Since king Ping of Zhou moved east to Luoyi in 770 BC, the Zhou royal family has become even more weakened. In the past, it was the Zhou Tianzi commander and the princes who ordered the princes to "Li Le conquest from the Son of Heaven"; now, these powers have gradually transferred to the hands of the princes - "Li Le conquest from the princes". Therefore, throughout the Spring and Autumn Period, overlords such as qi huan gong and jin wengong naturally became the protagonists of the world. In particular, the Jin state, where The Duke wen of Jin was located, became the most powerful princely state in the Spring and Autumn Period.
In this regard, in the view of many historians, throughout the Spring and Autumn Period, it was basically the State of Jin surnamed Ji exercising the royal way for Zhou Tianzi, and the State of Jin maintained a hegemony for a hundred years throughout the history of spring and autumn (632 BC - 597 BC, 589 BC - 506 BC), during which time the Jin State basically replaced Zhou Tianzi and was able to lead the princes to the south to fight in the northern war. Among them, the Jin Jinggong, who is mentioned in this article, is also a more accomplished monarch in the history of the Jin State. During the reign of Duke Jing of Jin, although he encountered challenges from King Zhuang of Chu, the State of Jin achieved the end of hegemony over the State of Chu. In addition to fighting against the State of Chu, the Duke of Jin Jing also sent a large army to defeat the State of Qi, which forced the State of Qi to continue to support the Jin State for hegemony, thus consolidating the hegemony of the State of Jin.
One
First of all, Jin Jinggong (?) –581 BC), courtesy name Ji (姬), courtesy name 獳, was the 26th monarch of the Jin Dynasty during the Spring and Autumn Period (reigned 599 BC – 581 BC), grandson of Duke Wen of Jin and son of Duke Cheng of Jin, who succeeded his father Duke Cheng of Jin in 599 BC.
In 600 BC (the seventh year of Chenggong), Jin Chenggong died, and before Duke Jing of Jin could formally ascend the throne, the State of Chu suddenly attacked, at that time, the King of Chuzhuang attacked the State of Zheng, and the Duke of Jin Jing sent The Duke of Jin to rescue him, and together with the Zheng army led by Zheng Xianggong, defeated the Chu army led by King Zhuang of Chu in the Battle of Liuzhuo.
In the eighth year of King Ding of Zhou, that is, in 599 BC, King Zhuang of Chu once again sent a large army to attack the State of Zheng, and the Duke of Jin Jing sent shihui to lead the Jin army to save Zheng, and defeated the Chu army led by King Zhuang of Chu in the Battle of Yingbei.
From this, it is very obvious that when he had just ascended the throne, the Duke of Jin Jing defeated the Chu army twice, which undoubtedly consolidated the monarchy of the Duke of Jin. However, the main theme is that although the Jin army defeated the Chu army led by King Zhuang of Chu in the Battle of Liuzhuo and the Battle of Yingbei, after the Battle of Qin and Jin, the State of Qin immediately released the Chu general Dou Ke, who had captured it in the Battle of Qin and Chu, and allied with Chu to resist the Jin. In order to maintain its hegemonic position, the Jin state also had to deal with the challenges of the two great powers of Qin and Chu in the west and south. In other words, after becoming the hegemon of the Central Plains, the Jin State faced greater challenges. And this is undoubtedly a major test for Jin monarchs such as Jin Jinggong.
In the spring of 599 BC (Jing Dynasty), Xia Zhengshu, the grand master of the State of Chen, killed his own monarch, Chen Linggong. In 598 BC (the second year of Jing Gong), King Zhuang of Chu rebelled against the State of Chen and killed Zheng Shu. In 597 BC (the third year of the Jing Dynasty), King Zhuang of Chu besieged the State of Zheng, and the State of Zheng asked the State of Jin for help. The State of Jin sent Xun Lin's father to command the Chinese army, with the commander of the army, Zhao Shuo commanding the army, and Assisting them with Hao Ke, Luan Shu, Xiangu, Han Jie, and Gong Shuo, which was the famous "Battle of Wu" in the Spring and Autumn Period.
Two
The Battle of Wu, also known as the "Battle of the Two Tangs", was a famous battle in the middle of the Spring and Autumn Period, and was the second major contest between the two most powerful princely states at that time, the Jin and Chu, for domination of the Central Plains. In this battle, the Jin and Chu states fought each other at The land of Qi (邲地, in present-day zhengzhou, Henan), and in the battle, the Jin army was constantly divided, the generals were discordant, lacked unified command and fought separately, and were afraid that the Qin army would sneak attack from behind. The Chu army took advantage of the weakness of the Jin army to attack at the right time and defeat the opponent, thus washing away the shame of defeat in the Battle of Chengpu and temporarily gaining the upper hand in the struggle for hegemony in the Central Plains. King Zhuang of Chu also established the status of the "Spring and Autumn Five Hegemons" in one fell swoop because of the victory in this battle.
In this regard, in the author's opinion, although the king of Chu Zhuang once had the upper hand in the Jin-Chu struggle for hegemony. However, the Duke of Jin Jing obviously would not concede defeat at this point, and after the Battle of Wu, the Duke of Jin Jing made great efforts to govern, and finally ended the hegemony of King Zhuang of Chu. Of course, before that, the top priority of the Jin Jinggong was to restore the national strength of the Jin state.
In 593 BC (the seventh year of the Jing Dynasty), the Jin faction destroyed Chidi. Although this battle is not recorded in detail in the historical records, the Chidi were the most powerful and influential Di tribe in the Spring and Autumn Period. After the elimination of Chidi, it not only expanded the territory of the Jin state, but also helped the Jin state to focus its main energy on the contention of the Central Plains.
Three
In the spring of 589 BC (the eleventh year of the Jing Gong), the State of Qi attacked the State of Lu and captured Long. Lu Guo was anxious to defend the country. Both Wei Guo and Lu Guo appealed to the Jin State for help through Hao Ke. The State of Jin sent Hao Ke, Luan Shu, and Han Yue to use 800 chariots to join forces with the State of Lu and the State of Wei to attack the State of Qi. In the summer of the same year, the Battle of An'an broke out between the Jin and Qi states. In this battle, the State of Jin not only defeated the State of Qi, but even hit the area around Linzi, the capital of the State of Qi, which was undoubtedly a heavy blow to the State of Qi.
In this regard, in the view of many historians, the Battle of the Saddle was part of the cause of the Jinjing Gong's struggle for hegemony. After the Battle of the Saddle, the Jin State successfully broke the alliance between Qi and Chu and pulled Qi to its side. In the following year of the Battle of An (588 BC), duke Qi personally went to Jin and established an alliance between Jin and Qi. In order to strengthen this alliance, the Jin had to sacrifice the interests of the State of Lu, and in the third year of King Jian of Zhou (583 BC), the Duke of Jin Jing ordered the State of Lu to assign the land of Wenyang to the State of Qi. On this basis, the establishment of the alliance between Jin and Qi was an important achievement achieved by The Duke of Jin Jing after eliminating Chi Di and contacting the State of Wu. The hegemony created by the Jin Jing Gong continued through the efforts of Li Gong and Gong Mo until the era of Gong Qing and Ding Gong. The Battle of the Saddle occupies an important position in the cause of Jin Jinggong's struggle for hegemony.
During the Spring and Autumn Period, the State of Qi and the State of Qin, although weaker in overall strength than the State of Jin and the State of Chu. However, the status of the State of Qi and the State of Qin was very important. Now, the State of Qi has completely fallen to the State of Jin, which can obviously serve the purpose of isolating the State of Chu.
Four
Finally, in 585 BC, in the Battle of Jin and Chu around the horns, the Chu army fled overnight. In 583 BC, during the Battle of Chu and Shen by the Jin Dynasty, Duke Jing of Jin sent Luan Shu to lead an army to attack the State of Cai, which was allied with the State of Chu, and attacked the state of Chu itself, capturing the Chu state's grand master Shen Li during the battle. The Chu army was defeated and retreated, and the Jin state took advantage of the victory to pursue, attacked the ally of the Chu state, the State of Shen, and captured the Shen state jun Yichu. For the State of Chu, after the death of King Zhuang of Chu, its hegemony basically came to an end. Therefore, in the process of the Jin-Chu struggle for hegemony, the Chu State once again prevailed.
In 584 BC (the sixteenth year of the Jing Dynasty), the chu general resented Wu Chen and killed the entire Wu Chen family. Wu Chen was very angry, and sent a letter to Zi Wei saying, "It must make you tired of running for your life!" So wuchen, who had fled to the Jin state, asked for an envoy to the state of Wu and asked him to help the state of Wu train soldiers. In this regard, jin jinggong not only supported this proposal, but even sent a large army of the jin state to the state of Wu to improve the combat ability of the generals of the state of Wu. After all, because Wu guo was not in the Central Plains geographically, it was indeed in a backward state in all aspects.
In this regard, in the author's opinion, the support of the Jin state for the State of Wu is obviously to contain the State of Chu. Although the State of Wu was still relatively weak at that time, it failed to play a greater role. However, by the end of the Spring and Autumn Period, the rising State of Wu even attacked the capital of the State of Chu in the Battle of Baiju, which had to prove the foresight of jin Jinggong's strategy of "uniting Wu and controlling Chu". In addition, in the summer of 581 BC (the nineteenth year of The Duke of Jing), the Duke of Jin Jing was seriously ill and made Crown Prince Shouman the monarch, which was li gong. A month later, Jing Gong died.