It seems that by the time Ji Feng and his troops crossed the Han River, Hu Fang was already forced by the powerful offensive of the Zhou army and chose to surrender. When the news came, the princes of all sides who had worked hard to enlist in the conquest were celebrating each other. But Ji Feng herself was not satisfied with this. After all, along the way, Ji Feng, as the commander of the whole army, did not have many opportunities to show his wisdom and divine martial arts.
The accompanying historian may be because he is older than the capital, lacks insight, or he may be too idle, in short, he really has no material, and he actually takes a big rhinoceros encountered on the way as Xiangrui, a big book. As everyone knows, the ancestors of the Zhou people fought in all directions, and what rare and exotic beasts have not been seen. On his way back from the expedition to Shangxi, Ji Fa organized a series of large-scale hunting in order to show his strength, of which as many as 12 rhinos were hunted.
According to the rules of war at that time, the State of E, which declared its submission to the Zhou Dynasty, was forced to pay a large amount of copper, tin, etc. as war reparations. After these precious metals were transported to Hojing, they were naturally cast into various types of dings and gui, but because the whole war was almost just an armed parade without bloodshed, these bronzes used for meritorious service also left too many praises. For example, the "Guo Bo Gui" used to honor the Eastern Yi Guo bo who was used to honor the conscription only had a dozen words: "Guo Bo from the king to fight against Jing, Fu Jin, and use the Zha Zong Room Treasure Honor Yi" is just a dozen words.
Over the BoGui, height 18.1 cm, caliber 16.2 cm, abdominal diameter 16.5 cm, now in the Lushun Museum
As for the Nangong clan, which was the vanguard of Wang Shi, on top of the so-called "Anzhou Six Instruments" unearthed in Anlu Xiaogan, Hubei Province, in the last years of the Northern Song Dynasty, a detailed battle record was left, but after being sorted out by later scholars, its main work was only to start from Luoyi Chengzhou, first inspecting the Nanyi kingdoms according to the requirements of King Ji of Zhao, and opening up the way for the army to move forward. However, after arriving at the State of Deng in the Han River Valley, the War was over after the Nangong clan had just set up a tent for Ji Feng and laid out a defensive line on the periphery.
Perhaps it is disgusted that this war is not thrilling enough, or it may be covetous of the huge war reparations of the Tiger Side, or even covet the legendary White Pheasant Mountain in the south, which is said to contain endless copper mines. In short, after only 3 years, Ji Feng once again personally led an army to the south, but it seems that in order to avoid the Tiger Side from surrendering without a fight again, this time Ji Feng did not gather too many princes to march. In addition to the "Six Divisions of the Heavenly Son" directly belonging to the King of Zhou, only a few clan relatives such as the Priest and the Duke of Cai accompanied them on the expedition.
However, Ji Feng, who thought that wang shi was invincible, obviously underestimated the cruelty of war. Soon after entering the Han River Valley, the Zhou army encountered stubborn resistance from the Tiger Fang and local tribes, so that the large army could not gain a foothold after crossing the Han River, and finally had to flee north through the pontoon bridge. However, according to the "Lü's Spring and Autumn", it is not known whether it was because of the haste, the quality of the project was not up to standard, or it was secretly destroyed by the Tiger Fang. In short, when the Chinese army where Ji Feng, Gong Ji, Cai Gong and other core members passed first, the entire bridge suddenly collapsed.
Due to the suddenness of the incident, Ji Feng and others, who had been pampered for many years, sank into the water, and although a group of guards led by Xin Yujing desperately rescued them, they only salvaged the bodies of three people. According to common sense, the Son of Heaven fell into the water and died, and the people around him could not escape the crime of poor protection. However, due to the rupture of the pontoon bridge, the field troops arriving after the Zhou army were all trapped on the south bank of the Han River, and almost all the troops were destroyed. Under such an unprecedented fiasco, Xin Yujing, who was lucky enough to protect Ji Feng's body and escape back, naturally became a meritorious minister and was praised by "Hou Zhi Xi Zhai, who is actually the Changgong".
It may be that the Zhou Dynasty has failed to hide its words, or it may be because there are not many survivors to recall and tell. In short, the second southern expedition of King Ji Of Zhou Zhao did not leave much credible historical record. Instead, some specious folklore is rife. For example, if the so-called Ji Feng mistakenly took a "rubber boat" that was manipulated by someone, it may be a misunderstanding of the military pontoon bridge formed by the connection of ships.
Judging from the results, although the death of King Ji Of Zhou Zhao had the inevitability of his personal character, there were also certain accidental factors. After all, the Zhou Dynasty, which was still powerful at this time, really wanted to go all out, not unable to conquer the Han River Valley. It is said that during the reign of Ji Man, the son of Ji Feng, the King of Mu, the Zhou Dynasty once dispatched a huge ground force to cross the Yangtze River and defeat the Yue people in the Jiujiang region with a pontoon bridge composed of warships resembling shrews.
But such a cheerful revenge will not wait until the 37th year after Ji Feng's death. Prior to this, in order to contain the Tiger Fang, the Zhou royal family instructed the Chu people to move the country to "Fa Gradually" under the leadership of xiongqu, the leader of the new generation, and the capital of the Zhou Dynasty, Danyang, designated by the Zhou Dynasty. Although the place name "Fa Wan" does not appear in other historical documents except for "Chu Ju". However, according to the chimes of the Chu state in the middle and late Western Zhou Dynasty excavated in the Zhijiang area of modern Hubei Province, the destination of Xiongqu's capital relocation is likely to be Yichang, Dangyang and Zhijiang areas south of the Han River.
In the days that followed, the Chu state, which returned to the south, not only did not appear politically dissatisfied, but successfully conquered many tribes in the Han River and the Yangtze River Basin by virtue of the political, economic, and cultural systems learned by the Zhou Dynasty. It competed with the "Yongguo" which held the mountainous areas bordering Sichuan and Hubei, the "Yangyue" who dominated Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi and other places, and the "Eguo" with Suizhou in Hubei as its capital.
Whether these developments of the Chu people in the Han River and Yangtze River Basin were supported by the Zhou Dynasty is not clearly recorded in later historical records. But what is certain is that for the Chu people, King Zhou Zhao's southern tour is really a strategic opportunity to promote its rapid development. It was because in the face of Guan Zhong's rebuke, the Chu people would unceremoniously let him ask Han Shui himself.
And Qu Yuan even openly satirized in his immortal famous article "Heavenly Questions": "Zhao Hou Chengyou, The Southern Tu Is the Bottom." What is the only profit, the white pheasant? "The implication is, King Zhou Zhao, what exactly is your southern expedition?" Have you seen the White Pheasant Mountain in your mind? Perhaps this question cannot be answered by King Zhou Zhao himself, after all, war is only a continuation of politics, and under the premise that the Zhou Dynasty itself cannot be resolved based on the inherent contradictions in the field of political division and production, military success is only a shot in the arm to delay the outbreak of contradictions.
![What was the purpose of King Zhou Zhao's three southern expeditions, what was the relationship with the State of Chu, and why did he even lose his life?[fig]](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAP///wAAACwAAAAAAQABAAACAkQBADs=)