeast of present-day Shangqiu, Henan). When Song Zhaogong learned about it, he took all the treasures with him. He said, "Why don't you go to the princes?" Song Zhaogong said: "Without the trust of my own doctor or even my grandmother and people, who among the princes will accept me?" Moreover, it is better to be someone else's monarch and to be someone else's subordinate than to die. Lu Zhaogong gave all his treasures to the entourage left and right, and let them leave. Lady Xianggong sent someone to tell Lang Yizhu to leave Song Zhaogong, and Lang Yizhu replied, "How can you serve the future monarch as his subordinate and escape his calamities?"
On November 22, the ninth year of the reign of Duke Zhao of Song (611 BC), Duke Zhao of Song prepared to go hunting in Mengzhu, but did not arrive, and Lady Xiang sent Shuaidian (Wei Bo of the Records of History) to attack and kill Duke Zhaogong of Song, so Gongzi Bao succeeded to the throne as Duke Wen of Song.
In the spring of the year 610 BC of the Song Dynasty, the Jin state Xun Linfu, the Wei state Kong Da, the Chen state Gongsun Ning, and the Zheng state Shi Chu allied forces to attack the Song state and condemn the Song people for killing Song Zhaogong. After learning the news of Song Wengong's succession, he recognized the legitimacy of Song Wengong's succession, so he withdrew his troops and left.
In the second year of The Duke wen of Song (609 BC), the clans of Duke Wu of Song, Duke Mu of Song, Duke Dai of Song, Duke Zhuang of Song, and Duke Huan of Song led the sons of Duke Wu of Song to prepare to support Duke Wen of Song and his brother Prince Sicheng to launch a rebellion, and in December of the same year, Duke Wen of Song killed Gongzi Xu and the sons of Duke Zhao of Song, and let the clans of Duke Dai of Song, Duke Zhuang of Song, and Duke Huan of Song attack the people of Duke Wu of Song in Sima Zibo's hotel, so they expelled the clans of Duke Wu of Song and Duke Mu of Song and sent Gongsun Shi as Sicheng. After the death of Gongzi Chao, Duke Wen of Song sent Le Lu as a Sikou to calm the hearts and minds of the people in the country.
In the spring of the fourth year of the reign of Duke Wen of Song (606 BC), Prince Zheng was born to accept orders from the State of Chu to attack the State of Song. Song Wengong sent Hua Yuan and Le Lu to lead troops to resist. On the tenth day of the first month of February, the two sides fought in the Great Thorn, and the Song army was defeated. The Zheng army captured Hua Yuan, obtained the corpse of Le Lu, captured 460 chariots, captured 250 people, and cut off the ears of 100 song soldiers who had fallen.
When Hua Yuan was preparing to go to war with Zheng Jun, he killed sheep to reward the soldiers, and his coachman Yang Hui did not eat mutton soup juice, so he resented Hua Yuan. When the two armies were at war, the sheep said, "The sheep of the day before yesterday, you are the master; Today's war is up to me. He drove into Zheng Jun's army, so the Song army was defeated, and Zheng Jun was able to capture Hua Yuan alive.
Song Wen used one hundred chariots and four hundred beautiful horses to redeem Hua Yuan from Zheng Guo. Before the chariots and horses had all arrived at Zheng Guo, Hua Yuan fled back to the Song Kingdom on his own.
In the fifth year of the reign of Duke Wen of Song (605 BC), the people of Duke Wu of Song and MuGong of Song attacked the State of Song with the army of the State of Cao. In the autumn of the same year, Song Wengong sent an army to besiege the State of Cao in retaliation for the rebellion of Song Wugong and other tribesmen.
In the winter of the eleventh year of Song Wengong (600 BC), Song Wengong took advantage of the funeral of Teng Guo and sent troops to surround Teng Guo.
In the twelfth year of the Reign of Song (599 BC), the Teng people relied on the Jin state instead of serving the Song state. In June of the same year, Song Wengong once again sent troops to attack Tengguo.
In the summer of the fifteenth year of the reign of Duke Wen of Song (597 BC), King Zhuang of Chu, the ruler of the State of Chu, sent troops to attack the State of Song because the State of Song had rescued the State of Xiao.
In the sixteenth year of the Song Dynasty (596 BC), the emissaries of the State of Chu passed through the State of Song, and the State of Song had an old vendetta with the State of Chu, so they captured the envoys of the State of Chu. In September of the same year, King Zhuang of Chu besieged the Song state.
In the seventeenth year of the Song Dynasty (595 BC), because the Chu army besieged the Song Kingdom for five months, there was no grain in the capital of the Song State and it was in danger, so Song Wengong sent Le Baoqi to the Jin State for help. Jin Jinggong, the ruler of the State of Jin, originally wanted to rescue the State of Song, but at the suggestion of the chancellor Bozong, he stopped sending troops to rescue the State of Song, but only sent Xie Yang to the State of Song so that the State of Song would not surrender to the State of Chu.
In May of the seventeenth year of the reign of Duke Wen of Song (595 BC), King Zhuang of Chu prepared to withdraw his army, but under the persuasion of Shen Xi and Uncle Shen, King Zhuang of Chu did not withdraw his army, but instead adopted Uncle Shen's strategy and let people build houses and cultivate fields in the Song Kingdom. Song Wengong was frightened, and sent Huayuan to enter the Chu army camp at night to see the Chu general Zi Rebellion, who told King Zhuang of Chu. King Chu Zhuang asked, "What is the situation in the city?" Hua Yuan said: "Split human bones as firewood, and exchange children for each other to cook." King Chu Zhuang said, "What an honest word! Our army only has two days of military food. Because of Hua Yuan's honesty, the Chu state finally called off the army and left.
In August of the twenty-second year of the reign of Duke Wen of Song (589 BC), Duke Wen of Song died and was succeeded by his son Gonggong of Song.