Although there were many princely states at that time, only Zhou Tianzi was the lord of the world. However, in the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, the authority of Zhou Tianzi plummeted, and even the feudal princely states dared to bully him. In the early Spring and Autumn Period, Zhou Tianzi had a war with the nearby princely states, but the result was that Zhou Tianzi was disgraced and no longer able to interfere in the affairs of the world.
The initiator of this war was the second monarch of Eastern Zhou, Ji Lin, the King of Zhou Huan. In 720 BC, King Ping of Zhou died of illness, and because the crown prince of King Ping of Zhou died prematurely, the throne passed to the prince's son Ji Lin. King Huan of Zhou was an ideal monarch who was bent on reviving the authority of Zhou Tianzi. In 718 BC, King Huan of Zhou interfered in the internal strife of the Jin state, and at the same time, he also wanted to weaken the strength of the State of Zheng.
Since King Ping of Zhou moved the capital to Luoyi, the position of secretary of the Zhou Dynasty had been monopolized by the monarch of the State of Zheng. King Ping of Zhou used the means of decentralization and appointed Duke Yu as a secretary of state. However, this matter was opposed by Zheng Zhuanggong, the ruler of the State of Zheng, and under his pressure, King Ping of Zhou even exchanged hostages with Zheng Guo. The young King Huan of Zhou knew very well that in order to revive the authority of Zhou Tianzi, he must put an end to Zheng Guo and defeat Zheng Zhuanggong.
Zheng Zhuanggong was very shrewd, and he first demonstrated to King Huan of Zhou and sent people to harvest the grain on the land of the Zhou royal family. In 717 BC, Zheng Zhuanggong came to Luoyi to meet him, and King Huan of Zhou did not treat him with courtesy, and the contradictions between the two sides further intensified. Later, Zheng Zhuanggong, for revenge, privately exchanged Xu Tian with Lu Guo (Zhou Tianzi sacrificed Taishan Tiandi). Not to be outdone, King Huan of Zhou appointed Duke Lin of Yu as the Right Secretary of State and divided the power of Duke Zheng Zhuang.
By 707 BC, King Huan of Zhou felt that his strength was no longer weak, so he issued an order to remove Zheng Zhuang from the post of Zuo Qingshi. Zheng Zhuanggong also refused to see Zhou Tianzi, and the relationship between the two sides was completely broken. In the autumn of that year, King Huan of Zhou personally marched and launched an attack on Zheng Guo. Although the history books do not leave a record of the exact number of troops, from the situation at that time, the number of the troops of King Huan of Zhou far exceeded that of Zheng Zhuanggong.
In addition to the troops of the Zhou royal family, King Huan of Zhou also recruited the armies of Chen Guo, Cai Guo, and Wei Guo, forming a relatively large coalition army. Before the battle, King Huan of Zhou divided his army into three armies, with Gong Lin's father leading the right army and the army of Cai and Wei, and Zhou Gonghei leading the left army and the Chen army, and he personally commanded the Chinese army. At the same time, Zheng Zhuanggong led Zheng Guo's army to meet the battle, and the two sides were setting up a position.
Before the war, Ziyuan, the grand master of Zheng Guo, believed that "if there is chaos in Chen, the people do not have a fighting heart, and if they commit crimes first, they will run." If the king cares, there will be chaos. Cai and Wei are not branches, and they will run first, and they will be gathered in the king's pawn, and they can gather things. That is to say, there was civil unrest in chen guo, his army had no fighting spirit, and Cai and Wei's army was not firm in its will to fight, so it was necessary to attack Zhou Tianzi's left and right armies first, and then attack the Chinese army. Zheng Zhuanggong took Ziyuan's advice and won a big victory.
During the battle, the Zheng general Zhu Nie shot King Huan of Zhou in the shoulder, giving him a chance to capture him. However, when Zhu Nie requested to pursue, he was rejected by Zheng Zhuanggong, "The son does not want more people, but dares to ling Tianzihu!" Gou self-help also, the community is not falling, more than enough. "Even if King Huan of Zhou is captured, it will not be a good thing for Zheng Zhuanggong." However, due to the defeat in the Battle of Qiangge, Zhou Tianzi was completely disgraced and reduced to the lord of the world in name only.
References: 1. "Zuo Zhuan"; 2. "History"