The biggest military adventure of Ji Chang's political career, why did he attack Chongguo, which was closely related to the Shang?

After his wings were full, Ji Chang launched the biggest military adventure of his political career, sending troops to attack Chongguo, which was closely related to the Shang Dynasty.

The history of Chongguo can be traced back to the "Three Emperors and Five Emperors" period in ancient times, and it is said that during the reign of Emperor Yao, Dayu's father, Cang, was good at building the castle, and was sealed in Chongdi, known in history as "Chongbo". In the Xia Dynasty, although there are not many records about Chongguo, as the land of Longxing of the Ji clan, it should be controlled by its clan members. Even after the fall of the Tang Dynasty, the Chongguo ruled by the nobles of the Ji clan was retained, but its fief was moved from near songshan in present-day Dengfeng, Henan, to the en'yi district in the southwest of present-day Xi'an, Shaanxi.

This new territory of Chongguo, bordered by the Qin Mountains to the south and the Wei River to the north, not only happened to be in the center of the Wei Horizontal Plain, but also guarded the throat of the Rong Di tribe in the Guanlong region into the Central Plains. Whether the Shang Dynasty placed the remnants of the previous generation here to express its trust in the nobles of Chongguo or whether they wanted them to consume each other in the mutual attack with the Rongdi tribe, we do not know. But in the oracle bones unearthed today, we can see dozens of records about Chonghou following the Shang King on his expedition. Among them, a Chonghou named Hu followed the Shang king Wuding on expeditions more often, and even some scholars believe that Chonghou Hu and Wangcheng and Lan Jian were the three famous generals of the Shang Dynasty during Wuding's reign. Of course, this Chonghou Hu obviously could not be a contemporary of Ji Chang in the "Records of History", and it was likely that he was a different generation with the same name.

However, as a descendant of the previous dynasty, the Shang Dynasty never had complete trust in the chonghou of the past. The land west of Chongguo was given to the Ji Zhou clan and its leader was crowned Xi Bo, perhaps in large part to form a situation in which the Zhou and Chongguo countries were mutually exclusive but mutually restrained. After king Wending of the Shang Dynasty imprisoned and killed the ji zhou chieftain Ji Li, Chongguo seemed to have become an outpost for the Shang kingdom to resist Ji Chang's revenge, so the oracle bones also appeared and left a relevant record of "Chonghou Fa Zhou". Unfortunately, the bloody conflict between Chongguo and Ji Zhou was exchanged for a handshake between Shang and Zhou. In this regard, it is recorded in the "Records of History" that Chonghou Hu was naturally unwilling, and it was only because he said to Emperor Xin of the Shang Dynasty: "Xi Bo has accumulated good deeds and virtues, and all the princes have turned to it, which will not be conducive to the emperor." ”

Xinguo Water City (modern imitation) is located in present-day Heyang County, Shaanxi.

Judging from the subsequent developments, Chonghou Hu's judgment was not wrong. And the reason why Ji Chang regards it as an opponent. Nor is it simply due to its own framing. After all, in addition to the strategic position of Chongguo blocking the way out of the Zhou people's eastward exit, the existence of this regime also affected to a certain extent the "united front" work of the Ji clan to integrate the remnants of the Xia Dynasty, and it was because chongguo must be destroyed.

In order to crusade against Chongguo, the public opinion war launched by the Zhou Kingdom can be described as in full swing. According to liu xiang of the Western Han Dynasty, Ji Chang vigorously announced the five counts of Chonghou Hu before sending out the army: contempt for his father and brother, disrespect for elders, failure to listen to prison, uneven division of wealth, and "the people were exhausted and were not allowed to eat or clothe." In order to take care of the emotions of the remnants of the Xia Dynasty, Ji Chang also asked the Zhou army to "not kill people, not to break the room, not to fill wells, not to cut down trees, and not to move the six animals" after entering the Chongguo.

Although the propaganda offensive of the Zhou army caused some of the people of Chongguo to voluntarily surrender, as a descendant of the ancestor of the city, Chongyong, the capital of Chongguo, was extremely strong. In the "Left Biography", Sima Ziyu of the Song Kingdom once explained this arduous offensive and defensive battle to his half-brother Zifu of Song Xiang, saying that although Ji Chang took advantage of the loss of virtue of Chonghou Hu and sent troops to cut down Chong, after three months of siege, he still failed to conquer it, so he "retreated from the religion and returned to the retreat, and fell because of the fortress.".

Confucians believe that "cultivation" is the cultivation of Ming and enlightenment, while soldiers believe that it is the cultivation of siege equipment and the teaching of siege tactics. As for the "cause and fortification", it may be to follow the old fortress, or it can also be understood as "fortification", that is, the soil outside the city is accumulated as a mountain and the city is up. In the Western Zhou Dynasty, the poem "Daya Huangxi", which was used to worship the ancestors, told the story of King Wen's attack on Chongyong, and in the tone of the so-called "Emperor God", he gave Ji Chang new siege equipment such as Gou Aid and Linchong. The strong Chongyong finally opened the city gate in the face of Ji Zhou's powerful attack.